Change Your Image
amrten
Reviews
Spider-Man (2002)
Good, but Amazing...?
On the whole I liked Spider-Man. It was good escapist fun. Where my disappointment in the movie lies is that the film makers were so close to making the movie smart and serious, as well as action packed and entertaining, but for my money, they backed out on the smart and serious at the last minute. What was left in made me want more of it. The actors were having emotional responses, but the film makers forgot to connect the audience to what was going on. That's just BAD. I would have even been willing to sacrifice one or two of the action sequences for a little more plot and character development, so that I cared about the characters. I think that Hollywood has forgotten that they can still make a movie that appeals to the kids that is smart enough and engaging enough to keep the adults interested as well (take a lesson from The Simpsons, which appeals on so many levels and works for young and old alike). Not everyone has Attention Deficit Disorder. But sadly, Hollywood will look at the Box Office receipts and say if it ain't broke.... I was so disappointed when I looked up on the screen and said "oh well, it is after all only a Comic Book."
I am happy for Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and James Franco. They are incredible young actors and the future of the movies for the next decade. They deserve to get this big pay day, and they still were able to give emotionally rich and inspired performances, in spite of everything else. I hope that they won't loose sight of there talent.
Possible spoilers!!! although, I may be the last person in America to have seen this movie, so I don't know who I would be spoiling it for. Being from New York, and at the World Trade Center on September 11th, it was a little disturbing to see the sequence where the Green Goblin attacks the Oscorp Headquarters and pieces of the building were falling on top of police cars and crushing them. I realize that this was more than likely filmed before the events of the 11th, and I am not one to be hyper-sensitive about this if it were an integral part of the movie, but it was at most a one or two second piece of film. Would it have killed the editors to have cut that out? Also, although I have felt very patriotic during this time, was the final sequence with the large American Flag appropriate? I kind of feel that although it was well meaned, it came across a little on the exploitative side.
Unfaithful (2002)
Great Performances, Good Movie
I have to say that this may be the best work of Richard Gere's career, and what can I say about Diane Lane, stunning as always. If it is possible, this role is deeper and even more personal and poignant than the one that she had in A Walk on the Moon, although I tended to be more sympathetic to the character of Pearl in A Walk on the Moon. As for the movie itself, I have some problems with it, but as any discussion of those problems would be a spoiler, it will have to be saved for another time. I would suggest that anyone and everyone interested in Unfaithful see it, and then go home and rent A Walk on the Moon. I think it is a far superior story, and deals with the nuances of infidelity and marital harmony in a much more interesting and satisfactory way. Still with that said, I hope that Ms. Lane and Mr. Gere's performances are remembered come awards season, as these are incredible performances that push the limits of the actor's craft.
Closet Land (1991)
I can't believe the number of people who thought this was good!
This is possibly the hands down worst movie every made, that actually took itself seriously. And not as a result of the acting, because being an actor, I have to say that Rickman and Stowe had to be at their best, just to escape needing electro convulsive therapy after the principle photography wrapped. Being one of the 57 people that actually saw this movie in theatrical release, I have to say I have never before or since experienced a movie where the movie ended, credits rolled, the house lights went on, and no one moved from their seats. About five minutes after the house lights went up people started coming out of their comas to look around, and I think most of us thought, okay we get it, that was a joke, right?, they are going to show the real movie now. Eventually, after the ushers handed out disguises, and we swore an oath of secrecy to never admit we were there, we felt that it was safe to leave, praying that we would not be seen leaving the auditorium. I have seen some pretty bad movies in my day, (I have Cinemax for goodness sakes), but I am still bitter that I will never, ever be able to recover those two or so hours of my life that I lost watching Closet Land.