Movie Reviews - N
Nadja: This is the movie I saw where they showed a trailer for "Blackula". That trailer was better than this movie. Nadja was a boring, low-budget black&white vampire movie. If you're going to make a low-budget black&white movie, do it about something original.
Naked Lunch: I'll have to read the book someday. This was one whacked movie. It was a great exploration of a drug-induced alternate reality. It does a great job of blurring the lines of time, place, fantasy and reality.
Naked
States: A documentary about a guy
who photographed naked people all over the country a few years ago. At first I
was thinking - this guy is a shallow, "why doesn't the world appreciate me?"
guy. But, he grew on me as the movie progressed. I think his reaction to the
nudist colony made me like him more. A few of the photographs were really neat.
I think my favorite was the heavy woman on the rocks near New
York.
Napolean Dynamite: This may be a rare movie that's so hip and true, it's not hip or true.
Nate and Hayes: A pirate movie that I remember seeing back in the early 80's when we just got Showtime. I remember that I did like it... or at least parts of it. I think I saw it like a zillion times, but I don't really remember the plot.
National Lampoon's Animal House: Sure it was funny, maybe even a classic. But I don't know, it just wasn't my type of movie for some reason. Maybe it's just a bad case of personal timing.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation: A modern fable for our children to enjoy at Christmas..
National Lampoon's European Vacation: Pretty damn silly, and quite forgettable. Of course, I never will be blessed with forgetting it - it's embedded in my brain for all eternity.
National Lampoon's Vacation: Who or what the hell is "National Lampoon" anyway? A classic movie. Of course it's a lot better if you've actually been on a family vacation.
Natural Born Killers: It's too bad that most people can't get past the disgusting exterior of this movie to see the genius inside. This is Oliver Stone's best movie in my opinion. It was so completely over-the-top that it was completely free from any barriers. Life is a fuse... lots of sparks and then one day, BOOM! Actually, this movie was one long mushroom trip - Mr. Stone conceived much of it while under the influence (so I'm told), and there are references to funky mushrooms throughout the movie. Beside that, it's a great commentary on the state of our society and media. If people are offended by this movie, they better wake up and take a look around them. This movie is just a fantasy, the world around them is real and it's a lot more scary than "Natural Born Killers". Closing one's eyes in denial only makes things worse. Shielding oneself from reality by selective attention is the path to an early death. Not using one's mind is the same thing as actively destroying it with a noxious drug or a bullet between the eyes.
Neighbors: Um, about some neighbors, I don't remember anything... except that I saw it.
The Neverending Story: Don't panic! the story does eventually end. This movie is like that dream you had... which was really cool, but which you can't remember as soon as you wake up. Well, it's like a kid's dream anyway. never stop dreaming and imagining, or nothing new will ever happen and your life will be enveloped by "the nothing".
Nick of Time: Cool man. This is the only movie I can think of which was shot completely in "real time" - a minute in the movie was a minute real time. What a neat idea. It really brings out the urgency of the decision-making process that Johnny Depp needs to go through.
The Nightmare Before Christmas: Now HERE's a Christmas movie. Tim Burton during one of his finer moments. Or, is this a Halloween movie..? Anyway, it was completely unique and imaginative. Sort of like "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" meets... um... well, Tim Burton I guess.
The Nightmare on Elm Street: One of those classic horror movies that spawned endless lame sequels. Why is it that horror movies spawn sequels? What is it about the genre? I really have no idea.
Night of the Living Dead (original): A great film... and a great film story. I think they spent like $1000 to make this or something. It set the "zombie movie" standard.
Night of the Living Dead (remake): This movie didn't "bother" me, I just found it a little unnecessary. Why did they make this? I guess they figured the story was good, but some people simply will not watch an old black and white movie (no matter how good it is). Unfortunately that's true.
Night Shift:
A man finds his inner courage and
strength by becoming a pimp. A decent enough movie, heck, it's got the
Fonz, Batman and "Dianne" from cheers (what a team!).
Noi:
Why
do people go all gaga over these artsy movies? I mean, it was OK, but
come on... Simply being stark, depressing, low-budget, quiet, and
obscure doesn't mean a movie is great. What is Noi? A small-town
Icelandic kid tries to cope with being a small-town Icelandic kid, and
then everyone dies. Perhaps the most fun part was trying to read all
the Icelandic names in the credits - holy moley!
No Man's Land: Another movie about the horrors & pointlessness of war - especially when seen from the front lines. I liked how all these characters are just "regular guys" and not uber-macho robotic types (like they are in typical American war movies). They're all just in a screwed-up situation. Plus, I liked how the movie really didn't pick sides... And the end was great too! Don't be expecting a happy movie, cuz war ain't happy.
No Reservations:Leave it to hollywood to screw-up a fine german movie. Go see Mostly Marta instead.
El Norte: I saw this in spanish class during high school. I'll have to say that it was one damn fine movie. I have seen few movies that have this one's element of tragedy. In case you haven't seen it, it's about a brother and sister who become illegal aliens - crossing the US/Mexico border (in the northerly direction). If you don't speak spanish, it is subtitled. If you can read, it's one of those movies that's worth seeing even if you don't like subtitles (and if you can't read, then you won't be reading this, so nevermind.). I loved the non-hollywood ending.
Notting Hill: Maybe the "bizarro world" version of Pretty Woman? J.R. stars as, um, herself basically & falls for an everyday english guy. Ok, so it was cute and I suppose I enjoyed it, so what?
Nowhere in Africa: Just when you think you've seen all the angles on the whole holocaust / WWII thing, and all the good stories have been told... along comes another one... And it's a great one. Interesting observation, so many languages are spoken in the movie, that no matter what language you speak, this will be somewhat of a foreign language film.