frederique-carre Reviews

Fast Food Nation (2006)

Rent the DVD and get the special features

[6/10 · 1 May 2007]

I read some of the comments made about this film. It does stay at a very superficial level and leaves the audience a bit "hungry" at the end (but not hungry for meat!). I would have wished for more insights - going deeper into the subject.

I saw some comments about the poor acting and I disagree. I think that all actors had a part and is was nice to bring some stars like Bruce Willis and Ethan Hawke.

I rent the DVD and I watched the special features which contain 3 episodes of "The Meatrix", starring Moopheus. The folks who created this cartoon delivered the same message as "Fast Food Nation" in less than 15 minutes - I learned as much and it was fun! I highly recommend.

Eragon (2006)

Really disappointing scenario

[2/10 · 1 April 2007]

My children read the book and really wanted to go watch the movie. I went with them and was expecting something that would remind me of the Lord of the Rings. I was very disappointed with Eragon.

While special effects are good and the dragon has a real personality, the other actors don't seem to belong in the movie. I like Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich very much but their performance in this movie is just not at their usual level. While Peter Jackson was inspired when he picked Elijah Wood to play Frodo in Lord of the Rings, Ed Speleers does not manage to convince the audience as Eragon.

But the worst part is really the scenario. I regularly watch movies thinking that they were too long and the director could have removed some scenes. In the case of Eragon, the movie is far too short, not allowing time to develop the various characters. Eragon seems to turn overnight into a hero with magic power while the book (my children told me) spent a lot of time showing the transformation of the farm boy into a dragon rider.

The end of the movie calls for an "Eragon 2" but I hope that the producers will bring huge improvements to the scenario, the cast and the direction. My 14 year old daughter hated the movie (mainly because of the scenario) and my 11 year old son liked the movie (mainly for the special effects). It looks like I will be on duty for "Eragon 2", so hopefully the producers will read the reviews or will give up on the 2nd part!