spacedawg4 Reviews

Solaris (2002)

a work of art on it's own

[10/10 · 28 November 2002]

First off I'll say I'm a huge fan of the original Solaris and I was horrified to hear it was being remade. Especially with the names Soderbergh and Cameron attached. So it was with great hesitation that I saw this one. This film surpassed my expectations perhaps more than anything I've ever seen. It's not so much a remake as a reinterpretation. Aside from Out of Sight, this is perhaps the finest acting I've ever seen from George Clooney who until today have never been the biggest fan of. Jeremy Davies is fantastic, and completly steals every scene he appears in. Natascha McElhone is perfect in her role and has just the right amounts of sexiness, mystery, and creepiness to her performance. The score and cinematography are both excellent. And perhaps most importantly (to me at least) they didn't go ga-ga with the special effects and sets. Granted, most people in the theater didn't appear to agree. Several people walked out. I blame this mainly on the way the movie was marketed. Think of Solaris as more of an "indie" movie. It's not for everyone. If you're expecting a mindless space adventure this isn't for you. This is a very quite film. There are times when there is no talking for several minutes at a stretch. If you like having everything spelled out and tied up in a neat bow as the end credits roll then this isn't for you. This is defintely a thinking mans movie...one that will stay in your mind for a while at least. 10/10

Sordid Lives (2000)

hilariously touching

[10/10 · 18 July 2002]

My girlfriend and I saw trailers and the great website for Sordid Lives over a year ago and couldn't wait to see it. We kept checking back to see if it had finally made it's way out to us in LA every so often and had begun to figure we'd have to wait for the dvd release. Then driving today we saw it playing at a little house on LaBrea and hit up the next showing.

This film was well worth the wait. It's true that the camera work isn't flashy and it's easy to tell it was adapted from a play. But all the great characters and witty dialogue are so engaging you hardly notice. The whole cast does and excellent job and I honestly haven't laughed during a film this much since Waiting for Guffman. Although I think the film may be more targeted at gay auidiences there seems to be something for everyone in this. Rarely have I seen a movie that managed to be this funny while being touching and real at the same time without seeming completely contrived and cheesy.

Reign of Fire (2002)

Good ol' mindless fun

[7/10 · 12 July 2002]

This is a great movie...in the vein of summer blockbusters. It's got all the elements, big monsters, lots of action, and somewhat weak acting and story. Which doesn't make it a bad movie at all. It's enjoyable for what it is, summer getaway fare. Don't go in expecting a deep riveting story or Oscar caliber performances (Matthew McConaughey's flat character and performance killed some of the films potential while Christian Bale's gave it more depth and emotion than an average film of this type, making it come up about even in the acting zone) and you're sure to walk out feeling like you got your hour and a half worth.

The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (2002)

weak in almost every way...

[3/10 · 5 July 2002]

This opened early in LA, and my friend dragged me to see it because of Adam Garcia, and I went along hoping for something entertaining because I'd enjoyed the writings of Po Bonson. This movie was probably the worst film I've seen this year. It felt cheap and cheesy in almost every regard. The story was quite weak and preposterous. The camera work and production values were hokey looking, aside from the holographic computers. The writing done by the usually wonderful Jon Favreau was the worst thing about the film. At times it was painfully bad. The two leads seemed miscast. Adam Garcia as ad exec Andy Caspar seemed particularly out of place and silly. His American accent was quite poor, and magnified by some of the ridiculous outdated slang he was forced to spout. The other lead/love interest Rosario Dawson was wooden and cliched in her performance. The only high point of the film for me were Andy's band of misfits played by Jake Busey, Ethan Suplee, and Anjul Nigam. The few laughs I managed were on their behalf. Over all the movie just wasn't interesting to keep me involved and I didn't care enough about any of the characters to give a flip what happened to them. For a similar story done much much better I'd recommend Mike Judge's Office Space.

Sordid Lives (2000)

worth the wait

[10/10 · 9 June 2002]

My girlfriend and I saw trailers and the great website for Sordid Lives over a year ago and couldn't wait to see it. We kept checking back to see if it had finally made it's way out to us in LA every so often and had begun to figure we'd have to wait for the dvd release. Then driving today we saw it playing at a little house on LaBrea and hit up the next showing.

This film was well worth the wait. It's true that the camera work isn't flashy and it's easy to tell it was adapted from a play. But all the great characters and witty dialogue are so engaging you hardly notice. The whole cast does and excellent job and I honestly haven't laughed during a film this much since Waiting for Guffman. Although I think the film may be more targeted at gay audiences there seems to be something for everyone in this. Rarely have I seen a movie that managed to be this funny while being touching and real at the same time without seeming completely contrived and cheesy.