Advantages: Powerful bio-pic with Oscar winning perfdormance from Penn Disadvantages: Real Life stories don't always have a happy ending ........
...similar subject matter , Milk is resolutely unsentimental and does not make the man out to be a saint. His obsessive campaigning cost him him dearly in personal terms - in the end it also cost him his life. Penn's central performance aside, the film is a brilliant evocation of the 1970's West Coast, complete with music and period detail . Dan Brown is equally excellent in his role as the reactionary ( probably closet gay also) Governor whose outrgae ... ...funny, and simultaneously very sad as the film draws to its shocking conclusion ( if you don't know Milk's story) Milk was one of the films of the year in 2008. Penn's Oscar was thoroughly deserved . ...
bookaddict 08.07.2009 ·Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Milk
Mala Noche, Gus van Sant's debut film is a brilliant example of independent film making in the 1980s. Shot in stark black and white on 16mm it is similar in tone to Jim Jarmusch's "Stranger Than Paradise"(1984) or even to some extent Wim Wenders "Paris, Texas" (1983). All of them have that same bittersweet quality. Adapted by Gus van Sant from the novel of the same name by Walt Curtis its a simple tale on unrequited love set in perpetually wet streets ... ...reminisant of many beat novelists like William Burroughs for example so theres little surprise when Burroughs turned up in van Sant's next film Drugstore Cowboy. The film features some wonderful cinematography by John Campbell and great editing by van Sant himself. It flows effortlessly from one chaotic scene to the next. The Tartan DVD is of a very good quality. ...
Advantages: Very artistic/unique, Fantastic acting from River Phoenix Disadvantages: Can be hard to follow at times
My Own Private Idaho is about the friendship between two hustlers, Scott (Keanu Reeves) and Mike (River Phoenix). Scott is the son of a high-ranking family, and spends his life deliberately embarrassing his father. He claims that his rebellion is only temporary. Mike is gay and in love with Scott. He sufferes from narcolepsy, and is obsessed with finding his mother who abandoned him as a baby. Together, they embark on a Journey to find Mike's mother, ... ...based on Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (a young man tries to avoid following in his father's footsteps by keeping disreputable company) and Henry V (after the father's death, the young man abandons his carousing friends, becomes respectable, goes to a European country where he doesn't speak the language and brings back a wife, and starts a political career). Gus Van Sant is a fantastic director, who's pride in his homosexuality is strongly ...
Advantages: well acted,good storyline Disadvantages: not quite as good as directors earlier good will hunting
Finding forrester is an intelligent and at times moving drama starring Sean connery as retired and reclusive writer William forrester and Rob Brown as student Jamal Wallace.The support cast is made up of f,murray abraham as a univeristy professor and Anna paquain as a fellow student.The film is directed by Gus van sant who had made the eariler oscar winning Good will hunting and more recently the remake of pschyo.
The story starts of with Jamal ... ...world.
Fmurray abraham gives finding forrester, a bite as the stern professor.He believes jamal is incapable of writing such good work and he sets out on a mission to bring Jamal down.He plays his character perfectley that the audince cat wait to see him fail and get his comuppance.Anna paquin in a short role is sweet and senstive as the girl who takes a shine to jamal.
The film is very wattchable with a decent storyline and rare senstivity.However ...
Advantages: Both will stir your emotions Disadvantages: Dead Poets Society is a bit cheesy in parts
...Will Hunting much higher than Dead Poets Society, but to get them together is a bargain, as they're both worth a watch [and then it's up to you whether to watch either of them ever again].
Both are emotionally involving, and both will surely appeal to Robin Williams' fans, as you get to see him in more serious roles while still engaging a little of his fast-paced humour. He's a very noble and likeable character in both films.
You'll definitely ... ...to break them down.
DEAD POETS SOCIETY
This film is a bit cornier, but with a positive message. I personally feel that the script and story is less believable, and that the film suffers a bit because of it.
Robin Williams plays a new English teacher in a high-profile private school, whose male students are pushed to their academic limits in order to be 'successful'.
His creative teaching methods soon lead the boys to question their lives more, ...
