Being John Malkovich

Rating:
Summary: New Horizons in Creativity!
Review: Now that American culture has become so accustomed to movies that simply use formulaic ideas and contrived plot twists, this is a welcome return to the era of inventive filmaking. Being John Malkovich is great in many aspects: it has great acting, a fresh plot, but most of all it succeeds in the surprise factor. No, it doesn't use profane content to achieve this- just pure bizarity! It's not completely unbound, however, and makes for a funny and thoroughly enjoyable movie experience.

Now, for those of you who need a little peek into the plot, since you really have no idea what it is about, I'll give away a little: A recently employed puppeteer finds a tunnel in his new workplace that leads you into the head of John Malkovich for 15 minutes- until you are dumped out by the side of the New Jersey Turnpike. Sound interesting? Well, there's plenty more where that come from.

Overall, if you enjoy good movies, you must see this one! It'll make you think, make you laugh, and it will probably make you dizzy.

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Summary: Being John Malkovich on DVD
Review: Being John Malkovich is one of the most fun and bizare films you will ever see, with comedy ranging from slapstick to satire. This film directed by Spike Jonze. tells the tale of a burnout puppeteer Craig Schwartz(John Cusack) whose wife Lotti(Cameron Diaz) urges him to get a job. Craig finds a job and goes to the interview in an office building on the 9 1/2 floor. He gets the job and finds a love named Maxine(Catherine Keener) ,who rejects him, and a portal that lets you be John Malkovich(Played by none other than... John Malkovich) for 15 minutes.

The Being John Malkovich DVD is very unique, mainly because of the contributions by the film's director Spike Jonze. Jonze has added two of his own small documentries, much like "An Intimate Look at Acting With Ice Cube" on the Three Kings DVD. One of these documentries is on puppeteering and the other is on background driving. Both are very amusing. There is also an interview with Spike Jonze that has a very Andy Kaufman-like conclusion. There are also four trailers which are very amusing. This is a must-have for any fan of the film, or of absurdist comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Best viewed with no idea what it's about!
Review: I had the wonderful experience of seeing this film without knowing *anything* about it. I honestly didn't even know John Malkovich was in the film. Let me tell you, this was an absolute roller-coaster ride! Excellent film!

Rating:
Summary: A Deranged Masterpiece
Review: A movie so inventive and funny, I'd suffer through the entire Adam Sandler filmography if they'd let me see it again (except "Bulletproof", of course). Especially memorable: what happens when JM enters his own "portal" and the surprising turn of events when Craig (John Cusack) manipulates JM for his own benefit. It's so refreshing to see a movie devoid of that "Test Audience Mentality". My sole regret is that I knew anything about the plot before seeing it.

Rating:
Summary: **Being John Malkovich -- An Original Movie**
Review: Being John Malkovich is a fantastic movie. It is also very original. In my opinion, the best film of year...

The film is based around a puppeteer named Craig(John Cusack). His job really isn't doing do too well, so he takes another job at a low-ceilinged office in Manhattan. There he meets a pretty girl named, Maxine (Catherine Keener). He starts to hit on her, even though he is married to a girl named Lotte (Cameron Diaz). Anyway, Craig finds a portal in his office. He comes to find that it lets you become in John Malkovich's head for 15 minutes. This leads to a business. From there, problems start to turn up.

All in all, the actors are fantastic. They all potrayed their characters well. Hats down to the director, Spike Jonze.

All should see this 5 star movie. It isn't a movie to let pass.

Rating:
Summary: John Malkovich in Wonderland...
Review: This movie is a rare cinematic experience and a clear contender for best motion picture of 1999. Filled with clever and genuinely surprising and hilarious plot twists, it has more to offer than most other movies that came out that year put together.

The "John Malkovich inside his own portal" and especially "Inside Malkovich's subconscious" scenes are, alone, worth the purchase of the DVD. The extras are interesting, but do not add much to the movie experience itself. Considering its brilliance that would be superfluous anyway.

The portal concept is an allegory of multidimensional travel and is explored much further than in "Alice in Wonderland." If anything, it goes a little too far in its wild extrapolations. But how incredibly fun!

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Summary: Perfect
Review: 'Tis films such as these that keep the mind alive, detached, aware.

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Summary: A monkey with psych problems
Review: Well, there's this monkey which has psychological problems and it's owned by Lotte (Cameron Diaz) who is Craig's wife who works in a building in the 7 1/2 floor with a portal to John Malkovich's mind and body.

The plot is great. The acting is great (especially John Malkovich's) and the monkey story is jaw dropping. I really loved watching this film.

Rating:
Summary: I was totally involved, then started to pull out
Review: I had heard so much about this film and i was an admirer of Spike Jonze's music videos, Sabotage, And Praise you by Fatboy Slim, i thought were both hilarious. So i was expecting a bit of the same, and defintely received it. The beginning of the film is hilarious, the speech impediment secretary i thought was great, and the 7.5 floor was hilarious as well. The other amazing things to this film was the puppeteering, incredible, i never knew it could be so artistic. And of course when he discovers the portal for the first time, and is thrown out on the new jersey turnpike. I was gripped, ready for a good funny film. Unfortunately i was disappointed because the film became too serious and intellectual, with the women posing as vicarious lesbians through malkovich, and relating through someone else. I don't know i found it a bit too depressing, when i thought it could have been really funny and quirky, ala Gilliam. The other thing that bothered me was the logic of the portals, the Dr. "found" a portal and has been living in a portal to extend his life, and has brought some friends along to live in Malkovich, which i didn't really understand...Can more than one person live in a person? And then the notion that you will be trapped in a childs mind if you don't get into the portal confused me as well, because i was wondering, okay you are confined to look through a child's eyes, but you have no power over the child, but in Malkovich you possess him? and have power over him?,...gotta a little lost on some of the logic here...was a bit too confusing. As far as originality it was a great film, amazing concept, but the turns of the storyline just bugged and depressed me. And i'm not afraid of stranger films, one of my fav is Time Bandits but this film just didn't go in a direction that appealed to me, it lacked fun.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of the best of '99
Review: I don't think I've ever seen a film get so MPD a reaction from those in the theater. Not that some loved it and some hated it... but the same person would come out with both reactions in the space of a sentence. That's phenomenal power, people. That's what filmmaking at its best is all about-- the ability to elucidate and confuse at the same time. And the best part, the true knock on Hollywood? That an indie film company stocked with rock and roll stars made this sucker on a shoestring with the kinds of starpower normally reserved for Hollywood's biggest nine-figure blockbusters and it's still been one of the nation's top ten films every week since the listening public discovered it. I know people who've seen this as many times as they've seen Rocky Horror. I figured it was time. (And I had free passes and couldn't use them to see Toy Story 2.)

It's hard to say word one about this movie without giving away major pleasant surprises. Everyone knows, of course, that Malkovich plays himself (and hams it up tremedously), and most people are aware that the male lead is John Cusack. The rest of the film's cast is a mystery, I think. It was to me, anyway. And when they popped the name of the female lead up on the screen, not only had I not recognized her throughout the movie, but I tried to figure out who she played... and I got it wrong. Wow. Suffice to say the casting is stellar, you know almost everyone, and they had to have worked for scale. And they're all brilliant.

One extra little sidelight-- the puppeteering in this movie is tremendous. If you go in for avant-garde productions and all that sort of stuff, the incredible complexity of the marionette shows at various times during this film will astound you. The puppeteer's name was flashed at the end, but I missed it. Remember this guy, if and when you see this movie, 'cause if anyone ever makes it big in marionettes, it'll be him.

The plot is, um, simple-- an out-of-work puppeteer (Cusack) gets a job as a filing clerk, falls in love with a co-worker (he's married and they're on the verge of on-the-rocks) who snubs him repeatedly, and discovers in his office a door that opens into a portal which allows the person entering it to get inside the head of John Malkovich (portrayed by himself) for fifteen minutes. After being voided from Malkovich, one is unceremoniously dumped into a ditch on the New Jersey Turnpike-- a beautiful metaphor if I've ever seen one. The plot can't get any more twisted? Hold your tongue! Of course, I can't _tell_ you more about it without giving it away... you just gotta go.

The film was produced by R. E. M. vocalist Michael Stipe and is the full-length directorial debut of music video guru Spike Jonze, perhaps best known for his longtime association with the Beastie Boys. Whatever you may think of their music, you have to admit, their videos are always something new and unexpected. As is this film. It's twisted, it's mean, it's ugly, at times it's funny as hell. It's two hours of sheer, utter, complete enjoyment... but you walk out feeling guilty for having enjoyed it as much as you did. Go. See it now. Laugh. Everyone else will feel more guilty about it than you will.