Reviews by Prelude

The plot was awesome, the suspense was intense, the acting was flawless, but what sets this film apart from others is that this movie has, without a doubt, the BEST cinematography i've ever seen. If it doesnt win at least the Oscar for cinematography this year, they'd be robbed.

Nearly all the edge-of-seat suspensful scenes (and this movie has a lot of them) are shot in one continuous single camera action. The road ambush scene, the 'escape from the farm' scene, and of course, the 15+minute long war scene at the end. wow. it honestly put goose bumps on top of my goose bumps. it felt like I was there. I caught myself ducking at the sound of bullets, and when tank shells went off in the next room, I nearly jumped. I mean, if that is not the ultimate achievement in cinematography, I dont know what is.

and the symbolisms in this movie. damn, there's so much beneath the surface. so damn much. notice the little things, like the nuke going off in New York that just flashes so quickly at the beginning. notice the 'Homeland Security'. notice the fact that the hero never holds or uses a gun at anytime throught the movie. notice how the anti-government rebels are just as corrupt and bad for society as the military-state government. notice the parallels between this movie and current pushes by governments around the world that try to control refugees/immigration. above all, this film's deeper message is to leave the racist/fascist/war-loving/polluting/greedy world of today behind, and think of our children and our future generations.

The Rankin/Bass team brought us the amazing Rudolph Red-Nosed Reindeer, as well as special gems such as Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Little Drummer Boy, and Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey, but I think "Frosty the Snowman" is just a holiday cash-cow they rushed thru. First off, where is that beautiful puppet/stop-motion animation found on most other Rankin/Bass TV specials? Instead, we have a cheaply-animated cartoon, using many repetitve scenes and frames, and the story is so weak and cheezy the only thing this has going for it is the catchy tune. But even that, I can remember most of other songs from other Rankin/Bass specials, but this one, I only remember the Frosty song. I'm not a 100% positive, but I think its the only one in the show, repeated over 3 or 4 times throughout. Pure laziness with a holiday-season cash-cow stench to it.

Bah! Humbug!

Following in the puppet/stop-motion animation of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer comes this story set in Palestine during the birth of Christ, and deals with crooks, child exploitation, and ends at the stable in Bethlehem. For kids, it's a bit hard to watch and understand, but it's worth a watch during the holidays mostly because of the main song, which I believe is the version sung by the Vienna Choir Boys.

This is the very definition of 'Christmas Classic'. If you've never seen this, crawl out from under that rock and make this a mandatory family viewing every Christmas (along with 'How the Grinch stole Christmas').

The best Bond film ever? that's debatable. The best Bond with Roger Moore? In my books, yes, although 'Spy who loved me' is a close second.

I must've watched this movie at least a couple dozen times as a kid, and it's one of the most memorable movies, from the exotic Maude Adams to the awesome India scenes, and then taking you Germany for some cold war thriller action, and finally, those awesome sky-diving scenes. Bond has never been better.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, comes close to Ronin's car chase scenes. Rest of movie is average heist/thriller/gang type of film, probably 7 out of 10, but the car chase scenes i'd give them 11 out of 10, so I give Ronin a 9 out of 10 rating overall. makes sense? LOL

Just saw this recently: it's slow paced but thats the beauty of it. Since the main character is wheelchair-bound and has nothing to do all day but to stare at his neighbors lives, the viewer also becomes a peepin' tom, and since you can't hear what any of the neighbors are saying, this movie just draws you right in and forces you to participate by trying to imagine whats going on in all their lives. And when one man's wife goes missing and the husband looks suspicious, the viewer is fully engrossed along with the main character trying to figure out if he killed or if she just moved out of town. The dialogue is snappy and the chemistry between Jimmy and Grace is adorable, with many of their scenes almost making this feel more like a romantic film rather than a murder-mystery.

Only drawback why I didnt give it a 10/10 is the ending is extremely rushed, with everything neatly being resolved and fully explained all in the last 2 or 3 minutes. I guess it was typical of films back in the day, but I almost wished this movie had an unresolved ending or a big twist or something more typically found in today's films.

Anyways, I highly recommend this classic. This film has it all; suspense, comedy, romance, and even a bit of action at the end.

I agree with the other review on here, this is easily one of the most beautiful and best written film this decade. The story is mesmerizing, it really draws you in, and the twist at the end, wow. I mean, wow. Even Sixth Sense's ending wasn't as shocking as this one. Eisenheim had me believing in ghosts and magic by the end.

I haven't seen 'The Departed' yet, the number one contender for the Oscars this year, but from the other 2006 films i've seen so far, this one is my absolute favorite by a mile.

Bunch of B-grade actors are 'bank robbers', led by Sean-William Scott as the mastermind - ok, stop laughing ... serious... sean william is cast as the mastermind in this one.

They try to break into a bank vault located next to a rave club.

bank has sound detectors (????) but they won't be tripped off if the drilling they do to get to the vault stays below a certain decibel of the club noise.

and of course, when they start the heist and the dig, the owner of the club is complaining its too loud and wants to turn down the club DJ's volume.

Retardation of audience ensuses.


The only way I can explain why this completely idiotic film is getting over 6 on IMDB is thru the film 'Idiocracy', where the entire nation is getting dumbed down by Hollywood flicks like these.

Avoid at all costs. I've warned you.

I can't seem to find correct word to describe this movie. Crap? Rubbish? Garbage? Cheese? Cash Grab? IQ Reducer? Propaganda? 2hour anti-drug ad? Leave-your-brain-at-the-entrance flick?

Sorry, to be fair, I saved my brain cells and turned off this garbage in the first 15 minutes. Did ANY of the thousands of people involved in this production do ANY sort of research on the script? News for the uninformed: the LAST thing you want to do with X (aka E, XTC, ecstasy, or whatever the kids call it these days) is roll it around on your tongue. Those pills taste so bad you want them going straight past your taste glands and wash it down quickly with lots of liquid. And having gone to raves and after-hour clubs back in the day, the scene where people start convulsing and frothing at the mouth after taking a pill, and then club owners dump their bodies in the garbage dumpster, well, I must've missed those clubs. LOL. Part of me almost wanted to keep watching to see what else this ridiculous comedy had in store for me, but i rented a few other movies that day and Bad Boys II got a unanymous toss across the room in near record time.