vincent.vega-2's Reviews

Kikujiro (1999)

10/10

1 April 2004

Kikujiro is a movie with beautiful calmness that's a great diversity from the fast cut movies today. Takeshi Kitano proofs once and for all, that he's a master filmmaker that will forever be remembered. And even though he dislikes the fame that goes along with his more successful movies (Zatoichi), it's a shame he doesn't get more recognition for his films.

Kikujiro no natsu tells the story of a kid who decides to visit his mother that he never met. Through odd circumstances kikujiro (Kitano), though absolutely unqualified, is forced to lead the kid. But as we see only moments later the boy would be better off alone, as kikujiro's fondness of gambling and (very amusing) way to treat people makes the journey a funny and quite touching odyssee.

What stands out in this movie is the simple comedy. It shows Kitano started off as a comedian, and his dialogue and acting made me almost spill my milk more than a few times. This is certainly one of his best. A great film for a quiet, rainy sunday afternoon.

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...ing (2003)

10/10

Exceptionell

30 March 2004

One of the few asian movies (that I know of) that will appeal to a wide audience. ...ing is truly an unforgettable movie.

The story's about a lonely girl whose illness kept her from making friends. Now in her teens attending school is about the most socializing thing she does. And even there she sits quiet in class. Her mother, knowing that her daughters decease will kill her sooner than later, keeps encouraging her daughter to live her life to it's fullest, getting a boyfriend and having fun. As one day a young photographer moves in in the flat under them and falls in love with her, she slowly learns to come out of her shelf...

The story is quite simple but it's really well written with GREAT characters and funny ideas and translated professionally onto the screen. It almost feels like an Hollywood movie if there wasn't the fact that this is much more wittier and more original than Hollywood will ever be.

If you're in for a heartwarming movie and prepared to shed some tears watch this movie. I highly recommend it!

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Spy Girl (2004)

9/10

Nice love comedy

28 March 2004

Just watched this movie. I definitely recommend it to anyone familiar with asian movies and to a lesser degree to anyone else. "Typical" movie goers might be slightly dissapointed though I think this movie had enough aspects that would please a wider audience then just asian movie lovers.

It's about a female spy who takes a job at Burger King to wait for her "target", a regular customer. The boys from the school next door all fall in love with her. One of them even devotes a webpage for her on his friends site that seems to offer a collection of the hottest girls in town. Unfortunately, this puts her mission in danger and she ends up dating the guy in order to make him delete the pictures of her.

Though the premise is pretty far fetched it works charmingly well. But it could have worked so much better. The movie can't decide if it's a romantic comedy or a spy comedy. What makes the movie stand out is the acting especially from the lead actress, whose charming presence adds quite a lot to the appeal of the movie.

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Zerbrechliche Zeugin (2000 TV Movie)

9/10

Anne Kanis owns this

20 February 2004

Zerbrechliche Zeugin (Fragile Witness) is about Mike, a street boy who prostitutes his body for a living and Emma, a slightly handicapped young girl who witness a murder and are now forced to run for their lives.

The simple story is well executed but lives from the presence of it's leading star, Anne Kanis. I've never seen or heard about her before, but I'll watch closely what she does now. Emma's fragileness and naiveté come across beautifully in Anne's acting.

I'm surprised this movie has such a low rating because I was fairly impressed. It's really good for a TV-Movie. Definitely worth a look.

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The Toll Collector (2003)

8/10

Beautiful work

13 February 2004

Rachel Johnson has made a beautiful movie about a woman with unnatural long legs that make her feel and live isolated. She longs to become a ballerina, but that's an impossible task with her body...

This movie reminded me a little of Tim Burton in it's style. Hopefully Rachel Johnson will be able to produce a bigger movie anytime soon.

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Schmetterling (2002)

9/10

Great short

13 February 2004

I was fairly impressed by this movie. "Schmetterling" tells the story of a cleaning woman of a swimming facility who falls in love with a swimmer that uses to practice there every day. She tries to get his attention to no avail...

What makes this movie outstanding is that there's no dialogue. Yet the situations and the intentions of the characters are totally clear. This is a great piece of work and one of the best shorts I've ever seen.

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The Path Beyond Thought (2001 Video)

10/10

Like him or not but he is a great Aikidoka!

21 May 2002

Seen the tape twice. It contains old footage of Seagal's training methods with some of his students talking about him and his style of Aikido. There's also footage of a black-belt test which is hard to pass on first occasion as Seagal sets very strict rules. Example: The Randori (Three on one) where three students come at you at full speed and try to pin you down in any way possible. You'd only pass if Seagal felt you were controlling these people.

Interesting enough the footage of Seagal in his early days. If you want an impression look at the beginning scene of Above the Law where he gives a demonstration.

9/10 from me.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

1/10

Brainwashed?

14 February 2002

I think many people just like to follow the hype. I wanted to like the movie. I even gave it a second chance. But it's just boring. The beginning was good till Elijah Wood jumped out of the gras. From there on Frodo and most of the other Characters are just annoying. 13 Oscar Nominations are way to much. And, for the record, I'm not trying to be "cool" by not liking what everyone else likes. I just hope time will prove that it's way overrated. Amélie, Memento and The Others are better films with less Oscar recognition.

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Manitou's Shoe (2001)

5/10

Give Herbig a chance!

2 August 2001

I voted with a 5. It deserved a 3 for the jokes already known from the series and the particulate bad ones. There were enough good laughs though and I have to admit that it's not very easy to please me with comedies. Where this film succeeds most is to show Michael Herbigs talent. He should finally drop his nickname "Bully" and leave his show behind to make some more serious films. He definitely knows how to direct a film. The shots and the music here are great. A 9 for that makes a 6 in my calculation but I subtract one point because his talent shouldn't really carry weight in the rating about the film itself.

My bet is that he does this kind of films to draw audiences within the country and neighbouring ones into the theaters - he won't be able to sell this film in other countries then german speaking ones - so that he can do more serious films when companies believe in his talent to please a audiences. And I hope it works. He could do a lot for the german movie.

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Above the Law (1988)

10/10

Don't knock Seagal!

1 August 2001

Seagal's first was a very good introduction into the movie business. A gritty action film made with little budget, a pretty good screenplay and a director who knows how to direct Seagal. Seagal, a Master in Aikido and different other Martial Arts, is probably one of the best action stars out there. His style is impressive and you should know that he actually can fight just as good in real live. (Check "The Path Beyond Thought" out.) His acting here was very good for a first try, and not achieved by many others. I have to admit though that his later films lacked of the substance presented here. Also acting wise he never accomplished what he performed here which is a pity as I'd love to see him having more films like this. It's definitely worth seeing.

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Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten (1992– )

2270 Episodes.....so we suffered a lot. No end in sight though

14 July 2001

This show has to be the worst ever. Everybody hates it but yet it has very good television ratings. That's the cross every film fan has to bare I guess.

I don't even know how to describe how bad it is. I can't talk about teleplays as there can't be one. If there is some plan written behind this crap it's not worth calling it a teleplay. Also acting would be the wrong term here as what they (I won't use the term actor as well) do is nothing more then getting up early, memorizing a couple of lines, saying them stoically in front of the camera and complaining about getting home late when in fact their work can be done in 3 hours.

Unfortunately the about 25 minutes a day we get tortured by them are not enough. They sing, rap, dub films.....Talking about dubbing films. How come that Oliver Petzokat got to dub Lou (Tobey Maguire) in Cats & Dogs? As I heard the german dubbing for this film in a Trailer before Shrek I got kinda angry that they seemed to have ruined this assumedly great movie. Where Shrek worked good this one will fail. I am going to check your work out in this one dude. Dare you it's bad....

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The Sixth Sense (1999)

10/10

If everyone says it's good it has to be bad. Right?...Wrong!

17 June 2001

One told me the brilliant ending and I guess this was what ruined the movie for me at first sight. It was good but not as brilliant as everyone said. But I wasn't sure about my opinion on this film. It needed at least one more view. And now I recognized the craft that is behind this movie. Brilliant timing, brilliant story, brilliant acting. And it was only now that this film really scared me. And it gets more with every viewing. Ten more times and I will end up with a heart attack.

This film doesn't need any gore. In fact you see only a glimpse of what Cole has to suffer his whole life, hour for hour. And believe me, it's enough. M. Night Shyamalan takes about an hour to introduce the characters to us. And he does it very effective and carefully. We learn about Cole's fears. A nine year old child, spending his whole life hiding from ghosts, not able to overcome his fear to tell anyone. We learn about Cole's mom who is tired of not knowing why her son shudders, why he is haggard at times. We learn about Dr. Crowe's troubles to create a equalization between his private- and working life after getting shot by a former patient whom he couldn't help. The reason why he wants to help Cole so badly. This takes about a third of the film. But isn't boring a minute. Who isn't touched by the way Tony Collete and Haley Joel Osmont share a scene is definitely in the wrong film and should go see any Dolph Lundgren film of his choice.

It's amazing how well this film does in every aspect of filmmaking that even this is scary. Everything, the script, the cinematography, the sound, the music, the directing, the acting. It all builds a whole. A brilliant one.

A classic up there with Braveheart.

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Hard Target (1993)

Don't say it's bad

20 April 2001

I don't know John Woo's early asian works, but this is the best film he made in the US. It is not as excessive as his later films like M:I-2.

I have to say that I don't really like Jean Claude Van Damme nevertheless his performance is pretty good in this one. But it's Lance Henriksen who still dominates this movie. Every second of his appearance makes me wonder why he isn't up there in the "Kevin Spacey-League". His acting is outstanding.

The plot is acceptable but this ain't Shakespeare. It's still a Van Damme flick even though a very good one.

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Marked for Death (1990)

Give it a try!

6 April 2001

Warning: Spoilers

Okay, Seagal gives us a lot of reasons for not taking him seriously. First of all he doesn't really act. I don't think he can't but for some reason he seems to think that it wasn't necessary. It almost seems as he expects that his fighting abilities would bring the audiences into the theater. But Seagal CAN act. Watch The Patriot and see his best acting performence yet.

Second, his clothes ARE ridiculous. The Patriot, Glimmerman, Fire Down Below. He dresses like he was on the way to celebrate carnival.

If he would change his dresser, take acting lessons, and finally take more care of the stories of his films (which are not as bad as some might think)he could really rise to the rank of Schwarzenegger and Stallone.

Steven Seagals third film Marked For Death outdo the previous, Above The Law and Hard To Kill. John Hatcher (Seagal) is a DNA Cop and gets tired of killing and everything what his job implicates. He quits his job, thinking he couldn't change anything at all and goes back to his family. Soon he gets involved in a shooting between the mafia and the columbian drugdealer who try to assume the leadership in the drug business. John blights a murder on a mafiosi and he and his family get "Marked For Death" from Screwface (Basil Wallace) the leader of the jamaicans. The only chance to survive is to destroy the leadership, Screwface...

Marked For Death shows us a glimpse of what Steven Seagal is capable of (though he doesn't show what he really can). His acting is not as good as it could have been. There are a couple of scenes which seem as he wasn't able to handle (The Confession-Scene, the Flirting-Scene). But I am pleased. The fighting is great as always, the action scenes were suitable. But its still a typical Seagal flick. If you like action films, if you like Seagal, then this one is a must.

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Gladiator (2000)

1/10

Watch Braveheart!

25 March 2001

I got this film a long time ago on DVD but wasn't sure if it was even worth a look. I wanted to see this film before the oscars to see if it is worth the 12 nominees. It isn't...which means it will get them all. Some of the fighting scenes were great. And Russell Crowe was a good choice for the part. But thats all good to say about this film. It doesn't come even near Braveheart.

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The Patriot (1998)

9/10

Seagal can act!

21 March 2001

Many people are making fun out of Steven Seagals acting abilities. And I really see why if I remember Fire Down Below. Well...ok his other films are acceptable (regarding to his acting!).

After reading reviews about The Patriot I didn't expect anything from this film. I barely came through Fire Down Below and I read a lot that The Patriot was even worse. So I was really surprised about this one. In my opinion it is one of his very best movies. If it had have more action sequences and a couple more fighting scenes it would be THE best. I liked the story the directing and the actors. Cammilla Belle was just incredible. She will have a great movie-career in the future. The few action scenes were very well made. And Steven Seagal was very believable in his unusual role.

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Untamed Heart (1993)

9/10

Now, that's real love!

8 March 2001

As the german title says this is Real Love. I never saw a film with such a believable and strong relationship. And I am happy that this film introduced Marisa Tomei to me, my all time favourite actress. This is her second best performance (the best she did in Unhook The Stars which should have get her the oscar which she actually got for My Cousine Vinnie. I am still wondering why!).

I really hope that she will have equal roles in the near future that will bring her more response from the audience who only seem to recognize cuties as Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts who are always playing the same characters over and over again. Of course all actors are great in this film but Marisa stands out.

If there are some people out there who gave up believing in real love then watch this film. I did give up believing but now I know that one time I will find it too.

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From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Resourceful!

10 February 2001

I just watched this film for the about twentieth time. And I have to say that I am not a horror or splatter fan. Fried Green Tomatoes and Forrest Gump are at the same rank in my "best-film-book".

I first watched it because of Quentin Tarantino and Clooney. It also had excellent critics here (it seems not in the US). So my expectations were big but became perfectly fulfilled. Great, funny dialogues by Quentin Tarntino who also is giving his best performance. And Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis are great as always.

But From Dusk Till Dawn is George Clooneys film. He is the incarnation of coolness. This word was surly invented for having a word to characterize him perfectly. It doesn't matter if Seth is talking, drinking, fighting or even paling. It is always fun to watch him. He never was better and I am glad he got this role. Otherwise we wouldn't have become the pleasure to see him in such films as Out Of Sight.

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Unbreakable (2000)

10/10

Go see it!!!

19 January 2001

I just came home from watching this movie and can't stop thinking about it. I didn't like "The Sixth Sense", maybe because someone told me how it ends, and I didn't expect much from "The Unbreakable". But from the very first minute to the excellent ending, it is perfect entertaining. And if you think the end of "The Sixth Sense" isn't to top, you are terribly wrong. Because this ending is absolutely not predictable. It left me thrilled. I couldn't believe it. Just amazing!

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Highlander: The Final Dimension (1994)

1/10

Avoid this movie!!!

25 December 2000

I tried to watch this movie three times, but its impossible to get through the first fifteen minutes. There's no story and absolutely no acting. Highlander was good, Highlander 2 was weak, and the third one was mean (I'm talking about the first fifteen minutes that I suffered). So how will the fourth one be?-I don't even wanna know!

Lambert had a couple of good films in his career like Greystoke and Highlander (part one!), but I don't think he will accomplish a third one. And that's a pity because I enjoined Greystoke, the best film about the legend of Tarzan.

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Driver (1999 Video Game)

10/10

The best racing-sim ever!

24 December 2000

If you liked the movie "The Driver" with Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern, you should have played this game. The atmosphere of the film -written and directed by Walter Hill- is perfectly put into this game.

You are Tanner, an undercover-cop, who trys to become a part of the mafia by taking care of different jobs like deliveries, bank robberies and persecutions. Its impossible to regard traffic rules with a time-limit in your back so you gotta handle the police which hunts you merciless. Drive through parts of New York, L.A., San Francisco and Miami and enjoy to direct and cut your own replay.

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Benny & Joon (1993)

10/10

Feeling good movie

24 December 2000

I had one of the worst days in my life as I came home to see this promising movie. And yet at the beginning as I heard the Proclaimers with "500 Miles" (I don't know why)I felt better. I knew this film was gonna be something very special. And it kept what it promised. This is the perfect movie if you feel terribly down.

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