shaunfogarty Reviews

Runaway Jury (2003)

Spoliers......... left wing propaganda!

[6/10 · 6 March 2004]

I guess this is the sort of film gets right wingers all shook up about the damn commies in Hollywood. I got all shook up about Blackhawk down, so this sort of film where everything complicated about the world gets boiled down to polarized yelling is hardly novel to either side of the "liberal" "conservative" schism. At any rate, I felt this film was overtly political, which is fine, though it was gussied up as a legal thriller, which I found a bit disingenuous as I felt the film was too close to the line of pure entertainment to claim the moral high ground at the same time.

As a film it sort of lurches around between farcical and black conspiracy evilness for awhile until it gets moving in the thriller direction. Hackman is a very vital human, and is good at hollering, every bit as good as Pachino, in fact better, as Hackman's simmer/explosion ratio leans more effectivly towards simmer.

I like the GRRRRRRRLL power aspect of the film, with the impetus for the story coming largely from the wronged women's impetus. And the girl kicks the assassin's ass scene was cool.

I liked it, but at the same time worry about opinion being shaped by this simplified discussion, and worry about commerce disguised as spiritual righteousness.

I am absolutely pro gun control by the way. I would melt all of them today if I could. 6/10

Alex & Emma (2003)

spoilers....... BAD, VERY BAD.

[1/10 · 5 March 2004]

I admittedly did not get past the first scene. But it was one of the worst pieced of screen writing i have ever watched/listened to. It was so bad in fact, that half of Luke Wilson's lines were over dubbed as filmmakers frantically bailed water from their stinking sinker. The lead immediately resorts to violence and she finds it cute or something? What woman inn her right mind would spend another minute with a man who physically restrains her moments after meeting her? This thing truly sucked. Women get treated like idiots by a male writers again. I am done, but the powers that be want 10 lines. Ironic, I have no more to say, and this movie is clinging to me like dog poop on my shoe. 0/10

Sylvia (2003)

spoilers,........ great to look at

[6/10 · 4 March 2004]

Beautiful: people, lighting, sets, locations, film exposure, ALL that look stuff was spot on. Too bad I had less of an idea who these people were after the flick that before it started. I read some of Ted and Sylvia's poetry after watching the film and that really underscored the lack of depth, as the few lines i read spoke volumes. Writing is important to this type of film, and this screen play was lacking. The actors tried, no fault there. I felt like I was somehow watching a G rated Disney effort when gut level was in order. I felt bad for the cast and crew because they wanted to get it right, but must know they missed. Art is very often hard to make, and the filmakers were trying to not only make art, but desribe artists and show art in process and feel. Very ambitious, but it was all undermined by a basic lack of a meatyness of spirit. 6/10

Down by Law (1986)

spoliers........ trust

[8/10 · 4 March 2004]

Jim Jarmusch trusts his camera, his directing, his writing, and most of all his performers. This is a gem of a film, without pretense. The story and film just move, sluggishly chugging forward to an ending that is really more of a dissolve. The story is ultimately of little importance, just enough movement to show us a bit of the big jokester in the skies irony. I was struck by the similarity's to Dead Man, similarities quite aside the black and white photography. The enigmatic character at the center, the drifting in and out of the main characters, the use of the boat, the disposal of the usual plot devices, the cutting away of obvious scenes (like the "how' of the escape) I wish more films displayed this sort of ease with themselves. Great stuff, 8/10.

Black Hawk Down (2001)

spoilers... the burden continues.

[6/10 · 3 March 2004]

the white man's that is. This was a well executed war flick to be sure, by the time the names of the 17 us soldiers who were killed patritically scrolled by at the films end i was pretty well entertained. The usual dulling of the complex issues behind these sorts of horrible events did not suprize, the bad guys were awful and we were up to our usual do-goodieness. then i had a bit of a thought.... the film sure seemed to pump up the number of killed somalies. so i looked it up on line, 500+ dead somalies, they were not kidding with all the dead bad people piling up. 500+ dead people and not a peep about that fact at the end of the film? am i to belive they were all satan's spawn and they simply do not merit a mention? this sort of movie dumbs down the populace of this country, a country that is rather heavily handedly imposing it's will on the course of world events with very mixed results. i think this film does a disservice to our democracy, unless of course, the freedom to "make a buck and damn everything else" is our overarching principal.

Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

"spoilers" fun!

[21 February 2004]

The filmmaker threw the kitchen sink in with everything else, yet the good natured core and fine cast shine through. I really liked it. Issues of race, class, sexuality, general ignorance, gender, power, loyalty, issues on and on and then some more swirl about amidst bouncy tunes and in the end it all works out. The filmmaker is an upbeat person. fancy that!

What so funny about peace love and happiness?!!!!!!

8/10

Dead Man (1995)

i love it!

[10/10 · 8 February 2004]

spoilers

this was my third time in this flick and i lover everything about it. well, mayby not the really gross head squishing thing, but even that was sort of self mockingly funny of the director. unless it was just gross.

i read a book titled "lies my teacher told me" that de bunks high school text books that contain the fictional/historical swill we are spoon fed in this country, and that book gave me some background that gets me to thinking this film is accurate in many respects, even with the very theatrical passages and characters. neil young, who has written a few romanticized historical tunes of the american west he seems to wish he was a part of, squawks away on his guitar and tinkles a few keys here and there to great effect. john farmer is great, and is given wonderful lines to bring life to, lines that get at a way of thinking that i personally resonate with. depp is cute and all that, but the movie turns around him without really being about him. the last sceen was simply gorgeous..... i think it is wonderful film.

10/10

Snake Eyes (1998)

clever camera work

[5 February 2004]

and i mean, really, really, really %!&^8%$ clever camera work. but it is as empty as a campaign promise, and it ain't enough for me. the world is filled with interesting stories yearning to be told, and the cleverness syndrome avoids emotion and eats bandwidth better used. why? what gives? not this flick.

i love die hard, big stupid pictures can be cool, so it's not THAT, that, this simply did not entertain. unless you are as dry as a bleached bone i suppose.

2/10

Le divorce (2003)

an insult to everyone

[30 January 2004]

but especially women. there is not a reason in the world for the women in the film to behave as stupidly as they do except a stupid man wrote them that way. in spite of it, glenn close is very good, as she manages to create some space to bring energy and dignity to her role despite of the stench around her. there are a couple of good bits, but i think they were improvs or bloopers, cuz this thing stinks. everone tried, the effort shows, so....

3/10

Enemy of the State (1998)

one scene makes it worth while.

[22 January 2004]

The movie pretty stupid all and all, but at the end the main characters all walk in a on a (seemingly) Scoresese designed and cast restaurant while a mob dinner is going on and get shot up by all these old Italian bus boys and prep cooks. I loved it. This BANAL summer fodder movie was getting destroyed by some wacky crew from another production! I thought that was a hilarious idea. Clean the house to the first hour and a half and then catch the last scene.

Proof (1991)

a gem

[10/10 · 15 January 2004]

if not for a film buff pal, i would have never seen this gem of a flick. the performances are excelent, the screenplay unusualy insightful and honest, and it wastes not a moment. it is also a very sexy film, in a sophisticated manner.