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

recent product reviews

Vincent (1982)

Reviewed on Jan 13, 2016

Vintage Burton. Amazing that, in 1982, he had already established his unique style.

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As intense and you can get and beautifully shot, but there’s not a whole lot of story. DiCaprio bleeds for two and half hours and vows revenge. There’s not much else to it. Beautifully composed shots of majestic mountains, big skies, and flowing water give the movie a contemplative feel…

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Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)

Reviewed on Jan 12, 2016

Standard Jackie Chan fare. Action is decent, but it’s not enough. Yeoh was cute.

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Predator 2 (1990)

Reviewed on Jan 11, 2016

Pretty awful. They took the original and added a shitty story, shitty characters, and shitty dialogue.

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The Apartment (1960)

Reviewed on Jan 10, 2016

A wonderful little story, smartly told and well-directed. Long takes and wider shots, which I know Wilder fought for, both work wonderfully. Made during the wonderful transition between the formal 50’s and experimental 60’s. In the themes and performances, you can see the boundaries being pushed a little bit, but…

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

Reviewed on Jan 5, 2016

Beautiful to see Seuss’ characters and universe come to life on film. Maybe it captured the imagination back in the day, but under a critical eye, the story and animation and songs are all pretty bad.

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Paths of Glory (1957)

Reviewed on Jan 5, 2016

Kubrick makes movies about men victimized by their environments, men who are being disconnected from each other, men who must abandon the formalities of daily life to deal with the pressure and chaos of their personal struggles. This one’s a perfect example. But this one’s made before Kubrick really started…

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Bridge of Spies (2015)

Reviewed on Jan 3, 2016

A story about an important and overlooked period in American history. Beautifully shot, with great effects and period costumes. A touch of light comedy perfectly sweetens the tension of the story. Performances ring true for the period, with everyone looking and feeling authentic. Spielberg, when he’s on, creates a depth…

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Spotlight (2015)

Reviewed on Dec 31, 2015

Not a documentary, but it’s made with a certain straightforwardness and detail that leads me to believe that the facts were heavily researched and few fictional liberties were really taken. That said, as an instrument of social change, I don’t think the film will really change things a whole lot…

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The Hateful Eight (2015)

Reviewed on Dec 28, 2015

As expected, it’s violent, dialogue-driven, and filled with two-faced characters. But for a film this long, I’m just not sure the story is interesting enough. Not a whole lot happens. A stagecoach picks up a black guy, they go to a cabin, and characters spar with dialogue for a while…

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