Iro's Film Diary

I agree although I try to read the review to see if they are being fair and actually acknowledging flaws. Difference between a critic and a regular movie goer is whether they can critically unpack a film and be able to point out flaws in narrative etc.

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It doesn't take a well-informed critic to give a comedy a bad rating because they didn't enjoy it's sense of humor.

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"Well, at least your intentions behind the UTTERLY DEVASTATING FAULTS IN YOUR LOGIC are good." - Captain Steel

Yeah no I agree on the comedy front, thats all just based on personal preference, but I've read reviews were critics can't seem to articulate why they don't like something and thats what frustrates me.

Was just talkin' about that in another thread.

solid points; for me, a rating is a quick look at "how" they felt about the movie, the write up goes into "what" they felt. Whether succinctly or in great detail.
I do find myself checking the rating BEFORE reading any given review. Though in the end its the film itself that makes up whether or not to read the review. The exceptions come about when I really am curious to read any given person's opinions/observations/feelings etc. or just actually have the time to meander.

Regarding Shawshank; it DOES seem to be very easy to like without having any solid reasoning to WHY. And yes, in the end, it doesn't really matter.

#35 - Drop Dead Gorgeous
Michael Patrick Jann, 1999



A documentary team covers the events leading up to a high-school beauty pageant in small-town America where the contestants are suddenly dying under suspicious circumstances.

At first, Drop Dead Gorgeous seems like it's going to have some decent comedic potential. It's got a promising enough high concept about a high-school beauty pageant where a series of fatal accidents keep befalling contestants in such a manner that instantly raises suspicion of foul play. This prompts one earnest young contender (Kirsten Dunst) to consider quitting even though it threatens her goal to be a beauty queen like her idol and also make her alcoholic former-contender mother (Ellen Barkin) proud. The introduction of a mockumentary angle certainly seems like a natural fit for the plot, especially as the various oddballs from this small town blather on about anything and everything regardless of how appropriate it might be. There's also the cast that includes some serviceable comedic performers such as Kirstie Alley, Allison Janney, and Amy Adams. Unfortunately, they can't adequately compensate for the fact that the actual comedy in Drop Dead Gorgeous is seriously weak. Though there are some likeable characters and the odd chuckle here and there, the humour derived from quirky Midwesterners acting matter-of-fact about all sorts of local weirdness and bigotry does wear thin pretty quickly even in a film as short as this one. Drop Dead Gorgeous gets some points for trying to distinguish itself from other high-school comedies of the era thanks to its mockumentary angle, but there are instances where it seems to forget about this angle entirely and only serves to remind one how this kind of humour has been done much better both before and after.

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#36 - Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel
Alex Stapleton, 2011



A documentary about legendary low-budget filmmaker Roger Corman and his experiences within the film industry.

Corman's World feels like something of an unofficial companion piece to Mark Hartley's Machete Maidens Unleashed!, which had already dedicated a large portion of its running time to Corman's filmmaking operations in the Phillippine Islands. Stapleton's film naturally focuses more on Corman himself as it covers his incredibly long and varied career within the film industry. The man occupies an interesting place within cinematic history due to his tendency to direct and produce extremely low-budget films, yet he maintains a great influence on the world of film due to the sheer number of big-name actors and directors who got their first breaks into the business by working on Corman productions. Many of the biggest ones pop up here, whether it's actors like Jack Nicholson and Robert de Niro or directors like Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme - and that's without mentioning cult figures like Dick Miller, Mary Woronov, and Joe Dante. Everyone's got a story to tell about Corman, but it's interesting to hear how they talk about him in comparison to other well-known schlock-meisters who have received the documentary treatment. Compared to Electric Boogaloo's warts-and-all treatment of eccentric movie moguls Menahem Golan and Goran Globus, Corman's World feels downright hagiographic as the interviewees seem sincere in their admiration for Corman, while Corman himself comes across as a soft-spoken gentleman who doesn't seem like the kind of person who you'd think would have made films like A Bucket of Blood and DinoShark.

While there's arguably not a whole lot of depth to this quick and easy documentary, Corman's World has the kind of infectious enthusiasm for the art of cinema that makes it into entertaining viewing. This much is reflected in the interviewees as they wax poetic about their own connections to Corman, even getting surprisingly emotional in the process (especially Nicholson, whose final segment is definitely a surprise as it shows cracks in the actor's characteristically crusty demeanour). The films featured do tend to be exploitational to some extent or another and cover a variety of genres, though they all seem very watchable in small snippets (and some of them are still good in full). There are even hints of greater depth to Corman's seemingly superficial exploits; what really intrigued me was the segment dedicated to his 1962 feature The Intruder, which starred a pre-Star Trek William Shatner as a charismatic bigot looking to cause trouble in a segregated Southern town. Despite aiming for something a little deeper than his usual B-grade thrills and apparently succeeding, Corman claims that it is the only film he ever made in his long and varied career that he ever lost money on. This alone goes some towards explaining Corman's practices as both an artist and a businessman, but it says a lot about how he never comes across as a cynical miser in spite of this. His cheapness is just a matter of fact, not a means of increasing profits at the expense of his product's quality. Like its central subject, Corman's World can't help but be a charming little affair that can point you towards some entertaining-looking films and also works at celebrating one very unusual Hollywood success story.

I haven't seen this, but it sounds interesting.

#37 - Phoenix
Christian Petzold, 2014



A Jewish Holocaust survivor undergoes facial reconstruction surgery that renders her virtually unrecognisable to her Gentile husband.

Phoenix takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II, beginning with the introduction of Nelly (Nina Hoss), a Jewish woman whose face has been severely disfigured and is covered in bandages. After returning to her native Berlin, she undergoes facial reconstruction surgery that grants her a new appearance that is almost completely different from her old face. With the help of her friend Lene (Nina Kunzendorf), she tries to re-adjust to life after having survived the Holocaust, but things are complicated by one person: her husband Johnny (Ronald Zehrfeld), who has managed to maintain a semblance of a normal life while Nelly and her other relatives ended up in concentration camps. It also transpires that Nelly is now the sole heir of a significant inheritance; to this end, when she runs into Johnny again, not only does he not recognise her but he also thinks that "Esther" (as Nelly calls herself) bears enough of a resemblance to the presumed-dead Nelly for them to pull off a scam that allows them to collect the inheritance. As a result, Nelly finds herself torn in a number of different directions due to her extremely complicated feelings towards an oblivious Johnny and her uncertainty about a future living in Palestine with Lene.

In telling the story of these three individuals as they try to piece their lives together amidst the rubble of post-war Germany, Phoenix touches upon a number of potent themes underneath its already-compelling morality play narrative. In addition to rebuilding their lives with all the other Germans living in a partially-destroyed Berlin, Lene and Nelly must also deal with the various traumas caused by being Holocaust survivors who have not only lost their families but are coming back to a city where almost all the Jews have been eliminated and they are still unsure about which Gentiles can be considered trustworthy. Lene's plan to head to Palestine and help to form a new independent state for Jews sounds like a sympathetic goal regardless of the actual politics surrounding the area, while the film continues to examine fractured notions of human relationships and concepts of self by creating some serious ambiguity over how Nelly will resolve her situation with Johnny. The lack of technical complexity reflects the emphasis on the story, with only the subtlest displays of camerawork and editing working to embolden plot points that could have been dreadfully overdone to the point of losing their impact. Films regarding post-war anxiety, the Holocaust, and drastic changes in physical appearance have been done many times before, so it's a credit to Phoenix that it combines these elements into a captivating experience that doesn't draw things out too much or resort to overblown melodrama to tell its maudlin but fascinating tale about life after wartime.

#38 - The Godfather
Francis Ford Coppola, 1972



When an ageing Mafia boss is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, his family and associates must deal with the resulting conflict.

(Okay, folks, I'll level with you - I'm several films behind on this log and I've recently sustained an arm injury that's made it a little difficult to maintain my usual writing pace (and that's on top of me being busier than usual). As a result, I've decided to shift my reviewing priorities a bit, especially with an emphasis on new releases. So if you were expecting some grand review of one of the so-called greatest movies ever made...sorry about that. It's not like I'd have much else to say about one of the most talked-about films in existence other than to point out how there are minor technical issues like really obvious instances of ADR scattered throughout the film.)

#39 - The Godfather Part II
Francis Ford Coppola, 1974



A pair of father-and-son Mafia bosses work to consolidate their empires at separate points in history.

(Same again - this is a great film and all, but I'm going to pass on reviewing it for the time being. Watching it more or less back to back with the original has definitely made me question which one I prefer - still inclined to give it to this one, but the margin between the two has definitely grown smaller.)

#40 - The Godfather Part III
Francis Ford Coppola, 1990



An ageing Mafia boss is looking to redeem his past sins by allying himself with the Catholic Church but struggles due to the demands of his business.

I first watched Part III over a decade ago and I'm only now getting around to watching it a second time because, well, it didn't do anything for me. It's technically decent and features some good performers - always good to see Eli Wallach in stuff - but the plotting is haphazard, most of the characterisation is pretty weak, and it mostly feels like a very lacklustre final chapter. It maybe the shortest film, but somehow it feels like the longest in a way that action scenes involving helicopter assaults and public shoot-outs can't ameliorate. Even the whole redemptive arc running through the film and the religious overtones only go so far in making this interesting (or not, as the case may be). Hardly the worst film ever, but it's such a dirge that I can't see myself returning to it for another decade (if at all).

Good review of Shawshank, Iro.

I don't know if you read mine way back when, but here it is anyways, http://www.movieforums.com/community...79#post1391479

As we discussed earlier, we are kind of on the same wave length when it comes to the film's approach and execution being so after the book and straight forward. Still a really solid film indeed.

Sad with no reviews for The Godfather films, but personal health and life comes first (well, at least it should). I know the feel of watching a great grand film and feeling like you should deliver on that. Anyways, I will check out whatever you might post.

#41 - Piranha 3D
Alexandre Aja, 2010



A school of prehistoric piranhas breaks free from the bottom of a lake during spring break.

For some reason, this was playing first in a TV double-bill with Joe Dante's original 1978 B-movie Piranha - maybe to make the latter more palatable in comparison. I know better than to expect high art from a 21st-century remake of a movie about killer fish (in 3D, no less, though this obviously didn't translate to a televised broadcast), but even with that in mind...what's to like? After starting off with a flaccid Jaws homage involving a denim-clad Richard Dreyfuss singing "Show Me the Way to Go Home" in a dinghy on a lake, it's not long before the eponymous creatures are unleashed from a sealed underwater cavern into the local bodies of water...at the same time that loads of spring breakers descend upon a nearby small town for the usual hedonistic festivities. Thus begins a plot that involves a lot of familiar clichés - most of which revolve around a gawky teenage protagonist and his quest to duck out on his various responsibilites (such as taking care of his younger siblings or hanging out with his nice but ordinary-looking girlfriend) in order to hang out with hot bikini babes and the director of a Girls Gone Wild!-style series of videos. Oh, and his mother is the sheriff who's investigating the piranhas' presence.

Of course, people who have made the decision to actually sit down and watch Piranha 3D know that they're not supposed to get much in the way in a layered plot or compelling characters - they just need to not be too annoying as the film speeds through its mercifully brief 90-minute running time. It helps that there are a few decent actors slumming it in the mix who at least infuse some one-note characters with some energy that overcomes both the characters' limits and the makers' affinity for simplistic homage - look no further than Christopher Lloyd's brief appearance as an expert whose breathless delivery of exposition is obviously meant to evoke Doc Brown. The incredibly straightforward nature of such references is liable to grate at times, especially when it extends to certain visual cues within the action itself. Piranha 3D is pretty unapologetic about its B-movie status as it fills out much of its screen-time with many depictions of graphic violence and nudity. The effects work used to carry it out varies quite wildly in quality; the 3D nature of the film means that there's an extremely artificial gloss to many proceedings, while there are semi-tolerable combinations of practical effects and CGI that are used to provide wall-to-wall viscera (the effects used to render the actual fish, not so much). Unfortunately, the on-screen carnage aims to be excessive instead of inventive and the grossly juvenile sense of humour only adds to Piranha 3D being a very difficult prospect even if you are just after some mindless monster mayhem.

#42 - Piranha
Joe Dante, 1978



While investigating a missing persons case, a man and woman discover a secret military experiment involving the creation of a school of mutant piranhas.

I can't tell whether seeing this immediately after Alexandre Aja's 2010 remake was either good for this movie or bad - at least it wasn't bad enough to deter me completely. At least Joe Dante had set a high enough standard in other films that I was definitely prepared to give one of his earlier and rougher works the benefit of the doubt, especially since I'd seen snippets of it in Corman's World anyway. Here, the plot begins when a female investigator is sent to look into a couple that went missing in the woods at the start of the film (who we see fall prey to the classic blunder of going skinny-dipping in a pool at an abandoned water treatment facility). When she gets close, she enlists the services of a local man to help guide her around the area. Of course, what they ultimately find is that the water treatment facility was the site of a top-secret military experiment aimed at creating genetically-enhanced piranhas. Now that the piranhas are loose in the river and heading towards populated parts of the river, it's up to our intrepid leads to do what they can to save the day.

While it's pretty easy to write off Piranha as a cheap Corman-esque attempt to capitalise on the then-recent success of Jaws (and it is very easy to pick up on the various rip-offs and homages that vary in size from major plot points to minor technical decisions), it's got enough charm to compensate for its largely derivative nature. Making it a bit goofier and bloodier than Jaws had the potential to go south very quickly, but somehow the jokes and violence in Piranha actually end up being rather serviceable. The other Dante films I've seen do tend to combine potentially horrifying premises with a lot of black humour of varying levels, and Piranha is no exception. It has some great laughs (not chuckles, laughs) thanks to its eclectic cast of characters (featuring some recognisable Corman regulars, plus a lead who sounds like the prototype for Ron Burgundy) and also involves some very well-timed gags (most memorably the scene where the leads must distract a military sentry by any means necessary). That's certainly enough to compensate for the debatable level of the effects - the work that goes into actual scenes of violence is handled well and with relative restraint, though its attempts to depict schools of fish swimming back and forth are exceptionally low-grade. It doesn't matter, though, because the film is good enough at providing amusement and thrills that it's generally watchable, though not enough to sufficiently exceed its extremely apparent limitations.

#43 - An Officer and a Gentleman
Taylor Hackford, 1982



A headstrong young man with a checkered past decides to join an elite naval training program only to contend with a strict drill sergeant and a local debutante.

An Officer and a Gentleman does not start off promisingly as it involves Richard Gere's troubled military brat decide to enrol in the U.S. Navy's elite aviation program, where he and an equally reckless buddy (David Keith) opt to buck the base's authority as represented by one extremely belligerent drill instructor (Louis Gossett Jr.). In addition, they also have to deal with their budding relationships to a pair of local factory workers (Debra Winger and Lisa Blount) who are perpetually hitting up the base for new paramours. It's a pretty straightforward piece of military-themed melodrama and its first 15 minutes or so made me think that this would be quite the endurance test. Fortunately, it improves somewhat thanks to Gossett Jr.'s scenery-chewing performance that easily steals the show as he runs Gere and his comrades ragged - especially Gere, who predictably sets himself up as the token black-marketeer on base. Even then, the central drama that evolves between Gere and Winger (and, to a lesser extent, Keith and Blount) may not be that great but it is serviceable enough for me to at least concede that this film has enough positives that help to elevate it above structurally similar works. This extends to both the military plot and the romantic plot, which makes it fairly watchable but not overly enjoyable.

Naturally I really like Piranha and it's been a fav since I was a child. I remember my sister loving it even more than I did and we'd imitate the sound of the piranhas swimming en masse whenever it appears.

I liked An Officer And A Gentleman a lot, too. I don't think I've seen it since the 90's, but it was something I thought was looked down upon too much at the time.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

I liked the Piranha 3D film, but despise the sequel, 3DD.

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Suspect's Reviews

I've still not seen the remake. I've had it on the shelf for nearly 6 years now.

I watched Piranha 3D in the theaters and paid top dollar for it. Screw my life....

Now, if I know you well enough, Iro, I hope to see a review for Piranha 3DD very soon.