Nephilim-6's Reviews

Moonlight Whispers (1999)

9/10

S&M doesn't mean that one is a sick and depraved person

21 April 2005

In it's simplest form this movie is about a boy and a girl who fall in love.

While that could make a good movie this one throws in a realistic problem. The boy gets off on masochism. While many viewers may find this scary it is a realistic and common fetish. I for one thinks it is quite exciting.

But as erotic as some people might find it that's not what the movie deals with. It deals with the psychological impact of that realization.

The girl does not know how to handle that aspect of the relationship and the boy finds himself 'desturbed and perverted' Problems arise and both try to come to terms with the situation in different ways.

Whitout going too much of the story away I want to make clear this is NOT a pornographic movie. It tries to address certain more exotic aspects of sexuality in a normal, non-judgmental way. It shows us what could happen in a relationship when one or both parties has a fetish. It also shows us that having a fetish does not mean that the love for one-another is different than any other relationship. Just the way someone expresses it or experiences it is different.

All in all a very honest and heartwarming movie.

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The Five (1995)

6/10

needs to be more bleak

27 November 2003

I won't say this is a bad movie. It really isn't. But when I see the name Kitano on the cover I expect bleakness, utter despair, or hilarity.

This movie however doesn't know what it wants to be. You have yakuza, extreme violence, some really sick scenes, loss and then... quirky humorous characters... While I don't mind quirky humor, it doesn't blend well with the rest of the story..

A bunch of guys plan to rob the Yakuza but even though they get the money all hell breaks loose since the yakuza track down the robbers and send 2 hitmen after them. Result: lots of (often intense sick yet sexy) violence Tarentino can learn from with drama and: humor ?!? Doesn't really work for me.. Atleast not when I'm in a nihilistic/destructive mood.

All in all. an okay maybe even fun movie but not one for those of Kitano's usual movies. (and yes I know he didn't direct this one)

6.5 or 7 out of 10

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Dolls (2002)

10/10

deep... haven't fully digested this

22 October 2003

3 stories of doomed relation ships. all jumbled together.

I just got done watching this movie. Yes it's slow. Yes there isn't a lot of dialogue. But this movie is brilliant. The visuals, the style, the symbolism, the utter sadness..

This isn't a movie for people who want action. or people who want dialogue. Visuals people, READ the visuals. The story is told through images.

It's beautiful. But very depressing.

HIGHLY recommended.

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Scarecrow (2001)

8/10

unnerving and melancholy..

17 August 2003

I bought this movie 2 months ago because I like Japanese cinema plus it was cheap(and from the director of Ring 0: Birthday. Yes the Japanese series is superior to the American remake. Even Rasen is more interesting than 'The Ring'.). However I didn't watch it until tonight mainly because it didn't get too many favorable reviews on IMDB. That sad I was bored and decided to watch it. And from the first scene I was drawn in... This movie has a rather creepy but melancholy tension thoughout. It's a slow movie yes but boring? Definatly not. The pacing is just right. It amplifies the mystery of the story. Most people who watch scary movies nowadays just expect cheap scares instead of a truly eery atmosphere thoughout. So I think that is what makes a lot of people dislike this movie. This movie isn't big on the scares, it has some but not many, but what it does is make the viewer wonder.

The movie basically is about Kaoru(she's a very pretty girl btw) whose brother is missing. He seems to have gone to visit his girlfriend in a little rural village in the middle of nowhere. That's the last he's heard from. As Koaru goes off to search for him there she finds that things are odd in the village... Everyone seems to be obsessed with a festival(Japan has a lot of festivals for many spiritual things) about scarecrows. And everyone seems to want her to leave and is unwilling to help her...

The ending I found wasn't a dud like someone mentioned but more like a very sad one. More I will not say about this movie. You have to watch it for yourself.

This isn't a movie for people who like cheap scares. But someone who likes mystery and eery things happening will probably like this movie. very reccomended.

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Spirited Away (2001)

9/10

I didn't get it at first but then I saw it again.

1 August 2003

While Nausicaa is better this movie is a vast monument in animation. Therefor I find it an insult when people say something like Ice Age is better. sure Ice Age has pretty visuals but it does not have the depth and spirituality of Spirited Away.

However I cannot really blame most comments since most people don't really know Japanese culture other than Sushi, hightech gadgets, Dragonball Z and Pokemon.

The thing with Spirited Away is that it delves deep into the spiritual side of Japanese culture. To Japanese people all things contain spirits. Hence all the gods and spirits in this movie. there's a lot of symbolism in this movie as well. And a lot of life lessons.

And what I find really important: it doesn't try to be a kiddy movie but more a family movie. Western people often seem to view animation as something only for kids. In Japan this is simply not true. Animation is for everyone. It provides an escape and a way to create outragious stories that would not have been able to be created through normal film.

i love it. I found it hard at first but after seeing it again all the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Still I do have some isues with the film. Actually only 1. the ending was too swift. It should have been worked out a little bit more.

Other than that wonderful wonderful movie.

oh and btw (comment to one reviewer) watch the original japanese language version with subtitles. Chihiro does NOT have a high pitched voice. The whole ide of Dubbing in itself I find ludicrous.

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The Ninth Gate (1999)

entertaining but not great

30 July 2003

Why is it that I've never seen a good movie about the devil. While I thought Exorcist 2 had it's moments it never really moved me. (as for Exorcist 1. It bored me)

Now we have this. Usually I like Johnny Depp. I think he's agreat actor. While he certainly did his best here the movie falls short in the scare department. I want my movies about the devil to be accurate and not humoour which this was. Why if hell's name does hollywood have to make every damn movie funny? Lucifer wasn't funny. Lucifer was an angel who dared to stand up against god because god favored the race of men over his first creations. Lucifer was a proud angel. And I for one understand how he felt. Wouldn't you?

For once I would like to see a serious movie about this subject. Why not make a movie about Dante's works. But for crying out loud don't butcher it with senseless commercialism.

Films should be about art.. And while this movie certainly was entertaining it wasn't art. Mere entertainment.

PS the girl was The Whore Of Babylon as shown on the last engraving. Even I saw that on the first viewing. And I must say she was pretty hot. But that's just my opinion ;-)

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Darkside Blues (1994)

7/10

Good, but:

8 May 2003

This anime has a lot going for itself. Great character design(darkside is uber cool), atmosphere and it's pretty stylish altogether. There is only one problem. It isn't finished. Yes the main characters awaken to their part/role in the world but they should have expanded on that and finished the whole Persona Century story. Now we see great revolutionaries awaken to their task yet there it ends.

I liked this movie a lot. I honestly did but I just wish that they would tell a more complete story and not a small section of it.

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Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

One of my favorite movies.

7 May 2003

Although as a gothic inclined person, usually I try to avoid the stereotypical vampire ideas people have about the subculture but I must say that this is a darn good movie with a great 'gothic' feel and look to it.

I'm half way though the book and it indeed it doesn't follow the original story that faithfully but still what we have here is a very good movie.

The sets, the atmosphere and cast all are great. Even the much maligned role of Keanu Reeves doesn't strike me as annoying.

The film definately isn't you're stereotypical horror flick. Instead it tells a very visual and hypnotic story filled with eroticism, romance and blood. It's not all that scary. It just tells a morbid and decadent story about a man who has basically lost all what he believed in and feels as if he gets a 2nd chance when he sees his lost love reincarnated in a simple woman.

What we have here is a film about Dracula the man. Not the monster. Yes we see aspects of that but mostly we see the man. The count who has lived with grief and madness for so long.. I think this is an interesting view on the legend. We saw this side of vampires in Interview With The Vampire which is in my humble oppinion better and more epic but still as vampire films go this comes close.

All in all I reccommend this highly. Very stylish. Tragedy, decadence, romance and eroticism. What could you want more?

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Lost Highway (1997)

9/10

Wonderfully disturbing

19 April 2003

This isn't a simple Hollywood style movie. Basically all the negative reviews I've read concern the fact that the story doesn't make sense.

Mainly I think because most people are accustomed to the simple storylines that basically all Major Hollywood movies serve up. The story does make sense in a certain way. Most people don't seem to pick up on that. If you watch closely you'll notice that certain events happen twice.

Just from different view points. Take the scenes involving Fred coming home from the party. You'll hear certain sounds. Those same sounds apear later on in the movie. Only seen from a different viewpoint. Same as the Dick Laurant Is Dead scene. My theory on that is that the characters are stuck in a time loop. Which would explain the weird occurance during the car chase at the end of the movie. Since right after that happens Fred is at his house again and mentions to himself that Dick Laurant Is Dead. And I think the Timeloop is caused by that Highway though the desert we keep seeing.

Anyway that's what me and a couple of friends concluded after discussing the movie a bunch of times.

Anyway I love this movie. Nice and disturbing. A gem among the garbage Hollywood usually produces.

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The Fifth Element (1997)

Disappointed

30 March 2003

I read a lot of reviews about this movie before purchasing it and it seemed cool. But after watching it I was disappointed. Not to say it was bad, It was entertaining and better than most hollywood trash, but still I was disappointed. I was expecting something like the magnificent Blade Runner but no... What I got was something with lots of bright colors and humor... And I just don't like that. I like my scifi movies bleak and devoid of hope but this just didn't cut it for me.

But like I said I found it entertaining. It's not like your typical hollywood trash. Interesting sets and characters and story. (Although very Wicca. Fifth Element being love? Been there done that). And the ever gorgeous Milla. She did a brilliant job acting. I kept wondering if the language she spoke was a real one.. Can anyone enlighten me? Anyway, okay movie but not up to par with the afore mentioned Blade Runner. Even though I felt it was trying to achieve that vision of the future. 7 out of 10

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Avalon (2001)

9/10

Beautiful

25 October 2002

First of I have to say that I LOVE this movie. It's beautiful in the way it looks and sounds and tells its story.

First of I'd like to comment on a few reviews I've seen on here.

1st the one about it being in Polish: Yes it is in Polish but so what? If a movie isn't in English does that mean it's not worth as much as a typical Hollywood movie?

2nd the one about the 'bad' music: The music is beautiful. This isn't meant to be a rock and roll type action movie like The Matrix. It wants to create mysterious atmosphere. And it succeeds in that. The music reminded me a lot of a mixture between the music of Ghost In The Shell and the music of the Riven game. Haunting and elegant

3rd the slow storytelling nature: People... This is not The Matrix. THAT was an action movie. THIS is a cyberpunk thriller. Furthermore it questions alienation and the dangers of virtual reality and ofcourse what makes something reality.

On to the content. Sometime in the future people are becoming addicted to am illegal virtual reality war RPG simulation. Why is it illegal? It's dangerous to your health... VERY dangerous. One woman called Ash is one of the star players. Many players form parties to gain more experience, however she doesn't want to... Why? Ghosts from the past perhaps? But then she gets an incentive... A hidden level... What's a good gamer to do? EVEN if it means it might leave her a vegetable in real world... But does she care? And why is she doing it? Those same ghosts? Or is it something else..

In conclusion This isn't a movie for everyone. However if you like intelligent movies and science fiction then this is highly recommended.

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Candyman (1992)

Scary... (additional)

20 January 2002

To correct a mistake in my review below: Clive Barker didn't have anything to do with Halloween. I meant to say Hellraiser.

lol.. OK now that I've corrected my mistake I'll be on my way :-)

greetings from Holland everybody!

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Candyman (1992)

Scary... forget Scream

19 January 2002

Warning: Spoilers

I've read a bunch of comments here saying this is a bad movie.

The reasons why people thought this I question though. Let me name some.

-One said it wasn't as good as Scream. Scream was a cliched, utterly horrible bunch of comedy and 90's commercialism. -It was gory and contained blasphemy. Excuse me people, this is horror. It's supposed to contain supernatural and or gory situations.

Sprung from the mind of Clive Barker, the genius behind Halloween and Nightbreed(YES this IS a cool movie) comes a bleak and sinister tale concerning an Urban Legend. We all know about Urban Legends(and no I don't mean the movie). I mean the stories about for instance the couple out on Lover's Lane who are making out in the car and hear a noise and flee, only to find a hook hanging from the car door when they get home. Or the old lady who dried her dog in the microwave after she washed him.

This movie is about such an Urban Legend. Only in this movie the Urban Legend turns out to be true: A killer with a hook for a hand who appears behind you when you say his name 5 times while standing in front of a mirror...

If the movie had only told you this the movie indeed would have been a simple slasher movie. This however is not the case. There is a background story here. And the place in which most of the murders take place. Also there is reason WHY he chooses Helen to be his victim. But we only find that out towards the end of the movie. This is why Candyman deserves a place among the classics in the often shallow genre of Horror.

A short synopsis: *Contains spoilers* Helen, the main character, is doing a thesis about Urban Legends. At one points a couple of events drive her to investigate one legend in particular. The legend about the Candyman. A supernatural killer with a hook for a hand. Her investigation leads her to a ghetto named Cabrini Green which supposedly is the hunting ground of the Candyman. With every person she talks to she's more and more drawn into the world of myth and legend until she is attacked by a gang led by a guy who calls himself The Candyman. This is where things go wrong. After the attack she believes that the guy who attacked her is the reason why people believe in the Candyman. And the people in Cabrini Green also start to believe that the killer was this gang-leader.

However when at one point she is walking to her car in an abandoned car-park, she hears a low voice calling her. When she turns around she sees a tall black man in a long coat with a bloody hook for a hand... Candyman is real...

Candyman deserves a place in the classics in the genre of Horror. I admit I haven't seen all of the classics, but I have seen many of them such as Halloween, Nightmare On Elmstreet, Carrie, Night Of The Living Dead and Hellraiser. And I don't mean the sequels. Those were fun in their own right but don't deserve the title Classic. Candyman deserves to be in that list of Classics. It's intelligent has some good acting in it and has a good story. Plus is is suspenseful. Something that I miss in many so-called horror movies. Plus it lacks that horrible obsession with humor that most horror movies of late have.

Highly recommended.

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Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

10/10

Heartbreaking

4 March 2001

Warning: Spoilers

During my searches on Anime on the net one day I came across this title. This was 2 years ago.

Then last week I went to an Anime convention and at the DVD stand I saw it. I bought it immediately.

When I got home 3 days later I popped it in. I was warned about it being tragic but nothing could have prepared me for the wave of emotion that hit me while watching it. I was depressed for a whole day. Even thinking about it made me cry..

This is the power of Grave Of The Fireflies..

This is not your typical Dragonball Z/Sailormoon/Pokemon style anime. While I love Sailormoon and some Dragonball Z, Grave Of The Fireflies surpasses it by lightyears. I bought it expecting an epic movie like Ghost In The Shell or Akira but even those paled compared to this.

We have here a story of a 14 year old boy(Seita) who loses his mother in a firebombing during World War 2. He then has to take care of his 4 year old sister(Setsuko). While at first they're taken in by his aunt the relationship between him and his aunt takes a turn for the worst. He then ends up on the street and the struggle begins... It doesn't take a genious to figure out that things get really depressing, yet I won't spoil the ending..

All I have left to say is that you have to see this movie.. It's the most powerful movie I've ever seen... It's painful to watch but still you have to see it...

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The Maxx (1995)

9/10

Truly disturbing

24 October 2000

Where do I start.. Maybe with the fact that The Maxx is purple? No that doesn't do it justice because that is but a small speck of a detail in the complete and utter psychological nightmare that is The Maxx.

I have seen this movie many times and still I feel utter despair when it's over. I mean it made me depressed for 2 days last weekend. One of my friends had to turn it off because it was too close to his own life.

But the story.. Well that's well dark. We have Maxx. He's this muscular guy in a purple suit with a rather strange mask with big teeth. He keeps shifting between the world of 'the city' and the 'real australia'("but not he Australia they teach you about in school etc...") as he puts it. He has no memory of his past.

Then there's Julie Winters. A Freelance social worker. She has a dark secret.

Then we have Mr. Gone. A Magician/serial murderer/rapist. All time bad guy. Somehow tho he knows something about Maxx and Julie's past. Something very important. "do you remember spirit-animals Julie?"

Then we have Sarah(she's my fave) a teenager who wants to become a writer. Outcast as she is she has some rather serious emotional problems. "luckily I don't get hurt anymore... yeah.. lucky me..."

these are a few of the basics for the story. It gets WAY more confusing as the movie progresses. And yet the story works. It's hypnotic, partly due to the very fitting animation, and completely sucks you in and gives your brain a thrashing and spits it out again at the end.

Dark, brooding and very depressing this is the perfect way to spend a dark evening. One word of advice though. As I have noticed with myself, do NOT watch this if you're very depressed. It will make it worse. MUCH worse.

One comment I'd like to make about the video release. They left out a few pieces that were shown on MTV because otherwise the video would be too long or something like that. The director didn't feel the parts they left out were fitting to the storyline. On some level this is true but they also left out some stuff about the Leopard-Queen which IS important to the story. Therefore I advice you to try to get a hold of the comic as well so you know what I'm talking about.

Okay I'm done for today. Needless to say I find The Maxx brilliant as it taught me a few things about my own personality and I hope others will also find it inspiring.

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Fight Club (1999)

gotta love disfunctional people :o)

22 September 2000

Warning: Spoilers

I've seen a myriad of reviews on here for this movie and they either are:"I hate it!" or "Wow!!"

I have to agree with that last statement. One thing before hand. Some reviewers say that The Matrix was a LOT better. I'm sorry but no. Apart from the great FX The Matrix was a shallow movie.

On to this movie. I don't know if this qualifies as a spoiler but just to be sure:"If you haven't seen this movie and you don't want to know what goes on it it then don't read this"

It relies heavily on atmosphere and the knowledge that deep down we're all somewhat dysfunctional. What's so great about this movie is that we actually see a man go thru his personal hell and in the end realise that this actually relates to your own life. I had this same experience with MTV's cartoon series(and comic book series) The Maxx. What you see is real. Not some made up social problems but real social problems that you can find in your own life. Ofcourse you don't beat the crap out of people everyday like in the movie but this is merely meant to illustrate the problem.

All in all I thought this movie was nicely dark and sarcastic. It gave it a very cult feeling. Somewhat goth if you wanna add another stereotype. This is not for people who like their movies simple tho. Maybe that's why it got such bad reviews. And as for Brad Pitt... He's one crazy S.O.B. or isn't he? hehe..

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