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Reviews
Benny & Joon (1993)
A sweet little film; the review by Brian Ellis is unfair
Ellis complains that Johnny Depp steals Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin bits without attribution. In fact, it is made clear that Depp's character "Sam" is obsessed with movies, and he is even seen studying a biography of Buster Keaton in the opening scenes.
The film benefits from one of the most extraordinary cases of over-casting in recent memory. Despite scenes with Aidan Quinn, Julianne Moore, Oliver Platt, and Willam H. Macy, nobody tries to steal the scene from Depp (who chews the scenery like Homer Simpson).
The poker scenes are a bit precious, but fun, and Dan Hedaya is great in them.
Sea of Love (1989)
Excellent until the end
Pacino is totally believable in this role, and the scene in which he stares down two young wiseguys is a testament to how much he can get done with facial expression alone. He does not need to utter a word, and he carries the scene.
The relationships between the cops are totally believable. The chemistry between Pacino and Goodman works. Barkin isn't bad.
The film falls apart in the last ten minutes, when Pacino is misled about the identity of the killer, and then discovers his mistake. It's sloppy, predictable that his first guess was wrong, nonsense how he makes the mistake, and the crisis is resolved only because the script requires it. Nothing in the last ten minutes of this film resembles the way human beings behave outside Sylvester Stallone movies.
Rat Race (2001)
Innocuous, fun comedy
Reviews for this movie have tended to describe it as a weaker version of "It's a Mad Mad Mad World." Clearly it draws inspiration from that flick, but it also stands on its own. As with many comedies, this is best in a theater, where viewers can feed of each others' laughter.
Ladyhawke (1985)
Save Yourself! Don't see this crap.
This movie has some good elements, but it is almost impossible to sit through. From the opening scene, the low-end MTV-style production and the terrible synth music will leave you reeling in pain. Synth music? For a movie set in the middle ages? What?!?
Don't get me started on the accents. Some of them had English accents. Some had Spanish. Matthew Broderick switched back and forth between American and something he seems to have made up. Meanwhile, the movie is set in France.
It just goes on, and on, and on.
I would have given it a '1', except for a few tolerable things: Rutger Hauer is fine, and Michelle Pfieffer has one good scene at the end, when she confronts the Bishop.
On balance: don't even rent it; it's not worth the two hours.
The Conversation (1974)
More boring than "my dinner with andre"
Everybody who stays awake until the end of this picture deserves a prize. It has no plot, no dialog, no interesting characters. It's like an entire film made from the discards that hit the cutting room floor from another, more interesting movie.
Ranma ½: Kessen Tôgenkyô! Hanayome o torimodose!! (1992)
"Baywatch" anime
If you get your rocks off watching generously endowed cartoon teenage girls bouncing around in gravitationally-improbable bikinis, This Is the Movie For You!
The Ranma series, as with much anime, offers two things: sex and violence. Unlike the previous Ranma movie (released in the States as "Big Trouble...", this one concentrates on sex.) That's not to say that it is obscene; there's no full-frontal nudity, no tentacle rape. Actually, no intercourse at all. Just a lot of slavishly drawn teenage girls in bikinis and evening gowns.
Oh, the plot has to do with the entire Ranma crowd being on vacation, and the girls all being kidnapped by a local prince who wants to marry one of them. Etc., etc.
City Hall (1996)
would somebody explain this foolish flick to me?
I've seen every urban political drama known to man. I know every cliche and anticipate every well established turn of phrase. This movie was not so much written as it was assembled, cobbled together out of dozen other, similar movies.
However, by the end, I was left with a number of questions: 1. who was informing the mob about John Cusack's investigatorial breakthroughs? 2. what was the purpose of Bridgit Fonda in this movie? 3. where did the original copy of the probation report come from? Why had it even been saved? 4. Why did Judge Stern resign for taking bribes, when we later learn that the Mayor had been giving him orders? Did he bend the rules for the bribes, or for the Mayor? 5. Why did Al Pacino (who is from New York) have such an awkward sounding Queens accent? I mean, John Cusack had an excuse for the lousy Louisiana accent -- he's from Illinois.
Dark City (1998)
stylish, unpretentious, under-appreciated flick
There's nothing new in this film; you can identify within it a dozen elements from off-the-shelf science fiction plotting. However, the film is well-paced, lovely to look at, and gets the very best out of its cast.
The End of Violence (1997)
I wanted to like it, but I kept falling asleep
Some people say that Europeans can't help but make boring films. It comes of their closer cultural ties to classic sculpture and painting and other *static* forms of art. Such cynics are wrong; many European films are creative and vibrant.
Not this one, though. Great actors and powerful themes are wasted, along with reams and reams of celluloid. It's got something to do with privacy and violence and intimacy. Don't waste your time.
The Castle (1997)
Cheap class humor
"Look at the amusing lower class people. Ha ha, they are not as urbane as we are. They are enthusiastic about simple houses and food, and they don't want to travel."
The distributors managed to convince a few reviewers that this was the "Full Monty" of 1997. It wasn't though, not even close. The producers have no real affection for the characters. It's painful to watch.
When they fear they're running out of steam, they pull in ethnic accent humor too. Weak.