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Match Point (2005)
Decent movie, lacks balance.
Match Point isn't a bad movie, but after watching it I didn't feel satisfied. Most of the cast provides solid acting except for Jonathan Rhys-Meyers which is rather problematic as he plays the lead role. The dialogs are good with some quite cynical humor, Allen has done a good job of adapting his writing style to the British setting of his story.
What really lets Match Point down is its structure. After thinking about the movie for quite a while it seems to me that it's built around the reference to Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" (I.E. the murder scene). However, it's not really an adaptation as the scene doesn't serve the same purpose in the film and in the novel.
The first three quarters of the film, the romantic intrigue, go by very naturally. Chris' decision to murder Nola is very awkward and I can't help thinking that Allen wanted to make a direct reference to Dostoevsky and just couldn't figure out a way of including it in his film. Maybe an extra half hour in the middle could have helped?
War of the Worlds (2005)
Spielberg's worst
The only good thing in this movie are the SFX, trust me. I'm not a Cruise hater but when he starts singing a lullaby to his daughter, who looks somewhere between 6 and 16 depending on the shot, you just cannot help yourself from laughing your head off. I tried but but it was so hard that tears came to my eyes and I ended up giggling like most of the audience. The rest of the cast is equally bad but I wouldn't blame them because I think Spielberg is mostly responsible for this.
Did I say the SFX were good? Yes, I did, but I forgot to mention that they were frequently used in a bad way as with the camcorder goof or the dumb extraterrestrials who were about as funny as those in Tim Burton's (far better) film "Mars Attacks".
I guess this could have been really good, because there are a few excellent scenes in it (such as the telescopic-eye scene) but it fails in so many other parts that I only grant it a three rather than a two out of ten because it wasn't boring.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Great caper from early 90's
Tarantino's career started off with a bang thanks to this caper film. It's not suitable for all audiences but if you like a little ultra violence and aren't too tight you'll definitely like it.
The dialog is extremely well written, it contains lots of humor, especially sarcasm which is very hard to achieve. The opening scene and the debate about the aliases are priceless. The acting is flawless. Buscemi, Madsen, Roth and Keitel are all equally outstanding. Tierny and Penn team up perfectly. The smaller parts played by Tarantino, Jackson and Bunker are all very colorful. The directing may not be anything special, but even though there are a few incoherences, it's rather solid. The (in)famous ear cutting scene has some smart direction as the camera moves away from the mutilation and shows us a door with "WATCH YOUR HEAD" written over it. Many interesting themes are brought up throughout the film. Loyalty and reliability seem to be the main one, Mr Blonde stuck up for Joe, Mr Orange tells Mr White the truth, all the robbers go to the meeting place despite the fiasco.
As always the soundtrack is excellent. In Reservoir Dogs it has something more than in Tarantino's other films as the heist takes place at the same time as a special retro 70's music radio show. Tune's from the 70's are scattered all over the story as characters turn the radio on and off. I think that that was a very good idea and a nice little touch. All the more because the songs are often used to illustrate what's happening on the screen. As Mr Blonde tortures Nash, 'Stuck in the Middle with you' highlights the two cops' situation who are stuck in the warehouse with a few panicked criminals. The last song 'Coconut' brings us back to reality, if you listen to the lyrics, it's just a silly song about a guy who wants to get rid of his belly ache. This is very ironic as one of the characters has just spent the last 90 minutes with a bullet in his gut. Tarantino is basically saying that this was just a film, not real life.
Although Pulp Fiction is probably the better of the two, Reservoir Dogs is my favorite Tarantino film. I'm not too sure why, I think the experimental side tips it for me. Having the whole story happen in the warehouse with just a few flashbacks to tell us everything was clever and hard to pull off, but here it's done perfectly.
9/10
Apocalypse Now (1979)
A true masterpiece
First of all, if you haven't seen this movie you've been wasting your time watching others. I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes cinema. It is violent, complex and long, but nothing is gratuitous. So if you haven't seen it, stop reading this commentary (yep, SPOILERS AHEAD) and do yourself a favor.
This movie is one of those war classics that don't focus so much on the war, kind of like Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory". It follows Willard's journey into Cambodia, into his very own soul and into madness. His search for Kurtz teaches him that the man he was sent to kill knows much more about the war than those who are in charge. By the end of the film, Willard has become Kurtz, sharing his madness. But what the generals call insanity turns out to be the clairvoyance that only a man who has seen the "horror" can possess.
I think "Apocalypse Now" is by far superior to Conrad's short story, "Heart of Darkness", from which it is freely adapted. They share the same construction but while Conrad's story tends to be too slow until Willard reaches Kurtz, Coppola's film is never boring. This is probably due to the fact that Willard's companions have greater roles in the film. Each of the characters on board the boat is interesting in his own way. Of course, the acting is responsible for this, Kilgore and the photojournalist are two great minor characters.
Visually, the movie is beautiful, the cinematography gets more more and more beautiful as the film goes on. The stylised lighting is so stunning, especially towards the end.
Last but not least, Martin Sheen and Marlon Brando's performances are perfect. Sheen's minimalist approach reflects Willard's empty and goalless life while Brando's acting and Coppola's directing make Kurtz one of the most captivating characters in the history of cinema.
Apocalypse Now is simply one of those movies everybody should watch.
10/10
Nora inu (1949)
Early Kurosawa film-noir - spoilers herein
This movie just keeps on getting better as it plays. The pacing is absolutely perfect, the beginning and most of the movie itself are slow, reflecting the oppressing heat. At the end it keeps getting quicker as Murukami becomes more and more frantic.
The best scene of the film is its climax when Murukami corners Yusa in the woods, the images are wonderful. And the end of the scene they fall to the ground, side by side, like twins. The symmetry of the shot creates a parallel between the two characters which is further explored in the rest of the movie, revealing that the two men are of the same kind.
The acting is wonderful, Takashi Shimura does a great job in portraying his veteran/mentor character and a young Mifune does a great job in showing Murukami's shame and lack of self confidence.
It's a shame the quality of the picture isn't as good as other black and white films but the movie's from 1949 so you can't really blame Kurosawa. I give this one a 9/10. If you like Kurosawa or film-noir this is a "must see".
Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (1960)
Classic film-noir - spoilers herein
I have just started watching Kurosawa's film-noirs, and this is the second one I've seen so far. The first one I saw was Stray Dog which I believe is slightly better paced than this one which gets a bit too slow in some parts.
The photography is simply magnificent, the depth and the contrasts really bring the characters to life, Kurosawa's directing is at its best with many great shots. The acting is also very good, especially Toshiro Mifune, but not only him, the other characters, both the "bad" and the "good" are very well portrayed.
The plot is quite complex to understand at the beginning. The reporters in the opening scene of the movie who comment the marriage act like a classic theatrical chorus, it's quite confusing because they mention many names and events. But as the story unfolds the pieces start to fit together and everything starts to appear clearly until the revelation of Nishi's true identity. From then on the movie turns into a revenge-story. The ending is so shattering that all that's left to say is "The Bad Sleep Well".
I give this movie an 8/10 because I don't give 10's and as I said it's slightly too slow at times. The best thing about the film is that it simply DOES NOT compromise.
The Matrix (1999)
This isn't the "One"
The Matrix took everybody by surprise back in 1999 but after the initial euphoria there was very little left to say about this movie which is, I believe, way over-rated. True, the special effects had a new look but that's pretty much all there is to it. Now those SFX are cliché and close to ridiculous. Look at Terminator II, now over twelve years old, the SFX are still ahead of today's standards.
The story is basically a cross-over between the Terminator plot (also Blade Runner and a lot more sci-fi movies with the mankind overrun by machine and artificial intelligence idea) and the Dark City setting and ambiance (trench coats, an artificial city). This lack of originality is why, in my humble opinion, the movie's sequels didn't do as well. The acting is OK but far from good and the directing is the same as most 'hollywoodian' movies from the last ten years (IE lacking personal style. Seriously, what's the difference between a Wachowski bros. flick and a Roland Emmerich one?).
I've tried to watch it again on several occasions but usually I end up fast forwarding to the main action scene and then turning the movie off and then I get the feeling that that scene resumes the entire movie; a lot of noise about nothing.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Funniest Movie Ever
When a couple of guys pee on the dude's rug everything goes out of control. And I do mean everything. Backed up by his two Bowling buddies, Donny the looser and Walter the Crazy veteran, the dude gets pulled into a chain of events which drags him through the movie. The leading Bridges/Goodman/Buscemi trio is outstanding, both Bridges and Goodman's best performances as actors, Buscemi only bettered this one in Fargo. The screenplay is hilarious, every line is a joke. The supporting actors are as good as the main trio. I've watched this movie over a dozen times and I'm still discovering new jokes. This is really a masterpiece, it just keeps getting better and better.
28 Days Later... (2002)
Could have been great, it's a pity
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In my opinion Boyle tried to make one single movie out of Romero's Living Dead Trilogy, you have most of the themes and ideas explored in these cult classics such as a society destroying its predecessor, the military base, the characters helping themselves in shops...etc. The problem is that Boyle never really develops any of these ideas as Romero did. He talks of the uselessness of money and criticizes mass consumerism but seems to completely forget about this idea when the second part of the movie starts. As soon as the characters are taken into custody by the army he completely forgets his first message and criticizes martial law and other things. Although there are many good ideas in the movie I just get the feeling that Boyle got most of the ideas while watching the Living Dead movies.
An other major problem with this flick is that it really lacks character development. Firstly there aren't many characters who survive throughout the story and you don't really identify to them. Secondly the back up characters such as Hanna really lack presence, you don't have a clue who she is and what she's like. The army men are empty shells and Franck who is the best secondary character dies in the middle of the movie.
I give it a 6/10 because the directing and visuals are good and because there was quite a lot of potential to the film.
Evil Dead II (1987)
Funny, bloody and deadly
This is most definitely Sam Raimi at his best. The story basically takes off where the first film left us, but this time the director and all his crew manage the perfect balance between comedy and gore/horror. The comedy is mainly due to Bruce Campbell's excellent performance as Ash, the stereotypical anti-hero. Combined with Raimi's unique camera angles, moving shots and great sense for directing this creates a creepy yet hilarious ambiance which doesn't disappear until the very end of the movie. The backup characters are all really funny and typically dumb, and all the monsters costumes and make-up are perfect. I think Sam Raimi is a great director, A Simple Plan being his best movie since ED2 so I just hope he forgets all about spiderwebs and starts working on Evil Dead 4.
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
The Best Heroic-Fantasy film of all times
Yeah, I know that Schwartzy isn't the greatest of actors but this movie is just as good as it gets. This is his best movie along with the first Terminator. Even if the story isn't very subtle it transcribes R. E. Howard stories. The landscapes are splendid and Poledouris' music ties the film together, possibly better than the soundtrack of any other movie. The minor characters are great, especially Subotai, the Wizard (Mako) and King Osric played by the great Max Von Sydow. James Earl Jones does a great job as Thulsa Doom. This movie has such a feel to it that, in my opinion, it beats The Lord of the Rings hands down. The opening scene with the charge of Thulsa Doom's cavalry on Conan's village gives you a good idea of what this movie is going to be like : Epic! Other scenes such as the infiltration of Doom's mountain, or the attack on the ancient burial ground just make the movie even better.