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The Craggus (360 KP) rated The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) in Movies
Mar 19, 2019
There's no proxy for how much I love The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1989) 30th Anniversary Review
A notoriously chaotic and troubled production – not that that distinguishes it particularly in Gilliam’s oeuvre – “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” saw the idiosyncratic director coming off the back of a bitter but ultimately successful battle with Universal over the release and distribution of his previous film, “Brazil”. Once again, he found himself at the mercy of bureaucratic machinations that even he could not have dreamt up as the film – initially at 20th Century Fox then Columbia – became a casualty of the boardroom politics that saw a CEO fired and the new studio head refuse to sign off on the previously agreed budget. Thus, the film developed a reputation for being out of control and over budget although, in reality, the final cost was pretty much on the budget originally set at Fox. But reality has very little to do with the tales of Baron Munchausen and, in a way the eponymous hero would no doubt find extremely gratifying, the film’s reputation is decidedly wide of the mark in nearly every respect. Celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, it remains a bravura piece of satirical fantasy that deserves far more success than it received at the time of release....
FULL REVIEW: http://bit.ly/CraggusMunchausen
FULL REVIEW: http://bit.ly/CraggusMunchausen
Lou Grande (148 KP) rated Upgrade (2018) in Movies
Jun 15, 2018
The best William Gibson movie not written by William Gibson
My boyfriend and I saw this the other day, and I can't believe how poorly it's doing at the box office! This was a great movie. The feel of it was very cyberpunky, but not so in-your-face as the very awful Ghost in the Shell adaptation. Leigh Whannell directed and produced, so it has some of the same Saw graphic violence, which I think sits well with the cyberpunk genre. The entire concept is based around human and machine adaptation, and where the line should be drawn--or rather, the dangers of letting it go too far.
The atmosphere is really well developed: we see the poor parts of the city being grungy and dangerous, while the upper crust benefits from the best technology. Almost all humans have been modified in some way, except for our protagonist. In the beginning, anyway. Anyone who has watched the trailers knows that he becomes paralyzed, and then his spinal cord is "reattached" using Stem, a "widget" that allows his brain to communicate with his limbs. It also makes him a ninja.
But that's not really the core of the story. At its heart, Upgrade is a mystery wrapped in a cautionary tale. I'll take this over Johnny Mnemonic any day.
The atmosphere is really well developed: we see the poor parts of the city being grungy and dangerous, while the upper crust benefits from the best technology. Almost all humans have been modified in some way, except for our protagonist. In the beginning, anyway. Anyone who has watched the trailers knows that he becomes paralyzed, and then his spinal cord is "reattached" using Stem, a "widget" that allows his brain to communicate with his limbs. It also makes him a ninja.
But that's not really the core of the story. At its heart, Upgrade is a mystery wrapped in a cautionary tale. I'll take this over Johnny Mnemonic any day.
Crimes of the Century: Football Hooligans
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In the 1960s, football hooliganism hit the headlines in the press. It was the first time that...
Elvis Ignited: The Rise of an Icon in Florida
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It was his most electric and influential time as a live performer. The young and hungry Elvis, the...
Austin Tractors
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Like Henry Ford, Herbert Austin had farming roots. Both brought motoring to the masses and both...
Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (The Vampire Chronicles, #12)
8.7
Rate It
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"In my dreams, I saw a city fall into the sea. I heard the cries of thousands. I saw flames that...
Granville Barker on Theatre: Selected Essays of Harley Granville Barker
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Granville Barker on Theatre brings together some of the most important critical theatrical writings...
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated The Last Movie Star (2017) in Movies
Mar 31, 2021
Burt Reynold's humility (3 more)
Burt Reynold's humanity
History of Burt's film career
Nostalgia
I wept.
I saw all of the Smokey and the Bandit movies when I was a kid, at the drive-in, no less. And Burt Reynold's was pretty hot stuff both in his looks and as box office gold back in the day. I didn't think much of him from the mid-to-late '80s until 1997 when he popped up in Boogie Nights. He was great in that role, but I didn't give him much thought after that until I saw this movie, even when he died. Now, I don't think I'll forget or dismiss him so easily. There is a great undercurrent of regret and sadness in this movie and of Reynold's wanting to relive simpler times, reminisce, and make amends to those hurt and forgotten along the way. There is a depth I was not expecting and I felt things I did not expect to feel. My boyfriend and I both cried gently at the beauty and pain of this film. I usually try to hide my tears in embarrassment when I am moved by a film but I didn't hide them here. The emotions were palpable and you'd have had to have been a marble statue not to be moved by this movie.
Gareth Evans recommended After Life (Wandafaru Raifu) (1998) in Movies (curated)
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Saw II (2005) in Movies
Oct 3, 2020
Out of the slew of sequels that followed in the wake of the success of the first film, Saw II is easily the most watchable.
Everything is upped - more blood, more victims, more absurd traps for them to escape from - but it succeeds where the other sequels miserably failed, keeping it all fairly reigned in for the most part, assuring that the plot carries a substantial amount of intrigue, instead of getting buried under gratuitous torture.
We get to see more Tobin Bell this time around, which is certainly a good thing. His increased presence as antagonist Jigsaw is a high point of the movie. Donnie Wahlberg and Shawnee Smith have a little more to do in the franchise going forward, but the rest of the cast are hugely dull and forgettable, obvious cannon fodder for Jigsaws' games.
The various traps are imaginative without going overboard as well, and are effective - the pit of syringes, the pig carcasses, and especially the lockbox with wrist slicing blades, are all pretty memorable without throwing heaps of gore at the viewer.
Saw II is a half decent follow up to the great original. You could happily watch the first two and not bother with any of the others, and still be suitably satisfied, unless, like me, you're a glutton for punishment.
Everything is upped - more blood, more victims, more absurd traps for them to escape from - but it succeeds where the other sequels miserably failed, keeping it all fairly reigned in for the most part, assuring that the plot carries a substantial amount of intrigue, instead of getting buried under gratuitous torture.
We get to see more Tobin Bell this time around, which is certainly a good thing. His increased presence as antagonist Jigsaw is a high point of the movie. Donnie Wahlberg and Shawnee Smith have a little more to do in the franchise going forward, but the rest of the cast are hugely dull and forgettable, obvious cannon fodder for Jigsaws' games.
The various traps are imaginative without going overboard as well, and are effective - the pit of syringes, the pig carcasses, and especially the lockbox with wrist slicing blades, are all pretty memorable without throwing heaps of gore at the viewer.
Saw II is a half decent follow up to the great original. You could happily watch the first two and not bother with any of the others, and still be suitably satisfied, unless, like me, you're a glutton for punishment.