Change Your Image
shammuk
Reviews
Halloween (2007)
Not a bad film
I've never seen the original one. I went into seeing this film without any expectation so I guess I didn't dislike this film as much as most of the people that has seen the first Halloween.
I don't think that Rob Zombie is trying to give Micheal Myers a soul. It is clear in the beginning of the movie it says "true evil are those who break free from the abyss" not in those exact words but something similar. I think that is exactly what this film was about. He showed Micheal as a child who is still somewhat normal then he goes and kills those he hated in his family and sparing his little sister and mother whom he loved. At that point I would say he's in the abyss and still haven't become truly evil. Then after he got institutionalized Rob Zombie shows the process of him breaking free from the abyss and become truly evil. He even killed those that were nice to him in the mental hospital. I think Rob Zombie achieved what he wanted very well in this film. Yes there were a lot of rednecks and white trash in this film but that didn't really throw me off. I think the sex scenes were a good fit. Sex and violence always goes well together.
I think it's unfair trying to compare this film to the original. Clearly it is two different films.
Death Sentence (2007)
no common sense
OK this film was pretty good until when it got to the middle of the story where the gangsters told the father on the phone that they r going after his family... then the father calls home and asked his wife and son to stay home until the police comes..... what in the world is he thinking???? or rather what was the writer of this script thinking???? any normal person would tell his family to get out of the house and go somewhere safe... go to a police station and wait there or something.... this don't make no sense at all... the writer could've have the family captured before the father made the call to the gangsters... or when the family is about to leave and they r outside waiting for them... it would've made more sense... anyways i kinda lost interest from here on.... but this movie is well shot.... and had a nice tempo to it... too bad that part ruined the whole film....
10,000 BC (2008)
just a bad film
Maybe i wouldve given this film a higher rating if it came out before Apocolypto... but still it wont go past a 5... there's so many things wrong with this film i don't know where to start..
1. bad script 2. cheesy dialogues 3. story don't make sense 4. bearable acting 5. bad lighting
i think most of all it was just a bad script.. the story really sucked... and a lot of the stuff don't make much sense... this was suppose to take place during the stone age... but the story is way too civilized... just nothing special in this film that blows u away... nice 3D effects... but still we've seen better ones too...
Jumper (2008)
Bad Acting or bad directing?
oh my god i didn't realize how bad Hayden Christensen is until he acted in this film... is he just a bad actor or does the director really suck.. yah sure this film has some cool effects... and i think the story had a lot of potential... but throughout the whole movie i didn't feel a thing... there was no emotion from the main character... he responded to everything with a straight face.... the female lead was pretty good and SLJ was SLJ.. always fun to watch... either the director needs to do a better job communicating with the actors or Hayden Christensen needs to find himself a new job.. cuz he cant act for realz........
Loose Change: Second Edition (2005)
It is not about right and wrong
The point here is not about if the this film proved anything or if there really is a conspiracy. I think what the filmmakers were trying to say is that why all the concealed evidence? If the gov't has got nothing to hide then why can't we see all the evidence that we the American public has a right to. So, I have to say it is very respectable of them to dedicate this film in memory of those perished in 9-11 because, the victims out of everyone has the right to know what really happened and to be honest the gov't haven't shown us everything.
I can't say everything in this film made sense but at least, some of it is very convincing. This film has raised a lot of good questions. The American public has a right to know every answer to every question that this film has raised. Like why the small explosions in the Twin Towers after the planes have hit? I'd say that is pretty suspicious. Also, where are the bodies of the passengers for the other two planes? Why can't we hear the evidence from the black boxes on the planes? I'm not saying there is any conspiracy here but I think we have a right to know.
For those of you who's seen Farenhite 911. I'd say these two films could be linked together. If you knew what the Bush family has invested in the middle east then you know that is a big enough motivation for them to kill anyone in this world. That's why the old Bush went to war in the middle east and then the young Bush went to war in the middle east. No other president in US history has gone to war in the middle east. Why? Use your brains people. Where does all of Bush's money come from? Not from US tax payers thats for sure. Their money comes from the Saudi Royal Family who just happens to be good friends with Bin Laden. Where does Dick Cheaney's money come from? His money comes from his company that invests in communications of the troops in the middle east and home. Every time there's a war his stocks go up. People kill for money. It's plain and simple. We see it everyday in the news around us. For those of you that don't believe someone in our gov't with power won't kill for money. Then I'd say you need get out of your fairytale world and wake up. If you can make a billion dollars and you need to kill 3000 people in order to do it and you had the power to cover it up and no one would ever find out it's you until your dead would you do it? I'd say a lot of people would. Those of you that say you wouldn't because you never had that kind of power. Power is corruption. Wake up people.
Last but not least for those of you who is dissing this film I bet you don't know anyone that has died because of 9-11 and you don't have a son fighting in Iraq. Because if you do you wouldn't be so quick to dismiss this film. You would use your mind and heart and question if all this is worth my loved ones to die for. Is this all worth something? Just ask yourself that question.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
The movie and screenplay is totally different
I took sometime to read the original screenplay by Charlie Kaufman few days ago. I reade the screenplay of Adaptation then saw the film and I was totally disappointed in the movie because the screenplay is much better. However this time I watched the movie first then reade the screenplay. I actually liked the movie better because the ending of the screenplay is totally different from the movie.
I think one of the things that Charlie Kaufman wanted to portray in his screenplay was that he didn't want this movie to be like the rest of the Hollywood films and have a happy ending which is what every audience wants which is to see boy and girl get together in the end. In his original screenplay thats not what happened. Kauffman had Clementine as an old lady going to the Docotor who is married to his assistant to erase Joel for like the 50th time or something and there was no love between them in the end. I think Hollywood totally changed the ending to fit the audiences expectations.
In Kauffman's original screenplay Joel also talked about how he is bored with naomi because he watched too many movies and maybe he expects to have an exciting relationship like those in the movies and that's the reason why he chose Clementine over Naomi. Yes, in the screenplay Naomi actually played a part in Joel's life. We see pasts from their relationship. I think that's why in the screenplay Kauffman didn't want to give that feeling there's hope between Joel and Clementine. He actually wanted to say that people don't really change. We just make the same mistakes over and over again if we are ignorant. But in the movie it tells us that there is hope between Joel and Clementine maybe they could be happy the second time around.
I think I liked the movie version and it touched me more than the screenplay because it gave me hope in the end. But that's not what Kauffman wanted in his screenplay. So, are we all just a bunch of ignorant people that has been affected by Hollywood's movies because we expect our relationships to be the same as the movies like the original Joel in the screenplay? Is that why people that have boring relationships can't be satisfied because they want something more? I have to say I liked the movie better but the original screenplay was more of an masterpiece. It really made me think. Anyways I think you people that liked the movie should read the screenplay.
Sunshine (2007)
beautiful brilliant deep
it seems that a lot of ppl have a problem with the captain of icarus 1 turning into a monster. first of all i don't think it is ridiculous at all. i don't see him as turning into god or devil. he basically just became another life form somehow due to all those years in space and it also drove him mad. i think the same thing was happening to Searle his skin started to peel during the middle of the film and he was also fascinated with the rays of the sun. i think everyone in the movie was fascinated with the sun cuz no one has ever been that close to it before. and they all had some kind of connection with the sun in different ways. the movie compared the sun to god. and it totally makes sense. the only reason of our existence is the sun. without the sun nothing would exist. maybe the sun is god who knows. i think it was a good twist in the movie when the captain of icarus 1 boarded the icarus 2. and i think the ending was excellent because the fact that it wasn't clear. maybe they saw god or maybe its just flames from the sun but anyhow it was beautiful. i mean how else could have the film ended? letting them complete the mission and return to earth as heroes and live happily ever after? that would be boring. i think the writer didn't wanna give us an ending that was fixed to a certain point of view. he want us to make out our own interpretations. so those of u who dun wanna watch a film that makes u think better not attempt to watch this one.
An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
The Earth is dying!
I am so glad this documentary got made and the word got out there for people who still think global warming is just some theory that scientists made up to make people recycle. It is a fact that within 50 years this world will be so hot that it will be unbearable to live for human beings. Global Warming causes a whole bunch of disasters and problems mentioned in this documentary. There are signs around us everyday. Just that we are not aware of it because it is not right next to our homes. But the Earth is trying to warn us. Maybe someday technology will catch up and save us all. But until that happens we can't deny the fact that this Earth is dying everyday at a rapid speed. It is not little by little anymore. It's like a high speed train which will hit us in the near future. I think this documentary really needs to be shown to more people and politicians should stop being so ignorant and realize what is most important to us. Is there anything more important than saving the Earth?
Apocalypto (2006)
can i say mel Gibson is a genius!
this film is raw, mean, touching, and intellectual. mel Gibson has done it again. we knew he was a decent director when he made braveheart. then he surprised us with passion of the Christ. now apocolypto is just simply astonishing! there is genius in this film. no one has ever attempted to make something like this. this is human society at it's most primal stage. but it also resembles modern day society. makes u think that has human beings really changed after hundreds of years of progress? the strong still dominates the weak. people r still separated into different classes. we still fool ourselves with stupid beliefs. looks like nothing has changed that much. i think what mel Gibson was trying to convey in this film is that the best society is a society where ppl just hunt for their needs. a place without class just simple pleasures like teasing ur friends and loving ur family. this film went from the ideal society to a really awful society. but the awful society is the stronger society which is deteriorating from the inside little by little. it also warns us that our world today is the same. someday it will destroy because we r weak interiorly.
Stomp the Yard (2007)
stomping looks like cheerleading
sylvian white has just made bad films in the past. his most well known work was "i will always know what u did last summer" which probably not many people have seen because it sucks. I haven't seen any of sylvian white's film and i don't plan on seeing them any time soon. Just not interested Hollywood rip off films that has no substance whatsoever. Oh yah this film is about stomping which is similar to break dancing. Well guess what the world champions of the world ain't black. So, maybe they should remake this film in korean and find people that can really breakdance. I bet korean dancers can beat the actors in this film any day any time. The only thing that i liked about this film is that the female actress is hot. that was about it. everything else sucked.
Ai qing ling yao (2002)
An attempt to save the Taiwan Film Industry
If you have seen enough Taiwanese films you will be pleasantly surprised by this one. This is an attempt by the director to save Taiwan's film industry from its overly artsy and unprofitable film environment. Taiwan's film industry have been on a downward slope ever since Taiwan's new wave of directors started making political and avant-garde films. Even though those films won awards at major festivals it fails to bring in profits in its native country. However, this film is an attempt to break free from that type of environment and an attempt to gain audiences interests once more. It was quite an success in Taiwan which actually brought in box office numbers. The film did not make any profit, but it did earn enough to balance out its film budget, which was a first ever since the Taiwan's new wave of films. The director of photography of this film is very well known among the Asian commercial industry. Thus, enabling this film to have a totally different look from past Taiwanese films. The film was well shot and did a good job on color correction making the quality more Hollywood like. The only downside about this film was that I thought the characters wasn't very well developed. The separate stories were also connected in a way which looked overly pretentious. However, the wacky story lines and weird plots makes up for that imperfection.
Troy (2004)
ok but not great..
If I am not mistaken in the Iliad the actual Trojian War took 10 years. This film made it look like it took 3 days. A lot of details did not match the Iliad. For example Achilles was killed before the walls of Troy were breached, and it wasn't Paris who advised Priam to burn the Horse Statue, and many others. I was also expecting Achilles armor to be more lavish since in the Iliad his armor were carefully designed by the gods. It was disappointing on many levels. However, I do not think it was such an aweful film. The battles scenes and action is pretty good. I just wish this movie would have done more justice to Homer's poetry.
Hable con ella (2002)
Absolutely Beautiful
The most significant thing that I noticed about this film was the use of warm colors, especially the orange, red, and yellow. Visually it was just satisfying to the eye. I think this film was interesting in that all the characters had some reasons behind thier actions and was slowly revealed as the story progresses. Marco who always cried because he is still in love with his ex-girlfriend. Even when he was with the bull fighter he still cried at the music. The bull fighter who had already gotten back with her ex-boyfriend while she was with Marco. A comparison was made between the missionaries who raped the nuns and the rape that happened in the film. The silent black and white film was interesting in that the shrinking man climbed into his lover's vagina which might be saying that he is pleasuring her forever in sacrificing himself. It can also be compared to what took place with the rape in the hospital. Benigno sacrificed himself to wake Alicia from her coma by making her pregnant and having himself being sent to jail. I liked the ending where it seems that Marco and Alicia are starting something new either its a relationship or something new in their lifes. After all Marco is the only person who knew Benigno well and the truth to it all.
Irréversible (2002)
Creative and Realistic
This has been one of the most creative films I've seen recently. The camera movement gave the film a sense of time turning backwards. I think the film definitely didn't want to leave the audience in despair thats why the scenes were shown in reverse order. The ending was beautiful and sad in a sense if you think back to the beginning of the film. I liked the fact that Alex's ex-boyfriend killed the wrong person, because otherwise it would have been a film about revenge, and I don't think that's what it is trying to say, but to portray a reality in the act of all the violence and sex.
The conversation in the subway about sex was very ironic to the rape scene. Alex was saying men should concentrate more on thier own desires instead of concentrating on the girls desire. That is pretty much what rape is all about. This film dealt with the idea of human desires. It showed human beings at its rawest animalistic form. Our actions driven entirely by our emotions without contemplation. Anger leading to vengeance. Even Alex and her boyfriend's relationship seem to be driven by sex instead of a spiritual connection. Since her ex-boyfriend wasn't as well skilled in bed she prefers her boyfriend who seems to be cheating on her constantly at times.
I think the ending can also mean the beginning. Since life still goes on even after all that has happened. Maybe one day it will go back to the beautiful scenery in the end of the film.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
This is definitely Great Art and not some stupid cannibal film..
Holy Christ... i just watched one of the most disturbing films ever ... "Cannibal Holocaust"... this film was banned around the world and I can understand why... definitely not a film for everyone... but i really have to say this is one of the best films that i've seen which really touched on a lot of questions about humanity... i was glad the director decided to take this film to the extreme... some of the modern films really did a rip off of this one such as "Hannibal" (of course), "Blair witch project", and all the cannibal films that came after it....
I think the director did a good job on explaining why he decided to portray the violent extremnism in this film... there was the constant contrast between eating a human and eating an animal... he showed both the savageness of civilized society and the jungle people... the last line of the film pretty much explained everything "I wonder who's the real cannibals"... this also brings up the usual question of knowledge and innocence... such as that the jungle people eat flesh for survival which they do not know the difference btwn eating a man and a pig for they are innocent... but civilized society hunt animals for entertainment, we kill and consume food beyond our needs ... i definitely dont think the intensions of this film was to gross anyone out but to raise some questions about us as human beings... and it also portrayed a different kind of reality like all the other films out there that try to show reality as it is... i think this film can be talked about in deep context and im glad i was able to find it.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Fist of North Star
This film is like a remake of the Japanese anime "Fist of North Star". I couldn't help it to find it almost identical to the anime. The costumes, the setting, the violence, the characters, almost everything is the same. George Miller must have been a big fan of the anime. However, the Max in this movie is not as tough as Ken in the anime. I guess they wanted to make the movie more believable, so they cant have Max being invincible. This isn't a bad film, but having seen the original anime, this all seems a bit soft. The anime is much better in my opinion.
Yume (1990)
Surreal and Beautiful
This film is divided into eight short films from Kurosawa's own dreams. Basically you don't really have to try to understand what is going on because no one can really understand what our dreams mean. However, this could have been the phsychology of Kurosawa's own state of mind. Even though it's not suppose to have any sort of meaning, there are still symbols that show some message in each of the films. A lot of the symbols have to do with ancient Japanese deity icons. The human puppets, the man eating devils, the fox, etc. I'm not Japanese so I can't really relate to what it all means, but I think the film would be more enjoyable if you have a background in these ancient mythologies. Some of the films in the end relates to the Hiroshima bombing where the volcano is exploding and the after effects of the A-Bomb. The last piece definitely sums everything up and tells us of Kurosawa's point of view on life. "we are part of nature". Aside from the message I agree with everyone else that this film has excellent cinematography and is definitely enjoyable visually.
The Hours (2002)
The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux
I recently just realized this film has everything to do with the Book of Hours by Jeanne d'Evreux produced in the middle ages.
The Book of Hours soon became a means to extend social control into women's private lives. Jeanne d' Evreux was 14 years old when she married Charles IV of France. Her job was to produce a desperately needed male heir for the Throne. She produced three daughters, and the Hundred-Year War began soon afterwards.
To understand the images in a Book of Hours is to plunge into an inferno of sexual anxiety and pressure. This is not "repression" in the Freudian sense, since the images are exceedingly frank. While the large images at the centre of the page usually narrate scenes from the life of Mary or Jesus, the "images on the edge" are a scatological commentary from which it was hoped, perhaps, that the reader would turn her eyes, just as the monks in the cloister walk might turn away in fright and disgust from the lecherous carvings on the columns.
Jeanne's book is dominated by sexual hysteria: it seems to have been designed by a Dominican preacher to show her what good girls do and don't do. There are men with their instruments (mostly horns and bagpipes),pussy-cats and mouse-holes, mingled with scenes of promiscuity. Under the image of the Betrayal of Christ two men practice sticking their spears into a hole. Many of the images "rhyme," so that for instance the posture of Jeanne praying is repeated elsewhere, in the figure of a man putting away his, uh, sword.
Deceiver (1997)
Interesting Script
SPOILER ALERT It was strange when I saw this film, because it played on UPN and then CBS the same day and I actually watched it twice that day. I have to say the acting is really good and the camera work is excellent. The story reveals interesting details all through out the interrogation. Every single character has something to hide and you don't really know what will happen until the end. Even though I'm still confused who is the real killer. Tim Roth shows up in the end and makes it look like hes the killer but it could go both ways I guess. The cop fails the lie detector and destroys the tape.
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Not A Comedy
Obviously this is not a comedy. So for those of you who expect Adam Sandler to do some stupid things in this movie you will be disappointed. Paul Thomas Anderson who also did Magnolia and Boogie Nights is really a great director who ponders on wierd subjects. I gave this film a 7 because I think it is a much simpler film than his previous films. Maybe I didn't get the whole meaning of it. But in the end it tells us that love can overcome all obstacles. The protagonist has this psychological problem in the beginning and is really a big coward in facing his problems. But after he met this girl he becomes this changed man. The piano can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Personally I think it's something that was lost and he has found it now after meeting the girl or it could be a gift from heaven such as love. But all in all just see it because Adam sandler is doing some acting for once in his films.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Very Surreal
I think this is one of the best films to come out of the United States in recent times. It feels sort of like what you would expect to see in a David Lynch film, but easier to understand.
I'm not an expert on religion, but I think Donnie is kind of like a god like figure. Through his destructive acts he is giving these people around him a new life in the end, kind of like washing away thier pains and sorrow or maybe even thier sins. Through out the movie he follows a path of hints and symbols he sees along the way like following the path of God or the Rabbit. In the end he goes back to his room through the portal and kills himself to set these people free.
I see the the annoying teacher and the speech person as being the devil's tool. They seem to walk the rightous path but it's ironic how they play the part of the anti-christ.
I think the idea of time travel is interesting because all of us has something that we wish could be different in our past.
Ying xiong (2002)
Hero a different kind of Wu Xia
Everyone that is familiar with Zang Yi Mou's work will know that he is not a communist idealist. All of his previous films have been about criticizing the chinese government and the communist idealism. Everyone knows that the emporer of the chin dynasty was a important figure in chinese history. I don't agree to everything that he did, but atleast he unified china and gave the people a short period of peace time until his death. Otherwise who knows how many more lives will be lost and how many more wars there will be. China was fighting a civil war during that time and the other warring states was killing one another also. It's not like the Chin emperor was the only one that was doing the killing. The united states also went through war to become what they are today. First killing off the indians then killing each other in the civil war. Now there is democracy through all this blood that was spilled. I dont think its fair to say that this film is a communist film.
Zang yi mou was definitely trying something new in this film. It's more of an art film than a commercial film. So if you go in the theater and expect something like the matrix or crouching tiger u will be disappointed. One thing that I was amazed was the set design and the colors that was used in this film. Zang yi mou used to be a cinematographer before he became a director, so this is something he is good at. The fighting on the lake really amazed me. I wonder how they set up those wires for the actors to fly on the lakes. I have to say the fight scenes in this film is nothing like I've ever seen in Hong Kong martial arts film. It is not as difficult as some other films but the artistic quality ot it is just incredible. How every little detail was shown.