The Daddy/Daughter Movie Project

Psycho (1960) (Not Rated)

2010-11-17T10:14:00.003-06:00

Psycho (1960) (Not Rated)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin

Daughter Says:

I'm about as big a fan of Hitchcock's films as I am of Quentin Tarantino films. I think he is a brilliant film director, and Psycho really proves me right. He knows how to control his audience. I love it so much. He can make you feel happy one minute and nervous the next. It's great.

I won't give too much away but Hitchcock really does have the magic touch. Like for example, when the main character is being followed by the police officer. The intensity was so nerve-wracking. Was she going to be found out? Would the cop try to pull her over? Was she going to be arrested? All these questions were swarming through my mind every second of the scene. That isn't the only part that does that to me, but I won't give any more away.

I've heard many people consider this movie to be a horror film, but compared to all the other horror films this movie doesn't stand a chance. There is no goriness in this movie at all. Hitchcock kept his film very clean. So if I have to classify this film it would be more of a thriller/suspense/mystery. But it is definitely not a horror film. I still really enjoy watching this movie even if it doesn't scare me all that much.

I also really enjoy watching the cinematography, because like I said before, Hitchcock isn't gory in his movie. He gives you the basics and he lets your brain do the rest.

I seriously recommend this movie to anyone who wants to try Hitchcock's style of directing or if you're looking for a good mystery. This is definitely the movie for you. Psycho brings the mystery of an old worn down motel and the suspense of stealing to life. That's why Hitchcock's Psycho deserves this rating.

Rating for Psycho: *****.

Daddy Says:

I agree with my daughter in that compared to other horror films, Psycho is probably in the mild category. But for its time, I'm sure this was considered to be an incredibly shocking film. And the shower scene to this day continues to be one of the most terrifying 45 seconds of film to have to sit through.

I actually did a dissertation on Psycho back in college in one of my media courses. I don't claim to be an expert on the film, but I did watch it many, many times to see what I could discover as to how Hitchcock manipulates the audience. And boy does he. We know right away that Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is the main character. We see her and her boyfriend Sam enjoying a lunchtime tryst in a hotel. He complains that he doesn't have the money to support her properly, that their life together would be no fun, only hard work. Later back at the office, a wealthy investor flirts with her, and gives her $40,000 dollars in cash which her boss tells her to drop off at the bank before the weekend. Who wouldn't be tempted by a quick and easy getaway in such a situation? And so, we are drawn in along with Marion. We hear her thoughts on what other people will say about her when they find out what she's done. We feel the terror when her boss crosses the street in front of her car as she's leaving town. We feel her nervousness when the police officer sticks his face in her car window, filling the frame yet hiding behind his sunglasses, questioning her about why she's sleeping on the side of the road.

And then she meets Norman Bates. The name has become part of our vocabulary, but back then he was an unknown. Just a quirky young man with some mommy issues and a hobby of stuffing birds. He seems kind, but is quick to take offense when someone questions his mother. I appreciate my daughter trying to keep from spoiling anything for you, but it's hard to imagine that even if you haven't seen this classic film that you've somehow missed what happens next. With about 90 cuts in only 45 seconds, Marion is brutally murdered a little less than halfway through the film. This was unheard of at the time, and I can't think of another film that has had the guts to kill off it's main character in the middle of the film. Up until this point, Marion was our audience surrogate, the character we identified with. Now who are we supposed to identify with?

The answer is obvious at once: Norman Bates. He is shocked when he sees what his mother has done and cleans up after her. When he pushes the car with Marion's body in it into the swamp and it stops sinking with part of the car still sticking out, we feel the suspense from Norman's point of view, wondering what'll we do now? And when the car resumes its slow sinking into the swamp, the audience feels the same relief that Norman feels. We want that car to disappear and take all of its horror down with it.

And when people start showing up to investigate Marion's disappearance, we still identify with Norman and want him to get away with it. Right up until the point... well, if by some chance you've still somehow avoided seeing this absolutely incredible film, what are you waiting for? This is one of the best movies ever made. Stop what you're doing and go watch it immediately.

Rating for Psycho: *****.

Evil Dead II (1987) (Not Rated)

2010-11-17T09:42:00.000-06:00

Evil Dead II (1987) (Not Rated)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley

Daughter Says:

After watching The Evil Dead, I was pretty sure nothing could be any worse. Boy, was I proven wrong. I couldn't believe that a movie so gross could be funny, but once again I was wrong. Less of a horror film and more of a comedy, Evil Dead II kept me laughing.

I thought the first Evil Dead had too much horror for that long of a movie, but when you add comedy to the horror it makes it less exhausting to watch. After awhile your energy just wears our and you get tired of being scared. That's how it was watching The Evil Dead. But Evil Dead II had breaks in it where you just have to laugh at such a bizarre movie.

I thought Bruce Campbell did such a great job at acting. Especially when it comes to the scene where his hand is possessed. I didn't realize just how talented he was until this movie. You'll know what I mean when you see the movie for yourself.

Even with all the comedy in this movie it still can be classified as a horror film, because there were still scenes that made me cringe or gag. For example, at one point there's a zombie in the house and they are trying to fight it off. That's when one of its eyes pops out of its head and falls into one of the screaming girls' mouth. And you won't believe it but she accidentally swallowed it (How gross, right?). I won't give too much away, but some parts really got to me.

I really liked this movie, but if it wasn't for the funny parts in this film, I think it would be a disaster. I think that the movie would have been too long, too gory, and too much to take at once. I must say this movie did tick me off, kind of like the last one. This movie had no ending what so ever, and I hate cliffhangers. This seems like a reoccurring theme with the Evil Dead movies. Of course, I haven't seen the third movie yet, so I can't really judge thus far. Other than that one problem, I liked this one better than the last one because of the above reasons. That's why Evil Dead II deserves this rating.

Rating for Evil Dead II: *****.

Daddy Says:

Director Sam Raimi returns with a sequel (and partial remake) to his surprise hit The Evil Dead. Bruce Campbell returns to the role of Ash, showing his wonderful gift for physical comedy this time around. You'll know you're watching a different kind of horror movie when after only six minutes into the film, Ash has already killed, dismembered and is burying his girlfriend in the woods (and he's the hero!). Don't worry, she'll be back to dance a waltz in the moonlight using her own head as a dance partner. It's that kind of film.

Raimi takes all the camera tricks and low budget special effects he used in the last go-around and cranks them up to eleven in the sequel. Any fan of his Spider-man movies will want to check these early films out to see where all the manic energy originated from. That scene in Spider-man 2 with Doc Ock on the operating table where his arms come to life and take out the medical staff? This is the film that popped into my head while I was watching that scene.

Bruce Campbell does a wonderful scene acting with his own possessed hand. The hand is given it's own sound effects and essentially becomes a separate entity even though still attached to Ash. Some of what happens seems like a horror-version of a Three Stooges skit, with Ash's hand hitting him over the head with whatever it can find, uh, at hand. And when it does finally become a separate entity, the scene only becomes that much funnier.

Sam Raimi's budget for this film was about ten times the amount he spent on the first film and it shows. It still has all the manic energy of the first Evil Dead, but this time around it looks a lot better in quality, and he's able to do some things he couldn't have attempted on a much smaller film. Evil Dead II is a great horror/comedy film and it shouldn't be missed.

Rating for Evil Dead II: *****.

The Evil Dead (1981) (R)

2010-11-05T11:01:00.000-05:00

The Evil Dead (1981) (R)

Directed by Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Betsy Baker, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor

Daddy Says:

...that his daughter watched this without him when he wasn't home and he's still miffed about it. I watched it several years ago, but rather than review it again without having seen it recently, I'll just say that it's a great low-budget horror film. A great example of early Sam Raimi showing off camera tricks he would reuse in his later big-budget Spider-man movies. Not to be missed.

Rating for The Evil Dead: *****.

Daughter Says:

I say I will never watch a movie that comes out of a creepy looking box, but here I was watching The Evil Dead. That is one gross, scary movie. I love the guy who plays Ash. He plays Sam in Burn Notice and I find him so funny. But I had no idea he could ever be in a scary movie.

There are so many things to cover when it comes to this movie. I think I'll just start at the beginning and go through it in order. (I'm sorry if I ruin anything for you, but maybe it's for your own good in this case)

The beginning of the movie wasn't too bad. A car driving on a twisty road and we're watching it through the trees (sort of like we're the monster), then the car comes to a scary rickety bridge. Not too bad, a little foreshadowing actually. We all know that in a scary movie if there is a rickety bridge you have to pass over to get in and out, you know there is no way that bridge is going to make it. But I'll just skip to where it starts getting bad. So the four people in the car accidentally release the evil dead. Guess who they went after first? The loser sister who's a loner and a freak of nature. So when she says she didn't draw the creepy picture of a book with a face or there is a monster in the basement, no one believed her. That was until the basement door blasted open and they sent down the only two guys they had down there in the dark.

Nothing was down there but the same book the loser sister (did not) draw. There also was a tape recorder that had the magic words that brought the evil dead to life. Sometimes I wonder about people and the use of the mind. Well, the evil dead soon draws out the loser sister into the middle of the woods where the trees are really perverted and rude. They end up raping her. It's crazy and really stupid. There is no need for that scene whatsoever. Well, the movie just goes downhill from there.

I enjoyed watching the main character go through some gross scenes. At one point, he ends up in the basement and the room begins to bleed. Well the pipes are on the basement ceiling and they are leaking blood. Ash looks up and the pipe breaks covering him completely with blood. It is gagging and hilarious, because his mouth was open when it happened.

But at the same time, I think this movie went a little to the extreme. There were many things I would have done differently or cut out completely. For example, I would have taken out the freaky psychedellic scene after the basement scene. The floor was the ceiling and the mirrors weren't mirrors and such. It was really weird. Plus you know how I feel about the rape scene. I also found the ending really gross and makes me sick to my stomach when Ash "stops" the evil. I will give this movie credit for that. This movie was really gross. They did a great job at that. I don't know if that was what they aimed for but it worked.

There are tons of negative parts to this movie and if that's the point of a scary movie then they deserve the rating I have given them.

Rating for The Evil Dead: ****.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) (R)

2010-11-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

Night of the Living Dead (1968) (R)

Directed by George Romero

Starring: Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Keith Wayne, Karl Hardman

Daddy Says:

Back from the dead, it's a new movie review from The Daddy/Daughter Movie Project. Let's just say we've been a little busy in our lives, but hopefully we'll be back to posting regular reviews for a while.

Halloween has come and gone, and while it was here we watched a few scary movies to get in the right frame of mind. One of the ones I was able to talk my daughter into watching was this classic, the very first Dead movie from director George Romero, Night of the Living Dead. Take a look at that date next to the title above and try to realize that this movie is over forty years old. Amazing that it's held up as well as it has, but I think a lot of that credit has to be given to Romero. Even with as little money as he had to work with, he knew he was onto something good here.

After the opening scene in a cemetery, where the first "ghoul" as their sometimes referred to appears (the word "zombie" is never mentioned), most of the film takes place in and around a single farmhouse. I'm sure this was done for budgetary reasons, but the end result is that we feel as trapped inside this house by the zombies as the characters do. When an especially brash character shows up midway through the siege, the tension is ratcheted up even more because now the attacks are now coming from within and without.

The acting isn't the best in the world, and I almost wish it were a little less stagy, but Duane Jones does a great job in the role of Ben. While there isn't any direct racism in the film, you can sense the tension among some of the characters having to deal with a black man being in charge. I was only three years old when this film debuted, so I really can't speak to the mindset of the times, but from what I know this must have been groundbreaking material.

By the time the film's third act begins, with the zombies attacking relentlessly, the scares seldom let up. The scene with the little girl in the basement is the height of the horror. In case you've missed this classic film somehow in the last forty years, I won't describe it further, but suffice to say the scene is almost as hard to watch as the shower scene in Psycho was the first time I saw it.

My daughter didn't care for the ending to the film, but I believe it's one of the most perfect endings a film has ever had. It seems to come out of left-field, but on retrospect it's really the absolute best ending it could have. Sometimes a horror film needs a horrifying ending to make it feel right.

Rating for Night of the Living Dead: *****.

Daughter Says:

Night of the Living Dead is not a really gruesome horror film. Filmed the old fashioned way give this movie a creepier mood to it than movies now a day. Even though there was terrible acting and really bad lighting, it doesn't stop this film from being scary.

I love the makeup in this movie. Some of the zombies were terrifying to look at. I was really grossed out by the zombies after two of the characters were blown up. It was disgusting to watch them eat the people. I really lost my appetite after that scene.

Another really creepy part was when the little girl turned into a zombie. You know it's coming because the zombies bit the girl, but I didn't expect what came afterward.

I thought this movie was brilliant when it came to some things. It's pretty cool to think that a movie that old can give you the creeps. You also have to give credit where credits due in the fact that the director spent hardly any money on this movie. Night of the Living Dead is pretty horrifying for a low budget film.

But I disagree when it comes to saying it's the scariest movie ever. True, at points the movie can be very nerve-wracking. When the zombies are almost about to break into the house I was screaming for the main character to run. But when you put the whole movie together, I don't find it that scary.

But in the end, Dad was right: this was a good movie. I enjoyed watching it. I just hated the ending. It was outrageous! I won't tell you straight out what it was, just in case you want to see it. But it really ticked me off. How could they just end a movie like that? It's a scandal, but I want to see Dawn of the Dead now. It sounds pretty interesting.

I'm still surprised that Dad actually got me to watch this movie. I saw the little joke movie called "Night of the Living Bread" and that scared me, but he talked me into it and now I'm going to have to talk you into watching it. Even with semi-bad acting, gross and disturbing parts, and an outrageous ending, it was still a good movie. So check it out.

Rating for Night of the Living Dead: ****.

The Back-up Plan (2010) (PG-13)

2010-09-12T16:49:00.000-05:00

The Back-up Plan (2010) (PG-13)

Directed by Alan Poul

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson

Daddy Says:

Sigh. I should have learned my lesson by now; I should just stay out of the room when my wife and daughter want to watch a "romantic comedy". The quotes are intentional, because I see neither romance or comedy when I watch movies in this genre. These films all seem alike to me, but that's just my opinion, yours may vary.

I give credit to Jennifer Lopez for trying her best to be charming. And Alex O'Loughlin makes for a perfectly good, um, guy, I guess. Kudos for them for trying to do the best with the material their given. But really, how many times does a couple have to "meet cute" (this time it's a taxi they both get into in a pouring rainstorm), agree to go on a date, fall in love, then a complication comes up that causes them to break up (this time it's the fact that she's gotten herself artificially inseminated on the day they met; will he still want her now that she's pregnant?), then realize what a mistake it was to break up and then they get back together again just in time for the credits to roll (usually featuring outtakes that are funnier than any of the so-called comedy during the actual film)? It's such a standard formula for today's "romantic comedies" that it bores me to tears.

But whether I'm bored or not by films such as these is irrelevant. What bothers me the most about The Back-up Plan is that this film was written by a woman (Kate Angelo, one of the writers for TV's Will & Grace which was much better than this), and yet this film is patronizing to women, in particular single mothers. Think about the large number of single mothers, and mothers-to-be, who are attending a support group. Every one of them is portrayed as either a hippie, a militant, or plain old weirdo. One of them invites the entire support group to witness her child's birth, in a kiddie swimming pool, while she makes animal noises during labor. And we're supposed to laugh at this. There's even a poop joke thrown in.

If you're headed out to the store to pick up this for the night, please, have your own back-up plan ready.

Rating for The Back-up Plan: *.

Daughter Says:

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie quite like The Back-up Plan. Most romantic comedies start out with a girl meeting a boy then they have a baby. But this movie totally did it out of order. The girl gets pregnant then meets the guy. It’s an odd way to do things, but I guess it could always happen.

Jennifer Lopez isn’t usually one of my favorite actresses. I don’t usually care for the movies she’s been in, but I guess I’ll have to make an exception for this one. I found her funny and cute in this movie. It was quite funny to see her wobble around with a pregnant tummy. Then there came her boyfriend. I found Alex O’Loughlin handsome and adorable. He just happened to choose the wrong chick to hit on. Together these two go through the new experience of being parents. It’s quite funny to watch.

Overall the story line was okay, but there were some funny parts. It kind of felt like it was set up for one joke, joke, and then set up for next joke all the way through the movie. But other than that, I found it predictable but adorable. Lopez and O’Loughlin made a cute couple on the screen that had some rough patches.

Even with all the not so great parts it was still a fun movie to watch. I think that if you are a fan of romantic comedies then this is the movie for you. It’s got everything it needs to be a favorite for that genre. Even though it’s not your average romance it just goes to show you that maybe waiting a little longer is the better choice than going to The Back-up Plan. So watch it if you dare.

Rating for The Back-up Plan: ***1/2.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) (PG)

2010-09-12T16:45:00.000-05:00

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) (PG)

Directed by Stephen Herek

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin, Bernie Casey

Daddy Says:

Funny how a movie about time travel should seem like the film itself is stuck inside a time capsule. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure screams "the 80's" with almost every frame of its ninety minute running time. From the soundtrack to the clothes to the dialogue, this film is a testament to everything that made the 80's the decade that it was.

Somebody in this family likes Keanu Reeves quite a bit, but it's not me. I'm not going to mention any names, but her review is posted right below mine and I'll bet includes the words "totally in love with him" in it. I'm watching it again to see if it holds up over twenty years later.

For the most part it does. Obviously, the film has dated a lot since it was made. But if you look at it as I mentioned above, as a time capsule of a decade, it's pretty easy to overlook the more glaringly dated parts. It's nice to see George Carlin in the film. He's nowhere near as funny as he is when he's doing his stand-up material, but he's still a likeable presence in this film. Keanu Reeves is playing the part of, well, Keanu Reeves. I'm not sure he's really capable of playing another role, but he plays himself well. I can't recall seeing Alex Winter, who plays Bill to Reeves' Ted, in another role, but he and Reeves have a good chemistry together.

As for the plot there's not a lot to say. I could gripe about the time travel inconsistencies and other problems which would have cropped up in a more serious film, but this isn't a serious film to begin with. When the future of civilization hinges on two less-than-intelligent rock-star-wannabes, the audience is obviously supposed to simply sit back, turn off their brains and enjoy the show. That's what I tried to do. And I enjoyed the show.

Rating for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: ****.

Daughter Says:

Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a fun movie to watch. It’s something that you can’t really take seriously. I just enjoyed watching Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter run around kidnapping historical figureheads.

There really is no other way to describe this movie other than to say that it’s one of the best train wrecks ever since Back to the Future. Unlike the past movies we have reviewed, this is a movie where you can turn off your brain and just enjoy staring at the screen.

The effects were really cheesy. The acting was rather lame, but Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure will bring a smile to your face. It has funny jokes and hilarious situations, but nothing is ever taken seriously. Even when Bill and Ted are about to get their heads chopped off they still are messing around.

Not only did it have funny situations, but it also had “bogus” dialogue. Bill and Ted kept talking like they were high all the time. Which that makes sense, because it was around that time, but it was weird to listen to. It was like listening to old English in a movie about when America became a free country.

But if you are one of those types that love to watch a fun, cheesy movie this movie is for you. There really is no danger. The problems they face, in the movie, are solved really easily, and they also end up happily ever after. Exactly what everyone wants in train wreck, I guess.

Oh and by the way, Keanu Reeves in it. To be honest Alex Winter isn’t as funny or sweet as Keanu. He was also the only reason why I wanted to see this movie, and even he couldn’t save Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I couldn’t take any of it seriously enough. This movie was seriously just a major train wreck that I probably won’t watch for a really long time.

Rating for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure: ***.

Se7en (1995) (R)

2010-09-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

Se7en (1995) (R)

Directed by David Fincher

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey

Daddy Says:

Serial killers. The United States has created of them than any other country on the planet. It should sicken us, but it also fascinates us. We want to know what goes on in their heads that can make these deviant personalities do the atrocious things they do. Four years after The Silence of the Lambs introduced a wide audience to Hannibal Lector, along comes Se7en to bring us John Doe.

This film came out five years before CSI hit network television, giving us this kind of subject matter on a weekly basis. These days, many of us are desensitized to the violence that gets portrayed on the screen. It takes a lot to shock us. But back in 1995, this was about as shocking as it could be. It's still a great concept for a film: a serial killer uses the seven deadly sins as his inspiration for murders. Will the detectives assigned to the case stop him before he reaches his conclusion?

The detectives are played by the always reliable Morgan Freeman, and a young Brad Pitt, who's only leading role before this was in Interview with the Vampire the previous year. He hadn't yet become Brad Pitt the movie star, the guy who married Jennifer Aniston, then left her for Angelina Jolie. Here he's just a young actor out to prove he can hang with the best of them, and he succeeds admirably. Gwyneth Paltrow does her best with an underwritten part, but really she's just here so she can be a "part" of the surprise ending (pun intended). Kevin Spacey is incredible as John Doe. 1995 was a big year for him, with this part, and his even better role in The Usual Suspects, he has made quite a career playing interesting roles such as these.

The film slows down in the middle a bit, after we've learned along with the detectives what the killer's modus operandi is, we're just kind of waiting for the end. But what an ending it is. It's a rare film that can have the hero, the villain and even the audience all wishing for the same thing to happen. It's not often in the last two decades that you get a film with what could be called an "unhappy" ending, yet still walk out of the theater feeling completely satisfied by what happened.

Rating for Se7en: ****1/4.

Daughter Says:

Once again, we’ve decided to review a movie that I’ve already seen. I saw this movie when I was really young. To be honest I was too young to understand what Se7en was about. But after watching it again I’ve totally got what the story was about.

The whole story is just really interesting. It’s true that I have never seen anything quite like this. The villain was truly a madman. I still can’t believe that anyone would ever do that to anyone to prove a point. It’s just so wrong.

Not only was that wrong, but when I first saw this movie I was cheering for Pitt to shoot the guy. Now that I’ve seen it for the second time and I knew what was coming, my reaction was completely different. It seems everytime I watch this movie I get a different reaction. I do that with a lot of movies. Even though I know what’s coming I still plead for it not to happen, but I guess that’s what the movie wants you to do. I think my connection with Pitt’s character really helped the movie. I felt like I was trying to solve the mystery myself and nothing was more obvious to the viewers than to the characters in the film. I really liked that. I also went through the same emotions as the characters, which really helps me understand the stress of solving this case.

Se7en really reminded me of the original CSI, before Grisom left. I loved that show and, to me, this movie was a whole lot like this. So if you are a huge fan of mysteries or even criminal cases in general you’ll probably like this. Se7en is down right wrong, which makes it that much more interesting and amazing.

Rating for Se7en: *****.

Pulp Fiction (1994) (R)

2010-09-12T16:40:00.000-05:00

Pulp Fiction (1994) (R)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis

Daddy Says:

Whereas Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs was a reinvention of the heist picture, one in which the heist in question isn't seen on film, his Pulp Fiction doesn't really draw from one single film-reference source. It seems to draw from several, somehow coalesced into a single whole inside his subconscious, then dumped en masse onto the screen. And I mean that in a good way.

Once again, Tarantino chooses to tell his story in a non-sequential narrative. He's said he's not doing it, just to be doing it, but because it makes the most sense from a narrative point of view. I have to agree, particularly with this film. If it were told in strict chronological order, the middle section of the film, titled "The Gold Watch" would end up last, and while that segment ultimately has what could be called a happy ending to it, a major character gets killed in it, one we would have by this point grown to love, which would have left the audience feeling down. By shuffling the storytelling order, that character is alive when the film ends.

Tarantino's love of dialogue is evident here, front and center. All of his characters love to talk, sometimes too much. But the dialogue itself, while certainly stylized, is never dull. In fact some of it is truly brilliant. Years later, I can still recall whole conversations almost word for word (say "what" again, I dare you, I double dare you, say "what" one more time). Yes, I left out a curse word in that quote. The cursing in this film is, while hard on the ears at times, also brilliant. When Samuel L. Jackson is in the backseat of a blood-soaked car, listen to how he is able to use the same four-syllable word (M.F'er) twice in the same sentence consecutively, and it makes perfect sense in context.

The stories are lurid, tawdry, and exhilarating. These are characters I would never want to be close to in real life, but for a little over two hours I love spending time with them. I was so invested in the lives of these people that ,by the time the film was over, I almost didn't want it to end. This is one of those films where I would love to see more of what happens to the characters after the film ends. Bloody brilliant.

Rating for Pulp Fiction: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

Guess what? I just watched another Quentin Tarantino movie. I’ve seen Pulp Fiction before when I was about eight, so I really didn’t quite get it. I just knew that I loved the movie. Now, that I’ve seen it for the second time, I like it even more.

I’ve started to notice a pattern in Tarantino movies. They are mostly told out of order. (Which is really a neat way to watch a film.) I think that if Tarantino had shown this film in sequence it might have been a major disappointment. It would have definitely ended on a sad note. Since it’s told out of order you feel more satisfied about the end of the movie. (Which I’m always a big fan of.) Not only telling the story out of order give you a happy ending, it also keeps you on your feet. You got to make sure to pay extreme close attention because if you don’t you’ll have no idea what just happened. I like movies like that, because I’m never bored with watching it.

Another pattern that I noticed was Tarantino likes to use a lot of the same actors in a lot of his movies, but with different main characters. (Pulp Fiction: John Travolta and Samuel Jackson. Inglorious Bastards: Brad Pitt. Reservoir Dogs: Harvey Keitel. Kill Bill I and II: Uma Thurman. etc) But the back up actors are usually the same. I keep seeing Tim Roth, Uma Thurman, and even Steve Buscemi; which is fine with me, because I love all of them. Tim Roth is an amazing actor in my opinion. He does such a great job, but I didn’t fall in love with him in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. I was in love with him in his semi-new TV show Lie to Me. That’s another great show that will keep your mind working.

Tarantino’s dialogue in this movie will keep your mind working too. Pulp Fiction was fast, witty, and creative. You really have to be well educated in the entertainment genre to get some of the things the characters talked about. Not only do you have to understand them you also have to be a very good listener because they are such fast talkers. I loved how quick and snappy they talked. I wish some people talked like that in real life. Those would be some funny and witty conversations. That’d be so cool. Anyway…

Rating for Pulp Fiction: *****.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) (R)

2010-09-11T21:32:00.000-05:00

Reservoir Dogs (1992) (R)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn

Daddy Says:

Finally got around to watching Quentin Tarantino's debut as a director with my daughter. I saw this movie when it first came out and it completely blew me away. So does it still stand up today, some eighteen years later? I'd say it does.

The acting in Reservoir Dogs is superb. The cast is helped immeasurably by the addition of Harvey Keitel as Mr. White. The veteran of so many Martin Scorsese pictures is a natural in his role. In addition to bringing a feeling of history to his part, I love the little bits of business he throws in to his part. When he puts Mr. Orange down on the ramp, and starts combing his hair, he whispers something that makes Mr. Orange laugh, taking his mind off the pain he's in. I've always wondered what it was he whispered. Later in the film when Nice Guy Eddie shows up at the warehouse, the door Eddie enters through doesn't close completely and slowly swings open. Keitel notices it and casually walks to the background to close it. I'm positive that moment wasn't scripted that way, it was just something Keitel noticed wouldn't be left that way by his character if the scene were happening in reality.

I could go on about Michael Madsen's great portrayal of the psychopathic Mr. Blonde, or Steve Buscemi's role as the jittery Mr. Pink, but the role that most impresses me is Tim Roth as Mr. Orange. I had never seen him before this film, and I've seen him many times since (lately on the TV series Lie to Me). His part may be the most difficult of all the roles to play, since he is in constant pain for the first half of the film, and in emotional turmoil for the second half. His is the character the audience identifies with the most. The people I was watching with mentioned that if he had just not told Mr. White his secret near the end of the film, things would have turned out differently for him. But the truth is, he had to tell him. Mr. White was his protector throughout the entire movie, the only one who believed in him. He owed it to him to tell him the truth. It's a deeply moving moment.

I haven't talked much about Tarantino's direction, but if you need to know, it's as good as any film he's ever made and has all the trademarks of his films we've come to know over the years: the quirky pop dialogue, the long take, the shot looking up from inside the trunk, etc. Reservoir Dogs is one of the most assured film debuts ever made by a director, and is arguably the best independent film ever made.

Rating for Reservoir Dogs: ****3/4.

Daughter Says:

I officially only have one Quentin Tarantino movie left on my list to see now. (Jackie Brown) I’ve been dying to see this movie since I’ve heard about it. There are so many things about Reservoir Dogs that I like. I love many of the actors in it, it’s got a great story line, and IT’S A QUENTIN TARANTINO MOVIE!

There are so many great things to say about this movie, I don’t know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with the beginning. I loved the opening conversation. It was about Madonna’s Like a Virgin. The whole thing made complete sense. It had nothing to do with the movie, but the conversation itself made complete sense. (Quentin Tarantino is a genius!) Then the conversation after that was great too. (Mr. Pink: “I don’t tip.” Nice Guy Eddie: “You don’t tip?” “Nah, I don’t believe in it.” “You don’t believe in tipping?”) You can see where that conversation is heading. Every bit of dialogue was genius in this film. It was all sharp, quick, and witty. I just loved it.

I also loved the story line. Of course the story line was told out of order, which is no surprise. (It’s a Quentin Tarantino movie after all.) But that makes this story just that much better. I loved how every section of the movie told the story of a different guy, so I got to know each of the characters that much more. I didn’t feel rushed for information, which is always a nice touch, and it flowed smoothly. I was with all the guys in this movie when they were desperate to find out who the snitch was. Then I was blown away when I found out who the snitch ended up being. And at the end I was really shocked, because I didn’t know who survived and who died. There was just so much in your face. I was just stunned.

My last point for this movie is, of course, that this is a Quentin Tarantino movie. I mean holy cow this movie was amazing. I must say I’ve become a major fan. (If you haven’t already figured it out.) So if you love Tarantino movies as much as I do then you should definitely watch this movie.

Rating for Reservoir Dogs: *****.

Constantine (2005) (R)

2010-09-11T20:33:00.000-05:00

Constantine (2005) (R)

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Djimon Hounsou

Daddy Says:

There are some movies I just can't stop myself from watching whenever they're on. Constantine is one of those movies. It's like a car wreck that I have to watch even though I know there are better things I should be doing. I just can't help myself.

Let's start with the good things about it. It's a very good looking film. I've not read the graphic novel it's based on, but it does indeed look like it could have been a graphic novel at one time. Some of the acting is good. I enjoyed Tilda Swinton as the androgynous half-breed Gabriel. And Djimon Hounsou is also very good as Papa Midnight, the supernatural owner of a nightclub that serves as neutral ground for the half-breeds. Constantine also has some interesting spiritual concepts that I like, such as the wager between God and the Devil over mankind. I do wish some of it had been made clearer, though.

Which leads us to the not-so-good: the rest of the acting ranges from average to awful. Rachel Weisz does her usual job of looking bored at all times. Keanu Reeves doesn't show very much emotion. I know that's pretty standard when you're talking about Reeves' work, but I still felt a connection to him in Speed that I didn't get here. But believe it or not, his is not the worst performance in the film. No, that honor goes to Shia LaBeouf, whose acting may not even rise to the level of Keanu Reeves. Whenever he's on the screen I tune out.

And as for the script, it's all a bit muddled. I understand that Lucifer himself wants to collect Constantine's soul himself, but why does he want to stop his own son from coming through to our plane of existence? He wants so badly to stop that scenario from happening that he feels he owes a debt of gratitude to Constantine for warning him in time. It must have been explained in the film at some point because the characters in the film seem to understand why, but I confess I'm lost. Still, why let a muddled plot stand in the way of a good time. All faults aside, I'll watch this wreck of a film every time it's on.

Rating for Constantine: **1/4.

By the way, I just counted them up and this is our 100th movie review here at The Daddy/Daughter Movie Review. Quite the milestone for us, especially my daughter. Thank you very much for coming here and reading our reviews. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy writing them!

Daughter Says:

I just want to start out by saying that I love Keanu Reeves. He has always been one of my favorite actors. So when I heard that he was in Constantine I was all for watching it. I had seen a part of it on TV but it was really creepy to me. It looks really scary, but once you get past the gross parts Constantine was really a good movie. I enjoyed watching every minute of it.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. It had amazing effects to it. It also had many actors that I liked in it. (Keanu Reeves, Tilda Swinton, and Shia LaBeouf.) I’ve also become a new fan of Gavin Rossdale. He played such a great villain in Constantine. I was really impressed with his work. I do agree with Dad on the part where Rachel Weisz looks a little bored or maybe even doped up, but that doesn’t stop me from loving this movie. He has his train wrecks and I have mine. So he can just hush and go watch Tommy while I sit and watch Constantine.

Even if you didn’t like the movie in general, you have to admit that the special effects are gorgeous. I loved the angels’ wings. They were so breathtaking. This movie made me want to have wings. I also love Gabriel. I know he is actually played by a she, but Tilda Swinton pulls off a gorgeous guy. I mean I’d date her if she were a he. (Just saying). I also loved some of the special effects in certain scenes such as when Constantine is going to save the girl and he has to get through a large group of demons. He sets the sprinklers off, which kills all the lights, and all you see is him shooting at these demons that are charging at him. That was really cool and, I also really enjoyed when Constantine blew Rossdale’s face off and it was lying on the table in two halves. When he started talking both sides of his face moved in sync. I really thought that that was neat.

Rating for Constantine: ****1/2.

Sunset Blvd. (1950) (Not Rated)

2010-09-11T20:24:00.000-05:00

Sunset Blvd. (1950) (Not Rated)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson

Daddy Says:

When people think of great film directors lots of names will pop up: Hitchcock, Spielberg, Kubrick, Ford, Welles. But most will not remember the name of Billy Wilder. Yet, he is responsible for some of Hollywood's most beloved movies: Double Indemnity, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment just to name a few. But I think his masterpiece may have been this one.

Sunset Blvd. is a story told in flashback by a dead man. We see him lying face down in the pool of a mansion as he tells us this in voiceover. The rest of the film details how he came to be in this predicament. William Holden plays our narrator, a struggling screenwriter named Joe Gillis. He's on the run from car creditors who want to repossess his only valuable possession, when a blowout leads him to turn into the driveway of what appears to be a deserted house. It's not, of course, but it's occupants are certainly not ordinary.

We meet former silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) and her butler/driver/caretaker Max (film director Erich von Stroheim) as they are preparing for a funeral for a monkey. When Joe finds out that Norma has a script she needs rewritten, he smells an opportunity to get some quick cash to save his precious automobile. But as we saw at the film's beginning, this is probably not going to end well for him.

Sunset Blvd. is one of the best movies made about the making of movies. It's a movie made in Hollywood, that simultaneously glamorizes itself and skewers itself. Many famous actors and directors appear as themselves in the film. They could have cast an actor to play famous film director Cecil B. DeMille, but why do that when you can just get the director to play himself? When the scandal breaks at the mansion, it's only natural that gossip columnist Hedda Hopper would be there covering it for the tabloids. Even silent film star Buster Keaton shows up as one of the "waxworks" that Norma invites over to play bridge with her. By casting real actors and directors as themselves, it lends an amount of authenticity to the surroundings.

As I've mentioned before, I love film noir, and Sunset Blvd. is one of the best. If you've somehow missed out watching this classic film, don't hesitate to screen it as soon as you can.

Rating for Sunset Blvd.: *****.

Daughter Says:

Sunset Blvd. is a movie of a different kind. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. I’ve never heard of anyone being stuck in a house against their will but enjoying it. Joe Gillis did just that, and they made a movie about it.

You’d think a movie about a screenwriter hooking up with a retired actress to make money would sound really boring, but the drama made it so much more interesting. Gloria Swanson pulled off being an insane silent actress so well it shocked me. She really gave me the creeps, and William Holden worked so well with her. Together they made the dangerous and most dramatic couple I have seen since Romeo and Juliet. One wanted the other and the other wanted to just make money and be in love with another woman. How could their relationship ever possibly work out?

I know I complain about black and white movies a lot, and I’m sure you are probably starting to wonder if I even hate them at all. Once again there is another really good black and white to put on my list. The black and white part of this film really helped in my opinion. It gave the whole movie a mysterious look about it that helped make the insanity of the main actress creepier. It also gave me the uncertainty about the house. I never expected any of the things that happened inside the house, or even outside. The whole story was really just bizarre.

So if you like odd and different stories then this movie is for you. It definitely is different. I’ve never seen a film about an insane actress before so it really fascinated me. I’m glad I can say I’ve seen Sunset Blvd. but I don’t know if I’m actually ever going to watch again for a really long time. I’m still digesting what happened.

Rating for Sunset Blvd.: ****.

Chinatown (1974) (R)

2010-09-11T20:21:00.000-05:00

Chinatown (1974) (R)

Directed by Roman Polanski

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez

Daddy Says:

I love film noir. The term is French for "black film", and is usually associated with black & white detective/mystery stories from the 40s and 50s. After falling out of style for a couple of decades, director Roman Polanski resurrected the genre, this time in glorious color, and gave us a timeless classic called Chinatown.

It's the story of Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), a private investigator who makes his living by getting photos of cheating spouses, when he is hired by a Mrs. Mulray to catch her husband with his girlfriend. Jake takes the case, but after getting the pictures, he finds out that the Mrs. Mulray who hired him was an imposter, and the real Mrs. Mulray (Faye Dunaway) is mighty upset.

The script by Robert Towne has many twists and turns, but with the sure direction of Polanski the viewers are never lost as to what's going on. We may not know what's going to happen next, but like Jake, we're ready to go along with the ride. Many of the most famous scenes have been absorbed into culture as touchstones. When someone says "forget it Jake, it's Chinatown", you know what they're talking about. I even heard "she's my sister, she's my daughter, she's my sister, she's my daughter" used in a sitcom once when someone couldn't get their story straight.

The cinematography by John A. Alonzo is also particularly brilliant. He makes good use of the widescreen format in his compositions. Most of the outdoor scenes take place during that magic hour when the sun is either just coming up or just about to set, bathing the scenes in that wonderful slanting golden light.

The acting is superb as well. Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway have undeniable chemistry on the screen. And the casting of film director John Huston as Dunaway's wealthy father is wonderful. He plays his part with the command of someone who's very used to getting exactly what they want, and they will get it no matter what the cost. He's one of the film's most memorable characters, even though he doesn't appear until nearly halfway through. Watch for a small role by director Roman Polanski as well, as a not very tall knife-wielding thug who doesn't like "nosey" people.

Rating for Chinatown: *****.

Daughter Says:

“Forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown” The quote made Chinatown something special. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie quite like this. Everything about this movie made it one of a kind. It had snappy dialogue, amazing cinematography, and great acting.

Everything said in Chinatown was quick and witty. Which sometimes made it difficult to catch what they were talking about, but you can still catch the basics. Not only was it quick and witty there wasn’t ever anything said that was a waste of time. There wasn’t any dialogue that should have been cut out. Everything went where it should have. The dialogue also helped loosen the mood sometimes (Lt. Escobar: “Isn’t that your phone number?” Jake Gittes: “Is it? I forget. I don’t call myself that often.”), and in other cases make the mood more intense. (Jake Gittes: “Evelyn, put that gun away. Let the police handle this.” Evelyn Mulwray: “He owns the police!”)

Not only did the dialogue give this movie personality, but so did the cinematography. The way John A. Alonzo shot parts of the movie gave the scenes more depth to them. He also made other parts have mystery or an eerie feeling to them. There was a chase scene in a field at one point, and the angles (and such) gave the intensity the scene needed to become perfect.

Also really enjoyed watching Jack Nicholson play a semi-good character for the first time. I mean technically he wasn’t a good guy, because he lied and tricked people. He also told other’s secrets for a living, which isn’t really what a good guy should do. Even though he did all those evil things I was still urging him on to find out the truth about Evelyn. Speaking of Evelyn, Faye Dunaway did an amazing job playing a mysterious woman who held a lot of secrets. I really couldn’t guess what was going to happen next, or what she had up her sleeve for Jake.

I had first seen this movie when I was like in sixth grade. When I first saw it I fell in love with it. Watching this movie again, I’ve just fallen in love all over again (if not more in love).

Rating for Chinatown: *****.

Rashomon (1951) (Not Rated)

2010-09-06T12:37:00.001-05:00

Rashomon (1951) (Not Rated)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo, Takashi Shimura

Daddy Says:

Marge: You liked Rashomon!

Homer: That's not how I remember it.

When The Simpsons can reference a foreign language film and be pretty sure that their audience will understand the reference, that film has almost assuredly entered the mainstream consciousness.

Rashomon, a wonderful movie by acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa, begins with three men meeting under a gate in a pouring rainstorm. Two of them seem distressed, and depressed, prompting the third to ask what's bothering them. They tell a story, which we see in flashback, of a murder trial. The facts are a man and his bride were travelling through a forest, when they came across the path of a bandit. The bandit lured the husband deeper into the woods with the promise of cheap weapons for sale, but attacks him and binds the husband to a tree. He then brings the bride to see what he has done, and rapes her in front of her husband. Later, the husband is found dead by a woodcutter wandering through the forest.

The rest is unclear because each person tells a different story. The bandit claims to have seduced the bride, who succumbed to his charm, dueled mightily with the husband and killed him after the fight. The bride says the bandit left after raping her, and her husband looked at her with loathing in his eyes. She fainted and awoke to find him dead. Through the use of a medium we are able to hear the dead husband's story, which claims that the bandit fell in love with his wife after the attack. She agreed to go with him, but first he had to kill her husband. The bandit was disgusted by this display, and offered to kill her instead. She ran off with the bandit in pursuit. The husband says he killed himself.

Later, we find out the woodcutter actually saw the whole thing, his story claiming that the wife goaded the two men into fighting over which one she would end up with. They were reluctant to fight, the battle far different from the epic sword fight we see during the bandit's story, but with the same result of the bandit killing the husband. But as we find out, the woodcutter has reason to lie as well.

However, as a viewer we must realize that what we see may not be the truth either. The first level, the men at the gate in the rain, is factual. But the trial is told from their perspectives, so some of it may be distorted or parts left out. Then the scenes we see from the forest during their narratives are the most distorted, because these are being heard by us through two separate filters: the person telling the story in the trial is now being related to us third-hand by the other men at the gate.

Rashomon is a fascinating study on the truth and what it really means. Each person's story is designed to show them in their own best light, leaving out or changing the parts that they don't like, or that show them in a less than admirable area. If you've never seen it before, you've probably already absorbed its meaning through popular culture. You owe it to yourself to see the original.

Rating for Rashomon: *****.

Daughter Says:

You’d think I wouldn’t like this movie because it has so many things I would usually hate about it. It’s a black and white, foreign film without a clear ending. It’s outrageous.

But Rashomon wasn’t that upsetting. It just proves how really screwed up people can get when telling a story. No one really wants to tell the pathetic truth. Instead they would rather tell a huge lie to make themselves look better. It gives the viewer a major reality check.

There are a few things I did have a problem with. I didn’t really get the ending. The baby didn’t make much since other than to show how cruel desperate people can be. But other than that this film was interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that tells that kind of story. The closest movie I’ve seen to this one would have to be Hero, but even that has the truth of the story in it. This one doesn’t have the truth in it at all. They never quite make it clear what really happened that day.

I don’t usually care for black and white movies unless they’re filmed like Citizen Kane or The Third Man or even The 400 Blows because I enjoy watching the details around the characters, which most black and white films don’t accentuate. Even though this film wasn’t very artsy I think the black and white part helped it a lot. I think when the characters are telling their sides of the story it makes sense because a story is usually told in a 2D format. So that part helped, but they probably could have added color in the reality part. It would have made a lot of sense there, or maybe they just didn’t have color back then. But either way the cinematography didn’t really bother me all that much.

Rating for Rashomon: ***1/2.

Inception (2010) (PG-13)

2010-08-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

Inception (2010) (PG-13)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard

Daughter Says:

Ever since I saw the previews for this movie I’ve wanted to see it. No, I am not a huge Leonard DiCaprio fan. I’m a huge Joseph-Gordon Levitt fan. That and I like Ellen Page, but that’s beside the point. The director of Inception is just down right brilliant. He did an amazing job with both Batman movies, and he did amazing things with this movie.

Now, I know everyone is going to tell you that this movie was horrible. It made you think. If you are one of those types that want to just sit in front of TV screen and turn your brain off for a few hours then this is not the movie for you. Inception might make you have to think, but it is not that hard to follow. What’s so bad about movie’s that make you think any way? The Matrix makes you think, and look at what a huge hit it was. Or even Lost. (And don’t think about lying about that one. Lost was the most complicated TV show I’ve watched.)

Just like The Matrix, this movie was full of hard to believe stuff. Such as breaking into people’s dreams and stealing their secrets. That’s what this movie is about by the way. Leonard DiCaprio breaks into people’s dreams and steals all their top secrets. But he is faced with a very complicated job one day. Instead of stealing ideas, his new client wants him to plant an idea inside someone’s mind. This tactic is called Inception. The movie goes from there. I don’t want to give too much away, although I think the previews are rip offs. They don’t tell you anything. I want to know what this movie is about. The only real reason I went to see this movie was to watch Levitt in another five star movie. I fell in love with him in 500 Days of Summer.

It wasn’t the great acting that made this movie something else. Inception was just straight-out gorgeous. This movie had so many beautiful moments that were so out of this world. Certain parts did make me a little dizzy, but I really didn’t mind. Other moments scared me to death. I jumped many times during that movie. There were a lot of things I didn’t see coming. I won’t tell you what they are so you can go on the same adrenaline ride that I went on. I was on an emotional roller coaster through this whole movie. I felt the intensity in some parts, and leaps of joy in others. I was so strung out after that movie.

I must admit that I had wished there was an intermission in between the hours of this movie. I had to pee so bad when I got out of the movie theater it was awful. I didn’t want to leave during the movie. I was afraid I’d might miss something, and I was right. All the way through Inception my mind was getting filled with new information. Every second (of the 3 hours it took) there was something important happening. If you missed anything, you definitely would be confused the rest of the time.

Long story short, you need to see this movie. If you love either Lost or The Matrix, you will love this movie. Even if you don’t care for this movie you might just love watching all the special effects. Plus it’s not in 3D. That is always a plus. I hate that stupid invention.

Rating for Inception: *****.

Daddy Says:

I've seen all of Christopher Nolan's films (missing only his first, Following, and his third, Insomnia), and each time I've been impressed. I'm a big fan of his take on the Batman franchise, and the first two films in what could be described as his "puzzle" trilogy (Memento and The Prestige) were very fun mysteries to watch. Now comes Inception, a summer blockbuster that had the studio worried that it was "too intelligent" for audiences to enjoy. This is the type of movie that I live for, something different, something that I haven't seen dozens of times before. A movie that's original, instead of a tired remake.

The biggest weakness the film had for me going in was it's lead, Leonardo DiCaprio. I've never been a big fan of his work, to me it seems as if he's playing the same role over and over again. But he carries this film nicely. Ellen Page, as the dream's architect, also does an excellent job with her role as newcomer to the group. Her part is essential to the viewers, since she is required to ask the very questions that are going though our minds at the time, yet not seem like she's just there for exposition purposes.

As for the plot, I'll only say that it involves dreams within dreams within dreams, and when it's over you'll be talking about it for days afterwards trying to figure out what it all means. You can't turn your brain off while watching Nolan's films. He forces you to stay engaged in order to figure out what's going on at the time. I do wish the movie had been a bit shorter, since I needed to go to the restroom about halfway through and didn't dare leave for even a few minutes out of fear that I'd miss something amazing (that's the one thing I miss when I do, on the rare occasion, go out and see a movie in a real theater: a pause button).

And there is so much that is amazing. This is one of the most original movies I've ever seen. Most films I can point out a reference place or two, some piece of film history that's being copied, homaged, or outright stolen. With Inception, I never knew where the movie was going to go next.

I do have many unanswered questions about parts of the movie. But, like the recently ended television series Lost, a series like this film that forces viewers to focus on every detail to get the most out of it, I got the answers to most of the important ones. I'll be very surprised if this isn't taking home the Best Picture award next year at the Oscars.

Rating for Inception: ****1/4.

The 400 Blows (1959) (Not Rated)

2010-08-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

The 400 Blows (1959) (Not Rated)

Directed by François Truffaut

Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Robert Beauvais, Claire Maurier, Albert Remy

Daddy Says:

My cinematic experience with director François Truffaut, before watching this film, was limited to his performance in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. After watching this, his debut as a director, I can say I'm now interested in seeing more of his work.

The 400 Blows, which is a poor translation of the French title which roughly equates to "raising hell", has an autobiographical feel to it. We follow closely the life of Antoine Doinel, a troubled and misunderstood youth as he goes to his boys school, is picked on his teachers (now I'm wondering if this is what Pink Floyd were referring to in Another Brick in the Wall), tries to get his homework done in a small, cramped apartment with his parents fighting in the next room, skips school with a friend, etc. We get to know the boy almost better than the people who should be closest to him.

Antoine really has no role models to guide him. His attempts to guide himself fail miserably. He discovers Balzac and writes an essay about him as an homage, which his teacher accuses him of plagiarizing. A shrine he builds to the famous writer in his home ends up nearly burning down the entire apartment. He steals a typewriter from his father's office, then can't sell it, and when he tries to return it he is caught by the watchman. His best laid plans never seem to work out.

Yes, he makes some bad choices for himself. Claiming that your mother died and that's why your weren't in school yesterday is probably not the wisest decision. But he is really given no guidance on how to live his life. His stepfather isn't really interested in raising a son that's not his, and his mother wants to be more of a friend than a parent. His teachers are constantly tearing him down, and the fellow students are equally clueless on how to grow up in a world without role models.

There really isn't a plot to speak of in The 400 Blows. Truffaut's camera is content to simply observe Antoine's life, never criticizing or interpreting, leaving the viewers as the only people who may lay judgment on his characters. This is a film that stays with you long after it ends (on a freeze-frame of Antoine's face. Is he happy? Sad? We are left to decide for ourselves). There isn't really what can be described as a typical story arc. Things happen, people talk, life goes on. This is a movie that you can watch many times over and still discover new moments and feelings contained within.

Rating for The 400 Blows: *****.

Daughter Says:

The 400 Blows isn’t one of those everyday movies that you see. This movie was full of emotion and drama. There aren’t that many French movies I can say that about. I really haven’t found many French movies that I’ve liked. The last French film that I saw that I really enjoyed was Let the Right One In. I loved that movie. I don’t know why, but it was good. It was nice to see a good French film again.

The boy who played Antoine was great in this movie. He really pulled off a troubled child that was heading towards disaster. I must say I was very surprised that I liked this movie. It ended without a resolution, which is one of my pet peeves. I have to have a purpose for watching a movie and this one really didn’t. The strange thing is, even though it was unsatisfying, I wasn’t all that upset about it. The movie in itself had no point really and so I expected no point at the end I guess.

So what did turn me on about this movie? Well the beauty of it all was rather appealing. I really enjoyed watching every scene, even with the black and white and subtitles popping up on the screen. Every frame was shot perfectly to show what was going on in the moment. At one point, Antoine runs away from the school he was attending. The camera runs with him along the path, so all you see is Antoine running and the fields moving behind him. It’s a very long shot that has no cuts in it what so ever. It’s amazing how smoothly the camera moved with him.

Other than the camera work, there was the acting. I know a little French, so I didn’t have to read parts of the subtitles I didn’t have to read. This made it a lot easier for me to watch the movie and really enjoy it. I didn’t quite understand that the man living with Antoine and his mother was the step-father. I always thought that it was his dad, so that was a little confusing. But other than, I didn’t have any trouble following what was going on at all.

This movie is definitely a drama, so if you want to see an action packed film, The 400 Blows is not for you. People might say that this is a must see movie, but I don’t love this movie that much. If you want to see it go out and rent it, but I’m not going to tell you that you should watch it before you die. It’s not a must see film.

Rating for The 400 Blows: ****.

Our Hospitality & Sherlock Jr. (1923/1924) (Not Rated)

2010-08-14T14:38:00.000-05:00

Our Hospitality & Sherlock Jr. (1923/1924) (Not Rated)

Directed by Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone

Starring: Buster Keaton, Joe Roberts, Ralph Bushman, Craig Ward

Daddy Says:

Our Hospitality is the first feature-length movie from silent film comedian Buster Keaton. It's the story of a generation's long feud between the McKay's and the Canfields. Keaton stars as Willie McKay, who was raised by an aunt far away from his feuding relatives, and only finds out that the feud even exists right before his trip home to claim a home left to him by his deceased relatives.

On a very funny train ride there (where it's easier to move the train tracks than it is to move a donkey blocking them), Keaton meets a very nice girl and is smitten by her. I'll give you three guesses as to who his new girlfriend's relatives turn out to be. Will true love win over a family feud? And does it really matter when the visual gags are coming fast and furious?

While Our Hospitality is very good for his first feature, I actually prefer the shorter Sherlock Jr. over it. In it Keaton plays a movie projectionist who dreams of someday becoming a detective. When he is framed as a thief, he attempts to follow his instruction book to uncover the real criminal. When things don't go exactly as planned, and he returns to his day job at the theater, he dreams of jumping into the detective movie on the screen and solving the crime there.

This film, more than the other, really allows Keaton to work in some of his best gags and visual effects. When he jumps into the movie screen, the film keeps changing around him, constantly throwing him off-balance. Later we are shown that one of the balls on a pool table is rigged to explode. Keaton manages multiple trick shots to hit every ball on the table except the exploding one, although he comes within a fraction almost every time. It's great suspense and humor rolled into one.

Other gags I won't give away. They deserve to be experienced for the first time as you watch them. For anyone who's never seen a Buster Keaton movie, I'd probably start off with his best: The General. But this double feature makes for a wonderful follow-up.

Rating for Our Hospitality & Sherlock Jr.: *****.

Daughter Says:

There’s only two ways to enjoy a black and white/silent movie. One: It has Charlie Chaplin and two: it has Buster Keaton. Our Hospitality and Sherlock Jr. had the second part. I’ve always enjoyed watching Buster Keaton in all his movies. I find him amazing for quite a few things. For one, he does his own stunts, which is really cool. I love that he doesn’t have to depend on anyone else to make him look good. Another thing I like about Keaton is that he has such great facial expressions. I can always tell what mood he is in when handling certain situations.

Keaton certainly made these movies something else. I really enjoyed both of them. Our Hospitality was hilarious in many ways. The situations that Keaton was put through were funny, but at the same time ironic. The only way to survive was to stay inside the other family’s house. Keaton found the most creative ways to remain inside the house. I really enjoyed watching it a lot.

Sherlock Jr. was just as funny, but with more action. Everything that Keaton went through was interesting and creative. In one scene, he had to escape quickly so Keaton jumped through a window and appeared out the other end in disguise as an old lady. How in the world did he do that? I mean after all, he does all his own stunts. Keaton is just so creative and brilliant. (I know, I know. I’m a fan, but who wouldn’t be?) The one problem I had with this movie was the relationship between Keaton and the girl he was “in love with”. They didn’t seem to be together at all. The chemistry between the two just didn’t seem to connect with each other. But it is just a black and white movie and a comedy, so who really cares.

Even with the one flaw both of these movies were wonderful. The comedy was perfectly spaced out and the whole thing seemed to flow so well. So if you’re looking for a great comedy and a good laugh these are the movies for you.

Rating for Our Hospitality and Sherlock Jr. : ****1/2.

Kick-Ass (2010) (R)

2010-08-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

Kick-Ass (2010) (R)

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

Starring: Aaron Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong

Daughter Says:

Kick-Ass is a superhero movie of a different kind. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. This movie definitely showed me why I don’t want to be a hero. I think the main character figured out why no one wants to be a superhero after all the things he went through. For all that don’t know what Kick-Ass is about, I shall give a summary.

One day this guy, who is low on the chopping block in high school, asked why doesn’t any one try to be a superhero? So he decides he wants to become a superhero himself. At the beginning, the kid stinks at saving anyone, but then he helps this guy out who’s being chased by a gang. A group of kids catch the action on tape, and now everyone is out to find the identity of the masked superhero.

But when trouble finds Kick-Ass, who is there to save him? None other than Nicholas Cage and his ninja daughter Chloe Moretz. I’ve always loved Nicholas Cage. He hasn’t been in a good movie in forever. The last good movie I saw with him in it was Face Off. I loved that movie. Him and John Travolta were amazing. I also loved Chloe Moretz in (500) Days of Summer. She was so knowledgeable about relationships, and so very funny in that movie. So when I saw the trailer for this movie I was all gung-ho for it.

This movie was another movie that had put a strange twist to superheroes around the world. Hellboy and Watchmen were other movies that did the same. But in their case, they tried to say that not all superheroes were wanted, and had as much drama as a soap opera. Kick-Ass was trying to show you what would happen if the average man tried to be Superman.

Kick-Ass did a pretty good job at what they were trying to put across. The only complaint I have with this movie is that they left it at a cliffhanger when they didn’t have to. After all you could have left at the first ending instead of going back and saying "oh by the way were going to have a sequel with this guy". I still suggest this movie if you’re sick and tired of the same old super hero movie. This movie is definitely a different sort of hero.

Rating for Kick-Ass: ***1/2.

Daddy Says:

Kick-Ass was arguably the most divisive film to be released in the last year. Many people loved it's comic book style. Just as many loathed its portrayal of children both dealing out and being the recipient of some very graphic violence. I tended to see both sides while watching it, and thus fall somewhere in the middle.

The best performance in the film is from 13-year-old Chloe Moretz playing the 11-year-old Hitgirl. With contagious enthusiasm, she throws herself into the role, completely believable as the little girl raised to be a murderous crime-fighting force by her "Big Daddy" Nicolas Cage. Cage, who I find mildly annoying in most of his roles, is quite enjoyable here playing an Adam West version of Batman to his little girl's Robin. I also liked that when he gets in his Big Daddy costume to go fight crime, he adds adhesive extensions to the mustache he wears in everyday life.

I'm a big fan of John Woo's films, with The Killer being one of my all-time favorite movies. Woo's name pops up when Hitgirl is being quizzed by her father, and the final showdown between Hitgirl and a slew of goons references his stylistic gun battles. The difference here, of course, is that the person doing the killing is a child. It's very easy to root for her to take out the bad guys. They're so broadly sketched that they don't seem like they're real people. It's also just as hard not to feel bad when things go wrong for her, because we've come to see her as a real flesh & blood little girl. I know it's supposed to be a "comic book" movie, but the film also tries to seem realistic for the most part so the message is mixed. If it looked more like a comic book, the way Sin City looked like its source material, I think it would have been easier to overlook the child violence.

I enjoyed the film for the most part, even with the child violence, so if a "graphic novel"-type movie interests you, I'd say you'll enjoy this, at least for a night's rental.

Rating for Kick-Ass: ***3/4.

Un Chien Andalou (1928) (Not Rated)

2010-08-09T14:44:00.001-05:00

Un Chien Andalou (1928) (Not Rated)

Directed by Luis Buñuel

Starring: Pierre Batcheff, Simone Mareuil, Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí

Daddy Says:

Wow. Just wow.

This may be the first film review I've written that will take you longer to read than it would take you to actually watch the film being reviewed. Un Chien Andalou is a short film, only about sixteen minutes long. You may have heard of it, but unless you're a serious student of film (or amateur film critic like me) you've probably never seen it. If the picture to the left doesn't register in your memory, you've definitely never seen it. If you had, that image will never leave your memory again.

Un Chien Andalou is directed by Luis Buñuel, and was conceived by he and the famous artist Salvador Dali (the guy who painted the melting clocks). Their goal was to shock, and possibly offend, their audiences by creating images which had no rational explanations. In fact, that was their only criteria for inclusion: If it could be explained, it didn't go in.

What we get are images of startling power, even today 82 years after the movie was made. The movie opens with a straight razor being sharpened. The hands run the blade along the back of his thumbnail to test its sharpness. My own thumb started hurting in sympathy while watching. The man with the razor looks out the window at the full moon. A woman sits in front of a dressing table mirror. The man comes up behind her and opens her left eye as seen in the picture above. A quick cut to the moon being divided horizontally by a thin layer of clouds is followed by... me watching my daughter cover her eyes and exclaiming "oh my gosh, why are you making me watch this?".

Almost in entirety, the various scenes in the film have no connection to each other. Yet our minds persist in trying to make sense of the proceedings. We see a woman look out an upstairs window, then the film cuts to an overhead shot of something happening on the street below. But is it really what the woman sees? The normal rules of editing film would say that it is. But here the rules don't apply. When the film was being made, the actress wasn't told what she was looking at, so why should the answer be that easy.

Un Chien Andalou is a remarkable short film. Were it not for this movie, there would be no David Lynch, no Matrix, no Inception. It's a dream made real through the power of film.

Rating for Un Chien Andalou: *****.

Daughter Says:

This movie was sixteen minutes of torture. I couldn’t watch half of it because it was so gross. Who in the world thought it’d be funny to slice up an eyeball, animal or human? I’m starting to think Luis Bunuel (the director) is insane and so is my dad for thinking this was a good movie.

None of the movie made much sense. I felt like Bunuel was just trying to see how many people he could torture for sixteen minutes. Well, guess what dude! You did it! It was disgusting, creepy, and down right wrong. There was nothing going good for this movie. It started out with my three least favorite things I hate to see in a movie: silence, subtitles, and black and white. Then I saw the eyeball and I just couldn’t watch. (This isn’t fun at all.)

Once that part was over I thought I was free from all the gross stuff, or at least how could it get any worse. Oh, was I wrong about that. This film got worse and worse. You know how, in the movies, when someone’s day is just going all wrong and they say well at least it can’t get any worse. Well that happened to me when I watched this film.

I don’t speak much French, let alone be able to read it. I know one word that made me joyful while watching this movie: Fin. All the way through this movie I was hoping for that word to pop up on the screen, but the movie never seemed to end. It just kept going and going and going. This movie was the longest sixteen minutes of my life.

I can’t even start to describe the horrible feeling I felt while watching this movie. I nearly dropped dead when Dad wanted to watch it again, but this time with the commentary. I’m going to have to tell you to stay very (AND I MEAN VERY) far away from this movie. You can’t even really call this movie a movie, because it’s not long enough to be a TV show. But to be honest I’m glad it’s as short as it is. If it was any longer I might have to die.

What kind of name is Un Chien Andalou? There weren’t even any dogs in this film. I think this guy does crack or something.

Rating for Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog): zero stars.

The Runaways (2010) (R)

2010-08-09T14:40:00.000-05:00

The Runaways (2010) (R)
Directed by Floria Sigismondi
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve

Daddy Says:

The Runaways tells the story of the rise and fall of the 70's band of the same name. Growing up at that time, I'd heard of the band by reputation, but didn't get to hear any of their music due to their music getting such little radio airtime.

Only later in the 80s, after Joan Jett went solo, did I get to hear some of their songs. Being a teenage boy at the time, I developed a huge case of the "hots" for Joan Jett (this phase has yet to pass and I still have a poster of her on the wall in my home theater). I even took the girl who would later become my wife to see her in concert when she was touring in the early 90s. Even kissed her for the first time while waiting to get in the doors to hear the music I loved.

So to say my expectations for this film might be a bit high would probably have to be a big understatement. And to find out upon viewing The Runaways that the movie tells more of the story of Cherie Currie, the band's troubled lead singer, doesn't help. I suppose her story is the more interesting to tell, at least from what is portrayed in the film would lead me to conclude. And it doesn't help that Kristen Stewart is playing the role of Joan Jett. I know she is much beloved by many, and I'm not trying to stir up some controversy, but if someone could tell me just what makes her such a great actress I'd be happy to listen. To me, it seems like she plays the same role over and over, no matter what film she's in. I didn't mind her in Into the Wild, but since her role was somewhat small I thought that might be why.

The music in the film is wonderful, and if I'm lead to believe that it is the actresses themselves doing the singing, then I'd have to say I'm impressed. Both Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart do remarkably good impressions of the actual singers. Dakota Fanning does a very good job with her character, but the show is stolen in every scene he's in by Michael Shannon as the record producer Kim Fowley. I don't know if the real Fowley is like this in real life, but if he is I can see why he has influenced and made successful so many recording artists.

As a biopic, The Runaways is a disappointment. It doesn't go nearly in-depth enough, only skimming the surface of what could have been. But as a movie, it's an enjoyable time-waster with great music and a few good performances.

Rating for The Runaways: ***1/4.

Daughter Says:

I’ve heard of the Runaways and I’ve heard some of their music, but never had I thought that they were so deep. I follow after my parents when it comes to Joan Jett. I love her to death. I think she rocks and is really just cool. So when I heard that there was going to be a movie about them, I was super excited, but then I heard who was going to play Joan. I despise Kristen Stewart. I don’t think I’ve disliked an actress so much as I do Stewart. Her acting abilities drive me up the wall. She can only act one way to me and that is high and whiny. I’ve seen her in many movies and I’ve hated her in all of them except one, Into the Wild. The only reason I liked her in that movie was because she wasn’t in it that much and she got play her best part (being high.)

Other than her, I liked this movie. I felt like I got a taste of what the Runaways were like. Dakota Fanning did an amazing job as usual. But sometimes I find it hard that she’s growing up. I still remember when she was just a little girl. She was so little in Uptown Girls and still really young when she starred in Push. But now she’s all grown up and playing vampires that want to kill Kristen Stewart and her baby. (I wouldn’t mind too much if that whole series just disappeared out of sight forever.)

That’s beside the point. It wasn’t all Stewart’s fault. There was just something wrong with the whole thing. The movie is called The Runaways, but it really seemed to just be about Joan and Cherie. There was nothing about Lita Ford or any of the others. I thought that there were only four in the band, but apparently there were five. I wish they had covered everyone. I didn’t have any idea how they found the others in the band. Even at the end of the movie they covered where Joan and Cherie went after the end of The Runaways, but they didn’t cover anyone else. I mean we all know that Lita Ford went on to do so much more. I just wish there had been more to The Runaways then there was.

Rating for The Runaways: ***.

Grease (1978) (PG)

2010-08-09T14:36:00.000-05:00

Grease (1978) (PG)

Directed by Randal Kleiser

Starring: John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway

Daughter Says:

I’m sure that all of you know what Grease is about, but just to refresh your memory I’ll tell you anyway. Grease is about a boy and a girl who fall in love on the beach during the summer, but just won’t be able to be together because the girl lives in Australia and he lives in Rydell. But when school starts back up who could guess that those two would end up at the same school. Now Sandy and Danny have to face Rydell’s cliques and groups (You know the usual High School drama.)

This is one of the most original musicals. Grease, just like Mary Poppins, is a one of a kind film. No one has or can trump Grease. High School Musical has tried but failed, and even the second Grease was a disaster. Once you have created greatness it’s hard to beat it.

Before I’d seen Grease I had been a huge John Travolta fan. I started loving his acting ability in Pulp Fiction, so when I heard he was in Grease I just had to see it. Now I’m an even bigger fan of Travolta. He did such a fabulous job playing Danny. I also didn’t know he was decent singer too. I really enjoyed watching him dance around a car singing Grease Lightning. Olivia Newton-John did a semi-decent job playing Sandy too. Her and Travolta did such a great job working together. They really made this movie something else by putting their own personalities into their characters. It was great.

Now for the downers of the movie. Some of the songs didn’t really make much sense in the movie. I didn’t quiet understand how Beauty School Drop Out had anything to do with Sandy and Danny. It was kind of an odd scene too. I just didn’t quite get it. Another problem I had with Grease was that Sandy and Danny changed themselves to better fit each other. I find it wrong that either of them had to change to better fit the other person. If a guy doesn’t love you the way you are, he doesn’t really love you that much.

Other than that this movie was great. I really enjoyed watching this movie and if you haven’t seen it yet go get it. Grease is one of those movies that you should see before you die.

Rating for Grease: ****1/2.

Daddy Says:

I know I'm showing my age but I was only 13 when this movie came out originally, two years younger than my daughter is right now. I was too young to see Saturday Night Fever in its original "R-rated" version (I had to wait and see it in the highly edited "PG" form that was released in theaters later), and I can remember being very excited to see a John Travolta musical in its unedited form. Yes, I know that sounds very uncool these days, but back in Summer of '78 this movie was considered to be a big event. Does it stand up today, over thirty years later? Boy, do I feel old some days...

The answer is yes, it holds up remarkably well. I think a big reason it does is because it wasn't timely to begin with. Grease is a throwback to the '50s, but with modern (at the time anyway) dialogue and sexual themes. Some of the lines in songs like "Greased Lightning" still get censored when the film is shown on television even today.

Speaking of the music, with only a couple of exceptions, the music in Grease is incredible. There's a reason the studios are re-releasing this film in a "sing-a-long" format, and it's not just to make more money. Okay, it is just to make more money, but besides that, the songs are so much fun to sing along with. I can't count the number of times I found myself doing that very thing.

The casting for Grease is perfect. John Travolta is the epitome of cool, swaggering greaser youth, a dangerous bad boy, but not the kind you couldn't bring home to meet your parents. While I'm not a huge fan of Olivia Newton-John, she plays the role of good girl Sandy very well. Somehow over the years, the role that's grown on me the most is Stockard Channing playing Rizzo. Her spotlight number "There are Worse Things I Could Do" didn't really send me when I heard it the first time. My guess is that I didn't really hear the lyrics the first couple of times. Now, my eyes get misty every time she sings that last line.

The movie has an incredible energy that doesn't let up from the opening animated credits through to the all-out musical romp finale. It's a fun-loving view of life from a time long since gone, with an innocence that I don't think will ever return. Enjoy it while you can kids.

Rating for Grease: ****1/4.

Citizen Kane (1941) (Not Rated)

2010-08-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

Citizen Kane (1941) (Not Rated)

Directed by Orson Welles

Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Dorothy Comingore

Daddy Says:

I've been waiting quite a while before watching and reviewing this movie with my daughter. And I'm not sure I waited long enough. We shall see.

Citizen Kane is one of my all-time favorite films. Its driving force, actor-producer-writer-director Orson Welles was a very young man when he made this film (about 24-25 years old at the time), and he became one of my inspirations for my own career (I chose to go into television instead of film). He was given complete control over his first project, an unheard of situation both at the time and today as well. The film he made was not a success at the time, but has since gone on to become one of the most celebrated films in history.

So much has been written about this movie that it's hard to know what to write about here. I'll begin with the sound. Orson Welles began his career in radio (you may have heard of a little play called War of the Worlds that stirred up some notice back in the day) and learned how to tell a good story using only sound. He transferred that knowledge to his first movie. Listen to the music cue that ushers in the first flashback to Kane as a young boy. The music is jolly and youthful, and it ends almost as soon as it begins when Kane throws a snowball at the sign that hangs over his home's front porch. It's so short that you may not realize what it is, which is a radio cue that the scene is changing. It's not really necessary in a movie, since we can see the scene change, but it works as a sound cue to ears that were more used to radio back then.

There are many other examples. When Kane and his wife are sitting in one of the expansive rooms in their home, the sound of their voices echoes in the huge space. When Kane strikes her face during an argument, we hear a woman screaming outside their tent. No explanation is ever given for the screaming, but it serves to audibly augment the emotions happening inside the two inside the tent.

Much has been made of the film's famous use of deep focus photography, leaving everything in focus throughout the scene, allowing the viewer's eyes to determine what they want to look at, so I won't go into it in great detail here. Suffice to say that it is wonderful and I really haven't seen it used to such great effect in many other films. I could go on and on about this film, but I'm really interested to see what my daughter has to say about it.

Rating for Citizen Kane: *****.

Daughter Says:

Citizen Kane was one of the movies that I watched when I was about my brother’s age. I didn’t quite understand it or even care for it. So when Dad said that I was going to have watch the same movie again but as a fifteen-year-old, I remembered that I didn’t enjoy it the first time. So I kind of already had a sour taste in my mouth about it. I was definitely not looking forward to Citizen Kane.

Citizen Kane seemed like a very artsy movie without anything interesting about it at all. At least that’s what I thought when I first saw this movie. But now that I have watched this movie again I appreciate it even more. This movie has a deeper meaning than just a spoiled rich man who got whatever he liked. Citizen Kane was about a man who had everything but nothing at the same time. As a little child I never really appreciated that meaning.

Yes, this movie is very artsy, but just like The Third Man it was more than just a director or a cinematographer showing off his amazing talent. They wanted to tell the story of Kane and his life as a millionaire. Everyone would have thought it bittersweet. He always got what he wanted and never needed anything, but this movie put a deeper twist to his life; the life he never had.

Some movies know how to pull off black and white brilliantly. This movie is one of them. Just like The Third Man, the cinematographer knew how to warp the shadows so, when needed, it gave the scene an eerie glow to it. The crew also did a brilliant job with the transitions. There are very few movies that can make an edit and jump in time from a small child to a young man in so few words ("Merry Christmas" says the young Kane - a quick cut to Thatcher as an old man who finishes the line "...and a Happy New Year", and just like that Charles Foster Kane is now 25 years old). The fluidity of this movie was so graceful it was breathtaking.

As a fifteen-year-old I feel like I understand this movie much more than when I was younger. So if you want your daughter or son to watch Citizen Kane I would wait until they have matured enough to understand the words behind the story. If your just looking for a movie that should be considered deep and meaningful, and also want to have a look behind a rich man’s eyes then this is the movie for you.

Rating for Citizen Kane: *****.

My Son Says:

Citizen Kane was one of the best movies I've ever witnessed. I love Citizen Kane so much. I recommend this movie to anyone who loves a good black and white film.

I love several parts of Citizen Kane because, as I'm sure Dad pointed out, are very brilliant. Take the beginning for instance, the castle that Kane lives in only gets bigger never moving or shrinking even though the camera is clearly moving.

Rating for Citizen Kane: *****.

Clash of the Titans (2010) (PG-13)

2010-08-01T21:44:00.000-05:00

Clash of the Titans (2010) (PG-13)

Directed by Louis Leterrier

Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Flemyng

Daughter Says:

Clash of the Titans (The 2010 version) is, well how to put it nicely, a better disaster than the original 1981 version. Now I’ve never seen the 1981 version, but I hear it’s as cheesy as Jason and the Argonauts, which I’ve seen part of and hated. This newer version of Clash of Titans is better than the older version, but it’s not a great movie.

I’m pretty sure every one knows the basics to this movie, but if you don’t, it’s like all the other god versus human stories you hear. Humans don't want to be ruled, but the Gods don’t want to give them control. Hades tricks Zeus into being mean to the humans and it blows up in everyone’s faces. But who’s there to save them? None other than Percy Jackson. Oh wait, that’s the wrong movie. It’s Perseus, a demi-god. His father is Zeus and his mother, well, is human. No need to be specific.

Now to get into the general disaster of this movie. This version of Clash of the Titans is better because it has better acting. I mean who didn’t already fall in love with Sam Worthington in Avatar or in Terminator Salvation. He rocked those movies and he rocked this one. He could seriously pull off being a god much better than Liam Neeson who happened to be Zeus. Another great actor in this movie was Ralph Fiennes. But he’s always great plus he got to play an evil man again. He can be such an awesome creeper. I still get chills thinking about all the evil things he pulls off with the best script.

Now for the bad part. You’d think with the great technology we have today that they’d try to do their best. Or not. Lord of the Rings pulled off the newest technology amazingly, so why couldn’t Clash of the Titans? I guess they just didn’t have such a brilliant set up as Lord of the Rings did. It felt like the effects artist decided just to go crazy and show off all he knew. It gave me the impression that they just wanted to show up the older version with all their newer technology. Another problem I had with this movie is that I had a really hard time telling apart everyone. The only people I got straight were the women, Perseus, Zeus, and Hades; and that’s just because they had such unique looks. The soldiers and the king looked alike so I couldn’t tell whom I was supposed to cheer for. I really liked two of the soldiers but when all of them got together I was confused on which one was my favorite anymore and who was a jerk to Perseus. (Don’t worry about it Sam, they’re just jealous of your smashing looks.)

I’m having a hard time telling you to watch this movie. If you’ve seen the 1981 version then maybe you should watch this movie just to compare it to what you grew up with. But if you haven’t seen either then maybe you should watch both. That’s what I hope to do one day. Until that day comes, I guess I’ll just have to wait.

Rating for Clash of the Titans (The 2010 version): **1/2.

Daddy Says:

Sound and fury, signifying nothing. I mentioned it in my review for Tokyo Story, and I could have been referring to just such a movie as this. Clash of the Titans is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. It's a film adaptation of the myth of Perseus, half son of Zeus, and his quest to battle Medusa and the Kraken monster to save the princess Andromeda.

I'd like to say that the special effects are quite good, but then that would be misleading. If you can tell immediately when something is onscreen that it's a special effect, then has it really done it's job? Pretty much everything Perseus faces is augmented by a computer in some fashion, so the entire film is basically one big special effect. My biggest problem with the effects is not how they look, so much as that I can't really see them very well. When the soldiers are fighting off multiple giant scorpions, the action is so fast and close-up that it's hard to tell where anything is in relation to anything else. Many times one of my kids spoke up and said "oh, I guess there's two of them", soon to be followed with "oh, I guess there's three of them". A nice long establishing shot would have done wonders to help us figure out what was going on.

I'll also mention that the script for this remake is particularly bad. The dialogue caused me to roll my eyes several times, particularly when a new character named Io spoke. There were several changes made to the original film's plot (the loss of the romance subplot between Perseus and Andromeda isn't missed), and one cute moment when Perseus picks up Bebo the robotic owl from the original film, only to be told to leave it it behind.

I may also get some heat for saying this but Sam Worthington is not my idea of a great leading man. In both Avatar and this, he has not impressed me with any kind of real acting talent. I suppose if all you're looking for in a lead is someone who looks good then he's your man, but he fails to bring any real emotion to the parts he plays. If he hopes to go beyond doing these types of sci-fi quickie blockbusters and step into a real dramatic part, he's going to need some work.

Rating for Clash of the Titans: *1/2.

Tokyo Story (1953) (Not Rated)

2010-08-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

Tokyo Story (1953) (Not Rated)

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

Starring: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura, Setsuko Hara

Daddy Says:

This is the Japanese movie with subtitles that I was going to watch with my daughter before she went off to summer camp. I held off and waited until she got home to watch it for the first time. And I've got a feeling that our views of this movie will be very different from each other. Perhaps she'll need to revisit this film after she becomes a parent someday.

Tokyo Story follows two grandparents as they plan to go to Tokyo to visit their grown children. When they arrive, everything seems fine. There are no arguments, everyone is very polite to each other. But we gradually see that the arrival of their parents has put a strain on their children's lives. The adult children feel the need to show their parents around and do things with them, but their lives are just too busy. The person who shows the most feeling for them, and takes the time out of her own busy schedule to spend time with them, is their widowed daughter-in-law. That a person who isn't even a blood relative is the nicest to them isn't lost on the elderly couple. They see their own children as disappointments, but take pleasure in the fact that things could be worse.

Then a tragedy strikes. It is the kind of tragedy that brings people together during a time of need, but again due to busy schedules, not all of them are able to be there. After spending so much time with these people, the loss has a profound affect on us as we watch the different ways the family deals with it. This could easily sound like the movie is some kind of soap opera, but at no time does it play like one.

I had never seen a movie by director Yasujiro Ozu before this one. I've since read that he likes to film his movies with a stationary camera positioned about the height of a person's waist, and that's true for this film. Only once did I notice the camera make any kind of movement at all, and I believe Ozu did this intentionally. It comes at a time when the couple make the decision to leave Tokyo and return to their home. They walk off the beach and the camera dollies along with them, following them on this new direction.

There are many times throughout the film where characters have a conversation in a room, then exit the room, while the scene stays on-screen for a few more seconds. While that would seem to go against the traditional rules of editing (i.e. cutting when the scene is finished), by leaving us in the room for a few more seconds, it makes us feel like we are really in the room, not just watching scenes unfold in front of us. We become a part of the family by lingering in an empty room where seconds before something was happening. It's a neat trick, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

E.E. Cummings is quoted as saying "I would rather teach one bird how to sing than ten thousand stars how not to shine". It's one of my favorite quotes, and I'm not sure I understand all of its meaning. But I get a feeling from it, and I get that same feeling from certain films I watch. So many movies are all about "sound and fury, signifying nothing" to quote Shakespeare. Tokyo Story tries to teach one bird how to sing.

Rating for Tokyo Story: *****.

Daughter Says:

First off, I must say that this movie was obviously not worth anything above a four, because I couldn’t stay awake long enough to see the end of the movie. Maybe that’s why I don’t care for this movie, but it was awful. I don’t think it could have made my opinion any different, but oh well.

Tokyo Story was a disaster to start with in my opinion. It had two of my least favorite things in this movie: subtitles and zero color. Tokyo Story is a black and white drama in another language. I was having trouble understanding the film before the movie even began.

If Tokyo Story wasn’t already on my bad side, it was straight out confusing. I couldn’t tell who was who in the story line. I got as far as figuring out who the mom and dad was, but other than that I didn’t get it. Apparently, some son of theirs died and so his wife is their only memory of him or something. It was just a really screwed up family.

Another problem I had with this story was the dialogue. It felt very awkard. It gave me the impression it was being read and not felt by the actors. The characters and what they were saying just didn’t seem to match up. I don’t know if you know what I’m saying but it just didn’t flow right. It might have just been me. After all I did have to read the dialogue.

It wasn’t just the dialogue that drove me crazy. The actors' faces didn’t match up to the story line either. Like one of the relatives was always smiling when she was depressed. Whenever they talked about her dead husband she never showed sadness. It didn’t really make much sense to me. I also couldn’t quite grasp when someone was being rude or generous. I couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to feel about what was going on the screen.

So, I’m not going to say I enjoyed it because that would be a lie. It wasn’t one of the best movies I’ve watched in the past. If you like odd foreign films that you have to read to really understand then this is for you. It has no action or comedy so, if you like those kinds of things then don’t check this film out. But it’s really up to you.

Rating for Tokyo Story: *1/2.

Mary Poppins (1964) (G)

2010-08-01T21:40:00.000-05:00

Mary Poppins (1964) (G)
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns

Daddy Says:

Yay! My daughter has returned from summer camp, just in time to review another movie this month. She's gained a slight tan from being outside for two weeks, and seems a bit tired, but will her tastes have changed? We shall wait and see.

I picked this movie to watch because I remembered it being pretty good the first time I saw it, a long time ago, and also to perhaps see what my children thought about it, to see if they liked it as well. Mary Poppins is a modern fairy tale, with some great sets and very well choreographed dance numbers, the film is a visual delight.

There are some amazing special effects, which stand up quite well in this age of anything goes when you've got CGI to work with. I was also reminded that Who Framed Roger Rabbit wasn't nearly the first film to have live actors interact with cartoons. There is an extended scene where Dick Van Dyke dances with a chorus line of animated penguins that is a really fun moment. If they had only animated some shadows for the penguins, the effect would have been even better.

The songs, for the most part are incredibly catchy. I found myself humming "a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down" long after the movie ended. The movie won two of its five Oscars for music (best original score and original song "Chim Chim Cher-ee") and rightfully so.

There are, among other good performances, two standout performances by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. Most people remember the Academy Award winning performance by Julie Andrews as the "practically perfect" title character, but I had completely forgotten just how good Dick Van Dyke is in not one, but two roles. If you've never seen the film, I won't spoil it, but stick around through the end credits for a delightful surprise.

This was the first Disney movie nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. While it may have lost out that award to My Fair Lady, it most certainly deserved its nomination. Mary Poppins is a "practically perfect" children's film, and a joy to watch.

Rating for Mary Poppins: *****.

Daughter Says:

Mary Poppins is definitely a magical ride that everyone loves to watch. I would happen to be one of those people that love this movie. I don’t think that anyone could have made this movie any better.

It has almost everything a musical could need. One of those things would be the great music. I love all the songs in this movie. (Which I’m sure you all know of) The music department that was hired for this film was brilliant. I think the songs are what made Mary Poppins a classic.

Not only were the songs amazing but Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke were awesome. How many people can you say do a brilliant job at jumping into chalk paintings and dancing with penguins? Not many. Andrews really brought Mary Poppins to life. She’s nearly perfect in every way with her beautiful voice and rosy cheeks. So is Dick Van Dyke with his creative jobs and great imagination. Him and Mary Poppins make quite a pair. I always thought that those two should have been together forever at the end of the movie. (Oh well, It has a happy ending all the same.)

But they probably couldn’t have done it without the help of the crew. All the dance choreography was something special. Everyone involved went perfectly in sync with the songs. The cartoon parts were pretty good for that era too. The whole thing put together was pretty creative for that time period. This movie should have definitely made it on the must see list.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, don’t wait another second. It is a must see for all. Mary Poppins isn’t one of those one time fun things to see. It is one of those types of movies that makes want to watch it over and over again.

Rating for Mary Poppins: *****.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas/Horton Hears a Who (1965) (Not Rated)

2010-07-25T16:31:00.001-05:00

How the Grinch Stole Christmas & Horton Hears a Who (1965) (Not Rated)
Directed by Ben Washam & Chuck Jones
Voices: Boris Karloff, Thurl Ravenscroft, Hans Conreid, June Foray

Daddy Says:

Yes, I know it's full-on Summer outside (at least here in the United States it is... turns out we've got some readers from all over the world. Hello, everybody!). But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying some good animated short films, especially if you're wanting to keep your movie choices somewhat family-friendly due to the young age of your partner movie reviewer.

The stories should be fairly familiar to most readers. How the Grinch Stole Christmas tells us about the Whos down in Whoville getting ready to celebrate Christmas, and the Grinch far above who can't stand all the happiness and noise, and comes up with the idea to try and steal Christmas to keep it from coming.

Horton Hears a Who may be less familiar, simply because it isn't shown on television every year in December. It's the story of an elephant named Horton who, with his large ears, is able to hear a voice calling for help emanating from a tiny dust speck. Horton talks to the speck and finds out that there are Whos in there with a whole city of their own. Unfortunately, the Moral Majority, I mean, uh, a kangaroo and some gossipy birds conspire to put Horton in a cage and destroy the dust speck, because obviously since they can't hear anything, Horton must be crazy, and he must be stopped before he brings down property values and family values. I'm probably reading too much into a simple Dr. Seuss story, but it really does seem like he's ranting against the group think mentality here, and is strongly in the corner of the individualist.

The animation doesn't really compare to a movie like Pinocchio. These are Chuck Jones films, and if you look at them you'll see how much like Looney Tunes they resemble. Many times a character will look out at the audience and blink a couple of times, with the accompanying sound effect (a violin being plucked, I believe), just like good ole Wyle E. Coyote does in his cartoons.

Many times the backgrounds are loops which repeat as the foreground moves in place in front of it. This is done as a cost-saving measure and it shows, but we're not really watching these for the quality of the animation. We're watching these for the quality of the story and for characters which we can identify with, and enjoy being around for a short amount of time. And on that basis, these succeed wonderfully. On one aspect, I admit to being slightly confused: If the Whos are actually living inside a dust speck in Horton Hears a Who, does that mean that the entire story of How the Grinch Stole Christmas takes place inside a dust speck? That actually kind of makes sense now that I think about it.

Rating for How the Grinch Stole Christmas & Horton Hears a Who: *****.

My Son Says:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a classic, lovable Christmas story. It's nice to just curl up on Christmas Eve and just enjoy a short film. My favorite part was when the x-ray thing that showed his heart inside was broken apart by his heart expanding three sizes that day. My second favorite part was the song that the Whos sing. My third favorite part was when the Grinch is slithering on the floor like a snake. My least favorite part was when Cyndi Lou Who came into the room.

Horton Hears a Who is also a classic, lovable story. My favorite part was when Horton was struggling, holding the clover with the dust speck on it, being caged and pulled on, when the Who was rushing through the town and found the small boy who couldn't decide between a "yip" or a "yapp". My second favorite part was when Horton first heard the Whos. My third favorite part was when everybody else found out there were actually Whos on the dust speck. My least favorite part was when it ended.

Rating for How the Grinch Stole Christmas & Horton Hears a Who: *****.