Tuna |
"Dark
City" (1998) Dark City (1998)
is Science Fiction, and is shot in a dark noire
40's style. I dislike dark films, and am not
overly fond of Science Fiction in general. This
film would have had to be very good to overcome
my prejudices, and it was. Like Matrix, it is a
film about a futuristic world, and people who are
trying to figure out what the world is and why.
Unlike Matrix, we discover the answers to these
questions as the characters do, rather than
having the story explained in expository
dialogue, and the special effects are
orders-of-magnitude better in Dark City. The mood
is set by art direction, photography and acting,
and is consistent from beginning to end. It is
impossible to talk much about the plot without
writing a spoiler, but this is a physical world
inhabited by real people, not a mental
cyber-creation as in Matrix. Nearly everyone
loved this film including Ebert, Maltin and
Berardinelli, and it is rare that those three
agree.
An Australian production, it was written and
directed by Alex Proyas, who also brought us The
Crow. What he achieved here is a complete world
that is believable even though some of what
happens is improbable. It works because of the
attention to consistency and detail. It is more
of an experience than a plot, and, although the
plot is interesting enough, it is experiencing
this world first hand that makes the movie. The
exposure is by Melinda George playing a
prostitute who is murdered. If there was one flat
note for me, it was the performance by John Hurt
as a police detective. Why this film was not
given some recognition by the Academy is a total
mystery to me.
Thumbnails
Melissa George (1,
2,
3,
4,
5)
"One
Good Turn" (1996)
One Good Turn is a suspense thriller, but
without much suspense. Each plot development is
telegraphed long ahead of time. I wealthy owner
of a video game company runs into a man who saved
his life in Panema by dragging him out of a
flaming car after a bomb explodes. He convinces
the reluctant friend (James Remar) to accept a
job with his company, and stay in his guest
house. Remar is not what he first seems. This has
all the class of a made for cable film, and the
pace of a daytime soap. It is not a terrible
film, it is just not a good one. There is a lot
of exposure, however, from Audie England and
Melanie Good, as well as some pokies from Suzy
Amis.
Thumbnails
Audie England (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8)
Melanie Good (1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6)
Suzy Amis (1,
2,
3,
4)
|
Johnny Web |
"The
Intruder" (1999) Not sure
exactly how to describe this - a noir mystery
with preternatural overtones, maybe? Here's the
deal. Nick's second wife killed his first wife.
She even confessed to it. But the first wife died
two years before the second wife moved to town,
and was killed with a weapon that wasn't invented
until a year after she died. Say what? To make it
more confusing, the first wife's diary is still
being updated. And she has an identical twin, and
....
They added to the sense of mystery by having
all the characters act really slippery and
evasive and refuse to give any information to the
second wife about her husband, themselves, or
anything else. And I guess she hadn't seen enough
noir thrillers to know that you're supposed to
pull out a c-note, flash it on the bar, and say
"maybe THIS will refresh your memory".
Or maybe she tried that, and a c-note just
doesn't buy what it used to buy in the thirties
for Bogart. Especially when it's in Canadian
money.
As for me, I didn't think it was too bad, but
I really get kinda upset when I'm trying to
figure out a mystery and the solution turns out
to be any of the following: Divine intervention
Supernatural occurrences A murderer who has never
been introduced, or who was seen only briefly and
insignificantly.
You know the drill. You're hanging out, trying
to figure out why the jackhammer was there at the
crime scene, and it turns out that it was left by
Our Lady of Lourdes who appeared to the victim.
Or it was deposited by a time-traveler, or it was
all the guy in the window in the corner in scene
one. Oh, poppycock!
The premise would have made a pretty good
episode of The Outer Limits, but I don't know why
they thought it would attract any attention in
the theaters. It never found wide distribution.
This movie, filmed in picturesque Quebec in
January-February of 1999, was shopped at the
Toronto Film Festival last fall, but ended up
with only a few sporadic and half-hearted
attempts at a theater run. It's now available on
DVD.
It is acted by a decent, if uninspired,
international cast, featuring Nastassia Kinski,
Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Molly Parker. (Although
some of the minor roles, policemen and lawyers,
were obviously performed by somebody's cousins
and brothers-in-law.) Gainsbourg got her skinny
body naked, as she often does.
This obscure movie even has a web site! Not a
good one, but it has one. Right Here
Gainsbourg (1,
2,
3)
Dennis Miller
(2000)
No pics, but good stuff. Some of the Cynical
One's rants for this season. Gore
vs Bush Hillary
Clinton Campaign
Issues Miller's
home page
"If
These Walls Could Talk 2" (1962), from
Johnny Web and TomCat
This is a made-for-cable film with several
separate vignettes showing woman-woman sexual
relationships throughout the last half-century.
One vignette featured Sharon Stone and Ellen
Degeneres. Another featured Michelle Williams and
Chloe Sevigny.
I haven't seen it. The DVD comes out October
10th. These are TomCat's television captures.
Sevigny (1, 2)
Williams (1, 2) Stone Degeneres.
What a loss to us guys, eh? Just when I was about
to ask her to become my personal love slave.
|
WhyScan's Page Three
Report |
If Page Three is unfamiliar to
you, this
link describes the Page Three tradition. |
Today's Page 3 girl....Abby, 21,
from Blackpool. (1, 2, 3, 4)
|
Pic Hound |
Pamela Paulshock
(1,
2,
3,
4,
5)
|
The backstage interviewer for
WCW. #1-3 are bikini pics. #4 and #5 are 'caps of
Pamela in action on WCW. Check out Pic Hound's
site for the latest in rasslin' stuff. www.pichound.com
|
and ... |
Tracy
Shaw |
Topless paparazzi pics of the
"Coronation Street" co-star. |
Teri
Hatcher |
Nice pokies from her recent appearance on
Leno. |
The Funnies by Number 6 |
The new iMac |
New
Microsoft keyboard |
New
hardware for Windows! |
God at
his computer |
Implants |
Furry
woodland creatures |
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