Apollo Guide: The Best in Movie Reviews, DVD & Home Video
Click Here for intelligent reviews online -> http://apolloguide.com
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 13:44:41 -0800
From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@apolloguide.com>
Subject: [MV] Blown Away - Unlawful entry
***** Marc ;-)
Mel wrote :>My classic film for today was Blown Away. After discussing that, I do wish
>to comment on Marc's take on Unlawful Entry.
***** Yes, I've seen Blown away a few times too, maybe 3 ? ... Very good thriller overall ! 3.5/5 (Same rating as Unlawful entry for me !)
>
>Jeff Bridges (in a role he would improve upon in Arlington Road) is a bomb
>disposal expert, and runs into an old "friend", Tommy Lee Jones.
**** Yes, Tommy Lee was having fun ! ;-)
Very good
>action movie, with an excellent background story. Repeated viewing (I have
>seen this at least 3-4 times) shows this movie is much much deeper than it
>appears at first.
**** The film is very entertaining ... just like Unlawful entry ... they may not be considered "good" movies by teachers in film schools, but I enjoyed both of them !
>
>Additionally, as is the Hollywood style of studios having at least two
>similar movies in development at the same time (Volcano and Dante's Peak,
>Mission to Mars and Red Planet, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, Deep Impact and
>Armaggedon, to name just a very few), this movie came out at the same time
>as Speed. Now, understand that I love Speed, it is fun and a guilty
>pleasure. But Blown Away.... well it just (wait for it.. wait for it)
>blows Speed away:-)
**** Hehe !! Yeah, I didn't see that one coming, Mel !! Speed is a really good action film as well, 4/5 so I think it's better than B.A.
even if some parts are highly implausible of course !!
>
>Oh, and of course we must mention the awesome U2 soundtrack that is part of
>this movie.
**** Yessssss !! It features my favorite U2 song ... "I still haven't found what I'm looking for ..."
>
>Not unlike The Usual Suspects or What Lies Beneath or even The Cell (notice
>the drop in quality), it is difficult to describe this movie without
>ruining it. Simply put, if you haven't seen this movie, stop what you are
>doing, and go rent it immediately:-)
***** Yes, there is no reason to pass on that one, right ?? Great story, music, characters .... it's just plain FUN !
If you have, go watch it again, I
>think you will enjoy it even more the second time.
**** Yes, I own it ! ;-)
>
>Now, some comments on what Marc had to say:
**** Excellent !
>
>In this film?? Madeleine Stowe is beautiful, full stop. And a great
>actress, to boot. Just watch 12 Monkeys if you have any doubts about this.:-)
**** Yes, she is lovely in all of her films basically, Stakeout, Blink, 12 monkees, etc.
>
>>Spoliers for Unlawful Entry AND Hollow Man.... you have been warned!!:-)
>
>>
>>S
>>p
>>o
>>i
>>l
>>e
>>r
>>s
>>!
>Sounds sort of like the discussion of Hollow Man. Bacon's character goes
>over the top just to show us how evil he has become. And, in my opinion,
>that is where Hollow Man fell apart. However, I do give the director (the
>over-the-top Paul Verhoeven) some credit for downplaying the sexual attack.
> According to the "extras" on the DVD, this scene was originally more
>graphic (graphic?? Verhoeven?? Nah!!:-) ), but was downplayed so that the
>"evilness" of Bacon's character could build.
***** Thanks for this intriguing nugget of information !!
Apollo Guide: The Best in Movie Reviews, DVD & Home Video
Click Here for intelligent reviews online -> http://apolloguide.com
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 22:53:27 -0800
From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@apolloguide.com>
Subject: [MV] The five senses - 1999
This was a good canadian film although I have to admit I was slightly disappointed because I had heard it was a really good film and it wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be.
It mixes five different stories and each one is related to a sense of course ... The problem is the five stories are good but none of them are really extremely good either so it turns out to be a 3/5 film. Very watchable but I wouldn't call it memorable.
I liked the story about "Speech" especially, it involves a young woman who listens to an italian man on the phone. She met him during her vacation in Italy and now he calls her from the plane to say he is coming over to visit, what is problematic is she barely speaks any italian and he knows 2 english words basically so they can't communicate very well (When they're not making love, that is !)
;-) (Why was she so "fussy" ?? He seemed to me like a nice guy and she was always complaining about this and that ... seemed like an hard-to-please girl in my opinion !)
The story about "Hearing" is also good and involves a doctor who is going deaf so he made up a list of things he wants to listen to before it happens ... opera, bird singing, children laughing, etc. etc. A teenager likes to watch couples having sex for the rather under developed and a bit silly "Eye sight" story and her mother is
a masseuse so "Touch" is the sense she is using for the most part !!
Mother-daughter conflict !
... There also a story about "smell" where a gay man is involved in a mumbo jumbo tale, meeting his former lovers to "smell" them, I thought he was a weirdo !! ... and there is a twist that is highly unlikely about a "menage-a-trois" as well (3-some !) I thought that one was the weakest story and it was probably the one that took the longest screen time as well ...
The acting and the dialogues were appropriate ... also stars Pascale Bussiere that is one of my favorite french canadian actresses (The movie was in english but a few scenes were in french with english subtitles !) The disappearance of a young girl (3 years old !) ties all of the stories together as well (in a rather weak way though, the gay man talks about the missing girl once with his friend on the phone !) Still good and I like those movies mixing several stories together a-la "Short cuts" !
Apollo Guide: The Best in Movie Reviews, DVD & Home Video
Click Here for intelligent reviews online -> http://apolloguide.com
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2001 10:10:40 -0800
From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@apolloguide.com>
Subject: [MV] The goodbye girl -1977
>Hi !
>
>I saw that film last night and thought it was very good. Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss are funny in this romantic comedy based on a Neil Simon play.
>
>At the beginning of the movie, Mason is in deep trouble because her actor/boyfriend just moved to Italy without telling her in advance. He got a part over there in an italian film so he wrote her a "Dear Jane" letter and left without warning. She is stuck in the New york city apartment with her 10 year old daughter. (The daughter was great, she had many of the most amusing lines of dialogues !)
>
>The problem is when the boyfriend left he also rented the apartment to a friend of his from Chicago. This is when Dreyfuss comes in. He shows up in the middle of the night, soaking wet because it is raining hard and of course he wants to be let in HIS apartment (he has a key and a letter from the boyfriend proving he paid for 3 months rent !)
>
>Mason is quite unhappy and they make and agreement that they will share the place even if they hate each other's guts basically. They argue and bicker over everything : money, food, noise .. etc. I was reminded of "The odd couple" with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau (spelling ?) sometimes ...
>
>They both struggle to make money. Dreyfuss in an actor and he only has lousy parts in awful plays and Mason used to be a dancer (not nude !) but now at 33 she is struggling because the younger girls out there are in better shape than she is (It looked a bit "fake" when she was pretending to be out of breath though, she wasn't asthmatic unless I missed
>something !?)
>
>The acting was great by everyone, especially by Dreyfuss of course that shines in this role. He has the same look as in Jaws (1975) too ... lil' round glasses, beard ... I kept expeting him to talk about shark attacks sometimes ... but he never did !! Disappointing !!
>
>3/5, I am close to 3.5/5 in part but I don't like the ending so much ... I'll say why below ... SPOILERS !
>
>S
>p
>o
>i
>l
>e
>r
>s
>!
>
>I didn't really buy it when they fell in love ... one minute they are at each other's throat and the next they are making a crossword puzzle in bed basically (Seinfeld bit !) ... during the last 30 minutes of the movie they fall in love, fight, fall in love, fight, like 4 or 5 times ...
>
>I thought it was unlikely ! Once Mason tells Dreyfuss she is sick of his ugly mug and he can leave at once basically and a minute later they are in bed again ... Wow, the guy was a human DYNAMO or what ?? Geeeeeesh !!
>Where was the "recuperation time" ?? ;-)
>
>If I had liked the last third more I would give the film a 3.5/5, 3/5 for now !
> Apollo Guide: The Best in Movie Reviews, DVD & Home Video
> Click Here for intelligent reviews online -> http://apolloguide.com
>
>
>
> [ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
> [ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 06:51:42 -0800
From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@apolloguide.com>
Subject: [MV] Nil by mouth - 1997
>Hi !
>
>I watched this nasty film last night ... dark, grim, depressing, the works !! 3.5/5
>
>It is set in England and had the potential to be a better film but not a whole lot happens in terms of story and/or character development either ... Also I was a bit annoyed by the shaky camera and the extreme close-ups used way too often ... making it hard to understand what is happening in some scenes.
>
>We basically follow a really twisted family where everyone has "issues" related to either drugs, alcohol, violence, etc.
>
>Gary Oldman dedicated this film to his father, I assume it is not done as a compliment since everyone in that film is not really a positive role model. Plenty of partying, drinking, going to strip bars, searching for drugs that may be hidden in a house, beating up the neighbours, endless bickering ...
>etc. etc. You watch this and think "Hey, my family's not so bad after all ..." ;-)
>
>The actors are all good dealing with difficult parts, I was impressed by the older brother of the family especially that beats up his wife when he gets drunk (at the beginning of the film he even bites his younger brother on the nose because he thinks he stole some drugs from him, making it all bloody ... later the rest of the family laughs about it actually saying the young man looks like a clown now with his big red nose !!) ...
>
>Dark humor is also used later when the same younger brother is in prison and they laugh saying he better "watch his arse" in there, rather sick family laughing at the thought of another family member being sexually assaulted in prison by a bunch of HOOLIGANS !! They seem to find that hilarious for some reason !!
>
>3.5/5, even if it is sometimes hard to watch. I was reminded of "Once were warriors" and "A la vie, a la mort" too while watching it.
> I was wondering if anyone has seen Hannibal, and if so, if they could
> give me
> their opinion. áI just watched Manhunter and thought it was very
> creepy and
> was wondering if Hannibal was as good, better, etc. áAny details would
> be
> helpful. áThanks!
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 13:49:18 -0600
From: Diane Christy <dchristy10@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [MV] Hannibal
At 5:35 PM +0000 2/15/01, MARK DAINTY wrote:
>Well, my Valentines gift to my girlfriend was a trip to the movies to
>see a film where we, and others were the main course - the film was, of
>course, the follow up to Silence of the Lambs - HANNIBAL.
I found this film to be the most disturbing movie I've ever seen. I
don't think anyone should be THAT uncomfortable during a film and I
don't see why depravity should be depicted on film with such joy. I
also don't understand why the audience I was a part of during the
viewing found themselves laughing at the most horrible parts! Thomas
Harris has more of an imagination than I want to be a part of. I
applaud Foster for not taking part in this work. I have to wonder
about Anthony Hopkins (who I love!). I don't see any reason for a
story like this to be depicted anywhere. I know I'm not going to be
very popular after this, but I feel very strongly about this. Also,
I'm not a wimp when it comes to horror or blood and gore. I don't
like blood and gore, but I am not the kind of person who hides their
eyes when it comes on the screen. I love horror. This was not a
horror film as far as I'm concerned. It was a slasher film all the
way. I couldn't believe the things I saw during this film. I'm
sorry that I saw it. I don't recommend it for anyone. What could
you possibly come away with as a plus after seeing this movie??
- --
~~~~~
Diane Christy (Samantha and Joshua's Mom)
Jefferson, LA
http://www.geocities.com/diane507/
mailto:dchristy10@earthlink.net
ICQ #12904700 <dchristy10> on Instant AOL Messenger
~~~~~
[ To leave the movies mailing list, send the message "unsubscribe ]
[ movies" (without the quotes) to majordomo@xmission.com ]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 19:26:52 -0800
From: "Marc C. Desbiens" <marcdesbiens@apolloguide.com>
Subject: [MV] I wish to thank the ACADEMY !!
*** Marc ;-)
> The race is between Hanks and Crowe. The only thing Crowe has going for
>him, however, is that "Gladiator" will win the lion's share of the Oscars. No
>one remembers his "Insider" performance. What they do remember, however, is
>that he broke up the Quaid-Meg Ryan marriage and the conservative members of
>the Academy (of which they are far too many) will hold this against him.
**** Oh come on, Filmbuff (Is it you who wrote that, not 100% sure but anyway !) ... this comment made me roll my eyes back !! Yes, I am sure the voters will be influenced ... especially if they watch Entertainment tonight !! (I always wonder if Mary Hart always sounds like she does on that show ... is she **really** like that when she gets out of bed at 7.32am each morning ??)
><<As much as I adore Judi Dench, I worry the the recent
> tragic loss of her husband of 30 years to cancer may wind up influencing
> members of the Academy.>>
**** again, what does this have to do with her performance ?? NOTHING !! Anyone who is influenced by things like that shouldn't even be allowed to vote in the first place, if they read those tabloids they should be disqualified from the get go. They should also make sure that people who are allowed to vote are not SENILE already, maybe having them examined by doctors once every 3 years or so ... my opinion !
