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Reviews
Gladiator (2000)
good review
Landis thought this movie sucked, but I told him he sucked. This movie rocks. Still, I don't see the significance of the two lions screwing in the background. Was this an accident? I think that Ridley Scott is the cinematic Messaiah, but his needs to see someone about his mental health; from his movies, I'd say he is a little off-kilter upstairs.
Jesus' Son (1999)
Very Funny! If only the cast were used better.
JESUS'S SON, the new hallucination from the director of CRUSH tries to follow in the footsteps of DRUGSTORE COWBOY and TRAINSPOTTING but doesn't quite hit the mark. I really wasn't all that impressed. It had some funny scenes but it didn't seem to have an ending. I mean, it didn't seem like the director knew how to tie everything up at the end. Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton were well used and did a fine job but the rest of the cast could have been used better. The scene with Dennis Hopper was just there, it didn't seem to have any meaning or purpose at all. I would have liked to know more about the Holly Hunter character too. Jack Black was great but he just disappears with no explanation. Dennis Leary part was small but very effective though. The director, Alison Maclean has potential but I think she needs to learn how to use her actors better.
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Spectacular tale of duality!
In this day and age, with all of the reissues, remakes and directors' cuts, it is refreshing to see a film filled with original thought. A film such as
BEING JOHN MALKOVICH is a rare commodity in today's violence and sex-filled cinema. Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is an artist, an extremely talented but frustrated artist, who can't seem to catch a break. He is frustrated that a competing artist (despite his lack of talent) gets all the work. He has a loving wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz) who wants him to get a job, any job. She wants to have children, a nice home and a good life. He doesn't want to compromise his art. Eventually, however, reality sinks in. One day he answers an ad in the classifieds for a file clerk with fast hands and nimble fingers, and the adventure begins. When he arrives for his interview he discovers a very strange atmosphere with some very odd characters. He nails the interview and despite the bizarre surroundings gets the job. It is during his orientation that he meets another new employee, Maxine (Catherine Keener), with whom he is instantly smitten. He begins to flirt with her at every opportunity and she continuously shoots him down. Then, one day, purely by accident, he discovers something that will change his life forever. This discovery, it turns out, is a portal into the mind and body of John Malkovich. After entering and experiencing the sensation of a lifetime, he tells his sexy officemate and she convinces him that they should become partners in a very unusual business venture.
Craig then tells his wife of his new entrepreneurial adventure and she demands to experience the ride - but, not before meeting Maxine. The two women immediately develop an unusual attraction to each other. Talk about an uncomfortable situation. This predicament eventually pushes Craig over the edge. He snaps and takes their alliance to a more perilous level. Craig ultimately begins to get some control over the host Malkovich, which causes a rift in the relationship between his wife and Maxine. Consequently, John Malkovich catches on and tries to put a stop to this invasion of his privacy. It's at this point that Mr. Malkovich takes the strangest and most disturbing, not to mention hilarious, journey of his life. A heated argument between Craig and the bewildered Malkovich follows at the rather peculiar exit from the portal. Malkovich makes it absolutely clear that he wants everyone to stay out of his head. But, it's not that simple. Things have become too complicated in our gang's lives to stop now. Craig takes over Malkovich's life and in the process misplaces his own. He stays inside the portal and uses the fame of his host to further his own career. But, is he really happy with `his' success? Ultimately, this is the real question. Craig finally has the fame he wants and, some would believe, deserves. But, it's not really him that gets the attention - It 's Malkovich! Can he accept Being John Malkovich?
Passion of Mind (2000)
A tale of duality
In Alain Berliner's (Ma Vie en Rose) new film PASSION OF MIND Demi Moore (G.I. Jane) is torn between reality and a dream. When we first meet her she is Marie a mother of two daughters living in the French country side and reviewing books for a stateside paper. She lives as a recluse, pretty much, except for a friend (Sinead Cusack) who helps her deal with personal problems, including the death of her husband. We assume that Marie has some deep emotional problems but it isn't until she goes to sleep that we find out just how deep those problems are. You see, when Marie goes to sleep she dreams she is Marty, a New York literary agent. Marty is single and very independent. She has no children and is very passionate about her work. Marty has no time for relationships and keeps everyone at a safe distance emotionally. But, you can see in her face that she to has a secret. Yes, that's right when Marty goes to sleep at night she dreams she is Marie. Both Marie and Marty are fully aware of the other but neither knows which is dream and which is reality.
It is here that the story starts to get interesting. Marie meets William (Stellan Skarsgard,) an author whose book Marie panned. William, almost stalking, shows up one day and befriends one of Maries daughters and eventually works his way into Maries heart. Meanwhile, Marty encounters Aaron (William Fichtner,) an accountant doing business with her firm, who has an immediate attraction to her. And, just like Marie, Marty begins to have feelings for Aaron.
Marie and Marty begin to realize they are in love. But, which one is real? In both lives there are therapists trying to help solve this very problem. Both Marie and Marty can feel each other's love. We, as the viewer, feel it too! Neither woman allows their respective men to get too close, believing something bad may happen if either of them are awakened in the middle of the night. Both women realize that their relationships cannot last like this. They must figure out which is reality and which is dream. If they make the wrong decision all could be lost. We try to decide, as well, which is real and which is dream. It's not until we start to unlock the past that we find out if we have made the right decision.
The writers (Ron Bass and David Field,) do a great job using the dream world to show how some people deal with traumatic events in their past by suppressing them into their subconscious. Everyone and everything in the dream life represents something significant in the real life past. The cinematography is also wonderful. Eduardo Serra (What Dreams May Come, The Wings of The Dove) shoots the French scenery marvelously making it seem very tranquil, while giving Manhattan a dark, cold and very overwhelming feeling. The director, Berliner, then takes this material and crafts it into a tale of duality, where one woman locks her feelings deep in her own mind and takes them out only in the privacy of her dreams.