Reviews

OK, I've said that about a few movies, but Trainspotting is definitely one of my fave films of all time. It's got it all, and in the right amounts.

Who can say that Begbie, for example, isn't one of the most outlandish, hilarious characters ever to be put on screen? Ewan McGregor has never acted better. I am American but can appreciate anything Scottish, especially accents that sometimes go beyond my basic comprehending skills.

This film is witty in dialogue, very evenly-paced and very poignant in its themes. What more could you ask for? I can't wait to see it again.

I was very impressed with this impartial account of the Arab world and the Israelis, and the peace that always seems to be just beyond their grasp. I am surprised their are not more review comments or messages on this film, as it is jam-packed full of useful information. You learn about Jerusalem, and what parts of that holy city are important to Muslims and which are important to the Jews. I have to admit this is something I would have never bothered to read, but I'm glad it was neatly packaged into a easy-to-watch film as this.

I never knew that Bill Clinton and Colin Powell had done so much to aid in this effort of peace between the two; and I am proud of them both.

You must watch this docu when you have time-it is rather long, but extremely worth it.

peace

...I haven't written a review on this site in years...and I'm still not going to. I just had to pay my respects to this film, which I thought was very touching. There were a lot of emotions coming through the characters on the film, and you can't help but feel for all of them, just a little.

I don't have much experience with Spike Lee films. In fact this may be the first one I've seen of his. From what I can see in 25th Hour, he seems to have a hunger for poignancy and human emotion.

I look forward to seeing more of his films.

aurelie

I read the poster's comments (the one from Paris) and had to laugh, because I completely understand him. I went away for school in Europe in '95 when the film came out, and when I came back Pocahontas was the rage. You know, the way all Disney films were back then-there were commercials, songs on the radio, stuffed animals, etc....until the NEXT Disney movie came to dwarf it until a lame sequel or TV series came out. So let me tell you, I was skeptical about Pocahontas.

I saw this a year after it came out and instantly fell in love with it. It's a mature Disney animated feature- (in my opinion) even more mature than Japanime films I have seen. The love story seems very real-there is a sort of chemistry between the leads that you can feel.

The soundtrack is one of my favourite parts about the movie. Every song matches perfectly with the spirit of the time and place..a new world in the 1600's.

Finally..whoever had the idea to cast Mel Gibson(and Christian Bale) is a genius. Love those voices!

One aspect of this movie often overlooked is its dreamy editing. It is so consistent throughout and rivals many critically acclaimed films with great editing.

See it again, and remember: "You can own the earth and still, all you'll own is Earth until you can paint with all the colors of the wind."

This is one of those movies that is just perfect..the 80s were a time of daring movies, and that usually meant that you either had crap or a gem...this movie is one of those gems...the direction, soundtrack, acting is so good you don't even notice it.

This was on Comedy Central today and (except for commercials)i couldn't change the channel. I knew every line even though i hadn't seen it in about 2 years.

I love love love love this movie. It's freaking brilliant. You get so much out of it. Like, physics students are cool. Val Kilmer should've done more comedy. And the guy who plays Dr. Hathaway steals almost every scene. A must-see.

My mother would try to get me to watch this when I was a little girl so I wouldn't forget my french. It wasn't really for me because I knew a lot of it, but it still helped me. I'm surprised to say that...and even more surprised that other people have seen this show because it was so obscure and low-budget and so old that I thought it would have fallen off the face of the earth by now! Plus they would many times re-air the same episodes over and over, I don't know how many were actually made, so that might have something to do with the reruns.

The teacher was really good because he was sort of omniscent, but only spoke in French. I often, no..I *always* wondered if this would work for Americans because it seemed so difficult, but it looks like some of them actually learned! Bravo, French in Action! Maybe they should do a reunion or something complete with Mireille and Marilore..if it worked the first time it should work again and many people still seem to wanna learn French:-)

I'll give this film credit for two things: 1) being fairly focused on only refuting elements of Fahrenheit 911 , and 2) having Zell Miller in the film. This guy is like a legend in Georgia, and comes across as very wise.

Besides those things the film has its share of problems. The one point they have on Michael Moore (if this is true, which it seems to be) is that he took an opinion article and changed it to make it look like a newspaper headline. I agree, that was wrong, but to tell you the truth i never notice it when i watch the film.

Politically I belong to neither party(i voted for Ralph), so it's easy for me to spot the bs on both sides, and I feel that many other viewers can too(i could be wrong). For example, i'm sure kids weren't laughing and flying kites in Iraq just before we bombed it, but I also don't necessarily believe someone in a film like this saying something about what Michael Moore said firsthand to them, like "You're making too much out of these 911 deaths". Proof, please? Anyone who's ever seen F911 will know that Moore would never say or think such a thing. Maybe he gave off a certainly vibe they didn't like or they think he's anti-American.Here's a thought for the director: keep opinions *out* of documentaries, at least as many of them as you can, and just focus on the FACTS. not just something Ann Coulter says about betting someone anything that "a liberal will never mention the Kurds." That is just faulty and mindless rambling imo. The narrator or Ann COULD have made that into a constructive argument, like how many Kurds were killed, or SOME FACT instead of some funny jab at the lefties. It's not offensive, just annoying.

Maybe Moore did his math wrong and OK, maybe $860 billion *isn't* 7-8% of our economy, however i doubt a fan of F911 would ever spout that percentage as it's obvious in Ft911 that he just guessed the percentage while he was on the side of the road talking to an officer. Again, pointless.

This film goes on further to attack the film over minute points from the fact that "not ALL recruiters are pushy, LOOK! Here's a real good-looking non-menacing one...BINGO!" Come on. They also say stupid things about why Moore's statements are false. Example, "we didn't go to Iraq for oil, because otherwise why would the gas prices be so high?!" Oh, and even more brilliant, "we don't go into Iran for oil", (so what?) and Israel is our friend and **they** don't have oil. (No sh** sherlock, they're not making a point, just proving the opposite, that if Israel did have oil America wouldn't have the same buddy-relationship.)I understand that some Bush supporters get offended by little bites and quips such as those recruiters and those soldiers at war that seemed cold-hearted in F911, but trying to whine over the most superficial points ain't gonna get you anywhere.

Another thing~ noticed I use the term "Bush supporters" and not conservatives or Republicans. One of this film's biggest weaknesses is to portray Democrats/liberals as "the other side". That's what upsets me, because it's something Moore never does. For example, this film tries to defend Bush and the Carlyle group by naming the Democrats who got rich off of it as well. OK, does that make it any less corrupt? Or the banquet to raise $ for Catholic schools wasn't elitist, because Al Gore attended. Oh, yeah... a Democrat! I just think these arguments are childish and the film sort of looks too desperate and too sensitive on parts of Moore's film that weren't even the real issues.

No one talked about, for example: -Why out of all other countries, including Saudi Arabia, was Iraq more of a target than the others. -James R.Bath, and why the Bush team blacked his name out of his military records if they weren't afraid of being linked to Osama bin Laden's family. -Why we gave Osama a 3month head start before looking for him. -Why the Patriot Act (and others) don't get read by most of Congress before getting passed. Instead they talk about only why the PAct is so great. -Dick Cheney's involvement at Halliburton and how lucrative the war is for him.

All in all, this film is too loaded with opinion and perspective, though I liked Zel Miller's story about the copperhead snakes:)and what's worse is it accuses MM of profiting off others' misery but it's as if this film tried to do that even more, with crying families saying that Moore is shaming the soldiers that dies for the freedom of our nation and that many liberals are misguided (there they go again with grouping one side against the other.

Bottom line: this film confirmed what i thought about F911 in the first place: that Bush is a man with a lot of ties to various interests and is indebted and obliged to the Saudi family, in many ways because of his father. THIS CAN't BE GOOD FOR US. I'm not questioning Bush's resolve, determination, patriotism, contribution to troops, sense of humour, and prise for America, and Moore never questioned any of it either. The only thing he (and I)questions are his motives and friendly attitude toward the Saudis.

This is one of those films that I loved.....until the ending. I loved the new spin on Dicken's classic story, the creativity of the characters,and Bill Murray, the ghosts, all the acting was great. As a comedy it was one of the funniest I've seen. It was also disturbing, sad, and not afrraid to be mean-spirited at times. This was perfect as it fleshed out Murray's character.

As soon as it started I knew its quality rested almost completely on Bill Murray's shoulders. The problem is that the ending seems too happy for the biting, darkness that came before it, especially coming from Bill Murray. Since it's considered a more or less a comedy, I almost wondered if the ending was tongue-in-cheek. But then, that would have made it slightly depressing, which is why to this day I am not sure I like it on its own.

You can tell that since Bill probably didn't like the ending he figured he should still keep the integrity of the script by playing Francis as though he had gone insane. The way he played the character in spite of the sappy ending, in itself, is what I feel truly showcases Bill Murray's talent.

Don't get me wrong~I like many sappy Christmas movies; but this one started at the other end of the spectrum and could have done so much more with more subtlety at the end.

...that's a big "possibly", because D&C was awesome. I say it might edge it out if you're looking for something more well-rounded. Dazed was more of a realistic,personal coming-of age heart charmer. In a way, School of Rock is just like that, except it's even funnier than Dazed. (but of course Matthew Macconoughey and Ben Affleck are still hilarious every time!) Linklater is himself here, especially with the length of his pan-in and -out shots (I have editing deficit disorder, so I appreciate it). There's also his persistence at keeping everything completely realistic and keeping a great narrative throughout until a great climax.

All the characters are fleshed out, even the no-name band mates of Dewey's at the beginning of the film. He trusts that the audience wants something steady that takes its time, not something flashy, overly edited, and unreal. This is even more crucial if you're working with someone like Jack Black, who can never sit still and who never goes out of character. Though his character's been established as a "loser" by society, the director and the script let you know that this guy is able to really connect with a good band, for all his passion and intensity for rock and roll music.

Kudos should also be given to Mike White, who had a vision of Jack Black with a bunch of kids forming a band.

The kids are just the coolest. They're all each so different in their own ways, yet bright and work all together and never try to grab any attention from anybody else. They're very natural.

Of course, the fact that Zeppelin, Hendrix, and ac/dc comprise the soundtrack doesn't hurt things either. Overall, this was a really kick-@ss movie that showed Jack Black in a not-so-raunchy role. A hilarious script that could've been cheapened by one of those first-time directors, but turned here into almost a comedic masterpiece.

p.s. Don't drink milk while watching Jack Black; it'll come out of your nose.

Lisa Kudrow, Mira Sorvino, Jeanne Garafolo, "lingerie" dresses, No Doubt, all stuff I remember with a sort of fondness from the 90's.

Then I think, damn, am I getting old? I mean, sure the Spice Girls aren't popular anymore. but they're at least covered in the news sometimes, right? And girl

power is still cool.....¡¡¡RIGHT??!!

In all seriousness this film was cool and didn't spend every five minutes of the film making the characters do something more "likeable" for you..it didn't care and just went for it. This made me wanna watch Clueless again..even

SheDevil... hell, even the B-rated 90s movies are better than the best ones out today.

I realize that this movie is supposed to show the tragedy of a beautiful woman in a small village, but it seemed to beat the emotions into your head in case you missed them: Lust. Jealousy. Lust, jealousy. And all you feel is pity for Malena.

I feel this film suffers from wanting to show us too much of what it could have implied. It is obvious that Malena is devastatingly beautiful, and that she is set apart from the other women because of it. I think that Monica Bellucci did a good job at acting, because she probably knew the director was going to make the themes so in-your-face(guess which themes I'm talking about..women are ALL heartless, jealous women and men are all hopeless hornballs) that the audience isn't going to want an actress who goes over the top as well.

The emotions that are practically thrown at you, "feel this way right now" becomes more and more annoying as the film progresses. Then the scary thing happens: you realize either the director NEVER planned to have character and plot development in his movie or he got ahead of himself and couldn't fit it in at the last minute.

I don't want to discount the plus sides to this film: it is cinematic ally serene, beautiful, and besides all the other bad acting Monica does a great job (with the little she has.) There was just never any focus on Malena as a thinking, breathing, intelligent human being. And no, that doesn't necessarily mean a lot more dialog, but MAYBE a little. Just enough so that we get to know Malena at least a little. Though the director may have had honourable intentions, his one-note summary with a 'Pity Malena for all the lust and jealousy she faces,' attitude, he somehow also disturbingly added, "...Isn't that so tragic.....but so beautiful as well? Wouldn't you love to see these ugly people attack beautiful Malena?" I'm not here to criticize Guiseppe Tornatore, just that his film was kind of a depressing, one-note summary for me.

I don't have too much reference in stand-up, because I've never seen Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor (I realize I am missing out and intend to see those VHS or DVD's next). But I can tell you that Bigger and Blacker is the funniest thing I have ever seen. PERIOD.

I've seen "Bring On the Pain", this one, and the new one where he wears a burgundy suit, and this one is definitely the best by far.

Chris Rock isn't silly. He's hilarious because he isn't silly, but smart, spot-on, pointing out all the f*ed up situations in the world. The only thing that dates it is his reference to Ricky Martin's "La Vida Loca" but that was a really big song back in the day.

His insight on women is uncanny, almost as much as it is hilarious. I couldn't believe someone put into words so well how we want our men to ask us the correct questions that will allow us to run our %$@ mouths. He also said how women always say they need to talk as a couple, but "oh, NO, they don't want YOU to talk. They want you to LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN!!"

As someone else previously posted, he talks about the $$ being in the medicine not the cure, a sad truth.

I guess with any stand-up, it's about the delivery. There's this one part when he talks about how The Jerry Lewis Telethon is the same dismal atmosphere every year and the kids still look miserable. I couldn't stop laughing at the way he said. "Do SOMETHIN'! Prop a stick under the kid. LIE TO ME, JERRY!! LIE!" And then talks about how all the $ must go to keeping his hair black, because "Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Dean, Dean Martin, all dead, and Jerry Lewis has a full head of black hair!" LOLOL I can't rave any more about this, because you have to see it to really laugh!