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paul_brankin
Reviews
Dhoom (2004)
Fast, furious and glamorous Bollywood
Motor-bikes, fist-fights, gun-fights, beautiful women (and men), dancing singing and exotic locations, what more could you want? Director Sanjay Gadhvi uses all the tricks to give us a fast-paced romantic thriller. The story is a simple cops and robbers drama with the twist that the thieves use high-powered motor-bikes for their heists. Many of the action devices are derivative (motor-bikes disappearing at high speed into the back of a trailer to evade the police, a speedboat flying through flaming oil barrels, leather-clad thieves entering the vault upside down on cables), but have you ever seen them combined with a pop musical? The speed noise and colour leave you gasping for breath. See it!
Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel (2003)
Good, but could be better....
A documentary that told me too little and a feature film without a convincing story. Set in the Gobi desert this piece about camel herders gave a fascinating insight into their daily lives, but I wanted to know more. Why did the priests turn up in Toyota Landcruisers when everyone else was riding camels? What did the camels live on? Where did all the water come from? Yes, you may say, but this was a feature film not a documentary. True but what was the story? The one about the pretty white camel calf just didn't have enough interest to carry me through 100 minutes. Well done to the German crew who made this unusual film in what must have been really difficult conditions, but I have the feeling that there is an even better one waiting to be made.
8 Mile (2002)
A great film for Eminem fans, but for Curtis Hanson followers...?
Two kinds of filmgoers may want to see 8 Mile, fans of Rap/Eminem and those who thought Curtis Hanson's "LA Confidential" was one of the best films of the last few years. Eminem films are likely to be very happy. The high vote given the film by females under 18 confirms that. Eminem turns out to be a surprisingly good actor and the music is brilliant.
Followers of Curtis Hanson like me may be less enthusiastic. The film is certainly interesting and well made, but lacks the mix of excitement, tension, mystery, comedy, sex, drama and star performances that makes LA Confidential interesting to watch over and over again. Eminem plays Jimmy's, whose relationships with his friends, family, workmates and girlfriends are well handled, as are his efforts to break into the commercial world of Rap music. But this is all quite low-key stuff compared with the dazzle of LA Confidential. And Detroit at night or gloomy daylight is at the opposite end of the USA to sunny Los Angeles.
Maybe there lies a clue to why Curtis Hanson chose to make this film. It is set in a depressed area of one of the most depressed cities in the USA and so shows a side of that country that is not often seen in Hollywood movies. This is an interesting film that I enjoyed, but no Oscars this time!