PrometheusFG's Film Reviews

This is a simple thread that contains all of my movie reviews and will be updated almost every day with a new film. Check 'em out!


The Grading Scale

0 Stars= The worst of the worst
1 Star= Barely made an effort
2 Stars= A decent movie
3 Stars= A good film
4 Stars= A great/excellent film
5 Stars= The best of the best

*I do include half stars but I am sure you can figure out what they would mean...

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"All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be." - Guido, 8 1/2

Raging Bull- 1980
Directed By: Martin Scorcese



Martin Scorcese's 1980 visual masterpiece, Raging Bull, follows the hard and enigmatic life of the famous boxer Jake Lamotta, otherwise known as the Bronx Bull. We witness, what many already know, LaMotta's volatile and self-destructive lifestyle from the rise and fall and we witness this ever so smoothly.

Scorcese displays this rise and fall of LaMotta's life and career so smoothly and brilliantly that we feel that, at times, we are with LaMotta himself. We see the paranoia that he wallows in, his animal and self-destructive ways, and his clueless and ridiculous actions from start to finish, all so wonderfully displayed. The character development of Jake LaMotta is some of the best I have ever seen because of its clarity and smooth order. The audience witnesses this downfall with a brick in their stomache, or atleast I did. It is so heartwrenching to see the early LaMotta transfigure into the late one. It is almost upsetting.

Not only is the portrayal and execution of LaMotta's character so great, but also the acting. Robert DeNiro plays LaMotta from start to end perfectly and even gained 60 pounds to make the later LaMotta come to life. DeNiro delivers a kockout performance that is easily one of his best. He delivers each line, each movement, and each expression with perfection. Supporting roles played by Joe Pesci as LaMotta's younger brother/manager and Cathy Moriarty as LaMotta's wife Vickie are wonderful and help fuel the film to its highest peak and help bring the characters to life.

Always synonomous with Martin Scorcese is the prase great filming. Scorcese's filming in Raging Bull is, simply put, visually stunning. I honestly can't find the words to express how great Scorcese films Raging Bull. It is filming it its highest ultimatum and it is drop-dead gorgeous. The boxing (especially the Sugar Ray Robinson scenes), the fighting, the arguments, and the subtle scenes are all gorgeous and has visual flare. The black and white also makes this film better. Not only are there great scenes but great dialogue. Each line is well-delivered and well crafted for excellence. The argument scenes are well written with quick lines back and forth that really illustrate the situation.

WARNING: the text below contains spoilers concerning "." One of the most beautiful and moving scenes from the film is when at the very end when LaMotta is about to go on stage to perform a stand up comedy routine and he is in his dressing room. He is sitting their, talking to himself with phrases that remind him of his boxing days. He gets up and imitates himself in the boxing ring, throwing punches in the air, remembering his good ol' days, and he seems so happy and joyful. This scene makes the audience realize that Jake, through all the torment and slumps, is happy about who he is, a stand-up comedian.

And soundtrack lovers, feast your ears on one helluva score. The music is great and is all orchaestral.

I found it so hard to find any flaws in this film. Everything was perfect and easily one of Scorcese's and DeNiro's best. I recommend this movie to any film lover, boxing fan or not. So, in turn, I give this movie 5 stars.

5 out of 5


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Rear Window- 1954
Directed By: Alfred Hitchcock



Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" is an amazing film that looks at sin, spying, and dillusion. Furthermore, it surprisingly makes a film that takes place at a window 90 percent of the time greatly suspensful.

J.B. Jefferies, played well by James Stewart, is our main character. A wheelchair bound photographer who sits at his apartment window and observes his neighbors, he thinks he has witnessed a murder across the street in the apartment of a couple when a lady dissapears and obvious clues linking to a murder arise.

What makes Rear Window so great is that we see the movie through Jefferie's eyes completely. Nothing that Jefferies cannot see is not revealed to us. Everything is through his perspective which makes this movie great. Not only are our eyes limited to what he sees, but so is our mind. Our opinions and thoughts are limited to the opinions and thoughts of Jefferies. This not only adds an interesting factor to the film but also a great suspense factor.

We, the audience, cannot move around, go off and think for ourselves. When we see danger approaching, so does Jefferies. And because he is confined to stay put, so are we. He cannot stop the danger, and neither can we. This makes for great suspense. The only way we are allowed to go off to another view or place is through two other characters Hitchcock invented. Lisa, Jefferie's lonely girlfriend, and Stella, Jefferie's housemaid. These two characters, because they are not confined, are the characters that, when a clue appears, go off in search for it. Be that as it may, we can only witness and watch them "clue-search" from Jefferie's apartment window.

The only downfall is that the plot, sadly, drags a bit. Because Hitchcock builds up a mountain of suspense, we wait anxiously for the finale to crumble this mountain, in a good way of course. But we seem to wait too long. And in my opinion, the finale does and does not compensate for the long wait as I expected it too. My emotions towards it were mixed.

Nonetheless, not only is there a genius plot and great style, but the acting is great too. James Stewart and Grace Kelly both provide enough great acting that they are so believable. Also, Stewart plays a great role. He creates Jefferies so that even though confined to a wheelchair, he is still very much alive. And we can either like him or hate him for his persona. Hitchcock, Stewart, and Kelly cook up a recipe for a great thriller. And this one tastes good.

4 1/2 out of 5

Nice reviews.

Two classics to begin with so It'll be interesting to see where you go from here. Maybe Prometheus will become unbound?

Sorry, I've been dying to crack that weak gag.

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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

Thanks for the feedback. BTW: Prometheus Bound is a great story.

I am so sorry for my lack up update. I haven't been able to write a new review each day like I promised because I have been in the process of moving to a new state (DE). So I ahvenb't had enough time. Sorry everyone. If I have time tonight, I will write a review. If not, I will write one tommorow.

Hmmm, one of my favorite Hitch films, and I think you missed the mark here. What about the ever so important sequence when Raymond Burr's wife is seen leaving while LB sleeps? Clearly, this is something he doesn't know about, nor see, yet we see and understand this incredibly important disconnect from his knowledge. Care to elaborate?

I mean, although I recognize your points as valid, I think Rear Window strives to put you in a person like LBs shoes, but not his shoes exactly, or vicariously. We are yet another voyuer. We judge LB but then, aren't we doing the same thing? This window within a window within a window motif clearly permeates the film, but I think Hitch was poking at the viewer in some ways, as well.

I like to watch the film, but imagine myself as another person, sitting even farther back, with stereo-motion binioculars of my own. What would a bystander have to say about me watching all these people leading out their lives, their most personal moments? What would they say about me? Rear Window is like two mirrors facing one another, to me.


Great reviews in this thread!

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Thanks!

What is in bold is exaclty my point, and you said it much better. Furthermore, I did not mean to come off so literal (even though I said "completely") when I was talking about the whole LB's perspective thing. There are some important things that LB does not directly see or witness. Sorry 'bout that.

Also, interesting take on how you like watching it.

Saving Private Ryan- 1998
Directed By: Steven Spielberg


It is most likely predisposed that when one writes a review on Saving Private Ryan, that the review will be in favor of the film, greatly. For me, the case is the total opposite. So I can actually keep people from just skimming this review, I'm just gonna flat out say it. Saving Private Ryan is a bad and ghastly overrated film with one horrible script, poor acting (with the exception of Hanks and a few others) and an abundance of false human conflict.
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Now to elaborate. First, I will start off with the positives. I give credit to Saving Private Ryan for the following things:

D-Day Portrayal: The Normandy Invasion sequence was unbelievably amazing and jaw-dropping. I have not seen any other movie with such a realistic and intense war sequence. Words really can't describe the sheer quality of this sequence.

Intensity: Saving Private Ryan gets alot of its credit and praise for it overwhelming intensity. From D-Day to the end battle, this film just thrusts you in a pool of nerve-racking action sequences and intense moments.

Technical Aspects: Special Effects and Sounds are all top-notch.

Cinamatography: The cinamatography is beautiful.

The Premise. The interesting factor of the squad risking their lives to find one guy over a long journey and lose two guys in the process and then not taking, at first, a liking to this Ryan but then they do and blah, blah, blah is an interesting premise.

Action: The action scenes are great. Honestly, Saving Private Ryan is quite the enjoyable film, but I also think Shaun of the Dead is enjoyable, get my point?

And well, that's all I praise the film for. Since when does a very good sequence and and large amount fo intensity make a movie great?
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Before everyone starts ranting and and raving about this review and the negatives coming up, I went to New York University, Los Angeles Film School, and University of the Arts all for film and script writing. Almost all of my teachers that I have had (all with large and respectable resumes) agree with me that Saving Private Ryan is a bad film. Furthermore, I would like to think that I have, from attending film school for 9 years, the knowledge and credentials to write an educated and respected review.

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Now for the negatives:

The script: Honestly, this is a bad script all together. From the poor excuse for a character arc to the dialogue and conflict. Let me break it down:

Internal Conflict of the Script: The internal conflict in Saving Private Ryan's script and its display in the film is poor. The internal conflict focuses primarily on Captain Miller (Hanks) who displays these internal conflicts that hinder him and his squad throughout the movie. Do we know why? Barely. The scene with Tom Sizemore and Ed Burns arguing and Sizemore pulls out a gun and the squad starts arguing and Miller (Hanks) just sits in the background is such a lame excuse for a display of internal and external conflict that I laughed. It's false, unmotivated, and humorous.

With the Internal Conflict comes...

Character and their Emotions: All I can say about the characters and their emotions is that they suck. The characters, pretty much tossed together with some little emotions here and there, are so unreal. It feels like they are simply put in the movie to be killed off or for filler.Their emotions are so false and they react to certain situations with false humanism. Their emotions and personalities are far from complex and large. Basically, the characters are characters a 4 year old could create. The stuff that goes in my toilet after a large dinner of beans and Middle-Eastern food has more character and personality than any of the characters from the film.

Shock Value: Many people praise Saving Private Ryan because of its schock balue and emotional power. *Sigh*, Spielberg, at his most cunning state, relies on shock value to get the audiences emotions spewing and bubbling and their eyes gushing tears. Did I get upset when Capt. Miller died? No, not at all. Was I upset when Mellish died? Yes. Let me explain. Capt. Miller dies a simple death. Nothing more. So this death scene didn't really get me emotional and the scene of his death wasn't shocking. Mellish's death, on the other hand, almost got me in tears. Why? Because his death was shocking and hard to watch. Scenes like these make the audience feel sympathy. The same applies to the death of sniper Dan Jackson (Barry Pepper) when he is blown up in the tower by a shell. Of course, if he had simply gotten shot and died, I would not have been anywhere near as emotional as I was when I watched him explode after yelling "Parker, get down!"...BOOM. That scene where he gets blown up and ignites in flames is shocking, and that's why we get emotional. Spielberg relies on shocking moments like these to jerk the audience's emotions because he knows his characters are too dull and simple that if they simply were shot and killed instantly, we wouldn't care.

Character Arc: Character Arc is an important aspect in all film scripts (especially noirs) Saving Private Ryan must have discared this aspect. The poor excuse for Capt. Miller's character arc is anything but. He doesn't change at all from the beginning to the end. Anyone, ANYONE...I am begging you to give me evidence of a substancial character arc in any of the characters.

Let me save you the effort by telling you there is none.
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Like Chuck Rudolph said in his Saving Private Ryan Review; "Spielberg trades in his usually powerful ideals for an unsettling combination of phony humanism and pandering realism."

I can't agree more.

Despite the fair amount of great action scenes, the overall enjoyable expirience, and, yes, a tiny amount of interesting emotional aspects, the bad outweighs the good here.

2 out of 5

I finally churned out my Saving Private Ryan Review, knowing the possibility of getting flamed

I have to say I understand a lot of what you are saying, but a few of your complaints about the movie are actually some of the things I liked about it. I never flame one for speaking their mind on what they think of a movie as long as they explain themselves, which you have so no flamming from me..



Nice review.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

Thanks alot. I mean, you really don't know how much I appreciate your comment. Out of all the movie forums on the net I have been to, I have always gotten flamed for my opinions on Saving Private Ryan.

This is why we're different.

I think SPR could have been very good but Spielberg couldn't resist, well, being Spielberg. Remove 'old Matt Damon' from the cut and I'd have liked it more...

Yea, I really didn't like Matt Damon at all. But I don't understand your commnet about Spielberg...

By 'old Matt Damon' I mean the top and tail of the movie. Removing Damon himself would make it a very short film indeed.

...but the top and tail of the movie is Spielberg being Spielberg - schmaltz - and I guess he couldn't help it.

Haha, sorry, but I still don't get it. Explain to me what Spielberg is...

What Tacitus means by "being Spielberg" is that it's Spielberg the director making the film in his usual style, which involves building up a load of sentiment (e.g. by showing the "old Matt Damon" aka an older Ryan looking upon all the graves and asking "was I a good man?")

It's for this reason that I absolutely abhor E.T.

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