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All reviews - Movies (149) - DVDs (1)

The Best

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 06:03 (A review of Raiders of the Lost Ark)

George Lucas.
Steven Spielberg.
Harrison Ford.
A trio of names that entered the lexicon of sci-fi cinema with their earlier star-faring efforts.
Now, for this film, all three team up for the first time ever, but instead of a tale that took place a long time ago, in a distant galaxy far far away, this time it's not that long ago, & much more down to Earth. This modern take on the "old serials" follows the adventuress of Indiana Jones, an archeologist/adventurer/university professor/whip-meister, who finds himself in a race against time, for the Ark Of The Covenant, an ancient artifact which according to legend, can summon the power of God Himself.
Thus begins a world-hopping journey that includes cadres of Nazis, snake filled pharoah tombs, Cairo scimitar-wielding assasins & maybe even a bad date or two. In other words:
Best.
Action.
Adventure.
Movie.
Ever.



These days no matter how much I try to assimilate with all the other adults my age, most of whom have had they're childhood spirits crushed a long time ago, Raiders is a reminder to me of what it was like to watch a movie with childlike awe. This is a film with alot affection for me, that never fails to bring a smile to my now grown-up hairy pimp-ass.
This early blockbuster not only shaped the way I enjoy watching movies, but also, it contributes to the foundation of why going to the theatre & having the experience of being swept away by what is playing on the big silver screen has become one the greatest joys in my life.





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They're Baa-aack.....

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:51 (A review of Star Trek)

After watching this movie, it becomes obvious that space it not the final frontier,
time is.
While the story was simply okay & the villian pretty forgettable, the use of time-travel as a way of rebooting the series with the original crew & yet, still keeping in with the continuity that has been built up til now, was ingenius.
Now, the potential has been opened up to relaunch the entire franchise using brand new stories but still with the old gang of Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Uhrura, Bones, Chekov & Scotty.
The sets & technological designs of this installement, IMO, were bright, stylishly updated & detailed, but still kept with that particular flair that made the early series uniquely it's own.

I think that while fans of Star Wars are going to continue to grumble all over the internet & at sci-fi cons of how low their beloved franchise has fallen,
with this latest movie, Trek fans, old & new, have been given A New Hope for a future filled with the possibilty that, as Trekkies, they will now truly be able to....well, y'know.....
live long & prosper.

Sorry.
I had to fit that in somehow.




8.5/10


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Pretty Cool

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:50 (A review of Coraline)


As a comicbook nerd, I first became aware of Coraline as a graphic novel written by comicbook writer Neil Gaiman (though, it's original format of release is as a novella).
It's horror fantasy for young readers and as a film, it's a fine modern update of the Alice In Wonderland theme, with it's mixed ingredients of creative psychodelica, slightly edged childlike wonder, along with a nice dash of horror, but just enough to gurgitate a lump of fear in the throat of the kiddie audience within its targeted age. But not so much that it would scare any of it's viewers to the point of absolving their parents of any responsibility for any trauma that might lead 'em up to the top of a building with a sniper gun, later on in life.
Hopefully.



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Not Very Young At Heart

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:46 (A review of Oldboy)

A hard-bitten, no-holds barred tale of revenge that bites hard & holds no bars. And while I know that sentence is doublely redundant, it seems to fit the situation as far the level of emotional ravishing that this story leads it's characters up to. Brutal it may be, it's a film that depicts it story in an operatic level & with a refreshing energy to give the film a distinct life that widely separates it from the standard vengeance theme of traditional Hollywood-fare. IMO, a great flick that is armed with a in-your-face type of plot twist & proves that the medium of the graphic novel & comicbook is a world full of potentially good cinema, if one is willing to shuffle passed the mainstream same old same old.





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Mobsters On The Run

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:45 (A review of Road to Perdition)

Okay, let's forget the comicbook for a moment.
Road To Perdition is a quality film that addresses an area of the mobster life that rarely gets any notice from most movies from this genre: the relationship of a gangster with his kid(s) when the child is at the age in which the the parent's influence is most strongest & begins to crystalize in the kid's identity. Just this one aspect of the mafia lifestyle is enough to open a new set of ideas for future movies plotlines that focus on those in the world of organized crime.
Tom Hanks wanders out of his standard role to play an assasin who, along with his only survivng son, is on the run from the crime syndicate which he formerly called home. A life & death experience which reveals that there's a difference between the blood that is spilled for a mob-family & the blood that is shared between a real family.



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"Holy Dark Knights, Batman.....!"

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:41 (A review of Batman)

Okay, so maybe, the latest incarnations of the Dark Knight have sort of watered down the impact of the Caped Crusader's modern film debut.
And maybe, Jack Nicholson, for the role of the Joker was a little too old, not to mention, not in the kind of shape that one would expect for a Clown-Prince of Crime.
But for me, personally, this isn't so much about the acting (which I admit, despite the fun he has with it, Jack does tend to opt for a bit of an over-the-top performance, even for the Joker....) but more for the weight that his presence brings to the flick. In the same manner of Marlon Brando's participation in Superman's 1st big budget blockbuster, Nicholson also brings a certain class & credibility to a movie based off of a what the "cool kids" of the general public tend to look at as "just a silly comicbook".
Besides, Tim Burton's adaptation of the Batman still was the first serious effort outside of the comicbook to try & depict ol' Bat's as the true Dark Knight of justice that we nerds who read his comics always knew he was.



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"She My Daughter....She's My Sister...."

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:40 (A review of Chinatown (1974))

Jack Nicholson's only role as a detective in a "modern" noir film that doesn't try to be anything else other than a modern take of a noir film. It is because of this, that the 1970's sensibilities that are just a natural result of being a film of this era, along with it's "twisted" twist ending, that Chinatown comes off as being a work more layered & "edgy" than a standard mystery film. Which ends up giving this movie a much more distinctual feel that surpasses the genre in which it respectfully tries to remain faithful to.
And when you think about it, aren't those the type of qualities that usually make a classic film a classic?



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Vaporized Coolness

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:35 (A review of Steamboy)

Katsuhiro ลŒtomo's follow-up to his landmark feature, Akira.
Some of the tightest integration between CGI & 2-D animation on film.
The detail in this movie is just about about perfect, and it's English language version was treated exceptionally well, so that the dialogue flows alot more smoothly than the translations that are found in most other anime films.
Multiple viewings are required to just capture & appreciate all the beautifully intricate designs.
Plus, one of my favorite things about Steamboy, is the way that, even though the human figures are still drawn in the typical manga style, there's still a strong more western "realism" to the caricature element to their design, that it adds alot more weight to their forms. The end result is that it allows them to integrate into the multi-dimensional visuals so that their simplicity is not so overwhelmed by the deeply designed backgrounds.



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Celine Dion Is The True King Of The World

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:29 (A review of Titanic)

Wanna know how good Titanic is?
Because of this movie,
I have developed a lifelong hatred towards icebergs.

Also,
for a brief moment there,
this film actually had me believing that a man would actually allow himself to freeze to death in the icy ocean waters of the North Atlantic, just b'cuz he loved a girl so much that he couldn't bring himself to ask her if she could maybe scoot her fat ass over on the drift board just a little bit,
to make room for his skinny butt.

....godd@mn icebergs......!




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Run Forrest, Run!

Posted : 14 years, 6 months ago on 11 September 2009 05:24 (A review of Forrest Gump)

After watching this film, I was so inspired, that I decided, on a whim, to go running all the way across the country. However, by the time I reached the end of my block, I was so devastatingly winded, & I was weezing so desperately for air, that I thought for sure, my left lung must've collapsed in on itself.
So, instead, I just reminded myself that "stupid is as stupid does", & went back into my house & ate an entire "box of chawk-letts".
Which, of course, is what life is kinda like.






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