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Grex > Arts > #135: \Siskel & Ebert & Grex-- The Winter Movie Review Item! |  |
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richard
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\Siskel & Ebert & Grex-- The Winter Movie Review Item!
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Dec 22 00:57 UTC 1997 |
This is the movie review item, where we review all movies we have seen in
order to either share the joy of a great film or save our fellow grexers
the eight bucks they might spend on a bad film. Great films are worth
paying for...bad films, well you may as well buy a month's grex membership
instead!
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| 267 responses total. |
richard
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response 1 of 267:
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Dec 22 01:04 UTC 1997 |
I saw two terrific movies this weekend...one was Titanic which I reviewed
in the fall Agora item. Go see it is great. I also saw...
THE APOSTLE--
Robert DuVall as a fire and brimstone southern preacher running away from
his past. This is a gem of a movie about the effect of religion on
people's lives. DuVall plays a preacher who is one of those people who
are so taken with religious fervor that you think they are possessed.
Unless you've lived in the south, you may never have seen a good old
fashioned church revival, where everyone is screaming and shouting and
dancing in the aisles and rocking to gospel music and people yell "praise
the lord!" a lot. It is really something to see.....everyone should
attend such a service at least once in their lives. DuVall is a
charismatic preacher who claims to be an Apostle and is incredibly
"possesed" Every fiber of his being seems to be possessed with God. But
he has a dark side and kills his wife's boyfriend and has to go on the
lamb, and so he goes to rural Lousiana and starts a new church in a small
black community. He also gets a radio show on a small station where he
can do his fire and brimstone act and he gets a following.
This is tour-de-force by DuVall, who creates an incredibly intense and
unforgettable portrait. Its one of his best performances ever.
**** 1/2 stars///...go see The Apostle!!
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valerie
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response 2 of 267:
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Dec 22 04:09 UTC 1997 |
This response has been erased.
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lifes
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response 3 of 267:
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Dec 22 10:51 UTC 1997 |
I saw Donnie Brasco a splendid performance by Johnny Depp an undercover
FBI agent who develops a candid friendship for Ruggeri leffty a member
o fthe italian mafia(Al pacino-excellent on screen performance)while
digging evidence against them.The touchy part is Al Pacino vouches for
Donnie Brasco not knowing of his original identity .In due course he
realizes Donnie Brasscos connections and explains how much an idiot
he'd become if the connections are true.As a rule anybody vouching for a
"rat" is killed by other members of the mob .Donnie hard to forgive his
circumstances still lives today after his heart throbbing assignment
with the mafia.The story is a true one.
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signet
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response 4 of 267:
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Dec 22 14:55 UTC 1997 |
I rented Commandments with Aidan Quinn and Courtney Cox. Strange movie. I'm
glad I didn't spend the $ to see it in the theatre. It's definitely a renter.
It was somewhat disturbing. Aidan Quinn was married to Courtney Cox's sister,
so there are not related by blood. She is also married but her husband cheats
on her and Aidan Quinn finds this out along with the police chief who has an
axe to grind with the husband. The husband is a reporter and has not been kind
in his reports of the police chief's actions. Aidan Quinn plays a modern Job
who has a string of bad luck---his wife drowns, his house is hit by a tornado,
and his dog loses one leg. Since this time, he has been acting very strangely
and announces that he will break all the commandments to get back at god. He
then proceeds to list them and do the first five. The biggies at the end of
the list prove to take awhile to achieve.
What did others who have seen this movie think of it?
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richard
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response 5 of 267:
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Dec 22 16:55 UTC 1997 |
Almost forgot another great film I saw recently--
THE SWEET HEREAFTER (Directed by Atom Egoyan)-- This is a dark, eerie
film about the people in a small British Columbia (Canada) town in the
middle of nowhere. They lead normal lives, and keep skeletons hidden.
But then the town's schoolbus crashes in a freak accident, and almost all
the town's children are killed. A sleazy big city lawyer comes to the
town a couple of months after the crash, seeking out the parents and
urging them to take legal action and sue anyone out there they can sue.
The lawyer wants to capitalize on the grief of the parents not only for
his own profit, but also pursues the lawsuit as a way of dealing with his
own personal grief over his relationship with his own daughter (who is a
drug addict and dying of AIDS)
The lawyer's attempts to get grieving parents to retain him and join the
lawsuit(s), causes an atmosphere of suspicion, distrust and doubt among
the families and the tranquility of the town is exposed as something of a
myth. Everyone has things about their lives they are hiding, or not
dealing with. But the emptiness and grief each parent feels over the
deaths of their children makes it either impossible or pointless to keep
emotions or skeletons hidden anymore. The enormity of the tragedy means
that each person affected has not only lost a child or loved one, but has
lost part of their soul, and must learn all over again how to deal with
life and how to relate to the people around them.
The one teenage girl who survives is the narrator of the movie (Actually
you hear her voice periodically in a scene from the past where she is
babysitting two of the doomed kids and reading them the story of the "Pied
Piper) This girl has become a parapalegic and apparently has temporary
amnesia as a result of the crash. Or does she? How much does she
remember? Does she remember that she was having a love affair with her
own father? Or maybe it doesnt matter anymore, because the accident
changes everyone and everything and the past is over.
The movie jumps back and forth through various time periods, showing
scenes before, during, and after the accident, allowing one to see again
and again how the events have changed people.
This is a complex movie about people dealing with incredible grief and
suffering. How and when theycome to terms with what happen varies, but as
they choose to live on, they come to live in what is described in the
"Pied Piper" story as a realm reserved for those who are at peace with
their fate. A realm called the "Sweet Hereafter"
This is a dark and disturbing film, one that not everyone will like. But
if you were a fan of the old "Twin Peaks" tv series, you will love it. It
won the Grand Jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year. I found
it to be a great and thought-provoking film. The characters are so real
and so vivid that they are still on my mind days later.
THE SWEET HEREAFTER (**** 1/2 stars)
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senna
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response 6 of 267:
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Dec 22 19:15 UTC 1997 |
I caught Titanic on friday night when it was released. It's a spectacular
epic film, the sort that you don't really see too many of these days. The
story is good, and the special effects are wonderful. I forgot that I was
in a 3 and a half hour movie until I checked my watch after it was over. It
didn't drag, and it didn't stick your face into the visuals the way some films
do.
This is the sort of film that can be good for dates. It is really a well done
romance (the fact that I enjoyed it says something), but it has enough good
special effects and the like that the men will forget that part. In addition
to everything, it even gives a good idea of how horrible the tragedy really
was, though that's not the emphasis of the film. Definitely worth seeing.
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ivynymph
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response 7 of 267:
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Dec 23 04:52 UTC 1997 |
Thanks richard! Sounds like something I must see...
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valerie
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response 8 of 267:
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Dec 23 05:33 UTC 1997 |
This response has been erased.
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ivynymph
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response 9 of 267:
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Dec 23 14:59 UTC 1997 |
(Re 6 & 8: Agreed, Valerie... And I love men who like romantic movies...and
admit it.....<grin>)
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iggy
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response 10 of 267:
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Dec 24 00:48 UTC 1997 |
<"had to go on the lamb"> giggle... what an image.
methinks you mean 'lam'?
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lifes
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response 11 of 267:
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Dec 24 04:12 UTC 1997 |
Got to see The fifth element .Whoo ha superb graphics ,and the steal of the
show Bruce Willis.If your a sci-fi buff theres a lot this movie can put to
you imagination.Forgot the name of the main actress ,yeah the red haired one
acting the alien -protector of earth ,shes real beautiful and damn s... to
o .Couldn;t the director thiink of someoneelse for the president .Guess he
means the presidency if of not much importance 200 yrs from now.And what is
the fifth element - Light ,power or human compassion - find out for u'r self
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mcnally
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response 12 of 267:
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Dec 24 06:44 UTC 1997 |
The ending was hopelessly cheesey but I agree that The Fifth Element
was a cool movie. Not one that stands up to much critical reflection
but amazing eye candy and quite entertaining in a frenetic way..
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remmers
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response 13 of 267:
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Dec 24 12:38 UTC 1997 |
Although I thought that the DJ character got old pretty fast,
but he just kept going on and on and on...
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omni
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response 14 of 267:
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Dec 24 16:29 UTC 1997 |
Off the Air- O stars.
No plot, no story, and no actors. This was THE most boring 3 hours that
I have ever spent. I mean, if I hadn't been in my own home, I'd have walked
out on on it. It is a damn shame that this movie is run repeatedly on TNN and
other stations when they should know better. ;)
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other
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response 15 of 267:
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Dec 24 19:46 UTC 1997 |
I'm biting my tongue...
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omni
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response 16 of 267:
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Dec 25 06:19 UTC 1997 |
I would but it's in my cheek.
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mary
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response 17 of 267:
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Dec 27 14:23 UTC 1997 |
"Titanic" is "Lifeboat" on hormones.
It's also good entertainment.
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jared
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response 18 of 267:
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Dec 27 20:39 UTC 1997 |
I agree with mary. Titanic was great.
I thought it would suck, but it didn't.
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omni
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response 19 of 267:
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Dec 27 23:21 UTC 1997 |
I caught an oldie, but a goodie.
Always- Despite it being on USA and cut to shreds, it was great.
4 stars.
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remmers
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response 20 of 267:
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Dec 28 02:42 UTC 1997 |
I assume you mean the Stephen Spielberg "Always".
There's another, lesser-known film named "Always" written and
directed by, and starring, Henry Jaglom. Recommended, if you can
it. Jaglom is to southern California as Woody Allen is to New
York City.
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omni
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response 21 of 267:
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Dec 28 08:03 UTC 1997 |
You assume correctly, O wizard of numbers. I would like to one day see
the movie it was made from, A guy named Joe, with Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunn
and Van Johnson. I bet that is one hell of a movie.
the other Always sounds good as well. I'll put it on the "to be screened"
list.
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gerund
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response 22 of 267:
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Dec 28 08:47 UTC 1997 |
Titanic was quite moving for a sentimental fool like me.
Scream 2 basically sucked.
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mary
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response 23 of 267:
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Dec 28 22:15 UTC 1997 |
"As Good as it Gets" is a whole lot of fun for the first
third of the movie, while Nicholson sets the standard
for mean. Then he starts to soften and the movie
gets ordinary. It's worth seeing but it would make
a fine rental in 6 months.
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carson
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response 24 of 267:
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Dec 29 19:41 UTC 1997 |
(I saw "Jackie Brown" on opening day, along with the rest of the
housemates. it's definitely a classic Tarantino film, what with the
dialogue, the viewing of a single scene from several points of view, and
"sudden deaths." [there are never many deaths in a Tarantino film, but
they always seem to be very violent and unexpected.] it's also in the
genre of "blaxploitation." my one complaint about the movie is that it
feels like a two-and-a-half hour movie. granted, it _is_ two-and-a-half
hours long; it just isn't interesting for the entire time.)
(see it if you liked "Pulp Fiction," but skip it if you're looking for a
film you can take the kids to see.)
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