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Reviews
Apocalypto (2006)
Campy entertainment masked as mega epic
Went and watched Apocalypto with a lively Berkeley audience last night.
I'm still a little baffled by this movie. I think it will make its budget back big time, as I can see this having big worldwide appeal, particularly in Latin countries--so to the director's credit, he knows how to entertain his audience, and provides plenty of action Gibson does action and carnage as well as almost anyone, and he can through evil creepies in there.
Mel's fetish for torture and violence is well-fed here. A scene of human sacrifice atop an Aztec pyramid reminded me of my younger days, when I thought Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was actually pretty cool. But the grown up me watched Apocalypto thinking about how much I enjoyed Terrence Malick's The New World.
The final half houra chase through the jungle plays like a Saturday afternoon serial. The logistics of the action were so far fetched that they felt like Lowest Common Denominator film-making, and made the entire film seem pretty lightweight.
Overall, I kind of enjoyed it as a campy horror-action piece. But as a meditation on the clashes of culture with metaphors to our modern world, it was simply too formulaic in content.
Also of note: When the directed by Mel Gibson credit showed at the end of the film the boo- hisses outweighed the cheers 2 to 1
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
better but not good enough
WAY too much CGI, Lucas! After watching the new film, I reviewed The Empire Strikes back, easily the best of the bunch. That movie still looks wonderful and has the best story. The first two films appealed to the child's imagination in every audience member, the more recent trilogy appeals to a video game generation with a short attention span
I did appreciate Revenge of the Sith's Bush bashing though! There has never been a time of more evil in America than during Bush the second's reign, and I'm pleased that Lucas included his Bush criticism in what could easily have been a light as air adventure. Bush deserves to be bashed a lot more than this, but its a step in the right direction.
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
not to give a spoiler, but in the end...
This was one of the all time most disappointing films. It was fairly effective as a creepy supernatural horror film, what with the floating androgynous Satan holding a baby George Bush, but the spiritual meditation was almost nonexistent. Gibson's Christ had zero humanity...the audience feels badly that anyone is being tortured, but the flat as a pancake flashback sequences and relentless sadistic violence provide zero context whatsoever.
The movie is beautifully photographed however. Too bad is suffers from such heavy overkill on the sadism and offers so little reflection on Christ's sacrifice.
Hide and Seek (2005)
Dumb de dumb dumb
The set up is kind of fun, then the center of the film gets a little boring, then secrets are revealed and you realize you've been lobotomized by stupidity. Elizabeth Shue's cleavage is the best supporting character in this otherwise teeth grindingly dumb movie.
The movie is about as light an R as you can get. It tiptoed past the PG-13 with a little bit of blood, but I have to wonder if they wanted the PG-13 and were surprised by this rating.
Here's a question: what is the tipping point in DeNiro's career that took his from greatness to these crap dwellings? Even Angel Heart is a masterpiece compared to most of the schlock we've been getting from Bobby during the last DeCade. To the real Robert De Niro: Come out come out wherever you are!
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
brilliant, moving film
Saw Million Dollar Baby last night at a screening, marvelous storytelling, acting and drama. Eastwood dealt with issues of child abuse so powerfully in Mystic River and deals with similarly powerful issues and relationships here. His performance is terrific and Swank is probably due her 2nd Oscar, but will ironically lose to Annette Bening who has never won (Swank edged Bening in 1999). Freeman is wonderful as well.
What will be interesting how red staters deal with this movie. Critic Micheal Medved is already trying to whip up anti-Million Dollar Baby rhetoric by giving away crucial plot twists and saying that he's offended that this film is being released at Christmas. Ugh. Don't let closed minded bigots keep you away from one of the best movies of the year. You owe it to Clint who is in the midst of an amazingly productive era in a long and successful career.