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10 - I reserve this rating for films that because of their extremely high quality, powerful stories, and rewatchability, just blow me away and make me immediatly say "I must have that film!"
9 - This rating is for my elite series of favorite films. I want to own them and never get tired of them, but their "blow away" factor wears off.
8 - This is a broader category of movies that are very enjoyable and rewatchable, classics, but are not worthy to be in the elite. Certain films in this rating will receive bias points from me for being part of a series; for example any Star Trek film will get at least an 8 from me even if it's not good, just because it's Star Trek and I'm a big fan.
7 - A good, enjoyable film that I would probably want to own or watch again.
6 - A film that I enjoyed but probably would not buy or watch again on my own free will unless it was discounted.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Differing levels of badness. 1 is complete filth; I would walk out and demand my money back.
Reviews
Stardust (2007)
Better than expected; tightly written story keeps the adults interested too
I went into this film not knowing what exactly to expect. Trailer made it look like a fairy-tale kind of film, like Princess Bride. Reviews were excellent, so I gave it a try, viewing it with the wife and kids. Everyone was attentive the whole time, and enjoyed it. A nice mix of humor, fantasy action, and fairy-tale kid quality. It has its scary moments, but any kid that can handle Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter can handle this. It was uplifting, and had mildly scary stuff too to keep it interesting. The whole story was tightly written and very interesting, without being confusing and without being too basic and straightforward. Of course a big thumbs up for having been narrated by Ian McKlellan; like having Gandalf telling the story. A thumbs up to the beautiful super-long hair they gave the witch who took on a young form for most of the film. Much better than the ghastly appearances they witches usually had. This story was so tightly and perfectly written that I can't find anyone deserving of my trademark punch in the face comment that I reserve for a character who does something deviantly evil or stupid, so I'll refrain this time. Overall, a nice family film with enough to keep the adults interested as well.
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The Happening (2008)
First M. Night Shyamalan I am not in a hurry to buy on DVD
I'll begin by saying I am a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan films. However, each one is getting worse than the one before it. The Sixth Sense was amazing, Unbreakable was very good, Signs was good, The Village was good, and Lady in the Water was pretty descent. Now we have The Happening. I had high hopes; the trailers and movie posters looked awesome, but trailers have a way of taking substandard movies and making them look like blockbusters.
I enjoyed the story idea, and the execution thereof. It was a creative idea and kept me interested through the entire film. The filming style was trademark M. Night Shyamalan. I guess what I was looking for was the twist ending that we have come to expect with his early films. We have been conditioned to expect this from him, and we just did not get it here. However, what we did get was a gripping story about a horrifying event and the struggles of a group of people trying to survive it. There is also a subplot dealing with love that was done fairly well.
I have seen it as a rental, and I am glad I did not go to the theater and pay full price, and I am not in any hurry to own it. I would like to own it, to complete my M. Night Shyamalan collection, but I'll wait until the DVD price comes down a bit. I will give this film an extra star because M. Night Shyamalan is from my hometown of Wayne, just outside of Philadelphia, and like all M. Night Shyamalan films, a good portion of this takes place in the Philly area. My rating is 6 stars. It was cool but didn't have any lasting power like M. Night's earlier films.
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Batman Begins (2005)
Batman on an epic scale
This is the most incredible Batman movie I have ever seen, when you consider both the Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney series and the Bale series. I think I like this film just a hair better than The Dark Knight. There is perfection in how the filmmakers tell the story of Batman's origins. I'm not speaking of faithfulness to the comics, because I don't bother reading the comics. I'm speaking of pure film-making quality, cinematography, acting, music, and directing. The pace of storytelling was perfect; there was a lot of story to tell in this film but they did not overload it. There were no slow parts, and no cramming of stuff into a short period of time like they had in Spider-Man 3. The placement and usage of flashbacks was done well too. I like how half of the film was devoted to Batman's training, and the other half devoted to his first major campaign against crime in Gotham City. It took me a couple viewings to completely understand all that was going on but I liked how they tied the League of Shadows to his training and then to being his ultimate enemy later in the film. Ra's al Guhl was awesomely played by Liam Neeson. The teamwork between him and Scarecrow, very well done. And of course there's the musical score, provided to us by the musical genius of Hans Zimmer. Although the soundtrack for The Dark Knight is superior, it largely contains the same music and is very, very good. The music really set the mood and the power of the film quite well. I also highly approve of the choices of Michael Caine to play Alfred, and Morgan Freeman is amazing in almost any movie he does. Any movie gets extra points just for having Morgan Freeman in it. While the Tim Burton films were enjoyable, I like that this movie was more realistic without over the top camp or art deco. It looked like real life, not fantasy. Not over-stylized like the Joel Schumaker ones. Simply perfect. I can't even find anybody in the film that needs a punch in the face!
The filmmakers have set the bar really, really high for the new Batman series with Batman begins. Miraculously, equaled their success with their release of The Dark Knight. Because of these two films, the 3rd Batman movie has two tough acts to follow. Let us hope the series is not ruined.
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Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
Epic martial arts, powerful story, never get tired of it
This film deserves a 10 star rating from me, and so it has received one. It has just the right mix of action, comedy, emotion to grab your attention from the beginning and carry you through to the end, without ever getting boring or dry. In this film we deal with issues of racism. I never had the idea that Asian people faced so much racism in the United States. It's wrong that they were treated that way. But the way Bruce overcame it with humor and confidence is awesome. The fighting scenes are some of the best I have ever seen. And there is plenty of it as well. I think they should have said a bit more about his mysterious death at the end, because that was a very powerful scene, but the fact that they left it as it was made the ending a bit more positive, yet still emotionally powerful. In my reviews I usually find a character in the movie that needs a punch in the face, and this is either a tribute to good acting/writing, or to extremely poor film-making. In this film it's good acting/writing. That person is Linda's mother. The is a racist bigot that should be restricted from interacting with other humans. Her hatred of Asians is uncalled for, and her callous resistance to Linda's marriage is a manifestation of bigotry and evil. People like her need to be stopped. I am glad her ideas did not prevail in the story. You are left, after watching this film, with a sense that a positive attitude and a strong drive can overcome any obstacle. Bruce Lee had a dream and he made it happen. It is a shame he did not live longer. This film has incredibly high replay value and I think you will think so as well.
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Million Dollar Baby (2004)
This film deserves every good thing said about it
This has to be a 10. This movie never loses it's impact, emotion, or "wow" factor every time I see it. I almost can't say a bad thing about it. As for story and content, I'd probably give it a 9, but the powerhouse trio of Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hillary Swank push it to a 10. For one thing, I seem to enjoy movies that are narrated by one of the major characters, and Morgan does a fantastic job at this. It was just the right level of emotion to carry through the film. The boxing scenes were awesome!!! Clint Eastwood pulled off the perfect combination of hardened trainer and loving father. It was almost as if he had Maggie replace his daughter who would not talk to him. However, I must say that this is especially fitting for a boxing movie, two people need to be punched in the face. The first, and the most deserving of a punch in the face is Maggie's mother. She is a disgusting, lazy, selfish loser who wants to just sit and take handouts, living off the government while illegally accepting money and gifts from other people. Then she has the balls to hire a lawyer to try to take Maggie's money under the guise of "protecting her assets." Bullcrap! Also, to top it all off, when Maggie's family comes out to see her, they spend the day at Disneyland first! Some winning family she has. I almost cheered when Maggie told them all where to shove it. I really enjoy seeing stupid people like that get what they deserve. The second person that needs a punch in the face is the Blue Bear. The cheap shot she took cost Maggie her mobility and career, and eventually her life. We do not hear later what happens to the Blue Bear, but hopefully she was severely punished and banned from boxing. Somehow, I don't think so because she already had a reputation for fighting dirty and getting away with it, but I think I saw a hint of remorse on her face she she saw Maggie's neck break. All in all, amazing film, great music, story, characters, acting, awesome! See my profile to understand my rating philosophy.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
the funniest thing I ever saw!!!
This movie is a rare comedy that gets a super high rating from me. It is by far the funniest thing I ever saw. I give it a 10 because of it's uniqueness and replay value, and the more I watch it the funnier it gets. I can't get enough of it. The more you watch it, the less dumb it gets. It's a work of genius. I think my favorite scene is when Napoleon was standing against the wall and this dude walks by and checks him into the wall. A few seconds later Napoleon tries to kick the guy, when he is long gone. You can hear him grunt with effort, like he was actually going to land a strike on the guy. That scene has nothing to do with the story at all and that is part of why it was so funny. This film is just loaded with so many funny and subtle things, like the way Napoleon drinks from his bottle while talking to La Fawndah, his fascination with martial arts weapons, his membership in the Happy Hands Club, etc. I like the scene when his brother challenges him to a fight. Kip is much more of a wuss than Napoleon, yet he confidently says "Come down here and see what happens if you try to hit me." Uncle Rico's fascination with his failed football game in 1982, his living in the past, and get rich quick schemes are funny as well. This movie does not fail to deliver an unending string of funny scenes, without being loaded with sex or profanity. For those of you who think it's dumb or pointless, give it a couple more tries and I'm willing to bet you'll find it more entertaining and funny each time.
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Orgazmo (1997)
Another piece of trash from Parker/Stone
I have not even seen the entire film, but I have seen enough to know that this is a piece of garbage. I am thoroughly unimpressed by everything I have seen spew from the minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. If I had my way, they would not be allowed to make films for everything I have seen from them is pure trash, but this is America and we have freedom of speech; they have the right to spew this filth into our media. I personally am offended by their constant mockery of religion, even though I do disagree with the Mormon faith. And their sick and disturbing fixation on sex and all things distastefully sexual make this film inappropriate for anything but private home viewing. Also, the constant use of profanity, (and I mean constant) shows that the writers have nothing to say and are either putting it in there for filler, or insulting your intelligence by thinking that's all you want to hear. Either way, it benefits nobody and adds nothing to the story. It shows bad writing.
This is probably going to be one of the few films that I can review without seeing the whole thing. And that is sad, that I can come up with enough to write ten lines about a film after seeing only ten minutes.
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The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
This not tournament. This for real!
It is time to review this fine 80's film, but I must do so discussing a few elements from both the preceding film, The Karate Kid, and the subsequent film, Karate Kid Part III. Only by doing so can my review make sense.
Let's get the basic's down first. This film, along with the previous film, are two of the greatest 80s films ever made, along with The Breakfast Club and Back to the Future. It's also full of great 80's music, most notably the fine tunage provided to us by Chicago.
The film opens with characters already fully developed. These characters we got to know well in the previous film, so we were able to dive right into the story without having to endure development of unknown protagonists. The only new people we are introduced to are the ones we meet upon arriving in Okinawa. The character development there is very well done, and we meet both some protagonists and some nasty villains as well. Of course, one of the villains sees the light and realizes the error of his ways before we get to see a glorious fight between him and Miyagi, which would have been awesome. I kind of wish we could have seen such a battle. But we did get to see a great fight between Daniel and Chozen, a cold hearted punk with nothing but personal honor on his mind, even though he was a cheat and a coward.
I really like Kumiko, the girl that Daniel fell in love with. I liked Ali in the first film, but not as much. Since in the beginning of this movie we are told that his relationship with Ali collapsed, we are left looking for Daniel's new love interest in the plot, and we find it in this gorgeous beauty from Okinawa. It takes a really long time to get the romance going but it was well done once it started....Chicago provided nice music for this. The tea ceremony scene was great for me, because at the end of it, Kumiko took the chopsticks out of her hair, which was up for the entire film, and the straight black Asian hair was allowed to flow all the way down her back. We are then interrupted by a typhoon, which provides the backdrop for Sato's transformation from evil to good, and Chozen's descent into shame and cowardice.
To skip ahead into Karate Kid Part III, we learn that Kumiko does not return to the States with Daniel, and he is left womanless once again. He meets Jessica, but she is not worthy of discussion as they do not progress beyond "friendship." The question remains.....if Daniel and Kumiko were so in love, and if her dream to become a dancer was so strong, why did she not stay with Daniel? He fought to the death for her! He put his life on the line in a death match with Chozen. As much as I love that character, I think she needs to have some sense slapped into her. In my mind, that is a serious, foolish mistake, but we are not exposed to this error until Karate Kid Part III, since Part II ends as soon as the fight is over.
Overall, great film. I give it an 8, which I reserve for films that I can easily watch over and over again without getting tired of them. I highly recommend it, as well as Part I and Part III, which I have elected not to review at this time. The title of this review is the best line in the film.
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Juno (2007)
Great film, great message, but with a serious flaw
This movie was excellent. I really liked the Juno character, and Bleeker as well was pretty cool. I enjoyed watching Juno's dad, who was the same guy who played the newspaper guy in Spider-Man. It was interesting to see him in such a different role.
I really liked the pro-life message of the movie, though I strongly disagree with Juno's and Bleeker's actions leading up to that situation in the first place. So I'm glad to see they made the best of a bad situation, teaching viewers a good message.
What I did not like about the film is the character played by Jason Bateman. This character underlines a serious problem in Hollywood, which is the glamorization of divorce and the trivialization of the sanctity of marriage. He and his wife were dreaming of having a kid, and Juno's situation was an answer to their prayers. Then, on the eve of the adoption, Jason Bateman turns into a chicken and decides to leave his wife, delivering her a crushing blow. He the proceeds to divorce her and leave her all alone to face this adoption that they were originally reaming about together. I wanted to punch that smug look off his face when they were sitting at the dining room table talking about it. In my opinion, he is a coward, and he is not a man. His heart is black to be able to do something like that. Marriage is a sacred, lifelong commitment, not a high school dating relationship that can just be turned off when you get scared of the future. And for that, I knock this movie down a few points. But thumbs up for everything else about it. Highly entertaining, funny, good pace, amusing conversation, and likable characters. The music and music discussion was enjoyable as well.
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Philadelphia Experiment II (1993)
One of the worst filmings of one of the best ideas
These days it seems that filmmakers are not short on ideas of how to take an amazingly awesome idea for a movie and turn it into something that deserves to be flushed down the toilet. In fact, I think watching water swirling around in the toilet is more exciting than this movie. I like science fiction. I like time travel. I like the military. I enjoy stories about World War II. And most of all, I am from Philadelphia and I love that city. This movie has all 5 of these things going for it. So why did it suck so much? I would have to say the movie dragged on way too much. This could have been half as long. It just was not exciting. There was not even any interesting dialog. I just did not get any emotions activated at all during this film. It's just so long and boring and dry I cannot really say more than that. I can't fault the writer because the story idea is awesome. It was just so poorly done on so many levels that everyone involved has to share part of the blame. My advice? Stop with the original Philadelphia Experiment. That is an excellent piece of science fiction military film-making. If you waste your time on this film, it's your own dumb fault. I seriously considered giving this film a 1 star rating, but I refrained because I reserve that rating for movies that usually cause me to get angry at myself for watching them. This film's saving grace is that it was a really good idea, just very poorly executed. There were times during the film where I contemplated watching paint dry. But hey, you can always go flush your toilet and watch the water go round and round.
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Freedom Writers (2007)
One of the elite few
This film must join my elite list of 9 star movies. On emotion and power I'd give it a 10, but it just doesn't have quite enough replay value to push it to a 10. Don't get me wrong; it is very rewatchable. It's very emotional and powerful, and extremely eye opening. This film is an gripping look into the LA gang culture and how it destroys the lives of these kids, how it causes educators to give up and turn a deaf ear, and how with some compassion and understanding we can all rise above it. It also shows the sacrifices we make to do the right thing. There are people in this film that need a slap in the face coupled with a severe beating due to their lack of compassion and common sense....such as Mrs. G's husband and that old lady who was head of the English department at the school. These kinds of people with their cold hearts help perpetuate the world's problems and they are perfect examples of the quote "Evil is allowed to prevail when good men do nothing." It will make you cry but it is very uplifting. Outstanding acting on the part of Hillary Swank, but more importantly on the young actors and actresses who portrayed these kids living in the gang culture. They did a phenomenal job bringing this film to gripping reality. This film will change the way you look at the world, and hopefully, if you have any ounce of compassion or goodness in you, make you want to think of ways to change it, or support the men and women who are actively involved in changing things for the better.
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Raging Bull (1980)
How does such an awful, plot less film get Oscars?
I watched this movie because it was highly recommended and was an award winner, and because I love boxing movies, especially Rocky and Cinderella Man. What a mistake. The only thing I enjoyed about this was the actual boxing scenes, especially the one with Sugar Ray Leonard. The scenes were too short and never showed a whole fight. The story was choppy and hard to follow. And just when you thought the movie should end, it kept dragging on and on and had no defining climax or resolution. Then all of a sudden it just stopped. Very poor film-making in my opinion, and not worthy of any awards. This film was basically plot less. It would be as if you took two arbitrary points in my life and chose to make a movie about the time in between. There's no plot, it builds up to nothing, there is no climax, no final resolution, nothing at all to indicate that the end is coming. The movie just starts, and then it stops later. There's no completion, no story, no sense that it is building up to something. This would be one star if it wasn't for the amazing boxing footage.
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Flyboys (2006)
Excellent, with needless downer at the end
I really enjoyed this movie for three reasons: 1) I like James Franco 2) I enjoyed the amazing areal dogfight scenes 3) I like war movies
I must point out that I was very upset with the ending. Overall this is an uplifting film toward the end....James Franco finds himself in success as a fighter pilot after a life of trouble and misdirection....the failing pilot learns how to succeed and finally gets a successful kill, James Franco finally gets to kill the German with two swords on his plane, the black guy fulfills his dream of flying for the US Postal Service, and the Lafayette Escadrille is successful in their bombing raid behind enemy lines....but then at the very end we find out that our boy James Franco never finds his girl and never gets to fly again. That was something they could have just left out. It's like here's this awesome movie you spend 2.5 hours watching and it builds up to great things, then they say "but our hero does not get the girl." That's just a dumb way to end it. But I highly recommend this film...the dogfighting is amazing and the world war I imagery is very good as well. Just the right amount of comedy in this film too.
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Hellraiser (1987)
Possibly the greatest gorefest I've ever seen!!!
This film is one of the most amazing horror films ever made. The music is great. The gore is some of the best I've ever seen. What I like about it is the camera does not flash away the second there is some gore, nor does it move and shake like Cloverfield. It just stays there, straight and steady, showing you every bloody, grisly detail. The make-up was very well done as blood and exposed flesh glistened in the light and looked very realistic. The scenes where hooks were tearing flesh were enough to make you cringe. The pools of blood and melted bodily fluids were great! It was amazing! Such a dark, Gothic mood to the film. I look forward to exploring the rest of this series as I am a fan of Clive Barker.
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Elektra (2005)
Waste of time
This movie was a complete waste. As for superhero movies, this one is the worst in my opinion, worse even than Superman III. This film makes Superman III look like an Oscar Award-winning masterpiece. That is to say that if you showed up at the theater one day and they were showing both Elektra and Superman III, I recommend Superman III in a heartbeat. This film had a very weak, choppy plot. This film made a mockery of every good thing they built up in Daredevil. Don't waste your time or money on this film. Sell it back if you bought it. This can be accomplished by going to ebay.com and creating an account. Once this is complete, take a picture of the DVD and import it to ebay's web site, creating a listing that will enable other users to waste their money on the film, perpetuating the misery around God's green earth. The only thing that gives this movie somewhat of a saving grace is the fact that she has long, beautiful hair, of which I am a fan.
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