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The Last Samurai (2003)
an inaccurate story overly dramatized with scenes too long
This was pretty much a 105 minute movie drawn out for 150 minutes for no good reason. Furthermore, the over-romanticizing of the Samurai in the latter half of the 19th century was a poor portrayal of the actual situation. Lastly, the dialogue and script had all the sublety of a two-by-four upside the head
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
More Pretentious than anything David Mamet could ever dream up
First of all, yes, it's a romantic comedy? dramady? whatever, so I do expect there to be holes in the story. But the story comes off as so completely stupid it can't hold your attention. Sandler's character is not operating at a functional level of sanity and yet he runs his own business? This woman holds a seemingly important job and yet has no problems with Sandler's complete loss of grip on reality? It's not funny; it's just dumb.
Next, the music was at times unbearable. Clangs and beeps? WTF? It was just pseudo-modern tripe.
The cinematography was beyond pretentious. If Anderson wants to experiment with what opening up the aperture all the way will do for glare and wash-out, he'd save the studio a lot of money by just taking an old Super-8 out into the backyard. It has its place for certain scenes in certain movies, but he does it throughout this movie despite the fact that it wouldn't work for a single scene.
The actors all gave good performances, however they were crippled by all of Anderson's pretentious BS.
If there was any art to be had, one might say that Anderson's ability to dupe those of us who saw this into paying money to do so (theater, HBO, video, etc) was some sort of meta/post-modern example of our own pretention, but I don't think he's smart enough for that.
2 out of 10
High Crimes (2002)
Ashley Judd is cute as always, but stupid movie
This was a very formulaic movie, relying on one problem to arise and be resolved before the next problem could arise and then be resolved. Some of the problems were just too cute, such as the -- for avoiding a spoiler -- family incident, and the ambidextrous thing.
Freeman gives an impressive performance with an average character. Judd, on the other hand, was good in some scenes but mostly appeared to be phoning it in.
The editing left a good deal to be desired. At points the film was completely disjointed as if they'd shot an extra 2 hours and then cut randomly. At other points the director decided to use jump cuts to convey a sense of urgency and drama that was plainly lacking.
1-1/2 out of 4
The Contender (2000)
Pedestrian and Insulting
You will not like the contender unless you are a fan of poor acting, poor writing, minimal realism (characters and events), annoying cinematography, and poor writing (I know I said poor writing twice... that's how bad it was).
My Scorecard
Acting (D):
"F" Sam Elliott as Chief of Staff Kermit Newman was unconvincing in the role of the president's heavy.
"A" Christian Slater as Cong. Reginald Webster was actually pretty good.
"B-" Jeff Bridges lacked stature in his attempt to play the President, particularly when speaking publicly.
"D" Joan Allen as the honest and forthright Sen. Hanson came off and self-righteous and indignant at times while weak and child-like at others.
"B" Gary Oldman as Senator Runyon played this character as well as he could given the crappy writing of it.
"D" Kathryn Morris as an FBI agent doing some investigating came off as mousy and worthless (both as a character and as a human). Would have gotten an "F" but I think a lot of that was written that way.
Lack of Realism Part I - Writing (F):
Pedestrian at best. If I were to give Rod Lurie the benefit of the doubt, I would say that he had a great idea but then dumbed it down too much so that it would appeal to the masses, but I am not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. The style was very much like that of the Aaron Sorkin/Rob Reiner collaboration on "The American President" (i.e. preachy and revealing of the writer's personal ideology to a fault) but the actual shaping of characters and events in Contender gave the impression that it was written by a 12 year old.
Elder statesmen were written as if they were just some dumb rubes who suddenly found themselves in a position of influence and power. Lurie gave no nod to the political prowess it would have surely taken to get there (the best example of this is Oldman's part as Runyon, though Bridges', Elliott's, and Allen's characters are also terrible).
The events that are unrealistically written are also too numerous to elaborate on the problems with each. The one I would most like to elaborate on is a spoiler, so I will refrain. But I will comment that the speech that the President gives to a joint session of Congress not only lacks integrity with regard to the substance of the speech, but also with the procedural demands that the President makes.
Lack of Realism Part II - Sets (F):
The oval office was similar to what we have been fed over the years that the Oval Office looks like, but seemed to be a good deal too small. However, the scene outside the White House on the lawn shows a steep embankment right beside the entrance which simply does not exist.
Further, the joint session of Congress takes place in a hall that, while having some similar features to the Senate chamber (i.e. approximate size and white walls), is clearly not the Senate chamber (no desks, large windows behind the dais, etc.) That is beside the point though, since they could have filmed it IN the Senate chamber and it still would not have resembled a joint session of Congress. Those take place in the House Chamber (far bigger and browner than the Senate chamber). The Senate chamber would not fit all the Senators and Congressman, not to mention all the other officials and guests who show up for those sorts of things.
Cinematography (D):
The camera was far too active a player in this film. In tense conversations, rather than show both actors or cut from one to another, the camera panned back and forth between the two as if it were a tennis match. It certainly made me wish I was at home watching a tennis match rather than spending $7.50 to see this (and I don't even like tennis).
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
BANG - fizz
Overall, this is a well made film that is not well written. Sure the opening scenes (Normandy) are dramatic and touch you deeply, but as soon as the allies secure the beach, the movie begins to fail.
Surely there is a better script for a film about WWII in the European theater that would have served as a good vehicle for the dramatic first half-hour in this movie.
Animal Farm (1999)
disappointing
This version had a great deal of potential, but managed to squander that potential in its quest to break new ground in gimickry.
If you've read the book, it is worth seeing this movie to satisfy your intellectual curiosity. I think I would have been even less warm toward this movie (yes... it's possible... I gave it a 6) had I not read the book.
Office Space (1999)
Enjoyable but forgettable flick
Enjoyable but forgettable flick. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours. Diedrich Bader and Stephen Root are great in this.