tht Reviews

Pacific Heights (1990)

Interview your tenants!

[7/10 · 18 September 1999]

A very enjoyable, suspenseful thriller, with a unique plot, and a cast that successfully animates the characters.

The late 80's - early 90's yielded a huge number of suspense thrillers, some of them truly remarkable, but Pacific Heights is one that not only keeps the viewer's interest awake throughout the whole movie-not on account of any ingenious twists in the plot, because we know who the bad guys are, but because there is a strong desire on behalf of the viewer for this seemingly cul-de-sac situation to be resolved. The vicious character of Carter Hayes played by Michael Keaton is so good (or rather bad!) that immediately the viewer sympathizes with the landlords (Griffin and Modine) and begins detesting Keaton and his infamous friends. The ending justifies and rewards.

Can be watched over and over.

Cruel Intentions (1999)

Whoever made this movie had cruel intentions....

[2/10 · 11 September 1999]

A definite must not-see.

This was either a comic/tragic attempt to produce a dramatic movie based on a great play by using contemporary gimmicks, and casting a bunch of pop-culture performers or a parody of the original (in which case it deserves more credit), a very elusive one however (so the credit is taken back).

Overdramatized acting, completely out of place and era, no emotion communicated by the actors--only annoyance at their pretentiousness which was not their fault anyway--and dialogues so full of cliches, that one would as soon watch infomercials on channel 21.

In fact I felt insulted, considering that Dangerous Liaisons is one of my favorite films.

Happy viewing (hopefully of something else!)

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Truly Dangerous Liaisons.

[9/10 · 11 September 1999]

If I were to be asked what my favorite movie was, Dangerous Liaisons would be my answer, even though I am not a big fan of romantic drama movies.

The film contains a combination of two aspects that I believe make it excel:

(1)a magnificent plot, dealing with the wide range of human emotions and behavior, guided either strictly by raw desire for control and power, lust, or malice, or by pure, virgin love (or can all these drives be separated?), and

(2)superb performances by actors and actresses who are able to develop and transmit these emotions and take up all the stages of human existence, from honest to deceitful, loving to loathing, prudish to lascivious, sanguine to insecure.

Add a few nice costumes, some aristocracy titles, and you have a recipe for magic!

Candyman (1992)

ok, a little anticlimactic, so what?

[8/10 · 3 September 1999]

Candyman is one of my all time favorite horror movies. It is genuinely scary, and it makes one have second thoughts when standing in front of a mirror.

What I particularly enjoyed about the movie is the multidimensional development of the plot at the sociological, psychological, and parapsychological level. The first scene of the movie presents in a nutshell the experience that the viewer is going to have, an experience so common (regarding urban legends) yet so distant.

The acting (esp. by Virginia Madsen) is superb. The setting could not be more perfect. The shaggy, derelict apartment buildings at Cabrini Green create the proper ambience for what is to follow.

Certainly the gory scenes are not very attractive, and in a way such explicit portrayal does not seem necessary, since the psychological suspense is the driving force of the movie. Also the ending is rather anticlimactic and overdrawn. Disappointing sequel....

Fun to watch with people who scare easily!