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Reviews
Trudeau (2002)
Almost flawless..but the flaws that are there are dumb!
It is hard to find fault with this terrific effort...great script, great actors etc...but why do they screw up such a super show with dumb things. Although I am complaining about only a couple of parts of the show, I do not know why these things took place. For example, at the end of episode one, after a great re-telling of the P.Laporte-J. Cross FLQ crisis, they resolve it with a multi-screen ending, that had no narrative, and made absolutely no sense at all to those who do not know how it ended. It was as if the director and editor suddenly realized that they only had 60 seconds left to wrap it up and tried to do everything at once. If you were new to the story and did not know how the events unfolded then you would have been lost. Likewise at the end of the second episode, so 'genius' decided to use an actual speech by the real Trudeau, but made it into a grainy scratch filled piece of black and white film as if it had been film in the time of Laurier not Trudeau. What exactly was the point of that. The only other complaint I had was a scene in which Trudeau and his reporter 'friend' were coming up the steps into the Centre Block and unlike every other shot in the series, someone decided to jump cut it as if it were a rock video. Again, what was the point of interupting the flow of the show to do that (unless it was to cut out the person walking in front of them). However, on the whole, the show was great, the portrail of historical figures fascinating. John Turner, Mitchell Sharp and even John Munro came across very well as did Pelletier, Marchand and Lalonde to mention just a few. But then why did they not use an actor to portray Joe Clark, using newsreel footage for his parts and not anyone else, including Levesque. These examples of disjointedness were irritating as they all interuppted the narrative flow of a great show.
Gojira ni-sen mireniamu (1999)
Best movie of the summer
Having seen a few flicks this year, I must confess that this is the best movie of the summer....near as I can tell. Four of us went...one 52 years old, one 37, one 14 and the other 11 and we all agreed that the movie was terrific...and that is what it is..a real summer "movie"...a totally wonderful waste of time. Cheesey is the word that comes to mind...cheesey dubbing, chessey effects, and of course the patented "Godzilla walk". The plot, such as it is, makes little sense...but who cares? The absolute definition of a "popcorn movie"....this is a must see for all ages....at least if you have a sense of humour.
Gladiator (2000)
The most non dedesrving over hyped dreck I have seen in ages
Give me a break....how can people be going on and on about what a wonderful flick this is when it is clearly not. Yes...the openeing battle sequences were splendid....instead of the spanking clean handsome Roman soldiers we are used to seeing in such films, we saw tired, dirty warriors fighting in the mud, slashing their way to victory in what seemed like a realistic situations...and Richard Harris was great and yada yada..BUT... NOTE....PLOT POINTS...DANGER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE.. first of all..the pathetic digital gigantic snow flakes...none of which ever landed on anyone or anything or ever melted, and the MTV editing of the battle...so fast that you really could not see anything at all. The digital effects throughout the movie were transparently phoney....at one point they show the coliseum and birds fly by....phoney pathetic birds..and they are so proud of their birds that they reappear two more times at least. Yes...there are some fun moments in the film, but they are overshadowed by poor digital moments and a terrible story...and just to end things on a sad, sad note...if you see the movie again..PLOT POINTS..DANGER!!!..make sure you notice that when poor old Maximus is lying dead on the coliseum floor, someone has nicely put his head on a sand pillow...I guess he really does demand "star" treatment!
The Cider House Rules (1999)
The movie could be called "The Emperor Has No Clothes"
This movie could be called "The Emperor Has No Clothes"..either that or the version they showed at my theatre was not the same one that everyone else is raving about. The entire film is close to pathetic. It would appear that the author created a simple group of people and had them interact. After he made the list of the cast he then drew up another list on which he wrote such items as.. WARNING...SOME PLOT POINTS MAY APPEAR BELOW!!!!
-orphans (making sure the cutest one will be sick and croak), -racism, the war, illicit affairs, unmarried pregnancy in the 1940s, abortion, drug abuse, coming of age (i.e. losing virginity), kindly old doctor, wise old nurses, adoption rejection, murder, suicide, child abuse..yada yada yada. After making this boring list (surprisingly he left out homosexuality and wife abuse...or maybe I was asleep by then). Oh..did I mention criminal acts of forgery and deception? The point is...this movie is a strictly by the numbers soap opera and despite some nice scenery and acting is hardly worth the fuss being made about it. Would be an ok Saturday night video rental...and that's about it.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
one of the best DVDs ever
Everyone who has seen this knows what a great film it is, but if you can watch the dvd which has fantastic extras including a guide to the locations used, not to mention the two mini documentaries! One point made in one of the documentaries is how the director asked Kevin Spacey to play his character as Dean Martin....and with retrospect, he did!
Detroit Rock City (1999)
If you are in your mid-30s this movie could be your life
The lead review in this section, by "bcali" misses the point entirely as this movie is not for teens, but is for thirty somethings who lived it. For those pre-disco KISS fans this is a movie not to be missed, and for those who were around in the KISS heyday and were not fans, but knew those who were, it should be a must-see as well. Coming out soon on video the studio is unfortunately not marketing it very well as KISS does not even appear on the box art and one fears that by simply looking at the box many of those who might enjoy the tape will miss out!
Ravenous (1999)
a weird movie taking place in a very strange climate
Yes, the movie had good performances and a very interesting story...but what was with the snow ? It keeps appearing then vanishing then appearing again. And when they went to the cave, were those white sheets on the ground supposed to be snow? Not only did I find that distracting, but I kept on thinking of a Simpson's episode where Lisa visited a place called The Donner Party Store..which had a winter party special on. And a Far Side cartoon which featured "The Donner Party Snow Globe". Maybe its too obvious roots were too distracting for me to totally enjoy the flick, which had funny moments that made one laugh while gagging. Worth catching when it soon comes out on video..but don't plan on a meal of rare steak immediately after.
The Velocity of Gary (1998)
first 15 minutes were great, then it sort of fell apart.
The opening shot of Gary showering in the street was great, but I found I had to watch the opening sequence a couple of times to get all the message contained therein. At first it seemed to be a movie full of interesting and funny characters, but then it just got to be too in love with itself and way too "arsty" for its own good. Points go to the cast though for a valiant effort. There is a good movie buried inside and maybe some re-editing might find it...too many needlessly dragged out scenes and sometimes confusing flashbacks. Worth a watch on video though just for the attractive cast, and some of the photography.