minjoe Blog

Under discussion:

Speed  (1994)

Street Kings  (2008)

When it comes to the Film Speed, I would be willing to say, with confidence, that I am the worlds foremost expert on this flick.  You see, I moved out of a house when I was in 4th grade and had to spend an entire summer living with my grandparents and family in a little tiny house while our new home was being built.  Almost everyone of my posessions was packed away, execpt for one glorious movie that made my summer one to remember.

To be honest, I'd say I've seen this movie well over 100 times.  I am not exaggerating.  That summer, I lived in one of the most boring neighborhoods in the world and all I would do was watch this movie--often several times a day.  What kept me coming back to this film time and time again?  A few things...

First off, I am more than willing to admit that my first "Hollywood crush" was Sandra Bullock and it was because of this movie.  She is sassy, in-control, and absolutely rockin' hot in this movie (or at least I thought so when I was like 11).  Furthermore, Jeff Daniels puts in a solid supporting role performance as he so often does.  Then we move on to more key roles..

Keanu Reeves....I don't know if you're like me--but I hate this man.  I hate him so much that I can't stop loving everything he is in.  I don't know what it is about him.  He says lines so poorly that full theatres are brought out of their seats with laughter (Street Kings anyone?) and yet I find him intriguing in every role I see him in.  In this movie, he plays his usual semi-lost self and I found it entertaining.  But what really made the movie for me was Dennis Hopper.

Dennis Hopper is perfect in this movie.  I don't even know what else to say.  As a child I recited some of his more memorable lines over and over again throughout the day and managed to develop one hell of a spot-on impression for a 4th grader.  Dennis is great as the psychotic, ex-cop who wants to stop people who prevent his bombs from "becoming explosions" (ok, so the dialouge is a little cliche--deal with it...).

As much as I personally love this film--I don't expect everyone to jump on board.  It is full of your usual cop cliches, Keanu Reeves is, as usual, completely uncomfortable looking with what he is doing, and the entire premise is a little--well--stupid. 

However, if you're looking for moments that defy logic--and physics for that matter--as well as some unintentionally funny dialouge--check out Speed at once!

Under discussion:

Psycho  (1960)

P2  (2007)

When I rented P2 I wasn't expecting anything more than the usual gruesome horror that we have come to expect these days.  It seems almost impossible to find a decent movie in this genre anymore.  Therefore, I was particularly suprised that P2 turned out to be such a good film.

As a whole, the film brings nothing necessarily new to the genre of horror films, but it does expand upon and perfect what we have come to expect from these types of movies.  The feeling of being trapped, working against a superior foe, running scared for your life, and facing increasingly insurmountable odds all come into play in P2.  Each and every scene is crafted to keep the audience yelling at the screen in a desperate plea to help the young damsel in distress played by Rachel Nichols.

However, what makes this movie more than just an average flick is the powerful and haunting performance delivered by Wes Bently.  He captured the depth and mental instability of a man who's loneliness masks a deeper psychotic problem.  In each and every scene he delivers his dialouge in a manner that will remind you of a certain cross-dressing murderer from a little film called Psycho.  He had sharp wit, cool yet menacing dialouge, and outright rage from time to time and each different "character mode" he delivered in a big way.

Definitely a film that suprised me and would certainly reccomend it!

Under discussion:

Stop-Loss  (2007)

Did I really want to go see Stop-Loss?  No.

Do I see too many movies, was bored, and therefore had no other movies currently available for me to see?  Yes.

Anyone who happened to stumble upon a trailer for the film Stop-Loss could probably give you the idea of what the movie was going to be about.  Part of me wondered whether or not they would deviate, in any way, from the trailers message of the war in Iraq being wrong and the United States Stop-Loss program being evil.  As I expected, the film veered very little from the path of shoving the idea that the war in Iraq is wrong and being handled poorly down the audiences throat. 

To be fair, the film was well shot, had some fairly consistent and well thought out characters, and an ending that made you think.  However, the film will be simply catalouged as "another anti-war" picture because of its inability to grow beyond that subtext.  There were many opportunities for the film to examine, more in-depth, the effect the war has on a soldiers mind, on his family life, etc.  Unfortunately, the plot revolves around the main character going AWOL and essentially running away from all those issues which could have made for an infinitely more interesting and poingant movie.

In the end, Stop-Loss just left me wanting so much more.  It wasn't a terrible movie, but it wasn't very great either.  I haven't felt so much indifference toward a movie in a long time.  

If you're a big advocate for or against the war, you may want to take a look at Stop-Loss to see what it has to say--but don't expect to hear anything new or original.