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Reviews
Yogen (2004)
Saw It Coming.. NOT
Found this thing in a used DVD bin. Since I hadn't heard of it (everybody knows for Grudges and Dark Waters, but not this one), I had low expectations. Being wrong about that was only the first of many satisfying surprises.
I've seen plenty of weird tales, and sometimes it angers me when I can see the twists coming. But Premonition? I've never seen a movie where the predictable twists are just red herrings that distract from real twists. (It's sort of like how an eighties horror movie plays a fake scare, pause a beat, REAL SCARE.) Maybe some of the twists get silly toward the end, but come the end itself I found this movie much more satisfying than other new horror movies I've seen lately.
I was impressed by some creative image framing during a dialog sequence near the beginning. I'd gladly recommend this movie to friends who might like a few low key surprises.
Grindhouse (2007)
On Buying a Bag of Apples....
To borrow an analogy a friend has used elsewhere, watching parts of this movie was like buying a bag labeled "apples," taking it home, opening it, and discovering the bag is full oranges. Sure, they may be very good oranges, but you paid for apples because you wanted apples, dammit.
Planet Terror is in a wrapper that says "Grindhouse," and I was more than satisfied with how it wallows in the grungy joy of the thing. Same deal with the trailers. Those components are entertainingly tattered with savage, unhemmed edges of film-making; they could've proudly displayed such spirited fringes without a need to add bogus film flaws to make this intention obvious to the people in the audience who might not get it.
Death Proof has excellent acting and awesome dialog in wonderful, carefully staged set pieces. All those involved should be recognized and commended for their masterful achievements, particularly the director who brought it all together and made it sing. But when you consider the whole, it is too talky and relaxed and doesn't have enough action for a thing in a wrapper that clearly says "Grindhouse." Death Proof is bait and switch. You want talk not action? Not in my gindhouse! Try that pansy little art-house theater down the street. Maybe they got some Bergman for you. Or the later works of Woody Allen.
Yeah, Death Proof is one of the best oranges I've ever seen, but I paid for apples, dammit.
Best in Show (2000)
On the other hand,
What movie did everyone else see? Given the glowing praise and promise of laughter I've heard for this show, it must not have been the same movie I saw by the same name and cast. If I had to choose between (a) watching this marginal Moviola migraine again and (b) being struck in the face repeatedly with a large loading shovel, the latter would win out over this tepid time waster in a heartbeat.
Macabro (1980)
A Rose for Enmity
This early directorial effort demonstrates that, as a storyteller, Lamberto Bava was, at the time, a very creative cinematographer and not much else. Despite a magazine article, content unknown, that suggested the plot, this story is told as an empty variant of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" with a graft from a branch from The Bad Seed (1956). (You might think that ref to Faulkner is a spoiler; however, if you know that story, then this movie's infuriatingly miscalculated attempts at suspense will likely bore you and leave a bad taste in your mouth, so no additional spoilage there.) L. Bavo would go on to direct better and worse stuff. Only die-hard compleatists and amiably twisted fans of poorly told horror stories should bother with this one.
The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
Point vanguard
This example of cinema is composed as avant garde expressionism. It uses various prism shots, multiple exposures, slow motion (forward and reverse), and inventive uses of sets and miniatures. Creative and experimental, it's a showcase for the filmmakers. However, this is to story telling what ballet is to story telling; you'd have to have some familiarity with the original to make sense of the action. Not meant for human consumption. There's a fine line between "artistic" and "arty," and like most ultimately pointless examples of avant garde, this carefully crafted work is pretentious enough for easy derision by the common observer.
Knight Rider 2000 (1991)
Better Than Expected
So you know where this is coming from: I was in my twenties when Knight Rider ran regularly on NBC. I didn't think much of it then. To me, it was an action-adventure variation on My Mother the Car. So I had low expectations for the return.
My low expectations were easily exceeded. There are some cute plot twists and developments afoot here, bordering on acceptable science fiction. This is NOT great cinema nor film, but it is a fun little movie that doesn't lose sight of what it is.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
A Prairie Home Deadpanion
As with a movie like "Waking Ned Devine," "Drop Dead Gorgeous" is NOT going to please all the people. Therefore, I recommend those who are easily offended to stay away. I also recommend those who only want gross humor for the sake of gross humor (as in "Something About Mary" and "American Pie") to stay away as well, because a lot of this humor is not gross. And if you need a goofy lead character actor (like Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler or Jerry Lewis), you should not bother, either, because the backbone of this humor is subtle. Finally, if you expect everyone in a movie to be normal, don't bother, because a lot of humor involves eccentricites.
OK, that narrows the field down to a handful. The rest of you, particularly those who are amused by tangental monologues about Lake Woebegon and wouldn't mind it getting dark, may want to check this out. My wife and I loved it.