moviedodd

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Re:Recasting RAIDERS OF THE LOS ...
By moviedodd in Filmgaming
"Robert Downey Jr. … Indiana Jones Michelle Monaghan … Marion Ravenwod Hugh Laurie … Dr. Rene Belloq Steve Buscemi … Major Arnold Toht, "The Melting Nazi" Alfred Molina … Sallah Rowan Atkinson … Dr. Marcus Brody Gael Garcia Bernal … Satipo Thomas Kretschmann … Colonel Dietrich John Goodman … Major Eaton " [More]

Re: Clean
By moviedodd in Spout Mavens
"Review " [More]

Clean

A Decent Story About Descent
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"What is it that we love so much about drug movies (and by “we” I mean “I”)? In the year 2000, a little movie called Requiem for a Dream made moviegoers cry, vomit, and hate their lives all at the same time. Yet, despite the depressing tension of watching characters throw their lives away for pills and needles, I found myself watching Requiem over and over again as if I were an excited kid watching The Goonies for the umpteenth time. I have found that depressing drug movies, such as Requiem, serve that fine purpose of allowing addicts to reflect on their wrecked lives, and allowing non-addicts to revel thankfully in their sobriety. What can I say? I love good, miserable movies about addiction! Not only are they the types of effective films that guidance counselors should be showing high school students, but they are sometimes full of rich storytelling and detailed character studies. One notable example is the indie drama Clean. Emily Wang (Maggie C ... " [More]

Re: Wondrous Oblivion
By moviedodd in Spout Mavens
"Preposterous Oblivion (Review) " [More]

Wondrous Oblivion

Preposterous Oblivion
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"Wondrous Oblivion is one of those films that I either love to hate, or hate to love. You probably know exactly what I am referring to; the sappy sweet kind of film that intentionally yanks at your heartstrings and pushes a blatant moralistic message at the very end. Sometimes movie fans like you and me immediately call out its agenda and put up an impenetrable steel wall around our hearts muttering the words, “Nice try”. However, other films of the same caliber are more successful at charming our guards down and leaving us stunned and smiling by the closing credits. The most recent personal examples I can recall are Love Actually and The Astronaut Farmer. By looking at the front cover of Wondrous Oblivion and its squeaky clean characters that emanate niceness, I knew I was in for a sentimental trip. But did it manage to win me over? My rolling eyes during the closing credits indicate not. David Wiseman (Sam Smith) is a young Jewish boy who has recently moved ... " [More]

Re: 13 Tzameti
By moviedodd in Spout Mavens
"Here is the link to my review: http://www.spout.com/blogs/mov iedodd/archive/2007/08/09/1771 9.aspx " [More]

13 Tzameti

Unsettling Intensity
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"Sometimes I find it amusing to reflect on the world’s obsession with death. I am even more intrigued by the utilization of death in the suspense thriller. There is nothing people are more frightened of than the idea of losing their own lives. This is precisely why the knife-wielding psycho or the murderous gunmen make us cringe whenever we sit down to enjoy an intense film. However, at the same time we are entertained by these murders because it is the characters experiencing a bloody fate while we clench onto our lucky souls as spectators. Every week thrillers are released, but they are sometimes so gratuitous and hollow that they fail to focus on death as the ultimate fear in life. However, there are some films that truly force its audience to watch in anticipation and dread. One recent example of this is the French nail-biter 13 Tzameti. This overlooked film does not begin with much intensity. It takes its time in introducing its protagonist, Sebastian (Geor ... " [More]

Re: The Great Match
By moviedodd in Spout Mavens
"Read my review at the following link:http://www.spout.com/blog s/moviedodd/archive/2007/8/2/1 7092.aspx " [More]

The Great Match

Attention Sports Fans!
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"It is a fact that everyone in the world has a grand event that he or she anticipates once a year. By annual “grand event” I am not referring to winter or patriotic holidays, but instead the one time out of the year when one sits in front of the television in awe and appreciation. This is an event that is generally different from country to country. Some hold Super Bowl Sunday dearly, while others are glued to their sets for the final stretch of the World Series. I, myself, don a tuxedo on my sofa for the Academy Awards. Yes, almost everyone has a certain ceremony or tournament that gets them excited, but there is one event that teaches the world to absorb the media in perfect harmony like the subjects of a Coca-Cola commercial. That event is the World Cup final. It is a sporting event that gathers soccer (or football) fans and non-fans together to root for their own countries and the countries of others. While most are aware that major countries such as the Unit ... " [More]

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Flamboyantly Fun
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"When exploring cinema from abroad, I am particular intrigued by Australian cinema. While doing my recent time in film school, I managed to take in quite a few films from Down Under. Something that always stuck out to me was the emphasis on Aussie masculinity. Not only do you have the Crocodile Dundee stereotype, but many other films depict the laid-back, beer-guzzling nature of Australian men. Take for example Aussie actor Bryan Brown in the film Two Hands as a Mafioso gang leader who chooses sweaty rugby shirts as his attire. Keeping the prominent idea of masculinity in mind, I was even more intrigued to see a film like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for the first time. After familiarizing myself with the macho depictions of characters in Australian film, I was now able to see things through the eyes of queer characters, and this turned out to be one wild and entertaining ride. Priscilla was released in the United States in 1994 with a cast of primarily u ... " [More]

Re: Ten Canoes
By moviedodd in Spout Mavens
"I recently had the opportunity to review the film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which gave me the opportunity to reflect on Australia’s national cinema. Many of the films from Down Under that I have viewed, including Priscilla, Two Hands, The Proposition, and Sweetie, tend to focus on white characters. This led me to notice the dichotomy between these white characters, and those of Aboriginal descent when they are present in the storyline. With the exception of projects such as Rabbit Proof Fence, most Aboriginal characters are treated as background characters that simply come and go. The only thing that the viewers gather from these depictions in film is that of savagery, mystery, or didgeridoo-playing. After recalling these representations on screen, it pleased me to come across a film like Ten Canoes. This is a picture completely dominated by Aboriginal culture that pushes Paul Hogan aside, and allows the people to become the protagonists whom we ... " [More]

1408

Psychological Chiller
By moviedodd in Dodd's Film Reviews
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"Perhaps this sounds like a familiar Stephen King premise; a writer stays at an old hotel for work-related purposes. The hotel is old and is said to house various angry spirits. Of course these ghosts exist because they died or were brutally murdered in this exact hotel. Anyone who stays in the hotel for too long begins to see evil things and loses their mind, which is exactly what happens to the previously-said writer. Sound familiar? Stephen King's The Shining is a novel that mirrors this exact premise, and it is quick to assume that the familiar story, which later became a classic film, is the storyline in question. However, it is not. In 2002, Stephen King revisited his "tormented writer in the haunted hotel" roots with the short story "1408", and the story recently received the film adaptation treatment. In a sea of thousands of Stephen King adaptations, there is a question as to how much this stacks up against the others. The answer is quite frightening ... " [More]