machine_gun_molly Reviews

The Vanishing (II) (2018)

Missed opportunity

[5/10 · 9 June 2019]

I bought this movie on YouTube because it was based on a true story and the trailer made it look like a psychological thriller. I googled the Flannan Isles mystery, and saw that it was about the disappearance of 3 lighthouse keepers that has never been solved to this day.

All I can say, is what a missed opportunity this was to make this into a truly engrossing movie. 3 men on an island for a 6 week rotation. No bodies ever found....anything could have happened.

After an incredible storm, they wake up in the morning to find a man and his mysterious box 'shipwrecked' on the island. Violence ensues...lots of it and that is when the story should have really taken off. That should have been the springboard to tension and paranoia. I should have been on the edge of my seat telling anybody who tried to interrupt my viewing to "hold on a minute and I'll get back to you after the movie". Instead, the story just meanders on and I was left wondering when 'something' was going to happen.

It's difficult to gauge the acting. It was good but because the story was so lacking in any direction, it could have been great. This kind of plot requires that the storyline be 90% of the movie. It should make you want to see it again and again to see all the little details that you might have missed in the 1st, 2nd and etc, viewing. Instead I was left with a deep feeling of dissatisfaction. I can only say that I would give this a disappointing 5/10.

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Oh... the ennui of being a vampire

[7/10 · 11 May 2014]

I went to see this movie mostly for Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston never having seen a movie by Jim Jarmusch. Both actors are perfectly suited to the characters they portray and each other as well.

I have to be honest, the review that I had read did mention that the movie was slow and languid and it didn't lie... it's very slow and very languid so be forewarned that this is not your typical vampire movie. This probably how most vampires would live after centuries. Drifting through life... like an old married couple that still love each other very much.

Now that I've seen the movie, and had the time to think back on it, I will certainly get the DVD once it comes out so that I can have the pleasure of watching it again.

Dear Frankie (2004)

Afternoon well spent

[9/10 · 31 March 2005]

I had been looking forward to this movie since I found out it was going to be released (albeit as limited) in my home town.

This was a great little movie. There is something to be said about small movies, they are more often than not gems and you feel lucky at having had the chance to see them.

The performances were understated yet that is what was needed to tell this story. And the little touches of humour avoided the movie slipping into a tear-jerker.

It was an afternoon well spent (except for the "gentleman" a couple of seats from me who loudly unwrapped his 3 Mcdonalds' Cheeseburgers and then told me to go $&#$ myself when I told him to be quiet.) 9/10

Faust (2000)

Cringe-fest!!!!!

[1/10 · 7 February 2005]

I've never felt the need to come to IMDb and actually write as to how horrible a movie is, but in this case I believe this to be necessary. This movie will be forever ingrained in my memory as "THE" worse movie I have ever seen.

The acting was awful, the directing was atrocious, the cinematography was uninspired and the score gave me a headache (people please stop playing heavy-metal music every time someone gets into a fight...it's boring).

What it basically is, is a major cringe-fest. I couldn't even listen to it with the director or the production comments, cause there was nothing that could possibly redeem it (not even the end credits).

So...I give this movie a 1, because IMDb doesn't have a 0.

The Snow Walker (2003)

See this movie!

[10/10 · 24 June 2004]

Every once and a while a movie comes along that is meant to be, in my humble opinion, seen. The Snow Walker is that movie.

The storyline is simple: a bush pilot is asked to bring a young sick Inuit girl to a Yellowknife hospital but the plane crashes in the Canadian tundra. As simple as that. What develops between the two characters is a bond that only two people trying to survive in that situation could experience.

Charles Martin Smith's direction is perfect. He gives both Barry Pepper and Annabella Piugattuk free rein in their performances that gives us the impression of improvisation. Their friendship enfolds slowly, as any friendship would, if you where with a stranger battling the tundra, which in this movie, is almost like a third character. As flat and as barren as the tundra may appear, it is shot in such a way that has your eye searching for detail as if you were looking at a painting.

The Snow Walker is an example of straightforward storytelling that proves the fact that less is sometimes more. There are no car chases, no gunfights and yet I found myself completely engrossed. I came upon this movie by chance when I read the review in a local newspaper that gave it 4 stars and yet I never saw a single trailer or advertisement for it.

What a shame that this great movie will not be seen by a larger audience.

Don't Say a Word (2001)

not as bad as I thought

[7/10 · 8 October 2001]

First let me say that I went to see this movie for 1 reason and 1 reason only: Sean Bean (it's been a while since Ronin) and as the bad guy, always a pleasure. The reviews I read led me to believe this movie was not so good. Well it's actually not that bad either.

Sure the story does have a few holes in it and it's a shame because it could have made for a KILLER thriller.But hey, that's Hollywood.

How many shrinks could actually do what Douglas did on such short notice ("You have until 5pm"). Talk about pressure. Douglas does a good job of keeping his cool considering what's at stake. Brittany Murphy plays a very believable basket case, though why she would open up to Douglas' character after 1 session is one of the holes. Must be Douglas' boyish charm. Then there's the video cameras in the apartment and the microphone in Brittany's room and...well...you'll see.

I actually found myself cheering for Sean Bean, but my judgment might have been clouded.:)

Oh yeah, there's a female homicide cop in it too.

It's an entertaining thriller with no surprises so flip a coin to see if you should go see it. 7/10

The 13th Warrior (1999)

it's got to be the Viking thing...

[8/10 · 4 September 2001]

It's got to be the Viking thing... Anyway, I picked up this movie knowing very little about it, so I had no expectations. What I got was a very interesting action packed film. The story smacks of Beowulf and his killing of Grendel. These warriors have basically been sent for to protect a village from slaughter by some unknown foe that only appears in the mist and in turn kill it (them).

Even though I'm not a very big fan of Banderas (and maybe because he wasn't the center of the story), he brought a touch of comic relief that worked well with Herger the Joyous. These 2 characters are the most memorable and the ones who we get to know the most. A few things were off on the DVD: In the subtitles Omar Sharif and Herger the Joyous do not speak Greek, they speak Latin.

All in all rent this movie, it wouldn't win an Oscar, but you just might find yourself watching it more than once.