joebenaiah Reviews

Fever Pitch (2005)

Very solid genre movie

[6/10 · 11 April 2006]

This genre of movie, romantic comedy, is nearly impossible to make into a great movie. Thus, it is no surprise that Fever Pitch is not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination. That said, it is pretty good. The dialogue is often very funny, Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore are very endearing and likable and while there are no real surprises in the movie, well it is a romantic comedy so what do you expect? The ending is objectively pretty terrible, but it is exactly what I thought would happen going in and all romantic comedies are more about the journey (How will they fall in love?) rather than the outcome (Will they fall in love?). This isn't the best adaptation of a Nick Hornby book (High Fidelity or About a Boy), but it is an extremely easy movie to watch that both the guy and the girl will enjoy on a date.

V for Vendetta (2005)

Nothing special, read the book

[5/10 · 20 March 2006]

This isn't the worst movie ever, but don't buy the hype about a message movie. The message is heavy handed and poorly executed (note I am not saying I disagree with it or it is propaganda, it just isn't very good). Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving are wonderful, I mean I would watch N.P. eat breakfast and be happy, but certain aspects of their interactions are gut wrenchingly cliché and silly. The plot stresses simplicity and often the audience is informed of things rather than shown them just to make sure no one got lost on the straight as an arrow plot. Unfortunately simplicity does not prevent plot holes and this movie is rife with inconsistencies, omissions, pointless twists, a huge subplot with no resolution and perhaps the most cliché romantic dialogue imaginable. It isn't horrible, it isn't The Day After Tomorrow or Troy (prime examples of terrible blockbusters) but it is standard Hollywood fare and any message presented is done far more compellingly elsewhere no matter what your politics (it borrows a lot of it's ideologies from Bowling for Columbine). Go see the movie if you want some so-so escapist far, but you could get something better off the netflix queue without trying too hard (Brazil springs to mind). If you want to see the story done right, read the book.

Jarhead (2005)

lopsided

[7/10 · 28 October 2005]

It is weird to see a movie with brilliant direction, acting and a somewhat compelling story and yet still be left unsatisfied. The previews do not do this movie justice in any way, since they focus mostly on the brief moments of intense action and those are few and far between. To say that it is anti-climatic oversimplifies the deliberate choice to not have a climax. However in the sense that all of the tension of the movie builds up to a moment that contains none of the tension you would expect, the movie is classically anti-climactic. There are brilliant scenes throughout, though the voice over was a little melodramatic and the epilogue seemed pointless. I feel that everyone should see this movie, because where it is good it is transcendent (the interaction and culture of the men), but ultimately it falls short of its potential.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

amazing example of unintentional comedy

[2/10 · 8 June 2005]

This movie is one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen. Between the laughable premise, the awful overdone cgi and the constant need to inject action into the movie, this movie is a case study in how not to make a big budget movie. After it ended, friend and I stood in the parking lot recounting the movie. In the beginning of the movie, a portion of ice the size of Rhode Island splits off from the North Pole and the split happens right down the middle of a ten foot area between a tent and Dennis Quad. A cheesy jump over the gulf is just the first of nearly every cliché type of action sequence jammed into this behemoth. Later in the movie the characters run away from wolves and are chased down the hall by a wave of cold. Literally, cold chases them down the hall. If you are in the mood for a good laugh, or if you enjoy extremely formulaic action, rent this movie.

Intervention (2005– )

Amazing reality show

[24 April 2005]

I don't know how I could spoil a documentary, but at any rate: This show is proof positive of cable's superiority to network television. This show is amazingly real and extreme compared to ultra tame network soap opera's like the Amazing Race and Survivor. You are never sure whether an episode will end with you smiling and wiping away tears (like the story of the beautiful and talented masochist who tearfully accepted the treatment)with you squirming in your chair horrified at the tragic reality (the child prodigy turned gambling addict who is 200,000 in debt and yet verbally abuses his friends and family at the intervention). I get chills every time I watch this show, one of many great A&E reality shows (Dog the Bounty Hunter, Airline and Caesar's 24/7).

Exit to Eden (1994)

One of the worst movies I have ever seen

[1/10 · 16 April 2005]

I have seen many of the uber bad movies on the bottom 100: You Got Served, Glitter etc and I think this movie is up there with them. You Got Served and Glitter are obviously bad, but this movie is subtly the worst movie I have ever seen. I think that after Basic Instinct some Hollywood exec thought: "Hmm this is the next big thing, mainstream movies with tons of nudity and sex!" The problem with this thought is that a)that wasn't the next big thing and b) this movie has none of the traits of a mainstream movie. The acting in this movie is horrendous, aside from Rosie O'Donnell and Dan Aykroyd who play second fiddle to a couple of porn rate actors, the plot is awkward because it has to squeeze in so much sex and the directing kind of feels like a porn movie. The plot is the worst part, in my opinion, there are two distinct plots in the movie that intersect a couple of times and finally conclude concurrently. Nothing all that unusual there, but both plots are so meaningless and free from suspense that the only plot device evident is the switch between soft core sex scenes to Dan and Rosie standing around waiting for something to happen. The only reason to watch this movie is if you really need to see some nudity, and even the sex scenes are nothing special. Most are just standard soft core porn, only in order to pass it off as a "mainstream movie" even those are cut short. I vaguely remembered when this movie came out and I was pretty excited when it came on HBO, but it was so bad that I could barely go to sleep. If you have any choice in the matter WATCH SOMETHING ELSE!

Love Liza (2002)

Metaphor, not reality (spoiler)

[9 July 2004]

This film is hard to wrap your head around at first. Rather then give the viewer closure, it gives an extremely oblique ending. Why was Wilson walking down the road in only his underwear. (As a friend of mine pointed out about Bill in vol. 2, Where exactly was he walking to? Did he want to check out his garden with his last 5 steps?) I think that the ending is supposed to be a metaphor, rather then a literal interpretation.

Possible meanings: 1) The obvious metaphor is that Wilson is destroyed by the fire and is reborn. The match lights the destruction of his life and he is reborn. He wanders out into the world ready to begin again, a phoenix from the ashes.

2) Maybe the match combined with his huffing kill him and the metaphor is that in the end he is destroyed by her . The true victims of are those closest to the deceased and maybe the metaphor is that he is destroyed utterly by her choice. After all his of choice is similar to her method of , he carries a physical representation of her with him everywhere and he is only able to comes to terms with her after he has lost everything.

One last question: What was the significance of the scene of his wife drying after a shower? I love as much as the next guy but it seemed kind of random. If it was a hallucination, why her drying off?

I realize this isn't exactly groundbreaking stuff here but this is my first try.

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Extremely Unique yet frightening

[8/10 · 6 November 2003]

This movie is incredible! Not for young children however, as it is absurdly violent. Anything with Tarantino writing and Oliver Stone directing should be interesting and this certainly is. The movie is spellbinding and uber-violent. Woody is magnetic as a the coolest mass murder since Manson. The violence is initially horrifying but eventually you become accustomed to the gore. I would recommend this movie to all movie fans who can stomach it.