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Approaching Perfection
Hey, there is only so much room on the Pantheon
- Sanjuro
 Yes, I am definitely on a
martial arts movie tear lately and I was very impressed with this movie. I got chuckles out of the parts that were
humorous and also the entire time felt very sorry for this main character. I was also impresed by the brilliant
imagery that Kurosawa used which came out so well in black and white. Also, my friend Marc said, "One of the best and nastiest
death scenes" and I have to admit, the movie did not prepare me for the ending duel, which was thoroughly captivating.
- This is Spinal Tap
 Pure
comic masterpiece. My friend Steve in High School played a tape and we drove
around for about an hour listening to it. When we pulled into the Tewksbury
Arcade, he dropped the bomb on me. I said, "These guys are great and the songs
are pretty funny." He said, "They're not a band." Massive double take. He
told me that the guy who played Lenny in Laverne and Shirley was in the band.
So on the way home we listened again and this time, knowing that they were
a "joke" band, the songs took on a much different meaning. Once I saw the
movie (and the version that I saw had a great little video montage from a
K-Tel type offer which floored me). I am not sure if that is on the DVD, but
I didn't see it. Needless to say, this movie is just not just original, its
the new originals.
- Star Wars: A New Hope
 No
words describe this movie that will accurately convey how much it was part
of my life and still is. I think I saw this about 11 times at the North Reading
cinema for about $1.50 a pop. It was mind blowing. Funny how it still feels
that way when the opening credits role. I hope I never lose that connection
to my childhood. Watching this on widescreen reminds me how different a movie
really is when it is formatted (pan & scan) for television. I must have
seen this movie a million times on HBO and network television, but when I
got the widescreen version, I noticed that some scenes weren't all that familiar
looking (you know how your eye gets used to how a movie looks). Well I realized
that the pan & scan had really done a terrible number on this movie an
I had to reacclimatize myself to how George Lucas wanted it to look. Well,
this movie is good enough that I could watch it through a telescope in orbit
and I would still love it.
Reason to see: It raises the bar of moviemaking. Darth Vader, Sand
People, Death Star, A Long Time ago....
- To Live and Die in LA
 Talk
about a coming of age movie. I was just barely 17 when I went to see this
one. Although I had seen a couple of random R rated movies, I don't think
that I fully appreciated the heaviness that comes with the R rating until
I saw this one. Talk about brilliant performances. William Petersen versus
William Dafoe. Just priceless. I always thought that William Petersen should
have gotten more jobs in Hollywood, especially after this one, but he kind
of hung in the second to third tier of leading actor, until recently with
his CSI lead. The thing about this movie is that it is completely not Hollywood,
and if you haven't seen it yet, I will not tell you what I mean, but it really
made me angry after I saw it, but this was not the kind of anger that is spawned
from watching a bad movie, rather it is in dealing with things that you just
don't expect. I highly recommend this one just for the difference. It is refreshing
and depressing.
Reason to See: To see if you will get as angry as I did and still love
the movie.
- True Romance
 Is
that really Gary Oldman? No way!... Yes way. If I ever make a movie, I am
going to hire the casting director to pick my actors. How many famous of soon-to-be
recognizable to famous actors are in this movie? Lemmee count. Slater, Arquette,
Oldman, Hopper, Walken, S.L. Jackson, Sizemore, Penn, Gandolfino, Pitt, and
I haven't even begun to count. And they all have memorable performances. I
think I was a little stunned the first time I saw this movie, and it comes
down to a stylized look at movies. I was used to this pace, the number of
characters that got built up so fast. They have this type of acting list in
Airport, Towering Inferno and Earthquake movies (with much lesser plots, mind
you).
Reason to see: I haven't seen an ensemble perform this well in a movie
together. Its truly awe inspiring.
- The Abyss: Director's Cut
 At
a time where Hollywood was putting out gems like Deep Star 6 and Leviathan,
stood this movie. And it wasn't received all that well. I wonder what would
have been the reaction if the Director's cut was released? Personally, I don't
like The Abyss all that much. It seems to eager to rush to tie everything
up and it just lost its edge for me.
The Director's cut is so different, and in my humble opinion, they are
two different movies. With this version, you gain about 20 minutes of extras,
and they change the entire movie. I cannot describe it to you because (like
they say about The Matrix), you have to see it for yourself. Everyone I
have watched that with (who at the beginning said that they didn't really
like The Abyss) had this dumbfounded look on their faces and ended up as
thrilled and impressed as I was. I though James Cameron had more muscle
in Hollywood than that. This title makes me say, thank Heavens for DVDs.
- Predator
 After
further review and consensus with my good buddy Nelson (who said the movie
is like crack), I decided that this movie needed to be bumped up a notch.
So here it is. Man, say what you want about Arnold movies, but this is one
that I can't turn off when it is on. Just amazing special effects, good plot
development, and a haunting feeling of desperation throughout the entire movie.
They push the right buttons at the right times in this one. Just movie mastery.
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