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Reviews
A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
One of the Greatest Movies of All Time!
Not just a comedy but an awesome storyline as well.. I have to say I have watched this movie well over 100 times as when I was in college I let it play continuously on a loop partly because I liked the soundtrack so much. I could totally relate to the two oblivious/loser brothers who aren't ready to face the reality of growing up. I'll have to say though the first time I saw it I was not that satisfied with it and I think I even stopped watching it so if you 've only seen the movie once but enjoy comedies watch this movie again and give it another try because it's the type of movie where you catch things second, third time around that you didn't notice before.
I love all the catch phrases from the movie especially Mr. Zadir " Dooey did you grab my ass" My favorite scene from this movie is the wedding scene at the end which marks the climax of the film. They way everything just came together full circle and then the new club what a perfect way to end a movie.
Hyenas (2011)
Lost Boys meets Howling
Both pretty good movies for their time and Hyenas was possibly just as cheesy but was not impressed with the CGI of Hyenas which actually looked and acted more like werewolves. I was disappointed when I found out there were no actual Hyenas in the movie at all.... some scenes of the "Hyenas" were shot so far off that you could tell they were just some German Shepards running around or so up close and choppy that you couldn't make out quite what it was...
Towards the end of the film it was finally verified that in fact the "Hyenas" were actually humans that transform in to first a werewolf looking thing and then at the end a full fledged CGI Hyena, not a real Hyena a Hyena on steroids, kind of like the wolves from Twilight.. in fact they may have been the wolves from twilight with stripes on them.
Another humorous element in this movie was the totally corny "Hyena laugh" that some of the actors were forced to do. I must say I was completely embarrassed for them as it was anything but scary.
I gave this movie 2 stars for claiming to be a movie about Hyenas and ending up being an illogical werewolf movie.
Ghoul (2012)
Left too many open ends
This started off as a good movie. Set in the eighties I thought it would be like all the other cheesy movies, maybe kind of like Goonies but instead I got a lot of different directions this movie could go in and not one of them resolved.
First they introduced child molestation and then domestic violence and alcoholism. All of these scenes were more intense and in fact scarier than any of the scenes involving "the Ghoul" which I'm still not quite sure existed.
At the end of the movie the three children escape the mine shaft where the ghoul has been killing people with the help of one of the children's father that works at the cemetery. This man has been helping the ghoul by letting him have his way with whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to enter the old mine that is located under the cemetery. Does that make sense in the first please. Well anyways in a scene while drunk off his keester he yells down the mine shaft, to the ghoul, that he's not going to do it anymore that what he (the ghoul) gives him is not enough. Later the kids stumble upon a box near the shaft that has a lot of jewelry that used to belonged to the deceased buried at the cemetery. Was this his pay and if so couldn't have the child's father taken the deceased valuable possessions without the help of the ghoul which lives underground and as we find out later maybe cannot live in the sunlight so he stays underground.
However none of that was as important to me as the issues surrounding the physical and sexual abuse of two of the children that were never resolved. I'm sure the directors or writers probably had some scenes in there that eluded to something or nother, a line that was said that wrapped up those aspects of the movie but it was just not enough for me to be satisfied. I gave this movie 3 stars because it did have potential but too many elements were left unresolved.
Mirrors 2 (2010)
Good acting
I've been watching Nick Stahl since I saw him on HBO's Carnival and think he did an excellent job portraying an emotionally distraught character who has experienced tragedy. His performance is really what makes this movie compelling to watch as he investigates further into the mirrors and the disappearance of the missing girl.
The other characters in the movie were decently played as well, the sister of the missing girl, Stahl's father and business associates and of course the the janitor Stah'ls character replaced who has a little problem with the mirrors at the beginning of the movie.
In conclusion I like this movie but not as much as the first one. I gave it a 6 out of 10 because it is better than a majority of the horror films I have seen recently.
First Born (2007)
Better than average psychological thriller
I guess I found this movie premise interesting because I am a man and have know idea what women go through emotionally and physically during the whole birthing process so post partum depression or psychosis is a mystery to me.
I gave it only a 9 because there were some thing that were not explained thoroughly enough for my liking. One was the Diary she found and the girl in the grocery store that talked about her friend that used to live there. I know, I know they showed her open it up at the end and it was blank so it was actually her diary but I just felt it happened a little too quickly for the viewer to process.
Other than that I loved the movie. I've watched it a couple of times again hoping I could find answers as to why and how psychosis occurs or develops to the point of matricide. That question is never fully answered. It could have something to do with the guilt she felt for killing her dog with rat poison. I mean she just really seemed like more of an absent minded person other than crazy/mad at times. I know that her being a lone a lot of the time also contributed to her condition and her husband was really never there for her and probably resented her for killing the family dog however accidentally.
Sublime (2007)
Jacobs Ladder meets Vanilla Sky meets the Machinist
I would just like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It scared me the whole time and even had me laughing while in fear at the same time... awesome! The "ride" down the East Wing where viewing some of the oddities/horrors of medicine and some of his own insecurities from his subconscious reminded me of the "ride" through the park "highway to hell" scene in the Machinist with Christian Bale. Of course Jacob's Ladder was the earliest film I can recall using this kind of imagery.
This film was not however just like Jacob's Ladder which is about someone who finds redemption before his death. This is more about someone being "brain dead" and what that could mean... It could mean you are trapped in your own private hell created by subconscious. This hell could be created by the brains ability to still draw from the outside world if this is possible in someone who is considered brain dead would they want to be free... which means to die or continue living on in this state. That's the question it raises.
The Karate Kid (2010)
Stop Hatin'
First off for those of you that say it shouldn't have been called the Karate Kid, there is a scene where Dre(Jaden Smith's) Mom says something about Karate and Dre gets mad and screams at his mother, "It's Kung Fun this is China!" Because as anyone would know who is a fan of Martial Arts movies, Karate is Japanese, and a more direct form of Martial Arts, Tae Kwon Doe is Korean. But I diverse.
The main reason the name Karate Kid is accurate is because it took almost every element from the first movie: Culture Shock, Bullying, The unorthodox training methods, of "kid's" trainer, The Bond between Teacher and Student, The forbidden relationship between "kid" and foreign love interest, The tragic past of the trainer. Nothing all the way to, "sweep the leg" was left out but done in a much more sophisticated manner with more believable characters and dramatic dialogue.
I'll be honest this movie made me laugh, made me cry and after watching it I feel like I learned something from it too. Kung Fu is in Everything.
Spiral (2007)
American Psycho meets the Machinist.
I actually liked this movie although it took me a little while to get into it. And some of the scenes were actually drawn out. I don't mind the strangeness of Mason. He is mysterious like Amber says an Enigma and that's one of the reasons she's attracted to him. Plus a lot of chicks really dig art and the guy is always sketching/painting. Their relationship may be an anomaly even in the real world which is filled with all kinds of unlikeable and withdrawn characters that still manage to find or maintain relationships. One of the problems I have with the plot is that it leaves too much left unexplained.
For instance. I would like to know if the blood in the sink was blood or paint. That could have completely cleared up any guilt of murder on Mason's part. Oil paint wouldn't wash off with regular soap and water, but neither would that much blood for that matter. so I'm. I am also not sure what happened to Amber. It never showed her body leading you to question if her murder is just in Mason's head or if it really happened. One of the quotes from the movie was Mason says how do you tell the difference which definitely reminds me of American Psycho starring Christian Bale. Similary both characters, Mason and Bale, believe they have committed murders that never actually took place.
The movie actually played out kind of like the Machinist, where you know something happened in this guys past and it may have involved murder. In fact the scene or flashback where Mason is carrying what appears to be a rug or carpet with a body rolled up into it are almost taken directly from the Machinist.
I think the directors could have brought closure at the end of this movie, but they chose to leave everything open ended. Mason was a mystery at the beginning of the film and still a mystery at the end. And we still don't know what happened to Amber, did she just not show up for work or was she dead? Or if any of the girls in Mason's past were real?
Home Room (2002)
Great Movie!
At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch this movie when it came up on my guide so I looked it up on IMDb and thought the cover looked pretty cool so I thought I would give it a try expecting a movie like Elephant.
Once I got past the fact that I am supposed to dislike the Alicia character played excellently by Busy Phillips, I realized what a good job this movie was doing toward setting up the relationship between Alicia and Deanna. Alicia is so mean to Deanna played by Erika Christensen almost throughout the entire movie but we eventually find out that they despite being polar opposites they have one thing in common besides being present at the shooting. They share loneliness and to what extent is revealed as the film progresses.
I've just got to say how much I loved this movie and was glad to see all of the positive comments about it. I couldn't even get through Elephant because it just seemed to be exploiting the Columbine tragedy. This movie on the other hand was compelling and realistic. Busy Phillips acting is OFF the CHAIN!!! That is a good thing and I would love to see her progress into some more mature roles.