Reviews
L.A. Confidential (1997)
"How to end a story" is the dilemma that separates classics from also-rans
It is the difference between LA Confidential and the true classic, Chinatown, to which it is wanton in comparison -- that and Bassinger's truly pitiful, smarmy performance.
Schindler's List (1993)
A wonderful movie, but overrated; not a masterpiece.
Spielberg cannot control his urge to add childish simplicity into otherwise sophisticated material: the red coat is a symbolic sledgehammer worthy of Oliver Stone, and Liam Neeson ends the movie by launching into an overacted, overwrought, melodramatic "we're not worthy, we're not worthy." Ugh.
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Megalomaniac
Kevin Costner's spew of artistic self redefines both art and the human relations with nature that Native Americans embody, namely that: a film's length, regardless of content, is directly proportional to its artistic value; and a wolf eating out of one's hand is symbolic of "oneness" with nature, rather than its taming.
Dream for an Insomniac (1996)
Trite, Trite, Trite
What an annoying, sophomoric, whining, pseudo-intellectual, Gen-X, piece of blech.