Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

The Siege (1998)

Reviewed on Oct 28, 2006

A few tense moments, but mostly it’s about neglected characters taking turns crying about their problems. Bad formula writing, with too much “I’m a cool stud” dialogue. Lots of actors who bother me in this one. Denzel is OK, but I’m not sure he’s any more than a hard gaze…

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Maverick (1994)

Reviewed on Oct 28, 2006

The dialogue and comedy makes it seem very theatrical. Was it a play? Nice ending, but not entertaining enough to sustain its length. Gibson is annoying and unfunny. I don’t think he can do comedy. Foster’s cute. The Glover cameo is nice.

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Red Eye (2005)

Reviewed on Oct 21, 2006

OK suspense, but made with the sterility of a 90’s action flick. No surprise when I learned that Wes Craven directed. McAdams, as cute as she is, overacts. But maybe it’s not her overacting as much as it is the crummy script and dialogue.

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Risky Business (1983)

Reviewed on Oct 21, 2006

Pretty risque (yuk) for an early 80’s high school movie. Perhaps the R rating shows that the movie was probably not made for high school kids. Some dark themes, and it’s even darkly shot. That’s an early 80’s thing, even for comedies. This was the high school movie before John…

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Casshern (2004)

Reviewed on Oct 21, 2006

A two hour long, dream-like music video. Visually stunning, incredibly boring.

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A History of Violence (2005)

Reviewed on Oct 16, 2006

Story’s not bad, if not a bit slow. The dialogue is a bit stunted. Kind of an odd ending. Bello is slutty and hot. Some wonderful sex scenes.

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The Departed (2006)

Reviewed on Oct 16, 2006

Gangsters with cell phones, but the rest is vintage Scorsese. Nice twists and lots of exploding heads. The all-star cast dazzles. Farmiga is stunning, but she’s got crazy eyes in this one and it looks like she’s on drugs.

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Fantastic Four (2005)

Reviewed on Oct 11, 2006

Some nice effects, but not much drama. Needed to be a bit darker, and it needed another star (besides Alba).

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Jarhead (2005)

Reviewed on Oct 11, 2006

Some beautiful shots, and Gyllenhall is engaging. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have many redeeming qualities and that doesn’t give us any reason to care about his story.

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Lorenzo’s Oil (1992)

Reviewed on Oct 11, 2006

A nice departure for Miller. Touching story, and a very cool real-life montage at the end. Sarandon’s pretty good. Nolte’s not bad, either, although his accent intermittently disappears. Where did they find those kids?

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