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Reviews
Samurai Chanpurû (2004)
If you could see me, I'm sitting on a fence.
So, it seems to follow the Cowboy Beebop mold; which I'm not thrilled about. A rag-tag band of rejects wander the land looking for their next meal; Little sub-plots pop-up causing a bout of adventure for the next 20 minutes, standard 5 minute action/fight scene...nice little wrap up, the end...
What Champloo lacks that Beebop had, was a through-line or all encompassing plot/threat. In Cowboy, we studied and examined the main character, SPIKE, with the episodes involving his nemises VICIOUS, the only reoccurring threat and character (those annoying old-timers and TV hosts don't count). This gave us a chance to become intimate w/ Spike, who clearly was made to be the focus of the series.
Champloo seems to attempt to have a similar gimmick, with the "samurai that smells of sunflowers" serving as a weak over-all plot device/catalyst. What the problem is, is it's going on the 4th of 7 discs, and still we don't know anything about this "sunflower-samurai" plot (as pointed out by the very characters themselves in the last episode of the 3rd disc!!). To be short, 3 discs in, I am not engaged or invested with any of these characters suffice to include that JIN and MUGEN are complete bad-asses...but that can't carry the series alone. Yes, there are individual episodes that focus more on one character than the others, but again... who's the hero here? FUU is set up to be because she is the protagonist...but God help us if she's supposed to be the payoff, because she's a loser, annoying, and does nothing to engage me in this world (that same annoying girl from Gungrave is the voice here, I swear I wanna take a screwdriver to my ears with every word she utters!).
Finally, the other gimmick is that, just like Beebop used jazz music as a funky "gel" to give a cool edge to the series...Champloo supposedly does the same thing, only with hip-hop. So, my question is, where the Hell is the hip-hop??!! Besides the less than thrilling opening credits music, the only taste of hip-hop we seem to get is with the short "record scratches" to transition scenes. Unlike Beebop where there were intricate and exciting scores to accompany the scenes, Champloo seems to come up short with a few exceptions here and there. Well, not much you can do, except maybe turn the DVD's subtitle on, turn down the sound, and blast Tribe Called Quest off your iPod.
Layer Cake (2004)
If you could see this, my hand is moving loosely from vertical to horizontal...vertical to horizontal...
Well, I'll cut it short, suffice to say that this was a movie version of a cheesy daytime soap-opera; only, you know... dark and violent. This was so convoluted and needlessly twisted. While it was filmed with gorgeous color saturation and yes, Seinna Miller is absurdly hot...that just can't shepard an audience through an hour and a half of, "Huh? Wait, what's going on?" Not sure what kind of 'voice' this film was trying to represent. It certainly didn't bring us into the faux-glam world of crime and consequences like, Lock Stock or Pulp Fiction. But That XXXX is a damn good dresser! Anyway, at the end of the day, this just didn't "gel" (that's an industry term for, "I don't know why I didn't like it, but I just didn't", and there are certainly redeeming qualities (see Seinna Miller comment), so view at your leisure, but don't expect Guy Ritche.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
A flick that's good at being bad...
I saw "Kill Bill" with two of the biggest film critics in America two weeks before it will come out. Sitting alone in a small 20 person theater and watching Tarintino's triumphant comeback was thrilling, to say the least. Watching it a second time at a 400+ person promo-screening, two days before it's national release was even better. I knew every time when the blood-crazed audience was going to go nuts. I knew which scenes there was going to be an explosion of applause. And I know that the rest of the world is going to like this movie... Now, I said 'like', not love.
There is nothing not to like. Tarintino's vision of an hommage to 70's 'B' kung-fu chop-sockey flicks is nothing short of genius. But you must understand: 'B' movies are not good. This movie is not good! But that's what makes it great, if that makes any sense. It's a typical revenge-driven "You-killed-everyone-I-love,-now-I-will-kill-you" plot; Seen it a million times on any TNT or TNN made for TV movie. However, there is so much trademark Tarintino-ian style and careful crafting of this bad 'B' movie, that it turns out wonderfully. From the out-dated flash-zoom pans, to the cheesy sound effects, to the laughable dialogue, make no doubts about it, this is the best-worst movie of the year. And what a cliff-hanger at the end!!!! I've seen the movie twice before it was released, and now I'll probably pay two more times to see it in the theaters again!
And yes, Uma is hot.
The Cell (2000)
Pretty colors make it worthwhile...
Stunning visuals and sets make up for the bland plot that echoes the feel of "Silence of the Lambs". For the elaborate costumes alone, I'd check this movie out... but be prepared; the ending seems like they ran out of script and kind of slapped something on to close the film.
Bottom Line: Worth your rental money, but unless your a cinematography major, don't buy it.
The Big Kahuna (1999)
Spacey's performance is stunning...
This is by far Kevin Spacey's best performance. Yes, it's even competition for his creepy portrayal of John Doe in "Sev7en". He is funny, witty, fast with the come-back, and emotionally projectional.
The script is great, DeVito gives a great performance too. If you like dialogue movies, such as "Clerks" and "Swingers" than you'll like this one.
Bottom Line: Must see for Spacey fans... for all others, still worthwhile.
Killing Time (1998)
Promising trailer; not-so movie...
Alas, in the great tradition of "The Big Hit" and "Battle Field Earth", where the trailer is actually cooler than the film itself, "Killing Time" is no exception.
I had such high expectations after watching the trailer for this movie. It looked dark, noir-like, sexy with its ultra gorgeous Kendra Torgen as the hit-woman... but all for not. I read the reviews on this website for the movie, and most did not yield the movie too promising. However, I went ahead and rented it...
You know, it's not THAT bad... I think the slow-pace fits the movie; however the "action" sequences where less than climactic. Switching from one static shot to another, in seemingly an almost comical exchange of gunfire, where everyone is standing in plain site, yet no-one hits each other for at least four shots each.
What the film has going for it is the ultra sexy and icy cool M.O. of hit-woman Kendra Torgen... and the dramatic lighting is great in some shots. But overall, the film is a failure at what it was trying to accomplish.
Bottom Line: If you have time to kill, then check it out; otherwise, leave it.
Titus (1999)
Nice try, but not for the masses...
There is a reason this is the least performed of all Shakespeare's plays... and it is evident when it goes from the stage to the big screen in this adaption.
The sets are stunning and incredible... the costumes, well deserving of their Oscar nomination... however, if you are not an avid reader of Shakespeare or literary scholar, you might encounter a bit of trouble when it comes to this film.
The over-the-top score over- bears the already hard to follow dialogue, but then again, IT IS Shakespeare. I am a simple person. I like simple movies. This movie is not simple. You can follow the basic story line, just by reading the movements and listening to the tone of the actor's; but still, I could not sit through this movie. I had to turn it off half way through and come back to it the next day.
I have to applaud Julie Taymor for giving this play a '90's make over, with lots of eye-candy and modernization... but still, it couldn't hold my attention for too long. 15 minutes into this film, my mind was already wandering.
Too much shouting in this film irritated me to the point of turning it off. There is a feature on the DVD version that allows you to hear the score only... the film is better that way.
Bottom Line: If you are a fan of Shakespeare, this is for you. If not... well, if there's nothing else to rent, then go for it...
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Unexpected Surprise
From a critic's point of view, or any of the pretenseous film students I go to school with, one would not like this film. I however, dug it. Catching it on cable one sleepless night, I found this movie both engaging and suspensefull.
But then again, I like movies like this: A group of people not only trapped in some kind of complex, but pitted against a beast(s); who will survive and what kind of elaborate gorey deaths await the not so fortunate? Similar movies to this are The Thing (John Carpenter), The Alien Trilogy,Pitch Black, and Screamers. I don't know why I like movies like this, but I do, and I liked Deep Blue Sea, despite obvious CG sharks.
Saffron Burrows is beautiful, LL Cool J is surprisingly funny, and Micheal Rappaport is his usual greatness.
Bottom Line: You will like this movie. Good, but not great.
Playing by Heart (1998)
Well written, witty, and funny.
This is exactly what kind of scripts that film students love. Everyone at my film school loves this movie. It's a small semi-independent movie that has a cult following, and for good reason; it's a wonderful little film that refreshes our views on love and relationships.
This flick is an all dialogue, little action film, but with an A-List cast, and A+ performances from all of them, it definitely holds your interest.
So well-written and performed, bravo... bravo.
Bottom line: You will love this movie. Not good... Great.
The 13th Warrior (1999)
Only movie that stays true to Crichton book
As a HUGE Michael Crichton fan, avid reader of all his works, I have been disappointed time after time when his novels are made into movies. Ex: Jurassic Park, Sphere, Congo, Rising Sun, are all terrible movies, despite big-budgets and A-list actors, that deviate horribly from Crichton's original vision.
However, such as different with 13th Warrior, from veteran director John McTernin (Die-Hard,Thomas Crown Affair, Predator). This big-screen version of the short novel by Crichton originally titled "Eaters of the Dead", is the truest book to screen film I've encountered.
With grand battle scenes and great looking cast, 13th Warrior is a true hero-adventure film, with all the perks that go along with it. Banderas is great, as usual, and the unknown cast that makes up the Viking warriors is equally good.
Why audiences might be put out about is the jumpyness and uneven flow of the film. We get almost no perspective of the mysterious "riders in the night". This, along with all the jumpyness and weird-lack of movie closure-ending, is due to the way the book is written. Crichton simply elaborated on the already existing journal entries of the real Iban Flalad, who documented his journies and adventures in the 14th century.
YES, this is a movie loosely based on the (historian-skeptical) true story of Iban Falad. Crichton simply gives it a few sprinkles here and there to make it more interesting. However, in writing it, he keeps true to the holes and loops that an unreligiously kept journal may yield... this also translates onto the big-screen.
Bottom Line: You'll like this movie, not great, but good. But definitly read the book to appreciate the film.