ttommy-1 Reviews

Dazed and Confused (1993)

The American Graffiti movie for the 70's

[8/10 · 5 May 2008]

Like many other of the reviewers, this movie brought back tremendous nostalgia, both sad and funny of my high school days in the mid seventies. We drank beer and we got high, none of us had a clue what we wanted to do in life, other than have a good time for right now. The director casted many characters with many overlapping story lines, but somehow you got to know each of them. There was the stoner who you couldn't help but like, even though you worried what would become of him. There was the star jock, who was losing interest in sports as he became more interested in girls and partying. There were the smart kids who knew and articulated what was going on, and you sort of resented them for it.

All in all, I wasn't sure what the point of the movie was. Except that it was just like the seventies. Nobody cared. Get me another beer. Light up another joint. Put in another eight-track. Lets have fun tonight. Yet I couldn't help but feel that I would never, ever want our kids to live the way we did when we were young. It's amazing so many of us made it all the way to 2008.

The Bunker (1981 TV Movie)

Absolute Junk

[1/10 · 31 March 2008]

Not the worst piece of crap I have ever sat through, but darn near close. A bunch of film students at a state college could have produced something of this caliber. First of all, Nazis with British accents? That was the first indication that the director would be asking the viewer to suspend one's disbelief. Then, Anthony Hopkins as Adolph Hitler? Charlie Chaplin could do a better job. Hopkins performance was a parody of Hitler. Was he serious? When the director yelled cut, did the entire cast break out in giggles? At times he portrayed Hitler as a jolly Englishman. When it began to fall apart all around him, he was a ranting lunatic, but not a very believable ranting lunatic. Der Undergang ( The Downfall ) was the most powerful movie I have ever watched. It is a German made movie with an all German cast. The language is in German with English subtitles. It makes you feel you were right there in the bunker in the final days. You felt what those who were actually a part of this history felt. This made for television movie was so inferior that it made me wince at how bad it was.

Mighty Aphrodite (1995)

Sometimes funny and generally entertaining film

[6/10 · 26 March 2008]

You have to like Woody Allen's sense of humor in order to enjoy this film. Quirky, neurotic New Yawkers. Fumbling to find sense, meaning in life and love. Good people trying to redeem mistakes and weakness.

But it was a light, uplifting film in its own way. And I was delighted to watch this movie on a leisurely weekday afternoon. Mia Sorvino was terrific and there was so much irony in the story that you never knew what could develop next.

Much has been said about the use of the Greek chorus. Viewers either loved it or thought it was stupid. I found them mildly annoying, wasn't quite sure what they represented or added to the story. It just seemed to be one of those devices Woody Allen is famous for and I let it go at that.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Mildly charming

[6/10 · 16 February 2008]

IF YOU BUILD IT, HE WILL COME. Hasn't that phrase become a regular part of the American lexicon. That has to tell you somebody got the writing right.

Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Burt Lancaster and Ray Liotta are all excellent in their roles. You only need to suspend your disbelief in order to be uplifted by this fable about redemption and dreams that do come true.

I had heard a lot of good things about this movie which came out in 1989 and finally, on a slow television night, I watched it on demand. It was an hour and a half well spent. It will remind you of what the simple pleasure of playing baseball on a green field on a warm and sunny day represented to our youth.

American Psycho (2000)

Not the worst movie ever, but in that category.....

[2/10 · 13 February 2008]

American Psycho was not the worst piece of crap I have watched over the years, but it falls dangerously close to being in that category.

It is another well worn formula from writer Bret Easton Ellis, how rich Americans lose their soul in the pursuit of pleasure and material excess. It worked with Less Than Zero, but it doesn't work here.

Part of the reason is that Christian Bale is totally unconvincing as our 80's American Psycho. Whether he was miscast in the role or given bad direction, I don't know. He did not play a creep as true as, say a Robert DeNiro or Al Pacino. He more or less comes across as a Hollywood actor trying to play a crazy guy, and not pulling it off.

Moreover, the film seemed disjointed, like they had different strategies for what they were trying to accomplish. I could almost tell that certain shots were taken on the same day, and other shots taken on other days had a completely different feel.

It was also unclear to me if the murders were real or just imagined by our Patrick Bateman. Perhaps, I wasn't watching the movie that closely. And perhaps, that wasn't really my fault. It was hard to endure.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

Gripping street struggle in the heart of Queens.

[11 February 2008]

Loved the movie and related to almost every character portrayed in it. I Agree with others that Channing Tatum who played Antonio was the finest of a cast of superb actors.

The movie is about escaping your environment or being swallowed up by it. Violence and racial tension were everyday components of this section of Queens in the 80's. Most of the time, people will not leave what is familiar to them. They grow comfortable with their surroundings, regardless of the destruction that goes on around them.

The hero of this film does leave. He goes to California and becomes apparently a successful writer. He doesn't return to Queens until nearly two decades later, to make peace with his ailing father. He also pays a visit to the penitentiary to visit his childhood friend Antonio.

If you like tough street kids coming of age movies, you must watch this one. If its not a classic, it certainly should be considered as one.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

Excellent satire about irrational hysteria

[7/10 · 11 February 2008]

Could not help but find correlations between this 1964 satire about nuclear holocaust and our present day war against terror and those with weapons of mass destruction, whether they have them or not.

George Scott was excellent and funny in a strange way. It is not hard to sell danger and create a panic among others. One only needs to tell them they are about to be attacked. Whether the assertion is true or not makes no difference.

The scene where the pilot of the plane climbs down to free a jammed door and rides the atomic weapon joyfully to its target reminded me somehow of our own George W.

Gunner Palace (2004)

Informal, behind the scenes look at the modern American soldier

[6/10 · 18 January 2008]

The first thing that struck me was that most of the American soldiers portrayed in this documentary apparently were small town guys, with little education and not as articulate as one would hope. They joined the military not out of patriotism, but for imagined adventure. It was the army or community college. I can sympathize with them and at the same time I can understand why the Iraqi people don't like them. They are crass, bullying and overbearing.But they also are willing to take tremendous risks and are sincere in their efforts to bring stability to a country thousands of miles from their own.

The entire Iraqi war seems to be a tragic, confusing mess and where it goes from here, no one really knows. The American soldiers, many just kids fresh out of high school, really want to put in their time and go home. But we know, even if they survive, they will never be the same again.

Demonlover (2002)

Lots of twists and turns, little to hold interest.

[3/10 · 18 January 2008]

I hung in there and watched this movie beginning to end ( 120 minutes ). And it was hard to do. But I love Chloë Sevigny as an actress and she alone kept me watching. Following the storyline was very difficult. Lots of amoral business folk and that sort of thing. But the film did have good visuals and a fast pace, with scenes in Tokoyo, Paris and even Mexico. French, English and Japanese were spoken back and forth thru the film, making it even more confusing. More disturbing is that we may be at a point where torture on the internet may capture lucrative business. Where does depravity end? Will people do anything for money?

To summarize, given another chance, I wished I would have chosen a different movie to watch today.

Hoffa (1992)

Good acting, however mediocre film

[5/10 · 13 January 2008]

Perhaps I should have known more of the history of Jimmy Hoffa and the labor movement before I undertook watching this film. Then maybe I would have followed it more closely. For me it was a blur of shouted arguments, back room deal making, riots and bullying. It was difficult for me to understand what the heck was going on.

But Jack Nicholson and Danny Devito portrayed their characters so well that the movie held my attention from beginning to end. I especially liked the scenes that pitted Jimmy Hoffa against Robert Kennedy.

Also, the ending, the demise of Jimmy Hoffa seemed pure Hollywood, which is to say spectacular and implausible. Everyone wonders about the last hours of Jimmy Hoffa's life and I don't think this film really answers that.

American Graffiti (1973)

How did we get from there to here?

[6/10 · 3 January 2008]

I guess I enjoyed the soundtrack more than the story lines. It was a time before 1963 and the Kennedy assassination, when America was still relatively innocent culturally. The songs were about true love, rather than just random fornication. Everything evolved around music, cars, hamburger joints and finding love. But I failed to see great film-making here, as others have. It is a nice subject matter, moving on from high school friends, an ending of an important stage of life. I am 51 years old now, and I still never have found the same depth of bonding with others that I once had with my high school friends. I was also sad to think, that many in this same generation depicted in the movie American Graffiti are now conservative Republicans, pro war/pro torture religious hypocrites. How did we get from there to here?