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Sorry, Haters (2005)
Confusing plot, characters, roles, story line, The 'Time' in NYC
*** any spoiler will be designated with the ***.
either whoever wrote the story line needs to change it, or the movie itself needs to clarify the time in question as to when the movie takes place, which is in post-911 NYC, and why the characters are interrelated. i'd prefer the latter, since the fact that it's done after 911 is only apparent in one VERY brief 3-second time spot, i.e., when you see the view of New York's skyline from Battery Park, which is where you'd see the WTC towers that are now gone. (we have a plethora of unread, stupid and/or careless, ignorant young citizens in the US today--in 2012--who would not recognize Battery Park or have one inkling that that is where you'd plainly see the WTC in the past).
the plot is confusing if one does not realize that it all happens in post-911 NYC, i.e., not far distant from the time of the attack on our soil. the interrelationship between the main characters, a taxi rider who is a very messed up, lying, scheming, psychotic Caucasian female who at least works in NYC (because it is not clear that she lives there or if she herself saw or even, in her psychosis, remembers the attack), and Muslims--particularly the Allah-Akbar-praying taxi cab driver--he, himself and his also confusing family and their plight--does not clearly spell out why the woman has the driver going on wild goose chases both in the city and outside of it, in order to get her to the places where she does her dirty deeds and in so, ends up stealing money from the cab driver that is truly part of the plot, but it is not clear as day, and it should be.
the reason that the cab driver so badly needs the $500 that the psycho-woman stole from his glove compartment is to cover legal and other related expenses to help his brother, whom he genuinely and earnestly explains is in Syria and who is at great risk of torture. you see, the rider, the psycho-woman, uses that knowledge as the reason behind her theft. she also uses the knowledge to create and to maintain her grandiose characterization of a highly-paid and powerful executive of a TV station in NYC with a stupid, vapid name that tells the viewer nothing at all other than to reflect upon our times and our high school graduates with who-knows-what-fires synapses in the layers of gray matter hiding out in their craniums.
the worst thing about this movie is that it's not clear that all that happens in it, as well as why the characters do what they do or else are who they happen to be, relates to 911. so then, if one of the multitude of rap-taught MP3-playing-loudly-through-the-earbuds HS graduates (that should have dropped out of school when they were 10 years old, so that they could become crop pickers to replace illegal Mexican aliens in CA), watches this movie, they will not know what it's about or why the events unfold the way they do. they just will not understand it. and neither will you, if you don't realize that there is no longer a World Trade Center made up of two skyscrapers that just are not there anymore, and so far, at the time that the movie centers on, have not yet been rebuilt. because, as indicated above, the only time in the entire movie that you know it is when you can see, for too short of a time, from Battery Park, vacant ground where the towers stood in Manhattan. in other words, it is presumed that you KNOW that the motivation behind the woman rider's actions and the family ties that are shown to us, those of the Muslim cab driver, have a legitimate place within the movie. otherwise, the movie cannot stand on its own. nothing would make sense if you do not know the time frame. even the characters' interplay would not make any sense.
*** SPOILER: the ending of the movie, when the taxi cab driver carries a bomb that explodes in a subway station and who he realizes too late will kill innocent passengers, as well as himself (thanks to the psycho-woman and her hatred and delusions) cannot be understood unless one knows the time and context of this movie.*** END OF SPOILER.
all in all, i think that this movie is vague. the most i can say for it is that it reflects the hatred one feels creeping under their shirt collars as they walk about the massive, darkened cities of the USA that have become too dangerous and depressing to live in. it shows madness. it proves that manipulation and crime pay (theft) and that keying cars pays as retribution (for imagined deeds done against you, but which are not factual and are imagined). it shows that America has turned upside down in madness, as well as that it shows the life that Allah-fearing Muslims live (insanely, as is their choice, in the 7th century rather than in the 21st), what with prayer to Mecca required five times a day, even if they live in Egypt and happen to be rioting in the streets for democracy. ("prayer break! then we go back to the shaking of fists as we run in crowds in the street, into the view of the ABC, CBS and NBC World News TV cameras").
i tend to rate movies, particularly indies, higher than one usually finds here on IMDb. but in this case, for this movie (the title of which is also confusing), so strange if one does not know CONTEXT and the TIME it happens in, the maximum number of stars i can give it is only three out of ten.
3/10 by karen dallas hartig, chicago, may 2012
Abre los ojos (1997)
I'm surprised I never heard of this masterpiece thriller! See it!
(c) Karen Dallas Hartig (katydidwritersguild@comcast.net), all rights reserved, USA: rights granted to IMDb.com per its copyright statement and terms thereof, February 2012 and onward.
I will put an asterisk (star) before and after any spoiler. This movie, in Spanish (the Spain Castellano-type Spanish), with subtitles, has got to be one of the best movies ever made. It's incredible that I never heard of it! I caught it on cable TV a few days ago (Jan 2012). Talk about a smart thriller! Cesar, the main character, is a young and handsome man who is in a car accident. His face is ruined. It is hideous. You do not see it that much because he covers it with a mask that in itself is strange, alluring, and frightening in a way because it is like a bare face, without any genetic imprint of his ancestors on it. It is a generic face, which has shiny black eyes; about the only feature that is recognizably human. You DO see Cesar's face before the accident while he plays out his life in situations that he would have actually been doing if he were normal. And you will see Cesar's face, before the accident, at the end--which is a total surprise.
Cesar is in love with Sophia (Penelope Cruze), but he also knows a woman by the name of Naria, who is dead--so his friend and the lover of Naria tells him. However, Cesar's memory gets mixed up, so in parts of the movie, he envisions Sophia as Naria, and he is very frustrated because he believes that Naria is alive and has taken the body of Sophia.
In Cesar's quest for Sophia, although he does find her--at least he believes it (a psychological twist with I will not divulge to you)--he ends up destroying what they had, and that leads him into very serious consequences.
Part of the consequence is that he is told, time and time again, to seek the help of a psychiatrist. You understand why because you have seen actions that lead up to Cesar going to a psychiatrist, who hypnotizes him, so that the truth about his life and about Sophia, can unfold. Cesar gets onto dangerous ground while put under, as well as when he dreams, so he must be awoken. However, how can the doctor know what he dreams or dreamed in the past? WE see it, however. The doctor plays a pivotal role, as does a businessman that we see here and there in Cesar's life. * The businessman is from the past. * As the psychiatrist and the businessman bring Cesar into reality--which is quite an amazing truth, not fully disclosed until the end--we are led into a maze of truths of Cesar's life, then, at the end, we figure it out. It is a stunning and unconventional ending.
If I were to disclose the ending to you, I'd truly spoil it. Because, it is such an INTERESTING ending that all of the movie has led up to, but we can't imagine it. That's why this movie is astonishing! And it will make you think, for a long time, about your own life and how it might be in the future. And you will think, too, how you may decide to change your life now, in order that it will not be like Cesar's life.
Should you care to be fascinated by this thriller, which is definitely one of the best thrillers that I have ever seen, don't get up go to the bathroom or to the fridge for a beer: see it sober and in one sitting. You will get so amazed by the kaleidoscopic plot that you'll feel like I do. This is a masterpiece. Everything is revealed and it all fits. You will not know that, however, until you too walk through all of the turns and twists of Cesar's life.
I most definitely give this movie 10 out of 10 stars, and I will buy it too.
Karen Dallas Hartig (as above), Chicago, IL USA
Desperate Measures (1998)
Not all that thrilling, but Michael Keaton is superb as a criminal
michael keaton proved how good he is when he has the role of a bad guy, a criminal, a tough guy, when he starred in Pacific Heights. he's a very strong and believable character. i think that in this movie, he did better acting than andy garcia (but he was good too). i wish that michael keaton would do more bad-guy roles as well as something entirely different: a drama or comedy perhaps, so that he could expand the roles that he is good at doing. well, about this movie:
i do not mind one iota that the F word is used so prolifically in Casino that it is like you hear it 100 times. it is the perfect word for the characters to use in THAT movie. but i dislike swearing used in dialogue just to get the audience charged up. it's like when violence or sex scenes do not seem to have a place: they are just used to keep us interested. but this movie, Desperate Measures, is just filled with the F word, and you notice it like a broken thumb because it doesn't belong in the sentences. in fact, the dialogue as a whole would have been more powerful without that word.
therefore, although this movie is somewhat tense, i've seen tenser thrillers/crime movies that have no swearing whatsoever in them. is this sort of screenplay writing simply another indication of the decline of the once wealthy, respected, and powerful status of the USA? because, that is what it sounds like.
the story in this movie is good.
*** SPOILER: the plot is similar to John Q with denzel washington. *** END OF SPOILER.
the actors are good. there are holes in the story, but the excitement gets you going so that you do not notice them until your hour after watching it, pondering over the plot. it is not that bad and it is not that good.
i would not recommend your spending the amount of a theater ticket on this movie, but to watch it on cable, free of charge (with no other interesting movie to take up your time), is not ALL THAT BAD. it's a fair experience.
Little Fish, Strange Pond (2009)
makes no sense, entirely boring
i wish i could leave a vote of -1. this movie reminds me of the few times that i've picked up a paperback thriller based on how well the first paragraph reads only to be so disappointed by the rest of the first chapter that i delight in tossing it into the fireplace, to burn it to black carbon.
i was trying to figure Mr. jack out. he is an intolerable character that has nothing noteworthy to say and how he says everything is annoying. how he speaks grates on your nerves. his character is annoying and so boring you begin to go to sleep. then these two chums (jack and Sam) end up in a porno film shop. they wait to be attended to by Bucky, who is arguing with a boy that appears to be 12 years of age trying to rent some porno DVD, but he gives in and lets him have it. it takes SUCH a long time for Bucky to let the lad leave the store.
then Mr. jack and Bucky end up in the back room of the store and Mr. jack wants Bucky to give him the new magic dope, some new and interesting psychedelic, i guess, since it is never clear what the dope does to you, not even after Bucky FINALLY gives it to Mr. jack and he ingests it. Mr. jack doesn't appear to become stoned or high, or even become slightly changed from taking the drug. he is totally unchanged in his behavior and manner of speaking. you'd pray that the drug would shut him up because he irritates you so much with his disgustingly and antagonizingly boring method of speaking as well as to the topics he addresses. isn't an illicit street drug supposed to change your behavior in some way? why would Bucky sell it as a special high, and why would anyone ask for it if it does nothing to change how you feel? this question is never addressed. never.
then let me tell you about the balance of the first chapter that tells me how dreadfully confusing and stupid the rest of the "book" will be. this blabber-mouthed thug makes a big deal of coming into the porno store waving about a big, bad revolver in his hand. he even puts the largest and heaviest type of chain you can imagine (this side of ship building) and locks the door to the rest of the world. he makes a big speech from some scrap of paper on which are a set of steps one goes through when committing a robbery. all of a sudden, he shoots a man whom has mysteriously appeared behind the counter. i mean, you never saw him all the time the kid was buying his porno, nor did you see him when these two clowns walked in (the main protagonists), nor did Bucky say anything to him to indicate to we, the audience, that he is even inside of the store, acting as an employee, or as a customer, nor does he play any role while Bucky takes Mr. jack to the back of the store to sell him some super special sort of dope, since he is never introduced in the film whatsoever until the thief shoots him dead. yes, plugs him a couple of times in the chest with his bad, bad gun. while the thief, who locked the door so tightly with his heavy padlock and chain jibber jabbers on and on about these steps about what one should do when he robs a store, is suddenly shot in the skull. now you ask, "who shot this creep?!?" viola! there is a plains-clothes detective who was brought forth by some other unseen and magical person who has got to be hiding out somewhere with a magic lantern, rubbing it to bring forth the police officer genie, who kills the robber. because, since he chain and padlocked the door, how did the cop get in? and then, i will add just one more thing that could convince you to never bother with this pile of scata:
Mr. jack and sweet Sam leave the porno shop and end up conversing about nothing interesting as they walk a tiny block of the Los Angeles garment district. the roll-down steel doors over the store windows tell you that it must be a Sunday.
but how they walk about the neighborhood is strange. they walk up the street, past no more than eight stores, then they cross the street and walk back down the street on the other side past no more than another eight stores, then they walk across the street again and walk past the very same stores that they had walked by to begin with. they walk in circles, like the demented. nothing in their useless conversation tells you why they are walking in circles, exactly next to the same old shops that they had just passed by. and, although Mr. jack is now surely to be stoned by the magic pill, he drones on and on exactly like he did from the beginning of the movie. believe me: bucky had to be selling some darned BAD STUFF, MON, since there is absolutely no change at all to mr. jack's behavior or topics.
you want to pull the DVD out of your player fast, since this movie drives you to such irritating distraction that if you do not, you will pick up the player and go about bashing it all about your walls.
this is the worst movie that i have seen in 45 years. don't be tempted. don't. don't buy it. don't rent it. don't agree to watch it with anyone. don't bother.