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JJ79

Member since 5/21/2007, last signed in yesterday.

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Personal statement:

Full length DVD and Theatrical Reviews are generated for DVDTown.

All other reviews are from my movie blog or a blog before The Movie Rambler came into existance. I am omitting some early reviews since they are, honestly, not very good.

No review, regardless of where it originated, is meant as an all encompassing comment on the film. This applies moreso to reviews from the movie blog, since those are shorter form pieces than anything written for DVDTown.

Wanna chat? Hit me up. I don't bite.

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Batman: Gotham Knight

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"Six different stories. Six different directors. Six different looks for the Caped Crusader. Batman: Gotham Knight is an anthology of short films-loosely connected-which center not on the crime fighter, but on the people around him. How cops see him. How a group of children relate their encounters with him. And his inability to put other people in the line of fire. With vastly different animation styles, Batman is reimagined: angular face, clawed hands, a shadow, an actual bat, Japanese anime character...until his final incarnation. The one we identify with the most.But about the short films: they are dark, brooding and dangerous. Gotham City is the GC of the Chris Nolan films, not the 1960s television series. Not even Batman Beyond or Justice League Unlimited showed a reality as depressing as the one here. The character Deadshot is a major villain here, something not done on any in any previous story. Why? By definition, Deadshot kills people. Graphically. Bloodily. ... " [More]

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder (2008)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"When a Vietnam-era film shoot goes completely wrong, a novice director (Steve Coogan) throws his A-list cast (including Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr., and Jack Black) into the middle of the jungle, hoping to get authentic reactions from them with hidden cameras. But when director Cockburn is...removed from the picture, the actors have no idea what is real and what isn't. Thus beings their trek to, according to the script anyway, a prison camp and eventual "freedom." But things are never as easy as they seem. I have the same issue with Tropic Thunder I have with nearly all comedy: sometimes it's hideously funny while, other times, it ends up pandering to the lowest common denominator, resulting in toilet humor. And I'm not a fan of the latter most of the time. So the half of this film which pokes fun at the Hollywood establishment and is honest to goodness funny? A home run. The other part, with fart jokes and nascent storylines and performances allowed to go on a bit too ... " [More]

Dante's Inferno

Dante's Inferno (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"You´ve got to hand it to this Dante Alighieri guy. Something he wrote way back in the 14th century made its way to the 21st century. That something is the "Divine Comedy," otherwise known as "Dante´s Inferno." The story is simple (at least this version of it): a poor schmuck named Dante (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) finds himself at the threshold of hell with Virgil (James Cromwell) as his guide. Together they travel through the nine circles of hell in an attempt to scare Dante straight, more or less. First off, I need to explain something about the most current version of this story. There is one live actor in the entire 78-minute production. And he comes in near the end. The rest of the action is portrayed using puppet theater. Remember the 1980s fad Shrinkidnks? The plastic characters which kids could cut out, color and then bake to make them (1) hard and (2) shrink? Imagine pulling off a feature length film using Shrinkidinks. That´s puppet theater. Now imagin ... " [More]

Traitor

Traitor (2008)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. [What do you think?]
"Don Cheadle loves his political activism. How else do you account for his starring role in "Traitor," a movie which sounds like a good idea on paper, but becomes too muddled with characters and story to be truly effective? To be sure, the feature isn´t something he should have run from. Rather, it is an important production (much like 2006´s criminally overlooked "Catch a Fire") which refuses to paint a quick and easy portrait of what it means to be a terrorist, opting instead to question the conventional wisdom as well as the audience´s own perceptions. It´s the second part "Traitor" has issues with. Samir (Cheadle) witnesses his father being blown up in Sudan as a young boy. Years later, he is captured delivering explosive material to a known terrorist and jailed. It is there he makes a name for himself, so much so that when the inevitable prison break happens, he is included in the escapees. As Samir bounces from country to country-and continent to conti ... " [More]

Bangkok Love Story

Bangkok Love Story (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"I will confess right off the bat: I fell in love with "Bangkok Love Story" approximately a half hour in to the movie. The pivotal scene which drew me lock, stock and barrel into the film centers on hit man Cloud being washed by his would-be target Stone on the top of a Bangkok building, skyscrapers littering the background behind them. It is a sensual, lyrical, romantic sequence full of passion and lust. Not a word is spoken between the two; all we need to know is written on their faces. This scene elevates "Bangkok Love Story" from a hybrid shoot ´em up/romance to something different, something more. The film, the first written by writer/director Poj Arnon, suffers when it tries to meld the two, failing spectacularly in the shoot ´em up scenes. But it´s the romance which carries the day. When we first meet Cloud (Rattanaballang Tohssawat), he is killing seemingly random people on the streets. This is his job: murder. The money then goes to his mother and brother ... " [More]

The Riddle

The Riddle (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"Had you told me prior to watching "The Riddle" Vinnie "Juggernaut" Jones was starring in a movie with Vanessa Redgrave and Derek Jacobi, I would have laughed. Seriously, "I´m the Juggernaut, bitch" with British-and acting-royalty? Those names don´t compute for me. After watching the feature, it turns out to be the least bewildering aspect of the production. Mike Sullivan (Jones) is a sports reporter itching to cover something over than dog races. His abrasive attitude doesn´t ingratiate him to a local detective (P. H. Moriarty), though a police press liaison takes a liking to him. When a friend-and pub owner-dies, Sullivan begins to follow the story, but where it ends up taking him spans centuries. The acting is the least of the problems in "The Riddle." Really, it happens to be the strong suite, with a remarkably adept Jones in the lead and a solid roster of actors backing him up. Redgrave, in only two scenes, brings to the screen a villainous cold newspaper pu ... " [More]

Elitexc: Uprising - Rua vs. Lawler

EliteXC: Uprising (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"The first EliteXC 2-disc set in a while which doesn´t feature brawler Kimbo Slice lacks drama. Despite the presence of returning fighters (from previous events) Nick Diaz, Gina Carano, Jake Shields and Joey Villasenor, "EliteXC: Uprising" can´t quite combine the freshness of "Destiny" or "Renegade" with the crowd appeal of "Street Certified." And for the life of me, I can´t figure out why. It´s not the historical aspect to the presentation. Even if the World Middleweight Champion Murilo "Ninja" Rua hadn´t been upset by "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler, the second appearance by Carano should have done the trick. Featured in the third televised fight, Carano-also known as Crush on the new "American Gladiators"-wins her first match by submission. The fact females get into the cage to pummel one another is something I remain intrigued by. Why? Because both Carano and her challenger Tonya Evinger are every bit the fighters the men are, though you wouldn´t kn ... " [More]

Cthulhu

Cthulhu (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"Somewhere inside "Cthulhu" is a decent, if not good, story featuring the supernatural, the dark secrets of one coastal town, strained family dynamics and a burgeoning romance. Thanks to a tediously slow opening half hour and poor editing, the film doesn´t add up to much in the end, besides a wasted opportunity. Upon learning of his mother´s death, Russ Marsh (Jason Cottle) returns home to a strained relationship with his father and sister. It seems as though the elder Marsh isn´t thrilled with his son´s homosexuality, leading to the rift. Even though Russ is keen on returning to his other life, he becomes sucked into the seedy underbelly of the Oregon coast, one which may alter his destiny forever. I didn´t intend to be glib when I say "Cthulhu" carries all the hallmarks of a project from a first time writer and director (Grant Cogswell and Dan Gildark, respectively). What the film takes from Lovecraft is the titular creature and a concept from the 1 ... " [More]

Secret

The Secret (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"In spite of its origin, "The Secret" manages to craft a compelling, thought-provoking and heart breaking narrative of love and loss thanks to an outstanding performance from Olivia Thirlby and solid turns from both David Duchovny and Lili Taylor. ("The Secret" is a remake of a 1999 Japanese film. That film, in turn, is an adaptation of a Japanese novel.) When Hannah Marris and her daughter Sam (Taylor, Thirlby) are in a car accident, Hannah´s spirit is transferred into the younger body in a moment of paranormal transference. It is then up to the combined Hannah/Sam and Ben to navigate this new relationship, including marital sex and Sam´s teenager life, while maintaining the illusion of a mourning-though functional-family. There is a situation we fully expect to see in the movie, based on the actions and diagloue present in "The Secret." It´s not a scene we especially want to see; this one seems inevitable, almost like the predetermined confrontation between go ... " [More]

My Brother is an Only Child

My Brother is an Only Child (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"There is a saying: blood is thicker than water. The implied meaning is the bonds of family-the blood-can overcome anything-the water-can throw at it. Certainly this theory has been tested time and again in film and in real life. Love interests, money, philosophies, politics…they have all come between family members to varying finales. Luke and Anakin (aka Darth Vader) had a fundamentally different view of the universe and look where it got them. In "My Brother is a Only Child," Italian politics in the 1950s and 1960s tears apart two brothers who find themselves on opposing sides. One event sends young Accio (Elio Germano) running into the hands of the fascist party: the Cuban Missile Crisis. In seminary school, he is told to pray for an end to the conflict. Immediately, he leaves school, determined to make a real difference in the world. He butts heads with brother Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio), a communist, as well as the rest of his family. It isn´t until one other ... " [More]

Webs

Webs (2003)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"Sometimes it´s impossible not to roll your eyes before a movie even starts. It´s the cover art, the synopsis, an actor…something demands higher level thinking skills get put on hold in favor of enjoying dopey fun. For me, it was seeing a "Sci Fi Essentials" banner on the top of "Webs." Sci Fi Channel movies are rarely anything more than filler on the channel and never what I´d call "essential." And then there´s the little matter of Richard Grieco as the lead character, a plot ripped right out of a "Star Trek" episode and creature effects Ray Harryhausen would have been ashamed of back in the 1950s. A group of Chicago electricians find themselves transported to an alternate universe where the last vestiges of humanity are being hunted by a Queen Spider. When humans are caught, the females are used as food and the males turned into her army. With the spider army nipping at their heels, Dean (Grieco) and a small band of survivors need to create a telep ... " [More]

Man, Woman and the Wall

Man, Woman and the Wall (2007)
By JJ79 in JJ79 Blog
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"Continuing this summer´s trend of showing positive portrayals of eavesdropping (see: "The Dark Knight"), "Man, Woman and the Wall" is an attempt by writer/director Masashi Yamamoto to showcase the flipside of the oft-talked about practice. It´s more than that, too, as reporter Ryo (Keita Ohno) becomes fascinated with his next door neighbor Satsuki (Aoi Sola) thanks to a very thin wall separating their small apartments. The more he hears, the more he creates the world Satsuki lives in from an impossibly kitschy apartment to her amorous boyfriend, Yuta. "Man, Woman and the Wall" doesn´t much bother with the moral or legal questions surrounding listening to a neighbor. No, the screenplay allows Ryo to poke fun at himself a couple times, commenting to those around him he is taken with Satsuki. He´s a voyeur, masturbating to the sounds of Yuta and Satsuki having sex. He´s a daydreamer, imagining the events on the other side of the wall. He´s even a g ... " [More]

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