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JamesShugart
Reviews
Brüno (2009)
a steaming pile of ****
this movie is awful. Cohen seems to mistake shock value for comedy. what was bearable in borat is blown sky high in Bruno. this movie is dirty and classless.
the entire movie was based on showing us how funny a filthy gay sex scene is, how funny a filthy gay guy is, and how funny it is to be exceedingly cruel to people.
i didn't even crack a smile once in this horrible movie. two girls in my showing walked out and if i hadn't gotten my ticket for free, i would have been right on their heels. what is the world coming to when people enjoy donkey **** like this
Battlefield: 1942 (2002)
solid game
A very fun and action packed game, BattleField: 1942 is a flawed but still entertaining game. The AI skills in this game are pretty bad. For your side at least. All of your allies pretty stand around doing nothing while you have to do everything. This isn't a particularly bad thing if you just want to blow off some steam and shoot up a map, but after a while it gets frustrating. The way that the maps are planned out and the strategic battle plans are organized are relatively accurate, but each map has at least one noticeable flaw in it. The weapons are relatively useless-it takes at least three machine gun shots to drop a single man, and an entire pistol mag to drop somebody. The tanks big guns are badly worked. When you fire it, the shell begins to descend as soon as it's out of the gun. The enemy forces tend to single you out as well. For example, your ally has a tank to your right and you have a pistol; the enemy would rather blow you away than go after the more powerful tank. I have been able to get past all of these flaws in the game and it is incredibly enjoyable. Definitely recommended for those who do not insist on complete historical accuracy. 8/10 For those who like historical accuracy (as i sometimes do) and a more authentic war and weaponry feel, i would recommend any of the Call Of Duty games.
The Black Cat (1934)
pretty good
Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff star in this atmospheric thriller. Lugosi is effective as Dr. Vitus Werdegast and Karloff is diabolically evil as the satanic Hjalmar Poelzig. David Manners and Jaqueline Wells co-star as two American honeymooners caught in the conflict between Lugosi and Karloff. The camera angles and lighting make up for the lacking plot line. The dialogue is laughable at times, but the actors manage to hold their faces straight while saying it and do a pretty good job with the rest of the film. Joan and Pater Allison(Manners and Wells) are vacationing on their honeymoon in Europe. They run into Dr. Werdegast on a train and decide to share a cab to a town. Along the way the driver crashes the car and the four survivors(Werdegast's servant survived as well) head to a house that Werdegast knows. It is the house of Hjalmar Poelzig, an old acquaintance of Werdegast's. As the night and next morning ensue, Werdegast's and Poelzig's sordid past is revealed, and Poelzig also decides that he must have Joan for a satanic ritual. The finale is explosive as Werdegast makes his last stand against Poelzig and the honeymooners try to escape from danger. This film co-stars Harry Cording(A universal regular) as Werdegast's sidekick, a very attractive Lucille Lund as Poelzig's innocent wife, and Egon Brecher as Poelzig's servant. 8/10
Red Heat (1988)
"Name?" "Danko." "You're Welcome!"
A highly entertaining film that stars Anrold Schwarzanagger as tough and dutiful Russian cop Ivan Danko and James Belushi as the undisciplined passionate American cop Art Ridzik. Ed O'Ross is great as the evil drug running Viktor Rosta who escapes to America after Danko busts him in Russia. Danko follows Rosta to America where Commander Lou Donnelly(The late Peter Boyle) assigns Ridzik and his partner Sergeant Gallagher(Richard Bright) to help Danko out with his investigation. When Gallagher is killed by Rosta and his gang, Ridzik flies into a rage and decides to do things Danko's way-Shoot first and think later. With stalwart supporting performances from O'Ross, Boyle, and a younger Laurence Fishburne, and fine directing from Walter Hill, Red Heat is definitely recommended for all Arnie or Belushi fans. A previous comment stated that there were no good 1-liners in this film. That statement is incorrect. It's just that Arnold played the straight man, setting up Jim Belushi for the great lines. 9/10
The Mummy's Hand (1940)
very enjoyable
this sequel to the mummy(1932), may have been more of an inspiration for the Stephen Sommers remake in 1999, than the original one, just because of its different style. In the mummy's hand, suspense takes a backseat to action and comedy in this higher paced universal classic. Well cast and decently written, this film is recommended for all fans of this genre of film. If you're not a classic film fan, then just go for the original Mummy with Boris Karloff. Dick Foran and Wallace Ford bounce lines off of each other with great chemistry as the two American adventures stuck in Cairo, until they hatch a get-rich-quick scheme by uncovering an Egyptian princess' tomb. Peggy Moran is cute as the romantic interest of Dick Foran, Cecil Kellaway plays his part well as the jovial magician who backs the Americans venture, and George Zucco is pleasantly evil as the Egyptian priest who schemes to bring Kharis back to life. Also notable in this film is Harry Stubbs as the hapless bartender, Charles Trowbridge as the scientist friend of Dick Foran, and Leon Belasco as Ali the digging foreman. highly enjoyable 10/10
Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor (1999)
excellent
A very intelligent game. The story follows four heroes who win a contest to be the rulers of a town called Harmondale. These heroes must arbitrate and choose the path of Good or Evil, of Light or Dark. They must decide whether to support Gavin Magnus of Celeste and the Light side, or to fight for Ironfist, ruler of The Pit. The plot line is plausible and fun, there is little gore and no nudity or profanity, making this an ideal children's game. it definitely was a staple of mine. the highlights of the game are definitely the (1)music, which sets the tone for each city, castle, or cavern that the heroes enter into, and (2) Arcomage. This is the highly addicting card game that the heroes can play in each town's tavern after finding a deck with which to play. There are a number of different classes for your heroes to be. they can be fighters, such as Knights, Paladins, or Archers, or spellcasters, like Clerics, Sorcerers, or Druids, or another miscellaneous class, such as Thief or Monk. There are quite a few spells that can be learned and a plethora of weapons that can be attained. There are even some unexpected modernized weapons that are given to the heroes for the final task. While this isn't the best game ever made, or the highest budget game, it is thoroughly enjoyable and probably the most fun i've ever had playing a computer game 10/10
The Pink Panther (2006)
Unexpectedly Good! (Possible Spoilers)
My friend talked me into seeing this and since he's my buddy i went. I expected a horrific repeat of the Peter Sellers movie, which i adore, with stupidity and boredom but i received ingenuity and flair. Granted, a few of the scenes were very overdone and they continued on for way too long, but most of the movie was very fast paced.
Acting: Steve Martin does a pretty good job of recreating Sellers' Clouseau. The accent is a little off, but Martin brings his zany and enigmatic humor to the picture. Kevin Kline gives a nice performance as the scheming Chief Inspector who tries to set up Clouseau for failure and vault himself in the annals of fame, but who does the exact opposite. Beyonce Knowles' character i found to be very annoying and i found myself wishing that she would crash and burn in the next scene. Not to take anything away from Knowles who fit the role perfectly and gave a great performance as the spoiled diva who holds the key to the pink panther. I have always been a huge fan of Jean Reno, and i was not disappointed. Reno steals most scenes that he is in as the savvy, quick witted sidekick of the blundering Clouseau. Emily Mortimer was cute and won me over by the end, and Henry Czerny always makes for a good bad guy.
Dialogue: The film was well written and didn't "borrow" very much at all from the original film. Steve Martin and Len Blum get props for giving us a great modern day interpretation of an older film. Like i said at the start though, a few scenes were a little too "Modernized".
Plot: The plot is believable and, for the most part, intriguing. The Pink Panther is stolen from its owner(who is murdered) at a championship soccer game. Chief Inspector Dreyfus(Kline) is assigned to find the missing jewel and the owner's killer. Dreyfus orders inspector Clouseau(Martin) onto the case, but only as a decoy. When Clouseau messes it up, Dreyfus plans to step in with his own team and take credit for the case. Clouseau makes good, however, with the aid of a special service agent in the apprehension of criminals. Clouseau is heroized, so Dreyfus assigns Gendarme Ponton(Reno) to be Clouseau's partner in order to report on Clouseau. Xania(Knowles), the wife of the murdered jewel owner is a central figure in the case who Clouseau and Ponton follow to America. Clouseau is disgraced in America, just as Dreyfus hoped. Clouseau though, notices something that sends he and his now friend, Ponton, back onto the case in which the killer is unveiled and the pink panther is recovered.