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!

267 responses total.

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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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.

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?

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) 

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.

 Thanks richard!  Sounds like something I must see...

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 (Re 6 & 8:  Agreed, Valerie... And I love men who like romantic movies...and
admit it.....<grin>)  

<"had to go on the lamb">  giggle... what an image.
methinks you mean 'lam'?

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

  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..

Although I thought that the DJ character got old pretty fast,
but he just kept going on and on and on...

  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. ;)

I'm biting my tongue...  

  I would but it's in my cheek.

"Titanic" is "Lifeboat" on hormones.

It's also good entertainment.

I agree with mary.  Titanic was great.
I thought it would suck, but it didn't.

  I caught an oldie, but a goodie. 

 Always-  Despite it being on USA and cut to shreds, it was great. 

  4 stars.

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.

  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.

Titanic was quite moving for a sentimental fool like me.
Scream 2 basically sucked.

"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.

(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.)

  I think I'll read the book before I see the movie. The book is called "Rum
Punch" by Elmore Leonard

has anyone here reviewed a movie called 'Ice Storm'? I was told to go see it,
and I've never heard of it!

i saw a preview for it a couple of months ago. it's about several families
in the 1970s. it look odd to me, but i think there are some big stars in it.
I cannot recall at this moment in time who they are (sorry).

"Ice Storm" was mentioned at least twice in the Autumn agora.
Join autumn, read item #19, responses #102 and #124.

Has anyone seen "Good Will Hunting"?  It's supposed to be out, but
none of the Ann Arbor theatres are carrying it.

 Good Will Hunting is supposed to be out now in selected areas only.  It comes
out in all areas on the ninth of January.  

[This item is now linked as Item 135 in the Arts conference.]

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We saw Titanic, and both enjoyed it overall.  One question I can't get 
out of my mind, though: how in the world did they manage to spend $200 
million making it?  It was a nice movie, but it's unbelievable it cost 
that much money to make.

The ship that they built was 9/10 scale.
Building something that big costs $$$

 re 32

  I've been thinking about what you said, Valerie, and I too found what you
said disturbing.

  Based on what I have read from Colin Powell's book, The Gulf war was a
direct response to Saddam Hussien's buildup and later invasion of Kuwait.
I don't believe for a moment that it was staged, made up or planned. I think
that Saddam is a madman, and a meglomaniac and will not stop his games until
he has started WW III. 
  What I don't agree with is that it wasn't about oil. It was. The Saudis are
sitting on something on the order of 500 billion plus barrels of oil, which
in the wrong hands, could have a very negative effect on the world economy.
There is the EXACT same kind of conflict happening in Bosnia and we don't give
a rats ass about it because there is NO OIL in Bosnia. 
  Distractions? Give me a break. The average person has no idea of what
Congress is transacting, much less any idea about what is happening with the
President. Watch any newscast and time how long they spend on what Congress
is doing or what is next for the Supreme Court. We are very distracted with
fake news of celebrities' divorces and affairs, and the latest thing that
causes cancer. 

   From what I have seen of the trailers, I think it's a parody of what is
happening right now in Washington, and if we're not careful, it will come to
pass. 
   Being that it is a Barry Levinson film, I definitly will see it, probably
because I'm a fan of his directorial style. Levinson is one of those people
who could make a movie on a budget of $5 and make it look like he spent $200
million. I cite Avalon, Rain Man, and Good Morning Vietnam as 3 examples of
his better movies.

Not only do you have to build a ship to 90% scale (with lots of lavishness)
but you have to build and fill a tank to film it in so it looks realistic,
sink it, and when a take doesn't go well, sink it again.  That's without the
lavish costumes, props, and numerous actors which have to die to make the
movie look realistic.

It all adds up.

Re #32: there is a difference between selecting the news to report, and
making it up. The smart bombs and the patriot missles really did what
was shown on TV. They just didn't show the failures as often. It is
very hard to lie outright when the news media are watching, but both
those in charge and the news media "weight" news coverage for a variety
of reasons. 

I thought the Titanic scale was something like 180' to 900'.  Still...

No, it was 90% to scale.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss