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Guillaume_Fayot
Reviews
The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)
The "new" Hollywood Formula.
This is just another of the "new class" of formulaic movies coming out of "Hollywood." Take a weak plot and add large doses of special effects and pyrotechnics.
I actually fell asleep during the last third of the movie. FELL ASLEEP? Yes, because this is just one more of an incredible number of films that have almost the exact same formula. It's unbelievably boring.
The protagonist is some sort of superhuman who is completely underestimated and misunderstood. The character is capable of getting out of impossible situations with superhuman strength and agility. He prevails, not due to any intelligence, but primarily due to brute force.
I was disappointed when the Necromongers turned out to be "human" right along with Riddick himself. When dealing with science fiction one expects aliens to be different somehow from humans. I was also dissatisfied that the "Lord Marshall's" powers are never explained. How did he get them? Is he human at all? If he's not human why does he look human? And why wasn't Riddick defeated by Lord Vaako after the "Lord Marshall" was put down? The only interesting character in the entire movie was the cat like scaled creature on the planet Crematoria. I did appreciate that Riddick could relate to it when everyone else in the movie was trying run away from it.
If this movie were not so similar to all the other "slash and burn" films produced in recent years I'd have given it at least five stars instead of three. I was tempted to give it a one simply for being so unimaginative.
If there is a sequel I hope there's more substance an less CGI. I fear though that the "new formula" will prevail and the sequel, if there is one, will suck even more than this one.
Fargo (1996)
The "other" characters in a Coen Brothers movie.
Rather than expound on the excellent review of Robert Maxwell (above) I'll just say I like the way he points out the finer qualities of a Joel and Ethan Coen movie. To a "t" as a matter of fact.
I always like to think of Coen brothers movies this way though, and the brothers are consistent in this, they always have two extra characters in their film. One is the scenery or the look of the film. The other is the dialog; specifically accents or dialects.
This was true of their first, Blood Simple, with stark flat Texas scenery and the dialog heavily laced with Texas twang/drawl and their last (as of this writing) Intolerable Cruelty equally laced with the beautiful scenery of Southern California and the rapid fire language of attorneys. I especially enjoyed "Puffy" von Espy's testimony.
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I suppose what I admire most about this particular film is that they not only pull off the desolation of the upper Midwest in deep winter they also manage to capture the simple (yes even seemingly stupid) yet forthright people that inhabit that region of the country. And yes though the two criminals are the most colorful and interesting of the characters one has to admire the police chief (played by Frances McDormand) who is not only female but eight months pregnant. She commands a great deal of consideration and respect from her men who remain pleasant, caring, and totally dedicated to her and the performance of their jobs. Even her husband, whose claim to fame is being selected for his mallard painting which is to be printed on the three cent stamp, seems to understand just how truly exceptional his wife is, and in turn, becomes truly exceptional himself.
Is Marge dainty and fragile in her condition? Not at all, yet she is one hundred percent female just the same.
William H. Macy performs beautifully as the John Q. Milquetoast husband who just can't seem to do anything right.
Harve Presnell is convincing as Jean Lundegaard's business-man father.
Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare are credible as two bumbling, rather stupid, and completely deadly criminals.
Only Kristin Rudrüd seems to have an almost non-part (no speaking, but plenty of screaming), but hey, this is her first film. The screams, reactions, and fear were well done.
It's a strange little movie, but interesting and well worth watching for that reason; just like all Coen brother's movies.
Hollywood Homicide (2003)
Not your average buddy cop flick.
A comparison has been made between this film and Lethal Weapon. This is a poor choice of movies to compare this with in my opinion.
First and foremost, if you are an L.A. area resident you should see this movie. Unlike movies made in the City of New York you know where you are in this film and so do the characters. There's a lot of inside L.A. / Hollywood humor going on in this film too and that's what makes it work in my opinion.
****possible spoiler**** Harrison Ford plays a cop who, like many cops, has another part-time job. This is reality. His part time job happens to be real-estate. This is Hollywood "poetic license." It also happens to be possible in L.A.
Josh Harnett plays his much younger metro sexually sensitive spiritual partner. His part-time job is Yoga instructor. Again this is totally, Hollywood and also, completely possible in L.A.
I've seen mediocre ratings for this film on this site. Maybe for the rest of the country that's fair, but here in L.A. it's a must see if for no other reason than all the locales (familiar to us all) and inside jokes. And yes...it was funny! By the way...the chase scene was really pretty good.
The Crossing Guard (1995)
Not every movie needs to explode on screen.
Those posters who yearn for action, action, and yet more action should rate the movies they are most fond of and leave those with depth and feeling the hell alone. Guys you are about as deep as a puddle in the street.
Sean Penn did an incredible writing and directing job. He assembled an all-star cast and directed them with such skill that no one performance overshadows another, yet all of them are powerful and provocative. It's really great to see David Morse in yet another fine performance. This guy is totally under-rated. Jack Nicholson is, as always, at his finest. Anjelica Huston turns in another powerful performance. It was also good to see Priscilla Barnes after many long years doing a credible, no excellent, portrayal of the "bad girl" with a soul.
If you want to see a film that actually has some depth see this one.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Like every Coen movie before it this was great.
The Coen brothers always have one or two other characters in a film beside those listed in the credits. In Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple, and OBWAT it was the patterns of speech we call "accents."
"What's the Rumpus?" was a common question in Miller's Crossing along with other quick witted period dialog.
In "Fargo" it was that Minnesota slang "Eh?"
In O' Brother Where Art Thou, a story based on Homer's Odessey, the look of the film was also a character right along with the dialog and speech patterns.
Every square inch of the movie was digitally enhanced (a first in the industry) to give the countryside a dried out dusty look.
It was also damned funny in a very tongue in cheek way. This is what I love about the fun films they make. They poke fun but in a decidedly nice way. And if you get the joke it's a private shared joke. And "inside" joke as it were.
The characters were a riot. Ulysses Everett McGill the manically talkative con-man. Pete the dark and forbidding language mangler and Delmar O'Donnell the sweet clueless bumpkin.
Perhaps this wasn't the best Coen brothers movie ever. But for sheer entertainment value it beat just about every other movie that came out that year. Loved the "Soggy Bottom Boys."