pushnlacs Reviews

Rescue Dawn (2006)

I think I just watched the best film of the year.

[9/10 · 22 November 2007]

Rescue Dawn.

This film tops Eastern Promises, No Country, 3:10, Zodiac and everything I've seen this years and I really don't think anything is going to be able to top this.

This film was damn near perfect, The cinematography was amazing, the acting unbelievable, the direction immaculate, the score moving, etc. From a technical and emotional stand point this is what film making is about.

It draws you in more than any film I've seen any time recently, you feel like your there in that jungle, in that camp watching the events unfold, events that do not effect actors but actual human beings living in this world.

I am not a fan of Wrath Of God but have always appreciated the technical aspects. That docu style, that realist simplistic and non cinematic approach. This film combines that with the most moving story of the year. It attacks all emotions and will have you laughing one minute and crying the next.

Its humor reminded me of films like Stalag 17 or The Grand Illusion but at the same tome it can bring you to tears in a heart beat(both out of happiness and not).

Just everything works so near perfectly with this film, the look, the sound, the acting, Oh and boy what acting it is. I cant express how amazing the acting is across the board, with some of the most powerful and possibly the most committed and dedicated performances of all time. Bale is great and looks incredibly under weight, Zahn even more so and outside of his looks gives a performance of a lifetime. Jeremy Davies may very well be the thinnest man ever to be captured on film for a role, and plays a man help captive who's lost his mind amazingly. There is also a Asian man playing a prisoner who gives an outstanding performance.

I noticed with every new film released there are posts after post claiming it should win every award possible lol. And I found my self discussing that IMO no film this year is likely to deserve a large number of Oscars for it self and that the awards will be spread around. This film changes that in my eyes. This film IMHO is worthy of best picture, best director, best Cinematography, best score, best actor, best supporting actor(which technically could rightfully go to a number of people in this film) and best screenplay.

It likely wont get anything near that, and might not even be nominated for things it should be but if its not at least nominated for best picture,best director, best actor, supporting and best cinematography, and oh what the hell? I guess what Im saying is if its not nominated for pretty much everything the academy is insane. I wish I had some type of pull in Hollywood or at least some type of voice just so I could support this films Oscar chances.

I cannot express how close to perfect film-making this is. You feel that these are real people in a real situation and you really there watching them live it out. The shot when Bale is first captured is breathtaking.(its the most memorable for me but the film is filled with amazing shots)

Best Film of the year easy! Want to know whats funny? I planned a one sentence review originally to make this same point lol.

American Gangster (2007)

Irresponsible and Dull

[5/10 · 3 November 2007]

When I first heard about this film, I was hopeful and expected some pretty good things, but once I started seeing the trailers that all changed.

At best I thought it would be an OK film that could wait for a DVD release. Well since I had the chance to see it at no cost to me I went ahead and did so. My instincts were correct, about it not being worth a theater going experience. But I was way off on it being at least OK. It was much worst than expected.

By no means did I expect such a dull film. It lacked detail and jumped around in a horribly irresponsible manner. This film depicts a POS that smuggled drugs in the caskets of American soldiers yet glosses over that fact. It doesn't show the rise nor fall of this man in any detail what so ever. In return avoiding depicting the monster that he was, even his acts of violence were shown in a cleaned up matter or off screen all together.

And the end can be argued as to showing him in a somewhat positive manner.

Not only is the film irresponsible but it takes way to long just to end up saying absolutely nothing at all.

Reign Over Me (2007)

Bug: The Prequel or A BJ Fixes Everything?

[6/10 · 10 October 2007]

This film has some moving moments that are touching in regards to a man losing his family in the 911 attacks. That said in dealing with such a important topic the filmmakers should have made sure they treated it with dignity.

Instead we get a film were a very unstable man(Charlie) is left to wonder the street until the inevitable day that he snaps. Then when he does and you think "Thank God, he'll be taken off the street and get the help he needs", he is instead casually thrown out on his own yet again.

Then His friend and his shrink who have been "helping" him do so in the end by playing matchmaker and hooking him up with a obviously unstable women who earlier in the film was obsessed to the point of insanity with giving Charlie's friend a BJ.

As anyone seen Bug? Charlies new apartment in which He and the women have been left to their own devices, is going to end up covered in foil, scattered with bug zappers.

That or the moral of the story is that a BJ fixes everything.

For dealing with such powerful themes and having some truly moving moments, it is way to irresponsible a film IMHO.

The Day of the Jackal (1973)

Dullest Thriller Ever?

[5/10 · 28 September 2007]

Well, it's a strong contender that's for sure. I actually was expecting a pretty decent film but it just helped confirm by belief that Zinnemann's film for the most part are distant and lifeless for the most part. Granted I really like A Man For All Season.

This film revolves around an assassins in 1963 and the job he's been hired for by the OAS. The job is to kill the president of France. For such an exciting sounding premise the film is a bore.

It's directed in a disconnected manner that makes every detail of the film static. IT jumps around as the assassin prepares for the job which consists of very little yet takes 2 and a half hours of film time. Mean while the police know the OAS has hired an assassin to take somebody out and are scrambling to find out how he is.

Thing is the police just seem to magically come across information regarding the assassins identity and where abouts, they do very little investigating and info just seems to fall into their laps.

On a side note, something that interested me is that the film seems to have been a huge inspiration on Spielberg when it came to shooting Munich. The film makes much us of telephoto lenses and zooms in a very similar manner to Munich. Hell, Spielberg even cast the lead detective from Jackal as "Papa". That said Spielberg's use of telephoto lenses and zooms works much better. He used them in a way that brings you closer to the action were Zinneman used it to keep you away.

Something else that I found funny was that before watching it, I read Ebert's review. He said "It's two and a half hours long but feels like fifteen minutes" do to how "spellbinding it is.

I could have only hoped it went by that fast.

Tideland (2005)

Strange, disturbing, and pointless

[5/10 · 26 September 2007]

Ironicly I mentioned this film while my on my sister were watching Pan's Labyrinth on cable(We had both already seen it) and then after that film was over I changed the channel to find that this had just started on another.

So we left it on and watched it.

Well it's not very good honestly. I'm not the biggest fan of Gillian's surreal style though have enjoyed a couple of his films for what they are. This one did have some amazing performances, the little girl that played the lead really shined and some interesting concepts.

But in the end Gillian's canted camera angles got on my nerves a little(the whole film is shot using them almost) and more importantly the story just wasn't important IMO. The young girls dad dies of a drug overdose and she just thinks he's "on vacation"(high) and talks to his rotting corpse and goes of to play in the area surrounding the broken down house they moved into.

Her friend are the decapitated heads of Barbie dolls that she talks to and whom talk back to her(in her head obviously).

Then she meets a weird lady and her mentally challenged brother and then it goes into a very weird, disturbing sexual direction and well thats the film really.

In the end the only thing I got out of it was Drug addicts make for POS parents(shocker), insanity(in the little girls case) can start at a very young age and Gillian wanted to make the audience uncomfortable with sexual situations revolving around a little girl and a mentally challenged man.

5/10

Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises>>>>The rest of David Cronenberg's filmography

[9/10 · 21 September 2007]

This is the directors best work. To be honest I've never been a big fan of Cronenberg. In fact I haven't cared for any of his work that I have seen, including A History Of Violence.

I was very excited for A History of Violence but in the end was disappointed, yet for some reason I found myself very excited about his next film Eastern Promises.

I am happy to say this time I wasn't disappointed in the least. This is a great film. I hope the director stays on this course because if he does I have high hopes for his next.

Eastern Promises is in fact many films in one, its a crime dram/mystery, it's a mob film that studies the culture of the Russian mafia, and it's also a film of another genre. But to say which one would give to much away.

I'll admit some of the violence IMO might be a little over the top for shock value and I know people will disagree but I mean come on. We are talking about a director who started in horror and it's obvious some of the insert shots are the work of a horror director looking to make you squirm.

But that's OK because it doesn't take away from the film and isn't used to make up for a lack of substance. In this case it may even be a good thing since the film has everything it needs and the over the top violence is a added bonus rather than a cop out. Actually the last scene of violence isn't over the top at all and the "eye" scene during the bath house fight wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. It's the mildest violence in the film actually.

Now lets talk about that bath house fight. What a scene! First off let's get it out of the way, yes Vigo is naked and he let's it all hang out. That said, attention is not drawn to it and everything shown is simply unavoidable and without it the scene would be cheapened.

Coming from Cronenberg I'm surprised by his restraint in regards to the nudity because IMO he likes to exploit sex and nudity but in this film this is never the case.

Now that the nudity's out of the way, the scene it self is brutal. its a very realistic fight thats not prettied up in the least and involves some of the nastiest looking cuts I've ever seen on film.

But while that scene gets the attention there's much more to the film, the story and characters draw you in. The performances are top notch, Vigo easily being the best. Honestly I've never thought much of him as an actor most of the time but in this film he proves me wrong. He is amazing. He is not Vigo, he is a Russian Gangster. He should be a top contender for all acting awards to come. I doubt I'll see a better performance this year.

Amazing film and though I've just typed a lot of words, they can't even come close to expressing how good a film it is. You simply most see it to know!

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

A welcome throw back to the Golden Age

[8/10 · 20 September 2007]

I want to start off by saying that though this film was released in 1975, it has the fell of a film produced by earlier Hollywood. That of course is due to it being directed by HUston who was a product of Hollywoods Golden Age.

That is one of my favorite things about the film. I love that it is filmed in a elegant manner straight out of the Hollywood of yesteryear and does not at all look or feel like most films that saw release in the mid 70s.

That said, without a great story and great characters that wouldn't matter much. Luckily the film as both. The story of two soldiers who head of to take over a little known country out of greed is simple yet epic.

The film is filled with excitement, drama, humor, and more. It constantly keeps you drawn in. The acting is also top notch, it is likely Conery's best and may very well be Cain's as well.

On a side note, the women who plays Roxanne is Cain's actual wife, he's a lucky man lol.

All the President's Men (1976)

Interesting

[7/10 · 17 September 2007]

Today I just read Ebert's review of Zodiac in which he calls it the All The Presidents Men of serial killer investigations. well thats pretty fitting. Just as Zodiac is today, ATPM was a film of details then.

It starts With The Water Gate Break in and end with Nixons resignation. It follows the two reports that broke most of the news and who were seemingly two of the few people who cared to find out what was going on.

I honestly never knew exactly how it all went down regarding Water Gate and this film is very informative. Though it's never boring. IT keeps you interested as the reporters follow leads, mostly dead ends, and you feel involved as they put clues together and build their story.(with the help of Deep Throat of course).

I enjoyed it. 7.5/10

Fracture (2007)

Decent

[7/10 · 7 September 2007]

I went into this expecting a pretty decent film but not necessarily a great one and in the end that what i got.

To be honest some aspects of it were much better than i expected. Some of the direction and camera work mostly during the first half was rather impressive and the performances of Hopkins, who unlike may I never really find to amazing, was very very good. His murder was played in a very humor and down right cool manner. Gosling also did a pretty good job, though IMO some of his mannerisms didn't work.(though that could be on the director)

The first half of the film was very interesting and moved at a steady pace, and the way Hopkins character played the system was impressive but the last half hour or so dragged IMO and took to long to get to the twist. The twist was also revealed in a rather convenient manner but the actual twist at the end was clever.

The Good German (2006)

A 5/10 at best

[5/10 · 7 September 2007]

The Good German- Well I don't know how else to put this besides, this film sucked. Now I'll admit that I'm not a Soderberg fan and don't even like his highly regarded films such as Sex,Lies and Video Tape or Traffic, but that isn't to say that I'll hate a film simply because his name is attached to it.

My hate for this film has do to with the screenplay, Direction, and just all around poor poor film making that went into it. The story is a joke and jumps around all over the place making little sense most of the time, the dialogue is written to match which is to say it's horrible, and even the cinematography that was talked about so much looks little like classic films from the 40s and instead just looks like a generic modern film with some stock footage thrown in.

It's one of those films that while watching you just have to wonder why it was even made and how anyone involved thought they were making anything worth while. It's one of those films that matter so little that they won't even be remembered for how bad they were but will instead be forgotten.

And don't even get me started on the Casablanca references.

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Man on The Run

[7/10 · 7 September 2007]

I like Redford, and Sydney Pollack is capable of putting out a good film(I'm looking at you Jeremiah Johnson. So I was looking forward to this.

It's the classic man on the run story, this time the man is a CIA researcher that has spent no time in the field but instead reads books for a living. One day while out to lunch his whole office is murdered and he comes back to find them dead, thus setting up the run aspect of the film.

An attempt on his life is made when he is meant to come in for debriefing so He then Takes a women Hostage(Faye Dunaway) and sets out to find out what the hell is going on. I must say there's is a very generic love scene involved.

The first half of the film is rather good and then it kind of comes apart. The whole reason for the murders isn't all that interesting though I must say it still very relevant in the modern world and the ending didn't really do it for me nor does it seem very likely.

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

That ending!!!!!!! (NO SPOILERS)

[9/10 · 2 September 2007]

At first I was thinking that it might not be as good as I was hoping for. The opening scene contained way to many close ups for my taste as well, but by the time the end credits rolled I was thinking it was even better than I had expected.

If you've seen the original, things are pretty much the same except this one is a bit more violent and darker overall, and lets just say the ending isn't the same lol

But what a ending it is!

There's good performances all around, though I'm not sure Ben Foster(is that his name) is as good as a lot of the reviews are claiming. Or maybe its just that he didn't play the part like I pictured it from the reviews. I pictured a crazed quick talking madman but instead got a slow soft spoken killer. He's still very good though.

Crowe was good as well but I have to be honest he's never been an actor that blows me away, I like him and he's given some great performances which this is one of but his name alone for one reason or another doesn't make me want to see a movie. AFter this one it might though.

Like I said he does a great job, I actually Think he was pretty bad-ass, Still I think Bale gives the best performance of the film. I used to think Bale wasn't a very good actor but that has changed(long before this film). He ma not give the coolest performance of have the coolest part, but it's the best performance acting wise IMO, it's subtle and doesn't draw attention to it self yet you can feel what he's feeling. You Cant ask for much more than that. Then again you can't ask for much better acting all around including the smaller roles like Fonda for instance.

In terms of camera work and the cinematography, I have to say there's nothing that really stands out. The Browns and grays of the old west look fine but there's nothing that really catches you. Same goes for the camera work, the film is shot very simply. Im not taking anything away from the film because of these facts though. For what it is the cinematography and camera works just fine.

Its honestly the ending that makes this film though. It would still be a really good film without it but the ending makes it a great film.

The Queen (2006)

umm........

[7/10 · 2 September 2007]

....I don't know. I didn't hate it or anything but film making and story telling wise there just wasn't much here IMO.

Obviously it's not a movie that calls for flashy camera work or anything like that, but there just seemed to be no energy. I know the film maker and all those involved probably put tons of energy and effort into it though, so don't take that as me saying it was poorly made. I will say that the direction probably didn't deserve an Academy Award nomination though.

Performance wise The Queen was played well from what I could tell though transforming appearances seemed to be the most impressive thing. As for the rest of the cast, there wasn't any poor acting but nothing really that stood out or anything that had a chance to stand out for that matter.

While the film did fill me in on some interesting facts that I did not know and tells a worthwhile story I'm not sure it works as a film overall. Princess Diana's death is sad, as is any persons who goes too young and I do not mean to insult her, her life, her death or anyone who loved her in any way. Just that for me personally, I'm not sure if the film accomplished what it set out to do or not and I'm not sure if it connected with me.

As I said I didn't hate it, or dread sitting through it, far from it but when all was said and done I don't know if it was as memorable as it should have been.

7/10

Lola Montès (1955)

Bored less than expected

[7/10 · 30 August 2007]

Lola Montes- Essentially the true story of a women who kept more lovers than is generally accepted as proper, the fact that she lived during the 19th century only made this an even bigger ordeal.

Her dream was to be a dancer but this never really worked out and in the end her life story, due to people of the time being attracted to such scandal, is used as a circus attraction. It is through this circus performance and flash backs that we see her life story and what lead to her being a circus performer.

Honestly when all was said and done I was much less bored with the film than I would have expected. The film goes by at a decent pace though nothing of much excitement happens.

Ophuls direction is rather elegant. He creates some simple yet beautiful shots. Martine Carol in the role of Lola isn't what I'd usually call beautiful in a traditional sense but she does have a captivating quality to her.

Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

A beautiful film

[9/10 · 28 August 2007]

Angels With Dirty Faces- Great film. I've always had this interest in gangsters with morals despite the fact that they do horrible things.

Thats what Cagney is in this film. As a child he and his best friend were young street punks, one day robbing a train cart he gets busted while his friends gets away. This leads to Cagney growing up to become a known gangster while his friend becomes a priest.

Back in his old town years later he talks to his friend for the first time in 15 years. They both wanted to contact each other but couldn't for one reason or another, mostly Cagney being on the run all the time. But they obviously still have a brotherly love for each other.

The priest runs a program for young teens to keep them off the street but the kids are street kids and find Cagneys way of life more interesting. They look at him like a role model, a hero.

The priest tells Cagney that the only way to show the kids the right way is to fight crime in the city head on and tells Cagney that that means taking even him down if he has to. And this is why I love the film so much, unlike most gangsters Cagney loves his friend and tells him to do what he as to do and that he understands.

meanwhile Cagneys business "partner"(Bogart) Decides the priest needs to be killed in order to shut him up. Cagney instead kills Bogart and in the end faces a life sentence for protecting his friend.(he kills a cop or two in a shut out trying to escape, so again not a good guy but not without some morals)

Cagney isn't afraid to die, he spits at the guards, laughs at death, etc. and the children love him and idolize him even more. Then at the end before heading off to the electric chair the priest asks Cagney to act scared before he dies, to die a coward begging for mercy so that the children will see it written in the paper, so that he will not die a hero to them and in return the priest will have a chance to get through to them.

Cagney walks to the chair tough as can be but then at the last moment starts crying and begging for Mercy, all because his friend asked him to.

On a side note Frankie Burke who played Cagney's character as a boy was spot on. I honestly thought it was Cagney made to look young for a while.

And Ann Sheridan though not as known as other actresses of yesteryear once again remind that they don't make actresses like they used to.

Anyway, a beautiful film, a beautiful gangster film....yep such a thing exists.

9/10

Father of the Bride (1950)

Enjoyable

[7/10 · 28 August 2007]

Father Of The Bride(1950)- Tracy was awesome as usual, though Taylor didn't get to look as glamorous as she did in other films(Of course that wasn't her character anyway.)

Overall the film was enjoyable and better than the remake(s). Plus I dig Minnellis elegant direction, I like the elegance of most Golden Age directors though here Minnelli isn't as noticeable as he is in his musicals.

There's not much to write about this film, its a simple enjoyable comedy and now Im pretty much just wasting space so that my review will be accepted lol.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Creative and Magical

[8/10 · 19 August 2007]

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

OK i want to start by saying that i believe the film is meant to be taking as a fairy tale and thats all there is to it. meaning that the magic and fantasy truly existed and was not simply in the little girls mind as some like to say.

there is proof to this throughout the whole film. the voice over at the beginning talks of her being reborn, most people i think take that literally but i think it was actually talking about her death. her mortal death. through her mortal death she was reborn as the princess of her world. hence the fauns constant references to mortality.

also the root was actually under the mother bed to be seen by others, and did make the mother better while it was there. then as soon as it was removed she feel ill again.

another strong piece of evidence proving the fantasy was real was that she escaped her lock and guarded room to retrieve her brother at the end. there's no way she could have done so unless the chalk was truly magic allowing her to draw a door.

plus i believe the director himself said that its real. its a fairy tale through and through and you are not meant to question the magic of fairy tales. you just accept that its real and thats what makes fairy tales what they are. a place for magic to exist.

OK now onto the actual film review. i really liked it. there was some poor writing in some areas IMO, like the girl eating two freaking grapes of all tings despite all the warnings. also the girl going out of her way to place the chalk on the captains desk for him to see. also some of the production seemed like it could have used a bigger budget.

all that aside, its a great film thats more than good enough to make up for its flaws. i like many would have liked to see more, a lot more, of the fantasy world and in general would have liked the film to been More fairy tale than war drama but still its a great film that i liked very much. its creative, magical, and enjoyable.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

The Ending left me with split feelings.

[7/10 · 4 August 2007]

I have wanted to see this ever since I happened to stumble Cross its trailer months and months ago.

After finally seeing it I can say the first two hours or so were very good. The best part being the section with Hoffman. It was very interesting to watch them make perfumes.

But when the final murder comes the film kind of falls apart. it had its flaws even before this, like the main character himself. We know that he knows killing is illegal and that he will get in trouble for it. But we don't go deep enough into his mind. We don't know if he finds killing to be wrong but just doesn't care or if he truly doesn't feel its wrong.

(Spoilers here after)

That can be over looked though, it the last murder as I said that kind of drags the film down. The way it happens is just ill conceived. A father knows the murderer is after is daughter so he takes he to a secluded place to stay and locks her in a room , keeping the key by his bed side.

This is the problem, I know the leads sense of smell is great but he smells her miles upon miles away, then simply climbs over the main wall, sneak through a unlocked window right past the owners of the place, up the stairs past their sleeping dog and then smells the key in the fathers room. He then sneaks into the fathers room , gets the key, goes into the girls room, were she wakes to see him standing over her. Yet she doesn't scream, she just waits to be done in.

Then there's the ending it self. He gets caught and is going to be executed and some how has managed to keep the perfume he made out of the essence of the women he killed. How did they not find it when he was captured? But anyhow instead of executing him, the all bow down to him and warship him because the smell is so amazing. So amazing in fact it causes the thousands of people in attendance to strip and have a big orgy, allowing the murder to escape.

The last victims father even goes up to him with a sword saying "you can't fool me" only to then drop to his knees and beg forgiveness.

Anyway he then goes back to the place he was born pours the whole bottle of his special perfume onto his head which causes the people around him to eat him, eat him "out of love".

so anyway lets just say the ending is out there. So out there that it leaves me with split feeling about the film.

I Am Cuba (1964)

Style over substance?

[6/10 · 22 July 2007]

OK lets get it out of the way. This film has some amazing shots, thats a fact. The shot down the side of a building and into the pool, or through the building and out above the street, are the most memorable but it has a bunch of lesser shots that are still amazing.

That said after a while its all the same, the film is pretty much the same tracking shot repeated over and over. And in the end it seems that even though the film appeared to be taking on a serious subject the filmmaker was more concerned with his camera. Its constantly canted just to be so, quick pans all over the place are plentiful and characters make tons of unnecessary movements just to give the camera something fancy to do.

IMO the way the films put together a Italian Neo-Realist but made by a Russian about Cuba instead and with added propaganda.

without the camera work(which IMO gets old after a while) it wouldn't be half the film it is. But then again maybe it could have been more if all the focus wasn't on the visuals.

Oh and the dialogue as well as the dubbing can be horrible at times, and in most versions there's a Russian voice over you cant turn off.

Also the films depiction of Americans is a freaking insult.

But this is still a must see film for any true fans of cinema though, if just to witness some truly amazing shots.

The Passenger (1975)

What a Let Down

[6/10 · 19 July 2007]

Man, I was so looking forward to this film. You have Jack, a highly praised film maker directing, and a story about a man who unknowingly switches identity with a gun runner. You think that would make for a interesting and exciting film.

Well, you'd be wrong. First off the film takes for ever to get going and once it does it still doesn't really go any where anyway.

Through out the whole film nothing happens. No one does or even really says anything.

It just kind of slowly drags along until the end.

And that brings me to the famous "tracking shot". I was really looking forward to this part of the film since I love tracking shots. I heard about how long and great it was and even though I wasn't enjoying the film, I still had high hopes for this shot. Well, it was just about as big a let down as the rest of the film.

First of its not 10 minutes like people say, it's more like 2 lol. And it can barley be called a "tracking shot". Its more like the camera stares out of a window for two minutes while you miss whats actually going on in the room and then it goes out through the window and turns around to let you look back into the room from outside. Yes going through the barred window with out a cut was cool but other than that it was nothing special, just like the script.

I will say there was a couple cool shots in the film and the cinematography was nice with great colors and shots of landscapes. But that about the nicest thing I can say for the film.