SunTzu-4 Reviews

Anything Else (2003)

Tedious

[6 August 2004]

This was a very dull film. It had a few funny one-liners but not funny enough to stick in my mind. None of the characters is sympathetic, most of them are downright irritating.

Jason Biggs is a pathetic loser fixated on a self-centered bundle of neuroses played by Christina Ricci (note to the casting director: Ricci is not attractive enough to play a femme fatale). Woody Allen plays another pathetic loser, as do Danny de Vito and Stockard Channing. All are wasted.

I went with a group of friends, otherwise I would have walked out: as it was I tried desperately to go to sleep.

The title gives the clue: if anyone suggests this film ask if there is anything else . . . anything. Avoid.

Troy (2004)

Well, it isn't called "The Iliad" . . .

[3 June 2004]

. . . so if you are happy to leave Homer on the shelf, forget the Aenid and ditch the Oresteia then you'll probably have a nice time watching this. It isn't Homer, but it is a fun sword-and-sandals epic: if you can view it on this level then you'll enjoy this flick. It's good, clean, escapist fun, the interpretation of Achilles as a psychopath was refreshing, and some of the panoramic scenes were truly amazing. Overall it could have been better - we saw more flesh from Achilles than from Helen (when is Hollywood going to relax a little about breasts, this WAS Ancient Greece for goodness' sake?), and some of the acting was a little wooden - but it could have been SO much worse: Steven Seagal as Achilles and Van Damme as Hector anyone?

The Parole Officer (2001)

Thoroughly enjoyable

[28 May 2004]

Having read some of the other comments, I can only say that some people take their comedy far too seriously: I really enjoyed seeing this at the cinema and bought the DVD to share it with my friends. I can't think of anyone with whom I've seen this who didn't enjoy it - there are some great one-liners, some really funny visuals, and the comedy is all based on character rather than pratfalls (although there are some of those too). The cast all seem like they were having fun: Coogan is Coogan, Lena Heady is delectable (especially in the shower) and Om Puri is predictably brilliant. The minor characters are all well cast and add to the fun. I found this film thoroughly likable - and I think you probably will too.

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Disappointing

[30 May 2003]

If the Matrix had been this mediocre there would have been no sequel.

The first hour or so is dull: Zion would have best been left unseen as a metaphor rather than being shown as tacky and sub-Star Wars. Had it been left as a paradigm it would have been far stronger and I might have cared: as it happened it looked like a night-club straight out of Bad Boys / Basic Instinct.

Interesting to note that all the baddies are (without exception) white and the goodies are (with two exceptions) black. Why? Had this been the other way around there would have been cries of racism.

The fight scenes are technically good but are flat because there is no sense of any vulnerability .

The movie is pretentious, so far up its own bottom you can see out through its nostrils.

Some good action scenes, but the next one needs to be The Matrix Redeemed.

About a Boy (2002)

Very entertaining

[10/10 · 26 April 2002]

Very well done. Hugh Grant plays against type as a thoroughly-selfish individual who finds redemption through his (initially unwilling) friendship with a young boy. This was extremely funny for those brought up in the English tradition of irony and self-deprecation so it may lose its audience on the other side of the Atlantic (except in New York and San Francisco): my companion, though, was Romanian and she found it hilarious - so I may be taking too-jaundiced a line there. Highly recommended: go and see it for no other reason than you'll be glad you did.

Monsoon Wedding (2001)

High hopes dashed

[8 January 2002]

I had high hopes of this as something a little different and a little more cerebral after the usual Christmas blockbusters. It was different - it was dull. I felt no sympathy - far less empathy - with the characters. Although I concede it may be realistic, the constant slipping between Punjabi and English was confusing - better to have done it entirely in Punjabi or entirely in English. The subtitles were poorly done - white on (quite often) a pale background is completely useless.

Take away the colourful scenario and all you are left with is a dysfunctional - and not very edifying - family: nothing new there. I left before the end because I didn't want to waste any more time on this, and my girlfriend felt the same (not just a guy-thing). The first function of a film is to entertain, and on that test this one failed.

The Tailor of Panama (2001)

Better than I expected

[3 May 2001]

I enjoyed this - Brosnan is in fine form as a James Bond gone off the rails, Geoffrey Rush is in fine comedic form, and Catherine MacCormack plays the English sex-siren with cool aplomb (she is definitely a talent yet to receive her due recognition). This film didn't really know whether it was a comedy or a thriller and tended to fall between the two stools, but nonetheless provided solid entertainment during its running period (even if the Chinese-and-Taiwanese-have-joined-forces-to-buy-the-Canal premise was so wild that no-one would ever have believed it still less invested in it). Worth the money - and a lot better than some of the efforts I've seen recently.

Betty Blue (1986)

Fantastic

[25 January 2001]

As well as being one of the all-time erotic classics (and I mean "erotic" rather than "pornographic") this is simply a fantastic drama, poignant and harrowing, funny and sad. Beautifully shot with amazing colours, quirky characterization, excellent acting and imaginative direction this movie is a delight for all of its 185 minutes (the director's cut is the one to go for). But when is this coming out on DVD? Will the US film company's have enough imagination to bring it out? We can, like Zorg at the end of this movie, only live in hope.

My New Partner (1984)

Great fun - when will they produce this on DVD?

[25 January 2001]

An excellent, funny and sad movie about being young, getting old, playing it straight and bending the rules. Cannot fail to engage: one of those movies the French do inimitably and best. DVD soon, please.

Unbreakable (2000)

Dull

[22 January 2001]

I am not a comic-reader so maybe I missed the point, but I was terribly bored by this movie. Bruce Willis plays a man who is really rather dull, an interesting deviation from his usual roles - but it only interested me for about five minutes. So did the film. The twist was okay (not as foreseeable as in The Sixth Sense) but it did not really redeem the rest of the movie. Unbreakable was not unforgettable, I am afraid, but it might be unforgiveable. Save your money.

Vertical Limit (2000)

Excellent and Great Fun.

[22 January 2001]

This had terrible reviews by the filmerati, yet I thought I would give it a chance on an evening where I had seen (or did want to see) the other films playing. I was greatly impressed. Of course the direction wasn't Fellini, the script wasn't Shakespeare and the acting owed nothing to tanislavsky - but it WAS very entertaining and two hours slipped away very quickly. Please don't watch this if you feel that every movie you see has to be an intense intellectual experience and contribute to the sum of human philosophy because you will be very disappointed: if you do want to put your feet up, immerse your brain in a bucket of iced gin-and-tonic and have a thoroughly exciting rollercoaster-ride with your palms sweaty and your heart racing, this is definitely for you. Go see it.

Brideshead Revisited (1981)

The best adaptation I have ever seen

[22 January 2001]

Simply enchanting. Waugh's excellent use of English in recounting the story of the doomed Marchmain family is brought to life without losing one iota of its charm and power. I doubt that anyone will be able to imagine anyone other than Anthony Andrews as Sebastian or Nikolas Grace as Anthony Blanche; Jeremy Irons gives a well-rounded performance, Diana Quick is suitably gorgeous and a host of great English actors (Gielgud, Olivier et al) lend support to a fantastic script and excellent direction. See this.

What Lies Beneath (2000)

Thoroughly enjoyable

[23 July 2000]

I saw this last night and had a great time. I like ghost stories ('though not the Evil Dead / Friday 13th-type gore-fest), and this one delivered the goods.

An excellent performance by Michelle Pfeiffer, and Harrison Ford delivers, as always, a solid performance. I thought this was genuinely creepy and I found myself gripping the arm-rest more tightly than was truly comfortable just to make sure I did not jump out of my seat. A lot of the reviews above take a highly intellectual approach to movies and moan about them being derivative and predictable: I would agree absolutely that this has nothing to say about the human condition, but as a piece of entertainment on a Saturday night when all I wanted to do was take out my over-used brain and dunk it in a bath of iced G&T, this worked just fine. Enjoy.

Sunshine (1999)

Excellent movie

[3 July 2000]

I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Schindler's List, The English Patient or The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It's a long film but worth it: I was very tired when I went to see this (jet-lag) yet it held my attention throughout (by contrast, in another very loud movie which shall remain nameless, I was Gone in 60 Seconds). The only quibble would be that some people did not age: Gustav, for example, stays exactly the same for the whole of the first part of the trilogy (Jennifer Ehrle ages magnificently, her later incarnation being played by her real-life mother, Rosemary Harris, and it's hard to tell when one gives way to the other).

Great acting (Rachel Weitz is scarily neurotic, Jennifer Ehrle/Rosemary Harris delightful and Ralph Fiennes incandescent) from the smaller parts as well as the greater, definitely a film I shall buy if and when it comes out on DVD.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

. . . but is this movie good enough?

[30 November 1999]

Definitely good enough, not overall as good as Goldeneye but better than TND. Robert Carlyle et al are much more credible villains than was Jonathan Pryce effeting his way through TND, but Michelle Yeoh was a better foil for the Brosnan charm than Denise Richards - she is little more than a large pair of breasts topped with a pretty face (although that may be a good definition of a classic Bond girl).

In one or two places the comedy went a little over-the-top - with Q and R for example - losing the film a little credibility and momentum as a consequence. Sophie Marceau smoulders her way through the movie, but there is not enough information given on her motivation for what she does later in the movie. Serena Scott Thomas makes a welcome return to the big screen as the doctor and let's hope we see her again in Bond 20.

The submarine sequences were a little confusing - maybe I will understand exactly what Denis Richards is doing with the red and green lights when I see the film for a second time. And that I shall see it a second time is probably all the recommendation you need.

It's Bond and, with all it's faults, it's still streets ahead of the opposition, and it's still a must-see. So see it.

Pushing Tin (1999)

Disappointing

[2/10 · 1 November 1999]

This had a great cast and a talented director and still I was, frankly, bored. The characterisations were listless and there was no explanation for the characters' actions (why was Cate Blanchett's character unfaithful, why did she react so violently to Nick's (John Cusack) infidelity, why was Billy Bob Thornton the way he was, why oh why was his teenage wife an alcoholic?). The movie tried to be too many things - a comedy, a buddy-buddy movie, a serious drama, a thriller, and failed on all counts. Poor. I would not even bother to watch it on video.