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Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
In Vegas, everybody’s gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I’m watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all. – Ace Rothstein
If we learned one thing from Goodfellas, it was that when you team up the likes of Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, and Joe Pesci, something magical happens. 15 years have passed since it’s release in 1995 and that shovel scene at the end is still a cause to cringe. The cinematography, the acting, the premise; all felt very gritty. I mean this movie holds a Guiness World Record for most swear words feature length film. The “F-Bomb” is dropped 422 times, that’s an average number of 2.4 times per minute (thanks IMDB for that interesting statistic). Casino is more of a, ‘remember the good ole days’ cautionary tale of what mob life did to the Vegas strip. It’s a story of one man’s rise from complete obscurity to take a city by storm, only to lose touch with the ever changing moral foundation of a city with a lack there of. (more…)
Tags: casino, goodfellas, joe pesci, martin scorsese, review, robert deniro, sharon stone
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Sunday, September 6th, 2009
It’s alright to be afraid, David, because this part won’t be like a comic book. Real life doesn’t fit into little boxes that were drawn for it. – Elijah Price
M. Night Shyamalan has already established his own personal stamp for his films. Sadly this one is the most underrated works of the last decade. The first time I saw it I was blown away at how quiet and moving the movie is, and now almost ten years later after watching it again, I was more taken aback by how much movies have changed and audiences have changed. This movie represents a time when going to the movies was like finishing that great book. You close the last page and sit there, still in awe. Leaving the theater or opening the DVD tray a decade later; I’m still get that feeling with UNBREAKABLE.
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Tags: bruce willis, m. night shyamalan, retro review, review, shyamalan, unbreakable
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Not only captures what being a teenager and a high school life felt like, but also embodies what life ought to be like. The premise seems simple enough, our man Ferris decides to take a day off all in the name of sanity; saying goodbye to school and responsibility. Don’t you wish you could do the same? Well the movie is trying to tell you that you can, and should. It’s no surprise that the film has been suggested to be a great anti-suicide message. Who doesn’t feel like breaking out into song and dance at a parade after this movie?
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Tags: Ferris Bueller's Day Off, retro review, review
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Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Forget song-and-dance numbers and cute animal sidekicks, the film’s appeal comes from its winsome characters, its resonant story, and its evocative depiction of New England in the days of Sputnik and “duck and cover” drills. What are we hiding from today? This underrated gem was one of the last great pencil animations to come out, oh how I miss them.
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Tags: Iron Giant, retro review, review
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Astounding for its number of effective gags, and it is a comedy that loses nothing on repeat viewings. This is Farley at his finest. Funny to note that whenever David Spade talks about this role as he often does on the tonight show, he is quick to point out how lackluster Black Sheep was. This is a smart comedy and even a few moments of tenderness.
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Tags: retro review, review, Tommy Boy
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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
I only saw this film a few years ago, my friend made me watch it after much hesitation on my part. Chances are if you are reading this you may have never heard of the movie until now. It is defiantly worth your time to walk to the movie store right now and find it. The darkly beautiful work of a damaged child, you wouldn’t know if you should cry or laugh for most of this movie. The lines are quick and the best ones are often unheard from ongoing laughter. Gallo’s wounded, embittered performance is captivating, and so is his filmmaking. He made this movie for himself in my opinion, and let us in on it. Thank you sir.
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Tags: Buffalo 66, retro review, review
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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
One of the greatest childhood movies ever made…and I hate Baseball. The Sandlot will always stand the test of the time and be a movie that you can watch over and over as you grow older. It never loses its touch. It wasn’t about the sport for me that made me love this movie, as I stated I really can’t stand Baseball. It was the youth and sense of ‘what do you want to be when you get older’ I get every time I watch it. The innocent kids playing at the park, the legends that may or may not be true that you hear about your neighborhood, and the pickle you got into as a kid, it’s all here.
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Tags: retro review, review, The Sandlot
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I always recommend this movie to my guy friends saying it’s ‘the best guy movie ever made’, but don’t let that rattle you ladies, it’s a great movie for you too, for everyone in fact. So well paced, like a quick game of black jack, this movie keeps you guessing right until the very end. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are back together again (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and don’t miss a beat. It’s one of cinema’s most beloved heist movies, and for good reason. The film is so good-natured, so obviously aware of everything it’s up to I can’t help but love it more every time.
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Tags: Paul Newman, retro review, review, Robert Redford, The Sting
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Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Not a lot of people I talk to know much about Sling Blade other than it may or may not be the movie where the guy talks funny. Since I first saw this movie it is one that I come back to annually at least once, and it’s not always easy. The movie is dark, funny, and often reveals more about ourselves than one would like. Billy Bob Thornton who has since gone on to make many great films but none that in my opinion reach the status of Sling Blade. He wrote, directed, and starred in this masterpiece. There will never be another film like Sling Blade. And I reckon I’ll have to live with that… Mmm-mmm.
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Tags: Billy Bob Thornton, retro review, review, Sling Blade
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The best movie ever made in my opinion. Every scene so perfect and necessary. It was the first Martin Scorsese movie I had ever seen, and he has since become my favorite director. His use of time and music is something I tend to study in watching his films. He is the master and I do believe that when he is no longer making films, GoodFellas will be remembered as his opus. Roger Ebert calls it the best mob movie ever made; I would have to agree. The Godfather will appear in this database among other great mob films, but GoodFellas always comes first. Scorsese’s biopic of Henry Hill is so well-crafted, shot, and acted; there is not enough space here to go on.
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Tags: goodfellas, martin scorsese, retro review, review
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