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Zekesboy
Reviews
Syriana (2005)
Lots of stuff happened -- I think.
I don't know what I thought of this movie. I had a hard time following the plot -- if there was one. There were lots of factions, lots of characters, lots and lots and lots of villains, and it was difficult to sort out who were the good guys and who were the bad guys. I don't think there were any good guys -- just relative degrees of badness.
American Big Business was the baddest of all, followed closely by American government. But the Arabs weren't good, either. There was an American lawyer and I couldn't ever quite figure out how bad (or good) he was. I think he was relatively good, for a lawyer.
The gist of it is, It's a Damn Shame, What We're Doing Over There.
I already knew that, and I lie awake nights hoping it's not as bad as, sometimes, I think it is.
It's probably even worse.
Anyway, it's an engaging, well-edited, fascinating political-intrigue movie, and maybe you will understand what the hell is going on, better than I did.
Elephant (2003)
If only they've have shot the director!
I (sort of) understand what the director was going for here, but, oh, wow, did he miss it! Never have so many walked so many hallways for so long, and to so little effect. The movie begins -- and begins -- and begins, and then boom, it ends.
OK: Guns are too easy to come by in the U.S. Kids are too-little supervised, too-little understood, too privileged, too, too, too.
Still, I wasn't impressed. I wasn't moved. Evidently, the message is, teen angst is a terrible thing, so let's put our friends and neighbors out of their misery by shooting them.
But who's going to put the poor viewer out of his misery? Before this thing finally ended, if I'd have had a gun, I'd have shot MYSELF.
About Schmidt (2002)
Not About Schmidt
I remember reading, when this film was released, that the writer on whose novel it was based, Louis Begley, thought the screen adaptation was a good job.
Either Mr. Begley had been paid extraordinarily well for the rights to his book, or he was just lying.
It's not that this is a bad film. Not at all! It's quite well-done. But any resemblance between this film and the novel on which it was based is coincidental.
Mr. Begley really ought to be permitted to sell screen rights to his book a second time -- the story he penned has never been made into a movie!
The tone, the social class of the characters depicted, the relationships among the characters -- all are vastly different in book and film.
To me, the best adaptations are those that the viewer finds recognizable -- familiar -- rewarding because of some proximity between one's separate experiences as reader and as film-goer.
But "About Schmidt" was not about Schmidt. It was about some other guy. An interesting guy; funny guy. A guy that poignant things happened to. But not Schmidt.
Swept Away (2002)
Get the Broom
I should probably not comment on this film because I only saw about 40% of it. The first ten minutes, I thought it was a comedy that just didn't work. Then I watched in morbid fascination for awhile. Then it got to be just so awful that I gave up altogether.
The acting is atrocious, and Madonna, especially, is notably bad. I've seen her in other films and thought she was passable. She isn't.
This is the best argument for censorship I've ever witnessed.
Pumpkin (2002)
An award-winner
I've been an IMDB comment-reader for a long time, but I never bothered to register before, because I didn't feel that I had anything important to say.
However, I registered tonight so that I could let the World know that this film, "Pumpkin" is a TURKEY. It is AWFUL! It is unusually awful. From now on, whenever a bad movie is made, the producers of PUMPKIN should get royalties.
I've seen some really bad movies in my time, but this is right down there at the rock bottom. Awful, awful, awful, awful, AWFUL!