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garnet-93
Reviews
Alteration (2007)
Director's Review: My First Short Film, Age 14
To the casual observer, "Alteration" has no escape from being dubbed a goofy, if earnest attempt at a creepy home video... or a low-tech neo-noir wannabe at best. For me, after all these years, it's a time capsule of my infancy and naievety as a lover and maker of film, straining to be taken seriously as a surrealist satire on the unrealistic expectations of rehabilitation and inner change.
National Treasure (2004)
A treasure beyond all imagining! And this movie is it!
"A treasure
a treasure beyond all imagining". Those are the words of the grandfather of Benjamin "Ben" Gates who is the seventh descendant of the Gates family to be searching for the Treasure of the Knights Templar which is rumoured to have been hidden by the Americans some time in the American Revolution. Ben believes along with his ancestors before him that America's Founding Fathers left clues in many of today's historical places, and when Ben finally finds a piece of the puzzle that points to an invisible treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence, several of Ben's treasure-hunting helpers turn on him and set out to steal the Declaration. Now Ben, his faithful clumsy friend Riley, reluctant National Archives worker Abigail, sceptical father Patrick, the villainous treasure hunters, and a renegade team of FBI agents are pulled into the quest for the greatest treasure of all time! This movie was a fantastic movie!!! I rate this the best film made by Walt Disney Pictures! I have several favourite movies (this being one of them), but this has no boring scenes! It's action, action, and action throughout! The acting is very impressive. Just the way it was made was excellent! The plot was fun! (And Riley's funny!) I don't know how this movie has been rated so low (6.8/10).
Good: Acting! Story! Twists! Villains! Clues! Music! Special effects! Action! Stunts! This movie is go-go-go!!!
Bad: I can't think of anything. Maybe a few moments where they slipped a little, but it was great!
Overall: [10/10] "A treasure beyond all imagining." This movie is it!
The Core (2003)
A palm-sweating disturbing end-of-the-world movie. Yuck!
As I've also said for The Day After Tomorrow, disaster and/or end-of-the-world movies are definitely not my kind of movie. Although I haven't seen this movie in years, I do recall that my palms began sweating one minute into the movie.
A few scientists and space pilot people team up to do through a large digging machine to dig down to the earth's core to set off explosives that will hopefully get it running again so that the earth won't overheat.
I disliked the acting although I must commend Aaron Eckhart for his performance, the plot was just not for me, and the deaths were very sad and disturbing.
If you really, really like end-of-the-world disaster movies, then this just might be for you, but it was more than the plot that made me give it a 1/10. Thank you.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
A very troubling disaster movie that makes my bottom list.
I watched this movie for the first time about four years ago, not knowing what it was about. The movies that I love are those that are dark, mysterious, and twisted. Movies I don't like are those that include disaster, intense end-of-the-world themes, or viruses. Anything in between may or may not be okay, and as you may know from the plot summary, this is disaster movie (which could be the end of the world) which makes my bad list. This movie really bothered me. A scientist is trying to find out what's happening to the climate of the Northern Hemisphere while his son and his friends are trying to survive an "Ice Age"-like epidemic in New York City. Large waves are ruining and flooding the streets, snow covers the world, and a large burst of cold air is going to cover the entire Northern Hemisphere soon all because of global warming.
Don't get me wrong, the film does have a good message, but I really didn't need it at that intensity at that age. I personally was disturbed by the film and have refused to watch it since.
However, for those of you who do like such films, I would recommend it to you, but this is not the film for me. Thank you.
Good: It had some cool special effects and a good message.
Bad: Too intense. Story needed work. Just another large-scale disaster movie.
Overall: [2/10] A very troubling disaster movie that makes my bottom list.
The Cat with Hands (2001)
A beautifully dark tale and my favourite short film!
Prior to starting to make a short film of my own, shorts had never been my thing. I felt they were too....well........short to have any potential. Looking for inspiration for my own upcoming short film, I began to scan YouTube for scary short films with the atmosphere I wanted for my film, and I found this! This must be my favourite short film I've yet watched! I have a thing for dark movies (which I divide into three groups - Gothic, neo-noir, and twisted). This was twisted with a side dish of Gothic! I loved the atmosphere. Plus the whole story had a "campfire storytelling" style. I can't say what it's about because the twist ending is so surprising! (I love twist endings). If you love films like this, I recommend this one all the way! It's only three minutes long, but it squeezes all the magnificence it needs into that timeframe.
Good: Acting was good (although the movie didn't really require much from the actors); animation sequence (although it was puppet animation); surprise ending (I love those).
Bad: It should have been longer to flourish it's beauty! Overall: [10/10] It was a beautiful, dark, surreal short film.