Change Your Image
Latte
Reviews
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Slick like a made-man's hair
Donnie Brasco is certainly an entertaining film. I has that depth that, sadly, many films seem to lack. All the actors come together nicely and gel well, however it is Al Pacino who steals the show.
Playing a low-down mafia odd-job man, he sees his final chance to make an impact on the mob world. You really do feel for Pacino throughout the film. He longs to be a 'made-man'- a successful mafioso, but seems to be stuck low down on the ladder. His character is strangely pathetic- aging, and with a drug addict son. Even though he is a trouble making, gun toting, man hitting scumbag, you want him to be successful in what he does. A moral conflict without any doubt.
Just a short review then, but don't think that the film couldn't have had a long one. You really should see this film, if just for Al Pacino's character. I've heard more than one person get in a flap about historical inaccuracies, but for the average person (ie. you and me), don't worry. Very entertaining and thought provoking, and a worthy 8/10
Sudden Terror: The Hijacking of School Bus #17 (1996)
Sudden Boredom: The need for a beer
Oh man. I've seen some half-cocked attempts at a TV movie before, but this really takes the biscuit, and anything else that happens to be around. I don't have the time or the space to list out all the faults with this, so I'll skip to the best/worst parts.
For a start, the title should be had up for flagrant mis-advertising. 'Sudden'- yeah right. This film accelerates to the action at the same speed as the bus. 'Terror'- where exactly? I've been more scared watching an ice cube melt. The terror of not knowing if that ice will drip on your clean jeans. The horror, the horror!
For 99% of the film's running time, nothing happens. Except it gets worse, of course. This film starts badly, and digs itself into a hole from then on. After this, instead of stopping digging, it takes a pneumatic jack-hammer and seems determined to dig itself right to the centre of the earth.
Acting. Acting. Yep, this film had it I'm sure, but not in the bits I saw. You could go see a group of 5 year olds do a play and be blown away by the acting after having watched this. The scripting flowed like set cement.
After having sat through most of the film, I then saw the SRT (Special Rescue Team) kick into action. Now we're getting somewhere I thought. But obviously it was the real SRT's day off, so instead we had the Sort-of Ready Team 'in charge'. You would think that they've never seen a gun before the way they acted. I'm just glad someone told them which end of the gun is the dangerous one, or we would have a very messy situation on our hands. They also seemed to lack any training in explosives. Having found out that there was C4 on board, the SRT thought they had a useful bit of info. But no, no-one around seemed to be trained properly in explosives. At one point, the bus was going down hill fast (much like the film itself) and over bumps. Seeing this, the SRT ran around for cover, thinking the bus would explode. So now I sat there, screaming at the screen, 'Fools! C4 needs an electrical charge to detonate! Going bumpy bump ain't gonna do it! Fools!'
Having lost faith in the SRT now, I wasn't that surprised when the commander didn't give the order to fire to the snipers when they had a clean shot. Typical. So what was her plan exactly? Ask him if he wanted to discuss this over coffee? I don't condone unnecessary killing, but for geezes sake, he had a bomb on a bus full of kids. This bomb was supposedly going to make Oklahoma look like a sneeze. In that case, why did they let the madman drive this bus through the centre of a massive city? Is it cheaper to blow up buildings (with people in) than knock them down? That must be it. The SRT were getting back-handers from a property developer. It all makes sense now.
So the end of the film came. The SRT snipers shot the bad guy. They were pretty lucky actually. You see, the bad guy got shot once, then twice more, but never showed any signs of bullet wounds, or any wounds at all. The shock must have killed him then. Bless.
Conclusion? You already know. I hope that they keep this film in an archive so that directors of the future have a way of making a good film. I can just picture the scene:
FILM ENDS: Media/Film Teacher: 'You see that film we just watched. What I want you to do when you make your film is to do exactly the opposite of everything you just saw. You'll thank me oneday.'
U.S. Marshals (1998)
A worthy successor
I saw the trailer for this film a while ago, and it appealed to me immediately. It's a pseudo-sequel to 'The Fugitive', but don't think that it's the same film all over again. 'US Marshalls' is a perfect stand-alone film, meaning you can watch this film and enjoy it without having seen 'The Fugitive' first.
Tommy Lee Jones plays an excellent grizzled US Marshall who's generally at war with the world. But he enjoys his work- 'c'mon fellas, I'm not having any fun here! And you know how I get when I'm not having fun!' Seeing such a rough-tough character dressed in a chicken suit at the beginning of the film is great comedy.
After a plane carrying criminals crash lands on a road, then a river, TLJ takes control and rescues most of the crim's from drowning- they're chained in their seats, you see. Next morning, the local incompetent sheriff comes in to 'take control'. Comedy ensues when the sheriff tries to show his skills- 'I want you setting up roadblocks in a big, kinda, circle deal.' Of course, when they find one bad guy missing, the hunt is on!
The FBI also want to help catch this guy, for reasons which become clear whilst watching the film. To help, they assign an agent to the US Marshall team, played by Robert Downy Jr, who isn't all he seems...
The plot revolves around the selling of secrets by the US, and China's involvement. Wesley Snipes plays a good guy set up for bad reasons, who takes the chance to leg it away from the plane and clear his name. He has a little help from his friends, including his girlfriend who's part in the film is never made clear. This is also true for the US Marshalls head, who seems to express feelings for TLJ for one sentence, and then plays no further part.
This film is definitely a psychological thriller. You have to keep an eye (or two) on the plot and the characters at all times. I watched this film twice and enjoyed it more the second time- you catch all the little nuances you might otherwise miss. I recommend you do the same.
This film is too deep to accurately describe in a short review, but I would recommend to anyone who likes films with depth, and enjoys characters who seem real, and have strong personalities of their own. Makes for good watching, at an 8/10 score.
Cruel Intentions (1999)
Takes poor films to new heights (or should that be lows?)
Oh dear. No, in fact, oh dear oh dear. This was without doubt the most trite, cliched excuse for a film I've ever seen. This film was so full of tripe, they could can it up and sell it as dog food. The film was just bad on so many levels. Firstly, lets take the cast. Individually they're all capable, but put them together, and nothing works. Seeing Sarah Michell Gellar trying to pass herself off as a teenage student (ala Buffy) was just hilarious. I would have laughed out loud had I not been so depressed. And we all know how they choose the female characters for this film, don't we? I have a fair idea how they converted the original book into this film. A group of B-writers sat round a table with their tacos and they each had a copy of 'The Big Book Of Film Cliches'. They then proceeded to take every single one, whether it was applicable or not and work it into the film. Potential Spoiler; The final piece with one character getting killed by the taxi was poor in the extreme. Overall then? You can guess. Don't see this film unless it would save a human life, and chances are you'll take your own after this.
Face/Off (1997)
Nothing but praise...
There are few films which are both entertaining and inspiring. There are even fewer films which are so good you just have to get online and write a glowing review. Face/Off's plot may initially discourage a few people from watching it- if we're honest, it's completely impossible and will remain that way for a long time. However, make yourself watch it, and you'll be extremely pleased. John Woo pulls off some truly fabulous directing feats. The gun fight in an aircraft hanger is filmed in slo-motion and with exaggerated sounds. Hard to explain, but great to watch. Ditto for the scene in the church on the beach. Sure this film is filled with guns, big bangs and loads of high speed action, but its so much more than that. It's a veritable eye and ear feast. Couple that with, in my opinion the greatest soundtrack ever, you have a film that you'll want to watch again and again, and enjoy as much as the first time you saw it.