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Reviews
A Knight's Tale (2001)
If you want scholarly look elsewhere
I kind of knew I would like this when I read the reviews when It came out. I studied medieval literature at University and this could have been very bad, but the outcome is amusing. Of course, if you want scholarly look elsewhere, but the whole creative anachronism works quite well.
The medieval bit is very good and would probably be very boring to most modern tastes. The addition of anachronisms makes this very funny.
I am not sure how anachronistic this all is as women were somewhat equal due to necessity (e.g., the woman blacksmith).
Whatever, enjoy and don't think too much.
Cocksucker Blues (1972)
Stiff
I like both Robert Frank and the Rolling Stones, but this combination is not that hot. As the other reviewer ( withnail-4) pointed out, this is pretty banal with lots of drug taking. Robert Frank is a photographer and this film seems like a motor wind gone wild. Imagine the "Exile on Main Street" cover coming to life and you have a pretty good idea of what this film is going to be like. The mystique comes from the fact that the Rolling Stones have done a pretty good job of keeping this off the market and out of the theatres. Thanks to modern technology, this film is pretty readily available in forms of varying quality. In fact, it was a local film groups showing this from a DVD that rekindled my interest in seeing the film. Short of being a serious fan of the Stones, you will be pretty bored with this film. You might even be pretty bored if you are a serious
Warriors (1999)
This is a film to see.
This is an excellent film and is as realistic as described. I would suggest that Americans do what they can to get this brought to PBS in something like a "Masterpiece Theatre." At this point, the film is only being shown on BBC America, which has too small a viewer base to earn this film the acclaim it well deserves.
Shall we dansu? (1996)
Did you like "Strictly Ballroom"? You'll like this one.
This film sounds very similar to "Strictly Ballroom" in that it deals with awkward people going into competition ballroom dance. In fact, there are quite a few things that will seem similar to someone who has seen strictly ballroom (rank amateurs and "crowd pleasing steps"). On the other hand, this film has the difference of dealing with Japanese culture, which seems incredibly uptight. For example, Married couples rarely make public displays of emotion. Which means dancing close to a stranger in a display of ballroom dance is really outrageous. One of the characters is "outed" as a ballroom dancer to be labelled a "pervert" by his co-workers. Also, this is less a love story than the issue of dealing with the joy of dance. A fun movie.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Comic Book violence
It's like The Loonie Tunes crowd does Quentin Tarentino. Think of the way a porn king might kill someone he catches "skimming a bit off the top" and you get the idea! Some things might seem strange, such as the flaming man leaving the pub, which gets explained later on in the film. The film reminded me of "Reservoir Dogs", but hung together much better. Not to mention the characters were a bit more sympathetic. I wonder what really happens in the end.