Bringing Out The Dead (1999)

3/5

Bringing Out The Dead follows Frank Pierce, a paramedic in New York's Hell's Kitchen who hasn't saved anyone in several months and has become haunted by ghosts of those he lost, for three of the busiest days of the year. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking. There is one extremely surreal sequence in wintertime, with snow falling upwards, that is almost too powerful. The visual imagery throughout was awe-inspiring. The editing was brilliant as well. The intro credit sequence was the best part about the movie, although it set my expectations impossibly high for the rest of the piece to follow. The music throughout was exceptional at setting and maintaining mood. Without the music, the movie would be a completely different experience--a much worse experience.

The exotic cast of characters, while played extremely well by more than capable actors, felt a bit too exaggerated for my tastes. (Also, every time I saw Marc Anthony on screen, I thought of Johnny Depp.) It seemed as if Scorsese didn't know whether the film should speak to us on a dramatic level or a surrealist level, so he did both. The result is an uneven movie that doesn't quite satisfy. On another note, I wasn't too keen on the depiction of the paramedics and people in the health profession overall--they all just seemed insane. And I felt a lot of the dialogue and voice-over narration was stale, uninspired, and just plain boring. Also, the stock plot conflict and resolution was predictable and painfully simple/bad. Whatever. It's a Scorsese picture, so you gotta see it. And for the quality of the cinematography, editing, and music you've come to expect in his pictures, you won't be disappointed.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0163988/

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

3/5

Jacob's Ladder isn't really a horror movie, as I initially thought it was, but in fact an intense psychological exploration of hallucinatory paranoia. Jacob Singer, a Vietnam vet deftly and believably played by Tim Robbins, starts having nightmares about a specific attack his unit experienced back in the Mekong Delta. The movie takes you along effortlessly in revealing the events that happened and his resulting descent into madness. The bizarre images were evocative and unsettling, although not quite shocking or frightening. I liked how the movie pushes and pulls you at will, convincing you of one reality before tearing it all down and putting you into another. The movie was always interesting, its pacing and progression perfect. The cinematography was above average at times, merely average at others. The editing was also quite good, extremely fluid except for a few spots that lingered too long.

Much of the movie feels dated, from the characters' hairstyles to the music and dancing. Many hallucinations really did not fit at all (the demon dancing/fondling, or whatever it was) or served absolutely no purpose (the car chase). The scarier parts instead are based in some form of recognizable reality (putting him in an ice bath because of his high fever). Most of the supporting acting was sub-par and/or throwaway (except for Danny Aiello, who was incredibly and surprisingly tender). Also, yes, Jason Alexander was in the film, but his involvement actually hurt the movie overall because I could not separate his George from Seinfeld with his role in this. Also, I found the plot quite predictable and unimaginative. And what is up with the gratuitous nudity? I say, there's no need to go out of your way to see this movie. But if you like Tim Robbins, it won't hurt to stick this in your DVD player.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0099871/