"The Godfather" is one of those movies that everyone has heard of, everyone knows scenes of, and is quoted, parodied, and paralleled in everything from major movies to children's cartoons. There's the raspy voice of Don Corleone, the bloody horse's head in bed, and the actors for which the film defined their careers (Robert Duvall, Al Pacino that make this film). All of these things make this film a unique addition to American cinema and a classic to remember for years. The plot follows the trail of the Corleone family for several years after the assassination attempt of the family patriarch, Don Corleone (Marlon Brando). After the Don is unsuccessfully gunned down by five shots from rival's gang, his son Michael (Al Pacino) is forced to take over through a series of unfortunate events. One of the beautifully tragic events in this movie is Michael's transition from naive to a mob leader in his father's name. This movie has it all-action, drama, love, beauty, and politics. It is a must-see of American Film and a institution for mafia films and will be for years to come.
Reviews
67 Reviews
The Straight Story
(1999)
Beautifully quiet, well casted, and emotional
17 September 2000
"The Straight Story" is one of the few films these days that uses quiet to make a point, rather than explosions, loud music, or shouting scripts to distract the viewer, and form the illusion that you are being kept attentive. It takes guts to make a film this in an age where everyone in Hollywood thinks the average attention span of a viewer is five minutes, tops. The camera uses extremely long, unbroken shots, rather than fast cutting from scene-to-scene and a quiet, slow paced script. The film follows the trail of Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), the seventy-three-year-old father of a middle-aged slightly mentally disabled daughter, Rose(Sissy Spacek). Straight sets off across Iowa in a lawn tractor pulling a trailer to Mt. Zion, Wisconsin, to visit his estranged brother, before it's too late. Along the way Alvin encounters bickering twin mechanics, a runaway pregnant teenager, a catholic priest, and several other genuine and sincere characters. The story is sad, but makes you happy as well. It's not a good film for someone without a long attention, though, but if you're that someone, give the film a chance. It means a lot of things in this hectic, fast-paced, obnoxious world.
The Watcher
(I) (2000)
Several suspenseful scenes, but the film wasn't as good as I'd hoped
15 September 2000
"The Watcher" was a movie that when I saw the trailers, I knew I wanted to see. So call me a fool believing the for misleading advertisement, but the film didn't meet my expectations. First off, Keanu Reeves could play not a serial killer character. He just didn't seem to have that ruthless cold core, or evil and brilliant mind, but was actually kind of hollow and unrealistic. I also would've preferred that the film have been longer and had more murders to make it interesting. The ending felt kind of cheap ad added on in a hurry. But despite all of these things, I still think the film had it's suspenseful scenes where you want to cry out, "He's right behind you!". Joel Campbell (James Spader), the sickly and obsessive detective trailing the killer, David Allen Griffin (Reeves), seems to have some depth to him, but Ernie Hudson's appearance as Ibby just made me laugh. All-in-all the film was not that scary at all, and you can definitely watch it alone.
Homegrown
(1998)
Takes a while to get into, but a decent drama in the end
4 September 2000
The first half hour of "Homegrown" was rather boring and not absorbing, but as the film progressed, so did my interest in the characters and the plot. Several scenes are really scary and you fear for the main characters who you actually grow attached to. The story is about three hired hands on a hidden illegal marijuana farm in southern California. They witness the murder of the farm's owner, Malcolm (John Lithgow), and they take over the weed for their own. The three rather simple-minded farm hands soon get swept up into a scary world of mafia and local interest, while all of the time trying to convince everyone that Malcolm is still alive. While the movie had several faults and a slow beginning, it turned out to be worthwhile. 7/10 stars.
Trainspotting
(1996)
A rather depressing, but brutally realistic view of the world of heroin addicts
4 September 2000
"Trainspotting" is one of those movies that you don't rent when you're really depressed, because it won't help your mood at all. It follows the trail of Rent-Boy, Spud, Sick-Boy, Begbie, and Tommy, five Scottish friends into heroin and illegal dealings. The film is funny, sad, depressing, and even a tad hopeful at the end. The truth is that this movie makes the already rather tainted world of drugs look even more unappealing and dismal. Despite its necessary gloominess, the movie is smart and moves well, although it does seem a bit long. This movie is not for immature or younger viewers simply because it's rather disturbing in parts and they probably wouldn't understand it. This movie is brutally realistic, yet funny and probably one the most realistic movies I'll see for a while. 9/10 stars.
Bring It On
(2000)
Painfully bad acting, bad dancing, this movie completely relies on the looks of the cast
29 August 2000
"Bring It On" is one of those completely heartless movies with a cast chosen entirely because of looks. I admit it, there are a few funny jokes, but they are far and few between, and I guess the girls are pretty enough so that I enjoyed the movie a bit, but not enough to swallow the pointless plot. Of course the movie is predictable and the ditziness of the cheerleaders almost made me want to cry. Unless you're a seven-year-old girl, or a stupid teen, this movie is not for you.
American Beauty
(1999)
Beautifully tragic tale of a disfunctional family in Suburbia
29 August 2000
"American Beauty" is one of those films that is impossible to forget. Its blatant honesty and willingness to right out face uncomfortable issues make it a great modern movie, but I think its popularity won't slip in the far future. The story follows Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), and his daughter, Jane (Thora Birch). Lester's marriage has fallen apart, as well as his relationship with his daughter. His boss has told him that he needs to prove how he's useful to the company or he'll be fired. With his life crashing down around his head, he finds beauty and new life in the simple sight of his daughter's friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Just her image brings life and spontenaiety back to his brain, and things start going right for him. I don't want to give up too much more information about the plot, but let me tell you that I think the meaning is much deeper than it may seem. This is a beautiful movie and is not to be missed by any passionate film-viewer.
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
Hilarious, brilliant, well-written, but confusing
29 August 2000
"The Big Lebowski" is one of my favorite comedies of all time. It follows the unlucky trail of "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), an out-of-work lazy bachelor with bowling and doing drugs his only hobbies. One night he comes home to goons who dunk him in his toilet and pee on his rug. They leave when they find out that the man they're trying to get money from is a different Lebowski, a millionaire (Dave Huddleston) whose wife owes money all over town. Dude goes to Lebowski's house and takes a rug, despite Lebowski's rage at Dude for being a slacker. From there on, the movie gets more and more confusing, with more and more plot twists and characters added. I would make this movie a 10 out of 10 if it hadn't confused me so much the first time I saw it, so, instead, I gave it a 9. Rent it or buy it tonight!
Stir of Echoes
(1999)
Scary scenes, decent acting, a twisting plot, but some faults
25 August 2000
"Stir of Echoes" came out right about the time that "The Sixth Sense" was in full reign at the the box office. It also stars a young child with a connection to ghosts and a older man determined to find out what's going on. "Stir of Echoes" I think tried to use "Sixth Sense"'s publicity to drum up interest in the occult, and therefore make it another movie that Sixth Sense/ghost movie fans want to see, but I think the Sixth Sense overshadowed it instead, making "Stir of Echoes" look like it was a rip-off of copy. That's the way I first thought I would feel about "Stir of Echoes", but I was pleasantly surprised. "Stir of Echoes" does indeed feature a child with supernatural connections to the dead, but the plot is actually quite different from "The Sixth Sense". Kevin Bacon plays the father of this child, but doesn't even realizes the boy has the power until his annoying sister-in-law hypnotizes him at a party and tells him to be more open-minded. This "opens a door" in his mind supposedly and he starts seeing things himself, particularly the ghost of a runaway and assumed dead local teen girl. He finds out that the ghost won't stop bothering him until he does the one thing that she wants him to do, and she'll grow increasingly more violent if he remains idle. He then discovers his son's powers and uncovers a huge crime in his "good neighborhood". The movie is tense, jolting at times, and well played out. It isn't perfect, with some violent rape scenes that I thought were a little drawn out and a few unimaginative characters, but on the whole it was a compelling, scary movie.
Lots of laughs, but without much plot and the heart of the original movie
22 August 2000
"The Klumps" was mediocre and least a bit better than I'd expected form the trailers. The original movie had a little more heart to it and Murphy was more original. In "The Klumps", the emphasis was much more on the family, and you knew all of the jokes either from the trailers, the previous movie, or your own sense of prediction. Sure, there were some laughs, but they were immature (as expected) and a lot less original. Eddie Murphy, however is a funny man, and his spontaneity puts some life into the roles of the Klumps (five of them!). The movie was good for a light-hearted night, or maybe a kid's slumber party.
The Insider
(1999)
Harrowing story of tobacco scientist, turned whistleblower
22 August 2000
"The Insider" was a story about having it all, then taking a risk and losing it all. Jeffrey Wigand was a tobacco scientist, but quit because of his guilty conscious in his questionable line of work. He comes into contact with the producer of "60 Minutes", Lowell Bergman, who asks him to bring his story into the public eye. Wigand has information about big tobacco companies knowing about the addictive chemicals of tobacco, and other dangerous details, but not telling the public, and even lying about it to Congress. Big Tobacco fights back by trying to dig up as much dirt as possible about Wigand and even threatening him and his family. The movie is tense, scary, and the worst part is, it's true. It's hard to look at a cigarette ad without thinking about scumbags after you see this movie. An excellent movie with a fantastic plot and incredible cinematography.
So I Married an Axe Murderer
(1993)
Mike Myers in his element and an entertaining plot, but not great
22 August 2000
Mike Myers plays his perfect Saturday Night Live role (except for Wayne's World, of course), but the movie doesn't have that many laughs. The plot, however, is rather attention keeping, and you actually care about the characters. Mike Myers plays a San Franciscan bachelor with a history of paranoia about his girlfriends' crime records. He meets the lovely Harriet and thinks she is "Mrs. X" an infamous husband-killer on the loose, with whereabouts unknown. He pulls off the role well, and the end there is a big unexpected plot twist, which doesn't make the movie too predictable. All-in-all a 7 out of 10.
The Whole Nine Yards
(2000)
A decent comedy with witty humor and an interesting plot
24 July 2000
First of all, I must say that a thought Matthew Perry was great in this film as Nicholas "Oz" Oseransky, the bumbling, good-guy dentist, who just wants to do the right thing. Bruce Willis was also in a good role as Jimmy "The Tulip" Tudeski, the ruthless Hungarian Mafia hitman. Oz is a really funny character with a knack for trouble following him. The movie starts out with Oz finding out that Jimmy "The Tulip" has moved in next door. Oz is scared out of his mind and wants to move away, but his "charming" wife Sophie has something else planned for him. Sophie tells Oz to go to Yanni Gogolack in Chicago, a Hungarian mobster with a score to settle with Jimmy, and rat out Jimmy's whereabouts to Yanni. Of course, everything goes awry and the plot twists and turns in a hundred directions, until the rather predictable, yet decent ending. The movie has some really funny parts and a well-moving plot, as well as likeable characters. Go see it for a light-hearted evening.
Scary Movie
(2000)
Very funny at parts, as well as stupid
24 July 2000
"Scary Movie" was a movie with pretty much no plot, as least that the viewer cared about or followed. I mean, that's okay for one of those mid-summer movies made just to entertain, but I expected a little more. There are quite a few funny jokes, parodies, and references to other movies, and they all tied in together fairly well. The movie was, however, also quite nasty at parts, with a few scenes of graphic male nudity, a bloody compound fracture, and some graphic jokes, but you learned to see by them. So, a lot of the jokes were stupid and maybe not that original, but I think that there a bit of intelligent humor as well, and that the comedy was basically successful in the end.
End of Days
(1999)
Unnecessary graphic violence, some poor acting, but interesting story and some good segments
24 July 2000
I've never really been a fan of Schwarzenegger, and "End of Days" doesn't really change my opinion. Arnold plays Jericho Cane, a present-day New York security agent who's family has been murdered and lust for life has been squandered. One day he is doing a routine security job for a wealthy Wall Street banker (Gabriel Byrne), when all of the sudden, a man starts shooting at the banker from a fire escape. The assassin turns out to be a tongue-less, crazy priest, desperate to get away from the security agents. He later turns out to be a semi-good guy who was trying to rid the world of the Antichrist, who'd infected the body of the banker. Now this scene doesn't make sense for several reasons, in that, even if the priest had shot the banker, he wouldn't have died, because he can't be killed by any weapon, even holy objects. Also, why would a simple Wall Street banker have gun-toting security agents clearing the way for him like he was the President? Anyway, Saten is back on Earth for a few days, right before the turn of the Millennium, to find a woman to impregnate and bear his child. This would mean the end of the world as we know it, and that's why the priests don't want this. Jericho finds this "chosen" woman before Saten does, and he tries to protect her. The movie leads up into about fifty different climaxes at the end and left me feeling rather bored, not exhilarated. Anyway, the movie is predictable, violent, graphic, and unintelligent, but for a Schwarzenegger film, it wasn't half bad. I gave it a five out of ten for some decent scenes and a somewhat interesting plot.
Saving Private Ryan
(1998)
Saddening, difficult to watch, but an excellent tale of war
24 July 2000
"Saving Private Ryan" starts out with a very graphic, difficult, and fascinating scene of American soldiers storming the beaches on D-Day. The scene is tragic and merciless, but probably almost exactly what is was like for the real soldiers in WWII. Tom Hanks plays a Captain John H. Miller, one of the first soldiers on the beach, and a leader of the attack on the Germans at the fortified beach-heads. Three days after that first landing on the beaches of Normandy, Capt. Miller is given a new assignment: He is to take a special task force of eight men through occupied, war-torn northern France to try and find one wayward paratrooper named James Francis Ryan. The reason for this seemingly absurd mission to find one man, a simple Private, is because his mother back in Iowa has already lost three sons, and the army wants to do the decent thing and let the last Ryan brother, James, have a free ticket home to be with his mother. The movie is long, graphic, and painful to watch at times, but it has absolutely excellent acting, writing, camerawork, directing, and cinematography. This is definitely one of the greatest war films I've ever seen.
Private Parts
(1997)
Surprisingly funny and truthful biography of Howard Stern
24 July 2000
I started out watching "Private Parts" with some skepticism because of Howard Stern's rude behavior and the movie's crude name, but I ended up being surprised by the humor of this film. The movie is narrated by Stern and his commentary adds a lot of successful comedy to the script. The movie was far from perfect, with some offensive jokes and egotistical remarks from Stern, but the movie's good outweighed the bad. I gave this movie a seven out of ten.
The Perfect Storm
(2000)
A fascinating tale of deep-sea fishermen, but with a few weaknesses
15 July 2000
"The Perfect Storm" takes viewers to several places they have probably never seen: a deep-sea fishing rig, and a storm-tossed, mountainous sea. The story is of Captain Billy Tyne (George Clooney) and his crew of down-on-their-luck fishermen on THE ANDREA GAIL, a deep-sea long-liner swordfish boat. The crew sets out again, in hopes of catching a good crop of fish, way out on "The Flemsih Cap" a stretch of water 1300 miles from shore, nearly off the charts. On the way back, they face what is known as The Perfect Storm, a weather phenomenon where a hurricane collides with a gale and is fed by cold Canadian jet streams, to make a catastrophic storm. The crew decides to risk going through to save their huge harvest of swordfish, but also run the risk of losing their lives. This movie is fantastic, except for some flaws, like a poor performance from Murph's son and Bobby's girlfriend, and some glorification that probably didn't happen. But the fantastic plot and setting bring this movie life that nothing could diminish completely.
Jackie Brown
(1997)
Excellent camerawork and acting, but lacking a little something
15 July 2000
"Jackie Brown" is Tarantino's third movie, but without as much fanfare as "Resevoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction". Taratino doesn't put quite as much magic into this movie as he seemed to in the others. The movie sports an excellent cast, and some beautiful camera shots, however, and there really is quite a bit of life in the acting. The movie is about a bunch of back-stabbing and scum-bag Los Angeles criminals, and Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), the woman who gets caught up in all of this. Brown works for San Cabo Air, the worst airline to be a stewardess for in the business, Brown says, and traffics drugs and dirty money over the border. She is caught with some of the money by federal agents, though, and is forced to stop her illegal scheme. This is where Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) comes in. He is the international gun smuggler who employs Jackie, and wants to recover his money from Mexico, before he gets busted as well. There is a huge part of the movie then (which is almost three hours total) devoted to trying to get the $500,000 back. There are all sorts of betrayals, double-crossings, murders, and alliances, that you get confused. The movie comes out well-worth waiting through in the end, despite a few minors flaws.
The Jackal
(1997)
Predictable, slow-starting, and rather boring
15 July 2000
All through this movie I found myself not really caring about what happened to the characters. The movie stars Bruce Willis as "The Jackal", a cold-blooded hit man, Sidney Portier as a dedicated FBI official trying to stop him, and Richard Gere, an I.R.A. prisoner and the only man that can stop the Jackal. This all sounds very exciting, but it really isn't. The movie's action doesn't really start until well into the film, and I got pretty bored in between. Finally, there is the big blow-out action-packed ending, which I had predicted entirely by the time it actually happened. The movie did, however, have a few good action scenes, and at a couple of parts, I found myself laughing at scenes that were supposed to be serious. So, all-in-all, I give it a 4 out 10, and advise everyone over twelve to stay away from this movie (despite its 'R' rating).
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
(1981)
Apocalyptic, futuristic, desperate, excellent
15 July 2000
The second in the Mad Max trilogy, "The Road Warrior" is an outstanding installment in the series. It is mainly about a small colony of peaceful residents at a barricaded oil refinery, a power-hungry maniac named The Humungus(Kjell Nilsson), and a lone desert scavenger named Max (Mel Gibson). The Humungus is attacking the wasteland oil refinery, desperate for the oil, along with his army of apocalyptic warriors. Max comes into the story by seeing an escaping group of the peaceful dwellers attacked and ravaged by the warriors, and by bringing back the only living survivor of the attack to the peaceful compound. He agrees (after some reluctance) to drive back a truck he saw in the wasteland to try and haul their oil out along with them, to safety in the northern paradise. The movie is full of desperate acts and needless murders, but is truly how I picture the post-apocalyptic world to be. It is an excellent film that seizes your attention and holds it the the whole way through the movie.
Sleepy Hollow
(1999)
Weird, kind of cheesy, but excellent cinematography
10 July 2000
"Sleepy Hollow" is one of those movies with the trailers that you've seen a thousand times, and that reveal a lot about the movie. A lot of the best and most exciting scenes are given away in the commercials. The actual movie has excellent cinematography, and very in-depth camera shots. The mood of the movie that is set by the background, props, and cinematography is a dark, depressing, cold, and scary. I would've liked this movie a lot less had it not been for the excellent art direction.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(1974)
Completely strange and ritualistic, but partially true and has a point
10 July 2000
"Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is an odd movie. I don't think that it could be described any other way. This movie is considered by some to be the original slasher movie, but I think that there's more to it than that. Sure, there's an insane, chain-saw wielding, human-skin masked, cannibalistic killer chasing an innocent teen girl, but the movie actually has a point. There is a lot in this movie that has to do with cows, and the cattle industry. I think this movie is turning the tables on humans and making us the prey. It obviously an anti-beef industry movie. This movie is weird though, and I think that it really is one of the strangest movie I've ever seen.
The Shining
(1980)
A truly scary movie with Kubrick's magic touch
4 July 2000
"The Shining" is a strange movie. There are many disturbing scenes and characters, but it is a great movie. It is set at the Overlook Hotel deep somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, and it has absolutely no winter guests or employees, except for the winter caretaker and their family. Jack Torrance applies for the job with his wife, Wendy (Shelly Long) and son, because he is working on a novel and needs six months of peace and quiet to get it done. Right before he accepts the the job though, the hotel owner tells him of the caretaker a few years before that went crazy and murdered his wife and daughters with an axe, then put both barrels of a shotgun in his mouth. When they move in for the winter, strange things start happening that only the little boy can see. The movie escalates into all-out insanity, with blood pouring out of elevators and a being in a bear suit having sex with a man. Kubrick conjured up some truly disturbing pictures with the help of the original book, to make this classic horror masterpiece.
The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
Disturbing, Scary, Brilliant, and Captivating
29 June 2000
"Silence of the Lambs" is by no means an easy film to watch. The whole film has an aura of evil and psychotic power. Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a rising star in the FBI. Her supervisor and teacher assigns her to interview the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter, A.K.A. "Hannibal the Cannibal" (Anthony Hopkins),a a veteran serial killer, a former psychologist, and a rare living psychopath. Starling is assigned to interview Hannibal because of a new serial killer in the public dubbed Buffalo Bill, because he "likes to skin his humps". The FBI suspects that the secret of Bill's compulsive killing is somewhere inside the mind of Hannibal. The movie is tense, long, and brutal, but you feel the fear and desperation of the victims and the interest/fear of Agent Starling. This is a truly disturbing movie though, and I don't think that anyone of the age of twelve could handle it.
Tell Your Friends