Becky-9 Reviews

Keeping the Faith (2000)

Funny, Sexy, all around great movie

[9/10 · 17 April 2000]

Edward Norton has done it again. His name is becoming synonymous with quality films. Keeping the Faith is funny, sexy and gently nudges you to think about love, life and priorties. It is long, but keeps your attention because the characters are so engaging. I give it a 9 out of 10.

Summer of Sam (1999)

The Son of Sam story is an effective backdrop

[9/10 · 19 July 1999]

I really enjoyed this movie. The Son of Sam killings are just a backdrop to a slice-of-life story in New York City in the summer of 1977. I believe that Spike Lee wanted to tell a story about the seventies - the excesses of sex, drugs and the desperation of the times. He chose a summer that stood out in the minds of the people who lived through it because of the record heat, the murders and the blackout. The Son of Sam killer was in one sense a strongly contrasting back drop and in another sense an extreme sign of the times. David Berkowitz was out of control and driven by invisible demons, but that could be said of the main character Vinnie. The difference between the two could almost be reduced to a matter of degree. I was struck by the part of the story where a group of friends thought the killer was one of their own because he was into punk rock and same-sex sex for money. Their misunderstanding of the killer seemed startling in light of what we know about serial killers today, but was dead on for the time. Spike Lee reminds us with this movie how much damage is done when we allow ourselves to be driven by our ignorance and fear. He makes us uncomfortable, of course, but the lesson rings so true. As far as the direction went, I thought that it was classic Spike Lee with a little taken from some other popular young directors, but if someone imitates something good and does it well, I don't complain. My favorite scene is where the punk rocker character Richie does a porno dance to The Who. The soundtrack is also pretty good, by the way. I gave the movie a 9 out of 10.

Snake Eyes (1998)

This movie grabbed and held my attention for about...

[11 August 1998]

This movie grabbed and held my attention for about the first half. Cage was excellent as always. He had an interesting character to play and did a great job with it. But about half way thru when the mystery was revealed, the movie started to drag for me. I could tell by the way I started to fidget in my seat. Maybe I just have a short attention span. One measure I use to judge movies is how much I want the movie to go on and how much I want it to end. I was ready for this movie to end about an hour into it. The mystery had been revealed and I could predict the ending. The retelling of the story thru multiple eyes was an interesting effect(when you were still trying to figure out what had happened) and yes, the camera work was clever.