sampanaflex Reviews

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

check your brain, people

[5 March 2001]

It's an action movie. It has no brains. Just wheels, sex, violence, and rock-and-roll. I was thrilled and really enjoyed the experience. Forget about cheesy writing; music video direction and editing; or an earth-shaking impact on your life. It's all great cheesy action cinema: sexism, extreme violence, foul language, and bad guys.

This isn't Greek tragedy...

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

JACK BURTON. ME!

[21 November 2000]

this movie took about four years to grow on me. now it is one of my favorites. it is a movie that defies pigeonholing, classification, or definition. when people ask about it, i just say: rent it and watch it. i hope the dvd release (when it happens) will be a collector's edition, not a disappointment like the just released escape from new york. i can't wait.

True Lies (1994)

a different kind of cameron

[8 October 2000]

ok, this movie is six years old, but i still remember the first time i saw it. when the causeway was blown up by the harriers' missiles, i remember vividly my exclamation which i will not reference here. my point that this is james cameron's most outstanding picture from a stylistic standpoint. he made a comedy. sure, he blew some stuff up real good (i still believe the action sequences have yet to be topped), but he made a gleefully funny movie for arnold, which i think comes in second only to his comedic turn in twins. cameron does cram it full of subplots and it does make me squirm for awhile during the second act, but i do enjoy a drawn-out action finale (which, if you think about it, he has done in every single one of his films), so it pays off in pure adrenaline and decibels (i watch this movie at just half-volume when i want to rearrange my living room furniture). in the final analysis, if you look at cameron's filmography, true lies stands as the odd one out. it bears all of his trademarks including long and loud, but tonally and in pure storytelling, it's just a little bit different. i would like to see a collector's edition dvd one day. come on, cameron, i know you got it in you. i still hear too well.

Tapeheads (1988)

i thought i had only seen this movie

[30 September 2000]

starting with the opening credits with the song "bet your bottom dollar on me" and the line "dad put his fingers in it!" i knew this was a cult classic in the making. this film should not only be awarded posthumous awards for sheer, naked drop dead funny lines ("work time's over, drinkin' times begun") to obnoxiously funny music video parodies (can anyone forget the feathers in "my baby doll"?) to bobcat goldthwait as a pre-tony robbins influential speaker (cash-flow, cash-flow, cash-flow). my best friend and i watched this movie for years, and now a dvd release...to hell with extras, this is TAPEHEADS... btw, if anyone has the soundtrack....

The Best of Times (1986)

a great 80's feel good movie

[21 April 2000]

kurt russell is in top form as grizzled reno hightower in this classic sports film from the 80's. a decaffeinated robin williams garners laughs as a sad-sack football revisionalist, jack dundee, aquarius, (gotta, gotta, gotta satisfy) who is on pins and needles as he grubs on the daughter of jack "the big boss" palance, in sheer, naked horror of her father's horrid, horrid wrath. donald moffat nearly steals the show as dundee's overbearing father-in-law, which harkens back to michael caine's work in jaws 4, which, in turn, echoes c. thomas howell's classic performance in soul man. you'll grip the edge of your seat as you witness the braveheart-esque titanic clash of dr. death and jack dundee (who's pretty fast for a caucasian).

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

dvd please

[2/10 · 26 February 2000]

after reading the user comments, i feel like one of the lucky ones who saw this film in a theatre. early september 1984 if i remember correctly, and i was a goofy eighth-grader. now i'm a goofy 28 year-old. i am anxiously awaiting a dvd release for this film replete with cool stuff. this is an off-the-wall piece and i recommend it for everyone with a flair for the outlandish. just remember that lectroids are "evil! pure and simple from the 8th dimension!"