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Reviews
King of the Hill: Hilloween (1997)
Best episode of King Of The Hill
I have a soft spot for King Of The Hill. Whilst isn't a laugh-out-loud comedy like The Simpsons or other animated comedies which audiences have been accustomed to seeing, it is an incredibly well though out sitcom and this episode highlights that. In it, Hank is determined to give Bobby a similar Halloween to the ones which he experienced as a child, however Junie Harper, a politically correct religious extremist played by Sally Field, is bent on banning Halloween because of its anti-religious motives. The episode raises a number of social questions. How can political correctness govern the choices of an individual in a free country? When do choices become personal and when do they become the responsibility of the state? And how does manipulation influence our choice? On top of this, the episode has some great satirical moments, including a great send-up of the Christian religion. On the whole, a great episode, definitely worth watching. It takes a skill to be funny and thought provoking and in this episode, King Of The Hill does that.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Mixed opinions
I saw this on a Sunday afternoon with a group of mates. To be honest, I was expecting a piece of crap movie. You know the type, full of trite dialogue, bad acting and copious amounts of special effects. In a way, I was right; this was an accurate way of viewing the movie: The acting was quite bad, despite the fact that some B-grade actors of moderate note starred, the dialogue was riddled with awful one-liners and the special effects were incredibly gory. However, in viewing the movie in that way, I have sort of missed the point. This movie was, despite its conventional flaws, was enjoyable. The special effects were very good, and in a way, this film was exactly what I wanted to see on Sunday afternoon; a light, enjoyable movie. If you are a film school student who views every film as a sort of analytical algorithm, then I doubt you will enjoy this film. However, if you want to see a movie with intense action and some neat special effects, you should not think twice about buying a ticket for this film.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
My All Time Favourite
What can I say about this film? It features one of the greatest screenplays of the last 20 years, written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, full of thought-provoking dialogue and some beautiful monologues, (My personal favourite is from Ben Affleck at the construction site about 3/4 of the way through the film). All the actors are great. Matt Damon perfectly embodies the role that he plays, an immature, cocky yet gifted boy in a world which he believes will wait for and build around him. Robin Williams plays an empathetic, yet gloomy psychologist who has never fully gotten over the death of his wife. Even Ben Affleck-haters will acknowledge Affleck's good work here, as Will Hunting's seemingly bonehead friend, who, as the film goes on, is revealed to be caring, empathetic man. Minnie Driver, Casey Affleck and Stellan Skarsgard round out the cast, all of whom give good performances. The plot is something many of us can relate to: An overconfident, intelligent man who cannot be bothered to realise his full potential. The insecurities of Will Hunting are fleshed out in great detail by the script, Damon's performance and Gus Van Sant's use of close ups for a lot of the major scenes, showing Hunting's emotions in detail. However, in some of the crowd scenes, such as in classrooms, Van Sant lacks a little imagination, resorting to the same camera pan sequence over and over again. Nevertheless, he is a more than capable director who delivers for the most part here. Danny Elfman's use of music adds to the heartwarming factor of the film. The film won two Oscars, Robin Williams winning Best Supporting Actor as well as Damon and Affleck winning Best Original Screenplay. In addition to this, Damon, Van Sant, Driver, Elfman and editor Pietro Scalia, earned nominations for their efforts. The film was also nominated for best original song and best picture. I would recommend this film to anyone, however, parents should be careful with letting their children watch this, as it contains a lot of coarse language as well as frequent sexual references. A superb work of modern drama.
The Simpsons (1989)
A satirical odyssey
The Simpsons has done something that no show had done before it and no show has done since. Made the audience look at every single character, no matter if they are a main character or a supporting character or even a one-off character, and say "Gee, I can relate to that character" or "Wow, that is so true". The Simpsons, which is no doubt the most groundbreaking animated series in the history of television, has, over more than 20 years, created characters that have been slowly and gradually etched out and refined, until the ending result has been reached: An amazingly satirical cast of characters. From Cletus, Springfield's resident hillbilly, to Chief Clancy Wiggum, the incompetent police chief, Groening and his team have covered every aspect of modern America's social spectrum. The writing crew has also been a force to be reckoned with. Conan O'Brien, John Swartzwelder, Groening himself and Matt Selman are just some of the always changing writing team which have provided innovative ideas to keep the audience engaged for over 500 episodes. The voice cast are awesomely versatile; there are under 10 principal voice actors who provide the voice behind Springfield's many residents. The only reason I have docked a mark here is because of the newer episodes. It would perhaps be a little unreasonable to think that every single episode has been an absolute classic and the shows quality has declined over the years.
In conclusion, if you do not watch this show, please, take the time to watch some of it. If you are thinking of buying a DVD, I recommend any of seasons 2-12. My personal favourites, however, are seasons 7 and 8. Happy watching.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Amazing
"How do you shoot the devil in the back, what if you miss?". The Usual Suspects, a 1995 crime thriller, stars Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Benicio del Toro, Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Pollak and Pete Poselthwaite. The film takes place after a boat, supposedly containing a large amount of illegal drugs, has been destroyed. Verbal Kint (Spacey) is the one survivor and the film follows Kint telling his story to Dave Kujan (Palminteri), a US customs agent, beginning with five crooks in a police line-up (Del Toro, Pollak, Byrne, Baldwin and Spacey).
The Usual Suspects is an exhilarating, original and suspenseful film for a number of reasons. Firstly, the screenplay is one of the most original and greatest of the last 25 years (Christopher McQuarrie won an Oscar for his efforts), with dialogue and characters that shouldn't be underestimated. Secondly, all the actors are amazing in their roles of completely varying sides of the spectrum. Spacey won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, whilst the cast won the NBR award for best ensemble cast and Del Toro won Best Supporting Male at the Independent Spirit Awards. Spacey garnished a number of other awards for his contribution. Thirdly, Singer directs the film with intelligence and innovation, a rare quality for a director in just his second feature film. John Ottman performs the unusual double of music and editing, both of which add to the suspense and mystery of the film.
In conclusion, the film is an excellent one for all lovers of cinema. While it may be difficult to understand the elaborate plot, you should not be put off by this. The film has an R rating in the US and an MA rating in Australia, however, it should be suitable for children above 13 as the violence is not too graphic.
Battleship (2012)
Battleshit
This film, directed by Peter Berg, a former Navy soldier, stars Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker, however, despite its large budget and excellent visual effects, is a disappointment. The films script is the beginning of the flaws. It is riddled with tacky one liners which seem to aspire to be in the vein of Predator or another Schwarzenegger film. The script contains many clichés as well, the ending in particular is very predictable. The characters are very 2 dimensional as well and the film contains next to no character development or obvious character traits. The actors are all pretty wooden in their performances, however this may be due to the weak characters which they are portraying. Even the usually good Neeson is average in his supporting role. Kirtsch's character is the stereotypical "trouble maker turned serious" man which we see in so many modern movies. Rihanna and the rest of the supporting cast are not believable at all. Berg, who has been at the helm of other films including Hancock and The Kingdom, should know what he is doing, but in scenes other than the over done actions scenes, he finds it hard to reach a compromise between overdoing the filming and basic cuts. The film is a stereotypical blockbuster and for those who enjoy this brand of trashy actions with flamboyant special effects, it will not disappoint. (However, even the special effects are not that innovative) But if you enjoy movies with a little more depth, you should steer clear of this very ordinary film. It was a battle having to watch it.
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Poor
We studied this movie last year in English and I have to say, I did not find it as interesting, as well done or as breathtaking as many others who I know that have watched it. If you loved this movie, please hear me out before accusing me of being a hater or anything like that. 1. The action scenes were overdone. Luhrmann tries much too hard to make the action scenes that of a blockbuster, using over the top acting and unnecessary high angle shots. 2. I am the first to say that Shakespeare was a genius, but I thought that the inclusion of the original text did not go hand in hand with the modern day style of the film very well. 3. Claire Danes is far from impressive in the role of Juliet. 4. I found the almost incestuous relationship between Tybalt and Juliet's mother a little weird and stupid, really. However, there were some redeeming factors to this otherwise poor film 1. Leonardo DiCaprio acts well. 2. The costume design is done tastefully 3. Radiohead is in the soundtrack. All up, I found the film a poor representation of William Shakespeare's iconic classic.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
One of the greatest films in the history of cinema
Spielberg's 1998 war movie about the story of a group of men setting out to find the last surviving brother in a family of four is timeless. Tom Hanks plays the lead of Captain John Miller, a schoolteacher and supporting roles are given to Barry Pepper, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon and Edward Burns among others who all act very well. The opening battle scene is my favourite movie scene, completely capturing the horrors of not just World War 2, but every other war as well. Furthermore, Spielberg accurately captures the soldier's emotions in the war, an aspect some war movies lack. The audience is able to put themselves in the soldier's shoes very easily, particularly in the scenes comprising of American deaths. I found this film excellent and I hope anyone else who watched it did as well.