REVIEW: Miami Vice [2006]

“Drugs, Money, and Speed” I had heard a rumor going around that writer/director Michael Mann was having a real tough time cutting his feature adaptation of his own 80’s television drama “Miami Vice.” Supposedly he wasn’t finding a balance in the material he shot that would support his vision of the update. Whether this is true or not, I believe he was finally able to come to terms with the brutal look at underground police justice he had filmed. The movie has an edge to it that works well with…

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REVIEW: Hostel [2005]

“Elite Hunting” I have to applaud writer/director Eli Roth for what he has created in Hostel. To me this film is not as much a horror flick as a thriller told with all the gruesome brutality intact. There are no scares, no haunting music crescendoing, and no jump in your seat moments that we expect from the genre. Yes, we get blood and gore and uncut severing of body parts, the film is definitely not for the squeamish, however, Roth tells it in such a way that we as an…

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REVIEW: Lady in the Water [2006]

“Man has forgotten how to listen” M. Night Shyamalan has really matured as a filmmaker the past few years. After an auspicious beginning with the much-adored Sixth Sense, he followed with a slow, poorly paced Unbreakable and the not quite sure what it wanted to be Signs. At this point I pretty much wrote him off, except for the brilliance in marketing that seems to make his trailers must sees. I grudgingly went to The Village in 2004 and to my surprise loved it. Everything that didn’t work in his…

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REVIEW: Clerks II [2006]

“The Passion of the Clerks” Who would have thought twelve years ago that the small indie film Clerks would be a success, considered a classic, and eventually spawn a sequel? I don’t think even writer/director Kevin Smith would have thought he’d be working in Hollywood let alone having all that occur. Alas, it did. While a movie that I love, I have to say there were many reservations going into the announcement of a follow-up to Smith’s debut feature. It was a View Askew film, however, and it was going…

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REVIEW: The Deer Hunter [1978]

“One shot” Michael Cimino’s masterpiece The Deer Hunter is one of the greatest films ever made. Concerning a group of steel worker friends in Pennsylvania, the movie shows us the comradery and good natured fun they enjoy together leading up to their departure for Vietnam. We open on the day of Stevie’s (John Savage) wedding, a joyous time before the hell that will soon swallow them whole. A very traditional Russian ceremony leads into a raucous reception at a friend’s bar (George Dzundza), where at its conclusion Robert De Niro’s…

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REVIEW: Waydowntown [2000]

“Sadly I’m Bradley” Waydowntown is Calgary, Alberta’s Gary Burns’ satiric look on the office workplace. While a film like Mike Judge’s Office Space goes for the laughs and absurdity of the daily grind, Burns gives us something more palpable with his take. We are looking in on a group of corporate ants roaming through their cage, seemingly free in their small existences. This film is a sociology project showing relationships between people and how their environments affect not only themselves, but also those they interact with. However, it is a…

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REVIEW: A Scanner Darkly [2006]

“I saw death rising from the ground” What if the government turned one of its own into that which it serves to rid society of? If it enlisted anonymous employees for a mission, while necessary, that called for them to turn their recruit into an addict? The only way to infiltrate an illegal operation is to send one of its own inside. One sacrifice needs to see darkly in order for humanity to one day be able to see clearly again. A Scanner Darkly is a dark and personal descent…

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REVIEW: The Boondock Saints [1999]

“Evil is the indifference of good men” Why did Troy Duffy need to open his mouth and burn every bridge he had in Hollywood? After making an amazing movie like The Boondock Saints, more so for being his first feature film script and direction, fans are told a sequel, All Saints Day, is planned. Unfortunately no one will probably ever see that film because of Duffy’s arrogance and pride. After being given money and trust to create the movie, he repaid his backers with public insults during his drunken stupors.…

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REVIEW: Sky High [2005]

“Did I mention she’s not just her twin, but her ‘evil’ twin?” What a nice surprise this movie is. The trailer always piqued my interest, but I just never had Sky High at the top of my movie to see list. I must now do the shameless plug of OnDemand television; it is a great little technological advancement allowing me to finally see the flick. It was an entertaining ride, skewering the “hero” genre while also sending it up. Each character served a purpose to the end means of the…

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REVIEW: Charade [1963]

“Punch and Judy” After seeing the dismal Jonathan Demme film The Truth About Charlie, I was left aghast. The film had so much going for it. But it was a major letdown besides the surreal New Wave feel of the sequence just before the end credits. I flipped the disc over upon completion to check out the bonus movie Charade on which it was based. I fast-forwarded a bit and discovered the dialogue was pretty much the same in that part, so I took it out and returned the rental.…

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REVIEW: Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest [2006]

“Hide the rum” Disney hit gold figuratively and literally in 2003 with a successful theme park ride adaptation. (While I loved the movie, please don’t get me started on the whole adding Jack Sparrow to the attractions in Florida and California, thus ruining tradition and memories of childhood…it just hurts too much.) In the world of Hollywood today, we all knew that that success would lead to a franchise. It’s a good thing that the filmmakers seemed to of had the same amount of fun as the audience because they…

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