Jeff's Reviews | Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

The Ladykillers (2004)

Reviewed on Apr 5, 2004

The Coen brothers are becoming a bit formulaic, with most of their recent movies being offbeat comedies about characters on the fringe playing dumb. Good acting all around, and great casting. Some funny moments, especially the IBS bit. Shit humor never gets old. Watching bodies fall into the garbage barge…

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Diner (1982)

Reviewed on Mar 27, 2004

A slice of life from the 50’s. Costume and set design is great, acting is genuine, dialogue is very natural. Levinson doing what he does best and with a nice cast. But it’s all a bit slow. Nothing too significant happens. Some focus-pulling and sound sync problems, common in other…

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Dreams (1990)

Reviewed on Mar 11, 2004

Very colorful, and the effects are OK (although outdone by higher-budget productions like What Dreams May Come). Excruciatingly slow. I guess a movie about dreams doesn’t have narrative responsibility.

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Eight Men Out (1988)

Reviewed on Mar 6, 2004

Sayles creates a very literary, scripted film with stock characters. A bit long, but the subject matter is well-storied and the movie covered everything that I suppose it needed to. Nice cast, but Strathairn would have made a better Shoeless Joe. Not everyone could play, so the baseball action was…

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Eegah (1962)

Reviewed on Mar 3, 2004

Crap. The religious finale doesn’t help. Hall is so goofy.

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28 Days Later… (2002)

Reviewed on Mar 1, 2004

A scary movie and interesting social comment. Just the right amount of humanity and hope to make it fulfilling. Boyle’s style keeps us engaged, setting the mood with music and scaring us with jarring, high-speed photography. Interesting shots and well-used effects throughout. The empty London shots are amazing. Murphy and…

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Old School (2003)

Reviewed on Feb 21, 2004

Another classic in the tradition of college frat movies like Animal House and PCU. Phillips’ timing is pretty good. Ferrell is funny, and Wilson is showing us that he’s a talented guy. Piven is miscast, I think. You’d expect a TV guy like Kilborn to be a decent actor, but…

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The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

Reviewed on Feb 20, 2004

Probably the most stylistic and witty animation since The Wall, but the story’s a bit long and silly, and the characters are mere caricatures, so it’s hard to take things seriously.

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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

Reviewed on Feb 17, 2004

The story doesn’t substantiate its length. Not enough happens. We’re more wrapped up with the intricacies and vocabulary of seamanship than we are with plot. The characters are not well-developed, couldn’t keep the names straight. Crowe doesn’t do it for me. There’s always something about him that’s a bit reclusive…

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