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ickabod147
Reviews
Bloody Sunday (2002)
Fact or Fiction? Who can tell...
'Bloody Sunday' is, if nothing else, a very powerful film and,
depending on which side you're on ideologically, can move you to
tears or incite you with rage. Is this film an accurate depiction of
the days events? I personally can't say for certain. Having read
enough contemporary Irish history, including Don Mullan's
"Eyewitness Bloody Sunday", I can say that both sides of the
conflict in Northern Ireland can conduct some very shady
operations and dealings when the moment suits them. A lot of
people have asked "Where was the IRA in this "no-go zone" that
they controlled?" Well according to the book they had been asked
by NICRA (Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association) to remain at
the Creggan Estate. Cooper and the rest of NICRA knew that the
march was banned and they didn't need the Provos to cause
anymore trouble. Also, at that point the Provos were at a nadir of
sorts in terms of numbers and support. There was a lot of hope
placed in the Civil Rights movement, and Bloody Sunday crushed
all chances of it really succeeding. The operation conducted by 1
Para was, I can only hope, a "grab & snatch" operation gone
terribly, terribly wrong.
I can only surmise that out of the some 10,000 people in the
march (not a few hundred as listed in other reviews) some were
either in the IRA if not most definitely IRA sympathisers. Do I
believe most of the marchers that were killed to be innocent
civilians? Yes. Should the "young hooligans" have thrown stones
at the RUC & British Armed Forces? Probably not. Did the IRA
shoot first or did 1 Para? I doubt that with all the confusion going
on, between CS gas & rubber bullets being fired anyone can tell
for certain. I don't think that the Widgery Report was anywhere
near right, or the current Saville Inquiry will get it 100% right either.
But these opinions are coming from a remove of 30 years and a
pretty large ocean.
As for the film itself. i liked it. James Nesbit gave a career defining
performance as far as I'm concerned, going from the height of one
emotion to the absolute depths of another. The Gerry Donaghy
character's accent was a little thick, to say the least. However he
played a good victim with Republican feelings. The jerky handheld
camera, which people either love or hate, worked well in this
movie. It gave a real sense of being "in the moment." Long story
short I'd give this film 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
2 1/2 hours of my life I can't get back
What a lousy movie. I affectionately refer to movies like this as "critic movies". Why? Because they're so dense and confusing that critics love them mostly because they don't realize that they're watching something horrible. So then they label them as genius.
The fact that David Lynch's name is attached to the project is reason enough for people not to understand it and label it as genius.
I must give a wake up call to everyone that thinks Lynch is the future of great film-making. He's not. I think the only Lynch film that I even remotely enjoyed was Blue Velvet. Mulholland Dr. is a contrived, poorly conceived project which, over a period of time, might have made a plausible TV series. But when you take an aborted TV project, tack on some crap that doesn't really tie up any loose ends you end up with a bunch of obfuscation. Which is just ends up being another form of masturbation for the artist.
This must be a great film for the art school crowd and impressario film maker wannabes because it perpetuates to them that any crap that no one else understands or enjoys is noteworty and new. It also perpetuates the elitism that if you don't understand a project then you're stupid and unenlightened.
Well, I'm not stupid. I like good film-making. I also like a good story. I like being tricked and made to think. I don't like wasting 2 1/2 hours trying to digest information that is irrelevant. Lynch has failed, yet again. I hope that all you pretentious Lynch sycophants can get your head out of the clouds and realize this.
Waking Life (2001)
Quite the film...
Before I moved up to Boston, I had a group of friends that i would go to an "Art Cinema" with. Usually when I went to see these kinds of movies, it would be the four of us in my group and maybe a dozen other people in the audience. Well when I went to see Waking Life in Harvard Square, the theater was packed. A quarter of the people there clearly didn't get it. Another quarter were there just because they felt they had to be there either because they went to Harvard or because it was an "in thing" to do. The other half of the audience knew what was going on. Within the first five minutes I was blown away. Granted, I'm a sucker for pretty much any kind of animation, but the way it was presented was amazing and truly felt like a dream. The fact that there was no consistent animation style was a litle jarring at first but after about 10 minutes you got used to it. I'd say that Wiley Wiggins did an excellent job acting but he esentially was reacting to the philosophy that was being spouted at him throughout the course of the film. It was acting in the vein of Kevin Smith as "Silent Bob" acting. But once he was forced to confront his "reality" he did a good job. Its one of those movies you'll either love or hate. Bottom line I highly recomend it for animation fans or Philosophy 101 students.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Truly a classic?
The only way i have seen this was with MST3K and it was hilarious! As a serious movie it is definitely lacking. But as a camp film it RULES! Its what Rocky Horror would have been if it didn't have musical numbers and "Transexual Transylvanians". Family gets lost is welcomed in and then made slaves. All pretty common fare if you truly think about it. I do have to say that Torgo is the saving grace of this film. Where did he come from? And why did the Master kill him? Torgo was just a confused guy in need of love and attention. On a final note watching the MST3K version of the film (which was the only version we had on tape) became a rite of passage in my high school. Basically it enlightened you to what a movie shouldn't be.