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Thormod_Morrisson
Reviews
Sanctuary (1998)
A Dark Sophisticated Thriller
Pretty impressed with this thriller. Mark Dacascos has a good on screen presence as the CIA killer-turned-priest-turned-killer-again. The story holds interest and the director steers clear of the usual mad machine gun frenzy Hollywood imagines its action viewers want to see. This is a movie with some style, of an almost modern Gothic feel. Dacascos performs with all the intensity expected of a man facing his past demons. The action is sharp and straight to the point, with no unnecessary flourishes. My only criticism was the standard showdown between hero and chief villain at the end, which was a tad too long. It would be refreshing if this formula was altered to an extent by having the chief villain getting it maybe a lot sooner, and then having the rest of the enemy polished off after as they panic. Instead we have martial arts expert Dacascos pitted against the Schofield Kid from Unforgiven, and the Schofield Kid holding his own for more than ten seconds. This is a minor blip however in an otherwise engaging thriller. Nice little twist in the tail at the end, and as other viewers have observed, it leaves the door open for a sequel, although hopefully not Sanctuary 3, 4 and 5, as that would just kill the original concept. All in all this is a good movie and much recommended.
Neighbours (1985)
Politically Correct Twaddle
Does Neighbors and Home and Away have the same writer and producer? The reason I'm asking is that it was on TV the other day (somebody else was watching it) and the only way I could tell the difference was when the final credits went up and the annoyingly sweet Neighbors jingle came on to identify it. This programme has the same plethora of politically aware angst-ridden teenagers as Home and Away, the same dose of neurotic women, and the same over sensitive male wimps we have come to know and hate. I know that this is a TV show, but it doesn't even come remotely close to real life. Nobody seems to make a move without an accompanying psycho-analysis and politically correctness check. Australia has produced some excellent movies that give a far better idea of what life is like there. Sadly they seem to have made soap fodder their main export, and crap soap fodder at that.
Home and Away (1988)
Over Sensitive Hokum
I agree with the previous reviewer in describing this show as being overly concerned with ISSUES. The plots invariably feature teenage angst of the most unreal nature, oh so serious psychological comment and political correctness to the extreme. It is as if the makers of this series were determined to explode the clichéd image of the brash insensitive Aussie by presenting the very opposite and have gone too far to the point of nausea. Summer Bay, the setting for this nonsense, is filled with irritating teenagers constantly subjecting one another to mental analysis. They are all into political correctness except when they're screwing up, and then the others make sure the one who has just let the side down knows it by hammering prissy ethics into their foreheads for the next ten episodes until somebody invariably screws up again only for the cycle to go on. Any variation? Yes, sometimes an adult screws up and is then subject to crucifixion by an unbelievably moral teenage jury. There is basically little difference between adults and kids in this show. All the young in Summer Bay are born with so much innate and in depth psychological knowledge and moral awareness that anyone would get the impression that the guidance of their elders was a complete irrelevance. The only character who stands out as real is Alf Stewart, one of the few grown ups, with his gruff down to earth approach to life. There is nothing wrong with doing the right thing and having principles, but there is a prissy sanctimoniousness about Home and Away that just makes me want to throw up. The political correctness and underlying tendency for the show to lecture the world at large regarding the 'preferred' method of doing things also gets under my hide. Take one recent episode at a pregnancy workshop and the condescendingly sweet instructor rambling on with total garbage: "Rub her back, help her in the shower and go out of your way to make the experience as...blah, blah, blah." My subconscious immediately reacted against this nausea by presenting me with the image of a Sioux Indian woman (or Native American as they'd say on Home and Away) having a baby in a western I once saw. No messing about with back rubs and scented candles nor gentle sycophantic fawning from a partner. No, she just sits against a tree, grits her teeth and pops the nipper out. Although Australia has produced some excellent home grown films, I have a theory that its television industry is using shows like this as a means of giving teenage actors something to do until it's time to inflict them as obsessively over-sensitive and politically aware adults on the wider world film industry. The gods help us.
Half Past Dead (2002)
One of the Worst Movies Ever Made
Steven Seagal, who has a proud history of creating some of the most realistic and exciting fight scenes in his past work is completely wasted in this movie. The money must have been good, because I don't see what else would have persuaded him to appear in it. What we have is a shallow excuse to feature some rappers on film. The script is abominable. Everything is contrived, superficial and artificial. The director seems confused about whether or not he is making a music video or an actual film. A lot of posing, unrealistically choreographed fight scenes, a lot of mindless shooting at walls. I was reminded of those ludicrous gunfights in the A Team, in which about 2,000 bullets are fired and nobody gets killed. The background music (if you can call it that) is loud and irritating. And the chief villain, boringly and predictably bumped off only at the end, displays the character development of a robot. I would have had him shot first just to ease the overall irritation of the film. Bad, bad, bad. The only reason I watched it was in the forlorn hope that Steven Seagal could do something to save it, but that was beyond even him. Stick with what you're good at, big guy, and don't appear in any more rap videos.