MO-66 Reviews

The Ring Two (2005)

Ridiculous! Awful! Don't See It!

[1/10 · 21 March 2005]

Save your money! Save your time! For the love of god, save yourself! Unless, of course, you like sterile and and bizarre digital effects sloppily attached to an anorexically contrived script and prozac induced directing and acting. Because if that's your thing, and it doesn't bother you to watch mass produced and mass consumed average fare, and eleven bucks doesn't mean anything to you, and neither does two hours of your life, then, and only then, can you truly think "I got my money's worth." There are some pretty colors in it -- it takes place in a Pacific coastal town in Oregon. Lots of blues and greens. The teals. The aquas. My favorite.

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Dreadfully Boring and Heavy Handed

[3/10 · 2 February 2005]

The Manchurian Candidate is just plain dull. Never mind the original version -- this is not a remake as much as it is an adaptation so I judge it strictly on its own merits. However, it is so weak that it barely has its own merits. The story is slow and inconsistent and the directing is just plain heavy handed - focusing more on mood and music rather than story and plot. At one point about 15 minutes from the end credits all of the implications crystallize and the viewer can finally care - if they haven't given up completely. I wish all the implications had been made much much earlier. Too bad. A waste of talent. It focused so much on the "creep" factor that I kept expecting Hannibal Lechter to jump out of the woodwork and say "Hello Clarice." That's how bad it is.

Kinsey (2004)

A Fascinating Portrait of a Fascinating Man

[9/10 · 14 December 2004]

"Kinsey" is funny and smart and presents Alfred Kinsey as a complex character, allowing the viewer to ask the hard questions- is his work academia or pornography, what about love, what is normal? It is not a family movie, as some viewers have expressed "shock" at discovering, and it is not a morality tale, as others have expressed disgust in discovering. That this movie does not take a moral position on Alfred Kinsey's work and on sexuality in general is testament that the writer and director actually think the audience is smart enough to come to their own conclusions about sexuality and the life and work of Alfred Kinsey, which, throughout his life, were often incestuously mixed. The entire cast was very strong, not surprising with such good writing and complex, imperfect characters. And there is an undercurrent of whimsy to remind that sex is funny- it looks funny, it's language is funny. Good drama with good laughs -- bravo for "Kinsey!"

Birth (2004)

More like "Yawn"

[9 November 2004]

Birth tries to fool the viewer into thinking this is a somber and ambiant mood piece with Euro-artistic intentions. It succeeds only in its pretension. It is hollow and bogus- another example of style over substance. I have seen dark and moody European films that were hypnotising and deep in meaning and implication- the films of Ingmar Bergman and FW Murnau come to mind. Birth is posing as a moody art-house piece with long periods without dialogue and somber classical music- but the story itself is so weak and laughable that it is like watching a Euro art-house movie a la "The Simpsons" or "Saturday Night Live." The meaning and implications behind the story are so thin as to be a total afterthought on the part of the director. Don't be fooled by a director and a script that thinks it can substitute depressing ambiance for a good story well told. It is neither.

A Dirty Shame (2004)

More like "A Grand Waste of Time"

[17 October 2004]

I spent the first act laughing at the ridiculous and childish sex jokes and situations. But the story did not evolve, the was no character arc or development, just more of the same. And the same. And in a society that is already so sex-saturated this movie grows old and annoying very fast. By the end I wanted those 2 hours back. And I've enjoyed some of John Waters' movies- "Hairspray" was great. And Waters' movies have always been examples of traditional, narrative film-making - a story told in chronological order with 3 acts etc. This film is basically one act and the climax literally is "the climax." Except the only sense of release I felt was that it was finally over and I could re-claim my weekend.

Mystic River (2003)

Very Problematic

[5/10 · 5 February 2004]

Glad to see there are other disappointed viewers of Mystic River. This is the movie that could have been good based on the story. But the actual script, directing and yes, acting , are off just enough so that the parts to do not add up to an exceptional whole. Sean Penn was really "ACTING" as hard as he could, Marcia Gay Harden seemed overly fidgety and pathetic. SPOILERS: The biggest weaknesses of this movie are the story elements- why did Sean Penn's relationship with his daughter seem incestuous and yet that was never examined, why is Tim Robbins in a gay cruising area when he attacks and kills a man, what does Kevin Bacon's estranged wife have to do with any of this (except to confirm that it's a "happy" ending for him), why does Laura Linney suddenly turn into Lady Macbeth at the end- excuse me, was Lady Macbeth even in this film before the end? And the main thread of the movie- who killed Sean Penn's daughter- oops, it was just a couple of foolish kids and they don't know why they did it. Oops, sorry. The potential for tragedy is so untapped here- the little kid that actually committed the murder should have done it for revenge- Sean Penn killed his father years before! Hello, why is there no connection here other than a weak coincidence that up til then had been the PLOT! Clint Eastwood dropped the ball big time.