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Reviews
Slings and Arrows (2003)
Absolutely genial
This Canadian TV series is fantastic. I saw the full first season without leaving my couch. It is impossible to stop watching, that's how good this is. The dialog is intelligent and full of surprising humor, a masterful use of language and theatrical sparks. Actors play the scenes with total involvement, they construct and maintain the atmosphere, the dialog and their glances tie them together in a perfectly directed story. Of course, Paul Gross is bewitching. His screen persona, his voice, his whole act, are so good - a delight. All of them are so good, though. And last, but not the least: the plot is great. You can't help but thinking that this show reproduces in a theater, what is happening on the political stage in the US. People with no taste or culture, but who control the money, try to buy and sell artists. Absolutely the greatest TV series in many years.
Prime (2005)
I would see it again, for Uma Thurman at the end
Prime has a theme that was treated before in "Good-bye, again!" - original French title "Aimez-vous Brahms?", after a novel by Francoise Sagan. In Good-bye again, Ingrid Bergman was the older, sophisticated woman, in a romance with Anthony Perkins, who plays a handsome and sweet young man. The differences are significant. In Prime, the young man is not rich and not very sophisticated. Dave is a quite realistic picture of a 23 year old New Yorker. Also, the story in Prime is surprisingly devoid of melodrama. So Prime has a lot going for it. Uma Thurman acts beautifully. I think this is the kind of role that many actresses wish they could get, because it is so flattering to be desired by a younger man. Uma Thurman succeeds in doing the role without giving the impression that she is playing her own fantasies. Bryan Greenberg is very convincing portraying the young painter. Meryl Streep is great as the neurotic mom. The movie is funny at points and can bring tears in your eyes at times. The best thing in the movie for me was the ending (which I won't give away); it is a classic. It is so well conceived and directed, and so masterfully acted by Uma Thurman, that I would really like to see the movie again, just to see that final scene again.
Sideways (2004)
a good story, no Hollywood BS
The merits of the film: This story portrays males (American, in this case) in an unforgiving light. There is no delusion about love or romance. This is a rare occurrence in American films. Typically Americans make movies in which there is a clear distinction between the Bad and the Good, so that the delusional viewer gets out of the cinema dutifully charged with fresh illusions. Not this one! THis film cuts through the BS. It is made in European manner. It is a good story about people I wish I never meet in real life. The principal character, Miles, is the type of man that steps on your nerves if you were to meet him: haughty, snobbish, introvert and obsessive. A combination of pathetic and egocentric. Thus, Paul Giamatti acted well. He was uneasy, and at times, annoying. He reminded me of the awkward characters from classic Russian novels. The second principal male character is not more endearing, either. He is a different type of loser - the one who keeps up appearances. Some weak points: The story line is a bit predictable. The female characters in the movie are much less developed than the men.