Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

Sugar
2009. Rated PG-13*, 114 minutes.
Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck.
Starring Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Jose Rijo, Andre Holland.

Plot: Miguel Santos (Soto), nicknamed Sugar, is a young pitcher from a poor neighborhood in the Dominican Republic. We follow him as he tries to make it to Major League Baseball.

The Good: This is a baseball movie unlike most that have been made. It's more about a young man's coming of age through his journey in life than about the game itself. This is despite the fact that there is plenty of baseball throughout. We see the sport defining him, at first, then him wrestling with that definition. Algenis Perez Soto gives us a wonderful performance that makes the whole movie tick. In him, we see a young man going through some intense growing pains. He gives us this without resorting to a bunch of big, showy moments like we see from the Oscar winners every year yet, it's still one of my favorite performances of the year. The directing team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck help in this aspect as well by pacing the movie beautifully. It doesn't just rush us from one big game to the next like most sports flicks. It sort of moseys along, the way a minor leaguers' career might, but it never drags. The icing on the the cake, for me at least, is it has the courage to give us one of those ambiguous endings I love so much. As an audience, we're not sure how we're supposed to feel about the place in Sugar's journey where we stop watching. Leaving us something to ponder gives the film resonance.

The Bad: This is all nit-picking. An interesting dynamic develops between Sugar and the daughter of the family he lives with while playing 'A' ball. We sense she's a major reason his English improves but aren't really told as much. More troubling is how things are left between the two. It plays out the way it probably should but we'd like to hear her side of things. I also would've liked to hear Sugar deal with his homesickness a bit more. This would've added another layer of depth.

The Ugly: Discovering the great American freedom of ordering porn to your hotel room.

Recommendation: If you enjoy character studies at all, see this movie. If you're looking for a baseball flick, see this movie. In fact, just see this movie. I feel very comfortable saying its among the best baseball movies I've ever seen. I also feel very comfortable saying it won't be see enough to attain such lofty status. Of course, the other disclaimer is there are no "Rocky" type moments, supernatural occurrences or slapstick comedy. Those things aside, perhaps because of them, its an awesome sports movie that seems destined to be underappreciated, even by people who see it. Subtitleophobes beware, most of the movie is in Spanish.

The Opposite View: Kimberley Jones, Austin Chronicle

What the Internet Says: 7.3/10 on imdb.com (9/23/09), 93% on rottentomatoes.com, 82/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 10/10


* Apparently, the theatrical release was Rated R but has been edited down to PG-13 on the DVD version.

 

[padman59]

Now I'm really interested to see Sugar. I stumbled upon it last week, and it sounded like a solid movie. It's moving to the top of my queue now.

 

[dell71]

Now I'm really interested to see Sugar. I stumbled upon it last week, and it sounded like a solid movie. It's moving to the top of my queue now.

I hope you like it. I really did & judging by the tomatometer (93%) and metacritic (average score of 82/100 by critics, I'm not alone.

Just bring your reading glasses - most of it is in Spanish. (Edited review to include that fact).

 

[dell71]

Next Day Air
2009. Rated R, 84 minutes.
Director: Benny Boom
Starring Donald Faison, Wood Harris, Mike Epps, Omari Hardwick.

Plot: A package containing cocaine is shipped "next day air" and delivered to the wrong address. Gangsta style hijinks and shenanigans ensue.

The Good: It takes the Guy Ritchie gangster-comedy formula and endows it with hood sensibilities. Wisely, the movie is centered on its two funniest characters, Gooch (Harris) and Brody (Epps). The banter between them is sharp and funny. The two really pull off being a pair of dimwits who both think they're criminal masterminds and as contentious as their relationship is, they still show us an obviously high level of friendship. To go a little further, most of the characters aren't too bright and the movie gets a lot of mileage out of this.

The Bad: It uses the Guy Ritchie gangster-comedy formula but doesn't go quite far enough to really pull it off. The basics are there: a group of people come into possession of something they know is valuable but aren't exactly pros at handling it, while others who don't know them, or even that they have it, try to track down said valuable items. Well, it dumbs things down by not having as many characters as necessary to a)keep the audience guessing and the item moving around and b)keep the movie going, hence the brief 84 minute runtime. What we end up with is an abbreviated version of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels that ends where that movie simply changes directions. Oh, and if you can get Mos Def, and to a lesser extent Debbie Allen, in your movie they need more than a few short moments of screen time each. Especially Def's character, who had loads of potential.

The Ugly: "Y'all did." See it and you'll understand why those two words are comic-gold.

The Opposite View: Clay Cane, BET.com

What the Internet Says: 6.1/10 on imdb.com (9/25/09), 20% on rottentomatoes.com, 46/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 6/10

 

[Buzzman]

damn Mos Def wasnt it it that much? I remember the trailer had him all voer this.

 

[SHOGUN]

damn Mos Def wasnt it it that much? I remember the trailer had him all voer this.

Yeah, I was kinda gassed to see this because of Flaco Bey, but to see that he's not in it that much makes me sad.

 

[dell71]

damn Mos Def wasnt it it that much? I remember the trailer had him all voer this.

That's about as much as he's in it.

 

[dell71]

Crank: High Voltage
2009. Rated R, 96 minutes.
Directors: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor.
Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Bai Ling, Dwight Yoakam.

Plot: After falling from a helicopter and apparently dying at the end of Crank, Chev Chelios (Statham) is literally scraped off the street by some bad guys. They revive him and steal his heart, replacing it with an artificial one hooked to a small battery. Once he wakes up, mayhem ensues.

The Good: It's absolutely ridiculous. Hardly a minute goes by in which something insane doesn't happen. While on his quest to get his ticker back, our hero has to find ways to literally keep his battery charged, and like the original, this movie is wildly creative in that area. In fact, this movie is wildly creative in just about every aspect while simultaneously not at all trying to be "good" in the traditional sense. It's humor is nothing short of wicked and goes the extra mile to offend those given to taking offense. In short, nothing about this movie is the least bit serious and nothing is off limits, including that bit of awkwardness you feel when you see the role David Carradine plays. And for those with fond memories of the 80s, there's a Corey Haim sighting.

The Bad: It's absolutley ridiculous. Hardly a minute goes by in which something insane doesn't happen. As a result, some viewers will be quickly overwhelmed and turned off. Basically, its just too stupid and repulsive for some people. Oh, and I get the impression that Bai Ling is either desperate for money or desperate to star in American films. She couldn't possibly have played a more stereotypical role.

The Ugly: This movie has fetish for abusing male genitals.

Recommendation: If you can't find constant murder, maiming and misogyny funny, stay far away. If you decide to give it a shot, don't take even one second of it seriously or you'll doom yourself to hating this movie. Simply put, its so bad its awesome!

The Opposite View: Is there really an opposite view when you know its terrible and love it anyway?

What the Internet Says: 6.6/10 on imdb.com (9/26/09), 62% on rottentomatoes.com, 41/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: -10/10

 

[dope]

Simply put, its so bad its awesome!

couldn't agree more

 

[dell71]

The Uninvited
2009. Rated PG-13, 87 minutes.
Directors: Charles Guard, Thomas Guard.
Starring Emily Browning, Arielle Kebbel, Elizabeth Banks, David Strathairn.

Plot: A year or so after her mother died in a horrible fire, Anna (Browning) comes home from the mental institution. Of course, she still has ghastly visions and nightmares, a whiny older sister and dad's new girlfriend, and mom's ex-caretaker, appears to be...e-e-evil...muwahahahahaha...ahem...sorry. Anyhoo, it's a remake of the Korean movie A Tale of Two Sisters.

The Good: Whenever Anna starts seeing stuff, we get some fantastic visuals. There's not a drop of blood until very late in the movie but the sights are arresting, nonetheless. The twist at the end has been done before but its still fairly effective and almost enough to redeem the movie.

The Bad: It just plods along, re-enacting bits of better horror movies we've already seen. Though it's a remake of A Tale of Two Sisters, the movies that most readily come to mind are Pet Sematary and The Sixth Sense as it borrows heavily from both. Even if you don't see that comparison, there's another major problem: Elizabeth Banks is horribly miscast. She's supposed to be creepy, even a bit of a scary prospect for a stepmom but she can't quite pull it off. This is no knock on her acting ability in general, but she just doesn't seem to have a real dark side to pull from. It's too easy to tell that she's manufacturing vaguely mischevious facial expressions and delivers many of her lines flatly, mistaking monotone for menacing. The overall effect is we don't believe she had to do much of the conniving attributed to her to get into dad's bed. She's simply the hot blonde hanging around after his wife died; a wife that couldn't give him any for quite awhile anyway. Sorry to be blunt. Speaking of the dad, he's played by David Strathairn whom I respect a great deal as an actor. However, he seems to be slumming for a paycheck.

The Ugly: The wanna-be boyfriend's back bends at a rather impressive angle.

Recommendation: Fans of The Sixth Sense will likely eat this up and proclaim it an awesome movie. For me, it was way too formulaic, moved way too slow. Seriously, I had no idea 87 minutes could take so long. Still, the last 15 minutes or so elevates the rest of it, making it an overall decent watch that comes up a bit short. Personally, I'm going to seek out the original.

The Opposite View: Kurt Loder, MTV

What the Internet Says: 6.3/10 on imdb.com (9/28/09), 32% on rottentomatoes.com, 43/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 5/10

 

[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.