Change Your Image
aelst
Reviews
Torque (2004)
stupidly entertaining
From the trailers that I've seen, I knew this movie was going to be silly, and it is. I'm not a fan of sports cars or motorcycles but this is very amusing to watch. I felt that by watching this (and listening to the music) we were attempting to keep in touch with the MTV youth of today. The story is about a group of motorcycle friends, bunch of black guys from the hood that hang out in the desert, and another motorcycle gang.
Plenty of funny and stupid lines, some sexy girls, violence and hollywood effects. Towards the end of the movie the effects get stupider and unrealistic, but that just adds to the entertainment.
Product placement is very obvious in this one, its hard to miss my fave soft drink mountain dew. And that FBI agent character is just wrong.
3 out of 5 stars.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Nice romantic comedy
Very interesting story about a couple undergoing surgery to erase each other from their minds. The relationship between the characters is the main focus here, its romantic and realistic, and it has its ups and downs. Joel is played by Jim Carrey, and thankfully this movie is not a typical comedy from him. Throughout the film we get to see them together in various situations and stages of their relationship, often amusing, and this is a pleasure to watch. The story is a mixed up, but will fall into place towards the end of the movie. You're left wondering what would happen if you erased people from your own memory.
Nice romantic comedy. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
School of Rock (2003)
very amusing
This is a very cool and amusing movie about a rock musician who fakes a job as a substitute teacher, and instead of the normal curriculum, teaches the private school kids how to make a rock band, and also the philosophy behind it. The teacher is the comedian Jack Black (from Tenacious D), who exhibits plenty of funny facial expressions and movements. If you grew up with other children who were brought up playing classical, then the contrasts between the stereotypical rich private school kids and their rock music fanatic teacher are especially amusing to see. Being into rock music and concerts, for me, this light-hearted flick was well worth watching. 3 out of 5 stars.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
scary!!
I've never seen the original movie, but I had a fair idea of what it was about. Nothing special here, our car load of teenagers run into some crazy unlikable redneck inbred isolated country town American family. This is a serious attempt at horror, because the story is feasible, and also because there isn't any comic relief like most of the other current horror movies out now. A few gory scenes, and some sudden frights make this a pleasure to watch.
This review is based purely on the new version as I haven't seen the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Les invasions barbares (2003)
pretentious movie
I thought this movie might be about barbarians, jumping around and decapitating people. Instead, this movie is about a dying man, on his death bed. His family and friends gather around with him during his last days. It brings to light a variety of issues, too many for my liking, death (okay this one is good as you don't think about it everyday), religion, health care, promiscuity, capitalism, drugs, euthanasia. Having so many issues in one movie made the story feel a bit fake.
I have no idea about psychology and socialist 'isms', or about the old movie flashbacks. I suppose for students of social sciences and arts this movie might be okay, but for me, the whole movie felt pretentious.
The only amusing thing is that the son looked like Mulder from The X-Files :D
1.5 out of 5 annoyed stars.
Love's Brother (2004)
need coffee now
We saw this movie at the Palace Norton Cinema, quite appropriate since it is a movie about Italian culture.
It is about two close brothers, one is painfully socially inept but sweet, and the other is the opposite. This is set in Victoria, Australia, in the olden days, so there are plenty of good old costumes. Its a humourous plot, the brothers are involved with two girls, one fresh of the boat (literally because thats how they travel back then) from Italy, and another who has been Aussiefied. Throughout the movie we see relationships between them break and build.
In the movie is the first time I've heard of the rule of having the eldest sibling married before the younger ones, so I'm not sure if thats Italian culture. This movie also reinforced my view that mail-order brides or arranged marriages will never work. There is an expresso machine and lots of people drinking coffee in the movie, so make sure you bring a nice cup of coffee into the movie so you don't feel left out.
A thoughtful movie, exploring love and culturally identity. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Monster (2003)
who is the monster
When a film is based on a true story I end up being more interested the real life story. This story is about a female prostitute, Aileen, who kills seven different men after luring them from the Florida highways while promising sex. There is also her partner / lover, Selby, a lesbian, and she is not directly involved with these murders. Throughout the movie we see Aileen's ups and downs, and we get some voice over from her, describing different events in her life. This builds up a psych profile of her, so we can see the reasons behind her violent actions. In the movie, the murders slide from justified to reprehensible, I think this simplifies her character.
The character I don't understand is Selby, the movie doesn't explain her actions, but putting it down to child's immaturity doesn't seem right. I think she's a bit fishy and scheming!
Violent and depressing movie, with elements of 'good and evil', immaturity, and the failings of social welfare policies.
Excellent acting by Aileen and Selby. 3.5 out of 5 stars
Veronica Guerin (2003)
good location, annoying character
This is based on a true story about a nosy reporter called Veronica Guerin. I've never heard of her before this, but then again I can't name 1 reporter, and I don't read tabloid newspapers. The movie dramatises the events that have happened, and made me think whether her actions were justified. Set in Dublin, it has a nice overcast feel to it. I liked the equestrian stables, the buildings and locations, it looks so nice there.
To me, she was portrayed as a very annoying character, intrusive, selfish and reckless. If she was meant to be seen as a hero it didn't work for me. You might recognise an old U2 song, Everlasting Love. Sinead O'Connor contributed some new songs for this one, but none of them did it for me. 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
ugly documentary
Ugly documentary about a family who has pedophile case brought against them. We get commentary from members of the family who are still alive, and snippets of cam-corder footage that the family had taking of themselves during the earlier years. They had a habit of video taping each other, and so act naturally on film. This makes it very uncomfortable to watch, as if we really are spying on them. The acts of the alleged crime are described explicitly and this adds to the disturbing nature of the movie.
This movie made me think about fear and how to manipulate it, and why are some people so easily offended and sheltered?
Walking out of the cinema I heard someone remark that it wasn't about a heist as he thought :) It certainly isn't, and its best if you're prepared for subject matter.
Great movie. 4 out of 5 stars.
House of the Dead (2003)
not horrible at all
This movie is based on the video game, the one with guns and you have to shoot monsters several times, which gets really tiring. The movie keeps on giving 1 second clips of game which is annoying. If I wanted to feel like I was playing the game I'd go play it.
I watched this for the horror, its not horrible at all. In fact its very lame. And the lines and acting are really bad. There is one funny bit in the movie, where a guy trying to rescue someone from zombies an he only manages to pull the top half through the window because the legs have been hacked off and eaten. She doesn't make it, and after that you can see he is very sad and shaken.. the acting is so bad at this point I had to laugh.
There is some unnecessary nudity in the beginning of the movie too. This didn't add anything for me.
Watching other people playing the video game is more entertaining than this. Dont bother with this. half a star.