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Reviews
The Iron Giant (1999)
Among the best, most heartwarming animated films of all time
Wow!
My kids are deep into their "Disney years" and we welcome any well animated, well scripted non-Disney film. We're not anti-Disney, we'd just like to see something off THEIR formula. Problem is, there aren't many high quality alternatives. The Iron Giant is a notable exception: the animation, storyline, direction, characters, and voices are superb. You won't find a bad or campy bit of dialogue in the entire film.
This is a well-written, uplifting story which pulls you in without resorting to maudlin stuff. By keeping the number of core characters to a minimum, the film-makers allow us to learn about the players and see their personalities unfold without resorting to cheap dialogue tricks. Despite being animated, the characters seem real (my oldest asked me if it was a true story - a previously unheard of question about an ANIMATED film).
There are few other animated films which captivate my children in this way. Even the adults in our household give this one a big "10"!
Bravo Warner Brothers! My kids are waiting for the sequel.
The Green Mile (1999)
Touching story brilliantly acted!
See this movie!
This is an interesting and touching story which is well-written. The sets were simple and the film-making techniques entirely unobtrusive - very little reliance on special effects or gimmickry here. As other films are treats to the eyes, this one is to the soul - celebrating the goodness of a handful of people without overdoing the conflict with evil.
John Coffey ("like the drink only not spelled the same") is played brilliantly by Michael Clarke Duncan as a huge and simple man with amazing powers - a sort of combination of John Travolta's character in Phenomenon and Lenny in Of Mice and Men. I'll be looking for his name in future.
Hanks? Well, he's on the top of the heap nowadays so he's attracting a lot of pot-shots but it's difficult to fire any at him based on this performance. Put simply, his performance is flawless - probably too stoic a character to get credit for huge emotional range but all the more believable for it.
The supporting cast (James Cromwell, David Morse, Doug Hutchison, Jeffrey DeMunn and the rest) were almost perfect to a one - communicating their feelings without going over the top with melodrama.
The one criticism (and it's mild) I could level at this film is its length - there are several scenes which are not essential to either the plot or character development which could probably spare this film 1/2 hour with some judicious editing. Plus, the flashbacks which bookend the story did very little for me - I may be wrong but I believe that this film would be just as effective and certainly shorter without them.
Still, this film is entirely enjoyable for its entire 3 hour length. Enjoy it for what it is - a well-acted, well-written touching story about the goodness in (some) people.
P.S. I'll probably be buying a copy of this movie to dust off on some future rainy weekend afternoon.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Two thumbs across
I can't trash this film because I didn't see the whole thing - having left with a friend who insisted on walking out about 1/2way through. I would have otherwise toughed it out but, after a full hour, was nowhere close to being engaged by this work.
I can't say the acting was bad because I honestly didn't see any acting and any that was there would have been lost through the distractions of rapid zoom shots and numerous (way-too-close) close-ups. It sure had style - but we've seen (and heard) it all before on MTV. And although Kidman and McGregor were surprisingly good singers, the song productions were just too disjointed, unoriginal, over the top and unfunny for me.
Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of musicals and prefer plot lines and character development to glitz and an omnipresent soundtrack. My apologies to those who truly loved this film (for its whimsy I'm guessing?) but I just couldn't find anything to like.
Recommended for those who like musicals, fast-paced editing, lush sets or who are just curious to see Kidman and McGregor sing old Elton John songs over and over.
Can't give this one a thumbs up or down.
Snatch (2000)
A Stylish & Engaging Thriller... Congratulations Guy Ritchie!
Guy Ritchie has directed a stylish and engaging thriller the likes of which I have not seen in many years (I kept having feelings not experienced since "Pulp Fiction" and perhaps even 1985's "No Surrender" - but that was a long time ago and an altogether very different film). I enjoy good thrillers and this one is top-notch. Yes, there is a lot of violence - including unlicensed, bare-knuckle boxing - but the omnipresent humour lets the audience accept the violence as the context within which stories like this happen. It's hard to wince when a dog in the background is squeaking because of a squeaky toy it had swallowed whole earlier in the film. Not tremendously clever but it works very well in this movie.
The acting? Top drawer stuff. Jason Statham's "Turkish" is excellent and even Brad Pitt's performance is very good. Alan Ford's "Brick Top" is absolutely wonderfully delivered - this character is positively scary - and Dennis Farina ("Cousin Avi") is quite good as well. Sure, none of the roles called for much emotional range but there were no embarrassing accents or out-of-character moments which destroy lesser outings. The entire cast merits high marks - as much for supplying the comic relief as for ensuring that no part of this movie dragged.
The story? It's actually an amalgam of several stories where the weaving is at such a breakneck speed that you have to keep on top of the cast of characters or you run the risk of losing the thread altogether. The stylish introduction of all the main characters at the beginning of the movie turns out to be not only style but substance.
While the story starts out as a standard heist plot, it departs from it very quickly as one group after another is brought into contact with - and possession of - the stolen gem. The interesting thing is that story ends up being as much about "One Punch" Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt), an Irish gypsy (called "Pikey's" apparently) as it is about this giant diamond. The real interest in this story comes from the connections between the quest for this diamond and the story about Mickey O'Neill's abbreviated boxing career.
If you can keep up with its pace, "Snatch" is an excellent thriller to go see and will certainly be first class video rental fodder in the future. Congratulations to Guy Ritchie - I'll be renting his earlier outing, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" sometime soon. For the time being, I give this one a 9.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Among the best, most heartwarming animated films of all time
Wow!
My kids are deep into their "Disney years" and we welcome any well animated, well scripted non-Disney film. We're not anti-Disney, we'd just like to see something off THEIR formula. Problem is, there aren't many high quality alternatives. The Iron Giant is a notable exception: the animation, storyline, direction, characters, and voices are superb. You won't find a bad or campy bit of dialogue in the entire film.
This is a well-written, uplifting story which pulls you in without resorting to maudlin stuff. By keeping the number of core characters to a minimum, the film-makers allow us to learn about the players and see their personalities unfold without resorting to cheap dialogue tricks. Despite being animated, the characters seem real (my oldest asked me if it was a true story - a previously unheard of question about an ANIMATED film).
There are few other animated films which captivate my children in this way. Even the adults in our household give this one a big "10"!
Bravo Warner Brothers! My kids are waiting for the sequel.
Mission: Impossible II (2000)
Predictable plot twists and over-stylised directing
One expects films like M:I-2 to be cut from the same cloth as the James Bond series - with some justification. The film has suspense, exotic locales, gorgeous women (well, woman), lots of gunfire and assorted pyrotechnics and other gadgets. This one even has a semblance of a believable storyline and the opening rockclimbing sequence was pretty cool.
Where M:I-2 lost it for me was in the overstylized directing by John Woo which at times took on almost campy tones. His use of slow motion shots (particularly of pigeon wings flapping) irritated me and the overlong fight scenes with an obvious martial arts twist did little for me either. Any of these devices used sparingly might have been interesting but Woo's overuse of them made me pay attention to the devices at the expense of letting myself go with the suspense that I should have been feeling.
The acting was okay and the character development consistent with movies of this genre (you are told their backgrounds and hot buttons from "mission briefings"). The script was alright but its plot twists were way too predictable and none of these twists really took the storyline where it didn't appear to be going anyway.
If you like this genre of film, go ahead and see it - there are far worse out there. If you're lukewarm or not crazy about this genre, then you should probably stay away - of course, you're probably not apt to read this review anyway.