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jamesmarlas
Reviews
Things That Hang from Trees (2006)
moody
1 of the locally shot films in the Jacksonville Film Festival. A series of creepy, moody events guide this bare bones plot about a semi-retarded kid wanting to see the July 4 fireworks. The kid drifts through the days and seems barely aware of his cringe-inducing father, drug-addled mother (Deborah Kara Unger who poses in negligee in her store front window) and spiteful Christian weirdo neighbor. There are tons of weirdos in this film. The main character basically bumps into all of them along his way to see the fireworks.
This brings me to my only real issue with this film. There are almost too many unpleasant aspects of the south squashed into what is really just a straightforward story about a kid with a very kid-like goal. At times it weighs down the film.
The actors were all good. A seriously sexy Deborah Kara Unger was born to play roles like this.
Overall I liked the film a lot and thought it was a nice break from the norm.
Lonely Hearts (2006)
wasting a great cast
I went to the opening in the Jacksonville Film Festival. this was the most over-hyped movie in the festival and by a large amount the worst of the 10 that I saw.
Based on the true crime story of a couple of cops (John Travolta and James Gandolfini) in the 1940s who arrest Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck "the Lonely Heart Killers" n (The serial killers sought out their victims in the newspaper personals) The film goes back and forth between the serial killers catching and killing their pray and the cops.
What disturbed me most about this film was Selma Hayeks unbelievably inexpressive acting. She was as blank and unbelievable as they come. You'd swear she was reading her lines from a cue card.
All in all the film failed to engage me at all and the serial killer blood scenes seemed completely gratuitous. Just a way to keep our attention in a movie that seemed way way longer than it is. The director botched on this one and failed in showcasing an extreme wealth of talented actors.