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MFrank
Reviews
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
brilliant, especially in first half
The scenes at the veterinarian, the ensuing chase, and the scene at the mortuary are classics, so is the opening scene in the male strip club. The whole movie is a source of great Arnold one-liners. The computer-animated robots and helicopters at the Air Force research center and the underground facility are forgettable.
Memento (2000)
one of a kind, great plot, but somehow not much fun
Tells the story of a man that cannot form any new memories after the rape of his wife, and hence wakes up every morning not remembering anything that he has not written down in his hunt for the perpetrator.
The movie goes in backwards chunks of time as it unfolds, while each individual chunk goes forward; it is not always clear if time is going forward or backward, which is somewhat headache-inducing. The plot has great twists, especially towards the end.
This movie is not a comedy, and does not have a happy ending; overall, while the movie is a great piece of art, I did not enjoy watching it.
The Westerner (1940)
theater-like play with memorable scenes and blown ending
(Warning: some spoilers.) Gary Cooper's and "Judge Bean"'s performances are unique, and the Western has lots of great scenes, among them Cooper drinking his way out of his hanging, and Cooper brokering the peace agreement, and, particularly, the plot twist of the arson as Cooper and the female lead map out their homestead. Unfortunately, this does not make up for the weak and overblown ending. Despite some great landscape photography, the movie feels like a (sometimes bad, sometimes superb) theater play.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
great story-telling
The great story telling outdoes the brilliant effects.
Valdemorte character surprise is good.
Magnificent battle finale.
My personal favorite: the phoenix.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
most realistic Hollywood European setting ever
The Zurich Polizeibeamten look and act real, and speak German with a Schweizerdeutsch accent!
The embassy Marines are 100% realistic, from stature to haircuts to facial grimacing.
Zurich looks like Zurich. Paris looks like Paris.
The French drink their cafe au lait out of the right bowl shaped cups.
Only setting failure: the middle-of-the-screen out of the three French policemen walking towards the car looks like a Marine, not like a French policeman... they'd be a lot less determined plus would smoke a lot more...
Chemistry between lead actors not there, but overall a blast!
Blue Velvet (1986)
violent and disturbing and unique
Beyond R rated, Rossellini credible. Dennis Hopper is scary. All four main actors brilliantly played. The movie is so disturbing in contrasting suburban idyllic live with body parts and killings that the movie may not be suitable for many adults.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
graphically violent, with some remarkable scenes
The opening gunfight and especially the moment of silence and nothing happening before the closing gunfight are well done. Overall, for me, it does not have the emotional appeal of 3:10 to Yuma, Shane, or High Noon.
Blood on the Moon (1948)
If you liked Pursued, you'll like this one too...
The movie is similar to the earlier Pursued, which is also starring Mitchum, but somewhat on the lighter side. The movie suffers a little from an uninspired end, but Mitchum's spectacular fall-out monologue in the saloon alone makes this movie worth watching (plus the good story, good acting, and spectacular scenery...).
Pursued (1947)
Brilliant story, good acting, great scenery, innovative camera-work - see it!
Truly a "film noir" - there are essentially no humorous scenes in this movie with the possible exception of the jury deliberation scene. The main story line revolves around repressed memories that gradually emerge, everything in this movie is dark from the story to the camera work... a classic.
Shane (1953)
The most classic of the Western classics!
My personal favorite Western, which I rank above even High Noon and 3:10 to Yuma... beautiful scenery, great character and relationship development (especially Joey-Shane), and of a very strong moral undercurrent. You may want your children to watch this movie for the latter reason despite the cold-blooded and brutal killing of the pig farmer near the middle of the movie.