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bluecrab22
Reviews
The Last Winter (2006)
Like waiting for water to boil
Even if you are a patient film-watcher, this movie will try your patience. It starts off well enough, in a bleak part of Alaska (where it also ends, and where all the so-called "action" takes place). An oil company's exploratory team establishes a base and explores. Weird, inexplicable stuff happens. People have visions...or are they seeing real things? There are consequences. The characters aren't engaging so we don't care much, but we do get teased along for the ride. Are there monsters of some kind? Malevolent forces?
"Oh," you think. "That reminds me of "The Shining." "Ah," you sigh. "Aliens." "The Thing, the THING!" you think.
More supposedly weird stuff happens and finally, there's an ending of sorts, one which I think will disappoint most viewers. I gave this 3 stars because I like snow-and-ice settings in movies and it rather infuriatingly held my interest just enough that I wanted to see the outcome. I will not be watching it again to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Looking for an Echo (2000)
Slice of Life and Sound
"A place to live in harmony, a place we almost found." Kenny Vance
In 1964, I used to hang around a bar in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (where "Looking..." is set). I wasn't from the neighborhood, but they'd let me in even though I was but seventeen - the legal age at that time was eighteen. Most Fridays would find me at the bar, drinking and listening to the bar band play...and sing. It was obvious that the band guys could sing, but they were singing stuff like "Wooden Heart," maybe a Beatles tune or two - nothing that you could call doo-wop.
I began to bug the band with taunts like, "Hey, why doncha sing some harmony, man!?" and when they weren't performing I would talk to them a bit. They were local guys. One night after their set, after they'd heard one too many jibes from me, they dragged me into the men's room and sang some very nice harmony. They really hit some notes and I never taunted them again.
"Looking For An Echo" reminds me of those days. I found myself singing along to the harmony parts of "Please Say You Want Me," a song much-loved and covered in mid-1960s Brooklyn and Queens. And also, of course, that latter-day hymn to harmony, "Looking For An Echo."
A kind of musically oriented "Goodfellas" where the fellas really are good. A must-see for anyone who's ever sung a note of harmony.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
One of the best drug-themed movies
For a period of time, I experienced some of the aspects depicted in Requiem For a Dream. Of course, it's not the first or last movie ever made about drug use, but of all the ones I have seen, it's the only one that ever made me really squirm. Compelling but very hard to watch at times, this is one movie that pulls no punches. I have to say, though, that I didn't perceive its theme as being along the lines of "here's what will happen to you if you take drugs." The movie doesn't preach or moralize, it just depicts. I did not find myself pitying the characters, but could not help but empathize with them. First time I saw this film, I watched it with my brother, who's also been around a bit, and who responded much the same as I did. My second viewing was just a couple of nights ago and was only partial (part way in and to the end). My reaction, even though I knew what was coming, was about the same. If you're looking for some feel-good story (like the utterly ridiculous "Man With the Golden Arm), then go elsewhere, but if you can handle it, "Requiem" will deliver the goods.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
Best version of this work
I have seen the 2002 remake of "Earnest" (very good), I have seen it performed on the stage (also very good), but this 1952 film version is now my favorite. I saw it for the first time only last night. Wonderful performances all around, with Edith Evans' presence being especially commanding. It doesn't hurt one bit that both Joan Greenwood and Dorothy Tutin look almost impossibly beautiful. There is not one word of wasted dialog. I don't know if the film was remastered or otherwise reprocessed, but the colors and picture were sharp (via cable TV). It looks like a DVD that cleaned up the the original was made in 2002 - I may have to have that! If you get a chance to see a stage production of this, do so.
Permanent Midnight (1998)
Well-done for what it is
Most of the drug-use scenes were fairly realistic. Been there and back myself, so to tell you the truth, nothing I saw in the movie made me wince, although there was a lot to relate to. There's a scene where - this really isn't a spoiler, given the context of the movie - where Jerry dumps some pills out of a prescription bottle, and they look exactly like the kind of pills they're supposed to be. Nice attention to detail. One thing that movies never quite get right or, perhaps like this one, simply choose to ignore, are the details of how one actually turns one's life around from being addicted to recovering, and this movie was no exception. We know in the beginning that Jerry has been through rehab, but that process itself, which may I say ain't exactly a cakewalk - and I mean you have to be clean before you can go through it, remains rather mysterious. Oh well, whatever, an interesting, entertaining movie that held my interest for its running time. Some usage scenes might be a bit upsetting to the non-anointed, although probably nothing quite so hard to take as in Requiem For A Dream.
Princess Caraboo (1994)
Truly attractive cast
I am a straight guy. Not only was this a good story, but the women in this film are beautiful. If you're looking for explicit stuff, go elsewhere, but if you find hints of sexuality a turn-on, there's plenty here. There are some liberties taken with the actual story, but so what? What movie doesn't do that? Princess Caraboo is not a sugar-sweet and syrupy G-rated story, and those looking for fairytale family fare may be taken aback at times.
I am watching the movie for the second time (had to stop part way through last night) and it seems much different this time, as I know what's going to happen. The mystery may be gone, but there's some good laughs and of course, foxiness abounds. I started the reading the book on which this is based, but didn't finish it, at least not yet. Maybe I'll pick it up again, gotta have it around here somewhere.
Kevin Kline does well as a butler, as does Stephen Rea as a journalist. Worth checking out, and if you like early 19th century British period pieces - well, this one is less puffy and ponderous than some.
A Sound of Thunder (2005)
Fun for most of the family
Given the conciseness (about 10 pages) of the Bradbury short story on which "A Sound Of Thunder" is based, it was inevitable that any movie version would have to take some liberties with the source. That would be putting it mildly for this film, which strays far and wide from its base. And yet, in its own Hollywood way, the movie stays true to the central concept of the story - how the smallest alteration of a long-past event could have ramifications cascading far into the future.
That the dialog and acting have flaws is not unique to "Thunder's" literary-to-screen transition, and those flaws did not take so much away from my enjoyment of the file that I was truly dissatisfied. I did not see this movie in a theater, but on HBO, with someone who'd not read the story. Although HBO's own synopsis declared the film a "shoddy" adaptation, both of us felt that might be just a bit strong.
Many of the FX in "Thunder" seem derived from other modern sci-fi films - Aliens to Star Wars and much else. Occasionally it displays some originality. If it were a little more well done, I'd give it another star or two. In fact, I'll give it an extra half-star for not having any tedious, contrived romantic sub-plots (at least I don''t remember any). When I saw this movie, I hadn't even known it'd made the transition from printed page to film, so I had no expectations. It's obviously not a major work and may not stand up to repeated viewings, but I was happy enough with what I saw.