Change Your Image
notevenbroful
Reviews
Poor Boy's Game (2007)
An alright film, but feels a bit safe
I liked this movie. I think it's fairly good, but my main complaint is that it feels like a very "safe" drama, in that normally when the end credits roll in a normal drama, you have a very strong emotion that sticks with you for hours or even days on end. You definitely do not get that from this movie.
I picked this movie up for $2.50 and I was pleasantly surprised at it. The acting was fairly good, the plot was nice, and it carried some strong topics throughout that I think might be easy to relate to if you have background knowledge of the city of Halifax; however, I don't, and maybe that's why this movie didn't feel as powerful to me.
To my point on a "safe" drama, my complaint is this: the tension is there, but its delivered very softly. Most of the film draws on the animosity between the various characters; there's about four main characters, and all of them have strong feelings towards each other. But its strange; you learn the backgrounds and expect strong bonds, but they're not given directly with that strong power. It's like the film is saying "we told you their relations, just take our word for it, we don't have to show it". The other thing is the ending. I'm not going to give anything away, but after sitting through the entire film I felt it was trying to deliver a message, but I simply could not understand what it was. They were trying to deliver the moral without dialogue, but I think it just couldn't be done.
Overall, I'd say check it out. Maybe it's a film where the message you create; who knows? 8/10.
A Texas Funeral (1999)
An odd film...
I'm on the fence with this movie. I picked this up in a $5 4-movie pack; so I wasn't expecting much, and for that I can't fault it. The film paints a nice image of 1960s (err...1950s) Texas, which both serves as a great setting and the film's main problem. The gritty farm where most of the film takes place in the midst of nighttime gives off the sense of death (the Funeral the title is referencing), yet there are many instances of this deathly tone being directly contradicted. Without giving anything away, this film has numerous over-the-top scenarios (exotic animals and weird fetishes) that it overuses to the point of intentional farce, yet it takes them extremely seriously. You wonder if it is purposely humorous for most of the way through as there are so many laughs to be had but no indication of comedic recognition. The final thing is the cast. All of them do their jobs, with Martin Sheen obviously having the best bits; the only problem is that they all represent a polarized 50s stereotype (yes, 50s. Even though its supposedly set in the late 60s it REALLY feels the decade before). There's no characters to relate with, except for the little boy, played by Quinton Jones. Even he though seems a little off for most of the film, with unnecessary quirks of every character rampant throughout. It's not a terrible film and you'll get some entertainment out of it, but probably not how the filmmakers intended. It certainly isn't worth any money by itself.