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Reviews
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Really Good Drama
I wasn't expecting to like this film when I finally caught up with it on TV: I was very pleasantly surprised! I probably liked it better than all the previous Rocky films. The reason is simple: it is not really a "boxing" film per-se, it is about relationships between people, who - for the greater part - are dazed and confused. Rocky himself allows himself to be swept into a match that he knows full well he shouldn't be performing. Without giving away the ending - I liked the ending: both protagonists are dazed and confused. I rated this movie 9/10, I should probably be giving it more.
Project Almanac (2015)
A Perfect Time Travel Film
I don't rate movies often, I don't rate a movie I don't like, and rarely give a 10-out-of-10.
This movie simply has everything: time travel, suspense, love story.
The tale sets up its own rules: you cannot go back in time and meet your past self, otherwise - you eradicate yourselves.
So, a group of teens habitually travel back in time - as a group, to watch each others backs. And they do this a bit to habitually, and results become bad.
Anyway, I am about 3 times the age of these teens - but I liked the romance angle, and this is why I score it so high.
This is a pretty dark film, which is also why I give it a high score (that's me).
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
A mild and kind teen flick that even I could enjoy
I am not reading any of the reviews (yet) until I compose this one. This is a teen movie, for sure, but I have been waiting to catch this one for a while, and finally caught it on TV here in Sydney. As far as teen flicks go - I liked it (otherwise I would not mention it): almost no inter-teen cruelty, no gratuitous nudity (almost), just - a kind treatment of the characters involved.
I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
This movie seems like an underrated underdog
I am not even looking at any of the reviews on this site - yet. First I will write mine...
I can see this movie seems to have received a terrible overall score on this site, and a brief look at Wikipedia tells me it had a derisive response. Well, all this is undeserved.
I saw this film on TV late at night in Australia, it was labeled here as "horror": perhaps so, dunno: it wasn't scary, this movie seems to transcend genre. I won't delve into the plot - others have done this for me. As for genre - this movie seems to move between psychedelic and some implicit sci-fi. The blue roses that crop up in the story: they don't exist in nature, and if they can be bred - probably are not cheap. The dual Fleming/Moss character is badly mutilated pretty much at the onset, and receives bionic prosthetics that seem to be gleefully taken for granted in the film - but do not exist in reality. And this entire plot is entirely set in our reality, not in some alternate sci-fi world.
I loved Lindsay Lohan's and Julia Ormond's performances. Ormond's beauty was very much tempered down for this movie.
I will see this again if I have a chance.
Dope (2015)
One of the more bizarre movies I have seen
Only slight spoilers - nothing to detract from viewing the film. I'm not even looking at the other reviews yet. Next time I catch this film, I'll probably give it 10 out of 10: I'm only giving it 9 because it was quite sophisticated, and at times - difficult for me to follow.
It tells the story of 3 African American teenagers, they are "nerds", very not-tough, trying to survive through high school in a very violent predominantly black neighborhood and get accepted to college. What struck me at first was the intense black-upon-black violence in this neighborhood - but this is only the backdrop to this movie, and I'd have tuned out if it hadn't evolved.
The lead character finds that following a gang shooting he's had heroin and a gun dropped into his schoolbag (which he discovers while going through the school metal detector, ho ho!). These 3 teens have to practically run for their lives, And the main character (who knows NOTHING about drug dealing) has to concoct a plan to sell the stash for a profit.
Also, I liked that this was nearly an all black cast film: and a really good one.
Bizarre stuff - was worth my time.
Blue Jasmine (2013)
A decent tragic movie
I haven't liked Woody Allen for decades - his last funny movie was Broadway Danny Rose, and everything since has been downhill. Still, this movie caught my attention enough for me to have an opinion about it: It is certainly not funny, it is a tragedy: it depicts a tragic course of events that need not have happened. A wife (Cate Blanchett) who by an idiotic-impulsive whim triggers the downfall of both her husband (Alec Baldwin) and her own lifestyle - driving her to seek "the kindness of strangers", in the form of her estranged stepsister and her new partner. Both of whom live far from the stylish rich Manhattan lifestyle she'd been accustomed to. Interesting stuff, and I'm surprised someone like Woody Allen can capture mundane tragedy in this way.
Betrayal (1983)
Real life documented in a touching way
I will not read any of the reviews for this movie (yet): I want to write my own. I saw this movie in my mid 20's (I paid to see it in a dark dingy theater): back then, it was somewhat wasted on me. Now, in my mid 50's, I suddenly recalled it, and realized what a chord it strikes (which is why I am giving it a rather high score). I won't be saying anything new here: it documents the disintegration of a wonderful relationship between a couple, but documenting it from present day, and going gradually backwards in time, up to the moment of the very first touch and kiss. If I can find this movie - I will see it again. PS: I was surprised that when I did a search of "Betrayal" on the IMDb database this movie did not show up: I had to find it indirectly by searching for "Patricia Hodge".
Pet Sematary (1989)
An Excellently Scary Night Out
I should possibly be giving this movie a 10-out-of-10, I'm only giving it a 9 because I think this is my first review on this site.
I look at the release date of this movie: I must have been in my late 20's when I saw it: I remember paying for the experience at a real movie theater. It scared the hell out of me, and had the same effect on me as "The Exorcist" (which I saw in my teens).
So, if you are into seeing a movie that will keep you awake for the rest of the night and give you terrible nightmares: this is the one for you. (Alternatively, if you have a girlfriend you need to dump and just don't know how: have a cuddle and watch this together: she'll do the rest of the work).