3 Quick Reviews by Weber
Howdy all,
Here’s three quick reviews from local moviephile Weber or Demonic Weber as he is known in some circles. Great choices if you are looking for something to keep you entertained in doors that does not involve either crisco or twister.
Enjoy,
Frank
So I go to the video store, find couple of movies before the ballgames start. Tigers kicked the Yankees asses and Michigan beat Michigan State. Anyway, at the video store I find two movies, take them up to the counter. “We’re having a deal,” the clerk informs me “three for $9.99.” I jump for joy, all my dreams answered, I get to leave line and find another great movie to enjoy. Searching the shelves hoping to find that one movie that jumps at me, even though I just spent 10 hours to find two that were worthy of my superior taste. Coming back in disappointment to the counter, I spot it. The Return Tray. Was there a movie there that I miss looked? Is there some out there that had better taste in movies and rented a great movie and brought it back just for me? Or did they hate it, returned it early only to tempt my curiosity? Curious George must have been a fine film. A character worshiped by so many….. First graders. And I, I have so much in common with first graders. Then, I see it a treasure in the midst of trash. The golden print. The holy grail of moviedom. I take the movie to the clerk. “This is the movie I want.”, I proclaim with great confidence as the customers in line cheered. I found the perfect movie. Rushing home as fast as I can I whip into the garage, slam open the door, turn the TV on and pull the movie out of the case. Curious Friggin George. O cruel fate, the shame I felt as I loaded my DVD player could not be measured. By the way, if you believed a word of this story, you see what movies I reviewed. It’s all about misdirection.
REVIEWS…
THE PROPOSITION
Starring Guy Pearce (LA Confidential)
Charlie, played by Pearce, finds himself screwed over when he has to chose to either watch his younger (good) brother hang on Christmas Day or track down and kill his older (evil) brother. A grisly shoot out at the beginning of this movie suddenly stops and slows to a crawl in a character study of good versus evil. Half way through the film, the line between good and evil blurs. Can Charlie kill his brother? Can he let his younger brother swing from the gallows? Does evil beget evil? If a good person can become evil, can a evil person become good? The acting though not Oscar worthy delivers on intent but not in depth. A very good western but then again what is good?DOWN IN THE VALLEY
Starring Edward Norton (Primal Fear, Fight Club) David Morse (St. Elsewhere, The Negotiator)Edward Norton surprises you every time you see him. He changes characters so often, even within the same film (Primal Fear), that you’re never sure what to believe from him. In Down In The Valley, he plays a gee-golly aw-shucks cowboy, Harlan, from South Dakota who falls for a young girl in the Valley. The father of the girl, played by David Morse, doesn’t trust Harlan or believe his wholesome image. Slow moving at the beginning but picks up a lot near the last quarter, you wonder if it’s ever going to get where it’s going. It not only gets where it’s going but twists and goes somewhere you’re not quite expecting. The ending was a little disappointing perhaps confusing. Still a really fun ride when you’re with Norton.
LUCKY # SLEVIN
Starring Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, Sin City) Bruce Willis (Hudson Hawk, Four Rooms) Lucy Liu (Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels) Morgan Freeman (Unleashed, Dreamcatcher) Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Dave) Stanley TucciTypical setup pit two warring gangsters (Freeman and Kingsley) against one another, the exception is a stooge caught in the middle, Slevin (Hartnett). Every one’s against Slevin, he’s been beat up, robbed, mistaken for a gambler who owes some big debts, and his girlfriend’s cheating on him. This doesn’t bother Slevin one bit, through it all he just keeps smiling. Misdirection in this movie is a character own its own. Than once The Usual Suspects comes to mind in that you’re trying to put the pieces together. Good acting all around balance the glossy feel the film has. A well rounded movie.
Of the three above movies, my pick would be Lucky # Slevin. The others are great movies but you didn’t need to get through the slow parts in Slevin. Funnily enough, Slevin is the longest of these movies. Hope you found the reviews useful.
Give Em A Chance
-WEBER
Contributed by Weber
