Good Will Hunting

The wordplay title, the great cast, the original plot line(original enough). 

What more would you expect but a great film?

I love it for the acting and the little moments where they do this or that, I wasn't so fussed on the ending though. I suppose the ending was necessary, happy, ironic blah blah blah. 

Basic plot is (Matt Damon) a young man is a janitor, a street thug, a trash-mouth but more importantly a mathematical genius. And when Will finds himself in jail he doesn't expect the maths teacher that discovers his talent to bail him out. Though Will is happy he has a fan there's a catch because let's face it, there's always a catch. The court makes the condition that Will has to see a therapist each week for reasons not revealed just yet and that's where Robin Williams comes in. The movie goes on from there and though the plot is fairly simple when you look at it the acting is awesome!

A bit of history goes with this film too. Turns out Matt Damon actually wrote 1 act to the script for a university related assignment. Then when he was down and out he called for his Boston buddy Ben Affleck to help him complete the script and turn it into a Hollywood Legend. It took them almost forever to get someone to produce it but finally after arguing and interviewing, repeat. They finally got the film up and running with their conditions. 12 years down the track Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are household names.

So basically legend has it this film is what catapulted Matt and Ben to stardom and if we were judging that by how well they performed then I'd say the legend is true. Matt Damon pulls of Will Hunting so easily it's scary. His funny scenes out on a date, his emotional scenes with Robin Williams, his Boston charm with the Affleck brothers. All of it was just hardcore. Ben Affleck on the other hand though obviously having a smaller role was almost as good. His character doesn't seem as deep as MD's. Being Will's best friend, he's not considered bright. Really he's a player. (pronounced Playaz) But as the movie continues and his stereotype character watches Matt Damon's character struggle through life he comes out with something deep in the end inspiring Will's big finish.

The soundtrack was in contrast to the acting absolutely pathetic. I don't even remember a moment in the film where there was background music. Perhaps that is a good thing but i like to hear the music when it's important.

Besides Ben Affleck and Matt Damon I haven't talked about Robin Williams. A star far before MD or BA and still a legend today. He certainly looks like a therapist in the film and one particular scene where he tries to convince Will it isn't his fault was very passionate for me.

So that's all there is to cover as far as I can tell and it is generally a good film. A drama that is interesting enough to keep even the restless action-movie-buffs settled. 8 out of 10 from me. I don't think this is a movie you must watch but it is certainly a good one to see.

Stir of Echoes

wOOt. Another one for 1999 and a bit of Kevin bacon magic to make it work. 

Simply put, Tom your everyday Chicago man challenges a friend to hypnotize him. But after the ordeal it seems the effects of hypnosis haven't worn off when he is seeing unsettling things. As Tom pieces his crazy visions together he has to consider whether he is losing his mind or perhaps he is sensing something else...

 ...I usually try to steer clear of ghost thrillers where the antagonist has to help the dead blah blah blah with an exception to Sixth Sense (aka- I see dead people) But in this case the plot was interesting, not bordering any major cliches and Kevin bacon did a kick-ass performance. For some reason KB seems to be very skilled at pulling off the "deranged man" look. I mean he's certainly not ugly in mainstream opinion but he has a face that says "there's a dark brooding craziness deep inside me" You could even go so far as to say he looks like the guy who's going to marry some chick so he can murder her and their kids 10 years down the track due to insanity. But so far it hasn't happened.

Of course the movie has a semi-happy ending but all is not lost. It covered a few touchy areas with KB's character too including Tom's fading away dreams of being something bigger then his boring day-job. And it also covers Maggie's  (Tom's wife) struggle with the possibility of having a husband falling to insanity. And besides the obviously designated scenes for this emotion and that memory the way Kevin Bacon portrayed his character even before the hypnosis incident suggests a man slowly dying inside, a man not entirely on the same page as everyone else. KB isn't legendary but he is very, very kick-ass. It's just a shame his last name sounds so lame! 

But enough insults and flattery. The bottom line is it's a great film worth watching whether you hate ghost thrillers or not. And if you watch it really late at night like I did it'll be even better. 

8 out of 10. Watch it.

Animal House

John Belushi made this film. A legend in it's own right the 1978 film basically about fraternity wars, corrupt deans and lots of alcohol induced trouble makes me wish I were part of the generation. Unfortunately this review can only be short because let's face it. It's a comedy about as in depth as one of George Bush's speeches and 10 times as funny. 

I'm a little bummed out it will be so short 

But i'm going to give it a shot anyway.

John belushi ultimately kicked ass in the film. I will never forget the "I'm a pimple" scene. Theres plenty of swearing, alchohol, nudity everythng my parents grimace at and that's what makes it awesome. This movie is the ultimate uni fantasy. I wish I could get into a house like that when I'm booted out of my parent's cushy home and into uni pretending to follow my dream. 

I will admit the plot is a little "hmmm" at times. Just a bit unbelievable here or unrealistic there but as I said this is a college fantasy so who needs reality? 

That's the message of this teen-inspiring parentally crucifying film! 

Who needs reality when you can get drunk, have a night out with some chick you just met and enjoy creating more trouble then your worth in alcohol-drenched, stupidity-induced not-so eternal bliss.

A film that put John Belushi, Crudeness, Violence and Comedy in a blender then served it up raw. 9 out of 10 all the way.

Crash

Well it's early in the morning and I just finished watching a beautiful movie. 

Crash.

Involving a star-studded cast including Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton, Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Ben Fraser and a number of other actors the movie truly surprised me.

I have a confession to make though. I thought this movie was just another one of Matt Dillon's signature drug movies like Drugstore Cowboy. And though I was disappointed that Dillon plays one of the less-likable characters it seemed I had stumbled onto something more. The thing I loved most about this movie is the fact that the people who I thought would die never did. And the people who I thought would live shockingly died. It's nice to experience true shock in a movie rather then knowing who's gone before they actually are. 

Another thing that impacted me was the soundtrack, I'm actually listening to some of Mark Isham's (the composer) work right now. This guy generated music so sensitive and fitting for each scene that I had to look him up and download a few tracks. 

I love the ending mood. In fact this will be the first time in history that I am actually impressed with how a movie ended. Because even though it does shine it's light on some of the characters others are still in the same situation that they will probably have to deal with for eternity. And the last scene shows the despair that the movie was on about to begin with. Its nice to see a movie that didn't end absolutely in despair but certainly did not tie everything up in a neat, moral and conclusive package. The ending was realistic yet cinematically beautiful to the point where I was actually impressed with how they ended it. Because I've seen how hard it is to end the movie just right and these guys achieved it.

But the one most amazing thing about this film is that it actually brought tears to my eyes. I never cry over a movie...ever. To realize I was crying over such a simple but beautiful scene shocked me completely. It shocked me more then any unexpected death or amazing sequence in that entire movie. And if a film has the capability to make me unexpectedly cry then it certainly must've done something right. 

This movie wasn't just another racial issues classroom assignment. This is The Movie you have to see. I could watch this movie over and over if I could, I give it a 9 out of 10 only because a 10 out of 10 would mean it was perfect and I don't think I know what perfect is yet. If i told you to watch a film before I had no idea what I was talking about. You must see Crash before you can call yourself a person.

The Bourne Supremacy & The Bourne Ultimatum

Well I promised I'd check this one out after I got a taste for it with The Bourne Identity so here it is. 

This post has been sitting in the works for over a month now because i am not sure what to say. The issue here is even though there was some good standard action and the whole aura around Jason Bourne remained in tact it had considerably less "emotional" talk and another considerably disappointing observation is a lot of the scenes in Supremacy are exactly like what happens in The Bourne Ultimatum. 

So because of that detail I am doing the Supremacy and the Ultimatum in one post. that's how ridiculously copy-cat like these 2 films were. 

I am considerably disappointed because Matt damon is definitely awesome and yet even though the Bourne Identity went up like an illegal firework on some well known holiday the following two sequels didn't live up to it. I will say if your looking for your action movie fix Supremacy and Ultimatum are the flicks to see but they could've been far better.

6 out of 10 for Supremacy and 7 out of 10 for Ultimatum only because the soundtrack was better.

The Darwin Awards

The movie was good enough to steer me away from my usual Saturday program but not good enough that it's still not on Wikipedia after approximately 3 years since the release. Let's investigate this shall we?

The cast was fairly noticeable with Winona Ryder as the leading lady and Joseph Fiennes as the main character that this entire plot is consisted of. Put in simple terms it's about a criminal profiler who is kicked off the force due to his comic fear of blood. He finds a job analysing incidents for an insurance company, to decide how the victims really died and whether their families deserve the insurance. It goes on like this making mockery of the combination of stupidity and death and of course through the process Micheal (Fiennes) not only discovers who the serial killer is from his last case at his previous job but also he discovers love. Oh and for some reason they decide to throw in a college student who has gotten permission from Micheal to use him as his subject for his documentary. The filmer has no real purpose in the plot besides the fact he is a good tool for humour in certian scenes.

So the plot is a little pointless but sometimes plot is over-rated. I found the way all the people died hilarious in every way the director intended it and if you keep your eyes open you'll see the guest appearance of those two guys from Myth Busters.

What sucked about this film or what probably doesn't help the film's status is that Winona Ryder was the only actor i recognized (she was after all considered an 80's Goddess) It might just be me but I've never heard of Joseph Fiennes. Another problem was the plot though comedic when it wanted to be was really stupid and ultimately lame. The romance was pathetic and the movie ended ultimately with a cliche'. Now I know this movie wasn't meant to be a cinematic masterpiece. Leave that to movies like Crash or something old school like Rumble Fish but my point is it could've ended with a little dignity.  

And though I am still surprised the film still isn't on wikipedia (thank god I have my back-up site imdb.com) I guess it's for the best. The movie isn't fantastic, just the way some of the people die is this film. So I'm giving it a 6 out of 10. Nothing spectacular, watch if your bored and feel like some clever black humor. But be prepared to have crappy romance and pointless plot flooded over you too.

The Quick and The Dead (1995, not the 1978 racing documentary)

I have to say I ask for true western and I got a true western. To be honest what mainly brought my attention to the movie was the fact Russell Crowe AND Leonardo Dicaprio were in it. I was truly surprised to find Crowe or Leo were not the main characters but a name I hadn't heard of, Sharon Stone. 

The story tells a tale of a young female gunslinger(Stone) who travels to a small town to partake in a quick-draw contest. But obviously she's not just in it for money but a quest of revenge, a real western vendetta to avenge the death of her Father. And the man that shall pay for her father's death is the corrupt mayor of the town running the contest and supplying the reward. Meanwhile a young man(Dicaprio) presumably just out of his teens living in the dusty forgotten and corrupted town also has plans to enter the contest. But in his case it's not a quest of revenge but a quest of recognition and respect. And then believe it or not the plot thickens! Yes, the third vital character to this incredibly layered western is the guy we've been waiting for. Crowe plays "The Preacher" A man who used to be a real bad-ass outlaw who was involved in many schemes with the now corrupted mayor but had a change of heart when certain blood was shed. So these are the three main focal characters of the film and as the plot twists tighter and tighter tension arises as guns are fired and confessions are made.

Sounds corny right? Well fortunately it wasn't. the film just had the right blend of western themes, well known-actors and a fairly decent ending.  The things I was impressed with is though the ending was pretty clear seeing as it is a western there were things that I should've picked up on. you'll notice that throughout the movie there are hints to what happened so many ears ago. I also found the second last duel between people i am not going to name and the outcome of this fight to be relatively unexpected. Sharon Stone certainly pulled off the Gunslinger Bitch look and even though the flashbacks were cliche I guess they were standard for this genre of movie.

The things that I was disappointed in was a lot to do with Crowe's performance. I was hoping for a more bad-ass looking guy. I mean I know he was The Preacher with honorable intentions and a haunting past but I was hoping for something like his vibe in 3:10 to Yuma ( a western film in 2007 where he played the "bad guy") I knew he was playing a man of God but God can be bad-ass too can't he? Maybe it's in the Bible somewhere (laughs at the thought) Anyway, my point is I reckon Russell Crowe could have turned on the western outlaw charm a bit more. Other then that I thought the ending was good but could certainly be better. And when I say better I mean a little more complicated and shocking for all the characters circulating around the conclusion. I just think the ending being summed up with one short flash back after many fragmented flashbacks earlier in the film was too easy. I wanted something so complex that I had to take a minute to process it. Maybe something that even shocked the main character as she realized something that she'd forgotten after all those years. I was hoping for something like her realizing that it was not the mayor but in fact The Preacher who killed her father or anything along those lines. But I will say the ending was good none the less even if it wasn't as mind-blowing as I'd hoped. The third and final flaw that i found more amusing rather then disappointing was the sets. I mean some of those "mountains" in the distance made me laugh out loud. And in the serious moments of heart-wrenching emotion or a few close-ups and zoom-outs the sky just said it all. As if God had put those computerized sunsets and perfect clouds there to command us to laugh. So when your watching it keep an eye out for those. Start bets with your friends as to which sky or cluster of background mountains are real or fake. I say have fun and enjoy film in new ways then ever before. 

But of course I haven't elaborated on my mentioning of Leonardo Dicaprio. Now i know this is completely irrelevant to the current blog I'm typing but Leo looks so old now! I mean I see him in that and he's what? Early to mid 20's? I just caught him in A Golden Globes Award Show and he has the whole beard happening and the hair is darker and more mature and it's just like whoah! I had to get that off my chest now back to the article at hand...

He certainly proved himself right for the role. All I can say is he got the job done. Nothing inspiring or incredible but I can't say he didn't do a good job. I guess there were some emotional scenes with him that were completed quite masterfully for an actor who was at that age (remember it was 1995 when this came out) but it is definitely not his best work. And don't anybody dare say Titanic was his greatest film because shivering and saying I Love You Rose should never be the kind of thing your remembered for. 

So what else is there here for me to say? It was a good worth-your-while western with a great cast and on-screen "spark" that will not disappoint. 8 out of 10 from me and I hope you don't make the mistake that the fact 1950's westerns aren't supposedly "cool" means any other western should not be counted as a decent movie either.