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liawau87
Reviews
Underground (1995)
Beautiful Lies
This is one of the best films I have seen in quite some time. I laughed (a lot) and I cried, sometimes simultaneously. It takes a well-crafted film to pull that off. The characters had depth and complexity, and they are the heart and driving force of the story; the war serves as a central concern of the characters, but this is not a typical war-driven movie. I was particularly interested in the way that no matter how surreal or incredible the plot became, it never lost any of its believability. I love surreal movies, like Delicatessen or Tuvalu. This one definitely won my heart over as well. It is a must-see for any cinema lover. The character Natalija tells her lover Marko several times that he "lies beautifully." This film does the same.
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: Dirty Old Town (2003)
will give you hope for modern music
In the beginning of this documentary, Ted talks about how he likes Coney Island because of the bygone era it represents. Coney Island is still going but it hasn't turned into a modern amusement park; people still get the feeling of the good ole days. Anyway, it occurred to me while viewing the rest of the documentary that Ted Leo is a lot like Coney Island as he represents the same thing, only musically: a bygone era of an ethic and sound that is getting rarer as time goes by. He's still going strong and probably will be for a while, but he won't turn into a modern amusement park. His diy ethics are for life.
Apart from analogies though, Justin Mitchell does an excellent job capturing everything. There is beautiful footage of Coney Island with amazing editing. The footage of the band's live performances is quite amazing as well; it really gives you a sense of what a pharmacists show is like. And the interview with Ted is very interesting; lots of insight into the life of a great musician.
Recommended to any Ted Leo fan, or for that matter, anyone interested in good, honest music.
Funny Ha Ha (2002)
definitely worth seeing
Before I saw this movie, the only thing I heard was that there was no real plot line and that I would hate the major characters because of their inability to move on from their irresponsible adolescent lives, or something to that effect. After viewing the film, I can say that nothing is further from the truth. I sympathized with most of the characters, especially Marnie. She is unhappy with her life, but not in an over-dramatic depressing way, but rather a more realistic "nothing is changing and I am doing the same old stuff" kind of way. Her repeated but failed attempts to stimulate some kind of change was something I related to.
I also really appreciated the movie's almost home video-like quality. The movie is about what life is really like, and I think the style could not have been more appropriate. There are some moments when the lack of effects or music really makes the emotional impact that much harder, albeit subtler.
Of course, not everyone will appreciate this movie. I think in some ways viewers have to be able to relate the situations and characters and attitudes of the characters to their own lives in order to appreciate it fully. If your life is constantly exciting and never awkward or seemingly aimless, you may not enjoy it as much as I did.