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pete4winds
Reviews
Ryôri no tetsujin (1993)
NASCAR meets Emeril!!! (review refers to the English-language version only)
I have to agree with pretty much everything in Mark Messina's review, but here's my take on it anyway:
I first got hooked on it when my fiancee turned me onto it long before we moved in together. I spent weekends at her house, and watching "Iron Chef" on Friday nights was a weekly ritual. As a long-time NASCAR fan, my FIRST impresion was that this is what the result would be if Emeril Legasse worked for NASCAR. Why is that, you ask? Anyone who is familiar with both Iron Chef and NASCAR knows exactly what I mean.
The action is fast paced, and the "color commentators" Kenji Fukui and Hattori Yukio in the booth give a flawless play-by-play. However, the real star of the show, in my opinion, is kitchen reporter Shinichirô Ôta. NASCAR fans will recognize him as "Iron Chef's" answer to pit road reporters such as Dr. Jerry Punch and John Kernan. His "right in the middle of the action" perspective adds an up-close and personal element to the show. Without Ôta, much of the action would be lost to viewers, simply by virtue of the program's pacing. Besides, how could you not love the incredibly inappropriate timing of his frequent "Fukui-san!" interjections? Nowhere else in the world would a rude interruption be so welcome!!! Besides, half the fun of the show is watching the competitors try to wave Ôta like a really irritating mosquito.
I mentioned early on that Iron Chef has a NASCAR feel to it. The comparison is clear when talking about the color commentary, but when it comes to the competitors, this is nothing short of a knock-down drag-out brawl. All of the Iron Chefs are great, but Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi is by far the most entertaining...not for his vast talent, but for the fact that he tends to stress WAY too much. Whenever he's on, the near-panicked look on his face as the end of the hour nears...priceless.
Finally, Takeshi Kaga, the chairman of Kitchen Stadium, not a chef at all, but a long-time musician and theater actor. What can I say about Kaga? Well-known for being the first Japanese to portray Jesus in "Jesus Christ Superstar, as well as the first japanese to play Jean ValJean in Le Mis, these days he's just another in a long list of reasons to tune in. Above all else, I can't escape the thought that he is Japan's answer to Liberace.
Monster Garage (2002)
Best "reality" show out there (and I mean, it's really OUT THERE!!!).
It takes an evil genius to conceive of some of the projects created on Monster Garage, and if you've seen this show, you know EXACTLY what I mean. If you haven't, it currently (as of Feb. 2003) airs mondays at 8 and 11 PM on the Discovery Channel, and I HIGHLY recommend it.
The premise is this: each week, the host, legendary custom motorcycle builder Jesse James and his team transform an average vehicle into something totally outrageous. Examples include a Porsche transformed into a golf driving-range ball collector (you know, the little caged carts that we all try to hit?), a stretch limousine converted into a working fire engine, and the most recent (as of this writing), a Mini Cooper snowmobile. The team, handpicked from various resources including an application process at the Discovery Channel website, has one week (one design day, five build days, and the seventh day being the challenge day in which their creation faces off against its real-life counterpart in a challenge contest) to complete the project with a $3000.00 budget. If they can sell any stripped parts, that money is added to the budget, as is any loose change they might find in the seats. Of course, there are always exceptions, such as the recent episode in which the team converted a Geo Tracker into a hot air balloon to the tune of some THIRTY thousand dollars!!!
The play by play is provided by Frankie Whiteside, and joining him weekly is the highly entertaining color commentator The Big Schwag, of the Long Beach, CA wrestling promotion Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Funny they are, indeed. but the best comedy, by far, comes from the build team, especially when they hit a snag or keep working when they REALLY should be resting.
Team members differ weekly, and while most of the chosen builders are customizers or mechanics to begin with, each team has a resident expert, such as the firefighter who worked on the limousine fire truck, or the Mini Cooper Corporate Executive who was on the Cooper/snowmobile team. Also included in many teams are non-automotive experts whose particular talents benefit the crews (remember the Hollywood special FX/pyrotechnics artist on the VW Beetle Swamp Boat? It was her special FX foam that made it possible to float the Beetle).
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD (only applies to those who wish to order the video set from The Discovery Channel Store): Monster Garage is now in its second year, although it doesn't really follow a standard TV season. Each member of the teams who complete the construction of their respective projects gets a full Mac Tools set, complete with case, valued at $3000.00 each, plus other prizes. As of the end of Feb. 2003, there are about sixteen or so episodes, and the teams have a nearly perfect track record of completing either the construction of their projects (with the exception of the failed hearse/car crusher), or the post-construction challenge, good for additional bragging rights. The only challenge lost by a Monster Garage machine was a race between the Mini Cooper snowmobile and a snowmobile driven by Richard Petty. If you must lose a snowmobile race, who better to have beat you?
Queen of the Damned (2002)
Disappointed? Not me!!! (possible spoilers)
Despite its huge opening weekend, many people were disappointed and Queen of the Damned fell drastically after the opening. As for me, on the other hand, I loved it. Worlds apart from its predecessor "Interview with a Vampire," Queen of the Damned portrays a wildly original twist on the vampire legend. Lestat wakes with a desire to walk openly as a vampire. He joins a rock band as their new singer, and markets himself as a vampire gimmick. Brilliant!!!
The late Aaliyah makes the movie in every sense. The film is entertaining before her first screen appearance, but, as Queen Akasha, she pulls out all the stops. At once incredibly frightening and incredibly erotic, Queen Akasha exudes a presence unlike any other in the film. We can only speculate where her acting career would've taken her after this. Coupled with her music, her role in Romeo Must Die showed her vast talent, but it wasn't much of a stretch for an R&B star to portray that role. Queen Akasha, on the other hand, was light years away from it, and truly gave the world a glimpse of a new screen legend.
And then there's Lestat. Both Tom Cruise's and Stuart Townsend's interpretations of the character were erotic, arrogant, end edgy for the timeframes of each movie, but I seriously doubt Tom Cruise would've been effective reprising his role for "Queen of the Damned." Stuart Townsend, having appeared mainly in indies and lesser-known films before this, adds a unique and welcome twist to an established character.
Anne Rice fans will probably be disappointed, if they aren't already, but that's mainly because her unique vision wasn't really represented here. She wrote the Interview with a Vampire script, so that vision shone throughout. That's where Queen of the Damned fails, in that it's someone else's idea of her vision.
All in all, as a casual Anne Rice fan and a huge fan of the contemporary vampire lifestyle, I had a blast from credits to credits. Oh, yeah...the soundtrack was AWESOME!!!
Gorilla at Large (1954)
500 pounds of 3-D FUN!!!
This movie was an annual tradition for many years in Boston, and I remember, as a kid, getting my 3-D glasses at the supermarket weeks in advance. "Gorilla at Large" is, in my humble opinion, a cult classic in every way. SEE THIS MOVIE!!! If you can get the 3-D version, definitely do that!
Sniper (1993)
Deep movie
By far one of the best "war" movies I've ever seen, right up there with Full Metal jacket. Sniper goes far deeper than most war movies, closely examining not only the obvious stories and subplots, but the psychological effects, both short-term and long-term effects, of the character. We can all feel the intense emotional hurt that Miller feels after his first kill, as well as Beckett's lingering pain lying just beneath the numb, unfeeling facade he puts forth. This movie would make a great hypothetical case study for a college psych course.
Watchers II (1990)
Better novel adaptation than many films (may contain spoilers)
In terms of quality, Watchers 2 wasn't great, but it was a far better adaptation of the Dean Koontz novel. Why? The original Watchers movie did follow the book, to a degree, but only to a degree, and the only characters from the novel were the dog and the creature. Watchers 2, on the other hand, included most of the characters from the original story.
It's just my own opinion, but I believe an adapted movie should follow the book as much as possible. Watchers 2 did exactly that. Dean Koontz has been known to maintain creative control on many of the later movies based on his books, so that they also follow the book to his satisfaction.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Well worth the hype...review may contain spoilers.
I'm a huge fan of thrillers, to the point that I'm virtually immune from being scared at movies. Gore movies and slashers don't really do it for me, unless there's a major psychological element included. That being said, the whole Blair Witch phenomenon (specifically relating to the original movie) floored me, even long after it was revealed as a staged film.
By far one of the best movies I've ever seen, not to mention THE BEST marketing program I've ever seen or heard about. To enhance my experience, I forced myself to stay in the "found documentary footage" mindset, and religiously followed the entire marketing package, including the Blair Witch website and "Curse of the Blair Witch."
There are many great movies made, and many great filmmakers around, but there are very few "true geniuses" in the film industry. The Blair Witch Project is an example of pure genius and brilliance. A truly rare treat.