UNFAIRLY LOW IMDb RATINGS
Don't take my embittered blurbs personally. You know how it is when something you love goes unappreciated by others. It doesn't make me right, but hopefully some of you agree with me more than not.
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- DirectorOliver StoneStarsColin FarrellAnthony HopkinsRosario DawsonAlexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest army leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world.For the fortunate few who see Oliver Stone's labor of love without ever having seen the first cut, they may wonder what all the critical thrashing was about to begin with.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJosh HartnettAaron EckhartScarlett JohanssonTwo policemen see their personal and professional lives fall apart in the wake of the "Black Dahlia" Elizabeth Short murder investigation.It was inevitable that this ambitious true crime picture would be compared to others of its ilk like Hollywoodland or L.A. Confidential, but De Palma recaptures the stylistic essence of film noir, as well as the atmosphere of noir's era, with rare and detailed design.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJamie Lee CurtisRon SilverClancy BrownA rookie in the police force must engage in a cat-and-mouse game with a pistol-wielding psychopath who becomes obsessed with her.Don't just dismiss this as your average cop flick! This is an early example of why Kathryn Bigelow should've been a recognized talent long before The Hurt Locker, disturbing genre expectations and distorting audience conceptions of gender.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsCameron DiazJames MarsdenFrank LangellaWith the press of a button, a wooden box bestows riches and death.Like Richard Kelly's two previous films, Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, both relegated to the same commercial fate as this one, he kept me engrossed and fascinated, and for that I'm gratified. Complex metaphysical themes might be his strongest point and---because people don't seem to like movies with any real ambition or that take any real chances anymore---his biggest threat.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodSondra LockeGeoffrey LewisAn idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck and waning interest.This charming Capra-esque farce depicts the be-true-to-yourself screen hero who in the most out-and-out way embodies the place that cowboys occupy in our American imaginations, and demonstrates Eastwood's capability to play the opposite of his trademark loner. Following his warmest character as he welcomes sundry stragglers into an unconventional but strangely warm environment where their past sins are forgiven and their new sense of identity is embraced, this disarmingly entertaining slice of Americana looks at the gap between a nation's reality and its fraudulent self-image.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJason FlemyngPeter StormareLeslie HopeAfter years of being tread upon and cheated on, a man awakens to find his face has a been replaced by a blank, white mask.A rather ingeniously allegorical fairy tale worth telling for Romero who exposes by example the lack of significance or emotional energy not only in most of today's comatose knock-offs, but of today's shallow, vanilla status quo. It's captivating in a delirious sort of way, and very accomplished at making its point.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsAshley JuddMichael ShannonHarry Connick Jr.An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.If a movie of such rare and incredible intensity as this comes out at a mere 6.0, it's no wonder theaters are releasing more and more generic drivel all the time.
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsHarrison FordBrad PittMargaret ColinA police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.Naysayers called the plot incoherent, just a lot of moral grappling, not all of which relevant. Funny how they didn't say that about the character of Mike Yanagita in Fargo, for instance. It's as if it was new to people that emotional associations with the plot we care about could be made by characters whose experiences outside that main plot course it's important we see first-hand with them to grasp their ethical arcs.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryDustin HoffmanMatthew BroderickAn ex professor offers Adam $1,000,000 to "get" some plasma from a high tech company's lab. Adam asks his criminal grandpa for help. Can they convince Adam's now honest dad to join?A great cast playing a surefire family dynamic in a caper plot by a director who was family expert with family drama. I think this fun little buried gem was panned because the generational conflict ultimately took precedence over loose ends in the plot, but the generational conflict is ultimately what we care about anyway.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodFreddie JonesDavid HuffmanA pilot is sent into the Soviet Union on a mission to steal a prototype jet fighter that can be partially controlled by a neuralink.I came in fully expecting one of Clint's corny early actioners, yet from the first frame it plunges in with bullet-paced tension executed with nothing more than masterful, imaginative, rhythmic editing. It continues as one of Clint's most dynamically and deliberately cinematic directorial efforts, a tense and dense thriller of consistent visual wit and stark, tireless pace.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsSasha GreyChris SantosPhilip EytanA drama set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, and centered on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.Soderbergh went for a documentary-like rendering of 21st century business that many filmmakers would, understandably, feel the need to dramatize in such a way that would make the characters more emotionally relatable. But by keeping us at arm's length, he coerces us into a simply take-it-or-leave-it experience that ultimately sneaks up on you with a strange sensory impact.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsGina CaranoEwan McGregorMichael FassbenderA black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.5.9 is a definite injustice for such a fast and lean action thriller, with such a fascinating heroine, a cast jam-packed with stars and cleanly staged set pieces that immerse you in the action more efficiently, stylishly and realistically than average.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsKevin BaconElisabeth ShueJosh BrolinA brilliant scientist's discovery renders him invisible, but transforms him into an omnipotent, dangerous megalomaniac.It's not as original or subversive as Paul Verhoeven's other Hollywood films, but as a modern invisible man plot marrying brilliant effects with old-fashioned scares, it deserves to at least be accepted on that level.
- DirectorEli RothStarsLauren GermanHeather MatarazzoBijou PhillipsThree American college students studying abroad are lured to a Slovakian hostel and discover the grim reality behind it.So, if you're turned off by the gore, I don't know why you'd even be watching it. And if you do like gore, I couldn't imagine what your problem would be.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsTommy Lee JonesBenicio Del ToroConnie NielsenAn FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.This isn't your run-of-the-mill action movie where hair and make-up are unscathed again in the next scene, and the star has the lungful for extended orations. It's a non-stop chase with action sequences of a rare realism and authentic locations.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsMickey RourkeEllen BarkinElizabeth McGovernAfter being double crossed and thrown in jail, a deformed gangster gets a new face and rehabilitation, but his desire for revenge looms.Made during the late '80s, '90s stretch of typically unintelligent action pictures, with audiences less enterprising in a way than those of the 1940s and stars who like to maintain their hero worship or avoid any threat to their masculinity at the end, the charm of this film, especially as an American action movie from 1989, is that it takes a level-headed gaze at the natural progression of its character.
- DirectorGeorge RatliffStarsSam RockwellVera FarmigaJacob KoganThe arrival of a newborn girl causes the gradual disintegration of the Cairn family; particularly for 9-year-old Joshua (Kogan), an eccentric boy whose proper upbringing and refined tastes both take a sinister turn.This is a criminally underrated movie, presumably because it was marketed towards the horror crowd, the majority of which is bound not to be satisfied with it. It's not a gorefest. It's about something much more horrific. Imagine your world being manipulated by the person one would least expect, your weaknesses exploited, your reputation destroyed, the motive, the scheme, and the process never to be explained? The important thing is to see this impressively written and directed film without any substantial knowledge of the plot beforehand. It slowly unfolds, an ominous atmosphere slowly growing like a cancer.
- DirectorNoah BaumbachStarsNicole KidmanJennifer Jason LeighFlora CrossMargot and her son Claude decide to visit her sister Pauline after she announces that she is marrying less-than-impressive Malcolm.OK, I know there are literally zero likeable characters in this movie. But there are too many minute moments of truth for me not to enjoy it.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsColin FarrellJamie FoxxGong LiBased on the 1980s TV action/drama, this update focuses on vice detectives Crockett and Tubbs as their respective personal and professional lives become dangerously intertwined.Forget the show. Just forget the show. You do want to enjoy it, right? Then forget the show. Appreciate it on its own merits. You're not watching the show!
- DirectorJohn Erick DowdleStarsJennifer CarpenterSteve HarrisColumbus ShortA television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.Quarantine is a beacon of hope for the slasher industry. Though it may be a diamond in the ruff, it's also pure cinema. Every nuance of it is shown through the hand-held first-person camera, but it becomes so terrifying and chaotic that we are hardly conscious of the purposefully self- conscious narrative device.
- DirectorGuy RitchieStarsJason StathamRay LiottaAndré 3000Gambler Jake Green enters into a game with potentially deadly consequences.Some simply were not expecting this from Ritchie. Some were impatient with it and wrote it off as pretentious and self-indulgent. Some indulged to an extent in its complexity and felt led by the nose. What's peculiar is that all reasons are correct assumptions. That's why Revolver is a work of tremendous genius, too much for its own good.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsPaolo BonacelliGiorgio CataldiUberto Paolo QuintavalleIn World War II Italy, four fascist libertines round up nine adolescent boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental, and sexual torture.I'm unsure of whether I could see this film more than once. I may be able to see it again a long time from now. But isn't that a good thing? One of the most important things movies can do is jar you, make you finally, after endless media intake, say, "Wait, what the hell am I watching?!?!?!"
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsLaurence FishburneGiancarlo EspositoTisha CampbellA not so popular young man wants to pledge to a popular fraternity at his historically black college.One of the most direct and candid movies about modern middle-class black American life gets a 5.4? We can't give props on admirability alone at least, guys?
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsNicolas CageGary SiniseJohn HeardA corrupt detective and a Navy Commander investigate an assassination and the disappearance of a beautiful stranger.People seemed to expect a mystery or a procedural, so naturally they're disappointed not far into the movie. It's more about the Cage-Sinise relationship and the mystery of point-of-view, like most De Palma films.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsTom BerengerMimi RogersLorraine BraccoA married New York cop falls for the socialite murder witness he's been assigned to protect.Ridley set out with this humble cop drama to prove his ability to tell a good story outside a sci-fi universe and without the aid of special effects. Any detractors seeking that proof must've been categorically disabused of their doubts, as this is among the most distinctively and charmingly acted, earnestly character-driven thrillers of the '80s and early '90s cycle. Ridley's rich visual textures and emphasis on the divide between the socioeconomic worlds of the characters create a full-flavored atmosphere.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsDwayne JohnsonSarah Michelle GellarSeann William ScottDuring a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.It has so much going on that it almost literally explodes, and it's going to take years for people to grasp what a great film this really is. The simple fact is that there is something in Kelly's work that is infectious. His impulsive way of working, convoluting his plot, suddenly springing musical numbers not only on us but on the arrangement of his own film, the go-for-broke hyperkinesis, it all leaves you exhausted, but it comes back around and hits you again later.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsRoy ScheiderMeryl StreepJessica TandyA Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and falls for the victim's mysterious mistress.It comes as practically a kick in the teeth to see a modern suspense picture as erudite, well acted and exquisitely made as this pure and simple mood picture.
- DirectorJohn CurranStarsEdward NortonMilla JovovichRobert De NiroA convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path.A fresh, different and challenging experience, carried by uniformly riveting actors, and the dramatic characterization they're given by the sensitive camera and the drum-tight cutting. De Niro's performance is some of the most gripping work he's done in a decade. Norton is great at misleading, Jovovich is bizarre and unpredictable. Everything is so subtle and nuanced.
- DirectorRichard LesterStarsChristopher ReeveRichard PryorMargot KidderSynthetic kryptonite laced with tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel.Why do I enjoy Superman III leaps and bounds more than II? Because who would've ever seen it coming? A '30s-style slapstick comedy but with Superman in it. And when Richard Pryor isn't stealing the show, Superman and Kent are playing out a Jekyll and Hyde scenario. To me, the level of camp could hardly compete with the fresh creative ambition evident from as early as the opening title sequence. My only complaint is that Gene Wilder wasn't in Vaughn's part.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsChristopher ReeveGene HackmanMargot KidderThe Man of Steel crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man.If Superman IV: The Quest for Peace were the only Superman movie, and Jaws: The Revenge were the only Jaws film, you would love Superman IV the way you love Superman 1 but downright despise Jaws. This is camp, inarguably, but our hero is represented as the progressive antithesis of the fogyish Rambos and Bronsons of its era, not to mention Clark's previously very marginalized journalist peers, who fight with the gusto and initiative the corporate takeover of news reporting that few to no journalists have the accountability or even hope of battling in today's America's dangerously misinformed times. Think of it as the live-action Captain Planet.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsGemma ArtertonLuke EvansDominic CooperA young newspaper writer returns to her hometown in the English countryside, where her childhood home is being prepped for sale.Impeccably cast and endlessly entertaining, this extremely pleasant blindsiding surprise follows a whimsical concatenation of consequences maneuvered by compellingly real characters whose audacious, sexy and irreverently funny saga constantly upends expectations with an unpredictable, anecdotal style and genuine novelty.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.Uncanny truly is the word for how acutely and lyrically Malick evokes our own common reminiscences of childhood, which he knows we somehow always remember with a wide-angle lens. Houses that are always unlocked. Mothers peering out windows to watch over their children. The summer heat and tedium of church services, the volatile drama of the dinner table, and the disconcerting resonance of a fight between parents, distantly heard through an open window.
- DirectorNimród AntalStarsKate BeckinsaleLuke WilsonFrank WhaleyStranded in an isolated motel, a couple become the unsuspecting subjects of a snuff film.Vacancy has every effect a horror film should have. It has a creepy, ominous, moody feel. The opening credits are some of the most inventive and subliminally tone-setting in recent films, with a brilliant, multi-layered music score. The violence is patient, incidental, truly terrifying and stunningly, stunningly real.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsMads MikkelsenMaarten StevensonAlexander MortonForced for some time to be a fighting slave, a pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.This movie is so feverish and hypnotic, it's even difficult to recall the way one tends to think back on films. You remember it like a dream, less and less in touch with these sights and sounds the further in the past they go, as if they're so strongly textural, so patently experiential, that you have to see it to understand. When it comes to this extremely gut-level sort of filmmaking, one should only be ecstatic and thankful to hurl convention from the highest height and dive in.