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samuelthemovieman
Reviews
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Wes Anderson has welcomed me to his world
This has been my first real Wes Anderson experience (I saw Tenanbaums when I was 10, but hardly remember it), and I am so glad it was. He knows how to direct his actors so that their every expression is presented with wonderful clarity and realness. He knows his characters well and write them to do something they wouldn't do. In the beginning, there are a few secrets kept from a different brother, and you think that they are going to hold them in until a final burst at the ending, but instead they pushed out right away, and the story goes on. That shows the reality of these characters and their actions, and that this film doesn't live in la-la land. It lives with real people in a real world, and it tells a wonderful story, with well written dialouge and plenty of laugh out load moments, as well as a great soundtrack to move along. There is a strange feeling at the ending that makes you unsure if it's positive or negative, but you forget almost instantly afterwards because you still can't wipe the grin off your face.
Shoot 'Em Up (2007)
Takes violence to a level almost beyond Tarantino
What do you get when the first 5 minutes of a film has a guy kill somebody with a carrot, and proceed to deliver a baby in the middle of a shoot out while constantly dishing out one liners that are nothing short of snappy-as-hell? You get 'Shoot "Em Up", a movie with a plot that doesn't make much sense and characters who couldn't carry out a conversation to save their life but can somehow always come up with Tarantinoesque one liners at any given moment. As I said, the plot doesn't make much sense, but it basically follows Clive Owen trying to save the baby he rescues after its mother dies giving birth in the middle of a shoot out, while protecting it from the evil Paul Giamatti and his henchmen. What "Shoot 'Em Up" does is take every cliché from every action movie of the past thirty years and make it something totally original, off the wall and impossible to dislike (unless, of course, the violence is too much for you). And it is incredible violent, but on a completely comic book level, and it is actually quite well crafted. The director does seem to know what he's doing, as he takes scenes that have been used in many action movies in the past, and brings them to the next level. Take one scene for example, when Clive Owen's Mr. Smith is having sex with the beautiful Monica Belluci, and right in the middle of it, the bad guys come in. A normal action scene would have him proceed to throw her down, pull out his gun, kill all the bad guys, and get dressed. Here, he pulls out his gun and kills all the bad guys, while still having sex with Belluci. So you see, things are done differently here, and we even have a few questions answered. At another point, One of the main bad guys is talking to Mr. Smith and says, "You know, we weren't really trying to kill you, we just wanted to scare you into surrendering." And Mr. Smith responds, "That explains why your aim is so bad." Now it all makes sense.
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2006)
Wait for it to sink in
My original title for this review was going to be, "Ending disappoints, Film triumphs." But I actually thought about this one on the way home. It is not the fairy tale most of these films are, it takes turns that are different and while its ending is at first disappointing, it slowly sinks in and hits the core on a satisfying tone.
The plot follows a man named James Aaron(Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin, who also wrote and directed) a struggling actor who lives in Chicago with his mother and deals with both his obesity and his inability to find someone to love.
Yes, it sounds corny, but it experiments with elements that make it somewhat unpredictable, and actually makes you wish it were longer. The ending came kind of abruptly and had me saying, "that's it!?" But once it starts to take it's toll, it really makes you smile.
It does have many tones of seriousness throughout, but fear not, for it is also very funny. Some scenes offer huge laughs, and those who have seen Jeff Garlin's stand-up will recognize a couple (Primarily when he gives a speech at career day for his niece's kindergarten class and bombs). It begins on somewhat of a serious note that you do not expect, but what follows is very funny, entertaining, and quite poignant as well. It is the kind of movie that you keep watching and always enjoy. And as I said before, while the ending may seem absurd at first, once you take time to think about, it is a true joy.
Teorema (1968)
A painting and a poem in film mode
Pier Pablo Pasolini is a different kind of filmmaker. He doesn't make movies to make money and he doesn't his movies to a general audience. He creates art with film and he does it for himself and anyone willing to appreciate his creations. 'Teorema' is not an art film, it is art, and I am glad it has been my first Pasolini experience.
It is a bit confusing at first, but quickly becomes entrancing afterwards. Terance Stamp plays a man who spends a few days with a wealthy Italian family, seduces every one of them and leaves suddenly while also leaving a mark on them forever. We don't know how or why he's there, but it doesn't matter. To say that he seduces them isn't an entirely true statement, but rather they are seduced by him. The women take off their clothes and begin making love to him, the men grow strongly attached to him, and everyone feel completely whole with him. What makes this film so entrancing is that he does virtually nothing. He plays with their dog, he sits on the porch and reads his book, he doesn't speak much at all, and yet everyone is overwhelmingly seduced by him. It's hypnotizing to see the way these people behave around him and how they fall apart once he is gone.
There is very little dialouge throughout the film, but when there is, it is unbelievable. At one point, the boy of the family delivers a monolouge as he creates several abstract paintings at once, and if you listen carefully, each phrase has more beauty than the last. Even when the film is silent, Pasolini's unbelievable sense of esthetics keeps youcompelled. Every little shot and every camera movement looks like it was taken from a painting. At one point there is a shot of a river by a forest, and I mistook it to be a man talking while the painting was shown, but then as the camera moved left it turned out to be two men walking through the forest. There is beauty in every shot, and even though the second part isn't as exciting as the first you remain compelled through the whole film until it's very unusual ending.
Pasolini gives you what he's got and leaves you to fill in the blanks. 'Teorema' is something that must be seen to be believed and trust me, you can't go wrong when a beautiful painting and a haunting poem are put into one film
Transformers (2007)
Congratulations Mr. Bay
Through observation, it seems the modern summer moviegoer doesn't care about corny dialouge and mediocre acting, but only about being being thrilled and entertained and being blown away by extravagant special effects. In this case, Michael Bay has created the perfect summer movie. He doesn't let one moment get boring, and even though I have never been a transformers fan, I couldn't help but be thrilled when a blue and red truck transformed and uttered the words "I am Optimus Prime." The action sequences are breathtaking and the final half an hour does not disappoint. After god knows how many movies that were just plain bad, Michael has made fine, check-your-brain-at-the-door, entertainment for millions. Congradgulations.
Knocked Up (2007)
A Fable of Modern Immaturity
It's a beautiful moment when a 14 year old can sit can watch a movie like this with his 51 year old mother and have the two of us laughing our asses off. These twenty year old's show the kind of behavior seen in my school, but it shows that boys can be men too. Suddenly Alice Cooper's "I'm Eighteen" makes sense. I myself didn't care for the 40 Year Old Virgin. I thought it was just kind of bland and didn't have the charm that was expected. But "Knocked Up" struck gold with me. I was cracking up constantly for the first half of it, and though the laughs died down a bit in the middle, I was still entranced by it and stayed that for the remainder of the film. What's interesting is how Apatow took such an unoriginal plot line and just made it shine (hey that rhymed). This is a movie that will truly lift your spirits regardless of whether you buy your ticket as a student or a senior. This is one of the best comedies to come out in a long time. A fable of modern immaturity.
Bride of the Monster (1955)
Horribly Entertaining
As you can see, I have chosen not to give this film a star rating. This is because, I feel that you can't rank quality crap and that's what this movie is. Lets face it, the acting sucks, the writing sucks, the directing sucks, the production quality sucks, everything about this movie sucks (with the exception of Legosi's infamous "Home...I have no home" monolouge which is so cheesy in its attempt to be dramatic that it comes out as the funniest and most memorable moment in the film). But despite having no quality whatsoever, this comes out as being very enjoyable, and I had a lot of fun with this movie. My review in a nutshell: So bad, it's fun. And one can only marvel what Ed Wood would have done had his story begun nowadays. Oh wait; Uwe Boll.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Excellent sequel
(more of a 7.5 but they don't have that on the rater) The gang is back and faces adventure with loads of characters, story lines, action, and pound of fun. The special effects are stunning (I wish I could've seen it in theaters), and Johnny Depp is as fun to watch as ever. A couple of plot holes don't take from the excitement each scene has to deliver. It is also very funny at times and has a couple dramatic moments as well. It may get a tad overwhelming at times with everything it has got going on, but fortunatley that also makes its two and a half hour running time flow by. It doesn't exactly captivate you as much as the first one did, but it adds the cherry to the sundae with an excellent, semi-cliffhanger ending that gets you twitching for the third enstallment.
American Beauty (1999)
What could've been a bulls hit movie about losers, came out as genius.
Lester Burham is the biggest loser in motion picture history. He is a terrible father and an even worse husband. He seems to have lost the will to live and curses everyone and everything around him. His wife Caroline is also a loser who makes everything match, always attempts to look her best, attempts to make everything around her look its best, and tries to put everything in a neat and orderly fashion as she holds on to her real estate business by a thread. There daughter Janie who is angry, bitter, and always takes s hit from her best friend, can also be considered a loser. I'm sorry if I'm sounding mean but this is how they are presented.
When new neighbors move across the street a stir of events occur (this has nothing to do with that, they are not supernatural) that include Lester falling in love with Janie's best friend while he works out, rebels against authority, makes risky moves, smokes dope and does whatever he wants to do just like when he was in his twenties. Caroline begins to cheat on her husband with a wealthy real estate agent and begins to empower herself against her husband. Janie falls in love with the new neighbor kid who films things that are beautiful and he falls in love with her.
With this plot set up I have presented you, this movie could've been about a bunch of messed up losers. Instead, every character is presented in a very human and real way that makes you understand their motivations and somehow know them. You understand the beauty behind every little thing in the film, nothing is over-exaggerated, they don't overwhelm you with metaphors or put too much into one character and not enough into the other. "American Beauty", in itself, is like a rose.
The real genius come at the end. It wraps up in a series of events that are brilliantly plotted, and the outcome is so tragic it is stunning; but even after this tragedy, you feel like your in a sea of happiness and eternal bliss and that's all due to Lester's final monologue as you see what truly happened. Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world you can't be mad at anything and when all this beauty builds up the only result is a sea of happiness.
"American Beauty" shows us the beauty in life and inspires us to just look a little closer. 'Tis very rare for a film to have a climax so sad but a conclusion so beautiful.
Training Day (2001)
Fuqua's masterpiece
Training Day is the story of a man's first day as a narcotic's officer. He joins to protect the community and seemingly his wife and infant child. But his partner (Washington) gives much, much more than he bargained. This is a wonderfully looking film that starts out very strongly and has some really intense scenes that do stick with you(particularly the climax, a scene in an alley, and, well, I'll let you be surprised). There are a couple plot holes and you have to watch and listen carefully to understand everything that' going on, but it's well written with a couple of clever twists in between. The ending is a little formulaic, but that is saved by a powerhouse, Oscar winning performance by Denzel, and an equally intense Hawke. This is the best film on Fuqua's line of action drama's. With the exception of Lightning in a Bottle of course.
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
I loved this movie
As someone with a very strong relationship with his father, I feel this truly captured the relationship between father and son in a way most movies fail to do. The last time this has been captured so well was in Big Fish (which I thought was the best film of 2003). This Will Smith's best film to date, and probably his best acting performance ever. I love its references to Thomas Jefferson, in a narration sequence I truly found fascinating. There are some scenes that made me feel as though I was on the brink of tears. It reminded me of why I want to be a father someday. This is one of the best movies of the year, and shame on IMDb for its meek 7.4.
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Wonderful final chapter
I have always seen the Rocky films as kind of modern day fairy tales(the first one being one of my top ten favorites ever), but then I realized that they are not about a story, they are about a character, and Stallone does great justice to his character.
To view this film as "another rocky movie" simply won't cut it. It takes place in the modern world of today, Rocky's wife Adrien passed away a few years ago and he still mourns her. He owns an Italian restaurant outside of Philadelphia where he tells old fight stories at peoples request, he helps Paulie out at the meat place sometimes, and his son who's in his mid twenties feels uncomfortable around his old man because of his celebrity. The current heavyweight champion is a young thirty two year old named Mike Dixon, who is outraged after a computer simulated fight between him and Rocky shows Balboa victorious. It's not as if he challenges Rocky after that, it's hard to explain you'll have to see the movie.
One of the great things about the film is how the characters don't seem fake or played out, they seem real, and I loved the way Rocky has changed in this movie. He has gotten older, wiser, and him alone could make this movie impossible to dislike. There two scenes where he delivers speeches, one to his son the other to these judges who deny him a license, and they both ran shivers down my spine. Rocky's relations and interactions reminded me of some of my elders that I have outings with rather often. He doesn't make anything fake, all is real, nothing is played out.
Stallone deserves an Oscar nomination for best director in my opinion. The fight scenes are so exhilarating, I felt my heart beating at a hundred miles a minute. There were people in the audience so exited they were calling out things like "get him! Get him!", or "to the right! to the right!" He gives it an awesome look, captures certain feelings of family, but most importantly of all, he lifts your spirit high.
Blood Diamond (2006)
the best movie of the year
So many emotions rise up in this story of family, greed, war, and love. It is emotionally powerful, there were at least three moments in this film where I felt tears coming out of my eyes. I was on the edge of my seat the whole movie. Djimon Honsou gives the performance of his career, he should definitely at least be nominated in the best supporting actor category when the Oscars come around. There was one moment that was so compelling that my lips began trembling and I think my heart skipped a beat, and it is very seldom that a movie can give you that kind of shock and thrill. It is very thought provoking and touching with Edward Zwick proving he is one of the top directors out there currently. It gives you loads of political insights that a lot of people haven't been very aware of, I know. The photography is beautiful, there were two shots in the movie that left a smile on my face even after the tears were shed.This one of the best films to come around in a long time, I highly recommend it.
Click (2006)
Terrific
Yes, the plot isn't very original and this film does include the stupid humor that involves the fart joke, and the sex joke(involving a dog), but there are laughs in the beginning and the performances are alright, but towards the end is when shockers happen. I came in expecting a dumb Adam Sandler comedy that would keep me entertained for an hour or so. I got that but I also got something that deeply moved me, connected with me, and left me in a very emotional state. I practically had tears in my eyes at one point and that rarely ever happens. The film has morals that I strongly agree with, and makes for a nice blend of idiot comedy and strong drama. I do think that films plots aren't very original nowadays, and that's not different with this film but it's always nice when a film can surprise you and speak to you.