Darth Stujitzu's Reviews

LOL, I wasn't THAT harsh with it.

AND I LIKE VAL KILMER TOO!!!!!

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Some times you have to be cruel to be kind!!!!!

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Hey Pepe, would you say I have a plethora of presents?


Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

The Young Americans

1993 Directed by : Danny Cannon


One of these films I hadn't seen for ages and was curious if it had aged well.
The basic story revolves around Harvey Keitel's Drug enforcement Agent John Harris pursuing Carl Frazer ( Viggo Mortensen ) and his new gang of young henchmen around London.


I loved this film when it first came out, for me this was a film that reinvented the British gangster flick long before Lock, Stock came about. Why do I like this film so much, because it showed that Britain could compete with America at making decent thrillers, something we hadn't done since the Long Good Friday.

Keitel has an able cast to back him up, Keith Allen , Thandie newton and Iain Glen all give great performances, and London looks superb, especially the early morning shots of London bathed in glorious sunshine, there is an almost sepia like tone to the locations, but I think what impressed me more was the reality of the film.
Keitel can't resort to running around London gunning down all bad guys in his path, the violence is never over the top, and there is a real plausability to Frazer and his influence over his younger henchmen, something that was particularly relevant to Britain at the time.

Still a great movie, and still relevant today, I'm glad to say I still enjoy it some 12 years on, and although I love, Lock, Stock, Snatch and Layer Cake, The Young Americans will always be the movie that relaunched my intrest in British films again.


A very worthwhile effort if you loved the films of Guy Ritchie and Mathew Vaughn.


Rating 4/5

The Descent

2005 Directed by ; Neil Marshall


Six friends go cave exploring in the hills of America, after a few wrong turns and a cave-in, things go from bad to worse....


The follow up to Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers, couldn't be more different from what I was expecting. The Descent is a much darker, edgier, more mature horror movie than the silly but enjoyable Dog soldiers.
I couldn't help but feel a slight homage to Alien, both build the tension to an un-nerving level before revealing the monster of the piece, and both rely heavily on our own phobias of the dark and claustrophobic spaces. If I was pushing it I would also mention both have strong women in the lead role.
The monsters of the piece were slightly dissapointing for me, but this did little to dampen my enjoyment of the movie.
A great movie to watch with that someone special who is slightly more nervous than you, a real hide behind the sofa effort, thoroughly enjoyable and a great effort by Marshall.



Rating 4/5 ( I'm typing this review behind the sofa, hey a lost remote control!!!! )

Thanks for the reviews Darth, must go out and rent both

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Buddha

excellent reviews Darth, keep up the good work

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The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist

There's nods all the way through to various films including Alien, The Shining, Apocalypse Now and Carpenter's (John, not Karen) The Thing. There's even a very subtle reference to Deliverance which goes further than the opening rafting sequence.

I think Marshall has a great deal of potential as a writer-director and it's gonna be interesting to see if he will be as vibrant outside the Horror genre (his next film is Sci-Fi/Action apparently).

It's not often thesedays that I pay £14 for a new release but The Descent was one of those times.

The exteriors were all filmed in the Land Of The Rising Kilt by the way...

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

I was wondering if some of it was filmed in freezing cold Jockland! Obviously the opening five minutes or so, but there were other locations that seemed familiar! By the way my kilt hasn't been raised in quite a while!!!

Overnight

2003 Directed by : Tony Montana



A fly on the wall documentary about overnight sensation Troy Duffy who in 1997 sold his first script to Miramax films and was promised a budget of $15M to direct his feature " The Boondock Saints ".


This could have been the ultimate rags to riches story, a bartender who overnight becomes the next big thing in Hollywood, swapping his job to owning the bar he worked in and rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood's big hitters.

So what went wrong? Ultimately two words Troy Duffy.
Harvey Weinstein gave Duffy the kind of deal that happens once in a lifetime, the chance to direct his own script, final cut privileges,final say in casting, and the chance for his band to do the soundtrack to the movie as well as win a record deal.

Overnight was originally supposed to document Troy's stratospheric rise to fame and stardom, instead it reveals the true Troy Duffy, an arrogant, selfish, egomaniac that ultimately bites off more than he can chew. Not content with alienating Weinstein to the point that he not only pulls the plug on the film, but is alleged to blacklist Duffy to everyone in Hollywood, he aslo turns his friends and family against him. It's difficult to feel sorry for someone who appears to have no redeeming features, and instead of feeling empathy I found myself almost cheering every tragic event that comes Duffy's way.

Eventually Duffy did get to make his film, albeit on half of his promised budget from Miramax, and with only Willem Dafoe as a recognised name, but even after finishing the film he can't get any studio to buy his film, and ultimately his film only achieves any kinds of sale in the video/DVD market which is not included in Troy's contract, the ultimate irony for this self absorbed tosser.
Again, if Duffy was a more likeable character this documentary could be quite harrowing, and even towards the end there is an alleged attempt on Duffy's life that seemed somewhat staged, that just didn't sit well with me. Weinstein is a dubious character, a bully and a tyrant, but by that point the damage he had done to Duffy's career would surely have been just reward, and I found it hard to believe that he would stoop so low. Again by that point we are left in no doubt that Duffy is a man with few friends and many enemies.

The winners in this documentary are director Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith, who are treated with sheer disdain by Duffy to the point of refusing payment for their work on behalf of Duffy and his band, and it's ironic that their film will probably be seen by more people then the " Boondock Saints ".


Not the greatest documentary, but if you like seeing ******** getting their comeuppence, then this is for you.



Rating 3/5

I think i'll add this to my christmas list, thanks for the review

Ouch.

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The kid stays in the picture

2002 Directed by : Nanette Burstein


Documentary following the up and down lifestyle of Robert Evans, legendary Hollywood producer and saviour of Paramount Pictures.


Narrated by Evans himself, the documentary presents a no punches pulled arc through the good and bad times in the life of Evans, true Hollywood Royalty that was behind some of the biggest box office hits of the 70's and early 80's. Having faced and beaten several personal demons along the way, Evans seems keen to clear his somewhat tarnished reputation that involved high profile court cases involving cocaine and the murder of an associate.
It's hard to believe that Evans took Paramount pictures from no.20, to the biggest studio in Hollywood in just over 4 years, until you see the films he oversaw in that period. Films that are still regarded as true classics today, The Godfather, Love Story, Rosemary's Baby, The Odd Couple and Chinatown were amongst Paramount's most successful period under Evans.
Amongst all this is the tale of a workaholic who looses the woman of his dreams and ends up out of work and checked into an asylum, before eventually redeeming himself and winning back his old job at Paramount.

An intresting documentary that proves what we percieve as having it all can sometimes be farthest from the truth. Evans emerges as a survivor with plenty of battle-scars but with his heart and spirit still intact.

Worthwhile look at probably the most creative and inventive time in Hollywood history, the 70's is still today one of the most influential periods in the modern life of Holywood's film companies.


Rating 4/5

Not a chance, Boondock Saints it has a huge cult following.

Yep, but Overnight got cinematic releases as well, and I can't help but feel that perhaps Weinstein might push Overnight behind the scenes.
Love the fact that Duffy is now blaming the Gulf War for not getting a cinema release.
Makes you wonder what the Boondock Saints could have been with the $15M budget and bigger stars.
Blockbuster are selling Overnight and Boondock Saints in a double DVD box.
Personally speaking, I had and still haven't seen a trailer for Boondock Saints, but Overnight has had plenty of coverage over here

Thanks for the interesting review.

It bothers me that a man narrates his life about overcoming obstacles. It seems that arrogance plays a part in this decision.

That is why I never buy biographies that aren't of posthumous people. They are just so pity inducing or complimentitive or denying of fault.

But that other documentary on Boondock looks interesting. It's funny that a guy so self righteous to create a movie of that ilk is really a jackass.

Hollywood peddles us revenge flicks and we accept them, but when we see REAL revenge in action (Columbia) we see real un-tarnished results.

It's actually not that bad. Evans doesn't appeal for your empathy, he just seems to want to set the record straight, and also aknowledge just how lucky he was. Never preachy or showy, he just has an intresting story to tell.

I should also set the record straight about the Boondock Saints, although I dislike Troy Duffy, I actually enjoyed the Boondock Saints, but at the time of watching the film I didn't know anything about what had gone on between Duffy and Weinstein.
My point about Overnight probably being seen by more people is questionable, but in Britain the Boondock Saints has only got it's DVD release as part of a 2 disc set with Overnight. I know it has a cult following, but over here Overnight had a better publicity campaign, especially as most people in Britain had never heard of Troy Duffy or the Boondock Saints.

Have you seen the Fog of War? I liked that movie alot, but it made you sympathesize with the specific man and him only. It is his opinion, but there is no counter.

The same is true with every Michael Moore Documentary. I agree with them, but there is noone there disputing the opinion. I just wish that more parties would be represented.

But then again, not too many debates are civil or accurate. So I guess it's just a waste of time.

Well, I mean, people in Britain don't want to hear about Catholics committing justice. They would much rather see the people behind the movie get dilled then be forced to sit through something that could possibly say one good word about the pope. I guess the same applies to America, but there are unoppressed catholics in America.

(mostly a joke, btw)

Fog of War is a great documentary, as for Michael Moore, a bit of a one trick pony, it will be intresting to see what he does next. The war room is another good documentary I watched in the States, I'm always intrested in seeing celebrities more human side.
At the moment I prefer Morgan Spurlock's stuff compared to Moore, although not so serious he is far from preachy and needy like Moore.
My favourite documentary is Doug Pray's " Scratch " about the origin of hip hop and scratch DJ's, I love music docs, and for me this is the best so far.

I think you mean "autobiographies," and yeah, some of them are just "look at me" festivals. Which is a shame, because it gives a bad name to the idea of writing about yourself. It's easy to assume that people who write autobiographies, particularly about enduring and/or overcoming hardships, are just appealing to sympathy.

But really, many writers write about themselves because there is something very therapeutic about it. As a writer myself, I find it much easier to come to terms with and understand things when I write about them, and it always makes me feel rejuvenated and refreshed afterward (so much so that I can see why writers would want to share the writing with others).

Writers also share experiences with their readers to potentially connect with those who might have similar experiences. A writer can really give understanding to a reader who identifies, but who doesn't understand or can't express their own feelings. And of course, it's always comforting to know that you aren't alone, and that someone else knows what you're dealing (or have dealt) with.