scottsue98 Reviews

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

Hilarious flick, Spade's best

[8/10 · 6 September 2007]

This movie is hilarious from beginning to end. Imagine, a Hollywood movie that shows how RIDICULOUS Hollywood is! Spade is terrific, the 'child star' has beens are wonderful and likable in spoofing their own careers. You've got to respect that.

Mary McCormack is both beautiful and very funny in the 'straight role' of the movie. I'd love to see her do more comedy. Did I mention that she is very easy on the eyes? The dude who plays her husband and Dickie's 'father' is hilarious too. His name escapes me. Not many lines, but stole scenes. A confident Spade seemed to let him do that, the sign of a good comedic actor is that HE doesn't have to get all the good lines.

The kids are endearing. The 'stunts' (ie bike crashes) are phenomenal.

Like Tommy Boy and Joe Dirt, he plays that goofy guy who's missing it on most cylinders, but you can't help rooting for.

That's a guy I want in any comedy I see. The underachieving underdog who figures it out in the end and makes good. Spade is terrific at playing that role - and in Dickie Roberts - he's at his best.

Clerks II (2006)

Big fan of KS, but another average movie w/some great 'moments'

[5/10 · 21 July 2006]

***Minor Spoilers*** I love KS's work. But his movies lately - and this one is no exception - is about 'moments' of hilarity - wedged into 2 hours of 'luke warm' stuff.

I love the edginess, some great conversation - Randal is a GOD when it comes to railing on things. But other than the 'racial tirade' & 'a** to mouth' diatribe, Jason Lee's scene and Jay's homage to movie legend Buffalo Bill, the laugh out loud moments seem much farther apart more than in Clerks, Amy & Dogma - hell even Mallrats.

I thought Rosario Dawson was a very good fit & the kid playing Elias was very funny. But the customers provided almost no comic relief this time (except Wanda Sykes' hubby), unlike the original. I liked the conclusion, a logical one but very well played. For some reason, I never considered it - but it is truly the best conclusion.

Again, its all about Randal and there are some truly great spoken moments throughout, but I was hoping for a little more jocularity during the body of the film, knowing that the ending would be deeper and more serious. The heartfelt 'prison' scene felt genuine.

I did enjoy it. I will probably see it again, but mostly to catch those 'moments' again more than the entire movie. Pretty good, coulda been better. KS fans will love it!

The Flying Car (2002 TV Short)

Hilariously Randal-like

[9/10 · 21 July 2006]

If you like the Randal character from Kevin Smith's movies, you CANNOT - I repeat - CANNOT NOT love this little clip.

It is friggin' hilarious!

His rants are classic. This one is near or at the top of any Randal-esquire ravings.

Not to mention he exhibits some skills to fight through the lengthy if not disturbed content of the subject matter. I don't know how many takes it took to get some of that, but the delivery is wicked funny.

Randal is a ranting GOD!

Enjoy it for what it is - a great poke at cartoons vs reality and the people who spend WAY too much time trying to make sense of the two!

Peaceful Warrior (2006)

Enjoyed movie, Nolte solid as Socrates

[7/10 · 14 June 2006]

I read this book and enjoyed this movie version. I am glad they reduced the emphasis on food/purity but wish they had spent a little more time on the development of Millman's relationship with Joy, a critical 'destination' for his journey.

I like that they got in and out of the sports stuff quickly - that can get old on screen if the sport shown is not 'your' sport. I also like that they didn't emphasize any 'supernatural' visual phenomenon. Like most movies, I feel that they 'pushed' it along to get to the end, but that's Hollywood - God forbid a 3 hour story takes 3 hours to tell! But the moral of the story is to 'live in the present' and rushing the movie seems contrary to that.

But overall, I liked it and was inspired by it enough to where I will be re-reading the book very soon. This is a story worth telling, worth hearing - just in case it strikes a cord in somebody's spirit. If even one person (maybe me? maybe you?) turns a positive corner as a result of it - that would be a wonderful payoff. I'd recommend it to anybody who feels like they've lost their way or someone who needs a jump-start to the next phase of their life.

The guys playing Millman and his buddies/gals were good. Nolte was very good - a perfect role for a guy with that gravelly voice! Good film.

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Try to understand this ... please?

[10/10 · 9 June 2006]

1- It's a movie, you don't believe the plot lines? Welcome to Hollywood. For example: Do you think 8 guys would cross Europe & find Private Ryan? Of course not, but you've got to buy the basic premise folks. ANYTHING can and does happen IRL, why not this? (who cares if it is a Math Genius or a Stud athlete - hell both are rare, but how many 'sports stud' movie characters do we automatically accept?)

2- The REAL story within the story is not about the boy-girl relationship, or the buddy relationships. It is a man who finally realizes that another man knows what he's been through, GETS IT, and at the same time, has shown him that whining about it is not the solution. Robin William's character stands up to Damon's character in a way that nobody else ever has - and it works! Especially his "I'll end you..." line. (I was sitting in my seat thinking, "Robin Williams might kill me") I'm sure he'd never been made to believe that somebody would represent anything to him that strongly. THIS is the relationship in the movie that matters. Whether he makes it w/the girl or his buddies die by age 30 really is secondary.

3- Real life, sadly, involves less than perfect people who use less than perfect language. Sad, but true. Yeah, it was a bit much, but that's what Hollywood does. More people are jerks than are NOT jerks. They brought you down, and they brought Damon's character down, just like real life. So the point was made.

Bottom line? Enjoy it for what it is. A well told coming-of-age 'hope for the best in an imperfect world where you have both incredible strengths and weaknesses' kind of story. It is not a flawless story (name ONE?), but it made you care about some of the folks in it, which is more than most movies do. There ya go!

The Thin Red Line (1998)

The WORST MOVIE EVER MADE, in any genre

[1/10 · 8 June 2006]

This was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. It was like a bad acid trip, one that I WISH I would have never recovered from. I just wanted somebody to come in and shoot all the primary characters dead so that the credits would roll.

The ONLY quality acting exceptions, and the only decent portion of the movie, were the scenes with Nick Nolte & John Cusack. The rest was an unwatchable, absolute garbled mess.

And before you say "you just didn't understand it." I DID understand it, I understand that it was a horribly made, acted, directed & crammed together heaping pile of Hollywood stink.

War movies can be done well, and with a very human angle (see: Saving Private Ryan, minus Matt Damon's acting & several 70s & 80s movies like The Dirty Dozen).

This was absolute crap. I apologized OUT LOUD to my wife within earshot of the few other people in the theater at the time. Not one of them disagreed with me. They just nodded & walked out, wishing they had not sat through the movie. Sorry, even 8 years after seeing this, and re-watching it on TV, it still makes my blood boil that I spent 7 bucks (times 2) sitting through it. Arrgh!