Change Your Image
Anne D.
Reviews
Tôkyô sensô sengo hiwa (1970)
the man who made a nice little film on will
When I saw this movie, it was called "The Man Who Put His Will on Film". The title sounded interesting and the movie did not disappoint me. First off, this is a movie about movies. It centers around a student who is part of a young filmmakers organization. They are often discussing the value and techniques of film. Most of them are quite Marxist, and there is this proletarian side-theme going on during the movie. But the primary storyline follows the film student mentioned above (I cannot remember his name). One day, he is out filming, and someone grabs his Bolex film camera. He chases after him, trying to get it back, but he turns a corner and sees the person that he was pursuing on the rooftop of a building, holding his camera. He blinks for a second and the person has jumped off of the building, and the police have started to gather around him. The film student grabs his camera from next to the dead thief and starts to run away from the police. They capture him, beat him and he wakes up at his friends' house wondering where the camera is. He tries to describe what happened to one of his closest friends, who says that his story could not have happened because she was with him the whole day. In any case they somehow acquire the film that was shot by the person who committed suicide and the movie is about understanding this person's last film, which is said to be his "last will and testament". There are some parts that are pretty funny in the movie, too. There is the radical Marxist in the group who is always accusing the others of funny things, there are the funny intellectual film student debates about abstract concepts, and there is this strange relationship between the two main characters (the primary film student and his friend), which I would not call a love affair, but it figures into the story somehow. The movie deals with alternate realities and "captured life vs. Real life" and all sort of art-arguments like that. I liked this movie.
Murder Was the Case: The Movie (1995)
twenty minutes of "gangsta life".
My friend and I were at a Cactus Music store and we were in the "music videos" section. It was there that we stumbled across the gem that is the _Murder was the Case_ movie. It was $5.99. I mean, I had some ideas about what went on in this movie (from the shortened MTV music video), but there is nothing like seeing it. It is a pretty fun little twenty minutes.
Charles Murphy plays a character named "JC". For those of you who saw CB4, JC is pretty much a reprisal of his role as Gusto. Anyway, Snoop went and got JC's girlfriend pregnant and JC finds out about it. So he goes out with some of his friends to do a drive-by on Snoop. <start music>
Now I'll just say right now that I don't totally get what happens in Snoop's song. He gets shot and then talks to Satan and Satan brings him back to life. So he smokes a lot of pot, and pisses Satan off. Satan sees it fit to send him to jail for his crimes or something like that. Hey, I'd be lying if I said that I understood it, but that's what I can deduce from the lyrics.
Yes, this is in a lot of ways just a long music video, but there are a couple of parts that really make the experience worth it. For example, JC starts to shoot at the ambulence that is transporting Snoop's body and one of the stoned ambulence drivers pulls out a gun! Oh, and there are a few explosions and things like that. It is a lot like the N.W.A. videos from 1991 with the nudity, profanity, marijuana, and guns and things like that.
So now is the time to ask yourself: do you like gangsta rap? Would you like to see what a 20 minute music video glorifying all sorts of immorality and violence? Interested in Snoop's acting debut or Dr. Dre's directing debut? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then by all means see _Murder was the Case_.
I'll just point out that the tape comes with other funny stuff, like a brief video clip of the Dogg Pound getting high and listening to their own music and driving around Long Beach. Oh and there are these "serious" interview segments with Snoop where he tries to be really profound and pretentious. Its so funny. Plus, there's also "What's My Name?"(the video that single-handedly killed morphing technology as a trend), "Gin and Juice", and "Doggy Dogg World" music videos and the Ice Cube and Dr. Dre director's cut of "Natural Born Killaz" (Ice Cube and Dr. Dre reenact OJ!). That last video alone is worth the price of this tape!
Caught Up (1998)
This movie has two rules- eject or dub over.
This is a silly movie that involves a man who has recently been let out of prison. He meets a girl and gets mixed up in this silly underworld scenario, complete with renegade rastafarians and peel away facial disguises. But its not as good as it sounds... you have to put up with a lot of mediocre writing and overacting in order to get to any of the above-mentioned treats. The story has all of these tricky twists that aim to add depth but really only complicate the already-ailing story. To tell you the truth, the only reason I watched it was so that I could see the extremely short cameo by rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, playing the character "Kool Kitty Kat".
One funny thing- you should watch for all of the funny faces that the actors make throughout the movie. Its really strange how often it happens, and I don't know if it is a biproduct of the overacting or an inside joke or what. In any case, if you for some reason DO decide to watch this movie, its something to do.
Extramarital (1998)
Good acting and good story...
I thought that this movie was very well done. The writing is very thought out and the acting is exceptional, particularly in the case of Ms. Lords. She plays Elizabeth, who is a journalist for a stylish magazine who stumbles upon what she believes to be an interesting story. She wants the story to be well done, partly so she can impress her boss, Griff (Jeff Fahey). She is also having marital problems with her husband, Eric (Jack Kerrigan), and finds her jobs as an outlet for her frustration. As the movie's title implies, the story is about sex. But if you are renting this movie simply to see nudity, you might be disappointed. There is a sex scene or two, but they aren't nearly as steamy as those in other sex thrillers. It is the complex plot (particularly the ending) and good acting that makes Extramarital a good movie.
Stir (1997)
it was okay.
This movie was alright, but not one of my favorites. I picked this one up because of the box's promised pairing of Traci Lords and Tony Todd. I really liked Candyman (the FIRST one) and I was eager to see Mr. Todd play something other than a murderous hook-wielding spectre. And let's just say that I'm partial to Traci Lords... Anyway, in accordance with many of Traci's other recent roles (in "Profiler" and _Extramarital_), this movie is a dramatic-thriller. The plot takes a little while to get moving, but the actors do good work for what they are given. Its not a bad story, but I'm sure that there could have been some way to "speed it up" a little. Traci Lords plays Kelly Bekins, a widow who returns to the hotel room where her husband was murdered. She does this in part for closure and also to find out more about what happened. She meets one of her husband's colleagues, Michael Novic (Andrew Heckler), in the city, who attempts to comfort her in her time of struggle. There is also a strange post-mortem connection between Kelly's son, Matthew (Seth Adkins), and her deceased husband. While at the hotel, there are some interesting characters, most notably Bubba (Tony Todd). All performances are well done. The writing picks up near the end, but like I said, it moves a little slow.
Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
pretty good for a "hip" sequel
In the past few years, there have been a lot of horror sequels that are really just "hip updates" of the originals. Carrie 2, Halloween H2O, and the Friday the 13th where Freddy goes into the Nintendo come to mind. Each of these sequels paled in comparison to the original, partly because they are dated in their "hipness" after five years. This is not the case with Hellraiser III. It is a pretty good story. As usual, we get the gore and cool costumes. There are more cenobites in this one than all of the others movies in the series (i DO miss the other original three, though). The "Pillar of Souls" is here (from the end of the second one), along with some brief recaps of the second movie (there is even a cameo from Kirsty!). The soundtrack is okay, but it should be pointed out that this soundtrack has music from actual "bands": KMFDM, Motorhead, etc. which is a first for the series. Anyway, the story is about a reporter, Joey (Terry Farrell), who wants to get a "Big story". She stumbles on a victim in a hospital who has hooks dangling from him- Hellraiser style. The victim had been brought to the hospital by a girl named Terri (Paula Marshall). Her investigation into the story through Terri leads her to a cool club called "The Boiler Room". Terri's ex-boyfriend owns the club, and happens to be an artist/art collector who recently acquired the Pillar of Souls. The story has some insight into Pinhead, too. One of the things I like about Hellraiser III is that it doesn't mess with the storyline. Pinhead's character is a real focus of the movie, all the way to the end. Don't worry, though- he still has his "profound" lines throughout the movie, but he also has a sense of humor now! My favorite scene in the movie in definitely the church scene... I should probably say now that the fourth movie is not as good as any of the others in the series and was a huge disappointment for me. But that is a different review...
The Matrix (1999)
What is the (deal with the) Matrix?
I hadn't been to the movie theater in a while. Someone had told me that this new movie, "The Matrix", had the best cinematography EVER. Actually, quite a few people had told me that. Curious what all of this business was about, I saw _The Matrix_.
It was okay. I'm not a big action movie person, so that was strike one for me. The idea was pretty cool, and it was executed pretty well. But I'd be lying if I told you that I thought it had the "greatest cinematography EVER" or any other such comment. The Matrix was a pretty good movie, but not a big deal.
The movie follows this character 'Neo' (Keanu Reeves), who is a 'hacker' that we are told is 'the one'. The whole future rests on the events that take place in this two and a half hour movie! aggh! There is a side love story that is not really touched on that much until the end. There is a group of underground 'resistence members' who know the answer to the question "What is the Matrix?" and Neo finds himself alongside them. Don't look for any of the other characters in 'the resistence' to really have any depth, because they don't really figure into the story.
The movie has lots of sleek, neato mosquito special effects and computer animation (if you are into that sort of thing), and the acting is okay for the characters that have more than three lines. There are a few stupid lines that really don't need to be in the movie and are really present just to make certain characters look more badass. Any more information and I'd have to answer the question "What is the Matrix", which means giving away the movie. It was alright, I guess I'm glad I saw it.
By the way, i am led to believe that the "cinematography" in this movie is so wonderful because of the fighting scenes. If that is the case, please go rent any of the early Jackie Chan movies instead of this, because the action in those movies is done quite well, without the benefit of big-budget Hollywood effects.
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
my favorite in the series, but...
Hellraiser II takes everything great about the first one and amplifies it to catastrophic proportions. Unfortuneately, this also makes it a tad guilty of biting off more than it can chew.
The coolest thing about this movie is that it takes place, for the most part, in Hell. The new 'fantasy' element seen in the Labarynth segments is very well done. There are, of course, the obligatory gory scenes. The music is very cool (I bought the soundtrack!), and the acting is solid all around.
The story here is that the head of a mental institute, Dr. Channard, has an obsessive interest with the mythos of the puzzle box. He has collected and documented a houseful of research regarding hell and cenobites. The movie gives (brief) insight into how Pinhead and his pupils became the way the are, although not information specific to each cenobite.
Anyway, the doctor is using the mental patients as sort of specimens (or pawns really) in his research. We also see the return of Frank and Julia, and are introduced to Tiffany, a little girl at the Channard Institute who does not speak, but is skilled at solving puzzles.
The movie is important to me because it gives further insight into a mythology that I really enjoy. The only thing is, for some of the ideas that are touched on to be fully developed, the movie would have to be hours long!