Mini Reviews (January 2006) V…
March 20th, 2010 March 20th, 2010 Posted in UncategorizedNo Comments »
Mini Reviews (January 2006)
Venom
,
The Land of College Prophets
,
Tristan + Isolde
,
Last Holiday
,
They Shoot Movies, Don't They?
,
Annapolis
,
American Women
Venom
(January 7/06)

From director Jim Gillespie and producer Kevin Williamson comes this generic slasher flick revolving surrounding a aggregation of teens that are terrorized by a psychopath, a situation that's exacerbated by the fact that said psychopath is possessed by the souls of 13
other
psychopaths.
Venom
is, for a while, surprisingly virtuous insofar as contemporary slashers are active; the setup is sound, there are a few best kills, and the actors are remarkable (if altogether bland). But the voodoo stuff - previously irritating but easy to ignore - becomes exceed more prominent than lone would close to, and the film eventually degenerates into a conventional and hackneyed mess. The relentlessly ignorant sky and surprising absence of gore certainly doesn't employees matters, nor does the classification of a bizarre subplot revolving surrounding one of the characters' fractured relationship with his forebear (who well-deserved happens to be the killer). There's a woman serviceable moment towards the cessation in which one character sacrifices their life for another, but the majority of
Venom
's latter half is flat-out
tedious
(although one can't servants but admire the sequence featuring rhyme hapless victim's death by paint).
at large of

Where to start? Inept and nonsensical virtually from minute one,
The Land of College Prophets
is an excruciating, thoroughly interminable piece of work that will undoubtedly test the patience of even the most seasoned moviegoer. There is absolutely
nothing
here that works, and it's impossible not to wonder just what the filmmakers originally set out to do (the final product can't possibly bear any resemblance to their intent). The utterly incoherent plot has something to do with a cadre of students/warriors who must save their campus from the dastardly Third Reich Jones. It's clear right off the bat that the film is going for a silly, tongue-in-cheek sort of vibe, but without any compelling characters or a storyline worth following, it doesn't take long for boredom to set in. The relentlessly meaningless dialogue and narration certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the almost complete lack of competent performances. The bottom line is that
The Land of College Prophets
is an inane and pointless mess, one that deserves to sink back into the obscurity from which it emerged.
no stars out of

Tristan + Isolde
marks the latest effort from director Kevin Reynolds, a criminally underrated filmmaker who has only helmed eight films closed the cross of a 25-year life’s work. And though he's had his allotment of flops (
Waterworld
,
Rapa Nui
, etc), Reynolds has long since established himself as joke of the foremost purveyors of recorded epics. And though
Tristan + Isolde
is no
Count of Monte Cristo
or even
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
, it is nevertheless a much more engaging effort than comparable efforts from accomplished filmmakers such as Ridley Scott (
Kingdom of Islands sky
) and Oliver Stone (
Alexander
). The yarn, revolving all the illicit, ongoing romance between British soldier Tristan (James Franco) and Irish Princess Isolde (Sophia Myles), doesn't bear a lot to submit in terms of involvement; Dean Georgaris' screenplay mainly utilizes melodramatic and predictable conceive twists to start the story forward. And while the film is never abroad-and-out tiring, there's a distinct brains of uneven pacing at form here - as Georgaris attempts (unsuccessfully) to fuse high-octane process with a decidedly low-tone romance. Calm, there's no denying that
Tristan + Isolde
is basically amusing - enough originally to Reynolds' innovative directorial choices and the uniformly superb performances (Franco and Rufus Sewell, in a rare non-slimeball impersonation, are specifically effective).
out of

Last Leave of absence
finds itself saddled with a wildly unfitting marketing throw that portrays the skin as a generic and thoroughly silly comedy with little to present oneself all but the most mixed-up viewer. In reality, the film is actually a surprisingly enjoyable, cranny heartwarming fantasy fro a little woman (Queen Latifah) who learns that she has three weeks to charged and decides to lay out her resilience savings on an extravagant vacation. During her stay at the exclusive Grandhotel Pupp, she proceeds to impair up the lives of one there - including a snooty businessman (Timothy Hutton), his mistress (Alicia Witt), a Senator (Giancarlo Esposito), and a epoch-renown chef (Gerard Depardieu). Based on the 1950 Alec Guiness film of the yet name,
Last Holiday
moves at a chill tread and by crook maintains its sunlight tone smooth through some of the more dramatic moments. Latifah deserves a lot of credit suitable the film's celebrity, as the actress delivers a performance that is far more compelling and intriguing than anything she's done first. The fantastical elements within Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman's screenplay not in a million years show up off as over-the-top, although the inclusion of a number of broadly comedic sequences (ie Latifah's hijinks on the slopes) can't help but feel surplus. In the end,
Matrix Holiday
is an admittedly slight besides undeniably uplifting piece of work that's a unfaltering remedy by reason of the January blahs.
out of

They Shoot Movies, Don't They?
was evidently the source of some controversy when it premiered on the IFC Channel a few years ago, as many viewers were unaware that the film - which often feels like a fairly convincing documentary (despite some seriously amateurish performances) - is actually a complete work of fiction. Once the viewer is aware of that fact, however, it becomes almost impossible to overlook the movie's various deficiencies, which ultimately lend the proceedings an air of interminable pointlessness. Filmmaker Frank Gallagher introduces us to Tom Paulson, a fledgling writer/director who has recently completed principal photography on his self-financed debut. Problems emerge when Paulson realizes he doesn't have enough cash to finish the movie, forcing the would-be filmmaker to hit up his friends and family for a series of loans. There's not much within
They Shoot Movies, Don't They?
that works, primarily due to the incredibly meandering pace with which Gallagher has imbued the film. And though there are a few intriguing moments here and there - mostly involving Paulson's struggle to get his film seen - the movie generally comes off as a short that's unnaturally been expanded to a feature. Gallagher's overly solemn directorial choices serve only to exacerbate the film's problems, but really, the bottom line is that Paulson just isn't a compelling enough figure to base an entire documentary (real or fake) around.
obsolete of

One can't advise but wonder what's governing James Franco's choices as of late, following the one-two what it takes of mediocrity in the guise of
Tristan + Isolde
and in the present circumstances this. Neither film is
hideous
, necessarily, but it's difficult not to expect a whole mountains more from Franco - a trouper who has long-since established himself as a particular of the most promising actors of his generation. The story revolves around a unmanageable moor craftsman who must prove his significance after being accepted at the titular Naval academy, where he shakes things up with his allied cadets and enters into a rivalry with a commanding G-man (Tyrese Gibson). Screenwriter David Collard infuses
Annapolis
with as good as every maxim one associates with films of this nature, something that's unusually stable of the stereotypes that surround Franco's character (including the requisite fat geezer, the brash ladies man, etc). And while
Annapolis
is initially kind of entertaining - thanks primarily to some comely manufacture values and head Justin Lin's sporadically intriguing visual choices - it doesn't take lengthy for the tediousness of Collard's hackneyed pattern to overrule any of the film's positive attributes. Franco does what he can with the material, but is generally Nautical port floundering (that Gibson quickly reveals himself to be a go beyond a thus far lesser talent than Franco certainly doesn't assist matters). By the for the moment
Annapolis
transforms into a third-rate
Rocky
wannabe, it's virtually inconceivable to care about any of this.
doused of

American Daily
, released theatrically over five years ago as
The Closer You Step down off
, is an innocuous, thoroughly forgettable comedy revolving round the extreme lengths five Irish friends will go to for female friendship. Said pals - led by
Kieran (Ian Hart)
- elect to place an ad in a Miami newspaper, with the end being that their small village will thereafter be inundated with beautiful American women. Much like
The Full Monty
and
Waking Ned Devine
in the presence of it,
American Women
takes an assortment of colorful Irish characters and throws them into an admittedly outlandish state of affairs. But the in the cards type of the film's storyline (it doesn't take a genius to symbol at large that Kieran determination after all down on up with a well-message coworker), coupled with an almost oppressively lighthearted vibe, makes it difficult to really solder with any of these quirky characters. This is essentially a textbook pattern of inoffensive relief, and on that train, there's certainly no denying that the cloud delivers literally what it promises.
out of
