Shaf-2 Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Stands to reason...

[13 November 2002]

...that the grossly cynical and horrifically misguided review that graces the imdb entry's front page would be written by someone that doesn't know the difference between "its" and "it's". Or, for that matter, someone who claims that the movie abuses its source material but then proceeds to take to task plot points that stems directly from the book.

A defining movie for our times. The power of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring in its nearly-perfect filmic form goes to illustrate just how effective the source material is to begin with - just how good a story it tells. The movie is impressive in its own right, bringing an epic feel to the screen that hasn't been seen since Hollywood's Golden Age, and that accomplishes it via a revolution in technology, special effects, and meticulousness. Expect the genre of fantasy filmmaking to receive its long-overdue true genesis as a direct result of Peter Jackson's efforts to bring the genre's most classic story to life. The movie is every bit as groundbreaking as the books were.

Permanent Record (1988)

No movie has ever quite affected me like this one.

[3 August 2001]

Permanent Record is one of those rare movies that doesn't feel like a movie; it feels like it could have been lifted straight out of your past. While most high school movies center upon the superficialities of High School life, Permanent Record goes right for the guts of it, knowing that there are no easy answers, no simple solutions.

As such, it represents not a single stitch of calculated drama, and doesn't even really have much of a plot, substituting that instead for a series of seemingly disconnected events that don't lead anywhere definite, but still manage to give off the distinct impression that none of the characters' lives will ever be the same as they were when the movie begins.

This isn't a movie you will watch if you want to be entertained. But it is a movie that, if you are prone to such behavior, you will be thinking about even years after having seen it. To that end, it is virtually unsurpassed.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

A word to the naysayers...

[3 June 1999]

If you truly want to comprehend the impact a movie like Episode I is capable of delivering, the only way to see it is with somebody who has never seen the older trilogy. I've had the good fortune of doing this, and the look on this person's face, the absolute delight at the visual wonders and magnificently simple story-telling, was worth the price of admission for both of us. If you can do this and still state that this movie lacks the soul of the original trilogy, well, phooey. You're wrong.

Opinions of this movie were formed well before it was finished ... well before anyone knew anything about it, in fact. The die-hard fans could have been subjected to a showing of Speed 2 and claimed it to be a masterpiece, while the naysayers could have seen a movie with twice the impact of Citizen Kane and still proclaimed it to be a piece of crap. In a very real way, this movie is an inkblot test: your opinion of it says more about yourself than it does about the movie.

As for myself, well, I feel sorry for anyone that doesn't love this movie. To take an object of such pure imagination and dissect it, searching for flaws, is to miss the point. No single specific criticism has been made of The Phantom Menace that can't also be made of the original trilogy, but these criticisms aren't important. What matters is the fact that these movies are the visual realization of an amazing imagination, contained within a mythological story of good versus evil, told in a way that will, with time, transcend the criticisms of it that have been made thusfar.

Lucas knows how to tell a story the way stories were originally meant to be told. He wowed us once, with a trilogy that has defied its aging and will forever remain a classic. 20 years later, he's showing us he hasn't missed a beat.

Brassed Off (1996)

An otherwise good movie gets lost in a truckload of political hubbub

[9/10 · 15 March 1999]

"Brassed Off" contains a lot of entertaining moments, and is one of the few movies that successfully bridges the gap between a comedy and a drama without losing authenticity on either side. There's a lot of great music, good performances, and touching stories, and throughout a lot of this movie I was very entertained. In particular, the three-line exchange beginning with "Would you like to come up for a coffee?" contains some of the best comic timing I've heard in a long time. Most unfortunately, however, the breadth of this movie bites off more than it can chew, and the handling of its political side left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

The most obvious of this movie's weaknesses is the fact that it argues against the closure of the mining pit the members of the band work at (never mind that the band is easily good enough to turn professional), while barely recognizing the fact that the workers themselves had the opportunity to keep the pit open, and passed on it. Does it not make sense to anyone else that if the closing of the pit were a fundamental wrong, as the movie states, that the workers of the pit would have voted against it?

The characters of this movie utter "Progress" as though it were a four-letter word. And faced with the closure of their pit, their viewpoints are understandable -- no one enjoys losing their job -- but the movie goes beyond the tragedy associated with being pushed to change, and instead argues that the closing of these coal mines is an absolute evil. Yes, as the final political tub-thumping speech reveals, the English government has systematically destroyed an entire industry. But to be fair to the other side, it's an industry that just as systematically destroys the lungs of its workers (a situation which the movie also capitalizes on, without ever arguing that something might be wrong with the system because of it), and that doesn't mention the destruction of the environment due to pollution.

It's a shame that a movie as otherwise entertaining as this one gets lost in a political message that doesn't hold water. The characters, while entertaining, are so completely arch conservative that they defy common sense. And the movie is so convinced that its message is right that it skips right over the holes in its logic and pretends they aren't important.

The ending of this movie makes for the greatest case of this differential, as the band gives an amazing rendition of the William Tell Overture, and then follows it up with a political speech so contrived and devoid of reason that I felt sick before it was through.

Although I mildly recommend this movie, I suggest you watch it for entertainment value only. To analyze the reasoning, or lack thereof, behind its political hubbub is to lose a lot of respect for it.

Dark City (1998)

An enchanting masterpiece

[10/10 · 9 March 1999]

Alex Proyas' "Dark City" is perhaps one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Enchanting and well-made in every aspect of its vision, the script is beyond intelligent, and the direction makes good use of perfect acting and grandiose special effects.

To view this movie is to sit back in splendor as the secrets are revealed, one by one, piling on top of each other for the entire length of the plot, crecendoing to a climax that is as psychologically complex as it is just plain cool. From the opening credits to the final shot, suspension of disbelief is automatic, and we become one with these characters and the strange lives they live.

Enormously immersing and a great deal of fun, this is one not to miss.

And on a sidenote, the absence of this film's name in the Oscar nominations is a travesty, particularly in the categories of Visual Effects and Art Direction. It should have been a shoo-in to win both.

Mallrats (1995)

A study in contrasts...

[6/10 · 23 January 1999]

Kevin Smith is one of the most gifted writers in the business, and I am continually impressed with his gift for natural dialogue, his knack for the outrageous, and his entertaining, interlinking world filled with interesting, complex characters (in their own ways, at least). Mallrats possesses all of these traits, it is at times hilarious and often entertaining, and yet, seemingly through force of sheer will, it has been transformed into a fairly bad movie.

On his website, Smith states that his goal was to attempt to breathe life back into the raunchy, R-rated teen comedy, and among other influences, he cites "Porky's." I state this as a warning. And it shows: what results is a movie where a third of the time you're rolling in laughter, and two-thirds of the time you're staring at the screen in a stupified trance as the central characters attempt to deal with their relationship difficulties in increasingly moronic, unfunny fashions. Smith has shown, in both Clerks and Chasing Amy, that he's capable of better.

No movie with Jay and Silent Bob can be entirely bad, but I hope that this is the low point in what should be a long and prosperous career for Kevin Smith.

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Almost watchable ... unfortunately, not quite

[17 January 1999]

I saw a High School Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet a couple months ago, and was amazed how closely it came in entertainment value to Baz Luhrmann's on-screen adaptation.

Granted, this High School didn't make an attempt at modernization, but instead tried a production closer to what the bard was intended, but watching this I still came to a revelation; it's not the attempt to bring the classic play into the 90's that sinks this film, but instead, the sophomoric, high-school quality acting.

In this production, the male and female leads were actually pretty good, and had a feel for the dialogue. I was reminded of Danes and DiCaprio, who knew what they were doing, and made every scene that they had together work very well. Unfortunately, they eventually got sunk by the actors surrounding them, whose idea of emotional Shakespeare is to scream their lines as loudly as possible.

It's almost a shame that Miriam Margoyles (Juliet's Nurse) and Pete Postlethwaite (The Friar) are in this movie; they remind us what good Shakespeare is supposed to sound like. And their all-too-brief scenes raise the bar for the rest of the actors, who, unfortunately, fall very short.

It's not the direction or attempts at modernization which eventually sinks this movie, but instead the lack of support for Danes, DiCaprio, Margoyles, and Postlethwaite, which lowers Lurhmann's production to the level of a High School play. It's almost watchable, if you let yourself sink into the concept, but not to the standards of what a good movie (let alone good Shakespeare) should be.

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Strong, tense thriller ... but pay attention!

[18 October 1998]

Joining other recent thrillers such as "The Usual Suspects" and "L.A. Confidential" in the realm of mind-twisting suspense, "Mission: Impossible" puts a solid stamp into the genre. While it's not as good as the above two movies, it is worthwhile, intelligent entertainment, though not for the cerebrally challenged.

Those who dismiss it as too confusing have most likely been spoon-fed for a bit too long on a few key movie trends as of late. Recently, in order to not baffle its audience, a movie has not only had to present everything such that what is happeneing is exactly but it seems, but everything has to be repeatedly explained in monosyllabic words. Thankfully, the occasional flick such as this comes around that doesn't assume the audience has a collective IQ below 70.

For the movie itself, the acting is strong, with Cruise casted perfectly as Ethan Hunt, and a surprisingly effective cameo by Emilio Estevez. The plot hums along, and the heist scene is one of the most suspenseful I've seen in a while. If you are capable of paying attention, and do, this is a very fun movie to watch.

Chasing Amy (1997)

The most honest movie I've ever seen

[10/10 · 16 October 1998]

Returning back to his roots of lower-budget, script-based drama/comedy, Kevin Smith has created his second masterpiece in three tries. Chasing Amy is the most honest movie I've ever seen.

For a movie shot using only a quarter of a million dollars, it is a surprisingly well-constructed, the script is every bit as good as Clerks' was. While many parts are hilarious, and there are some very great lines, Chasing Amy is a drama all the way, and a very good one. Smith knows how to make fun of love and sex while recognizing how serious it can be to those involved. Not an instant of this movie is anything but directly on-target.

Clerks (1994)

The $27,000 that changed the movies forever.

[10/10 · 6 October 1998]

A single film which changes the way movies are made is rare, and as an independent film shot for under $30,000, as influential as Clerks has been, it is unique.

If you doubt that this movie has been influential, I propose that if there was never a Clerks, there probably never would have been a Good Will Hunting, and there probably never would have been a There's Something About Mary. The idea that a movie can have nothing going for it but a brilliant script, and still turn out to be such a masterpiece, has encouraged other movies to do the same.

Clerks is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, a true cult classic that cuts to the core of culture that defines "Generation X," so much so they've never even heard of it. The dialogue is sharp, right-on-target, wildly inventive and purely hilarious, and the movie's serious side is more profound than a lot of movies not a tenth as funny as this one is. If you haven't seen it, it should be the next movie you watch, to observe a movie as on-target about a culture as any ever have been.

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Good but overlong...

[6 September 1998]

2 hours and 18 minutes seems a little bit long for a movie which was essentially nothing more than an excuse for a few very good actors to deliver a few very good lines. Most of what you can get in terms of entertainment value out of this movie could be gained from watching the highlights of the best quotes.

All of the actors did extremely well with their roles, and deserved their awards and nominations, and the screenplay had a lot of good lines but could have used a bit more plot. I enjoyed this movie as I watched it but had a sour taste in my mouth after it was over. This is a pretty good movie, but not as good as it could have been.

The Negotiator (1998)

Strong, Intelligent movie-making

[9/10 · 8 August 1998]

The Negotiator presents us with both of two things in a summer full of flicks only containing one or the other: ambition AND intelligence. It doesn't have any qualms with taking a far-fetched concept and treating it with absolute seriousness, but unlike most movies that are willing to do this (especially some recent ones involving very large asteroids and very large lizards), it is able to pull it off by combining a tight script with strong, strong acting.

If this were a perfect world, Jackson would deserve an Oscar nomination for his performance here. There's no way on Earth he'll get it, of course, but he's given the difficult role here of playing a guy who has to convince the guys downstairs that he's a psycho, while convincing the guys he's kidnapped that he's innocent, and he does a flawless job of it. No easy task, especially when you consider the fact that he's got to throw in the occasional gunfight. At least he'll probably win the MTV award :)

What results is a skillfully made film. I enjoyed it. It made sense but kept me guessing, the action was intense but still followed logical patterns, and the ending was not a disappointment. An altogether fun experience.

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Fun but shallow experience.

[4 August 1998]

I'm almost embarrassed to say that I enjoyed this movie. I know I shouldn't have, that it was poor, shallow screen-writing and contained absolutely no cinematic depth, but hey, what does that matter? Go see it at a midnight showing with a group of friends, get hopped up on caffeine, don't expect much of a plot, and the laughs and action won't leave you disappointed. Definitely worth a rent when it comes out on video.

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

Solid summer spectacle

[9/10 · 4 August 1998]

"Zorro" had everything that most of this summer's other "blockbusters" didn't: action that wasn't just an excuse to blow stuff up, romance that involved more than "Let's see how much skin we can show in a PG-13 movie," and a fair share of humor that didn't seem like a flimsy excuse for comic relief. The characters seemed to act out of their own motivations, not out of motivations designed only to maximize the production cost. It makes for a welcome break in a summer filled with high-budget poorly-scripted fiascos. Solid summer movie-making at its best.

Godzilla (I) (1998)

Disappointment on every level.

[4 August 1998]

I went to see Godzilla fully expecting to see a mindless, scriptless, characterless, but fun action movie, and it couldn't even live up to those standards. The action got too into itself and was far too drawn-out, and the special effects were nothing to get excited about. Hopefully, this flop will serve as an example that the movie should come first, then the advertising.

Armageddon (1998)

Don't call it an action movie...

[4 August 1998]

Armageddon is to action as porno is to romance. Real action movies involve logical, realistic decisions which lead to intense situations, just as romance movies do to lead to emotional ones. This movie, just like porno, throws all that out the window, and attempts to entertain only on a visceral level. The result works ... but only if you're into that sort of thing.

"Oh my God! This [insert object here] is about to explode!!!" "Hey ... did someone order a ... pizza?"

Good Will Hunting (1997)

A spectacular achievement of screenwriting and acting

[10/10 · 4 August 1998]

Those who call Good Will Hunting "predictable" are missing the point. This is a movie that shines on dialogue, both comedic and dramatic, that is written and delivered with a poetic flair. The humorous sequences will have you laughing out loud (I especially liked the "Sandwich purchased on lay-away" bit), and the drama will hit you like a punch to the stomach. Suspension of disbelief was immediate, even with the premise, and it held me inthralled throughout its length. Sure, the ending is predictable, but it's the journey, and not the destination, that made Good Will Hunting the best film of 1997.