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Reviews
Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
A Very Bland Holiday
The acting was most certainly the one take away that rescues this film from what might be well deserved obscurity. A well put together ensemble of actors and characters that delivers an all too mediocre story in both a dull narrative and a stereotypical setting.
It feels like the producers got together with the writers and tried to inject as many stereotypical, yet bland, conflicts into one story as possible, and then for the coup de grace, leave as much as possible completely unresolved.
Returning "war hero" whose status as hero is a murky as would be expected; struggling actress trying to figure out what she really wants; ex-gang member trying to 'go straight' in spite of continued pressures to return to his 'old ways'; having children vs. striving towards success; infidelity; cancer; divorce; lost love; unrequited love; humorous cousin; close knit PR Latino community ...
The list of these trite stereotyped characters and situations never seems to end, and in the end, it seems like it has left very little room for any real character or story to develop.
It isn't a bad film, but it is by and far a long way off from being a good film.
The Butterfly Tattoo (2009)
Art School Film
Maybe Phillip Pullman's novel is better, for my own sake and consideration of Pullman, I sincerely hope so.
But this movie is not particularly great. I really wanted to like it. It has the flavor of an Indie film, and I was hoping it would be a great Indie film. But it isn't.
The swirling thematic presence of Romeo and Juliet lays out a fairly straight plot line, so if You are looking for surprises, You are bound to be disappointed.
All the technical elements (acting, cinematography, etc) are well within acceptable limits, it just doesn't deliver a very profound experience.
I can see how some people might LOVE this film, but I think that they must be reaching and wanting to like it so much that they have convinced themselves it is really much better than it is.
It isn't a BAD film, and maybe my mediocre score is simply because I wanted to like it so much more than I did. It isn't a waste of time, but nor is it one that You walk away NEEDING to talk about, or even remember for that matter!
Defiance (2008)
Action Packed Thriller ... Holocaust Drama?
It seems to me that this film is trying very hard to be all things to everyone, and with that it reduces itself.
A bit of inspiration Holocaust drama, a bit of action thriller, a bit of human drama, a bit of Fiddler on the Roof(?).
I would recommend watching the movie. The acting is mostly quite good, the cinematography has enough different sequences to appeal to a range of audiences (though this can, and for me it DOES, end up being somewhat distracting) and the story is both well told and interesting.
While I have a mostly positive view of this movie, it does strike me a little bit as Schindler's List meets Red Dawn -- I wouldn't have been too terribly surprised to hear someone yell at the end "WOVERINES!!!!!"
Doubt (2008)
No Doubts Left UnTold
There is "no Doubt" that the performances turned in by Streep and Hoffman are outstanding. One should see this film, if for no other reason, but this alone.
Set in the early 1960's at a Catholic school, the film (and play I presume) present a subtle and somewhat hidden tale that delivers very superficial hints at homosexuality, child sexual abuse by priests, the relevance of religion in modern culture, progressive vs conservative culture and religious dogma. All of this is tied up in a messy bow of a meandering narrative.
As soon as the movie begins to develop a cogent point, it just as hastily veers off into another topic leaving the last unresolved. I gather this very well may be the point.
While some could well argue that Streep's character's breakdown at the end of the movie is the climactic endpoint bring all the Doubts illuminated throughout the movie into one sharp point, I would rather suggest that it is less a point rather than a prism that breaks all the Doubts into a final array of unresolved Doubts.
It is a good film and one that could lead naturally to a lot of follow-up discussion. I have to admit that I don't know whether I was truly satisfied at the end or just left with a nagging sense that I should have been given more in this film than just all the Doubts about many facets of this film. And perhaps that was the point.
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
Godwin's Law approaches 1
I hated to rate this 'documentary' with a 1, but Steins comparison of Evolution of the diversity of species through Natural Selection to Nazism made a dishonest hyperbolic argument into a total FAIL.
The subtitle "No Intelligence Allowed" was profoundly accurate in that there was virtually no intelligence here.
In fact, I am astounded at how bad this film actually was. There was a short little animated sequence demonstrating cellular processes that was somewhat interesting, except it was completely out of context and contained no information. The intent of that sequence I can assume is to point out how 'mechanical' cellular processes look -- and it is amazing how computer generated models look that way -- when they are used to simply demonstrate the processes in a clear 'modular' way instead of the icky life processes.
After watching this slickly produced propaganda film, I am left concluding that ID proponents 'got nothing'. There was neither coherent criticism of Evolution or constructive support for ID.
The fauxtroversy of the 'academic freedom' issue raised was so glossed over, I am left not having a clue as to what either the film was suggesting or what any of the issues surrounding this was even supposed to be, even accepting uncritically Stein's point on the 'academic freedom' issue, I still don't know what his point was supposed to be.
So, in summary, Stein FAILED on illuminating anyone about this issue of 'academic freedom'. Stein FAILED on critiquing in any real way (that doesn't involve Hitler and the Nazis!) Evolution. In fact, it is fair to say that anyone that knew little about Evolution walked out of that film knowing even less about Evolution. Stein FAILED to propose either strengths or even what ID is supposed to be, and again, anyone knowing little about ID would have left this film knowing even less about ID as well.
My fair vote for this movie would have been maybe a 3 or 4 out of 10, but Stein's invoking Hitler and the Nazis declared loudly and proudly that he was intent about being wrong at the top of his voice, and for that he gets from me a total and complete FAIL, if I could mark him lower than a 1, I would.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
One of Bloodiest Murders on Screen
This comment is somewhat original, in that I am not at all interested in making a religious comment. I am commenting on a Movie as a Movie Fan.
First off, the rating that I have given, while low is not intended as an indictment against any religious message, nor am I inclined to be hyperbolic in rating it as a 1, which I clearly don't think it deserves.
If I was only interested in rating a movie based on special effects and cinematography, this would sure get a 9 or 10 rating, just as I would give movies like Transformers or Godzilla, both of which I think deserve roughly the same rating, which leads me to consider that the 3 rating might be a little on the high level.
This movie is a well produced, visually stunning two hour snuff film.
As a movie fan, I don't get this film at all. The movie is not even a foreign language film, it is a dead language film. No matter what country or background You are, You HAVE to have subtitles. But that is OK, there are lots of foreign language films where I have had to read subtitles that I have enjoyed, this isn't one though.
Within this film, I don't at all understand why this man is being tortured to death. Why is nearly everyone so mad at this man? What has he done? Why are there so few people on his side? If there are so few people on his side, why should we care? To one degree, I think back to 2001: A Space Odyssey; This film, while visually stunning (for its time) is incredibly difficult to follow without the context of having read the book first. However, there is enough in 2001 to provide a thin thread of context that You can at least try and follow along. And for this reason, I think it fair to say that 2001 has never really been considered a great film.
A great film should allow You to walk in without any a priori knowledge and follow along and fully appreciate the story and presentation. Passion definitely fails on this account.
This is a bloody violent film with virtually no narrative, no character development and ironically, no passion. I don't have any connection with any of the characters, because in this Movie -- I don't know who any of these characters are or why I should care and I don't know what the story is even supposed to be.
Did I walk out of this film with a changed life? No, but it did make me think twice about eating meat!