Lazaka Reviews

Silent Tongue (1993)

River and Richard were amazing.

[7/10 · 30 April 2016]

There was something about this movie that was haunting. It could be that both Richard Harris and River Phoenix were gone and they were two of my favorite actors, it could be that they were both so good in it and made the best of a film that really didn't have much climax to some characters. Having said that, what I did was just ignore the other storyline and paid attention to the Talbot's and it became real, a real haunting story and it made sense. She needed to be burned and her body to be let go in order for her to be free. She would haunt and torment them until it was done. She wasn't angry at any of them and I believe she even loved him, since both sisters hated the father, but her spirit was angry for not letting her move on. The actress who played Awbonnie was also fantastic. I enjoyed most of this movie and some of it was riveting, however, some of it fell flat. I agree on Dermott's part and acting, what a travesty that was. I'm surprised he was such a bad actor back then.

Reading some of the other reviews, I have to say the first one threw me for a loop. People never heard of River Phoenix? Shame on them. I know a lot of people tend to forget about him due to his mother not wanting to do films about him, talk about him, or letting them release a lot of footage and stuff unless she gets paid, but that's downright heartbreaking that someone wouldn't know who River Phoenix is. He was the premier actor of my time. He was the one you watched for, not Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, but River Phoenix. You waited to see when his next movie was coming out, who he was working with, what his next project was, what interview you could scour up. He was our James Dean. RIP River Phoenix, I would never forget you.

My Own Private River (2012)

Cut Scenes would have landed River an Oscar

[9/10 · 19 April 2016]

Wow, I just watched this last night due to the the second review on this page. The first one I too have no idea what they are speaking about, Keanu Reeves is all over this film, nearly every scene. If you've seen My Own Private Idaho, then you will get the film, if you haven't, I suggest you see it first.

I will never understand why River wasn't nominated for an Oscar that year. The Oscars back then would slight younger artists due to their age and assumed they had plenty of time to win them, not in River's case and it's a shame because he deserved it. Had GVS added a couple of these scenes like the one with Keanu/Scotty in Roma next to the bed when Mike is pretending to meet his mother and doesn't know what to say to her for the first time or extended the hugging of Scotty next to the fire where he actually crawls up on his lap and shows just raw emotions of what Mike really needed. I literally started to cry during that. Not only did it make me realize just how much I missed River Phoenix, but what a truly gifted actor he was and the younger generation missed out on him tragically as did we. I believe River would have had many statues on his mantle had he lived, he was the best actor of our generation hands down. Every scene was done with ease and this movie makes you long for every director out there who holds unseen footage of River to release it to the public.

It's still up on youtube and I would highly suggest you watch it, it captivated me the entire film. River and Keanu, are both captivating. I do want to add that this film is great for Keanu Reeves fans like myself, it shows just what a great actor he truly is too. You can also see their true friendship shine through in this footage and I believe that is why Franco chose to put so much of Keanu and River together. The motorcycle scenes are my favorite. I could watch those to riding on a motorcycle forever. Just seeing them goofing around or riding through the deserted roads at sunset is stunning to watch.

So yes, this film, although it has no plot, is worth the watch and it saddens me that some of these scenes were cut out of the movie, it not only put it together more for me, but I think it robbed River of at the very least an Oscar Nomination.

The Wolfpack (2015)

Does Contain Spoilers! Full of Doubts

[1/10 · 18 April 2016]

I gave it a 1 star due to believing the filmmaker and the brothers are lying through the film to make us believe their made up story just to get them all to Sundance.

I just can't believe that a family with 7 children were locked away in an apartment for 14 years by a father, who is supposed to be the villain but comes off as more of a sad figure, and somehow one of them escapes when the father goes off grocery shopping and no one gets arrested but the son who is dressed like a horror movie figure and walks into a bank of all places. He never states how he escapes, just said he walked out the front door, but if you believe all the stories in their interviews, because the filmmaker doesn't touch on this, the father had the only key and LOCKED the front door every time he left the apartment locking his family in. So how did this boy walk out the front door? They soon all followed suit, but how? Very frustrating to watch a movie that the whole plot revolved around his escape and they never touched on how he actually did it, just kept saying "so then I walked out and kept walking". Yes, but how, your father had the only key and locked you in, remember? Did you bust the lock, did you pull a Mark DeFriest and fashion a key out of a cereal box, what? Our only deduction was in fact, the door was unlocked and he walked out with the mask on to see what kind of reaction he could get, especially walking into a bank, especially if he watched Quentin Tarantino movies and that the father never locked them in the apartment when he left.

I think this film was more hype, she had a great publicist, they told their "story" to the press before Sundance so it generated a lot of interest and then they became instant celebrities, which is what they always wanted out of this.

I also couldn't help but notice one of the brothers is conveniently missing from all of this but they never talk about why. I get the feeling he has morals and doesn't want to be apart of this scam because it's starting to tug at people's heart strings but that is just my guess, until he speaks, we'll never know.

None of them can keep their stories straight and that's bothersome for me. In their interviews, Crystal tells of being welcomed by Oscar, the dad, into their home with open arms, yet she was a "stranger" and these kids were being locked away. How is that possible? No arrests were made another bother, the mother not coming into question, another bother when she was the only one collecting welfare, Social Security and Homeschool Checks. There's also the question about the Twin Towers being in their footage, the graininess of the footage, the "fangan forest" scene. I could go on. So many inconsistencies and questions about this so called documentary that I just couldn't in good conscience recommend it to anyone as a documentary, but perhaps when you're bored and want to know what the hype is about so you can find all the Easter Eggs and or come to your own conclusion.

I will say this, the boys were charming, but they came off as actors so they were very likable. That's the only good thing I can say about this film.

Ghost Adventures (2008– )

They almost had me!!!

[1/10 · 29 November 2008]

Well, I'll admit it, I fell for it the first 2 episodes and was thrilled over this show. I thought Zak was okay I didn't mind him but did think that he was over re-acting to things, only to find out on the third episode (the asylum) that he was over acting not re-acting and was a bit bummed out. However, all is not lost, this show is still entertaining and a bit scary even though it's fake. I realized after that so called hand try to grab him (lol) that this was NOT real and that what they found at the Sloss Boiler was in fact faked and was disappointed. I really like the cast, Aaron and Nick are cool guys and if Zak takes it down a notch with the over acting then he's not bad to watch either.

Well, it's still a good show to watch but it's no better than Most Haunted and Ghost Hunters as far as reality goes....staged, faked, etc. but definitely one of the best.