Reviews

This movie might just do for the woods what Psycho did for the shower. The most horrifying thing is just how realistic this movie is. This may not be a perfect motion picture, but it is a perfect movie. What it sets out to do it does perfectly. It will scare the absolute crap out of you. I saw it in a full theater with probably 200 people total. Afterwards, no one was talking about where they were going to eat or what they were doing next. Everyone was talking about this movie, and I assume that like me, they kept talking about it all night long.

Every single actor in this movie does an incredible job...this movie reminded me a lot of Glengarry Glenross in its style. If you want action or an enthralling plot, you'd better look elsewhere. If the movie was this good, the stage play must have been great. Just check out the cast on the trivia section to see what I mean.

I will admit that the reason I rented this movie was because of the numerous reviews that I read about how unbelievably bad and pointless this film was. It only took me a few minutes to realize why so many critics hated it, which was the very reason I liked this film.

Gummo is a classic case of style over substance. If you're looking for plot development, you'd better go rent Good Will Hunting or something like that. But if you want to see a movie that is cutting-edge and well ahead of its time, then rent this one. I praise the director for simply doing something different.

What impressed me the most about this film was the framing of one memorable image after another. I think Director Korine was trying to leave people with impressions and feelings. Whether you like this film or not, its impossible to forget. Plus, this film has what I think is one of the greatest lines in recent movie history. A little girl, holding a picture of Burt Reynolds with the mouth ripped out, chants incessantly, "I want a moustache, dammit!"

This movie is worth the three bucks to rent it if nothing more than to see the scene where a fat redneck takes out his aggression on a kitchen chair while his friends cheer him on. It's more frightening than anything in the Scream series.

The thing I remember that most impressed me about Little Odessa was how director James Gray actually made me feel cold. There are a lot of exteriors that show a frozen, snow covered New York, but the whole thing is so wonderfully photographed that it actually made me feel chilled. The story is above average and Tim Roth is starting to run the risk of stereotyping himself into these kinds of violent characters...but this film will always remain one of my favorites because the simple look of the film affected me.

It's easy for a movie to have a gimmick, more difficult for the gimmick to be pulled off with success, but "Pleasantville" does one better. It uses its gimmick to become what I believe is a modern day classic. This movie is a hybrid of "The Truman Show" and "Back to the Future." Not only is the movie a technical marvel, but the story is fantastic. Blending elements of such historical events as segregation and McCarthyism, this movie tries (and wonderfully succeeds) in showing us what happens when a "perfect" little black and white sitcom community begins to turn to color, simply because its citizens begin to act like real human beings. The movie isn't without it's flaws, is probably fifteen minutes too long, and in the year of "Saving Private Ryan" it's a shame this movie will be overlooked come Oscar time (for Best Picture and all-around great performances, particularly Jeff Daniels). I only hope it receives an ample number of deserved nominations, for this is one of the true masterpieces of American cinema.