Change Your Image
mram16
-from "Halcyon Days" by Local H
Movies I've Seen (A comprehensive list of every movie that I've ever seen):
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=20984254
Short Films (that I've seen):
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23421392
My Vote History:
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=11368795
Previous sig:
"What the *beep* is the Internet?" - Jason Mewes
(some of) my favorite films:
American Beauty
American Graffiti
American History X
Apocalypse Now
Badlands
The Big Lebowski
Bottle Rocket
Brazil
Bringing Out the Dead
Carlito's Way
Casino
Clerks
A Clockwork Orange
Cop Land
Crash
The Dark Knight
Days of Heaven
The Departed
Donnie Darko
Drugstore Cowboy
Duel
Empire of the Sun
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Fight Club
Full Metal Jacket
Gladiator
The Godfather trilogy
Goodfellas
Good Will Hunting
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Halloween
Heat
Kill the Messenger
Lawrence Of Arabia
Magnolia
Mean Streets
Meek's Cutoff
The New World
Nightcrawler
1984
No Country For Old Men
The Outsiders
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull
Reservoir Dogs
Rushmore
A Scanner Darkly
Scarface
Schindler's List
Seven
Seven Samurai
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shining
The Silence of the Lambs
Sling Blade
Stand By Me
Taxi Driver
There Will Be Blood
The Thin Red Line
Trainspotting
Traffic
Treeless Mountain
The Tree of Life
True Romance
21 Grams
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Usual Suspects
Watchmen
Wendy and Lucy
favorite T.V. shows:
All in the Family
American Dad
Boardwalk Empire
Bored To Death
Boss
Carnivale
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Eastbound and Down
Family Guy
Freaks and Geeks
Game of Thrones
I Love Lucy
King of the Hill
Last Week Tonight w/ John Oliver
Penn & Teller: Bull$h!t
Real Time w/ Bill Maher
Roseanne
Sanford and Son
Seinfeld
Shameless
The Simpsons
South Park
True Detective
The Walking Dead
The Wonder Years
favorite books:
Animal Farm
Bird Box
Blood Meridian
Brave New World
Bringing Out the Dead
Carrion Comfort
Choke
The Catcher in the Rye
the Dark Tower series
Dune
Fight Club
The Giver
The Grapes of Wrath
Harlot's Ghost
The Naked and the Dead
Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Pillars of the Earth
Red Dragon
The Road
Robopocalypse
A Scanner Darkly
the Sigma Force series
The Silence of the Lambs
Sironia, Texas
the Song of Ice and Fire series
The Stand
The Stranger
Stranger in a Strange Land
Swan Song
The Thin Red Line
Trainspotting
Wonder Boys
favorite bands/musicians:
The Beatles
Bishop Allen
The Clash
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen (with or without the E Street Band)
Conor Oberst (in all of his incarnations)
The Doors
Elliott Smith
Green Day
Hole
Joe Pug
Led Zeppelin
Local H
Matt & Kim
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Pink Floyd
Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Redwalls
The Rolling Stones
The Sex Pistols
Smashing Pumpkins
The Strokes
Titus Andronicus
The Who
Favorite sites:
http://doubletoasted.com/
http://www.spill.com RIP 2006-2013
http://www.cracked.com
http://www.archive.org
http://www.songmeanings.net
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com
http://www.livenirvana.com
http://www.crimelibrary.com
http://www.straightdope.com
http://www.snopes.com
http://www.allmusic.com
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Creed II (2018)
Decent entry into the Rocky film canon
The film opens with Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) winning a title bout and becoming the heavyweight champion. In contrast to Adonis's life as a wealthy, celebrated champion, in Ukraine father and son Ivan and Viktor Drago live in poverty as the younger Drago tries to make a name for himself beating other fighters in the ring. Both father and son are bitter over their family's lost glory, and the abandonment of both by Ludmilla (Brigitte Nielsen), Ivan's former wife and Vicktor's mother.
After the successful championship fight, Adonis proposes to his girlfriend Bianca (Tessa Thompson), who has been perusing a music career despite auditory problems which require her to wear hearing aids. Adonis Creed is a man on top of the world, but things change when a promoter holds a televised news conference in which the newly-minted champ is challenged to fight Viktor Drago. It was Viktor's father, Ivan, who killed Adonis's father during a fight three decades previously before being defeated himself in a grudge match with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), who is now Adonis's trainer.
Though it seems that none of the people in his life want Adonis to agree to the match, he decides to do it anyway, a decision that leads to a falling out between him and Rocky, who remembers all too well the dangers of battling a Drago, not only from his own bout with Ivan, but also from watching his friend Apollo Creed die in the ring. This parting of the ways is painful for both men: Rocky has become the stand-in for the father whom Adonis never knew, while Adonis has become a surrogate son for the older man, whose relationship with his own son has deteriorated.
Adonis and Bianca move to the West Coast, where he starts training under Tony "Little Duke" Burton (Wood Harris), whose father once trained the legendary Apollo Creed. As Adonis prepares for the match he learns that Bianca is pregnant with their first child.
In the first match-up between Adonis and Viktor, Adonis is outmatched by the pure power of his opponent, and while he retains his title due to Viktor's actions leading to a disqualification, Adonis is broken in both body and spirit, and everyone know that he truly lost the match.
Rocky visits Adonis; though their relationship has been strained they patch things up, and after he's had time to heal both Rocky and Burton train Adonis harder than ever before to prepare him for a rematch against Viktor. In the meantime Bianca gives birth to their child, a daughter, who they fear may be afflicted by the same hearing problems as her mother.
Back in their home country, both Ivan and Viktor are now feted by the same people who spurned their family after Ivan's loss to Rocky all those years ago. Though Viktor isn't crazy about these people who showed his family no respect when they were down, Ivan seems to crave their approval, and wants his son to bring home the championship belt.
Finally we get the rematch, in which two men for whom failure is not an option square off, both putting everything they have into the fight.
While the film is not as strong as it's predecessor, it's a good movie and steers clear of of much of the cheesiness that plagued some of the sequels to the original Rocky movie.
Galveston (2018)
A good indie crime drama
The film begins with low-level criminal Roy Cady (Ben Foster) receiving some bad news from a doctor about his lung x-rays, though he storms out of the doctor's office without listening to the diagnosis. Shortly thereafter Roy is sent with a partner to threaten a man on the orders of crime boss Stan Ptitko (Beau Bridges). The job, however turns out to be a set-up to get rid of Roy, and after a violent confrontation he escapes with teenage prostitute Rocky (Elle Fanning), who he finds tied up at the house where the confrontation took place. They leave New Orleans and head for Galveston, Texas, stopping along the way in Rocky's hometown to pick up Rocky's little sister, 3-year-old Tiffany (played by twins Tinsley and Anniston Price). In Galveston the the trio hole up in a motel where the manager takes a liking to the girls even as she distrusts the man they are traveling with.
Though Roy and Rocky are essentially strangers, they get to know each other, and he learns some unpleasant truths about her life up to that point. Roy, believing that he may be dying from a lung condition, uses information gleaned from paperwork he'd found after the failed set-up earlier in the film to blackmail Ptitko, hoping that the money will help Rocky and Tiffany start a new life. Things don't go as planned, however, and more violence follows. The films ends after a 20 year time jump, with an older Roy being visited by a now-grown Tiffany (now played by Lili Reinhart), who wishes to know what really happened all those years ago.
The cast is solid, with good performances put in by both Foster and Fanning, as well as by the supporting cast, including C.K. McFarland as Nancy, the ever-watchful motel manager. The film is well-shot, ably direct by Mélanie Laurent, and with a good score by Marc Chouarain. The script was written under a pen name by Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective), who also wrote the novel on which the film is based.
The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)
Lackluster entry in the Millennium film series
A solid performance by Claire Foy (First Man, Unsane) can't do much to elevate a weak script that, quite often, not only asks you to suspend your disbelief, but to abandon your disbelief altogether.
This film is based on the fourth of five books (to date) in the popular "Millennium" series of novels, which happens to be the first of the books written by author David Lagercrantz after the passing of original author Stieg Larsson. The first three books were adapted into a trilogy of films in their native Sweden (all of which were released in 2009), and the first book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was given an American adaptation helmed by David Fincher in 2011.
The story of the newest entry in the film series revolves around a top-secret program called Firefall, which would allow whoever wields it to take control of the world's nuclear weapons. The program was designed by Frans Balder (Stephen Merchant), who has a young autistic son. Balder, having come to realize that the program is too dangerous for any government to control, contacts super-hacker Lisbeth Salander (Foy), asking for her help to find and destroy the program. Unknown to them,however, a mysterious group known only as the Spiders are also after the program. Salander receives help along the way from good friend Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), a journalist working for Millennium magazine (from which the book series gets its name). In the meantime, Lisbeth's attempt to acquire the Firefall program leads American National Security Agency security expert Edwin Needham (LaKeith Stanfield) to travel to Sweden in hopes of tracking her down.
Action abounds, and as the film progresses we learn the identity of the leader of the Spiders, a secret tied to Salander's murky past. Eventually all parties converge on a house in the mountains that is all-too-familiar to Salander, where the film's climax plays out.
The film appears to retcon certain details from the previous films (e.g. Blomkvist is younger than he should be), which can be off-putting to those familiar with those films.. Vicky Krieps, who audiences may remember from her fantastic performance in 2017's Phantom Thread, is wasted in a brief appearance as Millennium's publisher Erika Berger. While Salander has been established as a first-class hacker in previous films (as well as in the books on which they're based), here her hacking skills often reach levels of unbelievability. An example of this: in one scene Salander hacks into a car's systems while actively pursuing in another car.
In the end we are left with a film that could have been greater than it is, but which was hobbled by a poor script filled with overly convenient contrivances. The film's one saving grace is Foy, who does the most with what she is given.
Widows (2018)
This film contains two movies, and I enjoyed one of them
Widows is the story of a trio of...well, widows, who hatch a scheme to pull off a heist. The reason why the widows choose to pull off this heist in the first place is a threat by gangster-turned-political-hopeful Jamal Manning (played by Brian Tyree Henry). It was his money that the deceased husbands of the women were trying to steal before dying in an explosion set off by a hail of police bullets. The money burned up in the flames, and he wants to be repaid. Veronica Rawlings (played by Viola Davis) comes into possession of the plans for a future robbery that her husband Harry (played by Liam Neeson) was planning, and with no other options she and the other women decide to use the plans to commit the robbery themselves in order to pay off the debt (with plenty of money left over).
The cast does a commendable job, with particularly good performances put forth by Viola Davis and Elizabeth Debicki as two of the titular widows, Cynthia Erivo as the babysitter for a third widow (played by Michelle Rodriguez) who gets brought into the scheme, and Get Out's Daniel Kaluuya as a cold-blooded henchman who doesn't need to walk around screaming and shouting in order to be terrifying. Also worth a mention is Robert Duvall, who may not be in the movie a whole lot but is memorable nonetheless. The film is shot well by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, with one standout scene being the short drive taken by Colin Farrell's Chicago Machine political candidate from an area of blight to the nice, quiet street that he lives on at the edge of the ward where he hopes to be elected as alderman over his opponent (Manning). The camera watches as rundown inner-city buildings give way to nice houses that wouldn't seem out of place in a tidy little suburb.
For a while it is interesting to watch as the women, who were not involved in their respective husbands' lives of crime, try to ready themselves for the heist. Midway through the film, however, there's a surprise reveal. I said in the title of this review that this film contained two movies, one that I liked I liked. The movie that I liked ended with this "twist", and this is where the movie that I didn't like began. Not only is the twist totally unnecessary, but the film just seems to go downhill from there. The women, whose robbing skills seemed understandably shoddy up to this point, suddenly seem to work together like a well-oiled machine. There are more twists thrown into the mix (such as the identity of the person they will be stealing from). The fate of the Rawlings' son, hinted at earlier in the movie. is revealed in a poorly executed scene. The climax of the film feels like a second-rate action flick, and the playing-out of the big twist revealed earlier in the film feels contrived. Then the film ends in a, "Really, that's how they're going to end this?" way.
I don't hate this film (faint praise, I know), but I feel that there was so much wasted opportunity. If only they had kept making the movie from the first half of this film I could have given it a higher rating, but as it stands I give it a 6 out of 10.
Badlands (1973)
It takes all kinds
Inspired by the true life case of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, Terence Malick's debut feature film follows two young lovers who go on a short-lived crime spree, like a bored and jaded Bonnie and Clyde. It all starts when Kit, a garbage man, takes a liking to teenaged Holly. Holly's father warns Kit to stay away from his daughter, leading to a showdown of sorts between the two men that ends with an act of violence. Kit leaves a record player playing a recorded message claiming that he and Holly are going to kill themselves (to throw off the authorities), and sets fire to the house before escaping with Holly, setting off on a journey whose course is foreshadowed by something Kit says in the aforementioned recording: "Nobody's coming out of this thing happy...especially not us." From their makeshift home in the woods and a brief, violent visit to an old friend of Kit's, to their dash for the mountains of Saskatchewan (which to Kit represent freedom beyond the reach of the law), we are given a window into Holly's private thoughts through the use of voice-over, a sometimes vapid, sometimes rambling commentary from a young girl that can also be frightening at times, like when she thinks after Kit commits a triple murder: "At this moment, I didn't feel shame or fear, but just kind of blah, like when you're sitting there and all the water's run out of the bathtub." Holly chitchats with a teenage girl, who is likely not much older than herself, surely knowing that the girl will most likely come to a bad end, and soon. Kit records nonsensical "advice" (for whose benefit, we're not quite sure) into a Dictaphone while holding a man and his housemaid hostage. The pair politely ask a man if they can borrow some gas before Kit pulls out a gun when the man refuses. Kit and Holly dance together in the glare of headlights while listening to Nat King Cole. We watch them drive though a great emptiness under painfully blue skies, heading somewhere, reaching for something, while seeming to not quite know where or what it is they are searching for. And all the while we remember those words spoken earlier in the film, "...especially not us." But as Kit concedes in that same recorded message: "I can't deny we've had fun, though." And the reason for it all? There is no reason here, no logic to these senseless acts of violence. It's best summed up in a line from the short story "Nebraska" by Tennessee Jones, a story inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name, which in turn was inspired by this film. When the girl asks the boy why he killed a man, he answers simply: "I don't think I need a reason for that. He was doing what he does, and here I am doing what I do."
To the Wonder (2012)
We climbed the steps to the wonder
In Terrence Malick's sixth feature film in a 40+ year career, he tells us a story of love given and love withdrawn. Neil (Affleck) meets Marina (Kurylenko) in Paris, and they fall in love. They kiss, and they laugh together in the thrall of a new, untainted love. They visit the monastery at Mont Saint-Michel, the titular wonder. When Neil returns to the United States he does so with Marina and her young daughter, Tatiana, in tow.
The blighted neighborhoods and wide, empty spaces of Oklahoma are a change for Marina and her daughter, but they try to make the best of it. In the supermarket young Tatiana can't stop marveling at how "clean" everything is. Marina dances through fields, raising her hands to the sky in exaltation.
The first sign that there may be trouble in this paradise is Neil's apparent unwillingness to make it official and marry Marina. A poison seeps into the love between them, and soon they are fighting for reasons not even they know. When Marina takes his hand and places it against her face with tenderness, he pulls away. Tatiana, friendless now and with the glow of something new having worn off, begins to let out some anger of her own, directed primarily at Neil. She begs to leave this place where she does not belong.
Marina seeks advice from Father Quintana, a priest who spends much of his time among the lost and the wretched. Throughout the film we hear him (in voice-over) entreat God, perhaps for a sign, longing to hear a voice that he once heard, but can hear no longer. He seems unhappy and lonely, a man who is expected to comfort others while in need of comfort himself.
When her visa expires Marina returns to Europe with Tatiana, and it as this point that Neil reconnects with Jane, a woman he knew in his youth. She has her own tale of sadness and loss, but they seem to make each other happy, and we can hope that we may find a happy ending in this unexpected love. But life, or fate, or God have other plans, and Marina returns to Oklahoma without her daughter, who has gone to live with her father.
For a brief moment Marina and Neil are once again enveloped by light and love, and again happiness seems like something attainable. But then the poison returns, there is shouting, there are tears and a betrayal, and happiness slips steadily out of reach. When Marina once again (and likely for the last time) departs, the guttering flame of a love that once burned bright finally goes out, and the memories of laughter and tears, and the weight of what was and what could have been, are the only proof that it had ever burned at all.
Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary (1992)
Decent student film
I heard about this short film years ago, and finally saw it recently. It apparently began as a legit documentary about a transsexual named Emelda Mae titled "Mae I", but after production fell through before completion writer/directors Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier made it into a mockumentary about their failure to complete the documentary. Confused? Smith and Mosier are always either in shadow, with their backs to the camera, or otherwise with their faces always out of frame. They, along with others involved in the failed "Mae I" project, offer insights into said failure. The film had a decent soundtrack, and their were a few funny moments.
Everything Is Illuminated (2005)
Everything is illuminated in the light of the past
A funny and heartwarming directorial debut from Liev Schreiber. Jonathan Foer is an American who travels to the Ukraine to find the woman that saved his grandfather's life during World War II. Alex is his often funny translator, and Alex's "blind" grandfather is their driver. Together the three (and a seeing eye dog) travel through the Ukrainian countryside searching for a village called Trachimbrod. Eventually they find Lista, who like Jonathan is a "collector". From her they learn about the past, and a secret about Alex's grandfather is revealed.
A wonderful film that contains both laughter and sadness, filled with beautiful visuals and a good musical score. Highly recommended.
Another Day in Paradise (1998)
A gritty look at the criminal life
It wasn't until quite awhile after I read the novel by Eddie Little that I realized there was a film adaptation. I'm usually skeptical of adaptations, but I'm glad I saw this movie. It takes an unflinching look at the lives of lowlife criminals, living only for the next big score. James Woods and Melanie Griffith are great as Mel and Sid, the unconventional and unintentional parent figures to lovers Bobbie and Rosie (played by Vincent Kartheiser and Natasha Gregson Wagner), and all of them are junkies. These four people come together to form a strange kind of family, but a family that is doomed to fall apart. A great film with an ending that is both hopeful and sad.
Revenge of the Red Baron (1994)
Possibly the worst movie I've ever seen
I knew things were going to be bad when I saw the atrocious opening title sequence. I should've changed the channel right then and there, but in an act of intellectual masochism I kept on watching. Of all the historical figures they could've used for a horror flick, they chose the Red Baron? That level of stupidity alone is enough to drive most people away, but with a cast this good how could I resist (he said sarcastically). For his part Rooney is mostly unintelligible, and none of the actor's did a good job. The musical score was horrible, the effects were horrible, and I still haven't figured out what the deal was with all of the Baron's bad jokes. If you see this movie for free, you'd still have paid too much. Avoid at all costs. Since negative 5 isn't a choice, I'm giving this a 1 star rating.
No Vladimir (2000)
A very impressive short film
A nameless narrator tells the story of a peculiar college roommate. Vladimir is an impeccably dressed student who wants to become a spy. In pursuit of this goal he learns all he can about espionage, learning codes and leaving secret messages for his roommate (the narrator). Vladimir tries his best to become a real spy, but when he has no luck in his attempt to join several spy agencies, he quits his spy hobby. Then one day he vanishes. The narrator relates rumors that he became an international spy, went to Hollywood, or had been killed. Worried, he leaves a note in one of Vladimir's usual hiding places. Months later he finds a reply, a note reading simply "No Vladimir". This would be the last time that he heard from his old roommate. The narrator says that he still keeps his eye open for codes, and that no matter where he goes he always feels that Vladimir is lurking somewhere, waiting to pass on a message. As the short ends we see Vladimir walking along a crowded city street, and he tips his hat to the camera as he passes.
Bottle Rocket (1993)
Good but not great
Set to a jazz soundtrack, this short film set the stage for the feature film of the same name. Several scenes look almost identical to scenes from the feature, including the robbery of Anthony's mother's house, the firearm purchase and the planning of the bookstore robbery. There seems to be a bit more cursing present in the short than in the feature, and it makes for a few laughs. The dialogue contains the usual wit expected from Wilson and Anderson, and the black and white photography looks nice. The bookstore robbery isn't shown, but explained after the fact to Bob by Anthony and Dignan; this is a drawback, it isn't as amusing as actually watching it happen. The film ends on a funny note with Anthony and Dignan betting on which one of them would win in a foot race.
Dream with the Fishes (1997)
A good indie film.
Terry is suicidal after the death of his wife. Nick is an ailing junkie with only weeks to live. Using Terry's rainy day money they set out on a "vacation" to experience life and go out with a bang, with a promise that Nick will kill Terry at the end of the trip. They end up at the house of Nick's Aunt Elise, Nick tries to make peace with his father, and his girlfriend Liz shows up. While there Terry thinks he won the lottery, only to learn that it was a setup by Nick so that Terry would know what it felt like to win. Meanwhile, Nick's condition worsens. Nick ends up in the hospital and Terry changes his mind about dying. Ironically it's now Terry who helps Nick to die. Terry dumps Nick's ashes in a bay, and we learn the truth about Terry's "wife".
The Dream Catcher (1999)
A good film
Freddy leaves his pregnant girlfriend behind in Philadelphia. While on the road he meets up with Albert, a young kleptomaniac delinquent. Together they travel to see Freddy's uncle in a nursing home. Freddy learns from his uncle that the father who abandoned him has been let out of prison and has a job in Oklahoma City. Freddy finds his father working as a parking lot attendant, but his father doesn't recognize him. Freddy robs him, and lets him know who he is. Freddy and Albert then head towards Reno, where Albert says his mom has jobs waiting for them at a restaurant. Along the way the two stop at a carnival; there's an altercation and Freddy is hurt. They break into a church and spend the night. A Native American priest finds them the next morning and takes them to his home. The boys sit down for a meal with the priest's family. Freddy and Albert hit the road again, getting a ride with Katherine and her dog. Freddy soon realizes that Albert stole a dream catcher that had been hanging above a baby's crib in the priest's house. He gets angry and has a fight with Albert. When the two boys calm down, they all go to a motel. Katherine gives Albert some money to buy a gift for his mother, but he goes to an arcade instead. Back at the motel, Freddy shows Katherine a postcard sent to Albert by his mother. In it she tells Albert that she doesn't want to see him, and we (the viewers) learn that Albert's story about his mother waiting for him is a lie. Meanwhile, Albert steals a watch from a store. When employees attempt to stop him, he pulls a fake pistol on them and gets away. In the morning police show up at the motel; Katherine has already left. At the police station an officer tells Freddy that Albert will be put in the custody of Children's Services, and that he'll be charged with theft and assault. Freddy continues on alone to Reno to find Albert's mother at the restaurant where she works, but is told by the owner that she no longer works there. The owner asks him where's he's going, and he says, "Philadelphia". The film ends with Freddy riding in a van with a family.
A solid film with a good cast, especially the two leads. Throughout the film there are many beautiful exterior shots. The film also has a great soundtrack, with songs perfectly matching the moods of the scenes. Highly recommended.
Krakatoa: The Last Days (2006)
Excellent
A fact-based account of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in the Sunda Strait near Java, an Indonesian island. The eruption and its effects (including tsunamis and a super-hot ash cloud) took over 36,000 lives. The story follows several characters throughout the ordeal, including a Dutch official, his family, and his native clerk; a ship captain, his passengers and crew; a lighthouse keeper and his family; and a Dutch scientist in Indonesia to study the regions volcanoes. Included are narrations from diaries and journals of the survivors. The special effects are pretty good for a film of its kind, and unlike most made-for-TV fare, this docudrama actually has some good acting.
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Ain't war hell?
This is one of the best war (or anti-war) films that I have seen. It is a tale told in two parts. In the first part we follow green recruits as they go through basic training on Parris Island. It is the first part of the story that introduces us to two truly unforgettable characters: Drill Instructor Hartman is a terrifying figure who uses both verbal and physical abuse to mold his men into Marines. Hartman is superbly played by real-life ex-Marine R. Lee Ermey, and not a single word of his seems fake or contrived. The second unforgettable character is Pvt. Leonard Lawrence, better known as Pyle. From the first time you see him on screen you get the feeling that something isn't right. The overweight recruit takes the worst of Hartman's abuse, is humiliated, betrayed by a friend and finally completely broken down until he becomes the picture of quiet madness. The first part of the story ends with a shocking act of violence that shows what can happen when you ask ordinary men to become killing machines.
The second part of the story finds Joker (the character who narrates the film) in Vietnam, now a Sergeant and a writer for Stars and Stripes. His job is not as much about reporting the truth as it is about boosting morale. Joker is a walking contradiction, a Marine who wears a peace button, yet has "BORN TO KILL" written on his helmet. In this part of the story we meet another memorable character, Animal Mother, an unbalanced individual who while standing over the bodies of two fallen comrades says without emotion, "Better you than me". The last shots of Marines marching through fiery ruins while singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song could best be described as haunting. If war is hell, then these are the damned.
A great script, great cinematography, a solid cast and a good soundtrack all brought together by a great director. This film stands above all other Vietnam War movies, rivaled only by Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Full Metal Jacket is a film that everyone should see at least once, although it retains it's power even after repeated viewings. A truly great film.
Going Overboard (1989)
Novelty Value Only
Only worth seeing if you're a fan of Adam Sandler and want to see his first movie; other than that, there's not much incentive to watch it. There are a number of scenes that don't quite fit, such as the Noriega/terrorist storyline that makes no sense. Other scenes that are out of place include a surreal dream sequence with Schecky and Dickie Diamond, a scene where Schecky and Bob break into song for no good reason, and Billy Zane's appearance as King Neptune.
If there are any bright spots, they'd be the willingness of the movie to poke fun at itself at times, Scott LaRose's vulgar turn as Dickie Diamond, a foul-mouthed comedian with a taste for incest jokes, and a cameo by Milton Berle.
Pay attention or you might miss them: Allen Covert as a bartender and Billy Bob Thornton as "Dave" , a rude audience member.
Overall: A not so funny comedy. If you're interested in seeing Sandler's early work, watch it. If you're looking for laughs, this movie probably isn't for you.