Brief Movie Review for 'Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979)

Movie: Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979)

Director: John Sayles

Rating 4.5/5 Stars ****'

Well done for a low budget movie, and this was apparently director John Sayles's first movie! This movie is all about the dialogue and character interactions, so don't expect too much action or cinematography or anything of that nature. Apparently the 1983 movie The Big Chill was almost completely based off of this one, so if you liked it you will probably like the original.

A Brief Movie Review: 'The Burning Plain' (2008)

Movie: The Burning Plain (2008)

Director: Guillermo Arriaga

Rating: 3/5 Stars ***

This is not a light-hearted film, but rather serious, dramatic, and intense. The plot follows what seems at first to be different characters but turns out to be the same characters at different ages in their lives and then ties it all together towards the end. Charlize Theron is quite good at playing those haunted/serious characters and seems to have landed lots of roles like these since her Oscar win, and it has been ages since I've seen Kim Basinger in anything. This movie is worth watching once, but again, it is a tragic-drama, and not unbelievable.

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Hangover' (2009)

Movie: The Hangover (2009)

Director: Todd Phillips

Rating: 3.9/5 Stars ***'

Allright, so after many people telling me how good this movie was, and then hearing that the sequel is already old hat, I decided to finally watch the first one. I must say that this movie was funny and worth watching once, although I doubt I will watch the sequel as its been reviewed by others as a just quick and easy money-maker for Hollywood, and just a poor re-make of the first one. What makes this movie funny really isn't the situations or the formulas, but the actors and their ability to play off of each other well, which I think most people would find funny. So, watch the first one at least, its good to have a dose of humor once in awhile.

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Return Of The Pink Panther' (1975)

 Movie = The Return Of The Pink Panther (1975)

Director = Blake Edwards

Rating = 2.2/5 Stars **'

The Peter Sellers Pink Panther movies are actually quite funny and consist of the well-known clumsy/hopeless French detective who manages to cause incredible amounts of damage and mayhem in the process of his pursuit of jewel thieves. Good for a laugh, although this one was a bit longer than it needed to be in my opinion. I read somewhere else that this was the lowest rated of all of the Seller's Panther movies made, so I will have to watch the others I suppose.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Special' (2006)

Movie = Special (2006)

Directors = Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore

My Rating = 3.3/5 Stars ***'

A good movie over-all, and not a typical formula either. A mildly depressed Los-Angeles meter-maid decides to participate in a new drug clinical trial to see if it will help him to move forward in his life. Only he finds that the drug actually causes schizophrenia and delusions that he has superpowers and is here to tackle crime in super-hero fashion. You may find yourself worrying the whole time about what the main character is going to do to himself next, and I reckon that this movie actually has a message about classism and how the working class of people in our society finds themselves leading meaningless lives, working in meaningless jobs, being told to just tow the line and not question the order of things, and then repeatedly used, abused, and manipulated by the system and higher classes which regards them as useless trash. Just take another pill and you will forget all your problems....definitely check this one out if your looking for something to watch.

A Brief Movie Review for 'All Good Things' (2010)

Movie = All Good Things (2010)

Director = Andrew Jarecki

Rating = 3/5 Stars ***

Bit of a strange movie, and oddly enough they say its 'based on events,' but they never say 'true' or 'factual events' so who knows how loosely based they are, although they do say that sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. The movie starts out quite normal about a young couple who get married and live happily for a few years until the wife (Dunst) discovers that her husband and his powerful New York real-estate mogul family are really quite evil to the core. The story then takes quite a twist and the husband (Gosling) basically becomes a  cross-dressing homicidal maniac on the run. Again, a strange movie and one would hope not too true to actual events.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Alfie' (1966)

Movie = Alfie (1966)

Director = Lewis Gilbert

Rating = 3.8/5 stars ***''

 The original 'Alfie' (starring Michael Caine) is an interesting movie, and not exactly what I expected it to be either. It is in fact much better than one might initially think after reading the taglines and movie brief. It is a movie about a playboy who leads a reckless love life and doesn't seem to have much other purpose in life than scoring with as many women as he sees fit; but it is also about Alfie having to face up to reality that he is now a middle aged-adult and starts to find himself confused as he begins to leave the lifestyle that defined who he was for much of his youth and begin to face what it means to be a father and someone who no longer fits the old mold quite so well (almost a mid-life crisis sort of movie, but of one who never moved on past the party-stage). Michael Caine does a great job in this role, and I recommend watching this one, and after doing so I have little to no interest in the more recent version.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Waste Land' (2010)

Movie = Waste Land (2010)

Director = Lucy Walker

Rating = 5/5 Stars *****

Waste Land is a very worth-while documentary about the Land-fills of Rio De Janiero and the people who make a living as 'pickers' that collect and sell the recyclable materials from everyone else's rubbish. Brazilian visual artist Vik Muniz makes his way back to Brazil in an effort to raise awareness about pickers and the lives they live, as well as taking the opportunity to give them a human face, and to give something back to his people who need it most. Check this one out!

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Tourist' (2010)

Movie = The Tourist (2010)

Director = Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

Rating = 2.2/5 Stars **'

  

The Tourist, starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie is a very formulaic action-intrigue film with a very thin plot and what seems like little substance/soul. The film has wonderful scenery though, lots of beautiful settings and European city-scapes, especially of Venice which most definitely helps. I get the feeling that they sort of slapped-together the standard Hollywood action-intrigue formula plot-line together just for an excuse to get Depp and Jolie in the same film (which clearly equals easy big bucks at the box office), and I think they could have easily come up with an interesting plot but opted not to for some reason. This movie is however worth watching once, and be warned as it may make you want to travel.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Hot Tub Time Machine' (2010)

Movie = Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Director = Steve Pink
Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

A group of friends head to an old ski-resort spot to discover their hotel-room hot tub has taken them back in time to 1986 and a previous trip they had there, but this time they have to re-live everything the same way or risk disrupting the future. This movie was funny and definitely a dude-flick. There's the usual crude/bathroom humor and the plot seems to be quite original (what with the hot tub time machine) too. I can't say they portrayed the 80s all that well as the preview potrayed, but this one is good for a laugh and watching once.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Jack Goes Boating' (2010)

Movie = Jack Goes Boating (2010)

Director = Philip Seymour Hoffman

Rating = 3.5/5 Stars ***'

This movie is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's debut as a director, and its a slow-paced romantic comedy/drama that gives us a brief peek into the live's of two dysfunctional and believable couples. The characters are all pretty ordinary people with ordinary relationship/personal problems as well as old fears and blocks that they have to face and overcome in order to move forward in their lives. The way I've summarized it here may make it sound uninteresting, but it really is worthwhile movie and I think its a good omen for the directorial debut for Hoffman. Check this one out if your looking for something to watch.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Queen Christina' (1933)

Movie = Queen Christina (1933)

Director = Rouben Mamoulian

Rating =3.5/5 Stars ***'

This is quite an old movie from all the way back in 1933, but it is well done and worth watching. It stars Swedish actress Greta Garbo, who played a believable part as the 17th-century Queen Christina of Sweden (a true historical figure during the 30-Years War time-period in Europe). I don't know how historically accurate it is but the real Queen Christina sounded like she was quite an interesting person and leader. This film is entertaining and I would probably watch it again sometime in the future.

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Power' (1968)

Movie = The Power (1968)

Director = Byron Haskin

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

An interesting old sci-fi movie from 1968 starring George Hamilton (a little less tan, and much younger in those days) and Suzanne Pleshette, and by the same director who made the 1953 War Of The Worlds movie. A group of top-secret scientists working on calculating human pain-thresholds in space travel discover that someone amongst them has a far superior brain power and IQ, as well as the amazing power to control others, perform telekinesis, and even to kill other people with their mind. After one of the top scientists who uncovers this fact is found dead in the laboratory George Powell takes it upon himself to discover who the superman is and get to him before he kills all of them off. A bit nerdy and the plot seems a little weak, but its entertaining enough to watch once. The cinematography really makes California seem like a nice place and reminds me of the early James Bond movie sets from the same time period.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Pandorum' (2009)

Movie = Pandorum (2009)

Director = Christian Alvart

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

The basic plot for this film is that 2 flight crew members on a deep-space mission wake up out of their extended sleeping pods to discover their spaceship and crew have disappeared and that something is very wrong. This movie wasn't quite what I expected it was going to be as I was expecting more a psychological thriller as opposed to a super-zombies in space movie (I suppose I should have watched the trailer in this case), and basically this is 'Resident Evil' in space (although if you watch it to the end you realize they aren't actually in space at all), and the super-human zombies look the same as the ones in that movie. If you like sci-fi action/thriller movies such as 'I Am Legend,' 'Aliens,' or 'Resident Evil,' with the graphic violence and suspenseful chasing scenes then you will at least find this one entertaining to watch through once, and that is what the movie is like if you didn't already know. I wouldn't watch this one again.

A Brief Movie Review for 'The Brother From Another Planet' (1984)

Movie = The Brother From Another Planet (1984)

Director = John Sayles

Rating = 4/5 Stars ****

I seem to like John Sayles movies, and I really liked this one. This one is about an alien, who appears quite human, who crash-lands in New York City where he must blend in and learn how to live amongst the humans while evading pursuit by his alien slave-owners. This movie really is a social commentary on illegal immigration, slavery, and racial issues. The message I got after watching this is you don't necessarily have to be from another planet to feel like an outsider in another culture, country, or even a strange neighborhood in your own city. The movie is entertaining, I would recommend it, and I would watch it again. Also, this movie is currently available on for free viewing in full on YouTube Movies HERE.

A Brief Movie Review for 'City Of Ember' (2008)

Movie = City Of Ember (2008)

Director = Gil Kenan

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

This sci-fi/adventure is about a future human civilization who have created an underground city/society to remain there for 200 years while Earth's environment on the surface becomes habitable once again. Somewhere along the way the information that a surface world gets lost as the underground civilization faces collapse of their infrastructure. An engaging movie, and this was not the typical Bill Murray role either, but it was nice to see him in a movie again, albeit his character isn't the most likable. Some scenes and situations in this movie really reminds one of the 80's classic The Goonies too, so you may find it interesting if you like that style of adventure flick. I doubt I would watch this movie again in the future.

A Brief Movie Review for 'Changing Lanes' (2002)

Movie = Changing Lanes (2002)

Director = Roger Michell

Rating = 4/5 Stars ****

This movie is actually quite a bit better than it sounds, and has a pretty good cast too (includes Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, William Hurt, Amanda Peet, and a few others) despite not really getting much attention upon its release. Affleck and Jackson have a fender bender on the JFK and this sets the course of their day in which they manage to just about ruin each other's lives with acts of manipulation and vengeance, but wait, there seems to be some sort of moral lesson here too, like "treat others as you would be treated," and that anything else just leads to chaos and cyclical conflict/drama. Definitely check this one out, its fast paced, has lots of action, and is a bit suspenseful too. I would watch it again sometime.

A Brief Movie Review for 'King of Hearts' (1966)

Movie = King Of Hearts (1966)

Director = Philippe de Broca

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

This was a bit of a silly movie really, though it seems to carry with it the message that our everyday so-called "real-world" is even crazier if not equally as crazy as the world of an insane asylum. The conclusion of the film really illustrates this well, that an insane asylum is much preferable to fighting in the trenches of WWI (aka Hell on Earth). If you can handle the Fellini-esque aspects of this film you should watch it, but it is a bit hard to take after about the first 30 minutes or so. I wouldn't watch it a second time.

A Brief Movie Review for Lianna (1983)

Movie = Lianna (1983)

Director = John Sayles

Rating = 2.5/5 Stars **'

Lianna (1983) is one of director John Sayles's first movies, and it is about a middle-aged married woman with two kids who falls in love with one of her female professors and realizes that she too is actually a lesbian. The story deals with her leaving her husband (who is also a college professor) and the difficulties she has with trying to fit back in to a society that looks down on her and her sexual identity. This one is worth watching at least once, although the quality of acting is not too great, but the social issues and how people deal with them makes the story watchable. Youtube doesn't seem to have the movie trailer so head over to imdb.com HERE for more info and movie reviews.