A man arrives at a town while running from a woman; he is mistaken for a gunfighter. There is a war in town between two rival mining companies.
Funny western, with relentlessly witty dialog and excellent performances all around.
Rating: 60
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wah-Wah (2005)
The film follows the childhood and adolescence of a boy living in Swaziland in the late 60's and early 70's, and his family problems: his mother leaves, etc.
Very good film, a sharp and honest depiction of a boy's life against a troubled family and a retrograde society going through changes. One of the main virtues of the film is that it keeps a perfect balance between comedy and drama.
Rating: 71 (4th position among my favorite movies of 2005)
Very good film, a sharp and honest depiction of a boy's life against a troubled family and a retrograde society going through changes. One of the main virtues of the film is that it keeps a perfect balance between comedy and drama.
Rating: 71 (4th position among my favorite movies of 2005)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Firewalker (1986)
Two adventurers are hired by a young woman to seek a treasure.
Mediocre adventure which aimed to cash in on the popularity of Romancing the Stone and its sequel Jewel of the Nile.
Rating: 30
Mediocre adventure which aimed to cash in on the popularity of Romancing the Stone and its sequel Jewel of the Nile.
Rating: 30
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
A detective who works at locating missing animals is hired to find the mascot of the famous Dolphins football club.
Occasionally intelligent but the protagonist's grimaceous characterization is not really my idea of funny.
Rating: 45
Occasionally intelligent but the protagonist's grimaceous characterization is not really my idea of funny.
Rating: 45
Monday, July 28, 2008
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
A gang of hackers takes over all the computer systems that control the essential services of the country.
The action sequences of this film are breathtaking.
Rating: 67
The action sequences of this film are breathtaking.
Rating: 67
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
A lunatic takes three consuls on a remote planet as hostages; he demands a starship so that he and his followers may go on a trip to a planet on the center of the galaxy where he believes he will find God. The Enterprise comes to the rescue but the lunatic manages to take control of it.
Another entertaining Star Trek film, correctly directed and competently written. The finale is weak in terms of 'scientific' justification, even more so than the average of the series, but it is perhaps the adequate culmination of a fantasy plot which brings about several interesting situations and a strong character, Sybok.
Rating: 52
Another entertaining Star Trek film, correctly directed and competently written. The finale is weak in terms of 'scientific' justification, even more so than the average of the series, but it is perhaps the adequate culmination of a fantasy plot which brings about several interesting situations and a strong character, Sybok.
Rating: 52
The Secret Life of Words (2005)
A nurse takes care of a burn victim at an oil rig.
It doesn't ring true for one moment. It also has a penchant for the music video.
Similar movies: The English Patient and Breaking the Waves.
Rating: 15
It doesn't ring true for one moment. It also has a penchant for the music video.
Similar movies: The English Patient and Breaking the Waves.
Rating: 15
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course (2002)
A satellite is self-destroyed and its data storage device is ejected, reaching the Earth's surface in Australia where it is eaten by a crocodile. An American team is sent to take the object back to the U.S., but at the same time an environmentalist is called in order to relocate the animal in question who has been giving trouble to a particular rancher.
Unpretentious yet entertaining adventure which benefits from the remarkable performance/stuntwork/informative lessons by Steve Irwin, who improvised all his lines.
Rating: 50
Unpretentious yet entertaining adventure which benefits from the remarkable performance/stuntwork/informative lessons by Steve Irwin, who improvised all his lines.
Rating: 50
Several early movies
Enfants pêchant des crevettes (1896) [eng. tit. Children Fishing for Clams]
Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)
Baignade dans un torrent (1897)
Le pêcheur dans le torrent (1897)
Monkeyshines, No. 1 (1890)
Baignade dans un torrent (1897)
Le pêcheur dans le torrent (1897)
Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios (1988)
English title: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
Woman tries to reach her ex-boyfriend in order to tell him she is pregnant of him.
Second viewing. Not so good as I thought; there is a moderate amount of invention in the screenplay, but the dialogue is excessive and uninspired.
Rating: 51 (down from 68)
Woman tries to reach her ex-boyfriend in order to tell him she is pregnant of him.
Second viewing. Not so good as I thought; there is a moderate amount of invention in the screenplay, but the dialogue is excessive and uninspired.
Rating: 51 (down from 68)
¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!! (1984)
English title: What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Life in a lower middle class family.
Not of much interest, except for the good direction of actors and the excellent performances; the screenplay is not totally devoid of interest, but the narrowness of the worldview it embodies is slightly offputting. The murder is from "Lamb to the Slaughter", by Roald Dahl, first published in 1953 and adapted for television in 1958 ("Alfred Hitchcock Presents") and subsequently for Dahl's English show.
Rating: 40
Life in a lower middle class family.
Not of much interest, except for the good direction of actors and the excellent performances; the screenplay is not totally devoid of interest, but the narrowness of the worldview it embodies is slightly offputting. The murder is from "Lamb to the Slaughter", by Roald Dahl, first published in 1953 and adapted for television in 1958 ("Alfred Hitchcock Presents") and subsequently for Dahl's English show.
Rating: 40
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Based on the novel by Katherine Paterson (1st ed. 1977).
A boy and a girl escape to a world of fantasy after school.
The 'realistic' part is mildly interesting and is actually at odds with the fantasy part, which is unengaging and perfunctory. It's also interesting to note that the film comes off as liberal-oriented (here I use the word 'liberal' in the meaning the U.S. people give it); the character 'Leslie''s loose approach to religion seems to embody the film's own stance on these matters; her words go more or less like this: " You have to believe it, and you hate it; I don't have to believe it, and I find it beautiful"; these words obviously reflect the filmmakers' minds, but hardly real-life children's -- anyway only an arrogant prick would tell her friend what he is supposed to hate. The film is clearly prejudiced towards rural people; Jess's parents are rude and cold, and his classmates are a bunch of retards and bullies. Oddly enough, no teacher or school staff seem to do anything about the scandalous student behavior.
Rating: 40
A boy and a girl escape to a world of fantasy after school.
The 'realistic' part is mildly interesting and is actually at odds with the fantasy part, which is unengaging and perfunctory. It's also interesting to note that the film comes off as liberal-oriented (here I use the word 'liberal' in the meaning the U.S. people give it); the character 'Leslie''s loose approach to religion seems to embody the film's own stance on these matters; her words go more or less like this: " You have to believe it, and you hate it; I don't have to believe it, and I find it beautiful"; these words obviously reflect the filmmakers' minds, but hardly real-life children's -- anyway only an arrogant prick would tell her friend what he is supposed to hate. The film is clearly prejudiced towards rural people; Jess's parents are rude and cold, and his classmates are a bunch of retards and bullies. Oddly enough, no teacher or school staff seem to do anything about the scandalous student behavior.
Rating: 40
Entre tinieblas (1983)
English titles: Dark Habits; Dark Hideout.
A woman hiding from the police seeks refuge in a convent.
Although some situations manage to cause a sense of weirdness, the actual events which link them are poorly developed and trite. The version I saw was only 95 minutes long approximately. This film has similarities in plot with Sister Act (1992), but I can't elaborate on that because I haven't seen the latter.
Rating: 31
A woman hiding from the police seeks refuge in a convent.
Although some situations manage to cause a sense of weirdness, the actual events which link them are poorly developed and trite. The version I saw was only 95 minutes long approximately. This film has similarities in plot with Sister Act (1992), but I can't elaborate on that because I haven't seen the latter.
Rating: 31
The Rundown (2003)
A debt collector is assigned the mission of bringing a young man from the Amazon jungle to his brother in the U.S.A.; once over there he joins that young man in a quest for a precious relic.
Mediocre adventure, except for some above average stuntwork.
Rating: 34
Mediocre adventure, except for some above average stuntwork.
Rating: 34
Cellular (2004)
A woman is kidnapped and while in captivity manages to make a phone call with a semi-destroyed phone; the randomly dialed number belongs to a young man who will do everything he can to help her.
A one-hour-and-a-half commercial for cellphones. Moderately entertaining.
Rating: 44
A one-hour-and-a-half commercial for cellphones. Moderately entertaining.
Rating: 44
Barquero (1970)
An outfit steals a payload of rifles and sends three of their men to secure the barge which will take them across the river to Mexico. These men are overpowered by the bargeman's friend and the whole town crosses the river before the bandits arrive in town. A long wait ensues on both sides of the river.
Well directed Western with several interesting situations and action sequences.Van Cleef and Tucker give memorable performances, and Oates is a genius.
Rating: 58
Well directed Western with several interesting situations and action sequences.Van Cleef and Tucker give memorable performances, and Oates is a genius.
Rating: 58
Patty Hearst (1988)
An account of the kidnapping of a wealthy young woman by a minuscule terrorist group and her subsequent joining in that group's activities.
This seems irreproachable at first analysis in strict storytelling terms, and yet there is something frustrating about the film which I can only express as being related to the non-cinematic quality of what is shown. This film draws a strong XXth century parallel to the XIXth century social behavior analysis in Duel at Diablo (1966).
Rating: 51
This seems irreproachable at first analysis in strict storytelling terms, and yet there is something frustrating about the film which I can only express as being related to the non-cinematic quality of what is shown. This film draws a strong XXth century parallel to the XIXth century social behavior analysis in Duel at Diablo (1966).
Rating: 51
The Fly (1986)
Based on a short story by George Langelaan (1st publication 1957).
A scientist researching teleportation tries to teleport himself but a fly enters the teleportation chamber and as a result his genetic material fuses with the fly's.
It's my second viewing of this film. I hated it when I first saw it. After this second viewing, I still don't like many things about it, but I acknowledge some basic virtues in it, mostly at the dramatic level, which is furthermore sustained by fine performances. Possibly its most obvious flaws are the scientific misconceptions it employs as a plot driver, such as a computer that performs actions without having been programmed to do them, and the whole baloney about teaching the computer about the "secrets of the flesh". But the film is flawed in a most essential level, in that it articulates some interesting concepts (for example, the comparison between disease and evolution) but never really explores them, degenerating instead into simple melodrama/thriller/ special effects show, and finishing so abruptly that the idea of a sequel becomes almost a necessity.
Rating: 41 (up from 17)
A scientist researching teleportation tries to teleport himself but a fly enters the teleportation chamber and as a result his genetic material fuses with the fly's.
It's my second viewing of this film. I hated it when I first saw it. After this second viewing, I still don't like many things about it, but I acknowledge some basic virtues in it, mostly at the dramatic level, which is furthermore sustained by fine performances. Possibly its most obvious flaws are the scientific misconceptions it employs as a plot driver, such as a computer that performs actions without having been programmed to do them, and the whole baloney about teaching the computer about the "secrets of the flesh". But the film is flawed in a most essential level, in that it articulates some interesting concepts (for example, the comparison between disease and evolution) but never really explores them, degenerating instead into simple melodrama/thriller/ special effects show, and finishing so abruptly that the idea of a sequel becomes almost a necessity.
Rating: 41 (up from 17)
Duel at Diablo (1966)
Based on the novel "Apache Rising" by Marvin H. Albert (1st ed. 1957).
A white woman had been kidnapped by the Apaches and was rescued after having lived for some time among them; now she can't fit in with the white community, which treats her with contempt. She tries to get back to the Apaches but is taken back to her husband by a scout.
The psychology is that of dime novels -- it's based on one, after all. I found the native Americans' hostility towards the woman hard to believe, and even harder that they would want to bury her alive; but then again some white characters are portrayed in a simplistic manner too. It's nevertheless an entertaining film at the melodramatic level; the action scenes were directed with a remarkable acuity.
Rating: 58
A white woman had been kidnapped by the Apaches and was rescued after having lived for some time among them; now she can't fit in with the white community, which treats her with contempt. She tries to get back to the Apaches but is taken back to her husband by a scout.
The psychology is that of dime novels -- it's based on one, after all. I found the native Americans' hostility towards the woman hard to believe, and even harder that they would want to bury her alive; but then again some white characters are portrayed in a simplistic manner too. It's nevertheless an entertaining film at the melodramatic level; the action scenes were directed with a remarkable acuity.
Rating: 58
Shi gan (2006)
English title: Time.
A woman thinks her boyfriend is getting tired of her and changes her face through plastic surgery; she then changes her identity as well and tries to start a relationship with him.
Silly and dull.
Rating: 24
A woman thinks her boyfriend is getting tired of her and changes her face through plastic surgery; she then changes her identity as well and tries to start a relationship with him.
Silly and dull.
Rating: 24
Spanglish (2004)
A Mexican woman emigrates to the U.S. with her small daughter; she finds work as a maid for a rich family and gets personally involved in their matters.
Apparently all familiar dramedies nowadays must feature a 'castrated' male, so this is no exception. It would be a waste of time to list all the atrocious moments in the movie -- it is bad from frame one and does not improve as it goes along. Of course, it must culminate in an ending which tops everything that precedes it in terms of abomination. One particular aspect of the movie, though, had me specially puzzled, namely, that it has a WHITE Spanish actress playing a Mexican woman whose daughter considers her mother's employer as "the coolest WHITE woman she has ever met".
Rating: 15
Apparently all familiar dramedies nowadays must feature a 'castrated' male, so this is no exception. It would be a waste of time to list all the atrocious moments in the movie -- it is bad from frame one and does not improve as it goes along. Of course, it must culminate in an ending which tops everything that precedes it in terms of abomination. One particular aspect of the movie, though, had me specially puzzled, namely, that it has a WHITE Spanish actress playing a Mexican woman whose daughter considers her mother's employer as "the coolest WHITE woman she has ever met".
Rating: 15
Demonlover (2002)
Diane is an executive at a French company who is trying to buy a Japanese porn animation company; she happens to be a spy at the service of that Japanese company's main rival.
It's marred by a poorly thought out script, crammed with unexplained or implausible events. Piecewise, it is rather atmospheric, yet not exactly thrilling. The predictable ending gives the film a moralistic slant.
Rating: 47
It's marred by a poorly thought out script, crammed with unexplained or implausible events. Piecewise, it is rather atmospheric, yet not exactly thrilling. The predictable ending gives the film a moralistic slant.
Rating: 47
Tôkyô orimpikku (1965)
English title: Tokyo Olympiad.
The Brazilian TV showed only 125 minutes out of 170.
This film tries to highlight the human side of the Olympics, favoring close-ups -- and closer shots in general -- whenever possible. An interesting approach, but it seems to me -- based on the cut version I saw -- that it sacrifices the documenting of the actual games and competitions; an extreme example -- and, again, I can't be sure if this is due to some cut footage -- is the fencing competition, where we see the faces of the contestants but have no idea of what they are doing.
The Brazilian TV showed only 125 minutes out of 170.
This film tries to highlight the human side of the Olympics, favoring close-ups -- and closer shots in general -- whenever possible. An interesting approach, but it seems to me -- based on the cut version I saw -- that it sacrifices the documenting of the actual games and competitions; an extreme example -- and, again, I can't be sure if this is due to some cut footage -- is the fencing competition, where we see the faces of the contestants but have no idea of what they are doing.
La bride sur le cou (1961)
English titles: Please, Not Now!; Only for Love.
Sophie lost her boyfriend to an American woman; then Sophie meets Alain, who falls in love with her; he suggests she use him to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.
Silly comedy which is slightly entertaining.
Rating: 35
Sophie lost her boyfriend to an American woman; then Sophie meets Alain, who falls in love with her; he suggests she use him to make her ex-boyfriend jealous.
Silly comedy which is slightly entertaining.
Rating: 35
La grande olimpiade (1961)
English titles: The Grand Olympics; Olympic Games 1960.
Documentary covering the 1960 Olympics held in Rome. This film is significantly better than the London and the Melbourne records.
Documentary covering the 1960 Olympics held in Rome. This film is significantly better than the London and the Melbourne records.
Norbit (2007)
Norbit, an orphan, marries a bossy, overweight woman whose brothers run a series of illegitimate businesses. Norbit's childhood sweetheart returns with intentions of buying the orphanage they were raised in. Her fiancé is secretly associated with Norbit's brothers-in-laws in a plan to turn the orphanage's building into a strip club.
Entertainingly crude (or rather, crudely entertaining).
Rating: 54
Entertainingly crude (or rather, crudely entertaining).
Rating: 54
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
A man who had been exiled in a deserted planet seeks revenge upon the man who put him there.
Entertaining space adventure, with two astounding performances, Nimoy's and Montalbán's. It's my second viewing.
Rating: 56 (up from 47)
Entertaining space adventure, with two astounding performances, Nimoy's and Montalbán's. It's my second viewing.
Rating: 56 (up from 47)
The Glimmer Man (1996)
A New York cop moves to Los Angeles where he partners with another cop in the investigation of some ritualistic murders. They begin to suspect that another criminal has been disguising his crimes as those of the serial killer in order to conceal his own activities involving the sale of chemical weapons to foreign terrorists via the Russian Mafia.
Routine policier with very cliché plot/characters which nevertheless handles its action well.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 30
Routine policier with very cliché plot/characters which nevertheless handles its action well.
Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 30
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
A guy accepts a job of transporting beer from one State to another (which in the U.S.A. is illegal). He calls a friend to drive the truck while he'll drive a car which will work as a diversion. He picks up a runaway bride on the way back and is chased by the sheriff of the town in which the wedding was supposed to happen.
Second viewing. Great performances, classic songs, sharp dialogue, fine direction, all come together just fine.
Rating: 61 (up from 57)
Second viewing. Great performances, classic songs, sharp dialogue, fine direction, all come together just fine.
Rating: 61 (up from 57)
Olympic Games 1956 (1956)
Documentary showing the XVIth Olympiad, which took place in Melbourne, Australia. I am guessing that the 50 minutes or so that I saw (on Brazilian TV) were a heavily cut version of the entire movie. Its integral duration is a little hard to ascertain, since the Internet Movie Database registers two versions, one shown in 1956 and another which was edited from the first one and came out in 2000. The latter's duration -- the only one reported -- is 104 minutes.
The film is a straightforward record without much sophistication of any sort.
The film is a straightforward record without much sophistication of any sort.
XIVth Olympiad: The Glory of Sport (1948)
Documentary showing the London Olympics in 1948. The Brazilian TV showed a cut version (101 minutes out of 136), thus the narration gets incomprehensible when it mentions Switzerland, all the footage of which was cut. The film is not distinctive in any formal aspect, but otherwise it's fascinating to see women athletes who look like... uh, women. As for the rest of it, the user review (there is only one as of this moment) on the Internet Movie Database is pretty accurate.
Zivot je cudo (2004)
English title: Life Is a Miracle.
[Complete plot, with serious spoilers]
Prior to the Bosnian war, in a small town, a man works as an engineer for the local railway and has a dissatisfied wife who used to sing opera and is emotionally unstable. They have a son who plays football (that's soccer for you Yanks) and aspires to become a professional player. He is drafted for Army service and then the war begins. His mother runs away with a Hungarian musician. A local soldier kidnaps a Serbian woman who worked at the local hospital expecting to trade her for the engineer's son who has been taken prisoner. She is placed in the engineer's house as a hostage but she had long had a crush on him so she willingly obliges. A romance blossoms between the two until one day his wife returns. Also, the war has ended and the Serbian woman is in the U.N.'s prisoners list and must be returned to her country. They try to escape from Bosnia but she is shot in the leg. She goes to a hospital and from there they take her to Serbia; the engineer runs after her but on the bridge he finds his son returning to Bosnia, which causes him to lose her. He loses track of her and returns to his old life; he gets so despondent that he tries to kill himself by placing his head on the train rail. A donkey, who was -- as he had been time and again throughout the film -- stopped on the track in an attempt, according to his owner (who is himself a ghost according to another character), to kill himself over a love pain, prevented him from getting killed. He is taken with exhilaration and, in a "dream" or premonitory sequence, is seen riding the donkey with his beloved. Minor supblots: a mayor who will not comply with a corruption scheme is assassinated at his lawyer's orders; this lawyer subsequently takes his place and is referred to in one mysterious subtitle as "bisexual".
Very noisy and festively vulgar. Every character seems to have one screw loose. Not particularly remarkable but done with feeling, it seems. The problem with this kind of feeling, as expressed in the title, is that it doesn't have the universal appeal to which it aspires. It ultimately proves only that "life in this particular movie is a miracle".
Rating: 53
[Complete plot, with serious spoilers]
Prior to the Bosnian war, in a small town, a man works as an engineer for the local railway and has a dissatisfied wife who used to sing opera and is emotionally unstable. They have a son who plays football (that's soccer for you Yanks) and aspires to become a professional player. He is drafted for Army service and then the war begins. His mother runs away with a Hungarian musician. A local soldier kidnaps a Serbian woman who worked at the local hospital expecting to trade her for the engineer's son who has been taken prisoner. She is placed in the engineer's house as a hostage but she had long had a crush on him so she willingly obliges. A romance blossoms between the two until one day his wife returns. Also, the war has ended and the Serbian woman is in the U.N.'s prisoners list and must be returned to her country. They try to escape from Bosnia but she is shot in the leg. She goes to a hospital and from there they take her to Serbia; the engineer runs after her but on the bridge he finds his son returning to Bosnia, which causes him to lose her. He loses track of her and returns to his old life; he gets so despondent that he tries to kill himself by placing his head on the train rail. A donkey, who was -- as he had been time and again throughout the film -- stopped on the track in an attempt, according to his owner (who is himself a ghost according to another character), to kill himself over a love pain, prevented him from getting killed. He is taken with exhilaration and, in a "dream" or premonitory sequence, is seen riding the donkey with his beloved. Minor supblots: a mayor who will not comply with a corruption scheme is assassinated at his lawyer's orders; this lawyer subsequently takes his place and is referred to in one mysterious subtitle as "bisexual".
Very noisy and festively vulgar. Every character seems to have one screw loose. Not particularly remarkable but done with feeling, it seems. The problem with this kind of feeling, as expressed in the title, is that it doesn't have the universal appeal to which it aspires. It ultimately proves only that "life in this particular movie is a miracle".
Rating: 53
Clerks II (2006)
A fast-food employee is about to leave for Florida to get married.
This is not really suitable material for screen; perhaps for TV, but definitely would work best on paper. Above all, this is a sequel that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Rating: 24
This is not really suitable material for screen; perhaps for TV, but definitely would work best on paper. Above all, this is a sequel that doesn't make a lot of sense.
Rating: 24
Indigènes (2006)
English title: Days of Glory.
In World War II, a unit of French colonials fights first in Italy, then in Africa, and finally in Alsacia.
This film shows the discrimination against people of Arabic and Negro ethnicity both during the war and after it. As every film with an agenda, it's manipulative to some extent. Nevertheless, it is well made and its general point is a valid one. Some aspects of it are also present in Glory (1989); some battle sequences bear similarities with Saving Private Ryan (1998), according to some sources (I have seen that movie but don't remember it all that well).
Rating: 65
In World War II, a unit of French colonials fights first in Italy, then in Africa, and finally in Alsacia.
This film shows the discrimination against people of Arabic and Negro ethnicity both during the war and after it. As every film with an agenda, it's manipulative to some extent. Nevertheless, it is well made and its general point is a valid one. Some aspects of it are also present in Glory (1989); some battle sequences bear similarities with Saving Private Ryan (1998), according to some sources (I have seen that movie but don't remember it all that well).
Rating: 65
Les spécialistes (1985)
A cop passing off as a convict simulates an escape and takes another convict with him; he intends to use the latter in a casino robbery whose motivation is to cause a war between rival gangs.
Filled with plot absurdities of all kinds, and I think plot is important in a film like this. Aside from that, it is very tritely conceived in terms of characters and dialog.
Rating: 16
Filled with plot absurdities of all kinds, and I think plot is important in a film like this. Aside from that, it is very tritely conceived in terms of characters and dialog.
Rating: 16
La femme de Gilles (2004)
English title: Gilles' Wife
Based on the novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe (1st ed. 1937).
A woman puts up with her husband's cheating.
An interesting story, in a somewhat shallow film; the ending in particular is clumsily conceived; it doesn't ensue naturally from the flow of events or states of mind.
Rating: 56
Based on the novel by Madeleine Bourdouxhe (1st ed. 1937).
A woman puts up with her husband's cheating.
An interesting story, in a somewhat shallow film; the ending in particular is clumsily conceived; it doesn't ensue naturally from the flow of events or states of mind.
Rating: 56
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
A gigantic energy field is approaching Earth. The spaceship Enterprise is assigned to investigate it and neutralize any possible harm coming from it.
Mostly clichés. Machines that acquire consciousness are a must in this kind of enterprise. As an abstract narrative, it is fairly watchable. This is my second viewing.
Note: apparently I saw the oldest version, with 132 minutes.
Rating: 40 (unchanged)
Mostly clichés. Machines that acquire consciousness are a must in this kind of enterprise. As an abstract narrative, it is fairly watchable. This is my second viewing.
Note: apparently I saw the oldest version, with 132 minutes.
Rating: 40 (unchanged)
Yat goh hiu yan (1997)
English title: Mr. Nice Guy.
A cook gets accidentally involved with two rival gangs which are pursuing a journalist who has a video tape which may incriminate them.
First off, the premise is completely absurd, since it presupposes that a tape cannot be duplicated. Of course this is just the mcguffin, but all the same... As for the action, which is obviously the prime focus of the movie, it is mostly well staged (with a few not-so-minor glitches here and there) and fast paced, yet unimpressive.
Rating: 35
A cook gets accidentally involved with two rival gangs which are pursuing a journalist who has a video tape which may incriminate them.
First off, the premise is completely absurd, since it presupposes that a tape cannot be duplicated. Of course this is just the mcguffin, but all the same... As for the action, which is obviously the prime focus of the movie, it is mostly well staged (with a few not-so-minor glitches here and there) and fast paced, yet unimpressive.
Rating: 35
Inspecteur Lavardin (1986)
A writer is found dead on the beach. Inspector Lavardin is called in to solve the crime. He finds out that the dead man's wife is a former flame of his.
Second film with the character from Poulet au vinaigre. This one is even worse. It is boring and, as becomes evident when the mystery is solved, doesn't make much sense; the ending is idiotic.
Rating: 6
Second film with the character from Poulet au vinaigre. This one is even worse. It is boring and, as becomes evident when the mystery is solved, doesn't make much sense; the ending is idiotic.
Rating: 6
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Forensic Files: Insulated Evidence (2007) (TV)
A guy is murdered in his apartment. Police receives an anonymous call who reveals that the killer came in through a passage on the ceiling of the closet which connects to other apartments through a crawlspace. The killer was the neighbor's boyfriend whom she met in the internet. He was hiding in her apartment after having committed a previous crime.
Dreamgirls (2006)
Based on a musical play which opened in 1981.
Story of some female singers in the 60s and their crooked manager.
This is without the shadow of a doubt the worst musical I have seen in my entire life. Although kudos is due to the entire cast, the screenplay just falls short of being interesting and, what's worse, the songs are plain awful.
Rating: 29
Story of some female singers in the 60s and their crooked manager.
This is without the shadow of a doubt the worst musical I have seen in my entire life. Although kudos is due to the entire cast, the screenplay just falls short of being interesting and, what's worse, the songs are plain awful.
Rating: 29
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