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Dr Jass
Reviews
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Oh boy...
Wow, I've never seen quite such violent reactions during a showing of a film before. Smatterings of giggling started about halfway through (around the time that the comments about how 'freaky' Haley Joel Osment is had subsided), gradually progressing to full-throated laughter by a large percentage of the audience well before the film drew to a close. The notable thing about this is, while many audience members were being caught unawares by the unintentional hilarity, there was another sizeable chunk of the audience struggling to hold back tears. Things came to a head during the astonishingly long climax, when the theater was filled with uproarious laughter on several occasions, followed by just as many deeply angry voices screaming for the people responsible to be ejected. Fortunately, the film finished before the serious violence started.
My feelings towards this film were perfectly summed up by one member of a group of guys sitting behind me, who at one particularly comic moment gasped, "what is up with this movie?", before being consumed by mirth once again. So, indeed, what IS up with this movie? It starts reasonably enough, and you assume that the ponderous start is building work for a more plot-packed second half. Perhaps the CONSTANT reinforcement that, yes, it would be freaky to have a robot child running around the house would give way to something more substantial. But no, what we have here is a quite surprising lack of story - the premise is established early on and very little is done with it. Right from the start we are beaten with the theme that human beings aren't very nice (every significant human character comes across as despicable in their own way), but once the robot boy is dumped by his family there isn't a whole lot left. The film meanders on, languidly considering when it should finish, until finally it crawls to a halt...a good thirty minutes to an hour after it started winding itself up. Of course, a great many things have been said about the film's epilogue - it'll have you shaking your head in wonder, that's for sure, although you may be wondering...well, what's up with this movie, to quote the man.
The most surprising part of the evening, however, came when a female member of our party was asked her opinion of the film and answered that she thought it was at least original. If you've already seen the film, you can imagine the slaughtering she took, as AI is quite possibly the LEAST original picture released of late...and that includes all the horrible teenage flicks. AI is a horrendous Frankenstein's monster of stolen ideas, themes and feelings, the most noticeable of which come from Stanley Kubrick himself. The decision was obviously to make this a Kubrick film even without his presence, and it was done by giving you plenty of opportunity to remember the films Kubrick DID direct...almost like a tribute by a student filmmaker. But it doesn't stop there, of course...the list of...'inspirations'...is very long, has been covered elsewhere, and would not be a problem if they didn't amount to the entire sum of the film. It makes for excruciatingly dull viewing, and leaves little more than a soulless void.
(...but Teddy is fabulous! It's almost as if he was in a different film. Tells you something when you have to rely on fleeting appearances by a robot bear for something (ANYTHING!) interesting onsceen)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Truly stunning
I remembered reading Stephen King's original short story many moons before I saw the screen translation, but I'm very thankful that I couldn't remember the twist towards the end. The discovery as to what Andy's posters were REALLY used for totally changes the feel of the film, and I defy anyone to be unmoved.
This is easily the best King screen adaption, and is hardly likely to be bettered. It really is excellent, and it's hard to know what to praise it for most, but it's perhaps the only film I've ever seen that made my heart soar at the fate of it's main characters as if they were real people.
As I write this, The Shawshank Redemption has been voted the #1 film on IMDB, which is a very pleasing surprise as it really is deserved.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Pish
Well, I saw this again last night (on video this time) and although it's not as bad as I remember, we're still talking about a 2 rated film here. The beginning is bearable, but it degenerates into a comic book when the s*** starts to hit the fan, and the end is hilarious in its own ridiculous way. Maybe they should have left it as a trilogy...
The Exorcist III (1990)
One of my favourite films
This is one of those rare films - a sequel that is possibly even better than the original.
Exorcist 3 certainly has a wider scope than the original, with the plot circling around an outbreak of murders, seemingly committed by a serial killer who was disposed of many years previously. The film gradually evolves, and has been criticised for having a slow start, but there's quite a lot of details packed in.
This is a film which may be hard to follow, and may even seem dull on the first viewing, but things gradually fall into place after repeated viewings (reading the book also helps). My opinion is that this is a superb thriller, with several chilling scenes (including one or two that will literally make you jump out of your skin).
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
The worst film of all time
I've never been so bored in my entire life as when I was forced to watch this film. Even if you manage to forget that it's the sequel to one of the greatest horror films, this is a real stinker.
It's hard to even describe the plot for this, although that may just be due to the fact that I was struggling to stay awake. Suffice to say that it doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense, and isn't very interesting either. All actors involved appear to be sleepwalking, with Richard Burton's performance being particularly funny.
I can't find anything to recommend about this at all, and I'm fairly liberal when it comes to bad films, and can usually find SOMETHING worth seeing about them. Not in this case.
The Exorcist (1973)
A real one-off
This is a truly classic film, make no mistake about it. No other film generates the same malevolent air, although many have tried.
Although it's been reported that audiences laughed at certain scenes during The Exorcist's recent UK cinema re-release, there are still several spine-chilling moments, and the general sadistic tone of the film's second half throws up some unforgettably repulsive set pieces. This is not a film that you'll want your children to see.