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Reviews
Skins (2011)
Maybe better than the UK Version, please don't shoot me for saying it.
I loved the UK version, except that I couldn't stand Tony.
In the US version Tony by far is the most interesting character, but for different reasons. This Tony seems less shallow (although he is still shallow enough). He has more depth and we're only three episodes in, so if we're going by the UK version, then the US Tony should only get better.
This is worth a watch. I'm not a teenager anymore nor am I old enough or out of touch enough to think that this show should be not broadcast or shunned by advertisers. While I do think that parents should be cautious about what their kids watch, by the age of the Skins characters this should be irrelevant. Kids have always and will always find a way to do exactly what they want. I think an honest show depicting sex, drugs, and partying like Skins is much better than the vapid, overly dramatised shows out there now like Gossip Girl or 90210.
So far, I'm more interested 3 episodes in than I was with the UK version's first three episodes. I hope MTV has the balls to keep this show on the air because there is value to the show without it being preachy, condescending, or patronising to its audience.
Black Swan (2010)
Pure Genius.
This film is pure genius.
From the trailer I thought it was going to be a suspenseful thriller. I believed this until the part in the movie where I was so horrified I couldn't look away from the screen.
Everything about this film is executed flawlessly and effortlessly and with ballet as the backdrop for this masterpiece, it makes sense to those who know the beauty of ballet - what makes ballet capable of making inclined human hearts pound as their eyes feast on the astounding feats being performed before them is that it is EFFORTLESS.
To not see this film would be to deny yourself a true experience. I hope that everyone will recognise what Aronofsky has given to his audience and that, as I have said before yet feel can never be said enough about this film is a MASTERPIECE.
The Good Guy (2009)
Don't Miss This!
I liked this movie, a lot. Please don't be turned away by the usual overly done trailer that might make you not be interested in this film. It goes farther than its surface.
The story is told from the point of view of a narrator, one of the main characters, who makes it appear to be a love story and then the story of a love triangle. Not all is as it appears to be however, and the more the story develops the more you come to realise this.
The only spoiler I'm giving here is *if* you have read The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford, this film will have an entirely different meaning for you, and as Beth says in the film it does have one of the most memorable opening lines in literature, "This is the saddest story I ever heard." This isn't the saddest story you will ever hear, but I think that is partially what the film is about.
The acting isn't superb, but all of the main and supporting characters do their best in their respective roles. There are points in the story where it's frustratingly vague or the story goes a bit thin, but in the end it has a certain pay off that is satisfying in its own way. When I saw how few reviews this film had, I thought it deserved more attention and thought I'd review it myself.
Leverage (2008)
Ocean's 11 Meets The A-Team
I wanted to like this show, and in a way I almost do. Leverage has the same feel as Ocean's 11 down to the horrible backtrack of music that plays when "exposing" the details of the heist that went on unseen to the viewer, but instead of taking the money and running - Nathan Ford and his team of criminals are Robin Hoods in training and this is where the problems start.
As much as I can sympathize with the all too real premise that a man wants to hit an insurance company in the wallet after denying his dying son's claims I can't believe that someone like Nathan Ford wouldn't know exactly how to extort the insurance company he worked for while still currently an employee. Since being fired (or did he quit), he seems to be perfectly able to screw the insurance company out of money, so why not before? His motivation is understandable, but his character is simply not believable and as the main character, it makes the rest of the show fall flat. The premise is good, but it wasn't thoroughly thought out.
Now to the heists, the most important part of the show. I'm about 4 or 5 episodes in to the first season as I write this. Exactly how are they finding their "clients"? Web crawling, searching the internet? How exactly aren't the insurance companies, the government officials, the FBI, and the people they've ripped off so far not finding them? Their entire set up is in an office. It's their front. The only problem I have with this is that for a show that wants to introduce all this "cutting edge tech", they didn't think this aspect through either. One man running one computer system kept in one place does not make for good security. Period. I have yet to see a super computer or hoard of techies. The tech Hardison so delicately mentioned in Episode 2 is simply not possible for a one man show.
This being said, I'm hoping the show gets better because there is something I like about it, just not enough to give it more than a few more episodes.
I am not a fan of shows that dumb down for the masses and mostly what I see is that the writers could have taken the extra steps to make it a better show and simply didn't.
Shutter Island (2010)
What a waste of time! CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!
I don't know where to start with how this movie was not just bad, but barely watchable.
I'll start with the editing, which was atrocious. Discontinuity in shots that I hoped were for on purpose for plot reasons, but was never confirmed. Sometimes it was obvious that a shot wasn't done in one take - a hand on the left shoulder from one angle became a hand on a hip in another. But that's just for starters.
The concept of the film was largely taken from an old silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (sp?), which is a far superior film. The other movies it seemed to steal from include a) The Wicker Man, b) Gothika, c) Identity, and d) from too many Hitchcock films to be named.
Another big problem I had with this film was that it didn't let you become scared. It told you to be. There were too many scenes that didn't pan out and seemed like it was there for fear value. For example, the scene in the cemetery. They didn't find anybody there, but then again they didn't really look. All of the sudden the island was on the brink of a hurricane and they had to abandon the crypt they were forced to hide in. Nothing came of that scene and when the car pulls up to the gate apparently the weather isn't so bad or the guards are just highly undervalued as they're out and about and opening gates.
Not worth watching in my opinion.
Dexter (2006)
All Around BRILLIANT Show!
It's been a long time since The Showtime Network served as HBO's b!tch thanks to a trinity of fantastic shows like Weeds or Californication, but Dexter is the perhaps the king of Showtime's programming hill.
I am currently mid-season 2, but this show seems to just be getting better. There are moments when I find Dexter, the mass serial killer, absolutely adorable. Yet he is tainting my view of the other characters. I constantly find myself wondering which character is rotten to the core - I just haven't seen that one moment that reveals them yet. I find myself wondering if it's the brilliant writing that makes it seem as if evil people gravitate towards one another seamlessly, while good seems to scare people away.
Are there other good characters? No, not really. But somehow the cast supports the massive weight of Dexter as he lives by Harry's code and only succumbs to his inner monster for the purpose of ridding the world of people just like him, except his killing "Them" is somehow innocent.
This show has great plot potential and story development because Dexter is still somehow childlike. When the show begins Dexter is unable to handle intimacy with his shattered girlfriend Rita. In Season 2 the sex scenes are so steamy they should only be watched while sitting on vinyl sofacovers (the kind Grandma has in the good sitting room).
I'm just a new fan to the series, but if you're looking up Dexter maybe you haven't had the experience of watching this yet. It's worth every minute. Especially when you realize that Dexter is not only becoming more human as he starts to really "feel" for the first time, but he's also becoming a more cunning and less "innocent" killer.
The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
Didn't Read the Book, But...
I didn't read the book, but I wanted to see this film because the animation drew me in. I don't know how it compared to the book, but as a film, I adored this.
I've read some of the comments and lots of people talk about what this film may or may not have borrowed from other films, but as they say "smart people don't borrow, they steal" and this film, while it took some elements that are fairly well-known and even some that are standard in the fairy tale genre, stole with zeal and in my opinion improved upon many aspects.
The narration, voiced by Sigourney Weaver was simply amazing. It was full of wise little bits for children and adults alike. To paraphrase, broken hearts sometimes grow back crooked - not only did this stir my emotions, but it made me realize something. Not bad for a children's film.
I think this film gave its potential viewers a lot of credit in the sense that it expected you to follow many characters at once and to cheer for them all. It might be taxing on some viewers attention spans, but if you fall in love with the story, I don't think it's that complicated at all.
Please give this film a shot, it certainly deserves it. It's far wiser and more worthwhile than the feel good films of Disney or the seemingly message drowned Pixar films.
This film will tell you to go through the bad parts of life, to grieve if grief is what life brings you, but also to fulfill your dreams and satiate the longings of your heart and that in order to do so one must be courageous, honest, and decent.
Auntie Mame (1958)
The Greatest of the Great Hollywood Classics
This is Rosalind Russell at her best, but the fact that the story is so good doesn't hurt. This is not only an amusing movie for its comedic value, but is also a divine way to look at life.
If you haven't seen this movie, you are missing out. If you see this movie and don't fall in love with Auntie Mame, then you are surely missing the point.
Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving.
There is a reason why Rosalind Russell titled her autobiography Life is a Banquet.
So eat up. This movie should be your first course, followed by living a life as fabulous as you can for dessert.
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
Educates the Viewer, Makes You Feel...Thank God At Least Almodovar Remembers What A Movie is Supposed to Do.
The film has a slow start, and even as you watch it you wonder why the character Joseph as played by Tim Robbins is in such a drastic state. In medical terms, he doesn't appear like a critical burn patient. But it helps the story.
I avoided this movie in the theaters because it is so deeply provocative and I knew it would require a lot of energy to watch. Now that I've seen it, I am honored to have had the experience. It made me feel, and made me remember a war that we have essentially forgotten.
I saw a bunch of posts here talking about the lack of romance. It is not a romance. Romance is for movies that cast Jennifer Anniston in the leading lady role. This is a love story, one that breaks your heart but also mends it. The main character tends to fall for attached women, and in the end he learns the real definition of attachment. When you face an adversary that can't be touched or even seen. Some might say that is the true definition of fear. The girl he falls for gives up her comfort of silence to love him in return.
What is more of a love story than that? If you haven't seen this movie, run out now. Put it in your Netflix queue. Harass your local video store if they don't carry it. Then sit down and watch it - by yourself.
Then decide if you're like Martin, a person in the world to be envied because they see the faults of the world. The huge chasms where the important things fall and try to catch them even though their hands are so small.