MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Here are my movie reviews.

Page 1
Tropic Thunder -
The Incredibles -
Bolt -
12 Angry Men -
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button -
Revoultionary Road -

Page 2
Changeling -
John Carpenter's The Thing -

Page 3
Raging Bull -
Taxi Driver -
The Unborn -

Page 4
Cheech And Chong's Up In Smoke -
Pineapple Express -
Jaws -
Gangs Of New York -

Page 5
Jurassic Park -
Paul Blart: Mall Cop -
Taken -

Page 6
Friday The 13th -
What Dreams May Come - +
Watchmen - +
The Last House On The Left -
I Love You, Man - +
X-Men Origins: Wolverine -
Star Trek - +
Terminator: Salvation - +
Drag Me To Hell - +
Up - +
The Hangover - +

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Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller, 2008)

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Synopsis
Tropic Thunder was the hit comedy/action movie of the summer. The story starts off with a bunch of fake trailers, which really work well in the movie, to really get the feel of the movie in. Because the overall premise of the movie is a bunch of actors trying to make a movie. But when they just can’t seem to get the movie right, the director decides to take them into the jungle and make the movie right. But as it turns out, the movie that the actors think they’re making isn’t even a movie anymore. It takes them a little while to finally figure that out, but finally when they find that they aren’t making a movie anymore, they deicide to intervene and get out of this jungle. It won’t be as easy as they think it will be though. They have to find a way though, or they are all as good as dead, so they must get their heads into the real world and work together, and doing that might help them get out of the jungle. Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Brauchel, Brandon T. Jackson, and Tom Cruise all star in this epic comedy.

Actors/Characters
All of the actors did a great job playing the roles of their character right. Still was meant to be a self conceded person, and he plays that part very well. I’m not really surprised though, because Stiller can seem to play any role possible from all the roles that we’ve seen him in. Downey Jr. really had me impressed in Tropic Thunder, even more than Zodiac or Iron Man, because his character was really supposed to be a self conceded person like Stiller’s character. I didn’t really know if he could do it or not at first, but he really did a great job at it, probably even better than Stiller did with it. He also showed me he can be a great action star in this one, mainly because of the beginning and ending scenes of Tropic Thunder, I already knew he was great at action though with Iron Man. I was really surprised with Black in this role though, because I usually tend not to like him that much. He’s usually just annoying in roles to me, but he was actually genuinely funny as his character in Tropic Thunder. I didn’t really know what to expect with Brauchel though, because the only other thing I’ve really seen him was Knocked Up. And he really didn’t really have a big of role in Knocked Up as I thought he was going to have though. This was the first movie that I’ve seen with Jackson in it, and I was quite pleased. I look forward to seeing him in some more upcoming movies. But the best actor in this, besides Downey Jr., was Tom Cruise by far. I never knew Tom Cruise could be so hilarious, but he really showed me he could in Tropic Thunder. He should definitely do some more outrageous roles in the future like his role in Tropic Thunder.

Plot
The story was a lot like Tom Cruise’s role in this, it was very outrageous. It was just so far over the top, that it was just epic. Tropic Thunder’s story felt very much like a Judd Apatow movie, which may have been why I liked it so much. Because Judd Apatow is my favorite person involved with comedy. But Apatow had nothing to do with Tropic Thunder, it was all just Stiller. I’m actually surprised though that Stiller has only directed only 3 other theatrical release movies. And from the ones that I’ve seen that he’s directed, I seem to like. Hopefully with how well Tropic Thunder was, he’ll direct some more. Especially because this is the first theatrical release movie that’s he directed since 2001. The beginning and ending are by far the two best scenes of the movie, which is actually sort of ironic, because those are two action sequences and not comedy scenes. But then again, it isn’t that ironic because it is supposed to be an action/comedy and not just a comedy.

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My Final Thoughts On It
My thoughts overall on it, was that I loved it. It’s probably my favorite comedy, but all that really depends on what you would consider a comedy. Because I do like quite a few movies more, that may be considered a comedy. If you’re a fan of anyone in the movie though, it’d definitely be one that I would recommend you see because all the cast does a great job in Tropic Thunder. It is the best spoof that I’ve ever seen, but then again that really isn’t saying much because of all the recent insert genre here movies. I’m not sure I’d say go out and blind buy it though, because I know not everyone’s going to suddenly love it as much as I do. Because I’ve heard some people say that they didn’t like it that much, so I’d recommend that you go rent it first just to make sure it’s worth a buy for you. I personally thought it was a little better in theaters though, then when I recently watched it on DVD. If you’re in the mood for an epic comedy though, this is main one that I would recommend you get because this is the best epic comedy that I’ve yet to see.

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The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004)

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Synopsis
The Incredibles is the hit animated movie about retired superheroes. The Incredibles starts off back some time, when heroes are still acceptable to save people, but through a series of unfortunate events, the world decides to ban heroes. But Bob, even after years, can’t seem to let his superhero go. He tries to do save people whenever he can, but after one day of getting pissed off at work, he suddenly gets called back into action. But he doesn’t tell anyone, so his family doesn’t even know. But is then betrayed and it turns out to just be a trap. Bob’s wife then tries to go in there and save him, but their kids seemed to have snuck on to tag along. But once they get there it turns out there’s a much bigger plan then they think, from someone from the days of back when they were allowed to be superheroes. So now they have to stop him before it’s too late, but will they be able to stop Syndrome. The Incredibles features voicing from Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jason Lee.

Acting/Characters
I’m surprised at how well of a job that some of actors in The Incredibles did, because even though they were only just voicing their characters, they really seemed to get into their characters really well. Craig T. Nelson was like the perfect choice for Mr. Incredible/Bob; his voice seemed to fit well with how the character looked. I knew it was Nelson right from the start though, because I could just tell it was voice, but that was fine. This is probably the only thing I’ve ever even seen Hunter in though, well technically heard her in. She does seem to have a great voice for animated movies though, so that’s a great thing to have, to bad this is the only animated movie she’s ever done though. Now I know Samuel L. Jackson can do a great job in basically anything, mainly because he’s my favorite actor. Even in mediocre movies, he seems to still do a great job in them. His voice definitely fit his character great; I could just imagine him as Frozone. Jackson’s character was definitely my favorite character in the whole movie though, because I love the sense of humor his character had, and just of how awesome his character was. I never really imagined Jason Lee doing just a voice, because I was so used to seeing him face along with his voice, so it was sort of weird seeing him in this. I still think he did a very good job; it was just unusual for me seeing him in an animated movie.

Plot
The story was definitely the best thing about The Incredibles. I loved how it got a Watchmen kind of feel a couple of times throughout the movie, especially the beginning of it and the ending kind of. I think I loved it so much, because I tend to love a lot of superhero movies, because superhero movies are my favorite kind of movies. I can tell they really put a lot of though in putting this story together, because I’m sire it really isn’t easy creating a superhero story. I don’t really get why I’ve heard some people call this a Watchmen rip-off though, I mean sure it’s had some similarities to Watchmen, but I definitely don’t think this is a rip-off of Watchmen, mainly because Watchmen had a much better story and characters. The story didn’t really get dull at all throughout the whole movie, thought the beginning was going to be a little boring though, it wasn’t though. Pixar really did a great job at making an animated superhero movie though.

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My Thoughts Of It
My thoughts on it overall, I thought it was an amazing animated movie, easily my favorite out of all animated movies. I’ve heard a lot of things about it being overrated though, which I really don’t get, because to me it definitely isn’t overrated. I do want to point out though at how great the animation was, The Incredibles animation is probably tied with Wall-E for the movie with the best animation. And I do think The Incredibles is just a little better though, because they have like the same animation, but The Incredibles had it 4 years before Wall-E had it. This should be a definite watch for anyone who’s a fan of animated movie, and if you’re looking for a great movie to watch with your family or something, this is one that would definitely be the main one I think you should watch. If you haven’t yet, I think you should go out and blind buy the DVD, if you haven’t seen it before. But if you’re still now sure if it’s worth a blind buy at least give it a rent, because it’s worth it, and you’ll be doing yourself a favor by watching it.

10/10

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

The Incredibles Rules!

In fact, let's dump the Constitution and literally allow the Incredibles to rule! HA!

On the other hand, The Incredibles is much better than Tropic Thunder, even if I like Tropic Thunder.

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Yeah I watched it for the first time tonight in like a year, and now I remember why I loved it so much before. And The Incredibles does rule.

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Bolt

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Synopsis
Bolt is the animated comedy adventure of the fall. It starts off with Bolt as just a playful puppy, then you see his person, Penny, adopt him and they seem to love each other right after that. Then it immediately burst in to an adventurous chase with Penny trying to find her kidnapped dad. She just couldn’t do it without Bolt there to help her, so after fighting armed guards on motorcycles and some helicopters they finally get on their way to save Penny’s dad. Too bad it’s all just a TV show though; the thing is though Bolt thinks it’s all in real life and not fake. But when the ratings for the show are going down because of the happy endings, they decide to make an ending which wasn’t happy, which ended up with Penny getting kidnapped. But since Bolt thinks it’s real, he escapes from the TV studio to go out and find and save Penny. But when he gets lost and can’t find where to go, he gets a cat to help him, which he thinks knows where Penny is. Now they must travel across the country to go and fins Penny. Along the road they also meet Bolt’s number 1 fan, who’s a hamster, who decides to help. But along the journey, Bolt finds out he really doesn’t have super powers, but still tries to go and save Penny. Now the three of them must go and save Penny, but along their journey it seems they have made quite a few friends along the journey. John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, and Malcolm McDowell all have a main voice in this comedy adventure.

Acting/Characters
The voicing overall was actually pretty good. Of course I could tell it was John Travolta right from the start, it’s pretty easy to tell his voice. But as the movie went on I actually sort of forgot it was him playing Bolt, made it’s just because I got into Travolta’s character too much. He really did an amazing job for an animated movie, I could tell the emotion from his character just from his voice, and a little help for how his character was animated. Miley Cyrus did surprisingly well, I wouldn’t say great or anything, but seeing with how’s she’s acted before, she did a good job. I didn’t really get as much emotion from her character though, but then again, she didn’t really have as much screen time as Travolta had to give emotion to his character. Susie Essman did a pretty good job as well; I could tell her emotion through her voice at times, I couldn’t throughout the whole movie. Her character was pretty typical though, starts off bad, but then by the end the truth about her comes out and she becomes good by the end of the movie. I really haven’t seen her in anything before, but she was pretty funny in Bolt. Mark Walton was hilarious in Bolt, which may have been because of his character though. The cuteness of his character mixed with his lines, just made him my favorite character in the whole movie. I really had no idea that Malcolm McDowell was in this until I got home and found it out online. I really couldn’t tell that was him by his voice.

Plot
I actually really liked the story of Bolt, even though I think it would’ve worked out better if they had just gave Bolt his superpowers and made the movie like that. I can see why they wouldn’t do that though; it’d be like a dog version of The Incredibles. I really loved the beginning sequence of the movie, definitely my favorite part of the whole movie, the one scene alone was a full 10/10 for me, too bad it didn’t quite stay like that the rest of the movie. The story turned out to be really funny, the funniest animated movie of the year so far, it’s still not the best though. The one thing I didn’t like about it was that it had another typical ending, it had a great chance not to have a typical ending like that, but they decided to give it a happy ending because of it being animated. The story really never slows down at all throughout the movie, because it was either an action scene or a comedy scene. There was actually quite a few drama scenes mixed in there with the rest of the movie.

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My Thoughts On It
Overall, I think it’s a great family movie to watch and if you’re looking for a family movie to watch with your family on Thanksgiving, this would be a great choice. It’s my second favorite animated movie of the year so far, right after Wall-E and right before Kung Fu Panda. I was actually quite surprised with it, because I never really thought Disney had good animated movies, like how Bolt was made, that weren’t made from Pixar. The animation for Bolt really is great; I would say it has just as great of animation as Wall-E had. It didn’t really have all kiddy jokes in it and had some good jokes that more than just kids would laugh at, so I’m actually surprised that we’ve had so many animated movies like that lately. I definitely think it’s worth a viewing in theaters, but if you really don’t like animated movies that much, it’s probably better if you just wait for the DVD for. But if you are a fan of animated movies, it’d definitely be one I recommend seeing before it leaves theaters.

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12 Angry Men

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Synopsis
12 Angry Men is the great courtroom drama. It starts off with in a courtroom with a boy on trial for murder; there are 12 members in the jury who must decide his fate. All the signs point to the boy being guilty and most of everyone are convinced he’s guilty, except one. One juror, Juror #8, thinks it’s possible that he’s not guilty, and since he thinks it’s possible that he’s not guilty that he won’t vote for him being guilty. For the choice to be decided though, all the members have to agree on one choice, so since they all don’t agree, they have stay there and convince each other. But as Juror #8 starts to talk about his case with the boy not being guilty, it seems he’s starting to convince other members of the jury that he’s not guilty. One member, Juror #3, just can’t seem to agree though; he’s by far the most stubborn of the entire jury. But can one man actually convince eleven people that he’s not guilty when all the signs point to him being guilty? Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Sweeney, E.G. Marshall, Jack Klugman, and Ed Begley star in this courtroom drama.

Acting/Characters
All of the actors did an amazing job in this movie; I actually don’t even think there was a weak performance in the entire movie. Henry Fonda did such an amazing job; he kept his cool throughout the whole movie even when everyone seemed to be getting loud. It was like that though because his character was supposed to be that, even though he was the only one disagreeing, he was the only one who kept his cool throughout the whole movie. Lee J. Cobb had the best performance in the whole movie though; I think he just did a little better than Fonda mainly because Cobb’s character needed him to show more emotion than Fonda’s character. Cobb really had me amazed throughout the whole movie, especially his last few minutes in the movie when he completely brakes down. Sweeney did a great job as well; I actually think his character kept his cool as much as Fonda’s character did. E.G. Marshall, like the rest of the cast, did a great job, his character seemed the smartest out of all the characters. Marshall seemed to have the most sense throughout the whole movie, but most of the characters seemed to be getting a little antsy throughout the movie, which may have been why the other characters didn’t seem to have as much sense. Klugman didn’t seem to be in the movie as much as the other four actors in it, but still the scenes he was in of it he was great, or at least good, in. Begley I think had about the same amount of screen time that Klugman had in it, and like Klugman, the scenes with Begley in it were great.

Plot
The story for 12 Angry Men was definitely nothing short of amazing. I was surprised that so much could happen in just one room, which was a great thing about 12 Angry Men, was that it was so amazing and it only took place in one room. The first 10 minutes or so of it were a little slow, but right after Juror #8 stated that he thought the boy was not guilty, it got really intense. I couldn’t even walk away to go use the rest room, because I was so into it and I wanted to see what happened next. It was amazing at how one man could change eleven people’s votes from guilty to not guilty. He did by redoing the situation and convincing them it wasn’t possible. I especially loved the ending when they’re all walking out of the room, just the music that plays in that scene with them walking out are just great. 12 Angry Men definitely has one of the best stories I’ve ever seen, in a movie or book.

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My Thoughts On It
Overall, 12 Angry Men is one of my all-time favorite movies. This is definitely a classic and I don’t think it should be considered anything less than that. It’s one of the most intriguing movies that I’ve ever seen, you may not think of it much before you watch it, but when you actually start to watch it, it’s just impossible to stop it. I really haven’t seen any other courtroom drama besides 12 Angry Men, but I definitely want to look into some more of them after how much I love 12 Angry Men. If anyone’s got any good suggestion for some, please let me know because I want to check them out. 12 Angry Men is definitely a movie worth buying on DVD, I wouldn’t even recommend renting it because I’m sure you’ll love it. If you’re still not entirely convinced though, I guess you should rent it just to find out. I think more than likely you’ll probably end up loving it though.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Let's see some negative reviews.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I'll try and watch a bad movie sometime soon then.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

You already have, Tropic Thunder, you gave it 10/10. :D

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Tropic Thunder wasn't a bad movie to me, I found it hilarious. One of the few good spoof movies there is.

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I never thought of that - Incredibles and Watchmen. It's like the G rated Watchmen.

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Excellent reviews, sir. I like your format and can't wait to see more from you.

I agree with just about every point brought up in your review of 12 Angry Men, especially this bit:

I couldn't agree more. Despite how extraordinary Henry Fonda was in the film, Lee J. Cobb, in my opinion, out-shined him. Every piece of powerful dialogue he delivered in the movie blew me away, and although I liked Henry Fonda's character (and Henry Fonda himself) more overall, Lee J. Cobb really did deliver the better performance, however slightly more that may have been.

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The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008)

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Synopsis
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is new different time travel movie. It starts off with a woman in a hospital dying, with her daughter there with her to keep her company. But then her mom decides to give her a journal to read while there, so then she begins to read the journal of Benjamin Button. The journal starts off with a women dying and a young boy being born, but this boy is different, he looks like an old man in his 80’s. But soon they find out that he really is different, and instead of aging, he’s only getting younger as time goes on. Benjamin Button has a complicated life, living with his adoptive parents in a retirement home, but there he fits right in. Most people there think he really is as old as he looks, but a few know that he is aging backwards. But he must leave as he gets younger, and he takes a journey through life. He always tries to be with his one true love, Daisy, who he first met when she was only a young child. Daisy doesn’t seem to want to be with him in the first part of his life though, she eventually comes around though, but at that point he’s getting much younger, and sooner or later he’s just become as young as he can get. Brad Pitt stars in the lead of this, along with Cate Blanchett, Taraji P. Henson, and Jason Flemyng all star along with him in Benjamin Button.

Characters/Acting
The acting in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button was great, I’m not sure if it could’ve been really any better. Brad Pitt really got into the role of Benjamin Button, his character was the most interesting out of the characters, but that’s already sort of expected seeing as the whole movie is focused around him. You could tell Pitt really prepared for this role, and I’d be surprised at if he at least didn’t get nominated for ‘Best Actor’ at this years academy awards. Cate Blanchett was also pretty good in this, I didn’t really seem to like her character as much though, I mean she did a good job at acting in the movie; her character wasn’t the best though. Taraji P. Henson seemed to get into her character as well, like Pitt did for his role as Benjamin Button. Her character seemed to have some really sad moments, which she seemed to have done a good job in. Jason Flemyng really wasn’t in that much of the movie, but I didn’t like his character at first, I’m pretty sure he really wasn’t meant to be that likeable at the beginning though. His character got more likeable towards the end of the movie though, he just seemed to get nicer towards the ending. Jared Harris did a great job IMO; he did the second best performance in the movie after Pitt. His character was the most interesting out of all of them besides Pitt, but he was my favorite character in the whole movie, I was actually surprised at how much screen time he got, I’m glad he got all the screen time he got, he definitely deserved it.

Plot
The story for Benjamin Button was the best part in the entire movie; it’s the main thing that made this movie so great. This movie had such amazing story telling, that was the main thing this movie had going for it. I think that even if you didn’t like the movie, you can’t deny that this movie had amazing story telling. The main reason that this didn’t quite get a perfect score from me was the length; I think most of everything in there, for the most part, was needed, but there were some scenes that could’ve been cut and released once on DVD or something. The length really isn’t that bad though, because I’ve seen some long movies that are hard to sit through, and this really isn’t as bad as them. Now I’ve never read the short story, but I’m actually amazed that Fincher could turn a short story into a 3 hour long movie, I’m sure I’ve got to read the short story, but I guess there was a way. I didn’t really like the ending as much though; I thought the beginning of Benjamin Button was much better than the ending.

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My Thoughts On It
Overall, I thought it was great, but it didn’t quite meet my expectations that the hype was suggesting. Now I don’t quite agree with people saying that this was David Fincher’s best film, I don’t think it was. It was a little better than Zodiac, but no quite as good as Fight Club or Se7en. Some of the stuff in this movie really reminded me of Forrest Gump, not the whole movie, but there were some scenes that really reminded me of Forrest Gump. This was the second best movie of 2008 for me, as long as I don’t see something in the next week or two that changes that, I don’t think something will, maybe Gran Torino. And when I eventually get around to finishing my top 100, which is actually becoming really soon, that this will make it pretty high on my favorites list. Maybe in my top 30 or maybe somewhere in my top 20. I think it’s going to end up somewhere between 20 and 30 though. But if you’re trying to pick a movie to see in theaters this weekend, or sometime soon, I’d definitely suggest seeing this one, because I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

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Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2008)

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Snyopsis
Revolutionary Road is the new powerful drama from Sam Mendes. It starts off with April and Frank first meeting, they meet at a party and they start to have a conversation. She wants to be actress, but it turns out that she isn’t that great, and Frank finds that out while watching one of her plays. Many years pass and it shows Frank at work, he’s not too happy with his job, and apparently he’s not too happy with his marriage because he starts to have an affair with one of the girls at his work. But then he goes home to find his wife and kids were throwing him a little 30th birthday party. But Frank and April are both sick of their current life, so after talking with each other they decide they need a new life and plan to move to Paris. Frank then starts to fade away from the idea once he gets offered a better job at his current work place, and then they find out something else that ultimately makes them stay in their current life. April isn’t happy with this life though and she really can’t stand this life anymore. Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, David Harbour, Kathryn Hahn, and Michael Shannon all star in this incredible drama.

Acting/Characters
The acting from the entire cast is incredible; I don’t think there was even one bad acting moment from anyone in the cast. Leonardo DiCaprio shines out of this cast the best by far, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins ‘Best Actor’ at this year’s academy awards, and I’m going to be upset if he doesn’t at least get nominated because he definitely deserves it. He really stood out in once scene alone when he’s fighting and arguing with Kate Winslet’s character. Kate Winslet was also amazing, not quite as amazing as DiCaprio though, I can definitely see her getting nominated for ‘Best Actress’ though, I’m not sure I see her winning though, I could be surprised though. Kathy Bates was great for the parts she was in, she constantly appears throughout the whole movie, and the scenes she was in were great though. David Harbour was also really good; I really liked his character in this though, just the stuff that happened with his character was great. Kathryn Hahn was good, her character seemed to really freak me out though, just the smile that she had on her face throughout the movie. Michael Shannon was the best out of the cast after DiCaprio and Winslet though, I’ve seen him in some small roles before but I never really noticed that he had great acting though. I mean his role in this was pretty small too, but the parts he was in were just amazing, I was completely blown away by his acting. His character was supposed to be messed up in the head though, and he did a great job showing it.

Plot
The story for this was great; it started off a little slow though IMO. Some of this really reminded me of American Beauty, I think if you liked American Beauty you should check this one out, because it wasn’t like exactly the same thing or anything, but the concept was sort of like American Beauty. I was glued to the movie right up until the last 25 minutes or so, I mean I think this has one of the best and most emotional scenes that I’ve ever seen in the movie, and it was towards the end. But I feel after that scene, the ending just gets dry right up until the last 5 minutes or so, and then it really got me interested in it again. I didn’t mind that the ending was dry much though, because the rest of the movie before that really made up for the dry ending. The acting sort of stole the show from the story though, but that doesn’t mean the story was bad or anything, just that the acting was amazing.

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My Thoughts On It
Overall I absolutely loved it, I think this is probably tied with The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button as my second favorite movie of the year, but I still have quite a few movies to see from this year first though, so that may be flip flopping around some. Also like Benjamin Button, I think this is probably going to make it somewhere between the 20 and 30 spot in my favorites list. I think in the end I may end up liking this more than Benjamin Button though because I’m pretty sure that this will have a better rewatchabilty standard than Benjamin Button. This has to be like my favorite movie from Sam Mendes, I’d have to rewatch American Beauty and Road To Perdition just make sure though, but I’m still pretty sure. This for me actually lived up to the hype, because I was hyping myself up to watch this a little because I thought the trailer looked amazing and it definitely deserved it. I can also definitely see this snagging ‘Best Picture’ at the academy awards this year though, but if you’re one of the ones lucky enough to have this playing at a theater near you, I suggest you go and see it before it leaves because it’s definitely worth the price of an admission price. I'm trying to force myself from going ahead and giving this a prefect score.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

You've certainly proven, more or less, your abilities to write (positive) film reviews, Movieman. Now that you've posted a pretty solid number of them, my advice would be this: let's see the converse of what you're used to writing; I'd like to see a primarily negative-based review. I think others have suggested the same. Let your skills be shown, but in contrast to every other review thusfar in your thread.

Of course, that's only a suggestion, but I'd like to see one from you. :)

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I'll try, I'm about to watch Milk and I'm gonna do a review for that after, I think Milk looks really good though, so my next review will probably be positive as long as it's good like I hope. I heard Dreamcatcher was supposed to be pretty bad though and I bought that one today, so I may do a review for that one after I watch that one whenever I actually do watch that one.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Understandable, Movieman. It's just that a 3.5/5 being the lowest review in your thread (after you've posted over a half-dozen) makes it seem as though you're specifically focusing on reviewing films you really like. To be well-rounded, you've got to break away from this habit.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Do a review for Step-Up 2.

Oh wait, you liked that...

Do one for Epic Movie.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I like to postive reviews though, me trying to do a negative review really just ends up being turned into a rant. I'll do one sooner or later though, and I've decided not to watch Milk tonight, so who knows my next review my be negative.

If I did one for Epic Movie, it woulld really just turn into a rant.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

That's all a negative review really is.

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All's I'm saying is that it would be worth-while to delve into well-roundedness by writing up a primarily negative review. :)

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I agree with you.... it was a great movie but it was not nearly as outstanding as fight club.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008)

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f9...oviePoster.jpg

Synopsis
Changeling is the recent provocative drama from Clint Eastwood. It starts off with Christine Collins spending time with her little boy, and showing her work. She promises to take him to a movie, but instead she’s called into work and has to work a couple of hours. But when she gets home from her shift at work she finds that her little boy has gone missing. Months pass and her little boy has still not been found, she doesn’t stop looking for him though. Then one day the LAPD say they found him and give him to her. But this little boy is not her little boy, and the LAPD won’t listen to her, so she has to find help from someone else. So Reverend Gustav Briegleb steps in to help her out, because he’s dealt with the LAPD before. The two of them begin fighting this so that Christine can get her son back. But once she decides to go public about this, Captain J.J. Jones doesn’t like it and throws her in an insane asylum. While this is all happening though, Detective Lester Ybarra finds a boy that’s confessed to something that leads to some big events. Gustav then gets Christine out of the asylum and with the help of the best Lawyer in town; they plan to sue the city. Christine still has hope that she can get her son back though. Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Michael Kelly, Jeffery Donovan, and Jason Butler Harner all star in this great drama.

Acting/Characters
The acting in this is very strong from the entire cast. Angelina Jolie stood out the most out of the cast, but that’s already sort of a given because she’s the main star of the movie and is in more of the movie than anyone. I’d be surprised if she didn’t at least get a ‘Best Actress’ nomination at the academy awards this year, I could definitely see her winning though, I still have a few more movies that seem to be getting academy awards buzz though, so I may find someone better. John Malkovich was amazing in this, that’s really the only way to describe. He definitely deserves ‘Best Actor’ I don’t see him winning though, because I’ve seen some better performances this year so far. His character was my favorite character in the movie though; the way he talked was just so powerful that it actually made me smile with what he was doing. Michael Kelly was also great; he was probably my favorite character after Malkovich and Jolie. Just because he was one of the only cops actually trying to do the right thing, he wasn’t corrupt like the rest of the LAPD was. I hated Jeffery Donovan’s character, his acting in it was pretty good, but I just really hated his character. Jason Butler Harner was great, I was surprised because I’ve never seen him in a movie before, but he was amazing in this. Hopefully he can do this great in some more movies.

Plot
The story right from the very first scene was great, I didn’t get bored one bit, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom during it because I was just so into it. I do feel that it could’ve ended like 25 minutes before it actually ended, I didn’t hate the last 25 minutes or anything, I just felt some of it was unneeded. But the last 10 minutes were great, I was really happy that it explained what happened. For the most part though, the movie was intense because you wanted to see what happened next, and it kept delivering on what happened next. I really wasn’t disappointed by this once, every scene was great and what I had expected from a movie directed by Clint Eastwood.

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My Thoughts On It
Overall I loved it; it really did deliver on my expectations for it being a Clint Eastwood movie. Once again, I think this is probably tied with Benjamin Button and Revolutionary Road as my favorite of the year, but as I said earlier in this review, I still have a few movies from 2008 to see, and I still haven’t watched my second most hyped movie for 2008 yet. Clint Eastwood has made another amazing movie and any fan of Clint Eastwood I’m sure would like this. This movie wasn’t really disappointing at all, except maybe the ending, which if it is it’s just a little bit. And if you have any interest in seeing this, then I’d highly suggest you do so, because it definitely lives up to expectations that you might have for Changeling.

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Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/...9947a6.jpg?v=0

Snyopsis
Gran Torino is the new amazing drama from the master Clint Eastwood. Gran Torino starts with a funeral, this funeral just happens to be for the wife of Walt Kowalski. You can tell from right then that Walt isn’t exactly a man that you could become friends with very easily. Walt and his family really don’t seem to get along very well. But it turns out that he lives next door to a Korean family which he really doesn’t like. But when the boy that lives at that house, Thao, starts getting harassed by a Mexican gang just walking around the neighborhood, his cousin and his gang comes over there to help him. But after that they want Thao in the gang with them, but Thao doesn’t want to be in the gang. So then he decides just to try, and for his initiation into the gang, he must steal Walt’s Gran Torino. But Walt stops him from doing so, and the gang decides to give him a second chance. This time he says no though, and a fight breaks out in Walt’s yard, and Walt doesn’t like that, so comes out with a rifle and gets them all of his lawn. Walt then finds out that it was Thao that tried to steal his car and Thao must work for him for a week to repay him. Walt and Thao then start becoming friends and the rest of Thao’s family seems to like Walt now too. But when the gang tries to get Thao again, and ends up hurting Thao this time, Walt then goes over to teach them a lesson to stop. But the gang doesn’t like this and decides to retaliate. But can Walt just continue to let this happen? Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, and Ahney Her all star in this new Clint Eastwood movie.

Acting/Characters
The acting in this phenomenal, especially from Eastwood, but I already expect something like that from Eastwood. Now this is supposedly Clint Eastwood’s last movie, and if it is, he sure went out with a bang. He’s amazing in this, like he is always is, some of the movie it felt like he was playing Harry Callahan or The Man With No Name again, and those are my two favorite characters of him. He really shined in this one, and I’ll be upset if he doesn’t get ‘Best Actor’ this year at the academy awards, because of the movies this year I’ve seen so far, he’s had the best acting as the main actor. Christopher Carley was also very good in this; I really loved his character though. His character never gave up on what he was trying to do and all he was trying to do was to help Walt, Walt never really took his help until the ending though. He played a preacher very well, I’m glad they decided to put him in the part. Bee Vang was very good, especially because I’ve never even seen him in a movie before. I don’t even think I’ve ever even heard of him before this, but he really shined in this. I can definitely see him getting some more roles in movies after this one. Ahney Her was also very good in this, like Bee Vang, I’ve never seen her or anything or even heard of her before. I think she deserves to get a role in some more movies as well.

Plot
The story was incredible; I sort of had already expected that too. Most movies that Clint Eastwood directs seems to have some great stories, Mystic River or Unforgiven is a great example of that. But the ending to this just blew my mind; I definitely did not see it coming. It’s not the traditional Eastwood ending that you might’ve expected from the trailer. But this movie had me hooked to it right from the very beginning, I couldn’t stop watching it or pause it even if I wanted to. It was just that amazing; this is one I’d definitely recommend if you’re looking for a movie with an incredible story.

http://images.salon.com/ent/movies/r...rino/story.jpg

My Thoughts On It
Overall, this lived up to all the hype that I was giving it. This is top 10 material for me, and I’m pretty sure that it’s going to make it onto my top 10 when I finish my list. If it doesn’t quite make it onto my top 10, it’ll probably be just outside of it. I think I’ll actually be upset if this doesn’t snag ‘Best Picture’ this year at the academy awards, but with how it’s looking right now, I don’t even think this will be nominated for ‘Best Picture’. But as some of you may know, I’m already a huge Clint Eastwood fan, so that may be where some of my rating is coming from. I don’t think so though, I’m just thinking it may. And like I said earlier in my review, it doesn’t really have the typical Eastwood ending that you may expect, but I loved it for that, because it was something new that we haven’t seen yet. It’s just sad to see this knowing it’s going to be Clint Eastwood’s last movie though, I wish we could see him in some more movies after this. I think he’s probably just going to be sticking to directing from now on though. But if you’re trying to find a great movie to watch sometime soon at a theater, this would be the main one that I’d recommend.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I have one friendly question... How many films are you going to put in Your Top Ten? :D

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10, I got like 20 in it right now though, so I gotta make some decisions.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I hear ya, but by next week, you may have 30. :cool:

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I hope by next week, that I'll almost be finished with my top 100.

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All listed in order (of how well you like them), this will be a sight to see. ;)

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Nice review on RR, I see we agree on a lot of it.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Thanks.

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John Carpenter’s The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

http://tenpercent.files.wordpress.co...he-thing11.jpg

Now I keep hearing this called ‘the scariest movie’ ever, well it does a really great job at scaring you, but I definitely wouldn’t call it ‘the scariest movie ever’. I do agree that it has to be one of the goriest movies that I’ve ever seen, I wasn’t even expecting something as gory as it was, so it really surprised me when I found out that it really was that gory. Now today was the first time that I’ve ever saw this movie, I keep hearing about how great and scary it is, so I’ve been really interested in seeing it for a while now. And I’m actually blown away, because I’ve never been too big a fan of the horror genre, for some reason it just doesn’t entertain me as much I wish it could. But I really haven’t seen many ‘classic’ horror movies, and I’ve been seeing a lot of them recently, and for the most I’ve been pleasantly surprised.

Now I’ve also heard people calling this a B-horror movie, maybe it’s just me but I didn’t really see it. When I think of a B-horror movie, I end up thinking of Evil Dead, and I wasn’t too big a fan of Evil Dead. The effects for The Thing, I guess could be considered ahead of it’s time, because I don’t even think many movies that come out today have great effects like The Thing did. The actual ‘creature’ it self is really disturbing, I mean it’s done so well, that it just looks so real. Well I’m not sure that it looks exactly ‘real’, but that was just a way to show how amazing the effects were. I also think that I may have not gotten a B-horror movie feel from it was because that I haven’t really seen much B-horror movies besides the Evil Dead series.

Kurt Russell was amazing in this; he was perfect as the ‘hero’ of The Thing. I actually really haven’t seen him in much, so I didn’t what to expect. I was actually sort of surprised at seeing him as the ‘hero’ because the main thing I know Russell for is Death Proof, and in that he’s the villain not the ‘hero’. This was also the first Carpenter movie that I can remember seeing, I saw Halloween when I was much younger, but I really can’t remember it any. But I hope to see some more of his movies in the future, because I’ve heard that he’s supposedly to the best horror movie director, now I’m not really sure about that, I do think he’s the most known horror director. I think Halloween is the next one of his I want to see, because I remember as a kid that I loved it. Besides Russell though, none of the actors really ‘stood out’ for me.

It did a few intense scenes though, mainly the one where MacReady is testing everyone’s blood to see who’s one of the creatures and who’s normal. There are a few other intense and great scenes, but I don’t really feel like mentioning them all right now, and some of them could be considered spoilers, so that’s another reason why I’m not mentioning them. But even with this one viewing, I think I can consider this one of my favorite movies. With me getting so close to finishing my top 100, I think I’m going ahead and going to put it on my favorites list, and I’m positive that it’s going to make it very high. It may even make it into my top 10, I loved it that much. I can definitely consider it one of my favorite horror movies, I think this and Dawn Of The Dead (2004) are my two favorite horror movies. But as I said earlier in the review, I haven’t really seen much horror movies yet.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I love that you ditched the 'formula' for writing. I usually don't like formula reviews.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Yeah, I think it was making my reviews overly long and it probably got boring reading them. So from now on, I'm sorta just gonna do this, and make it up as I go along.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Yo MM, I like the review. Do you like it being in Times New Roman font while everything else isn't, though? Looks kind of odd, to me.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

No, I actually like it in normal font, but I copied and pasted straight from my Word, and it automatically went in that font. And I didn't know which font everything else usually is in. My next review shouldn't be like that, it should be back in normal font.

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Font type is Verdana, font size is 2.

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I know that now.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Oh okay.

You know you can edit your posts, right?

Oh well, I'll just leave it at that. Can't wait for your next review. :)

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Oh come on, you didn't actually buy that did you? I mean Walt just seemed to hate him then out of nowhere he just decides to actually sit down and have a heart to heart with him. Towards the ending it got belivable but still.

Ew, no she wasn't. You can't honestly say that during the scene where she first meets Spider and tells him off that it was beliveable.

(NOTE SPOILER, sorry my spoiler tags aren't working.)


SPOILER
Again, come on. I can respect Clint for going the different route for not going for revenge by packing heat. But I mean he could have easily testified against those gangbangers in court for them shooting at his house, maybe not prove them beating Sue, but still they would have went to jail. No need to sacrifice yourself, if that was his plan.
END SPOILER


It won't, the script and some of the new coming Hmong actors were bad.


This would probably be about fourth. Right after The Wrestler, Doubt, and Revoloutionary Road.

NOTE: I didn't hate the movie, I actually liked it I gave it a

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Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)

http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_03_img1275.jpg

Now I think this is a movie that everyone should check out sometime, it’s a film that I think anyone who loves movies has to see. I sadly just saw it for the first time last night though, I wish that I would’ve seen it before last night, but at least I got to see when I was still young. Because if I didn’t I would’ve been upset that I would’ve waited so long to see it. Even if you’re not a fan of Martin Scorsese you should check this out sometime, because, to me at least, this really didn’t feel like all of the other Scorsese movies that I’ve seen (which are sadly only Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Departed). I’m actually surprised that I loved it so much because me, I’m not too big a fan of sports movies, most of them just tend to be average to me, except for the few like this and Million Dollar Baby. I actually find it funny that my two favorite sports movies are about boxing, maybe it’s just that I like boxing more than any other sport, I don’t know.

One of the things that make this movie so great though, is the score for it. I could tell right from the very first scene, which is the opening credits that it was going to be a great movie, just from the theme to Raging Bull. The fact that Martin Scorsese chose to shoot it in black and white just gave it the feel that it was supposed to have, the feel that it was supposed to be a movie from the 40’s or 50’s (at least that’s the time frame that it took place in). The cinematography for this was just great though, they sure did a great job with it in this.

Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci make a great team together though, I actually thought they were related in this one, but then again I also thought they were related in Goodfellas. They’re just the perfect team of actors to work together, they need a new movie with them together, to see if they still do great together which I’m sure they do. I really loved DeNiro’s character at first, but towards the end though I just didn’t like him, I think you were supposed to hate his character more as the movie goes along. Pesci’s character seemed to really care about DeNiro’s character though, even though DeNiro was just plain mean to him in some of the scenes. One thing that made this movie so special was that it really made it seem that it was based on a true story, and I don’t think it actually was. At least that I know of, Goodfellas was made the same way though.

The only thing I didn’t like about this movie though was the ending, I mean the movie started going downhill once La Motta retired from boxing, but the last 15 minutes or so just got really boring. But then when the credits started rolling again, I loved it just as much as when he was boxing because the amazing theme started playing. I’m serious, I think this may have my favorite movie theme of all-time, it’s just so inspiring, and I’m actually listening to it right now. Personally I think with a re-watch this may even make it into my top 5, because I know I loved it more than Pulp Fiction, I just have to make sure it stands up as great with a re-watch as Pulp Fiction does. I’m actually sort of upset now that I didn’t wait to do my top 100, because I now really want to include this in it, but I can just include this next time I do my top 100. I think everyone needs to check this out eventually, because this is a must see to anyone who’s a fan of movies, it definitely deserves the number 4 spot on AFI’s greatest 100 movies ever made.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

If you didn't like the ending how could you give it a 5/5?

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Because the rest of the movie was just so amazing, that I wouldn't feel right not giving it a 5/5.

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Oh, I see the way it is, respond to Harry before me, :cries:

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

You are lucky though, you get to watch all of Scorsese's films for the first time. One that I really like but don't see mentioned too often here is Mean Streets from 1973. There are so many others and for the most part they are worth it, enjoy.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I think the heart to heart talk during the ending was because of what just happened, and I think Walt just snappend in a way of saying. And the first talk the had, Walt probably did because he was getting annoying, and wanted him to stop bothering him.

She was good, I mean it's not like she was amazing or anything, but she was still good.

But then the ending wouldn't have been as amazing, and it wouldn't leave you as amazed.

Maybe the Hmog actors, but the script definitely wasn't bad.

I still really want to see Doubt and The Wrestler, and I wouldn't have a problem with Revolutionary Road beating it.

lol, sorry.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Oh I'm talking about in like the middle when Walt's at the bar and Father talks to him. It seemed out of character for Walt.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Well like I said, I think Walt decided to do it at the bar because he was getting a little annoyed by Father.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

I'm sure some liberties were taken, but the basic story is certainly true. Jack LaMotta was a real person, and the film is based on (and gets its title from) his own autobiography.

Henry Hill from Goodfellas is also a real person, and the film is based on a non-fiction book largely about him, as well (though it wasn't an autobiography).

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Woah, really? I had always thought they were just made to seem real, well Raging Bull I had sorta believed that it was based of a true story, because it seemed more like it could. But I would've never thought Goodfellas was based of a real person, thanks for the info Yoda.

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Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)

I had the joy of watching this for the first time the other night, along with my first viewing of Raging Bull. It was great being able to see this for the first time, because I love each time I get to see a new Martin Scorsese movie, especially with the first viewing because most of the time, the first viewing is the best. Taxi Driver is definitely not the exception though, because I loved it, I’d rank it behind Raging Bull, and ahead of Goodfellas and The Departed, seeing as sadly those are the only Scorsese movies that I’ve seen so far. Now this one felt more like The Departed than it felt like Raging Bull or Goodfellas, maybe it’s just because this one didn’t quite have that ‘it’s based of a real person’ feel like the latter two did, which I recently found out really were based of real people. I was quite surprised when I found this out.

This really had no gangster movie type of feel to it though, like the other three of his that I’ve seen. I didn’t quite like the score to this one as much as I did to Raging Bull, I don’t know it just seemed to ominous for it to be a favorite of mine, it went with the movie great though, because Taxi Driver really did have an ominous feel to the whole movie. I do have to say though, that this is the darkest Scorsese movie that I’ve seen so far, from what I’ve seen of the ones I haven’t seen yet, this still looks like his darkest movie. But I could end up being surprised when one really is dark though, so you never know.

I do think that this is personally Robert DeNiro’s best role that I’ve seen so far, it was just amazing how he went from a semi-normal guy to just like snapping towards the end. I’m not sure if he really snapped towards the end though, because he did feel like that throughout the whole movie, his character just seemed to get really dark there towards the end. It was really weird seeing Jodi Foster in this though. Maybe it’s because she just seemed so young playing her role in this, it’s funny though, because I think from her face she looks exactly as she does now.

This for me was actually sort of like the opposite of Raging Bull I guess you can say, because instead of the last 15 minutes or so being dull, like it is for me in Raging Bull, for this it’s the first 15 minutes or so that’s dull to me. I did like it more than the ending to Raging Bull though, because I liked them seeing set up Robert DeNiro’s character, Travis Bickle. I loved the build-up to the ending to though, I was glad that it didn’t disappoint building up to amazing ending throughout the whole movie, it actually delivered. The ending to this is actually probably my favorite thing about Taxi Driver, aside from DeNiro’s acting in it. Right now, I think that it could probably make it into my top 10, I’m not sure if it’s going to hold up as well with a re-watch though, I sure hope it does but I’m not sure if it will. Also with a re-watch it’ll make it easier for me to find a spot for it in my top 10, which is if it’s going to end up in my top 10.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Nice review! :up:

This is one of my all time favorite movie scenes and lines!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKkMkodo4MI

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Yeah, that was a great scene that really showed off DeNiro's acting.

Re: MovieMan8877445's Movie Reviews
 

Thanks Meatwad for giving me the idea.

MovieMan's Favorites Of 2008:

Best Movie Of The Year: The Dark Knight

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What's not to love about The Dark Knight? It lived up to every expectation that I had for it, not many films are like that for me. As some may know I was totally obbsessed with this movie throughout the whole summer, it's died down a bit now, but I still really love it. Gran Torino, Changeling, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, and Revolutionary Road all come up very close though.

Runner-ups: http://i43.tinypic.com/r1z8tu.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/i2oqxt.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/acs5tu.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/s6ty7l.jpg

Best Director: David Fincher, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

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It's great to see another great Fincher movie, this has to be his best film since Fight Club which came out back in 1999, even though I still loved The Zodiac. I really hope he ends up taking home 'Best Director' this year at the oscars. Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight, Clint Eastwood for Gran Torino, and Ben Stiller for Tropic Thunder all come up right after it.

Runner-ups: http://i44.tinypic.com/zkfud2.jpg http://i41.tinypic.com/i1ikqw.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/2q17vgn.jpg

Best Actor: James Franco, Pineapple Express

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This was definitely the biggest surprise of the year for me, I was amazed at how amazing Franco did in Pineapple Express. I know Heath Ledger seems to be most peoples biggest surprise, but I had already expect Ledger to do that amazing in the role. Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino, Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road, Brad Pitt in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, and Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa come close to it though.

Runner-ups: http://i41.tinypic.com/depr29.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/2dkk6s2.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/6yppty.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/2v9by2o.jpg

Best Actress: Angelina Jolie, Changeling

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This really wasn't a surprise to me, because I've always though Angelina Jolie was great at acting. She can turn okay action movies, into something good just from her acting, even though I already like most of the action movies that she was in anyway because they're fun to watch. Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road and Francis McDormand in Burn After Reading come right after though.

Runner-ups: http://i44.tinypic.com/27wra7t.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/jtbbd4.jpg

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

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His preformance in The Dark Knight was just amazing, completely mind blowing. There really isn't anything else to say about it though, that hasn't already been said in these past few months since it's been released. Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder and Michael Shannon in Revolutionary Road come right after it.

Runner-ups: http://i44.tinypic.com/25sube8.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/24zcgp5.jpg

Best Visuals: Australia

http://i43.tinypic.com/oj4lmo.jpg

Now if this doesn't take home 'Best Cinematography' this year at the academy awards, then I'm gonna end up being really surprised. Because the visuals in this were just amazing, I'd actually say that it has some of the best visuals that I've ever seen, I was pleasently surprised. The Dark Knight, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Wanted, and Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull come right after though.

Runner-ups: http://i42.tinypic.com/jv2045.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/i2oqxt.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/2h4w0mt.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/2uyfyte.jpg

Best Score: The Dark Knight

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Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard just make an amazing team together. This is one of the best scores that I've heard in years, too bad it's not eligible for any of the academy awards this year, it could've totally won. The Happening, Kung Fu Panda, and Wanted come close after though.

Runner-ups: http://i41.tinypic.com/x558uw.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/2vxggnq.jpg http://i39.tinypic.com/2h4w0mt.jpg

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Best Comedy: Pineapple Express

http://i41.tinypic.com/inhnxl.jpg http://i43.tinypic.com/2yno5rl.jpg

Pineapple Express was great when I first saw it, but like most of Judd Apatow's comedies, his movies just get better with rewatches. So when I got a chance to rewatch it the other night and I did, and I loved it even more than I did in theaters, you should check it out if you haven't yet. Tropic Thunder, Burn After Reading, and Kung Fu Panda come close after though.

Runner-ups: http://i42.tinypic.com/2q0k0eu.jpg http://i43.tinypic.com/28rz0d3.jpg http://i44.tinypic.com/2vxggnq.jpg

Best Animated Feature: Wall-E

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Wall-E is easily one of the best animated movies that I've ever seen. It didn't quite amaze me with my first viewing, but with repeat viewings I began to even love it even more with each viewing, and now it's my second favorite animated movie of all-time, it's quite an amazing movie that I think everyone should check out eventually. Kung Fu Panda and Bolt come right after it though.

Runner-ups: http://i44.tinypic.com/2vxggnq.jpg http://i42.tinypic.com/2s9xcua.jpg

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Glad you liked Taxi Driver, it's one of my top films of all time, it means alot to me and in my opinion it gets better with repeat viewings. I'm liking your best films of 2008 too MovieMan, very cool. Also, I just bought a copy of Watchmen and am going to read it over the next week, I'll let you know what I think, but from what I've read so far, I'm sure I'll like it. And I'll have a better idea on what my odds are in regards to our little bet.

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Yep, it's definitely an amazing piece of literature, and and BTW, it's better if you don't know anything about it before you read it, so the less you know about it, I think the more you'll like it. As for Taxi Driver, I surely hope that it does stand up better with repeat viewings, and if it's as great with a repeat viewing I may just have to bump it up to a full perfect score, because if it's as great with a rewatch then it's probably gonna venture into my top 10.

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Taxi Driver affected me in different ways at different times of my life. It's probably at the peak right now, maybe I should be aware of the precipice.

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The Unborn (David S. Goyer, 2009)

So, this was my first movie that came out in 2009 that I’ve had the chance to see, I don’t really know what I think about it being The Unborn though. I’ve got to admit before I start my review though; I had to have sort of high expectations for it, mainly because of it being written by David. S Goyer, who wrote Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and because Gary Oldman was one of the stars, and he’s my second favorite actor of all-time. Personally, I’m not really sure about Goyer’s directing, I mean I love his writing, but I think that he should just stick to writing and not directing. I do have to say though, Goyer’s writing for this was the best thing about The Unborn, and so I guess I’m pretty happy about that. There really wasn’t much else that I was really happy with like I was happy with the writing.

One of the things that I was most excited for about this was that I thought the creatures looked really cool from the trailer, so that’s something that I had hoped would help make this movie ‘cool’. Sadly I was very wrong; it has to have some of the worst special effects that I’ve ever seen, hands down. With one scene this dog’s head is supposed to be turned upside down, it really looks like the head was put on there using photoshop. I do got to admit though, when the old man’s head was supposed to be turned upside down, it looked miles better than the dog’s scene. I’d actually call the dog head scene one of the worst special effects scenes that I’ve ever seen, maybe the worst. Besides those two scenes though, there really wasn’t much special effects, besides the bugs, which I didn’t have a problem with really. So the effects didn’t effect my ratings too much, they definitely effected them some though.

Personally, one of the main things that saved this movie for me, besides the writing, was Gary Oldman. I wouldn’t call this one of his best performances or anything, but he was still as great as usual, it didn’t really save this movie as much as I had hoped for him to save the movie. One thing that really upset me about his role in this is that he barely had any screen time; I mean he wasn’t even introduced until about half way in the movie, he needed more screen time. Another thing that really helped save this movie for me was Odette Yustman, I think she’s a very underrated actress, she can actually act good, and she’s showed me this with The Unborn and Cloverfield. She’s also really hot, so seeing her in this really helped. Besides those two though, most of the other actors are very mediocre, some of them are just really bad. I was sort of upset to see Megan Good get one of the main roles of the movie, which was just bad casting decisions because she just can’t act good. Her acting is really the only acting in the movie that I hated, but like I said before, everyone else was just mediocre.

This makes up for that atrocity of a horror movie that can out this same weekend last year, One Missed Call, though. I was glad to see that it didn’t turn out as bad as that; I really would’ve been upset if it did. I really loved the ending to it, well not the very last minute ending, but the whole ending scene was great. Right from when the exorcism began, up until the very end of the scene was just amazing IMO. The very last second of it with Gray Oldman, Odette Yustman, and her boyfriend was my favorite thing in the whole movie. I still did like the last minute of it though, it gave a good explanation of why this was all happening. And you know, despite the crappy effects it had and the mediocre acting it had, I still really enjoyed it. I mean it’s not one that I’d go pay to see again in theaters, but I can definitely see me buying the DVD whenever it comes out. And I’d recommend it to anyone interested in it, it may be better if you just wait for the DVD release though if you don’t have much interest in it. It’s definitely one of the better PG-13 horror movies that we’ve had so far though.

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A "Hollywood" movie which is first released in January in the U.S., at least any more, tends to be a film which the studio is dumping as counter product to films trying to win Oscars. Now, I know that many people hate "Oscar-bait" movies, but in general, January has the highest percentage of films released which the critics are never allowed to view in advance (that way, the crap reviews won't cancel out the opening weekend grosses, if any). They also tend to be geared toward teenagers, and while there's nothing wrong with gearing movies at the people who actually buy the tickets, they tend to be more among the bottom of the barrel than the cream of the crop. They are usually movies dumped on the market, never expected as anything but an ad to try to sell DVDs in April.

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MovieMan's Top 5 Most Anticipated Movies For 2009:

1. Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)

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Persoanlly, I this has potential to be the best movie ever made to me, because IMO, the story for Watchmen is the best story that I've ever seen. It's easily better than any book, TV, or movie story, and it looks as if they've casted the characters perfect. I mean Jeffery Dean Morgan is just perfect for the role of The Comedian, and Patrick Wilson has really showed me that he's perfect for the role of Dan, at least of what I've seen of him so far. And James Earl Haley has got the perfect Rorschach voice down to me, even though I have heard some complaints with that. The only one I'm really not sure about yet it Billy Curdup as Dr. Manhattan, but I'm sure I won't be disappointed once it finally comes out. But I'm just so happy that it's only 2 months away and I don't have to wait any longer to see it.

2. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)

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Okay, so I basically no nothing about this. All I do know for it is that it's about World War II, which really facinates me, and it's directed by Quentin Tarantino, who is my all-time favorite director. It just upsets me that I have to wait all the way to August to be able to see, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait because Tarantino has yet to disappoint me.

3. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2009)

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Much like Inglourious Basterds, I basically no nothing about this, but there's two things to this movie that gets me really hyped to see it. The fact that it's directed by Martin Scorsese, who's one of my all-time favorite directors, and that's it's based on a book from the same author as Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, both of which are some of my favorite movies, Mystic River being my all-time favorite movie.

4. The Soloist (Joe Wright, 2009)

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Now unlike the two above, I've actually seen the trailer for this, which is what got me so excited for it. Because to me, it just looks downright amazing from the trailer, Robert Downey Jr. has also been becoming one of my favorite actors over the past year as well, so it's great to see him starring in it, and I've always like Jamie Foxx as an actor. But if you haven't watched the trailer yet, you should go and do so.

5. Where The Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)

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Now much like Inglourious Basterds and Shuttler Island, I basically no nothing about this, other than I remember it being one of my favorite books as a kid. I can't really remember what it's about at all, but I do remember some of the pictures from it and for the pics for it that I've seen, it looks like they've got it down. I'm looking foward to seeing a trailer for it in the near future, it should be great.

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Cheech And Chong’s Up In Smoke (Lou Adler, 1978)

I have to admit before I start this review, that I did have sort of high expectations for this movie before I watched it, because I thought it was going to be really hilarious. I’ve got to say though; I was pretty disappointed when the movie ended. Most of which that I had expected for it, wasn’t even met. I found the movie itself, pretty slow. I didn’t even really find it that funny, that’s the main thing that disappointed me the most, I mean I really haven’t seen many stoner comedies, the main one that comes in mind to me right now is Pineapple Express, which was sort of what I had expected this to be, but it wasn’t. I think that may have been the main problem that I was having with this, maybe with a re-watch it’ll turn out better though.

The worst thing about this movie is that it really has like no storyline. It randomly jumps around so much, that for some scenes I had no idea where they even came from. One of the most confusing things with the storyline for me is when Pedro and Anthony get deported to Mexico, but just a minute before they do, they say that they have their green cards, so there would be no reason for them to be deported. I mainly think they did that, just to try and give it some storyline though, because if they wouldn’t have done that, then the movie would still be just as pointless. Now I know it’s supposed to be a ‘fun’ movie, but most of the ‘fun’ movies that I’ve seen at least had a storyline to it that didn’t get me totally confused. I really tried to enjoy the storyline because it supposed to be a ‘fun’ movie though, but I just couldn’t.

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong had no chemistry though; I mean it seemed like the forced to be friends or something. I can see why though, I mean the whole plot started out with Pedro picking up Anthony because Anthony was hitchhiking, but then they suddenly become best friends after that, I don’t know, but that makes no sense to me. That was just another problem that I had with the storyline. I mean, even though I wasn’t too big a fan of the Harold and Kumar series though, I thought Kal Penn and John Cho had great chemistry together, I still did like the Harold and Kumar series some though. The rest of the movie’s characters were just randomly thrown in there at random points of the movie, just another thing wrong with the movie because of the storyline.

I never believed that a movie with a lack of a storyline could affect a movie so much, but it actually really did. I mean most movies without storylines have at least some good acting, and for comedies some good humor. The humor in this was just plain bad though, maybe it was just my taste in humor, which I actually thought would fit really well with this movie. But I swear, I only laughed like 3 times throughout the movie, but thank god the movie was short, I wouldn’t have been able to make it through if it was any longer. I guess this is a movie that you’d really have to be high while watching to really find funny. So I guess if you do drugs a lot, then you should check this movie out sometime. I really do hope with a re-watch though that I’ll like this better, I’m just not sure if I’ll be able to, but we’ll see.

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Funny, I've seen Up in Smoke at least three times in full (all of them sober), and I'd say my rating is more of a +. My main problem with it is that the entire third act of the film (where Pedro and Man end up entering the Battle of the Bands) is comparatively unfunny compared to the first hour of the film. The first hour, on the other hand, is one I find to be very funny, randomness and all.

That's actually part of the joke - despite the fact that Pedro and Man are bona fide American citizens, the immigration police will still deport them to Mexico, either out of stupidity or racial profiling or both.

If you do give it a rewatch, I find that like most comedies, Up in Smoke is actually better when you have someone to watch it with you.

P.S. Love the fact that despite listing your "most anticipated movies of 2009", you still add "2009" after the titles.

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Oh, I guess it is a little funnier now that I know it's joke, I still find it weird. I hope with a rewatch that it'll get better with rewatch, like Pineapple Express got better with a rewatch for me. And yeah, I just did that, because, well I don't know why. It just made them look better to me.

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I'll be the first to admit that a little bit of Cheech & Chong, especially in movie form, goes a long way, but Up in Smoke, for all its overlength (especially the concert BS), is their magnum opus, and I find it hard to believe that even my grandmother (R.I.P.) would have laughed only three times. I watched Pineapple Express last night and laughed a lot, but it's about a half-hour longer than Up in Smoke, and there were quite a few times I wondered why the scene kept going on and on. I don't know about you, but I thought that Stacy Keach's Sgt. Stedenko was a much-better character than any of the supporting characters in Pineapple Express, and for the record, I like the Pineapple plenty and more than Up in Smoke. I enjoy reading your reviews, so keep up the good work, but when I read something such as "Cheech and Chong have no chemistry though", it makes me wonder what you're thinking about. You do know the history of Cheech and Chong as a comedy team, yes? They were basically playing the personae they had perfected after 10 years of working together. If you don't understand why two stoners would "become friends" so quickly, that's OK too. It's fine to dislike the movie and you gave several reasons. But maybe if you looked at Up in Smoke as the first Super Stoner Heroes movie, you could see it as an origin story. :cool:

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That's definitlely gonna be a reason why I'm gonna rewatch it, but maybe it's just me (I really think I'm alone on this now), but I just didn't think they had that great of a chemistry (maybe I will with a rewatch though). And if my opinion on it changes some, then I'll come in here and update my review.

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Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)

I’ve seen this movie 3 times now, and personally with each viewing of it, it just gets better and better. Now it’s really hard for me not to like a Judd Apatow movie, I just seem to love all of his movies, with Drillbit Taylor being the only odd one out so far. This is a stoner comedy that I really love, I’m sure it’d probably get ever better if you’re high, but I guess I’ll never be able to find out. What I really loved about this one though, is that this is the first Apatow movie to actually make me laugh at least once in every scene, Superbad was close to achieving that, but it just didn’t quite. But one of the things that were just so great about this was that it never really seemed to slow down for me, there was always something happening in it.

I was actually very surprised that I loved this so much though, because this really didn’t seem like a Judd Apatow movie. This really didn’t have much focus on sex jokes like all of the other Judd Apatow movies, this really felt like a stoner comedy. Like I just said though, this is one of those rare comedies that makes me laugh at least once in every scene during it. My favorite scene that really stood out from all the others though, is the scene where Dale and Saul first meet with Red at his house. Like most of Apatow’s movies though, it just seems to get even better with a re-watch, because personally my first viewing of this, I didn’t really love it as much as I had hoped. I do think some of the scenes do go on a little longer than they should though, I mean none of them really went on too long, but they could’ve been a little bit shorter. I was also very impressed with how they put so much action in it to go along with the action, namely the second to last scene of the movie, which is a great action scene. This had some of the funniest one-liners that I’ve ever heard though, but most of the comedy in Pineapple Express doesn’t come from the lines, but from the way the lines are delivered. James Franco’s actions while delivering the lines is probably one of the things that just make this movie so hilarious. The best example of that is after Dale and Saul stole the cop car, and just the way that Saul was driving the car.

The biggest surprise in this for me has to be James Franco. I really never knew that he could be so hilarious. I was actually surprised that I liked him so much, seeing as Seth Rogen is my all-time favorite comedian. This is probably the first movie that I’ve seen Rogen in that he wasn’t the best in the movie, but Franco just really overshadowed him in this. I feel that he had the best acting of 2008, some of that may be because he was the biggest surprise for me. Franco and Rogen made a great team together, unlike my feelings about Cheech and Chong (which may change with a re-watch for that), I felt they had great chemistry together. They just seemed like the perfect team together, even though I still do think Rogen and Bill Hader do make a better team together though. I was actually surprised not to see many of Apatow’s regular’s in this, besides Rogen there was barely any of his regulars in this. Except for the small part that Hader had the very beginning, Joe Lo Truglio (who I really only know as that guy from Superbad) had a small part in the beginning, and Craig Robinson who actually did have a semi-big role, I was happy to see that because I think he’s hilarious, and needs some more funny roles. That’s it basically though, except I do know that Franco was on Freaks And Geeks, but I still don’t know if I’d consider him one of Apatow’s regulars. Danny McBride was also a very big surprise in this to me though, I also sort of see him becoming one of Apatow’s regulars, so I hope he does because he’s definitely funny enough. It had a great summer though; I mean first this than Tropic Thunder.

This was easily my favorite comedy of 2008 though; I think this has shown that it holds up better with a re-watch than Tropic Thunder. It may not though, depending on well Role Models holds up with a re-watch, which I’m hoping it will. I still doubt that I’ll like it better than Pineapple Express. This is truly an ‘epic comedy’ though, probably one of the few that I’ve actually seen, which I hope to change that sometime soon. Personally, I consider this one of my all-time favorite comedies, along with most of Apatow’s other comedies. This is a movie that I think everyone could enjoy to some extent, so if you haven’t seen this yet, you should definitely go and try to sometime. I’d definitely recommend it to Apatow fans, but more than likely, if you’re an Apatow fan then you’ve probably already seen it.

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My rating for Pineapple Express see-saws between and (more often leaning towards the former). I like the premise enough - the main problem being that for me, the movie really doesn't start to get good until the initial murder scene. Prior to that, I kept thinking "Oh, God, not more of these guys sitting around getting high and making moronic jokes about each other." After that, I felt the film improved significantly. I thought it was a decent take on the action genre by making the heroes horribly incompetent. I found the physical comedy was much funnier than the dialogue - my favourite scene in the entire movie is the fight scene at Red's house.

I don't really feel like the performances were anything particularly brilliant - contrary to your own opinion, I reckon Rogen has never been the best in anything he's done. The guy just irks me, and it's not like the supporting cast manages to pull anything show-stealing out of the bag either (except possibly Danny McBride - and his Mustafa-like inability to die eventually got annoying). I just get the feeling that there was a lot of wasted potential here.

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"Dave's not here man."

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Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)

This is probably the one movie that I think everyone likes, but I can see why because it’s really hard not to like. This film, in my opinion, is plain perfect. I do think that without this film, the entire film industry would be drastically different than what it is today. I was actually surprised at how nostalgic it turned out for me after watching it tonight for the first time since I was a little kid, and I really only think that I had only seen it once before. This is the one movie that has terrified people of going in the ocean for decades, and it still does today as well, at least for me. But I’ve always been pretty afraid to go into the ocean; this movie is one of those reasons. I think I actually liked this movie more because I’ve always been pretty interested in sharks, they’ve been my favorite animal that’s not extinct for a long time now, since I was a kid, seeing this just helped me remember of why I love sharks so much. You can definitely enjoy this movie not liking sharks that much, I actually think it’s better to see this if you’re afraid of sharks like I am, because it just makes the movie even more special.

Much like Jurassic Park or John Carpenter’s The Thing, the effects in Jaws is way ahead of it’s time. Jaws even outdates the two I mentioned, without Jaws I think those two wouldn’t have even had the amazing effects that I knew they had. One of the best things about Jaws though, is the suspense it creates. This is by far one of the most, if not the most, suspenseful movie that I’ve ever seen. One scene that’s a great example of this is the scene with those two guys at the docks trying to lure the shark in, just everything in that scene fits so perfectly. The last 15 or 20 minutes is another great example, surprisingly though, it didn’t seem to get slow at the ending, I mean if someone tells you what happens it may sound slow, but when you actually see it play out it’s just amazing. Steven Spielberg is such an amazing director. My favorite scene though is when we first get to see the shark though, it just gives you a quick glimpse of his head underneath the water, it just looked so real, which also just happened to be another really suspenseful scene in the movie.

Now I considered Steven Spielberg to be the greatest director of all-time for the longest time, but I have noticed that has been flip-flopping around for about a year now. But in these past few weeks, I’m pretty sure that I ultimately think that he is the greatest director of all-time, with such movies like this, Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, and Saving Private Ryan. He also seems to pick the perfect casts for his movie; I mean I honestly believed that Roy Scheider was completely terrified of the ocean, and who knows maybe he was. I would have loved to been there when they were filming this though, I can just imagine the scenes on the boat for the ending would have been so much fun to be apart of. Scheider and Dreyfuss had amazing chemistry together though; they seemed like the perfect team for the movie, which just shows another thing about how amazing Spielberg is with picking his casts for his movies.

I know some of you may get tired of hearing that this movie is probably going to make it into my top 10 with a re-watch, but personally how many movies of those actually end up in my top 10? But just get ready to hear it again, but unlike the rest, this really is probably going to make it into my top 10, I’m going to find a spot for it either later tonight or sometime tomorrow, but I guarantee you that it’s going to find a spot somewhere in it. This movie is a true cinematic masterpiece, without this movie ever being made, there would be a huge gap missing in the film industry. This is one of the very rare movies that I think is just perfect for everyone, I find it really, really hard to not like this movie. I don’t even think I can even if I really tried, but that’s just my opinion on it. I would say you need to go out and see this movie, but more than likely you’ve probably already seen it, to be a true movie fan IMO, this is a must see.

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I think it's time for me to watch Jaws again.

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One word - meatwadsprite.

Other than that, great review. Jaws is truly brilliant.

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I always like to remind people (or inform them) that the film is the way it is as a result of, well fate is the word I guess, or maybe default. Since the shark was not operational for the first few weeks they had to take a more implied atmosphere to the film, leaving alot to the viewers imagination, much like Hitchcock would do. Or even use the sharks point of view, the camera is the shark. Great film, I agree with your 5/5, glad you liked it. Another of my favourite Spielberg films is Close Encounters of the Third Kind, although I seem to be in the minority when it comes to that film.

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Watch the below clip from about 0:24 onwards to find out just how lucky everyone was that the shark didn't work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIRXujf83tA

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That's actually one of the few Spielberg movies that I've yet to see, it's very high on my 'too-buy- list. I just found out a little whil ago though, that Best Buy has discontinued it, so I'm probably gonna buy it off Amazon.

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Gangs Of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)

I finally got the chance to watch this for the first time last night, and I’ve wanted to buy it for a while now. But since I’ve been really getting into Scorsese lately, I decided to pick it up, but I wasn’t too sure about it, because for some reason I like never hear any talk about it (that may be just me though. Boy was I pleasantly surprised when I finally got to watch it. I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite Scorsese movies that I’ve seen so, I can call it the most underrated Scorsese movie that I’ve seen so far. I do have to say though, that the opening sequence to this has to be one of my favorite opening sequences of all-time. Martin Scorsese is definitely becoming one of my all-time favorite directors, and pretty high on there as well.

I do have to say though, that the scenery fro this was just amazing. They really made it look like the movie took place in the Civil War era. The cinematography is also very amazing, maybe the best cinematography that I’ve seen in a Martin Scorsese movie so far, well maybe tied with Raging Bull. But what I really loved is that even though it was over 2 and a half hours long, the pacing just worked in it so well, because it felt (to me at least) that it was only 2 hours at the maximum. I do hate the DVD for it though, they didn’t need to break the movie up in two parts on two separate discs, I just hate when movies do that. The ending to this was almost as great as the opening to this, these two scenes are probably some of my favorite action sequences of all-time, which is odd because this isn’t even an action movie. I also seemed to get a Sweeney Todd feel to it, maybe it was just because Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in this just reminded me so much of Johnny Depp’s character in Sweeney Todd.

The acting in this is phenomenal though, especially from Daniel Day-Lewis. This has to be Daniel Day-Lewis’ best performance that I’ve seen so far, his performance in There Will Be Blood comes really close though, but I also really haven’t seen many of Daniel-Day-Lewis’s performances. Leonardo DiCaprio was also great in this, I wasn’t very surprised about this though, seeing as DiCaprio is one of my all-time favorite actors, and this is just another great example of that. I didn’t really like Cameron Diaz’s character in this much at first, I saw me liking her character more as the movie progressed though. I mean her acting was fine in this, it’s just I don’t think her character was very likeable in this. I was glad to see John C. Reilly to get a small role in this, I’ve always really liked him as an actor, but I barely see him in any movies. I was also very happy to see Liam Neeson get a small role in this, now he’s probably in my top 5 favorite actors; I just wish he could’ve got more screen time other than just at the very beginning. I do know that whole movie focused around his character, much like Watchmen’s entire story focused around The Comedian.

I think with a re-watch that this may be bumped up an extra .5 of a point, because I just really loved it, that all depends if it holds up as well with a re-watch. Like I said before this is IMO, Martin Scorsese’s most underrated movie so far, that I’ve seen. I still have a few more movies of his to watch though, like The Aviator and New York, New York. I just love seeing Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio in some more movies, and I plan to see even more in the near future. I do think that this is a masterpiece; I’m just a little upset that it got nominated for 10 academy awards back in 2002, but yet it didn’t win any. Daniel Day-Lewis totally deserved the academy award for his role in this, he just went completely psycho for this role, and I just can’t stop mentioning how much I love Daniel Day-Lewis in this for some reason. The only thing that felt weird while watching this, was that this movie felt nothing like a Martin Scorsese movie, most of his movies seems to have some kind of the same feel to me, but this one had none of it. I think if you haven’t had a chance to see this yet, you should go out and rent it or buy it sometime in the future, because I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Just expect a Martin Scorsese movie that feels like nothing he’s ever made so far.

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Daniel Day Lewis did deserve an oscar for this role, but Adrien Brody was also exceptional in the Pianist, if you haven't seen this film directed by Roman Polanski (Chinatown) I would recommend it MovieMan. Also, if you're looking for another great performance from Daniel Day Lewis, I highly suggest My Left Foot, the film that brought him his first Best Actor award.

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Defiance (Edward Zwick, 2008)

Now before I walked in to see this movie today, I had some really high expectations for this because the trailer for it looked amazing IMO, and because of how much I loved Blood Diamond, which was Edward Zwick’s last movie. I guess you can say that I was sort of disappointed when I finally walked out of theater from seeing it, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it though. I still really liked it, just no where near as much has I had hoped to like it. My main problem with this is that it tries to be this decade’s version of Schindler’s List way too much. I really think that they based Daniel Craig’s character off of Oskar Schindler from Schindler’s List. Even the overall story sort of reminded me of Schindler’s List, it was just no where near as amazing as Schindler’s List was. Another thing that I didn’t really like much was the accents, I don’t get why they just can’t keep their same voice for a role, I couldn’t even understand what some of the actors were trying to say some of the time. Those were the main bad things about Defiance that I feel need to be mentioned.

Aside from its story reminding me of Schindler’s List, it actually had a pretty well made story. I think that it was just too depressing for my tastes though; there were only a few minutes in the movie that I actually felt were happy. This actually had more action scenes in it than I had expected, especially the ending scene to it, which was probably my favorite part of the entire movie. The score for Defiance really was great though, I wasn’t surprised though, I mean Hans Zimmer is one of my favorite movie composer’s. The cinematography was also very well done for this, I mean I doubt it’s going to be nominated for anything this year at the academy awards or anything, but it was still very well done, it’s got some serious stiff competition this year.

Daniel Craig, despite having that incredibly bad accent, actually did some pretty good acting in this. Liev Schreiber stood out the most of the cast though; he had the best acting in this movie, and really overshadowed everyone else in the movie. I do think that he had the best acting in the movie because his character was my personal favorite character in the movie. Jamie Bell’s acting was surprisingly pretty good in this as well, I said surprisingly because the only other movie I’ve seen him in is Jumper, which wasn’t good at all. The main thing that impressed me the most though, was that the three of them really felt like brothers to me, they just had some great chemistry.

I still really liked this though; I didn’t quite love it though, like I had originally hoped. I would still recommend seeing it before it leaves theaters though; just expect a pretty depressing movie when you do see it. I was glad that it was the length that it was though, because I felt it if it were longer than that, it would’ve been overly long. The main reason that my rating is what it is though is because it just tried to be Schindler’s List way too hard to me; I wish it could’ve been more original. I do say that if you do go see this, don’t expect something as great as Blood Diamond was though, because you’ll probably be disappointed.

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Well it's a true story so it does have that going for it I suppose. I don't know why people seem to think that the rest of the world needs to see every single true story that occurred during the holocaust but they do. That's their prerogative I suppose and its their dime. Doesn't mean its a good film, which I agree with you, this one isn't. I bet if you watch it again your rating will drop.

I did like the music, but like I said in the movie tab, if that's the best thing you've got going for you during a holocaust film then you have serious problems...

Anyway, nice write up.

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Yeah, I have been noticing that most halocaust movies are pretty similar, and now it's just gotten worse. I mean just the stuff in this reminded me so much of Schindler's List that it was just sad, but I was very disappointed with it, because I had such high expectations for it.

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Jurassic Park (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

1993 really was a great year for Steven Spielberg, I mean that year he gave to of his best movies he’s ever made, Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List. I feel really proud to be born in 1993, just because of those two movies. This is that one movie for me that I really can’t find a spot on my favorites list for, I mean I do really, really love it, but I don’t know. I mean I love this movie more than any other movie, and I’ve always sort of considered it my all-time favorite movie, but for some reason I could just never put it in that spot. But after watching it for the first time in like a year tonight, I can honestly put it at that spot, because to me, this is the greatest movie ever made. This is the first movie that I can remember seeing and actually liking, so without this movie, I would never have my love for movies that I have now, so I have A LOT of respect for this movie. This film is nothing, but perfect. And much like Jaws, this is that one movie that most people just seem to love, but I don’t see any reason why anyone wouldn’t.

The effects in Jurassic Park are just timeless, they still amaze me to this day, I would take the effects used in Jurassic Park over any movie that we have today. Stan Winston is just a master with effects, it’s just sad that we won’t get to see any more of his work, because he was a true genius at what he did. Another thing that really made this like Jaws was the suspense that it had, granted that it still didn’t have as much suspense as Jaws, but then again Jaws is like the ultimate suspense movie. And one of the things that just really add to the suspense is the amazing score done by no other than John Williams who, like Stan Winston, is a genius at what he does. He’s definitely up there with my all-time favorite composers, what he did with this, Jaws, and Schindler’s List were just amazing.

I swear Steven Spielberg is a god among filmmakers; he is the best one ever to come into the business IMO. He knows what he’s doing and very rarely disappoints, without Spielberg in the business I don’t even think I’d love movies as much as I do now. The movie industry would be incomplete without many of his movies. One of the things that impress me so much with this, is the characters he chose for the film. Sam Neill and the two kids (Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards) just immediately has a connection to each other, they were the perfect choices for the roles. Jeff Goldblum was very great in the role, he had to make himself seem crazy, yet sane at the same time, which he achieved at doing. I was sad to see that his character changed in the sequel, he seemed more sane and scared in the sequel. I do got to admit, when I was a kid, Sam Neill’s character, Alan Grant, was my favorite character, he was just so freaking cool to me, and he still is just not as much.

Personally give me any other movie name, and I can tell you 100 reasons why I think Jurassic Park is even better. No other film even comes close to how amazing and mind blowing Jurassic Park is, I think to really love it though you’d have to have seen it when you were a kid. I mean, I’m sure most people have seen this by now, but if for some bizarre reason that you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and go do so very soon. But like I said, if you aren’t a kid, you probably won’t get the full effect of it. The very first time that I ever saw this was the very best movie experience that I’ve ever had, it was the very first great movie that I actually ever saw. Tonight’s viewing of it, really felt a lot like my first viewing of it, but I still didn’t quite get the same effect, and I doubt I ever will with any movie. I feel just so sad when the movie ends though, I just get so into it that the movie itself just flies by making me want to see more; at least we have 2 sequels. Both of the sequels I actually liked, I really liked the second, but I thought the third lost a lot of the magic that Jurassic Park had by switching to CGI. I could watch this movie all day if I could, and I’ve actually done this before when I was a kid. I really want to do it again, but I doubt that I’ll ever do that again. When I was a kid though, I rarely ever watched a full movie, I mainly just skipped to my favorite scenes of movie, this was the one movie that I never did that with, because it was too amazing to do that with, and it still is that amazing.

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Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Steve Carr, 2009)

Now when I before the movie started for this, I had very mixed reactions for it, I mean I thought the trailer looked pretty funny and Kevin James is always hilarious. And I actually tend to like a lot of the stupid comedies that comes out, because I just find them funny, except more of the recent stupid comedies really haven’t impressed me that much, I was glad to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop change the recent trend. Now I’m not saying that this movie is a masterpiece or anything, but I can say that it’s very enjoyable and easily worth the price of an admission ticket. I think that, for the most part, you should be able to enjoy this as long as you expect to see a stupid comedy before watching it.

I did really like how the ending turned into more of an action movie, yet it still had all these funny comedy moments in it. I don’t really know how to explain it; I guess you could call it a comedy version of Die Hard, except the main hero really isn’t all that tough. What I didn’t like was this spoiled the ending to Bonnie and Clyde for me though, I guess I’ll still see it sometime, but now I already know the ending. I just hate when movies spoil the ending to other movies for you, it just upsets me. Besides that, there really wasn’t much that I didn’t like about it, mainly because I didn’t really take it seriously most of the movie. I do have to say that this is probably one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a while, maybe not as funny Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, or Role Models or anything, but I was laughing throughout most of the movie.

The best thing about this, by far, definitely was Kevin James; I don’t think I’ve seen him in a role yet that he hasn’t been hilarious in. One of the funniest things he did in this movie was trying to juke out two of these bad guys on a segway, I know it doesn’t really sound all that funny, but it was hilarious if you saw it. He will always be Doug Heffernan from Kings of Queens to me though; none of his performances will ever top him in that though. Someone that really surprised me in this was Jayma Mays, now most of you may know her as that annoying girl that you just wanted to die from Epic Movie. I swear, she’s gotten really hot since Epic Movie, and was surprisingly pretty funny in this, I just loved seeing her in scenes, because like I said she was just really hot. This actually had some new actors that I really haven’t seen in anything before that were actually pretty funny, like Adhir Kalyan, whenever he was talking on the phone with Blart, I was just laughing.

Overall, I was glad that I decided to go and see this, because it was actually pretty funny. This is one that I’d definitely try and check out sometime before it leaves theaters as long as you don’t mind stupid comedies. If you don’t like stupid comedies, then you probably won’t like this at all, and should stay away from it. If you’re on the fence about it though, you should probably wait to see it on DVD. I do have to say, Kevin James fans won’t be disappointed, he was hilarious in this. It’s a huge step up from Steve Carr’s other movies like, Rebound and Daddy Day Care, so don’t let those stop you from seeing this.

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Jaws. now I wanna see a list of 100 :D

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lol, It was a retorical question.

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Quiet you.

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I could probably give 100 reasons why alot of movies are better than Jurassic Park, but I won't, mostly because when I saw it in the theaters I was around 14 years old and it was mind blowing for me too.

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Oh and I'm almost done reading Watchmen, I've been taking my time, reading it on the way to work, and there is no way in hell this film will gross more than Transformers 2. Why? Because it is too intelligent and the majority of people don't like stories that really make them think. I am definitely looking forward to the movie now, but I also wonder if it can be faithfully adapted to the big screen? I guess we'll see soon enough.

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That's the most damming thing I've ever read.

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Yeah, but of course they're probably gonna dumb it down some for movie watchers, and they've added more action in it (like The Comedian's death scene for example). But yeah, Transformers 2 will probably sadly gross more than Watchmen, mainly for it's PG-13 rating while Watchmen as a R rating, even though it's probably gonna be overrated like the first, at least everyone will know what the better movie is.

I guess you didn't like King Of Queens that much then?

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I want to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop really bad. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope to. You gave it a positive review, so I hope for the best.

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I suggest hope for the worst, because that's what I did, and ended up liking it.

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I think Watchmen is gona make a ton , it's got a strong hype scheme going on (much like Cloverfield and The Dark Knight did).

Especially after The Dark Knight , another realistic imaginative comic book movie will be something that will hook a large mainstream audience.

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I'm really hoping that it can make as much money as those, but both of those are also only PG-13, while Watchmen is rated R. Cloverfield didn't really make that much at the box office anyway, I believe it only made like less than 80 million.

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You're right, I don't like that programme at all. I also hate it when he shows up in Everybody Loves Raymond.

Also, while Cloverfield took $80m at the US box office, it took another $90m worldwide. That, and the fact that it's budget was about $25m and that's before it went on to the really profitable stage of a films life, the dvd release. If Watchmen can do anything like Cloverfield's business, I think that they'll be pretty happy.

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Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008)

After waiting months to see this, this finally came out in the US on Friday, so I was really excited to finally be able to see it. So before I even start my review, just know that my expectations for this were really high, this was one of my most hyped movies to see in 2009. As some of you may know, I really love revenge movies, so I already knew that I was going to at least like it some, but I got so much more than that. Taken is a non-stop thrill ride, right when Liam Neeson gets to Paris, the action doesn’t stop at all. So action fans really should love this one, it wasn’t just some pure action flick though; it has a great story with some great acting, mainly from Neeson, to go along with it. Once it starts you won’t want it to end.

One of the things that mainly had me hyped for this is that it was written by Luc Besson, who’s the director of Leon: The Professional which is one of my all-time favorite movies. Besson really has another great movie on his hands; I actually felt some of the scenes really reminded me of Leon. This is just one of those movies that really have you cheering throughout the movie, at least I know I was, and I haven’t actually cheered in a movie in a long time. The movie just went by so fast; I wish they could’ve made it longer. I know that if it was longer though, it may have you feeling that it’s a bit overly long. The ending was sort of predictable though, but most revenge movies end the same, so I don’t know why I expected something different. I really loved that song that started playing once the credits started playing though; it was the song that played in the first trailer for Taken.

The main thing that had me hyped for Taken though, has to be that Liam Neeson was starring in it. He’s one of my all-time favorite actors, and I seem to find him great in almost everything he’s in, expect maybe The Dead Pool, but even Eastwood wasn’t as great in The Dead Pool. None of his performances in anything will ever top him in Schindler’s List, that’s sort of a given. I’d probably say that his performance in this is about equal with his performance in Batman Begins, maybe not quite as good in that but almost. Olivier Rabourin was good in this as well, the only reason that I really even mentioned this though, is because of how similar he looks to Kevin Spacey. I swear I actually thought that he was Kevin Spacey at first. Famke Janssen was good in this, expect I didn’t really like that her acting was just crying throughout most of the movie.

Overall I was very happy that I went to see this, it met almost every expectation that I had for it. Even if you only have little interest in seeing it I suggest you do so before leaving theaters, because it’s just one of those movies that’s meant to be seen at theaters to get the full effect. It’s a non-stop thrill ride that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole movie. I think any action fan will be able to appreciate Taken, because I’d go even as far to call it one of my new all time favorite action movies.

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You've got to be kidding me. You never knew that Bonnie & Clyde died in a hail of gunfire with police? Wow. Come on dude.

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Neither did I , thanks Lennon.

:rotfl:

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I said that as a joke, I think everyone knows the ending to Bonnie & Clyde.

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Uh huh....