Change Your Image
JacFlash
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
A History of Violence (2005)
The Many Faces of Violence
An 80 year old grandmother walks down a sidewalk, steps off and the curb and lands face down in a puddle. Horrific. A well-to-do gentleman with a top hat and cane walks down a sidewalk, steps off the curb and lands face down in mud puddle. Hilarious. Comedy is all about set-up and perception, and so is violence.
Throughout this film we are subject to a multitude of forceful acts, all of them violent, all of them causing physical and/or emotional harm to another person, and all of them under vastly different circumstances. There were moments when (at my viewing) audience members applauded and cheered when act of violence was committed, they were also audibly horrified by others, and even found humor in yet others. Which acts are justified? Which are excessive? Is violence something that is passed from generation to generation? Can violence be funny, or even sexy? David Cronenberg plays the audience with this film, he asks us these questions, and we must think of how we reacted to each scene and find out where we draw personal lines.
Although the film is thought provoking, it indeed has it's flaws. There are points where the dialog is unintentionally laughable, and the film's family seems to be wearing their smiles just a touch wider than comfortable. But powerful performances from William Hurt and Viggo Mortensen tend to stick with us more than other distractions. See this film, think about it, and draw your own lines.
-3 stars for some iffy acting, clichéd supporting characters, and improbable situations even within the world the film creates.
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
Why, Oh Why Do I Like This Movie??
I appreciate a good film, I dig Citizen Kane, Kubrick, David Lynch..etc. There should be no feasable reason that I find this movie appealing, yet I do! I'm not a moron, but this dumb, dumb, movie is so watchable it's a crime not to grab a tub of popcorn, a couple beers and dumb out for an hour and a half and see this one. You'll lose a few IQ points on the way, but it's worth it.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
In Defence of "Shadows" Vocalists.
Although this is probably not the best documentary I've ever seen, the musical perfomances more than make up for it. After all these years, The Funk Brothers are tight as hell! It's also overwhelmingly inspiring to see musicians playing their music so well, and just enjoying it. The looks on the faces of the Brothers while playing are priceless. As for the "new" singers on each track, I was extremely happy with these renditions of classic Motown songs. Yes, Joan Osborne is mostly known for her 90s hit, "One of Us," but she also is an amazing soul singer who KNOWS her music. I defy anyone to listen to "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" and tell me that it was not an inspired performance. Also Ben Harper and Gerald Levert do fine turns on classic Motown. Sure, these aren't "A-List" superstars of today. But would it really be about the music if (shudder) Whitney or Mariah got their hands on these songs? And lets face it, the few Motown artists from that era that are still touring today are shadows of their former selves. The vocalists in "Shadows" are well-picked, respected members of a musical elite, who are in touch with their roots, and show that respect in every note they sing, much like the Funk Brothers themselves.
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002)
MST3K Fans Will Enjoy This Little Gem
It was dumb and smart all at the same time. Although a good deal of the gags were cheap, and the laughs the same. Steve Odekirk has put out a film that will probably be just as funny years from now as it is today. The film takes footage from two martial arts films from the seventies and digitally (and cleverly) puts a few new characters in them. At first I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out which characters where from the original movie and which were added. Yes, in some scenes it was completely obvious, but in others it required careful viewing. The combined footage, plus new matieral and dubbed voices (all privided by Odekirk) gives us the story of "The Chosen One" on a quest to avenge his parent's death at the hands of Master Pain (who on a whim decides to have everyone address him as "Betty." Don't ask.) There are a ton of cheap and obvious jokes in the movie, but ther are also plenty of very clever little bits of dialogue that I didn't expect. The only time I was truely disappointed was a "Matrix" scene involving a CGI cow. It's been done. Of course, this is the first time with a cow, but I've seen several "Matrix" parodies in other movies and I think it's time for them to be put to rest. Hopefully this movie will find an audience with those who enjoyed "Mystery Science Theatre 3000." Several times I felt like I was watching one of those great old shows seeing how charaters in the movie were commenting on the movie itself. Of course, I was also reminded of Woody Allen's similar venture, "What's Up Tiger Lily" which spoofed James Bond-esque movies by replacing dialogue in a Japanese spy picture. I was also reminded of "Mad Movies," a series that was on, I believe in the mid-eighties on Nickelodeon which was based on a similar concept, taking out the old dialogue to obscure old movies and replacing it with hilarious new words. Overall, I would recommend "Kung-Pow" to those who don't mind the occasionaly guilty pleasure. Leave your brain (or most of it anyway) at home and don't worry about laughing at the dumb jokes...it's dark in the theatre...no one can see you!
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Imagination; The Horror Movie Buff's Best Friend.
Yes, there was the hype. I tried to stay away from it, but still it crept into my life. After a week of having to run out of the room every time my friends wanted to talk about TBP, I decided it was time to see it for myself.
Amazing. Truely amazing. This was not a fear that came from the same place as "Nightmare on Elm St," or "Psycho," this was a fear of identification and knowing that these people are real. Okay, they were actors, but if you didn't know it was (I assume very loosly) scritped, and didn't know this was fiction, there are very few give-aways that would tip you off. Possibly on future viewing there will be more evident gaffs that point to the fact that this was all a work of imagination. But after my first look at it, the film seems to be solid.
Aside from creeping me out, I left the film wanting to watch a documentary on the filming of this movie! I can't imagine the process and improvisions these actors must have gone through to attain the level of "reality" that was displayed in the film. The film itself was full of strong choices. Some worked for me, some didn't. But either way, they were bold,defined and when viewed as a whole made for some intense viewing.
Some people have complained that "nothing was explained." (particularly referring to the end) In a day and age when Hollywood panders to the lowest common denominator by holding the audience's hand and then proceeding to hit them over the head with key plot points and cliches this movie took a more absurdist route and left some of the exposition up in the air. But I think that was part of the fear factor. When given the loose ends of these particular circumstances, our own imagination is what scares us even more when it comes to the possibilities of "what happened."
All in all, see this film. Become engrossed in it. Don't worry about "This is supposed to be the scariest movie ever," just sit back and take it as it comes and let your imagination fill in the rest. Sometimes the scariest part of the movie is in our own minds.
Last Night at Eddie's (1997)
A Decent "B" Movie.
"Last Night At Eddie's" isn't "Citizen Kane" but it's not as bad as the usual "USA Up All Night" fare. It's a quirky little romance film set in a seacoast town in Massachusetts. It's the last night Eddie's Pizza Parlor is open for the season and the last time the two romantic leads have to express their true feeling for each other. The leads are a tad weak, but the supporting cast holds the film together. And the director really captured the feeling of what the winding down of summer feels like along the coast of New England. The entire film was shot on location there so it not only feels authentic, it is.