movieoooo Reviews

Precious (II) (2009)

Redemption

[9/10 · 21 January 2009]

This film has redeemed Mr. Daniels in my eyes. He has created a great story that is well executed. Almost all the pieces fall together. As a Sundance festival-goer I overheard said, "It's an awesome film, but not perfect"

The good: 1. Story! Wow. This is filmaking with heart 2. The filmmaker figured out how to use violence and sex as part of the story and make it work in a way that is consistent with the film (unlike his last effort, shadowboxer) 3. Performances. Holy cow, who knew Mariah and Monique could ACT! Also the star, Gabby, an unknown actor found in Harlem, is PERFECT. Someone in the audience asked Monique what she was going to wear to the Oscars, this was not unwarranted.

The bad: 1. The teacher, played by Paula Patton is atrocious and almost ruins the film. She is just too excited and not believable. Bad casting and terrible acting. I'm sure lee did the best he could with her. 2. Quirky fantasy world sequences feel out of place at times. I actually like most of them and think they work in concept, its just they aren't used consistently throughout the film. I think this can still be fixed with some editing.

The Greatest (2009)

disappointing

[1/10 · 19 January 2009]

Well if the only goal was to make old ladies in the audience cry then mission succeeded.

This film is simply not that good. It isn't entertaining to watch, the characters don't make us want to now more about them. There is little to no tension as the story develops.

Also S. Sarandon is terrible. Its like she just showed up on set, read her lines from a card and left. Its a shame because Brosnan is quite good. Although even if she had done a good job I'm not sure the film could be saved.

The cinematography is fine, but not amazing. The new jersey shots look different that the new york shots, almost like they are different movies. Other than that the film looks OK.

I wouldn't waste my time on this one.

Under the Bombs (2007)

Pro-People - Great Film

[10/10 · 23 January 2008]

Not sure why this film isn't rated higher. Its really good. The other review does a good job explaining why its good. (an amazing achievement, part documentary, part drama, great acting, great story, great cinematography) I will add, it is not pro-hezbollah, its not pro-Israel, its anti-war. However it is told from the perspective of a Lebanese woman, so if you are really pro-Israel and pro-war and pro-killing people, you will probably not like it.

Really depressing. So if you want feel-good and redemption, don't go see it.

It has a great love story too. Its complicated and not trite at all.

This is a unique touching film

U2 3D (2007)

Chills Chills Chills

[10/10 · 23 January 2008]

This movie is so good. Nothing I write here can prepare you for how good it is. I though it was crazy that people were paying more to see this at sundance than they would pay to see the show live, but this is 100x better than being there live. We are Lucky to be able to see this show for $10 when it hits theaters this week.

An independent film using 3-D is a phenomenon that we will start seeing more and more of. This movie makes me want to have 3d in my living room. Can't wait for the new 3d player to hit the home The director is a genius. She had every type of 3-d Camera available to her.

You will be hearing a lot about this film coming up.

Weapons (2007)

Better then I expected

[7/10 · 25 January 2007]

I don't think this deserves such a low rating. It wasn't my favorite movie of all time but it was pretty good. Dano was good. The music was awesome.

I compared it to Kids or Ken Park from Larry Clark. However it similarity was only in the story, it was not as emotionally charged as either of those works nor was it as gratuitous and shocking. It was kind of like a bland Kids.

I thought it did a great job at showing white trash life for kids today, completely numb to drug use and violence. Its tone completely matched the story. It was extremely well done.

Teeth (I) (2007)

Another Sundance Stinker

[3/10 · 24 January 2007]

Its not that this movie is graphic. I'm fine with that. It was just a bad movie.

The writing was amateurish at best.

The direction and cinematography was worse than the writing.

What you really have here is a clever idea without the substance to back it up.

Only thing saving this movie is the solid performance by John Hensley as the troubled brother. We will be seeming more good things coming from this guy.

Really disappointed by Josh Pais. He phoned in his portrayal as the doctor. He misread the need for overacting and stood out as being somehow out of sync with the rest of the cast.

I can't believe this movie sold for $2.5M I'm quite sure that the people buying didn't watch it or didn't car because they could make some money just on the topic.

It generated a lot of buzz just because the topic makes you curious to see it, but you will be disappointed when you do actually go and see it.

Dedication (2007)

Truly a delight. Billy is Oscar worthy.

[10/10 · 24 January 2007]

This is a great great movie.

Billy Cudrup is so believable as a crazy person. I have never seen a performance like this before.

Mandy Moore is sweet and perfect. Great chemistry between the two.

The script is fresh and funny.

The only con I can think of is that they use a kind of irritating stop action flash movement to indicate the passage of time. Didn't like that and it seemed out of place.

The music is also outstanding. Great choice of songs.

It is a great love-story, but told in a different and beautiful way. A true delight.

We Are the Strange (2007)

1.5 hours of torture

[1/10 · 24 January 2007]

would be better than this movie. This is unequivocally the biggest POS I have ever seen (and I've seen some really terrible movies, "the saddest music in the world" was my previous #1)

This film defies description, but in a bad way. Anything, and I mean anything, I write in this review about the movie will make it seem better than it actually is. It is that bad.

Someone said this is the future of film. If true, I guess I won't be watching any movies in the future.

There is absolutely no story. (accept the last 10 minutes when it turns into a very basic and predictable story) It is not beautiful. It is too random to be meaningful. It evokes no emotion except rage at having wasted over an hour watching the film.

M. Strange was at the screening and he has this whole act about how he is different and interesting. Please. He may think he is being edgy or cool, but it just comes of pathetic. Much like this movie. I am appalled anyone wasted all that time making it.

More irritating than the visuals is the music and soundtrack. Grating and dissonant, it just sounds bad.

Shadowboxer (2005)

Doesn't Live Up To Its Potential

[3/10 · 12 December 2005]

I can't believe I'm agreeing with the other review but Cuba's role did erase snow dogs from my memory. He was phenomenal.

Thats about the only nice thing I can say about this film. It has a number of problems and I suspect Mr. Daniels would not like to hear any of them, the two worst:

1. All shock and no substance. Sex and violence are fine, when they are part of the story. I'm sure Lee thinks they are part of the story, but the film would have been 1000 times better if it were a bit more subtle. This is a difficult point to grasp. I wasn't offended or anything, I just think it looks like he is using this as a crutch instead of art. It comes across as trying to hard to be edgy. It basically loses its impact.

2. Boring Story. So ridiculously predictable. Its really a shame given the great acting and interesting characters. Total fizzle at the end though.

3. Doesn't live up to its potential. Well cast, great acting, beautiful cinematography, but somehow all the pieces just don't fit.