Reviews

This is one of the most disappointing movies I've ever seen. I was expecting something great considering it was Scorsese, DeNiro and Keitel. While the acting and direction were very good (plus an awesome soundtrack, with a good mix of song styles), the movie basically had no plot, and bored the hell out of me. At about the one hour mark it was clear that no fascinating story would emerge. The final violent sequence was cool, but could not make up for an hour and a half of nothing. The movie itself was well crafted, but the script (I don't mean dialogue) was terrible. How could somebody write that and think, this is a complete movie. No inciting incident to grab your interest (other than the cool characters), virtually no rising action, and I hesitate to call the final sequence a climax, because what is it a climax of? Taxi Driver and Goodfellas are way better. For all of you who think this is a great movie, what do you call The Godfather (made the previous year), the greatest human achievement in history? Because, just as a movie it is at least a thousand times better than Mean Streets.

FUBAR (an obscene acronym from the military) is an amazing accomplishment. It tore onto the scene at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, after being turned down by the Toronto fest. The classic success story of guys who maxed out their credit cards (including their Canadian Tire cards) and took a giant leap into the uncertain future - and it paid off. Telefilm Canada decided to fund the movie (after it was already shot on digital video), and "beefed" the budget up to $350,000 (Cdn.) They did a good job promoting the movie through a soundtrack featuring Sum 41, Gob, Sloan, etc. doing classic Canadian headbangin' tunes. This movie has it all: hilarity and drunken hijinx, intense drama, and incredible acting (although I wonder how much the beer had to do with this). Go see this movie, it is much more than the trailers would suggest: much more than guys acting loud and stupid. It's actually a touching film, with a look at the two main character's fear of mortality.

I liked this movie because it is so refreshingly different from the typical Hollywood formula. The lead actor, David La Haye was incredible. How did he not win the Genie award for Best Actor? This film had a good mix of humour and drama. However, I thought that the plot and characterization could have been a bit tighter. Also, it's hard to be absorbed into a movie when you don't like any of the characters. However, it was a great study of the contradicting actions that people exhibit everyday. The main characters are multidimensional (almost too much so), and that is what makes the film so interesting. The visual style is also compelling, with a lot of underwater shots. I recommend this film for people who are intelligent, serious, and do not need explosions, and gratuitous sex to be excited. No Hollywood b.s. here. The director was the cinematographer on "Maelström" (2000), which is similar to "Crabe", however much better, in my opinion.

Bruce Sweeney's Last Wedding is a hilarious but flawed look at three couples whose marriages all fall apart. This is the reverse of a romantic comedy. The comedy is there all right, but there are only fleeting glances at any thing that could be called romance. The film starts just before the wedding of Noah and Zipporah, the last of the three couples to tie the noose - I mean knot. From that point on, it's all downhill, as we watch how these three relationships crumple in a pile of miscommunication, and infidelity. Some of the moments in this movie are uproariously funny, but there is too much sadness in between. That is really the only flaw - the slow pace. But the acting is sensational, and there are many memorable moments - both of which definitely overshadow the pacing problems.

This film deserves notoriety. I had never heard of it; just stumbled across it on television. Too bad, because it is a great movie. The script is very clever, in terms of action and dialogue, and does a great job mixing hilariously silly moments with profound drama. Also, the acting is superb, I can't wait to see this auteur's next movie, or see these actors in other projects. Canada is not known for its film industry (even in Canada), and this is just the type of smart, exciting film that the industry should do a better job of promoting. Genuinely a film to be very proud of. However, I was disappointed in seeing a character pronounce the letter z "zee", instead of "zed". The directed showed signs saying Winnipeg, so he obviously wasn't too concerned with it pretending to be an American movie. Anyway, this film is great, and everybody should know about it.

This is one of the best science fiction movies I've ever seen. It is ridiculously good considering it was made for only $750,000 (Cdn.). This is high concept at its best. Not to mention making a low budget indie film look as good as a Hollywood film (even the special effects). The power of this film is what you don't yet know. It slaps you in the face and ties you to the edge of your seat. It does a brilliant job of making the audience feel like they are with the characters. This movie beat "Shakespeare in Love" at the Box Office in France, and dominated "The Truman Show" in Japan. Too bad it was overlooked in the U.S., and inadequately promoted in its home country of Canada. The Canadian film industry will never make a dent in the ever invading American industry if it ignores its own great, clever films like Cube. Highly recommended. However, the science fiction label should not turn anyone off: it's more accurately described as an intense mystery/drama.