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Reviews
Dark Heart (2006)
For anyone who's ever been in the Armed Forces and for any American who's benefited from their sacrifice.
I recently saw this film at the Phoenix Film Festival. I'd seen another film there, which was highly rated on IMDb but was just mediocre. So while the IMDb comments that Dark Heart was controversial were enough to intrigue me to see it, my expectations weren't very high. However I was blown away by this film and it's haunted me for days.
Dark Heart is about a soldier who returns from a year in Iraq to his hometown and faces more violence and pain in one night than his entire tour of duty. I'm not going to give away any more of the plot because this film has much more to it than just narrative. It's an observation of what war will do to men, and an accusation of our apathy toward their sacrifice. To anyone who claims this film to be anti-war either did not see this film or is an idiot who did not understand what it was about.
It is not an action movie with quick cuts. Instead the story slowly unfolds and the camera lingers unfolding a sad tale of desperation and evil. It also takes the anti-Hollywood ending and flips it on its head. This is not a date movie. If you've understood this film you will leave the experience disturbed but it will stay with you for long afterward. It contains similar elements to "Easy Rider" though I found this film to have more current themes. It was also much darker and very original in its style with great photography, writing and acting. The director/writer Kevin Lewis was willing to take a big chance with this film and I hope audiences will give it that same chance. I recommend this to anyone who's ever been in the Armed Forces and to any American who's ever benefited from their sacrifice.
PS: The next showing of this film will be on Wednesday, April 5 2006 at Method Fest in Calabasas, CA. This film is not to be missed!!!
The Prince & Me (2004)
*Spoilers* Inept ending destroys any integrity of this film
For the first part of the film, I was pleasantly surprised. The title had me expecting a film suitable for 5 year olds. Though the idea has been done many times, it was still sweet and funny at times, as long as you could accept it for what it was. I was impressed when the script had Julia Stiles character remain true to her dreams and give up the fairy tale. This would have also been an important lesson that life does not follow a cliche. Unfortunately, this movie soon resorted back to one. I had to expect it from her speech during her University presentation where she realizes that love is more important than anything else (yawn) and travels to Denmark. But instead of taking a fresh turn and going for the view that maybe love isn't everything, a perfectly fine ending was ruined, thereby in my opinion destroying the whole film. It was as if the movie had not been completed in time so the producers said to just tack on a 45 second ending to make a sappy audience happy. It made absolutely no sense at all and I found that it insulted the intelligence of the viewers. Most of the movie is spent convincing us of the integrity of her dreams. She drops them in an instant for love. But then as reality sets in she realizes that she has made a mistake. Then at the end she repeats the same exact action, by throwing away everything for love once again. But nothing has changed! Medical school will be at least another 4-5 years. After which her dream is to live in S. America. Is this what the Danish people will learn to accept? She will return to Denmark when she is 65 to get married and rule the country? There can be no logical compromise. So I assume the writers were just scratching their heads at a loss and decided, "What the hell, hopefully no one will notice"