Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[Fox1994]

I think it that case she's trying to tell you not to be such an annoying frat boy who quotes movies all the time, but doesn't have the heart to tell you.

I don't groan often. I generally find it unnecessary, pretentious folly. You've earned it. Douchebag.

 

[JayDizzle]

Avoid this, Dell.

It is awful.

 

[Fox1994]

Good looking out. Now I won't waste my time on that shit. It looked pretty terrible anyway.

 

[NAHSTE]

Yeah that movie looked retarded. I was surprised that anyone was even anticipating that.

 

[dell71]

Avoid this, Dell.

It is awful.

So, of course, you just piqued my interest. I won't be rushing out to see but probably will at some point.

 

[dell71]

Duplicity
Directed by Tony Gilroy.
2009. Rated PG-13, 125 minutes.
Cast:
Julia Roberts
Clive Owen
Tom Wilkinson
Paul Giamatti
Dan Daily
Oleg Shtefanko
Rick Worthy
Lisa Roberts Gillan​

Plot: Two former government spies, for different governments, have both become corporate spies, for competing companies. They also become lovers, both uneasy with their relationship. Together, they hatch a get rich quick scheme but neither is sure they can trust the other.

The Good: It's a lively affair. The banter between Owen and Roberts is witty and charming. The two seem to have an easy chemistry that carries the movie without any strain. In fact, the movie works best during their scenes together. Well, except for when either Paul Giamatti or Tom Wilkinson, as our heroes respective bosses, are on the screen. They are both brilliant in limited playtime. The story does a really nice job of keeping us in the dark about the true motives of the lovely couple. Throw them in with the teams they each work with and we're never quite sure who is, or isn't double-crossing whom.

The Bad: In the movies, time is simply a tool to be used at the director's discretion. He/she may choose to exaggerate it, accelerate it, or jump back and forth within it, among other things. Jumping back and forth can only feel natural, and therefore effective, if that's how the story unfolds best. If not, it feels gimmicky, like it does here. The plot contains enough of it's own twists and turns that the time traveling is superfluous and gives the whole thing a convoluted feel. It would benefit from a much more linear approach.

The Ugly: How deprived is the poor travel agent who loses her job, if she feels what she got out of it is worth it.

Recommendation: It's a fun and solid spy vs. spy...and spy loving spy comedy with an intriguing game of cat and mouse going on. As mention, the back and forth through time can be a bit distracting in this particular movie, but certainly no deal-breaker. Plus, we get a wonderful ending that makes up for a lot of it's sins.

The Opposite View: Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

What the Internet Says: 6.4/10 on imdb.com (1/23/10), 65% on rottentomatoes.com, 69/100 on metacritic.com

MY SCORE: 7/10​

 

[JayDizzle]

So, of course, you just piqued my interest. I won't be rushing out to see but probably will at some point.

Make sure to pregame a little bit before hand (booze or whatever vice you may have) so it'll at least be enjoyable.

After that, consider why you didn't go see The Tooth Fairy instead.

 

[Fox1994]

I hate something about Clive Owen.

 

[red33]

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.

HAHAHAHAHA i thought i was the only one who ever seen this movie.

 

[Maize]

Dell, I missed the movie reviews. Glad you're doing them here. I agree with you on Duplicity, pretty decent movie.

 

[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.