The Master

the-masterWhile I like drama as much as the next person, it’s really hard to watch a movie without any characters I can root for. I was just hoping they went out to sea and sank. While I did get the message pretty clearly – that L. Ron Hubbard was a narcissistic nutcase – I’m not sure this movie added much to the discussion, or left any lasting impression other than “yuk”. And that’s a shame, because it was well-filmed & well-acted.

Signs

This movie has some of the same problems as Independence Day (see review), which is not a good sign! Apparently, the aliens haven’t invented gore-tex. Also, the atmospheric humidity would slowly-burn/corrode thier skin, but they seem unaffected by that… just walking around naked. Bottom line – if they want to get us, we wouldn’t stand a chance. Also, why the complicated crop circles? can’t they just use radios?

 

8mm

Yes, it was well filmed and stylish and all, but the whole “evil porn underworld” thing just didn’t phase me much. Sure, there are some wacked-out people in that biz, but this movie makes them out to be equivalent to drug lords or politicians or something. Certainly it was tragic, but I didn’t think the reaction of the Nicholas Cage character was right for the subject matter… something about his acting – his reaction to the snuff film – just seemed fake.

 

Gladiator

Based on the one-line reviews I’d read and the previews I’d seen, I thought this would be your typical hack & slash, overblown, poorly acted thriller. It was much better than I expected. The plot was intelligently thought-out and executed. In the end it was much like “Bravehart goes to Rome”. That’s not a bad thing though – if you liked Bravehart, you’ll probably like this movie.