felekisz Reviews

The Wicker Man (2006)

Apparently, you're cool if you hate this movie

[8/10 · 15 September 2011]

I read several reviews here that reeked of arrogance and tried a little too hard to tear the film apart. They ended up becoming the very reason I gave it a chance. I saw the original and loved it, in spite of some silliness and a dose of 70s naivety. This remake has some slightly greater faults, but nothing's anywhere near as bad as the haters want you to believe. The current rating of 3,6 is absolutely ridiculous, especially when compared to the 7,5+ ratings that cheap exercises in vulgarity like Saw get. It just shows what a refined movie lover the average IMDb user can be.

I started watching TWM expecting to give up on it in less than 20 minutes, but an hour later I still couldn't find anything seriously wrong with it. It doesn't follow the typical thriller formula, it's much more subdued and creepy, with a handful of shocks thrown into the mix. If you're in the mood for something more down to earth, that for the most part is exotic and mysterious, AND you're willing to overlook a couple of tiny moments of unintentional hilarity, you won't regret having seen it.

The cinematography's gorgeous, Angelo Badalamenti's music needs no introduction, and Nick Cage creates a sympathetic character that's completely out of his element and is forced to adapt to a world where nobody cares about the rules he's used to. There are no car chases here, no shootouts, there's hardly any violence, but a sense of loneliness and desperation that personally I found intriguing. It's not often that you watch a cop main character being the most helpless guy in the movie, but here it's done plausibly and I enjoyed the atypical situation. There's more to be said, but I think you'd be better off watching TWM with as fresh a perspective as possible.

So, expect a flawed minimalist thriller, but one in which the good far outweighs the bad. See it in the best available quality because the visuals are the movie's greatest strength.

7,5/10

Pandorum (2009)

Self-confident and uncompromised

[9/10 · 28 October 2009]

What makes a thriller great ? A serious tone, tension and unpredictability. Pandorum has them all. It doesn't make a mockery of itself by employing jokes, sex or smartass heroes. And that is really rare nowadays.

The script is intelligent and it contains a few surprises that culminate in a very satisfying ending. Don't let anyone ruin it for you. The music and the audio effects are especially effective, the pacing is near perfect and pretty much everything from acting to direction works beautifully. And guess what, the cinematography and editing aren't epilepsy-inducing. Woohoo !

One could argue that the movie could have been better if it had a bigger budget. More detailed and varied sets wouldn't have hurt. But who cares when you're sucked in from minute one and kept interested (not to mention terrified) throughout the whole deal ?

If you love sci-fi, psychological horror and movies that are just plain INTENSE, do yourself a favor and check out Pandorum. It's grittier than District 9 and much scarier than the Alien series. For me, this was a small revelation and the year's best movie-going experience. I hope the people involved in making this gem will get the recognition they deserve.

The Station Agent (2003)

Less is more

[10/10 · 2 January 2006]

So much to say, so little time...

The Station Agent came along and reminded me how movie making should be. Simple, natural, humane. At first, I hesitated to watch it because films about "less fortunate people" tend to get cheesy and try too hard to make you shed a tear. People only praise them because they feel sorry for the main character... but this time you won't get any of that gratuitous sentimentality.

In my opinion, the movie's greatest quality is that it never insists in pointing out the obvious (that life is unfair), instead it shows you the interior journey of the three main characters towards acceptance/understanding of their condition/situation. All made possible by the perfectly natural performances of these wonderful actors. You know what they think and feel without them having to say "deep" things like people in most artsy pictures do. All the magic is in the normal, everyday details, subtle gestures, filmed with a lot of good taste and without the use of cute or overly dramatic elements. The soundtrack fits like a glove with slow, bitter-sweet guitar tunes that feel fresh and create a sensible, warm mood.

Experiencing this film is worth so much more than all the soulless excitement and drama we're usually treated with. I've watched it a lot of times and I appreciated it more and more with each viewing. The characters are more real to me than a lot of fake people I know. I also warmly recommend The Straight Story if you like to walk away from movies with more than you came in.