slipofthetongue

Member since 8/10/2006, last signed in awhile ago.

Send a message

Add to contacts

Invite to a group

Personal statement:

Any film can be a "good" film, regardless of genre.

[more]

slipofthetongue's movie tags

Talk

George Romero's Diary of the Dead

Your Getting Warmer...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Romero has taken his fifth installment in the classic DEAD series back to basics. Instead of a gritty black and white indie feel (like in the original) he uses a Panasonic HDCAM and tells the story from the point of view of a modern film student. The results are mixed. This is not quite the total disappointment Land of the Dead turned out to be. GEORGE ROMERO'S DIARY OF THE DEAD is a semi-effective morality tale with some joltingly good bits of C.G.gore and little else to recommend it except that it does feel truer to the indie spirit of vintage Romero than it's predecessor. The movie tilts toward annoying in its first hour, mostly due to its stock characters and a series of head scratching events in the story. Romero does build some tension so you go with it. But DIARY OF THE DEAD never does really find its own footing as a movie. About halfway through there is a series of scenes with an Amish farmer that are both funny and bizarre which serve to illustrate the problem. Yo ... " [More]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Relativity of Benja ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Director David Fincher is a talented visual stylist who is willing to twist a knife or two into the moviegoer's chest just to see how much they can take. His strong suits do not seem to be the depth of his characters or his sense of realism. Rather, his visual style marks the beginning of his imprint and it creates tone and mood so that his characters don't have to say as much. He gets off on putting people in unusual situations where they must think outside the box and even at times struggle with demons they don't fully understand. At first glance, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON seems a departure for him, and represents the dipping of his big toe into the waters of gooey, sentimental, "five star" cinema. It has been compared to Forrest Gump (and not by those who liked that film). The similarites are understandable (both are big budget, effects driven, sentimental yarns featuring unconventional and somewhat misunderstood protaganists). Yes, this is also a very long movi ... " [More]

Shutter

Ghost Girl Returns (who the hel ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"SHUTTER is a decent but conventional horror / thriller from Thailand. The set up is somewhat creepy and little else. There is yet another stringy haired ghost girl to be dealt with (as in 9 out of 10 Asian horror films). I did like the ending though. Marginally worth a look if you're alone and really stuck for something to do on a dark and stormy night. " [More]

The Dark Knight

The Final Bow
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"THE DARK KNIGHT is an artistic, well plotted, visually sumptuous superhero film. It straddles the line between art and commerce as well as any studio executive or casual moviegoer could hope. It is a bit too long and somewhat preachy at times but it's extremely engaging and very inventive. It strikes chords of hope amidst the dissonant sounds of cynicism, cruelty and chaos. From a film making stand point it's a success on it's own. And then there is Heath Ledger. Ledger's performance is a revelation. Ledger has created the single best arch villain performance in recent memory. He does it by endowing his character with a sense of immediacy of thought and action that is utterly believable while fitting securely into a two dimensional world of metaphor and superhero convention. Every line Ledger delivers feels credibile. Whether he is lying through his teeth about how he got his hideous facial scars or explaining his criminal "raison d'etre" to a sorrow filled and bed ridden ... " [More]

Joshua

The Boring Seed
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"JOSHUA is one of those movies that tries to substitute banal realism for genuine emotion. In this case the emotion missing would be suspense a la THE BAD SEED. This movie generates a bit of suspense but no where as much as is needed. It's derivitive, slow moving and dull witted. It's the cinematic equivilent of sleeping your Sunday away hungover, and then feeling guilty for the time you've wasted. No need to recap the performances, photography, direction, editing or score. JOSHUA is a tease, an unfulfilled promise that barely registers in your brain before it can be replaced by something more substantive, like reality television. " [More]

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D

L.A. Filmfest Review - Journey ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is dramatic cotton candy. Characterizations are thin. Dialogue is bare bones. The majority of the running time is allocated to action set pieces that (shall we say) stretch credibility? I doubt it would stand up to heavy scrutiny in 2-D and I wonder if some of the effects would play very well even in the home theater environment. But slip on those 3-D glasses and what a glorious confection it becomes. This movie barely rates three out of five stars in the Spout rating system but see it in 3-D and the movie rates four stars for novelty alone. The world premiere took place at the Los Angeles Film Festival this past Sunday. Brendan Frasier was in attendance and he thanked a number of people who were (blah, blah, blah) integral to the making of the film (insert names of studio execs here). Get on with the movie Brendan! You look good but my attention is waning! This is a movie that knows what it is. If effectively creates a story almost excl ... " [More]

Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal

L.A. Filmfest Review: Heidi Fl ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I didn't closely follow the case of Heidi Fleiss in the local media here in Los Angeles. There was something that seemed so "on the nose" about it all. It was so Hollywood. So tawdry and sensationalistic and somehow, so unsurprising. I never imagined Heidi Fleiss to be a degenerate nor did I think she was any kind of persecuted heroine. I certainly never imagined that my biggest impression of her would be that she was an empowered entrepreneur who just could not stop creating, and perhaps still cannot, though she is no longer in California. She just has to innovate and sell. The service she sells just happens to be sex. Even today, Fleiss is still trying to get an all male "Stud Farm" going in a little town called Crystal, Nevada (just 45 minutes from Las Vegas). As of the film's premiere last week at the L.A. Film Festival Heidi had encountered oppostion from local officials and townspeople but had not given up her dream of creating a place where women could go to rent som ... " [More]

Boy A

L.A. Filmfest Review: Boy A
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"BOY A is a good reminder of just how difficult it can be to translate theme and narrative from novel to screen. Directed by John Crowley, this film nearly gets everything so right that it is an absolute shock when the film flies off the tracks in the last act. Andrew Garfield plays a young ex-con with a secret in his past. This secret is so dark that he is forced to change his identity during the film's opening sequence. He chooses the name Jack. Case worker Terry (Peter Mullan) coaches him through the transition with sensitivity and patience. During this sequence, completely unaware of what I was about to see, the film La Femme Nikita came to mind. What was Jack in for? Would he become entangled with the governement? With the police? BOY A peels back the onion slowly and you really do not know what is going to happen. Through the use of soft, desaturated images, tight close ups and low angles a feeling of unease is gradually built and as Jack begins his transition we sli ... " [More]

Trinidad

L.A. Filmfest Review: Trinidad
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"When it comes to documentaries, if you want to have a guaranteed audience, try hitting a niche that still fascinates people. Anything related to drag queens or transexualism does well at the festivals. As advanced as we are (or should be) as a society, people are still curious and occasionally shocked when they see a man in a dress. TRINIDAD is the little conservative town in Colorado where more sex changes are performed than in any other part of the United States. This documentary is a capable, well constructed and, at times, moving piece of filmmaking that doesn't pander to the the standard "celebrate diversity" theme. Instead, it feels as if it's simply about "people" who are trying to get along in life and go about their business. This well balanced doc first sets up a brief history of Trinidad, a former "frontier" town. We are introduced to Dr. Stanley Biber, who became the pioneer of "sex reassingment surgery" back in the sixties, remaining in the town for decades. He ... " [More]

Must Read After My Death

L.A. Filmfest Review: Must Read ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH offers an intriguing opportunity for viewers to look into the tortured lives of a Connecticut family that struggled to regain its composure and its emotional stability as the decades passed and things got progressively worse. Allis and Charlie got married and had four children (Ann, Chuck, Bruce, and Douglas). Allis documents the unhappiness in the early years by use of a dictaphone and later through the use of a tape recorder. She would often go out and sit by herself in the car to do so. Years later, these recordings were wedded to stills and family home movies by Director/Producer/Editor Morgan Dews (grandson to Allis). He is able to document this American tragedy with the dispassionate but loving eye of a family member one generation removed. Yet more passion and more insight into the reasons for the family's emotional disintigration might have turned this film from something interesting into something truly riveting. After the film's U.S. premiere ... " [More]

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

L.A. Filmfest Review - X-Files ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"There was little room for anyone who wasn't a devout fan at the X-Files sneak peek (L.A. Film Festival on Sunday). For those of you who have not followed the series since it went off the air in 2002 the fan base is decidedly composed of young women, many of whom were not old enough to watch the show when it first premiered in 1993. The girls went wild for David Duchovny as he tossed back his bangs and walked on stage. It felt like the ceiling of the Crest Theatre in Westwood was about to collapse at any minute. Creator Chris Carter was shy and self-effacing. He seemed like a pleasant guy. Likewise screenwriter Frank Spotnitz. After two brief clips featuring F.B.I. agents crunching and jingling about in the snow while looking for a missing woman's body the lights came up. That was it for the sneak. The only thing revealed on film was that Gillian Anderson and Duchovny are both ten years older and Gillian has a new hair-do. Nice to see them back in action. Next came the Q& ... " [More]

Encounters at the End of the World

L.A. Filmfest Review: Encounter ...
By slipofthetongue in SlipOfTheTongue Blog
Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"I have never seen a Werner Herzog film so this is the perspective of one who is essentially experiencing his filmmaking for the first time. Take from that what you will. I have been aware of Herzog's work for years and have nibbled around the edges but never jumped in. I nearly rented Fitzcarraldo more than a dozen times and almost saw both Rescue Dawn and Grizzly Man in recent years. Both films sounded fascinating, as did this one. Perhaps it was the inherent bleakness of some of his work that held me back. There is bleakness in ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD but there is also a deftly humorous touch and (at times) the hand of a showman who knows how to play to an audience and ask engagingly human questions.The scene on Saturday night was one of a packed house. This was day three of the Los Angeles Film Festival. There was an introduction by a rep from the Sierra Club. I knew that we would have global warming on the brain that night. Encounters is not about global wa ... " [More]