Reviews

I have never been a fan of anthropomorphism in film. Talking animals bug me. Most Disney work is likeable fluff with little substance and loads of Hollywood phoneyness. These aforementioned films are formulaic and frankly rather drab. But the Plague Dogs...the Plague dogs is an exception. The story of two infected dogs who escape from a containment facility is the most heart wrenching story I think I have read, and the film recreates that world perfectly. It is not that there is a bleeding heart liberal inside of me and I would stress that I am not a member of PETA. utr this film hurts. What makes this film hurt so damned much is that there is no option for the characters. You love them immediately for their innocence and nobility. You feel for them because they have no ability even if freed to make anything of their freedom. The dogs are our children. And the world they exist in, is our world, one we have allowed to stand. The Plague Dogs creates a world where the finest of our emotions falls short of saving the day. It creates a world where good things lose and die and bad things remain in control of the world, where friendship can fail, and even the trickster loses...and yet...the beauty of the story is how the best of our emotions, even though they will not neccessarily win the day, can make an ending bearable. Though this ending left me drained and hollow. This movie has the ability to shatter a viewer.

I avoided this film like the plague, seeing it unfairly, as a vanity project for Ms. Hayak. I was wrong. There are few films extant that can claim the depth and range of this film. Biographies often have an advantage over fiction in depth of character as true lives obviously have a more accidental scope than even the best drawn characters. Frida;however, aside from being a fluid and powerful life story of a woman and artist of character in very interesting times is, thanks to Ms. Hayaks exuberent and passionate performance, but more than this. This is a film that is true to art as the affliction and expression of the artist. It truly makes one wish to make ones own artistic yearnings come alive, to make it happen. The cinematography and direction by Julie Taymor are fantastic, walking the shadowy line between effective visualisation and overkill with a deftness that really should be seen. This movie is a visual caress with all of the vibrancy of Khalo's paintings, the contrast of cactus green on the ochre and sienna sand of the Mexican desert and a powerful sensuality that flowers throughout and makes no apologies for it. Frida is a biography, but it is also a story of people who truly lived and of passion that exists beyond pain. This will move you. I cannot recommend this film more.

Its a funny thing about movies that get made from books, changes happen. Changes always happen and you should get used to it, and accept it. However, in this case, while brosnan and berry are a very hot pair on screen, the franchise is getting more and more absurd. And the truly depressing thing about it is that it is pandering to the audience that has unfortunately made this come to pass.

In any book there is a thread that can be followed, either into the character or outwards in the trappings of the characters. In Bonds case it isn't ever about story anymore. There is no development of character as in the books ( though the beginning comes closer that the character has in years), but it becomes a story, not of a man who succeeds through ruthlessness and native intelligence combined with training and nerve, but by more and more unbelievable stunts.

Go back and watch the from Russia with Love. It took place on a single train. DR. No, In a spa and on an island, or the most underrated of the installments-on her majesties secret service, all taking place on a single mountain more or less. I have no problem with spectacle, but there was always room for a smaller tale to be told. Now it is unfortunately about the bigger explosion, and the more unbelievable special effects.

Pierce Brosnan plays a great bond, but he needs better scripts.

I can remember the theme song from this wonderful little show out of Kranz film in Canada. It contained a sense of wonder I have rarely heard in a piece of music before, and it would lead into a show that was very cheaply animated. About an old scientist with a time machine. The time machine didn't take anyone back in time, but would rather start a static picture documetary about some famous historical occurrance. Included were the battle of the Monitor and the Merrimac, the repusion of Xerxes by the Greeks, the first flight of Orville and Wlbur Wright. In short it was a gentle and effective as well as magically entertaining show that actually taught you something. It is a true pity that it isn't available anymore.