ustickm Reviews

It's Alive (1974)

Not even a good B movie

[1/10 · 11 October 2021]

This is a lousy, amateur job by someone who seems in no way a professional. A pain to sit through, for sheer boredom. DIrector does not know how to build suspense. Continuity from scene to scene is non-existent. A waste of time. Characters cannot act. The mother is a joke who only inspires laughter.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Ledger saves it

[6/10 · 4 April 2009]

Saw The Dark Knight because of all the over-the-top hype. Not a fan of comic books or action movies, so I was bound to be unimpressed by all the crashes & fireballs & stiff characters from the get-go, and this thing did not change my mind (which was left open, I swear!...) The good guys are all "conflicted" as only one can be "conflicted" in a comic book, i.e. it's all presented in a deadpan, take-it-or-leave-it approach. I left it, didn't buy it for a second. Ledger's Joker, however, is something else. He says he's just like everybody else, only "ahead of the curve", and that's the point, he is the insanity of society taken to its logical conclusion. A searing performance. What a tremendous talent the world has lost.

A Zed & Two Noughts (1985)

Heartless and soulless

[2/10 · 16 April 2008]

Here's another review to stuff at the back of the "Zed" log with the other pans. I loved "Drowning By Numbers" so was interested in this as a film previous to it. "Drowning" is basically absurdist, like "Zed", but it also has humour, warmth & humanity. This thing is an absurdist black hole. Seems there's a lot of symmetry in Greenaway's universe, and in some circles symmetry is considered a close adjunct of meaning, but here the opposite is true. Striking cinematography aside (the only thing that earned this film its 2 points), this is a waste of time. I found myself wondering why I was still sitting in the seat. It is ideologically driven: Greenaway has a philosophical world-view to get across and nothing stands in its way. The characters are ciphers in its service: we care absolutely nothing for them. The film is an expression of an intellectual death obsession. It is the fact that the driving force here is intellectual that makes the film disgusting and pretentious. An egghead's movie about his despair at being an egghead. Avoid at all costs.

Children of Men (2006)

Vision squashes movie

[6/10 · 18 July 2007]

There is an interview sidebar to this movie on the DVD, also compiled by Cuaron, called The Possibility of Hope. It details in much more direct fashion what he was going for in this pretend documentary with its action/thriller plot line that you have seen many times before. That is what I see as the problem: the plot is a cliché, and not enough interest in the characters was generated to redeem it. In fact one of the interviewees comments that the background of this movie is what is truly of interest, not the foreground. I agree. But both are necessary to produce something deserving of all the praise Children of Men has received. It only delivers half the goods.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Bad

[2/10 · 14 December 2005]

I concur with the jandesign and headlands7 reviews here: this movie is basically garbage. Interesting how it tends to promote extreme reactions. It is not "cute" and it is not "intelligent": it is crude and stupid. "Dude Where's My Car" comparisons are entirely appropriate. Foul language spews out of every mouth except Trish's: and one wonders what the hell an actress like Keener is doing in this movie in the first place: she must have had some bills that needed paying... The reviews here led me to believe there was something original and creative in the approach being taken to this subject (which was obviously manufactured for comedic purposes: first warning sign), but this thing is entirely formulaic and obvious. No care was taken with the script whatsoever. I thought the best scene was one in the delete bin: Andy's bazouki song. They should have put the whole movie in the delete bin.

The Cyberstalking (1999 TV Movie)

That song

[5/10 · 12 September 2005]

There have been various comments here about the song that Holly sings, all positive as I recall, so some proper identification is in order. It is in fact called "Holly" (not "Only in Hollywood" or anything else), and was originally recorded by the band that wrote it, Republica, on their self-titled 1996 album. I would say that the original version as sung by the band's little spitfire of a lead singer is somewhat better than this movie version (though there's nothing particularly wrong with the latter). Although Republica only had their 15 minutes of fame here in North America (maybe a half hour in their native UK), they might be familiar for their two hits "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous". The movie itself is formulaic (it was clear to me all along who the "dark presence" was), but the SF theme is interesting and FX are indeed good.

Inventing the Abbotts (1997)

No feast for Connelly fans

[5/10 · 8 April 2005]

This is a stock right-side/wrong-side of the tracks story, low class boys and high class girls, with one romantic pair-up being simple/innocent/pure of heart/vapid (take your pick: the Tyler/Phoenix duo), and all the others (involving Crudup) nasty and profligate. Add one horrible incident and/or misconception in the past which drives the tragic course of one character, blah, blah, blah. Plus a fifties wig that Tyler wears when she gets grown up & goes to school which is absolutely atrocious. The most important thing to know is that Jen Connelly doesn't get much time in this picture, but thankfully it's all at the beginning, so you guys out for an ogle know where to look, because there are a least a few choice frames here. The picture itself? Well, you've probably seen it many times before, whether you know it or not...