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slyguy66
Reviews
Richard III (1995)
Richard plays all around him like pawns on a chessboard as he fills his desire for power.
Spoilers: Don't read if you don't want to know about any characters death in advance. First off, I don't know a lot about Shakespeare. I don't know how loyal this film is to his original script, and thats not what I was looking for when I was watching. Honestly, I'm one of those who have 'old language' issues when I go see a movie. Indeed, I didn't even know the story of Richard III when I first saw this. Despite this, I loved this movie. Ian McKellen plays a deliciously evil man on his way up the royal ladder. To start, he kills the King, then while the queen sits at his coffin, comes to confess to her. In an performance dripping with slime, he claims his love for her was so great, he had no choice but to kill her husband. His speech oozes as he convinces her that if she doesn't accept his love, he'll kill himself. Sounds like something from "Melrose Place", I know. His character only gets dirtier as he then kills, or manipulates others to kill all those around him. Ian plays Richard as a man who enjoys the nasty things he does, and I enjoyed watching him worm his way. Annette Bening is fantastic and Robert Downey has one of the best deaths I've seen on film. The clothes and sets add to the movie perfectly. Instead of kingly robes, class and pageantry is displayed with slick uniforms and cigarette holders. The wartime setting is the perfect background and gives this classic story a modern feel.
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Campy story of two vain women who use magic to be the fairest one of all.
Goldie Hawn and Meryl Streep are two women who constantly try to outdo each other. Most often with men and beauty. While both are realizing their bodies limits, a magic potion is discovered that feeds just what their vanity needs. Bruce Willis becomes trapped in the middle of their scheming. This movie is visually fantastic. Robert Zemeckis is known for his visual effects. At the time this was made, he was breaking new ground. Witness Meryl Streep walking about with her head on backwards and Goldie Hawn with her mid-section blown away. All the while both ladies are cutting each other down with witty lines you'd usually hear from a drag queen. The lines get funnier each time I watch it.
Elaborate sets and perfect deadpanned lines add perfect campyness to the movie. Some of the campy humour is easy to miss. In one scene she's swimming in a pool under a beautiful stain-glass ceiling, and because of the set it's easy to miss that she's wearing high heels as she comes out of the pool.
It's not often Meryl Streep does a comedy, but between her, Goldie and Bruce they make this one perfect. I
Thir13en Ghosts (2001)
Bland story of trapped victims with a predictable body-count.
The good stuff: the ghosts look pretty cool. The house with its glass walls is pretty cool. It sometimes even make parts of this movie worth watching. Each ghost has it's own story, which makes it unique in the way it wants to kill the living. The bad stuff: Gosh, people are trapped in a haunted house. They begin to die, one by one. Right at the start you get a feel for how cliché this movie is. My friend and I started guessing who would get killed first, second, third... etc. The sad part is we guessed everyone correctly - thats how predictable this movie gets. As people get knocked off, those left alive run about trying to find the way out. Sadly they never get into situations that are scary. Which is a shame, because without a few bumps, boos and jumps you only end up watching a rising body count. The set gives this movie a urban techno flavor, but by the end it's glimmer has warn off. Tony Shalub is a fine actor, but seemed miscast. Its hard to care about him or anyone else trapped between the haunted shiny walls.