Movie Tab II

Not that I have any strong disagreement with your "0" rating or anything, but the movie does feature Jackson drugging a student by shooting him with a bow and arrow with a syringe arrow-head. Then he amputates the kids lucky trigger finger and tattoos a hokey message on it, as I recall. That scene alone makes this movie more over-the-top and goofy than any other Death Wish wannabe crap that comes to mind.

A quick note. For those outside the US who are interested in seeing Eye Of The Killer, it's known as After Alice.

It has moments of epic cheese, but the tone on everything else is like some surreal-garbage via Oliver Stone.

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That's right, HK. I meant to mention that some place, but didn't.

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St. Elmo's Fire (Joel Schumacher, 1986)



The Brat Pack attempts to grow up with varying degrees of success. Demi Moore is so superficial that her big "reveal" about why she behaves the way she does is totally predictable, and I really wanted to shove Rob Lowe's sax down his throat after he went into about the fifth minute of his solo at the club where his band was playing. On the other hand, those scenes were sorta entertaining in an embarrassing way, and it's almost surreal how much the whole film comes across as highly-watchable, especially poor Emilio Estevez and his pursuit of older Andie MacDowell and "gay" Andrew McCarthy finally hooking up with the love of his life, Ally Sheedy. In fact, besides the Estevez scenes up at the snowbound cabin, the scenes where Sheedy and her lover Judd Nelson "attempt" to divide up their records while breaking up is a highlight. The film begins as if it's on both poppers and speed but eventually a semblance of plot and logic arises, at least if you can take it long enough for that to occur.

Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002)



This film still delivers some chills and laughs, but it seems that every time I rewatch a Shyamalan flick, it seems much slower and much-less complex. These mysterious crop circles do turn out to be created by space aliens and not by weird neighbors, but these aliens do not really have all that much of a personality, and they don't seem to satisfy any purpose except to help Mel Gibson's family come to terms with a family death and bring back a semblance of normalcy to a troubled family. Sure, there are some suspense scenes and a few humorous ones, but they seem to come more from what people do not know than what they do know. Once everything becomes crystal clear, the charm and originality of the flick seems to evaporate too. However, it's still vastly superior to Night's latest flicks.

Rudy (David Anspaugh, 1993)



Hey Powdered Water, you have no excuse not to watch this flick, no matter how much you "hate" Notre Dame. The entire film comes across as utterly preposterous [in concept, not in presentation], but it's all based on a true story and really knows how to push all the buttons in how to make a sports fan or an underdog lover get completely drawn into the story of Rudy (Sean Astin), a small, scholastically-underachieving teenager with the biggest heart in the world, who will stop at nothing to succeed in his dream of becoming a Notre Dame football player during an actual game. Besides his father (Ned Beatty), Rudy is also pursuing his dream for a chubby brainiac (Jon Favreau) and a Notre Dame stadium employee (Charles S. Dutton) who once played football for the team. Jerry Goldsmith's beautiful theme music builds subtly from the opening credits to produce chills during the tear-filled finale.

La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) ; Art House Rating:



Fellini fashions his own completely-unique film about empty journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) who follows other empty people around Rome and writes up their lives for the even emptier "regular people" to feed upon in a way to forget about their own lives. (It kinda reminds me of what's happening now with Lindsay Lohan and Mel Gibson.) The film is incredibly episodic, and while most of it is very realistic, there are occasional flourishes where time and location seem to disappear effortlessly under Fellini's masterful direction. The film does eventually add up to something powerful, but while you're watching the entire three hours, I can understand how it might bother and/or bore some viewers, but for those willing to look carefully and connect the dots, the final few scenes are actually quite powerful in offering up Fellini's own interpretation of fellow Italian auteur Antonioni's theme of people living alone and unable to communicate. The fate of Msrcello's friend Steiner (Alain Cuny) and that of the giant manta ray at the end could only be conceived by a man who was deeply living in a world he felt was almost a vacuum yet desired to communicate, however seemingly-haphazardly, with humankind.



EDIT - I forgot to mention that Nico can be seen in the film. She has a very small part, and I suppose she's actually playing herself (her name is Nicolina), but many of the actors are actually playing characters with their own names. Anyway, if you've never noticed Nico in the movie, she has a scene in the car with Marcello and a few others and she begins to speak with a Teutonic accent, exactly the same way she "sings" on the Velvet Underground and Nico record. She is obviously speaking German, but when Marcello asks her what language it is, she responds "Eskimo". Not really too much to say, but something fun for those who care about such pop culture trivialities.

The Trouble with Harry (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955) +



Hitch gleefully spins a tale about a dead body that almost everybody believes was personally killed by them and gets buried and unburied over and over. Yes, the film is a black comedy, but it does have plenty of trademark Hitchcock suspense as well as some of the funniest dialogue you'll ever hear. It takes place in New England during the fall, and Brenda and I both agree that it's probably the film which most resembles what our honeymoon looked like with all those striking autumnal colors. I don't want to get into too many details, but Harry causes trouble for an elderly hunter (Edmund Gwenn), a spinster (Mildred Natwick) who likes him, a painter (John Forsythe) with a devilish tongue, and a pretty young mother (Shirley MacLaine). This is not only the first Hitchcock film with a Bernard Herrmann score, but it's also MacLaine's film debut and an early flick for the boy (Jerry Mathers, the Beave from "Leave it to Beaver") who plays her son and steals all his scenes. It may take just a little bit to really get going, but this film is generally underrated in the Hitchcock oeurve.

Step Brothers (Adam McKay, 2008)



Supremely-idiotic comedy with equally-moronic characters and situations results in nothing less than a funny, laugh-out-loud flick about competing 40-ish stay-at-home sons who become part of the same family when their parents marry. The fact that the characters played by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly probably have IQs which total together less than one-half of what one of them weighs shouldn't be held against the movie. Of course, if you don't like a film such as There's Something About Mary, you should probably steer clear, but this thing has tons of gross-out gags along with a few actual sophisticated touches which seem to have been added as almost an afterthought. Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins are solid as the parents, and Adam Scott is appropriately-hateful as the successful younger brother of Ferrell. I don't really relate to it on a personal level but it certainly has no problems going in bizarre uncharted waters quite often, so I give it points for that.

The Battle at Apache Pass (George Sherman, 1952)



This is something akin to a sequel to the 1950 James Stewart western Broken Arrow where Jeff Chandler also played Cochise. In this film, Cochise has made peace with the White Eyes, but Geronimo (Jay Silverheels) and some corrupt Indian agents conspire to bring about a full-fledged war when the cavalry commander (John Lund) is away from his fort. Much of the film was shot in and around Monument Valley and there are some decent action scenes, but overall, it's just a fair-to-middling western which looks particularly good. It's fun to see "Tonto" playing Geronimo but there could have been a few more confrontations between him and Cochise. Two years after this film, Douglas Sirk directed a pretty good sequel called Taza, Son of Cochise which starred Rock Hudson in the title role.

My Name is Julia Ross (Joseph Lewis, 1945)



This resembles a low-budget Hitchcock film where Julia Ross (Nina Foch) answers an ad for a live-in secretary and finds herself in the middle of a plot to seemingly kill her so that a woman (Dame May Whitty) and her psycho son (George Macready) can collect on an inheritance which they cannot get now because Mr. Psycho already went crazy and murdered his real wife. So the family takes her to a seaside mansion, drugs her and tries to convince her that she's really the wife. Julia isn't buying any of it, but nobody knows who she is, including some of the new servants and local townspeople, so she comes across as insane to everybody else. The film is very short, but it manages to build up some nice suspense touches and Macready is an excellent psycho who enjoys destroying things with knives.

Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926) ; Classic Rating:



Murnau's final German film before he moved on to Hollywood is a great blend of spectacle and special effects, especially in the first half. It's a classic story of Good vs. Evil, not all that unlike the Book of Job, where Mephisto [the Devil] (Emil Jannings) bets God that he can turn God-fearing, good man Faust (Gösta Ekman) into an unrepentant sinner if given a free hand. Faust wants youth and is especially attracted to a beautiful innocent (Camilla Horn). Eventually, her brother (William Dieterle) does battle for her honor with Faust in a scene reminiscent of Shakespeare's far-later Romeo and Juliet. The opening combines every imaginable use of sets, costumes, F/X, trippy editing and storytelling skill which Fritz Lang would later try to improve upon in the next year's Metropolis. The second half of the film which tells how Faust falls a bit short in his purity is entertaining but not as mesmerizing as the earlier scenes. However, it's very interesting to see Dieterle acting in this film before he moved to the U.S. to become a significant director and make his own Americanized version of this tale, the wonderful The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941).

Sneak Previews: I watched about 75% of Tom Tykwer's The International on cable and will try to catch the remainder the next time it plays (probably this weekend).



I also watched the first three-fourths of Tom Ford's A Single Man before Brenda had to crash. Those write-ups will appear next time.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Children of A Lesser God

Aesthetically it looks a little dated but this film, based on a stage play, is about a couple who struggle to communicate on a physical level or an emotional one. James, played by William Hurt, is a music-loving teacher at a deaf school who falls in love with the caretaker, played by Marlee Matlin, who's an alumnus of the school.

Both leads do very well, considering what a tough job they have. Matlin deservedly won an Oscar and Hurt has to sign and verbally translate for the benefit of the audience. The portrayal of the romance is convincing and sympathetic without being patronising- both partners have their problems and indeed chemistry. It's a must-watch for anyone learning sign-language and a very good watch for everyone else.

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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

Design For Living

'Boys, it's the only thing we can do. Let's forget sex.' This is what Gilda (Miriam Hopkins) tells Tom (Frederic March) and George (Gary Cooper), the two best friends she is romantically torn between, but it could easily be what the film company told the cast and crew.

It's based on a play by Noel Coward, and although films should be judged on their own merits, it's worth looking at the original. Ben Hecht occasionally manages a witty line but he's no Coward (he wrote the screenplay ditching all of Coward's lines except about two). Miriam Hopkins is brilliant as Gilda, a sassy bohemienne who shakes up the frienship of the two men. Neither Fredric March nor Gary Cooper are convincing as being sexually-liberated, maybe because their parts are underwritten and so it feels forced at times. Cooper looks like March has dragged him into it.

The vital chemistry is also lacking. Neither Gilda's relationship with George or Tom is convincing. In fact, the only chemistry is between Hopkins and Edward Everett Horton, who plays the safe and comfortable boss/older friend, and their relationship raises mild laughter.

In the original Coward play, the sexual element is blatantly obvious (in the film, they say the word 'sex' but when it comes down to it, they're quite coy). I can understand their decision to take out the homoerotic undertones between the two men but it makes it less fun. The play works because we know exactly what these immoral bed-hoppers are going to do. Yes, you might be surprised by the ending in this film if you don't know the play, but it needs the oomph to go with it.

It could have been promising and whilst it isn't dreadful, it certainly falls short.

I've always loved this Ernst Lubitsch bauble which I found dripping with sex. Of course, I never read Coward's play, but Hecht has always been considered one of the best screenwriters of all time. I'd give it . Did you watch this for a class or for fun?

I watched it because the play was so great. I understand that Coward's stuff is a sort of English humour and that it might feel a bit weird having Americans perform it but Coward gets to the juice right away. At the start of the play, Gilda's known the two men for a fair while and she's already shacked up with the artist. I found the part where the two men are pretending they're not interested in her dull, although it picks up near the end when Gilda makes her choice.

However chemistry is all in a premise like this and the three stars don't have a strong enough one to be entirely convincing. The film, like many an adaptation, claims to be daring whilst sidestepping all the really daring issues of the original.

Summer Interlude



A ballerina looks back on her teenage romance that ended in tragedy. This is much more my sort of Bergman film (the only other I've seen is Hour of The Wolf)- a charming observation of human behaviour. Although the story is rather slight, it is well acted and the landscape looks very pretty.

Now onto some reviews I've been wanting to do for ages:

All About Eve


Brilliantly acerbic view of the American theatre world with a star performance from Bette Davis as Margo Channing, the star whose career is threatened by an ambitious newcomer. George Sanders is perfect as Addison DeWitt, the ruthless theatre critic who sees through Eve's act. The screenplay is perfect for movie quotes- my only bad point is that it's a little too long.

Sunset Boulevard




Billy Wilder was a master director and Sunset Boulevard is a masterpiece. Released around the same time as All About Eve and losing the Oscar for Best Picture to it, this is a decidedly darker look into the world of acting. Wilder takes Hollywood and shows it as a cruel and unforgiving world, haunted by ghosts of the silent movies (there are some cameos from silent movie stars and Gloria Swanson stars as Norma Desmond, the demented one-time star of the screen). Norma Desmond will do anything to return to the film world and William Holden plays the young aspiring screenwriter who'll do anything to get into the film world. As black a comedy as you're likely to find and disturbingly believable, this is a must-watch.

Shutter Island (Scorsese, 2010)

Really don't see what all the fuss was about. I wanted to like it, but the whole thing was clunky, contrived, and downright boring. I like my mysteries to bead along at a smooth, flowing pace and - God forgive me - make sense. Shutter Island seems driven only by the desire to reach its uninspired conclusion, and sups too much on its own manufactured creepiness. The island itself never becomes a character; it's used merely to batter the viewer with staple thriller imagery. And the dream sequences are just ridiculous. I recognize that this is adapted, and part of me wants to read the graphic novel just to see what went wrong. But I'm just not a fan of Scorsese these days.




The Host (Bong, 2006)

My girlfriend bade me watch this with her. Pretty excellent monster thriller with a very Japanese shade of comedy (ironic, given that this is a South Korean picture). I love the lack of apprehension at showing the creature or his faculties. Sometimes, we just want to see the damn thing. It did slow up and become a little dragged somewhere in the middle act, and there were some minor holes in plot. But the characters were both fun and believable, the monster was awesome, and the ending really satisfied.




Youth in Revolt (Artera, 2009)

Has its moments, for sure. Michael Cera is basically the same character as always, but gets to stretch his scrawny limbs a little more here (mostly to the film's benefit). Though it did several laughs out of me, the film seemed very confused about where its comedy lived: frat comedy? quirky Indie? episode of "My Name is Earl"?




Toy Story 3 (Unkrich, 2010)

Not much I can say about this one. It's a beautiful end to what we'll now consider one of the best animated film series ever. The storytelling is brilliant, the animation is (once again) a step up, and although the conclusion was a little easy to predict... it was the right one. I'm glad to have grown up with these films.

A Single Man



Finally a film that allows Colin Firth to show off his acting talents! The film (and the Isherwood novel it's based on) follows one day in the life of the protagonist (George), an English professor in America dealing with grief over the death of his long-term male partner. A weak central performance would collapse it but Firth delivers a very intense moving portrayal of isolation, enhanced by but not limited to, the fact that he is living in an era (early 1960's) where homosexuality isn't socially acceptable.

Seeing as pretty much all the publicity of the film features Colin Firth and Julianne Moore together in, you'd be forgiven for thinking that she's a secondary lead. She does well in her role of Charley, George's outspoken best friend, but the character is a puzzle piece in George's life and not the pivot. Matthew Goode puts in a good (no, that's not a weak joke) performance as George's dead lover and I think Nicholas Hoult was very good as Kenny, the curious student.

The cinematography has been both praised and criticised in various reviews. The film looks very beautiful and a lot of thought has gone into all the little details that are a vital part of the story (A quote from Isherwood's 'Goodbye to Berlin' is an apt description: 'I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking...') Some critics have said that it's too pretty for its own good- that it's superficial, and at times it does feel like you're watching a male fashion/perfume advert (a black and white flashback emphasises that feel), but the emotion is always there beneath it and this style of cinematography seems appropriate for this film.

If you read the novel, which you should do, you'll see that it's told in third-person present tense- 'George walks, George sits...' Firth narrates parts in first person but the camera fills in the detatched quality of third person narrative.

All in all, a good adaptation and an intense claustrophobic film.

A very good batch:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) –

Known to many as the film that gives Alec Guinness eight opportunities to bite the dust, Kind Hearts is a brilliantly wry dark comedy. It’s dry, sardonic humor is about as clever as any you’ll find.

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) –

Great little picture about a group of men that attempt to pull off what seems like a fool-proof crime, only to find their plan growing more and more unrestrained as they carry it out. Its humor comes out of the hilarious fortuity (or lack thereof) of the plot, and while the humor isn’t too subtle by classic British comedy standards, it never gets remotely close to becoming an annoyance.

The Proposition (2005) –

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Builds a melancholic tone off of ambient imagery, idle pacing and staggering violence. The first act is a tad slow, but the film thrives on a riveting second half and an especially sublime ending.

The Salton Sea (2002) -

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A man desperate to find his wife's killer turns his life around and gets tangled up in a seedy underworld of crooked cops and drugged-out tweakers. It's an interesting neo-noir that should be stylish, dark and unpredictable enough to entertain most.

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) –

Recapitulates the story of the infamous raid on Pearl Harbor (it’s often considered one of the most historically accurate accounts as well) by throwing in an hour and a half of build-up that leads to an unforgettably volatile climax. It’s also one of the most impressive films on the Japan/US portion of WWII.

Interesting fact: “Akira Kurosawa agreed to direct the Japanese part of the film only because he was told that David Lean was to direct the American part. This was a lie, David Lean was never part of the project. When Kurosawa found out about this, he tried to get himself fired from the production - and succeeded.” – From IMDB.

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I'm going to go back into my last Tab post and add this, but for those of you who don't go back to reread older posts, I messed up when I forgot to discuss Nico being in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. She has a very small part, and I suppose she's actually playing herself (her name is Nicolina), but many of the actors are actually playing characters with their own names. Anyway, if you've never noticed Nico in the movie, she has a scene in the car with Marcello and a few others and she begins to speak with a Teutonic accent, exactly the same way she "sings" on the Velvet Underground and Nico record. She is obviously speaking German, but when Marcello asks her what language it is, she responds "Eskimo". Not really too much to say, but something fun for those who care about such pop culture trivialities.

I always took that literally. I thought she was just playing herself in the movie.

By the way, I care about such pop culture trivialities, mark. Keep 'em coming. You always have something interesting to contribute to every thread I've visited.

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"I want a film I watch to express either the joy of making cinema or the anguish of making cinema" -Francois Truffaut

The Satan Bug (John Sturges, 1965)
An accident at a top secret biological weapons lab deep in the Mohave desert turns out to be something much worse as it emerges saboteurs have made off with a batch of phials containing deadly germs; one of which could wipe out mankind in weeks if exposed to the air. Is it the Russians? or has someone closer to home got a grudge against...well...everyone?

It's left to razor sharp ex government agent Lee Barrett (George Maharis) to track down the perps and recover the Satan Bug in this no nonsense intelligent, and original (at least for the time) thriller that delivers on all levels. The dialogue is often wonderful, particularly the 'testing to see if he's still one of ours' scene in which we're introduced to Barrett, and Sturges concocts plenty of taut thrills. Most memorably the initial doom laden debriefing just before Station Three exits automatic lockdown; a deadly encounter in an abandoned church; and the crackerjack finale complete with a shot of the deadly phial in question rolling precariously along the seat of a helicopter as it spins out of control. Great yet simplistic stuff that almost feels like a boys own precursor to Robert Wise's 1971 gem The Andromeda Strain. Shame it's not had a US or UK dvd release...heigh ho.



Hardcore aka The Hardcore Life (Paul Schrader, 1979) -
George C. Scott gives a particularly powerful performance as devout Christian businessman Jake VanDorn whose teenage daughter Kristen goes missing whilst on a church funded trip to Los Angeles. A friend recommends he hire sleazy private investigator Jack Mast (an equally convincing Peter Boyle) to locate her, but evidence Mast uncovers turns out to be VanDorn (and every loving father's) worst nightmare; an explicit pornographic 8mm film.

Typically unflinching thriller from Schrader often feels like him expanding on the story behind Jodie Foster's character (Iris) from his name making Taxi Driver script. Hardcore plays like a nightmarish decent into a hell where nobody wants to talk, as VanDorn ditches Mast and goes on his own obsessive search for Kristen amongst the exploited lost souls of the L.A. sex industry. Soon he's mingling icognito amongst the exploiters as a producer of hardcore movies, and it's here that Schrader's film loses much of it's credibility. Despite the unglamorous depiction of the flourishing 70's L.A. porn scene (which is never explicit and far from titilating); it's hard to believe such a straight laced church goer would go to such lengths, and even harder still to imagine any of the streetwise porn sharks taking him seriously. As good as Scott is in the film (and believe me he's fantastic) the sight of him suddenly donning superfly collars (and in one pivotal scene a ridiculous wig and false moustache) whilst casting for a new 'movie' never rings true, and undermines what is an otherwise compelling and challenging piece of cinema. It's still streets ahead of Joel Schumacher's 8MM though.




Parents (Bob Balaban, 1989) -
It's white picket fence 1950's suburbia and quiet young Michael Laemle (Brian Madorsky) has just moved to a new town with his overbearing parents. There's passive aggressive and downright sinister dad Nick (an on form Randy Quaid), and wide eyed mom Lily (Mary Beth Hurt) whose nowhere near as vacant as she'd like you to think she is. Michael's become a vegetarian, but that doesn't stop his leering parents constantly plying him with dubiously sourced meat platters. Then there's the blood soaked nightmares; dad's job at a company called Toxico, and don't forget the school social worker's concern over the youngster's disturbing artwork...

Parents is artfully directed by Balaban with much of the photography composed of off kilter low wide angles, giving the subtle impression of a child's eye view. It's clear he's playing on the dilemma of overactive young imagination and immature misinterpretation (Michael's friendship with a similarly imaginative young girl helps reinforce this); versus the possibility of real inherent evil on his parents part. We think we know the truth, but Balaban and Richard Hawthorne (who wrote the story) keep you guessing as the film plays it's cards frustratingly close to it's chest. That's the biggest problem with Parents; Michael aside it doesn't reward the viewer with enough insight into any of the characters (or intriguing plot turns for that matter) until the final all too predictable reel. Sure we know Michael's an odd kid, and his nightmares are often genuinely creepy, but every time we think the story is about to deliver something interesting; Balaban moves on to the next scene only to repeat the process. With that said the entire cast are great; particularly Hurt and Quaid who play it to the hilt and really get under your skin as the titular Parents. I just think Balaban tried to be a little to subtle for his own good, and as a result Parents is nothing more than a well made, sometimes effective, yet distinctly unsatisfying curio.



Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (Charles Bail, 1975)
Tamara Dobson returns as lovable narcotics agent with attitude Cleo, in this ramped up superior sequel. Here the budget appears to be slightly bigger, as the action is cleverly shifted to Hong Kong no doubt in a bid to cash in on the success of Enter the Dragon released two years earlier. It's really just a low rent Bond movie with second rate martial arts, claustrophobic direction and diabolical acting. The plot is nothing more than a markedly jazzier rehash of the original, with Clio sent in to bust up a drug ring headed by the Dragon Lady (Stella Stevens trying hard to fill Shelly Winters' boots). She's aided along the way by Asian agent Mi Ling Fong (real martial arts actress Ni Tien) who does a much better job of kicking everyone's ass. Dobson looks like she's been taking makeup tips from Ziggy Stardust, and gives Elizabeth Taylor such a run for her money in the changing outfits department; you'd swear they had velcro backs. That said it really is hugely entertaining in that undemanding way the best B-movies have about them. There's plenty of sassy put downs from Cleo, wonderfully hammy supporting characters, and a wham bam shoot em' punch em' up ending so over the top, you could almost be watching a Toei flick. This aint no Jive Turkey sucka!

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100 Favourites From The Future: REWIRED

City Lights


Had kind of mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I found the comedic aspect of it to be rather lacking. Slapstick and pantomime just aren't my thing (though, of course, I do realize that other types of comedy aren't really suited to silent film). On the other hand, I found the basic storyline and the romantic aspect of the film to be very sweet. Overall, the movie was decent enough, but not one that'll likely ever find its way into my personal movie collection.

EXTRA! EXTRA! Lennon makes his amazing return to reviewing movies with this review:

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I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.

Ride With the Devil (1999)



Never have understood why there was so much negativity attached to this when it first came out… I loved it the first time I saw it and still do. To me, it is a much better depiction of what was really going on during the American Civil War than Gone With the Wind…




Remember Me (2010)



Watched this a while back and even though I pretty much knew where it was headed, I still enjoyed it… Pattinson actually did a decent job… and, given a chance, and the right material, I think he can act… he and Brosnan played well off each other and were believable as a father and son at odds with each other…




Hackers (1995)



Hadn’t seen this in years but it was on TV the other night and I ended up watching it… Pretty dated now but still a little fun… as long as you don’t forget the cheese…



Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief (2010)



I’ve never read the book so have no idea how close they followed it… I did read some pretty negative things concerning that though… but all in all, I thought the film was fun… just as long as I remembered it was geared toward a younger crowd… I thought their take on Medusa and where she had been hanging out was pretty cool… and the special effects weren’t too bad…




Changeling(2008)



Bought this a while back and finally got around to watching it… and as far as I’m concerned, Clint did it again… Jolie gave an exceptional performance and I wish she would do more films of this nature… Malkovich was... well... Malkovich… he’s always great …




The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)



Yes, I took my cousins to see this… one of which will probably have her license the next time around but I’ll probably end up going anyway because I’ve been there for the others and have enjoyed getting to spend the time with them… anyway, Eclipse is easily the best of the three. David Slade got this one a lot closer to the book and I liked the darker look of it. I know one of the major criticisms of the Twilight films has been toward the acting but all the actors seemed to have loosened up a bit… and I enjoyed seeing the glimpses into Jasper and Rosalie’s past… and the fight scenes and wolves were pretty cool...

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Alpha Dog


Alpha Dog shows that not all criminals are masterminds and that not all "nerds gone wild" stories have happy endings. Nick Cassavetes should be commended for the unflinching manner in which he tells the story - it packs a punch, although it runs a bit too long to be truly unsettling. There's an art to figuring out when to end a movie and this time Cassavetes doesn't get it right, in my opinion.

Alpha Dog transpires in the late 1990s and focuses on drug dealer Johnny Truelove (Emile Hirsch) and his posse, which includes jokester Frankie Ballenbacher (Justin Timberlake) and gofer Elvis Schmidt (Shaun Hatosy). When Johnny has a falling-out with one of his customers, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster), who owes him money, all hell breaks loose. The escalating conflict results in a prisoner being taken: Jake's naïve younger brother, Zack (Anton Yelchin), who's the lamb to Johnny's wolves. Although Zack is initially kidnapped, he adapts to his captivity, playing video games with members of Johnny's crew, drinking and doing dope, and flirting with girls. It's paradise for this sheltered lad, and he doesn't want to go back to being Mommy and Daddy's Perfect Boy. However, life lessons for Zack aren't foremost on Johnny's mind. He's trying to figure out the best way to stay out of prison or end up in a body bag, and that may require Zack to be in a position where he can never testify.

It's interesting to watch a movie in which the criminals are idiots and wimps. Most of the time, bad guys in movies such as Alpha Dogs are geniuses and ballsy thugs. Johnny plays at times is a sophisticated badass, but when it comes down to it, he's a fraud. He's not smart and he's intimidated by guns. There are many times when he has a chance to pull the trigger but doesn't. Johnny's playing the role of the gangster until one of many unintelligent decisions puts him in a situation in which the consequences are severe.

Most of the characters are not the kinds of people the average person would feel comfortable spending a couple of hours with. Then comes Zack. He's a good guy whose situation is not of his own making. He happens to have a crazy half brother who's in debt to Johnny.

The movie bypasses the perfect ending point - a mock-interview with Sharon Stone as Zack's mother - and instead spends 15 extra minutes with Johnny and his gang. This part of the movie is unneeded and drags the on a bit. While Alpha Dog may start out being about Johnny, it quickly becomes about Zack and Zack's developing friendship with Frankie.


As Zack, Anton Yelchin develops a sweet, baby-faced character in which bookworms everywhere will relate. Zack is every high school student who spent more time studying than socializing. It's an effective performance, right to the end. Also strong, which did somehwat surprise me, is Justin Timberlake as Frankie. It doesn't take long for him to get rid of his reputation and do some real acting. Frankie is a tragic figure - a boy who's in way over his head. Ben Foster is brilliant as Jake and was one of the stand out performances from the movie. Emile Hirsch is decent as Johnny, but it's neither a memorable or a compelling performance. A little star power is provided by Bruce Willis in a small role as Johnny's dad and Sharon Stone as Zack's mom. Both play very little roles and apart from an interview with Sharon Stone at the end, they have very little screen time.

Cassavetes approaches the subject matter with a clear eye and a very dark sense of humor. Most of Alpha Dog's jokes are dark, darker, and darkest. The film is designed to make viewers feel uncomfortable and it achieves this with a shocking ending, which although predictable, is like a punch to the stomach. Cassavetes isn't interested in generating suspense; this is more of a study of human nature. The picture he paints isn't pretty but it's accurate. Alpha Dog isn't a happy movie, but it's solid and the impressions it leaves will not be easily shaken away.