Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

hey, another hornet...

The Green Hornet
<strong>Directed by Michel Gondry.</strong>
<em>2011. Rated PG-13, 119 minutes.
Cast:
Seth Rogen
Jay Chou
Cameron Diaz
Christoph Waltz
Tom Wilkinson
David Harbour
Edward James Olmos
Jamie Harris
James Franco
Edward Furlong</em>​

Britt Reid (Rogen) is the “party all the time” heir to his daddy’s newspaper empire. He loves his dad, but doesn’t much like the old guy (Wilkinson). He is also suddenly put in charge when pop dies from an apparent bee sting. He recruits his father’s mechanic, Kato (Chou) to help him vandalize the statue built in dad’s honor and unveiled at the funeral. By the way, Kato is basically a combination of Q from the James Bond movies and Bruce Lee who, of course, played Kato in “The Green Hornet” TV series way back when. Anyhoo, while out cutting the head off dad’s statue, Britt and Kato find themselves stopping a couple from getting mugged, or worse, on the street. This provides the newly acquainted drinking buddies the impetus to don masks and try to clean up Los Angeles. Dubbed The Green Hornet after a pow-wow session at the newspaper, Reid and Kato soon draw the ire of Chudnofsky (Waltz), who controls the city’s crime and seems to be going through a midlife crisis. Chudnofsky also thinks the Hornet is trying to take over his business.

Let’s cut to the chase. If you’re a fan of the original TV series, this probably isn’t for you. If you take superheroes with any measure of seriousness, this isn’t for you, either. This is not <em>Kick-Ass</em> or <em>Scott Pilgrim vs. the World</em> which both ably spoof comic books and movies while simultaneously romanticizing them. Nor is this <em>Iron Man</em> with a clever, smart-alec sense of humor that fits the character perfectly. This is just goofy.

“The Green Hornet” has always borrowed heavily from the Batman franchise. However, this incarnation maintains none of what makes the Caped Crusader compelling. Here, Britt is merely a frat boy let off his leash. Even through to the end, he seems much less like a hero than a self-serving attention whore. I haven’t even mention how murder is pretty much a sport for him with the criminal backgrounds of the victims serving as his permission slip.

With all of that said, there still manages to be an element of fun to the proceedings. The jokes keep flying in, distracting us from the inferior comic book writing. Some are funny, some are not. How much you like Seth Rogen may determine how well the jokes work for you. A lot of mileage is gotten out of the inherent homo-eroticism of two men bonding over their toys while parading around town in costumes. There is also a lot made of Reid’s incompetence and the pair passive-aggressively competing for the girl (Diaz). Again, some of this works and some doesn’t.

As expected, our other distraction is the action. There’s more than enough to go around. Plenty of things blow up, lots of glass is broken and ample punches and kicks are thrown. The pre-requisite ridiculousness is present, really getting amped up during the finale. This makes it a surprisingly quick two hours. Still, if you dare compare it to other hero tales, it sinks like a canoe taking on gallons of water.

<strong>MY SCORE: 5.5/10</strong>​

 

[KillaK]

You should watch the movie Fat Head. Its pretty much anti Supersize me. The guy in this movie eats fast food for a month and loses weight, he does it by eating burgers and stuff too. It gets really deep with the info and he exposes how the food industry has pretty much lied to people for years.

 

[KillaK]

Oh and I was thinking since you always do top ten list that you should do your favorite movies of all time, that would be pretty awesome.

 

[dave]

Oh, I don't really count Tokyo Drift as a real movie. To me, it's so bad, it entertains me. 2 Fast 2 Furious makes me mad when I watch it.

I'm not saying Tokyo Drift was a great movie, but I didn't mind it. Stupid, mindless entertainment.
I didn't go into it expecting the original Fast and Furious or Othello.
Frankly, I like all the Fast and Furious movies ... I must be uncultured.

 

[dell71]

For Colored Girls
<strong>Directed by Tyler Perry.</strong>
<em>2010. Rated R, 133 minutes.
Cast:
Kimberly Elise
Loretta Devine
Thandie Newton
Janet Jackson
Anika Noni Rose
Kerry Washington
Phylicia Rashad
Whoopi Goldberg
Michael Ealy
Omari Hardwick
Hill Harper</em>​

Three troubled women live next to one another in a walk-up apartment building. Crystal (Elise) has a live-in baby daddy that is just home from “the war”. Apparently driven crazy by his experience, he drinks all day long and slaps her and the kids around. Tangie (Newton) literally brings a different man home every night from the bar she works in, has a religious fanatic mom (Goldberg) that pops up from time to time demanding money and a little sister she can’t stand. Gilda (Rashad) is the least troubled, but tries her best to help the younger ladies and doesn’t seem to be having much success.

Very quickly, we meet some more ladies with problems. There’s Jo (Jackson), a magazine tycoon who is suffering through a bad marriage and some sort of health problem. If you’ve paid any attention to Tyler Perry’s previous work, you should figure out what’s wrong with her in about ten minutes. Kelly (Washington) is a social worker married to a cop and has a health issue of her own. Juanita (Devine) has a part-time boyfriend that moves in and out of her apartment at will, or more accurately, at the whim of his other woman. Then there’s Yasmine (Rose), the local dnace-teacher. She appears to be worry free. How long do you think that will last?

The ladies struggle with their issues and often have heart-wrenching moments. These moments will lead to many to hail it as Perry’s crowning achievement, artistically. That really isn’t saying much, but the point is taken. The director takes a more adult approach to his material and actually goes straight for drama. The bit of humor that is sprinkled in is much more derived from the human condition than his usual over the top slapstick. The overzealous attempts at comedy present in his other films never show up here. There are no buffoons in loud clouthing, no old people smoking weed and thankfully no signs of Perry in drag. What we’re left with are these women and their pain.

Their pain drives the movie. It’s the crutch Perry leans on, rather effectively I might add. This part is easy for him because he’s always had two things going for him. First, he knows his target audience. It is no secret that target is African-American females. He has a good feel for what moves them emotionally and how to concoct just the right amount of melodrama to rile enough of them up. Second, he always elicits strong work from his cast. Across the board, the performances are fantastic.

In <em>For Colored Girls</em>, Perry is a skilled illusionist. As one powerfully acted scene after another depicts painful occurrences he knows many in his audience relate to, all too well, the illusion is we’re watching a great movie. The fact is all thes wonderful scenes don’t quite gel into a cohesive unit. They’re short snippets of people, mostly women, pouring their hearts out quite literally through their tear ducts. Yes, there is lots of crying. The actors eagerly and earnestly attack their lines, leaving us and them exhausted from the effort. Unfortunately, the story the scenes combine to tell is predictable and uninspired man-bashing. Far in advance, we can see what’s coming. This stems from something the Tyler Perry canon is plagued by. It seems that in his world, Black men who aren’t the embodiment of pure evil are a rare commodity, except for the clowns of his other movies, of course. What happens is the scenes eventually devolve into a string of tragedies with hardly enough triumph to notice. To help us with this as much as possible, Perry eschews his normal all curing trip to church with another chick-flick cliché remedy, the group hug. Seriously.

As much formula is evident, there is some serious ambition with regards to dialogue. The first thing is the free-flowing of four, seven and twelve letter words that earn ‘R’ ratings. For most, this is not a big deal in any way. For Perry, it runs the serious risk of alienating his most ardent fans. Within the rather large and diverse population of Black women, the seemingly unshakeable core of his audience is those who regularly attend church. His work is seen as religious, with a secular slant. This brazenly flips the agenda.

The other risk is with how much he incorporates the source material. For those that don’t know, <em>FCG</em> is based on the play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.” Written by Ntozake Shange, it’s really a collection of poems centered around several characters. It had a pretty decent run onstage in the mid-seventies, even being nominated for the “Best Play” Tony and winning a number of other awards. I was intrigued going in because even though I’ve never seen the play, I have read it. Though that’s been long enough ago to forget most of it, I was curious to see how it could translate to the big screen. It’s a wonderful piece of writing that anyone interested in poetry should give a chance. Indeed, large chunks of Shange’s work are directly inserted into the screenplay. Characters talk normally, then suddenly break out in verse. Occasionally, this works to perfection as in the scene in which we’re treated to a cameo by Macy Gray. It’s perfect mix of persona and content provides us with a truly frightening two minutes. Other times, this tactic feels a bit off, or just plain odd. Still, I give him kudos for trying.

<em>FCG</em> is a most difficult movie for me to gauge. So much of it works, I’m tempted to join the ranks of those who swear by it. However, just as much doesn’t work. It reminds me I am a member of the “Tyler Perry Must Be Stopped” club. Approach this with guarded optimism.

<strong>MY SCORE: 5.5/10</em>​

 

[dell71]

The Teacher
<strong>Directed by Howard Avedis.</strong>
<em>1974. Rated R, 98 minutes.
Cast:
Angel Tompkins
Jay North
Anthony James
Marlene Schmidt
Barry Atwater
Med Flory
Rudy Herrera Jr.</em>​

What happens when the person being sexually preyed upon is also a sexual predator? This, and many other intriguing questions probably should be asked, but aren’t even thought about in <em>The Teacher</em>. This movie only one thing its mind: being damned scummy. At this, it succeeds.

Our tale is about tail. That’s no big deal, lots of movies are. I’m not just talking rom-coms here, either. We’re stretching across all genres. The first <em>Spider-Man</em> told us right at the beginning that’s what it’s about. Even <em>Avatar</em> is essentially about tail. Sure it’s blue tail, but it’s tail nonetheless. In those movies, people take a more noble path to get some. What am I babbling about? Okay, I’m getting to the point.

The center of our universe is Diane (Tompkins). She’s a teacher, duh. Local psychopath Ralph (James) is obsessed with her on a level that would make John Hinckley Jr. proud. Google that name, youngsters. Ralph literally follows Diane around and spies on her all day, every day. He’s not terribly discreet, either. She’s well aware he’s usually hot on her…ahem…tail. She even tries confronting him on occasion. Oh yeah, just in case there was any doubt that Ralph is the villain, the movie opens with him staring crazily into a coffin he keeps at an abandoned warehouse next to the town pier. And he drives a hearse. Does he work in a funeral home? How the hell should I know? I just told you all we ever see him do is follow Diane. I can tell you what’s in the coffin, though. Among other stalker gear, he keeps a pair of binoculars to check out his girl while she’s sunbathing topless on her boat.

Let’s pause and talk about the boat. It’s a very nice boat. Not only does Diane own the boat, she owns a big house with a big pool and pushes around town in a shiny new Corvette. No wonder teachers are constantly bitching about money. Apparently, they were making a killing back in 1974!

Oh yeah, psycho, half-naked ladies, I didn’t forget. Mind you, even though she knows this creep is never more than two steps away, she seems to only take her boat out about 100 yards from the pier before she drops her top. Nice. Anyhoo, Ralph’s jollies are interrupted when his little bro shows up with a chum from school to take a gander at their favorite teacher in all her glory. I guess it runs in the family. Being discreet doesn’t, but Ralph hides from them anyway. Meanwhile, little bro and his buddy are brazenly watching Diane from the top of a staircase that runs alongside the building. Way to be inconspicuous, fellas. No longer able to stand the thought of another set of eyeballs ogling his woman, Ralph jumps out and surprises the younger pervs. Little bro is so startled, he falls a couple stories from the top of the staircase and dies. Distraught, or maybe not really, Ralph quickly blames the buddy for killing his brother. By the way, the buddy’s name is Sean. Sean escaping from a similar fate as his friend ensues.

Does Diane notice any of this? Of course not, even though it happens pretty much right in front of her. She’s too busy stretching her limbs, arching her back and otherwise finding ways to make her boobies jiggle and or protrude as per the director’s instructions, I’m sure. Obviously, she’s no help when the cops are trying to figure out how little bro got all dead and stuff.

Let’s get back to Sean. He’s not only a student of Diane’s, he’s a neighbor. His mom is also friends with her. Forget about Ralph, the real sleaze centers around this guy. It turns out Diane’s hubby just takes off and leaves her for weeks, even months at a time without even telling her to piss off. She’s quite the lonely gal, but she still rebuffs the advances of all the local studs tha come sniffing around. Very quickly, we figure out she’s got the hots for young, virginal Sean. You know how it is. She’s getting closer to her sexual prime, him to his. Yes, google sexual prime if you don’t get the joke. Anyhoo, the best part of all this is that Sean’s mom sets the whole thing up. She all but supplies condoms for her boy. Coolest mom ever, or worst, depending on your point of view. I mean, what kind of mother encourages the teacher to bone her son? Not mine, for sure. Apparently, she wants Diane to Sean the ways of love. Alright, to laugh at that joke you probably have to hear the theme song. During the course of the movie, I swear I heard it no less than 417 times. Honest. Anyway, the first line of the song is “Every boy needs a teacher”. Eventually, tells us that every boy needs a teacher to show him the ways…yeah, you got it. This means that the woman being stalked by the local freak is herself, a sexual deviant. Nice. Did I mention how sleazy this is?

I am getting way too into this. I can’t help it. The unintentional humor factor is high. Ralph is certain to pop up no matter where our favorite couple goes. Whenever they get a moment alone to have some sex, they do it in a way that it is obvious they did nothing of the sort. Oh, and Ralph’s watching. How about the acting? What acting? Production Values? Low. In short, it’s so bad, it’s awesome!

<strong>MY SCORE: -10/10</strong>​

 

[dell71]

Oh and I was thinking since you always do top ten list that you should do your favorite movies of all time, that would be pretty awesome.

We will all do this together...details to come over the next few days.

 

[Buzzman]

Wow. Two of the longest reviews you have written on this site so far and they are on mediocre movies. I have no clue how you do it. Reading the Colored Girls review, it seemed as if you enjoyed it, then at the end realized it wasn't such hot stuff. Fucking hate Tyler Perry and I am proud to say I have never had to endure any of his shit. In The Teacher, what happens to Ralph, you kinda just forgot about him or is that what the movie does as well? Does it really jut move away from that death? Sounds god awful.

Edit: Lately though, not just the last two, you've been killing it with these reviews. They go into detail without actually revealing much.

 

[SHOGUN]

That was a great write up for FCG. I've gone back and forth about wanting to see it, especially since my mother and sister really enjoyed it - but like you said, they are exactly in Perry's wheelhouse.

 

[dell71]

Wow. Two of the longest reviews you have written on this site so far and they are on mediocre movies. I have no clue how you do it. Reading the Colored Girls review, it seemed as if you enjoyed it, then at the end realized it wasn't such hot stuff. Fucking hate Tyler Perry and I am proud to say I have never had to endure any of his shit. In The Teacher, what happens to Ralph, you kinda just forgot about him or is that what the movie does as well? Does it really jut move away from that death? Sounds god awful.

Edit: Lately though, not just the last two, you've been killing it with these reviews. They go into detail without actually revealing much.

Thanks. With the FCG review, there was much internal debate I tried to convey. With "The Teacher", I was just having fun. Tried not to spoil it for anyone but if you're curious without actually wanting to see it...

 

Ralph eventually kidnaps Sean. Sean gets away, Ralph chases him down and chokes him to death, literally. Diane shows up...I forgot to mention this happens back at the dilapidated warehouse...and Ralph rapes her. While he's still on top of her, Di picks up the sword Ralph had put down to do his deed and kills him with it. The movie ends with her crying and holding Sean's dead body.

That was a great write up for FCG. I've gone back and forth about wanting to see it, especially since my mother and sister really enjoyed it - but like you said, they are exactly in Perry's wheelhouse.

Thanks. Loving the Jim Kelly avatar!

 

[dell71]

Alpha and Omega
<strong>Directed by Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck.</strong>
<em>2010. Rated PG, 88 minutes.
Cast:
Justin Long
Hayden Panettiere
Dennis Hopper
Danny Glover
Christina Ricci
Larry Miller
Kevin Sussman
Chris Carmack
Brian Donovan</em>​

Humphrey (Long), a young fun-loving wolf, has a thing for his friend Kate (Panettiere). The problem is its forbidden for the two of them to get together. She is an Alpha, which implies some nobility, while he is an Omega. Even though they’re both part of the Western pack, I think, the two aren’t supposed to mix. The Eastern pack are apparently a more vicious sort and have depleted the source of food in their own region. Of course, this means they’re coming around the Western pack and horning in on all the hunts. Eventually, it’s revealed that it it is Kate’s responsibility to marry Garth (Carmack) of the Eastern pack. This will unite the packs, ending all the fighting and animosity. Of course, before this can happen Kate and Humphrey are captured by humans and dragged off to Idaho. Now, they have to make it back to Jasper National Park to keep the rest of the wolves from killing each other.

I’ve given you, roughly, the first third of the movie. If you can’t figure out the rest, there’s no hope for you. This is standard kiddie-fare from jump with various excursions into being substandard. Narratively, this is a lazy rehash that offers nothing new. Well, maybe the degree of laziness is new. Too many questions go unanswered. I’m not just talking questions folks like me would ask, either. I’m talking simple stuff that my kids would ask. How just a couple of wolves are Omegas? How did they get to be Omegas? Maybe, I just missed those. Maybe, by that time I didn’t care enough to pay attention. If these things were explained, I apologize. As far as the rest of the script goes, it’s…um…meh, at best. Every now and again, something mildly amusing happens. Mostly it’s just there, taking up space I could’ve used to watch a better movie.

Visually, <em>Alpha and Omega</em> doesn’t daze and amaze, either. By today’s standards, the animation is barely adequate, at least in 2D. It was released in theaters as a 3D experience I’m glad to have missed. It’s look isn’t distinctive, nor does it do anything noteworthy within its confines. This is hardly what I would call dazzling to the eye. Much like the story, it mundanely goes about the task of telling us a tale we’ve already heard quite a few times.

<em>A&O</em> is what I call a babysitter movie. It’s one you can put on to mind the kid for an hour and a half while you tend to more important matters like watching grass grow. They’ll likely enjoy it, well enough, not love it. If you’re forced to watch by an unending barrage of pleas you may think your children hate you when it’s over. Why else would they make you suffer through this?

<strong>MY SCORE: 3.5/10</strong>​

 

[padman59]

<em>A&O</em> is what I call a babysitter movie. It’s one you can put on to mind the kid for an hour and a half while you tend to more important matters like watching grass grow. They’ll likely enjoy it, well enough, not love it. If you’re forced to watch by an unending barrage of pleas you may think your children hate you when it’s over. Why else would they make you suffer through this?

I've felt like that many times after having to babysit my nephew. You can only take so much of these movies before you want to throw the dvd out the window.

 

[dell71]

Red
<strong>Directed by Robert Schwentke.</strong>
<em>2010. Rated PG-13, 111 minutes
Cast:
Bruce Willis
Mary-Louise Parker
John Malkovich
Morgan Freeman
Helen Mirren
Karl Urban
Brian Cox
Julian McMahon
Richard Dreyfuss
Ernest Borgnine</em>​

Frank (Willis) is a retired CIA agent who has taken a shine to Sarah (Parker), a telephone customer service rep. Soon enough, he suddenly makes his way to her apartment in Kansas City because the agency is apparently out to kill him for something we don’t yet know and to kill her pretty much just because. Since she doesn’t really know Frank, other than their frequent phone conversations, he has to drag her along, kicking and screaming. Traipsing across the country, narrowly escaping death while getting “the band” back together to help him figure thing thing out ensues.

The band is made up of other former black-ops specialists from various organizations that comprise Frank’s friends. There’s Marvin (Malkovich) who is so paranoid, he lives underground. Joe (Freeman) scopes out nurses at the rest home where he resides. Finally, there’s Victoria (Mirren). She’s a foxy older lady who has a thing for high-caliber firearms.

<em>Red</em> does what it does well enough that we can overlook what it is not so good at. It’s good at letting its cast use their familiar personas to draw laughter. Malkovich is particularly effective here, at his neurotic best. It’s good at keeping us guessing what’s really going on without becoming bogged down with maintaining the suspense. It is also surprisingly good at action, given that most of the cast is well beyond their physical primes. Though longtime action hero Willis does have a number of bright spots, its Mirren who shines brightest in this area. Thankfully, we don’t see her trying to perform any superhuman feats. That would be laughable, in a bad way. Instead, she does things she can be reasonably expected to and makes them infinitely more watchable than they should be. Her irrepressible presence makes her compelling in any role. When that is combined with the affinity most action fans have for gunfire, she’s doubly so. Her character also provides us with an interesting subplot about something from her past that may become her present.

What this movie doesn’t do well is develop its characters. For the most part, it skips that task. It prefers to rely on the fact that we expect certain things from each other and tries its darndest to give it to us. It never feels like we’re watching Frank, Marvin, Joe and Victoria. We’re always watching Bruce Willis from the <em>Die Hard</em> movies, John Malkovich from his Coen brothers flicks, Morgan Freeman the wise old sage and Helen Mirren the regal British lady. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just renders the movie a bit shallow. Then again, I think shallow may be the point.

Recently, there have been a slew of similarly themed movies. Though this doesn’t revel in its own ridiculousness quite the way <em>The A-Team</em> does, I find it just as enjoyable. It finds its own level of plausible absurdity and runs with it. It’s what <em>The Expendables</em> tries to be and what <em>The Losers</em> can only dream of being.

<strong>MY SCORE: 7/10</strong>​

 

[dell71]

The Bounty Hunter
<strong>Directed by Andy Tennant.</strong>
<em>2010. Rated PG-13, 110 minutes.
Cast:
Jennifer Aniston
Gerard Butler
Christine Baranski
Siobhan Fallon
Dorian Missick
Matt Malloy
Jason Kolotouros
Joel Garland</em>​

Bounty hunter Milo (Butler) is having a tough time coping with his divorce from reporter Nicole (Aniston). In fact, he’s only a bounty hunter because he drank himself off the police force after they broke up. Lo and behold, Nicole goes and gets herself arrested and becomes a fugitive when she misses her court date. Guess who gets the call to find her and haul her off to jail? If I have to actually tell you, you are stupid. Sorry, poetic verbage occasionally gets in the way of what I’m really trying to say. I’m just keeping it simple for the intelligence impaired.

Anyhoo, that’s the plot. Alleged hilarity ensues. Oh, almost forgot something. The reason Nicole skips bail is because she’s chasing a tip on a juicy story. Of course, this story may get her killed. This means that after Milo has picked her up and is trying to get her to prison, they have some angry and armed thugs hot on their tail. In case that isn’t enough, he’s got a set of bad guys chasing him, too. It seems he’s run up some sizable gambling debts.

Okay, this could work. The premise seems interesting enough. Our stars are likeable. I’ve not long ago seen <em>Knight and Day</em> and <em>Killers</em>. Both were <em>aiiight</em>. This has got to be on par with those, right? No, it’s not. This is a string of rom-com and action flick clichés positioning themselves one after another right through the inevitable, totally unsurprising ending. Somewhere, there’s a room full of trained monkeys banging out a class action suit on their keyboards because they didn’t get credit for churning out the screenplay. In short, the jokes aren’t funny, the action isn’t exciting, there are no twists we don’t see coming. Can you say paint-by-numbers?

A movie of this type can save itself if it has but one quality. There has to be some sizzle between our leads. There is none. Guys who are already in love with Aniston are in luck. I’ve never been one to proclaim her the definition of hotness, as many have. Still, I have to concede she looks rather good, here. It’s probably the best I’ve seen her. That’s fine for skuzzy dudes who have to refrain from licking the screen when she appears. Sadly, its not nearly enough to generate any electricity between here and Butler that transcends the screen. They are a flat couple in a flat movie.

<strong>MY SCORE: 2/10</strong>​

 

[dell71]

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2
<strong>Directed by Alex Zamm.</strong>
<em>2011. Rated G, 83 minutes.
Cast:
George Lopez
Odette Annable
Zachary Gordon
Emily Osment
Loretta Devine
Bridgit Mendler
Susan Blakely
Ernie Hudson
Morgan Fairchild</em>​

Papi (Lopez) and Chloe (Annable) are back for another canine adventure. Our loving couple get hitched right at the beginning and are very shortly the proud parents of a litter of pups. Aside from the cuteness factor the movie is obviously going for, this is completely irrelevant. Aside from the fact these are talking dogs, the only thing you really need to know is that the people who own the house they live in, are in danger of losing it. No, these aren’t the same people from the first movie, again irrelevant. Anyhoo, guess what’s coming up to give the happy couple a chance to save the home of “their humans”? If you said dog show with enough prize money to keep the place out of foreclosure, you guessed right. As a child, my mother used to tell me “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” O…kaaaaayyy, I think I’m done here.

<strong>MY SCORE: 0/10</strong>​

Sidenote: I promise, better movies are coming up. This has been a rough stretch of flicks.

 

[dell71]

BTW, for you guys who rarely, if ever, venture into The Locker Room, please click the link below:

Cast Your Ballot: VSN's Greatest Movies of All Time

Thanks.

 

[Buzzman]

Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 - Funniest review I have ever read. You nearly killed me.

 

[dell71]

Dell’s Classics Presents:

M
<strong>Directed by Fritz Lang.</strong>
<em>1931. Not Rated, 117 minutes. German.
Cast:
Peter Lorre
Otto Wernicke
Frau Beckmann
Inge Landgut
Theodor Loos
Rudolf Blümner
Georg John
Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur</em>​

A child murderer has been terrorizing the town for quite some time. Everyone is on edge. The police are working day and night on seemingly never-ending shifts to find the killer. Still, children keep disappearing. Honest citizens become suspicious of one another. Dishonest citizens are upset that added attention from the law is hurting their businesses. Our killer taunts the authorities with letters to them and to the press. Yet, he remains undetected.

What follows are multiple and exhausting investigations that come to run simultaneously. We see the police using every available tool to apprehend the murderer and try explaining themselves to an impatient public when they don’t. Criminals have meetings to decide how they will deal with the situation. The task of catching the guilty party saturates every second of every day.

From time to time, we get to see this monster for ourselves. Though those around him know nothing, his identity is no mystery to us. We get to know what triggers his most heinous actions and how he operates. Before it’s all over, we hear his explanation. It’s a plea for sympathy. However, he is not only pleading with those in the movie. He’s also pleading with those watching.

That the killer is caught is not a spoiler. Indeed, it eventually becomes a mere matter of time before he is. The real question becomes who will catch him and what will they do with him. In most films, his capture would serve as our climax. Here, it is the axis that turns our tale. This is what makes <em>M</em> special. Even now, 80 years since its release, it refuses to be strait-jacketed into cliché. It still has the strength to go beyond the point where most pictures quit. Those movies are content to leave us with the tidy, happy ending. <em>M</em> is not. It has questions to ask you. It wants to know what you believe in.

<strong>MY SCORE: 10/10</strong>​

 

[Juggernaut]

Yo Dell, have you seen the movie Paprika?

If you haven't, your in for a treat. It's the movie that was the inspiration for Inception.

WATCH Paprika anime MOVIE online for FREE

edit:

Man, how'd you give Princess Mononoke a 5.5? At least you gave Miyazaki's Spirited Away a 9.

edit2: You should watch Howl's Moving Castle as well.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

God, I love M.