Drama > Hopper, Dennis Drama

Where " acid " meets the movie screen......

Advantages: Simply a beautiful if somewhat bizarre movie
Disadvantages: Very shocking and explicit in most areas.

Some movies are made for entertainment, some movies are made to tell a story, real or fiction and some movies are made purely for fun.........and then you have this movie. David Lynch is well known for the bizarre, his Twin Peaks series has to rate as one of the most bizarre and brilliant stories of all time and this movie, follows his format to the letter. Take some very hard core, infamous actors, give them a script that is written especially ...
...direction. If they want to adlib, then let them, if they want to suggest something, give them their heads and let them run with it and if they want to make a scene even more extreme, let them and go along with it. The actors really do make or break a movie and in this one, the actors literally did make it. When you have done that, draw out from them the performances of their lives then edit the footage together in the most unconventional way possible, ...

Blackcat01 11.04.2006 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Blue Velvet (Special Edition) (DVD)

I know that guy!

Advantages: Loads of people you know
Disadvantages: Loads of people you know

There are loads of cameos in this film (Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Willem Dafoe, Courtney Love and even, God help us, Tatum O’Neal). And this cameos come so fast and thick, that you do get distracted from the main storyline, which is about the rise and fall of a supposedly well known, Graffiti artist who overdosed in 1988 at the age of 27. Geoffrey Wright is suitably dazed and confused as Basquiat, struggling to cope with the ...

yagasat 09.07.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Basquiat (DVD)

Unholy and unlikable

Advantages: Good cast
Disadvantages: Who are totally wasted

Darling of the independent American movie scene, Billy Crudup plays Fuckhead, a drug-addicted drifter in small-town America in the 1970s. He comes into contact with all manner of petty criminals, low-lifes, hippies and those who have chosen to drop out of society altogether. Using voice-over he recounts the time, in flashback, where three years ago, his life was filled with misdeeds and misdirection. He falls for wistful junkie Michelle (Samantha ...
...falls in with the wrong crowd of drug addicts, Wayne (Denis Leary) a lousy and unsuccessful thief, and a pill-popping nurse, Georgie (Jack Black). Whilst the look of this bleak, bland and depressing film has a fractured beauty to it, the plot and performances are pedestrian beyond the pale. Jesus’ Son is a very slow-moving film about characters I wish would die a quick death and a drug subculture that remains as tedious as if you were stuck in ...

harrison_simon 09.07.2000 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Jesus' Son (DVD)

As I walk through the valley of Coolio's shadow of death

Advantages: Powerful and emotional film
Disadvantages: Similarity to other films

...John N Smith's 1995 film Dangerous Minds is no different. Set in an inner city school, it features an ex-marine (Michelle Pfeiffer) who comes into a school and is determined to help the pupils she is faced with, even if it means breaking the rules. Throughout the film, we see the dangers of teachers often left alone with volatile groups, but also the strong bonds that can be forged between individuals with the right help and guidance. What the ...
...to break away from the dangerous world outside of it. The characters all around her are convincing as well, and it's the sort of film where you have to concentrate quite hard to start with to work out who is who. Further into the film, the individuals become clearer. The often dark nature of the film makes it all the more powerful. Strong visuals, that don't often shirk away from the harsh reality the film is portraying, mean that the film's power ...

pmcds 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dangerous Minds (DVD)

Half Nelson- A Gem of a film

Advantages: Fantastic performance.Beautifully made.has a charm of its own
Disadvantages: None

I was meant to see this film for quite a while now and finally saw it the other day. I am so sorry that I neglected this film for so long; a quality film like this shouldn't wait to be watched! Directed and co-written by Ryan Fleck, it stars Ryan Gosling. Ryan Gosling plays Dan Dunne, a school teacher who has drug problems himself. The film is just based on Dan's interaction with students which comprises most part of his life. One of the main focus ...
...with one of his students who finds him in the school bathroom doing drugs. In one sense the film doesn't have a broad story but the director knows how he wants his film to shape up, he stays with Dan's character the whole time. A film which rests solely on a couple of characters needs to be poignant and intense and this film is nothing short of both. Ryan Gosling is the soul of the film,playing a school teacher who is a free thinker. His character ...

aadnan613 04.12.2009 · Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Half Nelson (DVD)