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Reviews
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Admirable in a age of paltry remakes.
This is a well-made update of a great film. Comparing it to the original is, of course, unfair. This film stands on it's own legs. It cleverly incorporates current events in a way the original did not. Even if you've seen the original, the movie cleverly puts in a few new and significant twists that make it fresh and relevant.
Some of the other comments suggested that this film didn't have a point. The plot is complicated, and it requires that you pay attention; which frankly a lot of folks simply aren't accustomed to in this era of Jerry Bruckheimer blockbusters.
What is the point of this movie? The point is that it actually makes you think; which is certainly a more meaningful point than some of the other summer movies.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998)
PLEASE stay away from this movie
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. This movie is absolute excrement, and I cannot recommend it for children or adults. It's quite obvious they were trying to do things on the cheap; which area they saved the most money on is not so obvious. The "B-list" celebrities for voices? Richard Simmons proves why he never succeeded as an actor. Eric Idle can't decide whether his character is from Liverpool or the Bronx. I truly believe Bob Newhart was disguising his voice so no one would realize he had stooped to this level. Whoopi Goldburg and John Goodman do their best to add some life to this worthless script and fail quite spectacularly.
The music? It sounds as if it were written by a freshman music major - who is failing out of college. They had to bring a previously-released Paul McCartney tune to give the soundtrack some semblance of professionalism. The animation is difficult to look at, and I found some of the supposedly happy faces "scary" looking.
We bought this in a pile of used movies for 99 cents. FREE wouldn't have been cheap enough for this waste of videotape. I think once they realized they had made such a terrible cartoon, their only hope of making money relied on people confusing it with the wonderful Rankin-Bass version. My advice? If you're looking for a Rudolph movie, spend an extra couple of bucks and buy the original!
Starye klyachi (2000)
Funny, but meaningful too
This is a fun little movie that also reveals the emotional toll of the last 10 years on the Russian people.
The movie starts out in 1990 - the four girls (the "Old Hags") are a quartet that travel around the Soviet Union singing patriotic songs about things like pipelines. The film really succeeds at making fun of the Soviet ideology, while remembering it sweetly as the better times. The Old Hags are famous and live the lives of privileged citizens. (One of them is a dead ringer for Sheri Oteri from Saturday Night Live, and is just as funny)
Next, the movie fast forwards ten years. The group's sex kitten is now peddling fruit and newspapers on the street, working for an Azerbaijani boss. One of the girls gets scammed out of her apartment overlooking Red Square by a Mafioso. The rest of the movie is the girls' efforts to get it back.
While being a lot of fun, the movie also makes a big statement about what's happened and what could be. American viewers might find it a little over the top, but it really helps to understand how Russians feel about the country. The last five minutes of the film is where the message is really hammered home. In a cameo, director Eldar Ryzaonv plays a judge. As he waves goodbye the the girls, he stares directly into the camera; and it's clear that the final song is his message to the audience. My Russian is a little rusty, but I believe the lyrics to the song were something like, "I challenge you to a dare - let's see what will happen - I'm looking for you, you're looking for me".
It's definitely worth a look if you can find it!
eXistenZ (1999)
Yuck! But I loved it!
This movie is such a fine example of what happens when "Hollywood" leaves a director alone and lets him do things in his own way.
Although the plot sounds very similar to "The Matrix", it is quite a different film. I especially liked how Cronenberg mixes disgusting-looking organic material with sexually suggestive actions -- Allegra Geller's game pad looks like some sort of sex organ. Could there be a deeper meaning here? I'm sure there is, but I'm not one for speculating. This is a great movie - check it out!