Reviews

American History X (AHX), is a brilliant and powerful film. It is truly Edward Norton's greatest performance and not only that, but one of the best performances of all time by anyone. All the other performances in the film are great too, but none compare to Norton.

The story's portrayal of past and present is marked by the past being filmed in black and white, and the present filmed in color. This is a very effective tool and adds tremendously to the films power.

The script portrays some of the richest dialogue in film history. Many of the best moments are when Norton is first becoming a white supremacist.

AHX is powerful because of the intensity of several of its scenes. The cinematography and the way the music plays in just light the screen on fire.

Overall, AHX is one of the greatest films ever made and well deserves the spot it has in IMDb's top 50.

Man on Fire is a fantastic and powerful film that is visually stunning in every way. It is such a great film and deserves much appreciation.

It's hard to say if it is Denzel Washington's best film, but it is certainly one of them. Denzel doesn't ever seem to make a bad film. The supporting cast does well too and deserve to be acknowledged.

Tony Scott's direction is masterful and the film would not be the same without it. Every shot is superb.

The editing, cinematography, and musical score are all factors that immensely add to the film's power. Every aspect of film-making combines to make Man on Fire an intense, powerful, and beautiful motion picture.

The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King (LOTR, ROTK), is by far the most powerful and astonishing chapter in the LOTR trilogy, and that's saying a lot because the first two are amazing. If you liked the first two this one will rock your life. It takes a real movie fan to appreciate the fine details put into every set, every prop, every costume, every character, and every scene, and anyone who opposes it has to oppose the 11 Oscars it deservingly won as well.

Unlike many trilogies, LOTR has a rare quality that makes it superior to all others: Each movie gets better as they continue.

The film is perfectly cast and every actor plays his or her role to perfection. The CGI work is outstanding and revolutionary. Gollum is the most detailed and realistic computer-generated creature ever put on screen. The musical score makes this film. Howard Shore is a genius and this is by far his greatest work. The cinematography, EVERYTHING IS FANTASTIC! Please enjoy this monumental film and appreciate the incredible amount of work put into it.

Certainly Martin Scorsese is in the Top 5 film Director's of all time! His ability to put out movie after movie with astonishing screenplays and unforgettable characters is unlike any other. The Departed is an amazing film, from its acting, to its script, to its portrayal of the Boston police and the Irish mafia, and to its shocking finale.

ACTING: The acting in the film is superb. At first it's awkward with everyone having Irish accents and such but you learn to love it. Like all of Scorsese's pictures, The Departed is extremely well cast. Leonardo DiCaprio is a fine actor indeed and may very well merit another Oscar nomination for his roll as an undercover in the Irish Mob, but nothing is certain with the Oscars. Mel Gibson wasn't even nominated for playing William Wallace in Braveheart, even though Nicolas Cage was more than deserving of his well earned Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas. Anyways back to The Departed. Matt Damon also delivers a strong role and possibly the best performance of his career. Is it just me or does Scorsese bring out the best in people? Everyone is already quite aware of Jack Nicholson's quality as an actor so I'll only say one thing. The personality he gives in his role as a criminal is surreal. There are still 3 actors who must be noted for making The Departed all that it is. Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin. Each of them giving unforgettable performances. They really stand out in the film and provide some humorous comments as well.

STORY: From writer William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven and soon to be Jurassic Park IV) comes an engaging, thrilling, and powerful story about corruption within the Boston Police and its ties with the Irish Mafia. Two moles, one within the police force tipping off the mafia, and one with the mafia tipping off the police force play a frustrating game of cat and mouse to discover each other's identities. That's the basic story line. Throw in a little drama, some very entertaining dialogue, a couple gun fights, and a few well placed twists and turns and you've just seen The Departed. Do all of Scorsese's movies have great screenplays or is it just me?

OVERALL: The Departed is a must see and will hopefully win at least a few Oscars this upcoming year. With a runtime of about 2 and 1/2 hours it keeps you engaged the entire time. It's basically rated R for language, a little sexuality, and some traditional Scorsese violence. Great acting, cinematography, screenplay, musical score pieced together nicely, and direction make The Departed an astonishing film.

After seeing Saw III I have to say that I was surprised. Few films do good in their third installments but Saw does quite well. It's got more gore than the other 2, not tons more, but definitely enough to please a horror/gore movie fan. Above the gore though is some of the sounds of the film that make you go, "That was INSANE!" There is some crazy traps in Saw III that are very good but there's always room for more sick/twisted trap ideas. It's got better acting than Saw 2, but how important is the acting anyways. Most people just want to see some nasty traps. And NASTY they are! Saw III does have some noticeable actors who are good though they aren't really that famous. Its a well made horror film. Pretty good series for 3 years in a row. Hopefully if there is a 4 it wont ruin the series, but who cares. It's like throwing out Halloween 3 and loving the rest. This one also has good twists and like the other ones I was waiting to hear that Saw theme song music and sure enough, at the end, there it was. Good Film. Well done.

Kingdom of Heaven (KOH) is an amazing film. I saw it in the theater but the reason it's so great is because of the 4-Disc Director's Cut, which is a must own for any KOH fan.

Story: A well written script, KOH is about a blacksmith whose wife has committed suicide and he seeks out to redeem her in the city of Jerusalem, but ends up defending the people in the great battle against the Muslims.

Cast: The cast for this film was outstanding. One would at first question Orlando Bloom as the leading role of Balian (let's face it, he's no Russell Crowe), but this is by far his best main character performance. Liam Neeson is great as usual, as Balian's long lost father. Jeremy Irons is a great pick because he looks like he's from the crusades and his voice is undeniable. Obviously he's a great actor as well. Eva Green does very well for basically being the only woman in the film and she also fits the the time period well. Martin Csoskas give a great show as the bloodthirsty wanna-be king. Brendan Gleeson.. Do I even need to say anything? The man is incredible. He's so great at being the jerk. Ghassan Massoud and Alexander Siddig do great as playing Muslims in the film. Edward Norton is completely astounding in his uncredited performance as the leper King Baldwin. He is one of my favorite characters in the film.

Music: The music score for this movie is definitely in the top 10. Harry Gregson-Williams delivers a powerful score in this one. Gregson-Williams was a great pick though straying from Ridley Scott's usual Hans Zimmer.

Other: The sets, the costumes, the editing, the cinematography are all superior. They are all very authentic and beautiful and add to the films realness.

Ridley Scott is brilliant. You can definitely see a resemblance of Gladiator in KOH, which is a great thing because who doesn't like Gladiator. His ability to create worlds is unlike any other director in history. The 4-Disc Director's Cut allows you to see more of what Ridley Scott's methods are like.

4-Disc Director's Cut: It has everything you want to see. It puts approximately 45 minutes back into the film and what a great 45 minutes it is. It goes much more in depth especially with Eva Green's Character Sibylla. It includes all the essentials that you would want in a 4-Disc set.

Overall this is a great film and has become one of my very favorites since the past year or so. There is something about it that even makes it rival the quality of Gladiator. It was very underrated by critics and was very well deserving of some Oscars. Watch it!