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mrbean_83
Reviews
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Extremely addictive eye-candy with ADHD-induced editing techniques.
"Moulin Rouge" could be a perfect example of what a typical filmmaker might do with the enormous budget, sets, costumes, and big-name stars, but it truly transcends any handicaps which lurk in the film's typical romantic storyline.
Nicole Kidman (in a role she was born to play) portrays Satine, the most expensive courtesan in the Bohemian burlesque house known as the Moulin Rouge (1890 Paris). Ewan MacGregor plays Cristian, the naive young poet who falls trulymadlydeeply in love with Satine after seeing her perform "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
The best thing about this film, with its hyperkenetic pace and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder style of editing (courtesy of director Baz Luhrman [William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"]), is its sheer production magnitude, and some truly astounding musical performances, for which MacGregor and Kidman are to be commended. Although, after the film holds its pace well, in the middle 40 minutes or so, the pace begins to drag, but what keeps the blah story afloat is the wonderful music. Director Luhrman has taken contemporary pop songs (with contemporary beats) and featured them in this epic tale of love and Parisian culture.
However, while viewing, the viewer certainly gets the sense that if it weren't for the fact that the film comes in a pretty package, packed with some walloping music, it would be just another typical love story. This factor prevents it from receiving a superior rating, but it's a great movie for lovers of cabaret.
Rating: *** out of ****
Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)
An ok end to the Candyman saga...
For some reason, the third part of a trilogy always disappoints me, if only slightly. And that's just what Candyman 3: Day of the Dead does: slightly, not heavily, disappoints.
It seems that Caroline (the now-grown-up daughter of Annie from the second film) is on her in LA. She owns Daniel Robetaille's (the Candyman) paintings which she has chosen to show at the gallery of an aspiring artist.
Tempted by her friends, she says the Candyman's name five times because she feels she'll be doing him justice by proving his supposed non-existence. Although nothing happens while she is at the gallery opening, her life later begins to unravel as she finds the vengeful spirit slaughtering everyone around her (he killed her mother years before), with only Caroline appearing to be suspect.
Co-produced by Tony Todd, this somewhat hokey (and hopefully FINAL) entry to the Candyman films is not that bad. Although I consider anything to outwit its bland and tepid predecessor, this is not much better with acting (Donna D'Errico's Caroline is a shrieking wimp at best), and our heroine seems to exist only to scream, fill out a tank top, and see her friends slaughtered in extremely gory fashion.
The Latin "Day of the Dead" festival has almost no relevance in this film, as its concept is only used in one scene I can think of, but then again, it wouldn't have been wise to just call this entry "Candyman 3" and leave it at that. Let's hope after this fairly decent entry that film makers will do what they should...leave it at that.
Rating: **1/2 out of ****
Basket Case 2 (1990)
Truly demented, somewhat grotesque, yet wickedly fun...
Duane and his mutant brother Belial are back in this first sequel to the ever-classic tongue-in-cheek series.
For this go-round, Duane and Belial escape from a hospital (after Belial makes sure a few of the staff members are missing their faces)and find refuge in the house of Granny Ruth (Annie Ross), who lives in a spacious house which cares for "differently abled" um, "persons." Some of the "people" in Granny Ruth's house have animal like features, such as claws and gills (even Belial, in a masterfully done puppeteering and make-up venue, is simply a hideous head with evil eyes, very sharp teeth, and two arms with claw-like fingernails extending from the hands).
Belial never really speaks. He just sort of grunts. He does this louder when he gruesomely massacres the snoopy tabloid reporter. Basically, he "jumps" at people, locking his sharp teeth onto their face, sometimes eating certain facial features off. However evil he may seem, he is, in an extremely morbid way, like Freddy Krueger or the Leprechaun. His therapy session with Granny Ruth is a blast (I laughed my a** off(!), and his, um, engaging in an attempt at pro-creation with a female member of his genus at the end is so disgusting and putrid it's downright hilarious).
While at Granny Ruth's house, Duane meets her lovely daughter, Susan. Susan appears, shall we say, "normal," but at the end, we find she just as much qualifies for the attic just as much as the rest of Granny's tenets.
The ending ends with the evil winning (personally I don't think of Belial as THAT evil, just a little "delinquent" mayble),I will tell you that, but in a way, it should. Of course, director Hennenlotter probably intended this, sense it sets up room for another sequel.
"Basket Case 2" is wicked fun! Some may find it hard to understand how some of the downright evil things that happen are funny, but they are, and they are intended to be, especially in the campy context in which they happen. Overall, this is highly recommended. Belial is, in a way, this viewer's new horror hero!
Rating: *** out of ****.
Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967)
Tedious, exploratory adaptation of a novel of the same calibre.
To this viewer, "Reflections In A Golden Eye" is nothing more than a wanna-be pretentious character study (based on what I thought a rather boring novel by literary great Carson McCullers)with eponymously cast actors (Elizabeth Taylor as Leonora, Marlon Brando as Weldon, and so forth...) and a fairly well-known director. It is just one of those films that proves even if you have some of Hollywood's greatest talents, coupled with fine director John Huston, that the finished product still can be less than satisfactory.
For those unfamiliar, the story revolves around the Pendertons, an Army family on a Southern post in 40's. Elizabeth Taylor is the shrill, buxom wife of Major Weldon Penderton (Brando), and Brian Keith plays the Colonel, with whom she is carrying on a torrid affair. Julie Harris is positively contemptable as the neurotic wife of Keith's character, Colonel Langdon.
The storyline of the novel details the everyday happenings of its characters' lives. It's one of those films that tries to reinforce a point which we already know: depravity and "sin" can lurk beneath the corners of even the most seemingly polished towns and other atmospheres. The film's attempts at "depravity" and being "risque" come across as forced, rather than being an honest portrayal of the novel.
Its a sad thing, but even the cast, including the fabulous Elizabeth Taylor, look rather bored with their roles. They just don't seem that interested in their characters most of the time. The story itself could be good, but in the tedious and dry wording of its novel form, and the campy and pretentious version of its film form, what could be an excellent psychodrama is extremely disserviced.
The fact that its story (not the novel) is what makes this kinky and over-the-top rendering of "Reflections In a Golden Eye" salvagable. If you're bored on a weekend evening check it out. Otherwise, take this reviewer's advice and leave this one alone, even if you do love the Divine Ms. T as I do.
Rating: **