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Reviews
Chief of Station (2024)
Eckhart is great!!
A solid thriller carried by the always resonate Aaron Eckhart.
He's really one of the best working actors out there today.
From Thank Your for Smoking to Chief of Station, you just can't help but believe the sincerity of the guy - and now we find out he's great at action!! Seriously, he did the stunts and looked flawless.
The action sequences are very good, very credible, not cheesy over done, impossible stuff here - but instead, gritty, in your face, real looking sequences that carry the tension in the film.
It's starts with a well paced opening, slows down in all the right places, and then boom - here we go again. The film looks big.
For sure, worth a watch.
The Brave One (2007)
In the true tradition of great cinema...
.. The Brave One succeeds on all fronts. This is not the classic, I'm a bad ass, and I'll have revenge movie. This is a study of the impact of violence and loss told through the eyes of a fully rendered and moving character. So many movies today would lean on big action and blistering pace to hold viewers in the story, but this movie keeps you fully involved the old fashioned way - by creating a compelling character, and taking you on a journey with them. Jodi Foster is tremendous - easily her best film in years. Terrance Howard takes a more traditional role and breathes resonance into it as only a few actors could aspire to...
The look, feel, and pacing holds you fast as an emotionally involving take on a familiar premise plays out. This is the kind of film that made American movies great in the seventies, yet it doesn't feel dated in the least. It's at once modern and classical, and leaving the theater, I was reminded of that great feeling I had leaving movies as a kid. I'd had an experience. While I enjoy many movies every year, only a few movies a year manage to cast the spell and sustain it throughout. The Brave One does - and I applaud WB for getting this one right. A very solid film for those who love movies.
Weeds (2005)
Fun Show
This is a fun little show where the result exceeds the seeming potential of the premise. Well written, with solid intersecting story lines and interesting well developed characters. The writers have resisted the temptation to amp up stakes and pump up dialog for the standard sit-com aud, so this feels very grounded in reality. Plots do tend to wrap up rather quickly where at times further exploration seems warranted, but I suspect the writers will settle into more complex fare as the series finds its footing. Exploration of character is the strength here, much as found in Six Feet Under, but without such heavy undercurrents. This is lighter fare, but still satisfying and well handled all the way around. The first season is out on DVD, so catch up and jump in.
Cinderella Man (2005)
American Cinema at its Finest
If you care in the least about American Cinema - Go see this film! It is absolutely spectacular, and exactly the kind of thing we must encourage Hollywood to make. A must see for all ages it's an emotion evoking story about where America has been and where it is going. Superbly balanced, It pulls at the heart-string, makes you grind your teeth in suspense, and make you want to jump from your seat. My audience actually applauded this movie TWICE; once at the end and also during the movie at a particularly poignant moment. Now get this: The women liked it. My audience was a good mix of all ages, and after the film I heard a woman in her forties say "This is the first boxing movie I ever liked", another random woman answered her, "Yeah because it wasn't really about boxing". And she was right. It is a redemption story, one of the best ever put on screen. And it had just the right amount of solid boxing action, again very well done. They didn't cheat. No fancy camera work of frenetic editing was used in the normal lame attempts to punch up the action. This was shot true, with smooth shots, cut at a pace that allowed you to absorb what you were seeing. No jerky cliché steady cam that makes your head hurt. It was visually perfect. And what a story! A true story. An American story. I can't remember any film that so pulls the viewer in to the difficulty that so many suffered during the great depression of the twenties. This film really made you feel it, without forcing it, without contrivance. Just a truly excellent film on all levels. I had tears in my eyes by the midpoint and just couldn't make them go away. Bravo! Go see this film.
Sin City (2005)
Not really even a feature film
I had a hard time sitting through the film. The narration is endless, and after a while grating. The film is really not a feature length motion picture, instead it's three short films with a few common characters. The actions of the common characters do not effect the through line to each short story so it's really a cheat to bill as a feature what is essentially a collection of vignettes thrown together for length. One of the stories bookends the other two. One story involves a huge guy who is framed for killing his one true love. It's great. I wish they had expanded it into a feature picture. The protagonist was interesting and the story was compelling. The other two stories were all style and no substance. I was bored. I very nearly walked out of the theater, and seldom do I like a film so little. When I go to see a feature, I want to see a feature. A compelling story with a through-line told over about two hours. This was not that, and I think selling it as such is misleading. Skip Sin City you're not missing much, or rent it and watch the one worthwhile short film within it.
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Oh my!
What a stinker. It was almost as bad as Undertow, and it stank like a pickle in a pope's butt. Tons of plot holes. And no imagination used at all in crafting the "twist". There were a few lines worthy of a chuckle, but most of the attempts at comedy were just dumb. I didn't expect much from the film, but I did expect it to be somewhat entertaining, and actually, it was just painful. The film lost my audience about 30 minutes in, and at one point (when a holographic egg was shown as part of a plan) my audience actually groaned. All these fine actors and one of the best helmers in the game, and they couldn't get a writer? I could go on all night, but I'll sum it up to by saying wrong, just so wrong. Save your money.