bjohnt Reviews

True Grit (2010)

Believe the hype, and don't believe the haters.

[9/10 · 23 December 2010]

This film is great. The Coen brothers hit it out of the park with this film.

This film is getting a lot of unnecessary hate for being a remake of a John Wayne classic. These people do not know what they are talking about. These films are two different masterpieces that really shouldn't be compared to each other. Both are great in their own right. Yes, they are based off the same book, but this is more faithful.

Jeff Bridges, while not quite as memorable as the Duke, does a wonderful job here. He put his own, "Dudeish" spin on it. Don't compare Mr. Bridges to Mr. Wayne. It accomplishes nothing. A film is a film.

The direction and acting is top notch. The young actress who plays Mattie Ross is brilliant, and a great find by the Coen brothers. Matt Damon is also great, he's a perfect ***hole.

The film is beautifully shot. And it sounds great. My hat goes off to the cinematographer and composer.

9/10

Inception (2010)

A film people will look back on in the future.

[8/10 · 28 July 2010]

What can I, or anyone, say about this film? Nothing. It is damn near impossible to explain this movie. Which is why it is a must-see for any movie goer.

Christopher Nolan beautifully weaves this complicated tale of dream extractors forced to delve into the unknown depths of peoples dreams to find important information. Nolan chooses to throw the narrative structure into a blender, and at times you feel lost, but that's the point. He successfully brings you into the middle of these characters dreams, making you feel disoriented yet mystified.

The only gripe is the character development, for some of the characters. Of course, Leonardo DiCaprio is great as the protagonist, but I feel some characters were just left out in the cold. for example, Joseph Gordon Levitt's character, the "point man" really lacks any real emotion or purpose. This isn't the actors fault, it's the writing.

But all in all, it's a film no one should miss out on. I see this as a film people will look back on in the future. And it could very well define this generation. This is a love letter to cinema, saying "through all these remakes and reboots, there are people that can still make great films."

Year One (2009)

The Most Atrocious Piece of Crap I Have Seen in the Last Few Years

[1/10 · 19 June 2009]

Wow, this film is bad. The story, the acting, the jokes. NOTHING worked. Throughout the whole movie I was hoping it would end, I got a stomach- ache from it.

The story/theme/moral is balls, to say the least. The movie isn't even aware of where it's going until the last 10 minutes, and where it ended up was pure ****.

Now, I've always hated Michael Cera, and after watching this, I hate him even more. He is so one-dimensional. He plays the same role in every movies he's in. Don't believe me? Watch Juno, Nick & Norah's Infinite s***hole, Superbad, and Year One side-by-side. He is the ****ing SAME!!! Oh, and I'm a fan of Jack Black, but you could tell he just didn't want to be there. Pure ballsack.

And lastly, I never laughed once. I cringed and gagged during this movie more than anything. To Harold Ramis - Come on man! Direct another Ghostbusters movie or something.

Don't see this, watch the Proposal or something.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Exceeded my Expectations

[8/10 · 22 May 2009]

When I saw the trailer for this, I was pretty excited. I loved the whole premise of the first one, and having a sequel opened up whole new opportunities. I was excited when I saw all these famous characters from history being mashed together, Al Capone, Napoleon Bonaparte, Amelia Earhart, to name a few.

I walked into the theater not expecting to much, but when I left I was very happy with it. They handled every characters personality beautifully, and the inside jokes were hilarious. I don't want to give much away, but trust me, you'll laugh. It tackles many themes like, a house divided cannot stand, the way to happiness is doing what you love, don't dwell on the past, etc. For a family flick they handle this jumbled cast of characters with complex personalities amazingly. They threw away most of the characters from the first movie to make way for the newer characters, which I didn't like that much, but how many characters can you throw in a story to have it make sense?

This film is an amazing example of a movie made for kids and adults. Kids will enjoy the silly humor, and the monkey. While adults will laugh at the onslaught of in-jokes, and trust me, there's a lot.

All in all, this was a great movie, blew me away. The highlight for me was Hank Azaria, that lisp kills me every time.

Watchmen (2009)

Visually and psychologically stunning!

[9/10 · 7 March 2009]

So I got back from the midnight screening, and I gotta say, it's awesome.

First I'll start with the good. Most of it was outstanding! The characters, the acting, the visuals, were all amazing. This film is shot BEAUTIFULLY, it hypnotizes you. All of the actors were phenomenal, Jackie Earl Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup, and Patrick Wilson. The only actors who I thought lacked a bit was Malin Ackerman and Matthew Goode, they weren't bad, but weren't the best compared to the rest of the cast.

The bad. Well, some of it seemed a bit rushed. The third act was the weakest out of them all, but I hope the Directors Cut will fix that.

This is my favorite comic book movie based on my favorite comic book. It's a visual feast that you definitely don't want to miss.

RKO Production 601: The Making of 'Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World' (2005 Video)

The Only King Kong Documentary You'll Ever Need!

[10/10 · 5 January 2009]

Wow, this is great. If you are a fan of the original 1933 King Kong, this is a must-see. It contains lots of footage, pictures, and in depth interviews with people like Peter Jackson, Rick Baker, Joe Dante, Ray Harryhausen, and even Harry Knowles of "Ain't It Cool News".

This isn't just about the film, it gets into the history of the filmmakers (Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack), their past films, and the history of RKO.

They talk about the story, the history, the special effects, the music, the sound effects, everything that made King Kong great. The highlight, personally for me, is the whole segment on the "Lost Spider Pit Sequence", which, if you don't know, is one of the greatest mysteries in the history of cinema. I just love seeing Peter Jackson and his crew rebuild it using vintage, original equipment, just like in the '30's.

Overall, this is an excellent documentary, and they did an excellent job given the limited information they had.

10/10!