T.V. & Movie reviews

Doubt

Starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams written and directed by John Patrick Shanley. It is the story of a priest who is accused by a nun of abusing a black boy in a catholic school set in the 1960's. The story never tells you the outcome of what happens, you must make your own assumptions, but I thought this was very well cast, directed, and written overall it was a great movie.

One thing that didn't surprise me was Viola Davis' nod as "Best Supporting Actress" yes she has one ten minute part in the movie that she actually has lines, but that ten minutes is enough to determine a lot. It is a great scene and if she wins she definitely deserves it.

I think this movie deserves every award nomination and win it gets because the performances are great, the writing really surprised me. My grandmother is very religious and her priest has been telling her congregation not to go see this movie because it sheds a bad light on the catholic church-b.s. I think this movie shows what it truly is-somewhat corrupt.

The directing is good, it shows us something did happen, but what happened really, we don't know. Is the priest played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman the good guy or the bad guy? Is he really telling the truth? We will never know, we can decide for ourselves.

This is a must see of all people....4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Strangers (2008)

I going to go back about nine months...this movie was released in May 2008 to not a whole lot of publicity because until my wife mentioned it to me I had never heard of it. It is starring Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, and Glenn Howerton; written and directed by Bryan Bertino. It is the story of a young couple who stay in a vacation home one night and end up being terrorized by three masked assasilants. This is inspired by a true story. The truth is that it is based on something that happened to the director when he was growing up, a woman knocked on his door one night looking for someone; later he found out a lot of the abandoned homes in his neighborhood were broken into. Also it is based around Manson style murders. Mainly off the book Helter Skelter. The characters in the film are not real, everything is fictional.

The film is good, the build up is great, the lack of killing and the amount of suspense is great...the pay-off is terrible. I love the build-up in this film, it is about 15-20 minutes in before we meet the first assailant. Then it isn't until about 30 minutes in before every creepy weird thing starts happening.

This movie is great because it shows the true relationship, the young couple are having problems and if nothing happens in this movie most likely won't end up together but because of the next actions they must work together and rely on each other to survive.

I also love how there really isn't much killing in this movie, there are only two deaths in this movie which make the build up that much better. You see the assailants as possible serial killers, but nothing happens until late into the movie. It really has an edge of your seat feel to it, but when it comes time for that OMG ending it fails. Otherwise this movie is spectacular.

In the end this movie receives a 3.5 out of 5.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Firstly, I am going to let everyone know before they read this review, I may include a few spoilers. So if you are waiting to see the movie-don't read ahead.

I went in seeing this movie expecting a lot from it, mostly because of the hype and reviews it received. I was not very impressed with it entirely. I don't believe Keanu Reeves is that great of an actor, it is almost like he tries to hard, an over-actor if you will. But this movie still has a lot of good qualities.

This is a remake of a 1951 classic under the same title, the story is that of an alien race who come to earth to keep peace throughout the universe. The alien ship "sphere" lands in Central Park and as soon as the alien steps out of the "sphere" he is shot by the army. He is protected by a machine and then taken to a military hospital where he escapes from to learn more about the planet before the end.

This film is filled with a lot of great special effects and sound, but like I said earlier Keanu Reeves is not a perfect fit for this role. I like Jennifer Connelly, she shows a lot of compassion in her character and the more and more I see of Jaden Smith, I think he will very much be just like his father some day.

One thing I did not understand, in the beginning Keanu Reeves character was in the mountains, in 1928, in India and appears to die-I think-in the very first scene, but the movie doesn't explain what was the connection.

This movie did have a lot of similarities as others, and maybe since it was a remake of a movie from 1951 the others followed it. But it reminded me of movies such as "Armaggedon" and "Deep Impact" where there was something threatening earth. It was a lot more like "Deep Impact" in the sense that the "thing" could not be fully stopped, part of earth was destroyed before it all ended. Keanu Reeves character in the end of this film reminded me of Bruce Willis' in "Armaggedon" seeing how he gave his life for the two people who helped him the most, Bruce Willis sacrificed himself for the crew of the ship, he also gave himself to save mankind, Bruce Willis did the same.

I think this film has a deeper meaning, it says somewhere in the film that earth is being destroyed to save the universe. That the people of earth are killing itself, which I think is quite possibly true. We have let technology control ourselves for two long. We keep emitting gas into the atmosphere killing earth very slowly, we are trying to inhabit other planets to see if there is live out there, and I'm almost positive if we find life then we will just poke and prode and do all sorts of evil-like science experiments on the beings. I love in the end of this film, how when the aliens leave the world in peace all technology stops basically taking the world back to the stone age, because that is what we would be without all our technology and maybe that is what we need to realize how evil this world really is.

In all I give this film 3 out of 5, it is really worth a watch.

Donkey Punch

This aptly named film stars many unknowns, such as Robert Boulter, Sian Breckin, Tom Burke, Nichola Burley, Julian Morris, Jay Taylor and Jaime Winstone. This movie is title after a certain sexual act, taking someone from behind and right when they are about to get off, you punch them in the back of the head. But in the case of this movie, you have to be careful, because when you hit to hard something bad can happen.

One wrongful move can lead to more lies and deceit and possible deaths. This movie is poorly acted-correction terribly acted. The title is the worst thing about this, it draws perverts towards it for the possibilities of a soft-core porno, but it draws away the possible thriller fans due to the stupidity of it. It is a decent story in the sense that something along these lines could possibly happen, but at what cost would someone go to truly cover up this "scandal".

All the actors and actresses are bad throughout this entire movie, that when they were supposed to make me believe they were afraid or feared for their life I thought it was amusing. The directing I can't really say it could get worse, but look at who directed it, Olivier Blackburn, and you're asking yourself who is that again. I am asking the same thing.

Be warned, this movie contains a lot of cursing, and a lot of female and male full frontal nudity, so much to the point that I thought it was overly excessive and I'm usually not offended by it all.

This movie gets a 1 out of possibly 5...stay away!

Outlander

I recently saw, "Outlander" starring Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, Ron Perlman, and John Hurt. Written and directed by Howard McCain. It is the story of an "alien" who crash lands on earth in the time of Vikings, he hunts down the monster-creature that killed his family, all the while helping a Viking tribe continue their way of life.

Howard McCain is not well known for any sort of work, he does have better experience writing movies such as Outlander, Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans, and the remake of Conan. This is his biggest movie to direct and his first since a TV directing job back in 1998. I'm not sure if McCain was the one who came up with the original idea for this movie, but the story is good-the writing is not. The directing could be better.

Jim Caviezel, is not the greatest actor, he-I believe-will always be known as Jesus Christ, for his role in Passion of the Christ. But in this movie he plays the alien who crash lands on earth. He tries to play the role of a very rough and tough far beyond Viking skill level, but comes off as a phony, he tries to hard to play a tough guy.

The one scene that I will always remember from this movie is one of the first scenes with Sophia Myles, it is dark and brooding atmosphere (even though it is outside in the middle of the day) he red hair stands out, but even in the contrast of bad lighting and bright hair stands her gorgeous blue eyes. Besides her looks she doesn't show anything worth remembering in this movie.

Ron Perlman and John Hurt, who are both usually pretty good (somewhat) big name actors don't show much in this movie. They don't have very many scenes in this movie nor do they have anything to do besides be the evil bad guy who is an idiot or the mentoring over acting fool.

Jack Huston showed the most promise, he was the one to discover Jim Caveziel's character, he transformed from a broody I want to kick your butt to the friendly but tough side kick.

In all, as I said before the story had a good concept, the writing lacked a lot, it could have gone through a few more rewrites, but when the director is the writing we don't always get that-look at M.Night Shyamalan's recent movies. I was sorely disappointed, at first I thought this was going to be a love/action story with the first meeting of Sophia Myles and Jim Caveizel. Then I thought Caveizel was going to help one tribe fight against another. Early on we learn that he is after a creature, but I thought for the longest time he was joking. It isn't until about 52 mibutes in when we see the creature for the first time.

This movie was a mix of other movie types including - Alien vs. Predator, The 13th Warrior, Beowulf, and many more.

On my usual scale of 5, this gets a pitiful...1.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

I recently watched "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" starring Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and Javier Bardem. Written and directed by Woody Allen. It is the story of two friends who travel to Spain, one engaged and the other just recently broken up, they become enthralled by the same painter whose ex-wife has a few choice items to say about their relationship.

I have never been a real big fan of Woody Allen, his work in my eyes is not the best, don't get me wrong he is very talented, but I believe his best work was "Matchpoint", and believe many-many people would disagree with me.

This film is not good, yes it is nominated for numerous awards, but it is not the best independent film I have seen to date. I think that the story lacks a lot of character development, it is somewhat thrown together in a decent order.

But now the acting is decent, I like Scarlett Johansson, she is one of the better female actors of todays time-she can play a lot of different types of characters. Penelope Cruz has never really done anything that has made me think she is better than the next pretty face.

Javier Bardem I have heard of only from his roles in "Collateral" and "No Country for Old Men", but this film was not his best choice in work.

Rebecca Hall, is a great actress, she has the best role in this film I believe, she first visits Spain engaged and doesn't want to hear any "proposals", but Javier's ability to wine and dine a woman makes her knees weak. She flip-flops back and forth between the good and the bad.

This movie I wouldn't recommend unless you are a fan of Woody Allen, otherwise you will be sorely disappointed.

2 out of 5 stars.

100 Greatest Movies of All-Time (95-91)

To continue on with my list of the Greatest Movies of All-Time:

#95 - Platoon

"Platoon" starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Williem Dafoe and a lot of other top name stars. Back in 1986 these men were not that well known, but this movie could have possibly put them on the map. Especially with the experienced directing of Oliver Stone. This movie is a cult classic tale of a man's somewhat true account of Vietnam.

#94 - The Lion King

I don't have a lot of animated movies in this list, but there will be a few more. This is my favorite Disney movie of all time. Voice overs by Johnathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly and a bunch of others. I love this tale because it is a perfect coming of age story and has great animations.

#93 - The English Patient

I, personally, was not a huge fan of this movie, but I have to give it to the makers of this movie, they did a great job and on any other list you will find this movie. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Williem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, it is the story of a map maker hired to chart the Sahara Desert when WWII breaks out. It is the story of a great love.

#92 - West Side Story

Great Movie! This is the winner of 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture from 1961. This is the adaption of the classic romance tale, Romeo & Juliette. It is about two rival gangs who members fall in love after meeting at a dance. I don't like musicals, except this one.

#91 - A Clockwork Orange

Nominated for 4 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, Stanley Kubrick films have always been a little...off. But this one in my opinion takes the cake, this is the story about a youth who is arrested and undergoes, "Aversion Therapy" when he is released he detests violence, but his former gang still love it and are out to get him.

Taken

"Taken" starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, & Maggie Grace is the story about a retired CIA operative who travels to France to save his daughter from kidnappers.

This film is one of the fastest paced and edge of my seat thrill rides I have had in a long time. I love how this story can actually happen...along the lines of why his [Neeson's] daughter is kidnapped. Plus the backstory to Neeson's character is just great because you know that he has done some bad things in the past and until he makes that first kill you don't really know if he has the capability to save his own daughter.

Maggie Grace, a somewhat newcomer, in the little that you see of her, she plays a great spoiled little rich girl, she is cute and adorable, but I just didn't feel the need to rescue her that badly. The story didn't make me want to get up and go to find her, but this wasn't a story about that it was more for the action.

Famke Janseen, plays a great evil witch, the first love of her life, Neeson's character, she hates. She doesn't involve him in anything, but when something happens to her precious daughter she needs his help.

Don't get me wrong, this is a very entertaining movie, it is not something that is very deeply character driven, but it will entertain the person who wants to see a lot of gun fights, butt-kicking, and explosions.

4 out of 5

100 Greatest Movies of All-Time (100-96)

The big thing nowadays is to create a greatest movies list, on television you'll find the greatest movies of 2007, 2008, 2009, etc. Or you'll find top ten greatest horror movies, comedy movies and what not. But the big thing is really these 250 Greatest Movies of all-time, such as imdb.com has or The American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films of All-Time, and lastly one of my favorite lists is 100 Best Movies of All-Time by Mr. Showbiz.

So I have decided that I would put together my very own list of the Top 100 Movies of All-Time and count them down by 5's...because I find 5 a very good round number, not to much information or opinions at one time.

# 100 - Toy Story

When this movie released in 1995, I was only 10 years old, I didn't think anything about it, but I recently went back and re-watched the movie and wow. Back then I thought it was great story, but really this story is unbelievable, Pixar's creators always amaze me, they have come up with some of the best movies in the world, and they have got to be some of the richest people in Hollywood. And to back up my claim as a great story you have this star-studded cast, who wouldn't be on the film if they didn't think it was going anywhere, starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jon Ratzenberger, Annie Potts and that is just a few of the biggest names to work on these movies.

#99 - The Terminator

When this movie released, again I wasn't even born yet. But I have gone back and watched this movie, and with all the CGI and great makeup work today, it is amazing to see what they did and could do back in 1984. I love the feel for this story and action, James Cameron has always made excellent movies, and this I believe is Arnold Schwarzenegger claim to fame.

On a funny side note, O.J. Simpson was considered for the part of the Terminator, but the producers felt he was "too nice" and couldn't be considered a cold-blooded killer.

#98 - Alien

In the '70's a lot of great sci-fi movies came out, one of the best I believe was Alien, it was released in 1979 directed by Ridley Scott, starring Sigourney Weaver. This movie didn't really frighten me like it maybe should have (I'll explain in #97), but just the unbelievable story in this, going to a distant planet and being attacked by an unknown creature, it sends shivers down people's spine because how this could actually happen in the not to far distant future, we don't know what is out there and we are just mere inches away from reaching that one sought after question, "Are we alone in this universe?"

#97 - The Exorcist

This is the only movie that has ever put fear into me, maybe it was the fact that the first time I watched this movie was back in 1994, I was nine, alone in the dark. It seemed so real, this vomiting, cursing, violent little girl was being possesed??? I think so, even to this day, with it being over thirty years almost forty years old, people are still too afraid to watch it, my wife recently watched it, after much begging and pleading (because she was too scared) she loved it, just as I will always.

#96 - Die Hard

I don't think a lot of action movies make it onto these lists because of all the melo-dramatic movies that usually come out compared to the number of action movies, but one of the bests is Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. He is just a lowly New York City cop trying to make it to see his family for the holidays, but terrorists of course get in his way. This is the movie that really put Bruce Willis on the map, before this movie released he had three uncredited roles, three television episodes, and one feature film afterwords he became of the biggest action stars to date.

These are the bottom 5 movies of my top 100 movies of all time and I will continue to countdown by 5's until we all reach the top 1 Greatest Movie of all time, will it be the top grossing movie?, the top love story?, something from 1942?, 1974?, 1941?, you will all just have to wait and see.

The Dark Knight Re-Release

I don't know if many people have heard, but "The Dark Knight" is being re-released, January 23, 2009 on 80 IMAX screens and in 100 speciality markets. Which I assume means big markets such as Los Angeles and New York, etc.

The studio said the reasoning behind the re-release is to hopefully gain a Best Picture nomination for the Oscars.

Personally, I love this movie, I think this movie has blown all other superhero movies out of the water. Christian Bale, plays a magnificent Batman, and watching Heath Ledger as the Joker is great, he definitely deserves every award he has been nominated for in this role. Christopher Nolan is a very talented director and I like how doesn't use CGI, he actually hates using it which is what makes the action in this movie so much better, because it is almost real. But I don't think this movie is going to get the Best Picture nom like they want. I believe the only thing that will happen is that it will finally surpass Titantic as the most successful movie ever, which is what I believe it deserved the first time it was released.

So to all who have seen it before, go see it again and again. And to all who haven't seen it yet, go see it now, I promise you will not be disappointed.