Actors: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, Amy
Yasbeck, Richard Jeni
Rating:
8 out of 10, I can't believe it's been almost twenty years since this came out. It remains very, very funny when Carrey dons the mask along with the signature lines that have become indelible part of the popular lexicon still work. The funniest moments are when the mask allows
Carrey’s manic side to fully emerge. The
special effects were groundbreaking when this movie first came out and they
hold up well. The biggest surprise in the
movie is the debut of Cameron Diaz in her first role in specially engineered
costume to make her appear voluptuous – still incredibly sexy. She dominates
as the femme fatale. Kind of sad to see
the hilarious Richard Jeni and a reminder of how funny he was. No depth but who was looking for that in an
early Carrey film anyways – tons of fun.
MVP: Carrey
as the redoubtable Stanley Ipkiss
Cast: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith,
Louis Gossett, Jr, David Keith, Lisa Blount
Rating: 8 out of 10, a movie from my distant past
that holds up well after all these years.
I saw it shortly after I joined the military and it was interesting to
see it again having spent my entire adult life in uniform. It’s a story of a young punk who finds
redemption and love through the discipline and character forced on him through
his entry into the military. It was kind
of jarring to see Gere so young, but it’s a reminder of the intense promise he
showed as a young actor. A great message
about the need for enduring values in a complete person’s life.
MVP: Gossett in his Career Making role as Gunner
Sergeant Foley
Actors: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen,
Pihla Viitala, Peter Stormare
Rating:
8 out of 10, I was immensely skeptical when I first heard about this movie
and quickly classified it as a reach almost as bad as Abe the Vampire Hunter,
but I was wrong. This was all kinds of
campy fun. Renner and Arterton had some real chemistry as brother and sister
witch hunters and there was a lot of modern vocabulary in the supposed middle
aged milieu. The witch hunter’s technique seemed to consist of getting the hell
beat out of them by the witch until they could land a lucky shot. Hansel was
hampered by diabetes generated from his childhood consumption of the candy
house (like I said – campy). The witches led by Famke Janssen were deliciously
evil. I really liked the effort to
minimize the use of CGI in favor of makeup and even an animatronic troll. Check
this out if you had dismissed it, as I almost did.
MVP: Renner
as Hansel continues his hot streak of totally likable action dudes
Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison,
Martin Landau, Roddy McDowell
Rating:
8 out of 10, The epic movie that ended epic movies for a long time. The excess is all up on the screen for this
movie that has entered Hollywood lore for so
many reasons and on so many levels. The
new blu ray has most of the original footage returned and it is glorious and took me three nights to watch. Taylor and her
breasts are put through the paces by Julius Caesar (very good Rex Harrison) and
then Marc Antony (the besotted Burton)
and what seemed like a thousand costume changes. This truly did have a cast of thousands and the
sheer magnitude of the crowd scenes are astounding. The story is old and overdone but this was
fun to watch.
MVP: Harrison as
one of the most historically accurate Julius Caesars
Actors: Nicholas Hoult, John Malcovitch, Teresa
Palmer, Rob Cordrray
Rating:
9 out of 10, A love story set in a zombie apocalypse and the guy in love
is one of the walking dead; talk about your forbidden love. This is truly takes
the Romeo and Juliet story in a different direction, there’s even a balcony
scene! Against all odds, this movie works and is truly funny, especially the
first half as we see the couple get together after the guy, named “R” (all he
can remember of his name), kills and eats the brain of his future girlfriend’s
boyfriend. I know it sounds a weird, it is, but somehow it also comes
across as sweet. As usual Rob Cordrray, as R’s zombie buddy, makes the most of
a small part, delivering the most memorable line in the movie. This is the funniest movie of 2013 so far.
MVP: Hoult
as the undead but lovable R
Actors: Mary McCormack, Rory Cochran, Tony Perez
Rating:
6 out of 10, a very small flick depicting a dirty bomb attack on L.A. and the aftermath for
a young married couple, one infected and the other not. The film builds great tension but the key
points are almost rushed through as we spend endless time watching windows get
taped or on unanswered cell phone calls.
The cast felt very authentic – especially McCormack and Cochran who
totally nail their roles. There’s a neat
twist at the end that almost rescues all the time spent waiting for someone to
answer the damned phone.
MVP: Cochran as the tortured husband trapped
inside his home.
Actors: Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom
Skerritt, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Jo Ann Plug
Rating:
7 out of 10, Due to the popularity of the television show people tend to
forget it was based on a very good movie.
This was Robert Altman at his best as he pokes extreme satire on the
whole idiocy of war. Several counter
culture doctors operate at a forward Korean War hospital causing havoc only rescued
by their competence. This was made at
the height of the Vietnam War so it found a ready audience when it was
released. The film hasn’t aged well as a
lot of the jokes have become so iconic that they lost their edge. It was also kind of jarring to see the major
actors so young when all of them are still active nowadays at a slightly
advanced age. You can see the promise in
these young actors that forged those careers.
Lt Dish – still hot.
MVP: Kellerman
as the outrageous Hot Lips O’Houlihan
