8MM (1999)

Powerful

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Never saw this film in 1999 and was eager to see Nicolas Cage in his earlier films. Having now viewed it, I am not disappointed but for 2018, the slow and painstaking buildup in getting to the truth doesn't work anymore. Life is too rushed nowadays and would be found a boring drawback and cheesy movie.I can't say I liked it, but am pleased to have seen it. This 2 hour movie gets my watchable rating of 6. The last half hour of the movie made it work for me.

Classic N. Cage's acting that makes you root for the villains.If you are looking for nothing else than the obvious clichè or a not challenging movie to watch while you're doing something else you've come to the right place. Once you've watched the first hour you easily can guess the rest of it. I also recommend this movie to people who suffer heart problems... you don't have much to worry about as no suspense or unexpected twists occur.

This is great filmmaking right here. I would not say this is Academy Award winning stuff, but it has a story that never lets you go, and is intriguing and somewhat thought provoking. This movie had me from start to finish, and very very seldom let me go. That is how I know a good movie from a bad one, it makes you forget about everything else and absorbs you.8 Stars!!! Though it probably is a 7 at best, I liked it though!

Okay, hold on to your hats... this is a wild one! Nicholas Cage's performance as Tom Welles goes from one extreme to the other: he is both over-emotive at times and wooden at others. The pace is a little slow at times. And without knocking the actual quality of the film, it is not always easy to watch. Well neither is A Clockwork Orange, and that movie is a complete masterpiece.I think Joel Schumacher's direction is excellent; the one scene where Cage has broken into Machine's house and the record is stuck at the end is as frightening as anything I've seen in recent movies. He also draws excellent performances, not only in his leading cast, but in the supporting roles. Nicolas Cage, not one of my favorite actors, does an outstanding job in a role that is complex and multi-dimensional. His persistence to find who killed Maryanne Mathews is relentless and at times heart-shattering. James Gandolfini is superb and despicable in the role of the smut producer who helmed the snuff film. Peter Stomare as the heartless director Dino Velvet is likewise disgustingly realistic. But there is more...Not only are the acting, photography, settings, costumes, dialogue, pacing, and the haunting background music all superbly managed, but the movie is also that rarity among the torrent of mindless trash which Hollywood, in its extreme contempt for the modern audience, inflicts on us today: it is a movie with a deep, even profound, meaning, a meaning with cosmic implications.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.