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Reviews
Dark Roots: The Unauthorized Anna Nicole (2003)
Stupid documentary about opportunistic idiots
May contain minor spoilers:
I would like to say first off that I am not a big Anna Nicole fan, but after seeing the family she comes from I understand why she doesn't speak to them anymore. Between her judgemental step-father and money grubbing cousins she had ample reason to get away from them as fast as she could.
After seeing this documentary about a woman who marries for money, hides her bisexuality, and struts in a reality TV show on E!, I am convinced that Anna Nicole Smith is not the opportunistic one in her family. This documentary is all about borrowed fame. Anna's family agreed to do this movie so they could leech off their famous family member's fame because she wasn't letting them mooch off her money anymore.
As for the old man she married for money, I would just like to say that his family came off as tacky as Anna Nicole's family. I don't think anyone but Anna Nicole knows how she felt about the old man, and I don't think it's right for family members to get into marriages.
Overall I was annoyed by this documentary. I was annoyed by the rhyming songs between sections, I was annoyed by the money grubbing, and I was especially annoyed by Anna's cousin's wishing that Anna would have to come back home and live in oblivion, when they obviously don't want to live in oblivion themselves.
And a special shame to the Mexia Town Counsel for being uptight and closed-minded. I'm sorry, but Town Counsels should not be commenting on morality. It's the same as the US Government issuing an edict saying Christians are better than Buddhists. For crying out loud, whatever happened to the separation between church and state.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Will we ever tire of the Lesbian Cliche?
I watched most of this movie but I was so disgusted that I kept changing the channel. First off, I am upset that someone would capitalize on a tragedy like this. There are plenty of real stories out there that are much more interesting and perpetuate no bigotry. Secondly, to single out two violent lesbians and continue moviemakers' obsession with mentally ill homosexuals is just sick. And I say this as a woman married to a man.
The acting here is okay, with one exception; Kate Winslet couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. She has a grand total of two facial expressions; sullen and doe-eyed. She has used nothing but these two emotions in every movie she's ever made, with the exception of Holy Smoke, where she adds closing her doe-eyes and dancing for a change of pace. No one else really stands out as bad or good. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh can do good work. I don't know why they failed so miserably here. Perhaps they should stick to fantasy movies that involve hobbits and avoid the mentally ill.
A Cooler Climate (1999)
Okay movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon...
Somewhere in-between dreary network made for TV movies and sappy chick flicks on the big screen lies "A Cooler Climate". I walked away from this movie and said, "Well it wasn't painful." Decent acting, decent script, decent story. No big surprises, no big disappointments. Overall a perfectly average movie. Which is fine, because this movie touched on basic human relationships and chronicled how two women started an important friendship that helped both of them put back together their lives. I gave it a seven out of ten just on the basis that nothing about "A Cooler Climate" annoyed me like dreary network made for TV movies or sappy big screen chick flicks. We all need a little forced sentiment in our lives and this was better than most.