Cinemaniac Reviews

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Archive for the month “January, 2012”

29 Jan 2012

My Fellow Americans

Bottom Line: Absolutely ridiculous, original and (sometimes) hilarious.

Directed by: Peter Segal
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Jack Lemmon, James Garner

Wacky political farce concerns President Kramer (Jack Lemmon) and President Douglas (James Garner), two fictional ex-Commanders-in-Chief from opposing political parties. Upon realizing there is an enemy among the government itself, they set out across the United States to discover who he or she is and remove him or her from office.

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Posted in Comedy, [Film Reviews] and tagged
29 Jan 2012
2 Comments

Bull Durham

Bottom Line: Decent sports rom-com, if overrated.

“This…is a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” –Trey Wilson as Skip

Directed by: Ron Shelton
Starring: Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins

Engaging sports rom-com two minor-league baseball players, Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) and Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). Crash begins playing for the Durham Bulls in North Carolina in order to coach Nuke, a much younger pitcher. The story is told from the point of view of Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon), the team’s groupie who becomes involved with both players.

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Posted in Comedy, Romance, Sports, [Film Reviews] and tagged
28 Jan 2012

Best of 2011

Click here to view my top 10.

Posted in [Miscellaneous]
28 Jan 2012
4 Comments

The Descendants

Bottom Line: You’ll laugh and cry more than ever.

“Paradise? Paradise can go f–k itself.” –George Clooney as Matt King

Directed by: Alexander Payne
Starring: Amara Miller, George Clooney, Shailene Woodley

Mature cross between tearjerking drama and biting comedy follows the narration of Matt King (George Clooney), a workaholic living in Hawaii. We are told early on that his wife has fallen into a coma from a boating accident, and later that she will not survive. Devastated, Matt makes an attempt to connect with his two daughters, 10 and 17. Only to bring him further shock, he is told by his teenage daughter that before her boating accident, his wife was having an affair.

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Posted in Comedy, Drama, [Film Reviews] and tagged
28 Jan 2012

The 400 Blows

Bottom Line: Mature, powerful, timeless French classic.

Directed by: Francois Truffaut
Starring: Albert Remy, Claire Maurier, Jean-Pierre Leaud

The crux of THE 400 BLOWS, or Les quatre cents coups as it is in its original French title, is Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a young adolescent like no other. Neglected by both of his constantly-arguing parents, and mistreated by his schoolteacher, he elevates from doing what he has not been taught is wrong to a life of downright crime, taking advantage of nearly every possibility the grand city of Paris has to offer.

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Posted in Crime, Drama, [Film Reviews] and tagged
27 Jan 2012
4 Comments

The Tempest

Bottom Line: Deserves the first honest listing on TV’s 1000 Ways to Die.

Directed by: Julie Taymor
Starring: Djimon Hounsou, Felicity Jones, Helen Mirren, Russell Brand

It seems Julie Taymor is one of those little-known directors who relies on the philosophy that she can make good money from directing (and, in this case, writing) films based on the works of more famous people, along with taking the majority of the plot away. The trick worked phenomenally in 2007 with ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, a musical adaptation of the works of the Beatles. Now Taymor has decided to augment the nostalgia minus three centuries, and the result is easily comparable to a gallon of vomit.

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Posted in Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, [Film Reviews] and tagged
27 Jan 2012

High Anxiety

Bottom Line: Mel Brooks points out all the Master of Suspense’s hilarious subtleties just in time.

Directed by: Mel Brooks
Starring: Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks

“Meet me at the North-by-Northwest Corner.” –Mel Brooks as Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke

Dr. Richard H. Thorndyke (Mel Brooks) is a well-known psychiatrist suffering from what his own doctor calls “high anxiety,” one of the many recurring references to the titular psychiatric condition in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller VERTIGO. After being appointed as the head of the Psychoneurotic Institute for the Very, VERY Nervous, he is framed for murder and must face his condition.

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Posted in Comedy, Cult, Thriller, [Film Reviews] and tagged
27 Jan 2012
2 Comments

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Bottom Line: Often entertaining use of science fiction and horror as a cautionary Cold War message.

Directed by: Don Siegel
Starring: Dana Wynter, Kevin McCarthy, Larry Gates

Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is a doctor returning to his work as a doctor, and almost immediately, he realizes that most, if not all of his patients are having the same delusion: all of them are haunted by the thought that their friends and family are merely plausible impostors. Though initially jumping to the conclusion that his patients are simply crazy, he is convinced that something strange has happened to his patients, and becomes driven to discover what it is.

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Posted in Cult, Horror, Science Fiction, [Film Reviews] and tagged
24 Jan 2012

My Picks for the Academy Awards

Click here to view my picks for this year.

Posted in [Miscellaneous]
23 Jan 2012

General Update

To my readers:

From now on, I will be using a different scale to grade films.  It is not a totally different concept, but rather an expansion on the one I have been using.  Below this message, I have included a conversion.  Rather than using it only from now on, I will also go back and re-grade every film with the new scale (those of you who get updates by email, you won’t get 350 emails in your inbox, don’t worry).  I figure it’s easier that way, and better, for that matter.

Regards:

“The Cinemaniac”

The New Grading Scale

A+ = 5 stars

A = 4.5 stars

A- = 4 stars

B = 3.5 stars

B- = 3 stars

C = 2.5 stars

C- = 2 stars

D = 1.5 stars

D- = 1 star

F = 0.5 stars

Posted in [Miscellaneous]

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