Matt Reddick
17Jul11
Overacted yes, but EGR's final scenes are still intense.
Methodically crafted, visually sober and musically sublime, Zilberman's feature debut is a hidden gem about the wonders of minimalistic filmmaking with towering performances, a strong script and powerful metaphors about life through music.
My favorite Gordon Willis/Woody Allen collaboration.
"Love The Smiths. Best break-up band ever"
Layer upon layer, Ordinary People, evolves like a mystery, scratching the surface scene after scene. By the end, the audiences are given the most brilliant character study in cinema's history. It's a film that understands people, its vicissitudes and the brutality of human emotions. It's not about finding good guys and bad guys. It's about showing that humans are complex creatures that not always make sense.
The Master(piece)
What a terrible misuse of New York's background/atmosphere in this teenage-like Woody Allen rom-com. The leads are charming but they don't quite make for the thin script. There's no doubt about the quality of the soundtrack but its use could be way better.
If anybody wishes to understand how to pace a film, then Mr. Scott is an excellent person to ask.
A good installment to the 'vengeance trilogy' but far from being phenomenal. It has impressive photography throughout but what some times is a powerful tool of cinematic delight, at others begins to distract from the storytelling. There needs to be a harmony among the various elements of filmmaking in order for a film to come full circle and no matter how many brilliant moments this has, it is still a dotted circle.
What a gutsy, heart-wrenching, down-beat feast. This is not only one of John Huston's best films but also one of the best cinematic portraits about people who struggle to find a place in life. This is masterful filmmaking by a director that understands minimalism and knows how to direct his actors. What astonishing performances!
I never saw something trying so hard to be poetic while being ridiculously over-the-top at every possible level of filmmaking at the same time. It tries to be great but it's so ridiculous that ends up being... entertaining!
What an incredible noir... The hero turns out to be the anti hero, the villain turns out to be an avenger. And all of a sudden we embark in a journey for redemption... and all of this with fate getting the kicks out of manipulating the characters like puppets. What a movie!
This is what writing human beings instead of characters is all about!
Underdeveloped and uninteresting storyline, crappy sentimentalism and a terrible performance by Paula Patton... BUT Brad Bird knows how to direct action. That Dubai building sequence is one of the most intense experiences one can have in front of the big screen. It's like a 'suck it' to all Hollywood haters and one of the explanations of why people pay to see these movies.
The ultimate moral fable of our time!
Mervin LeRoy once again showing he was away head of everyone else with this prediction to what noir would become. We have fate pulling some pranks, the corrupted city, the stylized shots, the innuendo, the subtext and, of course, the fearless femme fatale. This is a wonderful composed piece that, although overacted, becomes an important piece of cinema history. Highly recommended.
Absolutely. His monologue is nerve-racking. It had me shaking in my chair.
Extremely fast paced piece that lacks some dimension due to tv restrictions but that offers an interesting yet small portrait of what this (the lack of money in our pockets) was all about. It's not master filmmaking but it is informative and extremely well acted, specially by a magnificently moving William Hurt.
Rossi provides a very interesting take on a widely discussed problematic. He spent 14 months with these reporters and he admitted to feel a connection to his "stars" but he still maintains a notable objectiveness towards the conflict digital vs print. The film doesn't offer answers, it never tries to, but it poses the right and difficult questions. Also, it provides fascinating info about new media
It's such an amazing accomplishment, The secret to its splendorous success lies not only on the strong sense of nostalgia that involves the film (and the direct inside joke to Woody's own personality) but also to the way he demystifies fantasy and time travel. Time travel never looked so good and his amazing witty and intellectual dialogs prove that Woody's 41st film is unique.
Incredibly well shot, this astonishing cinematic experience proves the power of cinema as a vehicle for freedom of speech and for the ight against brainwashing.
This is one of those movies that you are absolutely sure that won't get made ever again... and you'll miss every little bit of it. Yes, it's corny, but it's a wonderful inspiring fantasy that makes us dream and believe. A true fairy tale.
A brilliant tale about two sides of the same the coin that fail to love the greatest love of all. Beautifully written and acted, David Lean's picture is not not only a breeze of fresh air with regards to originality but also one of the most romantic looks at the force of reason over love ever carried on film. Just brilliant.
It really is an amazing piece. It's not exactly an horror movie but a drama. And an incredible one. The various characters are so well built that everything gains so much more signifance. Simply astonishing!
Incredibly fast paced and witty, this is without a doubt one of the best films of one of the best all time directors. A pure joy to all cinema lovers. It is only not intelligent but also crammed with historical, literal and even movie references. Wonderful direction and a top notch performance by Cagney. Not to be missed!
A deep, poignant, gripping and back to the basics thriller. In addition to portraying a masterfull and skillfull neo noir, Basic Instinct is able to make a honest tribute to Hitchcock and Hollywood's Golden Age. It does not only play psychologically with the viewer in a vibrant and intense way but also manages to be one of the most sexiest films ever put on camera. In that particular aspect Verhoven deserves eulogies
Powerful, cruel and astonishingly ambiguous. It leaves the audiences speechless mostly thanks to the doubtful meaning of justice and its ramifications. Top notch interpretations and world class filmmaking make Judgment at Nuremberg a courtroom that cannot be missed. More than a movie, Judgment at Nuremberg is an event!
Subversive, intense, cruel, devastating, claustrophobic, phenomenal... a true masterpiece by David Fincher. Fight Club is possibily the best movie of the '90s and certainly defined a new generation of viewers and filmmakers. It' not only a dark study on human behaviour but also a pessimistic look over human kind. It's at the same time depressing and uplifting. On the one hand we want to change the world. On the other hand we face the undeniable facts that corrupt our society. Truly a unique snowflake!
Probably one of the best remakes ever made. We can't exactly state that this is a Howard Hawks remake considering that His Girl Friday itself is a remake. However, both versions are incredible moments of master filmmaking that well deserve their place as two of cinema's greatest achievments.