gevalher Reviews

Where's Marlowe? (1998)

FUN-tastic!!!

[7/10 · 5 January 2003]

I was near to enter to the realm of Morpheus, when I got this flick

on the cable. At first, I don't want to see this movie because in the

guide was advertised like a documentary. Wrong!

It is a movie who pretends to be a documentary, but who cares!

Because once I started seeing this film, I found it thought

provoking, interesting, and overall hilarious. There is a `killer'

scene near the end that made me laugh so strong that hurts.

Nice acting by one of my favorite actor from TV and movies, great

job Miguel!

Scary Movie 2 (2001)

What a waste of time & money!

[6 January 2002]

Well, the first movie was OK at least due to the "originality".

But the second only reinforced the failures of the first film.

The moments I got a laugh were so few that I can count them with

the fingers of one hand.

The parodies of some movies were great. but they were spoiled

for so many gross jokes about sex and bodily functions, that the

Wayans ruined the intended effect.

I don't know, but the people who likes this bad film, must be

people either very young or very inexperienced moviegoers,

because I can tell you, with my 38 years of moviegoing, that this

opus from the Wayans Bros., is a total waste of time & money.

Insignificance (1985)

This flick has everything but insignificance!

[21 December 2000]

It was late at night, and fighting with a dream that refused to take over me I finally saw the movie...

It blew my mind away... Marilyn, Di Maggio, McCarthy & Einstein all in a small hotel room!

I really enjoyed the characterization of Marilyn by Theresa Russell, and the other actors played their parts with grace too.

A nostalgic trip to the yesterday. This movie is now in the list of my favorites.

If you have the chance to see it, don't miss it!

Wild Wild West (1999)

The Wild West for dummies

[20 September 1999]

I can't believe that with all these millions and FX's this movie

couldn't lift.

The story was simply and plain, but one gets the sense that

there are no ties between one sequence to the next. The actors

tried to be fun and tried to say funny jokes, but they just

simply fail.

Not to mention that to see this flick one must left the

historical knowledge in suspense,(and I'm not talking about a

black sheriff). The actors were bad, Salma Hayek is just a

mindless adornment in this film, and not even Branagh do enough

to save this doomed film.

This film tries to do what a TV series do it best, without the

money the producers spent on this very bad film.

And the worse was the ending battle with the giant spider. From

what I know this was (I mean the spider) one of the requisites

of the producer Jon Peters, who tried to insert in the "Superman

Lives" project, and for that reason the writer Kevin Smith

leaves the project. Peters has the idea that spiders are the

most feared animal in all the world, but the way it is displayed

in this film, is not menacing, or feared. Noisy, yes; massive,

yes; astounding, maybe; but after a simply pair of tricks, the

novelty falls flat down.

This are of the kind of flicks that shows almost all on their

trailers. So seeing the film means no news or twists to you, not

to talk about surprises.

After a while watching this film my mind begins to wander to

anything except this movie. So I you want be bored to the nth,

then you MUST SEE THIS FILM!

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Simply brilliant!

[20 September 1999]

Again as in many times before, I was counting the hours to see

a new (and in this case, the last) film of Kubrick, with the

bonus of Cruise and Kidman.

As always Kubrick manages to tell us a story about love and sex,

but overall about the real forces that drives to us, the human

beings.

Alice (Kidman) in an unforgettable sequence tells his husband

about her really feelings about him, marriage and sex. After

that Bill (Cruise) begins a journey to discover his own

feelings, motivations and needs about, sex, his life, and his

marriage. That journey drives him for some risky paths, but in

the end you can only bet if he really achieves full understanding of it or not.

As other Kubrick films this lets the viewer thinking about what

has been shown on the screen. I highly recommend to people to

watch this film.

Holy Man (1998)

A comedy? I doubt it, but this isn't a bad film

[6/10 · 19 August 1999]

Eddie Murphy playing the role of a mystery man. Who is G? From where he comes? Where he goes? Nobody knows, but what Jeff Goldblum playing Ricky Hayman will discover is that there are one thing more important that job success or big money...

This film try to be a comedy about a man who is in charge of a shopping TV channel. He is failing at his work and on the verge of being fired, until he and his girlfriend knows by accident a strange man called only G.

G found the way to stay besides Ricky and change forever his way to see the life. When at first look seems that G has come to improve the aspects of life that Ricky sees as important, then slowly he begin to realize that there are other things more important, that all the people sometimes -most times- neglected to see.

The film tries to be a comedy, but despite some very humorous moments, I can tell you that isn't one. But the film is nice to see and the moral of the story is a good one.

The cast of main players was well acted, but sometimes Goldblum acts too much and sometimes not enough, but his overall acting is a good one. I like to see Robert Loggia, he is one of my favorite actors, and he always plays well the "bad guy".

After all, all we need is... a non stop shopping channel?

Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

A one of his kind!

[7/10 · 19 August 1999]

This flick was one of the first I saw in a cinema when I was a very little kid. I always will remember the all so impressive scenes that were displayed on this film. The harpies, the giant Talos, and overall the fight with the skeleton army.

This movie took the Greek myth, specifically, about the voyage of Jason and his argonauts in search of the golden fleece. This movie is well plotted but the nice effects enhance the otherwise common story about Jason, Hercules and others. This film show us the interaction of the ancient Greek gods and the men and women treated as toys for their own "games".

This film has -and will stand for a long time- as the example of how this kind of films must be done. I can remember other films that managed similar thematic, but failed in his goal to tell a well rounded story. After so long time I've been able to see this film in video! So go, and give this flick one chance. I'll never forget the nice effects of a master: Ray Harryhausen.

Instinct (1999)

A nice tale questioning about humanity and civilization

[7/10 · 18 August 1999]

It was a good film.

A professor lost in Africa, was found living with apes and after

that was jailed being accused of the murder of 3 people. After a

time spent in the prison of an african country. He's sent back

to the U.S. There a doctor tries to investigate the reasons

behind the murders and the wild violence that shows the

professor from time to time, trying to overcome his silence.

(Obviously the young doctor looks for an advance in his

to-be-established career).

What we learn through the film is a questioning about what the

meaning of humanity and civilization are. Well discover the

reasons that drove the professor to his now apparently violent

conduct and just know that our concepts or "illusions" as are

stated in the film, are just simply that: "illusions".

The actors do it well, but some times the pace of the story is

very tedious, but the final result is a well rounded story,

giving us at the final, the change of mind and objectives in the

life of many of the characters.

I highly recommend this movie, because I think everybody needs

to make -and why not, answer- yourself the question about the

meaning of civilization.

The Matrix (1999)

Good ideas... but drowned with amazing FX's

[11 August 1999]

As the film begins to unfold, one was awaiting how this film will develop, next the main character ("Neo"), is slow at first, and fast later, immersed into a total change of his reality and besides all of these, being credited as the "savior" of the human race.

This flick brings to us some interesting ideas about how "real" is our reality, but slowly this line of storytelling is dropped to favor the show of the FX's (outstanding, but more of the time submerging the story line than reinforcing it).

The supporting characters were all dull and plain, and the bad guys never looks really menacing or chilling. But after all you can enjoy with "Neo" becoming the savior that he told he was.

Hardly this movie can top "Blade Runner", film that many reviewers compares with. But in the end I liked this movie for the FX's and the original ideas. It's a sorrow that they were interfering between them, instead of collaborating to do a flick that may have been a really cool one.

Very nice nods to "The Wizard of Oz" (Say bye to Kansas, Dorothy...) & "Alice in Wonderland" (Follow the white rabbit...) that leased some thoughts and ideas to this film.

A very nice try for the Wachowski brothers, I'll be looking for another film of them, because I really hope they'll find a way to improve their storytelling...

Character (1997)

Dazzling and amazing drama-thriller!

[10/10 · 11 August 1999]

This is one of the best movies that I've seen till now. I was reluctant at first to see this movie, because it was not a "Hollywood" product, but after so many times seeing the trailer at the theater it picked my curiosity.

The story was set in Netherlands, and it develops unfolding the relationship between a father and his son. This was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time, because it touches the bottom of our hearts making thinking us (the public) about our own -sometimes- conflictive relations with our parents.

The two main stars gave us a duel as I've never saw before in a film, and to top all of this, the supporting characters were all believable as well as the magnificent locations.

This films really told a story, reflects well its age and overall has a well developed timing so you'll never lose interest in what is next, and has so many twists that your interest never decays. But I really liked the final one. This one only scene pays all the money and time you spent seeing it.

OUTSTANDING!!

The Mummy (1999)

An entertaining film, but not a outstanding one

[24 July 1999]

Well, I liked the film.

It has a lot of actions scenes, the FX's were very good, and there is a plot, simple, but a plot in the end. Many of the things that I saw in "The Mummy" I've seen on other films --Indiana Jones trilogy comes to my mind--. The film is packed with action but almost all of the FX's I wanted to see, I've already seen on the trailer of this movie, so I feel cheated a little. The villain of the movie, was very scary at the beginning but while he was gaining organs and flesh from other humans he was getting less scary. I liked the final battle of Brendan Fraser against the troops of the Mummy, it made me remember that old classic movie "Jason & The Argonauts". I liked the two scenes with the cat too. The dialogues when the characters are not in an action scene lacked of a sense of realism, and those were the boring sections of th film. I think Brendan is developing into a more mature actor, and hoping to see more about him in the future.

All in all not a film for all people, those who watch a film to get answers about life, surely will hate this film, but if you like no more than be entertained for a while then you can

Tarzan (1999)

A very pleasant surprise.

[30 June 1999]

Tarzan was a familiar character for me, just like an old friend. I grew up reading about his adventures in comic books and comic strips, hearing his characteristic yell on the radio, and watching his adventures on the big screen (The best Johnny Weismuller).

I was reticent to see this film, because I'm not so sure about how the Disney factory would treat this classic character. But seeing the trailer in the cinemas and on TV I've decided to give it a chance. I'm glad that I did.

This is the story of a boy left alone in the jungle, and raised by gorillas. The story of a boy who feels that don't fit to his "family". A boy raised with the love of his foster gorilla mother, and rejected by his foster "father". Then one day, he discover people of his kind, and he must confront his doubts about where he belongs. You need to see the film to get the answers.

The animation as all of the latest works from Disney, are astounding, the backgrounds are so well done that they are the another character in the film. The relation between Tarzan and his foster dad, were always tense. On the contrary the relation between he and Jane are completely delicious (this was one of my worries about the movie). The two principal human characters were well depicted, but the others doesn't get the same treat, they look more cartoonish.

The dynamic of the movements of Tarzan were dazzling, but sometimes a little unreal, (but hey, remember this is an animated movie after all). To get this a little short, this was a film with very touching moments, a lot of fun, some cameos from other animated Disney movies,and the songs of Phil Collins were great too. (I saw the spanish dubbed version, but Phil sang in Spanish!, and I know that he voiced his songs in other languages too! Wonderful!) A great movie for all the people who like films -animated or not-

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

Thinking to use The Force to sell toys?

[20 June 1999]

The film is so-so. it takes a lot of scenes from the other movies of the saga (IV, V and VI), and from other movies chariots race scenes in "Ben Hur". In the end I think the result is good, but I'm always wondering if it could been a little more consistent. The only plot interesting I can see is the plans and moves from a man who plays with the lives of thousands (humans or not) in search of absolute power. This is a film full of FX's in all splendor, but is sad that they don't make any advance to improve the storytelling, as other people comments I must say that many sequences of this movie are aimed to make video games and action figures. Other movie makers aim at this target and learned (I hope), that if you don't care the plot of the film in the first place you will have a LET DOWN, and then you can kiss goodbye to the revenues of the film-marketing. But we have another 2 films in the horizon, I hope things go up. The entertaining sequences to me were the battle of the Jedis, and the battle of Jar Jar Binks and his people against the droids.

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