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FosseFilmGuy
Reviews
The Color of Money (1986)
This is too good to be a sequel!
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio all give legendary performances in this "sequel" to, "The Hustler". Newman returns as Fast Eddie Felson, a former pool hustler who is now an aging liquor salesman but soon moves up to stake horsing a young pool shark who Fast Eddie sees as a resemblance of himself. Cruise plays the cocky, immature pool shark, Vincent, Mastrantonio plays Vincent's tough girlfriend, Carmen (an Oscar nomination). Eddie takes Vincent and Carmen on the road, teaching Vincent the true art of hustling, "Money Won Is Twice As Sweet As Money Earned". Although director Martin Scorsese claims he did this film strictly for the money, this is one of his best works.For all you pool enthusiasts out there, you will be enthralled to see many professional pool players such as Steve Mizerak in brief cameos. Do not miss this film! It is true art in the making. Cruise performed most of his own pool playing, and the late great Paul Newman scored his first and only Oscar for his great work here.Newman was truly a great actor...I can't think of too many that have won an Oscar for playing the same character years later and winning an Oscar for it.
Dreamgirls (2006)
Worst Musical ever made...clichéd to hell.
I didn't know what to expect from, "Dreamgirls" when first seeing it, but got far less from what I expected upon seeing it. After the first five minutes, I sensed a tacky dud. Writer/director Condon used and abused every cliché imaginable. More than half of the musical numbers were predictably tacky and overall bad, and should've been trimmed or cut altogether. Eddie Murphy was praised more than he deserved to be from what I thought was an average performance, Beyonce STILL can't act, the only memorable scene was jennifer Hudson's, "I'm Not Going". I felt no chemistry among any of the characters so much that when Murphy died, I felt nothing for him. I saw the ending coming from a mile away with Beyonce introducing Hudson to sing. Condon copied from his previous masterpiece, "Chicago". He should've left this project to Rob Marshall instead of taking it on himself in an attempt to prove something. As talented as most of the cast was, the story let them down. All my black friends act like this is the best movie since, "West Side Story", because they can't admit that the one all black musical brought to the big screen is mere dog poop. Before you call me a racist, keep in mind, it's only racism if it's not true. I seriously do believe that a cast like this is capable and deserving of a much better plot.
Mamma Mia! (2008)
A brilliant adaptation of the play!
From the minute it opened with, "Honey Honey", I knew 'Mamma Mia", I whispered to my wife, "If the film maintains this pace, it's gonna be great." It did. Aside from Pierce Brosnan's brave attempt at singing (not bad) along with Julie Walters' so-so voice, this is truly a great film for all to see that out soars the play. Amanda Seyfried is absolutely beautiful; voice, looks, etc. I thought her fiancée was a bit of a wimp, but who cares? He wasn't the main character for a reason. Meryl Streep is always a blast, but Christine Baranski steals the show as an aging sex kitten. Skarsgaard is a true sport and is clearly having fun with his role as one of Sophie's possible dads. It's rare in an adaptation or any film in general where everything is staged just right. Musical numbers were perfect, performances were right on the money, and unlike "Dreamgirls", clichés were avoided at every turn here. As a filmmaker myself, I would've either dubbed Walters and Brosnan or recast them. I still give this a 10 out of 10 because a film done so well like this one can easily over compensate for a couple of people who can't sing. Obviously the arrangers knew this since Brosnan and Walters sang the first verse solo then were loudly joined by an ensemble. All in all, "Mamma Mia" is a blast, bring everybody, see if you can catch Amanda Seyfried's nipple slip when she's getting ready for her wedding, and STAY FOR THE END CREDITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
RE: Flat out Stupid.
I don't get it. We're supposed to LIKE these losers? There wasn't one likable person in this movie. It made Astoria look like a slum with garbage all over the place and hoodlums on every corner! Antonio brutally beats up a little boy and laughs about it in a deleted scene when he sees the eight year old boy has a large bandage covering his eye. Absolutely terrible. Am I supposed to feel sorry that Giuseppe the psycho got run over by a train? That Antonio wound up doing life in prison? Good riddance! I hope Antonio got his ass kicked every day in prison! In closing, if you're going to make a movie about scum, can't you at least show the positive side a little bit? Of course not; it has to be like, "Mean Streets" or "Goodfellas". God forbid they try to be ORIGINAL. Skip this piece of crap. The best part was when it was over.
The Black Dahlia (2006)
Possibly best of the year
While "The Black Dahlia" is not for everybody, I for one, being a die-hard fan of Brian DePalma as well as of film noir, found this film beyond great. The film is a mystery/suspense/thriller which centers around The Black Dahlia case and two competitive LAPD detectives that investigate it. As usual DePalma's riveting filmwork adds tremendous style to what would've been an ordinary mystery. While the plot seems to drift at times, in the end you see everything has to do with the dahlia. Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson always look great in front of the camera, especially Johnasson who would've succeeded among the likes of Rita Hayworth or Ava Gardner had SHE been around back in the day. Noticed little tidbits from "Chinatown", "The Untouchables" and such, but they were great movies too so who cares? It's unfortunate that film noir such as this and "Hollywoodland" rarely succeed at the box office. I doubt this will garner much Oscar buzz, but there's always hope for the underdog! See "The Black Dahlia". It's what films used to and should always be.
Rent (2005)
Just as good as the play.
"Rent" was absolutely excellent! While Jesse L. Martin appeared a little old for his role, he still put on a great show along with the rest of the cast. The film gives you more of a New York City feeling (not discrediting the play). Seeing members of the original cast was a wise choice rather than having popular celebrities that can't sing, dance or act. I'm disappointed it got snubbed at the Golden Globes, being that this was one of the best films I've seen all year! The "life support" scene in the film puts things more into perspective, seeing in full detail the experiences AIDS patients go through. I liked they didn't sing every single word like in the play, slightly overdoing it. Indina Menzel is absolutely beautiful, Anthony Rapp had great charisma, I sympathized greatly with Adam Pascal's character, and the rest of the cast added to the warmth and compassion that made "Rent" so great. Forget "King Kong", "Rent" is the giant that should take over New York City because it's all about New York City!