Tideland (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
|
List Price: Our Price: $17.49 You Save: $10.49 (37%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $4.75 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Tideland (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Movie Review: Another incredible journey...
Summary: 4 Stars
Dorothy, Alice, Ofelia, and now: Jeliza-Rose. I met Dorothy in my childhood, Alice turned up in my 'interesting' days, Ofelia showed me 1944 fascist Spain alongside one mind-bender of a fantasy world, and now: Jeliza. What did Jeliza show me? I'm not sure just yet... Movie Review: I just don't get it [SPOILER ALERT ENCLOSED]
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess I'm just not intellectual enough but I didn't get this movie AT ALL. I kept thinking that everyone was a figment of her imagination. At least that way the movie made sense.
[SPOILERS TO FOLLOW]
I don't get it: so Jeliza-Rose's heroin addicted father takes her to his mother's home, a mother who is dead but he was never notified of this? Her house is empty with all her stuff still there? She lives in a big field of hay next to a busy train?? Her neighbors keep dead people in their house? No one finds this odd? I live in New York my whole life but I think that even the most country of bumpkins would find that SOMEONE like the mailman or a neighbor would have noticed the smell of rotting flesh? That smell doesn't bother ANYONE, not even a small girl? I don't know, maybe I'm just nit-picking but I kept thinking that all of these things were just parts of Jeliza-Rose's mind. Reading the plot on Wikipedia and all these reviews has alerted me that I'm quite wrong. Maybe I should have read the book first.
The only good part about this movie was the acting. It appeared to have a tremendously low budget so it could not turn out the spectacular visuals of movies like Pan's Labyrinth or The Fountain, which is a shame because I got tired of looking at rotting corpses, doll heads, and hay for two hours. But the acting was excellent. That girl - whoever played Jeliza-Rose - was a tremendously talented actress. She dominated the film often by herself for a large amount of time, having to switch on and off between being herself and being those dolls. Excellent actress. Dickens and Dell were also great and Jennifer Tilly and Jeff Bridges were virtually unrecognizable as the drug-addicted dirtbag parents. Excellent acting on everyone's part.
Unfortunately, the good acting didn't do enough to make up for the confusing plot (for me, at least). I found too many holes in the plot and I kept thinking that Jeliza-Rose was making everything up, sort of reverting to a fantasy world as a child's way of avoiding having to deal with the very adult notion of having become an orphan within like a week. At the very end [again, SPOLER ALERT] when she thinks she sees Dickens by the train wreck but it turns out just to be some wounded and traumatized man, it reinforced for me that these people WERE figments of the imagination. I even thought maybe she and her father hadn't made it to the grandmother's house and that they'd been on the train when it crashed. (I didn't get that Dickens had used his dynamite to derail the train). Where did Dickens - a mentally retarded boy/man - get dynamite? What was the significance of Jeliza-Rose catching Dell doing SOME crazy sexual thing to some guy in the shed? What was up with that squirrel? Maybe these are questions for the author of the book and not the creator of the movie, I don't know.
Just way too confusing and boring for me. But, as I said before, maybe I'm just not smart enough to "get" it all. My advice? It's a weird weird movie; try putting it on your Netflix queue before paying for it, since I hear the DVD version has awful aspect ratio anyway. Or you can watch it on cable. I've seen it on Showtime a few times.
Movie Review: Another kind of magical childhood
Summary: 5 Stars
If your looking for a fantasy escape by way of a Disneyland-Hollywoodistic flair, then keep on looking. There's plenty of other films. This is a story about an abused kid and it should be uncomfortable. The film wasn't artificially disturbing or drawn out, and handled the biographical elements with an amazing sensitivity without discounting what was happening either. Yet the film is not depressing or sad. Cullin and Gilliam skillfully blended in lightness and joy for a view of another kind of magical childhood in an amazing, rare film.
The story is about a little girl's fantasy world, but it's not about her world being a fantasy either. There's blurring between what could be seen as brilliant creativity or a form of protective madness; emotional fantasy or twisted reality; resilience or pending breakdown. The story unfolds in a natural, chronological way where later scenes explain the opening. She's rational when her mother dies, which seems natural at the time, but later, when she needs her father, she seems irrational. Her world is upside down and inside out in every way possible. What's usually considered the worst thing that could happen to a child, becomes her surreal life's dream come true instead.
This movie is not meant for everyone. As I said, people idealizing all children have happy lives will hate this film. But for people amazed by children's innate abilities to cope with adversity will relate to the necessity of using fantasy for survival. For others though, this movie might be more disturbing as a reminder when they needed to use an imaginary world that was bigger than the actual events happening at the time. That's another reason why this film won't be for everyone.
Movie Review: Terry Gilliam's Most Disturbing Film to Date
Summary: 5 Stars
Gilliam has always been in my top two fav directors of all time, so after a 7 year wait between films, the disappointment of Brothers Grimm was crushing. The studio had interfered to such a degree with Gilliam's vision that it no longer seemed like one of his films at all. Sadly, this seems to be the pattern whenever Hollywood tries to subvert the influence of a true cinematic genius. Then word leaked out he was simultaneously working on an independently financed film that would see release soon afterward. Wow, to say this movie is out there is an understatement. Taking the basic formula of Lewis Carroll's Wonderland books and twisting them to such a degree as to be almost unrecognizable is no small feat. We see the tale of Alice through the distorted view of a junkie or other demented individual. Jeff Bridges as the father stole the show, even as a rotting corpse. I must say Gilliam goes to some dark places here; necrophilia, pedophilia, child abuse, exploiting the mentally retarded. The list goes on, but if you can stomach the action, it's quite beautiful in a macabre way, and displays the "ugly" beauty Gilliam is capable of. This film will never reach the acclaim his other works such as Brazil, Time Bandits, or 12 Monkeys will, but it is similar in tone to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, where the central characters go on such a wondrous journey that you can't help but get caught up in it. A dark masterpiece.Movie Review: ONE OF A KIND MOVIE THAT'S NOT FOR EVERYONE.
Summary: 5 Stars
'Tideland' is a 2005 movie directed by Terry Gilliam and is adapted from the Mitch Cullen novel. It stars powerhouse child actress Jodelle Ferland, Jeff Bridges(a corpse in much of the film), Janet McTeer, Brenden Fletcher, and a short apperance by Jennifer Tilly.
When the story starts, we see the very dysfuctional life of little Jeliza-Rose(Ferland). Right from the start we see her her parents are heroin addicts and obscenely dysfunctional(irresponsible). After a short apperance, which implies that Jeliza didn't like her mom, she dies of a drug overdose. Jeliza's father, Noah(Bridges)in a panic, packs up and leaves for his childhood home, an isolated farm house out on the plains of rural Texas. On the first night there, Noah dies of a drug overdose, and Jeliza is left to herself. As time goes on, she begins delving into a fantacy world where her doll heads come to life. She then meets her distant neighbors; The child-like Dickens(Fletcher), and his witch-like sister Dell(McTeer)who takes care of him. As the story moves, Jeliza falls further and further into her fantacy world, and she(and the viewer)learn of the history of Dell and Noah, as well as Jeliza's grandmother.
This is a bizarre movie, and is not for everyone, it's almost like a twisted combination of 'Pan's Labrynth' and 'Trainspotting'. Gilliam applies his trademark fantacy, but it also has a 'dark drama' edge to it. This movie is disturbing, but becuase it's from the point-of-view of a child, it's made to be 'cute' and 'innocent'.
The acting and dialoge is amazing. Jodelle Ferland(much like Dakota Fanning)posseses unbelievable acting chops, and carries this film. It's almost creepy how she handles the adult content, but I almost have to question her parents for letting her be in this. Brenden Fletcher gives a sincire, and moving performance. Jeff Bridges(although a corpse in most of the movie)and Janet Mcteer give memorable performances. This movie has a minimalist cast, so the acting is very important to keeping the story going. The dialoge is great(although bizarre). As Jeliza falls into her fantacy world, she talks to her doll-heads and each reflect a side of her psyche. Again, amazing for someone as young as Ferland, and anyone for that matter.
The editing and cinematography is exellent, and crucial for a surealist film. This is definetly a surealist film, and anyone who has seen 'Time Bandits' and 'The Adventures of Baron Von Muncheusen' should know what to expect. There's alot of off-center camera shots and angles, unique lighting, and jump-cuts to give it a 'trippy' edge. The way the film moves from disturbing to cute, from real to sureal is flawless.
I've seen this film three times now, and I find it more compelling each time I see it. This is a highly unique film, and I can't recall another movie that uses these type of 'mechanics' in this way.
Some will not care for this, This movie can be quite disturbing. For example; Jeliza and Dickens develop a relationship of sorts and talk about being boyfriend and girlfriend, and speak of loving each other, but neither has any concept of sex and an adult relationship, so a few scenes that can be somewhat disturbing become innocent and harmless. In my last viewing, I noticed that it was Jeliza who cooked up the hit that killed her father, so again, this movie is disturbing and not for everyone.
One issue that needs to be adressed is the DVD. I don't own this film, but many have said that the transfer is not the right ratio, and the sound quality is poor. Gilliam is planning a re-release, but no date has yet been set.
Overall, 'Tideland' is a pleasently dark, bizarre, sureal film that any fan of these type of flicks will enjoy.