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Reviews
The Devil You Know: Inside the Mind of Todd McFarlane (2001)
Meet the madman
This documentary debuted recently here in Todd McFarlane's hometown of Calgary, where I caught it.
It's pretty good.
It gets remarkably deep into a man with a tremendously extroverted personality, and manages to get behind that facade and see what's crawling around on the inside.
Although the film starts out on a high note, the ending is somewhat melancholy. "The Devil You Know" builds through Todd's staggering rise through the ranks until he can afford to drop nearly three million on a baseball, then somberly comments that comic books, where Todd got his start, are in a dry phase. We see Todd's dream of playing pro baseball slip finally away, and meet some of Todd's rabidly obsessive fans. The Fans, unfortunately, are monomaniacal and seem to cast a shadow on Todd's achievements.
All in all, quite well done. It presents an entertaining peek into the life of a millionaire who made his money on a zombie superhero. What more can you ask for?
Killing Time (1998)
Low budget, high concept
A smart, involving little movie using only three major sets and a tight cast, Killing Time was a movie that I'm planning on checking out again.
The twisty story involves the murder of a cop. The cop's partner hires an Italian hit-woman to kill the man who murdered his partner, but he cannot afford her price so he hires another hit man to kill her off. And then the fun begins.
The female assassin is interesting and you can't help but root for her as the hit man and his idiot accomplices plan her demise. The title, Killing Time, fits well too as the passage of time is handled well. While the Assassin waits for her chance to kill her mark, she takes baths, learns English from an instructional tape...all the sort of things one might do to pass the time away.
An interesting movie where nobody is the good guy. Check it out, for an appealing heroine, realistic gunfighting, and some great catchphrases. Good stuff!
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Impossibly rich, violently gory, and loads of fun.
"Sleepy Hollow" is an experience. It's a love story, a murder mystery, an action-adventure, and film rich with symbols, icons, legends, and superstition. It's great.
The story picks up once Ichabod Crane arrives in dreary, upstate Sleepy Hollow. Things really get going after Crane's initial exposure to the Horseman's methods and sees the Horseman himself. It all reaches a glorious crescendo once the mystery begins to unravel and it becomes clear how well-thought-out it all is...
It's a movie full of invention and elegance, tempered with vicious violence and inspired performances. Johnny Depp's ideal performance as Crane is a rock from which the town eccentrics seem that much more interesting. He portrays what may be the first action hero who faints...more than once!
Kudos, also, to Christopher Walken, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson(whose character here is NOTHING like the Queen in the British comedy "BlackAdder II"), and the young actor who plays the surviving son of one of the Horseman's victims.
Go see it. Go see it for the child in you, and go see it for the adult you are. Romance and magic are not lost notions in our cynical world, for this movie shows us they are alive and well.
Cybersix (1999)
Sensational animation...but the scripts, oy...
As an animation junkie, I was pleased as punch to find the show "Cybersix" on Canada's Teletoon station...the animation is done in part by a company called TMS, who did the best work on my favorite show, "The New Batman/Superman Adventures".
The work on "Cybersix" is better.
The characters move with a fluidity and grace that I've hardly seen in any animation, American or otherwise. If the scripts were half the equal of the animation, it would be one of the best shows ever put to video.
Yeah, the scripts are pretty weak. The story is very hard to understand, but that's what's to be expected when you deal with so many bizarre characters. They include the son of a famous super-villain, a reporter, a black panther, a homeless child, and the hero, Cybersix, who apparently owes her superpowers to the fact that she's a robot. Strange? Check it out.