Change Your Image
morpoise
Reviews
Malice (1993)
The BEST under-rated film of the 1990's
I LOVE this movie!
If you ask me, this is the role Alec Baldwin was born to play. The God-complex scene alone is reason enough to see this movie. Wonderful performance by Bill Pullman, plus great appearances by George C. Scott and Anne Bancroft.
I was glued to the screen the first time I saw it, and enjoyed every minute of it each of the ten times I have seen it since.
I went into the film knowing nothing about it, or the plot twists, which may be why I enjoyed it so much -- nothing had been ruined for me. So stop reading these reviews that spoil the surprises and go see the movie.
8MM (1999)
Hardly Cage's Best
An interesting premise that became predictable and boring.
The only reason I bothered to see it through to the end was the thought that if I had already wasted an hour and a half, it would not hurt to waste another half hour to find out what the killer looked like.
I didn't buy into the whole psychological drama aspect of this film. Cage does not pull off (or the script does not allow him to) the whole "the devil changes you" philosophy.
I think the film tries to accomplish too much and fails instead of just trying to succeed in one aspect. It tried to be a suspense film, mystery film, crime film, porn film, and psycho-drama all at once, which was simply too much for it to accomplish. Some of the script/directorial choices -- depicting the husband/wide relationship for example -- just seemed to take away from the film and distract from what could have been a decent point.
Joaquin Phoenix was clearly the highlight of this film. The rest - acting, storyline, etc. was mediocre.
Below Utopia (1997)
Surprisingly good!
I would not blame you if you did not want to see this movie based on its cast and its plot. Most of the elements just seem likely to add up to a bad movie. I was forced to see it because my boyfriend has an obsession with Alyssa. Should I be embarrassed to be involved with a 25 year old man who works for Congress who owns Alyssa's workout videos entitled "Teen Steam"?? Probably.
At any rate, this movie, unlike Teen Steam, is surprisingly good. It seemed well thought out and equally well executed, with strong and believable performances by Alyssa, Ice T, and Justin Theroux. The film was successful in keeping up suspense, and you definitely wanted to watch until the end when you were most likely surprised by the unveiling of the true criminal.
This film seems to be replayed late nights on cable with some frequency, so be sure to check it out there.
Jack Frost (1997)
Who are the bigger fools - those who spent money to make this film, or those who spent money to rent it?
Okay, so I realize that this movie was supposed to be bad. I did not watch this movie thinking I was going to see a serious attempt at a horror movie. The viewers who thought this movie was funny MUST have been high, because there is nothing about this movie that is remotely amusing to those of us who were unfortunately sober when we watched it. The one-liners that are supposed to be corny or funny or whatever just come off as being stupid. The ideas behind many aspects of this film COULD HAVE BEEN very funny, in that they seemed to be an attempt to poke fun at some great b-horror classics , but they were just so miserably executed that it was pathetic. In fact, there were several parts of the movie that were just vile. I have to say SOMETHING about the bathtub scene, but what is there to say? It is a sad statement about my social life that I actually sat through a scene in which a snowman tried to have sex (and unfortunately for the viewers and for the girl, succeeded in doing so) with a teenage girl in a bathtub.
There is NOTHING redeeming about this movie. The ONLY thing that I feel lucky about as it regards this movie is that I happened to see it on HBO, which means that I did not waste my $2.15 at Blockbuster.
Un coeur en hiver (1992)
This was nominated for best film??
I spent a while thinking of what to write about this bizarre movie. I am a fan of both Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Beart (who, I believe, are married in real life), and their performances in this film are strong and are not what disappointed me.
I believe that this film was intended to be a psychological drama about the love between Auteuil's and Beart's characters. However, the problem is that absolutely no progression was made from the beginning of the movie to the end of the movie. We (and they) end up in exactly the same place, leaving the viewer asking in the final scene, "That was it??" The ramifications of their relationship, if you can call it that, do not even compel these characters to make changes in their own lives.
Maybe being an American has made me accustomed to films where there is a happy ending and the romance wins out in the end. But this movie, if a depiction of what happens in real life and not just American films where the guy gets the girl in the end, is deeply disturbing and a sad commentary on the nature of the human condition. These characters really saddened me -- Auteuil's, because he is the one with the cold heart, and Beart because she seems to accept anguish and just go back to what she was doing as though nothing had happened. The viewers are left with many unanswered questions because we are not allowed to get to know the characters well enough to understand why they made some of the choices they did and why they said some of the things that they said.
If you want to be depressed, and watch an hour and a half of anguish, then this is a good choice for you. I gave this movie a 7 because most aspects of the movie (acting, music, etc.) were superb, I guess the ending just was not what I expected.
An interesting note -- I believe that Emmanuelle actually learned to play the violin (and very well, I might add) for this role. Quite impressive!
I Saw What You Did (1988)
I may be crazy...
I may be crazy... but I liked this movie!!
The basic plot is this: bored high school girls play pranks and meet cute and unusual musician who turns out to be a psychotic killer.
This is a low budget, made for TV movie at its best!!
Robert Carradine does an excellent job of portraying over-the-edge eccentric Adrian Lancer. Quite a nice change of pace from all that "Revenge of the Nerds" nonsense. He makes the story line at least somewhat plausible and shows you convincing traits that would make two high school girls interested in him. Nice touch of having David Carradine play Adrian's brother Stephen.
I was really impressed with performances by Tammy Lauren and Shawnee Smith as a prankster and a prep school do gooder. Plus, Candace Cameron is not nearly as annoying here as she was on Full House.
The movie is slow moving at times. I would imagine that they had a good hour long movie, but then they had to fill up two hours in a Monday night time slot. If you get the chance to see it -- wait -- I don't even know if you CAN rent this anywhere, other than from me, since for some reason I happen to still have it taped on VHS from ten years ago. However, if you come across it, give it a chance. I suppose in some ways it is similar to the recent grouping of movies loosely titled "I Saw What You Did and Who You Were Screaming With Two Summers Ago", except that it is more like a realistic documentary of "here is what happened in one evening", rather than larger-than-life killers in costume targeting anyone in town.
Don't expect too much, and you won't be disappointed.
Lolita (1997)
Simply spectacular
A brilliant, deeply moving, and often breathtaking adaptation of the classic novel.
The only true love story on film today.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
A warning to those who get car sick!
The person taking the tickets at the theatre door wished us "Good Luck" as we walked into the movie. I asked him what he meant, and he warned us that BWP was incredibly scary, and that someone in the previous showing had thrown up because of the movie. I assumed it was because the movie was gory. Not at all. Anyone who remotely gets car sick will NOT be able to sit through this movie because the hand-held camera technique is worse than any car ride you have ever been on. More than a handful of people left the theatre because they were nauseated by the camera motion.
If your stomach can handle the constant camera movement, you will definitely enjoy the ride.