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BASED ON A TRUE STORY (Possibly!)
I have placed "sizzler
ratings" next to movies to give you an idea of
how good they are
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THE
PERFECT STORM (2000) |
Starring: George
Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
The plot: Based
on a book by Sebastian Junger about a storm which developed
off the eastern seabord of America in 1991. Junger's
story focuses on the very real plight of the fishing
vessel, Andrea Gael. Captain Billy Tyne hasn't been
having a good run and he and his men head further out
than usual to obtain a big catch before season's end.
However, while they venture out to the Flemish Cap to
obtain their bumper crop, a hurricane in the Bermuda
area threatens to collide with a cold front coming out
of Canada and a low hovering off the eastern Canadian
coast. What results is (according to the meteorologist)
is The Perfect Storm - one so feroscious...
Comment: What this
film may lack in plot, it makes up for in seat-gripping
tension as we follow the plight of the Andrea Gael!
Don't ask me how a relatively plotless movie can have
you on the edge of your seat - maybe it was the amazing
special effects which (on the big screen) threaten to
crash down on you. For a disaster movie, this one delivers
more than usual - maybe because it was based on fact
for a change as opposed to many of Hollywood's crappy
disaster movies which seem to beat little relation to
reality or acceptance... Naturally, I cannot imagine
Sebastian Junger knew what went on with the Andrea Gael,
but our internal battle to see them through the storm
means that the other subplots thrown in for good measure
postively interfere with the fate of the Andrea Gael.
Although the ladies may enjoy gazing into Clooney's
chocolate eyes or sinking into Wahlberg's lover-man
embrace, the acting talent in this film is really overshadowed
by the special effects and the storm itself. This is
a movie to see on the big screen - the rating will have
to drop to 2 flames if you wait for it to come out on
video...
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ANGELA'S
ASHES (2000) |
Starring: Robert
Carlyle, Emily Watson, Joe Breen
The plot: Based
on the Pulitzer prize winning autobiography of the same
name by Frank McCourt, this is his story of growing
up in poverty-ridden Limerick, Ireland, after the second
World War.
Comment: Well, can't
fault them for not faithfully reproducing the book as
exactly as possible! If anyone seeing this film has
not read the book, I imagine they would be quite bewildered
for the first 30 minutes which has a strong staccato
beat to it as it quickly devotes what appear to be 15
second sound bites summarising the early years of Frank
McCourt. Gradually, the film slows down to a pace where
you can safely blink again without missing a scene.
However, this coincides with Frank 'growing' a little
bit and we loose the magnificent young Joe Breen who
of all the boys playing McCourt growing up, seemed to
portray the spirit and character of McCourt best. By
the end of the film, some scenes finally get developed
a bit, and you can't help but feel that possibly, it
might have been better to devote more time to these
type of scenes rather than cram all his childhood
into 148 minutes... Particularly since none of the film
was anything less than directly taken straight from
the book.
All in all, this is probably best summed up more of
an interesting film than entertaining. The dry humour
and naivety displayed by McCourt in his novel is not
reproduced in the film, just as his mother's battle
to raise their children is not well developed, and almost
played down in relation to the father - a bit ironic
given the father was not a good figure in the book,
but comparatively speaking, is a nice sort in the film.
This makes for a more dark and potentially depressing
film compared to the book. But, the youngest Frank and
Malachy are so good - they truly light up Angela's Ashes!
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BOYS
DON'T CRY (2000) |
Starring: Hilary Swank,
Chloe Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard
The plot: Teena Brandon
is a girl with a sexual identity crisis living in Lincoln,
Nebraska in 1993. After yet another run in with the locals
when her gender becomes known, she flees down to Falls City
and is adopted by a family down there. She falls in love
with Lana, a messed up bit of trailer trash who is fiercely
protected by the small time criminal, John.
Comment: Not particularly
interested in seeing this film, I went to see it in the
end because I was curious about all the award-winning hype
surrounding Hilary Swanks performance. Given they took three
years to find Swanks gender-blurring performance, it was
worth the wait. Certainly in the opening scenes, she was
very convincing (and possibly more than I even give her
credit for when one member of the audience walked out in
loud, violent protest when he found out she was a girl!).
However, the despite saying everyone's performance was good,
it didn't (for me) detract from the fact this wasn't a plot
I was terribly interested in and I was quite bored for most
of the film.
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MEN OF HONOR (2000) |
Starring: Cuba Gooding,
Jnr, Robert De Niro, Hal Holbrook
The plot: Carl Brashear
(Gooding, Jr) is a poor black man's son who sets forth to
join the America navy in the 1950's. Although the president
has just declared that racial segregation to be unlawful,
racism is still rife in the military forces. However, when
Brashear, as a cook on ship, U.S.S. Hoist, sees Chief Master
Sunday (De Niro) go against orders to save someone trapped
at depth in water, he decides he wants to be nothing more
than Chief Master himself. However, he has to overcome tremendous
odds because no one wants to be the person who let a black
guy succeed where a white guy should have.
Comment: Well, I wasn't
terribly inspired by the movie trailer, "Just another
military drama...' Wrong, this is actually a thoroughly
inspirational and uplifting movie about a man who just wouldn't
quit - he knew what he wanted and he set out to achieve
that, no matter what the obstacles were, or how many were
thrown his way - and there were plenty! Cuba Gooding, Jnr
is very good in this serious role as Brashear - a far cry
from his other roles where he has usually played a wise-guy
of sorts. De Niro is equally Gooding, Jnr's match as the
racist and tormented Sunday. This movie contains a lesson
for all of us about perseverance and determination, something
many people overlook in today's rush to get anywhere quickly.
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THE
INSIDER (1999) |
Starring: Russell Crowe,
Al Pacino, Christopher Plummer
The plot: Andrew Wigand
tries to live a normal life and keep a low profile after
being layed off by the third largest tobacco company in
America, Brown and Williamson. However, a 60 Minutes journalist/producer,
Lowell Bergman, approaches Wigand to translate some documents
that have come his way. Brown and Williamson find this out
and think Wigand is about to break his confidentiality agreement
and 'apply pressure.' Suddenly Wigand's life is unraveling
around him and the only thread of continuity is the hope
offered by Bergman.
Comment: Ironically,
I didn't know this was based on a true story until half
way through, when I'm going, "Hey! I remember reading
about this in the paper!" About 70% of the way though,
I began to wonder when the film was going to end. I also
didn't realise that the film was nearly 3 hours long...
That aside, I actually enjoyed this film. Assuming it unfolds
relatively close to the truth, then Wallace and Bergman
give one hope about the integrity of journalism in today's
sensationalised-media world. Of course, their integrity
would go by unrecognised if it wasn't for the sincere performances
of Plummer and Pacino. Surprisingly, Crowe is very good
in the moody, downtrodden Wigand. Although the moody aggressiveness
of Crowe rumbles under the surface, it is brilliantly merged
with the horror Wigand goes through as his life falls apart.
This is a slow film and it does occasionally have you wondering
how much longer it can go on, but for the most part, the
compelling story, haunting and fitting music and the excellent
acting makes this a very watchable.
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[
TOP ]
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An
absolute sizzler of a movie - A must see! |
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A
scorcher of a good movie; still capable of riveting you
to your seat |
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Low
flame burner; a pleasant piece of mindless brain candy |
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A
fizzler of a movie which will have you counting zzzzzz's... |
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