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Reviews
Reign of Fire (2002)
A fiery action-packed hit!
In a summer packed with blockbuster hits (i.e. SPIDER-MAN; MINORITY REPORT), REIGN OF FIRE is another that's likely to garner some attention. Unlike any other creature film, this one "fuses a medieval past with a post-apocalyptic future" (Touchstone Pictures), making for an adventurous tale of courage and struggle. This isn't just a movie about how dragons bring about the destruction of the planet. It is also about how mankind has suffered as a result of the devestation brought on by these creatures, and how crucial it is that the survivors learn to work as a team if they are to take back the Earth that was stolen from them by the beast.
Director Rob Bowman claims that what is so great about the movie is that it "provides a very realistic scenario for a very fantastic notion." He wanted to present audiences with something that was realistic, something that would "ground them in reality." He hopes that by displaying the characters as "real people dealing with real problems", and then revealing that it's because of the dragons, the people in the audience will be "as afraid as the characters are."
The opening scene of the film is set in present day London. Twelve-year-old English lad, Quinn, while exploring his mother's construction site, awakens a fire-breathing, gargantuan dragon, that, unbeknownst to the world, has been asleep below the surface for many hundreds of years. Twenty-years later, mankind has been brought to its knees by the dragon's many offspring. The now grown-up Quinn (Christian Bale) is a fire chief who's job is to keep a small community alive as they try to ward off the creatures, desperate to cling to whatever is left of their world. Bowman says, "The thing about Quinn is that even if he does take a defensive position, he's not weak about it. He is one of the last few people alive out of six billion, so there has got to be something special about him."
Hope comes along in the form of a gung-ho American named Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), a man who tells Quinn that he is a dragonslayer. He and his men come to Quinn because they are in need of new recruits for a mission. They are on this mission to find the one and only male dragon that Van Zan believes to be source of fertilization for all the other female dragons. The dragon that they have been searching for is in London. This is the same dragon that Quinn had seen twenty years ago when it had killed his mother. Quinn believes that Van Zan is insane and that this plan of his isn't going to work. However, after he is forced to confront that inner demon that has plagued him ever since his mother's tragic demise, he changes his mind and decides that the time has come to fight back and destroy the creature, once and for all.
Probably the most appealing thing about the movie is its originality. When was the last time you saw an action movie where dragons were matched against modern artillery? Never. The only action film (that I can recall) that took place in modern times with a creature that was anything dragon-like was GODZILLA. Thank god this film wasn't made by the same people who produced that piece of garbage.
Despite what the film might lack script-wise and in character development, it more than makes up for with its superb blend of exciting action and amazing effects. Popcorn-movie buffs who get thrills from such slam-bang, tough-guy actioners as WATERWORLD and MAD MAX won't want to miss a single minute of this tally-ho, action-packed hit that producer Gary Barber claims is like "nothing you've ever seen before." Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
Pandora's Box (2002)
The most erotic thriller in years!
PANDORA'S BOX (2002)
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
Got nothing to do lately? Thinking of seeing a movie, but are having second thoughts because summer blockbusters make you ill? Do you wish there was a movie this summer that you found to be truly sexy and intriguing? Well, now you can relax. The moment you've been waiting for has arrived. Prepare yourself. WARNING: What you're about to experience is absolutely stimulating, and not for the faint at heart. You'll never be the same again after you've seen what's inside PANDORA'S BOX.
Director Rob Hardy, whose previous film, TROIS, made a well-earned 1.2 million at the box office, said that he wanted to make a film that had something no one had ever seen before. Without giving too much away about the plot, Hardy describes his latest effort as an erotic FATAL ATTRACTION-style thriller that brings something new to the genre - "actors of color engaged in romantic scenes."
From the opening scene right down to the climatic finish, Hardy's film grabs the attention of its audience, locking everyone's eyes to the screen by way of its intense eroticism and twisted plotline.
In PANDORA'S BOX, Monica Calhoun plays Mia, a beautiful psychiatrist confined to a loveless marriage to her neglectful husband, Victor (Kristoff St. John). She seems quite unhappy at home, so she works as many hours as she possibly can. Spending more time at her job than she spends sitting at home, Mia becomes wrapped up in the mind of a new patient of hers, Tammy (Chrystale Wilson), whose been having a lot of trouble lately coping with her husband's murder. Tammy tells Mia about where they met, a place called "Pandora's Box", and how it transformed her into a totally different person. Because she seems to want to help Mia to understand her better, Tammy tells her doctor friend that if she wishes to understand why her life has changed, then she'd have to have been there and experienced it for herself.
Not quite certain of what to expect, but curious nonetheless, Mia decides to check the place out. Upon entering, she is opened to a world of self-gratification, sexual liberation, and decadence as its existence "taps into the most primitive and passionate aspects of her otherwise controlled personality" (Rainforest Productions), revealing hidden urges that she never even knew she had. When she meets handsome stranger Hampton Hines (Michael Jai White), she forgets all about being faithful to her husband and starts a dangerous affair with him. In doing so, she releases the evils that were hidden beneath the surface, causing herself to become entangled in a plot against her that includes blackmail, murder, and deception. All that Mia has now is the hope that it's not too late for her to rescue herself from her patient's dangerous life.
What sets this film apart from other thrillers of its kind is that it isn't some bogus rip-off with cardboard actors, sloppy dialogue, bad cinematography, and a predictable storyline. Instead, it goes farther than any of its predecessors have been able to go, with sex scenes that push the envelope more than any other erotic thriller out there. In other words, this is kind of film that Stanley Kubrick wanted EYES WIDE SHUT to be. Too bad we have the MPAA to blame for that.
Tape (2001)
"Tape" is a deep and compelling indie-film, with performances that truly shine.
I'll be honest, I didn't think much of the film, at first. From the way that things looked in the trailer, the movie didn't seem to have a lot going for it. It looked to me like some boring stage play, dragged on for far too long by the endless chit-chat of a few unsavory characters. I really didn't think there was any point in seeing it. I thought that it was too dull and dreary looking. Clearly, I was mistaken.
This movie does have a lot of potential. It has a great cast of energetic young talent who truly shine on the silver screen. These three actors are what adds fire and depth to a talkative, but otherwise compelling script from playwright Stephen Belber.
In "Tape", Ethan Hawke plays Vince, a young man who is staying at a motel in Lansing, Michigan. In the opening scene, we find Vince waiting patiently in his motel room for John (Robert Sean Leonard), his best friend from high school, to show. John thinks that Vince has come to Lansing to see the movie that he made being showcased at a film festival there in town. But Vince has reasons all his own for arranging this little reunion between the two of them.
While John has learned to put the past behind and move on with life, Vince hasn't. Vince can't escape the fact that he's still jealous that John slept with his girlfriend Amy, after the two of them broke up. Even worse for Vince is the idea that John may have raped Amy and doesn't feel an ounce of regret for whatever he'd done to hurt her. He hopes that by getting him to admit what he did on tape, that it'll knock him off his high horse and make him want to apologize to Amy.
The dialogue between the two male characters in the beginning of the film starts off as nothing but frivolous small-talk. But once the subject of the girl is brought up, the conservation goes from the trivial chit-chat to some riveting recrimination. The climax of the film comes when John finds out that Vince has invited Amy (Uma Thurman), now an assistant district-attorney in Lansing, to come over so that his apology to her will be the hardest thing he's ever had to face.
I must say that this movie is a real treat for those who enjoy films with a lot of controversy in them. Just think of Richard Linklater's "Tape" as "12 Angry Men" meets "Two Girls And A Guy", only its better than those films were.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Darkly-funny, mind-boggling and intriguing! This genre-twisting fantasy ranks right up there alongside such original movies as "Memento" and "American Beauty".
Who is Donnie Darko?
That is the question raised in the provocative indie-film, "Donnie Darko". One of the most-talked-about movies at last year's Sundance Film Festival, this modern-day fantasy combines suburban drama with dark comedy and gives it a little sci-fi twist for a film that is unlike any other. What makes the film so one-of-a-kind is that it takes you into the mind of this unique teenager, Donnie Darko, as he sets off on what star Jake Gyllenhaal describes as "a fantastic journey through dreams, sadness, comedy, and madness" in order to discover who he truly is, learning more and more as time passes by "that every little thing he does counts on a cosmic scale."1
For writer/director Richard Kelly, Donnie is an intelligent, but delusional young man whom, he claims, "has a lot of big problems and a lot of big ideas." Some of his problems include sleepwalking in the middle of the night and seeing hallucinations of things that are not really there all the time. One of these hallucinations is a monstrously eerie bunny rabbit named Frank. He appears to Donnie one night, standing outside his house, and tells him that the end of the world will come just in 28 days. The next morning, Donnie comes home to find his family standing outside their house, with everyone in the neighborhood watching as a large crane lifts out a jet engine that had crashed into Donnie's bedroom just a few short moments after his departure. Without any clue where this thing had come from, we see later that fate had something other in mind for Donnie. Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Donnie Darko, says that its through this "incredible experience that he comes to truly understand who he really is and the effect he has on other people."
From then on, Donnie begins to look at both his life and the world around him from a dark and terrifyingly apocalyptic perspective. After he credits Frank the bunny with having saved his life, Donnie feels that he is obligated to listen to whatever Frank has to say to him and do whatever it is he tells him to do without question. Frank allows Donnie to see that, under the veneer of society, lies something not at all right with the world. He helps Donnie try to understand all the "secrets and lies surrounding him"1, and convinces him that he has the ability to adjust them by simply changing the course of history.
Unlike other movies that urge people to find their place in the world, "Donnie Darko" challenges them to question their existence, about who they are and what is their purpose in life. It shows us that we have to determine for ourselves what we believe in and that everyone should learn to follow his or her own dreams. Nancy Juvonen, one of the film's executive producers, says that one of the many things she thought was inspiring about Donnie was the fact that he really believes "anything is possible and that he can make a difference by making his own decisions and doing things the way he sees them." "And that's what makes you follow him," adds co-star Drew Barrymore, who also served as an executive producer. "Even though he goes into alternate worlds and questions the rules of the universe, Donnie Darko's experiences at school, with his girlfriend, with his family and in his dreams seem incredibly true to life."
So, the question remains, who is Donnie Darko - a hero, a rebel, a genius, a prophet, a schizoid, a messenger, or a menace to a society? The concept of who this boy is it is all very strange. Even his name makes you wonder about him. "Its really unique," says Gyllenhaal, saying that you have to "discover what it means for yourself." The producers of "Donnie Darko" say that through repeated viewings, you begin to develop a deeper understanding of the film. Being that I have seen this movie about a dozen times already, I couldn't agree more. I found that the more times I watched it, the more I understood how Donnie is a little bit of all these things. But don't take my word for it. See the movie and decide for yourself. Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
References Used (this is where I took my quotes from):
1. From the production notes provided by the film's distributor, IFC Films.
Panic Room (2002)
Fincher delivers the goods with yet another stylish and riveting thriller!
Anyone who's familiar with Fincher's work ("Alien 3"; "Seven"; "The Game"; and "Fight Club"), knows that his films aren't well-known for their simplicity. However, his latest release, "Panic Room", isn't what most would expect from him. Unlike his previous films, the plot of this one is considerably straight-forward. Jodie Foster plays Meg Altman who, as a single mom having recently settled a divorce with her wealthy husband, moves into an expensive four-story brownstone in the Upper West Side of Manhattan along with her 11-year-old daughter, Sarah. The brownstone looks to them like the ideal place to live - equipped with all the modern-day conviences. It even has a "panic room" that encases you behind a steel door in the event someone were to break in. Now that's protection!
What they didn't expect though was that three burglars - Junior, Burnham, and Raoul - had come prepared to rob the house that night. They're looking to find a safe, one that the original owner of the house had kept hidden in the floor somewhere, that contains millions in bonds. They break inside, surprised to find the the new owners had already moved in. Meg wakes up and finds there are thieves in the house, and immediately runs to wake up her little girl. The mother and daughter quickly lock themselves up inside the panic room, narrowly escaping capture. Unfortunate for them, even though they're safe, the emergency phone with which to call the police is dead. And of course, as you may have guessed, the safe that these crooks are looking for happens to be inside in the panic room.
Burnham, the burgular whom Forest Whitaker plays, built the house and knows every niche and cranny of the place. He informs Junior and Raoul that it is impossible for them to penetrate the steel door. He says that in order for them to get inside the panic room, they have got to somehow get the woman to come out. This incites a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse between Meg and the men who threaten the lives of both her and her little girl. Its all very intense.
"Panic Room" is somewhat different from David Fincher's other movies. According to the director, the film is a popcorn flick. "There are no great, overriding implications," he claims. "It's simply about survival."
Even so, Fincher still manages to deliver the goods as usual - displaying the same stylish cinematography he showed in "Fight Club", as well as his knack for keeping people on the edge of their seat as he did with "Alien 3" and "Seven". Not only that, but the film also features a terrific and energetic performance from screen veteran, Jodie Foster. Altogether, I recommend this film to suspense fans who are looking to see something different for a change. This one is definitely worth a look. Star Rating: ***
Life as a House (2001)
"Life As A House" is the kind of film that aims to show audiences what life and love is really all about.
"Life As A House" is uplifting tale about a man who makes a decision to turn his life around for the better by making up for lost times with his estranged son after he's been informed by doctors that he is dying and has but a few months left to live. Kevin Kline, in his best performance ever, plays George, a middle-aged man who has done nothing most of his lifetime, devoting such little time to his family that his own son Sam (played marvelously by newcomer Hayden Christensen) despises him. When he learns that he has terminal cancer and that his life grows shorter by the day, he becomes dedicated to make a change in the way he has lived his life. He tells his ex-wife that he wishes to have their son spend the entire summer with him, helping him to construct the dream house he always said that he'd finishing building someday. At first, Sam is reluctant to stay with him in the old rickety shack that he lives in, but with his old man's steadfast determination to not give up on him and the help of a pretty next door neighbor, it is not long before Sam and his father begin to form a bond that will not only change both their lives, but ultimately, reunite their family.
"Life As A House" is a wonderful family drama that older teenagers need to watch with their parents. It is the kind of film that aims to show audiences what life and love is really all about. Its even quite funny in parts. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie. Oh yeah, and one other thing, don't forget to bring the tissues. This one's a tearjerker.
Heist (2001)
"A smart & riviting heist movie, with top-notch performances given by Gene Hackman & Danny Devito."
"'Heist', directed by David Mamet - screenwriter of such hit thrillers as Hannibal and Ronin, is a non-stop, twist-a-minute thriller with a maze of deceit that spands longer than "a China man's name". Gene Hackman plays Joe Moore, a thief who dreams of retiring from a life of crime but can't, not until he makes one last score. He has to rob a shipment of gold aboard an airplane, a job known only as "the Swiss job".
Extremedays (2001)
Extravagant! "Extreme Days" is sure-fire entertainment, stacked with loads of laughter, fun and excitement, and is a must-see for any fan of extreme sports!
For anyone who intends to, but hasn't yet seen this film - you're in for a real treat. The movie is great. When I first saw the trailer for the film, I thought - "This is fantastic! Its about time someone made a Christian movie about young people doing amazing things in extreme sports." I just thought that was so cool, and I would say to myself - "Finally, people are going to learn, seeing with their own eyes, what it truly means to live life to the fullest, realizing just how extreme Christianity is." Now that I've seen the movie, I'm thinking that I may have been right all along. People who aren't Christians are going to see this movie, and come out of the theater with their minds broadened, having learned that there are things in this world worth living for, and that there is absolutely no reason why anyone should feel that their life is so terrible that the only way out is death. At least, that's what I'm hoping people will get from seeing this movie. In any case, I highly recommend this film to people of all ages, especially those who enjoy watching young people take part in extreme sports such as motorcycling, surfing, and snow boarding.