One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) review

(10/10)

Have you ever watched a movie so brilliant that it brought tears to your eyes at the end? This is one of those films I'm speaking of. Jack Nicholson gives what might be his best performance in this brilliant film.

PLOT:Randall P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) was put in jail for charges of assault and statutory rape earlier in life. Now, he's being carried over the the local mental institution with assumptions that he's crazy. McMurphy plays it cool and says he's not, but they keep him for evaluation anyhow. While here, McMurphy bonds with the patients of the mental ward, including the deaf Chief (Will Sampson), the anxious Martini (Danny DeVito), the insulting Taber (Christopher Lloyd), and many more by doing many illegal things. However, being under rule and watch by the uptight Nurse Rached (Louise Fletcher), McMurphy must plan his schemes right and keep them convinced that he's crazy, whether he is or not. It's a good plot executed brilliantly.



ACTING:The acting in here was great. Jack Nicholson stole the lead as the insane Randall P. McMurphy. His acting in here got him an Academy Award and several others, and I believe that it was a great decision to choose him. The other shiners would be Will Sampson as Chief, Danny DeVito as Martini, Christopher Lloyd as Taber, Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched, Scatman Crothers as Turkle, Brad Douriff as Billy Bobbit, Sidney Lassick as Charlie Cheswick, William Redfield as Harding, and William Duell as Sefelt. Each performance was unique and expertly done.

SCORE:The score in here is great and done by the great Jack Nitzche. He does it so hauntingly and beautifully that it brings more emotion to the film.



OTHER CONTENT:This film was pretty brilliant. The visionistic approach in Nicholson's character inspired the whole film as well as an insightful look into the mental institutions of that time. The emotional impact this film contained packed such a hard punch that anyone who really watches the film will feel great delight in it. This film left me with an unforgettable feeling .

OVERALL,an epic film with a brilliant plot, great acting, haunting score, and a powerful emotional impact.

Dr. Suess' The Lorax (2012) review

(7/10)

I actually anticipated seeing this when it was first announced. It wasn't that bad! It's cute and very upbeat, but it does lose a lot.

PLOT:In the modern utopia of Thneedville, everything is fake and ruled by a greedy business man named Mr. O'Hare (Rob Riggle) who made big bucks selling fresh air due to lack of trees. Young Ted (Zac Efron) hears about these trees through his love interest, Audrey (Taylor Swift), and sets out to get one from her. His grandmother (Betty White) tells him to go to the Once-ler (Ed Helms), who knows everything about trees. Ted sneaks out of town to the barren wasteland outside and finds the Once-ler; this mysterious figure tells him the story of how the trees disappeard and the guardian of the forest that tried to help, The Lorax (Danny DeVito). It's a pretty good plot executed quite fairly.

 

VOICES:The voice acting was pretty great I'd say. Zac Efron actually did a pretty good job as Ted, but the true stars were Ed Helms as the Once-ler and Danny DeVito as The Lorax. Those two played pretty spectacular voicing parts and just played rather well of each other. The other shiners would be Betty White as Grammy Norma, Rob Riggle as Mr. O'Hare, and Jenny Slate as Ted's mom. Taylor Swift wasn't really bad as Audrey, but she just wasn't really special.

SCORE:The soundtrack in here is made up of many fun and catchy songs mainly made to get the kids going with some nice background score.

ANIMATION:The animation in here is the usual fun and colorful animation you see in any other of Suess' animated movies (Horton Hears a Who). It isn't extremely detailed, but pretty whimsical.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie wasn't as bad as others make it out to be. It's fun, cute, and has a good meaning around it. If nothing else wins you over, the overwhelming cuteness of it will. It does have a handful of flaws though. The Hollywood movie adaptation kind of took away the true emotion and lesson of it. Adding flash and pizazz to what's already meaningful doesn't add any new flavor to it. I also think it was kind of silly to make an entire movie centered around planting a tree; this doesn't mean I dislike the movie. I just think it worked better as a children's book. After all, at heart, this is just really another cute little kid's film.  It's not a bad one though.

OVERALL,a good children's movie with a good plot, great voice acting, fun and catchy score, colorfully whimsical animation, a lot of cuteness, and a good meaning, but the Hollywood flash took away most of the emotion and it seems a bit silly to make a whole movie on the subject of planting a tree.

The War of the Roses (1989) review

(9/10)

DeVito has done it again with his usual dark style of direction with abundant dark humor and a meaningful moral.

PLOT:Young businessman Oliver (Michael Douglas) finds it as love as first sight when he runs into a pretty young woman named Barbara (Kathleen Turner). They immediately hit it off and start to build their lives together, buying cars, having kids, and buying a huge, beautiful house to fill with expensive artifacts and work. However, the love begins to die between the two as they begin to see the real person in each other. When the file for divorce, they end up in a battle between each other over who would keep the house. This is no regular battle, however; these two go tooth-and-nail crazy in a war to see who can keep the house. With the help of their associate, Gavin (Danny DeVito, who's also the narrator), they try to pull through. It's a good plot idea executed creatively.



ACTING:The performances in here were pretty great. Douglas and Turner stole the show, as each played off each other perfectly. There were some scenes I could truly see their best moments in. Danny DeVito also played a pretty respectable part as Gavin/the narrator. He told the story with a unique sense of wisdom and philosophy. He made the end of the movie all worthwhile. There weren't very many other performances in this movie aside from these three, but the ones I can honorably mention would be Marianne Sagebrecht as Susan, Sean Astin as Josh, Heather Fairfield as Carolyn, and Rika Hofmann as Elke.

SCORE:There really isn't that much to say about the score, but it was pretty well done to fit the mood.

CAMERAWORK:DeVito, like Kubrick, has a certain vision for capturing things just right. I like his style of camerawork, for he always gets good, quirky, and unique shots.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie is one that can be quite overlooked sometimes. It's unique with its execution, darkly hilarious, and with a meaningful moral at the end. The moral of this story would be to cherish who you have while you have them so you don't end up in an all-out war with each other, over anything. The ending made the whole movie worthwhile, aside from everything else. However, I could see a few ways it could be better. The whole movie up to the divorce war is moving in fast-forward, so to speak, so you miss out on some possible character situations to help you better know their personalities. I understand if they stretched it out that way, it would be long, but I'd risk it for better development.

OVERALL,an awesome comedy with a creatively executed plot, great acting, well done score, DeVito style camerawork, abundant dark humor, and a great moral that fills the movie, but there are a few ways this could be made better.