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Reviews
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
I can't believe what I'm reading!!
I'd say this is a spoiler, but no more so than the movie itself.
Are you people serious. I'm seeing people saying that it wasn't that bad. That the original trilogy was just about fun, and that's what this one was about. That you didn't care about the characters in The New Hope. Well let's clarify some things. The original movies had a plot that made sense and followed the formula of an epic tale. Had characters that were developed, and when they did things you understood their motivation. Were not aimed at 10 year olds. Were not blatantly racist(chinese bad guys, jar jar binks the helpful 20's black servant). And you know what, the special effects weren't amazing. Because of characters like Jar Jar, Ewan and Liam looked like they were Brad Pitt in Cool World. It also limited their movement in scenes with him because they had to be able to keep the focus of their eyes in the right place. And the whole thing was about a trade blockade????? WHAT? I don't want any politically possible things in Star Wars. This is supposed to be a story about good and evil. Not about a politically motivated coup de tat. Then there were the scenes that really had little to no point but were ways for Lucas to show off his FX(leaving the gungans through the core, the race). But now let's get to just the little things that were just dumb and didn't belong in the film. ET in the crowd, metroclorians(what the heck is that all about), Fart jokes, Jar Jar Binks and the entire Gungan race, Anakin being immaculately concieved, the race commentator, Sam Jackson, not training Anakin(that made no sense at all especially after Qui Gon dies, they'd never let Obi Wan do it and if he insisted they'd stop him or take over themselves, but we'll see how they mess that up in the next one). And then there is the biggest complaint. The only, and I mean ONLY, good thing in the movie were the Lightsaber fights. And the only cool character in the movie was Darth Maul and what do they do??? They kill him. Of course. So now, instead of having an established bad guy(which they should have done a better job with) there is no real bad guy tangible bad guy.
Would you like to know just what a failure this movie was? This film should have been by far the highest grossing film ever, way beyond Titanic. Some of you say that we should stop comparing it to the other three. Why? Is it written and directed by a completely different group? Is it about a non-tangential story? Nope, it's all part of the same. This wasn't just a bad Star Wars movie it was a bad movie. Just because most sci-fi, action films now a days have no plot, no character development, and horrible writing, doesn't mean that this one was okay. Stop making excuses for it.
Calling Bobcat (2000)
first time director, young cast shines
Being a big proponent of independent film, I attended the screening of Calling Bobcat with high expectations. Let me tell you I was not disappointed. Mr. Kermizean does a great job with his first feature length film, while the ensemble cast full of some of the brightest young actors are extraordinary. Jayce Bartok(SubUrbia) gives his best performance to date, while Daniel Serafini-Sauli(Boiler Room) and new-comer Rob King are terrific. Strong performances are also seen in Samantha Buck(Wirey Spindell) and Wendy Hoopes(Better Living). The movie, set in suburban New Jersey, follows Darrin Marshall(Bartok) through a night of high-jinx as he looks for his girlfriend who is none to happy with him. This film was exceptional and I look forward to more of Mr. Kermizean future work.