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markmaker27
Reviews
Harsh Times (2005)
Not quite what I was expecting
This was a pretty huge let down. The ending was powerful and probably the only part worth watching, but throughout the whole movie, I just felt like I was wasting my time. This was not what I was expecting especially when it was billed as "from the creator of Training Day." I guess Bale wasn't too bad, but come on-how hard is it to play a dirt bag saying the F word every 5 seconds? The story seemed to be very inconsistent and while some people attribute that to the "unpredictability" of the film, it really just makes the characters incoherent. I will give the movie props for visual style. The cinematography was pretty cool and at least made the 2 hours tolerable.
The Life Before Her Eyes (2007)
An intensely beautiful picture
I had the privilege of seeing this film at its World Premiere this weekend at the Toronto Film Festival. From the very opening sequence, this picture draws you in with its sheer beauty. The cinematography is terrific and at some points even terrifying (in a breath taking way) but what impressed me most was the dialog. Everything seemed so real, which played up every detail to me and made the picture all the more engrossing. Uma Thurman is top notch in this but i believe that Evan Rachel Wood really makes it because honestly, who else could we expect to play the teen angst better than her? The relationship between Eva Amurri's Maureen and Wood's Diana is so realistic in every situation and much of that credit has to go to Emil Stern's adaptation. There are so many themes that run deep throughout this movie, and the ever pressing scare of school shootings makes this hit home really really hard. This is an amazing film that will touch every single emotion and leave you thinking about it for days. Go see this movie whenever you get the chance. It is an intensely beautiful and moving film and most definitely one of the best I have seen so far this year.