Reviews

This is a film about the super-idle superrich and the people who participate in their deathwatch. The film is minimalist in nature having only a cast and a set that supports the deathwatch theme. It is probably a difficult movie to watch because it has absolutely nothing to say about life and living. William's script creates a Dante-ish abstraction of a death journey with incredibly tight and sharp dialogue that is matched by the director's use of space and time. The only problem I have with the production is the totally inept lighting direction. Here we have a Mediterranean sunwashed villa as the set of the final human drama with very little sense of light and heat.

The whole cast, what there is of it, are essentially giving solo performances. Even when they are in each other's arms they seem to be issuing soliloquies. This produces a very interesting effect of "who's on first". Everyone has such a good part with such good lines its hard to tell who to focus on. The real treat was the Taylor-Coward jousting at the dinner table. I've never seen Noel Coward before and this part seemed to be written for him. Taylor hated her part in this film but it appeared the director was allowing the cast to develop their parts themselves judging from the reading flubs that were left in the final cut.

I'm not going to say anything about the story. It should be seen by those who are looking for a Tennessee Williams interpretation of death at the top. Suffice it to say, in response to the waves crashing on the rocks below: "boom...the shock of each moment of still being alive".

I rate this a 5 out of 5. I would have rated it a 4 out of 5 if there was no close-up of Taylor's eyes.

I read the book before I saw the film. The book is about a man's life, the film is about a man's schizophrenia. The book discusses relationships between people. The film brings in other people as a matter of convenience and doesn't do any relationship development at all. Judging by how artists view art as being the spiritual interpretation of the physical, the book is the physical the film is the spiritual and therefore art. I don't disagree with that at all. The way the film draws the viewer into the world of the schizophrenic is very effective and frightening. I don't know if Howard had Wilder's The Lost Weekend in mind when he did this film but there is certainly a spiritual comparison here.

The film is supposed to be based on Nasar's book but the only place I've heard most of the the things the film brings up are from Nash's own mouth as revealed in TV interviews. So don't look for a condensed version of the book, this film is something altogether different.

I suppose if Crowe hadn't thought it appropriate to flip off America's elite while filming at Princeton he would have won the Oscar for best male lead but as it was the film garnered wins in other areas that were entirely appropriate. Although not a must see for all viewers I rate this film a 3.5 out of 5 for those who want to see something very new.

I don't think this is even a black comedy. Comedies are generally based on nutty things that happen to people and/or their nutty responses to said things. Each teacher in this movie got his just reward for thumbing his nose at ethics and morality and the reward wasn't too pretty or funny. Let's see, first a teacher rapes a student then another teacher turns compulsive/obsessive about her and tries to kill her chances in a school election. Har har what yucks. An added background of manipulating and manipulated people who are trying to live their perfectly normal lives just makes this the funniest thing since that last root canal. Oh, I have no doubt that this movie was produced with a humorous objective. Perhaps it is this new generation X humor where attempts to trash someone's life or property is so darned humorous.

Actually this is a pretty good movie if you ignore the comedy billing. I mean not only do criminals do their thing but each criminal in the move gets punished. And in spite of the criminality life goes on for those who keep working at it. The manipulation of time was seamless and superb. The acting was excellent and the direction produced believable interactions. I especially liked the role of the janitor character in the issuance of the coup de grace to the films protagonist(sic).

Maybe, like BladeRunner, a directors cut of this film will remove the narration. Then the jerk protagonist of the film will be relegated to his true, uncomedic, role.

I rate this a 4 out of 5 for an excellent slice of high school life genre. Witherspoon is always a must see. I find Broderick about as funny as a root canal in anything he does. No doubt generation Xers will view this comment as funny.

Richard Widmark would have been good in this typical Hollywood schizophrenia theme where the protagonist acts like an total idiot but ends up simply being misunderstood. What crap. I suppose in this early use of the genre it simply has to be in your face type clumsily done. Wow, a light bulb in the milk, I for one was sure impressed. And Hitchcock wanted Grant to really be a murderer, no wonder why he turned out to be so unlikeable in what the producers allowed to remain. I don't know, maybe English times were different back in those days but I for one don't think a story that casts the greatest comedic/dramatic actor film has ever known as a secretive control freak/bully makes for a good movie going experience (this thing was made in America at that).

Judging this as simply a point in the progression of Hitchcock's great career is this film's only saving grace. I rate it a four out of ten.

This is an other world fantasy only Polansky could have invented. Nothing offers any foundation we can get a hold of. Except maybe for the slightly recognizable Matthau nothing in this flick is common movie going experience. Polansky uses everything he can from script to sets to actors and acting to make us feel a total disconnection from days gone by. From yummy hindquarters to yummy rats, from Archibaldo's gout to a lawyer's tongue not to mention bathing in a toilet this is a totally bizzare experience. I rate this a must see to anyone interested in seeing direction gone wild.

Like everyone else I didn't see this film at the movies because of the terrible reviews. Being a computer jock I had no interest in a Spielberg interpretation of my profession either.

Well shut my mouth and wang my doodle(Hoosierism). With VCR tapes going the route of LPs I said what the heck and picked up this little ditty for a pittance at the local mega-mart. After viewing it I now consider myself one of the lucky few.

What happens when you cross Pinocchio with Blade Runner and carry the idea of human callousness to its logical conclusion? You get a pretty good flick, thats what you get. I'm not going to give away any of the plot but consider A.I. as what remains after humans are no more and a little boy still wants a mother's love.

Peripatetic Haley Joel Osment seems to be getting lots of work as the strange kid on the block. I last saw him in Sixth Sense and he fits right in here too. He sure hasn't grown much. I found absolutely no flaws in anything about this film, the writing, the acting, the FX, the sound track, the futurist sets and vehichles. No, its not a computer jock film. I don't even think its a technology film. It does have a lot to say about humanity though.

By the way, after my tape of this film ended up came the PBS channel on TV and there was a culture show on that had some orchestra playing Richard Roger's Victory at Sea to war footage of ships being blown up and airplanes being shot down. You know, people dying to high brow music. No I don't think Artificial Intelligence:AI is such a bad flick after all.

The animation, sound and script are very minimalist and turn a pretty good sci/fi story into high art. While this is an animation it isn't a cartoon. There is a sense of realism throughout the film. The video I have is of poor quality though.

For those who think they suffer from depression this film will set you straight. Set in a future where drugs are a requirement for getting though a day in the most depressing world known to man, poor THX's mate decides to get something else out of her man than the standard approved relationship. Everything associated with this something else is illegal, naturally, so life goes from bad to worse. So what's worse than depression? I don't know but this film sure tries to find out. Duvall is incredible.

A lesson on all the ways to do dope.

A lesson on all the ways to corrupt your life.

A lesson in spiritual stupidity.

A lesson on total stupidity.

I only say this because I've watched or experienced everything the Lieutenant goes through, probably we all have at some degree or another. What really got me was the whine of when you discover that you are truly and completely squashed by life. Raised the hair on the back of my neck, by golly. Too real. Too scary.

I'm certainly not an Adam Sandler fan. Everything I've seen of his isn't worth any critique so this is the only film of his that I'll just say that I enjoyed without analyzing. Drew Barrymore is always fun to watch. I think she brings so much honesty to her roles. I particularly liked the sound track, not that the selection of songs had anything to do with the storyline. Oh well, maybe I'm a hopeless romantic.

I'm adding this comment in hopes that some producer with access to the film will put it on VHS. Maybe twenty years ago we had a TV channel with a Kung-Fu weekly and this movie really brought its stealth viewers out of the woodwork at work. It was the talk of tinytown. Mostly shot on a sound stage, this movie is the best looking, best acting, best dubbed, best storied Kung-Fu movie ever made. A true legend.

So what's your problem?

If you are a futurist/sci-fi/spiritualist fan then this film is a must see. If you are a Bruce Willis fan then this film is a must see. I think this is the best of those genres.

Taking place two hundred years in the future (well, mostly) this film is a classic battle between good and evil with all levels of good and evil from supreme beings(generally non-human) to supreme idiots(generally, though not always, human) as the Bruce Willis character reluctantly joins a hapless band of intra-galactic do-gooders to save the universe from supreme evil. This is one instance in which getting the girl has life or death implications. Unlike Blade Runner, for instance, this story is well assembled and unlike Star Wars, for instance, doesn't rely on computer effects. I thought the international flavor of the casting lent an additional character to the script.

My only problem with the film is that it is reported that Eric Serra, who scored and performed the film's music, hates doing this kind of work. I don't know why because his sound track CD is certainly worth owning too.

Aziz, more light.

You might say this film tries to be straight from hell. All the great Jeff Goldblum acting, sets, casting, story, dialogue, and atmosphere are truly weird, bizarre and demonic. So whats wrong with this thing? I don't know, something about the script. Like maybe satan didn't put much work into the script. If you are a fan of the dark side of Jeff Goldblum you'll have to see this flick. If you aren't a writer looking for some truly great psychodrama ideas then this probably isn't your cup of tea.

I don't know nothing about the Coen Bros. movies but this one seems to be a flawless comedy, due either to them or to Nick Cage, Holly Hunter etc, it is hard to say for sure.

Now I know the subject matter might be objectionable to some. As a result of a newborn baby being shown in the newspapers he gets stold by a police officer and her ex-con husband and then gets drug all over the southwest by escaped convicts and an insane biker from H E double L while they shoot at and steal from the nicest people. But everything ends up ok. The baby gets returned to his parents, the convicts break back into prison and the biker smudge gets wiped off the the street. So don't judge these folks too hard lest you be judged yourself.

I gave this flick three thumbs up...well I'm just the guy who can do that.

The more I see this simple little expository on human relationships the more I see in the little human relationships in this simple expository. Obviously not a Hollyrock special, this film is actually a French-Australian production collaboration that is wide shot (very wide shot) in Nyerk. No chase scenes, no violence, no blood, no gore, no sex, no language (unless you understand French); you might say that this is good family entertainment except that the emotions and relationships that are explored are not meant for children. Yes, it is a comedy, but it is a one hanky comedy. Even the sound track explores the range of emotional relationship music (everything from Mozart to Enya, who isn't Mozart by the way).

I rated this a seven because (I probably need to watch this a few more times) the ending sucked. I personally think Weir was running fast and loose with the INS and this caused the film to end without resolution of the main characters' relationship. But if you like the New York City ambiance, sophisticated, intelligent relationships and a good cast of pro actors you will like this film.

Indeed, glamorous actors and glamorous set design can find a place in science fiction films. In this case in a remake of the classic '30's Buster Crabbe serials. No, this isn't the wanna be realism of George Lucas, this is the imagination of film artists turned loose with art designers replacing technical advisors. Panned by science fiction buffs, this film was meant for those who prefer Shakespeare to Herbert. I thought everything worked. The sets, the babes, the brutes, the hero, the villain, the oratory, it was all here.

This is one of those movies where the star is the good guy even though he leaves the scene of a deadly accident, steals a million dollars, is too stupid to effect a proper get away, kills a person and ends up torching his own car with two dead bodies in it and no one behind the steering wheel. The best parts were those of the killer and his friend (also a killer). I wonder about a woman who gets slugged full force directly in the face by one of these killers and doesn't get so much as a bruise. Well, she ends up running off with the star so I guess the slug job wasn't totally ineffective. I don't think there was one piece of this film that wasn't gratuitous to some extent, gratuitous inhumanity, gratuitous violence, gratuitous stupidity, gratuitous torture so I gave it a gratuitous four.

If you see this film as a tv movie chances are the broadcaster's watermark will wipe out the subtitles, another reason to buy the video. When I saw this film for the first time I thought it was another American made girl flick so I occupied myself with other things(heh heh). The closing credits intrigued me however(Sean Young, Nell Carter, Aumont, Moreau) so I rented the video. I suppose I rated this a ten because I find most European films worthy of artistic praise, which is what this is, although it is obviously trying to serve an American audience. The French, in particular, have a way with invention that sidesteps stereotyping. Older people don't appear as saints or fools. Americans don't appear as total idiots. Youth isn't always blunt and naive. And life isn't telegraphed. So an otherwise boring girl flick turns into something worth watching.

I've seen the directors cut and the produce's cut. I also read the book. The film is only loosely based on Dick's short story and had a different take on androidism than the film. The film's take was extremely thorough and more dramatic. I liked the directors cut better than the other because it is unnarrated. This makes the protagonist appear to be the man with faults that I think Scott wants Deckard to be. It also strengthens the parts of the other players because you don't really know who the good guy is which is another thing I think Scott wants to express. Dick's book flatly said androids are bad, no matter what. Scott wants us to ask ourselves what exactly is humanness and must humanness be experienced or can it be implanted.

I like a film that invents a place and time I couldn't invent for myself, that takes me somewhere beyond my own imagination. The sets, casting and camerawork did that for me: exotic LA 2019.

The problem I had with this film is that I think Scott gave up on it half way through the film's production. There are some script continuity problems (what happened to the fifth android that everyone is talking about) and some of the buildings in the long shots sure look fake. I get the feeling that the editor didn't have enough film to work with the result being a pretty good flick instead of great flick.

My VCR version was in English even though the language says French. The recording quality was terrible but tended not to detract from the quality of the production. I rated this film a 10 because of the serious work that was put into the script and the animation. Although the futurism used in the story is old I don't think it is dated. The story has a Yellow Submarine quality without the humor. The animation is not realism but works very well with the script. I recommend this film to budding animation producers to see what can be done with the art.