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Reviews
Queen of the East (1995)
The lady is not for leading
Strange tale of an English Lady who becomes queen of an Arabic country. The story is told in flashbacks and features Jennifer Saunders as the lady in question.
It has its funny moments and keeps a steady pace. Jennifer Saunders, however, shows her limitations as an actress and can never convince as a leading lady, no matter how hard the supporting cast tries.
Overall an interesting tale, but it could have done with a better actress in the leading role.
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Why is this funny?
I saw this movie when I came out in the theaters and I thought it not really funny. But, a lot of other people called it "one of the best comedies ever", so I must be missing something. So, last night I watched it again on television and see if I would like it now, so many years later. It would not be the first time I change my mind about a movie (although not always in a good way). Well, I did not change my mind. It's an OK movie, but it's not really funny and I thought it was a waste of talent. Maybe I'll find it funny in another 15 years, but I guess not.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
What a waste of time
I saw this movie recently on television and was actually looking forward to see it. Boy, was this a waste of time. This movie lacks any inspiration and is as interesting as waiting in front of a traffic light. Angelina Jolie seems to have just woken up just before every scene as her eyes are half closed. She looks extremely scruffy throughout the movie and doesn't even bother to act. Probably because she puts all her concentration into mastering her English accent.
Don't waste your time with this one; watch the latest weather report in stead.
Seconds (1966)
Too Long
This movie would not have been out of place in the Twilight Zone.
It would have made one of the better episodes, but the story is a bit too thin to be stretched out to feature lenght.
Interesting enough to watch, but hardly anything I would recommend as essential viewing.
Rush Hour (1998)
A waste of time
I'm not a fan of Mr Motormouth Chris Tucker, but decided to watch this movie because I was interested how Jackie Chan would do in an American movie. Jackie Chan plays second fiddle to Chris Tucker in this movie and this does not do the movie any good. I really wonder what Jackie Chan is doing in this movie as he has almost nothing to do except playing a cliché fish out of the water character. There is only one "Jackie Chan Moment" in the movie (the fight with the vases), so I really don't understand why he decided to be in this movie in the first place.
Dip huet seung hung (1989)
Defines the genre.
The films starts with two men in a church, a photo and some money change hands, a hit has been ordered. A typical start for a movie called 'The Killer' you might say. Well yes, but that is the only typical thing about this movie. After this scene a melancholic song sets in which I thought was out of place at first. But this song proved to be an original and fast way of telling about the sentiments of our killer and introduces you to the female lead, as she happens to sing this song in the restaurant our killer enters to do business. A door opens and the mayhem begins, our killer found his victim and quickly moves his way through the victim's henchmen to put a bullet between the eyes of the man he was paid to kill. The scene ends with our killer getting more than he bargained for: a bullet in his back while protecting the singer who he blinds by firing a gun -to protect himself and her- to near to her face.
When treated in the hospital she is diagnosed with temporary blindness and is unable, or unwilling, to help the police catch the killer. Because of this incident the killer feels responsible for her and watches out for her and decides to get to know the singer better. The singer is unaware of the fact that her protector is the man who blinded her.
A second storyline develops as an undercover cop is caught up in a handover over illegal substances. To save his life he needs to fight his way out the situations and ends up killing the mob boss killing in an overcrowded.
He gets a new assignment: protect a corrupt businessman, who was just designated as the killer's next victim, this will also be his last hit. Our killer gets his prey but his puts the two men head to head The killer is ambushed once he finished the job by other hit men who can not allow one of there own to 'retire'. The killer can escape the ordeal, but a girl gets shot in the process. He gets the girl to a hospital with the the policeman, who saw the shoot out and the killer taking the girl, behind him.
This proves that there is no pure good or pure evil. The killer kills people he is paid to kill, but goes out of his way helping innocent people who get caught up in the action. The cop is not that different as he is unscrupulous in getting the job done. A degree of respect is created between the two and this proves to be a hard nut to crack when they finally meet up.
This is a high paced action movie shot in the now over recognized John Woo style: slow motion, blurred or over emphasized sounds and well choreographed action sequences.. The story unwinds at a steady pace and is definitely an essential view if you like this genre.
The Ring (2002)
Puts the horror in horrible
Ever since I saw Ringu I was hooked on everything connected to it. So I needed to see the American remake. A lot of people told me it was a scary and very good movie. The reviews talked about a must see movie. How wrong they all were. I was slapping myself all true the movie and as the story progressed got more and more annoyed with the whole thing. Then I saw the ace actor Brian Cox and thought that maybe he could raise the level of the movie a bit. But he saw that there was no saving this movie and he quickly killed off his character in a very very strange way. This was just one of the things that does not make any sense. This remake loses the steady pace Ringu and adds all kinds of things I still don't know what these added to the story. What was that with the horses? Why does the kid think he sees dead people (pun intended)? Horrible movie, watch Ringu and Ringu 2 (a few scenes of which also end up in this remake adding more confusion) instead.
Batoru rowaiaru (2000)
Kill your young...
This is an interesting movie. This is what could happen if typical school relationships are scaled up to the extreme. The young actors give a very good performance. The tempo is very high and is greatly helped by a super imposed score board keeping the viewer up to date how the kids are doing. One disappointment is that the really bad kids are killed off to easily. They get through the best part of the movie slautering almost everyone between them and then they are just killed in a very lame manner. What about a stand-off between the two? Also everything is not really made clear, but that is perhaps because I didn't pay attention. Hope I don't end up in the next Battle Royale because of this.