Finally here's a movie that run the gamut of human emotion! The dialog is direct and revealing. The acting is heroic and cleansing. The popcorn was crunchy and salty. The soda was cold and overpriced. The ending was everything I expected, but not more.
Hurray for the screenwriter who finally shows us the true heart and soul of American film making - the formulaic margin notes!
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
How to Use the Three Seashells
Let me preface this by saying I like a lot of movies that others seem to consider bad. Particularly I like Sci Fi, and I like dystopias. I sometimes try to justify my opinion, this time I won't.
I like Demolition Man. I don't like most of Stallone's or Snipes' movies, but this one gets me. I like the dystopia future of San Angles, and the writing is good and humorous.
One of the dialogue jokes in the movie is the mysterious replacement of toilet paper in the bathroom by the use of 3 seashells. The answer is never revealed in the movie. i-Mockery.com seems to have found the missing instruction poster.
How to use the Three Seashells!
I like Demolition Man. I don't like most of Stallone's or Snipes' movies, but this one gets me. I like the dystopia future of San Angles, and the writing is good and humorous.
One of the dialogue jokes in the movie is the mysterious replacement of toilet paper in the bathroom by the use of 3 seashells. The answer is never revealed in the movie. i-Mockery.com seems to have found the missing instruction poster.
How to use the Three Seashells!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Movie Review: Pan's Labyrinth
The only things I knew about this movie before I watched it was that it was an 'art' film and that I would have to read English subtitles, my Spanish is woefully lacking. Oh, and I assumed that it was a film for children; considering the title and that the main character was a young girl, I thought that was a fair assumption. I was wrong.
Quick plot summary (no spoiler): Early 1940s Spain. A young girl and her pregnant mother go to live in the country with a military captain (the mother’s second husband) and his troop of men. He has been charged with rooting out rebels hiding in the hills. The young girl reads fairytales and has a fanciful mind.
When I think of an art film I expect some amazing cinematography, but I also expect to be yawning through most of it. Storyline and plot sacrificed for great camera work and art, but not so here. Pan’s Labyrinth was beautifully filmed, but my attention did not suffer, the action is frequent and interesting. It had artfully constructed natural, fanciful scenes and creative creatures perfectly woven into the real world of the story.
It did all of that while showing a dose of real world violence rarely actualized in ‘American’ movies. There are a few scenes that made me cringe and almost look away, but I didn’t want to miss anything. We’ve all seen people beaten to death and gunshot wounds in American movies; we’ve all been taught that every car that wrecks blows up spectacularly. Everything is done to the extreme for the gore hungry audience. However, Guillermo del Toro ‘understands’ how to use violence to drive the character development and plot and not bore the audience with endless spurting blood packets.
Not a kids’ movie; not an average movie. The subtitles didn’t bother me at all; I was too engaged to be annoyed. The acting was incredible from the whole cast. Sergi López as Capitán Vidal was the stand out performance.
And great respect to the special effects and make-up crew. Top-notch work!
If you’re tired of the same rehashed sequel crap this summer, rent it. As for me I’m going to buy this one; I’ll watch it again and again.
Trailers at Apple
IMDB
Quick plot summary (no spoiler): Early 1940s Spain. A young girl and her pregnant mother go to live in the country with a military captain (the mother’s second husband) and his troop of men. He has been charged with rooting out rebels hiding in the hills. The young girl reads fairytales and has a fanciful mind.
When I think of an art film I expect some amazing cinematography, but I also expect to be yawning through most of it. Storyline and plot sacrificed for great camera work and art, but not so here. Pan’s Labyrinth was beautifully filmed, but my attention did not suffer, the action is frequent and interesting. It had artfully constructed natural, fanciful scenes and creative creatures perfectly woven into the real world of the story.
It did all of that while showing a dose of real world violence rarely actualized in ‘American’ movies. There are a few scenes that made me cringe and almost look away, but I didn’t want to miss anything. We’ve all seen people beaten to death and gunshot wounds in American movies; we’ve all been taught that every car that wrecks blows up spectacularly. Everything is done to the extreme for the gore hungry audience. However, Guillermo del Toro ‘understands’ how to use violence to drive the character development and plot and not bore the audience with endless spurting blood packets.
Not a kids’ movie; not an average movie. The subtitles didn’t bother me at all; I was too engaged to be annoyed. The acting was incredible from the whole cast. Sergi López as Capitán Vidal was the stand out performance.
And great respect to the special effects and make-up crew. Top-notch work!
If you’re tired of the same rehashed sequel crap this summer, rent it. As for me I’m going to buy this one; I’ll watch it again and again.
Trailers at Apple
IMDB
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