Reviews
The Reef (1999)
I agree - bad movie.....but LOVELY Timothy Dalton
Slow-moving ponderous movie with terrible acting on the whole - but lovely locations & clothes to admire, and, of course, Timothy Dalton, who does a compelling job, as always. I wanted to laugh out loud at the voice-overs - so silly!! But Dalton is always worth watching, even in bad movies, a wonderful actor, older now, but still very handsome and masculine. This movie is worth viewing only to see him....and he seems like he wandered into a bad dime romance novel, poor fellow. Your time would be better spent watching Mr. Dalton in 1970's "Wuthering Heights" or the early 1980's BBC version of "Jane Eyre". Poor Sela Ward, so lovely, but so wooden.... surely she's been better in other movies.
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Dumb self-indulgent mish-mash of old fairy tales
Visually stunning at times, with a dark & frightening forest & a wonderful terrifying witch. Unhappily, it all goes to waste with a confused, stupid plot that tries & fails to fuse several dark fairy tales together. The premise of the brothers being old-fashioned "witch/troll-busters" was a good one, but the movie executes the idea miserably. Full of depictions of animal cruelty (horses set on fire, a kitten slashed to pieces), human brutality (decapitations), a very frightening scene in which an enchanted horse eats a small girl...this movie is not for children! Or for anyone else. And it's too bad, because it shows potential that is squandered by a poorly written, meandering script. Fairy tales are full of dark and frightening creatures and cruel acts, but there is always a reason for the darkness and cruelty - an exploration into the dark, dangerous, & uncontrollable aspects of life and the hidden aspects of human behavior. This movie is good for a matinée to waste a couple hours, a few bucks - but do not take the kids!!