hartleyfan Reviews

The Movie Hero (2003)

Hi-Larious!

[9/10 · 1 July 2003]

I saw The Movie Hero at the Dahlonega International Film Festival and it was

fantastic! Great acting, great directing, great script, great everything! The movie is about the pain and difficulty of making art, even if your "art" is just living your own life. I wish this film was playing "in theaters everywhere" as they say. But it's probably not going to. It looks like it's going to play at a lot of festivals though, so I urge you to find it. You won't be disappointed.

Demon Lover Diary (1980)

Terrifying

[9/10 · 20 July 2000]

I saw this amazing movie in my film class, and it showed such a bleak picture of filmmaking that I had to think more than twice about the career path I am heading down. It's the true story of 2 young filmmakers (Jeff and Joel) who travel to Michigan from their Cambridge home each making a very different movie. Jeff's acquaintance Don Jackson has asked him to be the cinematographer on a low-budget horror movie he's producing and directing. Joel has just come along for the ride and thinks it's the perfect opportunity to make a documentary (something they both studied at MIT). Unfortunately for Jeff and Joel, (but fortunately for us) Don has no idea what he is doing. From the little bits of it that we see, the movie Demon Lover, The (1976) ) is absolutely terrible. And to make matters worse, Don is extremely annoyed by Joel's presence on the set. Throw in some behind-the-scenes romance between one of the film's young stars and Joel's sound recorder, and you have quite a film. Unfortunately, as far as I know Demon Lover Diary is not available on video, and can only be obtained from Jeff and Joel. While the basic premise may sound similar to the more recent and slightly more well-known American Movie (1999) it is really quite different and much better. Believe it or not, Demon Lover, The (1976) was eventually released and IMDb says it is available on video. I would really love to get my hands on it. Don Jackson is still making movies. His credits include such classics as Lingerie Kickboxer (1998) and Return of the Roller Blade Seven (1993)

Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006)

Worst show ever

[22 February 2000]

This show has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Sandwiched between two wonderful shows (at least, they were wonderful at one time) it's probably getting great ratings, but put it on Thursday night at 9 and we'll see what how long it lasts. The writing in the show is just terrible. The attempt at having multiple plotlines (I picture an inept producer saying "Wow, this is just like Seinfeld!") simply doesn't work. Week after week we see Malcolm's older brother's wacky shenanigans at military school, yet the only relation this kid has to the rest of the show, aside from the occasional call home, is that he is the main character's brother. Why has Fox put their faith in trash like Malcolm in the Middle while leaving very funny shows like Futurama and The Family Guy out to dry? Make the bad men stop!

The Aurora Encounter (1986)

One of the worst

[1/10 · 6 November 1999]

I saw this movie a long time ago, and I'm not sure why, but it sticks in my mind as one of the worst movies I have ever seen. It's some silly story about an alien who lands in Aurora in a tin plate spaceship (with strings attached) and hangs out for a while. Take my word for it, don't rent this movie.