bebetuck Reviews

Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Horribly disturbing, dreadfully brutal... amazing performances

[10/10 · 11 July 2002]

This movie has really disturbed me. I just watched it last night and I woke up at 3:30 finding it difficult to fall back asleep; I could not get certain shocking scenes out of my mind.

The performances by Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans and Jennifer Connelly were absolutely incredible. I thought that the scenes between Burstyn and Leto were done particularly well, as it would have been easy to fall into some mother/son cheesiness. That did not happen. It was refreshing to see Wayans and Leto deliver top notch performances in challenging roles.

This movie is the most disturbing and brutal film I have ever seen. I can't say that I liked it or didn't like it, it just was. But I can say that the writing, cinematography and acting were excellent. So, would I recommend it? Not without the caveat that the viewer will be turned inside out by this intense portrayal of human desperation.

Cherish (2002)

I want to see it again!

[7/10 · 17 June 2002]

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's the type of flick that you want to see again, and real soon, because you have the sense you missed a lot the first time around.

The use of music is huge in this movie. Although completely different, I am drawing up memories of High Fidelity. Both movies feature music as its own entity or major theme in the story, not just as a backdrop to help tell the story. As a music lover, I just dig this.

Robin Tunney was phenomenal as Zoe. I think even if I didn't enjoy the other characters and the plot so much, this movie would be worth seeing just for her performance. She did an excellent job of portraying Zoe's journey. Her performance never felt pushed or strained; she just WAS Zoe, from the first scene to the last. Of course, this is what actors are paid for! I just felt she did an extraordinary job of capturing the character.

I love the way this movie was presented. It didn't abuse, or rely on, special effects. Rather, they were used at just the right time to help tell the story.

This movie has just enough of everything you want in a movie to make it suitable for all the types of moods you might be in when you see it!

Princess Mononoke (1997)

One of my favorite films

[10/10 · 17 June 2002]

I have been meaning to see this movie again for a while. It is one of the most eloquent, poetic, gut-wrenching movie I have ever seen. Period.

It is tale of the inherent struggle between man and earth, good and evil.

It spoke about the SOUL of nature that it is in all things and what happens when all that is evil and cancerous and greedy takes over that amazing LIFE that is inside everything that breathes, grows, and dies.

Truly an amazing movie that is seriously one of the best. I am wondering why I don't own it yet.