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Reviews
Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine (2003)
Good, but flawed
Game Over chronicles the infamous chess rematch between world champion Gary Kasparov and Deep Blue, an IBM supercomputer specially designed for the game that took over 30 man-years to create. The film itself is a mere 85 minutes and wastes no time making its assault on IBM, starting off with a damning reference to "The Turk," a famous hoax which purported to be a chess automaton. Roughly half of the film continues this bare-knuckle attack, with the director using creepy fade shots interspersed with interviews with IBM employees and an annoying whisper voice commentary to clearly inform the audience of who the "bad guys" are. This blatant taking of sides from early on is somewhat distracting to the viewer, as the facts presented later seem questionable due to the overwhelming bias of the filmmaker. For example, the film notably does not mention one of the programmer's attempts to stage another rematch between Kasparov and Deep Blue. Seeing as one of the primary arguments used to discredit Deep Blue's win is the refusal of a rematch on IBM's part, it seems outright irresponsible to ignore this important fact completely.
The other, and much better, half of the film is the story of Gary Kasprov and the trials and tribulations he faced during his match against Deep Blue in 1997. The film shows a side of Kasparov many may be unfamiliar with. While the mainstream media at the time seemed bent on selling him as an arrogant, flustered, and tactless mad scientist of sorts, Kasparov proves the contrary with his charisma and wit. He acts as a kind of tour guide throughout the film, taking the viewer everywhere from the headquarters of the Soviet chess program to the site of the match in New York. Not surprisingly, most viewers will find themselves rooting for a considerably humanized Kasparov and feeling the sting of defeat as the overwhelming pressure of the press, the matches and the future of chess all wreak havoc on his concentration.
Unfortunately for chess buffs, the film itself pays little attention to the actual match itself. It gives a brief description of how each side did in each game and briefly points out the move Kasparov thought was too "uncomputer-like" to have been made by a machine. The DVD, however, does have a fairly detailed reenactment of the matches done in Chessmaster, complete with commentary. The unbalanced and frankly boring and repetitive slam on IBM earns a 3, but the compelling story of Gary Kasparov earns a 9, making this film a 6 over all. If you are interested in the subject, it's worth the rent but the attack on IBM seems too vicious considering the hazy circumstances.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
TERRIBLE!!!!!
This film is an absolute travesty. It betrays the other pictures and makes a mockery of the entire franchise. Part of the charm of the Matrix, was seeing extraordinary things happening in regular places. People having kung fu fights on top of buildings, a showdown in a subway station, a shootout in a lobby, etc. These kind of scenes were great, because the audience could connect with them, and the viewer almost felt like another world existed inside of their own. This movie abandons that magic, choosing the force-feed the viewer with shot after shot of the `real world' (which I wasn't particularly crazy about in the first place), which looks less and less impressive every time you see it (the newer Star Wars movies, anyone?). All of the interesting characters from Reloaded are gone or forced into the background, including a certain Frenchman and his gorgeous wife. The death scenes are corny and forced (with god-awful speeches to match), Hugo Weaving is given some positively rotten lines and the ending is abrupt and ill-conceived. The philosophical dialog (which we all hoped would lead to some greater purpose or idea) is completely lost and the religious symbolism is overbearing and shallow. Furthermore, Neo has ceased to be a human being the audience can relate with and is now cold and uninteresting to watch. The bottom line on this film is that is was under thought and over funded. It shows a lack of control in all regards. To top it all off, some of the visual effects are particularly hideous, hindering this waste of celluloid even further. My only hope is that the first film will survive this terrible ending and perhaps be viewed as a stand-alone movie, and not part of a trilogy (which it really isn't, although I thought that Reloaded setup the franchise for a great finish, but I guess I was wrong). I was sorely disappointed....
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
A Fun Film!
*WARNING, I GIVE AWAY ONE OF FREDDY's SIGNATURE QUIPS* I think most of the people who didn't enjoy this film simply misinterpreted what it was supposed to be; a fun, fast paced, action packed, gore obsessed 97 minutes of total horror movie fun. And it was, oh it was.
Perhaps what I enjoyed about this film the most was the insane pace it kept throughout the film. There aren't a lot of breaks in the action, no long drawn-out discussions about Vorhees women or other such technicalities, just lots of cool nightmare sequences, staking and of course lots of rumbling between Freddy and Jason.
And oh, were the rumbles great. The fight scenes between the two titans of terror alone make this film worth seeing. Of course, Freddy chimes in every once and a while with a few classic one liners, although perhaps my favorite one from this film was more of a one `worder' ("Tilt!").
The visual effects were also very good in this film. Freddy's transformation sequences are shockingly good and make you jump out of your seat. The opening credits are also very well done......
However, just because the movie is fun doesn't mean that our two favorite slasher icons have gone soft. The Freddy in this film is somewhere between the darker, slicker, more evil Freddy of New Nightmare and perhaps the more comic Freddy of the past. Jason is also in fine form, continuing his relentless pursuit of innocents.
The biggest downside I saw in this film was the fact that Betsy Palmer didn't reprise the role of Pamela Vorhees, (now that would have been really cool).
All in all a fun movie to watch, people who grew up with Freddy and Jason should enjoy it.
Army of Darkness (1992)
PURE FUN!
Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi return to deliver the third chapter in the Evil Dead saga. Unlike the rocky transition between the first two pictures, this movie starts up pretty much where Evil Dead 2 stops off. We find our hero,Ash, transported back to the days of knights and ladies where he has to fight an evil army of the undead, with HILARIOUS CONSEQUENCES!! A little advice, IF YOU ARE A TEENAGER WITH A SENSE OF HUMOR YOU WILL LOVE THIS FILM!! Basically, it's The Three Stooges meets 80's Horror and Action Adventure. Also, this film has more quotable lines than perhaps any other film I have ever seen (except for possibly Ghostbusters). Anyway, Bruce Campbell delivers a wonderful performance, combining goofy physical comedy with his over-the-top line delivery ("All right, ok, who wants some?"). A MUST SEE!!! PURE FUN FROM BEGINNING TO END!!!