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Mariekreutz

Member since 1/6/2008, last signed in awhile ago.
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Atonement
Atonement
Good but could have been so muc ...
By Mariekreutz in Mariekreutz Blog
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 "This is the year of the incomplete, not fully developed film in Hollywood. So many that I've anticipated, even my beloved Bourne film, have opened with a noticeable flaw--a limp here, a limb missing there, a barely noticeable cleft palate that many professional reviewers seem to polite to point out. Eastern Promises was one of them; although beautifully shot and written, it wrongly cast Naomi Watts and failed to develop the father enough. The Bourne Ultimatum played coy with the audience, as if they hated to actually reveal the mystery of Jason Bourne and also wanted to hold enough back to reserve the option of another film. Atonement--compare it to the heft of Gosford park or A Children's Hour--and what you have is a Victorian romance instead of a drama. Kira Knightly substitutes affectation for acting and James Mavgyy suffered from a truncated story line and stingy opportunity for character development. I wonder why Brenda Blethyn was even in this film; her role amo ... " [More]
There Will Be Blood
There Will Be Blood
American to the core
By Mariekreutz in Mariekreutz Blog
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 "Daniel Plainview represents all that is hated about America--he is the quintessential Ugly American --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki /Ugly_American. Driven by the "competition in him," he ignores all the other aspects of his person turning himself into an organism nourished by oil and sustained by greed. But what makes Plainview fascinating and more dimensional is that we see the parts of him that are human, that promise humanity but warp and distort ultimately from denial, self-manipulation, and neglect. Plainview adopts baby HW after his father is killed in his well--Plainview's first unexpected humane act on screen that gives us, the viewer, pause. Who would expect someone so driven, a man alone, a moneymaker to assume the burden of single parenthood? Does he love this boy? Yes, he does... as long as he's not publicly betrayed by it. Sure, he uses the boy to advance his schemes but he also takes time to teach the boy--he's grooming him as his heir. He& ... " [More]

Re:Top 5 Lead Performances of 2 ...
By Mariekreutz in Filmspotting
"Have to agree with with choices from in both lists, especially Josh Brolin, Gordon Pinsent, Richard Gere & Ulrich Muhe. Brolin's role started out so enigmatic--he seemed to care little for the massive death he walks into & then watches a guy die--but he redeems himself and gets us on his side, developing his character in a way similar to the way Hitchcock would build his, this interplay between the comic and scary. Richard Gere and Alfred Molina worked too closely together to grant Gere's character the sole impact. Those two together made The Hoax.How can you leave out Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises? And, again, both Viggo and Cassel together were sublime; in fact, in rewatching EP, I was blown away by Cassel's performance as the son who'd never measure up to his father, whose latent homosexuality had to be drowned in drink and masked by violence. " [More]

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