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Still Like's Vincent Price's Ve ...
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"To your average viewer, I think this is yet another Will Smith blockbuster with a fine performance by said actor. But I've seen the previous versions of this story (which originated as a fantastic novella and served as the inspiration to George Romero's "Living Dead" series), and I must say, I still prefer "The Last Man On Earth", Vincent Price's 60's version, even with its phlegmatic zombie-vampires. Many of the book's finer points have been changed in this version, and I believe it suffers because of it. Overall, not a bad film...but check out "Last Man On Earth" for a superior version (story-wise). " [More]
A Touching Tale Of Cuckoldry An ...
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"When Edward Norton first starts speaking in an English accent, I thought "great, that's all I'm going to listen for...him messing up an accent." I soon forgot all about that as the story and characters are so gripping that you soon become entangled in their situation. FANTASTIC cinematography throughout and a wonderfully understated score round out this film. My only gripe is that it is ANOTHER remake of a film classic, but in fairness, it's adapted from a novel, so I suppose that fact makes it fair game. All in all, a wonderful cinematic experience. " [More]
A Somber Tale
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"This piece was nominated for an Academy Award...and I can see why. It gets its point across in a very short 17 minutes. Sad and beautiful at the same time, a very nice "thinking" short film by Icelandic filmmaker Rúnar Rúnarsson. " [More]
Rings False
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"Yikes. This film starts off all whimsical and lightly comedic (depending on your definition of comedy), and perhaps with a theater full of people, this type of humor might have worked better. But sitting at home, it fell flat and felt false. Things start to get better, and the actors all seem into their parts, but it's the ending that killed then entire film for me. *SPOILER ALERT* When Jones exacts revenge on all those people at the beginning of the film that "do him wrong", it just feels contrived and silly *END SPOILER*. Sorry, folks, I like to give cute little indies a chance, but this one just left me feeling disappointed. " [More]
Quick And Funny Short
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"This 12-minute short is how shorts should be made - quick witted, well acted, to the point, and if it's a comedy (like this one), FUNNY! The vignettes of the patients are hilarious, and Kevin Pollak is fantastic as doomed therapist Dr. Stern. I believe this is on a DVD of Academy Award nominated shorts available via Magnolia Pictures, so if you've been aching to see this or other nominated short films from 2004, definitely give it a look - you won't be disappointed. " [More]
Not What You Expect
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"I've never really cared for Aaron Eckhart's acting - his actions ring false to me, and that seems to be the central motif of this film - a false ringing. Nobody seems to really be "into" this film, and as a result, it's like watching, perhaps not a bad play, but maybe a well-acted high school play. The cinematography is, at times, breathtaking, but it's very soft and glittery for a film that I don't think deserved that kind of treatment. Brittany Murphy scares me - even when she's supposed to be a romantic lead, she still looks crazy in the eyes to me. I'm sure first time director/writer Joshua Michael Stern was thrilled when he got the opportunity to direct his first major motion picture with a seemingly star-studded cast, but the actors seemed to be working for a paycheck here, even the wonderful Ian McKellen, whose work in other independent films in most of the time magnificent, but here is just a little too over the top. And if the actors a ... " [More]
Wow
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"After watching a few stinkers in the past couple of days, this film was like...well...a love explosion! THIS is the way films ought to be made. Fantastic performances, superb set design, a masterfully crafted plot and script, mounting tension, tons of rewatchability...what more can you ask for in a film? A classic that I can't believe is already a decade old... " [More]
Great Story, Bad Editing
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"I'd say it's mostly the languid pace that began to kill this film for me, because the performances are all top notch. Even the story is well written, with my only gripe being *POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Fatima's story line, which takes place in the past, but for dramatic tension, this is not revealed until the denoument, which as I just stated in my review of "The Usual Suspects" manipulative and contrived (Suspects NOT falling into that category, fortunately). I genuinely felt annoyed that everything up to that point had been told to mislead me and make me feel more emotion at the end. There are also a number of plot holes (who DID make that phone call?) which, in my opinion, are hard to ignore. Hmph. I guess I expected more from Tsotsi's director. And now I hear he's doing the "Wolverine" movie...Hollywood. Another one bites the dust, as they say. " [More]
An Unusually Good Film
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"I'm usually very wary of films with a "mind-bending twist" at the end of the film, as they tend to be manipulative and misleading throughout, only to be told at the end that what you saw wasn't REALLY what you saw. Another close instance of "bad" filmmaking is when a character wakes up to find out that everything we've just witnessed was a dream. You feel cheated, and it's become a tired cliche when a suitable ending can't be found. Fortunately, this was not the case with The Usual Suspects, and even in subsequent views, the film holds up under close scrutiny and doesn't lose any of its verve. Worthy of all the accolades heaped upon it, DEFINITELY watch this film sometime in your life, preferably before someone ruins it for you. " [More]
Another Stephen King Letdown
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"There are two reasons I completely disliked this film: the TERRIBLE cinematography (can we say "rack focus", anyone?) and the IMPLAUSIBLE actions of the characters. Let me elaborate: it is shot like episodic television, which makes sense since Frank Darabont seemed to use most of the crew he worked with on "The Shield", but for God's sake...this is a feature film! Some of the shots weren't even in focus...at all! Seriously? 18 million dollar budget and all they can come up with is this? Sad. Then we've got the character's actions themselves. Whereas the natural instinct of self-preservation would kick in to a "real" person caught in this situation (like running for your life when scary shit starts attacking you), these people seem to have little of that instinct. Instead, they seem compelled to stand and stare, scream a little, and get killed. Not only that, but SOMEONE in this small hick town ought to know that INSECTS ARE ATTRACTED TO ... " [More]
Typical Will Ferrell Fare
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"If you go into this film with as low expectations as I went into it, you'll find you might enjoy this film. Especially if you're in the mood to laugh. A Will Ferrell movie is chock full of his idiosyncrasies, and this movie is no exception. But this time, it's tempered with Jon Heder's brand of humor, and they make a perfect odd couple. I found myself laughing throughout, even at the scatological humor, which most of the time I find to be puerile, but it's actually funny here. The "killer" move they attempt to learn is lifted right from the film "The Cutting Edge", that film being a guilty pleasure of mine, I found extremely humorous. It's definitely not a classic, but it's ludicrousness is good for a few laughs. " [More]
Tim Burton-Like Fairy Tale
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"Director Mark Palansky obviously would cite Tim Burton as an influence, and that's not a bad thing. I'd rate this film as "if you loved Big Fish, you'll probably love this film, too". The script is severely underdeveloped, and the film would probably be subpar were it not for the FANTASTIC performances by all the actors involved. Catherine O'Hara (Beetlejuice?), Richard E. Grant, Peter Dinklage and James McAvoy pull in some amazing performances (considering what they had to work with), but it's Christina Ricci who truly shines. Even with the badly applied prosthetic nose, she charms with such a natural beauty that it's hard to believe all of the blue blood suiters who run away screaming couldn't JUST see underneath that nose to the wonderful person she is. Ricci's acting has definitely improved over the years, and she needs to sink her teeth into something worthy of her talent and beauty. A cute movie for the whole family...and Ricci and Mc ... " [More]