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(click on each titles to go to the website)
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Deep Impact
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DVD |
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To compare this film with Armageddon s one of
the most natural things ever, especially because the two movies got released
just a few months a part from each other. But, while Armageddon managed to
even bore the hell out of you, with its silliness and loudness, this one
manages to surprise you in a few places, especially with its downbeat ending
that comes totally unexpected. there are obviously the usual Hollywood,
pre-packaged-cheesy bits and the final speech with the American president is
one of those (so bad that it could almost ruin the whole film for
somebody!). I also hated the music, totally intrusive (the theme itself
wasn't bad, but it was just in the wrong moments). Having said that, the
film certainly manages to do what's it meant to do: entertain you and move
you. And that final special FX sequence at the end, is really powerful (even
for today's standards). Mindless, popcorn movie... but then again what's
wrong with that?! |
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Requiem
for a dream
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(****) |
DVD |
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this is certainly one of those movies that you
can't easily forget: do not watch it you are depressed in any way, but it's
still one of the best films I've seen in the last few years! Not only a
portrayal of "addiction" on its widest meaning of the word itself, but a
meditation on loneliness, desperation, on being old and on banality of
media, among many other things. And all this is topped by some first class
acting (Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly are incredible
indeed!!!), some great editing, wonderful camerawork and one of the best
sound editing I've heard in a long time
My only real quibbles might be with certain instances of the split-screen
and jump-cut techniques, which struck me as somewhat gimmicky and a bit
repetitious. I'm not sure whether I'd necessarily recommend it or not; it
all depends on your personal tolerance level on certain scenes towards the
end especially, but definetely a movie to admire and to respect. |
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Saving Private Ryan
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(****1/2) |
DVD |
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Every time I watch this movie I like it more and
more. Obviously technically it's almost perfect (and not only the now
superfamous first 20 minutes)> If I really had to find some bad things about
it I would say taht it's a bit slow somewhere in the middle (something that
recently that seem to happen quite often in Steven's movies) and those last
3 mimutes at the end are a bit too cheesy for my taste... but then again,
the rest of the movie is so powerful and strong that you just want to
forgive everything else that is not quite there. It definetely the kind of
movie that has to be watch BIG and LOUD (possibly not on a small telly with
the phone ringing next to you), but last nigt on my big TV and a superclear
sound from the DVD we were all shivering... |
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From Hell
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(***) |
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We can't really deny that the movie has got its
charm... Although it's can't be such a difficult task to recreate the mood
and the atmosphere of the Victorian street at the time of Jack the Ripper.
It's all there: dark photography (most of the film is a night), spooky sound
(great DTS), cool acting (J. Deep and his new English accent).. nice concept
(the ending itself for example)... but I can't help feeling that I was
expecting a bit more. For a movie that deals with evil, death and love.. I
was actually left very very cold as if the style and the mood had taken over
the whole story. It's definitely an interesting hypothesis... and original
but never too believable. A bit disappointing maybe... |
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Donnie Darko
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(***) |
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What a weird movie... definitely something
different from the usual horror-teen-flick movies that we are getting used
to see by now! The atmosphere is so tense and dark and weird that you almost
get hypnotised by it. The story is a bit weird, but maybe that's the charm of
such a film. I wouldn't be surprised if this was considered to be some sot
of cult thing among the lovers of this kind of movies. It's definitely well
disturbing, without having to recur to the use of gory special FX or the
usual devices of the genre. Maybe I should see it again one day... then I
could almost give it an extra half star or something like that... At the
moment I'm just a bit confused... Oh, and check the website as well: that's
pretty weird too. I would suggest it to any Horror fan anyway! |
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23 |
May
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2002 |
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Life as a House
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(***) |
DVD |
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Call me weak, call me cheesy,
call me whatever but I actually have to confess I did cry watching this
movie!! And let me give you a piece of advice if you are ever going to watch
it, take some tissues with you. Having said that the movies is certainly not
a masterpiece: the dialogue is sometimes to pre-packaged and corny that
makes you want to scream "Stop it, for Christ' sake!!" and the script
contains a series of plot holes that are unforgiving! But let's talk about
the positive things about it: the direction is a light as you could get for
a film like this (light in its positive meaning.. which doesn't mean
superficial) and it tries to avoid those sensationalistic scenes you'd be
tempted to have in a movie that talks about cancer. But the real revelation
of the film is Anakin Skywalker", erm I mean,
Hayden Christensen,
who got the Golden Globe for his performance. Everybody else 's performance
is spot on... Just a shame. I really wanted to love this film.... |
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20 |
May |
2002 |
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Star Wars 2 -
Attack of the clones
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(***1/2) |
Cinema |
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Ok, first of all let me tell you, we are
talking about Star Wars! It's not a masterpiece by any means, it's never
been one... It's just become part of out history, our childhood... We just
feel attached to it however the actual final product is... And in this case
it kind of worked. It's not dry as Phantom Menace and, though it's a bit
too long half way through, it' s quite enjoyable. yes, the script is cheesy,
yes the acting is dodgy.. but it seems like all this has been part of the
saga since the beginning... There's maybe a bit too much politic for
my taste... but it'll all come to make sense at the very end when the next
chapter will be released. So let's just enjoy it and shut up!!! I have to
say that the more the film goes on the better it gets: the arena scene
is actually quite good and let's face it, Joda kicks ass!!! WATCH IT TO
BELIEVE! |
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16 |
May |
2002 |
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Vanilla Sky
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(**) |
DVD |
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What the hell did Cameron Crowe have in mind
when he decided to go for this movie? And why on Earth nobody stopped him? I
mean, don't take me wrong: the film is wonderfully shot and the acting is
not bad either but it is definitely let down by a lousy script and an even
worse construction! It starts wrong and it ends wrong.. and in the
middle there's a series of scenes that don't quite work. Oh yes, sure, great
soundtrack, but I guess I can by a CD if I want to hear good songs! Tom
cruise, who could have been the only good thing about it is forced to act
with a mask for half of the film... And the "revealing" ending which seems
to come from another kind of movie is just silly and there's no reason for
being there at all? What a disappointment! |
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15 |
May |
2002 |
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Jerry
Maguire
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(****) |
DVD |
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Still to be translated from Italian
Absolutely! 4 stars... No, I haven't gone
totally insane: I seriously think this is one of the best romantic-comedy
I've seen in a long time! Unfortunately the "label" romantic comedy usually
gets attached to much inferior films, but in this case everything is just
spot on: the music, the photography, the direction, the script and of course
the acting!!! Everybody, from Tom Cruise, to Kelly Preston (she plays the
sister and she's fantastic). The script itself is very simple and it goes
through a very well known territory, but the way it's all done is absolutely
first class. I would really recommend to everybody to re-discover this
movie! |
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12 |
May
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2002 |
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Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's stone
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(***1/2) |
DVD |
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What can I say about this film that hasn't
been already written? Obviously the book is better, but the movie tries to
be as close as possible to the original text... At moment is the
second biggest film in history (behind Titanic)... It might be soon beaten
by Spiderman or Star Wars, but I guess it's a pretty good achievement
anyway. The problem as always it that what works on a book doesn't
necessarily works on a film... and here we find so many scenes that in order
to be close to the original source end up being very static and dry. Who
knows, maybe a different director could have done something a bit better,
but having said that I just love it and I want to see more of these films |
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11 |
May
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2002 |
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K-Pax
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(***1/2) |
DVD |
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I've already seen this films a few times for one
reason or another (and, as "the good Nerd" that I am, I've even listened to
the commentary from the director on the DVD), so I could actually be a bit
more precise than usual.. but I won't. This is a movie that has to be watch
by people who don't know anything about it. Part of the fun in the movie is
to watch it asking yourself "is he or isn't he?". Great direction, great
acting, great photography. Everything in this film is very controlled, clean,
intimate. |
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(09 |
May |
2002) |
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'Y Tu Mamá También'
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(**1/2) |
Cinema |
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Slightly pointless film that wants to be
meaningful and deep, but only succeeds in that in a few scenes. Though I
have to say,
the idea was good and the cast is superb.. If only more time was spent in
building the characters instead of showing gratuitous sex scenes (masked as
"cinema verite'". There's also a very annoying voice over during the whole
film that doesn't quite know whether it's there to explain what is not clear
enough in the film or to add more depth to it... Some very nice touches here
and there (especially in the way the background is shown) are unfortunately
not enough to convince me that this is a masterpiece... |
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(05 |
May |
2002) |
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Panic Room
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(***) |
Cinema |
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How can somebody could actually make a film out
of the silliest script ever written is a mystery... All credits to
Fincher, the director who's able to keep you on the edge of the seat almost
for the whole duration of the movie. Unfortunately I say almost because the
film drags itself a little bit.. maybe because the baddies are not quite bad
enough to be scary... It's almost a dark version of "home alone", but
incredibly well shot! There's an amazing camera movement that goes on
forever across the whole apartment (through bars, teapots and so on!!!). So
a pure popcorn movie like only Hollywood can produce... I've seen much
worse, but unfortunately from Fincher I've also seen better stuff (seven and
fightclub). I also just want to mention about the very good cast (all of
them, actually, whoever that black guy is...). So, let's see what will come
next |
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(04 |
May |
2002) |
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Aliens - special edition
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(****) |
DVD |
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Some people think this is the best of all, some
other say that nothing come close to the atmosphere of the 1st one... Well,
I have to say that if you watch these films today, the first one feels
(unfortunately) a bit slow... This Alien is incredibly tense! Manu had never
seen it before and she was so scared that it made me realize how powerful
this film is. The special edition takes a tiny bit too long to get started
(though all the stuff about Ripley's daughter is really good), but despite
that once it starts it never les you down. And Sigourney kicks ass as never
before (or after, for that matter). Some of the SFX (blue screen scenes and
miniature FX mainly) looks a bit dated but the aliens are incredible...
Nothing of that crap CGI stuff of today! |
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(03 |
May |
2002) |
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Go Back |
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