Movie Reviews as I Struggle not to Snooze

I’m writing a boooooring essay right now for Sophomore Seminar right now. It’s a very difficult essay to write simply because my mind wants to go numb and I sometimes think of maybe hurling myself out the window….but it’s nice and cool in my room….anyway….some movie reviews.

FORMULA 51: 3 of 5

Formula 51 stars Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Meatloaf, and ummm….wasn’t there another person? Oh yeah…Sean Pertwee….but barely anyone knows who that is…so anyway.

The movie is not very innovative as far as plot. Drug-dealer tricks the guy trying to run him into the ground and starts trying to find a buyer, buyers keep popping up but original guy who got screwed hires out a contract on the dealer’s life…well…actually he wants the assassin to kill everyone who tries to deal with Jackson. The movie continually predictably spiral to the ending scene where all the bad characters emerge into the same room and end up dropping out of the picture one by one….some in really gruesome ways.

The movie, however, does remain strong due to Sam Jackson’s and Robert Carlyle’s terrific acting. Both of them have such a great attitude and style. The film itself is absolutely badass, actually. The music sells the movie, the cinematography is brilliant and innovative, and a lot of the action and dialogue is fresh and somewhat bizarre. There are a lot of points where the movie takes a moment of bizarre turn and some of the nasty stuff that happens is comical. The movie is a knock-off of Snatch really….and had it been done by Guy Ritchie it would have all five stars….but instead, this movie is worth a rental and a playing on a good sound system.

THE CROW: 5 of 5

I like the dark hero films. The ones where you can argue whether the hero is doing good or evil with his powers. Now ‘The Crow’ is very old school but I watched it recently so I feel like giving a review.

Firstly, I think Brandon Lee is brilliant in the film. He’s somewhat crazy, somewhat intimidating, and really foreboding in the frightening white make-up. The movie is continually dark and what makes me most respect the film is its ability to make every shot dark but highlight what it needs to. Each shot is so painstakingly forged and the lighting so painstakingly focused that one cannot help but feel the brilliant atmosphere.

The dialogue is also brilliant, as it seems almost constant one-liners and most of them are pretty good and well delivered. Brandon Lee delivers a great deal of them with flare and creativity.

The best character of course is that of Michael Wincott who is the bad guy and always characterizes his bad characters so well. He has such a nasty villain voice and any bad guy who begins many of his lines, “My daddy use to say:” is great.

The movie is also innovative for its time and is always forgotten because people believe its a horror movie when really its a super-hero movie based off of a comic book.

Finally:

ANGER MANAGEMENT: 4 of 5

While Adam Sandler’s movies are usually funny and I enjoyed all but ‘Little Nicky,’ Nicholson only helps bring this movie up, while I must admit without Nicholson and Sandler’s pair up this movie would be a bore.

The movie itself is incredibly funny, I thought. The jokes are pretty short-lived, and there are many very intelligent jokes that make most everyone laugh but most people forget because they don’t have very good memories or intellects.

The combination of Nicholson, who does not disappoint for even a moment, and Sandler creates this brilliant twosome that makes the movie dynamic and never-ending fun.

What really destroys this movie and almost makes me want to give it a 3…and in the end, I really should give this a 3.5, is the ending. The ending destroys the movie completely and tries to put a twist on the ending that is a pathetic waste of time and an abuse of the current fad which is twisted endings.

Had the ending been more ambiguous the symbolism and universality of what was being preached would not only make more sense but it would also resonate with more people and allow for an open interpretation. And while this is an Adam Sandler comedy and he is not usually known for creating philosophical metaphors within his movie, this one really could have created some brilliant ones with Nicholson’s character…..but instead…..no.

Anyway, the movie is worth seeing, but I would say rent it and don’t spend the ludicrous theatre money on it unless you’re going with friends so that you can enjoy the rolling laughter filling all of you. The movie is the kind that is a waste to go see alone and is only worth a single seeing unless you’ve got lots of friends with very diverse schedules.

Well, back to my essay…….narrative paradigms and performance ethnography…bleck.