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Reviews
El segundo nombre (2002)
Enough of Spanish Horror Movies
After the overrated success of Amenabar and Balaguero, Spanish Horror Movies spread like a disease in the increasingly sad world of horror movies. The result is all in films like El segundo nombre, a TV-like production bad written, but acted and directed even worse. I didn't read the Ramsey Campbell book, but I'm sure that the author of The Doll Who Ate Its Mother didn't have much in common with this terrible production. Avoid it at any cost, unless you're searching for a quiet sleepy night in a fresh movie theater. 2/10
Sheng huo xiu (2002)
Hong Tao: what an amazing actress!!
Finally a movie from Mainland China who's not afraid to show all the miseries of a society that is far away from being equal from an economic point of view. The contrast between the district in which the protagonist works and the richness of the business man who thinks money can buy everything could come from any capitalistic country, surely not from a supposedly communist one. But what really strikes in "Life Show" is the performance offered by Hong Tao in the role of the beautiful owner of a small restaurant doomed to be swept away by the affairs of some businessmen. Nevertheless, she remains an optimistic romantic, at least until one final unexpected blow. Worth viewing, even only for an actress that really deserves to be known abroad more than colleagues like Gong Li or Joan Chen, celebrated almost only for their look.
25th Hour (2002)
Best Movie of the Year and probably Spike's best too
I think the worst about the Oscars, but every time I'm wondered by their criminal assignation of awards. How is it possible that Edward Norton and this movie were ignored to acclaim crappy Chicago, rubber noses & co.? It's possible in the same place in which Oliver beat Space Odyssey... Anyway, better not talk about it and thinking about this absolute masterpiece: usually I don't spread my votes like confetti but this is a 9/10, possibly a 9 and a half out of 10. The reasons? The amazing talent of Spike Lee, technically one of the best since ever, finally applied to a perfect plot and a perfect script. No more excessive endings ("Summer of Sam") or heavy radical messages with bursts of violence ("Do the Right Thing"), but a totally mature movie supported by a cast accurately chosen. Rosario is absolutely gorgeous, a sexy bomb wrapped in silver, Hoffmann was born ("Happiness") to act the nerd role but here he gives to his character new touches and Barry Pepper is a real surprise: his broker has some of the best lines in the script and his harsh face is an incredible compendium of true friendship and tough way of thinking. And about Ed Norton, what can we say again? Just few words: he sits between the De Niros & co., with his unique style made of awareness and understatement without Actor's Studio grins. You put this all together with a heartbreaking ending, the (pure Spike Lee) poisonous soliloquy climax and the courage to face the tragedy of Ground Zero and you obtain the masterpiece. With this movie Spike (and no more tired Woody) is definitely NY's poet with all its ups and downs and its contradictions. Concede yourself a pleasure, go watch it.
Spider-Man (2002)
More than I expected
Sam Raimi was really a great director, an almost revolutionary innovator with the Evil Dead series and the author of an excellent noir like A Simple Plan, but in other cases (for example the last one starring Kevin "Stinky" Costner) he was very disappointing. So my expectations for Spider-Man were very low (I'm a die-hard batmanian!!). But, sometimes it happens again, the movie was better than I thought. In particular the first half, in my opinion the part that really interested Raimi: the developing of the mutation as a metaphor of Peter Parker's hormonal developing. Or a brilliant idea like the wrestling one to explain the use of a costume, necessary for a superhero but unusual in real life. The second half is more directed with the auto pilot, with the usual topics of comics movie (kidnapping of the girl, hero versus his nemesis, ecc.), but it doesn't diminish the good impression left by the first one. A last positive mention for Tobey Maguire and a negative one for Willem Dafoe (he is really overacting!) and the special effects, sometimes too evident. But it's better to do so, less accurate special effects and more attention to the screenplay, the exact opposite of the slaughter committed by Lucas to one of our favorite series (guess what?)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Redux or not Redux?
Apocalypse Now is such a great movie that it's impossible for me to talk about it, it's too beautiful!! So why should I write a comment, you might say? To talk about the differences between the long version and the classic one. Because the classic Apocalypse, the one released in 1979, is not only a masterpiece, but one of the greatest movies of all time, in the same category of "2001: A Space Odissey" or "Taxi Driver". Instead, the so-called Redux version (197 minutes) is "only" a great, amazing movie a bit too long. The added scenes aren't so fundamental to the plot and the structure of the movie, and the soundtrack chosen to accompany them, in particular the scene with the French, is incredibly poorer than the rest of the auditive experience. Only the episode of Kilgore's surfboard adds some enjoyable laugh. Check the brief one, that's the real masterpiece.
L'ultimo bacio (2001)
danger!!
The almost perfect synthesis of hypocritical is truly represented by Muccino: a really dangerous director, with his authorial pretensions and subtle messages who conceal (only for not-very-smart-people) a conservative and pro-family moral. In this world of yuppies and advertising men all the worse Italian clichés reign supreme and it's really sad (almost a shame!) that so many people have fallen in love for this movie, the last of a long series of provincial products "made in Italy". "Normality is the real revolution": what??? Are we nuts?
The Limey (1999)
wasted occasion
What an idea!! The "real" flashback, taken from the real youth, in particular from a performance, of Terence Stamp is an amazing point of start, probably worth half a movie. And how to comment the soundtrack (Who, Byrds & co. with slightly unusual but classic tracks from the sixties) and all the atmosphere of "End of an era" perfectly embodied by two symbols of that age, Stamp (one of the "Free Cinema" UK icons) and Fonda, the Easy Rider character (in decaying state, a possible alternative to the tragic ending of the biker in the original movie)? So, with all these premises, why The Limey isn't a 10/10 but only a 7/10? Because these premises ARE the film, as if it wasn't never realized, but remained on paper, pale trace of a masterpiece: the real result (probably due to the nature of Soderbergh, artisan more than artist, and to a poorly written script) is a somewhat good movie who could be better acted, directed, etc. It remains enjoyable but what a great chance missed!
Magnolia (1999)
It's too long!!
You can save Tom Cruise and throw away the rest: it's as simple as that. Now the world is full of directors who want to be Robert Altman, but nothing like "Magnolia" can show how much the author of "Short Cuts" and "Nashville" is unique. I saw other films as long as Magnolia (like "Casino" or "Heat") but this is another story; only Americans can bear heavy bricks like this or Stephen King books. Where do they get free time? Have they found the secret of 48-hour days? It's the only possible answer, otherwise nobody has enough time to spend watching the same boring and 2D characters (good cops, horny husbands, addicts, cruel TV hosts) talking, weeping, talking, swearing, talking, weeping, singing (everybody sings! what an American bad idea!), weeping again and talking till death finally arrives. In this unbearable context, the noisy coming of the frogs has the useful function to wake up the poor viewer, tired after three infinite hours of "alternative" soap opera. At the end I understand the meaning of the title: probably the unconscious influence for Anderson (so promising in "Boogie Nights") was "Steel Magnolias". Very bad.
U Turn (1997)
Bloody Oliver Stone
I'm definitely not a fan of Oliver Stone but I wanted to watch this movie for two reasons: Sean Penn is a great actor and Jennifer Lopez... is Jennifer Lopez. It was hard to rate U Turn and I gave it 6 because good things and bad things balance themselves. Between the good there are the ending, all the interpretations (in particular the Thornton character) and the funny medley of movies from the past ("Duel In The Sun", "The Hot Spot", "The Postman Always Rings Twice"). Not so good, instead, the soundtrack, very similar to a previous one by Morricone ("Indagine su un cittadino..."), Jon Voight character (the usual f***ing Stone wise indian) and the heavy handed, exaggerated direction (it's too long!). A bit confused movie, but a stop in Superior isn't so regrettable.