Rating: 
Summary: Drivel
Review: Roman Polanski's latest outing as director of the macabre is both amusing and disturbing, though never impressive. 'The Ninth Gate' was expected to be the director's comeback bid after the brilliant 'Death and the Maiden', and the top-notch star cast (save for Polanski's incredibly untalented wife) promised much. But what remains at the end of it is a confused, directionless film with no soul.Johny Depp, who has been seen in better films such as 'Ed Wood', plays a heartless book dealer, who specializes in locating and trading valuable and rare books. The role seems interesting enough at the start of the film, and Depp's emotionless performance is intriguing, but after a while it just gets to be plain boring. He is hired by a mysterious satan-obsessed collector who wants him to trace two books that are supposedly written by Satan himself . If this isn't unbelievable enough, it gets even worse when Depp jumps at the idea (he does it for the money, people) and takes off for exotic foreign shores such as Lisbon and the French Riviera in search of the elusive works of the Devil. He also seems to have a Guardian Angel of sorts - a blonde puffy woman who follows him around everywhere. This role is played by Emanuelle Seigner, Polanski's real life wife, and its difficult to imagine a role more nonsensical. Its bad enough that Seigner is a depressingly poor actress, but to watch her drift in and out of the frames with no particular purpose, is quite enough. She fared far better in 'Bitter Moon' where she was cast aside Hugh Grant and Kristin Scott Thomas. She held her own in that film, but falters hugely in this one. Depp's mission is this : armed with one of the books written by the Devil, he is to trace the other two and compare the contents, to decide which of the three is the original. This task seems hard to accomplish, as there are far too many people dying and too many weird incidents going on for Depp to feel comfortable. He is also followed around by Seigner and a dark-skinned motorbike-rider who seems to want him dead. Depp is repeatedly saved by Seigner, who reveals herself as non-human in one scene where she flies down the staircase rather than walk it (rather useful, don't you think?). The duo finally discover the secret behind this whole sorry tale, and the viewer is left wishing that they hadn't. This is not much of a story to begin with, but as the tale draws to a close, you begin to wonder if this really is a Polanski production. Everything is dismal, the lighting is bad, and the performances are third rate. Depp almost sleepwalks through the entire movie, even during the sex scenes (pity that they're as short as they are). Seigner, who has grown as an actress (and I mean this strictly in the physical sense of the term - she seems to have packed on at least 20 pounds since her last film) is eminently forgettable in her role as Angel, despite the secrets that are revealed about her toward the end of the movie (though you probably guessed it all along). The only time she looks remotely inspired is while shes riding Depp as they have sex outdoors. Its also the time Depp expresses any emotion, but its far too late for any of us to begin caring. One wonders what the message of 'The Ninth Gate' is, and what the purpose behind making such a film is. The problem with this film is that it starts off looking terribly good - the opening sequences are very interesting - but half way down the line, you realize that it lacks any kind of direction. And despite Depp's dark, brooding role as a man with no conscience, his potrayal of the character is so ill-acted that its a shame. He could have done better, and one would say the same of Polanski. Ultimately, the problem with 'The Ninth Gate ' is that it doesn't know what its about. If you want to know how a film shouldn't be made, then, by all means, rent this title (but for heaven's sake, don't buy it!). Personally, I haven't seen a film this confusing and disappointing, in years. Heres hoping that Polanski's next is something more upbeat, and something far more sensible.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of time
Review: This movie was little more than a waste of time. All that happened was he went to find the books, someone dies. He goes to Europe and finds one book, someone dies, he finds another, someone dies, and then he finally finds out what the book does and, guess what, someone else dies. It was just find the book, someone dies, over and over again with each one getting much more boring and more predictable. If you ever get the chance to see this movie, DON'T!
Rating:
Summary: More of a thriller than a chiller
Review: The Ninth Gate with Johnny Depp is an interesting, involving, thriller dealing with a book written by a heretic and Lucifer himself. At times excruciatingly long, the Ninth Gate is more like Rosemary's Baby in relation to Satan. The Devil himself never makes an appearance although his presence can be felt throughout the movie. If you are not familiar with the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelations, you may be confused by certain characters(the woman following Depp) as well as the storyline. Unlike the Exorcist, the Ninth Gate does not even show the Devil's handiwork, just the feeling of the presence. Johnny Depp and Frank Langella make this rather dull movie quite exciting and as always Langella plays an excellant villian. I would suggest renting it if you don't like to go over movies over time, but The Ninth Gate is a good purchase, the second time viewing it will help you understand the movie a little more and you will be more alert for certain clues than before.
Rating:
Summary: A Polanski Masterpiece?
Review: Roman Polanski is without a doubt one of the great directors. His contribution to the genre has not been inconsiderable, having included masterworks like the madness point-of-view film Repulsion (1965) and the highly influential Satanic impregnation film Rosemary's Baby (1968), as well as the lesser known but highly absorbing identity-exchange horror film The Tenant (1976), and one non-starter, his heavy-handed venture into knockabout comedy, The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967). It is almost impossible to discuss Polanski without ever referring to the shadow his personal life casts - the tragic murder of wife Sharon Tate by the Manson Family in 1967 and his enforced flight from the US in 1980 to avoid charges of having sex with a thirteen year-old girl. And seemingly as though banished from Hollywood and the cinematic mainline, Polanski's career since 1980 has languished in a backwater, lacking the brilliance of his earlier work. There was the standout of Death and the Maiden (1995), but the majority of Polanski's work has been generally forgettable efforts such as Pirates (1986), and Bitter Moon (1992). The Ninth Gate is Polanski's long awaited return to the genre. Polanski has called it his "Rosemary's Baby meets Eyes Wide Shut", and has also alluded to his admiration for The Saragossa Manuscript (1965). The Eyes Wide Shut analogy seems a contemporary comparison more than anything else. Like Eyes, Gate features conspiracy societies that lavish in occultic ceremony in scarlet and black hooded robes. But with Eyes Wide Shut, Stanley Kubrick was really deconstructing a whole lineage of secret conspiracy society films rather than being one in itself. Gate does come close to Eyes's image of the robed society really being bored social elite dressing up in that it does briefly make contrast between sinister robed societies and a real Satanism, accusing them of only being play Satanists. Gate also include occasional elements of Saragossa with Polanski playing oddly convoluted games of synchronicity as the illustrations from the book start to play out in actuality. And certainly there is the connection to Rosemary's Baby in that both are films about Satanism, although both are also quite different stories. The film that Gate in fact most resembles is Angel Heart (1987) - both films feature an unbeliever on an detective trail involving the occult for a mysterious wealthy benefactor of dialbolic connections in which each contact made in the course of the investigation keeps getting killed. One was hoping that "Gate"would be a much welcomed return to form for Polanski. But while not a bad film by any means, it sits along there with Pirates as one of Polanski's not-quite-rans. It lacks the absorbing directorial flourishes of films like Repulsion, The Tenant or MacBeth. Certainly there is a good deal of accumulating suspense and paranoia familiar to Polanski films like Rosemary's Baby and The Tenant - sinister images of people watching, a pair of feet outside the window of Russo's basement shop dropping a cigarette as they depart and another pair coming and stomping it out - which gives the film a quite engrossing atmosphere. And it is also filled with intriguingly offbeat background characters - the peculiarly friendly twin brothers who finish each other's sentences; the Baroness's butch secretary; the sinister bodyguard with the dyed-blonde hair; the wheelchair-ridden baroness and her casual mention of bored depravities; and of course the enigmatic, supernaturally-empowered figure of Emmanuelle Seigner's apparent guardian angel. But Polanski, while absorbing one, never really ever gives any of the atmosphere the opportunity to play off in a big flourish. You can't deny the film has you quite enwrapped by the end, but the end is where Polanski oddly falters. We see Depp go off to complete the mystery but the film comes to an inconclusive halt. Deliberate ambiguity is left hanging about exactly who Seigner is. And the final image of Depp departing off through the titular gate in a blaze of light drops a frustrating curtain across the show and keeps its transcendent mysteries all deliberately off-stage. Rating: 3 out of 5 Grade: B- 85%
Rating: 
Summary: What, The Devil Didn't Show Up? Maybe You Weren't Watching
Review: Movie Summary: Dean Corso is a rare book mercenary who'll do almost anything for his percentage. He believes in his percentage and it is what drives him. Dean is summoned to the private library of a very wealthy publisher. There he is offered a huge payday if he will authenticate the publishers copy of very rare demonic book. There are only three known copies of this book left. Dean is to take the publishers copy and compare it to the other two existing volumes. As soon as Dean leaves the publishers office, his world changes. There are things going on that Dean does not understand. He must be very careful if he is to discover what is really going on. My Opinion: This is an awesome movie. It's deep and dark and creepy and has a sense of humor. Many things are hidden in this gem. To find its greatness you have to work though it. Many people don't like to do this especially when they are expecting entertainment. Don't be surprised if you don't understand it on the first viewing. It's not that kind of movie. It's not from the point of view that we are used to, so we distort what is going on to make it fit what we are used to. Dean Corso is not a good guy no mater how hard we try to see him as one. I tried. I rented this movie and ran out in the next two days and bought the book and the DVD. It's a kick in the pants. Listen closely to some of the music. It doesn't fit the scary scenes at times. I thought it goofy at first but really like it now. Johnny Depp is at his best fiddling with his glasses as Dean Corso. Maybe he'll let you borrow those glasses so you can see what is really going on too. DVD Quality: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1, DD5.1. Audio and Video are great. Extras include commentary, Making of Documentary, Production Notes, and Trailers. What You Should Do: Buy this DVD if you can handle working at a movie. The payoff is worth it. If you haven't seen it yet, then don't read any more reviews or spoilers. Jump right into the movie. Don't ruin it for yourself. If you have trouble with deep movies that need some work to figure out, then you should steer clear of this one. Related Movies To Check Out: Jacob's Ladder, The Sixth Sense, Rosemary's Baby
Rating:
Summary: Memorable, but not in a good way
Review: I saw this film at the theater, which was a while back, and I distinctly remember falling asleep briefly, waking up, and being distressed to realize it still wasn't over. Had I been on my own, I would have gone home. The pace is s-l-o-w, and there's precious little suspense to keep up your interest. You know all along that all the pieces of the dread book will eventually turn up, so all you can really hope for is a big finale ending. But then you wait, and wait, and WAIT... It's probably not fair to say the ending was a disappointment because, by that point, life as we know it would have had to be annihilated in a cataclysmic technicolor explosion to make it worth all THAT waiting. I can't recommend this movie to anyone, unless you generally enjoy long, drawn out, brooding films.
Rating:
Summary: A watchable formula,
Review: Most of the reviews give you a blow by blow description of the movie. That is because there is nothing but formula here. No new concepts. No new twists. No new anything. The action and mystery is fun to watch; however it is all anticipated. So if you just want to see how they compare the standard then this movie can be fun. For those who expect more it is like watching paint dry. I like to watch movies over and again to pick up the nuances that are missed the first time due to anticipation. I am afraid there are none in this movie. It is a good one-time watch. To make matters worse, if this is not some sort of retro thing. There was no GPS or cell phones. I guess if they could stay in contact half the movie would not work at all. In the end I felt like this is a pilot movie for a future TV series
Rating:
Summary: Another Polanski Masterpiece.
Review: Though, Roman Polanski works maybe undervalued in the United States for legal reasons, but he is without one of the finest masters of the seventh art. This film proves that fact. It is delicate. It is strong, and of course unusual, the trademark of a truely independent and new thinker - despite his more than forty years of filmaking including Hollywood. This is a director that will continue to challenge his audience for years to come. Johnny Deep delivers a intriguing performance, soft confused and multiply layered as European performance should be, Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" is testament to the same, it is far more English than American. Veteran actor Frank Langella (the natural heir of Chrisopher Lee's Dracula from the 70's) continues his brillant thespian air as the villian. It would be nice to see Polanski Classics like; "Tess" (Nastassja Kinski's Debut), "Bitter Moon", "Cul de Sac" (Donald Pleasnace at his best), "Replusion", "MacBeth" (the version Shakespeare would proud of) and even the origianl version of "Knife the Water" in Polish with subtitles -etc edited on DVD.Rather than the typical "Chinatown" and "Frantic".
Rating: 
Summary: huh?
Review: so the previews looked all like interesting and stuff, but uh, really the movie goes on and on and on...and then when you get to the end...nothing. all that fill in for a lame non eventful ending..worth renting if you really must see it, but reall you'll live if you miss it.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful, Intelligent Film
Review: In its opening scene the film references "Don Quixote," setting the stage for a story of an anti-hero's quest, a tale laced with light mockery of contemporary society. The world has embraced an 'information age' with its relativistic morality, but is all information good... and what is 'good,' anyway? If anyone reading this wants to discuss the film's enigmatic plot (or compare notes on the *real* 'variations' between the engravings seen in the film), please e-mail me. All I can say is that this movie is not for the average viewer who expects something to blow up every second, let their brain go to sleep and walk away after the film with a warm fuzzy feeling inside. This movie is for anyone who has ever felt the passion of collecting or experienced how thrilling research can be, and wants a change from the usual Hollywood heroics. The audio and video quality on the DVD is good, and the disc has a lot of bonuses, my favorites being Polanski's full-length, in-depth commentary on the film and the 'gallery' which allows you to scroll through the 'LCF' and 'AT' engravings... which are reproduced in fairly low-resolution, unfortunately. In the end I suspect 'The Ninth Gate' will recieve much the same treatment as 'Vertigo'- be misunderstood by its contemporaries and be rediscovered several decades later when its outstanding production features, superbly constructed plot and acting are finally recognized. I hope history remembers this film as being one of the best of the late 20th century, as well as one of the most revealing of our culture's psychology. I think the sheer number of people who feel compelled to comment on it testifies to its ability to effect people... even if they do hate it.
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