Journal Entries
Bringing Out The Dead
Posted Sep 7, 2000
Dark humour. Alcholic, insomniac, sweat-soaked and blood-stained humour that serves most adequately to highlight the drama. If I were to make comparisons, MASH would come to mind. Not merely the medical themes, but the hellish setting and the characters' individual methods of dealing with it. (Coincidence? The lead character's a lush called Frank Pierce, Hawkeye's full name is Benjamin FRANKlin PIERCE)
BotD would be best described as an unpleasant hallucination, there's no real linear direction, but it has its own natural course to follow, a beginning and an end.The film is more disturbing dramatically than it is graphically IMHO (you would *see* as bad if not worse in ER or Chicago Hope), and if it weren't the truly high calibre of all concerned - actors, director, writer, etc., the film *might* have been unwatchable. But BotD doesn't just disturb, it touches, amazes and amuses. And it's easily Cage's best work since Leaving Las Vegas.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Sep 7, 2000
Maybe Baby
Posted Aug 31, 2000
Very English: shamelessly frank and funny with matters obstetrical, sexual, even gynecological; but strangely awkward and embarrassed when it comes emotions and relationships.
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Aug 31, 2000
X-Men
Posted Aug 17, 2000
The real evolution - a special-effects movie that relies more on story than action.
Discuss this Journal entry [118]
Latest reply: Aug 17, 2000
The Patriot
Posted Aug 15, 2000
I consumed a large tub of popcorn during this movie. That was fairly corny. That pales in significance to the level of corniness in The Patriot.
There are a number of gaping flaws here, not all of them factual ones. Here in New Zealand, Patriot is playing against Gladiator. They're both very similar films in terms of general plot, as well as some scenes being almost identical. Gladiator had a very strong focus on one or two characters. In Patriot, there are too many people vying for centre stage, and too many unrelated subplots. I could have sworn I was variously watching Braveheart, Lethal Weapon, Highlander, even Star Wars.
Take heart, Brits. If anything's going to portray your countrymen as a bunch of vicious thugs, it won't be The Patriot -- it'll be your football.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Aug 15, 2000
28 Days
Posted Aug 15, 2000
This is only an inch or two away from being the telemovie of the week. A couple of things pull it back from the brink though: 1) it doesn't take itself too seriously, and 2) the natural grace, wit and charm of Sandra Bullock.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that the film that allows Bullock to shine as never before, should be written by the same woman who wrote Erin Brockovich, the film which allowed Julia Roberts to do the same.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Aug 15, 2000
Mustapha
Researcher U55893
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."