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Reviews
Minority Report (2002)
What is up with product placements?
I wouldn't go into the main plot of the movie - there've been plenty of right-on commentary. Let me just say that I didn't particularly enjoy being spoon fed all the product placements that not only didn't contribute anything to the movie in ways that smarter placed products in other films can but were also horrifyingly and embarassingly obvious. GAP and Lexus were particularly outrageous. This movie desparately tries to be serious, especially in the beginning so some of the comic relief inserted towards the middle and end of the movie doesn't work with the main plot although the "oh-what-a-happy-ending" ending certainly must have satisfied the soccer moms and their kids in the crowd. Hey, is that why the movie was rated only PG-13? Forgive me for being so cynical... I am tired of movies with lots of eye candy and little or no substance. 7/10
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
BEST OF 2001
[MAJOR SPOILERS -- POSSIBLE EXPLANATION OF THE PLOT]
Created at 3:00am in the morning, upon 3rd view of the movie.
If we are to make sense of this movie (which I think is possible despite some critics' reviews) we have to separate the changes in the first (up to the point when the blue box is opened) and second half of the movie and call them either facts/realities or lies/illusions. In addition, we must understand which parts are relevant in our analysis of the plot and which facts are not so relevant. So here is one explanation that can account for the majority of scenes in the movie and is the one that you undoubtedly heard: everything up to the point of the blue box drop is a dream. Yes, this explains a lot but we have to be careful here. If something or somebody appears in a person's dream, does this render all the facts in the dream false? Absolutely no. Like any other dream, the dream in the movie contains both facts and fiction; it also can take a fact, a real event, relationship, names and even words and turn it into something new and unreal, out of place and extraordinary. Like any other dream, it can indulge in wishful thinking making one's reality appear in a better light than it really is. In short, a dream can make whatever it wishes to make. Here I have to borrow Ebert's words that can better convey what I mean: "Like real dreams, it does not explain, does not complete its sequences, lingers over what it finds fascinating, dismisses unpromising plotlines." (Ebert) For example, take the early scene in which a man sitting in a restaurant tries to explain to his friend the dream, in which a man seen by him through a wall scares the living crap out of him. Do these people appear later in the movie? One of them does. Are they by themselves relevant to the plot? Not really but the circumstances that surround them are. You'll see my point later on.
Now let me try to explain some of the scenes in the movie. The first scene in which Rita rides in a limo is Diane's dream. This claim is supported by the improbable survival of Rita that leaves her not only alive but conveniently vulnerable (for Diane) and having no memory of who she really is. Also, notice that there were two cars that caused the crash, two for each lane. One did crash into the limo but what happened to the other one? They didn't stop to see what happened and help possible survivors? Remember, like every dream it doesn't explain, it doesn't need to be logical and thorough, that's how our brains work while dreaming. The dream simply threw that second car out of the picture and forgot about it.
Where am I going with this? Well, I believe that all characters in the first half of the movie while not fictional occupy different/fictional positions and play fictional or slightly different roles than in the second half, in which in my opinion they reveal their true selves. Still, it seems that every character in the first part (the dream part) met, saw or knew Diane in the real, second part. This happens in our dreams too. A character that we have met only once or twice in our lives or the one that we've seen just for a split second (the cowboy in the Adam's party scene in the second half) can take center stage in our dreams. This explains how the mob guy whom Diane saw at Adam's part towards the end of the movie is given a relatively prominent role in her dream - he is seen as the major force behind the campaign to pressure the director to accept Camilla for the role in his film.
I regret that I don't have space to account for every little detail but here's my take in short: Diane, who is completely in love with Camilla, hires a hit man to kill her when she realizes that Camilla will never be hers. She pays the killer the money that she inherited from her aunt and is given a blue key. The key may be a metaphor but is likely to open something that Diane can open to see evidence of Camilla's death (like her watch, which we see on the ground next to the blue box). We then see her at home, besieged by the guilt, represented by the old lady and old man, the very first people she met when she came to L.A. At this point Camilla is likely dead; Diane hears her screams in the head. She can't take it any more and commits suicide. The entire first half of the movie is perhaps the last thing that she sees before passing away (the old "the entire life flashes before her eyes" cliché) or is her dream but earlier before the cowboy (an illusion) comes to wake her up. All scenes in the first half of the movie involving the director, the mob guys, the guy in the wheelchair and the killer are most likely a dream too. Take what happened to the director, for example. Diane upon hearing that Adam and Camilla are about to be engaged/married (not explicitly said in the movie), develops such hatred toward Adam, who stole her love, that she sees Adam in her dream as having the most improbable bad day - he loses his job, wife, money, gets beat up and is harassed by a mob. Remember, dreams can linger in wishful thinking and create whatever they want to create. In other words, the only real Adam in the movie is at the party. We can use the aforementioned theory to account for pretty much every scene and fact in the movie.
Daria in 'Is It Fall Yet?' (2000)
"Daria" continues to impress
Being perhaps one of the best teen animated series on television and the only program on MTV that deserves attention of anyone with a bit of intelligence is hard enough but Daria continues to impress its viewers with the release of the first original movie "Is It Fall Yet?" It stars... Daria, a teenage goddess of sarcasm and wit. Along with her sibling, parents, Bohemian friend and the rest of the regular Daria cast, the movie introduces some surprising new developments which I am not going to give away.
Although Daria has a wide audience, most likely, people who watch it are between the ages of 12 and 25. Younger audiences might simply not understand the dialogue (and some of the socio-cultural references) and older folks... well, especially the baby boom generation will find it tough to relate to it. Despite that, if you enjoy a healthy dosage of sarcasm and need to get away from the stupidity around you, I welcome anyone to watch the movie, whether you are new to the show or have been a dedicated fan since the start.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
A major disappointment
{SPOILERS ahead} I never felt so rotten after watching a movie in my whole life. I admit it, I did not guess the ending, but that is precisely what made the movie so awful. To elaborate, every movie has its story line, a set of rules it must abide by to stay logical and entertaining. When a movie follows these rules and still manages to deliver a surprising, dramatic show then I can call the movie great. Sixth Sense did all that only to reveal in the last minutes that Willis was dead, an idea that crawled, perhaps, into many people's minds but was so illogical that it simply did not make sense.
I am sure you know all about the plot holes. Like the fact that Willis was dumb enough not to notice that something was wrong. What, he didn't attend his own funeral? Never called anyone on the phone? Where did he get information about the boy in the first place? Never tried to talk to any living being, including his wife? How about having to go to a bathroom for crying out loud!!! Now, the script tries to nullify the hole by giving Cole this line: "They(dead people) see what they want to see". Is this supposed to cover everything? Willis may be dumb but his character is NOT. In the movie Ghost, Demi Moore's husband played by Patrick Swayze finds out that he is dead in the first 5 minutes after getting shot. It takes more than a year for Willis to do the same. Yeah! That makes sense...
But the biggest blow is the main area of the plot - the reason why Willis wants to help the boy - putting it simply, Cole is afraid of the ghosts, the cause of his mood disorders (at least that's what Willis thinks). But Willis IS a ghost! To deny the fact(like many reviewers here do) that the boy doesn't know Willis is a ghost is outrageous. Cole isn't stupid either - he knows nobody can see Willis's character, not his mom, no one!!! Yet he is not afraid of the doctor. It follows that if he is not afraid of Willis then he shouldn't be afraid of any ghost. But this doesn't make sense.
I saw the movie only once but I can also recall that Willis, outraged by the sight of his wife kissing another man does something to the store door or window. This produces a sound!!! But can a dead man interact with the real world? Nope!!! Not in every other similar situation (like when he tried to open the door to the cellar). Another nonsensical point.
There are numerous other holes that people here mentioned. I am not going to mention them all. Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to deny the fact that the movies was shot beautifully. Almost everyone played his or her role to perfection. It was at times scary. However, I sincerely believe that the movie would not have been given so many rave reviews if it weren't for the shocking ending. Somehow people managed to see past its lack of logic and rationality and give it a perfect 10. Believe me... that's what the director of the movie was hoping for. In the end, Sixth Sense just doesn't play by its own rules. Too bad, it could have been a good one.
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Comments for those who have already seen the movie...
SPOILER up ahead:
For those who have already seen the movie... the one inconsisency in the plot that bothered me throughout the movie and contributed greatly to the overall dissatisfaction with the flick was the way Judd managed to find her husband's mistress in Colorado. According to the movie, Judd goes to a car dealership (I think BMW) and asks a dealer to run a credit history check on Angela Green (by giving him her social security number) as if she was wanted to buy a car. I have no problem with that - it's actually a smart way to lookup a person's address BUT later in the movie we find that the mistress (Angela Green/Ryder) has been dead for 3-4 years. Now, I would think that the credit report or whatever report a car dealer gets would say "DECEASED" or something similar. The dealer seemed not to care the woman who came to buy a car is dead (or obviously impersonating).
This might seem like a small thing but it just kept eating me throughout the movie. I agree that the movie was awful but a gaping hole in the plot like that is simply outrageous.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Rather disappointing
I agree with most critics who are disappointed with this movie. I am not the biggest Star Wars fan ever but even I was anxious to see it. The drawback? Anakin, his acting was terrible...at best I might add. What a waste of a character! He was not suitable for this role, how could Lucas not see that? "Can I go, Mom?" - Anakin asks his mother for permission to become a Jedi and forever leave his home. How PATHETIC can it get? The only time I had the same puky feeling was when I was watching Godzilla and Armageddon...honestly I expected more from Lucas.
The queen did a poor job at the beginning, she improved later on, unfortunately not enough. [She's cute, don't ya think?] The effects are quite entertaining, there is no doubt. I wish they could use them sparingly though, not stick them in every place imaginable. I too think the Trade Federation guys had oriental accents, what was the point of that?
Another drawback? Too dramatic, too many ups and downs. I don't quite understand why you ALWAYS have to leave TWO contenders in the race, the rest either die or fail miserably. Of course, the good guy wins BUT only because the other one was so evil that he had tampered with the good guy's equipment.
Anakin mother's behavior was quite perplexing - maybe family relations in the Star Wars worlds are different but what mother would let her 5-year old son participate in a 200+ MPH race? And who would let his or her child be taken away by some stranger for dangerous and unknown training while you are left to slave your butt off for the rest of your life.
The movie progressed smoothly, that's one thing I liked about it. The plot was intriguing apart from a few inconsistencies like droids' dumb behavior and constant failure to hit people with their laser guns.
As I walked away from the movie theater discussing it with my friends I came to this conclusion - the movie was made for kids, whether I like it or not. Either I am too old for this or too down-to earth to enjoy science-fiction. But yet again, there are OTHER ways to make Sci-fi movies, right? Aliens is a good example. The only thing left for me to do is wait for Episode II and hope it will be better than this Phantom "menace."