sandra.neill

In addition to its harsh indictment of consumer culture, Fight Club offers what is probably the finest critique of contemporary masculinity Hollywood has ever produced. This film is *nothing* like what the trailers suggested.

This film was billed as a satire but it's not--it's 100% pro-religious and poorly written to boot. What was with the pointlessly potty-mouthed 'prophet' character? And Salma Hayek--possibly the worst actor of her generation. A huge disappointment.

This film could have been quite good if only there'd been some explanation--of the performers, the culture, the songs, the country... Anything. But there was nothing beyond a line or two at the very outset. From that point forward, it was nothing more than music videos. One performance after another, with no more information than the song name provided. As a fan of flamenco who knows very little about the culture it arose out of, I'd have appreciated much more background info. Buena Vista Social Club, a film in the same genre, did this beautifully. It detailed the performers, the history of the music, the songs. Because it did none of this, Flamenco was boring. What is more, the camera work is at times quite awful. Why the extended, extreme tonsil-shot closeups of singers?