Mystic River: A Quick Review

"Mystic River," released in 2003, was directed by one of the greatest American film makers, Clint Eastwood. The cast is fantastic: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney. Combine these two things with a great story/script and we get one of the best movies of the decade, in my opinion anyway. The movie takes place in Boston. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon play Jimmy, Dave, and Sean, respectively. They were childhood friends and then years later Jimmy's daughter is killed. Dave is accused of the murder and Sean is the main cop on the case. The movie has a great cast of characters. Every actor gives a highly powerful, memorable performance which makes the movie so great to watch. Besides the great acting the plot is just an engaging mystery. It's really a fun time when you watch a movie and the actors are actually capable of acting and portraying believable characters and the screenwriters are capable of doing what their job title implies. Being the great director and Hollywood icon that Clint Eastwood is, the movie looks great and is just very well put together. The movie is over 2 hours long which usually means I stop paying attention and get antsy and really confused. But for the most part that didn't happen. Although I gotta say, it took me forever to figure out who played who in the movie. My memory really is a sad thing. So basically I loved this movie. I love the all-star cast. I love Clint Eastwood. It wasn't dragged out so much that I was angry by the end - like some movies we no longer talk about because as far as I am concerned they never happened. So rent it! Buy it for $5 at Wal-Mart. Watch it online. Do something to see it. Clint Eastwood's still cranking out great movies even into his 70s and it's a wonderful thing... This man pretty much destroys the movie efforts of most directors nowadays, many half his age, but less than half his ability. Although if you are expecting Clint Eastwood to sing in the end credits you will be disappointed as that does not occur.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Cast Away: A Quick Review

"Cast Away" is the last movie that Robert Zemeckis directed before he went crazy and became obsessed with making motion capture movies ("The Polar Express," "Beowulf," and "A Christmas Carol"). This is really a shame because before this he made some great, normal movies such as "Back to the Future, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," and a certain Academy Award winner and one of the best movies of the 1990s...or ever: "Forrest Gump." "Cast Away" was released at the end of 2000. Earlier that year Robert Zemeckis's "What Lies Beneath" with Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford was released. The movie was actually a pretty good supernatural thriller. The beginning was a little slow but the end was pretty intense. And Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford are just great actors to begin with. Okay, back to "Cast Away," which starred Tom Hanks, and Helen Hunt showed up at the beginning and the end. I'm assuming you all know the plot but I'll give a brief synopsis anyway: Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) works for FedEx and is dating Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt). While on a plane with several other employees they fly into a storm the plane crashes into the water and Chuck ends up on an island for four years. If you are going to watch just one actor carry almost an entire movie completely on his own, it might as well be Tom Hanks. The man is just a great actor having done comedy. drama, and whatever is in between...He spends about an hour and a half of the movie on an island by himself. The result is anything but boring. Tom Hanks plays the character so well as he tries to fend for himself on the island and deals with being stranded alone for four years and "befriending" a volleyball he calls Wilson. Although he doesn't talk a whole lot, plenty happens on the island as the years pass and it is entertaining to see and it is no surprise that Tom Hanks got an Oscar nomination for his role. Helen Hunt is also great, but she is in hardly any scenes. Although the movie is pushing 2 1/2 hours, the pacing is perfect and every scene feels like there was at least a little point to it being there. Throughout the whole movie there is just a lot of great film making in general, which is what I have come to expect from Robert Zemeckis. So if you have already seen it, great - and if not then by all means rent it because it's worth the time and money...if only for a great Tom Hanks performance.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Rat Race: A Quick Review

This movie stars the likes of John Cleese, Jon Lovitz, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, Cuba Gooding Jr., etc (aka some really funny individuals). So the assumption is that if "Rat Race" is not funny then it's not the cast's fault...it's the writer's. Lucky this is actually a very funny movie thanks to the great cast and some hilarious scenes. It may just be me but I thought the scenes with the bus full of Lucille Ball impersonators, Jon Lovitz's character and his family stealing Hitler's car, and Kathy Bates as "the squirrel woman" were hilarious. The plot is definitely not original, but these actors and the funny script make it work. There are also a handful of just really dumb scenes in the movie like any scene involving that stupid cow. A couple scenes could have been completely omitted and most people probably would not have missed them at all. The ending is really awful though...I don't really understand why someone thought it would be a good idea to end with a Smash Mouth concert trying to raise money for the hungry of the world. So great cast, but not a great movie. Definitely funny though and just generally enjoyable...Wayne Knight also had a hilarious small part as an ambulance driver and Rowan Atkinson playing an Italian tourist - that was just really fun for me. And remember...you should have just bought the squirrel...

-Joseph Sbrilli

Who Framed Roger Rabbit: A Quick Review

The main thing that I wondered as I was watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" was why in the world would a woman ever marry a rabbit. I just don't understand the logic behind this. The movie is great though. It came out in 1988, during the period of time before Robert Zemeckis went crazy and decided to only make motion capture movies...which look nice...but he should seriously consider going back to making normal movies like "Back to the Future," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Forrest Gump," etc. Even in these he was still able to use tons of special effects. I've decided that cartoon characters coexisting with live characters in a movie is one of the coolest things a person can hope to do in movies. The special effects in the movie are great and the interaction between the actors (mostly Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd) and the cartoons actually feels normal. Also, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is the only time in the history of the world that Disney characters and Warner Brothers characters have been in the same movie...which I find really interesting. The movie is a great combination of comedy mixed with a mystery...since Roger Rabbit is indeed framed for murder...the title of the movie isn't a lie. Great acting (from the actors and the voice-over actors), great script, and groundbreaking special effects are just a few of the several reasons why "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" has become regarded as classic.

-Joseph Sbrilli

Friday the 13th (2009): A Quick Review

The original "Friday the 13th" from 1980 wasn't a great movie. It was camp-y, simple, predictable, and more violent than genuinely scary. But at the very least it was an entertaining 1980s slasher movie...which spawned so many sequels it's ridiculous. The new "Friday the 13th" is a combination of the first four movies in the series. The result is nowhere as good as the original. The original made a little bit of sense...this new one does not....at all. Who the heck would continue going to Camp Crystal Lake after Jason Vorhees (and his mother) has hacked, dismembered, or otherwise violently killed every single person to set foot near the camp in the last twenty-nine years? The answer: the unbelievably stupid teenagers in the newest incarnation of the movie franchise. They were all so unbelievably annoying and really should have kept their clothes on...once they come off it's mere seconds before they are bloody and dying...just a fun little fact about horror movies. Almost every single person is unlikeable/drunk/high/making awful decisions/etc. Just about everyone dies...oops...sorry, I ruined the movie. And by the way, the beginning of this movie ruins the original...so see the original first. The plot is pretty non-existent, most of the cast is awful, and the music at times just got me in a bad mood. So yeah, it's your typical slasher movie...not a horror movie...a slasher. There is a difference - slashers are just violent and bloody whereas horror movies actually have a plot and characters that lead to genuine scares and suspense. These are often psychological or a little demonic depending on the movie. So quite honestly if you are thinking to yourself "I want to watch a horror movie. Why don't I rent the new "Friday the 13th." Don't do it (unless it only costs you a dollar)...rent "Psycho," "The Exorcist," "Jaws," "The Shining," "Poltergeist," etc. It will be a better use of your money and "Psycho" may be the greatest movie ever made because Alfred Hitchcock is an amazing director...hmm kind of got off track from the movie actually being reviewed...But the main point of this review is that there is no legitimate reason to see this movie because it is awful and of course Michael Bay would produce it.

-Joseph Sbrilli

The Shining: A Quick Review

First of all, I have not read Stephen King's "The Shining" (I have started it...but have yet to finish it) and Stephen King did not like Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of his novel (several aspects have been changed in the film version). So judging the movie just as a movie, and not an adaption of a book, "The Shining" is great and one of the best horror movies that I have seen. The reason for this is the great cast led by Jack Nicholson, who is fantastic as usual and someone with whom you would never want to be snowed in at a hotel in Colorado... The rest of the cast includes Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd (the reason you do not know who the heck this is is because he made this movie, then a TV movie - yep, one of those, then quit acting to become a teacher and was essentially never heard from in Hollywood ever again), and Scatman Crothers.

Everyone's acting is great in this movie and just adds to the suspense and intensity. The music score in "The Shining" is amazing as well (the same cannot be said for the score in "Carrie" which was awful and ruined a potentially really good movie). The score adds something to every scene and the movie most likely would not have been as scary without it. It fits with all the scenes so well. Would the shower scene in "Psycho" be as famous without the amazing score by Bernard Hermann? Would "Jaws" be "Jaws" without John Williams's score?...the answer is no...don't even argue with me.

Finally, the camera angles in this movie are great and I love talking about them. We start off with beautiful aerial shots of snowy Colorado then throughout the movie there are plenty of great tracking shots and just really well set of scenes. You really need to experience this movie for yourself...plenty of suspense, horror, fun things like that...although a couple scenes I felt didn't have a point and the ending really confused me...that may just be me...I have issues following things...short term memory loss. So yeah...watch it and love it and make sure you are never alone with anyone like Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) unless you have a baseball bat...

-Joseph Sbrilli

Gran Torino: A Quick Review

In case there is any doubt in people’s minds, I love Clint Eastwood. This includes him as both an actor and as a director. Last year's “Gran Torino” was a great vehicle for the man. He played Walt Kowalski, a Korean War veteran, recently widowed, who doesn’t like his Asian neighbors (and the whole kid-trying-to-steal-his-1972-Ford-Gran-Torino doesn’t help matters). Walt then goes on to teach the young man the error of his ways and actually gets involved with gangs and such. Clint Eastwood is the best part of the entire movie. He is a great actor and every scene with him is fantastic. He threatens people with guns and growls from his front porch. It is pretty great. The man just has unbelievable screen presence...as he has had for about 50 or so years now. The Asian actors on the other hand can’t really act, but in their defense: for almost all of them this was their first movie. The writing in places gets a bit sketchy, but overall a very good movie...I thought Clint Eastwood’s other 2008 movie “Changeling,” with Angelina Jolie, was the better movie (just a bit too long and a little slow at parts). The ending to the movie is great...without it the movie would have basically had no point. So everyone should rent it...it's only a dollar at the Redbox at Hannaford so there really is no excuse not to...and chances are "Gran Torino" is better than whatever movie you were planning on renting in the first place. And if you ever wanted to hear Clint Eastwood sing (don't anyone try to deny it)...then this is the movie for you...Mr. Eastwood does so during the ending credits.

-Joseph Sbrilli