Camp Lazlo (2005 - 2008)

An American animated comedy series created by Joe Murray, directed by Sue Mondi and Brian Sheesley.
Anthropomorphic animals are at summer camp. Lazlo the monkey stars with his friends Raj the elephant and Clam the rhinoceros. The scoutmaster is Lumpus the moose. They are always involved in some type of absurd situation.
American animated series of this time period were noticably poor in terms of plot and writing, but this is the exception to that trend. It didn't seem like "stupid kids' stuff", but more universal humor dealing with exaggeration and hyperbole. Some of the elements which entertained me most were the dung beetles (my favorite characters voiced by Steve Little), Lougie Llama and Lazlo's arms making impossible shapes. The animation style is very traditional and cartoony. Creator Jo Murray also made Rocko's Modern Life, an earlier cartoon which I like as well. Carlos Alazraqui voiced Rocko and Lazlo, Tom Kenny voiced Heffer on Rocko's Modern Life, Spongebob on Spongebob Squarepants, Eduardo on Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Scoutmaster Lumpus and Slinkman on Camp Lazlo. Mr. Lawrence voiced Filburt on Rocko's Modern Life, Plankton on Spongebob Squarepants, Edward, Dave, Ping-pong and Nurse Leslie on Camp Lazlo. Jodi Benson voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Tula in Pirates of Dark Water, Patsy, Jane Doe and Almondine in Camp Lazlo. The series was produced in 16:9 aspect ratio and originally aired in 4:3. I watched a 4:3 version and it makes me wonder what got cut out or modified to change the frame shape. I rate this good.

About Cherry (2012)

An American drama directed by Stephen Elliott, starring Lili Taylor, James Franco and Heather Graham.
A girl leaves her home, messed up family and boyfriend to move to San Francisco with a male friend. She has paid for the trip with money from a nude photo shoot and enters the porn industry. She meets a rich lawyer and they begin a relationship. Her mother and sister visit, but things don't work out very well with that.
Kind of a weak start, strong middle and terrible ending. It took a little while for things to get happening, but then held my attention. Production was good and the characters worked. There was lots of selective focus in camerawork. A good example is filming filming and having the camera focus shift from camera screen to action. Correct casting and good writing made it seem like the characters were not acting, but actually in these scenes. Isn't that the goal with casting, acting and dialogue? The ending was really just a vaguely implied series of incomplete information. It's difficult to spoil what is so difficult to describe. Small changes took place and we have to assume that time has elapsed before these quick scenes of altered situations. I rate it adequate because the middle was made so well.
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Lekce Faust (1994)

A Czech, French, British, German, American fantasy directed by Jan Švankmajer
A man receives a map from men passing them out on a street corner. He follows it and becomes an actor in the role of Faust at a theater production. As the story progresses, stop motion fantasy elements are added and he turns into a marionette, but goes back to being an actor between scenes, while still in a deal with the devil.
Jan Švankmajer also made Alice (1988) and Little Otik (2000). This belongs in the same category as those: weird and wonderful. I liked Little Otik the most, but this was pretty cool too. The stop motion all looked good and there were some great scenes. The heads rolling through areas looked good and the small marionettes in the signature scene were great. My favorite was when the jester was trying to catch a bird. He repeatedly summoned and banished a devil with some humor involved. The audio was in Czech, but the version I watched had on time English subtitles. I rate this good just for being so strange. You should probably watch it.
Sorry, no image. Blogger is broken again.

Mutafukaz A.K.A. ムタフカズ －MUTAFUKAZ－, Mutafukazu, MFKZ (2017)

A French Japanese animated adventure directed by Shōjirō Nishimi and Guillaume "Run" Renard.
A character with large eyes lives in a city ghetto with his friend whose head is a flaming skull. He finds that there are "tentacle mafia" guys all around and he is involved with them. The daughter of the tentacle mafia leadeer takes a liking to big eyes and some luchador wrestlers help them.
Amazing! There are very few movies which will prevent me from playing guitar while I watch them. This is among that elite group. My friend, Thomas recommended this, so I have to thank him here. Although this is very unique, I would recommend it if you liked Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010), The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009), Bigg Snoop Dogg: Adventures of Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2008) and The Boondocks (TV series). I rate it best. Watch it!

About Adam (2000)

An Irish British American romance directed by Gerard Stembridge.
3 women from the same family are all interested in the same man.
I could tell within 5 or 10 minutes that this movie was not for me. I waited until 35 minutes in to turn it off. As I have said before, love and war are my least favorite subject matter for films. The video was really bright, which is not bad, but this usually (and in this case) goes along with very feminine films. I'm just too male to appreciate any value which my be there. I rate it shit in accordance with my turn off policy.

Karas series A.K.A. 鴉－KARAS－, Karasu (2005 - 2007)

A Japanese science fiction fantasy anime directed by Keiichi Sato.
Deomons, spirits, kappas and city guardians duke it out in Shinjuku. A police detective is trying to figure out what is going on and there is a young woman wandering around.
Most of this was not so great. The plot was vague and muddy, so I didn't really know what was going on. There were a few fights and good scenes here and there. Then the ending happened. It made it all worthwhile. I'll just say that there is a long fight. The animation style mixed traditional anime with digital editing and really looked cool. I was watching the last 2 episodes, wondering what to write about this and that's all I got. I rate this adequate. You might want to just watch the last 3 episodes.

Xanadu (1980)

A Musical romance directed by Robert Greenwald, starring Gene Kelly.
A painter reproduces album covers on a larger scale and meets a woman who was on one of the covers. He also meets an old jazz musician and they open a dance club.
Not good at all. What I want to talk about here is not lack of originality or crappy music. I'm not discussing how this won more bad awards than good ones or how terrible a film it is. I want to point out Don Bluth's animation sequence. That's why I watched it. The male and female lead actors turn into fish and birds. That may seem inconsequential until you see them and their similarity to those in The Sword and the Stone (1963). So similar, in fact, that I expected the characters to become squirrels at any moment. The posture of this bird reminds me of when Wart turned into a sparrow (image). I rate this bad because it was damn near torture to watch. Don't inflict this upon yourself or anyone you know.

A Troll in Central Park A.K.A. Stanley's Magic Garden (1994)

post #2900

An American animated fantasy directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, starring Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leachman and Jonathan Pryce.
A troll is deported from troll land, into New York City because he has been making flowers with his green thumb. He lands in central park and meets a pair of children. It turns out that exiling him is not enough for the troll queen and she arrives to cause more trouble.
Alright, but not great. Pacing was what I noticed first. Everything flies by in a rush. Next was song quality. If Don Bluth wanted any chance of even co-existing with Disney, he needed better songs. At least the instruments and vocals were mixed better than All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989). The animation looked much like the other work of this studio, but not quite as good. It seems like somewhere in the late '80s and early '90s is when the studio stopped producing their best work. If you look at Don Bluth's filmography on Wikipedia, there are 4 columns for credit. I get the feeling that when these are all green (meaning Bluth did it), it's a great movie. He did also animate some Wolfgang Reitherman films for Disney. Something funny that I noticed in this film was the squirrel looking completely thrashed on drugs (image). Why? Then there was the issue with the bottle (baby bottle) and I was thinking that the squirrel probably has a liquor bottle if you need it that badly. I rate this adequate, but would only recommend it if you're into Don Bluth's work. There will be a few more of these coming soon.

The Killing of America A.K.A. アメリカン・バイオレンス, Amerikan baiorensu (1982)

A Japanese American mondo documentary directed by Sheldon Renan and Leonard Schrader.
Murder and murderers in America are discussed.
This was really nothing special. The killers were covered quickly. Lots of television footage was used, so the audio and video were both pretty terrible. There was tons of dead air noise to the point of cacophony and some of the video was so low quality that movement in it turned psychedelic. There was also a strong anti-gun message, even though most of the killers did not use guns. There was some gruesome crime scene footage, but that was tame compared to other mondo films I've seen. I rate this o.k. and would not recommend watching it.

About a Boy (2002)

A British French German American romantic comedy directed by Chris and Paul Weitz, starring Hugh Grant, Toni Collette and Rachel Weisz.
An independently wealthy man decides that single mothers are good to date and gets himself in trouble by lying about having a son. Through a friend of a friend, he meets the 12 year old son of a suicidal single mother and they become friends.
I think I like Chris Weitz as a director. I recently watched A Better Life (2011) and saw the similarities between these 2 films. His films don't jump out and grab the viewer like those of Alejandro Jodorowsky or Quentin Tarantino, but these realistic dramas about families are made well and hold my attention. They seem to have a tendency to get a little sappy at the end, but I can see past a little maple syrup when the rest is this good. Something about this one that I really liked was the heavy double narration. The man and the boy both had voice-overs spaced through the duration. I'm rating this good. If you like this or A Better Life, you should watch the other and possibly other films by Chris Weitz.

Mondo New York (1988)

An American mondo film (not a documentary though) directed by Harvey Nikolai Keith.
A young woman walks through the city and watches performance artists, comedians and musicians.
I tend to like mondo documentaries, but this is mondo in name only. Most of the others deal with recording as much of reality as will fit in the time, but this was all performances. It seems forced and contrived by comparison and that is not what mondo is supposed to be. The Italian word, "mondo" translates into English as "world". Mondo Cane (the original) was "a dog's world", making this "New York World". I have seen other films which used the mondo film principle of uncensored reality in New York and were good. Pedal showed bicycle messengers in the way in which this film should have been done. The third from last performer was worst. She covered her body in glitter and screeched "oh" before each sentence. The last one was my favorite. He was a cross-dresser who said "fuck _____" with the ____ fill in banks, fast food, whatever evil of modern society. Enough trash talk. I rate it bad because it defies the precepts of the genre and made me want to turn it off.

Mondo Cane 2 (1963)

An Italian mondo documentary directed by Gualtieto Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi.
Scenes of contrast from around the world are shown and "explained" by the narrator.
These old mondo films were wild and still are. There were funny moments like the explanation of the vending machine restaurant, paint spitting art and the "hard head" village. Many of the scenes from America were explained as if Americans are a strange and foreign tribe, almost aliens from another planet. It may have been intentional for humor. There were also tragically disturbing moments like the stink bug tacos in Mexico, flamingos and the tortured children. I can watch almost anything, but those pushed my limits. The audio on the version I got was in English, so it was easier to watch than the last mondo film I reviewed. I like to keep my reviews of mondo films short so as not to give away everything. If mondo films are for you, you need to see the originals (like this) and I rate it good. If mondo films are not for you, you know it and won't watch them. Be aware that it seems nothing is "off limits" in these.

A Better Life (2011)

An American drama directed by Chris Weitz, starring Demián Bichir.
An illegal  Mexican father works in landscaping. His sister lends him money to buy his friend's truck, but the truck is immediately stolen. His son has been distant, but grows closer to his father while searching for the stolen truck.
Pretty cool. The plot held my attention and characters fit their roles. Acting seemed natural and dialogue was convincing, meaning there was good writing. Camerawork and editing looked good. The audio was pretty level and mixed Spanish and English in a convincingly Mexican American way. I'm talking about a solid green good rated film in which everything just worked. There's not much more to say, except you should probably watch it.

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance A.K.A. 修羅雪姫 怨み恋歌, Shurayukihime - Urami renka (1974)

A Japanese jidaigeki directed by Toshiya Fujita, starring Meiko Kaji, Juzo Itami and Yoshio Harada.
Lady Snowblood, the main character from the first film, is supposed to be working for the government to bring down an anarchist. He has a document which will cause problems for the government and she ends up on his side.
A lackluster sequel to a classic. The video looked fine, except for a lack of spraying blood and violence in general. There were some great shots from rooftops, a hallmark of the era and area. There were also lots of handheld shots, which I found odd. The audio was terrible: gritty and treble-biased. The plot failed to hold my attention and I saw some really bad acting. I imagine some bad writing was also involved. It was boring and I was counting down minutes until the end. I rate this poor because there is so much worse out there.

Kickboxer Series (1989 - 1995)

An American action series directed by Mark di Salle, David Worth, Albert Pyun, Rick King and Kristine Peterson, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A man's brother is injured in a Thai boxing match and he trains with an old man to get revenge. Then it all goes down the toilet.
This series had a great start, faltered in #2, came back with drama/comedy in #3 and then died. I can't believe someone re-booted it (2016, 2018, 2020) after what a disaster #5 was. The first one is a classic. It has style, the viewer cares about the characters and there are extended training scenes. The second was annoying at best, but there was a kid with a King Diamond shirt (image) in the beginning. The third resurrected the series. There was a large sub-plot about kidnapped girls, but the main plot was about the hero, the old man and 2 kids. Sasha Mitchell did a great job in his role as David Sloane. He was expressive and charismatic. He was not so great in #2 and #4. Speaking of #4, it was one of the worst films I've ever seen. The main plot of the tournament would have been fine, but there was this added thing with an abducted wife, a ninja and an EXTREMELY graphic sex scene. If it were not following such crap, #5 would have been terrible. I thought it was really boring. The moral of the story here is to watch #1 & #3, but not the rest. I'm rating the whole series o.k. because of the wildly variable quality.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

An American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis.
Vignettes tell of interrelating stories happening around Los Angeles. Drugs are bought, sold and consumed, things are stolen, people get killed and stories are told.
I think what makes this so awesome is the dialogue. Every scene is full of Tarantino's eloquent writing. The long list of stars and great production help too. It's another classic crime film that so many people have written about. One amusing fact I can relate is that Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny) also played Lydia Sinclair in The Fisher King (1991). It's fun to imagine Lydia holding a gun and screaming the F word in the diner scene. Speaking of The Fisher King and crime films, the vaudeville singer from that also played Dr. Jarvis in Thursday (1998).
I get too off-topic. This ends the "catch up" reviews. I'm going back to just writing about films I actually have something to say about.

Goodfellas (1990)

An American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino.
A young man grows up working for the Italian mob. He marries a Jewish woman and they try to have a family while he is involved in gangster stuff.
This is a pretty classic and well known crime film. I hardly think anything that I could say about it would add to what has already been written. What I liked most were the heavy narration and juxtaposition of family normalcy with violent crimes. It makes for good contrasts when scenes switch. Name a film element and it was done well. If you haven't seen it, you must. I rate it awesome.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

An American science fiction comedy directed by Joe Johnston, starring Rick Moranis.
A scientist's machine accidentally shrinks his 2 children and the neighbors' 2 children as well. He sweeps them up and leaves them in a trash bag across the yard.
Late '80s classic. I have no idea why I'm writing about these obvious movies. They are mostly made around the same time and all get decent to good reviews. I've seen a "making of" about this and lots of physical effects were used. Large props and sets look way better than CG to me. Another interesting note is that Matt Frewer (neighbor Russell) also played trash can man in The Stand (1994). The first time I watched this after finding out about these roles, I couldn't help thinking about neighbor Russell saying "bumpty bumpty bump, thumpty thumpty thump". I rate this good. You really should watch it.

History of the World, Part 1 (1981)

An American comedy directed by Mel Brooks, starring Dom Deluise and Cloris Leachman.
Short skits show important times in history: stone age, old testament, roman empire, Spanish inquisition & French revolution.
Mel Brooks is great at comedy. Some of my favorite scenes include the first art critic, Roman signs in the street scene, the Shim-Sham Sand Dance, detecting the non-eunuch, street crawling with Roman soldiers and ending the revolution meeting on a high note. The humor is pretty universal, or at least has a wide audience. Video and audio were recorded and edited well. I'm not going too deep on these "catch up" reviews. I rate it adequate. You might want to watch it.

Heathers (1988)

An American black comedy directed by Michael Lehmann, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.
A girl in a popular clique at high school is taught true human values by a homocidal maniac.
This is one of those movies that can be replayed in my brain without turning on the computer. It's a very popular movie and a very good movie. In fact, I don't want to spoil anything. One interesting not from my quick read of the Wikipedia page is that Winona Ryder said she looked like her character in Beetlejuice (1988) at the time of casting. If you haven't seen it, watch it now. I rate it best.

Van Helsing (2004)

A Czech American fantasy directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh and David Wenham.
Vampire hunter, Van Helsing gets a female associate and they hunt monsters together. Vampires, werewolves, whatever.
Poopoo, CG junk. The plot almost held my interest way back when I watched it. Characters all over-acted, too much CG, sets too large to be real. I guess it did action scenes well because that was most of the movie. I rate this poor. You probably should not watch it.

Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)

An American horror comedy directed by John Cherry, starring Jim Varney.
A garbage man accidentally wakes an evil troll and must help his friends to defeat it.
When I saw this as a kid, I wanted to see all the black and white films whose clips were in the intro. Now that I've seen them, I wish I hadn't. They are all terrible movies. This film is not quite as good as Goes to Camp (1987), but still funny. The late '80s and early '90s was THE time to make movies. This looked good (we all know what ingredients that takes) and sounded fine. I was amused by "authentic Bulgarian miak" and Ernest hugging the trolls. It's best to not think or write too much about this. Digging too deep would probably expose more flaws and I still like it with what I know now. I rate it adequate. You might want to watch it.

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

An American horror directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman.
We all know the Dracula story.
Another good one in a row. Also very easy to mock: Francis For Crappola made Shaft Stroker's Jackula. Casting was perfect on this. Unbeknownst in 1992 was the fact that the leading couple would be paired again in Destination Wedding (2018). I have generally believed that children from this fictional union would be great actors. Visual effects were great, camerawork and editing looked good. I'll stop. I rate this best Watch it!

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991)

An American comedy directed by Stephen Herek, starring Christina Applegate and Joana Cassidy.
A single mother goes on vacation and leaves an old babysitter to watch her children. This woman promptly dies with money in her pocket and the kids drop her off at a funeral parlor. The kids are left with no money and the oldest girl gets an office job.
I really like this one. "The dishes are done, man" Speaking of Kenny, this actor (Kieth Coogan) also voiced young Tod in The Fox and the Hound (1981). He also switched his last name from Mitchell to Coogan. His character's room in the film looks pretty inviting to me as well. Stephen Herek (director) was best known for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) when this was made. I think I see some similarity. The humor is funny. I would rather not write about good films like this. They are better viewed than written about. I rate it best. Watch it.

Detroit Rock City (1999)

An American comedy directed by Adam Rifkin, starring Edward Furlong, Natasha Lyonne and Lin Shaye.
A high school boy and his friends want to see a KISS concert, but his mother finds the tickets, destroys them and leaves him at a religious school. The friends win tickets on a radio call in and have to rescue their friend.
I'm not sure that I even liked this when it first came out. There was something annoying about it that is hard to put a finger on. There are also plenty of funny scenes. My favorite is the priest eating psilocybin mushroom pizza. KISS was not exactly controversial or provocative because of music. They were just popular and well known. Queen played heavier and earlier. By the date in the setting of this film (1978), Motorhead would be around and playing much heavier. They didn't wear makeup or sell the wide variety of merchandise though. I rate this film tolerable.

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

An American Disney animated romance directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, starring Dallas McKennon.
A dog from a rich house and a stray fall in love. There are issues at the rich house because the family has a baby and then leaves on vacation while the aunt and her 2 cats tend the baby.
Not bad, but not so great either. There is not much to write about this one, so I will use this space to discuss frequent topics in Disney films. Frequently, a rich character in a film thinks they are better than anyone else, forbid anyone around them contact with "certain types of people" (A.K.A. anyone who is not them) and jump to erronious conclusions which cause disaster for those around them. This describes my parents, except "rich". My family was poor and my parents acted like this. Another set of topics is destitute poverty and vagrancy. Too often, we see heroes begin the film in this situation: The Tranp, Aladdin, Pete (of dragon fame). That's just broke and homeless beginnings, not counting anything mid-plot or only 1 of those 2 states. I don't know what the point is, but I see these things frequently enough to notice them. If anyone ever read this, I would ask for comments... I rate Lady and the Tramp o.k.

Iron Monkey 2 A.K.A. 街頭殺手, 街头杀手, Jiē Tóu Shā Shǒu, Gaai1 Tau4 Saat3 Sau2 (1996)

A Chinese kung fu directed by Chao Lu-jiang, starring Donnie Yen and Wu Ma.
NOT a sequel to Iron Monkey (1993). A corrupt crime overlord is dealing in guns. A poor conman is trying to trick a stranger out of his money, but the stranger is related to a blind man in town. The stranger and conman end up fighting the crime lord.
What a disappointment. I did not look it up before watching, so I thought this was supposed to be a sequel. It looked and sounded worse than some 1970s kung fu films I've seen. The plot was not communicated clearly and characters were not made clear either. They were definitely shallow and undeveloped. The only thing that I can say in praise of this is that I liked the beginning of the ending fight. The heroes used ladders as weapons, trapping their foes, knocking them down and such. That was it. I rate this bad. You would be better off not watching it.

Iron Monkey A.K.A. 少年黃飛鴻之鐵馬騮, 少年黄飞鸿之铁马骝, Shàonián Huáng Fēihóng Zhī Tiě Mǎliú, Siu3-nin4 Wong4 Fei1-hung4 Zi1 Tit3 Maa5-lau4 (1993)

A Chinese wuxia kung fu directed by Yuen Woo-ping, starring Donnie Yen and Yu Rongguang.
A vigilante is trying to defend the residents of a town from corrupt officials. This man is also running a doctor's office. Another doctor and his son come to town and this doctor promises the officials that he will catch the vigilante. There is one official who is not corrupt and warns the doctors of the government's actions. The doctor eventually meet and join forces against the top official.
Very good! It's been about 12 years since I've seen this, so I watched it again. The plot is clear and the characters are relatively identifiable. What made this stand out to me was the professionally done production and exaggerated fight scenes. Everything was filmed and edited excellently, with good framing and camera movement. The fights used Hong Kong wire, props, dust, fire, buildings, etc... to make them each unique and interesting. There were poles used as weapons and recitation of moves, something that I really like in martial arts films. Recitation of moves is only slightly less cool than extended training scenes. The style seemed close to the newer Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) style of wuxia, but it was more kung fu than swordplay, so I labeled it both. I rate this awesome because it's such an exemplary martial arts film. Watch it.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

An American Disney animation directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi and James Algar, starring Eric Blore and J. Pat O'Malley, Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby.
A section of The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame 1908) shows Toad getting into and out of his car trouble. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Washington Irving 1820) is shown.
This is alright I guess. The only reason for me to watch it is the Sleepy Hollow section. I read The Wind in the Willows and it was much longer and better than this. The animation takes a few pages of the plot and uses destructive license to change almost everything. Ichabod is a little more entertaining and complete. The plot includes lots of the original, as opposed to a little bit. My old drummer used to call my Adam's Apple an "Ichabod" because mine looks like the animated character's. My favorite part is the song that Brom Bones sings at the party and the short scene afterward of Ichabod being afraid. Somehow I knew this was not by Wolfgang Reitherman. I rate it tolerable because, even talking about just Disney films, there are so many better ones. It is, however, better than any Disney film made after 2000.

Clash of the Titans (1981)

A British American fantasy directed by Desmond Davis, starring Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith and Ursula Andress, with visual effects by Ray Harryhausen.
Perseus has adventures trying to appease the gods, kill monsters and win the beautiful princess. He does have a magic sword, shield talking mechanical owl and flying horse, though.
Classic fantasy flick. I thought the plot was a little convoluted and not presented clearly enough. Possibly, there were too many side-quests, maybe there were too many characters. Casting did a great job. If you're interested, look up the actors listed. I just finished watching Hook (1991) with Maggie Smith as old Wendy. I prefer Harryhausen stop motion miniatures over CG monsters any day. I know they look quaint to most people, but they are not a clearly computer-generated item in a live action setting. There was a real item photographed, so it looks more like it belongs there to me. I rate this adequate because it's worth having and watching, but not one of my favorites.
As a side note, I made my friend a vase with figures from this movie on it: http://pccsm.blogspot.com/2018/12/calyx-krater.html

Hook (1991)

An American fantasy adventure directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith.
Peter Pan has grown up, forgotten Neverland and has kids of his own. The children are stolen by Captain Hook and he must remember his past to save them.
What a pile of crap. I can't believe this was sitting in my collection for so long. Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams should have been able to make something better. The only good scenes are when the lost boys are trying to get Peter to remember. There was lots of sappy, emotional baggage that got in the way. It didn't even look that good. The sets were fine, but camerawork was not up to par on composing good shots. It sounded worse. I rate this bad. Don't watch it.

One Hundred and One Dalmations (1961)

An American animated adventure directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Hamilton Luske and Clyde Geronimi.
A man and his dalmation meet a woman and her dalmation. They all get together and the dogs reproduce. The woman's "friend" wants to buy the puppies to make a fur coat, but is denied. She sends her thieves to steal them and the parent dogs must find their puppies. The woman who wants dog coats has accumulated many dalmations by that point and they try to evade her together.
I count this among the good Disney films. The animation style is very traditional. An interesting casting not is that the maid is voiced by the same woman who voiced Mad Madam Mim in The Sword and the Stone (1963), another Wolfgang Reitherman masterpiece. The video on WRD (Wolfgang Reitherman Disney) films looks (and probably is) Technicolor. In contrast to the super-saturated colors of live action Technicolor, the animated ones have more subdued palettes, with lots of green, brown and grey. They still retain the augmented contrast and "old film" grit as live action. My new revelation recommendation on Disney films is to watch the WRD ones and ignore the rest. Nothing can compare to these. This is originally in 4:3 aspect ratio or close enough to look the same. I rate this good because I will soon be watching and writing about more and better ones. Watch this anyway.

Caddyshack (1980)

An American comedy directed by Harold Ramis, starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray.
A young man works as a caddy at a golf course. Some players are holding a match for lots of money and the groundskeeper is hunting a gopher.
No, I will not be writing here about Caddyshack 2. It's a pile of crap. The stars I listed are the reason to watch this movie. Chevy Chase plays Ty Webb, who is into the metaphysics of golf and makes a sound like an effect from The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman. Rodney Dangerfield plays Al Czervik, who is loud and extroverted. Bill Murray is the sub-human groundskeeper who literally smokes grass and uses explosives to hunt the gopher. His scene destroying flowers is priceless. Since nothing can be perfect, the version I have of this has some of the worst audio I have ever heard. Dialogue is almost non-existant on the waveform and music is so loud that it clips the meter limits. I know because I looked at it to make sure. More cropped images... My aunt once cropped a photo I took from 16:9 to 9:16. That's the type of people cropping movie images. I rate this good and should really get a new copy.

Branded A.K.A. The Mad Cow, Moscow 2017 (2012)

A Russian American fantasy directed by Jamie Bradshaw and Aleksandr Dulerayn, starring Jeffrey Tambor and Max von Sydow.
A marketing executive is involved in a media scandal and goes to live in the country. There he performs a ritual with a red cow, gaining the ability to see brand loyalty as monsters growing on people and buildings.
I love it! If only it were true... Unfortunately, it is too true in other ways. Advertising may as well be monsters with how omnipresent it is in the modern world. I could easily see fat becoming the new definition of beauty. Anyone who has been in a Walmart in the past decade or so would agree. Why do mostly fat people shop at Walmart? ...or is it Does Walmart make people fat? The plot is very interesting to me and the visual effects make it unforgettable. Some of the CG monsters are amazingly well done. I also liked how the company leaders and ad men have monster tendrils attached to them, feeding directly into the hive. The only thing that I didn't like about this is that there was Russian dialogue with no subtitles in the version I've seen. I rate it awesome for being a scorching social commentary as well as having great visual effects. You should really watch it.

Big (1988)

An American comedy directed by Penny Marshall, starring Tom Hanks, Robert Loggia and John Heard.
A boy makes a wish  on a carnival game to be an adult and it comes true. He is forced into the adult world without growing up first, but finds a job at a toy company.
Not bad. Everyone knows this for the foot piano scene. Film critics thought this was great, but I think it's a little too vapid to be really great. It is entertaining to watch adult Tom Hanks act like a kid in adult situations, but that's as far as it goes. The game that young Josh is playing at the beginning is not real. It was just a video or a still made for the movie. Another memorable scene is adult Josh eating tiny corn at an office party. That corn comes in the local Chinese food here and is really good. I rate this o.k. and clearly have nothing interesting to say about it.

Yellow Submarine A.K.A. The Beatles: Yellow Submarine (1968)

A British American animated musical directed by George Dunning.
A man from a musical world is sent to get help saving his home from Blue Meanies. He recruits the British pop/rock group and they travel to the music world.
This is definitely odd enough for me. I can't say that I like the music very much, but the animation makes up for it. The plot is actually interesting, but the characters seemed shallow. It possibly depended upon a knowledge of The Beatles to know what the characters were like. Unfortunately, The Beatles did not play The Beatles in this. There were plenty of fantasy elements in the journey from London to music land under the sea. In fact, the characters pass through many seas, such as the sea of holes and the sea of green. The hippie-esque moral message of the film is very clear and needs no explanation. I used this image because it goes against the moral message of the film. The real Beatles are showing Satanic hand signals in this photo. I like it and rate it good. For 1968, this was amazing animation.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A British American crime film written by Anthony Burgess, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Malcolm McDowell and Patrick Magee.
A young criminal goes around causing chaos with his friends until being caught and imprisoned. From prison, he goes to a research hospital and is subjected to a new technique to "make him good". He is then released and tormented by his previous victims.
I feel like I've written about this before. Malcolm McDowell is one of the 2 best parts of this film. The other is the music of Wendy Carlos. I would strongly advise viewing my post about Caligula (1979) and that film after reading and watching this one because he plays the same role in both films. Reading the book is a little difficult. The heavy use of Nadsat language requires having the Nadsat glossary open as well as the narrative. It is nearly impossible to figure out word meanings by context. This is one of those famous classic films that everyone spouts about for good reason. You can read everyone else's spouting if that's what you want. I would rather watch it than read praise of it. I rate it best. Watch it!

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

An American drama directed by Lasse Hallstrom, starring Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen and John C. Reilly.
A young man tries to take care of his family after his father died. His mother is morbidly obese and his younger brother is mentally disabled. A young woman arrives in the area and forms a relationship with the main character.
Very good and very much of the time. There are 2 points I want to make clear: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio is actually only slightly retarded. 2. The mother, Bonnie (Darlene Cates) is not in acting, but was recruited because of her weight, to fit the role. There were some plot points to discuss as well. I liked Gilbert sneaking a repair man in to reinforce the floor under his mother's couch and sneaking to the chain store to buy a cake, but being caught by his boss of the local grocery store. I did not like the solution to the ending conflict and would have handled the problem differently, but it did lead the main characters to a life of vagrancy, which I approve of. It has been said that DiCaprio's performance can be difficult to watch and I agree. He seems to play the role too well and we all know he went on to star in Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997). We need to differentiate intelligence and greed. Using your "pretty boy" appearance to star in major Hollywood films that make lots of money is greed.  I rate this adequate because it's a great film, but can be disturbing to watch.

Venus Wars A.K.A. ヴイナス戦記, Vinasu Senki (1989)

A Japanese science fiction anime directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.
A reporter from Earth and a motorcycle racer are caught in a war on Venus.
One of the classic anime that I watched on the Science Fiction Channel before it became known as syfy. I remember overplaying the VHS that I recorded from TV. The song, "Shakunestu no Circuit" by Eiko Yamane/Joe Hisaishi still plays in my head when I think of this movie. The single-wheeled motorcycles were a great touch, which carried over into military vehicles. Heroes named Hiro are all too common in anime though. Late '80s / early '90s anime visual and audio style are too divine to express in words. I rate this best. Watch it!

The Shining (1980)

A British American horror written by Stephen King, directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Jack Nicholson and Scatman Crothers.
A writer gets a job as winter caretaker for a large, rural hotel. He brings his family, but goes insane and tries to kill them.
I can't believe I haven't written about this yet. Stylistically, it is very much of the time when it was made. It used lots of 1970s wide framing, but also had closer shots. I read the book as well and was disappointed that the moving animal-sculpted topiary was excluded. Also excluded were scenes of the family going into town. The references in Ready Player One (2018) were right on the mark for good scenes, with exaggerations of large figures over the hedge maze. I think the blood hallway was very effective. One more reference to redrum or Jack Nicholson's dialogue as he uses an axe on a door will push me over the edge. I've also reviewed Room 237 (2012 documentary) here. You should probably read that as well and maybe watch it before The Shining. Searching for an image to go with this makes me question again: why can't anyone post movie images in the original aspect ratio? I rate this good for cinematography (how could Kubrick fail? oh yeah, 2001 Space Odyssey) and casting.

The Terminator & Terminator 2 Judgement Day (1984 & 1991)

American science fictions directed by James Cameron, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
People and robots from an apocalyptic future are sent throughh time to change the past. They are sent equally to protect and destroy the future leader of the human resiustance against machines and his mother.
But wait! There are 6 films in this series! No. In my book, #3 started a new series separate from the first 2. The main point that I like is keeping the same 2 lead actors and re-casting Arnold from villain to hero. It makes the sanitarium hallway scene in #2 very effective. These films are known for visual effects and rightly so. The first film included an animated robot and the second had a villain made of liquid metal who could change shape. John Connor's friend from the motorcycle and arcade scenes was Danny Cooksey, who was also in Salute Your Shorts (1991 - 1992 TV). I really like the Guns N' Roses song, "You Could Be Mine" included in that section and as a DVD extra music video. The plot point of machines turning against people seems more realistic now than it did when these films were made. Even my car (made in 2006) thinks it is smarter than me. My current phone basically thinks for itself. I rate these 2 films awesome. The rest of the series would end up below o.k.

National Lampoon's Vacations: regular, European & Christmas (1983, 1985 & 1989)

American comedies directed by Harold Ramis, Amy Heckerling and Jeremiah S. Chechik, starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.
Mr. Griswold tries to show his family a good time on hollidays, but things never go as planned.
Another set! I have to take these back-logged movies down as efficiently as possible. This set, like Indiana Jones, peaked in the middle. I like European Vacation most because it was still funny and fresh at that point, but without Aunt Edna. I think Edna really crapped on the middle of the first film. My favorite scene from European was shopping for Italian clothes. The French waiter mocking the Griswolds was funny and, holding a personal grudge against a douche-hound myself, seeing one jump off the Eiffel Tower was cool. Chevy Chase is an alright actor, but I liked him more in Caddyshack (1980). He seems a little too goofy in Lampoon's Vacations, but has Beverly D'Angelo to play the "straight man" for his funny man act. What really bothers me about this set is switching actors for the children in every film. They seem to be teenagers in European and it almost works, but are back to small children in Christmas. I have not included the newer films because I just plain don't like them and won't watch them (yet). I rate this set o.k. and would recommend European over the others.

Mr. Mom (1983)

An American comedy directed by Stan Dragoti, starring Michael Keaton and Teri Garr.
A man loses his job and his wife gets a new one, so he has to stay home and take care of their kids.
I would describe this as a very "low impact" film. It's really easy to just watch through and laugh about a few jokes. The vacuum cleaner, washing machine and the boy's blanket are funny to me. The humor in this film is the opposite of Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob. That was crude and this is benign. The humor springs from mundane situations which are widely recognizable through common experience of many viewers. A man who has never faced a washing machine with no clue of how to run it is not a man. I can totally understand the husband wearing the same clothes all the time and growing a beard. I do the same thing. I may have trouble getting really into daytime TV soap operas though. I liked how militant and authoritarian the people at an elementary school were about driveway direction. I've seen those people in real life. I rate this good because it's realistic, easy to watch and has some good "clean" humor.

Jay and Silent Bob / Clerks (1994 - 2006)

American comedies directed by Kevin Smith, starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes.
A reluctant convenience store clerk is friends with the inattentive clerk of the video store next door. A drug dealer and his friend hang out in front of the shops. In Clerks II, the characters are at a fast food restaurant, in Dogma, the drug dealer and friend try to help a woman to prevent fallen angels from entering a church and in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the guys outside the stores go to Hollywood to claim money for a movie being made about them.
Another set! I'm not including the animated Jay and Silent Bob film or the 2019 sequel to Strike Back. I've seen Dogma many times and Strike Back came out when I was in college the first time and my friends watched it lots. The humor in these films seems awkward, crude and irreverent, even to me. Dante gets on my nerves a little bit and Jay's jokes are only about sex and ganja. Clerks 1 being in all black and white was a little daring for Kevin Smith's first film in 1994. All of them looked fine, except that Strike Back looked a little too Hollywood to me. I rate the set o.k. and you should watch it if your sense of humor is crude and irreverent.
I am now realizing why I did not review the films I've seen so many times. It's hard to think of something to write about a movie I know so well that I can watch it in my head.

Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the Temple of Doom, and the Last Crusade, and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (1981 - 2008)

American action adventures directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Harrison Ford.
An archaeologist is trying to get the ark of the covenant before nazis do, rescue magic stones from a cult in India, searching for his father and the holy grail and returning a crystal skull to aliens before the soviets get it.
Pretty cool stuff. I like Temple of Doom the most because of the action scenes and comedic relief of Short Round. I think Indy gets beat up a little more in this than the others too. The rest are alright and fill out the story of the main character. One of the film classes I took cited Raiders of the Lost Ark as being filmed well. I can see them all being filmed well, with lots of planning to get timing right. This is one of the sets that I like to watch consecutively, just because of length. I rate it adequate because it all just blends together into a whole story to me and it's relatively good, but there are far better films.

Home Alone + 2: Lost in New York (1990 & 1992)

American comedies directed by Chris Columbus, starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Candy, John Heard and Catherine O'Hara.
A boy's family leaves for Christmas vacation in France, but forget to bring him. While they are away, burglars try to break into the house. Then he gets on the wrong plane and ends up in New York City while his family are in Florida. The same burglars show up.
When I began taking college video production classes, I realized how cool the original Home Alone was. Everything is done straight up, by the book. Every shot is identifiable and everything is planned for clear communication. Casting did a great job. On an interesting note, Catherine O'Hara (Mrs. McCallister) voiced Malicious in Witch's Night Out (1978) and played Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice (1988). The second film was not as good as the first and buggered belief even more. I rate the original best and the sequel adequate.

Forrest Gump (1994)

An American drama directed by Robert Zemeckis, starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright and Sally Field.
The life of a man from Alabama is shown: from his first time getting onto a school bus until his son gets onto a bus the first time.
This is one of my favorites. Around 2 hours and 20 minutes duration is filled with plot and characters. The main character, Forrest Gump just happens to be present at every historical event of his time. His friends are great and casting was done well. Robin Wright (Jenny) played Buttercup in The Princess Bride (1987) and Sally Field (Mrs. Gump) played Frog in Smokey and the Bandit (1977). This was based on a novel and the book included the main character as an astronaut, professional wrestler and chess player. This is one of my back-catch-up reviews about a film I've seen lots of times, but not written about. I rate it best. Watch it!

The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

An American animated comedy directed by Mark Dindal, starring David Spade, John Goodman, Wendie Malick and Patrick Warburton.
An Incan emperor wants to build his summer home on a hilltop occupied by a village. A peasant living there finds out about this, but the emperor's advisors turn him into a llama in an attempted murder by poison. The llama emperor ends up on the hill with the peasant and tries to return to the city.
This is far outside the year range of "good Disney movies", but I really like it. The plot seems designed to hold the interest of children as well as the parents who bring them to the theater. There were a small number of characters, but even some of the minor ones were instantly recognizable and make the viewer care what happens to them. Pacha's unnamed children are a good example. I like that the John Goodman character looks like John Goodman. Some of my favorite humor scenes were Kronk carrying Kuzco out of the palace, the squirrel near the jaguars and what happened with Yzma and Kronk at Pacha's house. I would really rather watch this again right now than try to think of something more to type about it. I rate it good and you should probably watch it.

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

An American musical drama by Jim Henson, starring Frank Oz and Dave Goelz.
A young otter and his mother are poor. The boy does odd repair jobs and the mother works in textiles (sewing, knitting, laundry). In preparation for a talent show, they both steal the other's main tools to complete their acts.
Gift of the Magi with puppets and a happy ending. I watched a version which combined the 2 televised versions into a single video, which I was glad to find out when it was explained at the end. Among "folks who can do no wrong", Jim Henson is high on the list. The puppetry and production may seem quaint and antiquated by today's CG standards, but I like them more. The River Bottom Nightmare Band even played proto-metal at the talent show. I don't want to type any more about this because I rate it awesome and you should watch it.

Robots (2005)

An American Animated comedy adventure directed by Chris Wedge, starring Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Mel Brooks and Robin Williams.
A robot from a small town goes to the big city, hoping to get a job working for a company he has seen on TV. He gets there to find that the company has been taken over by the villain.
I'm pretty sure this is some vapid entertainment. It is entertaining and animated well. Robin Williams was always a great addition to comedy. I think Roger Ebert correctly stated ""Robots delights on a visual level, but the story feels like it came off an assembly line." Tom Waits did the villain's mother's "Underground" song. IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes have scores around 50-60%. I guess I liked it at some point because it's been sitting on my computer for years. I rate it adequate and really wish there was some hidden meaning or symbolism to type about.

The Bride with White Hair +2 A.K.A. 白髮魔女傳, 白发魔女传, Bái Fà Mó Nǚ Zhuàn, 白髮魔女2, 白发魔女2, Bái Fà Mó Nǚ Èr (1993)

Chinese wuxia films directed by Ronny Yu and David Wu, starring Brigitte Lin and Leslie Cheung.
A swordsman from Wu Tang Clan falls in love with a woman raised by wolves who is now working for cult leaders who want to destroy the 8 clans. Because of confusion over conflict between alliances, the wolf girl's hair turns white and she turns evil. The Wu Tang swordsman spends the next 10 years waiting for a blossom on Snow Mountain which will heal the wolf girl. Meanwhile, she has created her own all-female, man-hating cult.
The first film was great and the second was terrible. I blame the change of directors. What I would like to deal with here is the video techniques which made the original unique. By use of heavy back-lighting, the characters separated from the backgrounds in a stark manner. The midgrounds were mostly black, with slightly lighter far backgrounds and even lighter characters. See the image for why I think back-lighting was used. I don't know all the details, but some of the backgrounds looked to be manipulated in a way to produce this set of value contrasts. Motion blur was also used in action scenes. With modern digital editing, it could just be added easily. With older equipment, the film would be run slower to get less frames per second. Dutch angles were also used in some sections. The original had some flying and what I call "long sleeve technique" (long fabric, hair, etc. being cast out to full length as a weapon). Rotten Tomatoes audience score dropped from 75% for the original to 43% for the sequel and I agree. The original was unique and the plot made me care what happened. The sequel seemed like a mockery of what made the original good. I rate them good and bad.