veloc Reviews

Trekkies (1997)

NOT just for Star Trek fans

[8/10 · 31 March 2003]

I am not a fan of Star Trek, but I thought this movie was hilarious, and very well made.

I never realized how much Star Trek fans loved that show. Some wear Star Trek uniforms to work. Some wear "phasers" every day. Some are fluent in Klingon. There's a full translation of Hamlet in Klingon language. A dentist has outfitted his entire office as if it were aboard the Enterprise. Who knew?

This is wacky and funny. Trekkies doesn't relentlessly mock its subjects, but shows them sympathetically. Still, it's hilarious.

I recommend it to anyone at all familiar with Star Trek.

It is NOT only for Star Trek fans.

The Cyclist (1989)

desperate acts

[8/10 · 4 October 2001]

A middle-aged Afghani man is alarmed when his wife falls very ill in Teheran. He has no money to pay the bill. He must look after his young son. To raise money to pay for his wife's care he undertakes an endurance contest. He attempts to ride a bicycle for 5 days without stopping.

He circles the same city square, surrounded by onlookers. This is a spectacle. He is a showman in a circus environment. The cyclist becomes the talk of the town. Will he make it? Bets are placed. Various gamblers try to sabotage his attempts, so they will win their bets. Various persons in the crowd cheer the cyclist on, making him their temporary hero.

Director Makhmalbaf has made a splendid film about an ordinary man, driven to desperate acts. Various scenes in the movie are elegantly shot. Performances are credible. This is one film where I really cared about what happened to the characters.

veloc

Midnight Express (1978)

a powerful story, but at times terribly told

[6/10 · 22 May 2001]

This is a powerful story. A young American spends years in a Turkish prison for attempting to smuggle hashish. He is beaten and degraded, he witnesses the beating of children, and it's a bad scene all around. Most of the other prisoners are Turks. Turkish is spoken, and is shown without subtitles. This is great. It puts the movie viewer in the shoes of the main character, who doesn't know Turkish either.

The main character, William, pals up with two other guys, a bombastic American played by Randy Quaid, and a timid bespectacled Englishman named Max (played well by John Hurt). Randy Quaid's character is so over-the-top as to be annoying. He's also so unbelievable as to almost have ruined the movie for me. The last 1/3 of the movie is better than the rest, I think.

I won't ruin the ending for you by telling you what happens.

Suffice it to say that this is a rough movie about an American imprisoned in Turkey. The style of moviemaking itself is very sentimental and emotional. The music is a bit over the top also. The music could have been more subtle and a bit lighter, rather than pounding the viewer.

Fans of prison movies should definitely see this. I can't recommend this without strongly insisting that this movie is not for children, though. The scenes of torture are just too brutal.

veloc