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| 1. Purgatory Director: Uli Edel | |
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Description Reviews (48)
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| 2. Platoon (Special Edition) Director: Oliver Stone | |
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Reviews (231)
The Special Edition DVD has an excellent retrospective documentary on the film that is quite comprehensive. Of equal interest, were the 2 audio commentaries The first by Stone, the second by millitary advisor Dale Dye---both men put the actors through their paces. The photo gallery, theatrical trailer, t.v. spots and "collectible" booklet round out the disc's extras. This edition is vastly improved over the movie only edition and comes highly recommended
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| 3. Let It Ride Director: Joe Pytka | |
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Description Reviews (60)
If you've never read a Jay Cronley novel, find one: he has a hilarious writing style that can't be transferred to a movie screen. He wrote FUNNY FARM (made into the Chevy Chase movie) and QUICK CHANGE (with Bill Murray). The perfect John Candy role can be found in WALKING PAPERS but, sadly, John's gone. And then there's GOOD VIBES, which became LET IT RIDE. This is a funny, funny movie. It takes the seedy setting of a horse track and fills it with hilarious characters all trying to make that winning bet. Richard Dreyfus gives an energetic performance as Jay Trotter, a loser who, for one day, just can't stop winning. Give this underrated gem a shot. If you connect with it, then it's a winning bet.
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| 4. Eight Men Out Director: John Sayles | |
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Here's what I loved about the film. The portrayal of Charlie Comisky, the White Sox owner is outstanding. I found myself quickly siding with the players from the outset and bristling at his obviously unethical and cheap approach. The time period depicted has a great "feel" to it. The baseball scenes are excellent and have a realistic feel as well. John Cusak and DB Sweeney are excellent as Buck Weaver and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The portrayal of the newly appointed commisioner Kennisaw Mountain Landis is also excellent. After watching this film you will better understand the current situation with Pete Rose, and where his expulsion from baseball originates. If you are at all a baseball fan you will enjoy the film. My only criticism is that too much film time is spent of the gangsters and the announcers. That was a little tedious, and limited the further character development of the players, the depiction of the game, the owners, and the era. I recommend this film though easily to any baseball fan.
John Cusak is wonderful as Shoeless Joe, one of the White Sox who does not want to go along with the scheme. This movie is very detailed: we get an inside point-of-view from the audience, mob, player and player's wife's perspective. It is a look at the conscience of the White Sox players who must either "sell out" and throw the World Series to make the extra buck and keep the sports sharks off their backs, or keep the integrity of the game intact by giving their all on the field and denying the prospects of more money. I recommend this movie not only for baseball fans, but all movie junkies. It examines many of the sports issues that we deal with today, such as corruption, integrity of the sport, and gambling.
In his analysis of the rigging of the World Series of 1919, Sayles targets White Sox owner Comiskey as the true villain. And I believe this is accurate, if not justifiable, at the very least. The Black Sox scandal, as it came to be known, was undoubtedly the lowest point in baseball history, but it could have been avoided. Had Comiskey treated his players as they merited, it is doubtful any of it would have come about. This is not to say that these athletes were angelic: Sayles goes to great lengths to show that several of them would be easily corruptible, such as Chick Gandil (played by the underrated Michael Rooker). Other players seem to want to do the right thing, but are pushed too far by Comiskey--specifically, Eddie Cicotte, as portrayed by Sayles' favorite, David Strathairn. The enigmatic Shoeless Joe Jackson (subtly played by D.B. Sweeney) is just plain too dumb to understand the implications of his involvement. As others have noted, Jackson wound up the series' batting leader. The real moral compass of EIGHT MEN OUT is Buck Weaver, played by John Cusack in what may have been the performance of his career. Sayles' Weaver is portrayed as the victim of the ultimate betrayal for not participating in the scheme. His teammates don't back him up. The courts do not defend him. The press lumps him together with the guilty. His only crime was not being a snitch. And for that, Weaver has basically been relegated to baseball history's limbo, in spite of an above-par career. Sayles does an admirable job in evoking a justified sympathy for Buck Weaver, and Cusack captures it beautifully. EIGHT MEN OUT is not a mere baseball movie. Like much of Sayles' work, it's a film about greed, and the desire of American owners to extract as much from labor as possible, without giving anything in return. P.S. -- Sayles does a great job of portraying writer Ring Lardner. I just wish he didn't sing!
If you want a baseball movie with heart, get Field of Dreams. ... Read more | |
| 5. Do The Right Thing - Criterion Collection Director: Spike Lee | |
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Description Reviews (94)
"Right Thing" stars writer-director Lee as Mookie, a somewhat lazy pizza delivery boy who works at the local pizzeria run by Sal and his Italian-American sons. Through Mookie's many trips through the neighborhood, we get acquainted with some of the other "characters" such as the block's "wise man" (or "town drunk", depending on how you perceive him), "Da Mayor" (Ossie Davis). We also get introduced to the trouble-making Buggin' It Out who is intent on boycotting Sal's Famous until they "put some brothas on the wall". Then, there's Radio Raheem, whose boombox blasts Public Enemy's "Fight The Power" loudly through out the movie. He doesn't speak much as the music seems to be his outlet of expression. It also happens to get him in a lot of trouble as the movie progresses. Lee's treatmant of certain characters in "Right Thing" is questionable at times. He seems to feel strongly that many of the white characters in this New York neighborhood would root for Boston sports teams because their top players are also white. At times, Danny Aiello's Sal seems sympathetic and kind while in the end, he is more or less portrayed as a "closet racist". This might be why some of us are so fast to make observations about the film's racial biases but I've never felt that "Do The Right Thing" has ever been about who is right and who is wrong. In the end, everyone loses out because rather than go about handling certain small problems by compromising, people choose to argue over who is "doing the right thing" and who isn't. In the end, people are hurt and killed, property is destroyed, and all that seems to remain is animosity. While I may argue with the way that Spike wrote certain characters, this is "his" movie. Would the ending situation have been any different if he had re-wrote them? Probably not. So many of its critics fail to see the big picture with "Do The Right Thing". It isn't about whether Sal was right or whether Mookie was right or Buggin' It Out. The original problem was so small, so minor, and each of the characters allowed it to balloon into a big one. Even the less important characters contributed to the problem by instigating it further. The only character who seemed to understand what was going on was Samuel L. Jackson's almost narrator-like radio DJ, Senor Love Daddy. He understands it, he sees the tension esculating, and he is telling everyone to relax but it's too late. "And that's the triple truth, Ruth".
DO THE RIGHT THING was an introduction to Lee's brazen and bold style of filmmaking. He had a part in every aspect: direction, cast, production, writing the screenplay, etc. That's why, if someone is interested in seeing a "Spike Lee joint", I will definitely recommend DO THE RIGHT THING first and foremost. It's a look at race relations in America circa 1989, a drastic glimpse in which the outsiders, meaning the audience, can feel as if they are right there in Harlem with Mookie (Spike Lee). Mookie is an unmarried father, a boyfriend to Tina (Rosie Perez), loud and outspoken with her buxom figure. She pushes Mookie to spend more time with her and their son, complaining about him being a deadbeat dad. His excuse? Work. True, much of Mookie's time is spent working at Sal's, a pizzeria in Harlem, run by white Italians in a neighborhood where the population appears to be around 99.5 percent black. Other characters include Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Jade, Mookie's sister (Joie Lee). Radio Raheem's dialogue throughout the film it limited - he more or less expresses his freedom through his incessantly blaring radio. In fact, throughout the entire movie, Public Enemy's "FIGHT THE POWER" blasts throughout the neighborhood. Buggin' Out is irked with a situation at Sal's that he feels must immediately be taken care of. He just wants Sal to "put some brothas" up on his restaurant's walls, right beside pics of Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable. Sal (Danny Aiello) refuses to comply with Buggin' Out's request. In the end, Radio Raheem and Buggin' Out fuel an argument that quickly evolves into a neighborhoodwide conflagration. Alas, Mookie fuels the fire by hurling a trashcan through the glass window of the pizzeria - his boss' pizzeria - and the brawl proceeds, with Sal and his sons standing on the sidelines. DO THE RIGHT THING is an odd title for a film like this, some people may think. Is the right thing done? Does Lee believe that the characters in his film did the right thing? I'm not sure. The title can be interpreted in a number of ways, I suppose. First, I suspected it was irony. No, Mookie didn't do the right thing! He fueled the fire and instigated the riot to mammoth proportions! Property was destroyed and damaged! My second conclusion was merely that "doing the right thing" serves as an argument for the people, for people unwilling to make compromises or verbally come to an agreement through reasonable, mature conversation. In reality, the film isn't about who is right and who is wrong and why. You had people like Mookie, who seemed to act on impulse, and then you had Da Mayor, trying to calm the livid people down, trying to talk sense into their heads. People evidently followed Mookie's lead and in the process, they hurt and killed others, seriously damaged and neighborhood properties. Not only that, but mere misunderstanding and hate seems to exist between them, even after the riot ends. That's a sad thing, yet it's also a very true thing. Lee's picture clarifies the fact that yes, misunderstanding between peoples does fuel hate, which, in turn, fuels even bigger and uglier physical problems. DO THE RIGHT THING was taboo for how it portrayed peoples of different races, yet for film's time, the state of Harlem and its residents was portrayed with frank and genuine realness that simply can't be denied. Certain characters, settings, and events rung clear and true. DO THE RIGHT THING is arguably one of the finest examples of race relations illustrated in film. You can watch and rewatch - and learn - from this tumultuous and dramatic "Spike Lee joint".
The film is populated with many different characters, all of them very memorable and each one a representative of a certain belief, mode of behavior or state of mind - on both sides of the conflict. From the uninhibited anger of Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) and Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) on one side and Pino (John Torturro) on the other side, to Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister in the film and in real life) and Vito (Richard Edson), who are trying to connect and live at peace with the other side, to Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), in his isolated but peaceful state of mind, living in complete peace with the world around him, and Smiley (Roger Smith), living in his own isolated existence. Then there's Mookie, who is stuck in the middle, torn between his commitment and responsibilities to both sides. Finally we have Mister Senor Love Daddy - played gorgeously by the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, in one of his finest performances - half active character and half all-knowing narrator - who represents the voice of reason in the conflict, the reason which is bound, ultimately, to collapse. Each and every character plays an important part in the climatic and dramatic conflict to which the movie builds up, and though it's the radical ones - Buggin Out and Radio Raheem - who trigger the events that cause the tragedy, they are not necessarily the ones who finish it. It is Mookie and Sal, in fact, who ultimately play the main part. Do The Right Thing is not an easy watch; it's a mesmerizing, tense, difficult film that breaks many taboos and slaughters many holy cows. But in the end of it - hopefully - you'll be wiser than you were in the beginning, and that's what Lee have always tried to achieve in all his films. Watch it to get a real view on racism that doesn't duck the difficult issues and isn't afraid to tackle the real problem, and to see a master director at work. It's one of the best films of its time. ... Read more | |
| 6. Good Morning, Vietnam Director: Barry Levinson | |
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Amazon.com essential video Reviews (34)
However, the fault of this movie is where it tries to be serious. Williams's politics are thinly veiled, as the only people who oppose anything he does (VC's, bully GI's, "the brass") are stereotypes. Nothing Haup or Dickerson say or do is ever pleasant or reflective of any redeeming qualities whatsoever. In addition, after picking oneself up from the floor from laughing at Williams's brilliant jokes, one can step back and understand (empathize?) why people might not have liked such comments as "If it's being done well, here or abroad, it's probably *not* being done by the U.S. Army!" Now, maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but a lot of people work (and worked) very hard to be sure that what the U.S. Army did is/was done well, and these people wouldn't be the jerks that Dickerson and Haup (sp?) are in this film if they took offense to a deejay like Williams's portrayal of Cronauer. In short, watch this movie and enjoy the humor, but think twice before taking any sort of "deeper meaning" more seriously.
I found myself giggling at the jokes, but eventually the comedy all had a certain sameness. However, I did get into the story. There wasn't much military action, only some strong hints of what was to come. Wisely, the film focused on the characters and portrays the Vietnamese villagers as real people who Cronauer teaches to curse in American slang and with whom he plays baseball, using mangos as the ball. This is a good video, lighthearted and yet with a message. Robin Williams' performance is excellent. And, although some of the action was a little too slow for my taste and the comedy ran thin early, I still do give it a good recommendation.
The new DJ in question was Adrian Cronauer; fresh from an assignment in Greece. While the idea for a fictionalized account of his Vietnam experience was Cronauer's own, fueled by the popularity of "M*A*S*H," the script for Barry Levinson's "Good Morning Vietnam" was ultimately penned by screenwriter Mitch Markowitz with only some input from Cronauer himself, who has since gone out of his way to underline the fictional nature of the account and stress that his true stance was not so much anti-military as "anti-stupidity." Thus, the film has to be taken with a considerable grain of salt; both as far as the portrayal of 1960s' armed forces radio and as far as the movie's plot is concerned. But that doesn't make it any less poignant; nor does it take away one iota of Robin Williams's performance as Cronauer: Indeed, the role of an irreverent, unstoppable DJ seemed tailor-made for Williams, who had burst onto the scene with his inimitable brand of lightning-quick ad-libbing ten years earlier in "Mork & Mindy" - and of course, all of Cronauer's hilarious broadcasts in this movie are ad-libbed, too. The film follows Adrian Cronauer from his arrival in Saigon in the spring of 1965 to his forced departure about a half year later (although the real Cronauer in fact stayed for a year and was not forced out but left when his regular tour of duty was over). While a comedy, and although not trying to be anywhere near the "definitive" take on Vietnam, it does take a close look at the year when the conflict escalated and, in particular, at the resulting toll on human relations. Robin Williams earned his first of to date four well-deserved Academy Award nominations for this role (the others were for "Dead Poets Society" [1989], "The Fisher King" [1991] and "Good Will Hunting" [1997], the movie for which he finally scored on Oscar night). And in his inimitable way he provides pointed comic relief not only over the microphone but also, and always with a unique ear for the situation's mood, whenever the script would otherwise threaten to veer off into melodrama; such as after his discovery that his Vietnamese friend Tuan is actually a Viet Cong fighter named Phan Duc To ("It's unbelievable. Five months in Saigon, and my best friend turns out to be a V.C. This will not look good on a resume!!"); and in scenes that would otherwise be burdened with a bit too much cliche and/or deliberately funny writing, such as the conference after Cronauer's first broadcast, where Bruno Kirby (Lieutenant Hauk) gets to deliver such gems as "Don't say that the weather is the same all the time here, because it's not; in fact, it's two degrees cooler today than yesterday" and "I hate the fact that you people never salute me - I'm a lieutenant, and I would like salutes occasionally. That's what being a higher rank is all about." Even if Kirby himself gets to make up for these a little later in the same scene with the comment "We are not going to escalate [Vietnam into] a whole war so we can get a big name comedian" (Bob Hope who, as the men have informed him, does not "play police actions"), it takes Williams's/Cronauer's final weaving of the lieutenant's preferred abbreviations into a single sentence to truly put the finishing touch on the scene. Although "Good Morning Vietnam" is clearly first and foremost a star vehicle for Robin Williams, he is joined by an outstanding supporting cast, including inter alia, besides Bruno Kirby, Forest Whitaker as Cronauer's good-natured sidekick PFC Montesque Garlick, the ever-reliable J.T. Walsh as his second great nemesis, Sergeant Major Dickerson (whose stock character of a straight-laced white middle class guy would probably not have come off convincingly as a villain vis-a-vis anybody *but* Robin Williams) and, in particular, Tung Thanh Tran as Tuan and Chintara Sukapatana as his sister Trinh: Her plea with Cronauer not (even) to seek her friendship, let alone more, because for her such an association with a man (particularly a foreigner) is culturally unacceptable, is one of the movie's most quietly powerful scenes. Exceptional is further Peter Sova's cinematography, which convincingly captures the daily realities of a city and a country on the brink of an all-out war, and is brilliantly complimented by the editing, which in turn also uses the soundtrack - more or less a mid-1960s "greatest hits" compilation - to maximum effect; be it in framing daily military routine, the soldiers' enjoyment of Cronauer's style of broadcasting or combat action: Indeed, hardly any image could make a more powerful statement on the cruel absurdity of war than seeing a village blown up to the tune of Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World." Thus, "Good Morning Vietnam" is in its own way as poignant a wakeup call as any other movie about Vietnam - or about World War II, or any other war for that matter. It deservedly netted the Political Film Society's 1989 Peace Award, in addition to Robin Williams's Oscar nomination and his Golden Globe and American Comedy awards, as well as the movie's ASCAP soundtrack award. And it certainly bears revisiting - for its overall quality, for Robin Williams's performance, and also for lessons learned and deserving never to be forgotten. ... Read more | |
| 7. The Super Mario Bros. Director: Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, Roland Joffé, Dean Semler | |
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Their mistake is to watch this expecting a Mario movie. I know, it sounds like the right thing to expect, but hear me out. Fans of the game know what Mario is all about - powerups, angry mushrooms, winged turtles and flying blocks. If you watch this movie expecting that, you'll be disappointed, as you'll find NONE of it. But that's not to say it isn't worth watching. Picture the scene: a couple of directors are asked to make a Mario movie by Nintendo, and they want it to be live action. That was the flavour at the time - take cartoon characters and make them real. Now, these directors know about Mario. They say "No way can that be done. Mario is all about being a cartoon. Jumping on little angry animals, everyone's a mushroom... It's a great game, and it'd make a good cartoon, but a live action version would just be moronic." "Oh, don't worry about that," says Nintendo, "just so long as you get the main elements in, do it how you want." The directors go away, rubbing their chins, trying to think of a way to do that but still do justice to the games. And then they have a fascinating idea. What if they don't do a Mario film, exactly. What if they do a sci-fi film, but fill it to the brim with Mario references, for the keen-eyed game fans? That's what this movie is. If you watch it with that in mind, you will enjoy it. I've tested this theory out already on a friend who thought the film was a bit stupid when he saw it as a kid, but watched it yesterday with my little thesis in mind and he loved it. What you get here is a quite serious (despite the light-hearted script) sci-fi flick about the nightmarish world ours may soon become: crowded, filthy, choked with pollution and overrun with a hate-filled populace who will fight you, yell at you, even try to shoot you if you pass too close. Run by a demonic well-dressed dictator politician (played to amazing effect by Dennis Hopper) who has let this world become the dark horror it is through neglect: there is no water any more, only sludge, and a slimy infestation of fungus has grown over everything, draped in great loops like one gigantic, chaotic spider web. Into this world come Mario and Luigi, similar to their game counterparts but more human, a pair of plumber brothers from Brooklyn who grew up together as orphans. They are trying to save a girl, who has been kidnapped and dragged here, and along the way they get wrapped up in something really horrifying: the president and his people are human, but human descended from dinosaurs instead of apes. He's found a way to revert his citizens back to their prehistoric roots, and with his army of lizard lackeys he's going to bridge the split between worlds (that formed when the meteorite that "killed" the dinosaurs hit) and take over our own. And through all this we find references of the sort that Mario's biggest fans will drool over, so long as they are watching this in the way I suggest. These prove that the film has been put together not by someone ignorant of the games, but by someone very well versed in their lore. A large woman called Big Bertha, dressed all in red, is named in reference to a large red fish enemy from Mario 3. She wears mechanical boots named "Thwomp-Stompers", after the classic ice block enemies, and they are powered by capsules that look exactly like Bullet Bills, from Super Mario Bros 1. Shops are apparently owned by people with the same names as characters from the games (Hammer Bros and Bullet Bill), a protest singer is named after Toad, the happy little mushroom from the games, but his hair is shaved into the pattern on the shell of Lakitu, a fan favourite since day one. These references go on throughout the film and shape its world - the fungus, which turns out to be a conscious entity, helps the brothers in every way it can; they are saved on more than one occasion by mushrooms, in what has become a literal mushroom kingdom. It's all in here if you keep your eyes peeled. Go in ready to watch not a Mario film, but a film that references Mario, and you will love it. It doesn't "change" anything from the games, because it is not any kind of filmed version of them, but it nods to them constantly. Viewed in this light, it is a treat to watch, and a rare treat, because no other film has ever crammed in so many references to videogaming before. Simply put, a live action Mario film could never be made, and the directors asked to make one did a brilliant job at trying something new and original. Well worth the ten dollars for the DVD.
Being the first movie ever based on a game (unless you count Clue), and also being inspired by a series that didn't call for the slightest bit of realism, this movie didn't have much call for reality. It's not sci-fi, but pure fantasy (meaning the plot's fiction isn't just the existance of the story's elements, but every plot sequence is based on how the world the movie takes place in is much unlike our own). Luckily, the screenplay, while sometimes quirky and silly, does call for some great moments, usually revolving around Koopa's idiot cousins Iggy and Spike (my favorite example - Spike:"Wrong again...how many times have we gotten it wrong?" Iggy:"YOU've gotten it wrong five times!" Spike:"Over five...OVER five...what percent is that?" Iggy:"I don't know, let me think......I don't know, but it's not good!" -- they couldn't figure out 100%!!). Also going with the movie on a few other nice points are the performances of the main characters: Mario, Luigi, Koopa, Daisy, Iggy & Spike, which are nice and solid, despite that they don't really resemble the image of the characters themselves (especially Koopa). Hoskins does great in a more laid back role than say in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?', while John Legizamo starts off his more energetic personna that was used very well in his standup routine in the late 1990's, and he was enjoyable to the point in which whenever I see 'Moulin Rouge', I'm always like "YEAH!! LUIGI!!" (not to knock Moulin Rouge, a masterpeice in it's own, albeit weird). Samantha Mathis is another strong performance, as well as a beauty on screen as Daisy, the princess in distress, albeit she doesn't have many good moments to herself. And Dennis Hopper, whether you like him or not, is undeniably good in villainous roles like this...here he plays a meglomaniacal dictator of an entire civilization, but again, sadly he has fewer memorable moments than Mario and Luigi, which is a shame, as Koopa is one of the most popular villains of all time. However, if you don't think the screenplay or casting were anygood, there are four things that this movie excells in, that are undeniable: superb special effects (from puppets to some amazing CGI for 1993), art design that's out of this world (from fungus to flashy lights to spikes on the clothes and walls of the buildings), intense action sequences, which are very high in pyrotechnics, flashing lights, and explosions, and a brilliant musical score, courtesy of Alan Silvestri (responsible for almost 80 movies so far, from the Father of the Bride movies to Roger Rabbit, to the Predetor's, to the Mummy Returns)! In my opinion, these three aspects warrent this movie a watching, as it's very high in production values! I really can't understand why people hate this movie. It's not sophisticated, but it is intelligently enjoyable....Con Air is undeniably smart, although I certainly wouldn't call that movie sophisticated, would you? I think not! Yet still it's a great movie! Perfectly combining parody, B-movie aspects, and advanced sci-fi, this movie spells out perfect cult-classic, and I'm one of those who does like it! I won't even try to talk you into it if you hate it, but I just feel that this movie is good for its own reasons. If you're into zany, partially senseless, partial sci-fi type movies, this one just might be for you.
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| 8. Ferris Bueller's Day Off Director: John Hughes | |
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Be sure to stay through the closing credits... Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
The cast is brilliant...this is probably Matthew Brodderick's best role to-date. Director John Hughes did an amazing job, as usual. The script is well-written and extremely funny. "Ferris Bueller" is a classic high school film that everyone should own. However, the DVD lacks terribly; the only bonus feature is a commentary made by John Hughes. And the DVD is available in wide screen format. I highly recommend "Ferris Beuller's Day Off". Score:
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| 9. Strange Days Director: Kathryn Bigelow | |
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Director Kathryn Bigelow creates a futuristic LA that manages to be both sophisticated and believable, avoiding the over-the-top, utopic and not very realistic depictions of future societies presented in other sci-fi films. Although "Strange Days" is basically a thriller, it is way above many run-of-the-mill movies of its genre, as it suceeds at combining its key elements perfectly. The direction is dynamic, unique and fast-paced, adding style and energy with an excellent sense of rythm, flow and tension. The acting is also a plus, since Ralph Fiennes is unforgettable as the flawed anti-hero Lenny and Angela Basset shines as his sister-in-arms Mace. This duo makes for an odd, yet original and memorable couple, delivering some enticing and moving scenes. It`s also interesting seeing the female character protecting the male for a change, making for a clever reverse of the predictable and typical scenario of most action flicks. Juliette Lewis is also convincing as the dark and feral femme fatale, especially when she sings a P.J. Harvey song to perfection (one of the many excellent and remarkable moments of this movie). "Strange Days" is much more than a futuristic thriller, providing a rich cinematic experience that brings issues such as isolation, trust, friendship, love and life in general. Every scene is compelling and intriguing, and the plot is very well developed, culminating in a tense, dynamic and huge finale with a superb climatic ending. Kudos to the soundtrack, by the way, especially the Skunk Anansie live presence during the last scenes that adds a lot of edge, mood and atmosphere to that peculiar chase sequence. Overall, this movie is definitely an underrated classic and a must-have. Forget overrated stuff like the boring and very flawed "Blade Runner", since "Strange Days" is a much more compelling and solid sci-fi masterpiece. Highly recommended.
I tried to ignore that and I admit the story got a bit more interesting.. but then I was completely put off by not one but TWO scenes depicting sexual assault. I'm no prude but these scenes were repulsive. So just a warning before you buy or buy this as a gift: if the MPAA had any sense whatsoever this film would be rated NC-17. One more criticism: the camera cuts so much during the finale that the scene is barely watchable. For all these reasons, I just don't understand why anyone would put themselves through Strange Days more than once. ... Read more | |
| 10. Attack of the 50 Foot Woman Director: Christopher Guest | |
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Description Reviews (13)
Daryl Hannah makes for the perfect new giantess in this fine update of ATTACK OF THE 50FT WOMAN. In the tiny Western town of Archer, Nancy Archer (Daryl Hannah - SPLASH, STEEL MAGNOLIAS) lives under the thumb of her wealthy father, Hamilton, and her philandering husband Harry (Daniel Baldwin - KNIGHT MOVES, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY). For years they have chipped away at her self-esteem, making her feel very small, but all that's about to change... A chance-encounter with a UFO leads to Nancy growing into a 50-ft giantess, and she goes on a mission of delicious revenge against her louse of a spouse. Needless to say, the material has not aged well. The creaky plot is slow-moving and only gets going during the last 15 minutes during the "killing spree" sequence. But no doubt this little film has it's appreciative audience, who love the film for what it is....a fun little piece of fluffy schlock! With Frances Fisher, Cristi Conaway and William Windom.
The main problem with it is that the film is way too short on action and heavy on uninteresting soap-opera rubbish. Daryl Hannah does what she can with the material but I never at once felt sorry for the her, which is what the script tried to keep hammering in. In fact, for the first half of the film, we only get two brief glimpses of a flying saucers (both not very impressive... I still prefer Ed Wood's paper plates on strings). Finally, when Hannah's character starts growing, the narrative is given a brief jolt, but not enough to make it that interesting... It's basically just more of the same old but with Hannah getting increasingly bigger. When the action finally does kick in near the end, it's not particuarly satisfying... I'm not sure how this compares to the 50s original but I doubt it's as ineptly staged and dull as this remake... Despite the title, the 50-foot woman here never really does any attacking... she just strolls down the street and we get a bunch of close-ups of people screaming and running around blindly... I'm not expecting her to act like Godzilla and smash the place up (although that would have been appreciated) but the way that these climactic scenes were handled were pretty disappointing. There's also a brief encounter with a pair of helicopters that produces similarly mundane results... Perhaps the best scene in the movie is when Hannah peers over a Drive-in movie theater where they're showing clips from the original ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN... It's a shame that I wasn't watching that one instead... And that's the real problem with this film... There's nothing really all that satisfying about it, except for the novelty of watching a 50-foot tall scantily clad woman cause a curiously restrained amount of havoc, if you could even call it that... Daniel "the forgotten" Baldwin is fairly amusing as the slime-ball husband, but that's about it. Right before the credits at the end of the film, we get a few brief paragraphs on the characters and what happened to them after the film ended... The fact that I could care less about what was written there speaks worlds about my indifference to this film...
This remake does not have the same sort of tacky charm that makes the original so compelling. But there is still the great unanswered question from both of these films as to how the giant woman's underwear manages to keep up with her growth spurt. Daryl Hannah is a lot angrier than Allison Hayes was in the original, and it was the latter's decided sense of disinterest during the final rampage (along with the cloth bikini) that made it one of the enduring images of Fifties science fiction. Ultimately, this is more Guest's film as director, because the entire art direction and visual style of the film is as much a homage to the genre in the Fifties as the original storyline. The remake does not stand alone because there is too much that works off of the original to allow that to happen, so you have to have seen the 1958 version to fully appreciation this one. The main thing is that "Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman" does not take itself seriously, and that makes up for a lot of the film's shortcomings.
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| 11. Stranger Than Paradise Director: Jim Jarmusch | |
 | list price: $14.95
our price: $11.96 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: 0792846834 Catlog: DVD Sales Rank: 4150 Average Customer Review:
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Reviews (34)
Back when hip meant wise rather than trendy, I would have tagged it the hippest.
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| 12. The Million Dollar Hotel Director: Wim Wenders | |
 | list price: $9.98
our price: $9.98 (price subject to change: see help) Asin: B000059PQH Catlog: DVD Average Customer Review:
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Reviews (63)
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way too isolated and without emotions
How about a movie called...
A fun kids movie...