travis-j-rodgers Reviews

Hard Candy (2005)

Nothing to see here?

[6/10 · 28 September 2006]

I read the comments on the DVD case for "Hard Candy", and, as a result, expected to see a very compelling, gritty film that would push my buttons. The film was none of these things, but let me talk about the good before I get ahead of myself.

The opening scene was very well done. We were quickly thrust into the film as an audience, seeing private things, which is a clear theme of the film: what happens when people get to see your private "stuff"? can people ever see your private stuff? The subsequent scene, in the cafe, was similarly well executed. Hayley was an intriguing character, while Jeff was every bit as creepy as he ought to be. Jeff was believable as a suffering character, psychologically tormented. The camera work was interesting, the scenery, though limited, was interesting as well. Technically, the film was good.

From the time the two of them went back to Jeff's house, things went downhill quickly. There is no reasonable reason to believe the things coming out of Hayley's mouth. There is no reason to feel any sympathy for either character. There is simply no reason to watch this film but to say that you managed to watch it through to the end. There are no disturbing spectacles, there is no witty dialogue, there is only one uncomfortable scene. As a result, I felt cheated on two levels: my buttons were not pushed, as the DVD seemingly promised, and the film was unimpressive in almost all aspects, which is a disappointment for most films.

I rate the film a 6/10, as it is like so many other films out there: aspiring to the stars, not managing to make it more than a few feet off of the ground. Technical quality was surprisingly good for what seems to have been a low budget film.

Snapped (2005 Video)

High technical quality, dreadful script

[4/10 · 19 December 2005]

This film has a nice look to it, especially for an indie and seemingly low budget film. The sound is good as well. I was quite impressed by both. Too often, indies/low budgets (not that they're necessarily the same) have problems technically that obscure the gems of the film. In Snapped's case, much the opposite is true.

While the acting isn't overall terrible (notably the two female leads...who seemed capable of acting on some level), no one is more than competent. The dialogue was terrible, unrealistic. Several times, I wondered why the director hadn't ordered more takes. Some things just came off as too amateurish.

Finally, a problem that plagues many low budget films was present. Without getting into the specifics, there are at least two physical altercations that are basically implausible to the point of stupidity. There are other scenes where the shift in tone between interacting characters is so sudden and unmotivated as to be wholly unbelievable.

Not the worst film out there by any stretch of the imagination and I'd love to see what the technical people from this film could do with a real script and actors, but hardly worth a look.

Oldboy (2003)

Very good, modern tragedy

[8/10 · 3 September 2005]

A friend recommended the film based on recommendations to him. I had never heard of it so I had no preconceptions about the film. From the opening scene, I was totally impressed.

Make no mistake about it, this is a tragedy along the lines of Oedipus, but with better fight cinematography than I've ever seen from a remake of the famous tragedies.

Often hilarious, poignant, and breathtakingly beautiful in its economy, the film rolls along for the first 85% or so...and then something strange happens. I'm still thinking about the ending. It's a very good movie, but I'm just not sure that the conclusion is up to snuff with the rest of it.

I strongly recommend the film and rate it 8/10.

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Slow burn; wait for the bang...and be disappointed

[6/10 · 24 August 2005]

I'm not a fan of Asian horror films, per se. I'm certainly not prejudiced against them either. Just like any other genre, there are hunks of garbage, gems, and the vast majority fall between those extremes. This belongs in the third category, albeit slightly closer to the garbage than to the gems.

The film provides only two or three genuinely creepy moments, only one of which I would term "scary". The story is very slow, which leads one to expect a fantastic ending. But don't look for much. There is literally nothing new here if you've seen Ringu. And if you've seen numerous Asian horror films, I can't imagine that you won't be bored out of your mind.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. I heard that this is the "scariest movie ever." And while I generally don't think too much of statements like that, it came from the message board for "The Eye," a Pang Bros. film that, while its conclusion was pretty bad, provided the creepiest, scariest movie moments I've ever seen. I thought I had struck the jackpot. Not so. It's a so-so film, very slow, and never manages to capitalize on the tension.

The Rules of Attraction (2002)

Really a fantastic film

[10/10 · 24 June 2005]

I wanted to see this film in the theatre but its run was quite brief in my region. I figured that the film wasn't that great as a result of its brief run. I then had the opportunity to rent the film and was simply amazed by it. Gotta say that I rank it as my second favorite movie ever, behind Pulp Fiction.

The film is like an even more perverse version of The World According to Garp, with strong performances all around, especially by bit players. While some say that "Dick" steals the show, I personally prefer Fred Savage's appearance and the Food Service Girl is fantastic. But James V and Shannyn are good while Ian Somerhalder is pretty amazing. I can't think of one performance that wasn't at least good.

The dialogue is strong, the first half of the movie to two-thirds is incredibly funny while building to a very sad, very real (despite the ridiculous situations that lead up to it) finale. While some of the scenes are exaggerations, this is a very reasonable, very funny, and very sad look (all at once) at college life and, especially, college love.

Land of the Dead (2005)

Yikes

[6/10 · 24 June 2005]

What happened to the intelligence of the earlier movies in this series? This film is brainless, emotionless, laughless for the first 45 minutes, and almost without any scares, including cheap scares.

There are no impressive performances by any of the actors involved, the script seems uninspired, and the "film" resorts to gunplay and gore so as to get any response other than sleepiness from the audience.

I had high expectations for this film but was thoroughly disappointed. Even the die-hard horror fan should lower his/her expectations before entering the theater. I suppose you've got to see it just to say you have completed the cycle but this film is pretty bad and is an unfortunate conclusion to the Romero series.

Dune (1984)

One of the best sci fi movies ever

[9/10 · 13 May 2005]

I remember watching this film when I was really young and really liking it. As I got older, I saw it a few times and always thought highly of it. I have never read Dune, but I read the last book of the series, Chapterhouse: Dune. That book was pretty amazing, so given that most people say Dune was Herbert's best work, it must be pretty damn good. So I hadn't seen Dune again until recently when I sort of discovered David Lynch. I watched a ton of his short films and have now seen just about everything he's done except for Eraserhead. I went back and watched the Sci Fi Miniseries and then the original Dune. My thoughts on Dune...

I don't know how faithful this rendering is to the book, but regardless, it stands on its own as a masterpiece. For the most part, I think the casting was inspired. MacLachlan is "too old" for Paul, but he's incredible. Sean Young was amazing. Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, and Sting, all amazing. Lynch makes the setting believably dark, in a style similar to many of his other pieces.

I'd say my only complaint is the special effects for ships in space. Some of the ships look really bad (such as Shaddam's golden ship). Other than that, the effects are great, including the Wailing Module, the Voice, and the worms in most shots. I should add that Lynch's rendering is a bit more positive than Herbert's conclusion to the Dune story, but that should not detract in the least. If you're even remotely a fan of the genre, or of fantasy, or of philosophical/political work, you ought to see this movie. The 6/10 rating is ridiculously low and unfair. I give it a 9/10 and suggest that it's every bit as good as the Star Wars films (IV-VI).

Intermedio (2005)

Not so good

[5/10 · 11 May 2005]

I figured that this movie would be pretty bad, just from looking at the box. But I like to take risks on occasion with films. Sometimes, risks pay off. In this case, I was right. First some good things: There was some pretty nice cinematography and some of the effects were pretty good. The old man was at time intense enough to pull off his role. Cerina Vincent and Furlong were okay, but everything seemed so rushed.

I think that the script was pretty bad, but with a different script and a similar setting, the director could have made a decent film. I didn't flat out hate any of the characters with the exception of Gen's boyfriend. Back to my main complaint: this is a rush job. It's one thing to make a low budget movie. It's completely another matter to seemingly film everything in one take, despite glaring problems with the takes. At times, characters who are supposed to be in great discomfort fall out of character and banter back and forth with other characters (okay, this actually happens quite frequently). Some of the effects do not hold up to the slightest bit of scrutiny, and the story just rambles and rambles. I don't think it's worth watching unless you really love the genre, whatever genre that might be.

Sin City (2005)

Amazing adaptation of excellent source material

[10/10 · 1 April 2005]

If you've read Frank Miller's work, I'm sure you were worried about the quality of the adaptation. Rest assured, the work is amazing. Rodriguez does an amazing job of bringing the series of loosely-related stories together. At times laugh-out-loud funny, sad, sappy, and savagely brutal, this is the closest thing to a modern day epic you'll find.

Mickey Roark steals the show early on, but Bruce Willis does an incredible job in finishing up the show on a high note. In between, there's a bit of a lag, but only because it's being compared to some incredible work. I give it a 10/10 and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Code 46 (2003)

Pretty good sci-fi, non-action film

[7/10 · 25 March 2005]

It's not easy to make a successful sci-fi film that does not rely on a lot of special effects and a huge budget. This is probably why I had never heard of Code 46 before seeing it on the shelves at Hollywood Video. I'll be honest. I only picked it up because Tim Robbins and the girl from Minority Report (whose name I can't recall) are in it. That plus the fact that I've seen most of the movies at Hollywood. But I digress.

Right off the bat, I was entertained by Tim Robbins. His initial mind-reading scene is clever and entertaining at the same time. And then, instead of the moving lapsing into animated robots and blazing guns, it takes a page from older sci-fi works and becomes very much about dark, serious struggles, philosophical issues, and the blurring of reality with something that is not quite real. I thought the movie was quite well-done, Robbins was very good, and the feel of the film was quite a throwback to times when Sci-Fi was good.

I'd give it a 7.5/10, better than your typical movie by a few notches. Well worth a rent.

The Office (2005–2013)

Cannot hold a candle to the original, but...

[8/10 · 24 March 2005]

Had I not seen the British version, would I have liked the pilot? I probably wouldn't have tuned in, to be honest, because the commercials looked so bad. Having seen the British version, I resigned myself to the fact that this would likely be inferior. It is quite inferior.

That said, I'll tune in next week. I have seen some extended clips from the 2nd episode and got quite a few chuckles from it. I'm hoping that it is one of those series that will gain steam as it goes. Again, all indications I have are that the next episode will be far better.

In terms of casting, I think I only have one complaint: The Gareth counterpart is just a different, less-effective character. I'll say nothing about David Brent, because I don't think you can replace the boss.

My biggest concern with the American version is that it is much less "a documentary" than it is a bunch of people acting out for the camera. Were it not for the occasional herky-jerky camera work, I would forget that they're going for the documentary feel that was so effective in the original.

13 Seconds (2003 Video)

This is THE worst movie ever made

[1/10 · 21 March 2005]

Some people say that Gigli is the worst movie of all time. I saw that. It was at least watchable. Some say Anklebiters is the worst. At least I can watch that movie and laugh at how bad it is.

Then I saw 13 Seconds. Or, more accurately, I saw 25 minutes of the movie. This is, without any doubt, the worst acting I have ever seen.

While I cannot say much for the film as a whole, the first 25 minutes are uninspired, unoriginal, and again, horribly acted. And it's not as if there's an incredible story to be told, if only you can force yourself to stomach the terrible acting. The effects are bad, the writing is terrible, and I came away from this movie thanking Hollywood Video that I am an MVP member and so I don't "really" have to pay for this movie. Given the number of films I rent, this one cost me about 50 cents.

Film did inspire me to ponder one huge question: How could this movie have been made?

American Crime (2004 Video)

Far better than a 5/10

[8/10 · 19 March 2005]

Tells the tale of group of news crew members who stumble on to a string of murders that are related by the fact that the murderer seems to be stalking and recording his victims prior to slaying them. I won't spoil any more of the movie, but I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by this film.

This movie does precisely what a thriller ought to do. It builds slowly, occasionally relieving the tension, but only momentarily. The high point of the tension is surely the conclusion, and it seems to provide the movie with some replay value. I had no complaints with the cinematography nor editing. The acting was at least adequate, with Elwes being quite funny and dynamic (as opposed to his recent performance in Saw).

While there are no scream out loud scary moments in the film, there is a strong sense of tension that builds as the movie progresses. Definitely worth a look. And while I don't work at a video store like the other reviewer, I do rent a ton of films, including the obscure films. This is far and away one of the better rentals.

Soho Square (2000)

More realistic look at this film

[7/10 · 16 March 2005]

I've noticed that some people have rated this movie a 10. Others have said it's one of the worst films ever made. The truth is somewhere in the middle. If the budget of this film was actually 7K (pounds or dollars?), then it's a very impressive achievement. That said, it's not nearly as good as El Mariachi as some have suggested.

The film moves slowly through the first 20-30 minutes and it's unclear what's really going on. Yes, a cop is investigating a series of murders, but what's really going on? As the film progresses, some things fall into place...but not all of the pieces. Some of the scenes are head-scratchers. What's up with the little girl and her mom? I didn't see a reason for them to be in the film.

As for the technical aspects of the film, the music is very good in a few instances. For the most part, it's terrible and inappropriate to the action. The cuts back and forth do not bother me; it actually provides a fairly suspenseful climax, which was the best scene in the film. The acting is of decent quality, with no outstanding performances. Overall, the film is a 7/10. If you want to see a bad movie, skip this. If you can stand a slow-moving noir, then check it out.

Triggermen (2002)

Unremarkable

[6/10 · 5 March 2005]

This film seems as if it tried to be a clever comedy/hardcore gangster film along the lines of Snatch, Lock Stock, and some other good ones. Unfortunately, the cast was unimpressive, the story was unoriginal, and the dialogue was not snappy in the least. It just tried to follow a common formula and did nothing new. Furthermore, the things it did, it did poorly. No one would care about these characters, no one can sympathize with much of what went on, with the possible exception of Wahlberg's character.

You can't just take a bunch of character actors and throw them into a film and expect it to work. Some of the actors are incredibly competent, but with such limited material to work with, I suppose failure was inevitable.

Inheritance (I) (2004)

Very good, atmospheric flick

[8/10 · 4 February 2005]

**Minor Spoiler, maybe?** I gave this film an 8 though I would've gone 8.5 if I could've. It's certainly a solid B or better. I like picking up horror films that I've never heard of from the video store. I set my expectations low but I'm often disappointed anyway. This was an exception. This is probably the best of the class I've described.

Some of the acting is very good (female leads) and some of it is less than impressive (the lawyer, for instance, in a brief scene). The story built slowly over the first half hour, but if you can handle the slow burn, you'll be rewarded.

My only complaint is the brief nudity. I think it didn't add anything to the film, though it did seem a bit out of place, and so distracted from the story. The same effect could have been achieved without nudity, that's the bottom line.