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michaelescher
Reviews
Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958)
If this was a great Bollywood movie, it was wasted on this American
I suppose that much of what I found hard to watch about this film was due to the cultural differences between what I find to be entertaining and what the expectations of a Bollywood aficionado would be. For one thing, the song and dance numbers were tremendously over-long and primitive in execution and the glue that held them together (the story) wasn't at all compelling.
I'm sure that there were funny bits that were lost on me since I didn't speak the language, but musicals and comedic films from other languages including Hong Kong action films and Japanese comedies work just fine for me.
And I was looking for the similarities to the Marx Brothers mentioned in previous comments about the film. I didn't see it with the exception of the conceit that the three main characters were brothers. In fact, the relationship that they had reminded me more of the Three Stooges rather than the Marx Brothers.
Oh, and whomever released this on DVD made it so the viewer had to sit through about fifteen advertisements for their other DVD releases. I can understand the average of four trailers on a DVD but this was ridiculous.
Django (1966)
Get the DVD
I rented a VHS of Django several years ago on the recommendation of several friends who were Spaghetti Western aficionados. It was hard to follow the story and understand the character motivation. The English of the subtitling lacked poetry that the imagery only hinted at.
I just finished watching the film in it's new DVD iteration in the original Italian with English subtitles and the difference is astonishing.
Don't expect Shakespeare, but the DVD's Italian dub reveals much more about the story, characters and plot than the VHS version ever did.
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What the #$*! Do We (K)now!? (2004)
What the #$*! Do We Know?! We know it's CRAP!!!
I created my own reality by walking out of the theater I was roped in by my girlfriend into going to this dreck with her mom. We (my g-friend and I) walked out about an hour into it. What a load of pseudo scientific new age jargon.
Sub atomic particles are thoughts? By taping labels to bottles of water and blessing it by a Buddhist monk it grew little pretty crystals? A drop of 25% in the murder rate in DC happened when a bunch of folks meditated. Wow, what a rigorous scientific study. I'm sure that someone ate cheerios for four days straight during the same time. Should we conclude that eating cheerios caused a drop in the murder rate?
Hogwash, hooey, bull pucky!
BTW- It was funded by the Ramtha cult, the leader of which was one of the "experts" which were interview by the filmmakers. No ulterior motives here, right?
Last Orders (2001)
Enough with the flashbacks, already!
Fine acting from a great ensemble cast, but the over reliance on flashbacks became incredibly tedious. It's as if the director just discovered the technique. There are other ways to tell a story.
Also, being a Yank, I have to admit that the accents were rather hard to understand. At times I thought that subtitles were in order.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
ten pounds of ---- in a five pound bag
I didn't hate this film, but I expected more.
At worse I found it overblown, hard to follow and felt like I never had a moment to catch my breath. After watching it I was left with a vague feeling similar to what you get from eating too much junk food, full but unsatisfied. Too many sweeping vistas, overkill on the Frank Frazetta-esque beasts and baddies, and very little characterization. Were it not for the very credible performances by the cast of top notch actors, there would have been none at all.
One feels that the director Peter Jackson felt that he needed to cover so much ground (literally and figuratively) that he needed to jettison the quieter moments that make up so much of the great story.
One of the best aspects of the Tolkien books was the reader feeling a sense of sweep and getting caught up in the quest, along with smaller moments of detail and quiet characterization. The latter was sorely missing from this film. All rush, rush, rush, with out any moments humor. These two elements were what made "STAR WARS" and "THE WIZARD OF OZ", so great. These two quest films, albeit in completely different milieus, were so much fun to watch, and ultimately so resonant for so many viewers because of moments of humor that allowed the audience a chance to reflect and also gave insight into the characters. This film , with the exception of a couple of cutesy moments with Sam, Pippen and Merry and one line from Gimli, was largely humorless.
I have a great deal of respect for Peter Jackson and his work. "MEET THE FEEBLES" and "DEAD ALIVE" were a couple of the funniest, most inventive bits of work to come out in a very long time and turned their genres (Muppet films and Horror) on their ear with a great eye to the absurd. Likewise, he did a wonderful job with "THE FRIGHTENERS" and "HEAVENLY CREATURES". I was hoping for the same here and was unfortunately disappointed. I hope, now that he feels that he has set the stage with "Fellowship" that he will offer more depth and humor in the next two outings.
One other thing, the film's design seemed to be just more of the same old Sword and Sorcery stuff. "CONAN" mixed with "NEVERENDING STORY." Blech!!! There was even a small film that I saw recently from Spain called "EL CORAZON DEL GUERRERO (THE HEART OF THE WARRIOR) that had far more interesting design for this genre. I have a feeling this ain't going to be the cash cow that New Line wanted.
Michael Escher
American History X (1998)
What is the big deal?
American History X is a predictable race drama with no real insight. A second viewing on television tonight confirmed my initial feelings for me. The change for the main character seemed unmotivated and a bit too quick.
One thing that was interesting was the film's use of Venice and the seemingly benign streets of LA's Westside as the location for this melodrama to play out. A more obvious choice would have been the American South.
All in all without the fine contribution that Edward Norton makes, this would be a complete waste of time.
Bound (1996)
Bound to bore
I just got back from a friend's house after viewing this movie. All in all, a boring film. Not the highest praise that you can give a thriller. The plot was never compelling and at no point was I actually surprised by the story. Everything was telegraphed. Both of the women were attractive and had a genuine sexual chemistry, but I did not feel any empathy for them or their plight. After seeing this film, it would be difficult to believe that the same filmmakers that made The Matrix made this dud of a thriller.
Una noche con Sabrina Love (2000)
Charming film, poor subtitle translation
I saw this film at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival last night. The film was a charming commentary on love, sex and growing up in modern Argentina. I had a few problems with the narrative flow as the action starts and stops with no explanation as to how the characters arrived at that point in the story. This seemed less a choice in playing with the narrative structure, and more of mistake on the part of the filmmaker. However, all in all, it was a fun filmgoing experience. My Spanish is somewhat flawed, but even with my poor comprehnsion, I could tell that I was missing some great jokes and other crucial information. I'm sure that my experience would have been better with more accurate subtitling.