Dark River: Recent films

I had never seen a film quite like this before and it is unlikely that I see another one. Tears of the Black Tiger is a bit of everything from spoof Western to 50's musical. During all the film the colors are saturated pink, pale blue and yellow. Highly original! (09.2001)

This film claims to feature the most realistic computer animations to date. However the story is not even worthy of a TV program for children. At least they tried to make a story, it's just that it is very boring. And this means that the graphics are the only reason to see the film. And they look quite good at times. But the faces still look made of plastic with lifeless eyes (the day when computers can render emotions in the eyes of animated characters are still far away). Also some movements are far from realistic. Walking, on the other hand, is very convincing but gives an impression of slow motion. And just because they could make nice hair wasn't reason enough to inflict on the viewers hair blowing in the wind endlessly even when there is no wind. After all there isn't a reason to see Final Fantasy. (08.2001)

The Parole Officer is a very funny crime comedy. The story was coherent enough to keep me interested but the whole film relies on a succession of insane situations and the character played by Steve Coogan. The supporting actors are all quite good too. (08.2001)

I had never considered watching this film until I discovered it was directed by Tim Burton. My first idea of avoiding it was the right one unfortunately. The original Planet of the Apes was something new, a little shocking, it dealt with real issues and it had an incredible ending. The remake might have better makeup but its main attribute is an extremely superficial story about poorly defined characters. The film needed a last scene as surprising as the original but it couldn't be the same because we all know it. And this is the worst let-down of the film: the end doesn't make ANY sense --and no, a parallel universe is not an explanation. (08.2001)

I'm not sure why I liked this film but I did. It is not only the superb Marie-Josée Croze, not only the wonderful French Canadian accent. The story is completely surreal. (07.2001)

I really enjoyed watching Ginger Snaps, it starts slowly with the story of two geek girls and little by little becomes a werewolf story. The tension builds up throughout the film. Unlike many horror films there is a real story here (I must admit that it went down a bit towards the end). (07.2001)

After the lousy opening sequence I thought I would hate this film. But even though the story never makes any sense and is not particularly interesting it is rather entertaining. I hope there won't be as many sequel to the film as there as been to the game! (07.2001)

Shrek is a remarkable funnny parody of fairy tales. The computer graphics are getting so close from real life that I wonder why they didn't use real actors! And actually I think I would have enjoyed a lot more a real cartoon or a real film. Computer graphics are great on ogres and other fantasy creatures but look like plastic, stiff and lifeless for humans. (07.2001)

Joel Schumacher returns to a more personal film after several purely commercial flicks. Filmed with a handheld camera virtually with no music, Tigerland has the feel of a documentary. It describes the nightmare of the Vietnam war without ever leaving the USA. (06.2001)

The Claim is a very unusual Western. The beautiful mountains are a nice backdrop to a psychological drama. The behaviour of the characters seemed a bit unlikely at times but I didn't find it to be a problem. A lot of attention has been put in the details of the costumes, the interiors and the city itself. (03.2001)

I was really impressed by Soderberg's previous film The Limey. So I went to see his new feature Traffic without knowing anything about it. There is no doubt that it is really good. But I feel it is too ambitious and is not as brilliant as its predecessor. The complex structure of the film and the important number of protagonists is interesting. On the other hand most of the characters are a bit superficial. (01.2001)

This is not quite the usual Hong Kong movie because Taiwanese director Ang Lee brings a different view on the genre. The contrast between the slow pace of the story and the "fast-forward" speed of the fights is interesting. I was a bit disapointed by the fact that the characters are rather shallow, everything is based on the aesthetics. It is the first film I see where they can actually fly, not just jump to amazing heights! (01.2001)

This film starts in hell and goes down all the way from there. Lars Von Triers knows how to manipulate his audience, so this is a real tear-jerker. As the film progresses, the musical dreams sequences are getting more important and Björk's powerful voice is put to good use. The end is absolutely horrifying. (01.2000)

It is difficult not to compare Unbreakable with M. Night Shyamalan's previous film, The Sixth Sense but unfortunately it is not to his new film's advantage. The story is a bit weak and the final revelation is not spectacular. The best part of the film is probably the atmosphere and the down to earth acting but I have seen it in a version dubbed in French (I swear not to see another dubbed film!) and all the acting was gone. To me all the voices sounded exactly the same and I had difficulties understanding who was talking! (01.2001)

Billy Eliot reminds me of a bleaker Brassed Off. The story of this ten-year-old boy who wants to be a ballet dancer when his family is busy with survival (this is set during the great miners strikes) is very touching and very skilfully directed. Quite heavy-handed with symbolism but this is truly excellent. (12.2000)

Paul Verhoeven is having a go at the theme of the invisible man, so it is going to be violent, controversial, entertaining and well directed, right? Wrong! It may be violent but it is just plain boring. The story doesn't even begin to make sense and all of the characters are irrelevant (I couldn't care less whether they lived or died). Even after countless films about the invisible man there must be more possibilities to explore rather than turn it into an Alien-type hunt for an unseen monster! (10.2000)

The Coen brothers have done it again. This is one of the most enjoyable film I have seen lately. O Brother is so completely character driven that in comparison The Big Lebowski seems to have a reasonable plot! I don't remember much about the Odyssey but several references are easy too spot (the sirens, the Cyclop...). Music is an important part of the film and even though I know nothing about Bluegrass I liked it a lot. Really funny. (09.2000)

This is the kind of things you'd expect from Jackie Chan now. More comedy than action but some of the stunts are still quite nice. As in Rush Hour Jackie finds himself in an unknown environment and makes mistakes that are supposed to be funny. Well, this is rather entertaining. But the use of modern music in a Western just didn't work: it completely breaks the sense of living it and being there. (09.2000)

The event related in The Insider seem so incredible that I didn't realise that it was actually a true story until the end credits. Michael Mann uses the same style and slow pace as in Heat but I think the overall effect is much better in this film. (08.2000)