Change Your Image
jahfre
Reviews
Surfwise (2007)
One Man's American Dream
Dorian Paskowitz marches to a different drummer and he marched his wife and 9 children to that same beat. The sad theme was that "Doc" naively behaved as if his children were clones of him.
Anyone who is emotionally invested in eliminating diversity from our society will probably have a strong negative reaction to this film.
I'm glad the family decided to pull together for this film. Keeping group of siblings on good terms is a challenge for any family. This family has very special reasons for harboring animosity towards each other and I think it is a testament to the power of love and discipline that they seem to have come to terms with their lot in life.
If Doc and Juliette had been abusive alcoholics living in welfare housing there would have been no movie, nothing unique and certainly no happy reunion at the end. Those families are more acceptable and less remarkable than the Paskowitz family to the American sensibilities because they do not eschew the State but are assimilated into its worst functions.
I wish the kids would have spoken out against family violence. The film doesn't sweep it under the carpet but it certainly doesn't use the opportunity to speak out against it either. Jahfre
Most High (2004)
Naked Lunch meets Spun - Minus Any Hint of Credibility
Hard to follow. Hard to watch. Not worth the time if you do. This is obviously a story written by people who have never been part of this story. This struck me as an artists impression of how to string a series of drug addict stereotypes together, poorly. The characters were paper thin. The plot was tedious and slow. The dialog and narration took away from the thin bit of story that was discernible. If you want to see a movie about chronic weight loss check out The Mechanic. If you want to see a movie about meth addicts check out Spun. If you want to see a shallow, self-indulgent drug fantasy with a very hot leading actress. This is your movie. I can't think of anything good to say about this movie so I'll just stop here. -Jahfre
Dust (2001)
Wonderful in every way. This movie is amazing.
Wonderful! If you don't mind over-the-top violence to people and animals that is. We watched this last night and can't stop talking about it today. I've read reviews from people who didn't get it or didn't like it but I can't think of anything I disliked about this movie. For my tastes, this is a masterpiece of storytelling and suspense, love and redemption. Every character proved to be both more complex and more real than most movies can manage to portray. Rosemary Murphy's performance was absolutely stunning. If you prefer stories that run from end-to-end requiring none of your attention like a TV show, what the heck are you watching movies of this caliber for? This movie is only for true lovers of cinema. I don't want to give away anything but my wife and I just had a long conversation about some of the scenes that even she was confused about. If you watch this with someone else, compare notes, you may have been watching different movies all together depending on your interpretation of who was who.
Grey Owl (1999)
Rambo lovers, beware.
This film is wonderful in every way that modern action adventures are not. Take some time. Relax, enjoy. Think. People who see this movie as slow or plodding or dull really need to take a week off and watch it several times until their short attention span mind comes to grips with the possibility of being involved with a cause or even beautiful story in a beautiful place for no other reason than because it isn't hurrying to make the points you so emphatically need it to make in the short time alloted. At first I was apprehensive of Brosnan playing a native American. Given the story line though, I think it was apt casting. Now, back to my hermiting. -Jahfre
Run Ronnie Run (2002)
Wonderful Entertainment
This movie will never leave you sad. It works on so many levels that you can watch it in mixed company. You know, a room full of manual laboring joe-6-packs, with some bankers and lawyers or a bunch of barflies and some hard working family types. Most likely different groups will laugh at different parts while the non-laughing groups will wonder what they are missing and even that would be amusing. Pretty soon, everyone is laughing.
I'm a little bit of all of the above so I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
The parody aspects were sadly, hilarious, the dialog was genius-stupid, the subplots were predictably quirky and nothing unexpected should surprise you. If you follow the obvious it is briefly funny because it's shallow, if you go deeper there is even more to laugh at.
If you liked Very Bad Things, Envy, The Jerk, The Stupids, etc. You'll enjoy Run Ronnie Run. -Jahfre
Blueberry (2004)
The best tripper movie ever
Most people are not going to like this movie unless they start watching it an hour or two into a strong acid trip. The camera, the CGI, the dialog, symbolism and the scenery all combine to make this movie the most realistic hallucinatory adventure I've ever seen. Things that will sound quirky or senseless to straight viewers are tuned to the inner dialog one experiences during an intense trip.
Watch for lines like "is this your first time", "simmer down and keep an eye on things", "don't try anything funny", "keep it straight" etc. Throughout the movie these kinds of lines are used as inside jokes to the tripping audience. This movie is chock full of interesting things for trippers, never a dull moment. If you've never tripped, you will not get this movie at all.
The metaphor of a quest represents the peak experience trippers enjoy so much. The enemies are metaphors for the dark thoughts that occupy all minds but that trippers wrestle with.
I will enjoy this movie again and again and again.