Change Your Image
V Hanna
Reviews
The Perfect Storm (2000)
What a wave!
That last wave was what I was waiting for. The shear size of its on screen appearance was enough to raise the hairs on my neck during previews back in January. The Perfect Storm was a fun movie to watch. Yes you know going in that death will be involved but it is the ride on the Andrea Gail with the weathered fishermen that make this movie worth while. The carry over chemistry from Three Kings between Whalberg and Clooney is magic. It is rare when you truly see two actors really connect the way they do and it can only be seen with careful attention. To make this movie shine like a star Wolfgang needed more character development. But since this was slated to be a summer movie, and as we know summer movies rarely dig deeper than a Colorado detective with a fresh cup of coffee, I felt satisfied with its presentation. There was so much within the characters that only scratched the surface of the pain and frustration they have all dealt with in their lives. But I also take into account who was the real star of the show. Like the shark in Jaws the storm was here. The scenes involving the storm where intense and exhilarating.
Magnolia (1999)
I wanted to like it, I really did
I had so many emotions coming out of this film. Let me first say that I really did want to like Magnolia. There is nothing that thrills me more than a film that takes risks and knocks that casual movie viewer out of their box. With Boogie Nights Paul Thomas Anderson showed us his brilliant and eye catching ability to direct a true feature film. It was also a great example of how a soundtrack can truly drive a film and add extreme life. All what I have mentioned of Boogie Nights and rave reviews lead me to undoubtly believe that Anderson pulled it off again. It pains me to say I was disappointed. If you get a chance watch the DVD version of Boogie Nights with the part where Anderson goes over nine deleted scenes and why they were cut out. Do you notice something. It seems to me Mr. Anderson forgot how to skillfully edit a film to give it the effect that's needed. There are too many scenes in Magnolia that go on way too long. The scene where Robards is mumbling on and on, the scene where Melora Walters is screaming at her dad (too many expletives killed this scene), and the scene where Reily and Walters are having coffee. These are all examples of scenes I don't understand why they weren't edited to make them more effectual. And if you're going to say that they were longer to fully show the emotion these people were feeling stop yourself right there. Showing emotion is great but if you sit there and and keep repeating it to hammer it in to your audience eventually you're going to knock them right out of the film. The audience and myself included already understood what was happening and were ready to move on, something Anderson mentioned quite frequently about why he cut out scenes in Boogie Nights, but Anderson sat there in a scene like we were children. ALL RIGHT WE KNOW JULIANNE IS UPSET CAN WE PLEASE MOVE ON!!! And, their is an overuse of expletives in this movie. I don't mind someone swearing like a sailor just as so it adds power and strength to a scene. Here it got annoying and becomes OVER THE TOP. What happened, what happened? I keep asking myself. As for the climatic ending, which every one has heard about, why didn't any of the characters in the film talk about it. Is it a cute little reference back to the opening sequence? Is that it? I'm supposed to believe that it just happened and that's it you just go on with your life? Come on give me a break. I wasn't looking for Boogie Nights part two. I was looking forward to that same directing style and the shot grabbing ability that thrilled me and made my eyes twinkle with delight. I was also looking forward to a story that would flow with the same drug inducing vigor that makes you unconsciously smile. If you want you can cast me off as someone who just didn't get it. Fine, it's an easy way to dispel someone. But I know the magic I saw in Boogie Nights and it took off and went on vacation in Magnolia.
The Wild Bunch (1969)
What an Ending!!
When you don't grow up with movies of a certain generation it can be difficult and challenging to gain full appreciation for what they meant at their time when you happen to see them decades later. I grew up with movies of the eighties and found the transition of trying to watch movies from the decades of the seventies, sixties, and fifties increasingly more difficult the farther I went back. Sure there are going to be your Citizen Kanes, Taxi Drivers, and other great films that gleam brightly no matter what year they were born out of. But those movies are few and far between. In the continuation of this endless search for decade crossing films I came across The Wild Bunch. I have one word for you and that is an emphatic WOW!! I don't watch too many Westerns because many don't really turn my entertainment bug on but this movie never felt like a Western. From the first scene to the climatic last this movie packed as much punch, heart, and soul as any of today's ground breaking films. The gun fighting scenes were incredible. Nobody just standing out in the street with facial twitches and one hand on a gun. These battles were brutal and to my surprise reminded me of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and other gun blazing action packed movies that have great scripts to go along with them. William Holden and Earnest Borgnine played classic characters that allow them to fully display their great acting talent. The cinematography was top notch and the script had great dialog. The story of a band of bank robbers who need one more heist (sounds a little like Heat doesn't it?) has more twists and turns that make the two plus hours it comes in at seem to fly right by. I have to talk about the ending scene although no specific details can be provided. It is worth watching the whole movie to wait for that scene. Powerful! I could see smoke coming from the television screen and my eyes watched with locked intensity. After it was over one thought ran through my mind. I have finally found an equal to Pacino's rebellious fiery concluding battle with the scrappy gang of Columbians in the king of violent movies which is Scarface. I never thought I would utter those words but there is no other way to describe it. It leaves your jaw hanging and your heart pumping so fast you could start a Buick. And if that isn't a ringing endorsement then I don't know what is. I tip my hat to a great Western, a great action movie, and most importantly a great movie. It's movies like this that keep me searching for other older movies like I was looking for ancient artifacts. I found one in The Wild Bunch.
Trainspotting (1996)
Ride unlike many others!!
Trainspotting is truly a wild ride down a path that thankfully many of us don't see. We all know how the overuse and dependency of drugs can destroy a life, the gripping struggle many endure to pull themselves out of that toilet, and the ruin they can bring to others around them. But Trainspotting is a movie that shows more than just the dark travails of this ugly trip as the movie 'Basketball Diaries' does to excruciating detail. It reaffirms why life, as is wonderfully described in a Dylan like way by Ewan McGregor in the beginning of the movie, is worth living. What separates this movie and elevates it from other movies that cover this same tone and subject material is that the main character is not totally destroyed and left in a dark hopeless state at the end just to emphasize the why you shouldn't do drugs lesson. The movie ends with great hope and answers McGregor's own opening question of why choose life. And I will say emphatically again it is one hell of a ride. We follow McGregor and his excellently casted mates through all the stages of drug abuse and the Alice in Wonderland like adventures that follow it. Robert Carlye played the volatile Francis Begbie to an Oscar like perfection. His outburst struck me like a dark comedy where you almost hate to laugh but your true honesty leaves you no choice. Definitely one of the most memorable characters from a movie in the 90's. From drug dens to night clubs the cast mixes so well. The humor bounces wildly off the wall like something you get out of a gum ball machine. You never know when it will jump out in front of you so be ready. Danny Boyle deserves a great nod and a raise of the glass for a directing job well done. He chooses shots from great angles and adds all kinds of perfectly captured perks as well. One of my favorite scenes is the shot from the floor as McGregor has just taken a large hit of heroin. He proceeds to sink into a large red rug right through the floor. Every proceeding shot is from this unusual point of view until he is brought out of his dazed state at a local hospital. For someone who has never done heroin (and doesn't particularly plan to) this is one of the feelings I can imagine the drug delivering me to as I watch McGregor dip into the floor. That folks is a sign of a good director. When you have a camera in your hands and you want to have the audience truly feel what something is like why just tell them? Too easy and makes for a dull movie. Which is an incurable disease eighty percent of filmmakers have today. Show them dammit!! Use your imagination and create uniqueness. Make your movie stand out. The soundtrack compliments Trainspotting to a tee and adds to the movie's slick electric settings and rich cinematography. The only slight problem with the movie is that at times some of the Scottish accents get as thick as something out of a broken espresso machine. You will find yourself trying to understand what the hell is being said but just pay attention to what is going on within the scene and you will make it through with flying colors. This movie was not what I expected. It thrilled me in many different ways and added new life to subject material that I am sure hasn't seen the last foot tracks come its way.
Celebrity (1998)
Woody Allen meet Spike Lee
To borrow a line from the movie 'A Bronx Tale' somebody should tell Mr. Allen "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent." This movie had potential flowing out of every orifice that it is truly tragic. I know at least ten directors who could have made this script humm like an engine on a 57 Chevy. First mistake was having the lead male Kenneth Branagh do a Woody Allen impression. I sat there saying to myself over and over what the hell are you doing. Next mistake was making the movie have absolutely no character you can connect to and feel some kind of emotion for. Maybe that was good from a standpoint that it reminds you that you need someone the audience can connect to in some way otherwise you're left with a grand canyon like void. One of the few redeeming scenes was one involving DiCaprio as a young immature actor. I am almost positive that anybody watching him tear up his hotel room and cavort around with gorgeous women, drugs included, couldn't help smirk at the likely hood that he has had some practice at situations like that. Bebe Neuwirth had the other redeeming scene as a prostitute attempting to showcase the art of fellatio on a piece of fruit, alla 'Fast Times at Ridgmont High', unsuccessfully. Melanie Griffith has a small ineffective role, Judy Davis struck me as extremely repulsive even towards the end of the movie, and Joe Mantegna gets a shot to display more of his limited acting ability. What potential flushed down the toilet we call Hollywood. Why do I say Woody meet Spike in my subject line? Because those two filmmakers have made movies that have amounted to nicely formed piles of dung. Spike has at least at times shown potential for getting out of his untalented hole but Woody seems to feel driven to continue to use his name solely as a driving force. And all those actors still buy into it and his outdated potential. Shame on them! I know and you know they have talent but they continue to put out movies that fall shorter in results than a soldier on the first day of basic training. How do you sit in an editing room and look at the final copy of this film and say 'oh yea this is a great film.' This movie definitely puts Woody on one of those one hit wonder shows. It seems like a long way from 'Annie Hall' and he still can't find that magic. Somebody get this guy a road map or at least make him take filmmaking 101 over again.
Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997)
One of the Best Documentaries!!
Rules of Engagement is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. It is well constructed, superbly pieced together, and provides excellent footage to back up the assertions that it takes on. The movie's best quality is that it is not based on being sympathetic to the Dividians as much as it enlightens the audience to the blatant governmental mistakes and lies that surrounded the entire situation. I'm left with feelings of disturbing anxiety and extreme anger over the way that the government handled and then covered up a tragedy of this magnitude. The cover up is what left me really fuming. It is one thing to make a mistake in an operation and admit guilt, but another to look the American people squarely in the eye and lie to them. I guess it shouldn't surprise me with the history of our beloved country that has seen the JFK assassination, the Vietnam War, and other significant events that smell so bad of a cover up that you have to hold your nose every time you drive through Washington D. C. The footage from an airplane with special heat sensing technology and the autopsies on some of the bodies clearly show that the FBI is lying to the public. One of the things that I try to stay aware of when watching a documentary such as this is that I am usually only receiving testimony from one point of view. But again, that is without a doubt one of the brilliant successes of Rules of Engagement. It presents its evidence in such a concluding fashion that even if you were presented with statements from the FBI how could you really believe them. I remember clearly when the standoff was taking place the way the media presented the Dividians as this crazed group of cult rebels with David Koresh, the self professed reborn Jesus Christ, as their leader. None of this was truly factual but rather story spun from bits and pieces of facts. They were simply standing up for there rights to bear arms and practice their religion as American Citizens. If you were the ATF and you wanted to search the compound is attacking the building with a unit of men who are armed with rifles and bullet proof suits the way to go about doing it? If you are the FBI why engage in psychological warfare and offer little in actual negotiation to help solve the situation? Why pour gallons of harmful gas if you want to save children? Why open large holes within the compound structure when you know the possibility of starting a fire? Why lie about not firing weapons when it can be clearly shown on video? Unless. Unless you wanted to see the situation end up the way it did. The scene at the end when the Dividians Star of David flag blew off the flagpole into the fire and the ATF's was shortly thereafter raised up was an emotional climatic scene that made my head shake in disgust and my stomach turn uncontrollably. The filmmaker William Gazecki deserves one my highest congratulations. It takes a lot of guts to make a movie like this and I am sure there have been many repercussions from the government for it as well. Because of people like him the public can be shown real truth rather than crap that gets filtered through a media that presents information that can hardly be considered genuine. When I think back to how I felt at the time toward the Dividians because of the media's representation of David Koresh and how I felt after seeing this movie it is truly amazing. It reminds me of the line from the bible of a man who was healed by Jesus and asked by the elders how it happened "before I was blind but now I can see" he kept telling them. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie. You may have to look for it but it is truly something special.
Rushmore (1998)
Non Linear Poetry!!
When this filmed ended I had a huge smile on my face and for a second I couldn't figure out why. I kept asking myself what made me like this film so much. And I think it hit me. This film is like a strange dream you have where you can't figure out what the hell you were doing in that place talking to that person and what the heck was your Grandma doing there. But the dream still made you laugh at how odd it was. That's what it felt like. We follow Jason Schwartzman around as he full fills his quest for love with the tantalizing Olivia Williams. Bill Murray also has a great role in here as a sort of philanthropist going no where man who strangely effects the film in a low key way. The funny parts in this movie usually won't hit you until a few moments afterwards and they might not hit you at all. This is a hit or miss movie. To borrow a line from crazy Dennis Hopper in 'Apocalypse Now' you either love it or hate it. I can't see someone reaching a middle ground here. When I describe it as non linear I mean that it doesn't follow some standard young kid falls for an older women crap. It goes off on funny tangents. The supporting schoolmates really add life to the film. They help support Max Fisher's love for new extracurricular activities (in which there are many). The soundtrack also adds astounding detail and sets the mood in each scene to perfection. At one time I felt like this movie was Dead Poets Society gone mad (mainly just because of the private school thing). My favorite parts were the elaborate school plays Mr. Fisher puts on, especially 'Heaven and Hell'. I was laughing my butt off at the little kid playing a soldier. Rent this movie if you feel like your in a lighthearted mood and don't need comedy rammed down your throat. One last note, you might not catch it but if you look at my user name you'll see why I got it right away, there is a funny little spoof on the movie 'Heat'. I almost fell out of my chair. Rushmore forever Max!!
Raging Bull (1980)
Best Fight Scenes Hands Down!!
There are movies that try to be works of art and then every once in a while there are movies that are art. This movie proves that films are just as important as something hanging on the wall. Scorsese brilliantly captures the life of boxer Jake LaMotta like few people that have been brought to life on screen. Robert DeNiro gives one of the best performances in film history. He plays LaMotta like a concert violinist in front of a sold out audience. DeNiro combined with Joe Pesci as LaMotta's younger brother and trainer Joey are a perfect combination. The cinematography just rips you to shreds and leaves you gasping for air. I never have seen a movie display raw emotion better than Raging Bull. After viewing this movie more than ten times the scenes inside the ring stand out more and more. They make Rocky's fight scenes look like your watching a cartoon. If you watch closely you can truly experience what the fighters are going through. The speed of the jabs, the pounding each fighter takes, the animalistic emotion that they draw upon. Scorsese includes so many jarring sound and visual effects in the fight scenes that make it so real you can smell the damn thing. And the blood. If this thing was ever colorized it might be the bloodiest movie ever. But it is not over used and misrepresented. It is needed to displayed the true violence that can exist in a boxing ring. Raging Bull is more than just about boxing. It covers spousal jealousy and abuse and it also shows the breakdown that they can cause in a person leading to self destruction. There are so many great shots that it almost becomes ridiculous. One of the best is the one with DeNiro on the ropes in a Christ like image with Sugar Ray Robinson just starring him down ready to crucify DeNiro with his fists. Unbelievable scene. Cathy Moriarty does a great job as LaMotta's wife Vicky and young Frank Vincent has the role as Salvy. Vincent and Pesci really go at it in one scene that leads to a funny shot when they are asked by the local mob boss to make up and be friends. Vincent would go on to be a main stay in most of Scorsese's movies. This movie displays so vividly how LaMotta's violent insides leaked over into his personal life and lead to his destruction. DeNiro rightfully deserved the Academy Award for this role. This is the first time he is asked to gain a large amount of weight as he also did in the 'Untouchables'. And, from reading interviews on how he gains the weight it doesn't sound as easy as you think for someone not used to being in that condition. When an actor is willing to give that much to a role (sorry Stallone you are a little late on this one but I appreciate the effort) you know you have something special. If you haven't seen Raging Bull watch it. You will quickly realize why this was voted the best movie of the eighties.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Better Than Pulp!!
This movie is better than Pulp Fiction. Let's get that straight right now. I have seen it a number of times and it just keeps getting better. The story line is fresh, the casting perfect, camera shots are unique, and the sound bites original. Oh yea, the soundtrack is great too. Six guys commit a robbery and you don't even see it. You spend the whole movie watching the planning of the caper and the turmoil afterwards. Harvey Keitel may have given his best performance of his career and Steve Buscemi is a classic. In fact it's Buscemi's 'Mr. Pink' (there is a great line in response to his disapproval to the color pink) weasel character that I feel is the gasoline in the Reservoir Dogs engine. He represents the voice of reason and clear thinking on one point and sneaky and scheming on the other. Michael Madsen's 'Mr. Blonde' was made for him. Tim Roth 'Mr. Orange' has his ground breaking role (I can't say what as because it ruins part of the plot). Chris Penn and Lawrence Tierney are perfect as the father son mob team. What is really great about this movie is the dialog. Some of the best ever and truly original. The dialog in Reservoir Dogs flows so smoothly and naturally that it gives a more than a movie feel to it. For example the part in the bathroom with the cops standing around talking was beautiful because that is how how cops chit chat to each other about who's butt they busted or how stupid this guy was. Tarantino even had the cops talking about it with that kind of smirky ego locker room talk. That and having Roth break in and continue his description of the story right there was great. Also, the opening scene is a bona fide classic. The Madonna speech, the discussion on tipping, everything about that was great dialog. I also love the way Madsen and Keitel go back and forth at one point in the movie ("I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan"). If you haven't seen the movie yet be prepared because it jumps around between past and present like 'Godfather 2'. But, that is also part of the genius of it. It's bloody, so if you hate violence go rent a Disney movie instead and save yourself from stopping a great movie and complaining that this is what causes violence in youths. Wrong (that's another argument I won't get into but we can't make every movie for 10 year olds and if they happen to get a hold of it where were you when they did!). Reservoir Dogs goes on the classic list. It's a top of the shelf action movie with dark comedy and great lines to boot. One word of advice to Mr. Tarantino, stop putting yourself in your movies. You are not an actor! Stick to directing where you do your best work.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Temptation Comes To Us All!!!
Kubrick has delivered again and as fate would have it for the last time. I was very anxious to see Eyes Wide Shut but at the same time I knew I had to be patient when the movie began. All of Kubrick's movies require you to watch patiently until the credits roll for you to truly get a feel for what you have just witnessed. Eyes Wide Shut falls right in line with this style. The light he uses is very similar to what Scorsese used in many of the scenes in Casino. This gave the film a visual painting of characters and added so much life and emotion to scenes that would have been empty without it. The films drips of the subtle daring side of sex. You can also feel a real sense of a foreplay effect that the movie emotes to the audience. Almost every scene involving sex in some way felt like Kubrick was tempting the audience slowly and deliberately with a hint of danger and then yanking it away. Watching Cruise go through this ritual of sticking his hand close to the fire and pulling it away was done to perfection. Kidman's role was less than I expected but she did a grand job of pushing Cruise to seek pleasure because of jealousy, but at what cost? Famous orgy scene was hypnotic, dark, mid evil and very dreamlike. Why not just go for the NC-17 is the question everybody keeps asking. What normal parent is going to bring their kid to see this movie? I would have rather seen it in its purist form but it didn't make as much of a difference as I felt was present with the two versions of Basic Instinct (You know what is going on behind the digital characters!). Two things to remember. Approach with a patient attitude, this isn't Rambo you're going to see. Last thing watch out for the ending it comes real quick and if you blink you might miss the last line which is perfect. Rest in peace Stanley and thanks for great movies that will go on forever!!
JFK (1991)
A Directing Achievement!!
How did Stone do it? He took material that if you gave to ten other directors they couldn't make anything better than a shoe commercial and turned it into a riveting detailed great piece of film. Detail, detail, detail. This movie theorizes so well, even if it is all Stone's theories, that it's hard not to feel it's ALL true. Casting was also some of the best I have seen of a movie made in the nineties. Costner was solid, Oldman unbelievable, Pesci wild, Jones Oscarworthy, Candy a break from the norm, Bacon best of his career, Lemon great small role, and even Stone's kid (who played Jasper) got in there. Oldman was great. From a guy who has a thick British accent WOW!! Everything about Oldman's Lee Harvey, the twitches, irritability, shadiness, was perfect and just how I could picture Oswald. Sutherland as X was great, perfect role. I can't say enough of Stone's directing though. What really did it for me was the final court room scene. Most directors would have languished too long in the scenes leading up to Garrison's final speech (Sleepers was a big violator of this, it killed that movie), but Stone understood that you can't slow down the movie at this point, keep the frenzied pace and then let Garrison give you the perfect climax of what has been discussed at length in the plot. That is how a good courtroom scene is done and done effectively. The flashbacks were well used too. Stone showed you what was needed to make your mind believe it even more because instead of just saying something happened and having you take time to visualize it Stone gave you a little peak. It also allowed you to better place the characters to the events that were being discussed. Stone realized the size of information and events he was throwing at you in a short period of time, this was very apparent in the scene with Sutherland's X. This is a great movie that details one of the most significant events in our history. An event that truly altered our countries path. The best part was that it was presented in a grand fashion and told with great vigor and life. Bravo!
Die Hard (1988)
Sleigh Bells and Machine Guns Ring Are You Listening?
I saw Die Hard three times when it came out and have watched it every Christmas since. What makes this action extravaganza a Christmas movie for me (other than the movie taking place on Christmas eve) I have no clue. It has to be the Jingle Bell sound effects, Christmas trees crashing in the lobby, or probably Bing Crosby singing 'Let It Snow' at the end. It has become my personal 'It's A Wonderful Life'. Anyway, enough with Christmas this movie is good, very good. Bruce Willis does one hell of a job as McClane. He has the physical look and street wise demeanor of a New York cop that makes his role deliver the movie just as much as Mel Gibson does for Lethal Weapon. And, one of the unconscious reasons I truly love this movie is that the terrorist aren't your run of the mill shoot'em up bad guys. They come across as smart sophisticated criminals who actually have a very good plan and aren't afraid to look you in the eye and shoot you without blinking. Alan Rickman the leader is a great villain. He comes complete with wit, snide remarks, and the always popular anti-American rhetoric. Another actor who does a great job holding up the movie is Reginald VelJohnson as Sargent Powell. His verbal battles with his boss are something that is encountered at offices across this great land everyday. Even the two FBI guys come complete with egos, good looking suits, and the names to match (great line that is usually missed by the normal viewer). As for action and sound it's an A+. That is a big reason I saw it three times. I knew it was going to be on video but I couldn't resist the explosions and glass sounds over and over. There are also sound bites and comedy that pops up and lets you release the tension. John McTiernan did great work setting up camera angles and shots that add to the excitement. Good examples is the shot in the air shaft (classic line included) and the shot from Powell's car as someone comes crashing down on it. You won't find to many better at delivering high paced action and all the trimmings that make this kind of movie a delight. A Christmas classic for years to come!!