livinatthemovies Reviews

V/H/S/2 (2013)

Not as good as the original, wait for the regular release...

[5/10 · 7 June 2013]

I'm a fan of the 'found footage' genre, I loved the rec series, but guys come on!, how much kinetic camera work do you think we can take?? I had a headache by the end of the movie and had to turn away at times when it got too much.

The different plot lines were OK...Not bad I guess. They stuck to the tried and true horror motifs; zombies, seeing dead people, aliens, cults. For me the weakest were Ride In the Park and the last one, Alien Slumber Party...No plot, no backstory, just bam! - bloodthirty zombies and aliens ripping people apart. Meh.

Speaking of ripping people apart...Boy howdy if you like gore this movie is for you! I thought I'd seen most everything but there were scenes in this movie that had my stomach churning.

All in all a solid 5/10. Above average production and acting, lotsa gore, but some of the plots were pretty feeble. That said, I think I'm done with the 'found footage/POV' genre for awhile.

Red Beard (1965)

Hate to break up the love feast but...

[6/10 · 3 June 2007]

...This isn't even close to Kurasawa's best - but that's not to say that its not a good film, it has its moments.

But Mifune's Dr. Niide seemed muted and, for the first time ever, his acting mannerisms (pulling on his beard) looked forced. And lets face it folks that fight scene was just plain silly. Still I found myself enjoying this movie and its long vignettes based on the (surprisingly) rich romantic lives and heartbreaking travails of the local peasants. A decent film worth the 3 hours invested but more then a bit melodramatic and lacking in subtlety compared to Kurasawa's better films.

6/10

The Warrior (2001)

Ho-hum...Deadening serious samurai slasher.

[3/10 · 19 August 2006]

I dunno...Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood but this flix left me cold. Except for being a little more graphically gory then most I felt that plot and action was pretty generic: the super heroes, the beautiful haughty princess, yawn...It was actually even pretty funny how two of the main heroes, the slave and the general, both were seemingly cut down and dead only to be perfectly fit and slaughtering dozens just a few scenes after their fall. Man, their powers of recovery were amazing! Not a doctor around either. The heroic leads glared their way throughout this movie. I'd rather watch The Seven Samurai for the umpteeth time that waste my time on this movie.

The Twilight Samurai (2002)

Well done, touching, film. Not as slow as I was led to believe

[7/10 · 27 July 2006]

Having read a few of the reviews I was expecting a long, slow, perhaps even boring, character exposition. But honestly I felt the movie moved right along. There was the emperors visit, the early duel, then the increased involvement of the romantic interest, Tomoe. All leading up to the battle. Overall though I wasn't as carried away as some of the reviewers here. Its a good film but not great. I think they went to far at time's in their effort to make Seibei sympathetic. His initial refusal to fight at the end was silly, no samurai would ever refuse any direct order. But I liked the romantic tension and the realistic samurai fights. A solid 7 especially for those like myself who enjoy these sort of 'end of an era' dramas.

Tell Me Something (1999)

Another entry from the Korean Cinema of the incomprehensible

[6/10 · 20 July 2006]

I watched this movie after having watched A Tale of Two Sisters, another movie that required cliff notes, mostly because of my interest in Jung-ah Yum (the step-mother in Tale of Two Sister). Unfortunately Jung-ah's talents are mostly wasted in this film, although she does a good job with what she has.

The film itself seems to confuse complex with clever plotting. Plus there are some annoying reality lapses...Starting with Detective Cho, not only unwillingness to consider Chea a suspect, but actually giving her his gun? Also Chea's friend Seungmin was another obvious suspect (her surgical talents, her early ties to Chea) that somehow was overlooked - until the end of course.

Still and all, not a terrible movie...It relies on a bunch of the cliques of the genre; the femme fatale, the 'buddy' cop who gets killed, the unrelenting rain...But it does a credible job with the material. Could have been a particularly gruesome Raymond Chandler story set in LA, which is both good and bad since Chandler's novels also relied on some complex plots. Don't believe me? Rent The Big Sleep and try following that movie.

So a 6 for the decent acting, and consistent film noir tone.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

good movie in spite of the complicated plotting...

[6/10 · 6 July 2006]

These sorts of psychological horror movies are quite popular these days. The psycho-horror as opposed to the regular horror (like, say, The Grudge) hinge upon a major 'twist', the big 'ahh-ha!' moment. One the very best examples being The Sixth Sense. Unfortunately in the T of T S this is more of an "what the?!" moment, even the flashbacks showing Soo-mi in the place of the apparently imagined Eun-joo created more questions in my head then they answered. That to the side...I can still recommend this movie based on the very good cinematography, decent scares, and especially the superb acting of Jung-ah Yum as Eun-joo the stepmother. The scene when they have dinner guests and Eun-joo (but really Soo-mi I guess - whatever) tells the story about the rain is perfect. Jung-ah's manic delivery then confusion and hurt when she is contradicted is so, so well done. I just wish they could have found a more satisfying way to end that scene then the way the did.

Secret Window (2004)

annoying...shutoff after 30 mins.

[12 August 2004]

Nothing bugs me more then a suspense movie that doesn't get its facts straight. The whole section of the movie where Mort has to find an early copy of a magazine to prove that he wrote the story first is flawed. All you have to do is open any book and you'll see that there's a copyright year which indicates the FIRST year it was published. Mr. "you stolt my story" Shooter clearly had read Morts books, right? Any of Mort's books would show that initial copyright year.

Also on Mort's 2nd meeting with Shooter, just before his dog died, Shooter says something like, "Only one of us will be alive at the end of this". But later Mort seems to completely forget this comment when BOTH the sheriff and the body guard guy (Dutton) ask him if he was threatened.

I turned this one off at the point when Mort *had* to go to his ex-wife's house to get the magazine.

Le divorce (2003)

Million dollar cast, .50 cent script...

[27 May 2004]

Kind of strange to see all these relatively heavyweight actors; Glenn Close, Matthew Modine, Leslie Caron, and Kate Hudson (didn't she do this right after her oscar?) mired in this plodding melodrama. I haven't read the book, but its hard to imagine its any good after seeing the movie.

Still I did manage to watch it all the way through. Why? Hard to say...Niomi Watts is always interesting to watch, the images of french cuisine were amazing, and I guess I got somewhat interested in the subplot involving the painting. Still its hard to recommend this one. Maybe on a very slow Febuary evening when your in the mood for melodrama and images of Paris.

Heist (2001)

Mamet can still turn a phrase...

[16 April 2004]

Kind of a 'by the numbers' bank job movie but with the usual crackling wiseguy dialogue from Mamet. Couple of my faves; "He's so cool sheep count him when they try to sleep", "She could talk her way out of a sunburn". Gene Hackman plays Joe Moore, a professional thief who's on his way out of the business and Rebecca Pidgeon (also in Spanish Prisoner) plays his young wife, Fran. The drama turns mainly on whether Joe is over the hill and later on where peoples loyalties lay. Hackman is always engrossing but I felt that the dialogue was often too hard boiled for the character he played. He was casted beautifully in The Royal Tennebaums (which I coincidently watched the night before this movie), as a likable jerk, somewhat seedy but always a smooth talker. Not someone who stands over a dead body and says, "It is what it is". My other problem with the movie had to do with the ending.**Spoiler** Fran was supposed to be 'the gold ring' for Joe, her betrayal should have made much more of an impression. Instead we see Joe, smiling, driving off with the loot moments after the attempted double-cross.

Still, those two issues aside I was pretty engrossed and always entertained by the dialogue. I liked it far more then Ocean's Eleven which bored me stiff.

The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

6.6 for this clunker?

[7 April 2003]

Surprized by all the positive reviews here. I found this movie to be poorly scripted and not very funny. Lots of minor characters that go nowhere, lame physical humor (Perry running into a glass door, etc) desperately attempting to inject comedy where none exists. Also, I was really stuck by how BAD Natasha Henstridge is in this. No sparks as Perry's romantic interest and, actually, not much emotion period. She should stick to Species type roles. Amanda Peet seems to be contractually bound to bare herself in every film she makes and I for one am grateful for that but it doesn't save this turkey. (3 of 10)

Freak Talks About Sex (1999)

subtle but enjoyable slacker film

[13 March 2003]

I really liked this film but I can understand that its not for everyone. The film seems to meander around while focusing on the life of Josh Hamilton as David who's stuck in a major post-college, post-heartbreak, rut. All he wants to do is put in his time working at the mall and get stoned with his high school pal, a likable goofball named Freak (perfectly acted by Steve Zahn). This slice-of-life film with its many seemingly random scenes, dry humor, and a gentle epiphany at the end, really worked for me.

Panic (2000)

Not bad. Wasn't sold though...

[11 March 2003]

My main problem with this movie is that I wasn't sold on the whole 'hit man family business' business. It was all pretty far fetched if you ask me. That said, there were a couple of nice scenes with Tracy Ulman. Also, I enjoyed the charmingly precocious kid (David Dorfman), and watching Neve play the messed up bad grrl. Worth watching if you keep your expectations low (6.5/10).

The Pelican Brief (1993)

Resist the urge to watch this movie.

[20 February 2003]

The problem with cable tv is that it gives you a 2nd chance to view movies you were wise enough to avoid in the 1st place. Such is the case with this star-studded yet plodding and, ultimately, dull movie.

-spoilers-

Usually I'm a fan of movies based on Grisham's novels. They always feature a underdog vs. some great conspiracy with the underdog coming out on top. Nothing that will change your life, but good entertainment. So where did this go wrong? Well for one thing its too long by about 15 minutes, there are far too many scenes that are intended to build suspence but succeed only in building an itch to channel surf and see if something good is on. One example: The scene where John Heard's character is killed is 6-8 minutes of him brushing his teeth, looking at himself in the mirror, grabbing his fat belly etc, etc. By the end of all this I was begging 'please please have him killed I can't take anymore of this.' Then there's the 'Pelican Brief' itself...Its alluded to constantly throughout the film, to find out about it was probably the reason I stuck with this turkey so long. When, at last, its described its surprisingly straight forward, no clever insight or plot twist. Something, in fact, that 100s of people might have thought of.

Besides all that this movie has a cheesy, made-for-tv, feel to it. Particularly the group scenes (the protest in the beginning, the shooting at the park, etc.) which are obviously staged.

Avoid.

Naked in New York (1993)

Much better film then I was expecting - Very underrated.

[19 June 2002]

I remember when this came out it was pretty much savaged by the critics, in fact it made a few 'worst films of the year' lists for 1994. For the life of me I can't understand why. Its really a quite good protrayal of a just out of college couple trying to make it in the 'art' world. Him (Eric Stoltz) as a playwrite, her (Mary-Louise Parker) as a photographer, and how their ambitions in the real world changes their relationship. It has good dialogue, some quirky-arty surreal effects (like when the stone faces in the wall started talking) which worked for me, and a great cast of believable characters. Jill Clayburgh was especially good in this one.

Kicking and Screaming, also underrated, is another film you'll like if you like this one.

Rent this one so you can remind yourself why you should never listen to critics (except this one of course ;) ).