Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dave]

really? economically during his eyars America was great wasnt it?

Great if you were already wealthy, but the poor got fucked during the Reagan era.

Reagan a great TV orator, no doubt, but he's the most overrated president in U.S. history by a wide margin.

Republicans make him into more than what he was, because he was their last real hope.

In reality, he had no clue about real life, was likely already stricken with full-blown Alzheimers while in power, and was already taking part in illegal arms for hostage deals.

 

[Senser81]

I'm in the minority, but I'm not a fan of The Departed. The plot was complex, but not necessarily engrossing because I didn't really care for any of the characters. I couldn't take Jack Nicholsen seriously. Alec Baldwin was funny, but because he was so bad. I think it won awards because Scorsese had been shut out for so many years. After I watched the movie, it basically went out of my mind. It didn't really stick with me.

 

[Bigpapa42]

V for Vendetta the most overrated piece of crap ever.
I love Natalie Portman, but that movie sucked.
Trying to pass off the message that Bush sucks through a movie is fine, but this movie sucked.

I guess you could see the politics in the film as a commentary on contemporary American politics... except the film is a pretty direct adaption of the graphic novel, which was a commentary on contemporary British politics during the Thatcher era by an English writer. Truly, people who see the film as a commentary on contemporary modern American politics are seeing what they want to see. There are some parallels and such, but it was not the intent of the film and it could not have been the intent of graphic novel.

 

[FirstTimer]

Great if you were already wealthy, but the poor got fucked during the Reagan era.

Reagan a great TV orator, no doubt, but he's the most overrated president in U.S. history by a wide margin.

Republicans make him into more than what he was, because he was their last real hope.

In reality, he had no clue about real life, was likely already stricken with full-blown Alzheimers while in power, and was already taking part in illegal arms for hostage deals.

Bullshit as usual. Most any other group of historians getting together to make lists of the top Presidents always have Reagan ranked highly.

Actual history>>>>Dave's partisan hackery.

LOL at Iran-Contra being that big of a deal. Clinton did essentially the same damn thing in the 90's in the Balkans and most historians can't even for sure say Reagan for sure knew the extent of the issue because of his hands off managing style.

Similar to Harding and Teapot Dome.

Also find it funny you bitch about the poor under Reagan seeing as many of those were a direct or indirect result of Carter's failed economic policies.

Reagan wasn't perfect and made mistakes but give me a break with this partisan BS.

 

[Senser81]

Dave's political revisionist history is so skewed he listed BlyGilmore as the top MM moderator in history.

 

[FirstTimer]

Clearly it was BigWill.

 

[dell71]

Why in God's name did you watch this? We're asking you to be our movie reviewer, not fall on a sword.

I can live with you watching the odd episode of Gossip Girl (Leighton Meester is hot), but no man should be forced to watch High School Musical 1, 3 or 58 ... unless they're gay and like Zac Efron.

It may not have been clear from the review but I have 2 daughters (ages 8 & 6). Occasionally, I succumb to incessant pleas of doe-eyed young'uns saying "Daddy, please watch this with us." Anyone who has kids, especially daughters, understands.

V for Vendetta was fucking great. Not sure how you didn't like it. Easily one of the best movies I've seen.

Lol @ it being about Bush.

V for Vendetta the most overrated piece of crap ever.
I love Natalie Portman, but that movie sucked.
Trying to pass off the message that Bush sucks through a movie is fine, but this movie sucked.

I've come to accept that V for Vendetta is very much a "love it" or "hate it" film. My own brother hates it & doesn't understand why I don't. Oh well, it is what it is.

 

[NAHSTE]

Why in God's name did you watch this? We're asking you to be our movie reviewer, not fall on a sword.

I can live with you watching the odd episode of Gossip Girl (Leighton Meester is hot), but no man should be forced to watch High School Musical 1, 3 or 58 ... unless they're gay and like Zac Efron.

I've watched the first two and they actually aren't so bad. If you have a beer handy there are some great drinking games associated with the movie. Basically whenever something gay happens, shout out "gay" and everyone has to drink. So throughout the entire movie, you're getting wasted.

I'm in the minority, but I'm not a fan of The Departed. The plot was complex, but not necessarily engrossing because I didn't really care for any of the characters. I couldn't take Jack Nicholsen seriously. Alec Baldwin was funny, but because he was so bad. I think it won awards because Scorsese had been shut out for so many years. After I watched the movie, it basically went out of my mind. It didn't really stick with me.

I'll agree that the movie winning Best Picture was a big make-up call to Scorcese. And I'll also agree that it was far from perfect as a movie. For someone who has watched it at least 50 times, I can say that there is some really shoddy editing in that movie, and some scenes that could've been left out, or done better, etc. I also slightly disagree with the blatant rat symbolism in the final shot.

Even with these criticisms, it is still one of my favorite movies of all time. I know it isn't perfect, but for me, it is perfect. The cast is great, the script is full of good quotables, the plot is simple enough for anyone to follow yet provides you with some extra layers, and it's directed by one of the best of all time.

Slightly overrated as it was/is, it's still awesome.

 

[dell71]

The Orphanage AKA El Orfanato
2008. Rated R, 105 minutes.
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona. Starring Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep, Mabel Rivera.

Plot: Laura (Rueda) is a former orphan who now has an adopted son of her own, Simon (Princep). Together, with her husband Carlos (Cayo), they now live in a mansion that happens to have once been the orphanage where Laura spent much of her childhood. Simon seems to have lots of imaginary friends. When Simon goes missing, Laura suspects these "friends."

The Good: Director Juan Antonio Bayona shows great restraint. It would've been easy to ramp up the horror angles of the story and throw lots of cheap thrills on the screen. Instead, he focuses more on Laura's loosening grip on reality and the effect of Simon's disappearance on her and Carlos' relationship. This makes it a creepier film and adds power to its ending. To pull this off, Bayona needed a really strong performance out of lead actress Belen Rueda and he got it.

The Bad: The movie moves a bit too slow, dragging in places. Husband Carlos is not involved enough in the proceedings. He gets to a point we expect him to but he seems to get there too easily. It's almost like it's not really "that" big a deal to him Simon is missing. People that go into this expecting a straight horror flick might be disappointed.

The Ugly: Carlos tries to give someone in need mouth-to-mouth...but...um...half their mouth is missing.

Recommendation: This is a solid supernatural flick. It's got a creepy vibe to it and actually feels like a mix of Poltergeist and 1408. It's a little slow in spots but its ending makes up for it. It's probably the best horror movie of 2008. Warning to subtitleophobes: This one is "presented by" (I hate that term in movies) Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro and like that one is in Spanish.

The Opposite View: Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out New York

What the Internet Says: 7.7/10 on imdb.com (2/25/09), 86% on rottentomatoes.com, 74/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7/10

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
2008. Rated PG, 89 minutes.
Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath. Starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Bernie Mac.
On the flight home from Madagascar, the gang crash lands in Africa. More of the same as the original. The key word here is more. Lots of laughs make it more than tolerable, even enjoyable for parents. The surprise show-stealer is Will-I-Am of the Black Eyed Peas using an unrecognizable Barry White-esque voice as the velvet smooth, chunky lovin', playa hippo Moto Moto. Since 2008 was a particularly strong year for animated features, in my very humble opinion, it doesn't really deserve to be mentioned among the year's best. Still, it's a very fun movie with a solid moral delivered in a Aesop-like manner. Basically, decide whether or not to see this based on how you feel about the original. MY SCORE: 7/10

 

[Senser81]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKlRt0yWJAM[/media]

Eaten Alive - 10/10

 

[FirstTimer]

Random movie thoughts from ya Dell.

What'd you think of Eternal Sunshine?

It's my fiancees favorite movie but I came away from it kind of "meh". Enjoyable but nothing over the top great like some make it out to be.

 

[dell71]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKlRt0yWJAM[/media]

Eaten Alive - 10/10

HA! That's totally up my alley!


Firsttimer: I have to side with your fiancee on this one. It's one of my faves as well. But, like other movies dealing with memory related issues (Memento in particular), it can be a bit tiresome to watch for some.

 

[FirstTimer]

Ok ok fine. Well how about the most recent Rambo? Thoughts?

I think it's the greatest movie of all time.

I'll stop bugging you after this one....maybe.

 

[dell71]

Ok ok fine. Well how about the most recent Rambo? Thoughts?

I think it's the greatest movie of all time.

I'll stop bugging you after this one....maybe.

Pure, exciting "turn your brain off" popcorn fun! I wouldn't really call it "engaging cinema" but I definitely had a blast watching it. Just watching all the bodies come apart was worth the rental fee I paid, plot be damned. 100% "guy movie".

For anyone that did pay attention to what little plot/dialogue there was will note it's an extremely cynical movie. Then again, who watches a Rambo movie for anything but action?

I don't know if you've seen this scorecard but it sums up the manliness of Sly's latest:

 

[FirstTimer]

Yeah I guess I just have different movie tastes than a lot of people My 5 favorite movies of all time are:

Saving Private Ryan
Gladiator
Rudy
The Sandlot
The Patriot/Dances with Wolves/Field of Dreams

What ya think? *braces for impact*

 

[JeremyHight]

... I cannot believe someone thinks V for Vendetta isn't about Bush. The original writer of the graphic novel even said the graphic novel had been "specifically about things like fascism and anarchy. Those words, 'fascism' and 'anarchy,' occur nowhere in the film. It's been turned into a Bush-era parable by people too timid to set a political satire in their own country."

Yes, the original graphic novel was written in the 80s about Thatcher and the ideals of facism vs anarchy, but for anyone who has read/seen both knows that the two are nothing alike. Personally, I love Moore's work, but think V For Vendetta the graphic novel and film are both lacking. The film was just stupid, though.

Personally, I think Moore's best work to date is From Hell, the graphic novel, not the movie.

 

[Buzzman]

I thought the Orphanage was only ni Spanish

 

[dell71]

Yeah I guess I just have different movie tastes than a lot of people My 5 favorite movies of all time are:

Saving Private Ryan
Gladiator
Rudy
The Sandlot
The Patriot/Dances with Wolves/Field of Dreams

What ya think? *braces for impact*

No need for bracing, great choices. Though I must confess, I've never sat completely through The Sandlot (hmmm...maybe one for me & the kids) or seen The Patriot at all (not sure how that happened).

I thought the Orphanage was only ni Spanish

Hence, the "warning to subtitleophobes" in the Recommendations section of the review.

 

[Bigpapa42]

... I cannot believe someone thinks V for Vendetta isn't about Bush. The original writer of the graphic novel even said the graphic novel had been "specifically about things like fascism and anarchy. Those words, 'fascism' and 'anarchy,' occur nowhere in the film. It's been turned into a Bush-era parable by people too timid to set a political satire in their own country.".

The comic's author is also notoriosly against screen adaptations of his work. Pretty sure he's spoken out against Watchmen, too, which is one of the most faithful and direct adaptions from source to film I've ever seen. David Lloyd, illustrator and who also apparently did some writing on V for Vendetta, likes the film.

Do I see how you can find parallels from the film to the Bush administration? Sure. You can also do the same thing from the graphic novel, and that obviously wasn't intended at that point. I have a couple of other issues with the film being looked at that way. For one, crerating a political commentary on contemporary politics that is set in a different era in a different country is lacking in relevence. Two, the screenplay was adapted by the Wachowski brothers, and I honestly don't know their politics. They don't do much in the way of publicity, so I don't know if they've ever spoken out against Bush in any manner. Unless you also view The Matrix series as one big commentary on Bush as well. The director was James McTeigue, and again, don't know his politics. You would think that someone crafting a $55 million political message would be pretty outspoken on their political beliefs...?

I believe that if you are looking them, you can find political messages in all forms of entertainment. Some might be intended but most are not. I actually read a blog post somewhere - and I think it was intended as serious - from someone who couldn't enjoy the 2008 version of Death Race because they felt it was intended as a political commentary. Not that they couldn't enjoy it because it was mindless, stupid, and overall badly done. No, its because they felt the female warden who revelled in violence had to represent George Bush and blah blah blah.

 

[NAHSTE]

Yeah I guess I just have different movie tastes than a lot of people My 5 favorite movies of all time are:

Saving Private Ryan
Gladiator
Rudy
The Sandlot
The Patriot/Dances with Wolves/Field of Dreams

What ya think? *braces for impact*

Very fucking solid top 5. I only add the fucking for emphasis, and because I've had 4 or so beers and I have very much marijuana on me and in me. But I can't argue with a single movie on that list.

No need for bracing, great choices. Though I must confess, I've never sat completely through The Sandlot (hmmm...maybe one for me & the kids) or seen The Patriot at all (not sure how that happened).

I think you would love Sandlot even without the kids, Dell. It's actually a pretty solid watch as an adult too. I caught it on HBO last night and couldn't believe how moved I still was. The acting is so-so, but the writing is as good as it gets for that genre. And the character bonds between the kids just feel so real. Ultimately, this movie encapsulates what the 1990s were for me (which is weird since it is set in the late 50s lol). As Palooza can attest, I devoted a very emotional facebook status to the movie last night. As you can see, I have a soft spot for it, so I'm rather biased in my estimation, but by all means watch this movie.