Happy New Year everyone. I don't have any holiday appropriate stuff for you. But here's what I have to offer: Better Living Through Circuitry and National Treasure. You can also add Ocean's Twelve to my to do list, so keep checking back. Thanks for being there in 2004 and we hope you stick around in '05.
National Treasure
Review by Jon Waterman
**1/2
Ben Gates is searching for the most well hidden treasure in history. It’s a legend that was passed down to him from his grandfather, which heard it from his grandfather and so on. They have one clue to work from, but no one has been able to figure it out…until now. Ben not only figures out what the clue means, he also finds the next clue that will lead him closer to the treasure. There are only two problems. One is that the clue is hidden on the back of the Constitution of the United States. The other is that there’s an evil man tracking his every move, trying to beat him to it. Oh my. What a crazy adventure this is going to turn out to be.
I thought this was going to be a huge crap fest, actually. It was pleasantly not. I was expecting something like another “Tomb Raider.” Surprisingly, the technology and the clues and devices used don’t exhibit some hidden techniques that no one had ever seen before or anything like that. It’s mostly very straightforward and logical. However, the further the movie progresses, the more outrageous it becomes.
Even though the technology and devices are mostly believable in a movie sense, the basic plot line and background story is not. Anyone going into this film can’t possibly expect pure logic from such a big budget film such as this. What’s amazing is that it took at least five people (counting only those that are credited) to come up with the story and script. The result is certainly nothing spectacular. What it does have going for it is a fast pace, but it’s a marathon. At over two hours, there’s a little bit too much hunt without any eggs in the basket to keep the interest high. The dialogue is typical. Ben’s assistant Riley is the token jokester with all the quick wit and sarcastic remarks. They are better than most films of this same type, but that doesn’t mean they all are winners.
Director Jon Turteltaub makes a very functional and undemanding action flick. What’s so odd about it is that it starts out with a big explosion and gunplay or whatever, and then it’s followed by a whole bunch of chasing to extremely non-exotic locations searching for the next piece in the puzzle. It’s basically a normal movie posing as an action movie. All the excitement is in your head. At least it gets in your head in that respect, though.
Even though I’m sure the history in the film is not completely accurate, I can see how this would spark some interest amongst young kids. That’s a definite plus. If you’re a high art lover through and through, then you already know to avoid this sucker. However, as far as mindless entertainment goes: you could do better, but you could also do a lot worse.
+++++++
Better Living Through Circuitry
Review by Jon Waterman
*
Normally, this is where I give a brief synopsis of what the movie is all about. This time I can be nothing but brief. This documentary discusses rave culture.
The reason I’m so brief is because that’s the nature of the movie. It bounces back and forth like a typical rave participant (sans glowstick, pacifier and backpack) between topics, never staying on one long enough to fully realize it’s potential. Many electronic musicians were interviewed for the film, and they’re each given their own segments. Consider that the film is only 85 minutes long and it’d be a safe assumption to say that at least twenty groups/individuals get a slice of screen time. You can see how that leaves very little room for exploration or in depth coverage of any aspect. I don’t know if they presume the audience has a short attention span or if they just wanted to stay fair and cover every musician equally or what. No matter what the excuse, it just ended up too sporadic and quick rather than comprehensive and fulfilling.
If you’re looking to hear from the superstars of the genre, then this would be the place to go for your one-stop shopping needs. It features such names as Lords of Acid, Moby, Crystal Method and Superstar DJ Keoki. We also hear from one of the pioneers, Genesis P-Orridge, who gives his insight into the music and provides a little history. But all we get from the film is a little history. The main focus of the movie is to pile information from as many different aspects as possible. We hear about the clothing, the dancing, the set-up of the shows, the mystique of the culture, the drugs, the graphic design, and of course the music that brings it all together.
It sounds like the movie is nice and thorough. However, since so much is covered in such a brief amount of time, with little or no cohesion between the parts, it just falls flat. There’s no real standardization in the approach to the segments. It seems like they were randomly placed. The movie itself lacks continuity. It starts off with music breaks featuring trippy, psychedelic colors and shapes similar to what you’d see on the video screen at a rave. Later, both of these discontinue. It’s as if the filmmakers (director Jon Reiss and editor Eric Zimmerman) just gave up on the concept and for some reason felt no need to remove it from the beginning of the picture.
The whole effort is just a slap-dash of images and sounds put together seemingly randomly and without any type of clear focus. As a non-participant in rave culture, I can’t say the movie offered me anything new or taught me something I didn’t know about it already. I left with no added appreciation for it all.
National Treasure
Review by Jon Waterman
**1/2
Ben Gates is searching for the most well hidden treasure in history. It’s a legend that was passed down to him from his grandfather, which heard it from his grandfather and so on. They have one clue to work from, but no one has been able to figure it out…until now. Ben not only figures out what the clue means, he also finds the next clue that will lead him closer to the treasure. There are only two problems. One is that the clue is hidden on the back of the Constitution of the United States. The other is that there’s an evil man tracking his every move, trying to beat him to it. Oh my. What a crazy adventure this is going to turn out to be.
I thought this was going to be a huge crap fest, actually. It was pleasantly not. I was expecting something like another “Tomb Raider.” Surprisingly, the technology and the clues and devices used don’t exhibit some hidden techniques that no one had ever seen before or anything like that. It’s mostly very straightforward and logical. However, the further the movie progresses, the more outrageous it becomes.
Even though the technology and devices are mostly believable in a movie sense, the basic plot line and background story is not. Anyone going into this film can’t possibly expect pure logic from such a big budget film such as this. What’s amazing is that it took at least five people (counting only those that are credited) to come up with the story and script. The result is certainly nothing spectacular. What it does have going for it is a fast pace, but it’s a marathon. At over two hours, there’s a little bit too much hunt without any eggs in the basket to keep the interest high. The dialogue is typical. Ben’s assistant Riley is the token jokester with all the quick wit and sarcastic remarks. They are better than most films of this same type, but that doesn’t mean they all are winners.
Director Jon Turteltaub makes a very functional and undemanding action flick. What’s so odd about it is that it starts out with a big explosion and gunplay or whatever, and then it’s followed by a whole bunch of chasing to extremely non-exotic locations searching for the next piece in the puzzle. It’s basically a normal movie posing as an action movie. All the excitement is in your head. At least it gets in your head in that respect, though.
Even though I’m sure the history in the film is not completely accurate, I can see how this would spark some interest amongst young kids. That’s a definite plus. If you’re a high art lover through and through, then you already know to avoid this sucker. However, as far as mindless entertainment goes: you could do better, but you could also do a lot worse.
+++++++
Better Living Through Circuitry
Review by Jon Waterman
*
Normally, this is where I give a brief synopsis of what the movie is all about. This time I can be nothing but brief. This documentary discusses rave culture.
The reason I’m so brief is because that’s the nature of the movie. It bounces back and forth like a typical rave participant (sans glowstick, pacifier and backpack) between topics, never staying on one long enough to fully realize it’s potential. Many electronic musicians were interviewed for the film, and they’re each given their own segments. Consider that the film is only 85 minutes long and it’d be a safe assumption to say that at least twenty groups/individuals get a slice of screen time. You can see how that leaves very little room for exploration or in depth coverage of any aspect. I don’t know if they presume the audience has a short attention span or if they just wanted to stay fair and cover every musician equally or what. No matter what the excuse, it just ended up too sporadic and quick rather than comprehensive and fulfilling.
If you’re looking to hear from the superstars of the genre, then this would be the place to go for your one-stop shopping needs. It features such names as Lords of Acid, Moby, Crystal Method and Superstar DJ Keoki. We also hear from one of the pioneers, Genesis P-Orridge, who gives his insight into the music and provides a little history. But all we get from the film is a little history. The main focus of the movie is to pile information from as many different aspects as possible. We hear about the clothing, the dancing, the set-up of the shows, the mystique of the culture, the drugs, the graphic design, and of course the music that brings it all together.
It sounds like the movie is nice and thorough. However, since so much is covered in such a brief amount of time, with little or no cohesion between the parts, it just falls flat. There’s no real standardization in the approach to the segments. It seems like they were randomly placed. The movie itself lacks continuity. It starts off with music breaks featuring trippy, psychedelic colors and shapes similar to what you’d see on the video screen at a rave. Later, both of these discontinue. It’s as if the filmmakers (director Jon Reiss and editor Eric Zimmerman) just gave up on the concept and for some reason felt no need to remove it from the beginning of the picture.
The whole effort is just a slap-dash of images and sounds put together seemingly randomly and without any type of clear focus. As a non-participant in rave culture, I can’t say the movie offered me anything new or taught me something I didn’t know about it already. I left with no added appreciation for it all.
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