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Reviews
Acts of Mercy (2009)
Promising Debut Film
I saw an advanced screening of this film by the director who was a professor of mine at the University of Central Florida. She had invited anyone to stay after class one day to watch an almost completed version of the film in which we were asked to give notes and suggestions. Aleksa Palladino (Boardwalk Empire) gives a great performance as a nursing home orderly who suspects something unsettling is happening within the nursing home. The movie, like any small budget independent rookie feature, suffers some poor acting and production value but nothing that would turn you off from the story. Laura Lopez was always a great teacher and humble human being and is an intriguing director who will hopefully have a successful career ahead of her. I'm not sure if this movie is commercially available but it is worth a watch if you can find it.
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
BEST MOVIE OF 2002
this movie has it all. I saw it twice in 3 days. Excellent flick ....kills me in didn't finish in the top 10 ...it was sooo good. Sean Bateman, Lauren, and Paul are the 3 center characters. Paul wants Sean, Sean wants Lauren, and Lauren really wants Victor ...but would have settled for Sean since Victor was in Europe ....but Sean messes up ...in a hilarious and messed up look at college life at Camden ...The Rules of Attraction is a pre-quel to the film American Physco ...and was written for the screen and directed by Roger Avery ..who worked at the same video store as Tarantino and helped him write the stories in Pulp Fiction as well as some additional dialouge in Resavoir Dogs ....TROA is an excellent picture in its own ...I can't wait to see it a third time.
Memento (2000)
Only movie with a surprise beginning!
wow.... where do I begin? One of the greatest flicks I've ever seen. Lenny, as he liked to be called, is a man suffering from short term memory loss and is trying to find his wife's killer. The movie itself runs backwards. The opening parts of the movie is how you would normally see a movie end. You'll see about 4-5 minutes of a flashback, then the movie cuts to a side story of Lenny talking to someone on the phone about a man with the same condition as him named Sammy Jankis. Then it will go back to another flashback that happens right before the previous flashback and ends where the previous flashback began. Sound confusing? Well if you go into the movie knowing it goes backwards it's really easy to follow. You'll like the surprise beginning.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
Cameron Crowe blows my mind again
after Kevin Smith, Cameron Crowe is probably a toss-up for my next favorite filmmaker with Edward Burns. Almost Famous is my favorite movie of all time....and I didnt think anything could pass Mallrats for that title. This film, is of course, a remake of the 1997 spanish flick "Obres Los Ojos" (open your eyes). Having not seen the original...I'm afraid to see it now because I dont think anything could be better than a cameron crowe film. This movie, unfortuanatly, will be hated by so many. This is unfortunate because it is a beautiful and original piece of art. It's just people today arent into the 2:30 movies of dialogue and story plot anymore....they were suckered into crap flicks like She's All That, The Mummy Returns, Harry Potter, and Summer Catch crap where Freddie Prince Jr. will always get the girl in the most simplest of tales.....its 1:30 of filth and bim boom your out of there. Well Vanilla Sky is a well made movie....that is like nothing like you will ever see. The only draw-back is Penelope Cruz (aka Salma Hayek2) when she gets an english accent and learns to speak better she can come back to the country. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are good but the movie is best when Jason Lee is on camera. This man is brillant. Lee is such a great actor....the best there is...ill pay money to see him everytime, even if it is more Hollywood predictable stuff like Heartbreakers, or his soon to come "A Guy Thing" which im sure will be too....but still, that man can single handedly carry a movie. Vanilla Sky is a dark tale of a nightmared proned Tom Cruise.....who falls for Jason Lee's Penelope Cruz, but still cant resist that Cameron Diaz beauty...and takes a bad choice car ride with her....this will change his life forever...throw in Kurt Russel, Jason Galeki, Black Angus Steak House, Conan O'Brien, and Benny the Dog....and you have the masterpiece known as....Vanilla Sky
so do urself a favor...if ur one of good taste...and open your eyes (ahahaha get it?) and see this movie....2 thumbs up from ebert and roeper...and by me....booya