jalilidalili's Reviews

Brüno (2009)

6/10

It's not awkward, it's just needlessly idiotic at times.

28 November 2009

Yes, once again we're faced with a movie about social criticism by Sasha Choen... OK, we're used to that.

Already Ali G. (which passed us by as another silly teenage comedy - but is actually much deeper), Sasha kept digging deeper and revealing the curtains of the truth we don't want to see in the homes of people around us.

But this time... well it just got beyond all that.

The "nude humor" is nothing else but a heap trick to gather some more "contraversy".

The "heart breaking" moments - like the flashbacks while taking away the baby - are nicely timed in order to confuse the public and get them to see that you don't need to cry your eyes out every time some sad music is playing and some slow motion memories are being shown.

The swinger's party scene with the mistress is... well a miss. I mean, if it were in a "normal" situation, him wanting to meet her father and being shy could have worked - but it just doesn't work here. I mean it would be just like going to a boxing match and covering your eyes and ears every time a punch would be thrown.

Also the psychic scene, at least in my opinion was needlessly prolonged. We got the point - the "adviser" is about to tolerate anything, just to get paid and even wishes him luck in his life, although he is obviously groused out. But only a few people with certificate they have limited mental abilities (I've worked as a teacher for six years now) have been (both of them) acting like that every once and again, to show the rest of the class their wet dreams - and surely enough, it was in bad taste then too.

Overall it shows Sasha was running out of material and was trying to fill the time with the lowest possible publicity stunt, that's not even original - put sexuality and nudity on screen in order to get people to take another look.

I'm not for censorship, but apart from being idiotic... what was the point of his sexual games with the midget steward boyfriend? Sorry - this movie was a let down, because except for some four, five highlights it was just trying to justify itself being made. There was maybe enough material for some 40 minutes of interesting, humorous and socially critical eye-opener, but the rest of it was just a cheap attempt of manipulating the masses, so one could say something in lines of: "Oh you intolerant conservatives, you can't handle raw sexuality on the screen."

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Traffic (1971)

3/10

A comedy?

25 December 2008

I decided to write this review purely because I've red the one written by lapratho from Tacoma, WA, USA - and I totally disagree about this movie! Sorry to say I've bought it, not sorry that I've seen it, just sorry I can't erase it from my memory.

There are a few laughs in this movie as well, although I would never sort this under the category of comedy.

There are some very interesting shots with the camera, the storytelling aspect of this movie is at least interesting as it uses the motion picture as a new form of media - but the most basic component of any movie is missing... You will require a lot of will power to sit this one through from beginning 'till end and if you'll decide you need a break from it, the chances are, you'll never return to watching it.

It's not a film you'd watch to pass the time, or be amused. It's a film that is trying to present a satirical point of view about certain aspects of life, so if you will be able to penetrate under the pointlessness you'd get from simply watching it, you might even get a few ideas it's trying to convey. But you really have to dig deep and just by watching it, it offers nothing which would make you want to dig deep into it, to get to the point.

So a very low mark, as it is (at least in my opinion) an existentialist comedy that might work in the theater of absurd performed live (right after Waiting for Godot), but it doesn't work at all on film.

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The Last Supper or How Two Madmen Made a Film (2001)

9/10

I do recommend this...

11 September 2008

OK, I'm bias, I have to admit. Being a patriot and the actor who plays the main character is from the same one-horse-town as I am (we lived just two blocks apart) and I do know the guy personally (got drunk with him on more then one occasion), I really can not be completely objective to this film.

It is still a good film. I have to say some things about the background of the movie. In Slovenia there are almost no independent films. There are only three or four films made every year (and that's if the year is good). They are usually funded by the state and very crappy. There have only been two watchable films in the last ten years.

This movie, however, is independent and was a huge success at home. Matjaz Javsnik (in the lead role) has already made a name for himself before. He is the person who brought the improvisational theater to Slovenia and had some other stage hits with which he toured all over the country.

So once he started making this movie, there was great interest in it. He was able to get enough money for it (in comparison to other Slovene films, this one wasn't really low budget - regardless of what you might think).

And the dark humor you see in this movie is actually a way of life around here. People are full of black humor and nothing is really sacred. Slovenians are unfortunately among the most suicidal nations in the world (we overtook the Japanese in these sad statistics somewhere in the early eighties).

So enjoy the movie, even though it starts of really idiotically, after about twenty minutes it starts developing and by the end of it, you'll get the feeling you have really seen something worth while.

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How I Was Systematically Destroyed by an Idiot (1983)

9/10

Too real to be a movie!

11 September 2008

This summer I had the great luck to see this movie by pure accident. During the film festival I wanted to see another movie, but this one was shown outside and I preferred fresh air, so I stayed there without even knowing what I'll see. Then ijan came to the mike and announced this movie. All of us there were fascinated! So it's not so much a movie about a person trying to cope with Che's death, as it's a movie about a guy, who wants to cope with his life. He's a bum, but entirely out of his own laziness. He always blamed somebody or something for his lack of privileged life.

Although this movie was said to be political, it really isn't. It's almost a documentary of the part of Yugoslavian society that wasn't suppose to exist. In the developed socialistic country there should be no beggars and everybody should want to work, for it was their privilege and right to work.

So watch it, laugh at it, but try and imagine it is all true, because it's very close to reality.

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The White, the Yellow, and the Black (1975)

7/10

Oddly enough - it made me laugh!

11 September 2008

Warning: Spoilers

I bought this DVD in a pack (3 films on one disc) for some spare change. I didn't expect much and also didn't get much. But it did make me laugh every now and again.

Amasingly enough, I laughed at some of the jokes too - not just at the movie.

In fact, I have to say, in this movie I saw something I though as original. A joke I haven't seen or heard anywhere else, nor did I think of anything like it. And it is not easy to find something like that, with as many comedies I've seen so far. This was something I really liked about this movie. It showed me something fresh - even though it was already very old.

*spoiler*

The Samurai is making a brew. The sheriff asks: "What are you making?" "It old Japanese recepy. This make you not sleep and not think of food." Sheriff: "You've got something there that will take my mind off of hunger? Give it here!" The sheriff drinks it and starts moaning really badly. The Samurai jumps up and said: "Now you no can sleep, now you no want food. You got toothache!"

Or something like that (it's not a transcript, but the point of the joke).

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The Gods Must Be Funny in China (1994)

2/10

Nope, the Gods aren't funny - they have finally really gone crazy!

11 September 2008

OK, there are a few cute scenes with Pandas, but apart from that... Shooting the people who made this isn't good enough! But you know, I actually thought this was part 3, because they released it on VHS under that title (since 3 and 4 were never released here). Maybe if I saw the two movies in the middle it might have helped, but as I'm just watching the real part 3 (and I saw the N'Xau imitating Bruce Lee) I somehow doubt.

They should have stopped after part 2 - no more craziness. Make it good or don't make it at all!

I mean come on!

This was about a culture shock of "civilized" people not being able to survive in the desert, not about Panda preservation and running all over the Chineese Wall!

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The Way of the West (1934)

4/10

It's watchable, but too predictable.

6 January 2008

So it's a western... A typical cowboy (or in this case sheep-boy) flick with straight forward good and bad guys.

The government wants to lease out as much land as possible and it is not important if either sheep or cattle are raised on the graze land they lease out, but the local cowherders still believe in feuding with the sheepherders...

Not surprising a shepherding family lands in trouble. It's a typical plot with an elderly father as the head of the family and a daughter attracting a hired hand, who turns out to be the hero in the end. Of course you mustn't forget the bad guys either. There's the big (and in this case the man really is a big man) bass, who hires gunmen to get rid of the family.

It's all so predictable that I doubt it had much effect on the viewers even back in the days... Today this would probably be done as an episode of a sitcom or something similar (possibly in 2 parts), but would have no chances of passing of as a feature film. I guess the pre-TV era of people going into cinemas and staying there between main features was the only reason why movies such as this one have been made.

It's not that it's a particularly bad movie, it's just so indistinguishable from tons of similar pictures. It'll still help pass/waste the time, but don't expect anything fascinating about it.

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The White Planet (2006)

8/10

If you love nature, you'll love this!

14 December 2007

There are people, who absolutely hate this film. OK, I can understand why. The movie going audience today expects humor, action, special effects... and no, nature can not offer the same breath taking effects as computer technicians at major Hollywood studios can, but if you'd stop and think (which isn't one of the strongest points of the average movie going population now-a-days) about it, you'd see the beauty of it.

The shots are excellent and the comments are kept down to a minimum, so you can enjoy and experience the wildlife in one of the harshest climates in the world.

No, this movie isn't about environmental change. It does show a very fragile environment and yes, due to human induced climate changes this balance can break, but that's about it (on the environmental issue). It tries to show all the glory of the wildlife. It doesn't explain or tell you about it, it shows you and you need to deduct (so if you have no knowledge about wildlife in the first place, no curiosity about anything that's not chip powered - you will be disappointed).

Remember the grand documentaries about the wild life in Africa? This one is actually better. The camera work is remarkable and if you are interested you will learn quite a lot from behavior (for instance: how snoring can kill a pray). Also the natural light shows of the various animals you get to see in the underwater and under-ice world are remarkable. I've never before seen how an octopus lures it's pray instead of catching it and so forth.

But as I claimed before - this one is for nature lovers only, the rest better avoid this (god forbids they'd become environmentally aware).

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Relic Hunter: Don't Go Into the Woods (2001)

Season 2, Episode 17

5/10

One big goof!

4 August 2007

As the series Relic Hunter goes, this episode was nothing special, but I must say that this episode is among the most far fetched I've ever seen.

It is placed in Slovenija (my native country) and that got me interested, but unlike most other episodes (which at least try to have some historical background), this one is completely fictional.

Sydney and Nigel are looking for the Golden Falcon of the queen of Maribor and to do so, they go to the university of Ljubljana. Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenija and Ljubljana is the capital (so far, so good - at least somebody could read maps), but there was never anything even remotely resembling the kingdom of Maribor, neither has there ever been a Slovenian royal family with the title of a king. It was all part of the Habsbourg monarchy (Austro-Hungary). there are some local folk tales about a race of Psoglavci (dog-headed people), so the claim for werewolves might have some remote resemblance, but it's really not a part of Slovenian tradition or mythology. Again, the authors proved they did at least some research, by translating the name of the local inn. It's in perfect Slovene, but then again, how come they didn't have a clue as to the fact that Slovenia located in the middle of continental Europe, which automatically means the steering wheels of automobiles and trucks are on the left, not right - British - side. Also the names are Russian and not Slovene, but I guess they didn't distinguish between Slavic nations.

Anyway, the story is somewhat interesting (for a second rate series, which Relic Hunter definitely is), but ends really disappointingly. It all turns out to be nothing but a grave digger dressed up in some animal fur. Oh well, if it wasn't for Tia Carrere, the series would never have gotten beyond the pilot episode. So enjoy the rest of Syndiana Jones, but don't expect too much :)

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The World of Don Camillo (1984)

8/10

A newer Don Camillio!

2 August 2007

OK, I have to say that the old Don Camillio films were excellent, but this one is not as bad as people would let you know.

It is said that the hard line communists are watered down and that Don Camillio is too cool (not too cold and remote, but too hip, to trendy).

Well, it is in the eighties, so one should bare in mind that it was the time when everybody was tired of the constant struggle between the communists and the church. So having them actually work together and showing more of the down sides of a worldly priest and more or less a positive side of a communist leader of a local community is also a message. You can't have a crusade against something that's not evil, but simply is. The communists in that era (acctually in all eras after the death of Lenin) who lived outside the Eastern Block (and most of them in the Eastern Block as well) were not monsters trying to destroy everything. So in this case you see a very human communist mayor and a skeptical priest, who is still trying to fight communism for the very principle of it, even if there is really no need for it.

In my opinion it's a great movie, but with a completely different message from the original series. The times have changed, and so has the situation and Terence Hill saw that change and tried to incorporate it in the movie. It's actually very good that there were no stereotypical communist bad guys (like it's a positive thing to present the low ranking officers in Nazi Germany as humans instead of blood thirsty monsters).

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Borat (2006)

10/10

Bursting the arrogant bubble!

2 July 2007

This piece of filmatography can not even be called a movie, but it is definitely breaking grounds in more ways then one.

If you look at its surface it's a stupid attempt of making fun out of cultural differences, but if you look at it critically (which I'm afraid the vast majority of people - anywhere in the world - can not), you will get a very interesting profile of how a developed nation looks at a nation they believe to be undeveloped.

OK, they could have left the naked wrestling scene out, as it is nothing else then pointless and grouse, but the rest of the movie is playing on stereotypes, which generally really do apply.

The main point of the movie, which many fail to see, is the idea of American arrogance. Because the guy is from a foreign country, which once belonged to the Soviet Union and is still a poor country, not to mention that it is a country most people in US don't know anything about (except that it belongs to the less developed part of the world), they are prepared to believe just about anything. And here it the catch. Borat seems to be a complete idiot, but since he's from Kazahstan, the people he contacts with, find this to be perfectly natural (completely disregarding the fact that he is supposedly a journalist payed by their government to do a job - which would have to mean he is competent to do it and would need a quite high level of education to even get the job). This is the mirror this movie sets up for the US people - how they treat others, for whom they believe are poorer and less worth. And the higher a person is on the social scale, the less they think of the foreigner from an obscure country (they even believe he doesn't know how to use a toilet).

It is true, the film is showing this in a abusing way, especially to the country of Kazahstan, but more over it is a film, which criticizes the arrogant US superiority complex towards the rest of the world (one which I have experienced many times to be true).

The problem is, that people in US in general don't travel abroad all that much, yet they presume (even if they have no real grounds to presume that) that people abroad live a worse life and have less, thus they judge most of the nations outside the US based on the stereotypes they have at home (example: a German is a guy from an ex eastern Germany who was always oppressed by the communist regime and can't even have a radio or a TV, so every German would give a limb to be able to have an old B/W TV an American is selling at a yard sale). I know, it seems harsh, but unfortunately that's the picture many Americans have and that's the thing this movie was making fun of.

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Night Train to Venice (1993)

1/10

Have this movie? Sell your vacuum cleaner.

19 June 2007

I'm generally not somebody who'd criticize, but this movie deserves to be exposed. It's the worst piece of cinematography I've ever seen and I have been leading the film club at our school, so I saw all the amateur crap pupils brought in. For goodness sake, home movies of babies sleeping motionless are more interesting. This movie sucks so much, that if you own it, you'll never need a vacuum cleaner again! It's so dull that in comparison even cotton candy seems like a razor sharp object! Neonazies chase the leading character, but he is able to walk away from them in an empty train cart, only to run into them later on and escape by allowing them to get killed at his convenience.

Come on, even when you see the sexual scenes between the leading actors (and the lady is hot) you'll just say to your self, why do they show this. Shouldn't they rather end it? And when they finally end the movie, you're not even glad the torture is over, you actually get angry at them for waiting until the end. Trust me, it's the time you'd better spend with the TV turned off.

I'm seriously considering contacting my lawyer and making a civil suit against the director for not committing suicide before finishing this movie.

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The Girl and Her Trust (1912)

10/10

A fundamental film!

3 June 2007

I've just recently come across this tile while watching the Landmarks of Early Film and I must say I'm completely taken by it.

OK, the visual effects are very dated, but then again, the effects themselves are not what makes the movie.

The thing that really impressed me was the character development of "The Girl". At first we see a girl working at the railstation and being the one who's in charge of keeping the money (one would more likely expect a man doing that in the wild west, not a woman). Next we see a man who fancies this girl and she's concerned for the money. He calms her down. I was sure that she'd be a helpless damsel in distress and he'd come in and rescue her. And here's the thing that surprised me most - it gets deeper then that.

The girl locks herself inside as the two tramps try to steal the money. She has the key to the strongbox. Handing the key over would surely save her, but she keeps to it. Also after locking herself into the room she doesn't faint or starts panicking. No! She actually tries to get help by telepraph. One of the tramps realizes it and cuts the line. Then she even finds a way to scare them off! Amazingly she puts a bullet into the keylock, places the scisors at the back and hammers away to fire the bullet off (something even MacGyver would be quite proud of).

And when the tramps take the strongbox she chases after them! She is a real heroine. But she is overpowered and the man from earlier on (with the help of rail employees) chatches the bad guys in a locomotive/handcart action chase sequence. And to make it a truly happy ending, they even have a little romantic scene when the girl is saved and the guy offers her lunch at the front bumper of the locomotive.

Brilliant.

OK, it's shorter, black and white and with no sound effects at all, but at points it reminded me so much of the panic room... You know... People on the outside trying to get to what a "helpless" woman has in a room they can't break into. And over 100 years old - I was breathless!

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Detonator (1993 TV Movie)

3/10

I had only one reason for watching it!

3 June 2007

Late in the evening I was switching chanells on the tube and landed in the middle of a movie which caught my eye. I instantly saw something familiar about the locomotive, the police uniforms and the landscape, so I watched it 'till the end (it was maybe the last half hour of the film if not a bit less). I was very excited to see that renouned actors such as Brosnan, Steward and Lee played along with one of few almost good Slovenian actors (Veselko - the train driver) and that the movie was actually filmed in Slovenia. Doesn't happen very often. I soon realized that the film had quite a low budged (I mean it seemed like they couldn't even wait for Steward to get well, so they had him act with his hand in a cast and he wasn't very good at it), so I could understand the ending being a bit less then spectacular, but I was really wanting to see the whole thing. I was sure that everything leading to that flat ending was much better. I mean with a cast like that... But no! OK, the movie is a B rated action TV flick. I never care much about the visual effects, a good movie doesn't need them, but a movie based on nothing but fast action and with bad acting such as this, it would have nothing but good effects to rely on. There were none. It was a total disappointment. So the only reason I kept watching it was to see how many locations I was able to recognize. Were it not for that local-patriotism I wouldn't have watched it till the end.

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They Raid by Night (1942)

5/10

Watchable, but without greatness

22 February 2007

Warning: Spoilers

What can I say. I started watching the movie with no expectations at all and were slightly disappointed at some parts, but actually amazed at some other parts.

One of the biggest let downs was the post-production. Apart from taking a lot of photage used for either documentaries, news reals or who knows what else, the sound effects were really bad. You'll hear a second long sound of a propeller looping for a very long time, simply because they didn't have any other more realistic sound effect to make it sound like they're on the airport.

Too many things happen to easily and that makes the film unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the commandos would have an easy job (on the contrary, that part is good), but some other parts... Well, they just happen to stumble on everything at once, so the whole thing can happen within a time-frame of a single day (if not less). Judging by instructions given to one of the rescue party, the entire interrogation and escape and travel tot he meeting point lasted no more then three hours... Those were the downsides. Not to mention the clearly visible painted scenes in the background and people walking around the same rock every time they entered the forest.

Still some other parts were really fresh and thrilling.

Spoiler ahead!!! I really liked the way how commando captain Bob got out of the interrogation. The German officer offered him a smoke, which he naturally accepted. Upon being put to the lie detector, he answered to all given meeting locations with NO, but before the interrogator would ask for the right place, the captain burned himself with a cigarette, so the lie detector would show the answer given at that time a lie. For me, this was one of the highlights of the film and a very original idea. The lie detector has been done in many movies (although I think this is the oldest one I've seen using a lie detector), but there was always a person lying and trying to pass it off as the truth. This time it was the truth, but it was passed off as a lie, which in my opinion was just brilliant.

Another part I really loved was the character of Inge. Her fiancé Erik was one of the people in the rescue party and they met. She betrayed them. There was no remorse, but for the first time I've heard somebody explaining how it was like for the people left behind! She explained they found out she helped Eric escape, she blamed Eric for the death of her father and her own imprisonment. Her character was the one that really turned the tables. This wasn't another "We're heroes, fighting for freedom, without the slightest speck of dirt upon us" movie, but there were also some realistic portraits of real people handling war time situations.

Also the fact that Eric cracks under torture quite fast is a commendable scene. Most of the people fighting weren't great heroes, who could stand for inhumane tortures, but were ordinary men with a breaking point - and when that point was reached, they broke.

End of spoilers! So the characters, although not developed enough, are still much deeper then in most war movies (even compared to most successful and big hit war movies), unfortunately all the other elements showed it was just a second rate production with very limited budget.

It would be interesting to see a remake, after all, how many movies have you seen covering the Allied offensive against Norway (one of the pre-operations that made D-Day possible)?

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Max Gold Volume 5 (2002 Video)

1/10

Impotent?

2 February 2007

Ever noticed, how this Max can't last long with a girl? Is he thinking out all of these abusive scenes just so he could cover up for his shortcoming in other places? I mean, have you ever seen him last longer then 3 minutes? And he should be a porn king or something? Not to mention he's promoting rape of women. Watchers - even though pornography doesn't seem like playacting, it's still not real, so don't try this at home. The opposite sex doesn't appreciate it if you spit, slap, choke or rape them (seriously). And these should be the best moments of his career? I mean, I generally semi-enjoy the pornography, still when I come across the works of people like Max, I just start laughing. If you want hardcore - find some kinky fetish stuff. If you enjoy porn, go for the mainstream starlets like Briana Banks. Max Hardcore is nothing but abusive, dull and probably impotent.

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Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981)

9/10

The treasure island story

1 February 2007

As usual for Hill and Spencer movies, they are two self centered and greedy characters, who basically care only for themselves, but still manage to do the right thing when the time comes.

Hill and Spencer could easily be the modern day equivalent of everymen. The only thing that has them motivated (in any of their movies) is greed for money, because they don't have it and are prepared to do many things to get it (although they would never really cross the border of the law).

In this case there's an old uncle with a treasure map and his nephew (Hill), who doesn't really believe him, but once he gambled away all of the mafia's money, the treasure seems to be the only way out for him. So he hides away on a sailboat as a last possible way to get away from the pursuers. The captain (Spencer) is only doing this trip with the sailboat to get the money from the sponsor Puffin (making a product he hates himself). And after they loose the boat (as usual Hill dragged Spencer in the middle of it all) they have nothing left but the treasure to search for.

As with other similar movies like "Go For It", "Crime Busters", "Double Trouble" or "Odds and Evens" Spencer is a grouchy leave-me-alone character and Hill the happy-go-lucky character. The first half an hour is a way to bring these two everymen in a situation where the slapstick comedy occurs. Although always shallow, the plot is plausible enough to let you settle in it and the opening part of the movie, when they are just getting to the point, is as always the funniest, for it doesn't rely on slaps and punches.

After the landing on the island with the treasure the slapstick comedy gets on the way. So expect punches, kicks, slaps and many hurt bad guys. And as usual there is the reward to be had, so they find the treasure - still they can't get rich off it. It's never that easy, so just like the real modern everyman they are left more or less empty handed in the end.

All in all a very amusing and simple movie, that would fall in the category of upbeat movies that will brighten your day, even though when you really think about it, you'll see it has a lot more to offer the it first seems.

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Asterix and the Vikings (2006)

6/10

Beautiful animation, but...

1 February 2007

As a great fan of Asterix I was off course very thrilled when I saw that it was decided the adventures of Asterix would once again become animated, because quite frankly I found the movies to be really unimaginative and unwatchable.

The animation itself left me almost speechless. Also for the first time we were able to hear some familiar music in an animated cartoon ("Get Down On It" and "Eye of the Tiger").

The story itself didn't really follow the comic. Only the original idea, that the Vikings wanted to learn fear and thus kidnapped Justforkix who was sent to the Gaul village to become a man, was used. Some of the characters were taken from some other Asterix adventures (seen in the comic books).

The thing that bothered me most was the poor delivery of lines. In the comic the punch lines were much better delivered and the story was simply more amusing. In the movie even those punchlines they used were lost, because the story around them has been changed so much, they were actually just trying to place these punchlines in the new story and failed! Still as this is obviously intended for the youngest of viewers I will say that my nephew enjoyed it greatly, while the rest of us (my father, brother and myself - the four of us went to see it together) were bitterly disappointed and immediately pulled the original comic from our collection.

So to summon it all up, you'll see great animation, hear good music, all in all have a very well made cartoon in front of you - but with a poor storyline.

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Creator (1985)

10/10

Painfully brilliant and mindbogglingly deep!

10 January 2007

To be very honest I've never heard of this movie before. Then upon my visit to England I saw it standing there on a shelf at a post office. The price was ridiculously low and Peter O'Toole staring in it, I thought it would be worth the little loose change they charged for it (incidentally the postage stamp I bought to write the folks back home were more expensive then the movie).

And almost a year later I've finally watched it! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

At first I figured it would be a slightly wacky comedy, about a student looking for love and his professor helping him to get close to the girl he wants. I was way off! I must say this movie is THE GREATEST love story I've seen. Forget Zhivago, it's way too pompous, forget Gone with the Wind, it's to sickening sweet, forget Don Juan de Marco, it's too shallow... I admit, this movie had me crying for three times! It's really so touching. And trust me, if a 30 year old guy (happily married and hanging around bars on weekends) admits he's been crying - the movie has got to be emotional.

So what's it about? Imagine a cross over of Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet's Society, Finding Forester, Dragonfly, Groundhog Day and Monkey Business. Hard to do right? But that's about it.

Harry (O'Toole) is an old professor, lost in the memory of his long departed wife. Yet he is a brilliant researcher, the guy that gets the research money donated (needles to say, O'Toole is about as brilliant as it gets). Sid (Stiers) is the sort of an antagonist of the story. He's the cynical, down to earth, materialistic, self-righteous, yet brilliant scholar (basically a role he got famous for in the series M*A*S*H, while he played Dr. Winchester). And then there's Boris (Spano), the young student, who ends up as an assistant to Harry, which naturally changes his life (not as funny as in Oscar while staring next to Stalone, but then again, this is not such a frantic movie). The main story naturally revolves around them, although there are two significant women as well Meli (Hemingway) and Barbara (Madsen). Unfortunately their characters are flatter then O'Toole's or Spano's. They're just there to support the story and to give them opportunity to grow. Still both roles are played superbly, especially Hemingway contributes a lot to an all out comedic effect with her character.

Apart from the story, which you will have to simply experience for yourself (I'm not giving any spoilers away), I was also fascinated by other aspects of this movie. Every character that had lines really contributed. Not a single person interrupted the big picture and the relationship between all the people (no matter how insignificant their roles seemed) really helped to establish the personalities of the main characters. And the music score was also just brilliant.

Really, there isn't a single thing I could fault with this movie. Not because I liked it so much, but because it really was very well made. I mean, you'd think that after a dozen or so times of watching it within a month some flaws would pop up, but no. Everything that's there, just somehow fits the BIG PICTURE! So unless you're really prejudges about movies that stir up your emotions you'll just love this movie and I bet you are going to cry while watching it too.

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Go for It (1983)

10/10

Funny beyond description

2 December 2006

What can be said about this except that it's gut busting funny! If Hitchock's North by Northwest has an interesting yet quite believable identity switch (and it has), then this one works in the same way. By answering to a certain name a new identity is given to our heroes and the plot thickens. OK, the bad guy is an ultimate idiot, but that's to be taken into the account - after all this one is a comedy.

Quite a lot of stunts and many humorous punches. Slapstick at it's best and it meets up with a great storytelling talent. Not to mention it's actually a feel-good movie. It lifts your spirits with it's lightness and humor. Can't go wrong with this one!

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Prehistoric Women (1950)

4/10

Great "prehistoric" hairdo!

4 August 2006

I must say! I didn't realize that the hair comb was invented even before fire was?! And I certainly didn't know that the prehistoric women walked so upright, and with such grace. No wonder people started evolving. I mean such well cared for women even had men taking up the hygiene - for they're all squeaky clean. It's all so very accurate (including the giant).

OK, the movie has some naive and primitive charm, but I guess the main reason for making it was to show a bit more feminine skin then the regular movies would allow. Still not accurate. The costumes look more like sleeveless fur coats then the clothing actual prehistoric people would wear.

I'd be really surprised if the maker of this movie ever even saw a book on the prehistoric world. It's just so silly.

Still, you might get slightly entertained by this movie, trying to sell itself like a national geographic documentary (including the most appealing part - the showing of the native women), but I'd recommend you just about any other movie.

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Na svoji zemlji (1948)

8/10

The first one!

19 July 2006

Only 10 years after the first celluloid films were presented to the general public (brothers Lumiere) Slovenes got their first pioneer of cinematography. It was Karl Grossman (in 1905), who made some home movies. In the between-war-years the Slovenian movie developed and thus a documentary about the Slovenian Alps was made. It was a silent and documentary movie, but it was of very high quality. But the first ever feature film, with a plot and acting came only in 1948. It's this very film - Na svoji zemlji (On Our Land), so one can justly say this is the first Slovene movie. In this perspective you should compare it to some early sound films of the 30s. I love comparing it with "A Ferwell to Arms (1932)" seeing for they are both war movies with a love story in the background (there are huge differences though). So no, it's not bad, but it was technically heavily dated at the time it was made (when compared to foreign - especially Hollywood films). Still worth a look and still (for better or worse) among the better Slovene movies ever made.

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Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil (1985 TV Movie)

8/10

Well worth watching!

16 July 2006

Warning: Spoilers

When I saw the DVD on sale I had no idea what I was buying, but it was cheap and I hoped it could be interesting. I got much more then my money's worth! It's a story of a German family (father, mother and three sons). In the years of the depression the oldest son joins the Nazi union - simply to get a job. He feels it's the right thing (the Germans having jobs in Germany, even if it meant they'd have to get rid of the foreigners). The other son is strongly against it (but then again he doesn't have to work, he's going to study and be an intellectual).

But at the time that Hitler took power and he decided to deal with the brown-shirts the oldest son realizes just what the Nazi regime is all about. As many other common men he is disillusioned and when the war comes, he's sent to the Russian front (where he simply wants to perform his duty).

The other son (who's studying now) was very much against the Nazi regime, but one of the tutors shows him that the Nazi way of thinking is the right was, that the goal justifies the means. He becomes an SS officer and s firm believer in the worst parts of the Nazi ideology.

The war is nearing the end, the Germany is on its knees. Two brothers meet. Their little brother (still just a child) just became one of the kid soldiers defending the Raich. Only after he blindly goes and attacks a tank the older brother (the SS officer) realizes what the blind hatred of the Nazi ideology is doing to people, and how they have virtually brainwashed him as well.

This is just the main part of the story - following the lives of this particular family. There are also many other sub-stories, which really make this film more then just a family drama.

All in all it will help you understand how a common man in Germany was overwhelmed by the Nazi propaganda and how the common man had virtually no choice but to do what he did. It will also show you how important it is for any leadership to have a strong opposing critical voice - otherwise the society can easily be doomed (which is not completely unlike what we are witnessing today in many parts of the world).

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Volga - Volga (1938)

5/10

Stalin's favorite film!

15 July 2006

When Stalin ordered Alexandrov to make this movie, he said he only wanted to see the happy images of the simple rural people along the river Volga. One could say, Stalin wanted something that would prove to him his people are happy (even if he ordered others to lie to him to make the appearance of happiness). There's no real story or plot, there's just a number of folk dances and rituals thrown together in order to entertain. It's kitch that served only one purpose - to make a dictator happy. I wouldn't even classify this movie as a comedy, it's simply a musical, or better yet a recorded account of folk dancing and singing with some attempts to moderate the time in between the musical sequences. Thus you should not even look for the depth of the characters or the story. Were it made that way Alexandrov might have even been shot! This film could not afford to be critical. IT was made in an era of Soviet history when one could not express one's self as an artist, but had to do what the propaganda machine demanded of him.

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Dick Tracy (1937)

5/10

Laughable - but it wasn't meant to be.

14 July 2006

After watching all 15 episodes I have to tell you that this Dick Tracy seems to have paved the way for some of today's action heroes taken from the classic comics. The plot line is simply put - silly (a big crime ring cooperates with foregin goverments, wants to blackmail their own government, brainwashes people...). There seem to be hundreds of things going on and not a single case is solved. Tracy comes in, gets in a fight, the evil scheme is spoiled (case closed), bad guys escape, Dick follows them and get's in terrible danger. End of episode, right before Dick is about to die a horrible death. The next episode opens with a long revision of the previous story and Dick escapes unharmed. Meets with friends and the new problem arises. They investigate for a few minutes and then the same story all over. All right, the effects were awesome for the time when this was made and the ideas for how the villains planed to take charge were probably highly original back then (but were copied ever sense), still, not a single episode seems to have any depth. It was just jumping from one quick and shallow attempt by the Lame one to do whatever it was he wanted to do (there never seemed to be a grand plan behind his actions) to another. All in all, if they wouldn't repeat those previous episode scenes at the beginning of each episode and if the episodes took some time to develop a story it might have been good. Now (especially after watching it at once) as one long Dick Tracy session, I was really disappointed by the shallowness, but pleasantly surprised by the great effects.

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