Hypercampe

Sorry, I must apologize, I intended to start off this review on a serious note, but.. ah well.. Firtly, Violante Placido has the most amazing pair of tits. Something gorgeous. There, done.

I watched this one a few years ago and I still remember it vividly and positively.

The American is a breath of fresh air. It avoids fitting into any mold, yet does not end up being artsy or pretentious.

I particularly enjoyed the pace of this film. It takes place in a "slow" region of northern Italy and the plot (what there is of it anyways) unfolds slowly. Somehow, watching this movie was like reading a contemplative novel on a sunny terrace on some summer afternoon, slowly turning the pages, sipping a smooth one.

I will not talk about the story as this movie is hardly about plot but encourage everyone to view it. A most enjoyable moment.

To be honest, I'm not one for romance, be it in the streets, in books or on screen. However, I like to consider myself as an open-minded person an very much looked forward to watching this film from a director whose work I have sometimes loved (dazed and confused).

The story is simple, two people meet on a train, somehow manage to like each others' company in very short time and then spend a night walking the streets of Vienna, handing money to every beggar they meet and sucking up to the Austrian counter-culture.

I really did not like this film. Firstly, the characters are uninteresting. Hawke's Jesse appears to be mentally challenged and Delpy's Céline is a pretentious intellectual snob. Anyway, these guys spend a night talking about their half-cooked philosophy of the world and their idea of true, perfect love. You'll get the usual: rebel against your parents, true love never lasts, capitalism is bad, youth is good.

It seems obvious that the idea of this movie is to show two young people falling in true love. A type of love that everyone should wish for because it is pure. The viewer is supposed to be moved by the honesty and maybe naivety of these guys. And this is what seriously bothers me. This is a relationship seen through the eyes of an older person, nostalgic of the innocence of his youth. The result is that Jesse and Céline aren't authentic, they are not convincing, rather clichés, they are just somebody else's fantasies.

I did however enjoy the simplicity of this movie. The plot, the pace, etc.

Enough said.

Now this on has got it right! Everything in it is cool, starting with Chuck's mullet.

Like in many of his films, Chuck goes around killing people, in this case a bunch of shady maffiosi and a crew of Muslims.

I do not see this film being broadcast in Muslim countries as it contains quite a few very funny islamophobic jokes.

One thing that I love with Chuck Norris films is that you know he is going to go around and have a nice time killing people. The fact that it is so predictable gives it all its charm, though it does take away all the suspense. But suspense sucks anyway, we just want explosions and naked chicks! This is a film that you watch for a good laugh and to learn a few good one-liners that you might toss out in a intellectual conversation at your girlfriend's family dinner party.