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Reviews
Apocalypto (2006)
One of the most underrated masterpieces
I have to respectfully disagree with the reviewer who was trying to minimize the violence of this movie as not more than most action films. The reviewer had asserted that the descriptions of "brutallay violent," "sadistic barbarity," and "unrelenting violence" were inaccurate. Well, it's more than that......in fact, I would say that it takes barbarous violence to a whole new level.....but, what would you expect from a movie that is about human sacrifice and village plundering!!! A Disney movie about a Native American, this movie is not! The difference between this movie and say a movie like Saw is that Saw uses needless violence just to titillate audiences, this movie takes you back in time and you shows you what it was like, blood and all. I've always hated movies that go back to a historical event and wimps out by not showing how bloodthirsty and cruel a certain ritual was--somehow trying to sugarcoat the ugly parts of history.
I admit that I didn't like the first 45 minutes of this movie...in fact, I was thinking "oh. oh. this looks like a dud." But, something happened when the movie moves to the incredible Mayan Civilization. The incredible majesty of the tower, the exotic looks of the people with face tattoos, brightly colored dress, and menacing piercings is a sight to behold. Whoever did the casting should get a pat on the back because the faces were very convincing. It felt like you were watching Mayan people rather than out of work actors from Central Casting Extra agency. At that point in the movie, you feel like you are transported back in time to this period and watching the real thing..... when the people are lined up to be the next human sacrifice, you can feel the fear. From there, you are taken on a pulse-pounding ride that never lets up. I kept thinking "wow" wished I had watched this in the theaters instead of on DVD. It's incredible. Nothing was cookie-cutter. Nothing was pandering. Gibson and his DP showed some of the most creative ways to film back to back action sequences while not making it redundant like some of the Matrix sequels. Obviously, Mel Gibson has some demons and I did not appreciate his recent remarks, but I just can't deny his work. This was a masterpiece and one that I didn't even expect to find. I expected something good, but it totally blew me away. I really hope that more movies are made about this civilization. It's really fascinating. I was always intrigued when reading about this period and would love to see more movies like Apocalypto.
La dolce vita (1960)
The Emperor has no clothes
Just like when Sharon Stone proclaimed that "Shine" was her favorite film, I suspect that a lot of people pretend to love this film just to feel important and so much more sophisticated then everyone else, like they "get it" while everyone else is wrong. I'm sorry, but the Emperor has no clothes. First of all, just because you hate this film doesn't mean that you only like vapid commercial studio films like Coyote Ugly. I've watched almost every movie under the sun from silent films, Bollywood musicals, little Independents at Cannes not released to the general public to a wide array of foreign films. Quite frankly, to even say this film is better than Coyote Ugly is an insult to Coyote Ugly and I thought Coyote Ugly was pure crap. Fellini takes 3 hours to tell a story that could have been told in 10 minutes. Gone With the Wind, the Godfather, and Titanic were movies that had a reason to be over 3 hours long and in my opinion left us wanting 3 more hours. This is the fourth Fellini film I've seen and it seems to me that Fellini is probably the most self-indulgent film-maker of his generation. He puts on these lavish busy sets in the background that have nothing to do with the plot. It only makes the movie look busy and annoying with irritating musical numbers that are mismatched. Some of the "highlights" that Fellini loves to show us: Marcello inexplicably throwing feathers at a woman on all fours, an endless tour through a castle, a bunch of dancing partygoers over a dead jellyfish while Marcello does sign language with a girl
.ugh. Maybe that was shocking 45 years ago, but it seems really outdated today. Worst of all, this movie moves along at a snails pace with no plot whatsoever while subjecting you to smug pseudo-intellectual conversation about nothing. It's pretentious and smug and thinks that it's cooler than it really it is. The movie follows a bunch of boring self-absorbed people speaking in long pretentious dialogue. The type of people you'd want to avoid at a party but are forced to sit through 3 hours with in this piece of garbage. The male lead is wooden and completely uninteresting. The only redeeming quality about this film is the great amount of eye candy interspersed throughout, most notably Anita Ekberg and Paola the young actress in the empty restaurant scene. Honestly, I was so bored by this point it really didn't matter. I was so annoyed after watching this garbage that I had to cleanse myself with a good movie. Let's tell the truth. This is a terrible movie and a complete waste of time.
0/10