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Reviews
Judgment Night (1993)
Great movie, very underrated!
Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr, Dennis Leary, Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven and Michael DeLorenzo all turn in fantastic roles in a very underrated film. Coming from the suburbs of Chicago the group of friends get off a freeway to try to bypass traffic so they could get to a boxing match in time. Little do they know that by doing so their lives would forever change. This is one of those movies where you ask yourself "why wasn't this a huge hit?" Looking at the other films out at the time I can't say there was a blockbuster that really got in the way unless if you count Demolition Man as a blockbuster.
I remember seeing a behind-the-scenes look (on Entertainment Tonight) at a rooftop stunt that amazed me. Even though the Entertainment Tonight clip didn't show great angles the stunt was impressive and looked much better in the film itself.
Outside of the Young Gun movies, Men At Work and Stakeout this is one of my all-time favorite Emilio Estevez films. Despite the other stars this is truly his film and he gives a great performance. Cuba Gooding helps add to the heart and soul of the film. Both Gooding and Estevez pull out all the stops and giving their roles much more depth than they could possibly have had in the script. Dennis Leary plays a great villain that is believable given some of the outrageous circumstances.
The film has it all for action-thriller-adventure fans. I highly recommend it. All I can say is the film probably lacked in the promotional department because I can't see why anyone would not like it!
Abandoned (2010)
A good send-off for Brittany Murphy
Her real-life death was tragic. Also sad her last movie was direct-to-video. It's a decent-to-good movie, but retreads grounds covered by many movies in the same genre. If it had struck out on it's own and paved new ground, or tried harder to be original the film could have been a better send-off for Brittany's career. All credit to the actress for a fine performance, especially considering she was gravely ill. It's far from Heath Ledger as Joker, but given the material she does a pretty good job. Interesting to note that she looked ill throughout the movie and I don't think it was an intended look. At times she was ghastly, sunken face black rings around her eyes. According to Wikipedia she was severely anemic (losing blood) which explains her paleness and ghastly appearance. She was also suffering from pneumonia.
Dean Cain does a fine job of playing her mysterious boyfriend, able to play the good guy well and leave you wondering about his motivations because he has played villainous roles since his Superman days. Mimi Rogers plays the hospital administrator well making you wonder if she is part of a conspiracy or just doing her job. Overall, this is pretty much a mystery and thriller movie. The downside is once the mystery is revealed (and it is done a bit too soon in my opinion)then it begins to retread many movies of the same vein, once I saw the big "reveal" everything that came after was standard formula and very predictable.
The movie is nice as a rental but I advise you rent it and not blind-buy it. If you like what you see it's a nice movie to have in a collection, not a must-buy, but if you like Brittany Murphy and want to own her last screen appearance then I recommend getting this. Had she not died it still would have been a decent movie, not great but worthy of seeing and maybe owning. I liked her outing in Across The Hall (and having just looked it up the rating for that was a 6 too but thought that was better than this). Maybe this is knocked down to a 5 because of a lack of originality and the acting in the latter half of the movie. I won't be surprised if the fan rating is higher based on her death.
It's a decent movie, but been rehashed plenty of times before (notably a lot of Ashley Judd 90's movies). It starts out well and keeps a good mystery going until one point in the film where you knew where everything was heading down a very worn path made by much better films like Double Jeopardy. Maybe I am overrating it due to the actress's death, but I kinda liked the movie. Read my review here -
http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/abandoned-bluray/
Eyeborgs (2009)
Eyeborgs is a Sci-Fi flick that seems part Robocop part Predator. It is low-budgeted but pretty good for an Independent flick and worth at least a rental.
Eyeborgs on Blu-ray looks very good for an Independent low-budgeted film. Not surprisingly the Director was a former DP (Director Of Photography) and the visual effects won two awards. The story parallels the real-world anxiety during the Bush Administration with it's futuristic tale. The acting is a little shaky but most of it is the supporting cast with the exception of Supporting Actor extrordinaire Danny Trejo. The Eyeborgs themselves remind me a lot of the Ed-209's in Robocop (they even sound like them) at least the miniature ones do. The bigger Eyeborgs are another robot/creature entirely. The story rings true in lots of ways about losing privacy due to technology and too much power corrupts. You can read my full review here - http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/eyeborgs-bluray/
Predator (1987)
This review is for Predator Ultimate Hunter Edition on Blu-ray
This is the very best Predator has ever looked. Some fan-boys/geeks what have you are criticizing the release calling it too polished, too cleaned up etc. I didn't see any of that. This is a much superior version of Predator over anything I have ever seen so far, including the Theatrical release. I had Predator in VHS, DVD at least twice and now Blu-ray twice. This is even far superior to the previous Blu-ray release that was essentially bare-bones with the exception of some HD Trailers. This has loads of extras that you can get lost in for hours (when you include commentaries as well). This is all without including how great fun the movie is. When I think of Arnold Schwarzenneger at his best I think of the period from the first Terminator, Predator and T2. Predator is underrated if anything. One of the best movies of all-time and people forget it was essentially a low-budget film.
To read my review of Predator Ultimate Hunter Edition Blu-ray - www.movie-vault.com/reviews/predator-ultimate-hunter-edition-bluray/ and type in the title or joecooler2u and you can find the movie listed on my name (which you can click when you see a review by me) there as well.
Carlito's Way (1993)
Carlito's Way is one of Pacino's most underrated films
The actors in this film are outstanding, from Pacino & Sean Penn to Penelope Ann Miller & an early John Leguizamo this film sports an outstanding cast. Brian De Palma is also in fine form here as he directs this movie seemingly without effort and with his usual unique (these days) style. The film is a seen as a sequel of sorts to Scarface, but saying that does Carlito's Way an injustice. Carlito's Way stands apart and on it's own very well. The world in this film is fascinating to behold, a bit of mob, a character wanting to reform, a love story and an action story. Also Pacino has a lot of nice sayings in this film. If Scarface is a 10 then Carlito's Way should be a 9. This film has been too underrated for far too long, it's time justice was done which is why I gave it the deserving 9 stars. You can read my full review of the Blu-ray here if you wish - http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/carlitos-way-bluray/