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Rosetta (1999) Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 8:05 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , ,



Always hard to say something about these sort of movies, since they are being so simple in its setup and you can really hardly go wrong with these type of movies. And this one is good within its genre, though I can't say that it's being the most involving and interesting movie to watch.

You could say that this movie is being like a random slice of life and it's following a young woman around, who is struggling to keep a steady job. There of course is a whole lot of other drama going on as well, also involving a romantic plot.

In the end it also still is a movie that leaves more questions than answers. The movie isn't all about explaining everything to you and tells you what happens after certain events and perhaps more importantly; why. It's OK to feature such an approach, especially for a movie of this sort but in this case I would had preferred some more depth and explanations, to get me more involved with its story and characters.

That was also a big problem for me; I just couldn't ever like or understand the movie its main character. She obviously has some kind of issues and is socially very awkward. Not really a likable person, you want to hang around with, which also makes her not all that great and involving to follow around, in my opinion.

But still as these sort of movies go, I really can't call it a bad one. It never bores and it never drags at any point, though this is obviously a slower type of movie, in which not an awful lot is going on, all the time. It's perhaps not a very engaging movie but it still remains an interesting one, also mostly because it never really gets predictable.

Certainly watchable, especially when you are into these type of movies.

7/10

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House on Haunted Hill (1999) Directed by William Malone

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:56 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 13 July 2009)

For the fans this is a nice homage to the movies from the good old days of horror, when actors such as Vincent Price, Donald Pleasance and Peter Cushing were at an all time height with the simplistic but atmospheric little genre pieces they appeared in. This movie is a remake of the 1959 movie "House on Haunted Hill", with Vincent Price in the main lead. It combines old fashioned horror with the more modern horror style. This is nice for the fans of the genre but nevertheless the movie never ever really works out as an horror.

Modern horror movies featuring lots of special effects are often being bashed but I must say that for this particular movie it does work fine. It's not due to it's special effects that the movie and its horror doesn't work out.

Just blame the movie itself for that. It doesn't ever provide itself with some good scare and horror moments, which is also mostly due to the fact that it is often having too much fun with paying tribute to the more older horror movies. It makes the movie often more a fun and entertaining one, rather than a exciting or scary one. It makes the movie watchable but at the same time also yet quite ineffective.

The writing just isn't anything too good. The script doesn't provide the movie with any good memorable characters you can also care about and it doesn't offer the movie any excitement. The story does try to put you on the wrong track at times but not all of the twists come as entirely unexpected and some of them also just aren't for the good of the movie.

Seems Geoffrey Rush also still had fun playing in this movie though. He often goes over-the-top, in a positive way, since it gives the movie a certain degree of entertainment, which helps to make this movie still a very well watchable one. Other actors such as Famke Janssen and Ali Larter are also present but their play their roles a bit too straight, as if Rush was the only one who understood how to approach his role and play in a movie such as this one. Also Jeffrey Combs plays a small role, which I wished would had been a bit bigger, also since his character is not entirely irrelevant for the story.

You can tell that director William Malone likes and understands the genre. All he needs to do now is to make a good and effective genre movie and use his skills and knowledge more wisely, since he certainly does have it all in him. He know has mostly made some quite bad genre movies, of which this one is still one of his better ones and also certainly the best known movie he has done so far.

A fun but far from effective genre movie.

6/10

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RKO 281 (1999) (TV) Directed by Benjamin Ross

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 4:31 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 16 May 2009)

This is more of a shot docudrama with big name actors in it, rather than a movie that tells a real story. To me this movie was lacking a bit of a point and it didn't achieved much with its story or characters. It's a quite distant movie in which everything remains on the surface. Questions such as who was Orson Welles, why was he such a genius and how "Citizen Kane" influenced basically all later cinema are hardly being answered or handled at all. As a matter of fact this movie isn't even really about Orson Welles or the shooting of "Citizen Kane" at all. It's more about the battle of getting the movie made and eventually released.

The movie does have some interesting things in it, that explain how "Citizen Kane" got first thought off, what the influences were and how it caused lots of troubles for the persons and studios involved but it does this in such an observe documentary kind of way that you just never feel involved with the story or any of its characters. The movie just doesn't always flow well and it doesn't always know to keep its main focus on the right things.

Of course the movie is not horrible, for a made for TV-production it's simply still a quite good one, with some good production values and a great cast involved.

Unfortunately it's not a really well cast movie. Sure it has big names n it but big names aren't everything. Was Liev Schreiber really the best pick to play Orson Welles? I just don't think so. I like Liev as an actor but more as a supporting actor. Some actors just aren't suitable to play important main leads. He of course also looks very little like Orson Welles. The movie also has further more James Cromwell, John Malkovich, Fiona Shaw and Melanie Griffith but it's perhaps only Roy Scheider who knows to make an great and lasting impression with his role.

Worth a go if you're already a bit familiar with Orson Welles and the movie "Citizen Kane", otherwise this movie will hardly keep your interest throughout with its superficial, more documentary-like, telling of the story

6/10

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The Boondock Saints (1999) Directed by Troy Duffy

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 8:54 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , , ,

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(Review originally written at 9 September 2008)

OK so "The Boondock Saints" is a "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" wannabe, like so many other films but in this case it's a good wannabe that definitely entertains.
It's definitely not a movie to take serious, even though it still picks a gritty and realistic approach. This is typical for recent British film-making and something they master. This production is American though and also made by an American director but it still uses this same typical distinctive British style with also British actors and characters in it. The end result in this case is a light-hearted, entertaining movie, that is professionally made.
Not sure if I really like the main story of the movie, which glorifies violence and killing but it provides it with some nice and original sequences. It picks an original approach by sometimes using action flashbacks of what happened when the police investigates the crime scene, while still focusing on the linear storyline. This is a spectacular and original approach which often works out surprising as well as awesome. I think its approach is the foremost reason why "The Boondock Saints" works out so well and gives it its own identity and style.
The movie is also really made great and interesting by the fact that it has Willem Dafoe in it in a great role. Seriously, I feel like it's one of the better roles out of his career. Couldn't care more or less about Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus really, who play the main leads of the movie. Billy Connolly also plays a fun role, although his role is much smaller than you perhaps would expect.
A perfectly entertaining movie to watch.
8/10


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The Big Kahuna (1999) Directed by John Swanbeck

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:37 AM / comment : 0 , , , , , , ,

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(Review originally written at 4 August 2008)

So what was Kevin Spacey thinking? Seems to me he was hoping for a successful re-has of "Glengarry Glen Ross". the end result however really isn't as good, due to its very uninteresting writing.
Problem with this movie is really its story. It's just not interesting enough. This movie would had been a great one if it actually was about something. The movie doesn't have some life lessons in it and the movie and its story are more aimed toward the characters and actors portraying them The movie also isn't really a character movie though. For that we just never got to know the characters good enough. The movie remains with its characters and emotions pretty much on the surface.
It's a movie that got made in a very stagy way. It's also based on a play in fact and it features the type of dialog and slow progressing story you could expect from it. It's also a movie that gets set at mostly one location. Normally I'm never a too big fan of this but there are some successful movies who use this approach as well, as for instance the earlier mentioned "Glengarry Glen Ross" but also the John Huston classic "Key Largo" and the Dutch movie example "Cloaca".
Nevertheless it's a movie that becomes good to watching thanks to its acting. Danny DeVito is really good but truly great is Kevin Spacey, though his character in the movie is still the least well developed one. We never fully get to understand his character and he seems to have many different faces, which also doesn't particularly makes his character a likable one.
It's a movie that I enjoyed watching, mostly thanks to its acting but it's not one I really liked very much though. Only really recommendable to the true fans of Kevin Spacey or Danny DeVito.
6/10


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One More Kiss (1999) Directed by Vadim Jean

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 5:59 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 8 July 2008)

For a movie with a subject such as dying, this movie certainly lacks in some strong and effective emotions. There are lots of better movies out there that mixes romance and death but as a whole this movie certainly is not a bad one. On the contrary and this little unknown Scottish movie is very well worth your time.

You can also praise this movie for not trying to be emotional. Normally these type of movies will try to play you with it's emotions, in an often very forced and formulaic way. "One More Kiss" is not a typical sort of dramatic movie and it instead uses some interesting angles, by not mainly concentrating on the main character and her approaching death but also on those around her, who love her and how it affects their lives and makes them think about were they currently stand in life.

But what mainly makes the movie work out so fine is it's acting. Quite amazing how much different Gerard Butler still looked in 1999. Back then he still mostly used the name Gerry Butler, which should also tell you something about the way he looked. He had curly hair and certainly no muscles and seemed like a very young boy still back then, even though he already was 30 at the time of this movie. He of course just like the rest of the cast plays a fine role. Especially James Cosmo was also really great.

The movie doesn't necessarily concentrate on sickness or death but more on life and tells you to get out of life what you can, while you still can. But it doesn't does this in a forced way or anything like that. The movie features some simple but honest storytelling and is skillfully directed by Vadim Jean, who provides the movie with a nice overall style.

A nice little movie.

7/10

The Bone Collector (1999) Directed by Phillip Noyce

Posted by: Frank Veenstra Posted date: 4:59 PM / comment : 0 , , , , , , , , , ,





(Review originally written at 24 June 2008)

Basically this is a movie that offers nothing new. It's a typical genre movie with all of the typical elements and twists. It's not a bad movie, it's just not original and surprising enough.

"The Bone Collector" is your typical average thriller. Whenever I have to mention an average and typical thriller, "The Bone Collector" always springs to mind. It's an average movie in basically every way thinkable and is only made interesting and worthwhile to watch thanks to the presence of Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.

Phillip Noyce is not really a favorite actor of mine. His movies always seem to lack in style and they are well made but yet in a very simplistic manner. He's a director that hardly takes any risks with his movies, with as a result that all of his works are typical and average movies, that often add very little new to the genre.

But I think still the biggest problem with this movie is its story. It's just too standard and formulaic. Basically when you've seen only a couple of thrillers before in your life, you've also already seen "The Bone Collector", since it adds so little new to the genre. The story progresses in a predictable manner and the story also features the usual expected twists and turns in it. On top of that some story elements and characters just don't work out in the movie.

It's the type of thriller in which basically every male character is a suspect but yet the movie doesn't mange to become truly suspenseful or surprising. Therefor it as a thriller also just isn't the most effective movie around.

Luckily the movie still has a good cast. I can't imaging how this movie would had been like with a different cast filled with unknowns. Denzel Washington plays a good role, even though he plays a character that is bound to his bed and has lost almost all of his body functions. The movie is an early Angelina Jolie movie, or at least its from the time period before her real glory days but she obviously already shows her talent in this movie, although I think that her character isn't always handled well but this was perhaps more the director fault. The love story between Washington and Jolie also doesn't really feel credible and perhaps the movie would had been better off without it. Besides them two, the movie also features some other fine actors in supporting roles such as the always surprising great Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzmán, Leland Orser and Ed O'Neill in an early serious movie role from him.

It's an average movie and therefor nothing too bad but just don't expect anything brilliant or original either.

6/10

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