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thegreatbeast2000
Reviews
Na-moo-eobs-neun san (2008)
I can't understand how so many people didn't 'get' this film.
Mr. Schumann's review was the best I've read here. He pretty much said everything I wanted to say. This is a beautiful film. It is not a Hollywood film and doesn't tie up everything neatly in the end. There is no denouement; the film ends and you are left with a pocket full of the wonders. The two young girls were not aspiring actresses with agents and head-shots. They could not have been better and I was shocked to find that they were not sisters. The director kept her camera close to kids' faces and sort of provides another proof of an old Eisenstein experiment. A tremendous film, truly moving in an almost Dickensian way. See it. I've been catching it on the Sundance Channel. It is scheduled to play on Saturday around 2:50pm. The date would be 1/15/11.
The Tripper (2006)
What an embarrassment!
That so many prominent actors would collude to produce this piece of crap saddens me. Sophomoric would be an aspiration for this film but The Tripper can't reach that bar. The crudity of the political impetus to this film is not just simplistic, it's severely retarded. To draw characters of such stunted stereotypicality is an insult to any prospective viewer. There isn't one role that isn't appallingly encumbered by the nature of their shallowness of type. The sheriff (Jane), while chasing the killer's father, comes across the lair of the psychopath , papered with newsclippings about Reagan, and is scared when the (venal, crooked and meddling) roughed up mayor steps out of the shadows blubbering. This causes the sheriff to not only lose his hat but drop on the floor the shotgun that had been his main weapon while in pursuit. Does he stoop to pick it up? No, and of course as soon as the sheriff helps the mayor out of the shack, the shotgun becomes an immediate need when dogs attack the mayor. Does the sheriff take out handgun on his hip to take care of the dogs? No, he runs like a scared rabbit.
Courtney Cox, Paul Reubens, Jaime King, David Arquette, Thomas Jane, Lukas Haas and Balthezar Getty-- you'd think acouple of them would have called for a rewrite to the crapulous script,but again, no. What a terrible waste of money (because the production values are of a professional caliber). Better that the celluloid wasted on this film had been used to make guitar picks.
Otis (2008)
A nice little film.
It was great seeing Daniel Stern & Illeana Douglas back at work. They are both great actors who deserve to be working more. The story starts playing out and you are unsure as to what type of film it's going to be. Torture porn? FBI profiler idolatry? Cat & mouse psychological thriller? ... Comedy? There are a number of nice turns done by the actors here. The head up his ass FBI profiler. Riley, the daughter. Reed, the more than a little disturbing younger brother. Kevin Pollak's Elmo Broth, brother to the antagonist. And finally the nut-job kidnapper/killer Otis Broth who amongst all the different dramatic currents still is able to imbue his character with a bit of poignancy. You'll notice a few holes in the story but, again, this isn't a police procedural that you are watching. Counter to that there are some surprises as to the paths that the characters eventually end up taking. Nothing especially distinctive cinematographically, stylistically or in editing. But it is a good film, and that is enough.
Dead Moon Rising (2007)
Not to be unkind...
... but life is simply too short to indulge in this kind of waste of time. If I were to be snide, I would tell you that I imagine that the filmmaker would probably say something to the effect that with another $700.00 he could have put a proper shine on the finished product.
This is a bad film.
Dead Moon Rising was produced with insufficient funds and a decided lack of expertise. Cardboard characters, awful acting, nonexistent continuity and grade school special effects can not be explained away simply by crying poverty. Care costs nothing but still this film was short-changed.