gookie Reviews

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

well...frankly, boring

[19 May 1999]

i originally was not overly excited for this. i enjoy the trilogy immensely, but don't get why people treat them as more than what they are-- three entertaining, well made movies. but i got caught up in the hype and decided it would be best to see this before i heard too much. i really wanted to like it... i checked my watch SO many times, bored and awaiting the pod race i heard signalled the end of the slow stuff and the beginning of the excitement. the pod race was fun, a big video game, but fun... and then it slowed down again. i didn't find the characters interesting, i thought the acting ranged from competent to poor, thought the plot was tedious and repetitive, and didn't feel any threat or sense of adventure. the other three had one of the greatest villains ever, and that gave the them a foundation on which to build an epic. but this has nothing of the sort. darth maul is a lackey who appears only briefly to fight and then vanishes until his next fight scenes. his fights are thrilling, no doubt, but they, and the entire climactic battle scene(s) are not tied to anything of any importance. very unsatisfactory and about 50-70% of it ranges from uninteresting to dull, to at some points, boring as snot. its not a bad movie-- we all enjoy the universe of star wars too much for it to be bad, but it is not particularly memorable or thrilling either. someone shoot jar jar binks, please.

Brother's Keeper (1992)

one of the greatest films i have seen

[19 May 1999]

i saw this on PBS a few years ago and it haunted me for days. this is a totally unique film experience unlike any you have had or can imagine. it is a documentary, but just as hoop dreams smashed all preconceptions of what a documentary can be, so does this. it is riveting, gut wrenching, and incredibly suspenseful. it shows you characters and a world that are totally new and captivating. it is heartbreaking and uplifting. it moved me in every way i have every been moved by a movie, but without being manipulative or maudlin. it is yet another brilliant documentary snubbed by those ingorami at the academy. i guarantee that you will not come out of this unchanged. it is one of the greatest films i have ever seen (and i have seen a great many...)

When the Wind Blows (1986)

unique, and very very disturbing

[11 May 1999]

as an animator, i find it kind of silly when people go to all the trouble of animating a film that had no purpose being animated-- prince of egypt would have been exactly the same if it had been live action with CG effects. realism is not something animators should overly attempt, i believe. thus, i was caught off guard by this film, a very simple, almost play-like story of an old couple and the atom bomb. it could have easily been made with live actors. but as i thought more about it, i realized that much of the film's tremendous power stems from the fact that they are animated and drawn so simply. animated characters such as these have a charm that attaches itself to your heart in a unique way. this is a quiet, decidedly un-splashy feature that moved me in a very strange way. you almost can't believe that someone had the audacity to make this film, but bless them for having the vision to do so.

Before the Rain (1994)

unforgettable and illuminating

[7 May 1999]

i saw this film last year and for the rest of the day could not shake the emotional response it had provoked within me. totally original in its construction, it makes the "inventive" timelines of tarantino's work look childish and simplistic. this film tells so many stories and helped me understand the balkan conflict in a new light-- i can't reccomend it highly enough. one of the greatest in recent memory. absolutely beautiful photography. repeat viewings don't diminish its impact-- a rare achievement, especially for a film that is built on what could have easily been a formal 'gimmick'-- but the semi-cyclic form serves the film and heightens the impact and the meaning.

Cries & Whispers (1972)

a rare work of art

[7 May 1999]

is there another film that is as heartbreaking, gut wrenching, or moving as this one? the scenes where the sister is desperately trying to breathe are among the most emotional and shattering experiences i have had from a film. one of my friends criticizes this film as being almost self parody, but i think it is one of bergman's finest. a passionate, disturbing, and very complex film that truly provokes thought and deserves multiple viewings.

Dumbo (1941)

wonderful

[7 May 1999]

yes, the separation from the mother is scary. yes, the baby mine scene is sad (i choke up EVERY time i see it). but the story has a happy ending and a wonderful message and every child can relate to character of dumbo. i don't think the crows are racist-- dated stereotypes, to be sure, but in no way malicious (they are positive characters and i doubt any kids even realize that they are supposed to be black since the associations today are different than they were in '41). and what could be cooler and more eyepopping than the pink elephants on parade sequence? i love that the film was kept to simple and short- it serves the story perfectly. this film is matched in magic only by pinocchio.

Pinocchio (1940)

perfection

[7 May 1999]

disney's greatest, beyond any doubt. the best music, the best animation the best characters, the best script, the best song, the most beautiful artwork, and the most emotionally rich film they ever did, and one of my two favorite films of all time (the other being chaplin's city lights). this film is so touching-- can you not be moved by gepetto's search, when the lightning drowns out his voice? or not be awed by the whale chase? one of the ten greatest films of all time.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

Overrated, weak, and not very funny

[3 May 1999]

i love benigni- i thought the monster was an absolute hoot. and i am not averse to the idea of a comedy set in a concentration camp, but the complete lack of realism in the camp scenes bugged me. yes, it's a fable and does not need to be totally real, but in order to set a film in a concentration camp, there must be SOME sense of threat or danger or horror and this film has little if any. i went to a summer camp with tighter security.

those who call this the most powerful film experience they have had need to see some real masterpieces (a la "the bicycle thief") and those who say this film really makes you think have apparently never truly been stimulated to think by a film. though the first half of this film was truly wonderful, it peters out into a phony, weightless, ultimately unimportant film that was the most overrated of last year.

Breaking the Waves (1996)

a most unusual fairy tale

[3 May 1999]

I saw this film for the third time last night and it gets better and better in ways that few films do. What excites me about this film (aside from Emily Watson, who gives one of the 4 or 5 best performances I have seen by anyone ever)is that it is a disturbing and emotional film built on an underlying foundation of profound faith. So many films mock or snub those who truly believe in God, but this film takes it very seriously. The format of the film-- it looks almost like a documentary-- belies the actual structure, which is that of a fantasy or a fable. The first time, I was bothered by the chapter headings, but after seeing the entire piece and knowing where it is heading, I noticed much I had never seen. Bess actually looks at the camera in the beginning of the film, as if to tell us that this is a fable, but the construction of the film is such that we feel the brooding realism and get caught up in the tragedy.

The first time I saw this, I was not sure how I felt about the last shot, but seeing it again, I see how necessary and magical that shot is, for this is a fairy tale told in a most unusual way.