Suspect's Reviews

STAR WARS: Revenge of the Sith
(George Lucas)



"Great film, with disappointments"

We start off with your typical STAR WARS, but go down to a non-typical fight. TIE fighters everywhere, beautiful special effects, but from the ongoing camera movements and the bright colors on the screen, it got a little disorienting. The reason for this? Well the clone war is ending and a new villain has entered the series known as General Grevious, half alien half machine with four arms, who from what I've read all over the internet was suppose to be a Jedi killing mother, which brings me to disappointment number one.

General Grevious. This thing does not kill one Jedi in this entire movie. In the scene were OBI-WAN enters and Grevious tells the others to back off, he takes out his four light sabers ready to own. I get excited expecting to see the 2nd best light-saber battle in the whole series. Yet, what we get is a short 2 minute if that fight. First of all, no way can Kenobi block all the light sabers from this guy with his one, yet he does and he manages to slice off two of Grevous's sabers, then the little guy runs away, his end comes by a gun, shot by obi-wan, what a waste of my time, that was pathetic.You expect to see this guy kick major ass and he's taken out of the picture so easily, which is one of my problems with the whole prequel series (Darth Maul/Jango Fett)

This movie of course is darker then the first two and probably darker then Empire Strikes Back, it also carries the most light-saber battles/action scenes in the entire series.....but after seeing so many light sabers battles they kind of lose their excitement.

YODA VS EMPEROR....while great, kinda let down by the shortness and how they did not use their "arena" to the full potential. ANAKIN VS OBI-WAN, people have been waiting for 20 years for this battle and it finally comes, it was good, you can even say epic in a way. But worth the wait of 20 years......I think not. Mace Windu and random Jedi VS EMPEROR....boy did those JEDI get it in 3 seconds or what, it looked like he was literally slow as a snail going uphill when he stuck the light-saber in them and yet the still take the hit. MACE Windu owned the emperor in the battle and the glass shatter was a great. The best light-saber battle is still DUEL OF FATES

Excited to see old characters such as Chewie and VADER, even though you know for a fact that they will have little screen time you can't help but feel disappointed with what they do in that screen time. Vader has no more then 5 minutes on the screen and the Frankenstein tribute was totally stupid in my opinion and took away from the awesomeness of VADER. LACK of Chewie.....lack of Wookies in general. The battle between the Wookies is very short.

What are the absolute worse things about this movie, well you probably would have guessed it, since it does not improve what so ever over the other two...dialogue and acting. A lot of the times I found myself rolling my eyes at the utter stupidness of some of the lines.

"You're so beautiful.."
"Only because I'm so in love."
"No, it's because I'm so in love with you."

HAYDEN is still bad as Anakin until the transformation takes place. Ewan is probably the worst one here.

"hang on were smarter than this"

That is said after being trapped in an energy shield and of course the unbelievable scene where he sees his PADWAN a person who he calls his brother and person he loves kill the young lings (another gripe....just call them children) and all he can say in a monotone voice is something along the lines of

"I can't watch this"

Please it looked/sounded like he was just reading it from the script. Not all the acting and dialogue is bad in this film, the highlight of the movie is PALPATINE....like Ebert said in his review, he has the hardest job of playing a character on both sides and he pulls this off marvelously. He owned this movie, even more then YODA....who owned the second.

Yes this is the better of the first two prequels for the fact that we get more into seeing why things are the way they are....Luke/Leia, Emperor and his disfigurement, that's about it, yup they don't really tie the two films together very well in my opinion. I was just waiting for more things to pop up to tie them together. There are still plot holes. Which I do not want to read the books to find the answers to, this should have been addressed in the film.

1> Who is Cyphis Deus? 2> How does Leia remember her birth mother

We all know what happens in this film and everyone is only going to watch it to see how these things come to be, but I was hoping/praying for one thing to be a surprise, one little thing. I remember reading somewhere that a line is spoken that shatters the STAR WARS universe, where is this line? We all know the Anakin becomes VADER and I was impressed with the story behind why he did this, but not with the amount of time it took for him to do this....it was so quick. I understand the time frame but come on, the movie went by so fast you could of put more time for the transition. The movie is 2:30, but with all the action it flies by so fast. When ANAKIN VS OBI-WAN came up I was thinking to myself, already? I didn't like how he chose the dark side to save Padme's life, but tries to kill her at the same time.

8/10

__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Mr. In-Between (Paul Sarossy)



"This hitman missed his mark"

Jon is an ideal employee: neat, efficient and conscientious. The torture he inflicts is effective and the kills are swift. Mentored by his tattooed boss, the only thing asked of Jon is total quality. But something happens...and for the first time Jon let his emotions affect his work. Now the tables are turned as the boss and the hit-man face off in the most dangerous kind of business...The Killing Kind."

The main problem with this film was that I just couldn't get into it, it had great characters, a good story and twists that would all account for a great film. But it just missed that thing that makes films interesting. Maybe it was the "low-budget" aspect of the quality of film that made me dis-like the film, or maybe the fact that I thought it was going to be something totally different.

He isn't a hit-man that I would picture, he hardly ever uses a gun (which is showcased on the cover). He uses a pool cue and a fire poker among things. The dialouge does indeed suck, but that's British films for you (Save Shaun and Snatch).

The fact of the matter is, this film tries to be something that it's not, which is SNATCH and LOCK STOCK, with a twist at the end that will shock some, but leave the others asking why. There are some great characters here that could use a touch up here or there, other then that, this film is a disappointment,

6/10

Starship Troopers 2 (Phil Tippett)



"Takes all the fun out of the original"


What made the first movie fun was the fact that it was humans against bugs, and seeing that was great, what happens here is a one night, human VS human thing which is pathetic and been done too many times before.

No one wants to see the same thing on screen they've seen years before, you want to do something fresh, especially in a sequel. That is the conflicting thing here, it is indeed very different from the first movie, but you must realise that different isn't always a good thing, you will not get good reviews for trying something different,m it has to work and here it does not.

I rented this movie to see more action between bugs and humans, see some news bugs, not small bugs taking over humans, anyone see DECOYS, this movie is good for two reasons, boobs and some nice deaths. I did like the main actor though, he showed a nice rough toughness, but the movie was too predictable, with bad acting, and no fun.....yup, I was bored in a movie that is solely made to entertain, it's a shame it fails on many levels.

This movie would be at the very least decent as a stand alone film, having nothing to do with Starship Troopers, but the fact of the matter is, is that it is a sequel, one that should have never seen the light of day.

4.5/10

Here is a good test...just asking....WHat do you think of Flash Gordon? Lets see an in depth review now.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Campfire Stories (Bob Cea)



"Not THE Worst film of all time"


Not as bad as "Carnivore", this low budget film is still sh*t, but I have more respect for it then I have for "The Worst Movie Ever, Carnivore". Anyways...Two teens on their way to a backwoods party come across a beautiful young woman (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) having car trouble, so they go into the woods to find campers she said she saw, they run into Ranger Bill, and he starts telling them these campfire stories. There are 3 stories, one involves a lunatic killer, the other a haunted Indian/weed pipe and the last one is yet another killer story. Personally I liked the last story the best, but that is not saying much. I mistakenly bought Carnivore in a 5 dollar bin at Wal mart, I got this at Christmas. There was a deal if you buy one movie, you get another one, my mom picked it while she was getting the "Awesome" Dog Soldiers.

The acting is mostly high school level and the music is really lame. The worst performance is "Ranger Bill" played by David Johansen, he really sinks this movie. I will admit, at the beginning I had hopes for it, it was going alright, then they meet up with Bill and it goes downhill from there. Now the acting is as bad as Carnivore (I'll be making lots of references to it) but it is worse than Evil Dead. So you get the idea, the best performance is from a guy who has 2 lines it, the escaped lunatic mental killer in the first story.

The first story, about a group of jocks picking on a school handyman, doesn't fair much better in it's acting or production values. Once it gets going there is a level of creepiness to it but the whole set up before the climax is so poorly done that you find yourself caring very little about what happens.

Aside from some poor special effects (well good in a high school class project sort of way) the second story involving three troublemakers looking to profit from the murder of a native man, fails to really grab the viewer. There isn't much wrong with the story it just doesn't do much until the twist ending. At that point everything registers and the story makes sense, unfortunately it's not much fun getting to that point.

The final, and best, story is a nice little "who-done-it". While the story, of four friends getting together for a night of "passion" which ends in murder, doesn't really set itself up as well as it could, it does contain the most suspense of the 4 stories. This entry contains the best of everything in the movie, best story, acting and suspense. The topper is that is also contains the best ending as you continue to guess who the culprit is.

If you are the kind of fan who likes low budget campy kind of stuff, then be my guest. If you thought carnivore was at the very least okay, then give this one a try, it has a lot of of screen gore, like chainsaw scene in Scarface. For instance, the lead jock's neck and a saw come to meet, but all you see is the blood drip onto his chest. There's no nudity, hardly any language this movie doesn't feel like a real horror movie to me, just some kind of thriller, with one or two horror elements thrown in.

2.5/10

Primal Fear (Gregory Hoblit)



"Norton Shines"


Here is a movie that gives away the ending in the TAGLINE, and yet no one sees it coming. I guessed he was a schizo when he first said he black out, but to find out that it was all a act, is brilliant, and it was brilliantly delivered by a new face, EDWARD NORTON.

Norton in my opinion was the shinning moment in this film and GERE gives his average performance yet again. What GERE lacks is what NORTON makes up for in this film. The supporting cast does a good job, Laura gets credit for out doing GERE in my opinion.

The script is a little weak and of course has plot holes, but the twist ending makes up for an other wise average story. The direction is good and uses the NORTON character very well, AARON is such a pathetic, innocent character that when we see ROY, we believe that this is real, again kudos to NORTON.

The ending leaves little to the imagination, it could have ended a little better in my opinion, tie up some lose knots here and there. Abrupt endings kill a lot of movies.....REVENGE OF THE SITH.

I was surprised to see the GORE at the beginning of this film, with the murder of the BISHOP and the language seemed out of place from some characters, but then on the other hand totally in place (ROY).

This is a film that has a good premise and great twist, but is left in the shadows of other "TWIST" films, that in my opinion are not as good as this one. This film deserves a little more recognition that it receives and it's a shame it did not. The only person who benefited from it is of course NORTON.

8/10

Primer (Shane Carruth)



"Not your average sci/fi"

This is a low budget movie from first time director Shane Carruth and based on that it is a really good film. It is a sci/fi movie, but not like you other sci/fi movies, this one is more based on story then special effects and mumbo jumbo time travel dialouge. Yes, it's a time travel movie and it's one for the thinkers too.

The movie is about two friends who, develop new technologies in their garage. The two accidentally discover that their latest invention can actually send objects back in time. With this new found discovery, they make one bigger with the intention of sending actual people through time and take very important steps along the way to make sure that it does not affect their actual life, in the past.

Since it was only made for a short amount of money, the audio and visual portions of the film are a little on the down side but I really dug the unique visual camera shots of the film. Certain shots were very clever and made the film seem on a more of an artistic level.

Yes, I'm not afraid to say that I didn't understand most of it, but hey, if you're into low-budget/time travel type movies, give it a shot. I'm sure you won't be disappointed, but the time travel isn't what you think it is. This is not Back to the Future, this is a Donnie Darko, of shorter caliber

7/10

Face/Off (John Woo)



"Switching Roles"

John Woo is the so called master of action films, where he puts heavy on the action and light on the characters, he does this again with FACE/Off, but what makes this film different is the fact that the characters actually switch roles in it, which makes it more interesting then his previous "american films". We see the actors brilliantly display hate/love and imitate each other. Without this element, this film would probably fall flat on it's face in the action genre and become a fading memory, instead of making it's mark in film

Other then the fact that they switch roles, what makes this film different from it's other rivals? Not that much, it's your typical gun fights here, explosions there, chase scene here, but does that mean that it makes it unenjoyable? Certainly not. There are tons of scenes where the bullets fly for those action hounds and of course the movie has the signature double gun from hard boiled and Woo's birds flying away. Woo has a talented eye for action, but not very much for characters, does that harm this film, a little, but again with the fact that the actors in it, portray different personalities, you don't really get a sense of that, you feel for the character of Archer and his dead son. CAGE, who is a personal fav, gives a great performance, but it's TRAVOLTA, the "bad guy' who gets the glory in this film for having a fun time.

The story is laughable, but fun and that's what this movie is, pure fun. It does have emotional parts of it, but it does little for people who go to see this movie, unless your a sappy person who cries at the death of everybody. The ending is a little inane, but forgivable in this film. It could have had a better ending, which would have made the film go down in history as a great action film, instead of a fun action film, which is what so many action films are like today.

8/10

Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino)



"One of the greatest films of all time"

Pulp Fiction is a movie that grabs you by the throat and won't let go till the end. With it's great cast, incredible direction and unique ( at the time) dialouge, Tarantino has created a movie that will go down in film history as one of the best and will be remember for years to come.

Pulp Fiction is 3 stories interconnecting. Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield are two hit men on the hunt for a briefcase whose contents were stolen from their boss, Marsellus Wallace. Marsellus is out of town, and he's gotten Vincent to take care of his wife, Mia. That is, take her out for a night on the town. Butch Coolidge is a boxer who's been approached by Marsellus and been told to throw his latest fight. Pumpkin and Honey Bunny are two lovebirds/thieves who have decided to rob the restaurant they're currently eating at. But the restaurant doesn't turn out to be as easy as the other places they've robbed.

This is a film that has intense moments that will have you on the edge of your seat, case in point, the overdose scene where they need to inject a shot of adrenaline into Mia's heart. The close up tension from Tarantino and dialouge will have you on the edge of your seat no matter how many times you have seen it. What Pulp Fiction does so well is blend this with comedic scenes and basically "nothing" scenes which make it more real then other films that we see.

Tarantino manages to get great performances out of mediocre film stars like Travolta and Willis, who steal the show. But not without the supporting cast of so many great and talent actors, who fit their characters to perfection. Samuel L. Jackson is Jules, and no one else.

What makes it more interesting is that the three stories connect and are told not in order, so multiple viewings are needed to understand the film as a whole, and with it's length, you would expect it to drag on in certain scenes, but with it's witty dialouge and the superb cast in those scenes you are nothing feeling like it's going on too long.

Tarantino has pulled off a great film and I believe will never top it, this film is the best film of the 90's and one of the best films of all time.

10/10

Cut and paste like a mad man................I assume that you are posting your own reviews from another forum/site. If so I gues thats cool. Must have had some bad experience at your "late" home. If so welcome. I have read what you have posted thus far with enthusiasm.

Done, for now. Yes, can you tell from the oscar things for sideways/million dollar baby, lol.

If you're interested why this film is my favorite Kubrick film, and on my top ten list, read here.

__________________
"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

I've only seen a select few Kubrick films...need to broaden my horizon.

Which ones have you seen?

Eyes Wide Shut
The Shinning
2001
Clockwork Orange
half of spartacus

The Matrix Revolutions
(Wachowski Brothers)



Most Disappointing film of 2003


Revolutions was disappointing. Its too bad too, I liked Reloaded and I liked the Matrix In the first Matrix there were many ideas crucial to the plot that were just taken for granted by everyone, such as the existence of an "Oracle" inside the matrix, as well as the existence of a "One", wow after Reloaded I had hundreds of theories, and when this film came out, to see none of them revealed, or anything remotely good at all, it takes a dive into crap.

This is the weak spot in the trilogy, it does have the best special effects, even the phoney SUPER PUNCH to Smith's face was alright. It is the darkest, with death to some main characters, but I guess it's a main problem is that the Wachowski brothers couldn't come up with an ending to please themselves, so they just threw one together. It is probably the worst way to end a trilogy that could of easily become one of the greatest.

The acting in both of the Matrix films are flat, with this one showing the most emotion from Reeves wiithout the aid of SIGHT, which impressed me very much. Morpheus is nothing but a supporting character here and Trinity just follows Neo everywhere, then dies...again. OH GOD the death scene, it went all Shakespear on us here and dragged on a bit too long. The Kid, it's safe to say that this is the Jar Jar of The Matrix. His dialouge was horrible and terribly delievered, "Neo, I believe" Had me laughing to tear out of embarassment

The fight scenes...wow, and not in a good way. First of all we get a rehased version of the lobby scene in the first one, but how do we make it different, oh we'll get the upside down. Very interesting...please, show us something tangable. How about the Smith/Neo fight, have you've ever seen an episode of Dragon Ball Z, well, yea, that's basically what the fight is, fly around kick here and there and then just give in. Can you say way too many rain bubbles, 3 is enough, not more. The Zion VS Machines was the highligt of this film, it was beautiful and suspenseful, everything I imagined it to be.

The machine city was interesting, and beautiful, the orange/yellow lights, neo's power that is stretches beyond the matrix, all the way to the source, please, that's a cop out. Neo and Trinity soaring beyond the skies, seeing the beautiful sun, just before dipping back into hell, beautiful.

Every character that was the least bit interesting was useless here. The Merovingian, Perphosone, Seraph, Twins (not present, come on they didn't die). I expected a kick ass fight between the smiths and seraph, but got nothing. Every fight scene was a let down.

The story relies on it's viewers to know everything about the the matrix universe, you need to play the games, you need to watch the animatrix, read the comics, just like Episode III. "Holy ****, it's wingless" What does this mean, Serpah has an outer shell like the Oracle, and this is his new one? I don't want to go to the games to get the answers.

Overall, I was disappointed with the outcome of this movie, it was a let down, maybe because it was over-hyped, maybe because it was simply crap...I'll never know.

6/10

Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch)




"Jim Jarmusch's Best Film, Not Murray's"


Will Bill Murray get a nomination for Best Actor this year? Well probably, because there's not much out there, sure he's good in the film, but throughout the whole movie he looks like a deer caught in headlights.

Jim Jarmush has his best film here, it's heart warming, funny, and sad, he blends them all so well. He fades almost in every scene, some may think this is overdone, but I believe it worked very well for the tone of the film. This movie is this years Sideways.



Bill Murray has the same expression on his face throughout the film, so his performance is not as good as Lost in Translation, but it's note-worthy. The women he makes contact with, are very different, one tries to be young, one tries to be conservative, and may still have feelings for Don (Murray), one has taken a career change from Lawyer to animal communicator, that's right she talks to animals and one is basically trailer park trash. Don see's this women and it sheds light on his lonely pathetic life.

The music in the movie is a blend of all the same, a CD given to Don from Winston, his neighbour, of a foreign decent, I can't remember the name. The comedy in the film is very undertonned. It may pop up out of nowhere and just ease in dramatically. One scene that was totally random was when the first women his goes to daughter flirts with him and she pops out of her room naked.

Overall, this is an artiscally done film, with minor problems, mainly Murray one look face, but depsite that, it's a good flick and you won't be disappointed with the results.

8/10

Just a suggestion TUS, but if you want people to read a review of a new film, you should put spoiler text formatting on the specific spoilers, so that those of us who haven't seen it yet can read the part that isn't spoil-ing.

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

Thanks for the spoiler info, if you read it, and have not seen the movie, I apologize.

No worries here. I got as far as you saying *spoilers* and stopped reading.
Now that I have read it, thanks for the review!