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D.E.B.S. (2004)
Plain silly and fun :-)
When I rented this movie today, I was in the mood for a simple, light-hearted comedy with beautiful women. I expected something between Charly's Angels and the typical college comedy.
Already the intro sequence caught me by surprise. On the surface, the lettering, voice-overs and soundtrack look like a low-budget TV show. But on a second look, they aren't. They are smartly done parodies. The "SAT sequence" sets the tone and the environment. It creates the link from the most ordinary of all tests, the SAT, to the extra-ordinary world of spies. Yet it's obviously a comedy. The future spies dress like Japanese school girls, in a perfectly inappropriate outfit for their job.
I love about this movie how it keeps the balance between cool spy stuff (like force fields and special weapons) and fun-loving everyday college students. The paper boy throws a newspaper to an old house's front porch, it's stopped by a force-field shielding the headquarter, and drops slightly burned back on the street. Our heroes are introduced as sleepy college students, who are being yelled at by some drill-instructor dude, who's only a moving image in their hallways picture frames. One girl doesn't find her gun, one breaks up with her boyfriend, everything in the first 4 minutes. And then the first moments in the "evil lair"... The movie has its share of silly gags. :-)
Now you might call me ignorant, but I didn't see the lesbian theme coming... However, when it became obvious, it made lots of sense to me. Much like "Lost and Delirious" (2001), this movie treats same-sex relationships as nothing special, nothing to be proud of, nothing to be ashamed of, simply just as another way of people falling in love. It simply doesn't matter. (Ok, if your moral convictions allow for "true love" only in wedlock, if at all, you might find this love story objectionable.)
For my part, I had lots of fun watching this movie. I enjoyed the cool high-tech gadgets, the countless funny references to super-hero and spy movies, the funny plot, and of course all the beautiful women in a heart-warming love story with an happy end. I just felt a bit sorry for Bobby, who was dumped by Amy and had no chance of winning her back.
Der grosse Bagarozy (1999)
Weak plot, good acting
The devil himself on a psychiatrist's couch. He seduces her, plays tricks on her. But is he for real? The movie does a pretty good job at keeping this question open. Every time Cora (Corinna Harfouch) and the audience, considers to believe in the supra-natural elements of his story, she finds facts that could justify a rational explanation. This part of the movie works quite well.
I also like Till Schweiger as the self-confident, playful womanizer. A real man, not just a uninterested couch-potato as Coras husband. Great acting, but not enough of a plot to let him play out the extremes.
You don't see the devil being really evil, he just talks about it. When he tells some absurd story about his influence on Maria Callas' career (the greatest opera singer of all times), it feels like a history lesson with black-and-white original footage. Then the endlessly repeated references to black poodles. This is a German movie primarily for a German audience, who had to read Goethe's "Faust" in high school. "What's at the poodle's core?" Yes, we know, the devil. An occasional reference is fun, but the endless repetition bores.
Compare this to other devilish movies with excellent male lead actors. They get their opportunity to shine, for example Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate" (1997), Robert De Niro in "Angel Heart" (1987), Jack Nicholson in "The Witches of Eastwick" (1987).
Unfortunately the plot makes things even more complicated, by adding the classical story of a house-wive in her mid-life crisis, and the story of a psychologist who falls knowingly for a con-man's psychological tricks. Compare this with "House of Games" (1987), a focused plot with surprising twist and turns till the end, and lots of empathy for the female main character.
I'm also a bit disappointed by the visual effects. Flash-backs, cut-in dream sequences, 1950s footage. This technique has been a staple since the 1980s. I'd expect a Bernd Eichinger in the late 1990s to be a little less obvious in his choice of imagery. It always stops short of being interesting.
But all turns out well, because of Corinna Harfouch. (Admittingly, I'm a big fan of hers.) The ugly duckling turns into a swan, the bored house-wive and naive doctor into a sensual and self-confident woman who gets her revenge. She and Till Schweiger play well together. Their performance alone make this movie fun to watch.
Dune (1984)
beautiful imagery, gruesome story-telling
I never read the book. The Dune-bug bit me with the 2000 mini series. First I didn't get it. But then I watched it on DVD, the whole 4 hours in one go. I got sucked into this amazing world. I love the story. I find the mini series colorful and expressive, human, passionate, with interesting characters, exquisite costumes, beautiful interiors, but cheap-looking special effects.
Lynch's Dune is exactly the opposite. I love the special effects, given the technology available in 1984. The worm cannot be done any better.
My biggest issue is the complete lack of humor. Like many other science fiction movies, it takes itself to serious but the characters not serious enough. Think "Flash Gordon". The characters talk about emotions, but they don't act them, because the script doesn't let them. So many great actors, so little fun. The whole movie feels static and rigid. This continues with the production design. The retro-look combines "20000 leagues" with 19th century Austrian Empire. Some darker elements remind of "Brazil", but without its sense of self-irony and caricature.
Then the casting of Paul. I find it difficult to take Kyle MacLachlan seriously in this role. On his hero's voyage from nobody to reluctant hero to acceptance of his destiny nothing happens in his face. Same look, same posture, no matter what. Compare it with Alec Newman in the mini series.
However, there's a lot to like about this movie. The visually rich production design, stunning special effects, and great actors.
The movie does a great job at visualizing a fantasy universe. It just fails to tell a compelling story. I think of it as a picture book. It's fun to watch in pieces of 30 seconds. Oh, how was the hand-in-a-box test again? Ah, there it is.
By the way, if you're into the depiction of sexually degrading power-plays, you'll find a few scenes. This is a David Lynch movie after all. Just don't expect a cohesive and interesting story that keeps you on the edge of your seat for two hours. :-)