elvogt's Reviews

Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992)

23 February 2004

Let's see, what have we got --

Story - no

Characters - no

Gore - some

SFX - kind of

Humour - no, not really

Suspense - err... no.

Acting - not worth mentioning.

I'd say, it doesn't look like this flick is going to get a good rating from me.

4 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Bad flick with a good one inside, desperately trying to get out

9 February 2004

After the movie was over, one twit in the row behind me asked: "What kind of a pervert sicko would make a movie like that?" I was tempted to reply, "What kind of a pervert sicko would buy a ticket for a movie called 'House of 1000 corpses', presented by one Rob Zombie?"

Anyway. This film was exceptionally bad on several levels, a big letdown after I had had pretty high expectations. In a nutshell, it didn't have a plot to mention, no characters, noone to sympathize with, no suspense, no thrill, no surprises, nothing subtle.

But then, Ho1000C had great moments of talent. Captain Spaulding's freak show was absolutely brilliant (as was Sid Haige himself -- as was the presentation the bad guys held at their house). The camerawork was exceptionally good at times (although the false-color flashbacks sometimes got a bit annoying). Some of the ideas were great (Alice in Wonderland -- awesome!).

Yet all these good bits were drowned in forced gore and brutality and unskilled execution. Don't get me wrong, I went in there to see gore and splatter. But whenever it could have turned really disconcerting, Rob decided to turn away.

There was a really good movie locked inside this flick, and you can see it at times desperately fighting to break free.

P.S.: Just for the record -- what did the holdup at Spaulding's at the very beginning have to do with the rest of the story?

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Thin Red Line (1998)

So... lots of grass, and war is a bad thing?

31 October 2003

Although I appreciate this film as a sincere attempt, I must say that it completely escaped me.

I saw it lately with the highest expectations after it had received quite a lot of good reviews, but I found it lacked virtually everything. Everything was drawn out into length, from the exposition on the native island to the closing credits, and even the battle scenes got you bored quite quickly -- not to mention the endless grassy hills on the pacific islands.

Characters? Hm. Not a whole lot of characters around, to be honest, not to mention any development. We don't get to see a whole lot of people _before_ the battle, and as soon as the battle starts, everybody gets hysteric and is reduced to screaming and crying. (And the screaming goes quickly on your nerves, as does the tedious voice-over poetry... it's a film, for Christ's sake, not a poetry slam!) Travolta and Clooney could have been fun characters, but their cameos obviously were introduced only to lure a few more people into the cinemas...

And the plot? I don't think there was one, neither was there a story being told. After the storming of the Japanese camp, I sincerely thought the film was over, and was quite surprised to see another story line unfold (the assault on the creek) -- which was a completely pointless addition, IMHO.

All in all, it felt like a two-hour something snapshot of war, designed to tell me that war is bad. Okay, I knew that before, and the snapshot concept simply doesn't work here: Pitching the audience into battle like the soldiers, and exposing them to the same confusion, just leads to different effects: Soldiers will fear for their lifes, but the audience will just get bored and lose interest.

Although I was very well inclined to the movie in the first place, it simply failed to catch me, and I sat through the two hours dutifully, but without real interest in the people or the story. (Story? Which story?)

P.S.: Trying to avoid having goodies and baddies was a nice idea. But the explanation and "justification" of Nolte's character was a bit too much (like the whole film was "too much" of everything)... pleading too verbosely for his innocence will only make him look guilty...

1 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Mein Leben & ich (2001–2010)

Great sitcom which takes teens seriously

16 September 2003

This sitcom, centered around teenage girl Alex (Wolke Hegenbarth), her friends, family and her problems with growing up, is a small gem amidst Germany's Friday evening comedies.

A little bit like a live action (and more family-friendly) version of _Daria_, the series captures the "teen spirit" very nicely without reducing kids to little idiots or presenting them as simply smaller adults. Whether Alex follows her parents' vain attempts to re-capture the spirit of _their_ youth, whether she's pestered by her younger brother Sebastian, or watches the antics of her clueless friend Claudia -- while the stories are not the most original, the presentation of the characters is both believable and amiable.

Wolke does a wonderful job in portraying the clever and stoic Alex, who sees the world of the grown-ups unfold around her, and she delivers all her razor-sharp one-liners and diary observations with great style... I wish I had a daughter like that!

Right now they've started broadcasting the second season... I love it!

18 out of 20 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Coronado (2003)

8/10

A German Indiana Jones...?

3 August 2003

That was a nice flick to watch. A pretty classical adventure story centered around the beautiful girl looking for her fiance in the most exotic spots, meeting the rough incestigative journalist to get drawn into fights between sweating rebels and nasty dictators... the classical thing.

The story held little surprises, but the usual gaping plot holes (The rebel air force seems to outnumber the dictator's mightily... hm). Actually, I would have loved to see more of the "adventure" (Aztec tombs, hidden treasures and stuff) than the fighting between revolutionaries and junta, but it was still okay. Overall, the script was well paced, had amiable characters, was funny at times, and never dull or boring.

But the editing and effects really are the special thing. They are not overwhelming or breathtakingly spectacular, but they have been put to good and subtle use -- which is a rare and good thing. _Coronado_ is not a 90 minutes effects orgy where the directors think that 8 cuts/second and a shaky hand camera will create a sense of thrill. The film is not there to display the effects, but the effects are there to serve the film -- here, the hand of the Germans involved in the production may make itself noticeable. ;-) The most memorable stunts (the bridge, the arrival at the rebel camp) are really nicely crafted and keep you on the edge of the seat.

Let me be a bit of patriot here: After Emmerich went to the States and completely adopted the "American" style of cinema -- not necessarily a good thing, IMHO -- here we have a new team which gives a well-established genre a new, own twist. Perhaps, finally these are steps to create a German cinema, which will be able to compete with Hollywood on its own territory -- classical entertainment.

I liked every minute of _Coronado_, and I hope the audiences will savour this film as much as I do.

P.S.: IMDB just pointed out "incestigative" to me, which of course should read "investigative". But I love this typoe much too much... ;-)

7 out of 11 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Ring (2002)

One of the scariest of the last years

15 May 2003

Brilliant photography kept me on the edge of the seat. For a long time, this was the first movie were I really was afraid for the characters.

Intriguing storyline with a decent solution, a number of very cool ideas (the fly on the screen...), and most of all the cool images which stuck to my mind.

If you're into horror movies, check this one out. And turn off the phone before you watch it.

1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Moonfleet (1955)

Odd

15 May 2003

Always having been a fan of Stewart Granger, of course I seized the opportunity to check out 'Moonfleet' the other night.

When it was done, I turned the TV off with a strange feeling of emptiness -- this could have been a superb "swashbuckler noire", if it only had had a plot.

The sombre mood created by the film, the dense fog of threat around the characters, Granger's ambiguous behaviour, his never fully revealed past, all this set the stage for a bleak but thrilling adventure... which just never happens.

You sit through the minutes passing by, and here and there are little plot twists and intrigues trickling, a little bit of action (all very flat and predictable, though), but all the time you ask yourself, "Okay, what's it all going to be about?" And when finally the credits roll, you say, "Oh, that's been it."

I feel like someone withheld a really good movie from me, and only showed me a 90 mins teaser.

7 out of 16 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Memento (2000)

Gripping, stunning, intelligent

18 December 2001

Actually, I have little to add to the majority of comments listed here, but since I just saw this movie the other night, and it really impressed me, I thought I might chime in:

The notion with which I entered the cinema was, "How gripping may a movie be if the end is given away in the beginning?", and the answer turned out to be- pretty much.

I agree, this is probably not #9 of all movies ever made. It's one more flick in the line of the others doubting our identity (like _Matrix_ or _Truman Show_), which seems to be the question of the new millenium. The acting is average, and the characters don't get too much depth, but I suspect this is a consequence of the way the story is told.

But the story is captivating, and it's narrated in an amazing way. The unfolding is very clever, and I found myself fully concentrating on the plot, all the time. (Of course, my attempts to be _ahead_ of the story were moot in a picture which is told _backwards_.) As opposed to _Matrix_, which seemed to me to be an insult to my intelligence, this one was a challenge to it. I had expected a lot of the audience to give up halfway through and start to chatter and stuff, but everyone seemingly stayed focussed till the end (I'd take this as a compliment to the film team)- and what an end it was! I went out of the cinema fairly disturbed...

Bottom line: Very nice idea, cleverly executed, always worth the admission to the cinema, or a tape's rent. But since the idea is not really _deep_, and since the way the story's told limits the story somewhat, it's not an alltime great. 8.5/10

(P.S.: Some people questioned why Leonard would know where to find his photos and stuff all the time- he repeatedly pointed out in the picture that he has conditioned himself to do so, that he got into the 'habit' of looking for them, a feat he still could manage, as opposed to Sam.)

0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

The Shadow (1994)

Pretty good and underrated

17 December 2001

A short comment about this movie from a German point of view, which may make a difference when we're talking about radio plays/comics adapted to the silver screen:

"The Shadow" as a radio play is virtually unknown around here. (I used the opportunity to check out some old recordings on the web, and it's _awesome_ to listen to!) So, German audiences will just walk into the theatre without any proconceived ideas about how it should be, expecting just any other adventure movie.

As such, IMHO it stood up well. Baldwin is cool; of course his demi-dark side begs for a comparision to Batman, but I think Baldwin wins in terms of credibility and depth of character. The gimmicks and gadgets are neat, Tim Curry as the half-villain is entertaining to watch as always (though he overdoes it a bit at times), the script is well-paced, the action is staged superbly, the music is gripping.

But most of all: Kudos to the production design/special effects/makeup team! They did a superb job in transforming the Shadow's 'invisibility' (as well as his overall looks) from a radio idea to the screen. It was awesome to watch, and at the same time a bit chilling and frightening.

Drawback: Beside the intentional jokes ("I'm not interested in your balls..."), some takes just seemed to be unintentionally funny- perhaps they went a little too far in trying to create a gloomy atmosphere...

Along with _The Rocketeer_, this one's also one of the unfortunately widely underrated films. Certainly not a milestone in film history, but a good and entertaining flick to watch with a bag of popcorn and a girl to hold in your arms during the scary moments. But I'm pretty sure- The Shadow... knows!

82 out of 95 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Lame with a few nice pictures /* some spoilers */

14 December 2001

Warning: Spoilers

I don't know what the previous poster's (Jack Oats) standards are... to me his review sounds more like paid advertisement.

"Atlantis" deeply disappointed me. The story was lame, full of clichees, poorly executed, jammed with pseudo-esoteric humbug, and generally boring. We didn't have characters, not to mention any development- just clichees.

The character animation was mediocre, to say the best. What was done with CGI was impressive, but much too short and poorly placed. Why one wastes an endless span with the (pretty pointless) exposition and the superfluent and absurd twist of Milo being kidnapped, then introduces the magnificent submarine and ditches it again just a minute later, to follow up with the endless and boring expedition, rather than exploiting the awe-inspiring design, completely escapes me.

The soundtrack was okay, but not spectacular. At least for the German dubbed version, one has to note that the accents and speech impediments of various characters were way too pronounced, and sometimes they were pretty hard to understand.

Overall, the old rule of thumb that six screenplay writers are five to many, seems to apply again. The story held _nothing_, and since all the cool images (like the zeppelin/ballon) were staged in the least effective way, one can't even say it was nice to look at.

"Atlantis" seemed to me to lack a concept. The character animation reminded me of 60's disney movies, like "Merlin and Mim", or the "Jungle Book", and sometimes tried to be funny. The background and CGI "style", though, was much more "mature" and sombre, and contrasted awkwardly with the characters. Likewise, "fun" characters like Vinnie, Mole or Cookie were not funny for the most part, and they didn't fit in with the gloomy aspects like the expedition members resembling WWI-soldiers with gas masks. (Why they were required to constantly wear gas masks will remains the director's secret, I suspect. Probably to make them look gloomy. But it's stoopid.)

/*** spoiler ahead ***/

Likewise, after the crash of the submarine, the crew shortly mourns for some two hundred of the crew having died... but goes on with their cheap jokes immediately. Not necessarily character depth, I'd say.

Even worse, we are told that Atlantis sank as a result of a war running wild, yet the film later implies that the evil guys can only be overcome by a battle of machine guns, war planes and bombs. Fair enough for a Schwarzenegger vehicle, but questionable in connection with our plot. One would expect the Atlantians and Milo resp. to be able to come up with something more clever and original.

Summary: To some it's a movie. To others it's the longest outtake of the year.

0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

elvogt

Reviews

Tell Your Friends

Recently Viewed