Change Your Image
liriel
Reviews
Total Eclipse (1995)
Flawed but Interesting Story of Obsession
I realized going into this film that it was not going to be a straight bio-pic about Rimbaud's life so that loosened my expectations for the movie a bit, which is good considering had I expected a life story I would've been sorely disappointed. This film is more about Rimbaud's rocky relationship with fellow poet, Verlaine, whom he falls in love with and subsequently about Verlaine being stuck between a rock and a hard place with Rimbaud on one side and his beautiful but ultimately empty headed wife, Mathilde on the other.
The set/costume design was done well enough; not enough to win awards but enough to make the time and place believable. What stands out the most, though, is the acting and of course the wonderful violin heavy score. DiCaprio gives an inspired performance as the young, opinionated, Rimbaud as does Thewlis in his role as the older poet, Verlaine who takes him under his wing. You won't get a complete round view of either man or his life here, but what you will get is a story about love, madness, writing and the search for meaning.
If you like what you see of Rimbaud from this movie, I would whole heartedly recommend his work to you and any and all written biographies as they will shed even more light on a truly great poet's life.
Quills (2000)
A great film from a great screenplay
This movie, more than any others that have been done around the guise of the Marquis de Sade, is a triumph in the fact that it not only showcases the man himself (a fictional account of his last days in an asylum) but of other people that were around him. The story is based loosely on facts and is sure to be a worthy film on its subject. It takes Sade's philosophical, political, social and moral views and places them within a tale not just about himself but of how he and his writing effects the ones around him and even those far from him.
It raises interesting and important issues concerning censorship and freedom of expression and questions the boundaries between art and real life. All the actors, even the extras do a superb job at playing their parts and even though it is a period film, it never feels too heavily like a period film, focusing instead on the characters and the narrative. The subject matter, though at points mildly provocative, is mostly laced with dark humor, while the rest of it gives way to powerful emotion.
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good film done within the last four years that goes just a step beyond the ordinary and challenges you to think.
Trigun (1998)
A good mix of light and dark
I hear far too many people complain about how this series veered too far off course from being funny to being serious. I think mixing the two is more of an accomplishment than being all at once completely serious or completely funny. I began watching the series on Cartoon Network but I had heard about it vaguely elsewhere.
Of course you can't compare Trigun to Cowboy Bebop; there's no need to. Trigun is it's own show and good (I think) in it's own right. And I may be one of the few to say I actually liked the dub voices. I finally bought the series on DVD and watched it for the first time in the original japanese and was struck with the stark differences in each characters voice; Milly's voice was quite annoying and Vash's voice was far too deep. I find the dub gives their voices more variety.
I like think the series is well rounded; the funny parts aren't always laugh-out-loud funny but they grab you and become amusing as part of the character's personalities as do the more serious aspects. You come to expect certain attitudes from them and ultimately pick up new ones as each episode progresses. That's the way a good series should be. I don't think you should hate this series by trying to compare it to something else. Like or don't; but view it as a seperate entity.