Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[Buzzman]

My cinema real cheap $4 before 12 pm, 6.50 between 12-4, $4.50 between 4-6 and $9 after 6. I always go in the morning.

[dell71]

My cinema real cheap $4 before 12 pm, 6.50 between 12-4, $4.50 between 4-6 and $9 after 6. I always go in the morning.

Lucky you.

[dell71]

The Soloist
2009. Ratd PG-13, 117 minutes.
Director: Joe Wright.
Starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener, Nelsan Ellis.

Plot: Reporter Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) stumbles across Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), a homeless and mentally ill man who happens to be a former Julliard student, while searching for his next great story. Bromance ensues. Based on a true story.

The Good: It's a tender story that plucks at your heartstrings, just as Nathaniel plucks away at the strings of the instruments he plays, and wants you to shed a tear or two. To help it accomplish this, we get excellent work from Downey Jr. and Foxx. The interaction between the two feels genuine, ably portraying a caring but highly volatile situation. The movie moves along at a good pace and nicely incorporates flashbacks, adding texture to Mr. Ayers.

The Bad: While the flashbacks are interesting, they provide little in the way of either the cause or inheritance of Nathaniel's instability. Maybe there was neither, but even that could've been made clearer. Also, the matter of Steve's relationship, or lack thereof, with his college aged son is just kinda dropped. Finally, its very reminiscent of 2007's Resurrecting the Champ in which Josh Hartnett starred as a reporter who befriended a homeless ex-boxing champ played by Samuel L. Jackson. I'd say this is a little better but still very similar.

The Ugly: How many times have I said "Nothing good can come of trying to answer your cell phone while giving a urine sample?"

Recommendation: This is a very nice watch for those of us who enjoy these types of movies. If you saw Resurrecting the Champ or Reign Over Me (with Don Cheadle as the "normal" do-gooder and Adam Sandler as his rich but extremely unstable buddy), use your opinions of those as a guide. Downey and Foxx may have been doing a bit of Oscar baiting, as well. Honestly, I think they both did very well but neither quite that good.

The Opposite View: Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

What the Internet Says: 6.9/10 on imdb.com (8/30/09), 55% on rottentomatoes.com, 61/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

[Fox1994]

The Ugly: How many times have I said "Nothing good can come of trying to answer your cell phone while giving a urine sample?"

lol. I didn't see all of the movie, but I saw most of it... and that was a pretty funny scene.

Also, before you see Space Odyssey, it's important you know I only saw it because my teacher showed it in my film class in the Sci-Fi unit. It also gets a littel [acid] trippy toward the end and there's no talking for the first I think 15 or 25 minutes.

It's probably a great movie if you're high, but it's most important legacy is that every 'robots take over the world' movie after it, except maybe The Terminator, has stolen near the whole plot from it.

 

You saw Eagle Eye, and let me tell you, when I saw the evil robot eye at the end I was like "that looks just like HAL-9000 from Space Odsysey."

[calgaryballer]

I've been confused as to which movie you were referring too. Now I realize you are talking about 2001. I guess we just call it different things

[dell71]

lol. I didn't see all of the movie, but I saw most of it... and that was a pretty funny scene.

Also, before you see Space Odyssey, it's important you know I only saw it because my teacher showed it in my film class in the Sci-Fi unit. It also gets a littel [acid] trippy toward the end and there's no talking for the first I think 15 or 25 minutes.

It's probably a great movie if you're high, but it's most important legacy is that every 'robots take over the world' movie after it, except maybe The Terminator, has stolen near the whole plot from it.

 

You saw Eagle Eye, and let me tell you, when I saw the evil robot eye at the end I was like "that looks just like HAL-9000 from Space Odsysey."

Thanx for the spoiler...duh...I don't know why I didn't put 2 & 2 together when you said "Space Odyssey" but yes, I've already seen 2001: Space Odyssey (semantics, I know). And yes, despite its status as a classic, I agree with you on how boring it is. I absolutely hated it, and realize I haven't done nearly enough drugs in my lifetime to enjoy this movie.

[Fox1994]

Thanx for the spoiler...duh...I don't know why I didn't put 2 & 2 together when you said "Space Odyssey" but yes, I've already seen 2001: Space Odyssey (semantics, I know). And yes, despite its status as a classic, I agree with you on how boring it is. I absolutely hated it, and realize I haven't done nearly enough drugs in my lifetime to enjoy this movie.

That makes two of us.

I feel you. If it's any consolation, I think the next one was called Space Odyssey as well. 2010 and 3001, I think they were.

Since we're talking about Sci-Fi movies (and this is gonna sound strange, but let's say I'm polling people... maybe I'll start a poll, even) do you believe the moon landing happened?

[dell71]

That makes two of us.

I feel you. If it's any consolation, I think the next one was called Space Odyssey as well. 2010 and 3001, I think they were.

Since we're talking about Sci-Fi movies (and this is gonna sound strange, but let's say I'm polling people... maybe I'll start a poll, even) do you believe the moon landing happened?

I know about 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Don't know about 3001.

And yes, I believe the moon landing happened. I saw your thread.

[Fox1994]

I didn't (and don't plan on) seeing either of those. 3001 might've only been a book. Not sure if they adapted it to film or not. Anywho, I know you didn't think too highly of Watchmen, but how did you like the soundtrack?

[Buzzman]

Inglourious Basterds was good but not as good as I was expecting.

I am all for character development but the opening scene and the tavern [art dragged on a bit I felt. Still a good movie, probably Tarantino's best movie this decade.

No joke those two scenes at the beginning and in the tavern were probaly 2 of my most favorite scenes Ive ever seen in a movie along with everything in the final chapter.

[dell71]

I didn't (and don't plan on) seeing either of those. 3001 might've only been a book. Not sure if they adapted it to film or not. Anywho, I know you didn't think too highly of Watchmen, but how did you like the soundtrack?

It was solid, fit the mood of the film, but nothing I'm running out to buy.

[Nukleopatra]

I didn't (and don't plan on) seeing either of those. 3001 might've only been a book. Not sure if they adapted it to film or not. Anywho, I know you didn't think too highly of Watchmen, but how did you like the soundtrack?

''Watchmen'' was a huge disappontment.

I was hyped to see it..... Not so much afterwards.

[dell71]

Breathless AKA À bout de souffle
1960. Not Rated, 90 minutes.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard.
Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Daniel Boulanger, Jean-Pierre Melville.
Small time hustler Michel (Belmondo) kills a police officer. While the cops look for him, he loods for love, well mostly sex, and a few quick bucks here and there. Its lauded as a classic because the artistry on display is spectacular. The way the camera is used is ahead of its time. The nuances of conversation are also well captured by both the dialogue and the performances. Its also paced nicely as we zip through the story but it doesn't rush or drag. Its a technical marvel of a film. Many of the techniques used have become rather commonplace in film but were pioneered here. However, the actual story strikes me as inane. This should've been a nice cat-and-mouse with the police intertwined with a heartfelt love story. Instead, the cops are barely in the picture and the love story mostly consists of our hero begging Patricia (Seberg) to sleep with him. It gets to be a little off-putting for both her and us until the end when we just can't believe the stupidity of decision Michel makes. This might not have been so bad if he were more likeable. Likeability is not usually something I require from lead characters but this movie so obviously wants to build him up into some sort of antihero but he never comes across as anything other than a jerk. So yeah, its an expertly made movie that was so far ahead of its time in terms of style, I have to give it a positive score. That said, I'm not grading it terribly high because what was going on was so much less intriguing than how it looked.
MY SCORE: 7/10

[dell71]

Tyson
2009. Rated R, 90 minutes.
Director: James Toback.
Starring Mike Tyson.

Plot: The former "baddest man on the planet" reflects on his life.

The Good: This is Mike Tyson in front of a camera but without a crowd to please or antagonize, or a fight to hype and apparently sober. Yet, without the constant circus surrounding him remains a compelling figure. He recounts the major events in his life that most of us have already formed an opinion of, one way or another. What's different is that he gives first-hand accounts that are truly incandescent with regards to his psyche. They're full of candor, current emotions and explicit details of his emotions at the time these things were going on. Speaking of emotion, we get a full range of them from the champ, everything from sadness to rage. Each of them is either genuine, or he's the greatest actor that ever lived. He's alternately timid and terrifying, brilliant and ignorant, logical and illogical, mature and childish, loveable and repulsive.

The Bad: There is no objectivity. The passion with which he speaks is real and, like the rest of us, he honestly believes his recollection of all things to be photographic. Still, he is human. Consequently, we should've heard from the people who know him best and/or were involved in these events. Sure, most of us agree Don King is a slimy slug with a slick vocabulary and hair that stands on end, but wouldn't it have been fun to hear what he had to say? What about Robin Givens, Evander Holyfield, ex-trainer Kevin Rooney or any number of people who are his friends, enemies, biographers or even famous fans waxing poetic about what Tyson meant to them?

The Ugly: Whenever Mike talks about women, Desiree Washington in particular, he's a little scary. However, when talking specifically about sex he's downright frightening.

Recommendation: Honestly, I think anyone who has a working knowledg of Mike Tyson's life will find this highly intriguing. He is simply one of the most magnetic and polarizing personas in the history of pop culture in America. First, we were dazzled by his extraordinary talent in the ring, then by the seemingly endless trainwreck that his personal life became. Whether you rooted for the kid from Brooklyn like one of your own, or he made you sick to your stomach, you still watched. Even now, long after boxing career is over, and even much longer since he was a viable fighter, he still has that hold on us.

The Opposite View: Jay Antani, Filmcritic.com

What the Internet Says: 7.7/10 on imdb.com (9/3/09), 86% on rottentomatoes.com, 83/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 9/10

[Buzzman]

O shit. Does he still talk like a baby? And is being freightened over Tyson really a bad thing?