Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

Dell's Classics Presents:



In the Heat of the Night
1967. Not Rated, 110 minutes.
Director: Norman Jewison.
Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant.
Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) reluctantly tries to solve the murder of a White man in the small southern town of Sparta after first being accused of the crime himself. This is a landmark drama that is still compelling 40 years after its release. That’s because it not only deals with racism, it’s a murder mystery that twists itself into a surprising conclusion. Poitier and Rod Steiger as Chief Gillespie deliver iconic performances. However, the relationship between the two men isn’t the buddy-buddy one many of us know from the long-running TV series that would eventually follow. It’s two men who genuinely don’t like each other but are stuck with one another. When the movie ends, we know there’s some growth on the part of both men. The question is ‘how much?’ Given the time this movie was released, the next logical question is ‘how much did the audience grow?’ At the very least, it still has the power to at least inspire a reevaluation of one self.
MY SCORE: 10/10

[dope]

Personally, I'm going to seek out the original.

kinda surprised you hadn't seen the original....its one of my fave foreign movies!

[dell71]

kinda surprised you hadn't seen the original....its one of my fave foreign movies!

Even I can't see 'em all.

[dell71]

State of Play
2009. Rated PG-13, 128 minutes.
Director: Kevin Macdonald.
Starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren.

Plot: The Washington Post's best traditional reporter, Cal McAffrey (Crowe) and its blogger, Della Frye (McAdams) team up in an effort to uncover the truth in a political scandal.

The Good: Its a movie that works on a number of different levels. On the surface, its a "ripped from the headlines" tale of a public official, Rep. Stepen Collins (Affleck), caught cheating on his wife and of corporate greed. This part of the story relies on hairpin turns. Some you can see coming but enough of them you can't so it knocks you for a loop. Metaphorically, its about the traditional newspaper and its uneasy relationship with the internet which threatens to totally eclipse it. To pull all of this off, you need strong performances and this movie gets them from everyone.

The Bad: Its hypocritical in its stance towards bloggers and the internet in general. On the one hand, it wants to bash them for having low standards and a lack of ethics. On the other hand, it practically celebrates our hero's unethical activities, passing them off merely as good reporting. Also, our corporate bad guys should've had a greater presence. They're talked about ad nauseum, yet largely faceless except for a couple scenes lost in the middle of the movie.

The Ugly: Poor pizza delivery guy.

Recommendation: This is a fun thriller with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Fans of movies based on jounalism will certainly get a kick out of it. Its also a nostalgic send off for the nearly dead newspaper industry.

The Opposite View: Kyle Smith, New York Post

What the Internet Says: 7.4/10 on imdb.com (10/2/09), 84% on rottentomatoes.com, 64/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

[Maynard]

Dell, have you seen north dallas forty yet?

btw, with all those great reviews and the nice formatting you use, it would be cool if you linked them to your first post so lazy people like me can see all the reviews by name, rather then browsing

[Maynard]

ok, so i just browsed thru the entire thread and have a long list to DL.....here is my list based on what i like and your scores

Mysterious skin
In Bruges
Let the Right One In AKA Lat den ratte komma in
The Wrestler
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Frost/Nixon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rachel Getting Married***
Tyson
Body of Lies
I Love You, Man


i *** Rachael getting married because i love a great drama and plan to watch that ASAP....speaking of which, do you have a top 10 drama and top 10 suspense thriller list?

[NAHSTE]

State of Play
2009. Rated PG-13, 128 minutes.
Director: Kevin Macdonald.
Starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren.

Plot: The Washington Post's best traditional reporter, Cal McAffrey (Crowe) and its blogger, Della Frye (McAdams) team up in an effort to uncover the truth in a political scandal.

The Good: Its a movie that works on a number of different levels. On the surface, its a "ripped from the headlines" tale of a public official, Rep. Stepen Collins (Affleck), caught cheating on his wife and of corporate greed. This part of the story relies on hairpin turns. Some you can see coming but enough of them you can't so it knocks you for a loop. Metaphorically, its about the traditional newspaper and its uneasy relationship with the internet which threatens to totally eclipse it. To pull all of this off, you need strong performances and this movie gets them from everyone.

The Bad: Its hypocritical in its stance towards bloggers and the internet in general. On the one hand, it wants to bash them for having low standards and a lack of ethics. On the other hand, it practically celebrates our hero's unethical activities, passing them off merely as good reporting. Also, our corporate bad guys should've had a greater presence. They're talked about ad nauseum, yet largely faceless except for a couple scenes lost in the middle of the movie.

The Ugly: Poor pizza delivery guy.

Recommendation: This is a fun thriller with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing. Fans of movies based on jounalism will certainly get a kick out of it. Its also a nostalgic send off for the nearly dead newspaper industry.

The Opposite View: Kyle Smith, New York Post

What the Internet Says: 7.4/10 on imdb.com (10/2/09), 84% on rottentomatoes.com, 64/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7.5/10

Good review, I agree with your Bad part. All in all this was an entertaining thriller, but a few things held it back.

[Maynard]

The Wrestler

MY SCORE: 9/10

just watched this today. Great movie. I loved the camera work. Looked like a documentary at times. The movie ended abruptly.....that wasnt a bad thing at all. It was just a surprise

Sad movie, Excellent though....left me wanting more

[dell71]

Dell, have you seen north dallas forty yet?

btw, with all those great reviews and the nice formatting you use, it would be cool if you linked them to your first post so lazy people like me can see all the reviews by name, rather then browsing

Still haven't seen North Dallas Forty, yet. Still on my radar, though.

I've been planning to archive them all in the op, just been too lazy to do it.

speaking of which, do you have a top 10 drama and top 10 suspense thriller list?

Hmmm...all time?

For drama, if I pull out the gangster/dramas and the "based on a true person/story" dramas, I end up with...

1. Do the Right Thing
2. 12 Angry Men
3. Requiem for a Dream
4. Boyz N the Hood (not a gangster, or gangsta, movie contrary to popular belief)
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. The Color Purple
7. Sling Blade
8. American History X
9. Taxi Driver
10. A Time to Kill

This decade?

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Maria Full of Grace
5. Crash
6. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
7. The Wooden Camera
8. Amores Perros
9. Hustle & Flow
10. Y Tu Mama Tambien

Suspense/thrillers sometimes overlaps with horror and even action. With that in mind, my all time list goes...

1. Oldboy
2. Psycho
3. The Usual Suspects (shut up, Nuk)
4. Se7en
5. The Silence of the Lambs
6. Memento
7. Fatal Attraction
8. Scream (Yes, I'm a sucker for this one - horror, suspense & dark comedy all rolled into one)
9. A Soldier's Story
10. Vertigo

This decade:

1. Oldboy
2. Memento
3. Gone Baby Gone
4. No Country for Old Men
5. Traffic
6. Inside Man
7. Hard Candy
8. Brick
9. Lady Vengeance
10. Mysterious Skin

[red33]

crazy every time i see lists its always the same movies and maybe 1-2 different ones. but your lists are really different.

some my fav movies ever requim, eternal sunshine, hustle and flow ( i absolutely love this movie maybe top 3 to me). old boy, lady venegence, etc.....

you should write reviews for some legit site.

[dell71]

crazy every time i see lists its always the same movies and maybe 1-2 different ones. but your lists are really different.

some my fav movies ever requim, eternal sunshine, hustle and flow ( i absolutely love this movie maybe top 3 to me). old boy, lady venegence, etc.....

you should write reviews for some legit site.

Thanx. Looking for a site to hire me. Wish me luck.

[dell71]

Waltz With Bashir AKA Vals Im Bashir
2009. Rated R, 90 minutes.
Director: Ari Folman.
Starring Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Dror Harazi.

Plot: Ari Folman, filmmaker and veteran of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon has forgotten virtually everything about it. He tries to jog his memory by seeking out his fellow soldiers. Based on true events.

The Good: It effectively strings us along by not only using his own returning memory but the memories of others to fill in the blanks for both us and the characters in the film. There's also a certain poetry to the dialogue. It has a rhythm and realness we can sense. The animation is much the same. It's not the photo-realism that many American animated flicks strive for but layered in a way that's more than your standard flat two-dimensional movie but not quite 3D, either. Often, the action also seems to move half a beat slow, most of the time. Again, this gives it a rhythmic, almost lyrical quality. All of these things combined make it a somewhat surreal experience, just as it must be for a man suddenly recalling events he hadn't thought about in twenty years. This is also categorized as a documentary, the characters are real people voicing themselves and presumably giving real accounts, but it doesn't play like one.

The Bad: It lets the cat out of the bag too soon. We learn very early what specific event our hero is really trying to remember. By the time he actually does, what's meant to be an overwhelming high impact moment isn't quite as potent as it could be because we've braced ourselves for it throughout the course of the movie. Also, not as much attention is paid to the other soldiers. They're only there to facilitate his memory. A more poignant route might've been to involve them a bit more and show how they've been affected, as well.

The Ugly: The commander who likes to watch porn while not wearing pants and in full view of everyone else. This includes a soldier he has in the room with him for the sole purpose of working the controls on the VCR...ya know...to fast forward past certain parts.

Recommendation: War movie buffs should definitely take a look. Just remember, like many of the best war movies it's actually rather anti-war. The ending, while not quite the devastating blow its intended to be, is still a bit startling. Yes, this is an animated movie but it is no way intended for kids. It's also a documentary but like I said it plays like a dany number of war movies. Once again subtitleophobes beware, we're speaking Hebrew.

The Opposite View: Peter Brunette, The Hollywood Reporter

What the Internet Says: 8.0/10 on imdb.com (10/07/09), 96% on rottentomatoes.com, 91/100 metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 8.5/10

[dope]

Waltz With Bashir AKA Vals Im Bashir

oh man thank you so much for reviewing this movie....i remember seeing a preview for this a while back but then I could never remember the name of it.

[calgaryballer]

I missed Waltz in theatres due to its limited run, and I've had it on my Zip list @ number 1 since before it was released. Still haven't got it. CAn't wait to see it

[Buzzman]

I cant remeber if I asked you before, but have you ever seen In The Company of Men? It has Aaron Eckheart in it from before he hit it big and I think the movie was incredible with him at the top of his game and hasnt quite reached that high again. Maybe it was because the story set him up or what but that ending was great.