Post by ck100 on Aug 14, 2019 3:24:07 GMT
If you want the review for a certain film, let me know and I'll transcribe it. If I find reviews online, I'll update this list with them.
(out of 4 stars)
Taxi Driver - 2 stars
“To some, Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader’s perception of hell- as a crazed taxi driver’s vision of NYC – was brilliant. To us, this gory, cold-blooded story of a sick man’s lurid descent into violence is ugly and unredeeming.”
Blade Runner - 1.5 stars
“A triumph of production design, defeated by a muddled script and main characters with no appeal whatsoever.”
The Shining - 2 stars
"Intriguing but ineffectual adaption of Stephen King's thriller ...". He goes on to say : "Nicholson goes off the wall so quickly there's no time to get involved in his plight. Some eerie scenes, to be sure, but the film goes on forever."
The Matrix - 2.5 stars
"Cutting-edge visuals and production design compete with an overlong script, written by the directors, that's got a high MJQ (Mumbo-Jumbo Quotient) and a tendency to keep changing its own complicated rules."
Terminator 2 - 2.5 stars
"Box-office smash has special effects to knock your socks off and action to spare, but like so many sequels, lacks the freshness of the first one and gives us no one to root for."
Forrest Gump - 2.5 stars
"Either you accept Hanks in this part and go with the movie's seriocomic sense of whimsy, or you don't (we didn't) - but either way it's a long journey, filled with digitized imagery that puts Forrest Gump into a wide variety of backdrops and real-life events."
Escape From New York - 2 stars
"For a 'fun' film this is pretty bleak."
Inception - 2.5 stars
"Ambitious, exceedingly well-crafted film, written by Nolan, works too hard to show off its cleverness and intricacy and even betrays its own ground rules when it suits the filmmaker."
Fight Club - 2 stars
"Draws you in with its intriguing story, black comedy and flamboyant visuals, then shifts tone, turns heavy-handed, and heads towards an alarmingly senseless resolution."
The Dark Knight - 2 stars
"A Batman story for the terrorist era, this is doomsday dark and palpably real. It's also incredibly long. Ledger is a vivid Joker but his character is so sick it's difficult to derive any pleasure from watching him."
Caddyshack - 2 stars
"Animal House-type hijinks at a posh country club; another comedy where irreverence and destruction are a substitute for humor. Saving grace is Dangerfield, whose opening scenes are side-splittingly funny."
Casino - 2 stars
"Long, tedious tale of a numbers-obsessed gambler sent to Las Vegas by the mob to run a casino in the 1970s. Problem is, neither he nor his loose-cannon pal, who follows him, nor the hustler he decides to marry has any idea how to hold on to what they've got. Disappointing reteaming of Scorsese and writer Nichola Pileggi, who scored big with Goodfellas; this time, their story is overlong, repetitive, and aloof."
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 2.5 stars
"This deliberately old-fashioned Saturday matinee year has everything money can buy, but never really generates a sense of wonder and excitement."
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 2.5 stars
"Starts off extremely funny, with on-target jabs at high school life, then wanders through heavy-handed slapstick and moody self-serious ruminations before regaining momentum for a bright finish. Typically uneven John Hughes script, but one of the pop-culture landmarks of its time."
Wayne's World - 2 stars
"Myers and Carvey are funny as the self-styled party dudes with their own cable TV show, and leading lady Carrere certainly is a 'babe', but the story has too many slow spots and muffed jokes. Even casting Lowe as a slimeball doesn't pay off - because he's still so dull. Our advice: party elsewhere."
The Princess Bride - 2.5 stars
"Some wonderful scenes and character vignettes are periodically undermined by a tendency towards comic shtick (as in Crystal's cameo) and occasional incoherencey."
Tombstone - 2.5 stars
"Wyatt Earp (Russell) attempts to leave his violent days behind him, moving to Tombstone with his two brothers... but the murderous gang called The Cowboys (whose members include the Clantons) dictates otherwise. Not-bad Western saga, with a forceful performance by Russell, and a likably eccentric one by Kilmer as the tubercular Doc Holliday. Delany, however, is positively goofy as Wyatt's love interest, and the story goes on way past the O. K. Corral shootout, with a series of redundant gun battles and showdowns. The real Earp's fifth cousin, Wyatt Earp, plays Billy Claiborne."
Back to the Future II - 2 stars
"Joyless, frenetic follow-up to Part I which sends mad inventor Lloyd and young Fox back into their time-traveling DeLorean. Considerable ingenuity, but hardly any laughs, and a surprising amount of unpleasantness. Works best toward the end when it creates a parallel existence to the climactic action in Part 1, but then it turns out to be a cliffhanger, advertising the upcoming Part III! Talk about a cheat...."
The Big Lebowski - 2.5 stars
"One big, shaggy-dog joke, courtesy of the Coen brothers, about a slacker who's mistaken for a crime bigwig of the same name - and then gets hired by the guy to pay off a ransom. Mostly an excuse for off-the-wall character vignettes, some of which are amusing, some of which are just ... strange. Minor Coen concoction with a most agreeable cast."
Batman (1989) - 2.5 stars
"There's razzle-dazzle to spare in this dark, intense variation on Bob Kane's comic book creation--but there's also something askew when the villain (a particularly psychotic villain, played overboard by Nicholson) is so much more potent than the hero! Still, lots to grab your attention, including Anton Furst's Oscar-winning production design and Danny Elfman's terrific score."
To Live and Die in L.A. - 1.5 stars
"Gritty movie equivalent of TV's Miami Vice makes it hard to root for anyone, since the good guys are sleazy as the bad guys! Petersen plays a hotshot Secret Service agent going after a slimy counterfeiter--but for a crack federal agent he acts pretty dumb! One spectacular car chase is not enough to counteract bad taste the film leaves behind."
Carrie (1976) - 2.5 stars
"Evocative story of high school misfit degenerates into a cheap, gory melodrama when Spacek unleashes her telekinetic powers against those who have mocked her. De Palma borrows much from Hitchcock, but has little of The Master's wit or subtlety."
Alien - 2.5 stars (but has since been changed to 3.5 stars)
The Shawshank Redemption - 2.5 stars
"Widely praised film is well-crated but terribly overlong, and (like much of Stephen King's non-horror writing) hollow and predictable."
(out of 4 stars)
Taxi Driver - 2 stars
“To some, Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader’s perception of hell- as a crazed taxi driver’s vision of NYC – was brilliant. To us, this gory, cold-blooded story of a sick man’s lurid descent into violence is ugly and unredeeming.”
Blade Runner - 1.5 stars
“A triumph of production design, defeated by a muddled script and main characters with no appeal whatsoever.”
The Shining - 2 stars
"Intriguing but ineffectual adaption of Stephen King's thriller ...". He goes on to say : "Nicholson goes off the wall so quickly there's no time to get involved in his plight. Some eerie scenes, to be sure, but the film goes on forever."
The Matrix - 2.5 stars
"Cutting-edge visuals and production design compete with an overlong script, written by the directors, that's got a high MJQ (Mumbo-Jumbo Quotient) and a tendency to keep changing its own complicated rules."
Terminator 2 - 2.5 stars
"Box-office smash has special effects to knock your socks off and action to spare, but like so many sequels, lacks the freshness of the first one and gives us no one to root for."
Forrest Gump - 2.5 stars
"Either you accept Hanks in this part and go with the movie's seriocomic sense of whimsy, or you don't (we didn't) - but either way it's a long journey, filled with digitized imagery that puts Forrest Gump into a wide variety of backdrops and real-life events."
Escape From New York - 2 stars
"For a 'fun' film this is pretty bleak."
Inception - 2.5 stars
"Ambitious, exceedingly well-crafted film, written by Nolan, works too hard to show off its cleverness and intricacy and even betrays its own ground rules when it suits the filmmaker."
Fight Club - 2 stars
"Draws you in with its intriguing story, black comedy and flamboyant visuals, then shifts tone, turns heavy-handed, and heads towards an alarmingly senseless resolution."
The Dark Knight - 2 stars
"A Batman story for the terrorist era, this is doomsday dark and palpably real. It's also incredibly long. Ledger is a vivid Joker but his character is so sick it's difficult to derive any pleasure from watching him."
Caddyshack - 2 stars
"Animal House-type hijinks at a posh country club; another comedy where irreverence and destruction are a substitute for humor. Saving grace is Dangerfield, whose opening scenes are side-splittingly funny."
Casino - 2 stars
"Long, tedious tale of a numbers-obsessed gambler sent to Las Vegas by the mob to run a casino in the 1970s. Problem is, neither he nor his loose-cannon pal, who follows him, nor the hustler he decides to marry has any idea how to hold on to what they've got. Disappointing reteaming of Scorsese and writer Nichola Pileggi, who scored big with Goodfellas; this time, their story is overlong, repetitive, and aloof."
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 2.5 stars
"This deliberately old-fashioned Saturday matinee year has everything money can buy, but never really generates a sense of wonder and excitement."
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - 2.5 stars
"Starts off extremely funny, with on-target jabs at high school life, then wanders through heavy-handed slapstick and moody self-serious ruminations before regaining momentum for a bright finish. Typically uneven John Hughes script, but one of the pop-culture landmarks of its time."
Wayne's World - 2 stars
"Myers and Carvey are funny as the self-styled party dudes with their own cable TV show, and leading lady Carrere certainly is a 'babe', but the story has too many slow spots and muffed jokes. Even casting Lowe as a slimeball doesn't pay off - because he's still so dull. Our advice: party elsewhere."
The Princess Bride - 2.5 stars
"Some wonderful scenes and character vignettes are periodically undermined by a tendency towards comic shtick (as in Crystal's cameo) and occasional incoherencey."
Tombstone - 2.5 stars
"Wyatt Earp (Russell) attempts to leave his violent days behind him, moving to Tombstone with his two brothers... but the murderous gang called The Cowboys (whose members include the Clantons) dictates otherwise. Not-bad Western saga, with a forceful performance by Russell, and a likably eccentric one by Kilmer as the tubercular Doc Holliday. Delany, however, is positively goofy as Wyatt's love interest, and the story goes on way past the O. K. Corral shootout, with a series of redundant gun battles and showdowns. The real Earp's fifth cousin, Wyatt Earp, plays Billy Claiborne."
Back to the Future II - 2 stars
"Joyless, frenetic follow-up to Part I which sends mad inventor Lloyd and young Fox back into their time-traveling DeLorean. Considerable ingenuity, but hardly any laughs, and a surprising amount of unpleasantness. Works best toward the end when it creates a parallel existence to the climactic action in Part 1, but then it turns out to be a cliffhanger, advertising the upcoming Part III! Talk about a cheat...."
The Big Lebowski - 2.5 stars
"One big, shaggy-dog joke, courtesy of the Coen brothers, about a slacker who's mistaken for a crime bigwig of the same name - and then gets hired by the guy to pay off a ransom. Mostly an excuse for off-the-wall character vignettes, some of which are amusing, some of which are just ... strange. Minor Coen concoction with a most agreeable cast."
Batman (1989) - 2.5 stars
"There's razzle-dazzle to spare in this dark, intense variation on Bob Kane's comic book creation--but there's also something askew when the villain (a particularly psychotic villain, played overboard by Nicholson) is so much more potent than the hero! Still, lots to grab your attention, including Anton Furst's Oscar-winning production design and Danny Elfman's terrific score."
To Live and Die in L.A. - 1.5 stars
"Gritty movie equivalent of TV's Miami Vice makes it hard to root for anyone, since the good guys are sleazy as the bad guys! Petersen plays a hotshot Secret Service agent going after a slimy counterfeiter--but for a crack federal agent he acts pretty dumb! One spectacular car chase is not enough to counteract bad taste the film leaves behind."
Carrie (1976) - 2.5 stars
"Evocative story of high school misfit degenerates into a cheap, gory melodrama when Spacek unleashes her telekinetic powers against those who have mocked her. De Palma borrows much from Hitchcock, but has little of The Master's wit or subtlety."
Alien - 2.5 stars (but has since been changed to 3.5 stars)
From original review:
"Commercial spacecraft unwittingly takes on an alien being that wreaks merciless havoc on the crew. Space-age horror film reverts to 1950s formula story, but adds stomach-churning violence, slime, and shocks. Still, this is some people's idea of a good time. Oscar-winning effects. Inspired by IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE."
The Shawshank Redemption - 2.5 stars
"Widely praised film is well-crated but terribly overlong, and (like much of Stephen King's non-horror writing) hollow and predictable."
