trickrider Reviews

The Secret of My Success (1987)

Is he short or what?

[24 January 2004]

I liked this movie but couldn't really accept MJF as a romantic lead. He is too freakin' small! And he's too cute! Much in the same way I can't stand seeing Arnold or Stallone as romantics. They have a weirdness to them that doesn't translate into sexual prowess! I liked the movie even though it was full of that 80's Me Me Me attitude of trying to make it to the top! But unlike nowadays where people will do anything without regards to others feelings, this movie showed that some of what our parents generation taught us still resides in a few of us who can appreciate a comedy like Secret of my Suce$$~

The Bodyguard (1992)

The Way Movies used to be...

[14 January 2004]

It struck me as extremely funny that 2 of the biggest box-office movies of all-time, The Bodyguard and Titanic, were and are considered BAD MOVIES!!! So what is it that people want? A serious interesting movie with great acting and great writing,

or a bad movie with likeable attractive stars and great music..which both Titanic and Bodyguard both have! Why is it that many comments about this movie are either Loved it or Hated it! Seems that box office is what matters when deciding if a movie is entertaining or not! People go to movies to be entertained

and escape the reality of everyday life! This movie is like an old hollywood movie from the 1940's when big stars would fill the screen with thier glamorous looks and charm and persuasive personalities that would pull us in and not let us go till the credits rolled! So sit back and grab a coke and enjoy a throwback movie! 4/5 St

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Unbelievable!!

[10/10 · 14 January 2004]

You can't honestly tell me that any one of the Lord Of Rings movies is better than Cuckoo's Nest! The fact that One Flew.. dropped to #12 because of the entry of LOTR The Return of the King, is outrageous! LOTR is nothing but overblown CGI! It doesn't reflect anything at all but fantasy! Give me a break! It goes to show you that there are more geeks and nerds on this planet than people with common sens

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

Pork Sausage Anyone??

[12 January 2004]

While watching this movie last night, I kept thinking I had heard the voice of the character Willard Whyte before. And sure enough it came to me..it was Jimmy Dean! The guy who did all those Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage commercials in the 70'-80's! I thought it would of been hilarious if the 2 gay guys at the end of the film who brought in room service for James and Tiffany would of served them pork!!! But I still wanted to fry up some of those good ol' sausage links for breakfast the next d

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Love, Romance and Chivalry all Here!

[9/10 · 4 January 2004]

This is what a romantic-comedy should be! Fun, light-hearted with goodlooking stars and a story that moves along and doesn't get boring! This movie has excellent performances, especially Hugh Jackman and Liev Schrieber! And Meg Ryan may not look as young and perky as she once was, but she still is a nice looking woman! And the guy who played her brother was cool. He was funny as heck in the scene where he is trying to pick up a girl and he and Hugh have this dialogue where he explains to him how to court and win a ladies heart! We could all learn how to be a little more like Hugh's character..he was so full of courtly manners! And the best part was his explanation of what a meal should be! This diatribe ends up getting him cast in a commercial for Megs firm and of course he is a big hit with the ladies! But he ends up detesting the product and all seems lost for Megs ambitions to be a corporate VP! But in the end she gets what is really important..love!

A surprise ending and full of romantic twist and turns! I am a guy and I found myself tearing up several times because what happens to the lead characters, Meg and Hugh, is what we all wish could happen to us! And although it is just a far-fetched movie, the sentiments of love and romance are so strong we only wish it could happen to us!

I loved the movie..it is one of my favorites of all time(up there with Titanic) and I watch every chance I see it on cable!

****1/2 out of

Mr. Destiny (1990)

I had the Good Fortune of ..

[10/10 · 22 December 2003]

getting to work on this film when it was made back in the summer of 1990. Shot partly in the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC and the remaining parts in Winston-Salem. The massive offices of the RJ Reynolds were used in several office scenes and places in around the beautiful city that is know as the tulip capital of the world Winston-Salem! I enjoyed my work although it was exceedingly hard work building all the sets like the Golf of Mexico where Renee Russo and Jim Belushi went on their date. I also had a big hand in decorating the bar where Larry encounters the magical bartender Mr. Destiny. I tacked all those pics on the wall of sports heroes and decorated that phone booth where larry makes a phone call for a cab. I even put my mothers photo at eye level so i could freeze frame it and show it to her when we watched it. I remember dyeing the grass at his old house with green dye because it first had to be sodded(it was a new house in a new development and I guess they leased it for the movie)..then I had to cut that newly laid sod to make it look nice..man that was hard! As far as the movie, when we made it we had no idea what it would be like but after seeing it i fell in love with it because really tells the story of "what if" as good as I ever had seen it, including the great It's a Wonderful Life. I cried so many times

i can't count. I got to meet the wonderful actor Michael Caine while shooting scenes at an old minor league ballpark where Larry's boyhood scenes were played and replayed. I remember after he had done a take an was heading back to his trailer, I ran him down and asked him for a picture and he was quite amiable and said "why not!" He is a good guy and a really natural and forceful actor. I can't say the same for Jim Belushi..he was so full of himself, smoking big cuban cigars and talking loudly so

everyone in earshot could hear his every word. His career never did take off but he has had a decent TV career recently. I would say watch this movie if you ever get the chance. It's wonderful and really heartfelt and real. You can feel Larry's pain after he enters into the new world Mr. Destiny gives him after hitting the homer, and as he wants so badly for people to believe he is not this bad guy everyone thinks he is. They all think he belongs in a nuthouse! But eventually he wins people over but by then he wants his real life back so badly, especially his wonderful wife, played so beautifully by Linda Hamilton..and he wants his dog back! So see it.

To Die For (1995)

Excellent!

[8/10 · 20 December 2003]

I remember when this flick came out back in '95 I ignored because I basically I wasn't that impressed with Nicole Kidma..err.

Mrs. Tom Cruise! I mean really! Tom marries this cute aussie girl he meets on the set of Days Of Thunder and next thing you know they're hitched! I don't recall anything she was in after that until To Die For came out. That and the fact that she looked like a carbon copy of my ex-girlfriend in looks and attitude...people would actually stop and ask my ex for her autograph sometimes when we are out..she would politely say "I am not nicole but thanks for the compliment". But all in all my opinion of Nicole's acting talent changed with Moulin Rouge. In that movie she showed great range and dramatic believabilty. So I went ahead and watched To Die For for the first time the other day. I did enjoy it..somewhat. It dealt with the emptiness of small town life. Especially if you had big city aspirations. In this day of Reality shows and the "do

anything to get on TV" attitude that prevails in our world, this show was ahead of it's time. Of course I don't think reality TV

will ever ask anyone to kill someone to be on TV! But the characters in TDF were all wanting something, even if they weren't aware of how much they wanted it. And in the end it cost them the very future they were hoping to secure. Joqauin wanted a life with Nicole and Nicole wanted to be Connie Chung or Barbara Walters or whoever. Was this supposed to be a message movie or just a picture of what life is like for desperate ambitious people? It seemed like a documentary at times. And the unraveling of how they caught the perpatraitors was quite interesting as well. All in all a good movie..I give ***1/2

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Why is it a western when...

[8/10 · 7 December 2003]

I found it odd that "A Fistful of Dollars" and "The Good, Bad and the Ugly" are called westerns. If they are westerns meaning they take place in the southwestern part of the USA, then why do the main characters have Italian names? Do you know of any Italian families or influence in the old Southwest? I don't! Would not that area be more Mexican? I hear mariachi style music but I also see italians made up to look like mexicans! It's almost like Italy has a wild west! And one other point another poster made here was that Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone did not speak each others language. That Clint ignored most of the dialouge written for him in the script and wanted to keep it simple and let his acting reveal his

personality. It's obvious that this led to his trademark screen persona as a guy who said little but definetley got respect from everyone around him! It was borne here out of his relationship with Sergio and he has replayed that original 'man with no name" in every character from Dirty Harry to the tough guy in "Every Which Way but Loose" and so on

The Mortal Storm (1940)

Not Realistic!

[6 December 2003]

Although a fine movie with fine performances, the one thing that bothered me the most was that it seemed to use hindsight sentiment and hatred for Nazi Germany and Hitler to make this nearly pre-war anti-nazi film! Of course everyone hated Hitler and Nazis once we knew what they were up to..even in 1940, only a year or so after he marched into Poland and started WWII. But to try and give it the old liberal tweeking and make it look like this is what was really happening..friends and family turning on each other! Hitler youth forcing their politics on old men and brutalizing them for not singing some Nazi anthem???? Where did the filmmaker get these facts? It's the same thing with all our history books written in the cold war about Russia. We are painted a picture by the politicos of the time and not the real facts! I seriously doubt that Nazi youth trudged around towns and campuses in the late 1930's beating down the establishment and challenging everyone to either be " for us or against us!" C'mon! I am not a sympathizer to any political entity but this might be one of the first movies where Hollywood and it's liberal filmakers tried to propagandize us with it's own version

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Shawshank Not an Original idea but...

[9/10 · 3 December 2003]

does it come off as a great movie? Perhaps, but I still think that other than the fact that this movie's premise was a ripoff of ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (made in 1979..a full 14 years before Shawshank).. I guess it's still not bad. It is an interesting story, albeit not entirely true, or false. Yes, there was a prisoner who dug his way out of an alleged impenetrable prison. Yes, there was the usual bad warden who could make your life miserable and did when you did not tow the line. What Stephen King did was change the timeline(1950's) and the digging. You never see Tim Robbins character digging! You get an idea he might try it but upon first viewing the movie, you really have no clue except the feeling he is up to something! He is just to smart not to have a plan. Afterall, he is the prison accountant and personal investment broker! So in the end, the audience was just as surprized as the warden at the discovery of his amazing escape!

In "Escape from Alcatraz" we see the digging and the entire plan unfold..so what is left for us to enjoy is the satisfaction of seeing that jerk of a warden get what's coming when the prisoners break out of the Rock! Stephen King created a great piece of work and the director made it work as great cinema. So it doesn't come off entirely as a remake of a similar type of prison break movie but a character study of 2 men who desperately want out and some who don't. But I thought you all ought to know where the original story of digging thru a prison wall came from.

To me the twist was Tim had to swim thru 500 yards of crap and Clint Eastwood had to swim across a freezing San Francisco bay! Whereas Shawshanks characters end up free, happy and in paradise, we never will know if the Alcatraz prisoners survived the swim across the freezing SF bay..it's still

Days of Thunder (1990)

Movie predicts the coming Jeff Gordon!

[24 November 2003]

What amazed me about this movie is how it tells the story of a young wiz-kid stock car driver that takes the circuit by storm! The kid(Tom Cruise) comes from California(just like Jeff Gordon) raced and dominated open-wheel(just like Jeff Gordon) and became the youngest winner ever of the daytona 500 and the Winston Cup. The rookie upstart vs.the grizzled vet and all of this 3 years before Jeff Gordon arrived on the scene! Talk about premonition! Tom and Jeff both have simialr looks and builds and even simalr speech patterns. In the movie, Cole Trickle upsets the establishment with his immense driving talent and ambition to be the best just like Gordon did! Even the late Dale Earnhardt nicknamed him the wonderkid. The characters and the story line are pretty simple yet the drama unfolds like a true hollywood classic of an underdog rising up and winning it all..i.e Rocky. It's a fun watch and the action is fast and furious! Forget the goofs and the inaccuracies because most movies like this have them, and usually they are only noticeable to people who are really experts. Forget that you can't slam and bash cars up like they did in the movie and still go really fast enough to win races. Just en

Oh, God! (1977)

Far Out Feelgood Flick!!

[9/10 · 2 November 2003]

Unlike the jaded review of Spider 63, I found this movie refreshing and

enlightening! Whether or not you liked or still like John Denver, or the

crusty cigar-chomping curmugeon George Burns, this movie still has

charm. It may reek of the middle 1970's back to the earth and

spiritualism that pervaded the times, but it was nice to see a simple

funny film that made you think "what if". It was perfectly cast and perfectly acted. JD was that grocery store

clerk married and faithful and devoted to family and community. Yet he

knew the world wasn't right and probably felt that he was just a nothing

of a man and wanted nothing more than to do his job, raise his family

and be nice to his neighbors (although many of them were not

interested). And God chose him to deliver a message that you may or may

not believe God would deliver, but it is still a good message of what a

society should be or could be. And yet, people hear for a moment but

still go back to thier ways. And that is why this movie is still a

light in the forest that can open your heart to the possibilities raised

in the film. It may be a comedy and far-fetched but it still has a

message, albeit delivered in a folksy Hee-haw style..yet it is still

resonates with the child in all of us! See it when it

The Landlord (1970)

A feel Good Movie..

[9/10 · 19 October 2003]

This overall excellent movie from the early 70's blackploitation period showcased the stereotypes that permeated the landscape of those times. It came out during the same time period as All In The Family. The Landlord dealt with some of the same issues as Archie Bunkers family did. Thank God there was a time that wasn't PC and things could be shown as they were and not as someone wished they would be.

As America struggled with the issues of race and prejudice, a movie such as this came along and tried to show that color shouldn't be a barrier to true love and friendship. Nowadays, it's nothing for blacks and whites to mix. The barriers have been somewhat broken, although some may say it was forced on white america with all the affirmative action laws and equal rights.

I always thought Beau Bridges was one of the least attractive actors whatwith his big bushy eyebrows, but after I saw The Landlord, he was actually somewhat handsome and cute in his 20's! And the fact that the lead actor falls in love with a light-skinned blackwoman wasn't lost on me either. Hollywood will still only use lighter black women(Halley Berry, Vanessa Williams types) for lead roles in movies. Beau Bridges even mentions it to his mother that she might like his new black girlfriend because she was "very light". I guess they were ahead of the times back then!But we all know it's so as not to offend WHITE AMERICA.

And there was also the rascism that is directed from blacks towards whites that still exist today. It's like some blacks think ALL whites are bad people. That we all are descendants from the white slave-owners! Many of us came over as immigrants from European countries and had nothing to do with slavery!

All in all, The Landlord was a good movie. I almost thought I was watching the Black Entertainment channel! But it was AMC! And it was good. And there was a lot of symbolism in the movie, like the white family wearing alot of white clothing and living in a white house! And it also shows that if you get to know someone and act like a human being with a heart, color won't matter at all. People are people on the inside and that is what we need to look at, not what is on the outside! We can appreciate our diversities and enjoy them..not ridicule them. In the movie we see that ignorance leads to the problems of racism. Not color! Check this movie out.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Not as Good with repeated viewings..

[9/10 · 30 September 2003]

To me, for a movie to be in the Top 10 all-time, it has to hold up to

repeated viewings. This one does not. I can watch Jaws, City Slickers,

Goodfellas, Titanic, everytime they are on because they exude a certain

feeling of a certain time and space. I am sure everyone here has movies

that do that to them. Yes, I enjoyed Shawshank Redemption immensely when

I first saw it. I was suprized at the ending and found it holding my

attention throughout. But just like Usual Suspects, after you know the

ending, and the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, the movie becomes

just a collection of characters and acting. And unless you are

mesmerized by the performances, the movie just loses it's appeal. Unlike

movies that have more of a attitude or aural feel to them where you get

caught up in the ambience of the movie(stuff like City Slickers,

Godfather, Goodfellas, Chinatown..) this movie just doesn't hold up

based strictly on the performances. I love Morgan Freeman and will watch

most anything he is in, especially Driving Miss Daisy and Seven. It

amazes me how this movie is considered the #2 movie alltime by this

s

Flashdance (1983)

Will the real JLo(Jennifer Lopez) please stand up!

[8/10 · 29 September 2003]

The one over-riding theme in a lot of the comments here about Flashdance

is how it does not hold up to the test of time! What a load! It does

stand up and it is very relevant. Just check out all the dance studios

and comedy clubs full of wannabees. Most of us have dreams or had them.

When I first saw this movie I was 23 and I was full of hopes and

ambitions. And looking back now, this movie makes me see what happens

when you don't go for them. I loved Jennifer Beals when I saw the movie back then. Little did we

know that Jennifer was the original Jennifer Lopez. The whole Puerto

Rican babe with the bubble butt that drives men crazy these days was

actually on display in Flashdance! This movie sparked a fashion craze with the torn and cut-up sweats and

the leg-warmers. Who can forget the scene where Jennifer and Michael

Nouri character(who seemed too old for her actually) are in her

apartment and she takes off her bra from under her ripped up sweat top.

Was that erotic or what?!! It also had a memorable sound-track that

still has numbers like 'What a Feeling" and "Maniac" being played on

those 80's disco radio shows. All in all this movie was like the movie Rocky! Instead of Philly you

got Pittsburgh! Instead of a boxer, you get a dancer! Instead of the

theme song " Gonna Fly Now" with the line " feeling strong now", you get

"What a Feeling". Like the nobody club boxer with no real formal boxing

training, you get a dancer with little formal training who rises to the

top. Of course we know that in the real world, these characters would

have very little chance of becoming successes. Rocky Balboa would of

ended up a punching bag just padding future champions records, and

Jennifer would

American History X (1998)

We are all racsist to a degree..

[20 September 2003]

and I for one liked the film for it's brutal honest opening. That kind

of crime does happen and it's good to see it out in the open where we

can all be affected by it. Ed Norton gives a great performance that

would of fallen far short of the mark had it been acted out by Matt

Damon or a Chris O'Donnell. Ed nails it with all the fury and hatred

that boils up and out from his maddening existence! He does what many

have done and many more will do. When we can't accept that our fate is

in our own hands and of our own choosing, we lash out at who or whomever

we feel is responsible! We all do it to each other in one way or

another. It may not be a masterpiece like the Godfather, but it has enough good

moments to make it stick in your mind and that alone makes it a pretty

decent film. How many of you can remember much about the last 25 movies

you spent 9-10 bucks on? But how many of you, 5 years later, still hear

the cracking of the skull on the curb? How many still see the insane

demonic eyes of Ed Norton's character as the cops drag h

King Kong (1976)

A Few facts..

[19 September 2003]

First off, so many of the reviews here are based on story, special effects and lame acting! Well, to some degree, I agree! The story is simple and easily predictable. The special effects are almost as bad as the japanese Godzilla movies! The acting really isn't bad. Each character is played to perfection by the actor.

But the REAL REASON I love this movie is Jessica Lange! No where have I seen beauty as incredible as hers! Her cleavage shots are magnificent especially in this age of fake implants, she was as real as they get! And she had the most exquisite legs I have ever seen! She exudes an sexuality and innocence that belies a smoldering sensuality that could wake a dead man! She has an aire of Marilyn Monroe in her for sure! My pulse speeded up whenever she was onscreen, especially the beginning shots of her on the beach in her "Daisy Dukes". I can see why Kong was so possessed by her beauty!

One other note is many of the reviewers here think that the ape was merely a man in a gorilla suit. That is partially true but not entirely. I worked on the set of Delaurentis Studios in Wilmington, NC back in 1990-91 and I remember seeing the ape head used in the movie lying in the back lot in a open field with alot of other props and junk used in various movies. It was a faded purple color from all the years of fading in the sun. It was kind of sad. I was told that in the movie, that the closeup scenes of Kong where he is looking at Jessica Lange the studio used a robotic controlled ape. You can tell this is true by the large eyes and how close together they are and how the facial expressions are mechanical from the blinking eyes to the jaw movements. Also the hand is mechanical in the scenes wher Jessica is in his palm. The scenes where he is running are a man in a suit as many have said. And that ape face is different. That is why they look so different, because they are 2 different masks.

Even though a new Kong is coming out in 2005, I doubt it will be worthy. Will it capture the beauty and innocence of Jessica Langes character? Somehow I feel it will be mostly CGI crap, much like what was used in Hulk, and we know how that turned out!!!!! It's not a bad movie nor is it great.

Less Than Zero (1987)

Hits the Nail...

[9/10 · 11 September 2003]

right on the head! Dead on 80's lifestyle for 20 somethings. It was like

the movie portrayed. This is a great movie for those of us who came of

age in the 80's. If you are younger or older than that generation you

probably don't appreciate or get what it was really like and that

doesn't matter really. No one gets anyone else's generation. But some

things don't change. Maybe the clothes, hairstyles, and music change but

the attitude is the same. Balls to the wall partying and endless energy!

Going to sleep at 6 AM and waking up at 6 PM and partying all night!

What's new? The movie does have an edge of innocence and that may be the times. Yes,

they have gotten harsher and people are more in your face and less

congenial these days but that has more with the moral decay in society.

Instead of hiding our addictions or kinkyness or fetishes, we live them

in the open these days! The body-piercings, the tattooed bodies and the

blaring profanity-laced music. It's like who cares if others don't

approve? Screw you! But the movie was cool and has a nostalgic feel to it even if Andrew

McCarthy is a putz! David Spader was the perfect slimeba

Anger Management (2003)

Foreigners Don't get It!!!!!

[9 September 2003]

I have noticed that most of the negative comments about this and other

Adam Sandler flicks come from people in England or Europe or some other

far off and way off location other than the USA!!! I don't doubt many of you find Adam's brand of comedy funny nor Jim

Carreys or even David Spades! And you wanna know why? You ain't

American! You wouldn't understand the humor because it based in American

culture and on American society! It'd like one of us watching one of

your french comedies or anything from a foreign country and trying to

figure out why we aren't laughing? ever wonder why movies from other

countries rarely get shown here? Not funny! The problem is we are so advanced and sophisticated in our technologies

and standards of living that we find movies like Billy Madison funny

because it is brainless, mindless and whacky! It is a way to let off

steam! To relieve stress! It's called escapism! Come on foriegn reviewers..lighten up! You can't get the joke because

you are the joke! You serious, self-righteous, arrogant intellects who

can't laugh because you might actually enjoy it! And god forbid that

happen!!!! I am proud to be an American and Adam Sandler is one of my many american

cinematic heroes!

Now go watch some bad Jer

The Two Jakes (1990)

Tells a Good story about the Valley

[1 September 2003]

I currently live in the place that the plot of this movie centers around. The post war San Fernando Valley(yes, that Valley where the Valley Girl phenomenon originated) that exploded with development after WWII. Before the war the valley was largely orange and walnut groves and before the big boom, the government built many Defense plants here to build and develop most of it's planes. To accommodate the many employees of these plants, housing developers moved in and there were many power grabs of which these 2 movies revolve around. After the infusion of the water that was brought in via the Mullholland Dam Project (part of the plot of Chinatown) the population of the Valley grew in leaps and bounds! What was a pleasant drive in the "country" as Los Angeleans referred to the SFV as, before the late 40's, became the largest housing boom the country has ever seen before or since! Currently there are at least 3 million people living here(many undocumented immigrants live here uncounted). Anyone who owned land became wealthy including the late Bob Hope who owned vast amounts of Valley acreage! Many of the farmers from back then ( like Van Owen and Van nuys) sold thier land and became very rich. I think that the John Huston character from Chinatown was based on one of the Van characters. They even named major avenues in the Valley after Van Nuys and Van Owen. I think that the actual filming of the movie was shot north of the San Fernando Valley because it is all developed now. I am too young to remember the era of this movie but i can appreciate since I live in LA and can see many of the buildings seen in the Hollywood and downtown scenes that still stand and look just like they did then! I loved this movie for the many ways it captured the era. One scene where Jake is driving you can hear on the radio the serial "The Whistler", which is still played among others on the Oldtime Radio Hour, on a local AM station 1070. True, this town isn't as old or historical as a Boston or New York or Philadelphia, but it has had it's moments and it's moods are reflected well in this movie. If you don't at first understand the plot, maybe it isn't as complex as it may seem. It's about a part of our country that exploded with growth and opportunities perhaps like none other and of course there will be visionary people trying to capitalize on that and make a fortune.

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Started the Karate School Phenom in USA!

[29 July 2003]

Yes, Enter the Dragon pretty much launched the karate school craze that swept the nation back in the middle 70's because I joined one as a 14yo kid who had been mesmerized by Bruce Lee in this flick. I knew who he was because I remember him as Kato in Green Hornet. So when ETD came out in 73, every kid in the world wanted to see it! It had the same effect on me as Rocky did a few years later..I couldn't stop shadow boxing for that one and i couldn't stop throwing kicks at friends after ETD! Now after having seen it some 28 years later again, I get a little nostalic for the times with it's oversized afro's, cheesey music, long sideburns! This movies captured the feel of the movies back in the early 70's perfectly! Yea, there may be better special effects in karate films today, but this one set the standard and inspired al the ' yeows!" and "aaaawh" that were trademark Bruce lee sounds. Other future movies may look and sound better, but they lack one essential ingredient...BRUCE LEE!!!! I heard that on movie sets back when Bruce was in some chinese produced flicks, he used to get challenged all the time by other extras and standins! Seems they were jealous of his growing fame and weren't impressed. They figured he was all hype! Not taking the challenge would be tantamount to admitting you were a fake and fraud, so Bruce would calmly stop his acting scene, take on the challenger, beat his a$$, and then continue on acting without hardly breaking a sweat!

Oxford Blues (1984)

Age of Innocence

[28 July 2003]

What most impresses me about this movie and a few others from the 80's

like Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire is how they lack all the brash,

rude and obnoxiousness found in movies today! The young generation of

that time ( and every young person has thier time) didn't fill the

screen with crude language and remarks degrading to each other. In this

movie they still had enough good sense to not curse like uneducated

heathens! Seems like all the movies today just seem to fill the screen with one

F**k and a$$hole and sheeet and every other imaginable word you could

use just to see how many they can say in 90 minutes! It surely is a time gone by and perhaps we do live in a world that is

more realistic and streetwise, but it sure isn't going to make the world

a better place throwing obsceneties it in our face all the time! Oxford Blues was refreshing because it had some class even though it was

a simple plot and a simple movie. And Rob Lowe was one heck of a goodlooking

Spring Forward (1999)

Good but Unsatisfying

[10/10 · 14 June 2003]

This is one of those indie pics that were so popular in the late 90's,

Which means, you either never heard of it or it was a smash. This one is

the former! But I found it and since I always liked Ned Beatty but

haven't seen him in much these days, I rented it. It was a somewhat slow but very interesting character study. I liked the

characters right away especially the beginning scene when they were

being asked to load up a pickup truck with fertilizer and the younger

man refused to do it because he felt they were being used and

unappreciated, and even called the guy a faggot for it! But there were too many undeveloped possibilities like the one where he

meets the pretty lady who gives him one of her puppies. He was desperate

to meet a woman and when he did we never see it develop!

The marijuana smoking scene was the best and seeing the old coot Ned

pull on a doobie was awesome! In scenes like that, we see how the older

man grew youthful! The movie was basically about how we can learn from each other

regardless of age. Getting old is only a bad thing if you stop learning

The Ring (2002)

What a Load of Nonsense!

[9 June 2003]

Other than the pretty lead actress Naomi Watts, this movie went around

in Rings! Around and around with nowhere to stop! I mean, if that is the

meaning of the movie, that as long as people see this video they will

die, then of course it makes sense. Once you start watching the hypnotic

tape, you're hooked and then the phone rings and wallah! 7 days and

you're a stiffie! To be honest, the videotape you weren't suppose to

watch is the BEST part of the movie! It was kind of like some 1920's

silent movie! However, there were too many loose ends! Like the little boy acting like

he was the twin brother of that kid from The Sixth Sense with his creepy

eyes and posessed looks! And how did he know so much about that dead

girl? And what is with the whole movie being shot in that aqua-green hue? Is

that what it is like in the Northwest? I would of killed myself if I

lived in a world as grim and glum as that place! Forget about watching

some videotape! And why did they leave out so many scenes that were in

the DVD that might of helped the viewers actually care about the

victims? All in all, it was just another waste of

The Best of Everything (1959)

The End of Innocence

[8/10 · 8 June 2003]

I just saw this wonderfully filmed movie that captures the essence of

high-brow NYC, or any big city of mid-century America. The colors, the

cars, the clothes and the coming of the Womens Movement. It reflects the

comf-cozy attitudes of relationships between men and women in the

corporate world. In some ways, things gave changed and in others, they

haven't changed at all. Women still want what men have today, but they

now have all sorts of laws and equality mandates to get it for them. In

my opinion, beautiful women will still THROW themselves at men in

pursuit of thier goals! The laws we have now against harrassment and

all, were passed by unattractive women who wanted an equal chance to

compete with prettier women who might be getting the positions soley

based on thier looks and puting out! The real competition isn't between

men and women, but women and women! I liked the look and feel of the movie but the world hasn't changed as

far as what real