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JakeGiddes
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Killing Moon (1999)
Almost as bad as described in other user comments...
So bad, I spent most of the movie sifting through IMDb and noticed some vaguely interesting things:
1. The production company Trinity Pictures has six other movies listed on IMDb. They have a combined user rating of 4.4, Trinity should probably look into making wedding videos...
2. Three people in the cast were also in the film Full Disclosure. In fact there are quite a few joint ventures as you go thru, probably owing to the inbred nature of Canadian films...
3. There are six recognizable character actors (including The Smoking Man) in the movie. In spite of name recognition Baldwin and Miller are billed below the ubiquitous but mostly unknown Kim Coates (who played the jerk archetype in this movie and wasn't integral to the story such as it was).
4. Chris Makepeace is not listed in additional crew but had a credit as Second Assistant Director. He is of course the geek who needed the protection of Adam Baldwin in My Bodyguard who while sharing a surname with Dan Baldwin is no relation.
5. It really is a shame that a once promising actress like Penelope Ann Miller has to take tripe like this now-a-days. Long ways from co-starring with the likes of Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn, Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando and even Govenator Arnie not to mention Dan's more successful but equally fatuous brother Alec... She seemed to have been given the script on the way to the set as she continually stumbled over lines, but then her lines would be difficult to say aloud in any circumstance where other people might hear you.
6. I counted plot elements lifted from no fewer than eight well known movies, including some of the main characters (An out of element Dr. who rises to the occasion; Barely trained pilot who heroically manages; An overzealous mil group guy who wants the infectious virus at the expense of the infected; A paranoid cowardly jerk who continually and improbably screws everything up, too bad Helen Hayes wasn't around to slap him; A thief who inadvertently contracts and spreads virus etc etc etc).
Dance of the Damned (1989)
Superb meditation on death, despair and the supernatural.
A rare little gem that transcends its genre to portray some interesting angles on suffering, the nature of good and evil and death. The fatalistic stripper who believes her life isn't worth living until death looms, the remorseful vampire who needs to feed but feels compassion for his victims are both convincingly played. For my money this film is worth fifty of the pretentious, self-important overblown vampire-chic films like 'Interview with the Vampire'. For a "horror" film this movie is quiet and even a little plodding at times but the understated performances, taut scripting and interesting story (with nice twists on the myths of vampirism) make a worthwhile viewing.
A needless remake "To Sleep with a Vampire" made by Roger Corman in 1992 doesn't nearly live up to this movie's quirky originality.
The Ice Storm (1997)
Engrossing if a little depressing and pointless...
Angst, despair, family discord and pointless sex played out against the dross of the empty decade. At times it has the can't turn away compelling voyeuristic nature of one of those MTV real life shows. The story is moody and slow at times but the performances ring true as do the situations and dialog. Elijah Wood is very good as the voidoid adolescent whose odd and tragically meaningless demise seems to hold the key to what's at the center of this story. The first time through I didn't think much of this movie but subsequent viewing yields a more coherent and heartfelt slice of life circa 1975. If you are looking for an uplifting film stay away, far away.
Hideaway (1995)
Wouldn't have watched it, except I remembered enjoying the novel poolside one summer day. Skip the film and read the book (preferably poolside).
Wouldn't have watched it, except I remembered enjoying the novel poolside one summer day. Skip the film and read the book (preferably poolside). Koontz novels are best enjoyed on cross-country flights or lazing poolside with nothing better to do. The necessary suspension of disbelief doesn't translate well to film, and always seems forced, contrived and even a little silly in that medium. However, I defy you to put a Koontz novel down once started...
The actors here seem to be merely going thru the paces and in some cases are just bad. Jeremy Sisto probably comports best of the highly recognizable group here. I usually like Goldblum and Lahti, but here they aren't given much to work with so they don't. Shame about Ms. Silverstone.