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Reviews
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers (2006)
Criminal activities exposed once more
Yet another documentary which gives you the right directions to uncover the tremendous amount of lies and greed of gain which lies within the US government and capitalistic systems in general today. Take this film as a eye opener, as a teaser to activate your own motivations in finding and judging these criminal acts that go unpunished these days. I'm no American but German. Nevertheless, corruption, profit, oppression, exploitation all these terms count as much in Germany as they do in the US.
Don't take this film as the ultimate documentary, but see it as one of those small pieces which fit into the big picture of what our modern world has become.
8/10 worth seeing
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
absolute trash.
This movie is another example on how a big budget can completely fail on making a good movie. It's a shame that this peace of garbage is titled Teminator. For me that means the Terminator franchise (if you want to call it that) is finally terminated. Thanks to a ridiculous story, poor actors like John Connor (Nick Stahl) and his friends which look like directly taken out of a levis commercial, a female Terminator that reminds me of cheap erotic action comics, and Arnold Schwarzenegger ready for the wheelchair. This is one of the cinema movies you really regret you payed for. Or in one word, this flick is dumb in every aspect.
Terminator 1 and 2 were really good flicks with a intelligent story. This one here is just a joke.
Avoid it at all costs unless you're the dumb or sadistic type.
Silent Hill (2006)
Deep plot changes, average acting, morbid dialogues and the missing of the Silent Hill typical psychological horror
While this is the best VG adaption to date it is a shame that the main Silent Hill plot got changed so much. At the end you're stuck with mostly action scenes and not the subtle horror that was present in the game (often boosted by the strong ambient music). The various creatures which appear in the movie are a mix from the SH1 and SH2 games. Which has the effect of losing their connection to the different game plots from the respective game parts. Another thing what felt flat were the happenings which occurred in Silent Hill the years before. In the game it really has a rich background story and many interesting characters evolve. In the movie this once rich plot gets twisted and simplified way to much. One change is the character of Henry Mason into Rose. In the original game Henry Masons' wife died and he follows the call of his daughter Cheryl to visit Silent Hill. So he has a more desperate background than Rose which still has her "happy" family life.
I must admit that I speak as a fan of the original rich plot and the feeling the games are arranging.
To sum it up:
For me the movie couldn't bring over the isolated subtle terror the games were able to. The dialogues are also pretty stupid and morbid. And apart from the always screaming Rose the acting in this movie is just average. Gans has put to much effort in bringing the visuals without bringing the necessary feeling to it. The scenes have more of a music video mood than a actual Silent Hill scene.
Maybe it should have been a low budget project with more feel for the story and characters than Special Effects. If you really want to discover what Silent Hill is all about, play and analyze the games.
28 Days Later... (2002)
For small minded popcorn-teens
This movie has so much plot holes that I really lost the interest on comment on them. I thought I was in for an thrill ride with both script and screening. But neither of this has been come true.
As I already mentioned the plot holes, the plot itself is also a complete failure.
The focus is on the action and not on the background story which is good if you want to make an low budget B movie.
If you want a good Zombie flick, watch the original Dawn of the Dead from 1978.
This movie here isn't worth anything. It's not about but for Zombies.
Surplus: Terrorized Into Being Consumers (2003)
not in depth but that isn't necessary
I watched this valuable piece of film many times. It isn't the usual type of documentary you see everyday. It mixes music (most electrical style) and short comments and speeches about the western consume nature and capitalism. It is somehow enjoyable to watch which makes the information easier to understand and remember. One peak is the satiric presentation of the "G8 World shop". You will see some video pieces of the worlds politicians remixed, edited and cut to a background comment. Very funny and very serious at the same time.
Besides the documentary "The Corporation" from Michael Moore, it's the most accessible documentary regarding this Problem which affects us all. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
10/10
Constantine (2005)
surprisingly good comic adaption (there aren't many out there)
Since there are so many bad user comments about this flick here I decided to do my personal opinion about the movie.
First the movie is mainly about the comic and thats why you should bring the right alignment to it. Adapting a comic is never easy because you get a high chance of pissing the die hard comic fans off.
As for me I never read the comics but enjoyed the movie. Personally I found the most popular comic adaptions very boring. Spiderman, X-Men, Hellboy and so on were very boring stuff. Batman 1, The Punisher and this movie here are definitely the better ones. As for Keanu Reeves it's not his best role but he does a OK job about the careless chain smoking Anti Hero in this flick. I would say he plays as usual. The part of Mr. Lucifer himself is probably the best part in the movie and also pretty funny. Another thing I noticed being positive is the soundtrack. You will mainly get instrumental music which suits the film. And you won't be annoyed by pointlessly placed cheap pop music from the category "product placement".
In the end it seems that mainly the religious US people have problems with the movie and therefore give em bad reputation. For me it's mainly a comic adaption and with that aspect in mind this movie is pretty entertaining and worth your time.
Joan of Arc (1999)
very impressive and intelligent leap in time
Joan of Arc the legend which was described as saint, warrior, frantic, heretic etc. is brilliantly played by Milla Jovovich. This movie isn't the typical hero stuff you would expect. It has many sides to think of and gives you space to make your own thoughts about the character Joan of Arc. And that is exactly what I liked the most about the movie. You can almost feel what this very young woman must have felt to be on the battlefield at this age, fighting for her vision, faith or whatever it was. Intoxicated by the battles and her mission to fight the war for god, for France.
Besides from that you will see a lot of battles. Great visuals and good to memorable acting.
Most people seem to get the movie wrong. They probably wanted a clean hero saga or some documentary movie, I don't know. This movie is something different. Sometimes you have to read between the lines, make your own thoughts. But as I said, that's what I like and that's what I want from a good movie.
10/10
National Treasure (2004)
Only for kids
Well, I will keep this short. The disaster begins right in the first 5 minutes and then you know you have just thrown some bucks away for nothing. This movie is absolutely without any kind of authenticity even for an action movie. The story is as old as cinema and after the fith time N. Cage says "it's another clue" you just ask yourself "when does the hurting stop". The acting is awful the jokes are typically Walt Disney Style and may be funny for kids. There is some really bad product placement throughout the whole movie (even the cola bottles in 80's action movies were placed more subtle) and the list of "must be in a Walt Disney movie" gets checked of without any kind of mercy to the viewer. If you want a movie for the whole family and actually a no brainer then get with it. Everybody else should save their precious time and money.
Hard Cash (2002)
Nothing more than a cheap copy of Hard Rain!
I think the one line summary says it all. If you know the movie Hard Rain (also with Christian Slater) you may notice some similarities. The only difference here is that Slater is one of the "bad guys" (he's not really bad at all) now and there is no single drop of rain. Everything else is pretty the same. Slater who plays the smart guy who has to get out of many tricky situations. But the way he does it is not very thrilling or cutting-edge. While I really like Hard Rain, this movie is just pathetic. The characters seem really stereo type and not very interesting at all. Same thing with the action scenes and the story. At the end this movie is something what you've seen a thousand times before in other Hollywood action movies. Or in one word, it's just boring.