J List of Movie Reviews
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J.W. Coop (1971)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
1/20
1/20:
Two rodeo films were released in 1971 and 1972, and they're J.W. Coop and
Junior Bonner, respectively.
Whether the filmmakers knew it or not, they're almost similar as far as the scenes play out. Ultimately, the
true winner is Junior Bonner because of superior editing, lively pace, high
replayable value, and Steve McQueen.
There's nothing wrong with Cliff Robertson as J.W. Coop; he's perfect, and his acting is flawless. The trouble
with the film is that it's both unfulfilling and unmemorable about a cowboy going from one town to another on a
rodeo circuit at a dizzying speed.
If there's anything I'm most disappointed with, it's the cheating in editing. As terrific as the rodeo scenes are,
it'll be nice to see Cliff Robertson actually riding the bulls and horses as they begin bucking him off. Instead,
all I saw is obvious cuts right after the chute opened and then the animal. That's not striving for realism
although I know it's a dangerous sport.
By the way, the state penitentiary as shown in the film is located in McAlester, Oklahoma. It used to have a
prison rodeo annually from 1940 to 2009. The Angola Prison Rodeo, which is at the Louisiana State Penitentiary,
is the only one of its kind in the United States. Due to animal abuse, the general popularity of rodeo is at an
all-time low today. Hopefully, the "sport" will disappear once and for all.
All in all, J.W. Coop is a good, old-fashioned rodeo movie with fine acting, but
Junior Bonner is unbeatable in every aspect.
The Jackal (1997)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
1/13
1/13:
The Jackal is a complete remake of The Day of the Jackal that was
originally penned by Frederick Forsyth which was later made into a movie with Edward Fox.
I've read the book and seen the original film; hence, I should be able to make comparisons. Out of these three, I prefer the
book the most except that I hate the ending because I was rooting for the Jackal to succeed.
As for the assassin, I like Bruce Willis' performance and think it's nearly the best part of the film. The changes
in his disguise are interesting, and the less he talks, the more mysterious his character is. My favorite
part is when the Jackal slaughtered the odious Jack Black. It's what he deserves. To compare Bruce Willis with Edward Fox, it's
hard to say, but I like them both equally.
On the other hand, I don't know why the filmmakers had to include Richard Gere. He adds nothing of substance;
however, the casting of Sidney Poitier for his final film appearance is perfect although he should've gotten more
solo screen time as sort of a detective. Another ruinous aspect is Diane Venora as the scar-faced Russian
female agent who keeps trying hard to look cool. Luckily, her character was killed off early to save me the grief. As bad
as she is, the ending is hard to sit through.
All in all, The Jackal is a decent remake of The Day of the Jackal although
I prefer the latter.
Jacknife (1989)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/04, 6/25
6/25:
Robert De Niro brings his Vietnam War experience from
The Deer Hunter to Jacknife.
It's a small solid picture about two damaged veterans who are trying to pick themselves up and be part of
society. Obviously, they look different and thus removed, and yeah...it's true that "only one is really
alive." What I like is nothing sounds theatrical although it can easily happen given its origins as a play that
was adapted for the screen by Stephen Metcalfe.
Robert De Niro dominates the show from start to finish by giving a performance that encompasses a huge range.
While I've had a hard time recognizing Ed Harris, he doesn't have a meaty role, preferring to make it small,
but is effective whenever he shows up. Kathy Baker is an actress whom I'm not familiar with; she has done a
good job of keeping the drama real. Those who've been through it can 100% relate to their characters.
If there's a mistake made, it's the flashbacks not showing enough. Had the director expanded them to explain how
Megs couldn't be Davey's friend, as he kept saying, then I would immediately understand. Another is the movie
lost steam big time toward the end when Megs concluded that his job was done and left town for a brief time.
All in all, Jacknife is a good addition to films like
The Best Years of Our Lives,
Coming Home, and In Country.
Jack's Back (1988)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
12/18
12/18:
Calling all die-hard James Spader fans, have I got a movie for them: Jack's Back.
I don't use the word "die-hard" lightly because James Spader is literally the only good thing going here. The story
is so run-of-the-mill that I wonder why he bothered with such a trite piece of crap. For some reason, the director seems
obsessed with the golden hour and bright strobe lights in the background during the middle of the night.
The first half-hour is okay with an interesting plotline although I developed a good idea of who the killer might be which
is eventually proved to be true despite the numerous red herrings. Then, the twist comes, leaving me in a perplexed state
that I was unable to shake it off the next thirty minutes. Finally, everybody phones in his performance on the home
stretch, not caring a fig about what's going on, hence the sucky ending.
Figuring out who the killer might be won't be difficult due to two reasons: whoever worked in the office had special
access to information about the prostitute's pregnancy and there were only a handful of them. But hey...whatever happened to
the black doctor? He just disappeared.
James Spader's other character, in black leather jacket with druggie hairdo and all, seems cool, but I have to
chuckle at the fact that he "manages" a sportswear shoe store. Regardless, he holds his ground acting-wise while being
failed by everybody else including the writer-director of Road House.
All in all, don't be misled by the cover of Jack's Back because the movie isn't going that way.
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
10/11
10/11:
Great, Jacob's Ladder is a dream piece.
I can never stand these films. Adrian Lyne makes an unusual escape from the cycle of either attempting to recapture the
magic from 9½ Weeks or letting adulterous affairs get out of hand.
But this Jacob's Ladder...is waste of my time. I managed to survive it because of Tim Robbins' goofy faces and the
pretty Elizabeth Peña. He's why the movie is funny to watch even though it's meant to be horror.
A point is docked from the rating because it contains Macaulay Culkin (to this day, I still can't remember how to spell
his name correctly) who's oddly uncredited. There's a lot of manipulation going on. Hence, I stopped taking the
film seriously anymore after witnessing a few instances.
All in all, Jacob's Ladder needs to have a disclaimer at the front of the DVD cover: "It's a dream movie, okay?
P.S. It's meant to waste your time, too."
Jade (1995)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
10/13
10/13:
Any time I see Joe Eszterhas' name that's associated with a film, I'm forewarned to suspend my disbelief,
especially during the ending.
Well, it turns out Jade isn't a terrible picture that I thought it would be. I like the acting, the
storyline, and the cinematography which is lushful and well-done. All of these aspects have propelled me
through the film from start to finish.
As bad of an actor as David Caruso is, he's only a fly on the wallpaper most of the time which helps. His
character sure got away scot-free after being rammed by the black Thunderbird until reaching the edge of the pier.
William Friedkin's attachment to the project is reassuring because he's an excellent director who isn't afraid
to take on anything. It's been the case for Jade. However, there are some ripped-off scenes from
Bullitt and The Exorcist. Worse is the
rushed scenes that were made for the purpose of taking me straight to the ending. Somehow, the outcome seems
acceptable compared to what happened in Basic Instinct.
All in all, Jade is a satisfactory crime thriller picture.
Jagged Edge (1985)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
7/12, 2/19
7/12:
I believe it's a standard procedure that all witnesses are to be included in the list for a court case, but in
Jagged Edge, it's been a neverending parade of surprise witnesses.
Also, I believe dissecting the murder scene is part of it. Yet this doesn't happen here, either. Anyway, I like
Jagged Edge for entirely different reasons because it's a thrilling whodunnit mystery. The ending is
credulous, but Teddy Barnes' blindness to the truth is rather incredulous. Everybody but she can see it coming
although I admit to being back and forth in my guesses.
My favorite performance comes from Robert Loggia which garnered him a much deserved Oscar nomination. His final
line is the greatest, and he's the man. Score one for Joe Eszterhas, too, for the writing as his stories have
invariably made the pictures interesting and compelling to watch, no matter how implausible they are.
Jagged Edge is no exception to this. By the way, how about these super annoying kids? It'll be nice to
introduce the jagged edge to them.
All in all, Jagged Edge is a thrilling mystery flick with the best Robert Loggia performance ever.
2/19:
"Fuck him. He was trash."
Nobody said it better. As a reward, Robert Loggia was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor in
Jagged Edge. What a great performance. And the plot is terrific, too, which is typical of Joe Eszterhas'
lurid stories. By the way, this is my favorite trivia of the film which is taken from IMDb:
"Jane Fonda was originally attached to play the female lead. When she demanded that changes be made to
Joe Eszterhas' script, the studio sided with Eszterhas and replaced her with Glenn Close."
I'm going to cue Robert Loggia one more time: "Fuck her. She was trash." Yeah, the killer's identity is
predictable and can be spotted from a mile away, but Jeff Bridges is so dang good and handsome that he's an
all-around dream. No wonder why Glenn Close's character couldn't cross her legs quickly enough.
All in all, Robert Loggia is still the man.
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/12, 5/19
6/12:
Most critics panned Jailhouse Rock when the film first came out, and they found Elvis Presley's acting "stilted."
I can't believe it and thus strongly disagree. There are two memorable scenes.
The first is the music video which is famous for a couple of reasons. It's the first of any kind, and
the whole thing is well-choreographed that's actually done by Elvis himself. Yet it's just a rehearsal.
That's what makes the whole thing amazing. It was reportedly the first scene shot during the filming schedule, so
they started with the best and worked their way down.
The second, while it's not universally acknowledged, is the kissing scene between Judy Tyler and Elvis Presley along with
the iconic quote: "That ain't tactics, honey. It's just the beast in me." It's one of the best scenes in cinema history.
It's apparent Elvis was trying to imitate Marlon Brando and James Dean, and my research turns out to be true that he studied
their styles to prepare for the role. It's a good move on Elvis' part because he showed a natural ability to capture the essence
of The Method. If his acting was taken more seriously, especially for dramas, he would've been very good. Sadly, Judy Tyler
died in an automobile accident after the conclusion of filming Jailhouse Rock.
All in all, Jailhouse Rock is historical and remains the best picture of Elvis' terribly mismanaged acting career.
5/19:
I don't think anyone can be more beautiful in black and white than Elvis Presley.
Jailhouse Rock is proof positive how much potential Elvis had in acting which eventually went squandered in the
next twenty-eight forgettable purely-for-the-music hokey pictures.
Two of the greatest scenes in cinema history are the first-ever music video that was originally choreographed by the King
himself and Elvis forcefully kissing Judy Tyler which prompted her to say, "How dare you think such cheap tactics would
work with me!" before his response: "That ain't tactics, honey. It's just the beast in me."
Jailhouse Rock can be thought of a semi-biopic for Elvis Presley as it tells of a Horatio Alger
story of rising from rags to riches through music. It's exactly how it happened when he was discovered by Sam Phillips
at Sun Records who wanted to bring the sound of black music to a wider audience, that is, through TV.
All in all, Jailhouse Rock is a historical film that features Elvis Presley's best thepsic accomplishment.
James Dean (2001)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
1/25
1/25:
Anybody who has seen three major films of James Dean's career should check out the made-for-TV biopic:
James Dean.
Having been aware of his life's history, I think it covers a lot of ground fairly well, and I like the
behind-the-scenes stuff for the famous movies. More, more of the latter...please. Largely, the focus is on the
frustrated relationship with his father which explains some of James Dean's weird moody behavior. The only part
I didn't know was his romance with Christine White when I thought she was a made-up person
to substitute for Liz Sheridan who later played Jerry Seinfeld's mother.
Of course, there are disappointments. For one, James Dean's childhood is mostly skipped over. There's
also the sexual abuse at the hands of Reverend James DeWeerd. At least, there's a subtle hint of James Dean
sleeping around with important people in order to advance his career. Regardless, a lot of homosexual
stuff have been taken out. There's no mention of his TV work and bit movie parts prior to hitting big in
East of Eden.
James Franco gives a strong performance by going Method. Historically,
it's almost impossible to emulate a real-life person who's been filmed before, but I'm impressed with his
portrayal of James Dean. If I had to pick who could play him the best, it's Brad Pitt; they almost
look alike. In fact, he was being considered for the role in the early 90's, but the script stayed in
development hell for a decade.
I didn't realize the actor who played Jack Warner was Mark Rydell, the director of this
biopic as well as The Reivers and
On Golden Pond, since I wasn't aware of what he looked
like. At any rate, Mark Rydell knew the real James Dean and studied with him at the Actors Studio, so if that's
how his behavior was, then so be it.
Nicolas Ray wore an eye patch during the making of
Rebel Without a Cause? Yeah, right. He lost his
eye in early 1970 and started to cover it afterwards. Not many people know this, but there were at least four
famous movie directors who sported an eye patch back then: Raoul Walsh, André De Toth, John Ford, and Fritz Lang.
All in all, I only wish James Dean was longer.
The January Man (1989)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
10/04, 5/08
5/08:
Do you ever get the feeling of working on a jigsaw puzzle with none of the pieces fitting together?
That's what happened in The January Man. The sole reason for revisiting the picture is to see how bad it is.
It's not of the kind that's "so bad that it's so good" or "so bad that it's so bad" but rather "so stupid that it's
so absurdly ridiculous." Indeed it is.
Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Harvey Keitel, Danny Aiello, Rod Steiger, and Alan Rickman...my
head shakes at the unbelievable list of names. Their dialogue is nonsensical, and the scenes are bad, not to mention
how embarrassing some of them are.
Rod Steiger and Danny Aiello overact by screaming at each other, and their hammy performances are enough to make me want
to drop a nuclear weapon on my head. Even Harvey Keitel looks uncomfortable standing there between them as his face is
saying only one thing, "What the fuck am I doing here?"
The conflict between Susan Sarandon's and Kevin Kline's characters is poorly explained and not worth bothering with.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is wasted in the spite of her gratuitous nude scene. The same can be said for Alan Rickman,
but he's actually good. It's hard to believe Kevin Kline decided to do the film with a straight face.
Now, let's proceed to the meat of the picture which is a bizarre setup of the mystery to capture the serial killer.
Starkey deduces the murder must occur on the day that corresponds with the prime number of the date each month.
Then, there's a correspondence between the astrological, or rather the constellation, signs and the apartments. Next is the
selection of them that's based on musical tones. It's how the killer was apprehended, and...no, I'm not kidding you.
He figures all of this out in, more or less, a day.
Now, I wonder what would've happened if the targeted room had a male occupant instead of a female. Or perhaps she's
going away on a trip that day? Or there's a husband and wife living there? By the way, how does the killer know it's the exact
room from the exterior point of view as he walks inside the apartment? It's not easy to do that if you give it a try.
All in all, despite the all-star cast, The January Man is shockingly ridiculous.
Jarhead (2005)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
2/25
2/25:
Jarhead or...Retard?
The United States military has been a joke since the Vietnam War. It kills people in the interest of businesses.
There hasn't been a war that made sense since WWII. But the United States doesn't care about all of that,
preferring to spend almost one trillion dollars annually on defense. No other country comes close, and it'll
take the next ten or so ranked countries combined to match this amount.
At first, I didn't like Jarhead because of the obscene, brainwashed, gung-ho characters and thought it
would be a repeat of Full Metal Jacket. Yet the show, although extreme,
got better over time by illustrating the pointlessness of how the military functioned and the catch-22 aspect of
it. I had to look up online whether what I saw was accurate, and many said yes and the others no with a whole
bunch in between. No matter what, the author of the book, Anthony Swofford, was so disillusioned by everything
that he stood by his words.
The performances are very good. Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard (whose character actually died in a car
accident which wasn't mentioned at the end), Jamie Foxx, Evan Jones, and Chris Cooper are the standouts
even though I hate all of their characters. Given their deployment in Saudi Arabia, I'm surprised they went through
some of the days in the desert without wearing a shirt or sunglasses. The funniest scene of the film is when a
guy played a VHS tape of The Deer Hunter in front of the soldiers and it
switched to his wife being fucked by a random guy as an act of revenge.
All in all, Jarhead has made an embarrassment out of the entire U.S. military.
Jason Goes to Hell:
The Final Friday (1993)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
9/06
9/06:
Another year, another Friday the 13th sequel.
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, which is an odd title, may be the most gruesome yet of the franchise.
Unshockingly, there's nothing different in this; it's the same repeated formula that I know, hate, and am tired of.
The story is nonexistent as usual. People die in bloody ways, and one or two survive to the end and put Jason away until
the next sequel. It just goes on and on ad nauseam.
Notice the surprise ending when Freddy's glove came out from underneath to snatch Jason's mask. Unfortunately, it'll
be a decade before they star together in the same movie. So much for the tease.
All in all, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday is for the die-hard fans who can't get enough of
the homicidal retard which has to be a profound sign of their mental illness.
Jason's Lyric (1994)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/23, 2/25
6/23:
Jason's Lyric continues to be overlooked.
It's a unique, powerful Southern Gothic picture with strong performances by Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith,
Bokeem Woodbine, Lisa Nicole Carson, and Anthony "Treach" Criss. Bokeem Woodbine was certainly robbed of an Oscar
nomination. Forest Whitaker does a good job of getting the ball to roll which will lead to a surprise twist.
At first, Jason's Lyric may be seem like an ordinary yet sexually charged love story, but it keeps getting
better and better because of the compelling thread between two brothers. Although Joshua was
inevitably going down the wrong path and couldn't be helped, the ending is still a shocker.
Another tragedy is that after the film was completed, the director named his newborn daughter Lyric, but she died of
an overdose of cocaine, alcohol, and heroin in 2018 at the age of 26. By the way, if you heard the word "ward,"
Houston was actually divided into four and then later six wards for political purposes. The fourth housed
freed slaves while downtown Houston is currently in the first. The labels are no longer in use, but some residents
still refer to the old system. Where the movie takes place is the Third Ward. Sadly, the bridge for the railroad
where Allen and Jada were on isn't there anymore.
All in all, you should ignore the negative reviews for Jason's Lyric because it's an outstanding movie.
2/25:
Jason's Lyric is an exceedingly well-made motion picture that's about tragedies.
Jaws (1975)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
1/04, 3/08, 6/20
3/08:
Jaws is a bona fide all-star of horror pictures because it's that good and terrifying.
For over thirty years, I had been a vacationer at Beach Haven of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, so I knew all about the
events that took place at the old Engleside Hotel. So, it's cool to associate the beach with the famous shark picture.
The casting of Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw can't have turned out better, and having Murray Hamilton
is the more the merrier. His line is still a classic in politics:
"I'm pleased and happy to repeat the news that we have, in fact, caught and killed a large predator that supposedly injured
some bathers. But, as you see, it's a beautiful day, the beaches are open, and people are having a wonderful time. Amity,
as you know, means 'friendship.'"
Of all the thespians, Robert Shaw is the best, and his character reminds me of Captain Ahab. To me, Roy Scheider's "smile,
you son of a bitch!" is a more memorable line than "you're gonna need a bigger boat."
If it wasn't for the success of Jaws, Steven Spielberg may never exist as we know him today because he took on an
enormous amount of risk for the project which paid off handsomely well.
For an artificial shark, Bruce looks real. One of the best parts is delaying his revelation
to create suspense although the title gives it away. I consider this move to be a crucial factor for the success of
Jaws because most films like to show too much of the villain, especially early, thus ruining the suspense.
To be fair, the story is average, but having a master director in Steven Spielberg on board is the difference
maker. It's like Scorsese directing an authentic New York gangster picture instead of a hack like...Wes Craven.
All in all, without Jaws, there's no Steven Spielberg.
6/20: Apart from setting the trend of summer blockbuster film releases, Jaws' greatest legacy is making
people think of the shark whenever they go for a swim in the ocean.
There's a lot to like about Jaws. One is Bruce doesn't appear for a long time, easily building up the tension
which is accompanied by John Williams' famous score. When the shark finally does, the action is ferocious and
unpredictable. That's why the film is on the same level as Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
The second is the three stars: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw. They're all outstanding, but it's the
third who takes the film to another level with his superlative acting, especially when he has a nighttime drink and tells
the story of the USS Indianapolis which did happen for real. Hence, Robert Shaw should've been rewarded with an
Oscar nomination. I also have to give credit to Murray Hamilton who plays the ever-politician with "summer dollars" in mind.
Speaking of Oscars, Jaws received a nomination for Best Picture but not Best Director. How can that be? If they
knew of the story and all the problems everybody had behind the scenes, it's amazing how Steven Spielberg was able to pull
it off while making Bruce look real. Hence, he's the third reason why the film remains the gold standard of the genre.
By the way, ever wonder why the boat is called Orca? It, a killer whale, is the only predator of great white sharks.
All in all, Jaws continues to thrill.
Jaws 2 (1978)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
3/08, 6/20
3/08:
Jaws 2 is a dismal sequel to one of the most successful pictures of all time.
I still don't understand the part when the mother of a water-skiing daughter decided to pour kerosene on herself during the
shark attack. Anyway, looking at the burn marks on Bruce's face, it's not the same shark from the original because
he was completely obliterated when the oxygen tank blew him up.
Most of the time, the sequel is fascinated with sailboats, sailor kids, and sailing. That shit gets boring fast. To make
matters worse, the casting director decides to give the wussy boy from Christine a chance,
and his character ultimately survives.
The more Bruce is seen, the less of a horror film Jaws 2 is. Feeling like
Friday the 13th films, it's also
too long, clocking at 117 minutes, when it should've been a 90-minute throwaway sequel.
All in all, it's best to temper expectations prior to seeing Jaws 2.
6/20:
Jaws 2 is long in melodrama and annoying teenagers but short in horror.
The first hour is mostly character buildup for Martin Brody, but I already knew what he went through in the last film; so
why repeat it? At the same time, shark sightings are surprisingly sparse.
Then, the next hour, it's a lot of screaming teenagers who have suddenly gone religion after getting the scare of their
lives. Speaking of Brody's kids, didn't they learn their lesson the last time? Although Bruce shows up frequently,
he looks more fake and less scary this time around. At this point, I can't say it has
anything to do with Amity Beach because all shark attacks have occurred far away from there.
Roy Scheider is okay; I think he was pretty much out of his mind and went through the motions while getting into fights
with the director. Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw are missed; they, along with Roy Scheider, formed the heart of the original.
At least, Murray Hamilton is back, but he provides nothing new this time.
As for the location shooting, there's no way it was filmed in Massachusetts because the water looks too blue. It turns out
the majority of Jaws 2 was done in Navarre Beach, Florida, and thereabouts.
All in all, Jaws 2 doesn't qualify as a horror movie because most of the teenagers weren't killed.
Jaws 3-D (1983)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
3/08, 6/20
3/08:
1983 means it's the year of 3-D horror pictures, and Jaws 3-D is one of them.
Although the third part isn't a good film, it's actually better than the last sequel. Pretty much, its motto is:
dolphins can't die because, according to the audience, they're more important than people.
There's a change-of-scenery story, but the lack of momentum ultimately sinks my interest in the final half hour.
As the direction feels weakened in the long run, the action sequences are hard to believe.
At that point, I can see why Jaws 3-D was often voted one of the worst films made.
The shark has an easy time smashing through windows despite the fact that they're supposed to be engineered to withstand
thousands of pounds of water pressure. And why are the people running away inside the underwater tunnel when they see it
coming?
There's plenty of star power here as the cast includes Dennis Quaid, Lea Thompson, and Louis Gossett, Jr.
The latter has one nice moment when he kindly guides the park visitors to a safe exit and asks the woman besides him if
the thing is now turned off before yelling, "Gimme some lights down there! Can't see shit down there! And
get me some medical attention here, quick!"
All in all, because the formula is wisely shed off, Jaws 3-D isn't horrible for a Jaws sequel.
3/08:
People say Jaws 2 was the best sequel of the franchise, but my vote goes to Jaws 3-D.
The movie is faster in pace, has less melodrama, and shows more interesting concepts. There's also a plot twist: not only
is there one shark but two of them: a mother and a baby! Of course, people die bloody, and hence, Jaws 3-D qualifies
as a horror picture unlike the previous part.
The cast is big on stars (Dennis Quaid who confessed to have "made the most aggressive use of cocaine" of his career
during this filming, Louis Gossett, Jr., and Lea Thompson), but the subplots are weak and therefore nonessential.
They don't get in the way that much; once the panic is on, it offers an enjoyable shark attack experience. Plus, the
dolphins give a good show with their acrobatic stunts.
However, I've got to question the involvement of SeaWorld (it was filmed in Orlando while the rest was done in Navarre Beach,
Florida) because the movie makes the theme park chain look bad. Then again, it has a long history of animal abuse.
Jaws 3-D is the only film I can think of that features a black CEO, but he didn't do a good job of handling the
situation. The same goes for his employees because Dennis Quaid's character was needlessly adding
fuel to the fire by going crazy and yelling at everybody to get out of the water. That kind of thing doesn't happen nowadays,
and more can be achieved in a safe manner when people behave calmly.
The idea of having an undersea complex is cool and all, but it's not feasible. For starters, it'll begin on shallow water,
and the farther the walk it is, the deeper the water becomes, yet this will occur in a mile or so, hence a mile-long tunnel
which will have to be incessantly cleaned of algae, barnacles, and so on. That's a lot of maintenance work.
As for keeping a great white shark in captivity, there's no such thing ocurring in the world; attempts have been made, but
it's still not feasible. The reason why is that they roam for hundreds of miles and require a delicate diet to survive.
Then again, they don't belong in a tank but in the ocean; the same goes for orcas like those that are abused by SeaWorld.
All in all, Jaws 3-D is a better sequel than Jaws 2.
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
3/08, 6/20
3/08:
Yep, this is the most infamous film of the franchise.
The tagline of Jaws: The Revenge reads, "This time, it's personal." What the fuck are they talking about?
Didn't Jaws die already in the first part? Plus, sharks have feelings and take revenge on people?
Jaws attacks a banana boat. Jaws takes on a plane. Jaws tears apart a sailboat. Jaws swims 1,000 some nautical miles in
less than three days. Jaws screams, roars, and jumps in the air. And Jesus Christ! Jaws shoots hoops. My goodness, he's
so amazing!
Michael Caine won the Oscar for Hannah and Her Sisters, but he couldn't make to
the awards ceremony because he was stuck in the Bahamas during the filming of Jaws: The Revenge. According to IMDb, when
Caine was asked about it in an interview, he answered, "I have never seen it, but by all accounts, it is terrible. However,
I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific."
Um...what fucking house? Why Michael Caine took the role is he read only the first line of the
script, "Fade in: Hawaii," and for years, he always wanted to vacation there with his family. Eventually, it was
relocated to the Bahamas which suited him just fine. Richard Jeni made his stand-up comedy career out of
Jaws: The Revenge by mocking Caine for years, and he eventually committed suicide. Now, that's funny.
Anyway, the main reason why the third sequel was green-lit is that Lorraine Gary's husband was the head honcho of Universal
Studios. She was bored and had no acting offers for eight years, so the sequel was specially made for her. And, as a bonus,
she got to kiss Michael Caine.
Four different Jaws films. Four different Michaels. Four different Seans. In the meantime, Mario Van Peebles' character
is thrashed around by Jaws, giving the sense that his body is being ripped apart. Amazingly enough, he miraculously survives
the incident. I might say the same for Hoagie, too. By the way, if you notice the black mayor who introduced Carla Brody during
the public arts demonstration, it's Melvin Van Peebles.
When Michael Caine swims to safety on the boat after stupidly crashing his plane, his clothes are immediately dry; so are
his two friends'. During the flashbacks of her husband and son, how would Lorraine Gary's character know if she was never
there? Now, I'm confused in trying to understand why, after a series of shark attacks upon the family, the Brodys
never moved to a landlocked state.
I don't get the ending. Michael Caine was holding a flashing light which distressed Jaws, causing it to roar. Then, all of a
sudden, the shark just exploded? What the heck happened? And Jake suddenly came out of it? By the way, I can tell the
actors were swimming in the water tank that's surrounded by a wall of fake clouds. Oddly, Judith Barsi, who plays Thea, died one
year after the film was made, having been shot by her father in a murder-suicide along with her mother. She was ten years old.
All in all, Jaws: The Revenge isn't the worst film made, but it's definitely time for the shark to die for good.
6/20:
One of the most infamous movies of all time, Jaws: The Revenge still has my head shaking.
The first hour, which is mostly boring, isn't clear as to why it carries that disreputation, but the final
half hour is what finally clinched it. There are a few moments of oddity, especially with Ellen Brody who keeps thinking
the shark is out there to get her family. Yet I want to tell her, "Why not just move to a landlocked state? You still live
near the beach, you hypocrite."
The situation shouldn't have gotten that far if Ellen had not taken the boat to sea; I mean, how is she going to locate
the shark in a vast sea which stretches for hundreds of square nautical miles? By the time the guys find out what she
did, the situation goes from bad to absolutely stupid. Of all the possibilities, Hoagie decides to land the plane in the
middle of the water, and why, even after he radioed for help?
To this day, and I can still remember it, I laugh at the totally dry clothes these guys had on after getting out of the
water. It's like they used a magic one-second dryer.
If Hoagie's escape from the shark isn't unbelievable enough, Jake's survival is one of the all-time "what the fuck" moments.
I seem to recall him getting dragged down undersea while being snatched by the jaws of death and bleeding profusely. I mean,
did everybody realize the gravity of what they were about to get into?
For years, I've never understood why Michael Caine made this comment, "I have never seen it, but by all accounts, it is
terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific." I finally found out why after reading his
book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off that he only did the movie to pay for his mother's newly constructed house.
All in all, Jaws: The Revenge isn't among the worst movies I've seen, thanks to the excellent photography of the
light blue water.
Jennifer 8 (1992)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
12/07, 5/24
12/07:
Jennifer 8 is an oddball.
First of all, the cinematography is wonderful. There are many beautiful shots, and if not for them, the film
is merely above average compared to other murder-mystery pictures.
Second, the all-around acting is good. Andy Garcia is terrific by blending into any genre to give a
more-than-enough performance. That's why he could've been a premier actor, but unfortunately, he was never a
bankable star.
The casting of Uma Thurman is questionable because she got to pretend to be blind when in fact was only hired
for her looks. Instead, a legally blind person should've been given the role. Lance Henriksen, once again, helps
out, and John Malkovich is funny and can be over the top at times.
Now, how the story unfolds, it can be confusing in terms of direction. Starting off as a sleuthing mystery,
there's a budding unethical romantic relationship. Then, out of the blue, a detective is interrogated by the
Internal Affairs as he's suspected of a murder. Finally, the movie ends by catching the killer due to a twist
which leads to his identity. Throughout, it seems the director threw the film away by taking on too many risks.
All in all, Jennifer 8 is unique for a mystery thriller picture.
4/24:
Jennifer 8 has several major problems.
One, I don't like it when Detective John Berlin decided to be romantically involved with the blind witness. It's
inappropriate on the whole. Two, John Malkovich gives the most overdone performance of his career. There's no
reason for Berlin to take the silliness he was perpetuating. While at it, he should've gotten a lawyer. Three,
the final five minutes is the worst. Why did Detective John Taylor need to go after the blind witness? He was
already in the clear at this point; what more could be done?
The acting is fine. Andy Garcia carries the film for the most part, but there's no reason for Uma Thurman to
play a blind witness. They could have gotten somebody with a legitimate disability, and it wouldn't hurt the
show any bit. Fortunately, there's a lot of neo-noir going on, and the strongest aspect is Conrad L.
Hall's photography.
All in all, Jennifer 8 is watchable but falls short in logic here and there.
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
7/17
7/17:
Here's a forgotten film by Robert Redford: Jeremiah Johnson.
It was a surprise box-office hit in 1972, placing in the top ten. I think I can see why. It's either the concept
of survivalism, building a commune, or going back to the basics that piqued the viewers' interest.
Hey, you know...I'm perfectly satisfied with shopping for groceries a few miles away and having tons of time doing
things for fun during the rest of the day. It sure beats spending all day hunting and skinning animals, foraging for
berries and nuts, washing clothes, fixing stuff, etc., every single day. And it's damn nice to have a refrigerator, a
real house, a washing machine and a dryer, and a car, among other things.
Jeremiah Johnson says he wants to escape civilization by becoming a mountain man. Um, why? In the process, he turns into
a great Indian killer for over twenty years. Now, this is somebody who's not worth celebrating. There are many myths
espoused by the film of what it's like to be a mountain man.
One, they didn't grow long beards. The reason why is lice. The other is it wasn't in fashion...at least not yet. Although
mountain men rarely took baths, they shaved their faces regularly to keep lice away, especially during mealtimes.
Two, Robert Redford can't possibly look so beautiful and handsome all the time. No mountain men did; they
stank and rarely brushed their teeth.
Three, mountain men didn't carry Hawken rifles. In fact, it was hardly known during the 1830's. They usually
carried Lancaster or English rifles. Northwest trade guns were used as well.
Four, mountain men rarely traveled alone. They always went in groups of 50's or 100's which were called brigades.
Five, grizzly bears don't appear in the winter. They hibernate for five to seven months. Amazingly enough,
grizzly bears never eat, drink, defecate, or urinate during hibernation.
Six, Thoreau never sucked "out all the marrow of life." Hardly isolated from civilization, he
was only less than a mile away from his mother's house and had his laundry sent there regularly. Moreover, Thoreau
was in and out of town all the time and received visits from friends.
Seven, mountain men didn't do this for fun. They hunted and trapped to make a living.
Eight, being a trapper wasn't without prohibitive costs. Many became company men, working off their debt to pay for the
equipment.
Nine, Jeremiah Johnson is never seen visiting towns to resupply his needs.
Ten, his name wasn't Jeremiah Johnson but John "Liver-Eating" Johnson. How his sobriquet came to be is he
often ate livers of his Indian victims. So, why is this left out in the film? Political correctness, hm?
Eleven, there's no such thing as a Canada flag in the 1830's. The dominion was still under the control of Great Britain;
hence, the correct flag should've been the Union Jack. Canada wasn't officially formed as the country it is today.
Twelve, mountain men usually lasted a couple of years because starvation was a frequent problem. How can anyone eat
animal parts all the time? Also, there's the need for a balanced diet.
Thirteen, as the movie takes place during the 1830's, the Mexican-American War didn't occur until 1846.
All in all, although it's interesting at times, Jeremiah Johnson is a boring movie to sit through.
The Jericho Mile (1979)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
5/04, 3/08, 7/11
3/08:
Before there was Steve Prefontaine and before there were Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, there was Larry "Rain"
Murphy.
The best memory I have of The Jericho Mile is the slow motion of him running topless in gray shorts with his
hair in the wind. It's the highlight and my favorite moment. Simply unforgettable. Michael Mann does a nice job of
bringing realism to the telefilm by mixing actors with the inmates at Folsom State Penitentiary.
All in all, The Jericho Mile is thrilling.
7/11:
Larry "Rain" Murphy makes it rain for the audience in The Jericho Mile, a marvelously shot telefilm by
Michael Mann.
The most thrilling movie moment is the slo-mo shot of Rain Murphy running shirtless in gray shorts with his hair
in the wind. It's easy to be moved by the power of the scene. I love the story: a convicted lifer who's only
allowed to run within the walls of prison yet is capable of setting a world record in the mile. The great cast
makes the drama work, but it's Peter Strauss who takes it to another level. Unforgettable is the ending when Rain
Murphy, while all inmates in the prison yard looked on, set a world record and threw the timepiece to the wall.
All in all, The Jericho Mile is pure Michael Mann.
The Jerk (1979)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
6/06
6/06:
"I was born a poor black child."
So begins the story of Navin R. Johnson for The Jerk. It's a hysterically funny movie, and Steve Martin was born
to play the role. However, it would've been a perfect '10' if the final fifteen minutes hadn't collapsed so badly.
Witty dialogue is peppered throughout which is full of ingeniousness. The comedy touches a lot of areas rather than just
a single one. I like the characters, and there are many of them who are wacky.
One aspect that I appreciate is how innocuous Navin R. Johnson is and no mockery is made
out of him. Mainly, it portrays him as an honest person with good intentions. It's why I prefer this movie over
Forrest Gump.
All in all, The Jerk would begin the long string of Steve Martin's great comedies.
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/04, 5/25
5/25:
I wasn't a fan of Jerry Maguire back then and thought of it corny.
After trying again, I've concluded the movie isn't bad, but it has problems. The running
length of two hours and nineteen minutes is simply too much. There's confusion in the direction which keeps
bouncing around: is it about romance or business? What's the moral of the story after all? At any rate,
it's rarely clear, thanks to the abrupt ending.
Although Tom Cruise gives a strong performance and can sometimes be guilty of being "Tom Cruise" ridiculous, it's
hard to root for his character because he happens to be a sports agent. Who cares about him and the athletes he
represents? They are all overpaid and not that important!
It's easy to see Renee Zellweger, who came out of nowhere (remember
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation?),
adding a special touch to Jerry Maguire. But really...is this "How to Trap a Great Guy 101"? No wonder
why her kid was used as a pawn. Jerry's love for Dorothy is never convincing at any point. What's with the
cheesy line: "You had me at 'hello'"?
Then, we have Cuba Gooding, Jr., who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. To be honest with you, that was
a bad choice (I would've given it to Armin Mueller-Stahl for Shine), and he
didn't do anything special other than yelling the famous line: "Show me the money!" But I admit he made the movie
better in a triumvirate way. For the most part, he's overly emotional just like what happened during his Oscar
acceptance speech.
All in all, Jerry Maguire is nothing more than cutesy bullshit.
Jersey Girl (2004)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
3/06
3/06:
Jersey Girl is derivative and clichéd that aims for the fake ooh-ahh's.
Kevin Smith, who's a pathetic excuse for a director, resorts to pornography and profanity to get the comedy going.
It's a well-known fact that Liv Tyler is typecast as slutty characters which undermines her credibility to be
an all-around nice woman. George Carlin is awful and unfunny.
Ben Affleck, once again, doesn't have what it takes to be a leading actor. He's better in supporting roles. Because of
the "Bennifer" fiasco, Jennifer Lopez cut the role short by having her character prematurely dead, so she can move forward
without him.
Meanwhile, I don't agree with the choices Oliver Trinke was forced to make based on what the insignificant others say.
It makes more sense to reside in the city, get a high-paying job, and live the good life. Because knowing the kind of
character Oliver is, I don't see him being satisfied with a janitorial job after he had the taste of a six-figure salary.
All in all, Kevin Smith is garbage.
JFK (1991)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
3/06, 6/11, 8/24
3/06:
Upon seeing the running time of JFK, my initial reaction was "great...a marathon of boredom."
Afterwards, it turns out that I was dead wrong because JFK is an incredible masterpiece which represents
Oliver Stone's best. Outstanding are the acting, the storytelling, and, most of all, the editing.
Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, and Joe Pesci are captivating as the plot thickens.
I've often complained about films taking on a big subject only to underdeliver the goods, but Oliver Stone succeeded in
doing the impossible. My favorite moment is when Jim Garrison, after learning the real plot from Donald Sutherland's
character, summed up the startling discovery by saying, "The size of this is...beyond me." Yes, indeed.
All in all, three hours and twenty-six minutes of JFK whizzes through as if it's a short story mystery.
6/11:
JFK is a tour de force with excellent performances by an all-star cast at the hands of a master filmmaker.
It's a political picture that tackles a dangerous subject involving lots of conjectures and "what ifs" with a small amount of
substantial proofs. In short, what had transpired is a conspiracy theory at best. At any rate, Kevin Costner should be lauded
for handling his role with ease and confidence. He's a consummate actor who ranks up there with the best of the best.
All in all, JFK is 206 minutes of fascination without a letdown and remains among the best pictures of the 90's.
8/24:
Recently, I read a book called They Killed Our President: 63 Facts That Prove a Conspiracy to Kill JFK
written by Jesse "The Body" Ventura and wanted to see how JFK compared.
Well, JFK got everything right. The only question is: did Jim Garrison know this or that back then, or was some
of the stuff revealed years later? For example, the three "hobos" in the picture were actually professional killers, and one
of them was actor Woody Harrelson's father (yeah, no kidding). At any rate, Jim Garrison deserves credit for going
the furthest when it comes to the unraveling of the mystery.
Obviously, the film is brilliant, right down to the editing, making for a mesmerizing watch. It's unbelievable
to hear so much information packed in three plus hours, yet there are many questions. So, yeah...what Donald
Sutherland's character said is essentially correct; that's why the president was murdered. As a matter of fact, the
actor was the genesis of the project which ended up being Executive Action,
but it kept getting delayed, forcing him to do a different movie. When it was ready to go, he got caught in a schedule
conflict. Hence, JFK was a makeup for him.
The courtroom speech by Kevin Costner has to be the pinnacle of his career. I love how he dissected the "magic bullet
theory" (the most ridiculous thing ever which was conceived by the idiot corrupt senator of Pennsylvania: Arlen Specter).
It's ironical that Wayne Knight was part of it because he would do the same thing again for the most famous episode in
Seinfeld history: the spitball incident along with his quote "Nice game, pretty boy" in a slow fashion.
All in all, JFK is among the best films of the decade, and there's nothing like it.
Jim Thorpe -- All-American (1951)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
6/24
6/24:
It's not often that a movie is made which shows the huge fall of an icon while he's still alive.
But that's what happened with Jim Thorpe -- All-American. The story is very average, and Burt Lancaster
is merely okay. I'm rather bothered by the sight of many white actors playing American Indians. It's both
disappointing and embarrassing. Even the UK title of the film is Man of Bronze.
By the way, there was no such person named Tom Ashenbrunner. Pop Warner knew beforehand that Jim Thorpe played
semi-pro baseball and then abandoned him after he was declared ineligible to participate in the Olympics with
his gold medals taken away. They were eventually restored...in 110 years (too late). Jim Thorpe was
married three times and had eight kids, but yeah, one of his sons did die young...at three years old (it was
polio). His first wife was named Iva, not Margaret.
At least, it's nice to hear the name "Lewis Tewanima" mentioned. He was one of the greatest runners ever. In
fact, he had no prior training and could outrun just about everybody, regardless, after being taken from his
Hopi reservation in Arizona. After he won the silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1912 Olympics, he went
back to his land and became a normal person without caring about his athletic achievements.
All in all, Jim Thorpe -- All-American may be touching, but I'm not impressed because of the white
actors and blatant lies.
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
4/25
4/25:
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is a noble directorial effort by Richard Pryor.
The storytelling is unique with some good parts. Anyone can tell it's somewhat based on Richard Pryor's life
by reading a bit of his biography. He burned himself in 1980 while freebasing cocaine. His mother was a
prostitute, and as a result, he grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother in Peoria, Illinois, instead of
Morton, Ohio.
Unfortunately, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is quite uneven in many ways. When it comes to the
stand-up comedy, the jokes are stale, but they aren't as bad as those in
Punchline. It seems like everybody started to laugh whenever a curse
word or "nigger" was uttered. Richard Pryor can do much better than that. At least, the all-around solid acting
serves the film well.
All in all, although not deep as hoped for, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling is the closest in
understanding how Richard Pryor came to be who he was.
Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret (2013)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
2/15
2/15:
"I am going to tie you to a tree," declares Travis Alexander, "and put it in your ass all the way."
"Oh, my god. That is so debasing, but I like it," Jodi Arias responds. And the rest is history, thanks to the idiots of
HLN. If not for them, Jodi Arias' case would've never appeared in the limelight.
There's nothing remarkable about her crime. It's about a stalker who was embroiled in jealousy and just snapped one
day before stabbing her former lover 27 times, slitting his throat, and posthumously shooting him once in the head.
What did capture the media's attention about the case is the phone sex tapes and the explicit pornographic pictures. Oh, how
they ate it up with a voracious appetite. Hence, a film had to be made: Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret. Although I
superficially followed the case but only wanted to hear the verdict and watch Jodi Arias' reaction, I had no clear idea of how
the crime happened. So, the movie provides a good re-enactment. Other than that, it's your basic Lifetime Movie of the Week.
It sucks that the truth has to be distorted to make the victim appear as a good, pious Mormon because Travis was anything but. In
reality, he was a hypocrite who manipulated and used Jodi Arias for his entertainment and didn't practice what he preached.
On the other hand, she's definitely mentally ill and sociopathic with a borderline personality disorder. So, I'm confident
the Arizona jury made the correct judgment.
All in all, Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret is an exploitative piece of work about a convicted killer
who has thankfully faded away into oblivion.
Joe (1970)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
9/21
9/21:
Predating Taxi Driver by six years, Joe is a powerful film about the generational
gap with a horrifying end result.
The first thirty minutes is slow: a typical hippie spat with the girl's parents getting in the way. But when Peter Boyle
finally makes his on-screen appearance in the bar as the king of bigots, the movie begins to take off.
As a result, Peter Boyle should've earned an Oscar nomination; some of the stuff his character says is brilliant and
relevant today. It's hard to tell if Peter is in a leading or a supporting role; to me, it feels like
half-half.
A tough, racist working-class character, Joe is way over to the right while the hippies are far to the left. In the
middle is the girl's father who's susceptible in swinging to either way. It depends on who can influence him more. The way
Joe talks, he makes sense on one level and can be arresting but shows a lot of bigotry and unwillingness to adapt to the
changing culture. As a result, there are some awkward scenes, but Dennis Patrick has done an excellent job of making
them work by politely acquiescing to his viewpoints.
Had Joe been alive today and seen what's transpiring nowadays, he'll have a heart attack out of shock. To solve the problem,
Joe will kill millions of people, and by doing so, he'll turn into a hypocrite because to be an American is to
exercise the right to live freely in a democratic society. That's something Joe never got in 1970 in spite of his stupid
slogan: HONOR AMERICA.
The film was a huge box-office hit: taking in $26 million against a budget of mere $106,000. Only Norman Wexler, a debuting
screenwriter, received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He also did Serpico
with Waldo Salt of Midnight Cowboy fame and
Saturday Night Fever. Sporting an extensive history of bipolar behavior, Norman Wexler
was once arrested for threatening to shoot President Richard Nixon.
Susan Sarandon makes her feature film debut before going on to have a long career in acting. Peter Boyle has always
played fringe characters but gives the performance of his career in Joe. Interestingly, he would
appear in Taxi Driver as Wizard and give Travis Bickle some advice about life. Talk about
two nutjobs in the same room.
All in all, when people think of Midnight Cowboy and
Easy Rider, they should also include Joe.
Joe the King (1999)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
3/24
3/24:
Same shit, different decade.
It's Les quatre cents coups all over again which is better known as
The 400 Blows. I was actually unsure for the longest time if Frank Whaley ripped off the film for
Joe the King until the ending which sealed my conclusion. It's when the boy walked in the hallway until
turning around and the shot of his face was frozen. That's how it happened to Antoine Doinel at the beach.
The hack director claimed his film was "based largely on his own childhood and the childhood of his brother." Yeah,
sure...he meant to say he saw Les quatre cents coups once too many
times. The story is exactly the same, and hence, there's no originality.
Anyway, save for Val Kilmer who won't win any popularity contest after what he did to the boy, everybody tries too
hard. Nothing works. The film is cyclic every ten minutes, making the long running length pointless. There's hardly
anyone around which is a sure sign of its low budget.
All in all, if you had seen Les quatre cents coups, then you already
saw Joe the King without having done so.
John and Mary (1969)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
6/25
6/25:
Ugh!
Who the heck finds Mia Farrow attractive? My goodness...she's so ugly that Frank Sinatra must have been drunk
out of his mind to marry her in the first place. They were twenty-nine years apart in age. That's why he had
to come up with a stupid excuse to break it off with her pronto. Ditto for Woody Allen who cheated on Mia
Farrow with their adopted daughter.
Like oil and water, Dustin Hoffman and women don't mix. He projects the image of a creep who likes to molest
them in the dark, preferably after they've been drugged and are passed out. No wonder why Dustin Hoffman got
slapped with sexual harassment claims decades later. Look at that awkward embrace on the movie poster.
John and Mary? Ha! It's more like Raymond Babbitt and Rosemary. What a ridiculous pair Mia
Farrow and Dustin Hoffman make. She wears way too much makeup while he looks natural. There's no story at all;
the screenplay sucks even more with pointless flashbacks. 92 minutes is mostly spent on whether Raymond and
Rosemary should give each other a chance or move on after their one-night stand.
Personally, I couldn't care less. Since Raymond and Rosemary have decided to stick together after all, I give them
six months at best before they break up. In the meanwhile, good luck to Raymond with Rosemary's baby. If they
do ever get married, I can see a sequel on the horizon, and it will be called Babbitt vs. Babbitt.
All in all, putting Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow together in a romantic film is a mistake of the century.
John Wick (2014)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
4/25
4/25:
That's why I stay away from movies made post 2000.
They're crap by and large. Enter John Wick to give Keanu Reeves' Hollywood career another life. While
watching it, all I could think was he's way better than this. It's just a lot of choreographed robotic
behavior with little to zero impact after being hit by people, cars, and bullets, among other things. When
the final fifteen minutes came, I was hoping to see wires coming out of his body, so I could say, "That explains
everything."
I like action movies with people behaving and feeling normally. Good examples are
Die Hard and Assassins. Some of them
even have a sense of humor. It's called personality. Well, John Wick is akin to playing a video game. *boom*
*boom* in the chest and *boom* in the head non-stop for over ninety minutes. How boring. Given about the same
premise, Eastern Promises had more heart.
All in all, John Wick is a long, unbelievable murder spree.
Johnny Belinda (1948)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
12/17
12/17:
Johnny Belinda is notable for three reasons: Jane Wyman's Oscar-winning silent performance as a deaf-mute, the
widespread use of American Sign Language (ASL) in a major Hollywood picture, and the first movie to tackle the subject of rape.
All four players in the cast were nominated for Oscars: Jane Wyman, Lew Ayres, Charles Bickford, and Agnes Moorehead. Only
the last one is undeserved. The male actors are very good, and I'm still surprised Lew Ayres received a single nomination
during his career which was for this but not the other one that he's famous for which is
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Because of Jane Wyman's angelic face, all I can think of is how sorry I feel for her because she was married to Ronald Reagan.
She deserved better and showed enough common sense to divorce him. Paying attention to ASL, more than half of them are
antiquated. Yes, the signs are technically correct, but they're more evolved now in a way that's conceptual. But
still, Jane Wyman and Lew Ayres have done a great job to produce them clearly.
One issue is the characters' rapid fluency in ASL after picking it up in a few days. That never happens. Yes, I
suppose if they signed slowly, then it's not hard to accomplish, but the level of grace and fluidity they showed with
their hands takes a long time to achieve. Realistically, it'll be a year at least.
As for her deaf-mute character, Jane Wyman shows the appropriate range of immaturity because she has lived in the absence of
sound and language. It's highly likely she's working at a kindergarten level which means it's difficult to teach her English.
At any rate, it's impressive and pretty much correct. According to a New York Times article: "While preparing for
Johnny Belinda, Miss Wyman studied at a school for the deaf for six months, learning sign language. She memorized the
lines of the other actors and performed with her ears plugged."
Another thing to be mindful of is there's a long history of sex abuse against deaf people which is usually 25% higher than the
normal population. It's due to their low intelligence quotient and inability to speak out. Very often, they're sexually abused
by their relatives and members of the deaf community, and the crimes are covered up because there's a strong fear of
seeing their world, however small it is, disintegrated if the word got out. Meanwhile, it's easy to be fooled that
Johnny Belinda was filmed in Nova Scotia, Canada, but in reality, it was shot on location in Fort Bragg, California.
All in all, Jane Wyman deserved the Oscar for her performance in Johnny Belinda.
Johnny Eager (1941)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
6/15
6/15:
I fought hard to stay awake during Johnny Eager.
Sure, there's plenty of noir coming from the characters, lighting, and moments of tension. The plot is interesting
and full of unpredictable twists.
However, there are examples of fake background via rear projection, and it's obvious the staging of Lew Rankin's murder
was done on a miniature set. Worst of all, Johnny Eager was released during the same year as
The Maltese Falcon
which means there's an ocean of differences between the two in terms of acting and believability.
Robert Taylor is a bore, and I've never felt gripped by his character. At the same time, I can't help but notice how
artifical his thin moustache is which looks like it might have been done with a black marker. Nevertheless, Robert Taylor
has a nice ending when he takes on three men in the fateful shootout.
Lana Turner is eye candy but not much of an actress at this point. Her delirium from what happened at Johnny's residence
isn't believable. However, Johnny Eager suffers some from Lana Turner's prolonged absence. Luckily for her fans, she'll
be iconic five years later in The Postman Always Rings Twice with John
Garfield. The Oscar winner for Best
Supporting Actor, Van Heflin's acting is hammy and melodramatic although there were times I actually believed in his
performance. Comical is Jeff's homosexual longing for Johnny which isn't subtle enough.
All in all, Johnny Eager vacillates many times between melodrama and film noir, but it's been mostly the former.
Johnny Handsome (1989)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
12/07
12/07:
Is Johnny Handsome a mirror of Mickey Rourke's face?
At any rate, it starts off with a great premise and makes for an interesting film in the first half before
succumbing to mediocrity and finishing on a poor note. Hence, the blame goes to Walter Hill.
Yet he elicits great performances from Morgan Freeman, Ellen Barkin, Lance Henriksen, and Forest Whitaker. Probably Ellen
Barkin wins me over the most with her realistic portrayal of a trashy sidekick gal. Oppposite her, Mickey Rourke is okay but
leaves a lot on the table. When his face is transformed, the way he reacted to it is a brilliant acting moment.
All in all, Johnny Handsome should've been a successful neo-noir, but it's been mostly performance-driven.
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
5/04, 4/25
4/25:
Johnny Mnemonic is a pre-Matrix picture that tries to
be the next Blade Runner.
The story is never interesting. It's mainly about Keanu Reeves' character complaining about having all the
shit in his head and not getting "room service." Maybe he should've blamed himself for letting it happen in
the first place. By the way, if his data storage can only handle up to 160 GB, then how is it possible
320 GB was accepted? Try doing that to an actual computer. The download will simply fail.
How about the environment? It feels lazy, having been shot in some industrial wasteland just to save money. I'm
incredulous that everybody can be located within a one-mile radius in Newark. At least, the special effects
of the virtual reality world isn't bad, especially for 1995, and can be compared favorably to
Hackers. But 2021? Uh...better advance that by 200 years.
My eyes blinked when I saw Dolph Lundgren's name in the opening credits. When he showed up as some Jesus
freak, I quickly dismissed him as "bad idea." Ditto for Ice T. I'm not sure about Henry Rollins. Keanu Reeves is
okay and tries his best with the material. The only part I couldn't understand is whether he's supposed to be a
human being or a robot. Nonetheless, pairing him up with Dina Meyer as his bodyguard is a mistake. She's boring.
All in all, I've seen Johnny Mnemonic four or five times in total, but it never gets better.
Johnny Suede (1991)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/15
3/15:
Johnny Suede is one of the earliest movies in Brad Pitt's oeuvre, and it's an excellent character-driven cult picture.
Visibly noticeable is his huge pompadour which will be easy getting used to. Johnny is gifted with a pair of suede shoes
that fall out of the sky and then professionally calls himself Johnny Suede but is naïve about how things work in
real life.
Idolizing Ricky Nelson, Johnny is a failed musician who has a series of relationships with Brooklyn females who are
frightened and lost. He strikes up an acquaintance with a seemingly successful musician who looks like Billy Idol and
considers him as a good advisor. At the same time, Johnny has his own band, but their music gets them nowhere. Going
through the motions, he's never serious about his ambitions and wanders around aimlessly.
In many ways, Johnny Suede looks like a Jim Jarmusch picture, specifically
Permanent Vacation, but is
not as senseless and arty. However, director Tom DiCillo makes it engaging with an endearing character. The movie is
also unpredictable and fun. I only have two qualms. It can be slow at times, and Catherine Keener is miscast
because she's a no-talent actress, showing zero chemistry with Brad Pitt.
All in all, Johnny Suede is a wonderfully made cult picture with a great Brad Pitt performance.
The Josephine Baker Story (1991)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
3/08
3/08:
The Josephine Baker Story is another TV movie special I saw back then when it was released on HBO.
Despite not remembering much, it's a good biopic. The first half plays out like
The Great Gatsby which is a
compliment. Then, there's a ten to fifteen minute lag, slowing things down, before picking up the momentum in the second half.
Nonetheless, it's entertaining. Brian Gibson's direction is deft, adhering well to the rules of a biopic. Lynn Whitfield gives
a terrific performance as Josephine Baker and seems to have taken on a lot of tasks to fulfill the demands of her character.
Although the story ranges across the spectrum from the beginning to the end of Josephine's life, it's been highly informative.
After the end of the movie, I looked up the internet to learn more about her background which is fascinating.
Reuben Blades slightly overacts but doesn't ruin the picture.
All in all, it's Lynn Whitfield who single-handedly carries The Josephine Baker Story, thanks to her electrifying
performance.
Josh and S.A.M. (1993)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
8/04
8/04:
Josh and S.A.M. is one of the stupidest films I have ever seen.
If Josh said, "Your mother had sex with a robot. That's why you became a robot," Sam will believe it. If he said, "Your body
is made of carbon fiber with a metal brain," Sam will believe it. "You have no penis and...," Sam will believe it all the same.
They're the most depressing-looking kids, and I wonder if those actors had a happy childhood or that's how they
appear daily. My prediction is Sam will commit suicide within 5 years while Josh shoots up heroin.
That's why I feel like I want to join the N.R.A., buy a handgun, and hunt those boys down. How do they get away with it
by driving to Canada and the parents don't notify the police to be on the lookout for a can't-miss stolen red car?
Because Chris Penn had managed to find himself in terrible films, was his drug habit getting out of control or what?
All in all, Josh and S.A.M. belongs in the trash can.
Journey Into Fear (1943)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
6/15
6/15:
Journey Into Fear has an intelligent script, which was written by Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten that's
adapted from Eric Ambler's eponymous novel, but it's plaqued with several flaws.
It has lots of strengths such as noir style, moments of tension, taut storyline, Orson Welles'
ineffectual appearance, claustrophobic atmosphere, beautiful camera work, and a mix of sinister and interesting characters.
I've never been a fan of Joseph Cotten's acting style, but he does a great job of playing the protagonist
as his fears are believable, hence the film title.
As Josette, Dolores del Rio, who was Orson's mistress for several years, is pretty and fun to watch. Frank Readick, in
the role of Matthews who offered a puny knife to Howard in one scene, is at once funny and pathetic. Other secondary
characters throw in their two cents to push the envelope. But it's Jack Moss' appearance who goes the farthest despite
having no dialogue.
In many ways, Journey Into Fear looks like it was directed by Orson Welles, but he admitted in his autobiography
This Is Orson Welles that he didn't. Otherwise, I think Orson would've made the movie better by giving it a
vintage Wellesian style. It's the ending that I don't like which needs rework because the way Jack Moss' and Orson Welles'
characters went out is underwhelming. Also, there's a hint of missing scenes at certain points because the transitions feel
awkward.
All in all, Journey Into Fear is an intriguing case of style over substance, making me want to revisit it in the future.
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
11/16
11/16:
The Joy Luck Club.
Should it be called The Bad Luck Club? All I've heard from the adult women is melodramatic sob stories
about their fucked-up lives in China. So, I guess the message of the film is: "China sucks, and don't even
think about living there."
On the other hand, the daughters' lives are shown to be somewhat better, and one part of the equation is a
couple of them are married to white guys. So, I guess the second message is: "America is great, and always marry
a white guy, as long as he's rich, but stay away from Asian men because they're evil."
The trouble with the film is there are too many characters. I can't tell who's who, what their names are, and
which story goes to which character. Because most Asians look the same to me, I'm lost, and I don't care about
the "cross-race effect."
Also, the high amount of Asian stereotypes is overwhelming. Just stick with one character or two and make them the
central focus. There's no reason to introduce a bunch of random characters which makes it hard to connect in
a short amount of time; it's best to reassign the idea to a miniseries. Plus, the string of overdramatized life
events is unnecessary. I don't feel sorry for anyone. Some of their problems are silly and trivial. In fact,
they aren't uncontrollable. The Chinese woman with Andrew McCarthy's character, they're supposed to be divorced.
Then the next minute, they're together. So, what happened? There's no explanation.
All in all, take a pass on The Bad Luck Club, and go with
Yin shi nan nu aka Eat Man Drink Woman.
Judge Dredd (1995)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
2/12
2/12:
Although I don't care much for comics, which are perfectly suited for the mentally challenged IMDb fanboys,
Judge Dredd might be better only if Rob Schneider was left out of the cast.
Whose bright idea was it to put him on the show? He ruined the movie, period. Without him, the film is more of a '7'. I like
the whole premise, and it's done well. However, Judge Dredd is too short, and there needs to be more plot development.
Armand Assante does a great job of playing the villain, and it's probably among the best work of his unremarkable career.
Sylvester Stallone has been better in other films, but he's fine here.
All in all, Rob Schneider is the biggest mistake of Judge Dredd.
Judgment (1990)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
3/19
3/19:
Judgment is a powerful made-for-TV picture about child sex abuse at the hands of priests that was covered up
by the Catholic Church.
The fact that it was made in 1990 says a great deal in terms of predicting the future. This is the reality now, and
it's why religion is on the decline worldwide. People, especially of the recent generations, have simply woken up and
decided that religion is nothing but a man-made, money-making fraud.
Great acting is evident through many players such as Keith Carradine, Blythe Danner, Bob Gunton, Michael Faustino,
Jack Warden, and David Strathairn. Blythe Danner gives the best, most realistic performance as the concerned mother who
feels all of this is morally and criminally wrong. Not many child actors can pull off what Michael Faustino did
which is a tremendous piece of acting.
Bob Gunton certainly has a knack for playing nasty villains: gentle-looking in facial appearance, but when he
speaks, it's all stupid, backwards logic. The most interesting part is the priest's rationale for his sex
abuse crimes: "These kids just need to learn a special kind of loving." Um...right. There's one particular scene when the
attorney, who's played by Jack Warden, gave the boy a practice testimony and then nailed him hard to tears. I have a mixed
feeling about his tactic although I get his point, but he went too far.
All in all, it's a sad story about what happened to the children who were sexually abused by priests, and I hope they all die
and the churches of all denominations go down in flames with them.
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Rate:
1
Viewed:
2/11
2/11:
Judgment at Nuremberg is a misleading film in many ways.
At first, I originally thought it's a semi-documentary based on the actual events, but it turned out to be a fictional account
of the actual trial. Second, I thought it's about the trial of twenty-two famous Nazi defendants including Hermann Göring.
Alas, it's not. Rather, it's the trial of the judges of the Third Reich. How boring.
After the film ended, I felt compelled to look up the original source of the proceedings, and it's the 1,267-page
Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals Volume III: "The Justice Case."
I admit, the book is tedious to read through, but it proves one thing: the movie is absolutely nothing like
the actual trial. Hence, I can't rate Judgment at Nuremberg any higher than '1'.
Sure, I'll be pointed out it's just a movie, and it's a fiction that's not meant to be taken seriously. Well, it's propaganda
at best and an attempt to rewrite history by unqualified, uneducated persons. While watching the film, I never felt so
insulted by the presentation of the information, the way witnesses were treated, and the gross freedom the defendants had
by making immaterial speeches; it's inaccurate, insulting, and deceptive. Most of all, it's a pro-German film at best.
The biggest reason why American viewers don't react strongly to Ernst Janning and Mrs. Bertholt is that they're played
by Burt Lancaster and Marlene Dietrich, respectively. It's pure Hollywood manipulation. Let's have an analogy here: if
Saddam Hussein was played by Daniel Day-Lewis and he had the greatest peformance of his career, of course, we'll have sympathy
for Saddam because it's Daniel Day-Lewis playing him after all. Suppose Saddam Hussein was played by somebody else who's
ugly and unimportant, then it's impossible to sympathize with him. That's exactly what happened in here.
If you look at Emil Hahn, it's easy to hate him because of how he looks. On the other hand, if you look at Ernst Janning,
you'll go, "That's Burt...the legendary actor. What a great performance." Obviously, he's a legendary actor, but this is
bad enough. Now, with Marlene Dietrich, whom I hate, her character is able to gain access to Judge Haywood due to her looks.
Of course, she's resorting to common tactics that are known to veteran police officers, detectives, and
judges today. It's about making excuses and playing the innocent card when in fact it's called DENIAL.
Truth be told, most likely, judges of that time wouldn't have allowed it to happen to themselves because, for all intents and purposes,
the people of Germany were responsible for the mass destruction of mankind. The most appalling statement made by Dietrich's
character, which is a tactic, is nobody in Germany knew about the atrocities that were happening. This is 100% lie.
I read in the IMDb trivia page that Marlene Dietrich, herself a German, was repulsed by the lines she had to say and
subsequently went through the ordeals, but my question is: why go through it if she knew the story was historically false?
Naturally, Marlene Dietrich was cast because she was a well-known actress of the time and was able to get away with it.
Had a different actress, oblivious to the American audience, been used, she would've failed because the Americans
won't buy it for the slightest second. But it's Marlene Dietrich which makes the perspective easier to
swallow which is called MANIPULATION.
Finally, just because the performances are decent, if melodramatic to the point of theatrical, doesn't mean the film
must automatically become great. Just because the film touches the topic of Holocaust doesn't mean it must automatically
become outstanding. And just because the film is about an important event doesn't mean it must automatically become respectable.
All in all, Judgment at Nuremberg is a work of fiction that's full of rubbish and an attempt to rewrite history.
Judgment Night (1993)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
9/10
9/10:
I saw Judgment Night in 1993 and thought of it as underrated.
There were so much I liked about it: the suspense, the feeling of helplessness, and the dichotomy of men that demonstrated
a world of differences. Viewing it recently has confirmed my previous thinking. The acting is well-done although
the film can be unintentionally funny at times. Yet it's a craftily intelligent thriller that kept my eyes glued.
Denis Leary is the man, and he's effective playing his character. Everybody else is both good and camp; they infuse a
rush of energy. Looking at the exterior of the desolated wasteland, it makes sense which is realistic for those out-of-place
characters. In fact, try coming to Camden, New Jersey, during the middle of the night, and I guarantee you that you'll be scared
shitless.
All in all, Stephen Hopkins has historically made awful pictures, but this time, he gets it right with Judgment Night.
Juggernaut (1974)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
5/22, 5/24
5/22:
Think of Juggernaut as a cross between Titanic and
Blown Away.
While it looks dated and the dialogue isn't great, the suspense still holds up. By the way, Juggernaut has been
incorrectly labeled a disaster film when it should be a crime thriller. Richard Harris gives a fabulous performance as
Fallon the undefeated champion, having defused many bombs throughout his career. The latest act of terrorism proves to be
his toughest challenge yet. It's what makes the movie go.
Along with Omar Sharif and Shirley Knight, the British cast is nice which includes Anthony Hopkins, Ian Holm, David Hemmings,
and Roy Kinnear at his silliest best. The Indian steward who died during the first bomb blast is played by Roshan Seth.
Speaking of the aforementioned incident, I don't understand why the boat didn't show any internal damage afterwards.
Weren't the steel doors open that it would be tough to stop the water from coming in?
When Fallon asked for Buckland to get on the phone, I was thinking whatever he said, just do the opposite. Then, I was
proven correct. The parachute scene is dramatic, and the inclement weather is just as how it happened during the filming.
As a matter of fact, the event was inspired by a real life bomb threat that was aboard a British ocean liner in 1972.
All in all, thanks to Richard Harris for adding a great deal of suspense, Juggernaut should
be regarded as an underrated British thriller.
5/24:
Richard Harris is still the man.
If not for him, Juggernaut won't have worked. It's a good story with plenty of suspense and a believable set of
circumstances. Just ignore Shirley Knight and Roy Kinnear; they're plain annoying and have nothing to do with what's going
on. By the way, the people calling Juggernaut a "disaster film" are wrong, wrong, wrong. It was an act of terrorism!
All in all, the best line of Juggernaut is said by Richard Harris: "Fallon is the champion."
Juice (1992)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
6/04, 10/05, 6/20
10/05:
There's nothing juicy about Juice which is a typical black-gang-gone-wrong picture.
The acting is about 90% solid, especially from Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur. Vincent Laresca as Radames still makes me laugh;
his character should try comedy for a living. The story is clichéd, so it's rather predictable right from the start, knowing
what's going to happen. At least, I like the fast pace.
All in all, Juice seems to have it but is pretty much ho-hum.
6/20:
Juice is a fast-paced urban ghetto picture that takes a look at black-on-black violence.
According to the FBI, from 1976 to 2005, 94% of black victims were killed by other blacks. To squash the fingerpointing
toward racism, the victimization rate for blacks was six times higher than the rate for whites (29.6 vs. 4.7 per 100,000)
while the offending rate for blacks was about eight times higher than the rate for whites (36.9 vs. 4.8 per 100,000). Black
males who were 18-24 years old had the highest homicide offending rate of any group.
Put a gun in the hands of a male, and he suddenly thinks he owns the world. That's the reaction of Bishop which struck
the beginning of the end for him and his crew. Therefore, Juice is a compelling picture, thanks to the debuting
actors Omar Epps, who was 17 at that time, and Tupac Shakur. Because of his frequent in-your-face talk, Vincent Laresca as
Radames is a funny guy.
It's nice to see a couple of stars in Juice: Queen Latifah and Samuel L. Jackson. His wife, LaTanya Richardson, also
appears as Steel's mother. Many of the characters have nice fashion, and the music and the dialogue go a long
way, too. Mainly shot on location in Harlem, New York, the editing is excellent, hence the fast pace.
All in all, Juice is a classic 90's black urban youth picture.
Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
9/21
9/21:
Now, this is what a shit film looks like.
I have read some books on cinema, and they usually finish with a chapter about Dogme 95. Rules are explained such as no
special effects, any prop used coming from that location of the scene, and the usage of a hand-held camera at all times.
The only conclusion I had come up with was: it's gonna be shit. Of course, the pretentious movement died young, resulting in
thirty-five films from 1998 to 2005.
Julien Donkey-Boy is my first ever experience of Dogme 95. And...guess what? A lot of rules had been broken.
For example, Chloë Sevigny was supposed to be pregnant and fell down, crushing her belly against the ice rink.
Yet rule 6 says: "The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc., must not occur.)" Well, if accidental
death hadn't occurred, then the action was therefore superficial. Ewen Bremner, who plays Julien, isn't schizophrenic.
I thought it was supposed to be real? Then, why not get somebody who is?
Harmony Korine had something good going in Kids and Gummo, and both
films worked because the content was compelling. Julien Donkey-Boy is nothing like them and instead becomes a
self-indulgent mess in the absence of a plot. Therefore, it's a torture to sit through the ninety-nine slow minutes of shitty
images, nonsensical dialogue, and pointless scenes like the cigarette-eating trick by Tom Mullica.
All in all, Julien Donkey-Boy is telling me I'm so stupid that I should slap my own face repeatedly, wear a gas
mask, and offer ten bucks to some random dude to wear a dress and dance with me.
Julius Caesar (1953)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
12/07
12/07:
Just because a bunch of actors had excelled in memorizing difficult lines for a Shakespeare play and speaking them with
some ease for a film doesn't mean it's automatically a masterpiece.
That being said, it's a dreadful chore to sit through Julius Caesar. Joseph L. Mankiewicz tries hard enough to
transform the movie conceptually into a theatrical medium. Here's a free piece of advice: leave the theater to where it
belongs.
As far as Julius Caesar goes, it has to be one of the most boring films I've ever seen in my life.
Yes, there are worse ones that yap, yap, yap endlessly such as Before Sunset,
Before Sunrise, and Alexander, but
Julius Caesar rises above them simply because of Marlon Brando's performance.
When I see the thespians, all I can think of is "stagy." Then, when I see Marlon Brando, I eloquently say, "That's acting."
Hence, his Shakespearean performance is excellent. Because Brando receives little screen time, the title makes
less sense as it should be called either Brutus the Assassin or, rather tersely, Brutus.
The production values are rank as compared to Ben-Hur or
The Last Emperor. One reviewer said it should
be essentially so because high production values, such as lavish costumes and elegant in/exterior sets, would undermine
the performances, diverting attention away from them. Well, that's not a bad notion there, but what performances in
Julius Caesar? All I saw is actors and actresses struggling with words and making sure they had them
down pat. When they say them, it's as if the lines are tattooed right in front of their forehead.
Of all, James Mason's performance is the worst because he's unenergetic and flat. His eyes seem confused and lost as if
he's holding onto the ledge of a cliff while looking down. It's not that I have a strong aversion to Shakespeare, but I have
a strong aversion to films when it's talk and talk and nothing else, especially when the laguage is so old.
All in all, Julius Caesar is boring beyond belief.
The Junction Boys (2002)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
6/16
6/16:
The Junction Boys is the story of a ten-day training camp during the summer of 1954 at Junction, Texas, which was
hosted by first-year coach Paul "Bear" Bryant for his Aggies of Texas A&M University.
Approximately one hundred players showed up, and roughly 30% survived the camp at the end. The funniest part about
the film is that it didn't take place in Texas but Australia and that the actors weren't Americans but Australians. But why?
Anyway, for an ESPN production, The Junction Boys is actually well-done. I'm surprised at the allowance of the profanity
words which fits the context. Tom Berenger, who's the main reason why I agreed to seeing the movie, is perfect for the role,
and he should be given he was Barnes in Platoon. Although silly in an effeminate way, everybody
else is acceptable enough.
The story of what happened is overboard because we know better today. But back then, it was a tough world and that
sort of thing was the norm. Today, it'll never happen. My favorite moment is when one of the players kept
things in perspective by telling a story about his father who was a prisoner of war.
All in all, The Junction Boys succeeds by giving an insight into surviving in a brutal but mostly pointless environment.
Jungle Fever (1991)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
10/06
10/06:
Jungle Fever is a great film with several strong performances but is marred by constant attention on
racism which gets old fast in Spike Lee pictures.
Worse is the inclusion of one million topics. Please Spike...just focus on a few and stick with them. Also, there are many
characters which have been a giant juggling act for me to follow. There's no doubt John Turturro and Samuel L. Jackson
give the best performances of their careers. Wesley Snipes does a rare acting job.
I love how the adultery issue is played out and the dissection of its impact, but the racism has gotten out of hand.
The latter is usually more subtle than what Spike Lee thinks, and of course, it's everywhere but on a subconscious level.
Meanwhile, there are serious scenes including Wesley Snipes at the crackhouse, Samuel L. Jackson in the final confrontation
with his parents, and the dialogue among women which got ruined by the African dick part.
All in all, if there could be less topics and characters and no racism, Jungle Fever would work out better.
Junior Bonner (1972)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
6/05, 7/08, 7/15, 2/22
6/05:
"I'm workin' on my first million, and you're still workin' on eight seconds" is what Junior Bonner is all about.
Sam Peckinpah's style echoes throughout just like The Wild Bunch, and it's very beautiful.
Steve McQueen is perfect. J.R. Bonner is one of his finest characters. Abstract and poetic, Junior Bonner is the best
rodeo cowboy picture made, capturing an authentic slice of Americana.
All in all, Junior Bonner ranks among the greatest films of Steve McQueen's and Sam Peckinpah's careers.
7/08:
Junior Bonner beautifully captures the rodeo cowboy lifestyle for the posterity to get a glimpse of what it was
like back then.
Sam Peckinpah once again stamps his trademark editing style that makes his films unique and distinctive from others.
Americana has never been captured so well as in Junior Bonner. It also features one of the best Steve McQueen's
performances. He plays the role in the manner of "you can take him out of the West, but you can't take the West out of him."
Robert Preston, Joe Don Baker, Ida Lupino, and Ben Johnson have been satisfying.
All in all, "I'm workin' on my first million, and you're still workin' on eight seconds" captures what Junior Bonner
is about.
7/15:
Junior Bonner is undeniably the best film on rodeo that paints a slice of Americana and represents the changing times.
It's also one of the best works of Steve McQueen's career. Not having to say much, he lets his facial expressions
do the acting for him. That's why Steve McQueen was an underrated actor who graduated with honors from The Method school.
If The Wild Bunch is the most violent film of Sam Peckinpah's oeuvre,
Junior Bonner is his most calm. Frank Santillo and Robert Wolfe's editing, complemented by Lucien Ballard's
cinematography, is still spectacular as ever.
All in all, "I'm workin' on my first million, and you're still workin' on eight seconds" is perfect.
2/22:
This line says it all about Junior Bonner: "I'm workin' on my first million, and you're still workin' on eight seconds."
Sam Peckinpah made a career out of violence in cinema, but Junior Bonner is his gentlest. The editing is superlative,
especially during the rodeo scenes. It's about tradition versus modernization. Of course, the latter won out as
evidenced today with capitalism being the king. Rodeo has always been predicated on animal abuse, hence the end of its
popularity nationally. The world's oldest rodeo, Prescott Frontier Days has been running since 1888.
Looking almost finished, Steve McQueen is at his best, not having a lot to say. He lets the action speak for
him and is therefore larger than life. Everybody else is excellent with plenty of character development without the need
to bring in the backstory that much. Ben Johnson was a rodeo cowboy and could ride the horse very well; the belt buckle
that Steve McQueen carries around is Ben Johnson's 1953 World Championship title for team roping.
All in all, Junior Bonner is still an underrated rodeo masterpiece.
Jurassic Park (1993)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
4/03, 12/13
12/13:
I remember the excitement among the general populace when Jurassic Park came out in 1993.
It was hailed as a turning point in the CGI Revolution, showing what was possible by making the dinosaurs come alive.
Unfortunately, the dismal story had undone the wondrous spectacle, thus turning the film into a joke.
To this day, I still can't get over the multitude of awful acting, dumb moments, and retarded physics. As soon as the two kids
appeared, there went Jurassic Park. I knew they were going to survive, no matter what. The series of impossible moments
that resulted in survival of the main characters has also killed off any good memories from the first half hour which contained
intelligent discussions, magical moments at the sight of dinosaurs, and significant but thoughtful conflicts.
One question that kept popping into my head throughout is: "Why in the hell did they breed carnivores?" I mean, it's
the most illogical aspect which goes so far to serve the ulterior point in the creation of the park by giving the audience
their reward of seeing sanguinary scenes. If I'm not making sense, then what's wrong with having only herbivores?
Of course, another logic fail is, in order to clone an organism, a living egg of that species must also exist. Obviously,
there isn't any for dinosaurs. That, in itself, will be a shock. Also, almost none of the dinosaurs depicted in the
film actually lived during the Jurassic period; that would be the Cretaceous. So, this leads to another question: why not
label the film Cretaceous Park? Oh...I get it: they wanted a cooler-sounding name.
All in all, Jurassic Park would've turned out better if Steven Spielberg stuck with the flow of the first thirty minutes.
The Juror (1996)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
8/20
8/20:
The Juror is a case of strong actor versus weak actress.
Similar to what he did in Malice, Alec Baldwin gives the most impressive
performance. He has brilliant moments of acting, making for a compelling character from start to finish. That's
why the tagline of the poster is missing some more words as it should read, "There is no defense...against
Alec Baldwin's eyes."
When Alec Baldwin is away, here comes Demi Moore. I just see nothing out of her; it's a fake show that she
puts on. I think back then, while married to Bruce Willis, Demi Moore read her script aloud during dinner
for preparation and asked him if she sounded okay.
Like the pointlessness of Anne Heche's presence, the overlong film goes nowhere, especially during the
uninteresting court case, and I don't care about the juror or her son. Who gives a fuck if he's killed?
Let's get back to Alec Baldwin already.
James Gandolfini isn't bad himself. Because of his kind face, Eddie seems like a nice guy but is really not.
Of course, Teacher proves to be too much for him. The ending sucks, leading to his demise somewhere in
Guatemala of all places; naturally, it's going to happen anyway because the filmmakers want to manipulate
me into thinking it's, first and foremost, about Demi Moore.
By the way, I'm shocked by the judge's behavior toward the juror after she came to him for desperate help. He
shouldn't have done that because why would she risk it for something so small? Common sense needs to prevail here.
All in all, with ease, Alec Baldwin can make people look through his eyes and sell them anything.
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (1992)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
11/12, 9/20
11/12:
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is a realistic picture that rings true in every aspect of life.
It's Poetic Justice meets
Straight Out of Brooklyn. Ultimately, Leslie
Harris makes a statement: "A film Hollywood dared not do." How true. And sadly, it remains the only one of her directorial career.
The reason why critics had been harsh is Ariyan Johnson. I can see why they hate her character, but that's
the whole point. What she did is Oscar-worthy and a dead-on portrayal of many black (the race doesn't matter although) female
teenagers who reside in the projects and the like and attend Title I schools. Chantel keeps saying she's smart, gets
all A's, and takes calculus to justify her intelligence. Well, let me tell you a story to demonstrate how real it is.
I used to be a mathematics teacher at a high school that served inner city students (as matter of fact, you
could change the setting of New York City's five boroughs to Camden, Trenton, Newark, Atlantic City, etc.; it's all the
same to me) where I taught all classes from algebra to AP Calculus. My experiences with precalculus and
calculus students were interesting.
Not a single student knew anything beyond 2nd grade math, and none of them could recall a simple algebra technique.
So, it was a tough time for me to get through the year, trying to build a scaffold without getting a lot of hassle
from students, their parents, and the administrators. The complaints were always in the form of "dat be fake," "da test dis
racist," "wha da fuck dis?," etc. I had a lot of students who were barely failing telling me, "I alwa got all A. Da ain't
right." Well, there were a lot of times I wished I could tell them they knew nothing about anything in math.
Truth be told, every student in the school I worked at was allowed to pass and then take upper level courses, regardless
of how much they knew of the subject matter. It's how some of them got into the AP classes
for English, history, calculus, biology, etc., and they always scored '1' on the national exams.
Why? Because they knew nothing. They showed zero academic discipline and had no idea of what the standards were.
At the end of four years, at least two students got a full scholarship to a major four-year university simply because
they were "outgoing," "social," and "mature," regardless of their academic performance. Race and low socioeconomic background
were big factors in their selection.
I knew one who was exactly like Chantel who ended up taking AP calculus under me, eventually scoring '1' on the exam.
She got into a huge trouble for beating a black girl nearly to death but graduated anyway and got a full ride to a top 25
university [psst...she never got a degree there]. That's the reality of Title I schools. It's virtually
impossible to teach academics to these students who acted like they knew it all, did not adhere to academic standards,
and thought (actually deceived by the school into thinking) they were succeeding in life.
It's no fun to work with these kids. Watching Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. forced me to relive the memories of
handling these kids with horrible attitudes. Until Chantel loses it, she'll never amount to anything more than a minimum
wage job. Why I think the film is a masterpiece is it's very true.
By the way, there was an interesting moment when Chantel's baby was dumped in a trash bag. This actually foretold, which
I knew for years, an incident in 1997 of a high school girl named Melissa Drexler from Lacey Township, New Jersey, who
gave birth in the bathroom during her senior prom and discarded it in the trash can before returning to the dance floor.
She was eventually found guilty of aggravated manslaughter but served only paltry three years in prison.
All in all, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is a realistic portrayal of what life is like for the inner city youth
and, more importantly, how they think.
9/20:
My eyes rolled a lot while listening to Chantel Mitchell about how she had it all figured out, and all I could say was,
"Yeah, um...okay."
No matter how I feel about the girl, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is an impressive movie that points
out what's wrong with these know-it-all teens. The movie was made in 1992, and today, it's relevant and prevalent as ever.
Sometimes, I search on the internet to see what happened to some of these people I knew who had a similar mindset as hers,
and I chuckle because the picture ain't pretty.
Chantel Mitchell is a dime a dozen. I view her as a budding angry black female, and it's not a good thing. The vice principal
hit the nail on the head when describing Chantel's problem: lack of class. She needs to learn how to act ladylike; otherwise,
nobody is going to take Chantel seriously, regardless of her age. She's also a bullshit artist, and she making it in any math
class, most especially calculus, won't happen. In case if you don't know what "I.R.T." is, it stands for Interborough Rapid
Transit.
All in all, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. isn't everybody's cup of tea, but there's a lot of truth in it.
Just Cause (1995)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
1/08
1/08:
Before I make comments about Just Cause, I want to get one thing out of the way: who the fuck cares if it's Scarlett
Johansson?
Now, it's a good, gripping thriller but has many faults with one that's the most glaring of them all: the casting of Kate
Capshaw. I thought I had seen the last of her in
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Because Sean Connery once
played Indiana Jones' father and is the executive producer of Just Cause, he probably did her a favor. Kate Capshaw has
my head shaking, causing me to wonder how the heck she made it into Hollywood or what exactly Steven Spielberg saw in her.
The acting by the rest, except for Laurence Fishburne who's acceptable enough, is slightly tacky. Blair
Underwood doesn't do anything for me. Ed Harris overacts. On the other hand, I'm impressed with the story which
has a clever twist and plenty of depth and tautness. What hurts it the most is the stupidity.
First of all, I don't get why the black guy, who attended Cornell, would have any further relations with the professor
after he kidnapped his wife and the girl. Two, why does he go back to the same location where he did the girl in 1985?
He made it too easy for himself to get caught. Three, I can't believe how dumb the professor is, having been baited in
the manner of "hook, line, and sinker." Four, is Just Cause meant to be a parody of lawyers from the South
and/or professors from the North?
The funniest line out of this mess is the professor who's left with this sole thought
on his mind, "I can't believe I married a total bitch!" I think Sean Connery meant to say, "I can't believe I agreed
to have Kate in my movie!"
All in all, please no more films with Kate Capshaw.
Just Mercy (2019)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
1/21
1/21:
In light of the Black Lives Matter crap that had been going on lately, Just Mercy was either extraordinarily true or
extraordinarily manipulative, so I had to verify the info.
Well, having done my research, the story turns out to be true after all. As a result, the state of Alabama looks really,
really bad. I thought things had changed thirty years after the Civil Rights Movement. Apparently, it isn't the
case which even took place in the same town where Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, hailed from. Oddly,
the story is something I never knew about until seeing the movie.
Honestly, I don't have sympathy for prisoners, especially those on death row, because, 99.5% of the time, they're
guilty. The only expectation I have for law enforcement is this: they've done their job properly and put the right
people away. When a gross miscarriage of justice happens, then there's something wrong, and therefore, placing my faith
in the criminal justice system becomes a no-go.
The basic facts of the case are: on November 1, 1986, a white 18-year-old girl named Ronda Morrison was shot multiple times
in the back at Jackson Cleaners in Monroeville, Alabama. The cops couldn't find who did it for months, so they decided
to pin the murder on Walter McMillian, a black man with no prior felony convictions, and Ralph Myers, a white man who
happened to be a career criminal.
No physical evidence existed to link either to the crime. McMillian was seen by dozens of black people at a fish fry far
away when the murder happened at the same time. They were all ignored as witnesses. Yet after being arrested, McMillian
was placed on death row as if he had been found guilty before the trial was about to commence.
Under threat by cops, Myers decided to testify against McMillian to avoid the death sentence. Another three witnesses,
including one who was bribed by the police, just happened to see his "low rider" truck outside of the dry cleaners location
despite it, missing a transmission part, was not fixed until six months after the murder.
Consequently, Ralph Myers was sentenced to 30 years in prison while Walter McMillian was given the death penalty (the nearly
all-white jury recommended life but was overruled by the judge). The 1.5-day trial took place in Baldwin County where the
population was overwhelmingly white despite the murder taking place in black-majority Monroe County.
Four appeals were filed from 1990 to 1993 with all of them turned down by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. In the
1992 hearing to request a new trial, Ralph Myers recanted his false testimony by stating he was never there at Jackson Cleaners that day
and didn't know what happened which was corroborated by a long suppressed tape recording. The judge didn't care and therefore
denied the motion. Later the same year, a 60 Minutes segment was aired nationally which started
to turn the tide for McMillian's case, finally exonerating him the following year.
Everything I've described is exactly as shown in the film which makes it all extraordinary. I don't normally watch movies made
after 2005 because most of them suck and therefore aren't worth my time. Imagine my surprise when I saw how back-to-basics
Just Mercy was. Everything, down to the cast, is accurate, and they resemble the characters
in real life. The writing is sharp. Hence, what a surprise nobody was nominated for Oscars in any category.
There are many fine performances that are genuine. Of anyone, I have to say Tim Blake Nelson is the best. He
even looks like the guy himself: Ralph Myers. So, it's an amazing makeup job, making it impossible for me to see anything
fake. The next two are Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx: just outstanding and top-notch in a Denzel Washington way.
My only complaint is it's a bit too long. I think the feeling is mutual for a lot of
first-time viewers. Now, I know the story which turned out to be totally true. That being said, the next time I see the film,
I don't think it's going to be an issue anymore. Now, just remember this important fact: what happened to Walter McMillian
doesn't mean it occurs all the time; the accuracy of convicting criminals still remains over 90%, and there will still be outliers.
It's up to the people in position of power to make sure they do their jobs correctly.
All in all, as evidenced by the last two centuries of backwardness, there's something fundamentally wrong with Alabama.
Just One of the Guys (1985)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
5/06
5/06:
Just One of the Guys is one of the all-time great cult pictures that's charmingly funny which had me
laughing a lot during hilarious moments.
Pretty much, the film is about a high school girl pretending to be a boy. It also has a wonderful, quirky set of
characters. Billy Jacoby gives the best performance of the show. He's highly likeable as the sex-crazed brother,
making for a good character study.
Although Joyce Hyser looks pretty, she was 28 years old in this, and her performance isn't
convincing. However, her charm and the film's sense of humor are enough to compensate for it.
All in all, Just One of the Guys is unique in the presentation of the subject, and it's fun to watch.
Just the Ticket (1998)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
5/24
5/24:
Just the Ticket is a bad movie that tries too hard despite Andy Garcia's best efforts to save it.
No wonder why everybody stayed away from this stinker in 1998 which grossed about $400,000 against a budget of $12
million. The most obvious problem is the nonexistent chemistry between Andy Garcia and Andie MacDowell, and that's
100% her fault. Had she been replaced by somebody else who's more on his level like Ellen Barkin, the film would've
probably worked out. However, the running length needs to be cut down by, say, thirty minutes.
The first half doesn't work, but the show gets better during the second half when Andy Garcia came alive on his
own and thus succeeded in bringing me back which is the only positive thing I can say for the film. By the way,
I notice that he and Richard Bradford appeared together in a lot of movies, and it turns out to be nine in total.
All in all, die-hard fans of Andy Garcia may like Just the Ticket, but it operates on fumes for two long
hours.