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steve-balogh
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Fall (2022)
So many dumb moves.....
There were so many dumb decisions made by the two women in this movie that I was going to give the movie a rating of 5/10. So many bad dumb blonde decisions, yet Hunter being the ultimate STUPID decision maker had a heart of gold. This movie had a lot going against it but towards the end I was in tears and in a panic. I was desperate for these two idiotic women to survive. This movie expectantly dragged out my most basic emotions. I was crying, sobbing, in a panic, and laughing with tears of joy. Your brain will tell you these women are idiots. Your heart will love them and want them to survive. This movie is so much better than many of the blockbusters you see in the cinema today. Initially 5/10 but at the end 9/10. The only downside being my inability to clearly understand what was being said in crucially moments. This is a movie worth watching. It will bring out the HUMAN in you.
The Outer Limits: Valerie 23 (1995)
Are we there yet?
I am watching this episode 25 years after it was made and am impressed how accurate this OL prediction is turning out to be. Already there are some very humanoid companions available and AI is becoming more and more indistinguishable from real people. I give it another 10 years before a close approximation to "Valerie" becomes commercially available. Although tempting, I think I will stick with my very human female companion for now.
The Ring (2002)
Original Japanese version is much better!
Just a few brief thoughts... In my opinion the ORIGINAL Japanese version of this movie (Ringu, 1998) is much better. There is also a Japanese sequel which is equally good (Ringu 2, 1998). The prequel (Ringu 0, 2000) is somewhat more strained although it tries to explain the history of why things happened in the other two movies. The American version of the film is a direct copy of the Japanese one, and not nearly as good. The only hassle with the Japanese version is having to read the sub-titles. Perhaps I will try to learn Japanese before watching it again. :)
Ringu (1998)
Spine-tingling thriller
I just had the pleasure of seeing Ringu and its sequel Ringu2 at the local big screen cinema. What a spine tingling thrill these films are! I have not been genuinely scared watching a horror movie in many years, but these two films had me cringing... along with the rest of the audience. I knew the film was having the right effect because of the repeated tingles of fear I had all over my body, especially during some of the weirdest scenes. Something just made a noise outside the window and I almost jumped out of my skin!
This was the Japanese version of the two films, which in my opinion probably can't be bettered. I have not seen the Korean copy and I doubt if I will watch any hollywood copy because it would spoil the image in my mind. The tense claustrophobic atmosphere of this film is very "Japanese" and cannot be copied.
I highly recommend the Japanese version of this film! 10 out of 10!
Pi (1998)
One of the worst films I have EVER been exposed to!
The credits came as a welcome relief. This is the first film that had a physical effect on me... I felt nauseous from about halfway through and could not bear to watch the awful spinning effects. It was like being on a childrens round-about. Yechhh!
The black and white effects tried to be arty... it was crap! The audio was terrible. The dialog was meaningless. The technical references bordered on rubbish. The so-called "supercomputer" WAS rubbish. The acting was awful. The storyline was just a jumbled mess. Whoever decided this was a Sci-Fi must have been delirious at the time. Can you see a trend?
Basically this was a really bad film.
I gave it a score of 1 but only because ZERO was not an option.
Kimurake no hitobito (1988)
Quite silly, also hard to read subtitles
I thought this film was quite silly yet rather sad. I hope that the "Yen" family does not exist too often in real life. I thought it was sad that the obsession with small change was more important to the family than the happiness of the son. And then to allow their 9 year old daughter to talk dirty to some pervert with a "lolita complex" was too much. But I suppose it was only a comedy.
I was also quite annoyed with the subtitles. Having fuzzy white text on a light background makes it very hard to read. I was watching the film on video, so I had the opportunity to rewind and freeze frame, but I should not have to do this. A good example of what subtitles should look like are those created by SBS in Australia on their foreign language programs which are a strongly contrasting yellow. They are much easier to read.
Overall I was not all that impressed by the film and gave it 4/10. I was hoping for more. I watched "Sada Abe" just before "Yen Family" so perhaps too high a standard had been set with which Yen could not compete.
Ah haru (1998)
A bit of a soapie...
This film was interesting, but mainly because it shows an aspect of modern Japanese life which westerners don't often get to see. If I was not interested in listening to the Japanese language and learning a little more about contemporary Japanese lifestyle, I probably would not have watched this film to the end. It was a bit of a soapie.
On the other hand, there were several moments where I felt more emotionly involved with the family which made the film more worthwhile.
On the whole, the movie was worth watching and I give it a 6/10.
Lola rennt (1998)
A single word is enough to describe this movie... ADRENALIN!
"Run Lola Run" would have to be one of the BEST movies I have seen in recent years. It is certainly not your typically cliched American movie and Hollywood can learn a lot from it.
My heart was still racing half an hour after this fast paced work of art had finished. I wanted more. I can't believe that I was about to read a magazine article while watching this movie. Hah! Forgot all about the magazine!
Some people complained about a lack of plot or character development. WHO CARES! I spent a wonderful hour and a half being entertained by this movie. And isn't entertainment what movies are supposed to be all about? "Run Lola Run" has great visuals... great music... and provides GREAT ENTERTAINMENT!
Even the titles at the end had a little surprise in store.
This is yet another wonderful offering from Europe and is a definite 10/10. Gotta go quick. The rerun is about to start on Showtime 2. :)
Oh, I almost forgot... Lola was STUNNING!