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Reviews
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
I wanted to like it but...
Contains SPOILERS
I wanted to like this film, I though Crowe gave a good performance, but I just thought the whole 'is it real or is it all in his mind' thing was a bit patronising and very manipulative, especially because it was based on a true story. I suppose it could have been worse, but it just left a bad taste, also, it's all been done before in Fight Club (and Vanilla Sky, Mulholland Drive, etc etc)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Oh my god
Either David Lynch is deliberately messing with everyone's heads or his mind is operating on a completely different level to everyone else's. Hopefully it's the latter. This film is totally amazing and is just too much to take in. You could go completely insane trying to work out what it's about. I will definitely watch it again, but right now I need to lie down....!
Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
Well-balanced musical bits
I thought the musical bits in this movie were really well balanced between giving respect to the old Hollywood musicals and spoofing them (the bit in the hospital when everyone bursts into song wasn't too far removed from Airplane of something like that). Yet again Woody gets it on with beautiful young women (this time Julia Roberts) but he can be forgiven because of some great lines, especially between Alan Alda and the right-wing son, which was class.
Snatch (2000)
Another Brit gangster movie, but a GOOD ONE this time
Personally I was getting a bit bored of British gangster movies after the amount of rubbish that followed Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (with the exception of Gangster No 1). Snatch, though, reminded me why I liked Guy Ritchie's first film so much. It's all very well having a complex, twisty plot, but Snatch also has killer dialogue and is extremely funny. It owes as much to a good episode of Minder (classic British TV series) as it does to Goodfellas. Brilliant cast too. 8/10
Hannibal (2001)
Not as bad as some websites have said
Possible SPOILER
I have just read a ferocious review of Hannibal on another movie website which criticises it for having no character to worry about. This is true in a way as there is not that much suspense in this movie; the last scene with Julianne Moore calling the police in no match for Jodie Foster being stuck in the dark with Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. But Hannibal still has a lot going for it. Moore is as good as anyone could be as Clarice, Hopkins is great, albeit less scary than in the last film. Also, it is not just a sequel but a RIDLEY SCOTT movie, with the same amazing jerky Saving Private Ryan style camerawork in the action scenes that was used in Gladiator (sorry I can't remember the cinematographer's name, but he's sure to get an Oscar this year). And if the ending had been left the same as in the book then it just wouldn't have worked on screen. Not a classic, but a good, enjoyable thriller. 8/10
Fargo (1996)
A real love-it-or-hate-it film
Apart from maybe the Blair Witch project, there's no other film that I know of that divides the audience into the camps of love-it or hate-it to such an extreme. Most of the people I know hate this film, but I think it's amazing. It's such an original idea to put have the kidnapping and then put the two scummy bad guys in a quaint, old fashioned small town community. I love the way the Coen Brothers screw around with genres like that, but not a lot of people seem to get it. That's their loss though, 9 out of 10.
The Fisher King (1991)
Is Brazil Gilliam's best? No! This is
CONTAINS SPOILERS!
When people talk of Terry Gilliam's best films they usually say Brazil or Twelve Monkeys is his masterpiece. I think this very underrated film is far superior, sometimes darkly funny, sometimes extremely disturbing. The scene where Williams's character flashes back to when his wife is murdered in the restaurant is one of the most unsettling, powerful but downright effective scenes I have ever seen in a movie, especially as it is directly after a cute, sentimental scene where he's saying goodbye to Amanda Plummer. Nine out of ten, definitely.
Handgun (1983)
Underrated, low key thriller
This is very underrated thriller which also poses questions about America's love of guns. It is very low key and filmed almost like a documentary, and Karen Young is excellent as the victimised main character. It perhaps isn't as powerful as it could be but it is definitely worth watching.
The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Not every animated movie has Orson Welles
I first saw this movie in the cinema when I was seven, and OK maybe that's partly why I have such a high opinion of it but it certainly is a few notches above most animated films of the time. It has a mystical quality similar to Star Wars, and the anime style of animation is very cool. And look at the voice cast! It has ORSON WELLES in it, as well as Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy, Judd Nelson etc. One day it will be acknowledged as the classic that it is.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Dated but still great
Viewing this film now (2000), you can see that it has dated a bit on the surface, with the early MTV, Cabaret Volitaire posters and the ancient computers. However its theme of not letting the world pass you by still rings true, and it's still great entertainment. Also, Charlie Sheen's drugged up character is, apart from Platoon, the best thing he's done in his career (and certainly the funniest).
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Weakest Godfather film (which isn't saying much)
After the first two, classic instalments of the Godfather saga, and over sixteen years later, there was no way that this would be able to live up to the hype, in the same way as we've seen recently with The Phantom Menace. Sure enough it's not as good and it drags a bit in places but there are still some amazing moments, such as the break-in in Andy Garcia's apartment and the powerful finale. The acting is great particularly from Garcia and Pacino, and Sofia Coppola isn't as bad in this as she's been made out to be. The weakest Godfather film but the best Coppola film since Apocalypse Now.
Carrie (1976)
Greatest movie shock scene ever
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Who cares if De Palma was stealing Hitchcock's style if he came up with something as powerful as Carrie. The final scene is probably the greatest shock scene (or if you must "jumpy bit") in movie history, even the tiger scene in Apocalypse Now. Anyone who didn't jump out of their seat while watching that scene was either drunk, dead or lying. It's been imitated countless times, but Carrie cannot be bettered.
Mean Streets (1973)
A must for Scorcese/De Niro fans
This film has been overshadowed with all the praise heaped on other Martin Scorcese/Robert De Niro films, but this is a classic which is as good as Casino or Goodfellas. It's more rough around the edges and less tightly plotted than those films, but less cold hearted, and De Niro and Keitel are amazing in these early roles. The sense of tension and danger towards the end, when the situation is spinning out of control, is done perfectly. You can see the influence of this in the films of Danny Boyle and especially Quentin Tarantino. A must for Scorcese/De Niro fans.
Taxi (1998)
Avoid the dubbed version
I have just seen the British dubbed version of Taxi and it should serve as a warning against the horrors of dubbing foreign language movies. I was going to give the film a rating but I've decided I won't unless I see the subtitled version. The dubbing cheapens the film completely, giving the characters ludicrous Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels style cockney accents, it completely ruins it. The film is SET in France, accept that they will speak French
Kalifornia (1993)
Saved by Juliette Lewis's performance
Kalifornia is an entertaining serial killer movie, but what spoils it is the implication that the well off, middle class couple are the heroes, and Brad Pitt's working class, white trash character is the bad guy. Not a patch on the similar Natural Born Killers, but Juliette Lewis's performance pushes it up a notch, as she is amazing as Pitt's naive girlfriend.
Funny Games (1997)
Most unglamorous movie violence ever
This movie has the most ugly and unglamorous violence I have ever seen in a film. The excrutiatingly long take in the aftermath of the first death is the absolute polar opposite to something like Very Bad Things, as it really makes you feel the pain of the situation. I don't think I'd want to see it again, but it was still an amazing, compelling film
The Stupids (1996)
Consistently stupid
I'm not really sure why I like this film, it's not genuinely funny in the way most funny films are, it's just consistently, non-selfconsciously stupid all the way through. Hats off to Landis for not letting it become saccharine and cute at any time. You probably have to have a certain kind of sense of humor to enjoy this, or be in a weird mood.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
You'll love it or hate it
There are certain films that, because of their extremes, the viewer will either love or hate. Like The Exorcist, The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Blair Witch falls into this category. I loved it, but I heard a lot of people in the cinema mumbling things like 'that was shit' when it finished. It was probably over hyped as 'the scariest film ever' which it is not. In any case, though, no one can deny that you can't help thinking about it constantly the rest of the night after watching it. What IS making Mike stand up against the wall at the end?
American Beauty (1999)
Annette Bening's best performance
This movie could have been made to be really stagey and stifled but instead it's very cinematic, especially during the fantasy scenes involving Mena Suvari and the rose petals. All the actors are excellent, in particular Annette Bening. She is often wasted in weak films like The Siege but this is the best performance she's given.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Underrated
I thought this was a really underrated movie, perhaps not Gilliam's best but certainly not worthy of the mauling the critics gave it when it came out, and faithful to the book. It's quite dark in places, notably during the scene in the diner with Ellen Barkin. I particularly like the description given by Raoul Duke of Dr Gonzo as "one of God's own prototypes.. too weird to live, too rare to die"
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Excellent but too weird for many people's tastes
This movie is excellent, there are so many original ideas crammed into it. One review I read compared in to the Coen brothers, I can see their point but there really isn't anything remotely like it. Unfortunately, like other original films such as Eraserhead or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, it will be too much to handle for anyone who is put off by a lot of weirdness in movies. That's their loss though, and Being John Malkovich completely deserves its Oscar nominations (why were Malkovich and Cameron Diaz not nominated, though?)