Lima

A killer game with a lot of blood and maybe even a hidden message. You can think of it as a big fling that doesn't make any sense, or you can think of it as a reflection on the causes of violence, on how, in a liminal situation, even the greatest of friends can become mortal enemies. Personally, I would lean towards the former, but it’s certainly worth watching, and I appreciate the originality.

I felt like smashing the monitor with a hammer every now and then, because Butthead's clacking annoyed me, but otherwise I had a good time with this crazy stuff. Plus, it was educational. I learned what would happen if I ate a whole pack of Xanax in one go, what happens when you hallucinate in the desert, what is actually cool and most importantly, how hard it is to "score". And if you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out, you won’t regret it. Or maybe you will...

The ideal three-star film, simply average, it doesn't suck or impress. The viewer spends a pleasant 110 minutes in the company of a guy with a heart transplant, Clint, who shows that he hasn't forgotten how to direct, although in this case he doesn't perform any miracles. True, the villain didn’t have to be so easily predictable, but in a one-view film, that's not a problem.

I have a problem with Japanese horror movies and their remakes. To put it simply, they don’t scare me, whether it is The Ring or, in this case, The Eye. And yet, can’t say they are badly made, quite the contrary, but emotionally, they just can't stir me up properly. The Eye has a novel, interesting story, but it has one pretty big flaw: two set-up endings, the second of which, while effective, is very awkward in its own way, and it would have been better if it hadn’t been there at all. Overall, based on the responses, I expected it to be much better. Which brings me back to the beginning of my review...

Some of the episodes are “only” brilliant and some are downright masterpieces, especially episodes six, seven and nine: Bastogne, The Breaking Point, and Why We Fight, the last one of which took my breath away. By the way, the fifth episode, Crossroads, was directed by Tom Hanks himself and with his use of interesting cuts between two time planes and unusual camera angles he proves that he is not only a great actor but also a great director. Overall, I bow in deep respect to the people behind this ten-part work of genius, for the impeccable filmmaking, for the absence of annoying jingoism, and for the deep humanity that permeates all the episodes. Ladies and gentlemen, 5 stars is not enough in this case!

Better than the first one in every aspect, much darker and therefore much closer to my tastes. Radcliffe as Potter is once again dreadfully plankish, the actors playing Ron and Hermione are better, they are undeniably talented. Some of the scenes are so scary that little kids must get the creeps. For example, as an arachnophobe, I barely made it through the scene with the spiders. And back to Radcliff, I’m surprised they gave such a big role to a wooden actor like him. But when I see that one of the producers just happens to be called Radcliffe, I'm wonder if there wasn’t some nepotism involved. Anyway, in conclusion, I would just like to add that my desire for the Nimbus 2000 has passed. Now I want the Nimbus 2001, it’s supposed to have better aerodinamics.

I know that as an ordinary muggle I have no say in this, but why on earth didn't the creators conjure up a better lead? Daniel Radcliffe is awfully plankish, even though I can't expect miracles from a rookie. And I would also expect that in a project like this, some of the visual effects wouldn't be so blatantly digital. And while I'm criticising, Williams's music isn't one of the strong points either. I find Williams quite repetitive, and part of the main motif reminds me strikingly of one of the motifs in Schindler's List. On the other hand, the Quidditch scene was good and the the pawns with two swords in the chess game were cool. I also liked John Cleese’s appearances. And one more thing, I’ve made up my mind, sod cars, I’m getting a Nimbus 2000…

It’s not bad to flush your brain every now and again with a silly infantile thing like this. Pure entertainment that doesn't pretend to be anything else, it's colourful to the point of being overwrought with a cool Haunted Island and Rowan Atkinson in an uncharacteristic role on top. If only they had avoided the typical fashion statement of these days, a fart and burp scene. Other than that, it’s OK.

Hackford doesn't weigh too heavily on sentiment and the plot moves forward at a decent pace. The South American realities were spot on, as was the convincing David Morse as the captive. What this film has been faulted for in reviews is that the chemistry between Crowe and Meg Ryan was unconvincing. To be honest, it’s true and I don’t care. Crowe's charisma makes the whole story tight, it's his movie and Meg Ryan is almost redundant.

Considering the stuff Seagal was doing at the time time, it's an above-average action flick. Seagal should kiss Joel Silver's feet for taking him into his good graces and temporarily pulling him out of the shitty waters of subpar direct-to-video stuff. This film was supposed to be his return to the limelight, but unfortunately (fortunately?) it didn't happen, as evidenced by his latest creations.