Change Your Image
PunchDrunkMatt
Reviews
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Great film, unique as hell
Very interesting film. From the cinematography, to the the art direction to the acting, this is a top notch film. Paul Thomas Anderson is at the top of his game. His use of symmetry on the screen is fantastic, this film contains some of the most jarring and crisp camera-work I have seen in years. The film has one of the strongest atmospheres within itself, which is hard for any filmmaker to create. Not to mention Adam Sandler's best role yet. Enjoy
It is rare that a filmmaker with such a strong vision comes along. I think PTA is one of the four or five best directors of this generation(Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky are up there too). See Magnolia if your looking for an interesting film as well.
Kaena: La prophétie (2003)
Fools!!!!!!!
This movie is very good. I don't know why you people do not appreciate the visuals and the story. Its a very unique premise and if given a second viewing you can understand it more. Open your ****in' minds and watch this movie again. The film has a lot to say about religion and science. It questions the history of how people look at their world, and in a way our world. The film really makes you think about the world around you, and its very creative. Any flaw in the film is very minor. You can whine about the overuse of CG, but isn't that what the future of the business is all about. The bottom line is this is a great achievement and an advancement in computer animation. If a movie makes millions at the box office doesn't mean its a great film, what makes a great film is one that makes you think and appreciate what the filmmakers did.
2nd review: The animation is very good and detailed. The story is also very interesting, you might not get it the first time but everything will be incredibly clear on the second viewing. There is one character that is annoying, but he appears in small doses so it's not that bothersome.
P.S. Props to da peeps that made this movie, great job.
The Ice Storm (1997)
A daring film that explores the negative sides of humanity. SPOILERS!!!
Matt Maisano IDS 210 9/27/04
Ang Lee's The Ice storm is a daring film with fresh, realistic characters. It is a story that we usually won't see at the multiplexes, and there are reasons for that. The Ice storm explores different views of family life than is traditionally shown on the silver screen, and it is a better film because of it. I will discuss the film first with a brief summary of the film's plot, then go into an examination of its content, in other words what I think meaning of the story is.
The film takes place in New Canaan, a wealthy town in Fairfield County. The story for the most part follows two families, each with two children about high school age. The kids do drugs, have sex at a young age, and are overall confused and unguided by their parents. The parents engage in spousal trades and secret affairs. Tension builds until the closing of the film when Mikey gets electrocuted to death outside in the storm. Now lets back up and talk about morality and symbolism in The Ice storm
As I stated in the introduction, The Ice Storm is a film that presents its audience with perspectives of family life and adolescence that we rarely see in film. There is no sugarcoating in this movie. Take for example the dialogue in the film. Almost all of the characters speak in short, often cynical or 'cold' sentences. The filmmaker uses this sense of 'coldness' in his characters, and applies it to the environment of the film. If the kids are talking to their parents they say only what is necessary to response. Even in the thanksgiving scene, when Paul's family is all together at the dinner table, there was still an enormous sense of distance between everyone. The temperature of the film can be felt by the conversations and interactions of the characters within the story.
Tobey Maguire's character Paul hood makes a quote in the film that I think strongly connects to this idea of sort of a raw, cold world in the film. He says something like 'Everyone exists in a negative zone that we dip in and out of. Some people get tempted by it and stay in the negative zone.' This line is sort of a summary of the film in itself. In almost all the interactions there is a sense of this lurking negativity that comes and goes from the scene. It is almost a character itself. To make a more specific example, Paul's father Ben is who I think the quote is supposed to symbolize most. He has dug himself a hole of negativity way before we even see him on screen. He's cheating on his wife and is detached from his family because of his lack of parenting. So we could make the connection that he is in the negative zone, well into it. When he tries to bond with his kids, and tries to connect with his wife, he is dipping into the 'positive zone' but never really staying there. As the film goes on we see his affair, and more importantly his marriage, become ruined. His temptations gave in to the lurking negativity and became consumed by it.
In conclusion, The Ice Storm is an excellent film about families that are separated and alienated from each other. It's about confused adolescence, and at the same time the struggles of adulthood and marriage. The main aspects that I find most interesting about the film are the coldness of its characters and that relation to their environment, and the negativity that walks among them.