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Evil Bob
Reviews
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
A little too slick for its own good
I haven't seen the original movie so I can't be one of the people who says "this film is better than the original". I can imagine it being so as i don't care for Sinatra at all. I don't like his attitude or the way he treated people.
*spoilers i guess* Ocean's 11 (2001) is a highly enjoyable film hindered by one thing: its lack of excitement. I rate the film highly because of its great dialogue, performances, directing and photography but the fact that absolutely nothing hinders them,drags it down a little in my estimation. There is no point where you are on the edge of your seat going "oh god how are they going to get out of this little fix", because no little fixes are presented whatsoever (except for the bit where the Chinese guy gets stuck in the door which he gets out of because they forgot to put batteries in the controller. The thrills!!!)
Still that's enough complaining. It won't stop me from watching Ocean's 11 again if the opportunity arises.
Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)
One of, if not, the best film i have seen
It's hard for me to describe how much I love this film. Absolutely everything is perfect about it. It's set in my favourite city in the world and manages to make it look even more beautiful than it actually is. The cinematography is absolutely amazing. The most stunning shot i have ever seen in a film is the one where Amelie skims stones along the canal where the camera goes right over her head and the whole screen virtually explodes in a cascade of colour. The plot is a universally pleasing one. "Cute hippy girl tries to make the world a better place by making people happy, and in turn finds happiness herself" and what the hell is wrong with that?
The soundtrack by Yann Tiersen is beautiful and sad and is perfect background music for when you're chilling out and thinking about life. If everyone got over the fact that subtitles do not mean a film is bad just because they have to read (which is never a bad thing) they would discover a shocking brilliant film (and a stunningly beautiful lead actress).It's funny, it's sweet, it's weird, it's abstract, it's beautiful and ultimately it makes life worth living, if only for a little while.
From Hell (2001)
Not as good as the book. But then again what is?
If you've ever read From Hell, the graphic novel (and by graphic I do mean graphic) by Alan Moore, then you will know just how much of a labyrinth it is as far as plot goes and just how hard it would be to incorporate all aspects of the story into a two hour movie.
As predicted, it doesn't match the book, but I never expected it to. It does do a damn fine job though and gets as much of the details in as possible. The only problem I had was that it tries to turn the film into a whodunnit kind of thriller with the stories idea of the killers identity being revealed at the end. In the book we know from the beginning who it's supposed to be and we follow him around as he commits the murders and we hear his thoughts and his ponderings. This approach that the film takes cheapens the artistic value a little bit but having said that it does make up for it in other areas.
The horror is actually horrible and the thrills are actually thrilling and Johnny Depp's cockney accent is pretty good, it just sounds weird because its coming from his mouth which is something we are not use to.
MASH (1970)
Blacker than black
I can only imagine how ground-breaking this must have seemed back in 1970. The mixture of the horrors of war with hilarious lunatic humour shouldn't work but it does.
There's blood and guts everywhere and through it all Hawkeye and Trapper manage to wreak havoc and cause general mischief at every possible turn. Witness the nausea inducing scene where Hawkeye is busy sawing off some poor unfortunates legs and nonchalantly asks one of the nurses to scratch his nose. I recently got the DVD having not seen the film since I was 16. I laughed just as much as I did then.
This is just one of those rare occasions when Hollywood actually gets something right and for many of the actors this is the pinnacle of their career. Donald Sutherland has rarely been better and as for Elliott Gould...well its a far cry from playing Monica and Ross' dad on friends. Quality.
Death to Smoochy (2002)
The film that sank Filmfour
After hearing that the failure of this film had managed to sink a film studio that was reknowned for its controversial and experimental (not to mention Good) films, coupled with the fact that this had happened before it had even been released in the Uk and Europe (which it still hasn't), I had to check it out. Thanks to an "unofficial" copy (read Pirate) I saw it and what did I see? Lo and behold! No masterpiece. That was too be expected of course but then again it was no Speed 2: Cruise control. The film does have a lot going for it but such things as Ropey -direction and some dodgy acting drag it down. The subject matter is new. Smoochy bears an uncanny resemblance to Barney which of course is the point. The satire is interesting but never quite delivers on its promise of taking the unmerciful mickey out of shows like the aforementioned purple dinosaur or teletubbies.
Edward Norton hams it up quite well as the good natured hippie-like character who doesn't have a corrupt bone in his body, while Robin Williams proves what most of us have forgotten, that he is actually quite a good actor when he forgets about all that emotional crap and just goes hysterical swearing a lot. I certainly wouldn't watch Death to Smoochy again but it does show several signs of becoming a cult favourite. Who knows maybe it will soon become essential Post-pub; beer, pizza and doob fodder.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
Is it really that hard to stick to the book?
Now I know that this is a film site and that is what we are supposed to talk about but I myself also read books because lets face it...books are great. There have been good adaptations and there have been bad but its the ones that just don't do a story justice which are the ones that cut me deep.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin was a beautiful, shocking, poignant novel and above all it was extremely witty despite all the hardships depicted in the story. It is these hardships and this wit which the film is afraid to tackle. I waited in anticipation to see how my image of that beautiful Greek island would play out but I was disappointed.
I urge anybody who saw the film and thought it was pretty mediocre or even rubbish to seek out Louis de Bernieres astounding novel, read it and see how the story is supposed to be told.
Beethoven (1992)
What a load of nonsense
Good for kids bad for...actually forget that. Bad for everybody. I hated this film when I was a kid and I hate it now. The only thing it has going for it is seeing David Duchovny in his pre-Mulder days. If Twin Peaks isn't your cup of tea of course.
The 'Burbs (1989)
It's funny the things you don't notice when you're a kid.
When I was a kid I rented this out for a sleep-over by accident. I think the film I was supposed to rent was Batman Returns but there was a mix up in the video shop. Needless to say I wasn't too popular that night (Batman or some films you've never heard of. Which would you choose at age 12). We watched it anyway and surprisingly enough we really enjoyed it. It became a little cult favourite in my group of friends. We all had it copied off the tv and we could probably quote it if we had tried. A year later it was forgotten about until the other day when I rented it just for nostalgia purposes.
I couldn't get over how much i enjoyed it. The film really was that much fun. In fact there was a lot of dark wit which I had never gotten when i was younger. Witness the endless silence in the Klopek's house, almost unbearable when out comes Hanks with "Sure was damp today". Hysterical.
It's not without it's flaws of course but the fact that it never takes itself seriously is it's trump card. So I give it a 7 and for nostalgia purposes it gets another mark. 8/10
Spider-Man (2002)
Millions of people are seriously deluded
I am trying not to be overly negative and I would just like to point out that i am not a Spidey buff who feel hard done-by. This was one film that, along with Attack of the Clones, i had waited with baited breath to see but I found myself laughing all the way through it and not because the jokes were funny but because everything was wrong with it. Tobey Maguire has seriously impressed me in other films (Cider house rules, Wonderboys) and I've always been a fan of Kirsten Dunst but both of them disappointed me. The biggest fault I believe is Sam Raimi. As much as I love the Evil Deads he just was not suited to direct a big-budget action feature like that. Every now and then I expected to see Bruce Campbell jumping up and exclaiming "Groovy". In fact he should have played the Green Goblin because, as improbable as it seems, not even he could manage to be as Hammy as Willem Defoe was. The script was cheesey, the love scenes were laughable in how slushy they were and the computer graphics were probably done over a weekend in ILM because they just look rushed. The plot moves along sith break-neck speed which normaly I would not complain about but the speed with which it delivers his detail is so that you fail to empathise or create a connection with any of the characters
*SPOILER WARNING*
and because of this when Peters uncle dies I found myself saying "Who cares?". I could go on but I won't. I'll end by asking "Did anyone else see a big Raging Bull rip-off in the end fight?" I think Scorsese should sue somebody.