Change Your Image
TC film buff extraordinaire
Reviews
Pearl Harbor (2001)
love story buried in spectacular special effects and predicatable story
*****************SPOILERS *************** (particularly for those who have forgotten their history) My wife and I just saw at a preview and shared a reaction. Terrifyingly realistic (tho' a bit of obvious animation did pop up from time to time) cinematography, audio overkill, good flavor of history and highly predictable plot. And oh yeah, our European friends who (unfairly in my view) hated Pvt Ryan will hate PH even more: "I guess WW2 just started" was one comment (well, the French, English, Chinese, Russians etc probably had already been clued in)and "if there are more like you in America, anyone would be crazy to attack you" to an RAF (Yank) volunteer may have provided a bit of unnecessary telegraphing. Historical complaint: Dolittle's Raid was followed by Japanese executions of captured bombers as "war criminals", but that was never mentioned. And despite a news report I just read, the scene with the Asian American medic/MD helping a wounded man and being rejected by him did in fact make the film. Maybe it was a last minute addition.
My wife thought the female lead did not have enough to do. on a separate topic: She gives kudos to Alec Baldwin's attempt at speaking Chinese. It was understandable ("I am an American"--to be used if confronted by Chinese soldiers after landing in China)
Good movie but how about a surprise from time to time????
Magnolia (1999)
!!spoilers!! loved the character dev't but pointless?
I read through most of the plaudits for the movie and have to scratch my head. Tom Cruise was awesome and Jason Robards was great, and so on, but the prologue and the frogs were completely superfluous. I told my wife to expect some amazing but true devt at the end that would bring the story together; and we speculated and speculated but for whatever reason did not guess that frogs would suddenly fall from the sky. I don't insist that the story line be resolved at the conclusion but the prologue promised more than the film delivered.
The 2 prologue stories appeared to be historical but it is presumably impossible (!) for frogs to simply begin to splatter everything in sight. Maybe I am a poop but I felt cheated. I am happy enough with Euro style movies that are ironic or leave the viewer hanging but the prologue and frogs seemed gratuitous touches that detracted from the absorbing storylines.
The End of the Affair (1999)
worked for me--spoilers
excellent mood set via music and sets. solid acting
spoiler?: actor playing "husband" had a thankless role and I frankly had a hard time despising his character as much as the "lovers" did (more by how they acted than anything they said) . And the ending in lesser hands would have been too easy a way out, but I was ok with it. It did smack of "touched by an angel" but i kinda like that show too. pedestrian tastes, hunh?
Good movie but particularly for the feel of the times (London Blitz through '46. you have to be open to the metaphysical however.
Radio Flyer (1992)
frustration---100% SPOILER
SPOILER NOTHING BUT SPOILER
I have to add my name to the list of folks who feel that the other viewers just don't get it. But no one has even mentioned the "s" word so far as I have seen.
While I agree that the kid died I think we can be more specific: he committed suicide. He races down the slope in an old wagon, shoots off the cliff and..."flies away". Maybe the whole account of the form of death is allegory or maybe he does commit suicide in a wagon as laid out. In either case, he "flies away" (c'mon, not that tough a metaphor).
Maybe I just have a thing for Tom Hanks, but I was ok with the narration. Besides he is raising $ for the WW2 memorial and you gotta love him for that.
Oh yeah, I loved the movie and found it incredibly moving.
U-571 (2000)
decent submarine thriller that adds little to a crowded genre-- but a good 2 hrs of entertainment
let's set aside the tired comparisons with Das Boot and accept that U 571 is a competent if unspectacular Hollywood version of history. If the UK were a country of 260 million film goers, maybe Hollywood would have gotten the Enigma part of the story right. Sorry but commercial realities are what they are. Hey, at least we speak sort of the same language so in a sense the flow of history is implicit in everything Hollywood does. Anglophony won.
The movie gives what I took as a realistic sense of what it would have been like in a WW2 sub under fire, etc etc. I liked it but then again I liked Saving PR. So shoot me. 7 out of 10 for me. I did not look at my watch once.
If anyone is scrolliing through this site looking for a cool idea for a movie, how about "Is Paris Burning?" Reads like a screenplay to me and it's serious history.
Diva (1981)
stylish French thriller--
great feel and music. the Vietnamese teen aged girl was tremendous. Very charismatic. Plot is a bit far fetched but sort of works as James Bond type over the top.
great action (catch Metro scene) great scene with the bread being buttered. "j'aime pas (whoever)" is the coolest.
starts a bit slowly according to my friends but I don't agree. I think I have seen it 5 xs or so (video).