Reviews

How can it be that this brilliantly crafted, beautifully written and perfectly acted film is without distribution- still?

I caught this film at a festival (Rehoboth Beach IFF) last year and would have seen it twice had I not caught its last showing. It's at times both hilarious and poignant and the family scenes ring so true and so funny that I consider 24 NIGHTS to be made of the anti-matter of another favorite slice-of-holiday-life film, Bob Clark's A CHRISTMAS STORY.

In 24 NIGHTS, writer-director Kieran Turner gives us a wonderful and unique perspective on love, family and Santa Claus through the eyes of memorably rich characters and with sharp dialogue and a really charming story.

I look forward to seeing this film again and again and to making it a regular Christmas 'watch' along with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and the aforementioned A CHRISTMAS STORY.

I have an idea- let's take the greatest disaster in maritime history and make a love story out of it. What's next, LOVE OVER LOCKERBIE SCOTLAND or perhaps HINDENBURG, THE LOVE STORY. The screenplay reads like a Sidney Sheldon novel, alternating between syrup and sap- while, oh by the way, lots of people are dying.

TITANIC is the most overappreciated bunch of schlocky dreck to hit the screen since GONE WITH THE WIND. It's an all-out attack on the emotions by a hack director (albeit a big-budget hack director). It could have been so much more, maybe even a study of the horror that must have been that fateful night. A true talent could have given us multi-dimensional characters and- if the love story angle must persist- could have actually made the love triangle interesting or, God forbid, UNIQUE! Instead, we have the tired film cliche of the nice girl engaged (against her will) to an unspeakably unscrupulous, wealthy and unbearable man when along comes- aawww- a kind hearted, but down on his luck artist.

Was anything original about this tribute to movie special effects and technical innovation? NO! It's more of the same James Cameron junk we've seen time and time and time again- explosions one-dimensional characters spewing forth ridiculously saccharine dialogue while the music tells us how to feel. I didn't much like this movie, in case I haven't been clear enough.

Certainly one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, I'd rank CRUMB not far down the list from ROGER AND ME and THIN BLUE LINE. This is an intimate and unsettling glimpse into the life and family of truly twisted American pop icon R. Crumb, his views and even his strange sexual appetites.

Zwigoff's portrait treats its viewers to just a taste of what it must have been like growing up as Robert Crumb in a family so full of mania, phobia, drug dependency and sexual repression that it makes the famed cartoonist seem normal by comparison.

Like R. Crumb, the film pulls no punches and finds no subject off limits. It's an entertaining, although disturbing, watch and the artist's work is the highlight of the piece.

You'll never look at a headless concubine quite the same way after watching it!

This film sets up with similar promise (and similar premise) to that of the far superior AMERICAN HISTORY X. It, sadly, falls well short of realizing that potential. It is well shot and extremely well acted, but lacks any sort of moral commitment or center. After watching the film, I was left to ponder whether or not director Kari Skogland felt that the Neo-Nazi movement- specifically this group, called N.I.M., the National Identity Movement- was a negative force in Canadian society or a misunderstood faction under siege by evil and violent "Anti-Racists."

The only compelling- I should say the only likeable- characters were Nazis; the super-intelligent and sympathetic main character Catherine Chapman, starring brilliant young actor Sarah Polley, the Grandmotherly Mrs. "K," lovingly portrayed by the reliable Lynn Redgrave, committed and affable Erina Baxter, played convincingly by Tanya Allen and charismatic Rex Brennan, brought to life by Joseph Kell.

The other side, the aforementioned "Anti-Racists," are either self-serving demagogues or faceless automatons chanting, picketing and committing acts of violence against N.I.M. and its members. At one point, they even fire bomb N.I.M. headquarters, badly burning a N.I.M. footsoldier. The head Anti-Racist is the ambitious and sleazy Alan Greene (played by Albert Schultz), who has many run-ins with the N.I.M. poster-girl Catherine Chapman (Code Name "Hot Head") throughout the film. He never comes off as either noble or trustworthy in the film and ultimately manipulates Catherine for his own gain.

I'm certain the film was intended to be a study of how easily disaffected youth can be caught up in the rising tide of this type of hate group. This mark is missed, however, and the main character begins and ends the film sounding like a victim of anti-White, anti-Christian hatred. Not nearly enough set-up is dedicated to Catherine's feelings of despair and lack of connectivity. Only an essay entitled "Christmas Is Dead," which she wrote and narrates at the onset of the film, gives us even a glimpse. The essay, by the way, reeks of Right-Wing propaganda and is delivered in voiceover narrative as the film's set-up. Some things are briefly hinted at, like her inability to secure a part time job because she doesn't speak Cantonese, but nothing is ever explored and the film deteriorates into predictable plotlines and plot devices- she's even murdered by her Nazi ex-boyfriend in what (surprise!) turns out to be a dream. There's also the subplot of her pregnancy to that same Nazi ex-boyfriend, which evaporates in an instant before our eyes without ever having so much as a shred of impact on the story.

There are a lot of great Canadian films- and a lot of great films dealing with the issue of hate groups- being made. This one doesn't fit either category.

This is, perhaps, the worst film I've ever seen- all apologies to "Plan 9 from Outer Space," "C.H.U.D." and everything Van Damme. Kirk Cameron is, as always, brutal. His schoolboy grin and squeaky voice may have played in the insufferable world of TV sit-coms, but he should never- NEVER- again attempt to actually act. This movie is nothing more than the Breakfast Club meets the Pro-Life movement. It is preachy and condescending to its viewer and serves as nothing more than a platform for Douglas Day Stewart's right-wing pontification. His characters continually allude to Dostoevsky in a transparent attempt to gain some vestige of intellectual credibility. The film rings so hollow that, if it were a room, one could walk around in it for an eternity without encountering any substance whatsoever. As for the usually bearable Roy Scheider- I wonder what favor he owed and to whom that he wound up in this overblown, self-important waste of raw stock?

I caught this film at the Rehoboth Beach Film Festival and absolutely fell in love with it. Nothing in Noble Willingham's filmography had led me to believe that he was capable of such a performance. He, and co-screenwriter Jim Holmes, were able to accomplish two exceedingly difficult things with his character, Ace Barker. First, they created a despicable character who is still able to generate some pathos from the audience. As much as you hate Ace Barker, you can't wait to see what ridiculously offensive comment he'll make next. Second, they made Ace Barker a man of subdued intensity. He was more Hannibal Lecter than Frank Booth (of "Blue Velvet" notoriety). Andrew Shea's visual style, sense of place and character appear to be inspired by the Coen Brothers. It especially bears a resemblance to "Blood Simple."

Yes, the movie is loud, preposterous and overblown, but Lori Petty is so cool you've gotta love the film regardless of these facts. Even covered in oil and sweat and screaming her lungs out, she's entertaining enough to carry the day. This movie is not Blade Runner, but it's worth the cost of the rental if you can accept it for what it is.

The Blair Witch Project is absolutely brilliant in that it affords each individual viewer his or her own film. Because the filmmakers allow us to imagine what we will during the films very creepy quiet and dark moments, we are frightened by that in our imaginations which truly scares us. A common movie ploy is to have some sort of demon use its victim's innermost fears against them. In this case, however, it is not only the characters undergoing this, but also the audience. The greater the viewer's imagination and the more willing the viewer is to give himself over to it, the more he will enjoy the Blair Witch Project.