Posted by Kain on June 5, 2007
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Yes, it certainly would seem that way, wouldn't
it...
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Posted by Kain on June 4, 2007
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The ending was not only acceptable in my eyes, but
faithful to Wells' novel, as meanie mentioned. In
fact I appreciated the ending quite a bit, as it
showed in rare form that we truly can be powerless
against a foe. The sensation of chaotic
hopelessness acheived during the mob scene was
enthralling, and (barring the children, who played
their parts well as it seems they were intended to
be obnoxious), it was natural to empathize and
sympathize with each of the characters. Cruise
was excellent as per usual, and Tim Robbins flexes
his acting muscle as he has so frequently done in
the past, giving us a startling portrait of the
human breaking point. Realistically, my only
serious gripe about this piece was at the
conclusion when Robby (I believe was Cruise's
son's name) was shown to have survived.
Absolutely unneccesary. He could have perished
and in all honesty, it would have added greater
emotional impact to the film. Otherwise a worthy
film of the Spielberg legacy, with incredible
effects, cinematography, sounds, acting (though
yes I agree that little shit is the same annoying
know-it-all, 8-going-on-18, piss-ant wench she is
in every movie), and storytelling quality that has
become his hallmark. We could use an event like
this to chlorinate the gene pool a bit...
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 4, 2007
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Likely the only reason there are not additional
comments on this particular film is that such
would be nearly something of a superfluity. The
review says it all, and in reality, it's not as
though it was needed. Even children of the newest
generation know this film for it's venerable
impact on cinema history, and incredible
execution. An adamant dinosaur fan as a child,
this movie was a literal wet dream. Nothing on
film before had ever so beautifully or so
accurately depicted the lost saurian world. Now
finding myself a massive herpetological enthusiast
as an adult, I can always sit down in front of
this movie and remember why. On that note, I can
list my only real gripe with this movie; there
simply were a few irksome errors in some of the
animals' designs. Take for instance the venom
spitting Dilophosaurus. This animal did in fact
once exist, but in nowhere near the context in
which it is represented in the film. The animal
was far larger (similar to the Rex in stature,
though not so large), posessed no frill around the
neck (borrowed from the contemporary Australian
Frilled Dragon), and did not spit venom. The
Velociraptor is another case, as in truth, the
animal was considerably smaller and less thick in
build. The animal depicted in the film is far
closer to the Utahraptor, the largest member of
that particular family. These however, were
artistic liscenses taken by the artists behind the
masterpiece, and regardless of accuracy,
masterfully executed. In fact, this was one of
the first films to accurately implement the stance
that the Rex takes during locomotion (rather than
the 'tripod' stance of older reconstructions).
Everything from the soundtrack to the sound f/x
were incredible and memorable (I can hear that big
fucker in my head any time I think about it), and
as has been emphasized, the visual effects were
and still are absolutely stunning. A true
paradigm shift in cinema, that kindled the
imagination of a generation.
-10/10
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 4, 2007
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I enjoy movies. They can be major influences in
and on my life, thought processes, and emotions.
This...was.....abysmal. Outside of some eye
candy, which there certainly was, the movie was
essentially a pile of cash that would have been
better spent by the Bush administration. Crispy,
I truly have to agree with your sentiments, and
couldn't have summarized that statement better
myself. The story line was there, albeit a bit
weak, but not awful. It's evident, however, that
as soon as they all sat down in their big, plushy,
pretentious, rolling office chairs to discuss how
this film would be written/produced/filmed, that
the creativity gods fearlessly unloaded their
bowels all over every mind in that room. The
aliens were turned into a sort of locust moreso
than any form of legitimate threat, the predators
were effectively emasculated, and the humans were
regrettably displayed as what they truly are
(rather than how we'd often like to think of
them)...a weak, poorly equipped excuse for an
evolved animal species. I'm glad my amigo covered
the pay-per-view fee on this one, so I didn't have
to feel as though I was cheated out of anything
more than my precious time. Now was it truly THAT
bad?? Probably not, but anyone who has ever seen
and even slightly enjoyed one of the predecessors
to this film should justly be outraged. If
nothing else can be provided as solace to my
bruised sense of entertainment by any other
attendee of this site, please answer me this; at
the end of the film, how does that commiserable
little coo survive in the vast Antarctic Cocytus
with nothing more to guard her daintiness than a
damn longsleeve shirt and a frail pair of pants???
Ah, were I a lesser sport I might have had
trouble with this movie's level of
believability.............
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 3, 2007
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In the eyes of the devout American, this film is
inherently wrong in every way. Could anything
else make it more right? Even if you are somehow
not amused by it, and we all know there will be
those bereft of the ability to laugh, it is very
difficult to argue the quality of satire here.
Borat is clever, original, offensive, and all the
better for it. I agree completely that it is
probably the best comedy of the year, and
realistically, you only need to see it once. The
scenes stuck so vividly in my mind that
quotability quickly became one of those added
benefits. The film does lose some of the shock
that is indigenous to the first viewing, but even
still, certain scenes simply cannot be witnessed
by most human beings without warrenting a
painfully intese laughter. Now even with the
comedic aspect aside, the film as a cinematic
entry is quite venerable if simply for the clever
'third world' feel of the imagery, credits, and
music (and speaking of the music, jesus that theme
song...). The dvd's fabulous menu screen alone is
enough for a hearty laugh, and while on that
subject, the deleted scenes are something to be
treasured by anyone who claims to be a fan of
humor. Without remorse I readily purchased this
film, and received a complimentary "GLORIOUS
KHAZAKHSTAN" shirt that has become a regular in my
wardrobe. Ah marketing... Anyway, I will
recommend this film for anyone really (save for
"rah America" patriots and college frat boys), as
you will probably end up with strengthened abs and
leaky eyes...
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 3, 2007
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Ah this one... One of the first comic-to-movie
movies I had seen at the time and the first
comic-to-movie movie that I actually liked.
Whereas I agree MvMMDI that the acting was pretty
clean (if a bit hoakey, but hey, it is a comic
book flik, isn't that kinda the point?), but
admittedly, Ling Bai (the asian with the eye
fetish) was irritatingly fake, and I didn't overly
enjoy her part. Stylistically, this reminds me a
bit of a Burton film, and hell, who doesn't like
that. As is typical with this sort of films, it
carries that 'following' that those of us who are
capable of thinking for ourselves loathe, but no
reason to let that spoil our fun. I will,
however, argue that this film carries it's fans on
the shoulders of Brandon Lee's death. As far as
comic movies go, it truly is excellent, and as
macabre as they come. I know that I, for one, was
unaware that Lee had even perished until years
after my initial viewing of this particular slice
of cinema. Crazy, thank you for catching the
"Spawn" comment...no one but the ignorant could
argue this as a wholly original story, but Spawn??
Really?
Technically speaking, it
probably warrants something like a 7 or 8, but in
my ever so...unbiased...opinion, I offer it a 9 or
10. Little need be changed for me, as I enjoyed
the Chimps Testicles out of it.
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 3, 2007
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I fear that as per usual, the morons of the world
have ruined this film for many. Due to the
testosterone injecting, football humping,
iron-laden musle bearing oafs of the world who,
unfortunately, tout this film on their sleeve as
the biblical and inarguable reference to all
things that are right and good in the world of
men, this film has garnered something of a bad
reputation. There are those of us that are
obligated to look down upon such people and sneer,
especially since they are the very mindless space
monkies featured in the story itself. The case, I
believe, still stands, however, that the film
truly does satirically speak worlds for a
generation who is truly lost and damned in the
sense of what Homo sapiens sapiens once was vs.
what it has become. Anyone with capable, open
eyes who is not drunk on the 'blessings' of our
culture can see where we've so arrogantly gone
awry, and as cliche as it has become to say these
things, I think rarely even do those who utter
such cliches truly understand them. Now do I
agree that Durden did sound a bit like "Nietzsche
for Dummies" as so many cynics and critics have
claimed? Sure, but this film did not do amazing
in the box office for what it was, and add an
overwhelming intellectual exploration of the
Ubermensch, and we have a flop because, let's face
it, the vast majority of our country, nay, our
world, is anything but a compilation of bright
bulbs, lest we wouldn't find ourselves in a social
situation that such a film could satirize. Whew.
Now, as far as a movie adaptation of a novel
featuring a person with DID, I think Fincher did
an exquisite job (for those of you who haven't
seen the film, don't look up that acronym), and I
would consider this one of my favorite films of
all time (considering my views on this world).
But hey, meanie is right, he didn't give it a
negative review, and there are inherent flaws in
the film. But hey, why bitch? This is your life,
and it's ending one minute at a time...
-KAIN
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Posted by Kain on June 3, 2007
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Fair enough. Now having not seen Hotel Rwanda, I
fear I can offer no criticism (not that I need
to), but I'm sure it's absolutely lovely. In any
case, I will restate, that I agree, your
criticisms are valid, and again, for technical
aspects of a film under scrutiny, I regard your
rating as entirely accurate, indeed roughly the
same I would have provided myself. Touche on the
reloads. God that is obnoxious in all films...
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Posted by Kain on June 2, 2007
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I will simply begin in stating that I was
enthralled by this film. On that note, Blue, I've
always enjoyed your reviews, noted that you almost
always add valuable points where previously there
were not, and in fact, do not disagree with any of
your review, as it is a series of opinions which
you most certainly are entitled to. That said, I
will state that the film accurately depicts the
bloodshed at the time, and (sadly enough) this is
most certainly not an isolated incident in Africa.
Many (if not most) of the Central and Sub-Saharan
African nations experience these very events more
or less every day. This being the case, I have to
say that I didn't find the bloodshed excessive at
all, though perhaps a bit overwhelming. This is
the very visual to which the people of this
country should have to bear witness. Unpleasant
though it may be, it is an inarguable reality, and
I found that it added a cold reality check to a
film that (as you so eloquently stated), under
lesser direction, would have gone unrepresented.
I also feel the urge to state a correction here,
as the term 'blood diamond' doesn't refer to the
color of the stone, but rather its origins. They
are referred to as such due to the nature by which
they are collected; i.e. there is a figurative
'blood' on the stone for all that was shed to
bring it to the mainstream market. Another good
review from you, Blue, and I respect your scoring
for it's technical applications, but herein I'm
going to provide one of my own out of personal
attachment.
10/10 - Damn fine flick.
This is my first post. Hi everyone. I
intend to run my mouth quite a bit here.
-KAIN
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