jacobw Reviews

The Riddle (2007 Video)

Finding an audience...

[7/10 · 10 October 2007]

Let me admit up front: I know the guy who wrote and directed this movie. I like to think I can be objective about it nonetheless, but in an effort to counteract any bias I might feel, I'll try to base this review (and my rating above) on two fairly objective factors.

First, take a look at the cast list: Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, and Vinnie Jones. Think about how many movie offers each of them must have at any given moment. You don't get one actor like that (let alone three!) in a low-budget film made by an unknown unless they think there is something special in both the script and the director. Look, there's no reason you should care what I think about this movie--I'm just some anonymous guy on the Internet--but if Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, and Vinnie Jones think this film is worth their while, then you should probably pay attention to them.

Second, at a time when the British film industry was in something of a slump, the filmmakers behind "The Riddle" not only made their movie (with an amazing cast), they got it into the hands of 4.5 MILLION PEOPLE. This would be an impressive accomplishment for any film, but for a quirky, ambitious indie movie, it's unprecedented. And as an aspiring independent filmmaker, I find that inspirational.

A Passage to India (1984)

A correction

[8/10 · 17 March 2002]

Despite one of the other comments, this film WAS shot in widescreen. If you see it on your TV without the black bars, it has been modified in some way from the original theatrical format.

Check out the DVD version for a beautiful widescreen version. As for the film itself... As others have noted, this isn't as good as "Lawrence of Arabia." However, with the exception of "Citizen Kane," no movie in history is as good as "Lawrence of Arabia," so that's not much of a criticism.

This is a wonderful movie, with fascinating, psychologically complex characters. No, it's not David Lean's best--but it's still better than 99% of all movies ever made.

The Arrival of a Train (1896)

Truly Historical, But Not The First Film

[18 January 2002]

The other reviewers are correct that this is a remarkable piece of history, but it is not the first movie. What film earns that honor depends partly on how you define movies. If you consider Edison's Kinetoscope shorts to be movies, the first movies were from 1893. And even before Edison, there had been some experimentation with projected motion pictures. Even if you give the Lumiere brothers credit for inventing the form (which is a very reasonable decision, but not an inevitable one), I believe their first film was "Workers Leaving The Factory" (aka " Sortie des usines Lumière, La (1895) ") Also, according to the "Oxford History of World Cinema", reports that terrified audience members hid under their seats when the film was first shown are probably apocryphal. Still, this (and the Lumiere brothers other early shorts) are well worth seeing for anyone who loves movies.