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dirtyharry67
Reviews
Animal Kingdom (2010)
dark, depressing and not engaging in the slightest
i love Australian movies so i went to see this (yesterday) with a positive disposition.
the first utterly depressing and dark scene sets the tone and the rest of the movie doesn't deviate much from that setup.
i didn't care one iota for j - the main character. he had the same stupid face virtually throughout the entire movie. i'm not sure if it was the actor or the role or both but i simply didn't care for that guy. he was clueless, imploded and utterly passionless, except for the very end.
the casting was altogether pretty good, though. especially ben mendelsohn and jacki weaver stood out.
the cinematography was decent. nothing outstanding but not bad either.
the music i found rather misplaced at times but not really bad.
why anybody would find this pile of darkness "riveting" or "gripping" is completely beyond my comprehension. it had no message or otherwise redeeming value. why make a movie like that?? definitely not a date movie, unless the both of you plan on committing suicide afterwards and want to set the mood.
2 Hitmen (2007)
very extremely bad
this one is so bad it is beyond awful.
i can see how a couple of stoners can come up with the idea for this waste of bits and maybe in the right hands something funny could have been made out of the basic premise.
the acting. oh my god! it's a long long time ago i have seen acting so very very bad as in this one. it's got to be seen to be believed.
that someone even spent a single dime on this...
you see, i can enjoy bad movies. i really can. but not this one. do not waste a second of your life on this.
trust me.
Find Love (2006)
learn your craft before making a movie!
miss dunton: next time before you attempt to make a movie you should learn your craft FIRST!
i really wanted to like this movie. i like romances and i liked the basic premise of the story. i also liked the actors. but this movie was unwatchable. why? because the technical people involved don't seem to know the first thing about their craft. the lightning was bad. really bad. the editing was a mess. the camera"work" was the worst of it all! there is hardly a steady shot in this movie. heads are cut off. the camera is constantly moving - up, down, left, right. without any reason. almost as if the cameraperson had attention deficit disorder or was on cold turkey or something. it was unbelievable. so bad in fact that i was not able to watch the entire movie (which is short enough - 71min). i could take only 20 min of this.
again: i would have really liked to know how the story continued because i liked it. i simply could not bare the technical execution, especially the unbelievably nervous camera work. what were these people thinking??
To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale (2005)
captures the man perfectly
i got the DVD as a xmas gift from a good friend and man what a gift it is! i always liked his music very much but i knew virtually nothing about the person john cale. this film captures him perfectly. it is slow paced, unobtrusive and just lets the man and his friends speak. and what a sweet man he is. he is a very mature human being, humble, straight, has clear opinions and seems to be a very loving person. very simple and down-to-earth. watching this documentary was a 2-hour celebration. and i'd think not just for die-hard fans of j.j. cale, because it shows - as i said already - a very simple, smart, humble and loving human being. it makes you believe in the human spirit again. great camera work, editing and sound. a REALLY good documentary. 10 out of 10.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
much more depressing than funny!
is this a comedy? sure, it has it's funny moments, but overall it is a rather depressing mirror for the dominating culture on this planet at this point in time. i would categorize it as something between a drama and a documentary.
anybody who knows contemporary USA (i spent many years in USA and with Americans outside of USA) will immediately recognize the accuracy of the mirror cohen holds up in front of us.
USA is probably the most sick and sickening society and "culture" on this planet today. the ruling emotion in the American psyche is fear - deep-routed, overwhelming fear. and the dominating force in that country (the disgusting dictatorship of big money) is exploiting that fear every which way it can. mind you, i am talking about the overall American psyche. this is not a racist statement. i know many really good human beings in USA, thoughtful people who have not lost their humanity to the "American way of life". but the American psyche as an entity is just sick and sickening and infecting the rest of this planet.
and that is exactly what cohen is showing. and he shows it with a clarity that i find more depressing than anything else. i find it hard to laugh about really sick people.
but hey, don't take my word for it. go and see this movie. it certainly is not a waste of time.
The Departed (2006)
terrible overacting, heartless
orlando jones once said: "Someone I met years ago explained to me the difference between a personality and an actor, a personality being Eddie Murphy or Roseanne Barr, and an actor being Morgan Freeman and Alfre Woodard or Marlon Brando. And in the shrinking world of sound bites, the Internet, and other mass media, there were going to be fewer actors and more personalities." (From PopMatters interview, 2000)
if you apply this to "the departed", you'll see that there are hardly any actors in this soulless and empty piece of Hollywood entertainment.
granted, the craftsmanship of scorsese is evident and made me sit through the 140 minutes of this film.
is it a masterpiece as some here said? definitely not! art is supposed to make you think or feel on a higher level. this film does nothing of the kind. it leaves you empty because it is without any heart or soul.
as for the acting: dicaprio's performance was just embarrassing. terrible overacting! i couldn't believe it.
matt damon was as he usually is. this guy just cannot act. period. he's a good-looking "personality", but not an actor by any stretch. he often compensates by overacting.
same goes for wahlberg. emberassing overacting. who hired that guy?
sheen was decent. he is an actor.
i was surprised by jack nicholson, however. he has never really been an actor but a very interesting personality. but there are scenes in this film where he actually acts well! seems he took some acting lessons in his old days.
the plot was very convoluted in the setup but got more streamlined in later parts.
this was not a good movie by any means and certainly no masterpiece. just another piece of empty, soul- and heartless Hollywood "entertainment"
4 out of 10 for scorsese's craftsmanship.
Alien Autopsy (2006)
definitely fun to watch
this is a light-hearted easy-going British comedy, full of quirky characters. i really don't understand the bad reviews. well, as i said it is rather British, and its subtlety may elude some of our American viewers but anybody who has a feel for British comedy (although this is not a "classical" one) will probably enjoy this production. you can tell the actors had fun doing it. i agree with some reviewers that this is not award winning or very deep material but i found it really entertaining. great performances by ant mcpartlin, declan donnelly, bill pullman and many many others. watch out for the quirky characters all over the place (i really liked the guy from the filmlab - played by David threlfall).
if you have a feel for British humor: go for it and see this one.
Underworld: Evolution (2006)
unbelievable CRAP
NO SPOILERS. there is nothing to spoil here!
this movie is just unbelievable. unbelievably BAD that is.
uninspired performances throughout. you cannot really blame the actors, except for participating in this garbage. beats me, how the (otherwise rather talented) cast could possibly partake in this. they must have run out of money or something. there is NO other excuse. the story was lame and stupid. there was not ONE likable character in this. the sets were dark, virtually colorless. the special effects! oh man, you gotta see (for your own sake: don't see it!) to believe. cheap and jumpy. the werewolves and other ridiculous creatures mostly moved like in 1930 stop-motion models. i couldn't believe it.
and of course there was an unbelievably uninspired and utterly misplaced love-story woven into it. i mean, hey, you just went through the most intense fight of your life, you are blood spattered and dead and grossly dismembered creatures all around you and of course the first thing that comes to mind is a deep kiss, right??
this movie can only be enjoyed by brainwashed Americans. brainwashed by Hollywood's war machine and the most stupid TV system on this planet to mindlessly eat dark, violent and utterly heartless garbage like this.
if you are not American, don't even consider spending a single cent on this. any somewhat cultured HUMAN being will regret it, believe me.