Change Your Image
shelliryan
Reviews
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
Wonderful Mixed-Up Pop Culture Work
I absolutely loved this film and love all works of fiction like it. I'm waiting for the day when more people appreciate that "icons" like Elvis Presley make great already developed characters, and when you use an already known image in this way to make a new work, you're doing the same thing the Ancient Greeks did with their mythology (I'm dead serious about this). This movie is not going to be for everybody, because the average person probably has trouble getting past that very quality that I like so much (using Elvis's image for your own ends), but it's a wonderful film, and Bruce Campbell's acting job in it will probably never fully be appreciated. He plays old and Elvis at the same time and sympathetically, and knocks it out the park. (Ossie Davis is wonderful too.) If you like off-beat, definitely see it. I loved it.
The Negotiator (1998)
F. Gary Gray's Underrated Masterpiece
I think this film will eventually be to F. Gary Gray's career what BLOW OUT is to Brian DePalma's - the great film he directed that nobody saw. THE NEGOTIATOR is nothing short of brilliant, particularly in the way it's a story all about talking (hostage negotiations) and stars two actors KNOWN for their vocal performances in Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson. Watching these two play off each other is riveting, and the well-written, intelligent story allows them to truly be at their best. It's exciting, suspenseful, and again, VERY underrated. I worked at a movie theatre where it was playing and was disappointed at the low turn-out - this is on my all time favorites list, and at the top of my "underrated masterpieces" list.
Superman II (1980)
My Favorite '80's Big Budget Blockbuster!
SUPERMAN II is, IMO, one of the best films ever made, and one of the most underrated. I put it in the same category as the STAR WARS or INDIANA JONES films. It had all of the makings of those films - big budget, "movie brat" director, and based on what was traditionally considered a "low" genre, in this case, comic books. But SUPERMAN II takes those basic concepts and really runs with them, and as a child, I found it unforgettable.
We have ALL asked, "what if Lois Lane knew that he was really Superman?" In SUPERMAN II, we find out. Whenever we see a superhero movie, we want to see a knock-down, drag out fight, and we get it in the scene when Superman fights all three villains in Metropolis, a scene that runs a good half hour. And it even continues the thematic elements of "God in human form" as introduced in the first film, when Superman needs his powers back and calls for his "Father," practically asking, "why hast thou foresaken me?" I based every adventure fight / story / whatever I wrote for the rest of my life on the general patterns / pacing / scope of this film, and to an sci-fi / action fan, it's an absolute winner. One of my favorite movies of all time.