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keygrippa
Reviews
Titanic (1997)
Sank Like a Stone
Titanic:
Number one box office takings of all time, by a mile. Special effects better than any other movie, ever.
And nowhere to be seen on the IMDB voters' top 250.
Why the disparity? Because Special Effects do not a Movie Make, and cannot cover the cracks in the pedestrian plot and the cardboard characterisation.
The ultimate reputation of this film has been sunk not by an iceberg but a similarly immovable object; the judgment of movie-lovers.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
One More Chance
It's not too big a leap to assume that most people reading this review are Star Wars fans like myself, and that the consensus of fans' opinion is that Phantom Menace is not George Lucas' best work.
In that perspective, we love Star Wars and we are prepared to tolerate any number of failures in the hope that there might be another masterpiece, just maybe. But George will have to review the lessons learned from his mistakes.
The weakness of the movie is not due to lack of effort; on the contrary, one of its problems is that it tries too hard - so much expectation had been built. It has a massive reliance on special effects - a really bad idea - and you need a microscope to find the storyline.
It should not be hard to remember that Anakin is Darth Vader but the characterisation and script are so poor that we find we are constantly forgetting who the kid is. And which one of those robed gentlemen is Obe-Wan? And throwing in familiar characters without any build-up, like they had just shown up on the day and had to be squeezed in to the filming schedule?
Go for it, George - Episode II has come and gone and is only a little better - you may only have one more shot at it. Bring in some decent dialogue writers to help. Get yourself a good story and have it checked out before you spend the next gazillion dollars. And don't fret too much over the special effects.
A Home of Your Own (1965)
A good vintage
This little 'B' movie is worth seeing if only for the entertainment value of seeing famous comedians such as Ronnie Barker as young men. I saw it in a theatre in Dublin and there were amused gasps as the familiar faces appeared.
Also nice if you like seeing see 1960's Britain in context.
Blade Runner (1982)
Time Warp
I saw this at the movies when it first came out, thinking: "It's based on a great book and it's got Harrison Ford in it... we can't go far wrong here."
Naturally I was very disappointed at the time since the movie gave very little respect to the book.
Recently I watched it again, thinking that perhaps it has improved with age. On the contrary, it's futuristic pretensions are laughable and the movie can be carbon-dated to 1982: already-out-of-date-punk-rock and early 1980's fashions.
Then I read the book again ("Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?") aka Blade Runner. Still a fascinating read. Do yourself a favour; save 15 dollars and buy the book rather than the DVD.
Star Wars (1977)
The Rest Writes Itself...
I have spent some time commenting on lesser movies and it suddenly occurred to me... hey, I could comment on Star Wars! It's like playing football at your local park and then suddenly being picked for England. People might even read my comments, as you are doing now...
To get to the point, in 1977 my pal invited me along with his kid sister to see this movie. I'm 18 years old, I'm not expecting much, I hadn't paid much attention to the hype, but we did make the extra effort to go to see it at The Odeon in Leicester Square, a big cinema in the centre of London which I had never visited before.
In we went and I'm already taken aback by the sheer size of the theatre and the screen... we are quite close to the front. I'm already very impressed. Then the opening titles spring up, the huge sound system bursts to life, John Williams unparalleled orchestral masterpiece.
And then the sound, shaking the whole theatre, rumbling, you can feel it in your diaphragm. The gigantic star ship looms majestically into view from the top of the screen, it is huge, you are there in space looking at it...
It took me about two minutes to draw a breath and the rest writes itself.
I saw the movie again only last week on one of the movie channels on Sky satellite and it was as big and bold as ever. Still 100 percent watchable.
The sequels... at time of writing The Empire Strikes Back is a very creditable number 17 in the IMDB voters chart and Return of the Jedi at 117. Phantom Menace is not in the top 250. Clearly the echoes are growing fainter so let's hope Mr. Lucas can maybe give us one more really good one from the remaining two?
Titanic (1997)
Sank Like a Stone
Titanic:
Number one box office takings of all time, by a mile. Special effects better than any other movie, ever.
And nowhere to be seen on the IMDB voters' top 250.
Why the disparity? Because Special Effects do not a Movie Make, and cannot cover the cracks in the pedestrian plot and the cardboard characterisation.
The ultimate reputation of this film has been sunk not by an iceberg but a similarly immovable object; the judgment of movie-lovers.
Le château de ma mère (1990)
Enrich Your Life
I'd recommend this film very strongly to movie lovers.
Oh, you'll have to read the subtitles. It's French... don't be afraid... this film makes complete sense to any audience and is not art for art's sake.
But hey, you wouldn't be reading these comments if you weren't intelligent and discerning, so subtitles wouldn't be a problem, I know.
Really, give it a try. The other comments on this movie are absolutely correct. It is completely charming and will hold you in it's influence for the whole movie. Mostly the story of a the relationship between a small boy and a girl he meets. Well-observed, hilariously funny in parts. Exquisite acting of the first order. You'll never forget it. Give it a try.
Brazil (1985)
Escape from Hell
Terry Gilliam explained in an interview that he wanted to explore the notion of eluding a very bad situation by escaping into madness.
Beautiful and dark, funny and frightening, new and old mixed together in a delicious recipe.
A lovely and fascinating film that can be watched over and over; the spirit of this film is not negative. It is a story of escape.
Brilliant, well done Terry Gilliam.
Amadeus (1984)
In that moment, I knew...
When we observe a painting by Van Gogh, it may be just oil on canvas. We could do something similar, surely? We have eyes, and we can hold a paintbrush - just apply the right colour in the right places. What more is needed?
And Mozart, what is necessary to create music similar to his? Salieri could sit at a keyboard and work the keys, plink plonk. He knew which notes go together and which don't. He knew a good tune from a bad one...
And Forman, and Schaffer. They made a movie: Amadeus... Simple... perhaps anyone could do it with a bit of practice? You get a nice adequate budget and professional actors. Go to some interesting places, direct the camera and away you go?
Yup, I'm taking a while to get to the point, dear reader, but since you are exploring these comments, it's quite likely that you love this movie dearly as I do. I'm pushing at an open door. We are revelling in the knowledge of genius.
Forman and Schaffer may not be geniuses in Mozart's league - who could be? - but they still created this masterpiece of a movie to enrich our lives.
Oh, and while we're at it, let's say Thank You to F. Murray Abraham, eh?
I would welcome a dialogue on Amadeus.