Reviews

My fave line is when the wife says to Doug McClure that Darren McGavin reminds her of a meat grinder she once caught her finger in.

After that my brother and I would always yell "MEAT GRINDER" whenever Darren McGavin came on the screen.

I remember the film as lots of fun and fast paced. I wish I could see it again just for how old fashioned everything would look.....

If you wonder why the script on this TV movie is outstanding compared to many of the TV movies of the time, it might have something to do with being part written by Whit Masterson, who also wrote Orson Welles A Touch of Evil back in 1958.

I had the privilege of watching this with two other people who saw Harlan Ellison with me at a now legendary appearance in the late 80's in Toronto, and we kept looking at each other and snickering. But even if you never saw him live, read any of his work, or had any familiarity with him at all, you can appreciate this documentary as being about a man WORTHY of a documentary. He's just that bloody entertaining.

The soundtrack - by Richard Thompson, the legendary Brit folkie - is amazing, by the way.

Some of the camera work is really amateurish, but most of the straight interview footage is well shot. The camera work and the parts that got left out of Ellison's bio - probably in deference to his storied litigiousness - are what knocked this down to 8 out of 10.

His initial 'interview' with Robin Williams is worth watching even if you can't spend the time on the rest of the movie. Within minutes we were all helplessly laughing.

If you're at all interested in SF, either literary or media, movies, have a love affair with the English language or just want to see what it's like to be a legendary, visionary, prolific, brilliant and uncompromising pain in the rear, see this film. I intend to watch it again as some of the dialogue went by so fast I missed it, and it was really, really funny.

A meditation on the psychology of entitlement, this movie posits a world in which every living creature is a plaything, a patsy, a cog in a machine or a moron. It is twinned with a meditation on the psychology of pattern recognition; in this movie not a single person is capable of seeing what's in front of him or her because they are spring loaded to see something completely different; every character defines his or her own self interest so narrowly, and with such ludicrous emphasis on the wrong things, that a horrible outcome is pretty much guaranteed.

Every single character is rendered ugly by a character flaw. Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) is a horndog SOB with no more ability to tell the truth than fly to the moon; Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) is obsessed with appearance to the point of being unable to make anything resembling a moral judgement; Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) is so gullible and malleable that he reminds me of that line out of the 1968 film No Way to Treat a Lady "A thought of yours would die of loneliness!" And it continues like that. John Malkovich's character (was there ever an actor who chewed scene with such slow-mo relish and verve?) is just an upper class man's son who evaporates as a viable mate when he loses his job, thereby causing his wife (Tilda Swinton, who must have been told "Please channel every gonad sapping fishwife with clipped English diction EVAR, thankyou") to run off to a divorce lawyer.

About halfway through the movie, my brother turned to me and said, "So, run into any likable characters yet?" And the answer was a resounding no, but that didn't make me want to stop watching. I wanted to see it through, because I wanted to see if anything like justice would occur, and it didn't.

I enjoyed the movie because it's brilliantly written and very well made. But those characters, hoo-boy. I am glad my life has more meaning, more friendship, and something resembling ethics and rationality, because these fictional folks abandon all such considerations in the first frame, and suffer the consequences all the way through, while the Coens hold up the magnifying glass. One question remains. Are we being asked to mock them or identify with them? Either way it's an uncomfortable, if funny film.

..... and something goes terribly weird.

I have now seen Primer twice. I will probably watch it another half dozen times to get everything out of it that I can.

Yes, there are goofs, yes there's that one horrid error with the 'voltage' with the batteries, but that is minor compared to the egregious whacks in the face most contemporary sf films lay on their hapless viewers. Laws of inertia? Pwa, who cares?

This movie will make you think. What would I do if something like this happened to me? How would I handle it?

But Shane Carruth, if he never makes another film, has done something so amazing and so intelligent, that he will live in the annals of indie films forever. He did so much... the acting, directing, writing, music... a tour de force of inventive and frugal film.

Shane has said that this movie is really about trust. On second viewing, I get what he means.

All science fiction fans should be required by law to see this movie.

This compelling footage from the Antarctic explorations of the British in 1911 is a must see if: You are a fan of early documentaries. Period. Just watch it, you won't be disappointed.

You love penguins... the footage of the Adelie penguins had me rolling on the floor. There are scenes when the dauntless explorers try to 'herd' the penguins, with absolutely hilarious results.

You love beauty ... when the documentarian describes and shows the beauty and starkness of the ice mountains, Mt. Erebus, and icebergs, you really see it, and the footage is, even in black and white, simply gorgeous.

You like Irish step dancing or Russian folk dancing. There's about 2 minutes of footage that will amaze you. (The crew entertaining themselves on the voyage). I have a horrible urge to grab that footage and put it on youtube with a really inappropriate soundtrack. Like rap, or C&W or Bollywood.

You are a fan of polar or any kind of extreme exploration.

You wish to get some notion of just how hard the British had it on the return trek from the pole. Classic, and tragic, until you realize that if Scott hadn't been such a self-righteous wackdoodle they might have all survived.

You like seals. The mommy and baby seal footage is really cute, and shows something of seal behavior which I hadn't known before.

You just love jingoistic nonsense about how great the Brits are. Hate to break it to ya folks, but Amundsen got there first! Anyway, I watched this while halfway through "The Last Place on Earth", the 1985 BBC mini-series, and it really added to my understanding of the expedition.

Parts of this documentary are extremely offensive to modern tastes. The expedition cat was black, and so gets named the N word. Try to take it in context; in a hundred years a lot of the crap we do currently is going to look mighty strange - and offensive - to our descendants.

The first big budget 100% color film, The Adventures of Robin Hood is a rousing, sweet-tempered and big, fun film.

To be candid, many things about the movie have suffered in the 70 years since its release. History, uh, no, there's none of that here. It's all very mythic and fairy tale. The continuity errors shouldn't even be called errors; they are pretty much continuous (so when I found out it won Best Editing at the Oscars I laughed). The score, made much of on the DVD case, and an Oscar winner at the 11th Oscars, is bombastic, repetitive and completely at odds with the scenery at least 80% of the time, IMNSHO.

That said, the dialog still crackles, the costumes are UNBELIEVABLE and gracefully shot, Olivia de Havilland is stunningly gorgeous, Basil Rathbone is young and evil, Claude Rains plays John as gayer than a go go dancer on Pride day, and Errol Flynn takes effortless het masculinity and a beautiful smile further than it should legally be allowed to go. All the bit parts are well cast, and while it's not possible to know for sure, the whole production looks like everyone in it had a scenery chewing bang up good time. The bit parts are SO well cast, that Roy Rogers bought Trigger, the horse that Olivia de Havilland rides, and Trigger then rode out into history.

And when Olivia exclaims "You speak treason!" and Errol replies, purringly, "Fluently!" you'll smile. Recommended; a great movie for the whole family.

All I ask of films (as opposed to movies, like Harry Potter) is that they take me to a place I've never been.

Morvern Callar is played by Samantha Morton. Played is not a good word in this context. Mebbe 'inhabited'? Skin and soul wrapped around? The bare bones of the plot: Girlfriend of suicide makes off with his cash and novel, to her distinct advantage, and goes to party with a workmate in Spain. From such an unlikely premise, great art comes.

The viewer is invited to contemplate the loss of her boyfriend - and it is a loss, the character just has a grotesque and odd way of dealing with it - and how she reinvents herself afterward. There are long moments in the film when nothing seems to happen; when the blankness of her face is an invitation to figure out what on earth is going on in her devious little mind.

This movie takes the words 'moral ambiguity' and unemotionally eviscerates them.

If you want a movie with a spunky likable heroine, run a mile. If you want some insight into the anomie and wildly swinging moral compass of the younger generation, this may help. If you love movies with little dialogue and a comforting amount of faith that you have the brains and guts to be challenged once in a while, this movie will repay you.

I'd give it a ten, but there was an error which I can't talk about because it's a spoiler, an error which was so irritating I had to knock off a point.

From the opening crash scene - a classic, even if it does mess around with the laws of inertia - to the closing scene, this is pulse pounding sci-fi horror with a bravura performance from Vin Diesel. The CGI and effects serve the plot, and not the other way around.

The critters are fantastic (although I have to wonder what they eat when there are no hoomins around).

As with all films like this, there are a couple of troubling plot holes, but far fewer per running foot of celluloid than the average George Lucas movie, and far, far fewer than average. The direction is taut.

Quibbles. Soundtrack is very derivative in spots. To keep the George Lucas comparison going, it's partly dumbed down John Williams. That said, the score has some great creepy parts too. Science quibble.. Low oxygen results in non existent flames and complete inability to run. Character quibble... Vin Diesel's character Riddick's unusual skillset is not explained enough for my satisfaction.

But heck, none of this was enough for my willing suspension of disbelief to get more than a few spare cables cut. If you don't normally watch SF movies this is definitely one to consider, and if you like SF horror this is a must see - in fact true horror buffs might find it tame.

I am variable in how squeamish I am. Some days I can handle pretty disgusting stuff and other days I can't. This movie has a couple of pretty scary scenes, but I didn't find any of it particularly disturbing, and Vin Diesel made the whole trip worthwhile, in this, his breakout role.

Edward Norton, as Monty Brogan, is a man who gets nailed for selling drugs and now is going to Otisville to serve seven years. The movie is about his last day of freedom.

There is both language and violence in this movie; all of it comes straight out of the plot.

Spike Lee braids a number of narrative and physical strands together to make a powerful, honest, humane and troubling movie, well worth the time. Each actor in the movie depicts a person, not a 'type'; their strengths and their flaws are set against the horror and fear that was the portion of all New Yorkers the day the Twin Towers fell.

New York itself, as seen through Lee's loving and unsentimental gaze, is one of the stars of the movie.

I am a lot more sensitive to soundtracks that most of my fellow reviewers; in this case let me call out Terence Blanchard, whose score is big and powerful and apt. I was entertained to see he also did the soundtrack for Barbershop, one of my fave small movies.

All the top parts are perfectly cast. When Tony Siragusa shows up as a Ukrainian mobster (he assumed at the time he was cast he'd be playing an Italian American mobster), those who recognize him will be amazed at what a great job he does, and those who don't will think he's one scary looking dude.

Anna Paquin, now sexing it up with True Blood, plays a compleat vixen; Philip Seymour Hoffman her hapless high school teacher and one of Brogan's high school pals; Barry Pepper burns through a couple of layers of celluloid as Brogan's oldest friend; Rosario Dawson (who does "Nice, Hot, Smart" better than anybody) is wonderful to see, yet again, and Brian Cox is great as the dad. I quibble with his accent, but his performance had the nuance we've come to expect from this great actor.

I call out Ondine Karady for the set decoration. I call out Tobey Maguire for buying the story and doing Spiderman instead so that Edward Norton, who was born to play this role, could do it. I call out David Benioff, who did a superlative script adaptation from his novel.

Heartily recommended for when you are in the mood for a drama.

Ian Holm brings his classic understated acting to the dual roles of Napoleon and his double Eugene.

Minor quibbles... at 70, Ian is a tad old to be playing a 52 year old, and his relationship with the thoroughly yummy Pumpkin (Iben Hjejle, who turned down the role of Arwen for the Lord of the Rings (?! now THERE's an alternate history for ya)) is, erm, best glossed over swiftly. And I know it's a movie, but no street in Paris in 1821 was EVER that clean. Apart from that... in every other respect, the soundtrack, editing, casting, costumes, script and tone, it's great fun, and a suitable movie for when you want to be able to watch something that doesn't have explosions, gun play, anything resembling explicit sex or cursing. You know, over Christmas and Thanksgiving when you're trapped in the house with elderly relatives.

Watch out for: Holm's face as his character peruses the booths selling Waterloo memoribilia; The 'melon attack plan' scene, which is going on my personal goodies reel and in which one glimpses what a blazing intellect Napoleon was when faced with a tactical and logistical problem; Iben's face as she addresses her dead husband (best crying I've seen by an actress in many moons); Holm's face as he realizes where the good Dr. Lambert (Tim McInnerny) has ditched him.

Eddie Marsan as Marchand is great - he gets one little bit that is priceless; all the rest of the supporting cast, including Nigel Terry (I didn't recognize him from John Boorman's Excalibur) are great.

Recommended.

A solid, bleakly humorous script backed by good direction and an awesome soundtrack make for an enjoyable and (for me) almost painfully true to life film. Adam Stevenson is a neurasthenic social misfit. He's good hearted but kinda wussy. An unpleasant event at work triggers his return to the family home and his parents, who have little emotional connection to him. Adam runs into a trouble-making high school acquaintance, Mac, and after he sees a self-help jackass on TV go on about making lists, Adam decides with Mac's help to relive his life according to a better script than he's been given so far. He makes a list of cool things he wants to do and then, without being too much of a perfectionist about it (the 'Make a Great Movie' scene cracked me up) - he does them.

I was about a third of the way through the film before I realized it was Canadian. That's how good it is. Yes, I know that's a backhanded compliment, but a lot of Canadian movies suffer from "I am a very earnest but amateurish labor of love" disease. This is not an amateurish movie.

Michael Stasko as Adam and Daniel Wilson as Mac carry the movie ably. This movie deserves better than 4.8 stars. All the bit parts are well cast, and the score is a star in its own right. Recommended for when you want to watch a buddy movie with no car chases or gunfights.