Change Your Image
Richard-211
Reviews
The Birdcage (1996)
Underrated
I gave this a ten in a futile attempt to up the average.
It would be a shame if a 6.5 score put people off watching this film, I would rate it 7-8 quite happily. It is one of the few films released over the last few years that gives me belly laughs throughout, and after repeat viewings.
Nathan Lane is especially good, and after this film I became a big fan.
Perhaps the homosexual themes put people off. Yes, the characters are stereotypes, and it doesn't try to make many serious points, but I'd like to think that the open minded are in for an undervalued treat.
How do I feel about the rating? I don't know, betrayed, bewildered...
Love Stinks (1999)
Deserves better
I am writing this as I am astonished by some of the vitriolic comments submitted by other members. I have just watched this film, with a hang-over, and laughed out loud for the first time in many months. I liked it a lot.
I can only imagine that you have to be able to relate to this film or else it will fly right over your head. So that limits the audience to those who have recent experiences of a relationship with someone who you seriously considered might be the "one". I related to Seth - remembering perhaps how I felt when my girlfriend referred to herself as my fiance before I had even proposed!! Actually if I don't do it soon I'll be in big trouble...
So don't be put off, give this film a try and there is a good chance that this suprisingly intelligent comedy will strike a chord. If it does you'll be glad you watched it - I am.
Quills (2000)
Good, but unhappy with the message
The film, as a stand-alone piece is quite good, I'd give it 7/10. As I watched it however, I became uncomfortable with the messages it appeared to send out. I have no doubt the writer is intimately familiar with the Marquis' work and life, but he chose to focus only on the end of that life. As a result I feel there is a danger that many people will walk away from this film thinking the Marquis was no more than a latter-day Larry Flint, persecuted by a hypocritical establishment for liberal attitudes we regard as fairly acceptable today.
I am not as intimately familiar with the Marquis' early life as the writer must be (and perhaps this is a fair representation, in which case I stand corrected), but from what I do know he appears to have been an extremely unpleasant and vicious character who only remained at large for so long because of his aristocratic connections. Had he been alive today I suspect he may well have become a dangerous sexual predator.
I do not expect Hollywood to become an extension of the Discovery channel, but I do believe they have some duty not to mislead. As such I do not criticise the film for failing to tell the whole story of this man's life, but I do criticise it for filling the film with such simplistic ideas. Michael Caines impossibly evil character, to name but one, was ridiculous. Also, I felt the writer wanted to say, "hey, the guy was not so bad in the context of the times - look at the violence, cruelty and sex that was going on around him" (the guillotine, the menage a trois, the doctors medical 'equipment').
But for me that is the point - this man managed to stand out as a nasty piece of work at a time when violence and cruelty were perhaps more commonplace than today. He was not some poor, misunderstood, latter-day pornographic screenwriter.
Gladiator (2000)
Something missing...
8/10. I want to be more generous, as I enjoyed this film, but it has too many little weaknesses.
I remember thinking as I watched it, 'if they cut the fight scenes, would I watch this film again?'. The answer is no.
The fight scenes are excellent, if a little stronger than in Ben-Hur (et al.) in order to satisfy the modern audiences' bloodlust. I understand the comments likening this film to Braveheart. In both films you feel you are being given a glimpse of what it really must have been like to be involved. They are gripping scenes and, unlike Saving Private Ryan, the fighting comes along at nice regular intervals, a fresh hit to prolong the high...
While the rest of the film is not too bad, I felt it was just a little simplistic. Only Commodus was what could be described as a complex character. His sister should have been, and maybe she was before the cutting room, but she ended up behaving like a Bond girl. The actors were up to it but I felt the quality of the script let them down. It wasn't ambitious enough. It was as though Ridley Scott lost his nerve and tinkered with it to ensure mass market appeal (i.e. shortened it and dumbed it down).
I cannot leave without mentioning Olly Read. I am really happy his last film wasn't a turkey. He was a bit a scene stealer too, it is his eyes I think - twice the size of anyone elses!
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
You should take a butchers at this film...
I love this film, particularly the dialogue, which I am still translating the 3rd or 4th time around. Not only is it quick, clever and funny, it is almost lyrical.
The script may be one of the film's weaknesses though. For example, "keep your Adams on" - did Adam Ant sell records anywhere outside the UK, or to anyone other than 20something Brits? For someone who cannot be bothered to concentrate on the words, or for whom English is a second language, this film may not live up to the 9/10 I give it.
The film is also quite stylish (to my taste, which might not be saying much). I like the soundtrack and the dateless feel, references to 'a bad day in Bosnia' are 90's, but the cars and the London streets are more reminiscent of films and TV shows from the 60's and 70's. But again, perhaps this only appeals to a narrow audience.
(ps butcher's hook - look)
Risky Business (1983)
Nice surprise
I was annoyed that I missed the first ten minutes, as the film turned out to be a nice surprise. It doesn't seem that dated and manages to avoid becoming too corny or cliched. Not many belly laughs, but it put a smile on my face most of the way through and Tom Cruise shows something of what made him a star.
I will have to watch it again to see the beginning!
7/10
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Disappointed...
This film disappointed me. It felt incomplete. Partly, I think, because I never identified with any of the characters. Sean Penn's character came closest, but still no cigar. No character was allowed to develop enough. This must have been deliberate as the director had 3 hours to do it in. The film felt like an attempt to recreate the impact of Apocalypse Now, while deliberately omitting Martin Sheen's character.
If you are going to make a film without a traditional storyline, then at least give the audience something else.
Also, when I see any film described as a 'visual masterpiece' I immediately think of David Lean. Visually, Malick's film cannot be compared to Lean's epics.
(Now I think about it, the character Witt reminded me a little of Dr Zhivago - in the way he manages to appreciate beauty despite the human tragedy being played out all around him.)
At times the film did work for me, Cusack's cameo, the emergence of Ben Chaplin's 'inner resolve', Nolte's performance. But in the end the film always lost its momentum with either a cliché or by just having the character disappear altogether.
Oh, and John Travolta was laughable.
6/10
American Beauty (1999)
A 9 is a bit much
I watched three films this weekend- Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), Taxi Driver and American Beauty. American Beauty came a close third. Perhaps I will grow to love it more than the other two, but I don't think so.
I think the score of 9 reflects this film's quality only when compared to recent releases. Perhaps we are so starved of intelligent film-making that the score is a measure of our gratitude to Mr Mendes.
It is good though - Kevin Spacey deserves all the praise heaped on him in the other comments - but bottom line, I looked at my watch after just over an hour. I thought Annette Benning was a bit of a let down after the hype, she didn't hold my attention like Spacey.
I think I liked the underlying message too, though I'm not quite sure what it was!
By IMDb standards I think it deserves a score of between a 7 and an 8. (My score would be 7.4.)
Go see it, you won't see much better in the cinema this year, but it wont be scoring 9 here in 10 years time.