SarahG1988

Magnolia R

Director:Paul Thomas Anderson
Released: 1999
Stars: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, William H Macy and Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: USA



24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations.

Oddly I've only just got around to watching the films of Paul Thomas Anderson and this is my second one. And I have to admit that I ennjoyed it a lot. I didn't expect Magnolia to be quite like this when it came out or when I read about it. It's an absolute masterpiece. Most watch more of PT Anderson soon.
The strength of this classic 90's film comes from the editing and the pace of the narrative. It flows along brilliantly and not too slow or two fast. Everything seems as it should be. Coming from one character's story to the next it brilliantly depicts this in real time. The editing is seriously underated and I'm suprised it didn't get more credit at the time of release.

What's interesting, after watching my first PT Anderson picture, is the typical Anderson trademarks that is eveident. For instance tracking shots are all over the place and mid-shots of many characters as well which gives a real authetic feel. This also helps you releate to the characters. Just brilliant.

The script is brilliantly written. Each character's dialogue makes sense and seems natural and not too forced in any way. The events in the film seem to happen as any given moment, which is the premise of the film. "Weird situations happen everyday" and everything happens for a reason. All characters have some sort of connection but don't realise it. They're not connection through and event but by chance, which you see in the end but I won't give to much away. The ending is original and does make sense, despite what some reviews say here. The characters search for constance happens and this is also relevent with divine intervention.

Casting in here has to be one of the best I've seen. With some possible career best performances for some of the actors at that time(of course Seymour Hoffman's now best performance is of course Capote,) this makes for a stunning ensemble piece which you can't help but feel for each character, I haven't been a fan of Julianne Moore but this is a excellent performance from her, as with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, William H Macy, John C Reily and of course Tom Cruise. Cruise in his Oscar nominated performance, is actually brilliant to watch and shows that he can indeed act and so so realistically unbelievable. Such a shame he can't act like that more often. But he wasn't the better actor in this film and would say the majority of the cast. John C Reily was the one in this for me so reserved yet was so ignorant of the woman he was suspecting of pocession of drugs.

Magnolia is overall a stuning character ensemble piece which is at times funny, sad and moving at times and moving. Diffinatly worth the watch for a great sing a long scene and one original ending.

If you're not familiar with Pt Anderson's work I suggest start from There Will be Blood and work you're way back. I sense he's becoming one of the most underated American Directors in history.

Underated masterpiece, just stunning

10/10

The Terminator R

Director:James Cameron
Released: 1984
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Paxton, Linda Hamilton
Genre:Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country:UK/USA

A cyborg is sent from the future on a deadly mission. He has to kill Sarah Connor, a young woman whose life will have a great significance in years to come. Sarah has only one protector - Kyle Reese - also sent from the future. The Terminator uses his exceptional intelligence and strength to find Sarah, but is there any way to stop the seemingly indestructible cyborg ?

Well it's taken me a long while to sit and watch this classic sci-fi film and I've finally, obviously, got round to watching it. I have to admit that I enjoyed it a lot but also slightly dissapointed at the same time. Clearly I need to watch Judgement day next.

The Terminator clearly is an ultimate classic film but doesn't deserve to be in the imdb top 250 but deserved some sort of credit which I'm sure about. For sure it has some flaws for instance Arnie is not an actor but a film star and can be slightly laughable at times, but perhaps that's no so significent if we think of the context of the film. Some of the special effects are slightly dated, for instance in the opening scene doesn't leave much to the imagination. The soundtrack on some occasions is like something out of a B film and not a Hollywood film. But aside that it's a very good film indeed.

At the time, post Vietnam era many moviegoers would be looking for a film like this, which shows in the number of sci fi films released in the early 80's. Clearly people were looking to the future and it does deal with some issues there.

The terminator is directed well by the sci-fi expert director Cameron, who knows how to direct a sci-fi epic. The opening credits are, if I use an american word, "awesome" and possibly one of the greatest opening credits ever made. It really gives a feel for the mood of the film before you even watch it. The music thorghout the film, which I'm not sure what it's called really gives Arnie's character a sinister feel and gives the audience and sense of what's to come. Michael Bien was seriously attractive in those days aswell! Acting is ok but I didn't really mind it and i don't think it affects the overall viewing experience.

Overall an excellent sci-fi film which will leave you throughly entertained. Contains some classic scenes and one great opening credits scene.

8/10

*Recomended watch*

The Full Monty R

RE-REVIEW 5/5/08

Damn, I seriously underated this the first time watched it about the time of release. Just re-watched it and release what an utter classic it really is. Superb script, acting and touches upon some strong social issues that affected the North of England.

Worth checking out aswell for a great performance by Tom Wilkinson.

Still can't figure out why I gave this 3.5 stars?!

9/10

Lust, Caution (Se jie) R

Director:Ang Lee
Released: 2008
Stars: Joan Chen, Tony Leung Chi Wai, Tang Wei
Genre:Drama, Romance, War
Country:China/Taiwan/Hong Kong/USA





Frustrated in his attempts to assassinate Yee, who is an important official in Japanese-ruled Shanghai, Old Wu, who has lost his wife and two sons as well as two women who had attempted to seduce Yee, now recruits Kuang, Mai Tai Tai, and their troupe of drama students from Hong Kong University in yet another attempt to do away with Yee. Mai Tai Tai is chosen to befriend Yee, which she does by posing as the wife of Mak, befriending Yee's wife and her female friends, and then eventually befriending Yee himself

Well I waited a gone long while to see Ang Lee's latest film after being albeit slightly disappointed with Brockback Mountain. Lust,Caution however blew me away. My expectations were slightly shortened because of the many dissapointing reviews I read both in newspapers her ein the UK and reviews on here. To be honest I don't quite know what film they were watching. Utterly compelling and kept me on tender hooks throughout.

As most of my friends on here know I tend to watch a lot of Asian cinema and that Tony Leung is one of my top 5 favourite actors, so I just had to see this. The narrative of the film is incredibly orginal and also because it deals with the subject of Japanese occupied Shanghai, something not familiar to Western audiences. I must admit that I wasn't 100% clear about the background to the story but as time went on it didn't seem to matter as it was inevitably about one character. The film is long but for a reason. It's depicting a story which is incredibly complex and just isn't going to be told in 1 and a bit hours. There are so many sides to the story that you don't envisidge at the first part of the film.

I love the way Lee switches narrative as we see the end of the story at the beginning. This means that we are able to see the full backdrop of the characters and understand their motives, feelings and of course the realtionship with one another. By this I mean Wong and her Dram clas friends who are part of the Resistance. This is an example of superb storytelling, which to be honest I haven't seen for a good few months. What is great is that the 2 and a bit hours just flew by and suddenly I realised the film is almost over. As I've said before just utterly mangnificent.

Oddly, this being a part USA film, this received no Oscar nominations but luckily us Brits awarded some BAFTA nominations. Believe me it so deserves it and it just depicts the story so so well. Being an art house film lover aswell, the story was paced so so well. This is partly due to the superb script writen by American James Schamus who brilliantly writes quick, informative dialogue that imeadialty gets you hooked from the start. Again....utterly amazing. Still can't get over the snobbery at the Oscars these days. As many of Lee's films, Lust caution is ipeccably photographed throughout it's length time. From the gorgeous sceney to the lush lanscapes of Shaghai.

The acting in Lee's film is fantastic. Tony Leung, who I will never say a bad word about, brilliantly plays two sides of Yee; charming and albeit slightly callous. This meant that as a viewer you liked him one minute and hated him the next. Leung is utterly amazing and deserves more credit by Western audiences. I hope he gains some sort of way into Western cinema soon. Tang Wei, who gained a BAFTA rising Star nomination was equally brilliant playing the naive yet incredibly strong Wong who eventually completely turns Mak(chi-Wai) around from this cold hearted man to a man who is left helpless at the end of the film. Their relationship is depicted strongly in the conterversial sex scenes, which were heavy publisied in the USA and that it was awards an NC-17 rating. Which is ridiculous. The sex scenes look so real and depict this up and down relationship betwen the two charactersl for instance the several sexual posistions and the more "harder" scene and a more emotive one. This I think is a reason why a lot of people didn;t get this film. I think because it's very "arty" and not exactly your more mainstream film.

Overall a stunning masterpiece which might very well be one of my favourite films as I could watch this again. Lust,Caution is seriously UNDERATED and deserved far more credit. It's offical Ang lee is on of the great story tellers our there.

Highly recomend and one of Lee's very best films.

10/10

Alien Resurrection R

Director:Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Released: 1997
Stars: Winona Ryder, Brad Dourif, Sigourney Weaver and Dominique Pinon
Genre:Sci-Fi/Horror
Country: USA



200 years after the conclusion of Alien 3, the company is able to resurrect Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) through the process of cloning and the scientists successfully take the Queen Alien out of her. But, Ripley's DNA gets mixed up with the Queen's and she begins to develop certain alien characteristics. The scientists begin breeding the aliens, but they later escape. Soon the Xeno-morphs are running amok on the ship, which is on course to earth. The Queen then gives birth to a deadly new breed of alien, which could spell disaster for the entire human race. It's up to Ripley and a band of space pirates to stop the ship before it reaches earth.

Well this conludes my Alien marathon and I have to admit I'm extremly diasppointed. This film is unbearably bad I can't think where to begin. For a start I don't see what other users on this site saw at all. To me it seems just one big mess of a film. For start it's toally ruined my enjoyment of the stunning Alien and brilliant Aliens and it makes Alien 3 look pretty good. I think what irritated me was the fact the same thing is happening again for the forth time and it just seemed unbelievable that after blowing up a whole ship and almost a prison that the aliens somehow manged to get through and kill everyone in sight. Amazingly Ripley is re-made, cloned into some perculiar droid who has some sort of aleginace to the Aliens...and then doesn't. I mean this is a classic exapmle of a seriously flawed script and production of the film. Who in their right mind thought this is a good concept? You would think Sigourney Weaver, producer on the film and gained a salary exact to the budget of the original Alien, would have something to saw about it...clearly not.

The film is very predictable. Most noticably because the exact same thing is happening again and you know exactly what is coming and who is going to do what. I could pretty much guess what the Alien was going to do before the idiotic characters.

The plot is incredibly silly. Ripley cloned back to life and has somehow got an Alien inside her chest and claims to be the mother of some of the Aliens. I mean wtf? I am quite proud that I manged to get through the film because I seriously started to loose patience. The team that enter the ship...no is that right? Still not clear on what went on, seem to somehow guess that the Aliens are going to reck havoc on the ship. This is shown in the scene where Ryder's character attempts to ask Ripley to help. I mean did no-one notice this? There's also not much explanation as to why thery're there or why "The company" have decided to produce and keep several aliens for examination. Or perhaps I did loose interest from the beginning...

And what's with the pathetic humour that just doesn't fit. The tensions and suspense has left this one and in comes seriously fast characterisation and camera style that jus makes you feel confused and left wondering what the fuck is going on? Winnona ryder is with ou a doubt one of my least favourite actresses who seems to play herself in every role she's been in. This is not different her droid like image just doesn't seem authetic or belibavle but at times pretty laughable. Some of the Aliens made me laugh....I mean one closes an entrances into a spaceship and one manges to open a door at one point I think.

Everything about this is wrong and unbeliebably dull. I just wanted it to end as soon as possible to end my torment. The lack of suspense and the fact you've seen it all before made me prefer Alien 3 a lot. Still can't understand why people prefer this one to the 3rd. I mean at least the location of the 3rd was orginal and the plot plausable!

I don't recomend this one folks. If you wanted to start watching the serious you must start with the masterpiece that is Alien (1979) and work your way to Aliens and Alien 3.

I still maintain that Alien 3 is better than this and Alien is officially the best in the trilogy!

Not worth your energy.....1/10

Alien 3 R

Director:David Fincher
Released: 1993
Stars: Charles Dance, Brian Glover, Sigourney Weaver and Danny Webb
Genre:Sci-Fi/Horror
Country: USA



After escaping from the alien planet, the ship carrying Ellen Ripley crashes onto a remote and inhabited ore refinery. While living in the ore refinery until she is rescued by her employers, Ripley discovers the horrifying reason for her crash: An alien stowaway. As the alien matures and begins to kill off the inhabitants, Ripley is unaware that her true enemy is more than just the killer alien.

Now I've seen all 4 I am able to get to some conclusion about which is better. Well I think this probably comes after Aliens. Althought it doesn't have any plot development, or similar acting I did prefer this is Resurrection and felt more invovled with the story. However Alien 3, althought with Alien 4 are both porley constructed filmsI loved Alien and Aliens but this one and the 4th just ruin the series.

I know that I found this slighter more engaging than the 4th, but I still knew it wasn't all that great, which is why I have given the extra half star. The problem is that the fillm looks as if it's been made as a TV film and not as a Hollywood film.
Fincher does direct this fairly well with some interesting camera shots that I noticed and some ocassional character developement but that was it. It's hard to believe Fincher went on to great sucess from this as it is suprinsgly bad for his standards. The majority of the characters are unteresting. For instance you just like these characters(with the exception of Charles Dance) and when you do they get killed off. The story is very uninspired. For instance in Alien-you want these characters to escape and get through this and the same for the soliders in the second one. This one however I just sat back and enjoyed...what was there to be enjoyed. I think some of the problems with doing a sequal with such a concept as this, is that the audience pretty much knows where the Aliens are coming from or when in a certain scenes in the film. Then the suspense is lost and it becomes unforfilling to the viewer.

I must admit to was refreshing to see an array of British actors in an American made film. That possibl made be slightly side towards me statying alert in this film. Althought the acting, even by Weaver, is very very medicore you still want to carry on watching it. I think the location of the film was key to me engaging into the film. It's not set on a spaceship or on a planet. This is toatlly in a prison, which alters the viewers perceptions of what may come....I stress that that is sometimes because the first two already tell you the synamics of the Alien and basically you become less scared.

Despite the major flaws in this, if it was on the TV I would probably watch it because I know it's just pretty bad.

If you haven't seen any of the four yet or are thinking or watching them....my advice is to watch the first two and forget the two sequals. Also check out Finchers other films and not this one.

5/10

Recomended if you have nothing else better to do with your time.

1. Fa Yeung Nin Wa (In the Mood for Love) PG

Just simply amazing. Right from the beginning of the film I was hooked and mesmerized by the cinematograhpy within every scene, just stunning. The soundtrack, for me was another great part in this film. Well, if only there were 6 stars but sadly there isn't. Definatly a film i will watch again and one to go in my all time favourites list. Just amazing!

2. The English Patient R

Stunning cinematography, beautifully shot , backed up by a superb cast. A Modern masterpiece. My favourite film at the moment

3. Taxi Driver R

Masterpiece!

4. Blade Runner R

Director:Ridley Scott Released: 1982 Stars: Harrison Ford, Sean Young,Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah Country: US Genre: Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy Los Angeles, 2019: Rick Deckard of the LPD's Blade Runner unit prowls the steel & micro-chip jungle of the 21st century for assumed humanoids known as 'replicants'. Replicants were declared illegal after a bloody mutiny on an Off-World Colony, and are to be terminated upon detection. Man's obsession with creating a being equal to himself has back-fired Often considered one of the greatest films ever made and one of the greatest science fictions films ever made and rightly so. Blade Runner has something which most films do not. The ability to enlighten me every time I watch it. Blade Runner is clearly an example of a Post Modern film. Set in a world where all theories on society are meaningless, where you shape your identity accordingly. For example we see the nexus six models in the shape of Roy Batty, living for only three years. The secret to the scucess of this films for me and why it is still relevant in today's world, is simply this- Blade Runner is about Identity, knowing your true self. The character of Rachel for isntance has no idea she is a replicant and seeks to understand being a human. Blade Runner contains some of the finest examples of cinematography I've seen. Even with the endless cuts by Scott it's still amazing every time you look at it. Every frame in Blade Runner gets better every time I watch it and still mesmerising to me. Highly recomend and one of my top five favourite films.

5. Lawrence of Arabia PG

An inordinately complex man who has been labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, Thomas Edward Lawrence blazed his way to glory in the Arabian desert, then sought anonymity as a common soldier under an assumed name. The story opens with the death of Lawrence in a motorcycle accident in London at the age of 47, then flashbacks to recount his adventures: as a young intelligence officer in Cairo in 1916, he is given leave to investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks in World War I. In the desert, he organizes a guerrilla army and--for two years--leads the Arabs in harassing the Turks with desert raids, train-wrecking and camel attacks. Eventually, he leads his army northward and helps a British General destroy the power of the Ottoman Empire David Lean's stunning film is often reffered to as "One of the greatest films ever made" and one of the "greatest British films to cross the pond "and rightly so. So breathtakingly beautiful I even had the stunning colours in my dream last night and that score playing over and over again. As Spielberg said on the DVD" A film which is an inspirational to all" and I totally concur with that as I, like Speilberg won't to try direction in the future. This is the film that inspired Spielberg to make movies and the likes of Scorsese. So this is one film that no-one should miss. A film of epic proption and stunning visuals is overwhelming when you watch it. In modern film making it's unlikely that you will see a film so authentic as this. With the introduction of CGI, a film like this would not be made today! I doubt I'll give such a detailed review, as I am still spellbound by the film...still thinking about it's greatness. I will most likely repeat myself, so bear with me. It took 2 years to film this, but you can see the attention to detal in every frame. So well directed and so well put together with stunning visuals, which makes most films you've seen recently look average. If only films were like this now, I would be so much more happy! The screenplay has to be one of the greatest ever written. Every bit of dialogue, you want to hear and when there's no dialogue you are still engaged by the landscape and the spacal awareness of the characters-who so wonderful portray their characters, you can't help but feel part of the film. Each actor's dialogue so brilliantly play off one another...again it's so wonderful to watch. Some outstanindg performances from Peter O'Toole, and Omar Schariff, who rightly gained an Academy Award nomination, and Alec Guiness and Anthony Quale. By the end of the film, I didn't realise it was almost 4 hours long, which again shows how much I enjoyed this film. Perhaps it shows the shot attention span of people today as to some negative reviews I've read on IMDb and here. That annoys me a lot. All I can say to people is this, it shouldn't matter the length of a film! That score has to be one of the greatest I've seen on film. I am still running over in my mind now, so well orcestrated it's unbeliveable. Arabia contains some of the most iconic scenes in cinema history from Omar Scharrif's entrance to Lawrence standing on top of the turkish train with a background of sunlight....it leaves me Wowed. Again that scene with the entrance of Omar Schariff, wow! One of the greatest entrances I've seen. So well photograped and directed, you'll never see such a scene like that again. Superb! Overall, a masterpiece of a film, which every single person on this site such watch. Such an amazing film...outstanding! Gone into my top 100 films 10/10

6. Alien R

Director:Ridley Scott Released: 1979 Stars: John Hurt, Ian Holm, Sigourney Weaver and Harry Dean Stanton Genre:Sci-Fi/Horror Country: UK/USA

The crew of the deep space mining ship Nostromo are awaken from hypersleep to investigate a strange signal from a nearby planet. While investigating the signal, they discover it was intended as a warning, and not an SOS. What follows are some grisly and inventive special effects based on the work of H.R.Giger I can't believe I haven't got round to watching this absolutly superb film nor the rest of the series. So Let this be the start of my Alien Marathon. All I can say is thank god I've watched it now. This is the one I think most of my friends on here remember, the one that started it all. I obtained yet another director's cut of Scott's film but I decided to watch the orginal '79 theatrical version. Superisingly, because I haven't watched it beefore there are very few flaws even 29 years on since it was made. Despite numerous Alien oe teenage horror films adopting a similar plot, I still could feel the suspense in every single scene and in some cases I did indeed scream. What is still brilliant about Scott's masterpiece is the fact it still feels very modern even almost 30 years on. The bleak and empty atmopshere is still prevelant even to this day. The opening credits I thought were absolutly spectacular. Complete with Jerry Goldsmith's haunting score before the film has even begun, you are given a little something as to what's to come. Mangnificent. Godsmith#s score adds to the huge amount of tension within a scene and without it, we are left helpless as we have no ides of what's to come. What's amazing to me is that the idelogy of Alien's exsisting in this film seems all the more real. Scott creates this believable enviornment that will leave you feeling at the end of the film that Aliens really do exsist. Alien's narrative is paced perfectly. at no point do you feel that the film has suddenly moved forward way too much, you are left engrossed in the story. What is also prevelant is the fact that after an hour of the film, I felt like so much has happened, yet I've only seen two or three instances of "Alien attacks." Which is a testemant to the supern direction and tension filled in the scene by Ridley Scott. The set-designs reminisent of Kubrick's 2001, peerfectly depict the environment and also so well presented in the opening shot. The gorgeous cinematography even in the '79 theatrical version still seemmed absolutly spectacular to me. Oddly thought Alien only achieved two Academy award nominations at that time. What stops alien from becoming a less than perfect picture is the incredible cast and their performances. Weaver, in her first lead role realistically depicts her character well without any over-exaggeratuons, the legendry Ian Holm is just perfect and John Hurt just as brilliant. Also worth noting Live and Let Die's Yaphet Kotto, who I Didn't think was in anything else. Along with Blade Runner, both are Scott masterpieces of his career. Alien is a film which I highly recomend to anyone who enjoys cinema. 10/10