Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

One line review: A fantastic movie for kids who are fans of the Ninja Turtles, and little else.

Movie Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Actors: Josh Pais, Michelan Sisti, Leif Tilden, David Forman, Robbie Rist, Corey Feldman, Brian Tochi, Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Michael Turney, Kevin Clash, James Saito, Toshirô Obata, David McCharen, Michael McConnohie

Director: Steve Barron

Year: 1990

Genre: Action / Comedy

Method of Viewing: TV

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 46% – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is exactly as advertised: one-liners, brawls, and general silliness. Good for the young at heart, irritating for everyone else.

My rating: ***

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I was a huge fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid, however I have no real memory of watching the cartoon, reading comics, or seeing the movies. I put this movie on the list to see if I could recall any bit of the movie. While it appears I either didn’t see it (or don’t remember it) it was a wave of nostalgia that I couldn’t help but enjoy. This movie is too silly and corny to ever be considered a fantastic movie, but it’s just a fun movie that I’m glad I remembered to include on my list.

Ghostbusters

One line review: A fantastically enjoyable film that keeps a fast and funny pace throughout the entire movie.

Movie Title: Ghostbusters

Actors: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, William Atherton, Ernie Hudson

Director: Ivan Reitman

Year: 1984

Genre: Action / Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% – Ghostbusters is an infectiously fun blend of special effects and comedy, featuring a hilarious deadpan performance from Bill Murray.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Each of these famous movies are forced to live up to different expectations, however this one did the best job. Within twenty minutes of the movie, all the pieces were there and the gang was ready to start busting ghosts. From beginning to end this movie is delivering sarcasm, one liners, and fantastic quotes. Ghostbusters never allows you to stop and think about the silly premise or nearly non-existent plot because there are so many jokes to laugh at. All of the actors deliver a perfect ensemble to ensure every kind of humor is here to make for a fantastic movie.

The Silence of the Lambs

One line review: An incredibly tense and haunting tale that introduces an unforgettable villain.

Movie Title: The Silence of the Lambs

Actors: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Ted Levine, Frankie Faison, Kasi Lemmons, Brooke Smith, Paul Lazar, Dan Butler

Director: Jonathan Demme

Year: 1991

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – Director Jonathan Demme’s smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This is yet another movie that I have heard referenced a thousand times, without ever knowing the full context. From what I had gathered, I thought this movie was nothing more than an interview between Clarice and Hannibal where Hannibal described his victims. Instead it was about a killer I had never heard of before, and Hannibal was kept extremely low key. It was that low key nature that made him all the more threatening. The movie does a masterful job of maintaining suspense as each scene seems to build on the last one. It really feels like an absolute masterpiece.

Top Gun

One line review: Take your standard action movie, remove 60% of the action and replace it with bromance.

Movie Title: Top Gun

Actors: Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, John Stockwell, Barry Tubb, Rick Rossovich, Tim Robbins, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Whip Hubley

Director: Tony Scott

Year: 1986

Genre: Action / Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 46% – Once Top Gun gets back to earth, the master of the skies is as clunky as a big land-bound bird.

My rating: **

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): It’s difficult for me to figure out if this movie was ruined for me simply by the boring plot, or by Tom Cruise current crazy antics distracting me whenever he was on screen. Either way, this movie seems like it was made to be on Rifftrax only, and never actually taken seriously. Even if you can muscle your way through an hour of mostly boring scenes of the drama of fighter pilot school, the action itself is too chaotic to actually follow. This movie simply feels empty, as though it’s struggling to fill time with half-naked guys and playing Danger Zone.

Citizen Kane

One line review: The greatest movie of all time from a cinematography perspective, however not my greatest movie of all time.

Movie Title: Citizen Kane

Actors: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris, Fortunio Bonanova

Director: Orson Welles

Year: 1941

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 100% – Orson Welles’s epic tale of a publishing tycoon’s rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This movie has earned it’s status of one of the best movies of all time. It earns it due to it’s fantastic and unique camera angles, it’s ingenious method of unveiling a complex character such as Charles Foster Kane through the view of those who were closest to him, and due to the great acting by all of cast. This film is actually a useful tool to help me realize that a film can be fantastic without being your favorite film. From a film critic’s standpoint, this film is absolutely perfect. However, this film is not a personal favorite of mine.

The Blues Brothers

One line review: Perhaps if I was more of a fan of the music, I’d be a fan of this movie.

Movie Title: The Blues Brothers

Actors: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Carrie Fisher

Director: John Landis

Year: 1980

Genre: Musical / Comedy

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 84% – Too over the top for its own good, but ultimately rescued by the cast’s charm, director John Landis’ grace, and several soul-stirring musical numbers.

My rating: **

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Once again I feel that nostalgia has blinded people to how good this movie is. Back in my Caddyshack review I complained that every person had seemed to forget that about half of Caddyshack focused on teenagers and their problems. However, with the other half being a fantastic comedy, it all balanced out well. This movie on the other hand is 90% musical, 10% action / comedy. That action / comedy may be pretty dang good, but it by no means makes up for everything else you have to sit through. Unless you love the music, this movie is just boring.

Tron

One line review: What once was a technological marvel has little to offer to the modern viewer.

Movie Title: Tron

Actors: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, Barnard Hughes, Dan Shor, Peter Jurasik, Tony Stephano

Director: Steven Lisberger

Year: 1982

Genre: Action / Adventure

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 68% – Although Tron’s state-of-the-art, computer-generated visuals look primitive by current standards, it’s intelligently conceived (on a visual level, at any rate) and largely good fun.

My rating: **

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This is definitely a movie that has not stood the test of time. It feels as though it’s completely reliant on visuals to entertain the viewers when the plot isn’t moving forward. Even when you simply focus on the plot, it’s a very simplistic one that doesn’t seem to live up to the hype that has surrounded it. To top that off, being a programmer does not help me appreciate the world that surrounds this film. While I was able to understand the cult following the Star Wars film had, I simply can’t understand why this film was considered a classic.

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.

Psycho

One line review: A haunting little tale that seems to build moment by moment.

Movie Title: Psycho

Actors: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam, Vera Miles

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Year: 1960

Genre: Horror

Method of Viewing: Television

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 98% – Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre. Because Psycho was filmed with tact, grace, and art, Hitchcock didn’t just create modern horror, he validated it.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): This movie manages to start at a strangely peaceful and quiet pace and keeps slowly ramping up the tension and paranoia till it reaches a haunting conclusion. The actors manage to convey so much with only their reactions, and each scene convinces you that death is just around the corner. My only frustration with this movie is a handful of overly long silent scenes. This is probably because I lack the patience necessary to appreciate parts of the movie, but it still did disrupt the building tension. Even with the occasional disruption, this movie deserves all of the credit it receives.

Schindler’s List

One line review: If you can get past the length you will find a movie that will strike an emotional cord in the coldest of hearts.

Movie Title: Schindler’s List

Actors: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall

Director: Stephen Spielberg

Year: 1993

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – Schindler’s List blends the abject horror of the Holocaust with Steven Spielberg’s signature tender humanism to create the director’s dramatic masterpiece.

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I feel obligated to give this movie five star not because it’s considered one of Spielberg’s best films, but because it is the first film to actual strike an emotional chord with me. At first, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to relate to so much death so long ago. However, once Schindler realizes the level of destruction, and begins to desperately try to save as many people as possible, you finally feel a human connection to this film. Somehow the timing of Schindler’s emotional turn around coincided with my own, making the last thirty minutes a grueling, somber triumph.