Why anyone would want to rip off “The Matrix” is understandable; it was a very influential movie that paved the way for a lot of really bad, and mediocre rip-offs to come for years that I would inevitably have to suffer through, but why anyone would want to rip-off “The Fast and the Furious”, a mediocre action popcorn flick fueled (no pun intended) only by Vin Diesel’s pecks and some good effects is a stunner. Like many have said, dumb studio execs tend to confuse high grosses with film quality and what “The Fast and the Furious” had was not quality. Charisma? Yes. Good effects? Granted. But quality? I’m afraid not, my friend, so why do we have to suffer through these horrible rip-offs? Directed by Joseph Kahn, who is, surprise, surprise, a music video director, composes one really bad B movie that isn’t even worthy of being called a B movie because it’s so blatantly a really long drawn out music video sans the music ad nauseum.
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Thirteen (2002)
“Thirteen” is the example of creative filmmaking with a great story behind it, and it’s a film that managed to spark a lot of controversy in 2003, but within the controversy, it also sparked a lot of conversation between parents and children, specifically parents and their daughters and prompted parents to take a second look at their children and question their activities a little more thoroughly, which is truly a good thing. It’s not often a good film brings positivity to the world that is actually genuine. These days either a positive film brings about negative reaction or a positive film tries too hard and never gets its point across because it’s mired in cheesiness and self-indulgence.
This Is Not a Film (2003)
Nadia: The lines are stupid!
Michael Connor: No – they happened!
Nadia: Which makes them stupid twice.
“This is not a Film” is something completely different which I love. I’m always looking for movies different from the usual Hollywood dung piles of sequels, high budget actioners, and tired cliché romantic comedies, so “This is not a Film” was obviously something different and original, and I couldn’t have asked for a better entertaining time. This is obviously an odd movie with a weird premise that’s scattered all over the place. Michael (Michael Leydon Campbell) is a man whose girlfriend Grace left him, so, in an attempt to discover where she now lives, he is making a documentary about his search for her, and tries to plead his case to her hoping someone she knows will see it and tell her relying on the rule of Six degrees of separation. So, he asks his friend Nadia (Nadia Dajani), an actress for help in making the documentary and staging some sequences that dictate where his relationship went wrong.
They (2002)
After psychology student Julia witnesses her friend’s suicide, she begins to notice the signs of an unholy entity stalking her. Now as rolling blackouts plague New York, she begins to be stalked by creatures that live in the shadows, “They”, now as her friends begin disappearing, she must search for a way to stop “They”, but are they real or figments of her mind and trauma? Continue reading
Two Weeks Notice (2002)
Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock: Speed, Miss Congenality) is an out of work attorney who stages protests on her free time as a liberal. She approaches aristocrat George Wade (Hugh Grant: About a Boy, Love Actually) begging him not to tear down a local community center. He becomes instantly impressed with her and hires her as his assistant. She agrees reluctantly but has no idea what she’s in for. Soon the two begin to realize that their partnership has gone beyond the workplace and realize they may have feelings for one another. There have been hundreds of romantic comedies released over the years from the excellent (An Affair to Remember, Annie Hall, Barefoot in the Pak), to the average (Wedding Planner), to the utterly awful (Maid in Manhattan), romantic comedies are a staple of cinema that will never go away.
Tape (2001)
One of my favorite, and possibly one of the most under rated directors of our time Richard Linklater continues to top himself. There’s not many directors these days that show they have both style (ala Dazed and Confused, School of Rock), and substance (Waking Life) at their disposal. Linklater can dispense both these traits in either film he chooses and often times it successful. He released this right off of the tail coats of “Waking Life” which was equally as brilliant. Based on the play by Stephen Belber, the film instantly begins with a very authentic and realistic disposition. The film and story relies heavily, and almost completely on human characteristics and mannerisms.
The Transporter (2002)
I started off enjoying this film, but by the second half I began to notice something: I was zoning out. Why would I zone out? Simply because the second half is rushed, contrived, and boring. The film started off as a really awesome sleek and stylish piece of action, but then started to head off into such a predictable route. The entire second half begins to feel so tacked on and meaningless that I immediately began losing interest. It wasn’t hard to notice the shoddy fight choreography where we can see Statham pulling his punches on the stuntman with his slow fight maneuvers. I tried to ignore it but soon knew that I’d seen better fighting in a Van Damne flick, and that’s pretty pathetic.