The Chumscrubber, The Great Debaters, End of Days
Chumscrubber, The
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]
I found it hard to connect with the characters because pretty much all of them are self-centered: they are either too busy with their jobs to notice events that are going on around them or they drug themselves so that they wouldn’t have to feel. I have a penchant for black comedies that comments on life in suburbia but I found this to be a little too pretentious for its own good. The “artistic” moments made me roll my eyes and the supposedly heartbreaking moments do not merit sympathy. The best moment of the film was the interaction between Jamie Bell and Glenn Close near the end because their pain was real. We got to know them more in three minutes than we did the entire picture. I think this would’ve worked better if the adults were the focus of the story, not the teenagers. I feel like the scenes with the teens are unrelatable and bland, slow and annoying. The adults, on the other hand, are pretty good, especially Allison Janney’s sad turn as the mother who turns to the fostering of her business because her family wouldn’t give her the time of day. If there were less characters, the “artistic” scenes were removed, and the writing is a bit sharper, this would’ve been another good film about the desperation and meltdown in suburbia.
Great Debaters, The
[ 3 stars out of 4 ]
I enjoyed this movie from an academic and emotional point of view. Even though the rest of the film is consistently good, the debate scenes are the ones stand out because they’re both exciting and educational. I didn’t care so much about the drama between the characters because I feel like I’ve seen it all before too many times. At times, the film would linger too long in the characters’ sadness to the point where the picture would slow down a bit. I wish that Denzel Washington and and Forest Whitaker had more scenes together. The one scene where the two of them engaged was so interesting due to their subtle acting. The message about racism wasn’t hammered even though it was always there so that was a nice surprise. Since this was based on real life, a lot of people knew how it was going to end but I didn’t because I’m no fan of debate nor am I that interested in history. Still, this is a good movie for those who want to learn something new or gain a new perspective when it comes to issues that are still relevant today.
End of Days
[ 2 stars out of 4 ]
I noticed so many plot holes with this picture as I was watching it to the point where I finally gave up and just observed what would happen. I couldn’t help but laugh whenever Arnold Schwarzenegger would try to be sentimental (I actually missed his one-liners in action films!), the fiery special effects, and how bullets can actually stop Satan in his tracks. One of the few good things about this movie, though, was Gabriel Byrne as Satan because he was able to balance humor with sadism. I didn’t care that much for the story or its characters because both aspects are one-dimensional. The film drags on a bit but there were interesting (and creepy) images that could be found every fifteen minutes or so. It’s weird how this movie has a lot of explosions despite the whole Satan-coming-to-spawn storyline. It didn’t work as a whole but I can’t say it’s a complete mess either. I think if the filmmakers had found a right footing, this would have been pretty good. Lastly, I was disappointed because I was expecting more of a horror than an action picture.
