Any film which makes the viewer long for the charismatic stylings of Lou Ferrigno is bound to be a high flyer in 'Worst Film' lists. Sure, an impressive amount of time and money had been spent on the special fx but the film cannot survive the fatal flaw of featuring a Hulk with an uncanny resemblance to a Cabbage Patch Kid.
Pointless and longwinded, this film added nothing to the continuing saga of the Matrix except for profit. In a desperate attempt to justify the film, the Wachowski Brothers produced possibly the longest final scene in history where anyone who has avoided slipping into a coma during the rest of the film is rewarded with a never-ending, nonsensical explanation of what the Matrix is all about. One question the film did not answer: why such a technologically advanced society has failed to develop a decent washing powder?
Contrary to Hollywood belief, lots of explosions and Cameron Diaz in her underwear do not make a good film - a popular one maybe. After the success of the first film, a sequel and this one was much lauded for featuring the resurrection (film wise) of Demi Moore as a rogue Angel. She should have done everyone a favour and stayed in the wilderness.
Around 1877, the Emperor and government of Japan felt the need to modernise their army and, oddly, decided to hunt for the man capable of the job in a hokey Wild West show in San Francisco. This slightly implausible decision could easily have led to the film concentrating on the role of the Americans rather than the actual happenings of the Samurai revolt, indeed the Hollywoodisation of history seemed complete when Colonel Bagley declared that "Japan has got it in mind to be a civilised country". However, this comment actually marked a turning point in the tone of the film as director Edward Zwick takes the unusual step of swiping at American imperialism and clearly favouring the traditional way of life of the samurai.
Tom Cruise stars as Nathan Algren, a washed up drunk of a US Cavelry officer, traumatised by his role in the slaughter of innocent Native Americans, who now makes a living entertaining crowds at gun rallies [an early forerunner of the NRA - it's a surprise Micheal Moore didn't pop up somewhere]. Algren is persauded to leave this life behind and go to Japan (accompanied by Billy Connelly as Zebulon Gant and Tony Goldwyn as Colonel Bagley) to help train their army in western fighting methods. After a few months of training it becomes clear to Algren that the army is not ready but the weedy Emperor, heavily influenced by his money hungry advisors, sends them to fight the samurai anyway. Algren is captured but his life is spared by the samurai leader Katsumoto, who then has the dubious idea of imprisoning Algren in his sister's house despite the fact that Algren has just killed her husband. Algren spends the winter with the samurai, becoming increasingly drawn to their culture and (being the Hollywood star that he is) mastering their fighting techniques and impressing everyone with his fine nature.
Nathan Algren is a departure from the usual all-American characters that Tom Cruise plays and he throws himself whole-heartedly into the role. Kudos Tom, kudos. As a drunk he is slightly questionable but he pulls off the fighting scenes and rampant philosophizing surprisingly well, only resorting to gazing off purposefully into space and flicking his hair from his eyes on a couple of occasions. The true star of the film is Ken Watanabe as Katsumoto, the leader of the samurai, who brilliantly captures the difficult situation Katsumoto faces as he must choose between loyalty to the Emperor and loyalty to the traditions he cares deeply about.
A brilliant chick flick movie, cameron diaz and kate winslet work so brilliantly in this movie!! Well done to 2 and a half hours of a fantastic movie made!!
'Children of Men' depicts a bleak dystopian near-future where humanity is infertile and whose existence teeters on the brink of extinction. It is a violent vision of revolution and a State which has passed beyond anarchy and has entered into chaos.
Somehow a young girl finds herself pregnant and there is hope. The baby carries with it the importance of a Messiah, whose birth symbolizes salvation and redemption for mankind. Theo, a one-time activist is drawn into the struggle to single handedly save mankind. The fact that Theo becomes the reluctant anti-hero is negligible. It could be any man; which is precisely why he is Every Man.
The overriding message of the film is that individual sacrifice doesn"t matter so long as the mankind as a collective can attain salvation, and it is this collectivist conception of humanity which strips the film of such feelings as love and tenderness - darkening the already sombre tone of the film - there is only comradeship and this comradeship is only valid as long as the individual disowns himself for the collective. How prophetic this film proves to be - only time will tell.
The film is at its most striking when the cries of the new-born child are able to silence the warring guns of man... there is the cry of hope therein, a chorus of salvation to which all men are to some degree attuned. How long can such silence last?
Finally, though, there is the affirmation of hope which is stamped on the film as we witness a ship of salvation enter the screen whose name is Tomorrow.... But what Tomorrow will bring, we must either imagine for ourselves, or patiently wait for a sequel....
Opening with the line "Do you find me sadistic?", Kill Bill Vol. 1, the latest film from Quentin Tarantino, proves to be a sublimely funny, if somewhat disturbing, gore-mongering splatter-fest of a story. With more corpses than you could shake several sticks at, Kill Bill relies far more on attention grabbing visuals than the usual dialogue-heavy Tarantino fare which will only serve to widen its appeal.
The basic theme of the film is that death is a dish best served cold - there"s bound to be further social commentary hidden in there somewhere but the audience may be too busy wiping the blood from their eyes to notice.
The story is divided into chapters and the action jumps backwards and forwards in time Pulp Fiction style, beginning with the slaughter of a wedding party during the ceremony. Uma Thurman plays The Bride who somehow survives the carnage, much to the annoyance of the redneck cops who don"t bother to search for signs of life. She spends the next four years in a coma only to wake up after a mosquito bite during one of the most disturbing scenes of the film.
After much stabbing and bashing of heads against doors, it emerges that The Bride used to be an assassin and that it was her co-workers from the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS) who bloodied up the floor of the church. Once she has fully regained the control of her extremities (note the oddly large feet), The Bride sets off to wreak messy revenge on those she blames for the death of her unborn child.
Tarantino is the master of the ensemble cast and this time he wisely avoids venturing in front of the camera himself. Uma Thurman as The Bride and Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii are the true stars of the film with the scenes at the House of the Blue Leaves being the most stunning and most entertaining by far. The other members of the DiVAS, including Vivica A. Fox as Copperhead and Daryl Hannah as California Mountain Snake, have remarkably little screen time for actors of their calibre. While Fox is involved in a fabulously choreographed fight scene packed with amusing dialogue, Hannah lets her eye patch do most of the acting for her. As the eponymous Bill, David Carradine is not seen directly throughout the entire film but manages to verbally menace from the sidelines with the greatest of ease.
The visually stunning opening to Todd Haynes" Far From Heaven sets the tone for a wonderfully atmospheric 50"s nostalgia-fest, all this despite the presence of disturbingly Neighbours-like credits. Tragically, the somewhat vital area of plot does not quite equal the sublime cinematography.
In suburban Connecticut in 1957, Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) spends her days playing cards with friends and planning parties to impress her husband"s business colleagues. Although this appears a shallow existence, Cathy seems content choosing dinner services (and who wouldn"t get excited by a table setting with aqua trim?) and nagging her freakishly wholesome children. However, in possibly one of the best cinematic examples of character"s moods being reflected in their surroundings, as the trees of New England shed their leaves and people"s clothes become more sombre, the story darkens and cracks begin to appear in Cathy"s fragile happiness. Her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid turning in his best performance of recent years) fails to return home for dinner one evening and telephone call summons Cathy to bail him out of jail.
At this point, the plot begins to veer from telling a poignant and interesting tale of the character"s lives to resorting to cliché and overzealous sentimentality to capture the audience"s imaginations. It turns out that instead of working late, Frank has been frequenting gay clubs and, after Cathy walks in on one of his romantic assignations, he aggress to undergo the highly plausible "homosexual conversion" procedure. The strain of therapy turns him to drink and, eventually, domestic violence, which in turn causes Cathy to seek comfort in the arms of black gardener Raymond (Dennis Haysbert), much to the consternation of society as a whole.
Their marriage could not possibly survive all of these traumas and, to a certain extent, neither can the legitimacy of the film. In attempting to explore so many of the taboos of that period, the film is unable to tackle any of them in depth. Despite it being the 1950s, it would appear that no one is particularly bothered when Frank decides to leave his family and move in with his younger, male lover. On the other hand, the idea of a white woman and a black man forming a relationship provokes a violent reaction from both communities despite the fact that the relationship itself is negligible and sloppily handled. Despite excellent performances from both Moore and Haysbert, it is difficult to believe that their characters would form a close bond based on the view exchanges that occur between them.
Far From Heaven is an eminently watchable film, it is beautifully shot and the actors are without exception of the highest calibre.
In 'Brick', his masterfully crafted first feature, Rian Johnson manages to capture the essence of film noir while at the same time producing a wholly original film.
Loner Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) experiences a whole new level of teen angst when a mysterious call for help from his ex-girlfriend, Emily (Emilie de Ravin), drags him into a plot as twisting and dangerous as anything thought up by Chandler or Hammett. Realising that Emily has disappeared, Brendan becomes obsessed with finding her and so begins an increasingly desperate investigation into the seedy underbelly of school life that pits him against glamorous rich-girl Laura (Nora Zehetner), drugged up Dode (Noah Segan), and local criminal mastermind the Pin (Lukas Haas). Only by immersing himself in the lives and crimes of the Pin's gang does Brendan finally learn the truth.
A mystery of the highest order, 'Brick' both thrills and entertains. The cast are universally excellent and, although it might take a while to tune into the neo-noir dialogue, the story grips from the very beginning and even Jessica Fletcher would have a hard time unravelling all the twists and turns before the final, emotional, reveal.
"Wrong Turn" is without doubt one of the worst films of the so-called "horror" genre I have had the misfortune to see.
It is a formulaic, plotless, and one dimensional affair.
In an attempt to combine the truly frightening elements of both "Deliverance" and the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" this film fails torridly. In "Deliverance" the Appalachian hill-billies were genuinely disturbing; likewise are the family of inbreeds in "Texas Chainsaw": by being mirrors, or rather reflections, of individuals who exist in such remote places, they extrapolate the multifarious forms of human primitivism, degradation, and perversity.... However, in Wrong Turn this "family" are far more like the Simpsons in both behaviour and appearance, but, without the wit, the charm, or the socially conscious satire.
The characters are preposterously one-dimensional, lacking both substance and personality: They are nothing more than skeet flung out in order to be shot. And of course the obligatory moral hierarchy of slaughter is established when the pot-smoking teen who after receiving fellatio from his girlfriend is the first to die.
The film reaches the depths of bathos during a scene where our (I refrain from using the term heroes) hapless youths are hiding under a bed narrowly missing detection from mutants in their own dilapidated home. The objections I have to this sequence are legion. The negative points of this film are myriad. The reasons to watch this film are none - other than being an abject lesson in how films ought not be made.
Master filmmaker Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, affectionately known to fans as 'Hitch' which, I suppose, is better than being known as 'Cock', is finally honoured with a decent DVD box set. For when Hitch told us "...to make audiences suffer as long as possible" I'm sure he didn't mean do it by releasing a multitude of DVD sets with various cuts of the same film, some films missing or a vanilla surreptitiously snuck in amongst the special editions. But when you've secured the rights to market a cinematic genius of Hitchcock's calibre and fame, the scope for fleecing fan's of their hard earned cash time and time again, is probably too tempting an option to resist. And even though 'North By Northwest', 'Foreign Correspondent', 'Dial M For Murder', 'The Wrong Man', 'Notorious', 'I Confess' and 'Strangers On A Train' are conspicuous by their absence, this 14-disc collection is still the best of the recent Hitchcock box sets and definitely worth looking into.
1. Vertigo (1958)
'Cahiers Du Cinema's'' favourite film, 'Vertigo' sees alleged real life Satanist; Jimmy Stewart as an acrophobic tec obsessed with an old pal's wife (Kim Novak). Excellent cinematography and mis-en-scene (including the now often imitated depth-of-field shot) very atmospheric in spite of some plot holes, 'Vertigo' is one I liked better the second time around.
2. The Birds (1963)
Spoofed with Dolphins in 'The Simpsons', 'The Birds' sees Melanie Griffith's mother; Tippi Hedren, menaced by an aviary of ornithological terrors in Hitchcock's third adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier novel. Great fun, beautiful cinematography and a genuine sense of increasing panic when the winged creatures assert their authority, DVD features Hedren's screen-test and an informative making of featurette.
3. Rear Window (1954)
Hitch shows us exactly why he's lauded as the master of suspense, when Jimmy Stewart takes on the role of a voyeuristic, wheelchair bound photographer who's convinced his neighbour is a murderer. Grace Kelly co-stars in this claustrophobic paranoid thriller which was cleverly (albeit not as skilfully) remade 40 years later with the late / great Christopher Reeve in the lead role. Classic.
4. Marnie (1964)
Film noir in Technicolor, 'Marnie' harks back to the novels of Cornell Woolrich with a little bit of Truffaut's 'Mississippi Mermaid' thrown in for good measure. An effortlessly cool Sean Connery befriends mysterious, ever so slightly mad, thief Tippi Hedren. Reasonably entertaining, some themes and ideas don't work as well as they should (watch the excellent making of for the reasons why), but its an unusual little picture that holds your attention throughout.
5. Frenzy (1972)
Gripping, but over-directed, serial killer yarn with shades of 'The Wrong Man' about it. A psychopathic strangler is on a killing spree in London though the police, unsurprisingly, have the wrong guy. Hitchcock's penultimate picture is a hit & miss affair that skilfully walks the genre tightrope between black comedy and explicit suspense thriller; proves the old cliché that less is more.
6. Topaz (1969)
French secret agent swans around the world in this slow burn, cold war picture centred around the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Similar in style to 'The Quiller Memorandum', "Topaz" is quite an engaging film for its time and features just enough cloak & dagger intrigue, over-the-shoulder paranoia and political machinations to make it a credible edition to the Hitchcock cannon.
7. The Trouble With Harry (1955)
Marginally successful farce with a decent script and some witty one-liners, the movie seems outdated now, in that the corpse comedy (never as funny as it sounds) has been done to death from 'Head Above Water', 'Diabolique' to 'The Last Supper'. Notable for being Shirley McClaine's screen debut.
8. Torn Curtain (1966)
More cold war shenanigans as scientist Paul Newman infiltrates Communist East Germany in this overlong, character driven suspense drama. An engaging central performance by Newman makes up for a miscast Julie Andrews, whilst Leila Kedrova (best known for her award winning performance in 'Zorba The Greek') lifts proceedings as Countess Kuchinska. Features a memorable Hitchcock murder, which ranks as the one of most unpleasant / realistic slayings ever seen in cinema, 'Torn Curtain' makes for an interesting companion piece to 'Topaz' and is well directed, though the movie's pace limits repeat viewing potential.
9. Psycho: Special Edition (1960)
A classic given a decent release at long last, includes bonus disc 'The Hitchcock Legacy'...need I go on?
10. Family Plot (1976)
Hitch's long and illustrious career ends with a nudge & a wink in this offbeat comedy/drama, that works surprisingly well, given that its so out of step with the independent spirit of mid 70's filmmaking. Bruce Dern and Barbara Harris are well cast as a pair of chancers who encounter a criminal gang, lightweight, but enjoyable fare.
11. Saboteur (1942)
Gripping, often surreal, WWII melodrama that pre-empted themes featured in post-war film noirs. Aircraft munitions factory worker Robert Cummings is wrongly accused of sabotage and goes on the run, future influences include 'The Bourne Identity', 'Lost Highway' and even 'X-Men 1.5'.
12. Shadow Of A Doubt (1943)
Featuring an excellent retrospective, Hitchcock's personal favourite film is an intense, and often darkly humorous take on the crazy-relative-comes-to-stay scenario. Joseph Cotton is excellent as possible serial killer uncle Charlie (think Chris Morris meets Norman Bates) whilst Teresa Wright does well as his namesake and increasingly suspicious / vulnerable niece. Its small town setting gives it the feel of a stage play, which only serves to heighten the anxiety. Vintage Hitch
13. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day star as an unhappily married couple whose façade of marital bliss comes apart at the seams when they become embroiled in complex kidnapping/ assassination conspiracy. Too many themes at work here, overall, a finely constructed film though not as good as some make it out to be. Dazzling Technicolor & cinematography makes it a worthy remake of Hitchcock's 1934 version.
14. Rope (1948)
Alfred Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart's first, and finest, collaboration is an excellent, innovative adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's controversial 1929 stage play. Set almost entirely in one room, 'Rope' sees a pair of arrogant, bourgeois gay men, murder a mutual friend for no apparent reason other than to prove themselves above & beyond conventional morality. They then proceed to host a banquet served upon a chest containing their pal's corpse, trying to add insult to injury, they invite the victim's fiancé, and their former college professor (played by James Stewart). Jimmy Stewart puts in an incendiary performance as he begins to decipher the pair's heinous deed and, perhaps, how his own Nihilistic teachings may have influenced them. An underrated masterpiece.
Pretty good - lot's of intresting bits.it would make a good sequel bits a bit boring. a movie you would only like to watch a couple of times.clever scipt my friend loved it i found it a bit boaring. chrilldren round 9 years would enjoy it alot,
The Island rides the improbability train wildly at several points and at, at least one point perhaps to complete derailment but the plot is fast, explosive and exciting. In short the high-octane action will keep viewers dizzied from exhaust fumes, enough so to suspend their disbelief just that faction more than normal. And besides the entire storyline is a little futuristic, and who"s to say that by 2019 people won"t be able to fall off buildings and survive?!
When The Island reaches a point where a suitably tidy ending is in sight, credit goes to writers Caspian Tredwell-Owen and
Alex Kurtzman and director Michael Bay for a genuine attempt to strive for a more rewarding and uplifting conclusion.
Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor play the part of childlike clones unaware of the dangers and delights of the world very well and later both manage the change in character traits into more assertive and knowledgeable characters with aplomb. Steve Buscemi adds a welcome touch of weirdness that only he can provide and Sean Bean delivers another one of his nasty villain types.
The Island is not a perfect film but actors with collected talent and charms of Johansson and McGregor could manage to make you fall in love with much worse films. It"s a thrill ride just watching these two on screen and they work well together. The film is also even thought provoking and that"s an uncommon thing to say about Michael Bay"s films.
Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Truman Capote - a writer for the New Yorker in this real life biopic of the man that revolutionalised journalism with his "non-fiction novel" In Cold Blood but sold his soul and broke journalistic code in the process.
Capote trawls the newspaper searching for inspiration for a short story that The New Yorker can serialise. He finds a report about a family from a quite farming community in Kansas that has been brutally murdered. He"s quick to realise that this could be perfect for a book which he dubs - a non-fiction novel - "sometimes, when I think how good my book can be, I can hardly breathe" he says.
He goes to Kansas to investigate the murders and gather material for his book. He"s given access to police reports and even allowed to speak to the killers - two young men Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr) and Richard Hickock (Mark Pellegrino).
He develops a relationship with Smith and, eager to gather as much information as possible, even finds an appeal lawyer to help the murderers and get them a delay in their executions.
Whether Truman Capote really felt anything for these men - be it sympathy or empathy - "it's as if we were raised in the same house, and one day he stood up and walked out the back door and I walked out the front" he once said about Perry Smith is debatable. More likely he was deceiving them like he did almost everyone.
Well-known amongst the New York literati with his high-pitched southern drawl and sparkling anecdotes Truman Capote was a sharp-witted master of conversation.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a fantastic character actor and this is one of his only lead roles, he"s excellent as Capote by all reports mimicking him perfectly he makes the movie more watchable than it might have been without him, yet somehow the film is still a little sterile and whilst it does engage the viewer on some levels it won"t be to everyone"s tastes..
In Brokeback Mountain two cowboys become friends. But when their friendship develops into a gay relationship I think that they were just as surprised as I was! A mainstream movie with a gay relationship at the heart of it is a rare thing - however I found their love to be both touching and emotional.
However as both men later married and had families and were then unfaithful it was difficult for me to like or sympathise with their characters. Yet consider that the film is set in the 60s when sexual attitudes were far removed from those now and it makes it more understandable.
Both Jake Gyllenhall as the lively and daring Jack Twist and Heath Ledger as the shy and more introspective Innes Delmar produce performances that if perhaps not, in my opinion, Oscar worthy are still a cut above most. Both believable and impressive the lead stars make Brokeback Mountain watchable even when the script and pacing drag.
Ang Lee's direction is, as always, a little slow and the first act of the film does seem to be unnecessarily long, yet the photography is beautiful and the direction in its better moments is excellent.
In so many films where such an emphasis is placed on the 'look', that concetration on one aspect of the film directly affects how much concentration goes into other aspects- usually the story itself.
However, even with that damning comment in mind, A Scanner Darkly excels in providing not only visual nourishment, but a treatment of the Philip K Dick novel that leaves the viewer (or at least, this viewer) panting for more.
If nothing, this movie should be watched (and has been, I am sure) purely for the utter genius of the casting- Keanu Reeves' quiet incredulity that he has brought to most of his other films is not at all out of place- almost as if the role has been moulded to suit his character- this manifests itself by a comfortable performance from him in the lead role. Backing him up are such delights as Woody Harrelson pulling off the role of a drug-addled but endearing bum to aplomb, Robert Downey Junior (actually my favourite part of the film as a whole) as a not-entirely-sane evil genius (or idiot, the line is a fine one) and Winon Ryder as either the most pointless person in the piece, or the most important- I shall leave it to you to decide.
In summation, A Scanner Darkly is everything a film adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel should be: cast with an eye for detail, as beautiful as the story and absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended.
I loved this programme when it was first aired. Quite quirky and original in its time.
A Canadian mountie (Benton Fraser) gets assigned to a police station in Chicago, much to the amusement of the citizens. His alternative methods to crime solving are addictive to watch, as well as amusing at times.
It was sad to see it run for only three seasons, especially as the mysteries and ongoing storyline (I wont spoil it too much) were extremely charming and left you with a feel-good factor most the time.
This is byfar the strongest season and will leave you wanting more...
Konkurs was Milos Forman's (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Loves of a Blond) first film and the first film of the Czech New Wave. It is a documentary with fictional elements inserted. And these carefully integrated elements (fact and fiction) complement each other wonderfully, one providing raw energy, passion and hopes, the other a more dramatic and involving drive. You end up follow it all intently.
The film comprises of two halves: The first shows competing brass bands, the second a furious and rock'n'roll slathered audition for a female role in the show. Many of those auditioning put great, and what must be genuine performances. They all shame the X-Factor at any rate.
As a major director's first film, the film that launched the Czech New Wave, and what can only be described as a joy to watch, Konkurs is worth well more than 80minutes of you time, and that is all it demands (for one viewing). And I can only imagine that repeat viewings would be equally refreshing and enjoyable.
The best ever tv prison drama ever made, With violence, drugs, sex and religion all thrown in, oz is sure to make any one a fan. So many different characters ensures that you'll find one you like although be aware they might be killed off if not in this season then later ones. In every episode there is a thought provoking speech given by Harold Perrineau Jr. which sums up the action. If your a woman watching then believe me there is some hot men some scenes showing little if nothing to the imagination and if your a bloke then enjoy the barrbaric lives of those inside. Can be very addictive and if you own this season you'll probably end up owning the lot! This season ends dramaticly leaving unopened questions but at the same time would be an adequate ending for those who only want to see the first season. A worth while buy which i would recommend to anyone (so long as their 16 or over!)
Anthony Mann's western cycle, especially the films made with James Stewart as the lead, are surely among the best films to come out of classic Hollywood. In this film, Stewart plays a former outlaw who has reformed and aims to make a new life for himself as a rancher. Mann is always very interested in the moral dilemmas associated with violence and the frontier, and this is no exception. His characters are psychologically complex and obsessed with the idea of change and starting fresh. It's a tough, bracing film, characterized by gorgeous outdoor photography and a focus on the internal motivations of its characters. There's plenty of action and large-scale gunfights, but the film's thematic centre is the idea of domesticity and creating the foundations of a life from scratch.
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