One Word Review - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

One Word: Pivotal

Year: 1980
Director: Irvin Kershner
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Rating: PG

American History X

American History X is a severely underrated film, especially from critics. American History X is a movie about Derek Vinyard, a neo-Nazi who is imprisoned and becomes more accepting of other races during his tenure in prison, who's new mission is to stop his younger brother, Danny, from becoming as evil as he once was. Edward Norton, who plays Derek, does an exceptional acting job in this movie. His character knows power, shame, pain, and humiliation and Norton does a wonderful job portraying these sides of his character and he makes Derek Vinyard into a believable, often hated and misunderstood, person. In fact, the entire cast of this film do a great job with their roles and they all help create an atmosphere of tension and drama. American History X comprises of flashbacks, shown in black and white, and present day scenes, shown in color. While the actual film can be quite gruesome and graphic at times, this is one of the few films where I actually believe that without it, the same message and power couldn't be as easily portrayed. Usually I'm not one for gratuitous violence or inappropriate themes but it perfectly fits this movie. Speaking of its message, this film has quite a powerful one. While I'm sure you would think it is simple, American History X tells us to accept one another and that hate is just baggage; it will only bring you down. At the same time though, the film tells us that some people can change and some cannot, it is not necessarily up to us to change others, but that they need to realize that change is necessary. The score is dramatic and occasionally haunting, especially during some of the darker moments of the film. At times, American History X can be difficult to watch but I believe that it is well worth your time. In a way, while this sounds cheesy, this film sort of changed my outlook on life and how we should treat one another. I think it would be apropos to end this review with a quote: "Hate is baggage. Life is too short to be pissed off all the time."

Bottom Line: Buy It/Rent It

Score: 8/10

Year: 1998
Director: Tony Kaye (Detachment, Black Water Transit, Snowblind)
Cast: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien)
Rating: R

My Top 5 - Science Fiction

5. Donnie Darko (Dir: Richard Kelly)

4. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Dir: Nicholas Meyer)

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Dir: Stanley Kubrick)

2. Alien (Dir: Ridley Scott)

1. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (Dir: Irvin Kershner)

Fun Facts - Requiem for a Dream

- Most movies contain 600 to 700 cuts. Requiem contains over 2,000

-Director Darren Aronofsky asked Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans to avoid sex and sugar for a period of 30 days in order to better understand craving.

- Just like in The Godfather, oranges are used as a sign of disaster in this film.

-The word "heroin" is never once said by any of the characters in the film.

-Dave Chappelle was offered the role of Tyrone but turned it down.

-The prop refrigerator for the hallucination scenes melted from the inside due to the lighting elements within.

-Jared Leto lost 25 lbs. and befriended real heroin junkies from Brooklyn to prepare for his role as Harry Goldfarb.

-The overhead shot of Marion in the bathtub followed by her screaming underwater was an exact replica of a scene in the Japanese animated thriller, Perfect Blue. Darren Aronofsky bought the remake rights to the film just for that one sequence.

Sequelitis - Alien vs. Aliens

I wrote my essay to be excused from English classes in college on the original Alien film and I completely love that movie. Alien is a much better and way more put together film than its sequel, Aliens. James Cameron completely altered the series and what it stood for. The Alien series went from being a paranoia-driven horror franchise, to an action movie where the characters just shoot and blow up everything in sight. The special effects of Alien hold up, even to this day, where the more ambitious special effects of Aliens look incredibly dated and terrible in comparison. If you were to watch one of these films, make sure it's the original. Many people think Aliens is amazing or better than the original, but, they're wrong.

One Word Review - Fight Club

So here begins the special posts. I shall be doing one a day every weekday (Monday-Friday). I skipped Monday this week but I'll do it next week. Here's the first one word review.

One word: HYPE

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Just to make this clear, this a review of the original Dawn of the Dead, not the terrible 2004 remake with Ving Rhames. In truth, George Romero's original, anti-consumerism vision is just a much better movie and is a much better conveyor for his message than the dried-up remake. Dawn of the Dead is a zombie film. Of course you know that or figured it out by now, but it's not just a zombie film. Romero's film is an allegory about how consumerism is destroying the modern world and that all who succumb to it become "zombies" despite that word never being used once in this film. The film takes place in, ironically, a mall. Each of the characters represent certain standout traits in society. Scenes are shown where characters are looting the abandoned stores and using this apocalypse to help themselves more than others. Ken Foree's character does act as the voice of reason throughout the film. On the topic of acting, usually the acting is less than golden, but at a few key points in the film the actors display a stunning amount of realism. For its era, the "special effects" are actually quite good and would've been considered good throughout even the 1980's. These effects actually helped the film earn an NC-17 rating and Romero was adamant about maintaining the gore. The haunting, electronic score (typical for horror films of this era) greatly adds to the atmosphere of pure doom and paranoia. The cinematography is actually passable: this is where most horror films fall flat. Many different angles are used, especially establishing or wide shots that provide a good view of the setting. To this day, the original Dawn of the Dead is considered a cult classic and films such as Shaun of the Dead draw a lot of inspiration from this 70's horror hidden gem. Largely overlooked, this film is a horror film I would actually be proud to show my peers and friends. The gore and language are certainly more than present so I would highly recommend discretion to those younger viewers.

Bottom Line: Buy It/Rent It (mostly due to its length, watching it repeatedly can get tiresome)

Score: 8/10

Year: 1978
Director: George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, The Crazies)
Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Rating: NC-17