Great flick. As with many of Darabont’s other films, the imagery is striking, memorable, with elements of horror and melodrama scattered throughout. I missed this when it came out in theaters and never got around to see it until now. It’s great.

While I’ve never read the book, supposedly, this is the most faithful adaptation of a Stephen King work ever and I think that’s probably true. It definitely has that “Stephen King feel” throughout. I particularly liked how the supernatural elements of the script were handled and as usual, the characters are excellent. Tom Hanks is particularly powerful here. Really enjoyed this. Recommended.

I didn’t love this but it wasn’t terrible. Certainly not the disaster that Taken 3 was. It had its moments but it was just so predictable.

Neeson was good as the lead. Completely believable, a nice flawed character and a solid redemption arc. That was the best part. Ed Harris was interesting as the bad guy (at least he had a purpose beyond just being evil). But Joel Kinnaman was a real disappointment. I’m not even sure if it was his acting. Maybe he was doing exactly what the script called for. The problem was that his character was so unlikable and yet he was the the one we were supposed to be caring for as much as Neeson’s character. The film was really hurt by the writing choices there.

The action was shot horribly, shaky cam and in most cases, unintelligible action that was near impossible to tell what was happening (really wish that trend would stop in films). Not one of Neeson’s best action films. It’s probably a pass for most people unless you are a huge Neeson fan or die hard action aficionado.

As I watched Mr. Turner, I kept wondering, how is it possible a film can have near perfect acting, cinematography, costume design, sets, and dialogue and yet, not be amazing?

Here’s a film that’s in search of the most important thing a film needs, a story. Instead, Mr. Turner ends up being a collection of scenes and vignettes that don’t really amount to much at all in the end. It’s not clear what our protagonist, Mr. Turner wants / needs / desires for most of the film. There’s no driving character goal. There’s no real story here. Just a bunch of scenes (some more interesting than others) that show different moments in Turner’s later life.

Timothy Spall is excellent as the lead. If only he had a better story to showcase his talents. The photography is gorgeous, if only there were a reason behind it. If you like period pieces or are a fan of Turner’s work, then it’s probably worth a watch, otherwise, you can probably skip it.

This is not Anderson’s best film and that being said, I would venture to guess he might not have been trying to make his best film either. This is something altogether different, almost like an experiment. None of that is to say it’s bad, just decidedly not for everyone.

There are some super hilarious moments here. I wish there had been more because there is a lot of slogging through scenes to get to those great moments. The first half is much stronger than the second and by the 3rd act, the film is running out of steam, attempting to tie up some loose ends that by this time, don’t really fit together.

Phoenix is brilliant as the lead and Josh Brolin does some of his best work I’ve seen in a long time. There are fun cameos along the way. At times, when it is most comedic, it’s got a vibe similar to The Big Lebowski but other times, it gets grim with all the drug use and long dialogue scenes talking about different people’s names involved in the case. By the end of the film, you realize 70% of the dialogue was just there to throw the viewer off that there really was no case to be solved.

I liked it though probably wouldn’t watch it again and I wouldn’t recommend it to most. I think a good portion of people might hate this film. But if you are an Anderson fan, it’s fun to watch him work and try something new.

This is a grim film at times but so well made and totally gripping, start to finish. It follows a troubled and violent 19 year old who is sent to the same prison that his dad is already in. I’ve not seen a seemingly more accurate depiction of what prison life must be like in Great Britain.

Intensely interesting with a performance by Jack O’Connell that’ll knock your socks off, especially if you saw him in Unbroken. The two characters couldn’t be more different and he dominates each time he’s on screen for both films. After seeing this, I wonder why he wasn’t nominated for some awards. His work here is so much more interesting and compelling than what Redmayne did to win Best Actor (not that Redmayne wasn’t great, just thought this was better).

It’s dark at times, sad to see what life is like in there, and comes with all of the attitude and filth that would be expected to be experienced in a prison but if you can handle seeing how these people live, it’s an amazing film. This could make my top 10 for the year. It’s that good.

Wow! I had no idea this movie was so awesome. I’ve always wanted to see this but never got around to it no matter how many times I saw the intriguing cover art of the VHS in the old video stores we frequented. So glad I finally saw it.

Having recently watched the 2014 Russian film Leviathan, it jogged my memory about this late-1980’s sci-fi horror flick. The two films couldn’t be no different (only thing even tangentially related is their names). The 1989 film is also directed by the same guy that made Rambo II and Cobra if that gives you any idea how cool it turns out to be.

Leviathan (1989) is basically a cross between The Abyss, Alien, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. Sure, it’s derivative but it’s so much fun that I’m totally fine with that. The creature work here is killer. The chemistry among the cast is fabulous and there are a good collection of gross outs, jump scares, and stakes that keep things movie.

The last 5 minutes are an absolute disaster where things go completely off the rails. But the rest is so awesome up to that, it’s completely forgivable. Frankly. The Abyss has the same problem and I still love that. Leviathan is so fun. Loved it.

This is such a great use of Bill Murray’s many talents. He absolutely owns every scene he’s in. I’ve seen this film several times before but it’s been a while and wow… the jokes still hit just as funny as before. I haven’t laughed out loud this much watching a movie in a while. I wish comedies were still about being clever than crass.

This film has more in common with classics like The Pink Panther than the modern gross-out comedy we mostly get today. Great one-liners, clever set-ups, hilarious situations. Peter Sellers would have been in this if it had been made 20 years before. Murray is just as great. Huge recommendation to watch this if you’ve never seen it.

This film has its moments. I’m a fan of Albert Brooks. He’s one of the funniest people I follow on Twitter. I like his comedy style. The thing is… I’m not sure I like him enough to watch him do a 90 minute monologue of his musings on romance.

With that out of the way, like I said, it has its moments. There are some laugh out loud gags, witty dialogue, and funny situations. It’s just not enough material to sustain a full length feature film. The other issue is the writing. The dialogue and situations are fabulous but for huge portions of the movie, pretty much nothing happens. For instance, there is a 10+ minute sequence of Brooks wandering around his apartment by himself, doped up on downers, talking with himself and bumping into things. You could fast forward through that and it would still be the same film and story. Stuff like that is happening all the time between the funny moments.

So I can’t recommend it unless you’re a huge Albert Brooks fan.

Best De Palma film I’ve ever seen. This is so well made and absolutely deserves all the hype I’ve heard about it over the years. Travolta is great as the lead. One of the best things I’ve sen him do. Story goes that Tarantino cast Travolta based on the performance here and I can see why.

The story has that great thriller-edge that may late 1970’s film had, the paranoia of being followed, the tension of looking over your shoulder. It also has a lot in common with Hitchcock’s more aggressive films. About the only negative was a super bizarre performance by Nancy Allen (RoboCop). But after a little bit of time, I adapted to what she was doing and it was fine.

Some of the shots and camera tricks in this film are absolutely stunning. Loved it.