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stephenhill8
Reviews
Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Likely Underrated-- very minor spoilers
I was surprised to see how poorly rated this film was. In a pair of scenes the film seemed a little disjointed and preachy about the African American experience in the 40s and World War II. It's not so much that these scenes were poorly done, and certainly not that they didn't express the irony of serving a county that didn't fully value you. It's more that the scenes didn't seem to fit with the plot. Other scenes, though, came across strong and believable within the film-- including tearing down racist Nazi propaganda aimed at the native Italians about Buffalo troops.
Excepting this minor flaw, though, I found the film compelling, interesting, and true to the horror of all wars (something we need reminding of again whenever we are at war-- since some will always be surprised atrocities will _always_ occur on both sides). Moreover, Spike Lee tells the story through a unique narrative frame, and evokes great performances from both English-speaking and Italian-speaking actors. I was engrossed, emotionally taken, and totally surprised to emerge (still deep in thought) to find the film was a full 3 hours long with previews. It was never slow or excessive in length. I am reminded both of the army service part of Forrest Gump and of Pan's Labrinth.
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2005)
Huge disappointment, with no recordings of Cohen himself
What kind of a documentary about a musician fails to include a single track by the artist himself?! Unlike "Ray" or countless other films about music artists, half the fun in the theater (or on the couch) is reliving the great songs themselves. Here, all the tracks are covers put on by uninteresting characters, and these renditions fail to capture Cohen's slow, jazzy style. More often, the covers are badly sung folk versions. Yuck.
The interviews are as much or more with other musicians and figures rather than with Cohen himself. Only rarely does the film feature Cohen reading his own work (never singing)-- like letters, poems, etc. The movie really didn't capture much about the artist's life story, either, or about his development through the years. A huge disappointment for a big Cohen fan.
Miami Vice (2006)
No Character Development
The power went out in our theater 15 minutes until the end, and I found I really didn't care if the injured character died in the hospital or not. There's plenty of brief sex to go around, but otherwise we're never shown the human side of any of the characters. Without this, why should we care if their character is avenged against the bad guy, or even whether they live or die? The Don Johnson character has the rough, street-smart aspect down, but he has no sexy style like the original. Likewise, the supposedly sexy Asian woman never creates any chemistry on her side of things. She is completely miscast. On that note, why choose a rather reserved Asian female lead when the whole movie is set in South and Central America? Why not go for the stereotypical latina hottie given the rest of the plot? Modern film noir-type dialogue plays well as the two heroes work their way undercover into the cartel. Action scenes also have good production values, as most large budget films. I just wish I had cared whether the good guys won instead of the villains.
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Horrible
I like old movies-- a lot. I can't believe this one in particular makes the top 250 (I rate it a 2). Numerous other thrillers maintain their suspense, and are acted in a way still believable and gripping 50 years later. By contrast, acting here is horrific by all but one supporting actress (the orphan nanny), from the villain, to the two kids, to the murdered wife. The narrative structure spills the entire plot from the outset, allowing no surprises or twisting revelations as the story unwinds. There is no creepy stalking, and none of the expected psychological stealth that the video jacket suggests. The one creepy effect-- the villain singing hymns as he approaches or waits out the kids is not repeated or used effectively early on. The kid's response is to make a confident, satirical remark rather than to react with fear or horror that they haven't yet escaped the villain.
State of Grace (1990)
As Good as The Godfather
WAY underrated even at 7+ points. A careful study of the Irish mob scene-- less epic in the multigenerational saga of the Godfather series, but every bit as believable and engaging. Excellent perfomances by all four leads (Ed Harris, Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright-Penn). One of the better and more realistic portrayals of a truly antipsychotic character on the edge of sanity played by Gary Oldman in a strong supporting role.
No Way Out (1987)
Slow and Pitaful
Two absolute duds recently have been the first exceptions to the excellent guidance I usually find on imdb. I worry the changed arithmetic for imdb votes no longer insures great movies if they score 7-8. The 2 hour movie only contained enough plot to warrent a 45 min. made-for-tv special. Only the last 2 minutes were worthwhile watching (plot twist), but most will be sound asleep long before this.
Dreamcatcher (2003)
Why Rated So Low?!
I'm a sci-fi fan, but am pretty discriminating. Often _years_ will go by where I don't like even a single sci-fi film that comes out. This one scared and "wow-ed" me. Doesn't just rely on special effects, but has a good plot and at least decent acting. I don't see why this film was rated so poorly, unless other viewers didn't know ahead of time it had a strong sci-fi bent (I didn't). Great storyline, eerie memorable scenes, and a complex background story that evolves slowly but consistently throughout the movie through flashbacks from the main characters. Great way to condense the novel, I assume.
The Straight Story (1999)
You've got to be kidding
I was stunned to see this film listed among the top 120 all-time. Press and friends raved about the film when released, and when I went to the theatre showing, it was one of perhaps 5 films ever I wish I had left early. I enjoy character studies, both presented alone as themselves (which I think this film intended), or as adding richness to any genre. Only 1-2 such scenes are worth viewing for the character/acting quality. Unfortunately these are interspersed all-too-infrequently across hour after hour of the annoying themesong against an endless backdrop of cornrows. Even the syrupy-sweet ending is lacking, with painfully short and empty dialogue.
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
Disappointing
I had the perfect setting for seeing this film classic- in a historic theatre with working original organ played as the silent film background. Sadly, it was simply consistently disappointing. Though historically interesting (e.g. seeing special effects ingenuity with 1920s technology), nothing could save this overall sleeper of a silent film. I believe that what we have in the high rating here (and for many old films), is that only those who adore all old films have seen and rated them-- highly.