More random DVD reviews

[Fairweather Pure]

Here is a bunch of reviews on DVDs I have seen lately.

The Reaping (2007)

A female priest loses her faith after her child is murdered/sacrificed by the ignorant locals from Africa when she was there on a mission. She now makes a living by debunking modern day "miracles". She is called down to town in backwater Louisiana to come up with an explanation for a little girl who is bringing about the same 10 plagues that are in the old testament. (rivers turning to blood, boils, locusts, ect.)

I found this movie for $1.99 in the Wal Mart cheapie bin. I must confess that I wasn't expecting much since the critics pretty much panned it. When it was all said and done, I didn't think it was bad at all. I never really knew which direction they were taking the movie. Was this girl really bringing the supernatural plagues or were the townspeople all crazy? The first act was above average. However, at exactly the 50 minute mark, there was a dream sequence. I fucking hate dream sequences. I made a note of the time because I thought if this movie was going to take a nose dive from its decent opening, this was the beginning of the end. The movie made a pretty quick recovery though. The third act was the weakest in the movie, with a confrontation that had entirely too much CGI. However, the twists and such were more than enough to keep me interested from start to finish. The "second ending" just before the credits had a fantastic little twist which made me forgive the crappy final confrontation I saw moments before. Oh yeah, there are dead kids and other disturbing imagery in this movie. I just thought I would warn people since that kind of stuff isn't very common in films.

This movie felt very 80's to me. It goes hand in hand with the likes of Prince of Darkness and the 7th Seal. Sadly, the only real scares were the cheap LOUDNOISEFROMNOWHERE type (which I think are just lazy). The script could've used some tightening up and some loopholes in logic needed closing. Some things just make no fucking sense what so ever. Overall, it's kind of predictable, but the movie is not without its charms. There are some good moments buried under the bulk of average storytelling.

Overall, a 7/10. Better than I was expecting and totally worth 2 bucks.



Brazil (1985)

Imagine a weird, ironic, black comedy of George Orwell's "1984" and you have Brazil. The movie is named after the movie's theme music, Aquarelle do Brazil. This is about a noir-is dark future ruled by capitalism and dominated by paperwork and government control. The movie follows one man's fight/plight to escape it all and hook up with the woman of his dreams.

Terry Gilliam made this movie. He considers this the middle chapter in his "imagination trilogy" between Time bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. All these films deal with people trying to escape the daily grind of everyday life by using their imaginations.

I bought this because many people I respect have it in their top 10 lists. It also has a great rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Meta Critic. What the hell. I bought the extended cut (3 hours!) and gave it my full attention a couple of weeks ago.

It's good from beginning to end and at times it's great. However, it gets dragged down in certain spots. I can understand why so many people love the film. What struck me most was the last half hour. You could stop the move 30 minutes early and you have a pretty cut and dry Hollywood movie of the times. Boy, the last 30 minutes is a mind fuck. It takes everything remotely happy or positive about the previous 2.5 hours and flushes it down the fucking toilet. I found the juxtaposition very interesting and what really sets the movie apart from anything else that had been made up to that point in time.

The movie gets a 7.5/10 for me. I think if I would've seen this and been able to understand it when it was released it would've had a much bigger impact on me.


Taps (1981)

Cadets take over thier training acedemy after they're told it is going to be shut down. The situation esculates over the course of the movie and we get to see how these young men and boys react to the ever increasing danger they have brought upon themselves by acting on the very foundations of honor and duty that the military trained into them.

The movie has a "Lord of the Flies" feel to it IMO. It is an extremely good film from beginning to end and I highly reccommend it. Timmothy Hutton, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and George C Scott all star in this military/coming of age movie. I remember seeing this in the theater, which would've made me 6 years old. I distincty remember a scene near the end of the movie where a tank busts through the gates. I was scared the young boy cadets who were hiding behind some sandbags were going to get run over.

8/10


Deliverance (1972)

Several friends decide to canoe down a river before the valley is flooded to provide power for an incoming hydroelectric dam. The group is made up of two longtime friends who are veterns of this type of thing, as well as two city dwelling newbs. They travel deep into the remote backwoods of Georgia to start their trip. Even if you haven't seen the film, you probably know some yokels cause major problems for these men along the way...

The men are secluded on the river pretty early in the movie, so you quickly forget this movie is from 1972. Burt Reynolds plays a survivalist character. Listen to what he says about technology, money, and possessions. The dialogue has a kind of timeless quality which is kind of eerie to me. He's basically Tyler Durden.

Let's talk about men raping other men up the ass for a moment. Wow. We see the entire scene unfold through the eyes of Jon Voight's character as he helplessly watches his friend get raped in front of him in the deep Georgia woods in the middle of fucking nowhere. It is slow, methodical, and quite long. There is no music. It's simply watching a man cry, beg, and get raped by another man who is laughing the whole time and making jokes. Then, the men turn to Jon Voight's character, and you know what's next. Since you are witnessing all of this through his eyes, you cannot escape the uncomfortable assumption that they are coming for you next.

Then, like the perfect vengeful angel, we see Burt Reynolds with a compound bow and arrow cocked all the way to his cheek. This part is fast. Almost as soon as Jon Voight's character sees him, the arrow is let loose and a yokel rapist dies. Your mind tries to catch up with what just happened. I actually let out a breath I had been unconsciously holding in.

People, this is why Burt Reynolds became a star. This is why he was thought to be a man amongst men back in the day. Burt Reynolds saved us all from getting raped.

The movie may be remembered and endlessly parodied for this scene (and the dueling banjos!), but the rest of the movie is quite solid as well. The men are stalked and terrorized by the remaining yokel for the rest of the canoe trip. They have to make some hard choices. Many times I was wondering what I would do if I were them in this situation.

This film retains its full power 37 years later. I give it a solid 9/10.


Teeth (2008)

A teenage girl has teeth in her vagina. Yup. That's the movie, take it or leave it.

Haha! What a great little flick! This movie is actually a young woman's coming of age story cleverly disguised as a black-comedy horror flick. I had the same feeling watching this as I did when I was watching Fido for the first time. Less than 10 minutes into the movie and I was thinking "Jesus, this is actually good". I started looking forward to the next scene and wondered where the movie was going to take me. It's full of dark humor (nothing slap-sticky) and has some pretty gruesome scenes of chopped off cocks and fingers. It's a good, solid movie from start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised by virtually every aspect of this movie (again, much like I was with Fido).

My only real complaint is that men were really given a bad rap in this flick. I mean, every single man around this girl just wanted to molest, rape, or fuck her. I guess some could read further into that and come up with a clever take on what men really want or whatever, but I just wasn't buying it.

8/10. I think anyone that sees this will be surprised at how good it actually is.

Truman Show (1998)

The ultimate in reality TV. A man has been filmed since birth and televised 24/7 around the world unbeknownst to him. He lives in the world's largest studio, and every single person in his life, from his mother and father, to his best friend and wife, are all paid actors.

Thanks to the explosion of reality TV, this movie has only gotten better with age. This was Jim Carey's first "serious role" and a lot of people gave him shit over it at the time. Well, I've seen him in lots of serious roles in the past 10 years, so it's not so alien for me to go back and see him in this now. My first compliment is how tight the movie is. There isn't a single wasted scene in its 93 minute run time. You will also notice tiny and subtle details during repeat viewings. All of the performances are outstanding, from Carey to Ed Harris and everyone in-between. The world was just so well realized. Even the little things like product placement are handled in a clever way.

It's genuinely fun going along on the hero's journey as he figures things out, but I feel like the movie often leans towards the tragic since we're in on the joke. For example, it's hard to watch the best friend pour his heart out only to find out all of his lines are being fed to him through an ear mic.

8/10 Good flick.

[miir]

That you rated Brazil only a half point better than some generic horror/suspense flick is embarrasing.

[Fairweather Pure]

What would you rank Brazil, and why?

A 7 means I can give a movie repeat viewings and is pretty much my standard "not too good/not too bad" rating. The majority of my collection would likely be rated at 7. Most of my reviews fall between a 6 and 8, with 1 and 10 being equally rare. Anything 8 and above I consider theater worthy. Furthermore, I rank movies on how much I enjoy them. What many would view as the greatest movies of all time would not get 10's from me.

[Fash]

I enjoy fairs reviews and this thread will probably cause me to watch at least 2 of them. thanks.

[miir]

I can enjoy trashy movies like Fast and Furious, Transformers or Paul Blart Mall Cop... I might even watch them a few times.
But I would not rate them anywhere near as high as classics like Brazil, Pulp Fiction or Taxi Driver.
Brazil is an important movie that is still poignant 25 years later.

It seems like your reviews are based purely on entertainment value.

[miir]

I enjoy fairs reviews and this thread will probably cause me to watch at least 2 of them. thanks.

Oh I enjoy them as well... but I would probably give them more credence if he didn't inclue a numerical rating.

[Fairweather Pure]

I enjoy fairs reviews and this thread will probably cause me to watch at least 2 of them. thanks.

Oh I enjoy them as well... but I would probably give them more credence if he didn't inclue a numerical rating.

Yes, I do base my numerical rating primarily on entertainment value. Not always, but it it is the motivating factor I guess. It's the easiest way to quantify what I experianced IMO. I break my reviews down into 2 distinct parts, a summary and then my take with my own opions thrown in. I would hope these parts would explain my personal rating and also allow someone to decide on thier own if a movie is or is not worth checking out. Besides, a numerical rating is often the spark for conversation.

Breaking a movie down into it's basic essentials can be an interesting exercise, but these quick little reviews are just for fun.

[Bubba Grizz]

My personal opinion is that movies are supposed to entertain. At least for me they should. Sure there are movies that have messages in them and people who act their hearts out. I always want to leave the theatre with an amazed or happy feeling, not where I am trying to decipher the meaning behind it. That is just me.

[miir]

You had a a ton of negative things to say about The Reaping and gave it a 7.
You had a single negative (it gets dragged down in certain spots) about Brazil yet you only gave it a 7.5

[miir]

My personal opinion is that movies are supposed to entertain. At least for me they should. Sure there are movies that have messages in them and people who act their hearts out. I always want to leave the theatre with an amazed or happy feeling, not where I am trying to decipher the meaning behind it. That is just me.

Of course your own personal entertainment accounts for a lot, but for me it's not the only measuring stick for movie quality.

I have watched a lot of films that were poorly acted or had a horrible screenplay that I throughly enjoyed... but I wouldn't give them a great review. For example, I throughly enjoyed Fast and Furious but I would rate it a 4 or a 5.

On the other hand, I have seen movies that had outstanding individual performances or had stunning cinematography that I simply did not enjoy. Revolutionary Road had fucking incredible performances from Dicaprio and Winslet but I just couldn't stand the movie. Despite the fact that I didn't like it at all, I would still rate it a 7.5 (maybe even an 8 ).




I'm just trying to clarify my opinion...
I'm not actually trying to be a douchebag in this thread.

[Fash]

We disagree too, then... If I hate the movie, I don't care how good the acting is, it's getting a low score.

[Aslanna]

I agree with Fash (!). If a movie sucks I give it a low score regardless of how good the acting performances (or cinematography) might have been. I can recognize them but that doesn't mean they will (usually) impact how I rate a movie. It might bump things up a notch but that's about it.

[Fairweather Pure]

I can only think of a single movie I gave a 10/10 yet didn't enjoy a single momment of, and that was Schindler's List. Everything about it was fantastic, but the film literally made me sick to my stomach. I understand the ending was suppossed to inspire hope and show how great people can be under the worst of times, but it was all lost on me. My mind could never get past the random, brutal deaths of children and such. It made me angry and sad. I figure any movie that can inspire that much emotional investment did everything right and deserves praise. I haven't seen the movie in at least 10 years and I would be hard pressed to watch it again anytime in the forseeable future.

And to Aslanna's point about "bumping it up a notch" based on acting or something else that might stand out, that is where .5s come into the picture! I will generally try and make note of any high points in my review after the summary.

As a general rule, I try and keep spoilers out of my reviews too. I also try and review movies that either most people haven't seen, haven't seen in ages, or just kind of flew under the radar. For instance, I didn't include Quantam of Solace in the above mini review, nor would I any other major release since they have thier own threads for discussion.

[Aardor]

I can only think of a single movie I gave a 10/10 yet didn't enjoy a single momment of, and that was Schindler's List.

You're forgetting Super Troopers, sir.

[Gzette]

The movie Taken was surprisingly awesome. It starts of very lame, with Liam Neeson gushing about how much he loves his daughter, how he retired from the CIA, and how sad he is that he has been replaced by a rich, doting step father.

Then she gets taken and he turns into a badass. There's a surprisingly high body count. A good movie about a pissed off dad saving his kid from the murderous hordes. Definitely worth hitting up the Red Box.

And remember, these are just opinions. I can see myself giving Brazil a 7.5 and Taken an 8 because I assumed the worst with Taken and was told the best about Brazil. Thus, numerical rating systems are flawed.

Another example. My friend Brad and a few others tell me how terrible the new Terminator is. Well I had already bought tickets. Going into the movie knowing it would not be the best movie I saw all summer helped me enjoy it much more than they did. Now we'll see about Star Trek, which I missed opening weekend because of my sister's wedding. Everyone has told me how hotawesome it is, and I might think it sucks because it isn't as good as Wrath of Khan or the Undiscovered Country.

[Spang]

Now we'll see about Star Trek, which I missed opening weekend because of my sister's wedding.

You chose your sister's wedding over Star Trek on opening weekend? Are you OK?

[Kaldaur]

Everyone has told me how how awesome it is, and I might think it sucks because it isn't as good as Wrath of Khan or the Undiscovered Country.

It isn't. Don't get your hopes up.