Category Archives: Genre

Thriller: They Call Her One Eye (1973)

2

Posted on by

Thriller

Thriller: They Call Her One Eye

This is decidedly not a movie for everyone, not even a movie for most. It is sexually explicit, graphically violent, and in all ways over the top.

And it is great – if you are into that sort of thing.


This is the movie that is said to have inspired Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movies. There certainly is enough in this film to support that contention. Because of that connection, I would most certainly recommend this flick to Gonzo – but, because of that connection, I imagine he has already seen it. Other than Gonzo, I have few friends to whom I would/could recommend it.

However, if you are into sex, drugs and bloodshed, check this one out.


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 40%; Audience 66%

RV (2006)

1

Posted on by

RV

RV

Bob Munro and his dysfunctional family rent an RV for a road trip to the Colorado Rockies, where they ultimately have to contend with a bizarre community of campers.

I just found an old Star Magazine that had a review of RV just before it opened in the theaters. The money quote for me was, “when was the last time Robin Williams was in a movie that was funny?” This one certainly isn’t – if you are over the age of 10.

There were bright spots; Jeff Daniels & Kristin Chenoweth as the bizarre but big hearted Gornicke parents, JoJo as a typical teen, um…I guess that’s about it.

Potty humor and predictable slapstick with good production values.


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 24%; Audience 59%

snakes on a plane

Posted on by

Snakes on a Plane

the anticipation is finally over.

the movie that has captured the attention of internet geeks around the country has finally been unleashed on an unsuspecting public.

SNAKES ON A PLANE!

the plot is simple the story is predictable. just by looking at the title, you know what the movie is about.

Agent Flynn, played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson, has to escort a key witness to a mob hit from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. All the cliches are there: its a flight attendant’s last day; kids are flying alone for the first time, there’s a dog, a baby, a celebrity, and a lil’ sex in the bathroom.

the movie practically writes itself.

snakes

why did i find it so good? i didn’t expect anything out of it. i knew there was going to be a high level of cheese. i knew the plot was totally ridiculous. i just wanted to see a fun movie. plus, sam jackson is the man.

snakes on a plane is completely enjoyable from start to finish.

i’m gonna say it… greatest movie ever!

i attended a noon showing with some people from work, and we all had a good time. i couldn’t imagine what it would be like to see it in a crowded theatre.

it could easily gain the cult status of a rocky horror picture show.

World Trade Center (2006)

Posted on by

World Trade Center

On September, 11th 2001, after the terrorist attack to the World Trade Center, the building collapses over the rescue team from the Port Authority Police Department. Will Jimeno and his sergeant John McLoughlin are found alive trapped under the wreckage while the rescue teams fight to save them.

~ Claudio Carvalho

 

I hadn’t planned on seeing this one when I heard about it, since Oliver Stone is so completely in the tin-foil-hat club. I was not about to pay money to sit through two hours of his theories of how the 9/11 attacks were America’s fault, or perhaps a government plot. When Jeff Jarvis gave his reaction, I felt more inclined to give it a chance. After all, he lived the day more directly than anyone I have actually met and through his blogging I get the New York flavor, not just my distant Arizona memories of the day.

Other reviews, as well, said this was not like other Oliver Stone movies, that he allows the story to tell itself. Good enough, it is a story that needs to be told.

My trepidation, then, became solely my expected reaction to the heart wrenching emotion of it. The trapped police who were there to help, the men who put their lives on the line to help others, just the thought of it breaks my heart. The families who waited and hoped, not knowing. In my safe little house here in Phoenix I was unable to process the loss and I cried imagining what those families were going through; wondering if your loved ones were alive or dead, knowing that, either way, they had been terrified and in pain. I remember how we waited for more of these happy endings, how we would call each other about every rumor that they found someone alive.

I have to say that I agree with US Weekly in their review of this movie: “A disturbing and disjointed letdown”

Maybe I went from expecting too little to expecting too much. I kept waiting to be moved, kept wondering when the emotions would hit. In fact, at one point in the movie (one of the more action packed portions) there was a man in front of us snoring – yep, SNORING – his wife(?) had to jab him in the ribs to wake him up.

I was disappointed by what seemed like a lack of urgency on everyone’s part; the people leaving the buildings (which Jarvis commented on), the police and fire entering the building, the rescue crews working after the collapse. Everyone seemed sort of lackadaisical, not at all what I imagine it was really like.

I never believed that the wives were really waiting for that kind of news, I never felt anguish or longing… They are both fine actresses so I am not sure what the problem was (well, I did find the blue contacts on Maria Bello very distracting). The one moment of true emotion I felt came late in the film when another woman in the hospital was relating her last conversation with her son, an elevator operator. In her eyes, I saw the terror and the grief.

I wouldn’t say this was a bad movie, just not a good one. I needn’t have feared the blame America angle, it wasn’t here really. It may be worth seeing this picture, just for the story, but it needn’t be seen on the big screen. There is just nothing big in the way Stone presents it.

(I think they have the actual guys in the BBQ scene at the end. Anyone?)

UPDATE: Just found another reviewer who was bothered by (among other things) those stupid blue contacts. He, like several other reviewers I found through Rotten Tomatoes, claims to have dreaded United 93 and eagerly anticipated World Trade Center – only to have his opinion of both of them flipped.


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 71%; Users 70%

Last Holiday (2006)

Posted on by

Last Holiday

Last Holiday

“…when she learns she only has a few weeks left to live, Georgia gathers her money, quits her job, and flies to a swank European resort she’s always dreamed of visiting. Naturally, her new carelessness with money and fearless candor lead everyone around her–including her senator (Giancarlo Esposito, Do The Right Thing) and her former boss (Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People)–to think she’s a mover and shaker. Last Holiday unfolds the way you expect it to (dozens of movies and TV shows have similar plots), but Latifah and the capable cast keep it alive.” –Bret Fetzer

I wasn’t expecting much from this movie, though I had heard it was funny. I was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining it was – though I would hesitate to call it a “good movie”. I would say it is what it claims to be, a fun little romp. It is also quite palatable for the whole family – not so chick-flicky that it would be hard for guys to sit through, not full of bad language or scenarios that would make it uncomfortable in mixed company.

Based on Word of Mouth Scale, I would recommend it to just about everyone in my circle.

A couple of silly complaints:

  • I think Queen Latifah has shown she has acting chops and she is well cast here, but if you are going to have her in your movie, find a way to get her to sing.
  • I don’t know how they would have gotten it into the script, but why have LL Cool J in your movie and not have him shirtless at least once?

Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 55%; Audience 70%

The Matador (2005)

Posted on by

The Matador

The Matador

A globetrotting hitman and a crestfallen businessman meet in a hotel bar in Mexico City in an encounter that draws them together in a way neither expected.

We thoroughly enjoyed this movie which casts Pierce Brosnan as the anti-Bond. Unsophisticated, completely lacking charm, on the questionable side of the law (he’s a hit man). Throw in Greg Kinnear as a slightly twerpy salesman grieving his dead son and you have a recipe for fun. No, seriously.

The Matador has some graphic bits that will keep me from recommending it to a couple of people. Most of my friends, though, should see it. Rent the DVD, make some Margaritas and settle in for some good fun.


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 76%; Audience 58%

Capturing The Friedmans (2003)

Posted on by

Capturing The Friedmans

Capturing The Friedmans

I had heard a lot about this movie when it first came out and always meant to watch it. However, knowing the subject matter would be heavy and disturbing, I had never gotten around to it. When it came on satellite we tuned in – and climbed aboard a roller coaster.

The film propels you through the story without a firm foothold on the outcome – is he a monster? are they all? were they railroaded by the system? At various points you believe all those things and none of them. And at the end you are still left to wonder because this film does exactly what a documentary should do; it gives you all of the facts, but none of the answers. Those conclusions you must draw on your own.

I give it a rare 5 of 5.

From Amazon:

“Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and with over $3 million at the box office to date, Capturing The Friedmans is nothing short of the most riveting, provocative, and hotly debated films of the year. Despite their predilection for hamming it up in front of home-movie cameras, the Friedmans were a normal middle-class family living in the affluent New York suburb of Great Neck. One Thanksgiving, as the family gathers at home for a quiet holiday dinner, their front door explodes, splintered by a police battering ram. Officers rush into the house, accusing Arnold Friedman and his youngest son Jesse of hundreds of shocking crimes. The film follows their story from the public’s perspective and through unique real footage of the family in crisis, shot inside the Friedman house. As the police investigate, and the community reacts, the fabric of the family begins to disintegrate, revealing provocative questions about justice, family, and -ultimately – truth.”


Rotten Tomatoes: Critics 97%; Audience 86%

1 2 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14