Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[The Buddha]

Absolutely agree with your review Dell...The build up to each bomb had me wondering if this was the one that did them in.

The bomb scene at the UN building was tremendous..i dont want to go into to much detail because of spoilers, but it was nicely done. The sniper scene was flat out amazing as well.

[dell71]

An Education
Directed by Lone Scherfig.
2009. Rated PG-13, 95 minutes.
Cast:
Carey Mulligan
Peter Sarsgaard
Alfred Molina
Olivia Williams
Rosamund Pike
Emma Thompson

Plot: High school girl Jenny (Mulligan) is well on her way to fulfilling her dream of attending Oxford when she meets and falls in love with the charming but twice her age David (Sarsgaard).

The Good: Our young female lead, Mulligan, turns in a dynamic performance worthy of the praise coming her way. The cast surrounding her is almost as good. The movie is also paced very well, making full use of its relaitively short 95 minutes. There are no lulls to speak of and we're never bored with Jenny's escapades.

The Bad: This movie proves both that I am utterly lacking in my knowledge of socially acceptable behavior in London during 1961 and I'm a protective dad at heart. I say this because when we, and David, meet Jenny she is 16 and despite appearing to be only slightly younger than her parents he rather openly pursues a romantic relationship with her. As he does this, he mother and father show not the least bit of concern other than cautioning her to stay focused on her studies so she can get into Oxford. I watched incredulously while these two invertabrates repeatedly bend to their daughter's will, or David's, regardless of what it is. This absolutely ruins the movie for me. There was some mild concern expressed by the faculty at Jenny's high school but their warnings were pretty much akin to telling her that fire is hot, not nearly enough to make up for what wasn't going on at home. Again, maybe my ownl life clouds my judgment. As a dad with two daughters it felt more like I was watching a sadistic horror flick than the tender, funny coming-of-age tale its meant to be. Most of the adults feel less like people than facilitators, only there to set Jenny up for the various soliloquys she delivers throughout the film.

The Ugly: Wait until you find out what "stats" are.

Recommendation: It seems this is one of those movies that you'll hear lots of praise for around Oscar time an my be nominated for a couple awards. After all, as of this writing Mulligan was already nominated for a Golden Globe. In fact, it appears everyone loves this movie. That is, everyone but me. It's well put together and beautifully acted but unimaginably frustrating for me to watch for the reasons I gave above. I spent the majority of the runtime wondering two things: 1)Where's Chris Hanson when you need him? 2)How is this not titled Predator 3? Still, it seems I'm swimming against the tide on this one so you may very well think I'm insane after you've watched it for yourself.

The Opposite View: Christy Lemire, Associated Press

What the Internet Says: 7.7/10 on imdb.com (1/21/10), 94% on rottentomatoes.com, 85/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

[NAHSTE]

[center]
The Hurt Locker

MY SCORE: 10/10

Got the blu-ray of this en-route to my house via Netflix. Fucking amped. I have a feeling I'll want to watch this without my girl, so I'll put it on closer to 10 than 9, knowing she'll fall asleep during the first act.

Aren't girls the worst people to watch movies with sometimes? If they're awake, they don't know WTF is going on. If they're asleep, the loud noises wake them up eventually and right as shit starts getting cool, you have to pause the movie to help them to bed.

Anyway, that's my rant, I'll hold off on reading the review till I see it, which will hopefully be today or tomorrow.

[dell71]

Now, just so you don't go thinking my judgment can be trusted or anything crazy like that...

I Spit on Your Grave
Directed by Meir Zarchi
1978. Not Rated (originally Rated X), 100 minutes.
Cast:
Camille Keaton
Eron Tabor
Richard Pace
Anthony Nichols
Gunter Kleeman

Young novelist Jennifer (Keaton) seeks revenge against the men who gang-rape her while she's on vacation. This is a very difficult movie to watch. In most gore flicks, the brutality and blood resulting from it are so overblown it's not to be believed. When we watch a Saw flick, for instance, and see some contraption that obviously took an entire crew to build obliterate someone's head and blood splattering in all directions it's shocking and disgusting but so over the top it feels like we're watching a movie. Here, the rape scenes are not only explicit in their viciousness but depicted in a way that makes us feel like we're watching, well, rape. This is far more unsettling and frankly, repulsive, especially since we get three rather lengthy scenes of it. Many people have stopped watching in the middle of one or the other and never finished the movie and I can't say that I blame them. However, there are a couple payoffs if you manage to make it through this part of the film, one for the film itself and one for the viewer. For the film, its reward is your unwavering support for the victim regardless of what she plans to do to these guys. You can even dismiss the fact that our villains are beyond stupid and simply fall for whatever she throws their way. For you, I won't completely spoil the reward but I'm sure you can guess. Let's just say it becomes a "girl power" film of the highest, and perhaps most disturbing order. Not surprisingly, it's one of the most polarizing movies ever because many see it as misogynist and dismiss it as a vile piece of cinema. Even Roger Ebert once called it "the worst movie ever made." I have quite the opposite viewpoint. Much the way many anti-war movies use graphic combat scenes to help make its point, this uses decidedly anti-woman occurrences to achieve a remarkably unrestrained brand of feminism. Oh, and you may never...ever...ever get the bathtub scene out of your head.

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

Read Roger Ebert's entire review here and see just how much he hates this movie.

[Maynard]

never heard of the hurt locker. is it sort of like a documentery type of filming? i am curious because u said no real plot which makes me wonder.

but a 10 is a bold score. i will try and dl it tonight

[Buzzman]

wow, you've never heard of The Hurt Locker? Where the fuck you been?

[dell71]

wow, you've never heard of The Hurt Locker? Where the fuck you been?

Sorry, I have to side with Maynard on this one. Where have you been?

never heard of the hurt locker. is it sort of like a documentery type of filming? i am curious because u said no real plot which makes me wonder.

but a 10 is a bold score. i will try and dl it tonight

No, not a documentary...but does occasionally use a doc style.

[dell71]

Got the blu-ray of this en-route to my house via Netflix. Fucking amped. I have a feeling I'll want to watch this without my girl, so I'll put it on closer to 10 than 9, knowing she'll fall asleep during the first act.

Aren't girls the worst people to watch movies with sometimes? If they're awake, they don't know WTF is going on. If they're asleep, the loud noises wake them up eventually and right as shit starts getting cool, you have to pause the movie to help them them to bed.

Anyway, that's my rant, I'll hold off on reading the review till I see it, which will hopefully be today or tomorrow.

If it's any consolation, I hate watching movies with my wife as well. Instead of watching and figuring out what's going on, she likes to ask me. After I roll my eyes and sigh, I start explaining it only to miss something myself while doing so.

[nflman2033]

If it's any consolation, I hate watching movies with my wife as well. Instead of watching and figuring out what's going on, she likes to ask me. After I roll my eyes and sigh, I start explaining it only to miss something myself while doing so.

thats rough man, my wife does that from time to time, but she knows better for the most part, usually because i will pause it and give a look like "WHAT?"

[NAHSTE]

About to watch Hurt Locker, surprisingly, my girl showed interest. I guess she remembered me saying how good it I heard it was, and now she wants to stick it out.

Anyway, I'm off to the living room to watch it right after this wipe.

[dell71]

thats rough man, my wife does that from time to time, but she knows better for the most part, usually because i will pause it and give a look like "WHAT?"

Yeah, I'm getting more ornery about it - especially if she asks about what's going to happen - then, I'm like "Watch the movie." I swear I must "Watch the movie" about 50 times whenever we watch one together.

[Buzzman]

Funny Dell. My favorite when I go to the theatres and my sisters will turn and ask me all the time, "whats going to happen" and I respond with "Idk I havent seen the movie before" and they give me a look, like im a smartass.

[dell71]

The Road
Directed by John Hillcoat.
2009. Rated R, 111 minutes.
Cast:
Viggo Mortensen
Kodi Smit-McPhee
Charlize Theron
Robert Duvall

Plot: A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) try to survive post-apocalyptic America by any means necessary.

The Good: Viggo Mortensen has a subtle power that he brings to every role. Here, it bubbles over so that he commands the screen. It's a remarkable performance that keeps us vested in the journey of our heroes. The constant danger the two find themselves in accomplishes much the same. The bleakness of it all is rather intriguing, as well and captured wonderfully by some outstanding cinematography. It makes us question what we think we would or wouldn't do in the same situation.

The Bad: The whole thing is repetitive and ultimately, pointless. It's almost like watching a movie on a 20 to 30 minute loop. Our heroes wander in a generally southern direction, they think, find a bit of a safe place which quickly becomes dangerous, escape by killing the assailants, dashing into the woods or both. After thism dad tells son he only did what he did to protect him. Somewhere in there we get a flashback to dad arguing with his wife (Theron) around the time the world first went haywire. This happens over and over...and over. When it's all said and done we're still not sure what happened to the world and the grand lesson dad spent nearly two hours of our time teaching son is rendered meaningless.

The Ugly: What they find locked in the basement of the big house on the hill.

Recommendation: The situations our heroes encounter can be exciting. For many, that carries the movie. For me, it wasn't enough because it seems to be relentlessy driving toward some incandescent point but reality, leads nowhere. Therefore, I'm okay with not liking another movie everyone else just loves. In fact, I say see it. You never know, maybe I just don't get it. And no, I haven't read the book.

The Opposite View: Dan Jolin, Empire

What the Internet Says: 7.8/10 on imdb.com (1/22/10), 75% on rottentomatoes.com, 64/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

[Tailback U]

If it's any consolation, I hate watching movies with my wife as well. Instead of watching and figuring out what's going on, she likes to ask me. After I roll my eyes and sigh, I start explaining it only to miss something myself while doing so.

truth. i need to get in this rant.

first of all, my girlfriend can't remember a single fucking movie that she has ever watched. honestly, she remembers less than 10 movies that she has ever seen. and she is really smart, she just cannot remember movies for whatever reason. she will pick up a movie that we literally watched together a year ago and be like "this looks good." i'm just like what the fuck? are you retarded?

secondly, watching movies with women is absolutely horrible. doesn't matter if it is my girlfriend, one of her sisters, her mom, or my mom - whenever i'm watching a movie with females they will always look at me and ask "is he the bad guy?!" whether i have seen the movie or not.

and then they are always chit chatting with each other trying to guess what's going to happen or trying to figure out what the fuck is happening because their brains just aren't as developed as ours. just shutup and watch the goddamn movie!!!

i hate watching movie with women, but obviously i can't ever tell my girlfriend that.

[Senser81]

secondly, watching movies with women is absolutely horrible. doesn't matter if it is my girlfriend, one of her sisters, her mom, or my mom - whenever i'm watching a movie with females they will always look at me and ask "is he the bad guy?!" whether i have seen the movie or not.

My wife can watch the Lord of the Rings movies multiple times, and I still get asked "If the old guy is Saruman...who is Sauron? Aren't they the same guy?"