In watching Amy Reinhold's directorial debut, I was impressed and thankful for the fact that not only did the film include decidedly interesting and thoughtful interviews but the pace, music, and setting for the film made it peaceful enough to not only take in the information given but additionally reflect on what was being said. So many documentaries feel the need to fly the information from all directions which works for many topics but Reinhold and Kirkpatrick were wise in slowing the film down to a digestible, spiritual pace that makes for a very reflective and thoughtful peace and an important spiritual topic.
Reviews
5 Reviews
War of the Worlds
(2005)
A disappointing melting pot of previous alien films
30 June 2005
I went into the newest of Spielberg's blockbusters hoping for as rewarding a film as last summer's "The Terminal". In reading the magazine articles about the film I was told that they were going to do the sci-fi genre well by not reverting to the usual stereotypes and catches involved with a action packed, CGI carnival type film. Upon watching a quarter of the film, I was solely disappointed by these aspirations. "War of the Worlds" displayed flat characters usually not found in Spielberg's more successful films. The movie made you sincerely dislike the main characters and as a result of this lack of relation to the characters, there was a painful lack of respite in the intensity and gore of the film. Normally I am not one to shy away from violence and gore in films but "War of the Worlds" spent the entire film on a very high intensity level with unnecessary violence. I began to wonder to myself how many times and how many ways the audience had to see people killed. Spielberg needs to take a lesson from the much higher quality alien invasion type movies like "Signs" and learn that if you want such high intensity you have to relieve the audience of that intensity once in a while otherwise, the audience, like me, will be so sick to their stomachs by the end that your effects will be lost to them.
The film was extremely disappointing and audiences considering the film are better served going to a much higher quality action film like "Batman Begins" this summer.
The film was extremely disappointing and audiences considering the film are better served going to a much higher quality action film like "Batman Begins" this summer.
Spanglish
(2004)
Oscar Hype Around this Movie Over-rated(Very Minor Spoiler)
13 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
After reading in numerous magazines about the Oscar hopes for "Spanglish" I decided to go and see an advance showing of it to see what this hype was about. While it was an enjoyable and emotionally filled film, it didn't fulfill my, albeit, high expectations when it came to the directing and writing of the film. For an academy award winning and nominated writer, director, and producer, James Brooks sets high standards for his films. 1997's "As Good as It Gets", produced and directed by Brooks was the quintessential warm, fun comedy complete with round characters, solid writing, and, as one comes to expect from Jack Nicholson, strong acting. "Spanglish", while full of strong performances from Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni, did not have the benefit of talented writing. When the audience is introduced to Spanish speaking Flor (Paz Vega) we are introduced to a flat, simple minded individual simply because she could not express herself in English. Brooks did nothing to be creative and show her emotionally depth without her speaking. It is not until she eventually learns English are we treated to her emotionally depth as a human being as opposed to her Spanish speaking, stereotypical housemaid self. In this sense, Brooks missed out on hitting a home run in seeing things from a side opposite to what the majority of film goers are used to. This missed opportunity subtracted from the film as the Flor in the beginning is 180 degrees from that in the end. The one area in which the film triumphantly succeeded was in John Seale's cinematography. As one could expect from the cinematographer of Cold Mountain and Dead Poets Society, the dialogue cinematography was superior. Seale used Storaroesque style rack focus shots to keep coherence to the many dialogue scenes while also showing the isolation amongst the characters. Overall, this movie was a solid film which is enjoyable but does not live up to the buzz surrounding it as a result of lost opportunities in directing and writing. In my opinion, one's better off going to see Sideways for a much more human, deep, and funny film.
Apocalypse Now
(1979)
What more would you expect from Coppola?
11 August 2004
I'm almost embarrassed that as a big movie fan I had not seen this title sooner so I finally rented it and decided to see what it was all about. I went into it expecting a good film as just about all of Coppola's are but what I found was an incredible experience that takes you straight into the hearts and minds of the actors. I think the two keys to the film's success in the sense of pulling the viewer in is its acting and the cinematography.
Firstly, the cinematography is absolutely masterful and shows Coppola's supreme understanding of the camera. The shots which I was most enthralled with were the POV shots from the boat is which as the viewer you would feel like you were on the boat, being pushed through the smoke and humidity. At times I almost felt as if I was on a theme park ride, something like Universal's Jurrasic Park ride, it gave that much of a feeling of putting you in the point of view of the actors and their situations. I also liked his use of rack focus shots where during conversations he would use the technique rather then adding more unnecessary cuts. Really a supreme example of cinematographic mastery.
Secondly, the acting was outright incredible, Martin Sheen completely played his roll down to the nuances and was backed up by a seamless cast pinnacling with Marlon Brando. Definitely felt for them to the point where when they greeted someone, I almost nodded my head with them. This could only have happened through the superb acting and cinematographic POV. Definitely one of the great films up there with the Godfathers!
Firstly, the cinematography is absolutely masterful and shows Coppola's supreme understanding of the camera. The shots which I was most enthralled with were the POV shots from the boat is which as the viewer you would feel like you were on the boat, being pushed through the smoke and humidity. At times I almost felt as if I was on a theme park ride, something like Universal's Jurrasic Park ride, it gave that much of a feeling of putting you in the point of view of the actors and their situations. I also liked his use of rack focus shots where during conversations he would use the technique rather then adding more unnecessary cuts. Really a supreme example of cinematographic mastery.
Secondly, the acting was outright incredible, Martin Sheen completely played his roll down to the nuances and was backed up by a seamless cast pinnacling with Marlon Brando. Definitely felt for them to the point where when they greeted someone, I almost nodded my head with them. This could only have happened through the superb acting and cinematographic POV. Definitely one of the great films up there with the Godfathers!
Touching the Void
(2003)
Rare, true look into the world and perils of climbing
5 August 2004
So many films that portray climbing are so off in so many ways. This film, which sucks you in from the beginning, takes a look into the real world of climbing and holds nothing back. The frank interviews with the climbers and the incredible cinematography make a climber like me just in awwe at both the story and the technical challenges of accurately portraying and filming the experience. It was either that they used a great deal of special CGI animation or that they really did take the on mountain shots, either was its extraordinary, but if they shot them in real settings, that's just unbelievable. I was especially impressed by how upfront the climbers were in admitting their true feelings and telling it like it was, not trying to glorify the experience, as if it needed any of that. Incredible film!
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