Change Your Image
SteveLKay
Reviews
Transformers (2007)
It IS a kid's movie
I have to say that I was totally disappointed when I watched this film. It by no way fulfilled the promise I took from the trailers and info I saw before. While the substance of the plot has every potential for a riveting science fiction film, the characters are completely ridiculous, not the parents, the federal agents, or anybody else show the seriousness you'd expect of a "normal" couple or police officer. In this machine-gun-like sequence of gags and special effects, the captivating potential is completely lost. So if you want a good, exciting science fiction with characters you can understand and relate to, beware of this film. If you want to see a suspense-less kaleidoscope of special effects and sound and jokes go for it.
Domino (2005)
Awful
From the first moment, this "thing" is just an awful sequence of extremely short cuts of blurry camera work. While the overall plot has every potential for a thriller, the story is so badly told that I'm unable to buy it. From the middle of the film, the actions of characters don't make sense to me. Stop reading now to avoid SPOILERS.
For instance, Ed's idea to have Edna make coffee for them after having shot off her son's arm is way below his alleged experience; it's just an extremely stupid idea. Domino not questioning the fragmentary orders she receives from Claremont Williams over a breaking-up phone connection just eludes me; shouldn't she be long suspicious that Williams is turning them in? Those FBI agents seem out of their minds showing up with just one single helicopter to something they have every reason to consider a capital mafia shoot-out. Besides, what they do by withholding and leaking information towards Cigliutti is pretty much incitement to murder; it seems to me like farewell to justice if that's they way the FBI does investigations. In reality, they'd have a case messed up beyond repair if they acted like this. We get to see a car accident which normally would have at least seriously injured if not killed most of the passengers but miraculously leaves all of them with just a few bruises. Quite the contrary, the accident is immediately followed by Domino making love to Choco, which is from Domino's viewpoint in no way founded by previous events but just by being drugged to the eyeballs.
The whole sequence of scenes starting from the phone call of Claremont Williams appears to me just as want-to-be dramatic razzle-dazzle. This combined with the awful, uneasy camera work just makes a piece I hesitate to call a movie. I'm sorry for the wasted effort of the main actors, whose talent is out of question.
Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Great Movie
Stories like this just don't happen any more in a time where there's so much fuss about body attributes and looks in contrast to inner values and character. From their first meeting, and driven by the course of events, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy each outgrow their disposition - Elizabeth rises from playful, superficial adolescence to a profound, impressive young woman while Darcy descends from haughtiness to noble decency. This prototype of romance is rather triggered by fresh dialogs than mutual desire. Darcy is initially attracted and confused by Elizabeth's spontaneity, by her ability to dumbfound him who considers his views so concluded that he is rather bored by the social activities around him. Till the end they never kiss, they almost never touch each other except for dancing or helping her on a coach. And still, the air between them is more and more filled with romance.
The movie paints a picture of an 18th-century family in a society where the only adequate aim for a young woman was to marry advantageously, Elizabeth being kind of a heroine because of her free, open mind so unbending to authority. The original novel by Jane Austen is rather truthfully adopted with some restrictions due to the inevitable bit of director's / scriptwriter's dramatic freedom; e.g. the book has no such scene where Darcy approaches her through morning fogs - well that's just good old Hollywood, a little dip of romance here and there, but (imo) tolerable as it rather decorates the original plot instead of altering it.
Conclusion: if you're a romantic who likes such settings, this one is for you. Jane Austen fanatics might take exception to a few details left out or filled in, though.
Saw (2004)
Weak plot, yet another horror strip
I saw the film in a sneak preview (without knowing the title), and I'm not the kind who's especially interested in horror films. This film is yet another which uses (wo)man's lowest instincts to generate attention and attraction, here the instinct of survival. This film, like the others of its genre, hasn't got another message than to scare you. I haven't taken anything to reflect on out of it. When I left the theater, the film was gone in a few minutes. Maybe that's because from the first pictures on I'm inevitably forced to deny my feelings for the main characters, since the scenes would be more or less unbearable if I really felt for them. It draws me into a voyeuristic position ("I don't care what happens to them, they're not me"). What if all people would develop that tendency in their daily lives? Our world would be a doomed, cold place. Some people might say this is the case already. I don't really blame horror films for this, but maybe they are a symptom or (more maybe) even a catalyst for this.
Sorry for the moralizing undertone, it's just my personal opinion. I've left it in here since it makes my judgment about the film more understandable. If you deny the horror like I do, the plot of the film is very, very patchy. The motivation of the killer is completely unclear and remains unexplained to the end. There are twists in the plot that try to be unexpected at the expense of the consistency and credibility of the characters. Even if I try to, I'm unable to relate to any of the characters in the film. The measure of clarity regarding plot and characters is exchanged for pictures of blood, desperation and death. The film intermittently tries to scare the audience by more or lees clumsy, predictable non-visual effects.
In short, what is this piece all about? I don't know. I feel sorry for the money.