ram-11 Reviews

Road Ends (1997)

Endless, plotless

[5 July 1999]

Shame on Dennis Hopper. I really expected more about this film. It makes you feel nothing. It's a VERY slow movie about a dealer who hides in a small town (the ambientation has a lack of characters, apparently in the town only the sheriff and three more people live) and a bunch of cops and dealers trying to find him. In the movie you can't realize who is the good and who is the bad, and worst of all it doesn't really matter. Please, don't waste your time...

Ei (1988)

A fresh love story

[5 July 1999]

Well, it might not be at all a love story. It's really a story about a baker in a small village unable to read or write, who is convinced by his friends to respond to a personal add in a magazine in order to meet a woman and to marry her. It's best than the plot suggests and it has a good direction. The interest remains in the baker's character and the enigma of what their friend are really writing in the letters. It's only 58 minutes long, so it's also an easy to see movie.

The Killer Eye (1999)

The Killer Movie...

[4/10 · 29 December 1998]

This is one of the worst movies ever.

The plot: A scientist experiments in order to achieve the entrance to the eight dimension (!). As a failure in the experiment, a "volunteer" gets his eye pushed out, and the eye becomes into a giant monster, a very pervert and erotic monster (the reason seems to be "it is confused with its sexuality").

So the movie becomes, in a "killer eye" hunting for naked women, junkies, and energy (God knows what for). If this was supposed to be a "black" movie, or a cult one, it totally fails. Performances are really bad, timing is bad, and the movie is a total waste of time (fortunately, it's only 67 minutes).

The funniest scene, (if it was supposed to be so) is one where this girl says "have you seen an eye... a killer eye?..." So, best if never seen.

Men (1997)

A sad look at relations

[7/10 · 29 December 1998]

Another movie about men-women relationships. This time, Young plays a girl who sleeps with every man she finds in order to get experience ("experience will lead her to understanding", she expects). So, I spent 90 minutes, with a very sad (not to say boring) girl, with absolutely no emotions in her face (and nowhere else).

The movie is really slow, and the message seems to be lost. I insist, perhaps with an actress actually reflecting any feeling at all, it would have been an interesting story, as it reverts the men's typical role into a woman. The drunken guy character seems to be pointless, and has no explanation at all.

So, we all ended up as empty as we started...

P.U.N.K.S. (1999)

simply B.A.D.

[5/10 · 20 December 1998]

Don't think this is a movie about "punks", not even a violent movie, this is totally "kid's stuff", but for not very bright kids. The movie is about a bunch of kids (as usual, one is a nerd, one is a fat boy, one is a thief, one is the leader, and the other, a girl, so we have "all kinds") who join to prevent the death of the father of the leader, a scientist developing a "muscular enhancer", so the kids turn out to be : a) smart enough to understand a biological-scientifical experiment and its consequences, b) with the skills to break in to a lab with the highest-technology security, c) with the knowledge and skills to use computers as real hackers, among a lot of other things.

So, the result is a boring movie, with bad kid actors, no angel, no fun, nothing else to say. Avoid it, even if you want a child's movie, or if you thought this would be sort of "KIDS" or anything a bit heavier, cause of the title PUNKS (as I thought).

Ma vie en rose (1997)

Troubles of being "abnormal"

[9/10 · 20 December 1998]

The story of a boy who believes he'll grow up to be a girl, who likes to dress as a girl, who dreams to marry his boyfriend...

It's a difficult story (at least for people having troubles with the subject) , but it's well developed, with a neat ambientation in the "suburbian" life-style, with a terrific screenplay, an acceptable performance of the "wannabe" boy.

The movie reflects the influence of media in young people (the boy watching the series of a heroin), the effect of the "shocking news" among the suburbia. In a manner, it diminishes the role of woman, by defining the ultimate goal as getting married.

Resuming, it's a fun story, well managed, but could have been better...

Little City (1997)

Not so bad after all

[8/10 · 9 December 1998]

Being a little skeptical about movies with a singer in the main role (Bon Jovi), I must say "Little City" was beyond my expectations. It's a movie about people in platonic feelings, the usual "when-i-care-for-you, you-don't-care-for-me" situation that becomes "now-that-i-was-accepting-it(with someone else) you-come-back". Love becoming lack of interest becoming searching someone else becoming love again.

The movie has regular performances, but a good screenplay, maybe a little slow at the beginning, but at the end is an acceptable result.

The Killing (1956)

Noir, Suspense, KUBRIC

[10/10 · 21 November 1998]

And I thought Tarantino was an innovative director when playing with times, a non-linear time sequence. Kubric creates an entertaining story about a crime that could have been perfect (sounds familiar with "Reservoir Dogs"?). A great example of noir film, a film every "new Tarantino's fan" should see to realize the influence of Kubric's genialty. In 90 minutes we enjoy the great ambientation, the extraordinary music, and a really master's direction.

Fanfan (1993)

Romance multiplied by imagination

[10/10 · 7 November 1998]

This is definitely one of the most beautiful romantic films I've seen. Marceau is adorable in her role. She is the image of beauty and love herself. A night with the woman you love, dancing in a place you've never been, loving as you've never loved. Love at first, second and every sight. I consider this movie a classic, for what it means, for those who believe in true love.

The Pillow Book (1995)

Greenaway's Masterpiece

[24 October 1998]

Greenaway means creation, poetry, music, risk, love, life, art... In "The pillow book" a story of love inside the words, inside the skin, touches everything in the viewer's senses. The art displayed in every scene, in every combination of sequences, images, feelings, makes this movie a masterpiece, a classic that must be seen.

Speaking Parts (1989)

Simply Great

[10/10 · 24 October 1998]

As my first approach to Egoyan's films, I must say it was a great experience. The movie is about lonely people searching for something or someone, about the influence of media, about life. Its ambientation works excellent. Not an easy movie to see, though; but it's really an experience.