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DjSmitty20
Reviews
Tiësto: Another Day at the Office (2003)
A worthwhile DVD
This DVD was hyped to be some great event before its release. It wasn't mindblowing, but it is a fairly well done DVD shot in documentary style that includes interviews with Tiesto in New York and Miami, fan interviews, concert footage, music videos and a limited discography as well. The coolest thing, for me, was seeing Tiesto's home town of Breda, Holland and seeing the Club Spock where he got his first residence as a Dj back in 1985 at the age of 17. We also get to see his studio in Breda as well and meet his sound engineer. For fans of Tiesto, this is a very insightful look into the Dj that manages to inspire so many people. I personally am a huge Tiesto fan and hold him and his music on a special level and it's great to own Another Day at the Office. But nothing will ever beat seeing him LIVE, so do it before he retires! The coming Tiesto In Concert DVD will also be great I'm sure.
8/10...the only disappointing thing about this DVD is that the live concert footage doesn't include live music, but rather dubbed tracks that Tiesto supposedly selected himself. While I understand that it is necessary for Black Hole Recordings and Tiesto to promote other artists under their label, it would have been nice to see and hear the limited concert footage LIVE and not dubbed.
Tiësto: Another Day at the Office (2003)
A worthwhile DVD
This DVD was hyped to be some great event before its release. It wasn't mindblowing, but it is a fairly well done DVD shot in documentary style that includes interviews with Tiesto in New York and Miami, fan interviews, concert footage, music videos and a limited discography as well. The coolest thing, for me, was seeing Tiesto's home town of Breda, Holland and seeing the Club Spock where he got his first residence as a Dj back in 1985 at the age of 17. We also get to see his studio in Breda as well and meet his sound engineer. For fans of Tiesto, this is a very insightful look into the Dj that manages to inspire so many people. I personally am a huge Tiesto fan and hold him and his music on a special level and it's great to own Another Day at the Office. But nothing will ever beat seeing him LIVE, so do it before he retires! The coming Tiesto In Concert DVD will also be great I'm sure.
8/10...the only disappointing thing about this DVD is that the live concert footage doesn't include live music, but rather dubbed tracks that Tiesto supposedly selected himself. While I understand that it is necessary for Black Hole Recordings and Tiesto to promote other artists under their label, it would have been nice to see and hear the limited concert footage LIVE and not dubbed.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
What a lame way to end a saga.....
It is clear that the Wachowski brothers were lucky with the first Matrix movie. They have no idea how to craft a story or a script. The dialogue in Revolutions was worse than a solo George Lucas Star Wars script and I mean that! I'm not going to spoil the movie for everyone, but let's just say the brothers set the whole story up to be resolved and we just don't get it. No clear resolution, though we do get the unsatisfying and overly cheesey deaths of two main characters. The ending is just ridiculous...it ends with the line "I always believed...." and fades into the sunshine...so lame. Even the fight scenes were lacking...not interesting at all. The positive was the visual effects and the invasion of Zion, though even that had its overly silly moments that made viewers in the audience cringe.
Filmmakers can't do this type of thing to an audience...people EXPECT answers...maybe not all the answers, but enough to satisfy them. We don't get ANY answers in Revolutions....it blatantly opens the door for yet MORE sequels, even though the producers have stated there will be none. The Wachowski's should never be allowed to direct a movie again.
Go out and buy the first Matrix on DVD and the first one alone! Don't waste your time with the hugely disappointing sequels. For reference, I voted (out of 10), a 10 for the Matrix, 7 for Reloaded a 4 for Revolutions.
Gallipoli (1981)
Good anti-war film that's a little too anti-British
Gallipoli is a great anti-war film. Not so much that it is against wars in general, but it portrays the brutality that occurred in the Great War. Officers did relentlessly order their men to charge at machine guns and Gallipoli was a prime example of throwing lives away in the First World War.
However, there is an anti-British sentiment in this movie that is a little too obvious for my likes. The movie makes the battle at Gallipoli out to be Australians being used as cannon fodder at the whim of British officers. That is totally untrue. There were more British soldiers who fought and died at Gallipoli than ANZACs. Australia had one great massacre in the Great War which was Gallipoli. The Brits had dozens, so Peter Weir becomes a little too self-indulgent in portraying the "Australian sacrifice". Every Commonwealth nation, including Canada I might add, suffered grievous casualties in WW1, along with Britain. There is a line in the movie where one Aussie asks what the Brits are doing during the battle. Another Aussie replys "they're on the beach drinking tea". That is just an insult to the British soldiers who fought and died there. As I have said, the British dead outnumbered the ANZAC dead by several thousands...look it up. Not to mention the British and French forces were suffereing heavy casualties EVERY DAY on the Western Front. My great Grandfather's brother in law was a British leftenant and he died at Gallipoli on the second day. So much for "drinking tea on the beach" eh? The whole incident was Winston Churchill's fault anyway, but the officers on both sides of the war were all responsible for the unnecessary deaths. Aussies who say WW1 was the British high class throwing "the lower Aussie class" at the machine guns are right, but remember that the British working classes went up against them too, even moreso.
I encourage Australia to promote their independence. They've had it for almost a 100 years and nobody is trying to take it away from them, but they shouldn't bite off the hand that fed them so to speak. Australia and New Zealand WERE BRITISH COLONIES after all.
Regardless of the political statements, however, Gallipoli is a good tale of sacrifice and war. The acting is excellent all around, including Mel Gibson, who, despite his very strange affinity with appearing in movies that are decisively anti-English (Braveheart, Patriot), always turns in a great performance.
7.5/10 (slow beginning, often boring until midway through)
The Patriot (2000)
A mockery of true history!!
Any American who watches this movie and believes it to be a true portrayal of history is wrong...dead wrong! I don't understand what is wrong with making a movie about the American Revolution which actually sites the TRUE causes of the Revolution. The British soldiers DID NOT go around shooting wounded enemy soldiers or burning people locked in churches. To portray things like that is turning a blind eye and making a complete mockery of history. It almost makes me sick, as a Graduate student in British Colonial History, to see a movie like this be made and received as well as it was in the USA. Americans should stick to books and not movies like this for history lessons.
The whole point of 18th century warfare was to bring war and carnage AWAY from innocent people living in towns, hence the fact that all major battles were fought in fields. There was a "gentlemanly" sentiment among soldiers of that time and shooting wounded soldiers would have resulted in a court martial and subsequent execution for the offending officer or enlisted man. Moreover, the part where Tavington locks several dozen people into the church and burns it down is absolutely ridiculous. There was an incident that happpened just like that in France when the Nazis took over in 1940. Oh, and I love how they just white-washed the whole slave issue and turned it around against the Brits again. The notion of a free black man in 18th century America is plain stupid. Remember that one of the minor reasons the American colonies revolted was that Britain had banned slavery in England in 1772 and were planning to extend that law to all the Colonies soon after....the Southern colonies wouldn't have that.....which ultimately helped start the Civil War 90 years later.
Anyway, as a ficticious story, it isn't a bad movie. The battles are very realistic and true to history, which is more than I can say for the motives of the characters who take part in the Revolution.
The American Revolution was about British restrictions on land and high taxes, not about British officers massacring American colonists. Just remember, where did the American settlers come from? BRITAIN! It was actually a civil war if you think about it. No wonder this movie was lambasted in England. Even Spike Lee dismissed this movie as pure "revisionist history", as it surely is. Mel Gibson, after the historically flawed Braveheart, should be ashamed for accepting roles like this. Does he dislike the Brits or what?
Still, complete disregard for historical facts warrants a 3/10. Good 18th century warfare re-enactments.
Spider-Man (2002)
What's all the fuss about?
I really do not understand the hype that surrounded this movie prior to its release. Sure, the comics were good and the cartoon was always good when I was a kid. But was this movie really that good? Did it deserve to make $400 million in North America alone? God no!
The acting was ok and I think McGuire was a good choice for Parker. But the real shiner in this movie is Willem Dafoe. He excells in these types of roles, and he pretty much made the movie for me. Without him, Spiderman would be lucky to get a 5/10 from me. The action sequences, now let's be honest, were few and far between and the special effects were absolutely horrible. John Dykstra (of Star Wars fame back in the day) really should have stayed with Lucas' ILM. I haven't seen very obvious fake-looking effects since the dragons in that horrible film Dungeons and Dragons. Spiderman and the G. Goblin looked like cartoons.
Anyway, the two movies being touted as blockbusters this summer were Spiderman and of course, Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones. The latter was a far superior movie, with a better story and MUCH better SFX.
I realy don't understand how Americans can see Spiderman more than once, because that is what is necessary for a film to make over 400 million dollars in two months. Repeat viewings for Spiderman? It surely did not warrant it. An okay summer film, which I'll probably never watch again. I just did not understand the hype at all!
6/10
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
The force is certainly with this one!
Last night at midnight (May 16th, 2002), I sat in a theatre as the new Star Wars episode began. I wasn't a fan of The Phantom Menace by any means and I was silently hoping Episode 2 Attack of the Clones would deliver. You know what? It certainly bloody well did!
The Story? Senator Amidala (Portman) is returning to Coruscant to vote on the controversial issue of creating a Clone Army for the Republic, in response to several thousand star sytsems ceceding under the leadership of former Jedi Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). After a tad shakey start, a botched assassination attempt on Amidala's life launches the film into one of the best chase sequences ever filmed. The special effects in this segment are simply astounding. It reminds me of how eye-popping the original trilogy's effects were two decades ago. Now grown-up Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is asigned to protect Amidala, while Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) begins an investigation on the assassins. I don't want to give much more away because it's best to be unspoiled to watch this movie.
The acting is quite an improvement over Episode One. Christensen is excellent as Anakin, especially when it comes to the scenes where he delves into the Dark Side. Mcgregor absolutely nails Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan and is given most of the more comical, one-liners that are actually funny this time around, unlike the last prequel. Portman certainly put much more effort into Episode 2, especially in the love scenes. Her chemistry with Hayden is very believable, despite some clunky dialogue (hey, it IS Star Wars!), and it makes me wonder if these two were really an item off-set. Sam Jackson is the man as Mace Windu and his performance is very intense. Ian McDiramid is always a reliable actor, and while his screen time is somewhat shorter than the in last prequel, he nails every scene and his evilness is entirely believable. He is truly the master manipulator. Temuerra Morrison as Jango Fett was a nice surprise, and though his screen time is limited as well, he comes off as cool and collective and clearly the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. Lastly, Christopher Lee absolutely steals the show in the last third of the movie. Most of the plot builds up around his character, as he is (so it seems) leading the secessionist movement. He is truly a gifted actor and it is disturbing his accomplishments have not awarded him a Knighthood yet.
Another thing that helped this Episode was the lack of Jar Jar Binks. He has maybe five lines throughout the movie and he is never annoying. He's quite reserved this time around.
The writing this time is much better, due in part to Jonathan Hales. George Lucas is one of the best storytellers of our time, but he does have trouble writing dialogue. Episode Two's dialogue, like any Star Wars film, furthers the plot well. There are some bad comical lines that should never have made it past the editing room, but most of these come from Threepio and are easily overlooked when everything is taken into account.
The Special Effects by ILM are some of the best yet, clearly revolutionary. The last third of the film is one big action setpiece and it certainly pays off with CGI effects. This Episode in the saga does not have that cartoonish feeling we all experienced during Episode One. Granted, we obviously know these are effects during the movie, but they look as good and even better than anything I've ever seen on film. The realisation of Yoda as a full CGI effect had me doubting a year ago, but after seeing him wield a lightsabre, it totally paid off. If ILM doesn't end their nine year Oscar drout with this film, there should be Hell to pay for the Academy.
In conclusion, I can definately say this film has allowed me to love Star Wars again. I was disappointed, severely disappointed, with TPM as many of us were. But George, all is forgiven. You listened to the fans and we thank you for it. I give this film a 10/10
As comparison with the other episodes, here are my ratings for each. Phantom Menace - 5/10 A New Hope - 10/10 Empire Strikes Back - 10/10 (the best one) Return of the Jedi - 10/10
As Star Wars films, my rankings would be as follows. Empire Jedi Clones A New Hope Phantom Menace