Change Your Image
creepers-2
Reviews
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Predictable, cliched and insulting
If I were an Indian woman I would be very insulted by the cliches perpetuated in this movie. However, I am a woman over the age of 40, and I am sick and tired of women being portrayed as empty-headed creatures with no life outside of cooking and planning for their daughters' weddings. Even a movie like Monsoon Wedding, which portrayed a traditional Indian wedding, had warmth and feeling for its female characters. But I got the impression that the director and writer hated older women. It just so happens that many, many Indian women have devoted their lives to medicine, government, science, literature, social work. Where were these women in this movie?
Besides those particularly insulting stereotypes, there is the flatness of plot, the fact that the film contained no surprises, and the broad and empty characterizations. At least the young people were good looking, but not enough to save the film for me.
If I want to see movies about cultures clashes, I'll watch Mississippi Masala, My Beautiful Launderette, etc. There isn't even enough football to make the film interesting.
Only for people who thought My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a masterpiece instead of a cliches, two-hour situation comedy. Yuck.
Harrison's Flowers (2000)
annoying movie
Thank goodness for Brendan Gleeson and Adrien Brody. Without their performances, this movie would have been a waste of time. I couldn't stand Andie MacDowell's character. She plays a totally stupid woman. Anyone with any sense would have contacted the Red Cross and other international agencies and asked them to look for her husband, but she foolishly marches into the middle of a civil war and risks the lives of her husband's colleagues because she is so deeply in love. Of course, it would have been a different movie if her character acted with any brains and maturity. At a time when her children needed her the most, she leaves them and almost gets killed herself. The audience is supposed to think this is wonderful because it is so romantic. Give me a break.
Where the Heart Is (2000)
One long advertisement
Quirky characters are okay. I loved What's What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but that movie had some real pathos and themes. I am not sure that Where The Heart Is has that much going for it, although there is some good acting, especially from James Frain in the thankless role of adoring puppy and Joan Cusack as a tough as nails record promoter.
Ultimately this was a very long ad for Kodak and especially Wal-mart. In fact, it was such a schmaltzy valentine to the store chain that I ended up embarrassed by the whole thing.
Interiors (1978)
A 10 as a comedy, a 1 as serious drama
I would have rated this film a 10 if it was a satire of self-obsessed neurotic upper middle class bores. Unfortuantely, it was supposed to be serious. If anyone thinks this is an American verison of Ingmar Bergman, check out Bergman. Bergman is always aware of the outside world, whether political or social. Persona isn't merely about an actress who loses her inability to speak and the relationship she has with the nurse who takes care of her. It is about class, and most of all, it is an anti-war film. The characters in Interiors are boring and have no relationship with anything outside of themselves. When I meet people like this in real life, I run in the opposite direction. However, as a satire of really selfish people, this movie works!
Fight Club (1999)
Dark, funny, subversive. I loved it!
This is not a movie about yuppies who have fist fights. The only yuppie in the film is the character played by Edward Norton.
Visually, the film is exquisite if you like films that create their own visual world--it ranks up there with Blade Runner. The editing is exciting. The script is, frankly, very biting and hilarious, and the depiction of consumerism and the corporate workplace is right on.
The audience I saw it with enjoyed the humor and applauded at the end. I didn't see anyone walk out. Afterwards, I heard comments that some people were confused, but most enjoyed it a lot.
The acting is quite good, too. One expects wonders from Norton, and at least some excitement from Pitt, but Meat Loaf's performance was quite touching. That blew my mind!
I told my husband about the movie, and although he felt he would like the humor and the themes, he couldn't take the violence. So be forewarned, if you're a tough cookie and enjoy critiques of the economy, satires on group therapy, and films that take real risks, see this movie. Otherwise, avoid it.
Csillagosok, katonák (1967)
This is art, not propaganda
I was surprised to read that some people feel this film is communist propaganda. It is a very sparse, minimalist evocation of the senselessness of war. The characters treat one another not as humans but as machines. "Stand here." "Go there." I found it compelling and 10 years after seeing this film, I have not forgotten it. This is not soviet realism. This is a stylized account of the dehumanization of war. You cannot indulge in sentimental tears after seeing this. You can only shake your head at man's stupidity and inhumanity.
Artemisia (1997)
I Don't Believe It
The best part of this film are the scenes that show how painting was done in the Renaissance. The mixing of colors, the models being posed, the sketching both indoors and out, the glorification of the human body--all this was very interesting. However, the sexual politics of the movie were weird. The historical record was changed to create a love story. Why is it that in French movies teenaged girls are always after middle aged men? I find this quite disgusting and unbelievable. Also, any woman angry enough to paint a picture of two women holding down a man and cutting off his head was probably raped. Historically, Artemisia was tortured to make her deny the rape. Why would a woman director change this into a scene of her being tortured to make her say she was raped? The love story is offensive and a denial of the historical record. Enough said.