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Into_White
Harold & Maude
Girl, Interrupted
American Beauty
Requiem For A Dream
American History X
Almost Famous
Mysterious Skin
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Stand By Me
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
Garden State
Donnie Darko
Fight Club
Crazy/Beautiful
Riding In Cars With Boys
The Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump
Crash
Original Sin
The Rules Of Attraction
I Am Sam
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Magnolia
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Ghostworld
Memento
Spirited Away
Run Lola Run
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Amelie
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A Clockwork Orange
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Next
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Big Fish
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The Big Lebowski
Gia
Boys Don't Cry
Beautiful Girls
Being There
The Breakfast Club
City Of God
Favourite Musical Artists:
Cat Stevens
Alanis Morissette
Iron & Wine
Sarah McLachlan
The Cranberries
Coldplay
Counting Crows
Tracy Chapman
Joseph Arthur
Elton John
Joni Mitchell
The Rolling Stones
Colin Hay
Bernard Fanning
Nick Drake
Silverchair
Aimee Mann
Imogen Heap
Sigur Ros
Elliott Smith
Damien Rice
David Gray
Bob Dylan
Simon & Garfunkel
Xavier Rudd
Missy Higgins
Tori Amos
Honourable Mentions:
Van Morrison
The Band
The Beatles
Jeff Buckley
Peter Gabriel
Belle & Sebastian
The Shins
The Dresden Dolls
Bob Evans
Jewel
Nirvana
Natalie Imbruglia
David Bowie
Janis Joplin
Pink Floyd
Tonic
Queen
Vast
James Blunt
Donovan
Dido
Fiona Apple
Muse
System Of A Down
KoRn
Favourite Actors:
Angelina Jolie
Edward Norton
Alyson Hannigan
Winona Ryder
Sarah-Michelle Gellar
Bill Murray
Jared Leto
River Phoenix
Drew Barrymore
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Kevin Spacey
Brad Pitt
Johnny Depp
Thora Birch
Antonio Banderas
Kate Winslet
Kate Hudson
Kirsten Dunst
Ryan Phillipe
Eliza Dushku
Natalie Portman
Jessica Alba
Colin Farrell
Reviews
Hell's Kitchen (1998)
Confronting, insightful, and underrated
It's the movie that takes you right to the core of where the Devil himself conjures his plans Hell's Kitchen. It is more than just a single story, and instead four closely related character arcs woven into one film. It traces the characters of Johnny (Mekhi Phifer), Gloria (Angelina Jolie), Patty (Johnny Whitworth), and Liz (Rosanna Arquette).
It takes off with Johnny, Gloria and Patty doing a robbery that completely falls apart and results in the death of Gloria's younger brother. We then move forward five years and this is where the main arc of the film begins, initiated by what happened at the robbery. There are a lot of side characters with their own stories, such as an old Ex-boxer called Lou, and a young homeless boy called Ricky. The movie confronts a lot of social issues such as drug addiction, rape, murder, homelessness, theft, and the list goes on. As the four main character's stories intertwine, we see these issues dealt with in various ways and watch some function as catalysts for others.
It relies more on a selected soundtrack as opposed to an original score, which works excellently as the songs (primarily from singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur) often possess special significance to the scenes they accompany. The movie is a little slow moving at times, and that in addition to a noticeably cheap production budget may make it difficult for some to sit through. Yet for those who are prepared to sit down and enter the confronting world of Hell's Kitchen, there is a raw, emotional, and even realistic drama ready to be appreciated.
Overall a confronting, emotional, and insightful piece that is probably underrated due to cheap production and promotion. However the script does the characters great justice and the acting is brilliant, especially from the four leads. Definitely recommended, especially for Jolie fans. (Like myself!) I give it 7.5/10.
John Hanlen.
Charmed (1998)
Not As Good As Buffy
It was clear this show came about in response to the sudden popularity of Joss Whedon's 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer'. The only thing is, that this show is nowhere near as good.
It has a kids show rating...and the acting is nowhere near as good. The plots and themes explored on Buffy and its spin-off Angel are so much darker and much more mature than anything Charmed has ever done with it's repetitive storytelling.
The Balthezar thing was drawn out for wwwaaaaayyyy too long...and Piper got pregnant several times for multiple seasons in a row. It was clear that the writers were running out of ideas.
It never managed to reach the popularity that Buffy did, which included a heavily devoted fan base of millions, and ended up in it being rewarded with a spin-off show (Angel) which Charmed could never afford.
Buffy and Angel's budget was also much much bigger. The effects and fight scenes on both shows were incredible, where as Charmed, instead of fight scenes they just freeze people and every now and then use telekinesis. Phoebe's character used to be able to Levitate but they had to write it out of the script because they couldn't afford it anymore! The show seemed to be a real unique show at first, despite it being another supernatural show after the 'Buffy' craze. But after Shannon Doherty left and Constance M. Burge stopped producing the show went right downhill. It's a shame.
I don't recommend it at all, but if you like fantasy check out Buffy or Angel.