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

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White House Down (2013)

Reviewed on Mar 2, 2015

Die Hard in the White House, basically. White tank top? Really? That said, the action isn’t bad. Tatum’s pretty good.

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Theatrical in its simplicity, intense character drama, and the single set. Gotta hand it to Lumet, it’s quality. Well-shot, with some impressively long takes. Great cast, great characters, great performances. Cobb had a George C. Scott quality to him. An all white male jury. I wonder if a multi-gender, multi-race…

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Rear Window (1954)

Reviewed on Feb 22, 2015

In an era of movies about the prim and proper, Hitchcock is never afraid to explore the dark and scandalous. This is also a class in the power of suggestion. A whole murder takes place, and we don’t see anything. Nicely shot, nicely paced. This is about as much as…

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The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Reviewed on Feb 21, 2015

A pretty good character piece. No surprise that Paul Thomas Anderson watched this film for inspiration before writing There Will Be Blood, as the psychological breakdowns are similar. Bogart definitely has a stoic presence about him. Walter Huston is good. Holt holds his own. A refreshingly exotic location for a…

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Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)

Reviewed on Feb 21, 2015

A heartfelt homage to the cast and crew, and a wonderful job getting so much of them back. A boon for real fans of the series. The rapid-fire interviews are marvelously intercut, and the documentary is cleanly broken down into logical sections for each film. The editor deserves a lot…

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Patton (1970)

Reviewed on Feb 18, 2015

Epic in length and scope, but unfortunately the story is a little boring. Scott commits to the role, but he plays a character who is not very redeeming. Scott is known as one of the great actors, but he doesn’t have a great body of film work. That makes it…

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American Sniper (2014)

Reviewed on Feb 14, 2015

A respectful account of a war hero, but the story as it’s told seems a bit simplistic. I know we’re bound by the truth here, but something was missing for me dramatically. A man goes to war, bad guys die, friends get killed, and he struggles to reconnect with his…

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Nightcrawler (2014)

Reviewed on Feb 12, 2015

Starts off with a creepy guy being creepy, but the tension builds nicely and it all unfolds into something pretty heavy. A quality production. Gyllenhaal convincingly plays a sadistic genius. His cold stare and speech inflections are a nice touch. This is definitely a Gyllenhaal vehicle, but the creepiness of…

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Big Hero 6 (2014)

Reviewed on Feb 10, 2015

Fun, fast-paced, emotional story. You can count on the Pixar folks for that. Brilliant animation, especially when flying around the city. The effects inside the portal were truly magical. Even Hiro’s hair was amazing. Baymax is likable and fun, with dialogue and a voice that’s hilariously sterile and charming. Pixar’s…

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Life Stinks (1991)

Reviewed on Feb 8, 2015

This movie stinks. The comedy of Mel Brooks just isn’t for me. Simplistic, on-the-nose comedy like this might have been funny in the 1930’s, but these days, we need a bit more.

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