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Reviews
Hotel (2001)
Ha, No Spoilers Here
Don't try to over-analyze. Take this for what it is. It's a beautifully crafted masterpiece and has aged very well. It's January 2013 and I just watched this for the third time since it came out and was mesmerized. It's weird, yes, but it works.
It's centered around the eternally classic macabre play The Duchess of Malfi. This sets the mood. And in Venice during Carnival, even better. Ingestion of human meat in the opening scene with an imprisoned John Malkovich asking if it's low in cholesterol tells you that it's going to be a dark comedy.
From here it's a free for all, but a very calculated one. It's not meant to be a plot driven thriller but it locks you in with its originality. David Schwimmer is perfectly cast, a once shallow TV actor doomed to forever be known for his role in Friends breaks his chains as the conniving assistant director determined to take over the filming of The Duchess and seduce the leading lady. There's your plot, however buried it may seem.
Burt Reynolds rules and Saffron Burrows is the most beautiful woman on the planet.The sex scenes are significantly dirty and the soundtrack is impeccable. I feel like I have been drugged and shipped to Venice to witness the most magnificent production of The Duchess of Malfi ever made. I will most likely watch it again tomorrow.
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
So Damn Bad It's Good
This film is clearly making fun of bad screen writing and bad Hollywood movies and does it well. It also caricatures the 80's Yuppie with his doting shrink, uptight pretensions, cushy "power" job, and fondness for one night stands. It is so terribly written and shamelessly cliché, and grotesquely shallow, which is difficult to do. How do you know how to write and direct a bad Hollywood movie, it takes awareness of what is good and bad to be able to do that, as well as keen comedy skills. Watching this film is like listening to nails screech down a chalkboard, but somehow it's bearable. I laughed out loud at Cage's feeble attempt at being an authentic vampire, it was so over the top yet finely tuned. He had to make a makeshift coffin from a turned over sofa, and walked around with blood on his face. He could only afford to wear cheap plastic vampire teeth but did remove them to bite the girl in the club. Did this mean that he was a real vampire? And he did kill her after all. Despite the references to Cage's hallucinations the director still leaves it up to the viewer to decide. In addition to relishing Cage's amazing over the top performance I thought that the late 80's nightclub scene in NYC was one of the best nightclub scenes in the history of film. It captured the moment of the music, and was able to display Cage as a true societal pariah with his vampire obsessions in his Yuppie business suit. Worth watching if only for Cage's crazy Vampire performance. Also, there are some good shots of the Twin Towers on the NYC skyline that bring back certain nostalgia.
Uncertainty (2008)
Good Film
This film was not confusing at all, but very entertaining and mysterious, in other words I was never bored or bemused when watching it, and Gordon-Levitt/Collins had exceptional chemistry. The shots of Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn were stunning especially in HD and on a large screen. This film was about a young couple who, from what I observed, were at a turning point in their relationship and the events that happened to them were a kind of test. To avoid spoilers all I can tell you is that after you think the film has ended (not when it has) then you'll know what the tests were all about. If you're a young adult with no kids and in a relationship with someone you really love you will definitely be able to relate better to this film. Even if you aren't a young adult in that situation you'll enjoy it. Watch this film but don't try to over analyze it and enjoy it for what it is. Go on the adventure(s).