Explorers (1985) review

(9/10)

I have watched this multiple times as a child, but not even age has taken away the magic I've felt from this film in the past. It's so out-of-this world that I just love it, despite all its flaws.

PLOT:Young Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke) is a little strange of a kid because he always watches sci-fi movies and is into all stuff outer space. His best friend, Wolfgang (River Pheonix), is a smart, geeky scientist working on an experiment. One day, after bad boy, Darren (Jason Presson), saves Ben from a bully, the two stop by Wolfgang's house and discoveres the experiment of a lifetime. Wolfgang has come up with a computer that will make a spherical force field of any size that can go anywhere at any speed with no travel inertia. They come up with an idea to use this to their advantage; they want to fly high and maybe even to outer space! They gather the supplies and put a craft worthy of flight in the sphere together, hoping to leave Earth, but something always goes screwy. Each has strange dreams at night, and the coordinates mess up when they travel, so they may thing that some extra-terrestrial force is trying to make contact with them. It's a really good plot executed greatly.



ACTING:The acting in here is pretty great, even for the child actors! Ethan Hawke, River Pheonix, and Jason Presson all three play great parts as Ben, Wolfgang, and Darren. Each enhances his personality in the movie very well. The better performances were from Robert Picardo and Leslie Rickert as Wak and Neek., whom are very important characters in the movie. Their voices fit the part very well. The other shiners would be Amanda Peterson as Lori Swenson and Dick Miller as Charles Drake.

SCORE:The score is very inspirational and far-out. It enhances the relaxed sci-fi feel of the movie. I really like it.

EFFECTS:The effects in here are brilliant for their time. The realistic effects used to make the aliens and the robots are interesting and very fun to look at. They look more real than most CG stuff these days. The computer effects for the dreams, force field, and flight are pretty cool too. For CG in the 1980s, this actually looked pretty cool and nostalgic.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie has always brought wonder and comfort to me ever since I was a younger child. The idea is just a good idea and so out-of-this-world that I felt I wanted to be there. The random humor and scattered wonder just all go together and make this a fun movie. They say its a lot carried on to be nothing, but I see some worth in all of it for the feeling of wonder I get from it. This is just one of those movies that is fairly interesting somehow to everyone because of the wonder and effect. However, this does have a couple flaws; the end product is very cheesy and there are some small plot holes that just make little sense to me. They can't completely mask how I feel for this movie, but they exist to me regardless.

OVERALL,an awesome sci-fi with a great plot, pretty great acting, inspirational and far-out score, realistic and cool effects for their time, a feeling of wonder and comfort from being so out there, and a great span of interest, but the ending is very cheesy and there are a couple of small plot holes.

Frankenweenie (2012) review

(8/10)

Tim Burton has done it again in this charming tale based on his live-action short film from the 80s.

PLOT:In the strange little town of New Holland, Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) abides with his parents (Catherine O'Hara and Martin Short) and his beloved dog, Sparky. Sparky is pretty much Vic's best friend and they act very inseparable. However, Sparky is hit by a car and killed one tragic day, leaving Victor in his despair. Inspired by the new science teacher (Martin Landau), Victor pulls a classic move and brings his beloved dog back to life with wind and lightning. Now, Victor must try to keep this big breakthrough a secret from his peers and parents. It's a good plot executed greatly.



VOICES:The voice acting in here is pretty good. Charlie Tahan is fairly okay as young Victor Frankenstein, but he doesn't really steal the show. The voice that stole the show belongs to Martin Landau as Mr. Ryzkruski. He did a truly chilling performance of the creepy new science teacher. The other shiners would be Catherine O'Hara as Mrs. Frankenstein, the weird girl, and the gym teacher, Martin Short as Mr. Frankenstein and Mr. Burgemeister, and Winona Ryder as Elsa Van Helsing. A lot of the Tim Burton usuals are in here.

SCORE:The score in here is very charming and done well by the great, Burton favorite, Danny Elfman. The themes are very soft, fitting, and clean.

ANIMATION:The animation in here is one of the best things about this movie. The animation in here is of Burton's usual brand and is done beautifully. The movements are smooth and the design is unique and artful. I appreciate Burton for this.



OTHER CONTENT:Tim Burton revitalized his animation skill in this little movie. This movie is mainly built on charm and entertaining twists, which get it by fine, but it's actually quite scary. It's scarier than I imagined it being. There are jumps and creepy visuals to give you scares. Burton takes the classic Frankenstein story and adds a bunch to it to make it a quirky adventure for kids and family alike. However, there are few points for originality. Though class shows through the way it's shot, the Frankenstein genre has nearly been done to death; not to mention that there are several cliches located throughout the movie.

OVERALL,a great movie with a good plot, pretty good voice acting, charming Elfman score, beautiful animation, lots of charm, entertaining twists, a good bit of scares, and class, but it's not that original and fairly cliched.

Brave (2012) review

(9/10)

I didn't expect this to be as good as it really was. Pixar has caught back up with themselves with this film, for it's fantastic, emotional journey through family and fantasy.

PLOT:Young Merida (Kelly MacDonald) is a princess in her clan in Scotland. She hasn't really followed tradition completely, however, and acts more like her father, King Fergus (Billy Connolly), instead of her saintly mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson). Merida likes to ride her horse out into the wilderness and shoot her bow. However, things are about to change thanks to the Queen, for the time has come around for Merida's betrothal date, and she must decide out of a competition which son of the three other clans to choose. Merida doesn't want to get married yet and just wants to be free, but her mother won't understand her. So, Merida stands up for herself and runs away, meeting an woodcarving witch along the way, who gives Merida a cake with a spell to make her mother change. The bad thing is that Merida's mother changes in a different and more fatal way than she imagined. It's a great plot executed brilliantly.



VOICES:The voice acting for this film is really, really good. Everyone has to enhance their usual voices by speaking in a Scottish accent, which is hard to do sometimes. The best performance has to go to Kelly MacDonald as Merida, for her voice acting as the main character took the show just as it should have. Billy Connolly and Emma Thompson also did a really good job as King Fergus and Queen Elinor.  The other shiners would be Julie Walters as the wise woman, Robbie Coltrane as Lord Dingwall, and Craig Ferguson as Lord Macintosh.

SCORE:The score in here was also very good. It was done in a Celtic mood to match the Scottish mood of the film with a very contagious couple of songs from Julie Fowlis.

ANIMATION:The animation in here was one of the best aspects of the film itself. This is one thing Pixar has never faltered at in any of their recent films. The animation in here is greatly detailed and very well done. I was impressed, as usual, with the lifelike quality of the animation.



OTHER CONTENT:This film was a really good one. Unlike Pixar's last attempt to move on without Steve Jobs leading (Cars 2), this film actually hit the mark and earned its Oscar for Best Animated Film of 2013 very well. This takes a simple idea for a fairy tale, adds a twist or two, and comes out with an emotional masterpiece with beautiful visuals and a fun trip for the whole family. The jokes and humor, however, seem to fall flat on their face sometimes and seem very directed to the younger age. It picks up near the middle though, when the main twist occurs. I always believed that Pixar never lost its charm, and now I know that it hasn't.

OVERALL,an awesome Pixar film with a great plot, really good voice acting, very good Celtic score, beautiful and detailed animation, and a charming and emotional trip for the family, but some of the humor falters a bit until the middle.

Lilo and Stitch (2002) review

(9/10)

It has been ages since I've last seen this Disney movie, and I remember I loved it then. Now, I love it even more, for it explores sensitive ground touchingly while still creating an action-packed and unique story.

PLOT:Young Lilo (Daveigh Chase) lives with her sister, Nani (Tia Carrere), now that her parents have died in a car accident. She's the odd one out among her peers and just wants to fit in without fighting with them or her sister, who is constantly on-the-watch by their assigned social worker, Mr. Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames). Lilo's prayers for a friend are answered when a blue, convicted, destruction-loving alien (posing as a dog) comes along for Lilo to adopt into her home; she names this "dog" Stitch (Chris Sanders). However, his convicted creator, Jumba (David Ogden Stiers), and alien Earth-specialist, Pleakley (Kevin McDonald), go on a journey to go and capture Stitch. Stitch is a very destructive alien, but through love from his new family, he might just warm up to be an ideal being. It's a really good plot executed excellently.



VOICES:The voice acting in here is very great, and all done by famous cartoon actors and good newcomers. The best performances would have to have been done by Chris Sanders as Stitch and Kevin McDonald as Pleakley. These two voice their parts so well that it matches comically as well as entertainingly. There really wasn't a bad voice in this movie, but the other shiners I'd like to mention would be Tia Carrere as Nani, Daveigh Chase as Lilo, Ving Rhames as Cobra Bubbles, David Ogden Stiers as Jumba, and Jason Scott Lee as David.

SCORE:The soundtrack here is very diverse and kind of relaxing in a way. The score is made up of some dramatic score by Alan Silvestri, some Hawaiian songs by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, and classic rock by Elvis Presley. It's a very wide variety done all very well, especially the Hawaiian score, which was bright and relaxing to me.

ANIMATION:The animation in here wasn't too special, but it was still done very well. The creative animation of the aliens and the beautiful animation of the waves worked together very well and were overall very precise.



OTHER CONTENT:This is definitely a new idea brought to the Disney canon. This movie brings something fresh and new to the Disney canon (for the time being, I mean) while still keeping the sentimental feeling of warmth the classic Disney films have given in the past. I also liked how they touched upon the idea of keeping a broken family alive while shedding some unforseen light into the reality of it. It's overall a very action-packed, uniquely new, relaxing at times, and heartwarming film. However, some of the new style isn't welcome into the Disney canon and, when put all together, seems a bit cheesy because of how it tries itself to fit in. Either way, this is still a really good Disney film and it deserved the Oscar-nom it got the year of its release.

OVERALL,an awesome Disney film with a unique plot, very great voice acting, diverse and relaxing score, well-working animation, a new change to the Disney canon, and a good look at a realistic family idea, but some of the tonal shifts within the film make it come off as cheesy.

Stephen King's It (1990) review

(6/10)

I previously read the novel before I watched this TV-movie adaptation of this intricate horror, and I have to admit that I am fairly disappointed at the resulats. It makes a fair attempt, but leaves out so much substance!

PLOT:In 1950s Derry, Maine, a group of seven friends bullied by the general crowd meet and join together for protection. However, there are strange things happening in this small town involving a lot of other children disappearing or getting killed. After a few scary incidents, the seven come to the conclusion that there IS a monster haunting Derry that sometimes takes the form of a clown named Pennywise (Tim Curry). However, the monster can really take any shape it wants to. They band together and "defeat" it in the sewers one day and swear to come back if it starts again. Now, in the 80s, Mike Hanlon (Tim Reid) calls up his friends to come back and face it, which include: Bill Denbrough, the novelist with a stutter (Richard Thomas), Ben Hanscom, the architect who lost some weight (John Ritter), Beverly Marsh, the woman with a good shot (Annette O'Toole), Richie Tozier, the smart-mouthed comedian (Harry Anderson), Eddie Kaspbrak, the asthmatic weakling (Dennis Christopher), and Stan Uris, the Jewish wonder (Richard Masur). They must now re-unite to kill the monster once and for all. It's an excellent plot executed poorly.



ACTING:The acting in here wasn't all that good, but it got the job done. It was alright. Tim Curry is the one who really stood at as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, a form of It. He played the monster well and showed the creature a good bit of honor. The lucky seven were played fairly good, in order from best-to-worst, by Richard Thomas as Bill Denbrough, Tim Reid as Mike Hanlon, Dennis Christopher as Eddie Kaspbrak, John Ritter as Ben Hanscom, Annette O'Toole as Beverly Marsh, Harry Anderson as Richie Tozier, and Richard Masur as Stan Uris. The child actors weren't so bad either, in particular Johnathan Brandis, Seth Green, and Emily Perkins as child Bill, Richie, and Beverly. The other shiner would be Olivia Hussey as Audra Denbrough.

SCORE:The score, being a TV-movie, was not very good overall. It was generic and tried too hard to fit the mood it was trying to convey.

EFFECTS:The effects are pretty good. The blood is bright, the claymation effects are interesting, and the creature effects are more than decent. The effects aren't the best, and a lot more could have been done if this were a theatrical film, but they were interesting.



OTHER CONTENT:This really disappointed me in terms of matching the novel. I knew that this, being a movie, wouldn't be exactly the same. You can tell this was made for TV because of the cheap quality of it. This cut out a whole lot of dialogue, important situations, and emotion that the novel had and switched several things around. If this had been released in a theatrical form, I believe this would have had more potential! Alas, it suffers from being a TV movie. However, there are still some good aspects about it. Aside from Tim Curry's acting and the good effects, this movie still had a good bit of scare and fright in it, along with the feeling of youth during the flashbacks. It used to keep me up at night when I was a kid, and now it still creeps me out. I never thought I could find a movie to make me scared of clowsn and spiders both at the same time! I appreciate what substance this did keep to the book and am proud of it for that. I also liked how the TV writers added some of their own flair to it that actually stuck and made it better, as did Kubrick to King's The Shining. Overall, it's a pretty okay horror movie.

OVERALL,an ok horror movie with an excellent plot, accomplishing acting, pretty good effects, a good bit of scare, a feeling of youth, some substance related to the novel, and some flair the writers added to the story that stuck, but the plot had execution problems, the score was generic, a whole chunk of the story was cut out, and it has an overall cheap feeling to it.

Taxi Driver (1976) review

(9/10)

I had been putting off seeing this one for the longest time for absolutely no reason. Now, I'm glad I saw it and wondering why I put it off so long. It's a hard-hitting, smooth, and truthful film on the dark streets of the world.

PLOT:Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) has just gotten a job as a taxi driver in the streets of New York. He's smooth, quiet, and hates most of the rabble of the streets. However, he meets a beautiful blonde working in office named Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) and falls in love. It doesn't last long, though, until he makes a big mistake and scares her way. No matter how much he tries to re-kindle things with her, she always turns him away, which forces him to snap. He then comes up with an idea to kill the candidate in office this girl is working for. Meanwhile, he's trying to help a 12-year-old prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster) escape from her pimp, Sport (Harvey Keitel), and go back to her parents. It's a good plot executed greatly.



ACTING:The acting in here was very great. Robert De Niro did an excellent job of playing our lead, Travis Bickle. I think it was a very memorable performance, Another performance worthy of note is the young Jodie Foster as 12-year-old hooker, Iris. Even at this young age, she was a very talented actress. The other shiners would be Harvey Keitel as Sport, Cybill Shepherd as Betsy, Peter Boyle as Wizard and Martin Scorsese himself in a cameo as the weird, vengeful passenger.

SCORE:The score in here is very smooth and smoky sounding, like a crime mystery in a bar. It fits the mood of the film very well.

EFFECTS:The blood in here flows pretty freely for an action flick. There are a lot of kills, and blood to accompany. The blood effects in here look pretty realistic and detailed as gunshots are fired and knifes are used.



OTHER CONTENT:This film is a very interesting look at the decline of society today. The exaggerated realism of it all shocks you and puts the urban world into what I believe to be its place. The performances lead the plot through with great direction by the beloved Martin Scorsese. However, this film had a plot issue for me. Though the plot was very well thought-out, it wasn't completely solid. You couldn't sit down and tell me the plot without telling me all the twists in it first, like Dazed and Confused. It makes the film open to suprises, but a little complicated to follow for some.

OVERALL,an awesome film with a good plot, very great performances, smooth score, realistic blood effects, shocking realism, and great direction, but the plot wasn't completely solid

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) review

(7/10)

This movie is a lot of fun; the quirkiness of Quentin Tarentino with the grindhouse-camp feeling of Robert Rodriguez make a very entertaining film with plenty of scare and comedy to go around.

PLOT:Seth (George Clooney) and Richard (Quentin Tarentino) Gecko are two notorious criminals in their area and are on the run to a deal in Mexico that could get them rich. On the way, the stop at a hotel looking to rest a little until they get the idea to hi-jack an RV across the border. The RV in question belongs to ex-pastor Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott. They make it across the border and to a bar/strip club and stop in to have a drink and wait for the deal at dawn. However, the bar's clientelle isn't so desirable; in fact, they almost seems like vampires. If that's the case, will our friends survive until dawn? It's a great plot executed pretty well.



ACTING:The performances in this movie range from very good to alright. For the most part, they're very good. George Clooney and Quentin Tarentino do a great job as Seth and Richard Gecko. They played off of each other rather well. Along with these two, Harvey Keitel and Juliette Lewis both played a really good part as Jacob and Kate Fuller. The other shiners would be Fred Williamson as Frost, Tom Savini as Sex Machine, Salma Hayek as Satanico Pandemonium, Danny Trejo as Razor Charlie and Cheech Marin in multiple roles.

SCORE:The score is made up of some creepy and action themes but mainly a killer soundtrack. The soundtrack contains some classic rock and blues mixed with some smooth bar songs from artists such as ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tito & Tarantula, The Blasters and more.

EFFECTS:The effects in here range to many things. There are vampires exploding, decomposing, bursting into flame, and plenty of blood and guts to go around. The effects range from cheap blood and gore to computer-generated effects. Either way, the effects are campy and very well done for a movie like this. It really adds horror to it all.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie is a lot of fun. With two great directors at the chair (Quentin Tarentino of Pulp Fiction and Robert Rodriguez of Machete), you can expect at least something good out of this movie. What we get is a no-holds-barred, gritty, campy vampire flick/crime drama. This movie is mainly for fun, however, and not for substance, for it has some trouble with character development, cheesy jokes, and any sentimentality. This movie was made for laughs and grindhouse fun and not much else, but that doesn't make it all bad.

OVERALL,a good horror movie with a well-done plot, very good performances, a killer soundtrack, campy effects, and a fun time, but it has a few problems with development, humor, and other emotions. It's just not what I'd call the best movie ever anymore.