During World War 2, the USS Tiger goes on a routine search and rescue mission to pick up the survivors of a sunken U Boat. Once the survivors board the ship, it indeed becomes a ghost ship.
Yeah, Backfire called it early folks. This was a disappointment, coming from two writer/directors I actually really admire. It's very bland, there's no real excitement, or fear factor to be found. It's very monotonous in action, taking place soley on a submarine [SPOILER - highlight to read]: that is supposedly haunted by the ghosts who died in the torpedoed ship.
To it's credit, there are some nice scene morphs and twisty Twohy camera work, but not even the Ex. Mr. Jennifer Garner could save this shipwreck.
In the first installment of the Zemeckis/Gale masterful trilogy of time travel, Marty McFly (Fox) and Doc Emmett Brown (Lloyd) are on the verge of executing the world's first time travel attempt. The means of transportation? The mad scientists "upgraded" Delorean sports car. Hot on their trail are a pack of gunweilding terrorist Libyans from which Doc "stole" the plutonium necessary to power his machine. In an escape attempt, McFly accidently catapults himself through time, back to 1955.
The rest, as they say, is in the past. Or is it the future?
I haven't seen this movie in close to 12 years, and I still think that "BTTF" is quite possibly the most original and innovative time travel movie of all time, atleast, until "The Butterfly Effect". Time travel in this movie was instantaneous, no 3rd dimensionals, no warps, just shooting through time at the speed of light.
A big part of this movie was the visual appeal. The set design for the 1955 Hill Valley was incredibly constructed. Universal Studios backlots played host to the sets, and were genuine throwbacks to the 50's era, when teenagers were "born". Malt shops, full service stations, and The Shirelles on the radio. In addition, Zemekis claims that there were only about 35 special effects shots rendered by ILM for the movie, making it all the more impressive, given the film's quality.
Of course, the characters are equally as memorable. Biff, namely. Fantastic all around performances by a young Lea Thompson, Michael J. Fox, Crispin Glover, and of course Christopher Lloyd as Doc. Even Huey Lewis, who was featured in the soundtrack, had a notable cameo. All of which are also highly quotable.
"Back to the Future" will forever stand the test of time. No pun intended.
Picking up precisely where the original left off, "BTTF II", Doc, having already been to the future, informs Marty that this time, it's his children that are in trouble. Speeding off to the year 2015, where hoverboards and "Jaws 19" are the main attractions, the duo must once again make the future a thing of the past. But, even after clearing his sons good name, Biffs love for money and power puts another ripple in their pond.
Unfortunately, Part II was a little too much of a mind**** to enjoy as thoroughly as the original. There are 3 different storylines through 4 different eras all going on at once, none of which are related. There's 1955, 1985, the alternate 1985, and 2015. My girlfriend's brain literally deflated at the end of the movie, as did mine, and that doesn't happen very often.
This time around, the storyline just wasn't as intriguing or fun to watch. A more somber, dark plot was in the works here at times, mostly in the "alternate" 1985 Hill Valley set. In addition, a solid 1/3 of the movie was retreading the original, as they had to re-write 1955 all over again, so that the original 1985 would be as it would, the alternate 1985 wouldn't exist, and the incidents of 2015 wouldn't effect the outcome of the McFly family. You get all that?
To it's credit, the entire string of 2015 sequences were fun to watch, as were the actors in their elder states. Especially the McFly household, and the 2015 Hill Valley. Very colorful and spacy culture, eye catching. Lots of space age ideas I would love to see come to fruition!
In conclusion, the sequel didn't quite live up to the original, and I sure as hell won't be watching "BTTF 3".
6.5/10.
That said, I've already got a VERY busy week of movie watching lined up which include the following, thanks in part to the good folks at the Mooresville Public Library.
You Can Count on Me
The Last of the Mohicans
Deep Blue Sea
Fahrenheit 451
Dracula (1932)
The Godfather Part 2
Dogville
Shaolin Soccer
In the big screen adaption of Ray Bradbury's novel, set in the not-so-distant oppressive future, Montag and his band of "firemen" are part of a clan called "Fahrenheit 451", which sole responsibility is to set fire to any and all works of literature. Homes are raided and ransacked for periodicals, and set a blaze. The leader of this society is convinced reading causes sadness and anti-social behavior. In the end, Montag discovers the joys of reading and must decide between his personal freedom or intellectual liberties.
This is MST3K material ALL the way! To say it was a absolutely dreadful is being a little harsh, as the pure ludicrous nature of some scenes were just too funny to ignore. Montag, reading poetry, making women weep with disgust. Men flying around on hoverpacks a la Boba Fett, really bad green screen imposition, as well as a woman laughing, as she stand burning with a house full of books she refuses to live without. Oh, it does get worse, expecially when for absolutely no reason, the "eerie" score cuts in along with a 1/2 a black screen as soon as a patrolman frisks an elderly gentleman looking for books. Utterly Ridiculous.
The acting was so wooden, at times, the actors barely even moved their lips. Not much help for those of us lip readers who can't follow the actors inaudible lines because of their accent. There was a lot of just stupid, stupid dialogue, which often times overlapped in conversations.
The only time anyone ever seemed to light up was when a womans personal library was being pillfered and "Mein Kamp" was pulled from the shelf as the officer said something to the effect that even that book had to be burned, lending itself to the whole Hitler/Nazi book burning era.
Montag could have used the ashes of the burned books to plug up the GAPING plotholes in this movie.
1)If books were the cause of anti-social behavior, why were "Screen Families" on television highly encouraged? Television has the same effect.
2) There were scenes in which children were in school. How can you learn with no books?
3) Hinting at the Hitler book burning practices, who was the Adolf in this society, with no politcal figures to brainwash them?
To it's credit, which there is very little to give, there were some interesting visuals, mostly in the costume design. It was a cross between the policemen in THX-1138 and The Rocketeer. Guess those helmets were somewhat aerodynamic as these firemen could also defy gravity, sliding UP the pole, instead of down.
Don't ever rent this movie, unless your name is Tom Servo, Mike, Crow or Gypsy.
3/10. 3 points for being funny, 0 for the adaption.
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Aug 23rd, 2004 at 11:00 PM
Sing, a nomadic janitor, who also happens to be a master of Shaolin arts, is looking for a new and fun way to spread the ways of the Shaolin amongst the masses, in hope to turn a profit, and get himself off of the streets. One day, he runs into the once great soccer star "Golden Leg" Fung. After a failed attempt at Shaolin Karaoke, Fung finds a hidden talent in Sing which ultimately leads to starting up a Shaolin soccer team!
I haven't had this much fun with a movie since "Lost Skeleton of Cadavra". I read that Quentin Tarantino was responsbile for bringing this gem to the attention of Miramax, who shelved it for 3 years after obtaining the rights, then throwing it in theatres where it became an instant cult classic.
The movie is absolutely hilarious. A Shaolin monk themed soccer team of what started out like the movie "Unnecessary Roughness". Sing's brothers, all of which had lost touch with their once mighty Shaolin powers, are brought together only to rediscover their gifts and rise to the top while doing so. Of course, there are incredibly funny, loveable characters, scenes of parody, and AMAZING special effects and wire work that are found all throughout the movie, which seem almost TOO GOOD for a Japanese B movie.
I cannot say enough good things about "Shaolin Soccer". It's a very rare movie that will leave you with a smile on your face, as well as a really sore jaw, from going from laughing to jawdropping. There are some classic jabs at their own culture, a few clever Bruce Lee references, as well as the Wuxia genre in general.
Alright, you saw this coming, so sue me..
"Shaolin Soccer" is a kick. 9/10
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Aug 25th, 2004 at 04:33 AM
"Taking Lives" was a waste, IMO. The title is totally misleading, because it's basically alls about a guy who [SPOILER - highlight to read]: kills a couple of people, cuts off their hands and smashes their face, and becomes them for some odd reason then Angelina Jolie's character falls for him. She plays along, knowing full well who he is, and she [SPOILER - highlight to read]: tricks him into his own capture.
It's hard to enjoy a movie whos supposedly secretive bad guy is horribly apparent in the first 10 minutes of the movie. I'd give it a 3/10, personally. It's not even fun to watch transpire because the premise is so stupid.
In "Dogville", Grace (Kidman) stumbles upon a small town called Dogville, who's inhabitants have to little or nothing to do with the world outside their own secluded township with a population of a little over 15 people. Grace is wanted by the police, as part of a blackmail attempt by a group of her fathers cronies, so that she can run her fathers business. In exchange for providing a safe haven, she takes on odd jobs, which seem to pile up as her stay lengthens. Thinking she has found the happiness that she never had, once she enters Dogville, Grace comes to find that while it was a nice place to visit, it was an even worse place to live.
Grab your thin wire frame glasses and a mochachino, folks. This is a straight up arthouse flick with a superbly limited appeal to an even smaller audience. Lars von Trier gets props for his unique direction, by focusing soley on the characters than the set, by using the absolute bare minimum of props, including chalk outlines of streets and houses, but visuals are important to someone like myself, and Ms. Kidman isn't cutting it.
The acting isn't at all in question here, as it is pretty solid overall, from a cast of no names. It's just that the movie felt more like a school play, devoid of a score, and appealing visuals. The story itself was strong, but I didn't feel as if it was effective, being stretched over 3 hours. 2 hours would have sufficed. Nothing purtty to look at, plus no toons to add to the supposed "tension" equals a fish out of water.
"Dogville" is on IMDB.com's Top 250 at #119, but so is "Memento" and "Psycho", so those people are clearly irreputable.
C-Dick, you said in some other thread that you saw Deathwatch on DVD recently - which version are we talking about here? Too much to hope that it's the Bertrand Tavernier one ?
2002 independent release from Lion's Gate. I prefer CA or Cory, if you guys wish to refer to me as anything other than my username.
BTW, did you mean you liked my review, or the movie itself?
Anycrap..
"Deep Blue Sea"
In this 1999 new age "JAWS" attempt, Sammy Jax forks over $200 Million dollars to aid a group of scientists research, hoping to find a cure for Alzheimers. Dr, McAlester (Burrows) finds a way to "scientifically enlargen" the brains of a trio of sharks. Her plan backfires, as the sharks become more aware of their surroundings, and evolve into nautical know-it-alls. Chaos errupts.
This was merely a revisitation of the movie, as I have seen it atleast twice before, but didn't wuite remember it. It's like "JAWS", but set in a true Horror movie setting. People make really stupid decisions, and rightfully get picked off one by one by the monster megalodon.
Great score, and impressive CGI sharks, but the atmosphere is never really there to provoke you into caring about the characters. They weren't that lovable in the first place, except for maybe Thomas Jane, who's eyes are actually visible in this movie. L.L. Cool J was just another casting mistake. I wanted them all dead to begin with.
Eh..3/10, still more entertaining than "Dogville" thanks to The Punisher himself, but probably only worth watching if you, too, can rent it for free from your local library.
"YCCOM" is a story of total plausibility, which is what drew me in. Samantha (Linney) and Terry (Ruffalo) were orphaned in 1982, after a car accident claimed the lives of their parents. Fast forward to 2000. Sammy is holding down a job at the local bank, while her nomadic brother drops in and out of trouble, work, jail, and life in general. After months without correspondance, Terry comes back to see Sam in Sunnydale, but only because he has no money. He then forms a relationship with his nephew, Rudy (Culkin).
Samantha isn't without her issues, however. Under the stress of a new boss, a failed relationship which produced a son, a new relationship on the horizon, and a subsequent affair, Sam also takes in Terry. Uneasy with the bond that has been forged between uncle and nephew, Sam must decide what is more important. Helping her brother in his time of need or protecting her son from Terry's nasty disposition and worldly views.
Without question, this is easily one of the best indies I have ever seen. Mark Ruffalo is absolutely brilliant. It was eerie to watch, having been in similar financial straits myself. His mannerisms reflected his sheer humiliation, while his outlook on life was made clear by his approach to things as simple as dining out. It was just mesmorizing. Laura Linney was superb as a conflicted single mother with her balancing act. Even Mathew Broderick, whom I hear very seldom from, delivered.
Considering the depth of the main story, and it's 4 sub plots, incredibly, everything was balanced meticulously and developed thoroughly. Totally devoid of anything in which you could get lost in, aside from the sheer brilliance in the acting of Linney and Ruffalo. Like I said before, the "real life" feel and plausibility of this movie kept me in it the whole way through.
Mark Ruffalo is as underappreciated as they come, and anyone who begs to differ needs to rent this movie immediately.
You can certainly count on "YCCOM" for a solid 2 hours of definitive independent cinema.
8.5/10
Last edited by Cory Chaos on Aug 28th, 2004 at 10:25 PM
KMC Community Forums
Aug 20th, 2004 10:39 PM
