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PhildoNU37
Reviews
Far from Heaven (2002)
Maybe I'm missing something...
I have heard/read many reviews where some have said that this movie deals with race and homosexuality in a profound, meaningful way. I found it to be fabricated, empty and completely forced. There was nothing genuine about any of the relationships on screen. The acting was awful, the plot was recycled cliche and the dialogue was predictable and embarrassing.
The only good thing this movie had was the cinematography (at times) and the use of colors (which, while it was lush and gorgeous it certainly was void of meaning, as opposed to Paul Thomas Anderson's usage in Punch Drunk Love).
Moore is fake, Quaid is nonexistent and Haysbert is simplistic. There is nothing poignant nor remarkable about any of the performances in this film. It was cheesy, redundant and the attempt to create any kind of pathetic fallacy or emotional connections between characters is failed and insulting.
Yes, I will give 'Heaven' this, it was true to the form of the 1950s cinematic style, and perhaps that is its downfall.
My vote: 2 out of 10
Bloody Sunday (2002)
Breathtaking pseudo-documentary that must be experienced!
Greengrass gives ones of the best directing performances ever in this amazing film about Bloody Sunday. The camera work gives the feel of a real documentary where, in fact, all the events unfolding on screen were scripted and acted out. The camera gives you the feel that you are a part of the civil rights march and takes you inside and outside a number of characters without feeling like you're watching a scripted movie.
Very real, very graphic - I left the theater numb and shocked.
My vote: 10 out of 10
Scotland, PA (2001)
Excellent modern adaptation of Macbeth
Morrissette does an excellent job of recycling Shakespeare's Macbeth, but doing so in a way that is not parallel like Zefirelli's Hamlet (1990 - Mel Gibson), nor unbelievably awful like Luhrman's Romeo and Juliet (1996 - DiCaprio, Danes).
If you know Shakespeare's Macbeth, then you know the plot, so I will save you, except to note that it's in the twentieth century based around a McDonald's type restaurant and not the crown of Scotland.
The characters are all dead on to their Elizabethan counterparts. Avy Kaufman does a wonderful job casting Amy Smart, Timothy Levitch and Andy Dick as the hippies/clown, providing true comic relief (it's a shame they weren't in the film more). Christopher Walken, as usual, is brilliant in forcing McBeth to divulge the crime in true Telltale Heart fashion.
My vote: 9 out of 10
Storytelling (2001)
When you start writing, everything becomes fiction...
This was a great film, superbly crafted. The two stories were not given equal time in the film, as they should not have. Although Selma Blair delivers, what I believe to be, her best performance to date, her "story" pales in comparison to the "Nonfiction" part of the movie, which gives a much more real and brutal account of Mark Webbers character, Scooby.
I would rather not give a plot summary nor deliberate on inconsequential details of the movie, but suffice to say this is a must see! While it may not be as eloquent as American Beauty, Storytelling provides a wonderful snapshot into the psyche of high school and college life wrapped in some extraordinary circumstances. This film is a testament to despair, self loathing and personal struggle.
The ending is, perhaps, the crown jewel of this film. It made my jaw drop and, in fact, I sat in front of the TV for a number of minutes before I regained my senses. Side note: I had to watch "Fiction" twice, as I failed to see its correlation to "Nonfiction" when I watched it the first time.
My vote: 8 out of 10
Nueve reinas (2000)
Argentinian Guy Ritchie
This is a phenomenal film following in the style of Guy Ritchie and his two wonderful movies: Snatch, and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Bielinski does a wonderful job directing his amazing script.
Quite simply, as I won't bore with a plot summary, it is an adaptation, of sorts, of The Usual Suspects, but it is much better and has a better ending as well. If you liked Usual Suspects, you LOVE Nine Queens.
My vote: 9 out of 10
Rat (2000)
Kafka meet Henson
Franz Kafka blends well with Jim Henson - who would've thought!?
Rat loosely follows Kafka's Metamorphosis and turns it upside down into a comedic gem.
What I found to be the most interesting about this movie is the different family members reactions to Hubert as a rat. Each one reacts differently and Conchita (wife) exhibits an almost bipolar feel as her mood swings violently depending on many variables (whether or not Hubert is around, what Hubert does, etc. versus her tough and unfair love toward her husband).
Amidst the chaos of boarding a human/rat, the family, who once had very indifferent feelings toward Hubert, start to really show their love. It's a great movies that explores a number of emotions from greed to love and even hatred.
My vote: 9 out of 10