Pain Movie Reviews

For those of you who had high expectations for Joel Schumacher's film "Falling Down" based on its concept but were disappointed in its execution, you might enjoy this film. Our "hero" is a middle-aged, jobless, penniless ex-con raging bull of a man with no more options, nowhere to go and an ample belly full of rage. He wanders from Paris up to the northern French provinces, pretty much burns his bridges up there and returns to Paris, raging all the time. We hear of some episodes of violence he's perpetrated in the past, and see one more of truly horrifying proportions, so by the time he returns to Paris we know he's capable of almost anything. All the time he continues raging, which is communicated to us by way of a relentless voice over narration of pure anger. On his return, Noe keeps upping the stakes by having the butcher encounter one disappointment and provocation after the other, setting up the climax.

This is a competent film, and Noe is a good director of acting, has a good visual sense for capturing the hopeless desolation of his French locales (almost Eraserhead-like in their industrial bleakness) and is edited in an interesting, very expert way that simultaneously propels the film forward but lingers on certain scenes to effectively build dramatic tension. Like some other European films about societal misfits (I'm thinking of the German "Funny Games," for example), the film has what I consider to be an unfortunate tendency to rely on gimmicky effects to build tension and play on the audience's apprehensions. In this case, the film is punctuated throughout but loud gunshot noises (on the soundtrack -- not heard by the characters in the film) together with "jump-zoom" effects -- literal manifestations of the ratcheting up of tension as the film proceeds. Effective at first, their continued use is of questionable value. More distancing is the use of title cards in various places, in particular the notorious one near the end (to give too much more information would be a spoiler). The end result is a film which is more of a cerebral exercise than a visceral world (e.g. "Taxi Driver", which I think remains a better film).

But the film is worth owning -- although the DVD is a disappointment. The film is presented in a widescreen matte that must be viewed (on a 16:9 TV) with the "zoom" mode to make the most effective use of the screen. However, like other films done this way, the use of the zoom mode cuts off the subtitles at the bottom. Consequently, the viewer is left with the option of viewing a shrunken version of the film in proper proportions in the center of the monitor, or viewing it stretched out (to nearly 1:2.85 cinerama proportions, but of course with everything flattened). Those who have a "justified" mode can at least see proper proportions in the center of the screen. There are other DVDs from Fox Lorber out there that have this problem, and there should be appropriate labelling to tell viewers that if they use the proper mode for best widescreen viewing, they will not be able to read the subtitles.

This is an excellent movie that has tons of intrigue and blattent violence to depict what really goes on in the mind of this down-and-out butcher. Cest merveilleux, un vrai oeuvre.

This is a great family film, a lot of fun sing a longs and smiles. Make sure you watch it with your little daughter or little boy and a couple of aunts and uncles. Dont forget to sing a long! : )

I bought this DVD after recently seeing Ben Harper live in concert in Byron Bay,Australia. The DVD does not do justice to his live performances which are emotionally uplifting and awe inspiring. It's very bland and monotonous. The footage looks really unproffesional and the editing/direction is poor.
I can't wait to take it back to the store and exchange it for something else.
Rather watch it at a friend if you must just don't buy it.

As a huge Ben Harper fan, I had been hoping that Ben would release a DVD of one of his live shows, because Ben Harper is the greatest performer I've ever seen live. I was a bit disappointed when I heard that his DVD was going to be a documentry. I am a big fan, so I knew I would get it eventually, but I am not typicly a fan of documentries. Besides, I thought, this would be just another low production value, behind the scenes interview.

Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. This Documentry does more to show why so many people love Ben Harper than any strait concert DVD could have. We get behind the scenes footage along side live performances, and together they paint a fuller picture than I could have imagined. Besides the documenty there is extra stand alone concert and studio footage, lot's of it, but there is no question that the documentry is the feature presentation on this DVD.

I have to give it to director Danny Clinch for giving us such great insite into a band that I loved before, and love more now. He catches not just the physical actions of a moment, but also the emotions of the moment as well. His camera work is invintive, and enhances the visual rather than distracts like one might think invitive camera work might in a documentry.

I can not overstate how much this documentry is important to true fans of Ben Harper. Also, if you want to win Ben more fans, next to taking them to one of his live shows, showing them Pleasure and Pain is the way to do it. On all levels this DVD is a success. As Concert footage, as a Documentry, and as another essential item that fans can put on the shelf with all his albums.

Ben Harper has organically grown his career over the last ten years through personal and intimate recordings with often great depth of meaning. Couple that with mesmerizing live performances, whether acoustic or rocking, and it is easy to understand how and why Ben Harper has built a very nice sized audience and music career of substance and quality.

Ben Harper's journey through life and music has touched so many listeners because, like most great musicians, he is sincere and honest in sharing his thoughts and feelings. That sincerity and the continuing striving to uncover, reveal and share the emotional travels one must navigate in seeking those universal truths, plus what has become a crackerjack band in "The Innocent Criminals" - along with Ben's virtuosity, is what makes Ben Harper a special artist. The ultimately hopeful and uplifting message of his music doesn't hurt either.

His music rises from such a rich soup of diverse influences that nourish his soul so that the spice of "variety" is natural and tasty in his music. You won't find this kind of soup from Campbell's, but it is mmmm, mmmm, good. Good for the soul.

In an age of manufactured bands and "hits", with one or two decent songs (maybe) on albums, Ben Harper cd's can be bought with confidence. Every Ben Harper cd returns great value of many good songs, some great and some even profound. Multiple listenings are richly rewarded. Ben Harper has released four cd's of studio recordings along with the "Live From Mars" two-cd live set. Get them all, certainly the four studio recordings, at least. Then, absolutely see Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals when they come to your town. Everything I have said about Ben Harper is elevated exponentially in the context of a performance not just for, but with, an audience. Ben Harper is a great showman not because of tricks or gimmicks but, like all the greats through the years, because Ben and the band communicate. The best performers do this. This is music's highest potential, to communicate. And that ability to communicate is what makes Ben Harper, like all the greats - no matter the genre, such a special artist.

Oh yeah, the movie. Well, context is everything. So too with the film, "Pleasure + Pain". Long time fans will really enjoy getting to know Ben and the band even better. While this is not a concert performance (can't wait for a full blown Ben Harper concert on dvd!!!), there is enough music to allow one to get a sense and feel for the music of Ben Harper. (But you may want to pick up all his cd's, just the same.:-))

There are moments funny (Juan is especially photogenic and fun, while Ben does a mean Dr. Evil impersonation) and lovely (Ben talking about his father and performing a newly composed song with his mother, a musician). We also learn about Ben's childhood and the musical influences from his parents and his kind, sweet and musical grandparents - the owners of a music store where Ben learned about music and life (same thing, right? - it can be!).

I am rambling, but I hope this gives you a sense of what you are going to experience with Ben Harper's "Pleasure + Pain", but most gratifyingly, mostly pleasure. This a touching film. Whether this is your introduction to Ben Harper or a visit with an "old friend", I don't think it is possible for the viewer to come away with any feeling beside gratitude. Thankfulness that they saw this and learned more about music, the making of music and that there are still kind, good and thoughtful people like Ben Harper sharing such music.

"State Property," a hip-hop variation of the "Scarface" tale, is so reprehensible it approaches a snuff eight-millimeter. Like a lot of rap music, which thinks the existence of wanton cruelty, violence and pain automatically legitimizes a song drawing out its every crass detail, the movie is a cheerfully amoral romp through all the horrible, totalitarian things one bully can do to a weaker person - humiliation, dehumanization, torture, murder - with a turn of the tables at the end that supposed to comment on this romp as if it was all very, very bad. Sure. Ask the film's admirers - or even the participants, including indicted star Beanie Siegel - where they stand on the use of force to snuff out anything - enemies, annoyances, acquaintances, even friends - that interfere with their designs of all-consuming power. Dictators rise on such thoughts.

Siegel plays a local criminal who, after a thug epiphany of sorts at a topless bar, wipes out legions of drug dealers in an effort to carve out turf. There are stockpiles of men willing to do his bidding while he watches on in his neon-colored swish-swish outfit, pawing at a fence like some caged animal -yes, I'm not kidding, Siegel paws - as a mass execution goes down on a basketball court. To show he is some kind of leader, Siegel occasionally spits out obvious truisms; to show he has a trace of humanity, the movie trots a girlfriend and child across the screen, the idea being if you have them, you must be something less than a total bogeyman, although such accoutrements didn't excuse Stalin, or Saddam.

Because "State Property" cannot possibly condone this behavior for an entire movie, Siegel eventually matches up against an equal armed foe and the fate that's predetermined for a straight-away lunatic like him.

Unlike Hype Williams' "Belly," which very much wanted to have a message but buried it under the pyrotechnics of cars, girls and jewelry needed to pull young black audiences into the theaters, "State Property" has no aspirations beyond being hard and cold. Directed by Tron Anderson and produced by Siegel's music producer, Damon Dash, the movie is borne out of an appalling, but unsurprising, ignorance of what makes a life worth living. There is no hope, just a few fleeting moments of material wealth, booties and gun-toting power trips.

This is a really, really, really, really, bad movie. Don't watch it, don't buy , don't even think about this movie, you may get brain damage. Acting is horrible, plot line is ridiculous, and who...wrote this terrible script. Ghetto people don't even talk like that.

8/15/03 Saw this video from the middle..someone had not rewound it..although the parts I did see summarized the video quite well...with a showing of tall blguessed it was partially Philadelphia .although that type of "ghetto fabulous" scenario is not atypical in either the Pat's Steak part of Philadelphia or the Quaker part of Philadelphia or the large numvber of organized religion communities of Philadelphia and of course not in its "Kimmel Center,Urban League,Major Mall(the Gallery) sections..The idea that they could have a shoot out at the end in a Philadelphia court room is truly not a believable plot(nor that the woman who shot the main character in the back could have had access to travel in the court just because she was a gurl not a guy)(its Philadelphia courts were in City Hall and now have moved to the Art Museum near its "main library(Free Library of Philadelphia) in Logan Square.