Reviews by The Mighty Celestial

A bad-ass lead character, a feral wolf-boy and his boomerang, a "junk-yard" fortress, an ayatollah of rock-n-rolla, a kick-ass car-chase, Australian accents, & more S&M costumes than a German hardcore porn video (or so I heard...).
Everything you need to make a solid thrill-ride of a post-apocalyptic action movie, moyt.

Almost a decade & a half earlier before Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey was one the first films to successfully marry the big budget sci-fi with a genre of a different theme (that of psychological thriller) so that all the high tech flashiness of science fiction acted as a contrasting backdrop to a darker side that resided underneath all the complicated buttons & wires of futuristic technology.
Then came Ridley Scott's Alien, which did the same for the darkside of sci-film, but now more in the method of the straight-up horror genre.
He followed that up with another marriage to sci-fi, but this time in the cinematic category of film noir. Now, with this story of replicant-hunter Rick Deckard, Scott depicts what lays beneath all the flashy neon lights that decorately symbolize the endless possiblities of the future, to tell a tale of the grit & grime layers of lost & forgotten cybo-souls that could only act as a foundation of those towering spires of technological brilliance that would allow the mortal men living in 'em to percieve themselves as gods.
Blade Runner is just as equally a visual stunner as the other famous sci-fi classic that Harrison Ford is famously known for, but now, instead of a distant galaxy far far away, it's in a distant future that more down to Earth.

Outside of When Harry Met Sally, this movie ranks as one that could easily represent the epitomy of the modern romantic comedy.
A good script, with each of the central actors approaching their roles with quality efforts, despite the lightness of the subject matter. This movie has the heart, laughs, chemistry & even a touch of satiric social commetary that matches the rest of the film's themes in the same way that a nice pair of high heels would match an elegant dress-gown.
Tootsie's end-result is that it satisfies in the manner which was always meant to be of the rom-com when the genre was first conceived.

The British try their hand at imitating some of the Tarantinoisms of Pulp Fiction. Or maybe Reservoir Dogs. I dunno. But what I do know is the way that my smile tends to crook as a result of listening to the way Lock Stock's script manages to continually weave up, down & sideways to finally coalesce into an English flavored "duck soup", full of chunky bits of quips, guns & sometimes-almost-hard-to-decipher-yet-humuorously-satisfying East End slang. This film proves that despite their pasty skin pigment, drab skies & even drabbier food, even the English can have style.
Not to mention that among the vast cast is included a small but solid bite-strewn & really cool role for Sting (the former Police-man, not the clown-faced wrestler .....you buncha nerds). The singer who, after filming was done, supposedly was responsible for introducing the director of this flick to Madonna.
Which later would result in a relationship 'tween said director & material girl.
Which later would result in marriage.
Which later would then result in the movie Swept Away.
Which later would then result in the conclusion that Sting needs to learn to mind his own business.

With events like rented military helicopters being called off during a scene of Apocalypse Now, so they can go engage in an actual combat for an actual war that was going on at the time & then Martin Sheen having a heart attack between shooting scenes, all happening during the filming of this movie, the true story of how this movie was made is almost as surreal & engaging as the actual movie itself.

Bugsy is a mob flick that doesn't even try to compete with other mob flicks. And therefore, it succeeds as a gangster movie that stands out on its own. It almost completely removes the realistic-type dialogue & the grittiness that is usually associated with this genre. I can almost sense the same sheen that the old black & white mafia films used to use to screen over the mobster characters & give em that "romanticized" look that they became famous for back then. For all their ruthlessness, the major players in this story come off as very likeable people.
And along with Warren Beatty & Annette Benning, you just can't beat the acting by the supporting cast of Harvey Keitel, Ben Kingsley, Elliot Gould & Joe Mantegna.

An exceptional film with an emotionally wrenching ending, because it's real life & not a script. I was really taken by this film mainly because of the manner that it focuses on those who are easily forgotten in our society & then brings to the surface their raw reality & all the street-life drama & engaging emotion, all at a level that the world of escapism entertainment can never really compare to.

I avoided this film for years, under the assumption that it's subject matter was just something that I would absolutely no interest in.
Then one day, as it aired on one of those "classic" movie channels on T.V., I decided to finally give it a chance, just to see what all that Oscar hype back in '84 was all about.
Turns out, this film isn't so much a historical retelling of classical-music pioneer, Mozart as it a homage to the creative process of a genius who's talent was masked by both his almost hippie like eccentricity & by the conservativeness of the times. The ease of Mozart's ability to conjure up music that would stand the test of time was only recognized & appreciated by his "best friend" & rivalous contemporary, the more forgotton Salieri.
For me, the true test of any film that centers on the art of artist is the ability for it to make me appreciate (and maybe even like) the art more than I did before I watched the film. Maybe, in my case it was more the result of ignorance than anything else, I wasn't into Mozart's stuff. After viewing this movie though, as far as his music, I walked away with my eyes a little more opened & my ears a little more enriched.
Rock me, Amadeus.*



* Don't any of you dare roll your eyes at that last sentence. You knew it was gonna come sometime.

In this sequel to the non-plural installment of the series, Ripley, believe it or not, is back, and this time, she arms herself with some big guns & with an even bigger attitude of instead of squaring off against just one alien, she's taking on a whole hive full of them.
And their momma too.
And these aliens in question are the xenomorphs, a hive-race of deadly double-mouthed acid-blooded slick black visitors who tend to take the role of their hosts quite literally.
For me, this 2nd. chapter to the Aliens saga is the high point of a franchise that features what is, IMO, one of the most unique & simply bad-ass alien life-forms ever produced for film.






This movie has everything that I look forward to in a sci-fi adventure. Suspenseful action, solid story, distinct characters (with great chemistry), great visuals, kick-@ss aliens, a turning plot-twist (we all thought for sure, that Bishop couldn't be trusted), & of course, a catch-phrase that made the entire theatre that I saw this movie in to roar ("Get away from her, you b#tch!").

Mannnn.... I wish I had acid for blood.

A mexican stand-off.
Pop culture laden discussions.
Casual cursing with machine gun rapidity.
A mixed bag collection of songs that could only be found on a cassette that was taped by some nerd boy who collects comicbooks, works in an indie video or record store & thinks that guns are bad-ass.
All the elements that would qualify a film as being described as "Tarantinoesque".
And this is where it all started.