james0122

Member since 5/4/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

"Captain Courageous"

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Personal statement:

I've been raised in the Hollywood hills and have known the actual Hollywood my whole life.

I've been fascinated with the medium of motion pictures for as long as I can remember. I've seen many films throughout the years from silent melodramas to the recent blockbusters and indie films.

I make every attempt to see the message and character portrayals in everything I see. I enjoy documentaries, especially those that teach without being too preachy. This visual medium has the power to raise people's consciousness.

For fiction, I've enjoyed John Ford, Humphrey Bogart, John Huston, John Wayne, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis, Douglas Fairbanks, Cecil B. DeMille, the Marx Brothers, Edward G. Robinson, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Arnold Schwartinegger, Judy Garland, Francois Truffaut, Akira Kurosawa, many, many more.

I like mystery thrillers, comedys, historical dramas, just about anything that's well told and stays with me after it's finish.

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james0122's movie tags

Talk

Re:What movie character best re ...
By james0122 in if i were a movie character
"I'll pick Travis Bickel in Taxi Driver. Once I'm going in, no pimp, no anybody is going to stop me. " [More]

Then She Found Me

Then She Found Me - A major com ...
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Actually, it’s very unlikely if “Then She Found Me” will take in the bucks that a new James Bond or Indiana Jones movie might do. But I just saw an advanced screening last night through Film Independent with Hunt present for q and a. I must say I was extremely satisfied. A chick flick this is, but it’s a masterful one and I highly recommend it. Gestating for ten years, she took the plunge as co-producer, co-writer, played the lead character and made her directorial feature debut of this tale of broken trusts and betrayals. I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers as there are many surprises here and probably best seen without even seeing the trailer. I will say there’s a strong Jewish theme that the novel this was based on had and Hunt saw no reason to change that. In fact, atonement is very big in the Jewish faith. It starts off with her getting married to Matthew Broderick and we quickly find out that he’s totally pathetic and selfis ... " [More]

Knocked Up

Re:What movie character best re ...
By james0122 in if i were a movie character
"Though I'm not exactly like him but I definitely could identify with Seth Rogan in "Knocked Up." In my case, I did not get Mary Ann (a Philipina version of Katherine Heigl) pregnant. The look she gave me the next morning when we had breakfast at IHOP. I hardly indulge anymore but I also suggested to smoke a good joint is the best way to cure a fierece hangover. Smoking anything period was unacceptable to her and most of the breakfast was in silence. Weeks after, we did hang out but she brought her boyfriend and that was that. " [More]

Re:The good then bad and quite ...
By james0122 in Double Feature
"Being a bit of a classic movie buff, I'll throw in a Humphrey Bogart double feature:The African Queen, the classic he did with Huston and Hepburn followed by Sirocco, which he sacrifices himself for no good reason to the sadistic Lee J. Cobb character. Sirocco also must be remembered as the last Santana Productions release. That was Bogart's independent production venture and it was the stinker that ended that. " [More]

Fight Club

Good Edward Norton but didn't c ...
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"This movie definitely has it's moments and this does have one of Edward Norton's best performances. He is strongly supported by Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter.The whole premise of a fight club that guys go to to break their office routines was fresh. That it could have led to anarchy and/or other types of craziness was good. But it ended up just being part of Norton's imagination. It took me by surprise and felt left down by it. " [More]

Little Miss Sunshine

The Little Movie That Could
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"Dysfunctionality is another name of this movie. All cast numbers are in peak form. With the exception of Toni Collette, the surrogate mother of all of them, this family can't even relate to each other. Greg Kinnear's motivatational speeches can't motivate anybody. Steve Carell got dumped by his gay partner. Paul Dano won't talk to anybody. Alan Arkin sniffs coke. But Abagail Breslin has them all rooting for her to be Little Miss Sunshine. It is one funny movie and a very touching one as well.Worth seeing again and again, though at times a little too quirky for its own good. Highly recommended. " [More]

Batman Begins

Batman revamped again
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"A few years ago, Tim Burton gave the public two Batman movies. He gave a nice visual style and cinema a Batman one could almost take seriously. The two that followd were inferior, the last one bad enough that they were no more Batman movies for awhile.Christopher Nolin took a crack at the Masked Manhunter and gave the Batman origin a delicious spin. Mainly, from the death of his parents to being a full fledged Batman, what did Bruce Wayne do in between those times?Christian Bates as Bruce Wayne is well cast as the bored billionaire that Wayne pretends to be and Katie Holmes is the best I've seen her as the quizative reporter. Lian Nelson has the best role, actually as Wayne's mentor turned into Batman's nemesis in a character arc that actually makes some sense. I enjoyed seeing how the belt gets invented, the suit. This is the best Batman to date and look forward to the next one but only if it's Nolan directing. " [More]

The Big Lebowski

Cult classic
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"Jeff Bridges became The Dude in this movie. Everyone in this movie acts slightly retarded. Once you get that this is a comedy, then sit back and enjoy the ride. The Dude is more mad that his rug got peed on more than anything else. Steve Busemi gets to play a weirdo that made me belly laugh several times. I found this to be one of those films that grows on you The comebacks arre very good. For example, Bridge's head being pushed into a toilet bowl. He doesn't know where the money is but it's definitely not in there. The soundtrack is strong. The showdown gets a little confusing but that's good as The Dude is supposed to be confused and in conflict. " [More]

Spider-Man 3

A fun ride
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"I would agree with some reviews that I've read that things just happen just because they happen. For instance, the black stuff that falls near Spidey and MJ. Sandman becomes the invincible Sandman just becaue the escaped criminal runs into the machine. Even more awkward is putting the Sandman at the scene of the crime where Uncle Ben gets murdered. What's even more contrived is the way Sandman gets into the mix of a story already populated with Venom, New Goblin and James J Jamerson's daughter. Howeve, Raimi keeps those relationships changing and I was rarely bored. Love the way the love relationship with Peter Parker and Mary Jane is played out. Near the beginning of the movie, his head is in the clouds while MJ just got fired from her gig. It is their relationship that's the core of this movie. Despite its problems, I do recommend this movie. " [More]

Blue Collar

Detroit Auto Industry Blues in ...
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"I live near the American Cinematheque in Hollywood and this movie was part of the seventies series the second weekend of May 2007. I believe Paul Schrader really got the lingo down though I strongly suspect some assistence from Richard Pryor, whose angry black man persona wasn't that far away from his classic stand up routines at this period. There's even a party scene where he sniffs coke and has sex with whores along with his buddies Harvey Keitel and Yaphel Kotto. Their desperate situations really tempt them to rob the union which is every bit as corrupt as the auto indistry it serves. Thirty years later, these types of jobs would be gone from Detroit, making this a good time capsule ot this era. It is quite bleak, particulary what happens to Kotto and the last freeze frame of Pryor and Keitel at each other. There is poignancy of the later two, as the viewer sees their unhappy family situations. Definitely worth seeing. " [More]

My Favorite Musical
By james0122 in james0122 Blog
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"Musicals are not a favorite genre. In fact, growing up in the sixties, the major musical stars were able to sustain massive fan bases strictly on their audio recordings. There was a notable exception, Elvis Presley, whose sixties musicals actually lost fans to the more creative Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.However, many successful musicals were made in the sixties. West Side Story, which won ten Oscars, was the first one.. For me, it's the best and holds up extremely well. Though the viewer believe for one second that they're watching gang members, it presented race relations in such a way that would not only frustrate Maria and Tony, it would actual slayings and an attempted rape in this musical.The songs are top natch, especially the haunting "Maria", but there's not a bad song in this Bernstein-Sondheim score. Add the choreograhy of Jerome Robbins and the visual editing skills of veteran director Robert Wise and this is one movie I have seen over ... " [More]

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