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Ethabell
Reviews
True Confessions (1981)
A few corrections to comments.
DeNiro is only one quarter Italian descent. Let's not say he is 'not a "mick" but clearly Italian' as one reviewer says. He is in fact, half Irish on his father's side and English on his mother's. So clearly not Italian.
Also would like to question the reviewer who said the Rosary ends a certain way. After 12 years in Catholic schools, I have never heard the Rosary end the way he suggests.
Perfect Stranger (2007)
Edge of the seat thriller
First, I loved seeing the brand new 7 World Trade Center close up and WTC developer, Larry Silverstein, in a walk-by in the building's lobby scene; second, the Ansonia, on Broadway on the Upper West Side, third, Sapa... New York, New York. As a recent relo to Los Angeles, I miss that city.
The story kept the theater audience enrapt and there were applause at the end. Bad reviews? I should have known Halle, Bruce and Giovanni would never be part of a loser film. It was good, maybe a bit far fetched but there is a crazy world out there that gets crazier every day... so may be not so far-fetched... Spider Man? Now, that's far-fetched!
Casanova (2005)
Adorable
Relax all of you nay saying critics. This movie was not meant to be picked apart and analyzed down to the raw bone. Of course it is flawed but so what? It is a FARCE for heavens sake and the audience I saw it with in LA loved it. There was a fast moving spirited pace with tons of laughs and the acting was darn good. Oliver Platt, very funny and Heath Ledger, is, yes, believable as Casanove. His deep voice gives him the gravitas his countenance may lack in the role because he is a very young guy after all who does not appear to be Venetian by any stretch of the imagination. BUT, he is so, so, good looking, he can get away with almost anything. And Sienna Miller is a beauty, I have never seen her previous to this role and she impressed me. Do not know the name of the servant to Casanove but puleeze, he is a riot. I spent a wonderful afternoon with this film, thoroughly enjoyable.
The Matador (2005)
Just okay
Just an okay screenplay. I was not moved by the slow moving script but thought the lead actors did a fine job. Brosnan was a real surprise, so good to see him out of his James Bond body and his comedic acting is well done.
But back to the script...I think there was potential in the concept but somehow it lay flat in the final story. Perhaps it is in comparison with some of the very good to great films out right now that it just did not cut it in my opinion. I have liked Greg Kinnear in most roles and this one suited him. Hope Davis is a favorite of mine so I give her nothing but high marks. Too bad she had a relatively small part in the movie. They certainly could have magnified her role for funnier results. The film is short, I wonder what they cut out of it; it may have been the really good stuff.
Munich (2005)
The best this year
This film deserves to be seen. Eric Bana is amazing, his entire demeanor morphing before one's eyes during the course of the movie. And because it is a riveting film with a talented cast it seems shorter than its 2 hour and 44 minute actual length.
The movie is fair,fair, fair to both sides of the argument because surely, there are no easy answers. Both the Palestinians and the Jews are sincere and true to their respective cultures (their religions do not play a significant role in the film) and logical in their reasonings and yet both can be immoral and brutal in their methods. Thanks to Spielberg and the excellent screenwriters, this film offers us both sides of the most complex Semitic, geographic, and, ultimately, religious dilemma in the history of the modern world. And, thankfully, it never preaches.
Bravo Spielberg, and congratulations for choosing an excellent cast. Kudos to the cinematographer as well.