Reviews

Citizen Kane uses lots of nifty camera work, with longer shots and such. Also, it's one of the few films I've seen that doesn't manufacture cheap answers.

(potential spoilers ahead.)

Charles Foster Kane, a rich and powerful man, has just died. His last word was "rosebud" and a reporter is searching for its meaning.

Rosebud is the word embedded on Kane's childhood sled. It, and the glass ball, represent his childhood, his innocence, and life before fame and riches twisted him and turned his heart black.

Chaw. Citizen Kane is a great movie, and anyone who says otherwise knows nothing of cinema. Perhaps not the greatest film in history, but in my books, it is the greatest American film in history.

(potential spoilers ahead)

One of my top 5. Geoffrey Rush delivers a terrific performance as David , a piano player driven to madness by the shunning of his father, and by playing the Rach 3, supposedly the hardest piece ever written.

A complex, moving masterpiece about the effects of pressure.

chaw. 10/10

Warning: Potential Spoilers ahead.

First off, I have to say I'm not a Star Wars fan. I hated Episode 1; I was 12 when I saw it, and I guess I was just too old to appreciate the genius. *Sigh*

Anyway, the title for this dump says it all. Attack of the Clones. Bah. It's aptly named. It is an attack of clones; they cloned another crap Star Wars movie. The story: Anakin hits puberty late, or is actually a girl, and is PMSing-- I'm not sure. He has a fetish for killing...maybe he's Satan. No wait, he's Darth Vader. The Satan of Uber-shnerd sci-fi land, in a big plastic suit. Anyway, he doesn't become a walking, talking robot just yet. He has to save his girlfriend Padmé, lalala. Big light-saber. Buzzing. Severs robot limbs. Yawn. Anyway, then there's stuff about clones. Army of clones? Yes. Then Samuel L. Jackson-- how did he get in here? And why didn't he get nominated for an oscar-- Alec Guinness did. It's Racism, I tell you! And because this movie sucked. And because Samuel sucked.

The only thing worse than the garbage story, is the acting. Wow. The acting blew me away. It's soap-opera worthy. Emotionless, monotonous, expressionless. Ugh. It'll make you wince. The best acting by far comes from Yoda. I liked him better as a puppet though. He was just so much cooler. But he couldn't do kungfu as a puppet. Yes. You've probably heard. He jumps around, screaming, with a mini-light saber. The best scene by far. Just fast forward to this bit. Then don't watch the rest.

Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Padmé (Natalie Portman) fit perfectly together, a cute couple of terrible actors. An unrivaled on-screen chemistry. This movie is fun to laugh at. One out of ten (0.5 for Yoda, and O.5 because I'm a good guy).

Warning: potential spoilers ahead.

I don't like most hollywood movies. Especially hollywood romantic comedies. Urgh.

But anything with Jack Nicholson is a masterpiece, since I want to have sex with him. No, but really, this film is unusually meaningful for Hollywood. And oh that adorable dog should have been nominated for an oscar.

Charming performances all round. Greg Kinnear is well suited for a gay role, (no offense). Helen Hunt is quite good as well. And Jack, with his enormous scruffy eyebrows, and chillingly charming smile (that only makes sense to me, don't worry about it), is at his best here.

Anyway, I can personally relate to this movie, which is why I enjoyed it so much. I am an asshole. Very much like Melvin (Jack Nicholson) is here. I also meet people (not a certain one just yet) that make me want to become a better person. I haven't made much of an effort as of yet, but I know what I want to do. Yes, I'm a very confused human being, much like that last sentence.

As Good as It Gets is probably just that, in terms of Hollywood romantic comedies. I don't think I should even call it that. Because it isn't sappy, it isn't a chick flick, and it's one of my favourite movies of all time.

Warning: potential spoilers ahead.

Leonardo Dicaprio:

No. NO. He is not suited for this role. At all. There's not even a hint of an Irish accent anywhere throughout the film. I admit, he was incredible in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but here...he lacked the presence, the accent and the soul and is reduced to a shallow puddle compared to the roaring ocean that is Daniel Day-Lewis' William Cutting.

Cameron Diaz:

Much the same here. No accent. No presence. No soul. Admittedly, it's a fairly limited character, but she was noticeably bad in the way Queen Amidala was in the last star wars movie.

Also:

There are some minor problems to do with effects and the like.

1) In the opening battle scene, there are some moments when you really notice that the actors are not really hitting eachother at all, when no blood spurts out when a man is cleaved by a butcher knife.

2) When the riots start, the rocks being thrown seem to float in the air and are noticeably made of styrofoam.

On the plus side...

1)Daniel Day-Lewis delivers. Of course he does. Has he been bad in anything? Not that I know of, and I've seen most of his movies, being his obsessed stalker 'n all. I am probably biased...but, no one can say that his performance here wasn't powerful. The thick boston irish accent, the curled mustache, the greasy hair plastered on his sweaty forehead, and his comical but menacing manner...he is transformed. His performance here by far outweighs that of Adrien Brody in the Pianist.

"It was the finest beating I ever took...my guts was pierced...my ribs was all mashed up..."

One of the most memorable moments in cinematic history, that scene was (dans mon opinion).

2) There's no doubt about Scorcese's talent as a film maker. He takes us, entrances us, immerses us in another world. Unfortunately, the terrible miscasting almost ruins this film for me. Thank God for Daniel Day-Lewis, or this film would be completely wasted.

Warning: potential spoilers ahead.

Leonardo Dicaprio is masterful as the autistic 18 year-old Arnie Grape. I never would have thought, after seeing the crap he's doing now. Wow. His acting here, though not quite in the league of Daniel Day-Lewis' Cristy Brown in My Left Foot, rivals that of Geoffrey Rush in Shine and Dustin Hoffman in Rain man. I do not hesitate to say this. Rush and Hoffman are huge actors, and Dicaprio was just a boy at the time, but his performance is just as moving, just as comfortable, and just as mind-blowing, real and believable. Wow. He can act. It's a shame he's so terrible now. Maybe he just needs a suitable role. He's just no good at the squinting tough-guy stuff. He's no Clint Eastwood (which could be a compliment, I'm not sure).

Anyway, the rest of the movie doesn't quite measure up to Dicaprio's tremendous acting, which doesn't make it necessarily bad. I don't want to seem shallow or closed, but I'm not into the cliché romance stuff. Yawn. I've heard it all before. Juliette Lewis is just boring, but her character is boring, being the perfect girl savior. She's not noticeably bad, though. Johnny Depp isn't bad either. He's not outstanding, but he's believable. Gilbert Grape is a complex character, that doesn't come around too often. He's conflicted, with himself, his mother, his autistic brother, his secret lover's husband, and the people that mistreat Arnie. He's a good kid. And he is human (unlike Juliette Lewis' character, faw!). He loses it. He runs away when things get hard. But he can come back. At one point, he hits Arnie, trying to get him to take a bath (like Dustin Hoffman in Rain man, Arnie is afraid of water). And he runs away, ashamed. But he comes back to Arnie's party, and they make amends.

Gilbert's mother is overweight. Which is an understatement. He's embarrassed of her, and frequently refers to her as a beached whale. Really a rude analogy coming from her own son. She never moves from the couch. Never goes anywhere. But she loves her children, and when the police take Arnie away (after he climbs the tower for the last time), she gets up, and fights to get him back. Sniff, sniff. Touching. Anyway, she dies later during the party, and Arnie goes up to visit. This is a beautiful scene. A horrible scene. A beautiful scene. "Haha, you're hiding, momma," Arnie says. He thinks it's a game, but when it lasts for too long, he's scared. He's shaking her. He's crying. He's yelling for her to stop hiding. He's crying. What do you know...I'm crying too.

Anyway, I don't want to bore myself (or you) by going on and on about the plot. Lalala. I didn't like the cliché romantic part of this film, but the rest is quite good. Good acting overall, not a bad story actually, though slightly predictable, the relationship between Gilbert and Arnie is thorough, moving and developed, and well, Leonardo Dicaprio is outstanding. And to think, stone-boy Tommy Lee Jones won best supporting actor over him. Faw, what balonee. Dicaprio delivers simply one of the best performances I have ever seen.

Warning: potential spoilers ahead.

Finally. Finally. Finally an American war movie that doesn't glorify America trying to rule the earth. Finally.

Vietnam was a mistake. This film nails it. (Finally.)

Tom Cruise plays Ron Kovic, a crippled Vietnam veteran. Yes, the thought is shocking. But I was surprised. He was quite good, though limited by his squeaky, whiny, boyish voice. He by all means deserved the oscar nomination he received, but of course lost the award to Daniel Day-Lewis (as Cristy Brown in My Left Foot; in my opinion, one of the most beautiful performances in cinematic history).

Willem Dafoe was brilliant, but unfortunately didn't get enough screen time.

It also helps that I agree with Ron Kovic's views. But I also found the direction quite good. All the spinning camera angles...wavering...confused...illustrate the horrors and insanities of war beautifully.

I do not find this film insulting to the American men who died in Vietnam, but of course I'm not a war-crazed redneck. Anyway, the men who fought were young, filled with romanticized views and dreams about fame and glory associated with going to war. Young men deceived by the government, told that they were fighting for a good cause, to stop Communism, to fight for their country.

Overall, a good film, with a good message, and good out-look on war. Outstanding for an American film.