Change Your Image
bismarck_1892
Reviews
Star Trek (2009)
Reboot
This is what one may call a REBOOT. If you are an old and die hard fan you may not want to see this film.
With that said, the acting was good, the sets and special effects were good as well. The story has many wholes and inconsistencies. However, it makes that up with some good laughs.
On the other hand, the movie lacked heart or brain, which makes it into a special effects, action movie in space.
This viewer believes that it is good for a causal viewing by a casual fan of Star Trek, or perhaps by non-fans if they dare watch a sci-fi movie without fear of ridicule.
War of the Worlds (2005)
Completely Pointless
Yeah you heard me! Completely pointless movie! A Tom Cruise commercial. News flash, Tom Cruise is not that great. As always the child actor, Dakota, stole the show. Indeed, was this film a father daughter/son story? No. A disaster movie? I guess. Was there a plot? No. Just massive destruction. Suspense? Not really. Maybe the film was suspenseful for a 1950s' audience but not for today's. Not that we have become incredibly sophisticated, the movie just wasn't very scary. I gave it one star for the special effects. That is all the movie deserves. I want my time and money back! Well actually, it was what I expected going in: a disaster flick with some heart. But unfortunately the movie didn't connect on any level.
The Beach (2000)
The only good thing about the film is Virginie Ledoyen
The only good thing about the film is Virginie Ledoyen. Unfortunately, there is not enough of her in this film to make it better. She has a wonderful on screen presence and charm and I hope she will continue to make English language films. But, good ones.
Her french colleague Guillaume Canet plays his part well and naturally. DiCaprio, on the other hand, tries just a little too hard. Meaning, his character is a bit over cooked, over acted, and just simply over done.
Boyle makes a poor showing as well. A lousy screen play, made from a good book. The story is choppy. Boyles' attempt to blend the film with his style (think video game scene for example) was completely unnecessary. Which, by the way, made DiCparo's character even less believable. In short, its a pretty bad film.
Troy (2004)
Crap
A quick review:
Blood and more blood. A superficial film.
Its commentary on war is laughable. Most of the characters are one dimensional. There is little character development. Especially for Paris. No subtlety in the performance leaves the character of Paris an idiotic enigma. No real love and/or passion between Helen and Paris also leaves the movie in many ways pointless and heartless. The classical Greek literary conflicts between destiny and choice, and piety and hubris are given superficial consideration. The only memorable characters (and well acted) are Hector and the Trojen king. The Achilles character has no rime or reason. He choices the glory of war over peace but later in the film complains that he had no choice and was born to be a soldier. (I doubt that this character conflict was intentionally created because the last line was read in a middle of what passes as a silly attempt at character development.) In short, virtually nothing pulls you in and makes the viewer symphasize with and truly understand the characters (aside for Hector). A good action flick but little else.
Jesus' Son (1999)
See it for Billy Crudup's performance.
Billy Crudup's performance is the only thing that keeps this movie afloat. The man has great range. Otherwise it is a poor attempt at film making. At times there are bright spots, like the interaction between Black and Crudup. With that said, however, you're constantly trying to figure out if this is an attempt at comedy or drama. Its not even a dramady (whatever that may be).