Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

Sin Nombre
Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.
2009. Rated R, 96 minutes.
Cast:
Edgar M. Flores
Paulina Gaiton
Kristian Ferrer
Diana Garcia
Felipe Castro

Plot: Sayra (Gaiton), recently reunited with her father is traveling north with him, hoping to cross the border into the United States. Along the way, she meets Willy AKA El Casper (Flores), a gang-banger on the run from his own homies.

The Good: The story-telling on display is outstanding. The movie expertly switches back and forth between it's two storylines until they come together to create an intriguing chase movie. Our main character, Willy, is very well drawn, full of emotion and confusion and played excellently by Edgar M. Flores. In fact, the acting is strong across the board despite the use of a cast with limited experience. Through their work and that of the director, by the time we reach the seemingly inevitable ending it still cuts us deep.

The Bad: Though it does what it does very well, it misses a huge opportunity. The character Smiley (Ferrer) is a "tween"-aged boy who has just joined the gang. With all he goes through and what happens at the end we should've been given more insight into how these events might affect him from this point forward.

The Ugly: What happens to the love of Willy's life.

Recommendation: Some of you will see the plot and immediately be turned off, never giving the movie a chance. For the rest of us, it's an excellent urban tale about choices and consequences. Yes, it wants us to root for our heroes, but never tries to decide for you whether what they're doing is right or wrong. Besides, that's not the issue, here. What's more examined is how we deal with loved ones, and the loss of loved ones, during trying times. Subtitleophobes beware: we're speaking Spanish.

The Opposite View: Justin Lowe, The Hollywood Reporter

What the Internet Says: 7.7/10 on imdb.com (1/25/10), 88% on rottentomatoes.com, 77/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 8/10

[Maynard]

where did you find that flick? i never heard of that one

[dell71]

where did you find that flick? i never heard of that one

It's in most Blockbusters but, believe it or not, I found it in the local library. We have a branch here in Durham, NC that has a pretty decent sized selection including a dozen or two titles from '09.

Hey Dell, check out Pandorum (just came out on DVD/bluray) sometime if you get the chance. I'm a huge sci-fi fan so I'm interested to see what someone else thinks since I'm biased. There was stuff I wish would have been different or left out, but overall I thought it was a pretty damn good movie.

Pandorum is definitely on my radar.

[Lupe]

Fuck all the movies I wanted your opinion on aren't on your list. You haven't seen the invention of lying, a perfect getaway, 28 weeks later, gamer, or ANY of the american pie movies? wtf

[dell71]

Dell's Classics Presents:


North by Northwest
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
1959. Not Rated, 131 minutes.
Cast:
Cary Grant
Eva Marie Saint
James Mason
Jessie Royce Landis
Martin Landau

Ad exec Roger Thornhill (Grant) is mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies. On the run from the spies, as well as law enforcement all over the country, Roger has also become a fugitive. He desperately tries to clear his name and get to the bottom of things. The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, stomps on the gas pedal this time, giving us a more action-packed movie than usual. It's not as atmospheric and multi-layered as most of his other work but plenty suspenseful, nonetheless. Those action scenes are still a sight to behold, only unable to mask their age when showing someone falling from great heights. As expected, with a greater emphasis on thrills, it's not quite the cerebral affair we expect of Hitchcock and shows cracks under scrutiny. For instance, how do the bad guys come upon Thornhill and decide he's this other guy? However, the rest of the movie is so well mady, you willingly play along. Having Cary Grant in the lead helps tremendously. The chemistry between he and leading lady Eva Marie Saint is perfect as they speak deliciously over-the-top, even raunchy dialogue to one another, without ever swearing. Add all the twists and turns of the plot, which Hitchcock handles with ease and you get a movie that's not only fun but filled with iconic moments and that provides a template for many action and/or mistaken identity movies to use in the years following it's release.

MY SCORE: 10/10

[dell71]

Fuck all the movies I wanted your opinion on aren't on your list. You haven't seen the invention of lying, a perfect getaway, 28 weeks later, gamer, or ANY of the american pie movies? wtf

Eeeeeeeaaaaasssssyyyyyyyy...

The movies in this thread are NOT all the movies I've ever seen...

That said, I haven't seen The Invention of Lying or A Perfect Getaway, YET.

I have not seen 28 Weeks Later but that's by choice. I'm one of the few who did not like 28 Days Later so take that for whatever it's worth.

I have seen the first 5 American Pie movies. The 1st is a classic, the i2nd is pretty good, the third was meh & the dvd versions suck.

[Maynard]

north by northwest is awesome. Nice review. I am not a fan of the classics, but thats a great movie

[dell71]

:SHOCKED:

28 Weeks later wasn't that great, but unless you just have a thing against zombie movies, I don't see how you didn't like 28 Days.

Too much gore?

Hardly. Please look up any of the horror reviews I've done (plus movies like Crank: High Voltage and Punisher: War Zone) and I think you'll see that gore is not a problem for me. If you're still not convinced, I'm even a fan of the Saw series (though none reviewed in this thread, yet) and if you go back to my review for both versions of My Bloody Valentine you'll see I blasted the original for not having much gore at all & praised the remake for having a good deal of it. Or just click back 2 or 3 pages and read the review for I Spit on Your Grave.

To your point about having a thing against zombie movies, I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of them but I can certainly admit to liking ones I think are good (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Planet Terror, Zombieland and a few others here & there). I just thought 28 Days just didn't do it for me. Sorry.

[Leftwich]

Eeeeeeeaaaaasssssyyyyyyyy...

The movies in this thread are NOT all the movies I've ever seen...

That said, I haven't seen The Invention of Lying or A Perfect Getaway, YET.

I have not seen 28 Weeks Later but that's by choice. I'm one of the few who did not like 28 Days Later so take that for whatever it's worth.

I have seen the first 5 American Pie movies. The 1st is a classic, the i2nd is pretty good, the third was meh & the dvd versions suck.

28 Weeks Later is worth seeing. Not a great movie but something worth watching.

As for the American Pie movies I the theatrical versions were great except for the third. All the DVD movies were fun not good movies. I tended to like Beta House the most.

[Buzzman]

if it helps, Cillian Murphy isnt in 28 weeks later, and Rennar from The Hurt Locker is in it.

[dell71]

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Directed by Betty Thomas.
2009. Rated PG, 88 minutes.
Cast:
Justin Long
Matthew Gray Gubler
Jesse McCartney
Zachary Levi
David Cross
Jason Lee
Amy Poehler
Anna Farris
Christina Applegate
Wendie Malick

Plot: The Chipmunks go to high school and have to deal with cliques, changing attitudes and the Chipettes

The Good: Much like the original, it's a great looking movie. The Chipmunks are excellently rendered. Our talking chipmunks look like real, live, talking...um...chipmunks. Young fans will likely get a kick out of both sets of lovable furries performing already popular tunes. And of course, the morality it tries to convey is easy to grasp.

The Bad: The never-ending stream of pratfalls and jock verses nerd jokes are painfully unfunny. By the way, this includes Alvin making the school football team. It's all lame filler between songs. The again, those songs are all sang in those sped-up record chipmunk voices so you can either take that or leave it (wow, records - remember those?). Where the first was whimsical, cute and above all else nostalgic, this one suffers from the same problems as the Transformers sequel. It's louder and faster but much emptier. More importantly, the novelty of seeing our heroes on the big screen has worn off.

The Ugly: Simon gets a swirlie.

Recommendation: If you have kids who like the original, or you yourself are a Chipmunks fan, have at it and tell me I'm wrong. If not, steer clear, it's exactly what you think it is.

The Opposite View: Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times

What the Internet Says: 3.2/10 on imdb.com (1/26/10), 21% on rottentomatoes.com, 41/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 2.5/10

[dell71]

28 Weeks Later is worth seeing. Not a great movie but something worth watching.

As for the American Pie movies I the theatrical versions were great except for the third. All the DVD movies were fun not good movies. I tended to like Beta House the most.

Maybe one day, I'll break down & watch 28 Weeks...can't promise it, though.

Of the DVD American Pie flicks I saw Band Camp & I believe Beta House. Like you said fun but dumb.

[Leftwich]

Maybe one day, I'll break down & watch 28 Weeks...can't promise it, though.

Of the DVD American Pie flicks I saw Band Camp & I believe Beta House. Like you said fun but dumb.

After that you should review The Lost Boys.

[dell71]

I read this thread a lot, though I haven't posted in it until now. I agree with most of your reviews, you have a great taste in film (though how can you like zombie films but not enjoy 28 Days later :p - have you seen 30 Days of Night?).

I've heard Un Prophete is amazing. I plan on watching it sometime in the next few days. Have you heard of it?

You misread it a little bit...I'm not a big zombie movie fan, actually don't like them all that much. I just named a few that I do like.

And 30 Days of Night is a vampire flick...but you already knew that. Yes, I've seen it. More on that in another post.

After that you should review The Lost Boys.

One of my fave vampire flicks. More on that in another thread all together. Later.

[Buzzman]

I forsee a top 10 vampire flick list