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allenone75
Reviews
Devil in the Flesh (1998)
Bad movies are an art form unto themselves
As Comedy flicks continue to push the envelope (American Pie, Road Trip, Scary Movie) it gets to the point where I'm calloused. What's supposed to make me laugh doesn't. So I turn to movies that are intended (at least on the surface) to be serious, like this one. Then I see the execution of this and it's hysterical. Bad Movies are where I go for comedy. Other winners in this genre are Dee Snider's Strangeland, Switchblade Sisters, American Samurai, just to name a few.
The Truman Show (1998)
Very blunt satire
Very polite, VERY VERY pretentious, the religious overtones way too obvious (Christof? A voice in the sky?) and successful because there was nothing better to fill it's niche- copyright suit notwithstanding. The whole point of satire is to have a little bite, like American Beauty, Natural Born Killers, even Cable Guy just to name a few. TTS had no bite at all, more of a light gumming on the media's wrist, which is something the media actually likes- sort of a Friar's Club Roast situation. The media candidly acknowledges the low level of quality in their product and makes very lame attempts to cover it up. The Real Worlders, and the people who watch them, know the show is cut, chopped and edited into something very far removed from what they experienced. And the argument that we as a society watch too much TV has been around from the day TV was mass-produced. The Truman Show doesn't make the media shake it makes them nod their heads like, "Yep, we're that bad. And if we had the resources at our disposal, we'd do something like The Truman Show if we gave them enough reason to tune in." That said, The Truman Show really isn't satire at all, just a copy of a copy with an expensive set to mitigate this fact.
Arlington Road (1999)
Great movie, esp Jeff Bridges
To go from "The Dude" in Big Lebowski to David Farraday only proves Bridges is one of the most versatile actors out there. He over-emotes a little in this film but he's great all the same.
The film itself is chilling and leaves you asking a lot of questions. Even if you don't believe in right-wing conspiracies and govt. conspiracies you have to acknowledge that this anti-government sentiment is out there in a lot of people; most people are merely annoyed but many are angry and their invisibility is their greatest asset. The way the film portrayed Tim Robbins' associates is one of the best examples.
Arlington Road was one of the few films in recent years that really affected me. **** out of five.
Sex and the City (1998)
I'm divided
I think the show is very well-written and very well-acted but there's still some things about it that bother me. For starters I'm tired of seeing shows about self-absorbed New York yuppies carping about their love-lives. It's all you see on television and what we have here is an uncensored version, the only one I can stomach. And being 25 myself, I was a little offended by the way 20-something's were portrayed in one particular episode. They were all empty-headed beauties with three of the aging foursome looking on with condescending arrogance as if they're so far removed from that lifestyle. What's more mature, being wild, crazy and free or wild, crazy and free with commentary?
I still get a kick out of it though. My problems with it are personal, I won't deny it's great entertainment. After, all, it's the only time I get to experience the urban elite without having to wear a uniform and a smile. I'm waiting for the spinoff "Sex & the Suburbs," where NO ONE gets any.
Fatherland (1994)
Good except for the ending
WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD
It was a reaonsbly faithful adaptation from the novel except for the ending which was my big beef wth the film. In the novel March actually goes to the site where Auschwitz was - in the novel it's torn down and the region is a heavily polluted industrial wasteland- before he dies. And you don't know if Maguire makes it out with the evidence. The last few paragraphs are a powerful stream of consciousness from March where he imagines her making it to the Swiss border and charming her way past border security. But he uses a lot of probably's and maybe's because he doesn't know and never will. It was an almost painful level of ambivalence that the film had to turn into a happy ending. Other than that, everything was great, casting was good especially Hauer as the polite and silent dissident. I liked how in the beginning you see him loving his son and saying grace with him, then BOOM! he's wearing an SS uniform. In a snap a gentle loving father is an instrument of terror and oppression. The book touches on this as well.
Boys Don't Cry (1999)
Great performances, good script, some problems with the direction
WARNING - SPOILER'S AHEAD
I have to commend Hilary Swank for an incredible performance. This was a career leap that puts Travolta's '94 resurrection in the dust. Saarsgard and Sexton gave great performances as well and I like the way their characters were portrayed. I was prejudiced towards them by knowing the outcome of the story and what their actions would eventually be but when I saw them in the film they were actually likeable, IN THE BEGINNING. Saarsgard even made John Lotter seem creepily gentle before revealing his darker side and finally turning into a monster at the end. I have a suspicion that Matthew Shepard's murderers came across like that when he first met them.
Parts of the film bothered me though, particularly the "trippy" scenes like the power lines and the fast-motion shots of the factory and the landscape. It was too reminiscent of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers/U-Turn phase when the drugs were directing the movies instead of him. Not that that's a bad thing per se, I just think it was unnecessary and distracting from this film. The landscape, characters and story could certainly speak for themselves without the technical touch-ups. And I questioned why certain dramatizations were made and others weren't. From what I've read about the actual story, Teena was murdered in his sleep and Tisdal wasn't present. That was altered for dramatic purposes, fine. But the rape occurred during the Christmas season and the murder on New Year's. That was certainly dramatic and wouldn't have required a stretching of the facts. Other than that, 8 out of 10.
Election (1999)
One of the greatest Oscar snubs!
WARNING! SPOILER AHEAD
Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon and Jessica Campbell all deserved nominations and it should have won Best Adapted Screenplay. Cider House Rules? Come on, how hard is it to adapt your OWN novel? Just take out the key quotes, cut what you can bear to part with and throw in sluglines.
Besides that rant, this film was spectacular and the best dose of cynicism in a good long while. Chris Klein was great and Jessica Campbell was the best, her character gave hope to introverted and/or closested kids with braces nationwide. Hopefully we'll be seeing plenty more of her. The film had great writing and left me with one foreboding feeling. People like Tracey Flick are the people who succeed. As much as you hate them, they do.....
Nothing But Trouble (1991)
It should be a cult classic.....
This flick has just the right mixture of stupid, funny, gross, disturbing, and completely off the wall. And most importantly, it was reviled by the critics, big qualifier there. If this was a midnight movie, I'd go see it. It would be great to occupy the after hours.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Not bad...
Can't say I didn't enjoy it but I don't consider it on par with the Exorcist, much less scarier. Best part was the documentary style, it completely reinvented lots of horror standards: the woods; random, distant sounds in the dark; hearing voices; the spooky house; the unseen antagonist. These have been used to the point of cliche but, alter the style, they have substance again! Kudos to the cast and crew for that. The marketing of this film was slick, especially the borderline War-of-the Worlds style implication that this was a true story. As for the hype, it's unfortunate but you do what ya gotta do to break through the monopoly of big-budget pictures. In that respect Blair Witch was a guerilla triumph.
Alien (1979)
The best in Science Fiction films
This is realistic Science Fiction; arguing about bonus shares over coffee and cigarettes in space. If we start mining asteroids the people who go out there and do it will probably be like the characters from this movie. It's not only terrifying it's realistic. We don't see a polished, gleaming spaceship we see a giant factory complete with dripping water, chains, equipment scattered here and there. It's human progress like we know it, good but not always pretty. And the Alien spaceship was incredible, especially since the movie didn't bend over backwards trying to explain it. You're left to speculate.
Some of the best scenes:
The Alien ship: Dallas looking into the eye of the Alien Captain, turning away, and the camera focusing on the skull for a second in the darkness. Chilling.
The Dinner scene: One of the top-ten sci-fi moments.
The conversations of Parker and Brett: How the interstellar laborer views management. Way to develop the characters.
Brett looking for Jones: Scary
Dallas in the shafts: Even scarier, especially with the music.
Ripley and the alien: 'Nuff said.