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Reviews
The Patriot (2000)
What were they thinking???
What were the makers of this abomination thinking when this movie was made? Once again, Roland Emmerich shows that he can captain a movie with a great cast, tremendous production values, excellent narrative flow, and a tidy plot that you can leave at the door when you leave. Has anyone suggested to him (and the others responsible for this thing) that you are allowed to spend more than $50.00 for a script???
Actually, my two main criticisms of the movie are the total lack of social responsibility evident in the film and the utterly gratuitous violence. As a caveat, I am a big fan of violent movies, and action flicks are the mainstay of my moviegoing existence. The dynamics change, however, when you involve kids. Scenes of little children shooting down men from a sniper's perch (which are selectively justified as "war is hell" and "you have to do what you have to do" when *nothing* else in the film even makes a pretense toward realism) and then talking about how they actually *enjoyed* the experience afterward completely blew me away. Oh, and let's not forget the sadistic protagonist who butchers a man in front of his kids, has about a half-second of remorse about his bloodthirst, and then shrugs the action off as something that he was forced to do by the exigency of wartime. Take what side you will in the debate about violence in movies -- I think that in the context of the juvenile violence which has been so ubiquitous in the media, and which has repeatedly spawned copycat violence, it is socially irresponsible to make portrayals such as these under the guise of "realism," especially when such attention to historical detail is so lacking elsewhere in the movie. It's also interesting to note that the "point" of such violence, which is ostensibly to horrify and to educate against the glorification of war, completely misses the point here when you think about how wanton this film is in embracing the conventions of every kick-ass revenge flick ever made before it.
All that being said, if you can stomach children being thrown into the mix of an action-packed bloodfest, then you'll probably love this movie. I'll stick to Dirty Harry, where good but bad-ass adults blow away bad (adult) guys.
Map of the Human Heart (1992)
Exquisitely rendered tug at the heartstrings
I'm not a big fan of the romance genre, but I am a fan of Jason Scott Lee, and this movie was recommended to me by several of my friends. I have to admit, I enjoyed it immensely. The plot was tight and inexorable - fate drew two people together, only to pull them apart and wag temptation and desire in their faces. The agony of the characters' situations was at times almost unbearable, and the cruelty that life can show was never so clearly captured.
I was drawn back to this film because of a recent article I read in one of the major weekly periodicals, which discussed the changing role of the Asian male in popular American culture. In it, they discussed how typical Asian males are perceived as sexless, and either as brainiac buffoons, or as dangerous fighters, but that in any event, they never get the proverbial girl. It was an interesting perspective that I had never consciously considered, but in response, I found it rather accurate. This is a movie that represents a compelling exception to that stereotype, which in retrospect, might be why I found the scenario so unusual. Regardless of the socio-political spin you put on it, though, it's a beautifully executed story which will move and entertain you.
Mononoke-hime (1997)
Excellent film; lots of eye candy, great story, compelling conflicts
Going into this film, I had high expectations, and I was glad to see them all realized. The animation is fantastic -- the attention to texture is marvelous, and the way that each scene exuded atmosphere was amazing. The characters were wonderful. There was none of the irritating one-dimensionality we see in typical animated fare. The story was an elegantly attired quest for personal salvation that touches on an impressive array of weighty themes, such as the environment, considered both philosophically and physically, economics, and spirituality. Adding to that was the fact that the movie was coherent and easy to follow (a frequent difficulty I've found with anime, no doubt due to different cultural referents). All in all, a very satisfying film. Go see it.
The Further Adventures of Tennessee Buck (1988)
Offensive, unmemorable CRAP
Looking through the other comments, I'm amazed that there aren't any warnings to potential viewers of what they have to look forward to when renting this garbage. First off, I rented this thing with the understanding that it was a competently rendered Indiana Jones knock-off. What I got was one of the most offensive movies I can remember trying to sit through, made all the more shocking by the movie's comparatively high production values.
I don't think this is a spoiler, but if it is, be warned...
If your idea of entertainment is watching Bimbo getting raped from behind by Fearsome Tribal Chief, while she is staring into the dead eyes of her significant other's severed head, by all means, rent this flick. If not, I'd advise you to look elsewhere for entertainment.
Come to think of it, that scene so succinctly sums up the movie that there's nothing else I really need to say about it.
The Corruptor (1999)
What's all the negative buzz???
After reading the comments on imdb, I rented this flick with more than a little trepidation. I'm glad to say that I think 80% of the comments missed the point. This was an action flick, first and foremost, but it tried to fog the genre's typical approach by developing characters and throwing the players' motivations into gray areas (well, except for the immigrant exploitation and the indiscriminate murdering). I think the root of the problem was that this film was out of the box action; it didn't push heavy-handed social commentary (or parable) down our throats, but at the same time wanted to tell a compelling story without black and white cliches. The characters were believable, the situations awkward, and the responses appropriate (for an action flick)
The Iron Giant (1999)
Beautiful, positive entertainment without the overkill
I thought about this movie for days after seeing it with my family. It conveys the "innocence of childhood" (pardon the cliche) as well as E.T. Like Toy Story, it keeps you engrossed in a simple, but engaging narrative by animation that actually augments, rather than detracts, from the story. Possibly most compelling, for me at least, it manages to transport you into the paranoid yet somehow rarefied atmosphere of the Cold War, much as the 1993 film Matinee did.
I had prepared myself for the worst - stillborn plots, offensive characters, embarrassingly inappropriate musical numbers, etc. a la Disney. When I walked out of the Iron Giant, I found myself wondering how they managed to do everything so *right* when so many other animated films get it so wrong. In fact, this is really the only good animated kids' film since Toy Story (and woe unto us when Toy Story II comes out).
As a professed gun nut, I would have expected to find the movie's anti-gun message objectionable. That wasn't even remotely the case. The gun thing was only the toe-nail to the greater issue of self-determination, and the deliberate sacrifices that one must make to choose the path of heroism, rather than destruction. That point is made poignant because ???spoiler??? .....................the Giant is a destroyer by nature.
I also couldn't get over the way the movie made me wonder why it is so hard in film to stay away from violence when striving for heroism. It seems that every hero has a mean streak, or is eventually forced to violence by the bad guys; for once I had no reservations explaining to my son the Giant's motivations for doing what he did.
Finally, I hope that everyone sees this film. It deserves better than it will get, and we deserve more good stuff like it. It's not every day that you can look at the viewer reviews and see that *every* one is positive. That speaks volumes.