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pahool
Reviews
Tenacious D (1997)
The greatest band on Earth!
The D is the greatest band on Earth (Jesus Ranch the best song), and anywhere else for that matter. If you do not understand this, that is your problem. It doesn't make it any less true.
Music from the other side of the fence. Satan himself couldn't make more rocking tunes than this (although he shows up for an occasional cameo.) Tenacious D wield great power and emanate powerful waves of sexual energy (they warn that ovulating women should not sit in the front row, for the very real fertilization danger.) Those who haven't had the good fortune to see them live may never understand. But at least now have them on HBO, so you can worship them at your home altar (blood sacrifices preferred, cheeseburgers welcome.) When Tenacious D rides into town, the truly wise will offer up their women, and fresh horses.
Seeing Tenacious D is like taking Mott the Hoople, Iron Maiden, Uriah Heep, Gwar, John Denver and the muppets, stuffing them in a bong and smoking them. All other opinions are invalid, null, void, and past warranty: a plague on your unbelieving souls!
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Mediocre, at best.
(This might be considered a minor spoiler, I guess.)
Yet another summer 1999 movie that just doesn't live up to it's own hype. This one was not as disappointing as The Matrix, but it's disappointing nonetheless.
Having seen the preview, and hearing that there was a surprise ending, I was able to deduce exactly what it was. As will anyone who spends 10 seconds to think about it. Come on! This one is a no-brainer! Even if you can't puzzle it through before going to see the movie, you get pounded over the head with it enough to figure it out in the first half hour or so.
Ever since Braveheart won the best picture academy award, I've been convinced that there must be some mind-numbing chemical in the American water supply or something. When the Sixth Sense is called an "intelligent" movie by critics, something is very very wrong.
Having said that, it's not an absolutely horrible movie. The acting is passable, and the story is somewhat interesting. The slower pace is admirable in a time when most movies seem to be focused on special effects like exploding tits every thirty seconds, and it worked well toward contributing to the aura of the film.
But the film wasn't really scary. A couple of "Boo!" type scenes, but nothing that really got inside me that much. I hate to make the comparison that everyone else seems to be making but I've got to say that "The Blair Witch Project" was infinitely more scary and effective.
If you want to see a couple creepy surprise-ending films, go rent "Jacob's Ladder" and "Angel Heart" both are much more scary, interesting, and smart, and both deserve your attention much more than "The Sixth Sense."
Birdy (1984)
Great movie, great ending.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's such a great growing-up buddy flick. Despite the serious subject matter (shell-shocked, catatonic Vietnam vet in mental hospital), the movie manages to be very light-hearted for the most part, without discounting the gravity of the situation that the characters are in. It doesn't seek to use the war as a means of creating the identities of the characters, the war and the "present situation" in the film (most of the film is flashbacks) are more background to the story of two crazy Philly kids growing up together.
The movie is full of laughs that don't occur at the expense of the characters, but rather, bring you closer to them. I personally identified with Matthew Modine's character, and found myself laughing in spite of myself at some of his mishaps and wondering "how did I ever survive being a teenager?"
Modine plays Birdy flawlessly. His character, while strange, is certainly believable and definitely likeable. He's like the visionary mystic friend I never had! Nicholas Cage is equally good as Al, Birdy's more down-to-earth lady's man friend. Their friendship seems unlikely on the outside, but powerful and inevitable by the end of the movie.
I think it's strange that some people didn't like the ending to Birdy. I think it's one of the best movie endings for a buddy film ever. It accurately reflects the tone of Birdy and Al's relationship more than any other ending possibly could. It ties their characters in the present in perfectly with the growing-up characters of the flashback sequences. Perfect!
She's So Lovely (1997)
Excellent focus on characters
"She's So Lovely" is an excellent example of a movie that chooses to be character-driven rather than plot-driven. It's a great tribute to John Cassavetes and a fine piece of work by Nick Cassavetes whose "Unhook the Stars" is equally worthy of praise.
Every character in this film is tangible, real, and yes, maybe deeply disturbed. The relationship between Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn (both of whom give outstanding performances), while sort of pathetic on one level, is deeply touching and hyper-real on another. It's the type of love story that makes you believe in soul mates not because a drippy sloppy sentimentality; but because it's the only explanation for two characters who are so outlandish yet fit together so well. I don't think I've seen a movie couple who deserved each other more since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
See this film.