David-352 Reviews

The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

Good story, bad movie. Watch out, I will reveal some details.

[4/10 · 8 May 2012]

Such a great story, interesting fellow. You'd think (truth being stranger than fiction) that telling the story straight could work. These days, though, nothing is ever quite enough. Escalation is like a new religion to movie makers, it seems. The writers / producers didn't trust their material, so they huffed and they puffed and they blew their movie right away. Nothing wrong with the acting, here. Hopkins, as others have said, is terrific, and the supporting cast as well -- but. (SPOILER WARNING) When a person with such perfect engine smarts puts a wheel on his trailer that (naturally!!!!) falls off at highway speed, dumping his 25 years of effort all over the asphalt (without significant damage!!!)-- well, this is just crap Hollywood. When someone with so many decades of riding experience practically falls off his bike every single d___n time he starts moving, when he crashes at Bonneville at extreme speed -- we don't know just how fast, but let's say way over 80 -- and gets not even a visible scratch, when he does all this at a rather advanced age, somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 years -- well. As if breaking all these speed records with a heart condition at his (or any) age isn't enough, he is portrayed acting like a nitwit -- it's disgusting, it's pandering. Get those movie makers out of Burt's way, please.

Elsa y Fred (2005)

Everybody loves this one! But . . .

[7/10 · 4 December 2010]

Well, I can't help agreeing with all the other reviews, in general. It was a lovely film, funny, delightful, entertaining in the best way. But I have to point out a really grating mistake -- I can't believe it was on purpose, so I infer it was an error. Shortly after Alfredo (Fred) takes up with Elsa, his dog Bonaparte disappears. Bonaparte was the joy of Fred's life -- did he die, was he abandoned? Reminds me of the Bhagavad Gita -- where heaven is refused when the dog is not allowed in. The mistake is repeated at the end, when Fred's nearly heroic return with milk becomes irrelevant -- the kitten has disappeared. I'm going to have to watch La Dolce Vita to see if a kitten (cat?) is missing there, too.

Under the Sun (1998)

Want more? Or not?

[10/10 · 3 December 2009]

Loved this movie, though there were so many items to pan, mostly mentioned by other commenters. I thought the planes / soaring birds were both obvious and obscure (Icarus? Ecstasy? Flying? Soul? All of these?) But mostly gratuitous and extra -- watch that metaphor! The music could have been Swedish folk, as mentioned by others. Erik (again, as mentioned) was maybe the most hate provoking villain I've ever seen. Some folks seem to think he was Olof's friend. Not possible, though Olof is certainly under that delusion. Erik is entirely out for himself, conning Olof for betting money, and fearing loss of his power over Olof when Ellen shows up. He absolutely shows his true color during his last scene, when he tears into Olof's psyche unmercifully solely for the sadistic pleasure of it. He's heading to America the next day, so dishonestly relieving himself of his debt to Olof is of no material benefit to him. Well, I won't really put in the ultimate spoiler, this movie is very painful, very beautiful, and we decided we'd either get all of Nutley's movies, or maybe avoid them entirely!

The Woodsman (2004)

Painful, beautiful, terribly flawed film

[7/10 · 24 September 2008]

I've seen this film twice. The first time, I was completely in Walter's corner, with the director.

The crucial scene, with Robin in the park, is both extraordinarily moving and extraordinarily disappointing. Walter comes perilously close to surrendering to his exploitive urges, and then veers away, just in time. A heroic moment. Robin, by showing Walter how she has been affected by her father's abuse, allows him to see himself clearly for the first time, and to understand how his relations with other girls has caused such profound damage. At that very moment, Walter no longer wants Robin to sit on his lap, doesn't want to be that Wolf / Monster to children any more. It's her (inexplicable) courage and openness that have redeemed him.

But then Walter tells Robin to "Go home." By inference, there is no hope for her. Walter does not reciprocate by trying to find some way to protect her from the ongoing danger offered by her father. From that moment, the film has no point. Walter continues to work out his life issues, perhaps successfully, but we are left with the haunting image of Robin, walking slowly on her path toward "home."

I can't claim complete credit for this observation. My partner, who was molested as a child, saw this aspect of the film above everything else, and when she pointed it out, I realized it was always there, only dimly observed by me on first viewing, but really jarring when I saw it again, with her.

Hard Candy (2005)

Unforgettable

[8/10 · 18 February 2007]

I'm always interested to see what people say about films that have engaged or interested me. This one is a prime example. Comments seem heavily weighted to either Loved It or Hated It, and it's fascinating to see how really divergent peoples' perceptions are. I very much liked this film, though I don't like violence in general, or vengeance in general, both of which are important thematic elements in this movie. The two protagonists in the film are both psychopaths -- in a "normal" frame of reference. But that doesn't keep them from being human beings, that is, something completely other than their pathologies. The film makers have tried to illuminate these human dimensions, and I think they have been partly, maybe sufficiently, successful. Many of the contributors to this forum who have hated this movie seem to think the movie takes sides -- either presents Jeff or Hayley as too sympathetic, depending on the contributor's own feelings about the behaviors of each. The truth lies exactly between, in my opinion: The movie carefully takes no side at all, but instead shows these two exactly as they are, leaving the viewer a few subtle clues as to why they behave as they do. Nothing is justified, there is no pretense to righteousness or even decency on either side. I have great respect for these film makers -- I don't see exploitation here. As many have noted, the acting is extraordinary. I never for a second thought these people were not real, were "acting." Not easy to watch, but worth while.

The Insider (1999)

Love / Hate

[5/10 · 17 January 2007]

By giving this film a 5 rating, I'm ensuring my comment will (probably) never get seen!!! After reading several comments here on the "loved it" end and several on the "hated it" end, I find myself agreeing with both. I liked the story (even though as one "hated it" fan says, it's old news.) I liked much of the acting -- with particular praise to Michael Gambon for his near perfect accent and slimy affect, and to Russell Crowe for his understated but dead on portrayal of Wigand. Some of Pacino's work did seem stacatto, blustery. Two aspects of this movie, as a film, were quite disappointing to me. It needed an editor. There were several segments that were pointlessly drawn out, the director's "little darlings" I think, that were not quite sleep-inducing to me, but just irritating. The movie could have been far better at 2 hours. The other problem was the music. It was, for the most part, either pointless and irrelevant, or just awful and overpoweringly distracting. The awful part consisted of a rather abstract vocal composition that should never have been 6 miles from a microphone, ever! While it was intruding on the shoot, I have no idea what the characters were doing / saying / thinking, and I'm unwilling to watch this (unedited) piece of work again to find out.

Pi (1998)

Truly awful!

[1/10 · 10 December 2006]

One reviewer said it might take you where you don't want to go --- so why go there? This kind of chaotic descent is unpleasant without being interesting.

The premise (flight of Icarus, exaggerated over-reaching, tower of Babel) is sophomoric and unsubtle. One of many goofs: at the beginning, where Max lists the drugs he's doing, he says "HCI" instead of HCL. This term is written in chemical nomenclature with the L in lower case, but Aronofsky, not knowing anything about chemistry, thinks it's an "I". Since all the chemical names Max mentions are complicated and technical and are presented as authoritative (words from a genius??????????????) the error stands way out.

It's amazing to me that over 27000 IMDb folks have reviewed this film with a 7.5 average rating. Really amazing. We've gone way off the tracks here.

Don't waste your time, unless you groove on (many) scenes of a man writhing, holding his head in agony, and injecting himself in various places. Did I mention the amateur lobotomy?

Code Unknown (2000)

In my perception, truly awful!

[1/10 · 1 November 2006]

It was remarkable to me in that I found myself completely and continuously enraged after about 20 minutes. This is a very unusual response in my mental catalog, and I'm wondering if there's something possibly instructive about that. In any event, I temporarily suspended my anger, hoping that somehow sense might at last be made of the material. I was disappointed in that hope.

The adjectives that come immediately to mind are: Pretentious and Self-indulgent. The hours spent watching were wasted, and I am disheartened to see this director being praised, and even paid (!) for dragging his audience through these disconnected and over-long vignettes. A few of the scenes were interesting, some disturbing, but by far the majority were just pointless.

I am interested to see that there are so many responses to this film on this site, and to see that a great many folks feel this is a truly great film. I don't necessarily think their responses are nutso, but it's interesting that there are people whose perceptions are so different from mine. Phony intellectuals? Maybe not -- maybe it's due to some real difference in brain chemistry.

Children of the Century (1999)

Account of George Sand's 2 year relationship with de Musset

[1/10 · 2 July 2006]

This movie seems to be filmed in real time -- 2 years! I had to look at the notes to discover its length is only 139 minutes. Very interesting that most girls under 18 gave this a "1" rating, as did I, a 63 year old man. All other ages / sexes seemed to rate this film between 5 and 10, on average. I think many adults must be bullied by the "literary" subject matter, and give the film an undeserved pass. Or are girls just more honest? I don't know about that, but Diane Kurys has inflicted this endlessly obsessive film on us as much as de Musset inflicts his repetitive cruelties on Sand. I simply got tired of watching the horrible dance and pushed the eject button well before the movie's end. In my opinion, Kurys is much better represented by Entre Nous, a quite enjoyable film with content I found coherent and meaningful.

A Heart in Winter (1992)

No criticism.

[7 December 1999]

Amazing to see what a divide this film engenders. The comments seem intelligent and thoughtful, for the most part, and quite bipolar. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I loved its irresolution, though that didn't make me comfortable. What I wanted to note, as a former violinmaker, is that the violinmaking was portrayed quite accurately. Unusual care was taken with this particular facet, and I appreciated that.

Amateur (1994)

Form, Form, Form = Nausea

[3/10 · 3 December 1999]

"Amateur" -- Beautiful titles, title music, actors, actresses, sets and locations. But that's all, folks. If only this were a simple noir film! When movie dialog is so flat, so much less than ordinary speech, and so affectedly slow that the viewer hears each line 3 times mentally before it's actually spoken, something is wrong. I kept thinking, "Art, Art, Art, and plenty of it!" When the Avenging Angel fires his gun into a demon's body over and over, it's a perfect example of more is less.

Home from the Sea (1972)

One of my top 10, maybe 5

[10/10 · 27 September 1999]

It's a bit risky to give an unqualified thumbs up to any film -- there are pros out there who could slice me and dice me and serve me for lunch. Nevertheless, this time I'm playing it straight. This was one of the greatest films in my experience.

I saw it once, probably in 1973, on impulse. I had seen and immediately appreciated the Samurai genre in the Japanese theater (since converted into a 5 or 6 plex ordinary commercial theatre) in San Francisco. The then-newer sword films, in color, were especially impressive. Seems to me "Diva" owes a lot to those movies, in terms of beautiful scenes, but it didn't really compare. Maybe "Un Coeur en Hiver" is a better example. Anyhow, I found myself quite sympathetic to the Japanese feeling and aesthetic, so I would often drop in, willing to see anything that theatre was screening.

"Home from the Sea" is not anything to do with Samurai or swords, no physical violence. It is a "simple" story of a contemporary family's livelihood, and a change in circumstances that industry and society imposed on them, destroying that way of life. The family's responses to the change were what made this film great (not that the cinematic craft wasn't superb!)

The Trial of Joan of Arc (1962)

Stunning

[10/10 · 27 September 1999]

There are only a handful of films that have engraved themselves in my memory indelibly. This is one of them. First, it is in black and white, and I find it impossible to imagine how this particular film could have been done otherwise. It is perfect.

The close ups of Joan, testifying in the ecclesiastical court setting, were devastating. Whether this film mirrors history perfectly is irrelevant. What I saw on screen was a portrayal of absolute sincerity that, for me, exemplifies the highest human ideal. The dialog was spare -- not one extra word -- and the photography was flawless. I don't know whether Florence Carrez (Joan) has acted in anything else -- I think maybe not. But I suppose if she ever considered doing so, this would have been a nearly impossible performance to follow.

The Playboy of the Western World (1962)

Great version of this play

[10/10 · 27 September 1999]

This was the best production I've ever seen of this wonderful play. Most of the lines were clearly enough spoken so that even an unprepared American could comprehend almost every sentence. While I'm not Irish, and therefore don't have the sensitivities or the complete comprehension of linguistic nuance that a native speaker would have, the play and its expression in this case seemed entirely authentic to me.