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Reviews
Blade Runner (1997)
Featured Comment on Blade Runner is misleading...
It's unfortunate that the only negative comment on the Blade Runner game is the one featured on IMDB.
While the game is now 6 years old, and it's technology is certainly not the 'latest, greatest', I found it to be one of the more enjoyable games I've played. In fact, it's one of the few games I've played repeatedly!
The ending sequence DOES provide choices which lead to several different endings. And it follows the film closely enough to make you want to watch it again.
(Now, what happened to the rumored "20th anniversary" DVD we've been waiting for??)
Travolti da un insolito destino nell'azzurro mare d'agosto (1974)
Power, Politics and Human Nature
I feel that many of the comments for 'Swept Away...' slightly miss the point. Certainly, it is about politics. But Wertmuller is not taking sides between her communist & capitalist heros. She is examining what happens when they are removed from the society that defines their roles and their relationship.
Once the balance of power is reversed, they essentially change places. He becomes dominant (and often abusive). She becomes weak and submissive. The rough sex, etc. is all symbolic of how the poor are treated by the rich. And Wertmuller shows us that the 'working class hero' has no inherent nobility. Put in the position of power, he is every bit as cruel as his former oppressors. Once they return to society, the balance of power is once again reversed.
The message here is that there are no political heros and villains. Power is relative and arbitrary. And sadly, it is our nature to abuse it. The lesson is, perhaps, that we must rise above that base instinct and treat our fellow men with empathy and generosity. "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
The Exorcist (1973)
Not THE Best, but ONE of the Best!
The Exorcist has never been my favorite psychological thriller (that would be Psycho), or my favorite 'satanic' film (that would be Rosemary's Baby). But it is ONE of the best films of it's kind ever made.
The newly released "author's cut" has some cool added tid-bits (like the 'spider-walk' scene). But the two major additions (a trip to the Dr. before the party scene, and the author's preferred ending) were wisely cut from the first release. The first of these interrupts the building tension and reduces the impact of Regan peeing the carpet in front of her mother's guests. The altered ending doesn't work nearly as well as the original, and adds nothing of substance. I understand that Blatty and Friedkin argued bitterly over this. Friedkin was right!
La nuit américaine (1973)
A Love-Letter to the Art of Cinema
This film is Truffaut's love-letter to the art of cinema, as well as film-makers and film-lovers everywhere. The anecdotes surrounding the filming of Meet Pamela are collected from the director's experiences throughout his film-making career. But he also used the film to examine his lifelong passion for cinema, and to honor his favorite directors (e.g. Hitchcock, Welles, Cocteau). Truffaut's voice-overs are particularly poignant. His sense of humor was never sharper. And the film is visually a masterpiece. But most of all, it is filled with love for the art of film, for its characters, and most of all for its audience. If you truly love the movies... don't miss this one!