JJ-N Reviews

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

Things happen

[3 March 2017]

This one is about conversations. Things happen, but real men do not reveal themselves. Unless they take a couple of beers.

There is no therapy. You are what you are.

And that is all there is to it.

. . .

Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru (2016)

Plays like a concert movie

[30 April 2016]

I was not too familiar with Tony Robbins before seeing this movie. Personally, I found him shallow and superficial, turning psychotherapy into a simple-minded show while making some quick money out of it (I do get the idea that it is not just about the money for him though). I think the participants who are seriously seeking help would be better off with a good professional therapist (that is, if you can find one).

That said, this is a nice recording of a Tony Robbins "event". It plays out kind of like a concert movie: you get an idea of what is happening out there plus some backstage comments. If you do like the band, good for you. If you do not like the band, well, you still get an idea of what it is about plus some touching moments. At worst, it might look like a Tony Robbins commercial, but it is what it is: recording of an event.

Embers (I) (2015)

Not impressed

[29 April 2016]

I saw some favorable comments about this, and it was sci-fi which sometimes opens up interesting possibilities, so I really wanted to like this movie. Unfortunately I did not see this going anywhere. It was very predictable, shallow and clichéd, even naive. Toward the end I was hoping to see some kind of point to justify the favorable reviews - instead the movie just ended. Technically it was OK. The actors were OK. And yes, it was not that generic Hollywood garbage, as mentioned in another review. Yet, the ideas of this movie have already been seen and used so much better in many other movies. If you have not seen those other movies yet, good for you, you are in for a treat! Unfortunately for me, I have seen those other movies.

Saint Jack (1979)

One of those underrated gems

[25 September 2009]

6.8/10? This is yet another one of those criminally underrated gems. Easily within one of those top 100 films you should really see before you die, instead of all the crap. Now, this is all you need to know. But since IMDb requires at least 10 lines for comments, I will point out the more obvious. This one has a real story, real locations, superb acting, superb direction. And while Ben Gazzara is as cool as ever, the other dudes are no slouches either. They just do not make movies like these anymore. Yes, perhaps not the biggest cash cow in the box office, but when you see this you know what I mean. Probably the best thing Bogdanovich ever put together. Just see this!

Sleep Dealer (2008)

Great Vision not Great Story

[21 May 2009]

I pretty much agree with previous reviewers who concluded that the setup was great but the story not so much. In fact, the basic storyline ultimately turned out to be the most Hollywood-like and least believable part of this movie.

Surprisingly many of the visions and themes depicted in this movie are becoming reality now, and faster than most realize. It is rare to see such social commentary in movies these days. I hope Alex Rivera will not be spoiled by Hollywood.

It is amazing to see that this is pretty much the first movie from this director. I do not know about the budget but it was probably not much. An extra point or two for excellent effort under these circumstances.

Casino (1995)

One of the best movies ever made

[9 September 2005]

Casino is easily one of the best movies ever made. However, because it shares similar style with the earlier Goodfellas, Casino tends to be dismissed as Goodfellas II, even though it is easily the more perfected one of these two. It also appears that people, who are not familiar with Las Vegas, don't seem to quite get it.

Goodfellas was great, but it was still fundamentally a regular mafia story, and there are tons of those around. In contrast, Casino delivers an interesting and unique twist, because it is set in Las Vegas which is special in this context. Add the superb acting performances and ingenious direction, and we are talking about an uncovered diamond.

Casino is one of those movies that will either increase in value over the years, or become lost and then rediscovered by a new generation of movie buffs who will then be puzzled why this gem was missed by the contemporaries...

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Essential cultural heritage

[24 July 2005]

Before seeing the Wild Bunch around the age of 16, I was merely watching movies. Some of those movies were acknowledged classics, while some of them were just trash ... However, only after seeing the Wild Bunch, I finally understood what movies are all about. It was an enlightening.

Sam Peckinpah put a lot of heart into his movies. The Wild Bunch is the masterpiece where he got everything just about right, but the same themes and elements are echoed throughout his other work. In fact, all Peckinpah movies show his personal touch, something which is, sadly, lacking of 99% of the other movies made, especially nowadays.

Interestingly, although many contemporary critics condemned his work, way too many movies have later copied or stolen Peckinpah's style, even individual scenes, and even decades later, without credit, and have still been called 'original'. In this sense, Peckinpah was way before his time. The Wild Bunch demonstrates the essence of his work.

Lost Highway (1997)

Amazing

[26 June 2004]

When I first saw Lost Highway, it was like a perfect example of how to develop interesting pure cinema without a meaningful plot. The elliptic ending almost made sense, but not quite. Only after seeing Mulholland Drive, which I think was much more accessible, I could figure out what was happening in Lost Highway as well. Perhaps the most amazing things about this movie are how a modern american director could get any funding for something like this, and how Lynch actually dared to make a movie like this. In brief, Lost Highway is an unusually demanding and powerful movie about a jealousy drama transforming to a description of psychosis, a projection of subconscious into film. Unlike in Mulholland Drive, in Lost Highway there are hardly any positive images and the viewer seems to be finally left alone with this endless run of dark nightmares emerging from the subconscious. Some have found similarities between this movie and the works of Alfred Hitchcock: perhaps David Lynch represents Hitchcock for the new millennium.

To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

Underrated masterpiece

[26 June 2004]

One of the greatest crime/action movies. Apparently many people don't get it because they are used to the nowadays almost industrially manufactured "quality movies" where every single detail of the plot is explained to a viewer like to a child, where there are always likeable characters, etc. Many also seem to bash the music which is quite unique and an important part of the movie, giving it a definite 80s feel. Well, I actually did not like this movie much at all the first time I saw it, partly because of its dark cynicism, but after seeing it several times afterwards I have to conclude it is simply a brilliant, brilliant piece of work. One of those movies that will still be remembered after 25 years when all those Titanics, Lords of the Rings etc. have been long forgotten.

The Matrix Revolutions (2003)

Best of the Matrix movies (after seeing the other two)

[25 April 2004]

I was disappointed with the original Matrix which, despite of all the hype, had hardly any originality and merely recycled ideas stolen from elsewhere. The special effects were ok of course, but then again for example the "deep" meaningless dialogues were almost laughable.

Therefore, after seeing all the bad reviews, I was quite surprised to find that The Matrix Revolutions makes a decent ending for the series. For example, the annoying meaningless pseudo-philosophical babble of Oracle and Morpheus in the two previous movies makes perfect sense after seeing the ending, if you can read between the lines. Unfortunately, most people seem to have missed the implications of the ending because they are not spelled out to the viewer (and I'm not into spoilers). There are also enough small twists in the basic storyline to keep one's interest toward the conclusion. I was also pleased to see that, despite of the opportunities, the movie was not hacked into numerous TV-like cuts likey they tend to do nowadays. The Wachowski Brothers have not sold out (completely), there is still hope.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

visually great but that's it - way overrated

[11 April 2004]

I sat through this movie yesterday. The special effects and the visuals were great, as in the previous two parts. They are pretty much what you would expect after reading the books (which I did a long time ago).

Ok, so everything looks nice, but otherwise the movie(s) had little to offer. I do not want to bash the movie(s) too much because they made such a good effort in illustrating the books, so this will be brief. Some of the problems were that the characters are very thin, the dialogue is terrible, and the music mediocre at best. The movie(s) also have this tendency of just marching through the obligatory plot events at a rapid pace. Therefore, while sitting through the movie(s), I noticed I really did not care what happens to these creatures: we are for example supposed to like the good guys because they are so beautiful/handsome (as opposed to the ugly bad guys) and because we are told they are great, but there is hardly any screen time for them to demonstrate any of these good characteristics as persons (except for their nice manners compared with those of the bad guys).

I guess a 300-hour TV series might have been a much better format to fully present the material (as long as they would fix the dialogue and the music). But that would have been impossible ?

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

very average

[22 March 2004]

The only thing that amazes me about this movie is that it is not only within 500 top movies in IMDB but actually #2 and soon perhaps #1...

I only saw Shawshank Redemption once, and have not been able to force myself to watch it in full length ever since. It was ok to see it once even though I was almost bored then, but not quite. I found it very average in every respect, and quite predictable. I guess that this is one of those movies that is so average that it does not bother anybody by invoking powerful emotions, thoughts or memories, and does not have any obviously bad technical quality. Just sooo average. Hence the high score?

Cube (1997)

Wasted opportunity

[19 August 2000]

There were a couple of good scenes, but overall they just lost it as was indicated in a number of previous reviews. I think the film could have been improved substantially if they had either (1) provided more explanations, (2) written a more convincing character development, or (3) simply added an ending such as the one used in the novel "Maze of Death" by P.K. Dick. Actually, this last option could have easily made "Cube" a true cult classic movie ! I do not generally have a problem with this kind of films with the first two problems, but seeing them both in the same movie was just too much. A nice try though, considering the small budget.