Alien

One line review: Alien mixes mystery with creepy imagery to create an extremely good horror movie.

Movie Title: Alien

Actors: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, Bolaji Badejo

Director: Ridley Scott

Year: 1979

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – A modern classic, Alien blends science fiction, horror and bleak poetry into a seamless whole.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): The praise for this movie is extremely high, and it pulls some tricks with the horror genre that are completely unique. On top of that it featured an impressive set of special effects and a memorable cast. While I probably won’t put this into my personal favorites, I can recognize a well put together film. What holds me back from going all the way was just some confusion I had with the plot and details of the alien. I ended up having to look up online to understand some details. Perhaps that’s my own fault, but it’s still a great film.

Dracula

One line review: Dracula manages to hold up suprisingly well for it’s age, dependent mostly on the acting of Bela Lugosi and Dwight Frye.

Movie Title: Dracula

Actors: Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye, Edward Van Sloan, Herbert Bunston, Frances Dade, Joan Standing, Charles K. Gerrard

Director: Tod Browning, Karl Freund

Year: 1931

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% – Bela Lugosi’s timeless portrayal of Dracula in this creepy and atmospheric 1931 film has set the standard for major vampiric roles since.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Providing a great contrast to The Shining, Dracula had very little sound effects or music as it came soon after the silent age of films. Still, the silence works just as well, often making the viewer feel trapped with Count Dracula. In addition, the slow and calculating speech of Bela Lugosi combined with the manic and insane mumblings of Dwight Frye constantly leaves the viewer on edge. My only complaint is that there seems to be some inconsistencies with the powers of Dracula and what he can do to his victims, though that’s more my inner nerd talking. A great film.

The Evil Dead

One line review: The Evil Dead combines a horror, gore, and a bit of humor to make a surprisingly enjoyable film.

Movie Title: The Evil Dead

Actors: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly, Philip A. Gillis

Director: Sam Raimi

Year: 1981

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 100% – This classic low budget horror film combines just the right amount of gore and black humor, giving The Evil Dead an equal amount of thrills and laughs.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I was surprised to learn that The Evil Dead and The Godfather both have 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s certainly an impressive low-budget horror movie. It manages to give a small amount of horror, a high amount of gore, and actually kept me interested in what will happen next throughout the entire movie. I’m not a fan of the horror genre, but this is my favorite horror movie. It’s very limited in it’s quiet and creepy moments, but instead starting kicking ass early and often. I honestly can’t wait to view the next movie, I enjoyed watching this a lot.

The Shining

One line review: The Shining does an impressive job of building up momentum through sound effects and a slow build, but it seems to fall apart at the end.

Movie Title: The Shining

Actors: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, Lia Beldam, Billie Gibson, Barry Dennen

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Year: 1980

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 88% – Though it deviates from Stephen King’s novel, Stanley Kubricks’ The Shining is a chilling, often baroque journey into madness — exemplified in an unforgettable turn from Jack Nicholson

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I was ready to declare this to be one of the best movies I had ever watched in this entire experiment. This is not a movie you could enjoy if the sound was muted and you were reading subtitles. So much of this film is dependent on eerie moments of subtle music or odd effects. I was impressed that there was suspense built up so early in the movie based solely on these dramatic moments. However, the film fell a bit flat at the end, somehow all the build up didn’t payoff. I’m disappointed that this movie couldn’t hold together throughout.

Big

One line review: Big is a decent movie that actually provides some moments of entertainment, but overall the gag just doesn’t last the entire film.

Movie Title: Big

Actors: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, David Moscow, Jon Lovitz, Mercedes Ruehl, Josh Clark

Director: Penny Marshall

Year: 1988

Genre: Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – Refreshingly sweet and undeniably funny, Big is a showcase for Tom Hanks, who dives into his role and infuses it with charm and surprising poignancy.

My rating: ***

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Big certainly gets credit for Tom Hanks’ performance, capturing childhood innocence and happiness, but eventually the movie started to wear on me til I was just waiting for the whole thing to end. I’d almost be more interested in a version of this cut in half. For the most part I simply enjoyed watching Tom Hanks rather than enjoying any specific joke or skit. Actually some of the sections with awkward moments were the sections I hated the most. I just wanted to watch Tom Hanks, and the movie kind of got in the way. An okay movie, not my favorite.

Johnny Dangerously

One line review: A brilliant little comedy that is a combination of spoof and celebration of gangster films.

Movie Title: Johnny Dangerously

Actors: Michael Keaton, Joe Piscopo, Marilu Henner, Maureen Stapleton, Peter Boyle, Griffin Dunne, Glynnis O’Connor, Dom DeLuise, Richard Dimitri, Danny DeVito

Director: Amy Heckerling

Year: 1984

Genre: Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: My Uncle

Rotten Tomatoes: 47% – I know I shouldn’t like this film, but dammit, it’s just so gloriously exuberantly silly that there’s no use condemning it.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I have no idea how this movie got on my list of 101 films, but I’m glad it did. It doesn’t seem to be that well loved by any movie critics, but I’m telling you to give this movie a shot and you’ll find a wonderful, silly, and quirky film. You better not take this film too seriously, otherwise you might criticize it for some potty humor and some rather silly puns. However, as long as you don’t take things too seriously you’ll find a film that it full of heart, and certainly worth a shot. One of my favorite comedies.

Unforgiven

One line review: Giving the Western genre a small twist, Unforgiven gives a third dimension to it’s characters that you wouldn’t expect from this type of movie.

Movie Title: Unforgiven

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

Director: Clint Eastwood

Year: 1992

Genre: Western

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Perhaps as my first Western to ever watch, this was a poor choice. This movie seemed more aimed towards either breaking the conventions you have assumed about a Western, or just to provide a fitting end to Clint Eastwood’s series of Western films. Either way, you can’t deny that it’s a great movie. There’s something so entertaining about watching a hard ass like Clint Eastwood struggle with everything from getting on his horse to resisting the urge to drink. You want to fight for him, you want to believe that there can be redemption. It’s a fantastic film, a great Western.

Star Wars

One line review: The Original Star Wars Trilogy truly is a fantastic story that has an epic feeling to it.

Movie Title: Star Wars (IV: A New Hope), (Star Wars V: )The Empire Strikes Back, (Star Wars VI: )Return of the Jedi

Actors: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Phil Brown, Shelagh Fraser, Jack Purvis, Alex McCrindle, Eddie Byrne, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz, Jeremy Bulloch, John Hollis, Jack Purvis, Des Webb, Clive Revill, Sebastian Shaw, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Pennington, Kenneth Colley

Director: George Lucas / Irvin Kershner / Richard Marquand

Year: 1977 / 1980 / 1983

Genre: Action / SciFi

Method of Viewing: Television

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes:
Star Wars: 94% – The action and special effects are first rate.
The Empire Strikes Back: 97% – This is argubaly the most powerful, compelling, and entertaining of the series.
Return of the Jedi: 75% – Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of the Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I’m grudgingly giving this trilogy a 5 star rating, because going in I wanted to not like the Star Wars Trilogy. I was tired of hearing people so surprised that I had never seen it before. However, I can’t deny how well each movie works individual, and how together the trilogy results in an absolutely epic story. Despite the fact that I knew the major plot points before going into it, watching this unique little world unfold was very enjoyable. These films have held up extremely well, mainly because the story they tell is absolutely timeless. It is a fantastic trilogy.

Pulp Fiction

One line review: A strange mix of cool one-liners, unusual situations, and strangely dull scenes

Movie Title: Pulp Fiction

Actors: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Phil LaMarr, Maria de Medeiros, Rosanna Arquette, Peter Greene, Uma Thurman, Duane Whitaker

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Year: 1994

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% – What makes the film such wicked fun is the way Tarantino delivers the familiar with a twist. He continually prepares us for one thing and then delivers another.

My rating: *** – A great movie

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Just like Predator seemed to be loved more for it’s over the top action and strange one-liners than for the entire movie, this movie is full of one-liners that I never knew the source for. The setting, the characters, and the winding storyline all help to make this a very enjoyable movie to watch. However, I feel this movie indulges itself far too much in all of this long, pointless dialog. When I think of this movie, I don’t think of a funny one-liner, I think of Samuel L. Jackson prattling on for 30 minutes with a gun in his hand.

Wayne’s World

One line review: Unless your a child in the 90′s, this movie does not hold up at all.

Movie Title: Wayne’s World

Actors: Mike Myers,Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe, Tia Carrere, Doyle-Murray, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael DeLuise, Dan Bell, Lee Tergesen

Director: Penelope Spheeris

Year: 1992

Genre: Comedy

Method of Viewing: TV

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 84% – An oddball comedy that revels in its silliness and memorable catch phrases, Wayne’s World is also fondly regarded because of its endearing characters.

My rating: * – A Bad Movie

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I simply hated this movie. Perhaps I was in a bad mood when watching or perhaps I couldn’t find humor in Wayne or Garth making funny faces. Either way, this movie was just painful for me to watch. I have heard so many different ideas about this movie, some thinking it’s an essential film, while others think it’s just a bad movie. I just don’t get this movie. I don’t know how anyone could actually like this movie. It’s stupid, vulgar, boring, and not funny. Sorry if you like it, but it’s the worst movie I have on my list. Period.