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Reviews
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
***1/2/4
Pros: Great battle scenes, good score and directing.
Cons: A bit too long, too many conclusions.
Jackson's trilogy comes to a close with this nearly 4 hr spectacle (which is exceeded with the special edition) that serves as a great closer to the entire epic. Loose ends are tied and multiple conclusions are handled in a way that will please both casual viewers and fans. This outing is the best out of the lot, and Jackson proves that the third time is a charm after a somewhat lackluster second outing. For once, Howard Shore's score does not disappoint and the actions scenes aroused me for the first time since the troll sequence in film one. Did the movie deserve to win every Oscar it was nominated for? Yes, for it was recognition for what the filmmakers had accomplished with all three films, and no, for the fact that it wasn't the best movie of the year.
Conclusion: Great but Jackson can do better
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
***1/2/4 Great Flick
Pros: Nostalgic, characters, graphics, cinematography, directing, innovation Cons: Script.
Watching Sky Captain, one can;t help but think that Conran was partially influenced by the Indiana Jones trilogy. The same emotions are brought forward when watching both both. Sky Captain takes us back to a world where the heroes are larger than life, there is always a damsel in distress, and the baddies are usually Germans. The highlight of the movie apart from the action scenes and the hot actors has to be the technique used to make the movie. I find it hard to believe that most of the sets did not exist in reality, and this new technique can only push new boundaries for the art of movie making.
Summary: Good old fashion popcorn fun
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
**1/2/4 Above average family entertainment
Pros: Great special effects, directing
Cons: Kids, adventures limited, nothing new.
Zathura can be pretty much be summed up as Jumanji in space but the good news is that it's a lot better than its predecessor. Director Favreau (severly underrated) brings Van Allsburg's tale to the big screen with help from David Koepp penning a generally solid but routine script. The problem with Zathura is that we have seen this story a million times from different movies and the characters movements is rather restricted to a crumbling house, and not beyond to what seems like an entire universe. Still, Favreau handles the script well and provides a great family movie. Although not a classic or destined to be one by any longshot, Zathura provides two good hours of time wasting Summary: Favreau and Koepp do the best they can to an otherwise routine movie
Spartan (2004)
**1/2/4
Spartan is another movie from accomplished writer who gave us the classic House of Games and the near classic the Spanish Prisoner. This movie though plays out like his previous flick Heist, a movie in which the dialogue often made it hard to understand what the characters were trying to say to each other and the characters were really very damn unlikable. Spartan features Val Kilmer and Derek Luke as Government hardasses trying to find the president's daughter. first of all the plot of this movie was kind of ridiculous, how does the president's daughter end up in the middle of the middle east is kinda mind boggling but without it i guess there woudln't be a movie. Also as one of my good friends pointed out, the problem was a simple search and rescue but it gets prolonged nto this pointless drama. Also when she finally gets rescued, she is nothing more than a whiny blonde who looks like a 12 yr old chick. Still the movie isn;t that bad, the cinematography was really good and Mamet knows how to stage some really gruesome gunshot scenes lol, but the movie overall has that air of cheapness but i guess they seem to be in all of David Mamet's films. So in conclusion, Spartan is not the classic everyone is proclaiming it to be
Pros: Directing, Cinematography.
Cons: Script, dialogue, President's daughter.
Bottom line: Rent House of Games or Spanish Prisoner instead.
Dial M for Murder (1954)
*** out of 4
Ray Milland, Grace Kelly and Anthony Dawson carry this movie to almost greatness. Too bad Cummings and that annoying cop brought it down from greatness, but still again a very enjoyable hitchcock movie about a disgruntled husband who wants to kill his wife and take her money. His wife is cheating on him and he knows this and he knows she doens't love him anymore, so he figures, hey why not profit from this. He hooks up with an old college buddy and together they plan to off his hot wife. but of course, as in all movies, things don't go according to plan and he spends the rest of the movie lying his ass off and trying to evade a very very very nosy cop. Ray Milland should have been the leading man Hitchcock should have used in all his movies because he and his college buddy singlehandedly carried the movie as I found myself laughing at thier conversationg when they first met each other, pure classic. He was so calm and cool, likehe ha all the angles figured out, Stewart would have defintiely panicked like a biatch in this movie. Grace kelly was beautiful as always but her lover was very annoying because he was messingup a marriage and really gave poor Ray no choice but to off his wife. When he does get caught, he calmly accepts his faith like a gentleman and all this had been a game and even congratulates the cop in catching him. The plot is well, very confusing but rewinding the scenes should put you on track.
Pros: Directing, Acting.
Cons: Cop and Robert Cummings.
Rope (1948)
***1/2 out of 4
This movie was very enjoyable to watch and one of Hitchcock enjoyable movies. It centers around this two guys who want to commit the perfect murder, that seems to be a theme in hitchcock movies but of course these two do not fool James Stewart, who sort of plays a mentor to both the young men ( I really hate this guy) and he is on to them like white on rice. of course when they do confess to him they expect congratualtions but instead James like a cop-out turns them to the police and of course immediately recants his philosophy. But apart from that its not really the plot that makes me enjoy the movie, it is the way the movie is filemd, if i am correct in 8 minute increments where the camera does not break scene. Rumor was that Hitchcock wanted to film the whole movie like that but opted for this because the camera couldn't hold that much film. This filme represents want i like about Hitchcock, his style. Only Brian De Palma can match this guy in stylish filming and De Palma barely comes close. He is always groundbreaking in his films and thats why i give rope such a high grade.
Pros: Directing, Visual style, Dialogue.
Cons: One word, James Stewart
Bottom line: Very good Hitchcock Flick.
Peter Pan (2003)
****/4
Excellent film, fast paced, funny and awesome special effects plus the directing and acting is really good. Wendy darling and her brothers get taken to neverland by peter pan where they have all sorts of adventures. My pick for best "hollywood" movie this year. People have said the film is a bit raunchy but it wasn't bad and really it depends on what kind of person your are they way you view the film "sexual" content. I wasn't too surprised when this movie tanked in the box office, marketing was bad because i hardly saw any trailers for the movie and i was the only one who knew it was coming out. But i expect it to be a success in DVD.
Pros: Acting, score, directing, script.
Cons: None.
Bottom line: Better than hook.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
***/4
Good seafaring movie, probably the best pure seafaring movie of all time as some critics claim but not the best sea movie, the Hunt for Red Octobober and Titanic are a step above it. Stars Russel Crowe and Paul Bettany as they try to take down a french vessel called the Acheron, whose captain seems to get the best of Lucky Jack. The movie mainly focuses on the relationship between Maturin and Aubrey, though screen time is given to the crew and how sea life was back then. The dialogue throughout the movie is laced with nautical terms and slang that adds to the authentic feel of the movie. Action sequences are top notch and the graphical shots hard to spot. Directing is excellent, as is to be expected from Peter Weir. The problem with the movie is that we don;t connect enough with any of the characters to really care about what happens to them. The only two individuals i cared about were midshipmen Blakeney and Hollom, while the rest of the cast seemed caricatured. Another problem is that the hero Aubrey is not as charismatic as a fellow character in the same vein by the name of Hornblower. PErharps this is due to the numerous films in that series compared to only one here but we feel every emotion with Hornblower, while with Aubrey, we relate to his as we would relate to our remote, he is just a label (captain)doing his job (leading). I realize this is a setup movie and it is a fantastic start but not deserving of a best picture nomination, that only shows the relative weakness of movies this year.
Summary: Good picture but stick with the Hornblower series
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
**/4
Hollywood really knows how to mess with a potential goldmine. They killed off batman and now they are in the process of killing Tomb Raider with just one film. At least in Batman it took two horrible sequels to do it. Angelina Jolie stars in this film as Lara Croft, a female Indiana Jones who raids tombs and jetsets around the world. Physically Angelina is perfect for the part but she can't carry this movie riddled with a bad script, campy acting, and bad directing. i don't know why Simon West was chosen to direct this because he has no experience in directing an action scene. The movie has some potential but in the end too many characters linked to Lara (Dad, and her two sidekicks, also her ex bf) ruin the movie, it should have been just a one woman show. Special effects are decents but with a bigger budget they could have been spectacular.
Pros: Jolie is hot.
Cons: Directing, Special effects, script.
Bottom line: Maybe sequel will improve? Potentially paramount may have killed a good franchise.
Jackie Brown (1997)
***/4
Good Tarantino movie, not as good as pulp fiction but better than resevoir dogs. Stars Pam Grier as a down and out flight attendant who will do anything to change her luck for a better life. Robert DeNiro was especially funny in this movie and Bridget Fonda was looking especially sexy in this one. A scene involving them beginning in a shopping mall and ending in a parking lot had me sidesplitting in laughter. The score was really good but I had a few problems with the script which relied on too much chance to get things going. Also Pam Grier's character I really had no sympathy for her because all of her problems were caused by HER decisions not by the cruel hand of fate. Anyway the directing is outstanding and so is the acting so i gave this one a good score
Pros: Acting, comedic situatons, score, directing
Cons: Script, themes.
Bottom line: With tarantino you can always expect above average or better, this one was good.
Metoroporisu (2001)
At least it was betterthan A.I
Pros: Animation, score.
Cons: Directing, storyline undeveloped.
Metropolis is similar to A.I because they both deal with the same topics. What defines life? Metropolis is much better at telling us than A.I because it doesn't force it down our throats like A.I does, but sadly it is only slightly better than A.I. Metropolis deals with the adventures of Kenichi and Tima(a robot)who are our protagonists, and Duke Red and Rock(his son)who are our antagonist. In A.I there is a celebration of the birth of A.I but Metropolis begins with the celebration of the Ziggurat, which is essentialy a Pyramid. This is an obvious reference to the Tower of Babbel because the ziggurat is both the tallest building in the city of metropolis and also the Tower of Babbel was also a ziggurat. unbeknowest to its citizens, it is actually a giant ray gun and it has a throne for a leader to control it. hat leader is Tima, a robot built by Duke Red in the likeness of his daughter. She like that other guy in A.I thinks she is human. She befriends Kenichi, who uncle is investigating the inventor of Tima. Rock, the psychopathic leader of the Malduks despises Tima because his dad likes her more than him. Due to a mysterious explosion caused by Rock, Tima is left wandering around metropolis with Kenichi and a couple of revolutionists. Metropolis is similar to Fritz lang film of the same title in terms of the levels of the city. It has three zones. Architechurally, it is similar to bladerunner and story line, similar to A.I. All three film has been unanimously hailed as classics so Metropolis should be one right, wrong. The story is very underdeveloped. For example, I saw only about one conversation between Tima and Kenichi that lasted five minutes, yet as we go along she becomes obsessed with him. Still in the tradition of mangas, it boasts exceptional animation.
Premise: Kenichi and Tima have bloody adventures in Metropolis.
Metropolis won no awards.
Grade: 6.2/10 (like Akira, not my cup of tea).
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Way better than Fellowship
pros: Costumes, score, directing, acting, script, special effects, cast.
Cons: None.
In a time where movies that generate unusually amounts of hype are usually the bad ones, Harry Potter not only exceeded my expectations, it shattered them. I was floored with this movie. Till this day why it didn't win any oscars or at least get nominated for best film I will never know. My only theory is that it was a British Film as the only main individual who was involved in it that wasn't british was Chris Columbus. plus Spielberg must have been hurting by the major diss. Most people I watch it with complain that it is too slow but that is the beauty of this film. It doesn't rush you into the world of Harry Potter but instead usually accompanies you, showing u wonders a little at a time much like the book. Other have said it is too faithful to the book. All I can say to them is that you haven't read the book. trust me folks a lot of stuff was aken out, particularly the beginning. What sets Harry Potter away from other films that year was the script and acting. Anytime I saw Radgliffe, Grinch, and Watson at screen together a smile came to my face.The elder all star cast was even better. For example as Hermoine would say, one of the classic scenes in this movie would be the troll scene. Professor quirell comes running in and shouts "troll in the dungeon, thought u ought to know" then he faints. Instead of an immediate reaction, about 2 seconds is given for the thought to reach the students, then they all start screaming, I always laugh at that scene everytime. ALthough lenghty sometimes, it has enough wonders to keep you through. Some of the effects are quite spectacular like Fluffy and the Quidditch match. That has to rate as one of my all time best cinematic moments. Was really excels in this movie is Chris Columbus directing. My God he was great. Perfect balance of action, suspense, mystery and he really helped the kids get their act together so to speak. The score was brilliant. From now on John Williams should be scoring every project in Hollywood rather than that once good-turned hack Elfman.It isn't a mystery why this movie became the second highest grossing movie of all time even thought it had a 21/2 hr running period. I can't seem to stop watching this movie and will probably watch it again right after I am done typing this review. Probably my second all time favourite movie next to Dick Tracy.
Premise: Harry, Hermoine and Ron have adventures in Hogwarts while Quirell tries to get the scorcerer's stone.
Harry Potter was nominated for numerous prestigious awards including three oscars but sadly won very few of them.
Grade:10/10 (As Roeper and Ebert put it, "The wizard of Oz of its time".
Akira (1988)
Highly intellectual cartoon
Pros: Animation, score, directing.
Cons: Storyling gets very confusing at times, need to have an understanding of japanese culture to get this.
The film Akira centers around a motocycle gang and the Government. The setting is Neo-Tokyo which is an urban hellhole where rival biker gangs race the streets seeking and causing destructions. Our hero Kaneda, who is also the leader of the bike gang, is out with his buddies where he meets up with a rival gang called the clowns and they have a little gang war. While this is happening, there is a strange man and equally strange kid walking around a student riot. The story is confusing to tell because there is a lot of subplots going on. Akira, as the title is called is apparantly a boy who has this energy capable of explaining the universe. The film boasts better animation than Disney has even till today and is sometimes shockingly but refreshingly violet. My quibble with this film is that the last 30 minutes are about as wierd as anything out there. I am no expert at mangas but how come everyone i watch always has to have some giant blob reeking havoc (Mononoke, Metropolis, e.t.c). This film has been called a classic by many and watching the animation u can see why, but the story is one big overbundled mess that tries to get philosophical. Not better than The Fist Of The North Star or any of the Dragon ball series in my opinion but quite good
Premise: A Biker gang leader and his girlfriend tries to stop a manical super-human with the help of three superhumans.
Akira won a Screen Scream Award at the Amsterdam Film festival
Grade: 7.2/10 (Good but not my cup of tea).
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Great intimate western epic
Pros: Cinematography, acting, score, directing, costumes.
Cons: Not long enough, ending to snug.
If I say that I was p***ed off that Dances with Wolves was only 180 minutes, that's saying how good this movie is. Kevin Costner is brilliant as Dunbar and his love interest, Mary MacDonnell, is terrific as Stands With a Fist. Graham Greene brings integrity to his character. What impressed me about this film is that it was Kevin's first directorial debut (although I think he got plenty of help from another Kevin, Kevin Reynolds who is one of my favourite directors and also a genius at epic films like this). It does say, however that the thrilling buffalo hunt scene was done by Kevin Reynolds. This movie shows us the beginnings of Manifest Destiny and also what noble creatures the indians were instead of being savages ass they are often portrayed in westerns. It is sad to see a once great civilization resort to gambling to keep its people from being wiped out.
Premise: Leutenant John Dunbar, because of his heroism, is given any post he wants and he chooses to go to the frontier.
Dances with wolves won 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Director
Grade: 9.9/10 (True classic).
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Recanting my views
Pros: script, score, incredible special effects, light saber battles, costumes.
Cons: Jar Jar Binks, lacks the humor of a Han Solo-like character.
My earlier review of the Phantom Menace was a bit harsh and I criticized it for being too childish. I rated it a 6.5 and now I wish I could take it back but maybe I can with this review. After reviewing the movie, I proceeded to see it again and this time pay close attention to the plot intricacies the film had. Upon finishing the movie,I came to the conclusion that this movie was better than the first Star Wars. There I said it, let the hating begin. I believe that this movie will be regarded as one of the better films when the saga is complete in 2005. But if one states a claim, he must prove it and I shall with these points.
1) The special effects: A Star Wars film isn't one without the amazing special effects and this film happens to have the best one in the whole series. Although it has an advantage as it was made 20 years after the original, nevertheless the special effects are the best. The pod races are probably one of the most trilling race sequences put together and the creatures look more believable as they are given more flesh with the aid of a computer.
2) The light saber duels: The Phantom menace has the best light saber duels out of the whole series. Seeing Qui Gon Jinn and a younger Obi Wan Kenobi duking it out with Darth Maul will bring yelps of excitement out of a any Star Wars fan.
3) The force: With this film, we witness the Jedi Council as they once were and the Jedis for what mighty warriors they were, and also the force is very strong with this film. The older films didn't show us enough power of the jedis and they were also a dying race in the old films. Here we see them in their full might and it seems that every citizen is scared of them. We understand the responsibilities and power that comes with becoming a jedi.
4) The Story: While episode 1 was criticized for having a boring story. One must look at the fact that the galaxy wasn't in turmoil at that time so something as trivial as a route tax was big for them. This movie showed us how peaceful the galaxy was before vader and the emperor decided to terrorize it. It also gives us great character analyzation for vader instead of people remembering him as a man with a hockey max who couldn't breath well.
Hopefully with this points, some of you may realize as I have come to realize that Episode 1 deserves its rightful place in the trilogy as the one that started it all.
Premise: A federation aims to capture the small planet of Naboo to pressure the senate to conform to thier views.
Episode 1 was nominated for a couple of razzies.
Grade: 9.8/10 (An underappeciated classic)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
The best of the series
Pros: Script, story, special effects, characterization, costumes, duels.
Cons: Ends on a downer.
With the Empire Strikes Back, director Irvin Kirshner brings a veteran hand to the film, and therefore more characterization and a better script which ultimately makes this the best Star Wars film so far. Since A New Hope, Luke Skywalker has become commander of the rebel airforce and Han Solo has joined in the fight to escape the wrath of Jabba the Hutt. Darth Vader has become obsessed with finding Luke because, well it will be expalined later on in the film. The Empire Strikes Back was made three years after Star Wars so it features better special effects and the ILM team really outdid themselves with this one. The special effects are just amazing to look at. Equally impressive are the costumes, the creatures and the puppetry involved with this one. Fans of the Star Wars series like this film because two major secrets are revealed to them. What this film lacks though is a major space battle as it ends with the fans wondering if the faith of Luke, Leia, Chewbacca, Solo, the robot units and the rebels will be good. Irvin Kirshner is obviously good at bringing out emotions from the audience and he is pretty capable of staging a good light saber duel.
Premise: The empire seek to crush the rebels and Darth hopes to convert young Skywalker to the dark force.
The Empire Strikes Back was nominated for four Academy awards and won two.
Grade: 10/10 (Best Science Fiction film of the eighties).
Star Wars (1977)
Space opera
Pros: Special effects, directing, sets, script, score, acting.
Cons: A bit slow at times, pacing problems.
There is probably a million reviews of Star Wars floating on the web so one more isn't going to make a difference. Still, I'll add my little insignificant bitof o[inion of this movie. It is a classic movie, no doubt but surprisingly not the best in the series. Most fans seem to think the title belongs to The Empire Strikes Back and I agree with them. The film starts with a rebel ship trying to escape a epublic battleship to to no success. Princess Leia is onboard and she has structural plans of the infamous Death Star. Fearing capture, she transmits her info to R2-D2, a droid and also a message to Ben Kenobi. R2-D2 and along with C-3P0 escape through the use of an escape pod and they land on Tatooine, a desert planet. From there an epic journey begins involving different characters of all sorts. The robots provide much of the comic relief and Han Solo's biting sarcastic remarks are a riot to witness. His interactions with Chewbacca and Princess Leia provide for the funniest parts of the movie. The movie ultimately suffers because it seems a bit slow at times. For example, a lot of time is spent on the capture of the droids by the sandpeople and the eventual selling of them to Owen Lars. I felt this could be sped up a bit. The film finishes epic in scale and equally impressive with the use of digital effects. It is easy to see why this film became a landmark to its generation.
Premise: A rebellion threatens to knock out the Death Star, the most powerful weapon in the universe.
Star Wars Episode 1: A New Hope was nominated for eleven Academy awards and won seven.
Grade: 9.5/10 (One of the best Science Fiction films ever made).
A Knight's Tale (2001)
Good medieval romp
Pros: Jousting scenes.
Cons: Looks like the work of a first time director, historically innacurate, Paul Bettany.
A knight's tale is the new film by Brian Helgeland (penned the classic L.A Confidential) that stars Heath Ledger as a servant of a knight who strives for great things after death takes his master. Armed with his friends, a writer by the name of Chauncer, and a female blacksmith who carves nike symbols on her armor, they take on Rufus Sewell who plays the snidely villian at the world championships at jousting. Shannon Sossammon plays the love interest for Ledger. While the jousting scenes are spectacular, they tend to get a bit repetitive and also the movie doesn't even strive to be accurate (for example, the clothing worn looks like the times but smacks of present day influences, plus the shoes look like shoes of today). With all this shortcomings, a Knight's tale must be viewed as a summer movie which doesn't take itself too seriously. This is why it performed well at the box-office. Some scenes are quite funny, the acting is subpar at best and Shannon Sossammon is eye candy, plus the morality tale it tags on seems out of place in this times since feudalism doesn't exist, a knight's tale is a medieval frolic that doesn't distance the audience of mordern times.
Premise: Heath ledger dreams of becoming a knight.
A knight's tale was nominated for a couple of MTV awards.
Grade: 7/10 (Doesn't take itself too seriously)
Batman & Robin (1997)
Why did they do this?
Pros: None
Cons: Charcaters, script, directing, score.
Goldsman and Schumacher did the unthinkable, they killed batman. One reviewer suggested that Schumacher must have overdosed of the campy 60's series and I think he was right. Why oh why did they have to make batman gay. Why was Arnuld casted as Mr freeze instead of Patrick stewart. Why was there a Batgirl. She is supposed to be commisioner gordon's daughter, not Alfred's neice. Why was Bane, batman's greatest villian, who destroyed batman reduced to a steroid popping freak. Why was poison ivy in this flick. Why was there bad dialogue ("A freeze is coming" and "everybody chill"). These questions will go unanswered. Akiva Goldsman does not deserve an oscar for a beautiful mind when he wrote the two worst batman movies and Lost in space. Schumacher hopefully will not be allowed near a big budget production ever again. Most of the blame fell on Clooney but he has shown he is a versatile and good actor. Elliot Goldenthal cannot score a movie to save his life. Warner Bros and Schumacher deserve this flick as it proves that if you fix something that isn't broke, the fans will react. Right now they are scrambling to get the franchise back on its feet and return to the original Tim Burton's vision. Batman, year one will be directed by Aronofsky, an accomplished dark director. This is a step in the right direction but I fear it is too late, Goldsman and Schumacher have done something the joker could never do, they killed batman.
Premise: Batman, Robin, and Batgirl battle Bane, Mr freeze and Poison Ivy.
Grade: 0/10 (Doesn't even deserve this review)
Batman Forever (1995)
Nearly ruined my fate in Shumacher
Pros: Sets, costumes, casting.
Cons: Sloopy directing, sript, score, Tommy Lee Jones.
Schumachr and Akiva Goldsman started to ruin the series from here. They basically changed the score WHICH THEY DIDN"T HAVE TOO, added a new sidekick WHICH THEY DIDN"T HAVE TOO, made Gotham city more colorful, reduced two classic villians to basically campy retards, the list goes on. Schumacher obviously thinks that people enjoyed the campy series of the 60's and hated the Tim Burton version. The only saving grace of this movie was the spot on casting and the fact that schumacher wasn't given full control but that would change in the fourth film. Thankfully Tim Burton isn't listed as a Directorial credit but instead as a producer's credit. It is rumored that Keaton walked away from 25 million dollars to star in this dreck. Jim Carrey steals some scenes but Tommy lee portrayal of two face was basically idiotic. Also Two Face was black, in fact he is supposed to be former mayor of Gotham city (see Billy dee williams in batman returns if you think I'm lying) plus it was established that the joker killed batman's parents, not two-face.
Premise: Batman battles the Riddler and Two-face
Batman forever was nominated for three Academy awards and a couple of Razzies.
Grade: 5/10 (Frightfully, not the worst).
Ed Wood (1994)
Tribute to a legend, or not
Pros: Cinematography, script, characters, humor.
Cons: Not entirely accurate.
Ed Wood is Tim Burton's tribute to the worst director of all time. This is probably Burton's most personal and best film. The film stars Johnny Depp as Ed wood, a cross dressing director whose hero is Orson Welles. Martin Landau plays Bela Lugosi, who befriends Wood in his last years. Most of the exploits are true but I am not sure that's the way Ed Wood acted. The script is spot on and never falters under its own silliness. The cinematography of black and white gives an authentic feel to the movie as that was the way the real wood filmed his films. Most of the characters the real Ed wood hung around in real life are all present here. Initially a box-office failure, Ed wood is often very funny and a delight to watch. It shows Tim Burton at his best.
Premise: Ed wood tries to make Plan 9 from outer space.
Ed wood won two Academy awards. One for Landau's portrayal as Bela Lugosi and another for the makeup.
Grade: 10/10 (Classic Burton)
Batman Returns (1992)
Best in the series.
Pros: Sets, directing, humor, characters, costumes, score, action sequences.
Cons: A bit dark at times, last 20 minutes ludicrous at times.
Batman returns, Tim Burton's follow up to the 1989 blockbuster screams his trademark directing. Burton got more control over the production and the result is a fantastic film even thought the studio execs and the public didn't like it. Danny Devito is manical as the penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer is sexy as catwoman and Micheal Keaton returns as batman. Christopher Walken as Max Shreck nearly steals the show and Elfman's score is basically the same from the last movie except for the choir he used. Gotham city is much darker and this film looks like it cost more. The batmobile is featured more and the action sequences are outstanding. The ending gets a bit ridiculous but not enough to bring the whole film down. One of the best blockbusters of the 90's.
Premise: Batman battles the Penguin and Catwoman.
Batman returns was nominated for two Academy awards and a Razzie award.
Grade: 9.2/10 (The best of the series).
Batman (1989)
Second best in the series
Pros: Cinematography, sets, costumes, score, directing.
Cons: Not enough batman, lags in the middle, Kim Basinger, lacks character development.
Batman is Tim Burton's least personal film but is also one of his best. This 1989 blockbuster is full of heart and energy most blockbusters lack today. Micheal Keaton is convincing as batman and Bruce Wayne as he brings a comedic edge to both characters ("C'mon let's get nuts"). Nicholson steals the show as the joker because he ultimately gets most of the screen time but that's all right. The only problem I had with the film was Kim Basinger's character Vicki Vale. Most of her dialouge were in the form of screams and half of the time she was fainting. Other characters lacked screen time and character development. The score is Elfman's first classic as it is both catchy and epic.
Premise: Batman battles the joker.
Batman won an Academy award for best art direction.
Grade: 8.2/10 (Good superhero flick).
The Stunt Man (1980)
One of the best films ever
Pros: Script, humor, acting, directing, score.
Cons: Cinematography.
The Stunt Man is a cult classic that for the most part has been generally ignored or unheared by the public. It deals with illusions vs reality in the movie business. Steve Railsback plays a vietnam veteran who is on the run from the police. In other to escape them, he becomes a stuntman under a maniacal director, played by Peter O' Toole. Barbara Hershey is the star of the war epic Toole is making and Railsback falls in love with her. Illusions are aplenty in this film. For example, we think Railsback commits a heinous crime only to find out that he really didn't commit anything. Also Peter O' Toole isn't as manical as he seems. The Stuntman is a character study on Railsback and the effects the war had on him. This is one of the top ten movies of the eighties and gets better with repeated viewing.
Premise: A vietnam veteran becomes a stuntman to escape the police.
The Stunt man was nominated for three Academy awards
Grade: 10/10 (Cult classic)
Tigerland (2000)
Good pre-vietnam flick
Pros: Directing, acting, script.
Cons: A bit too grapic in some sex scenes, cliched characters.
Tigerland is Joel Schumacher's return from grace after the dismal Batman & Robin. Colin Farrell plays private Bozz who decides he will do anything to get kicked out of the army. No matter how hard he tries, he still doesn't get kicked out and even gets promoted. Tigerland generally follows a platoon through bootcamp. It brings back memories from the first part of Full Metal Jacket as the drill instructors are as hard as they come. Tigerland is important because it showed the feeling of frustration americans felt during the vietnam war. Buzz is a good soilder, even his superiors recognize it but he feels that the war is pointless and really just wants to be in Mexico.He becomes some sort of a hero to the squadron and he helps some of his counterparts escape the war, plus he makes a dangerous adversary while still in bootcamp. In the end, Bozz accepts his fate and would rather see himself die than see another person take his place. Joel essentially films this with a limited budjet so it feels like a homemade film.
Premise: Recruits go through basic training in infamous tigerland.
Tigerland was ignored by the Academy awards but was nominated for numerous Independent awards
Grade: 9/10 (One of the best vietnam flicks).