Change Your Image
vanessa_mcculloch
Reviews
Romance & Cigarettes (2005)
pretentious and not engaging
I think that people like this movie -or say that they do- because they don't want to slate an art-house film and appear to be a philistine. I was so bored after the first 45 minutes or so, that I turned it off. I was completely uninterested in the fate of any of the characters -most of whom seemed to be terribly contrived. I am amazed that a film with such a great cast could be such a disappointment.
I just don't see what this film had to offer: it was not outstanding in any way (except the cast list, as previously stated). Characterisation was unconvincing (as previously stated); plot was not sufficiently engaging; setting added nothing to the overall effect.
Feed (2005)
not much cop
I got this movie to be entertained and grossed out. It did the latter reasonably well, but the extreme subject matter might make it possible that you don't notice this is actually a really crummy movie.
The acting was mediocre at best, the script had some truly appalling lines, and the director's attempts at semi-artsy "tricksiness" did not work for me at all. Despite the extremity of the subject matter, many aspects of this film were formulaic and clichéd.
Furthermore, it did not succeed in any original or profound way, in addressing any of the issues that it was seemingly attempting to examine: e.g. body image and the role of the media, society's (especially women's) resultant obsession with thinness, the impossibility of bigger people being seen as attractive in mainstream society, self esteem, power within relationships etc etc. All of these were handled with virtually no new insight, or subtlety.
I confess to finding the subject matter luridly fascinating and would like to see a better film made about feeders/ feedees. This one gives the impression that everyone involved in it thought that the subject matter, and the gross bits were enough to carry the film, but this is not the case.
Rx (2005)
utterly mediocre
This is a lousy flick.
The three main characters were especially irritating. I only continued watching in the hope that I would get some enjoyment out of watching them suffer once things started going wrong. Unfortunately,the level of suffering they endured did not match the poverty of their acting ability or the superficiality of the characters they played. They were not helped by a lousy script. The plot, although not highly original, did have some potential for suspense and interest, however this was never realised in this film. No one involved in this film deserves ever to work in the movie industry again.