Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

There Will Be Blood (2007)

An emotional look at the downward spiral of success. Plainview is an interesting character, and the sets (or lack of sets) really makes it feel like you’re out there with Plainview looking for oil. The costumes and dialogue and mannerisms really set the time, and the dissonant string score really…

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The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Like a long TV episode, with a few cool 3D effects. Good in that the TV episodes are geniusly funny, bad in that it wasn’t any funnier.

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Cloverfield (2008)

A cross between The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla, and better than both. The overfly amateurish (don’t most people try to keep the camera level, at least?) video footage is a bit hard to watch at first, but redemption comes later. Ominous, scary, and believable, this is the best monster…

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Juno (2007)

Reitman is definitely influenced by the Wes Anderson troupe. He uses that style as a starting point but then mixes in his unique brand of “trendy quirkiness,” relying on cool, trendy dialogue, obscure cultural references, and contrived awkwardness to make things smarter and funnier. Mixing all that up, though, “confuses”…

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Trekkies (1997)

Reminds me a lot of The King of Kong in that it’s a bunch of fringe characters, and we’re not quite sure whether or not we should be taking them seriously. In this case, with Crosby leading the interviews, one must assume that this was a serious look at Trek…

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Why We Fight (2005)

A bit wobbly. Not quite as resolute as Michael Moore’s films, but interesting nonetheless. Eisenhower’s speech is interesting, indeed.

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Black Snake Moan (2006)

A weird one. Polished despite its grittiness, good performances despite a lack of a story. I don’t know what kind of drugs she had to take to look like that, but Ricci’s body is unbelievable.

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Credit goes to the filmmakers for returning to the visual style of the original movies of the series, and the Indiana Jones movies have the best punching sounds ever. But I’m not sure if “modernizing” Indy, even if it’s just the 50’s, really works. By extension, would a movie about…

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Threesome (1994)

A deeper story (and not just these guys having sex or talking about having sex), or even a single subplot, would have made things a lot more interesting. The cheesiness makes me feel like it tried to be one of the last 80’s movies. Charles is pretty cool. This film…

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National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze (2003)

Pretty horrible movie, but Boti Bliss and Cameron Richardson are particularly hot.

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