Rating: 
Summary: See it more than once!
Review: First time i've seen this movie, I thought it was never going to end. But then again, I watched it a second time and I actually enjoyed it! It's based on a really unusual type of script. What is bad is that we can predict quite easily how the movie is going to end... But all things considered, it's worth to have if you like sci-fi merged with suspense.
Rating: 
Summary: Reality bytes...
Review: Thin, amaizing, thrilling, a little scary movie. Close to reality but taking beyond. Excellent soundtrack. Worth having. Please believe me.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, yeah, but a better movie than "Titanic"
Review: I missed Strange Days when it first came out, and I regret it. James Cameron has almost always been a sentimental fool, and his story for this film is no exception. However, his decision to farm it out to Kathryn Bigelow was inspired, because her films have always been wilder, more worrying and more extreme than his - with the noble exception of "The Terminator", the only Cameron film with the courage of its altogether ignoble convictions.It's sort of funny watching it now, in 2001, considering that the hi-tech-driven action is supposed to take place at the end of the last century. A lot of people have a problem with Ralph Fiennes as the hero, but I have a soft spot for old Ralphie - his whole schtick as an actor is about playing morally ambiguous characters who nevertheless have high ideals. He honed this doing Shakespeare on stage in the UK, and perfected it with his lover/traitor figure in "The English Patient". This is a test-run, as it were. Lenny Nero is a dealer in other people's memories who, god help him, believes in the product. His greasy hair, wheedling grin and obsession with his Armani suit are all beautifully of a piece, and his white knight complex is well-suited to his nervous charm and softly polished voice. It's a strange, lovely performance, in my opinion, even if some of the more baroque bits of tech-explanation are no more than perfectly competent. (Fiennes is great at the enjoyment of the memory technology, not quite so fluid at the exposition of it, but part of this is due to a more than slightly corny script.) Tom Sizemore has a frankly alarming wig and a reliable turn in Dubious Friend, and that's all we want from him. Richard Edson - the original drummer for Sonic Youth, trivia fans - does a nice jittery job as Fiennes' techie contact. Angela Bassett is nothing less than splendid as Fiennes' protector, walking conscience and eventual...well, you'll have to see it, but you'll guess it pretty early on. She has at least one great line to deliver: "Memories are meant to fade, Lenny. They're designed that way for a reason." Michael Wincott, as a sleazy rock manager to go with the gallery of other sleazy people he's spent a career bringing to the screen, and Juliette Lewis, as his protegee and Lenny's glamorously wasted Ex, are more than OK. Vincent D'Onofrio (one of the best actors in the world) carries off the psycho cop excellently, although any number of lesser actors could have done a comparable job. The only problem is the script, which in its determined liberalism (the LAPD isn't really rife with racism, oh no, it's just a couple of loose cannons here and there) is at odds with the basically scary premise. In the end, it relies on the concept of The Good Cop and Real Love Conquering All. I don't suppose it could've been any other way, but...really. The whole thing is executed (sic) with characteristic Bigelow panache. One nice piece of support casting is the Quebecois dancer Louise Lecavalier as one of Wincott's bodyguards - a genuinely scary presence, six feet of muscles, blond dreadlocks and an enigmatic smile. In all, it's a gutsier film than most, but the script veers away from its own momentum, and it ends up as just another potentially incredible movie gone respectable. Good to watch with a loved one, slippers, hot chocolate and a bottle of frozen vodka.
Rating:
Summary: worth getting on DVD
Review: this dvd is amazing on dvd. Make sure you have surround sound. The first 2 minutes of the mive will proove to you it was worth gettting extras speakers. Not to gove away the scene but the story begins through the eyes of a robber and you can hear him breathing heavy in the back speakers. Really cool. This movie was a big hit in the theaters, and kind of dissapeared afterwards. It's got a great story which takes place in a span of two days including the turn of the century. This movie was prior to the turn of the century, so it's cool from that standpoint. The dvd extras are worth it though. There are a few deleted scenes that was cool sthey showed but you understand why they got cut. Also it has 2 trailers. This one is worth your money and sound system.
Rating:
Summary: Give the film a chance!
Review: This film is on my top twenty list of 'The Best Underrated Films Ever'. What makes this film so good is it mixes film noir, action, mystery, and dark comedy together effectively. Most films that try juggling this many balls fail, but this one scores. Also, the film never tries to be over the top. Most futuristic films get so caught up in the technology that they forget about character development. However, this films mixes social commentary with the tech stuff, keeping the film grounded. Now for the acting - both Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett really nail their roles. In fact, all the actors in the film make their characters very believable
Rating: 
Summary: A Clockwork Brainstorm
Review: James Cameron's (now) ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow throws her director's hat into the "millenium paranoia" ring with this 1995 apocalyptic sci-fi vision. Cameron's hefty 150-page screenplay borrows ideas from "Clockwork Orange", "Brainstorm", "Streets Of Fire" and "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer", alluding to everything from technology-run-amok, government conspiracy and police corruption to societal ills like drug addiction and random "ultra-violence". Stars Ray Fiennes and Angela Bassett act out a fascinating reversal of the traditional male-female dynamics in the "action" genre (Fiennes is the lovelorn, weak-willed, physically vulnerable character and Bassett is the self-confident, well-muscled, butt-kicking "protector"). A well-acted and technically well-made film bogged down by overlength and over-reaching themes (a heavy-handed allusion to the Rodney King incident/L.A. riots near the end feels "tacked-on" and a bit condescending). "Strange Days" would earn an extra star with about 20 minutes of judicious trimming.
Rating: 
Summary: Obsessive
Review: Despite the brilliant portrayal of a tough-as-nails limo driver delivered by Angela Bassett and the passably deceptive portrayal as confidant and friend turned surprise villain given by Tom Sizemore, this movie cannot really be saved. I know a few people who find this to be a really brilliant film, and while it does bring up some interesting and even controversial issues it wallows too much in its own self-importance and pretension. Ralph Fiennes is just too wooden to be believable in his role as Lenny, a "dealer" of some sort of futuristic virtual reality recordings. (Apparently these "recordings"-whose name escapes me at the moment-are quite addictive and quite illegal. They are actual recordings of events from the perspective of the person wearing a device on their heads. The viewer then wears a similar device to view the recordings from the point of view of the recorder. The viewer also feels what the recorder was feeling. This makes for some rather disturbing recordings and, worse yet, viewings). Juliette Lewis turns in a skanky portrayal of Faith, the singer with whom Lenny is eternally obsessed. The film is not altogether unviewable, although it can tire the nerves at times.
Rating:
Summary: angela bassett
Review: this is one of my favorite "women in action" movies, up there with "aliens" and "the long kiss goodnight". if you want to get a taste of how storm should have been portrayed in "x-men", watch angela bassett in this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Misogyny and lousy direction sink movie
Review: This film doesn't just pale in comparison to its cyberpunk cousins "Bladerunner" or "12 Monkeys," it turns ghostly white and dies. The film misses the mark because it can't decide what it's aiming for, and so it resorts to tired old Hollywood formulas. For example, the film nominally decries misogyny while at the same time offering viewers voyeuristic scenes of women being murdered, raped, groped, and screwed. (And that's when they're not stripping and standing around 90-100% nude.) Bassett's strength gives the movie some female force, but only by putting her macho boots up the noses of the bad guys and gals. Interestingly, the film portends the LA police's CRASH unit--a murderous group of fascists which has come to public light since this film was made. But that real story of CRASH is far more horrifying than this weak drama.
Rating:
Summary: Bigelow's the best!
Review: I find Kathryn Bigelow's work is really amazing and she proves once again directing STRANGE DAYS that she controls her own pictures perfectly.
|
