Reviews by SJMJ91

The trailer of Date Night just looked so daft that it would be so hilarious to watch but unfortunately I hardly found the film funny at all. The only good qualities about this I felt was that it was well filmed. Personally, I don't think that the story went that well and I just felt that it wasn't really very interesting from about half way through till the end. There were a few moments I did like and they were some of the action scenes like with the silver car and the taxi that were stuck together. That made me chuckle a few times.


Claire and Phil Foster (Tina Fey and Steve Carell) are a typical suburban couple whose lives – including their weekly date nights of dinner and a movie – have become routine. To reignite the marital spark, they visit a trendy Manhattan bistro where a case of mistaken identity turns their evening into the ultimate date night-gone-awry. But as Claire and Phil take their unexpected walk on the wild side, they begin to remember what made them so special together. Steve Carell has always been an actor who always goes for the same kind of characters in almost the exact same genre which is what he does best and respect him for. However in this film, I surprisingly didn't quite think he fitted that well in this film. I mean, the name 'Phil' just doesn't suit him at all even as a character. Tina Fey is one lousy actress, enough said! Yeah, she may be quite hot but her acting in this film was just CRAP!


Most people recognize Shawn Levy as director of both Night At The Museum films, the 2006 remake of The Pink Panther and 2003 remake of Cheaper By The Dozen aka as an overall bad director but I have to say despite that Date Night isn't a good film, I don't think Levy did a bad job as director. There were good moments like the action scenes with the cars and the scene in the club but disappointing in other parts of the film.


Overall, Date Night is a mindless film that some would find entertaining. I think it is a Saturday night film but unfortunately didn't satisfy my expectations. Not one of the worst of 2010 but nowhere near one of the best.

Awww... Lady And The Tramp is perhaps the most heartwarming animated film of all time. Having loved it since I can remember, it has always stuck with me! It shows how beautiful the world really can be by animals, families and pleasant and friendly neighbourhoods. What I feel is so special about Lady And The Tramp is that there is nothing mythical or fictional about this at all. Like there doesn't need any fantasy within for it to succeed. I tell you it wouldn't have been a success if there was fiction involved. Yeah, there are talking dogs but the owners don't know about it and also they have their own language anyway so we don't understand them.


Lady is a young female cocker spaniel who lives with her owners Jim Dear and Darling. She grew up very peacefully and couldn't have asked for anything better. She has great friends with the names of Jock (Scottish terrier) and Trusty (bloodhound). On the other side of the story, a mongrel dog that lives on the street that comes himself Tramp is having fun with his life but once he meets Lady, they both forge a romance and a powerful combination like nobody else could. What I love about the chemistry between Lady and Tramp is that they both separate class dogs who have different lives (you can tell by their names and the neighbourhood they live in) but their personalities are just so similar and they bond together almost instantly.


Lady And The Tramp was the first Disney animated feature filmed in CinemaScope. The finished film is slightly different from what was originally planned. Although both the original script and the final product shared most of the same elements, it would still be revised and revamped. Originally, Lady was to have only one next door neighbor, a Ralph Bellamy-type canine named Hubert. Instead of being called 'The Tramp', they went through a number of suggested names including Homer, Rags, and Bozo but did decide in the end to stick with Tramp. I cannot believe that Lady And The Tramp didn't earn any Oscar nominations at all when it should have! At least have one for Best Original Score because the score was breathtaking like almost every Disney.


Overall, Lady And The Tramp is a very moving, tear jerking and fun Disney Classic that deserves its rightful place as one of the best animated films of all time.

I have had very personal feelings for Pinocchio pretty much my entire life which makes it my favourite Disney Classic (besides Pixar). Pinocchio is a life-teaching film because it reveals what is truly important and what you need to stick by: family! Also, it shows us what is right and what is wrong and what path to take. It is indeed a heartmelting adventure but it is pretty intense on occasions. I would say that Pinocchio is Disney's most underrated film and should be amongst The Lion King, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs as one of the most famous Disney's ever!


The story begins with Jiminy Cricket telling the story of Pinocchio and the experience he had. He was travelling in a village around the alp area and he found a warm house with a fire. It was the house of woodcarver Geppetto who is a very warm, kind and caring man who always seems to be a real delight towards those around him. He lives with his cat Figaro and fish Cleo. We see him build Pinocchio and wish that he was a real boy in front of a wishing star. The Blue Fairy comes along and brings Pinocchio to life that night but still a wooden boy not a real one. Jiminy becomes Pinocchio's conscience and guide to becoming a real boy. It doesn't go well to plan because Pinocchio is led astray the next morning by Honest John and his sidekick Gideon. That causes a series of turning events that are intense, funny and quite emotional as well.


The plan for the original film was actually quite different from what was released so the producers and directors of the film say. Shockingly, Walt Disney wasn't satisfied with the film half way through production so that the concept could be rethought and redesigned characters. I think there was something that Disney unintentionally did in this film. The film was mostly focused on Jiminy Cricket like he was the central figure to the story so to speak. In fact, Jiminy originally was not supposed to be in the film but I am glad he was because he is now one of the best Disney characters ever and to be honest, I can't see the film working without him. I noticed also that the Blue Fairy is almost like the exact image of what Snow White looked like (except the clothes and hair colour). Pinocchio didn't turn out as much of a success critically as Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs but it was still an awesome masterpiece that in my opinion, beat that but only just! Pinocchio was nominated for 2 Academy Awards and won both. They were Best Original Song ("When You Wish Upon A Star") and Best Original Score.


Overall, Pinocchio is an absolutely beautiful classic that has inspired and melted many for a long time (including me) and will remain in my memory for as long as I live!

'Just a classic about pool' was the first thing that came straight into my head about this film before I saw it. When I watched it, I was half wrong. Yeah, it featured pool but it wasn't about pool. It just happened to be of interest to the characters and part of the story but I still wouldn't really call it a sport film. Anyway, my thoughts on the film went beyond my expectations and I absolutely adored it! It surprisingly turned out like an underdog story where Eddie would try and beat the pool legend Minnesota Fats.


"Fast" Eddie Felson is a super-confident gambler who challenges the big boys to a high-stakes match. When he loses he's forced to go on the road with dodgy and dangerous manager Gordon, though he soon realises he'll have to lose his morals to win at this game. As far as I'm concerned, fuck Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting! They are all very good films but The Hustler is definitely Paul Newman's masterpiece! Newman's performance is just legendary as Eddie Felson and he proves that he is perhaps the only actor who can play this guy like it is his own character. As the film progresses, Eddie begins to have a change of heart and truly realises what is important. This is mostly lead on by Sarah Packard (portrayed by Piper Laurie). I had not seen any film starring Laurie before and after her great performance in The Hustler it has inspired me to watch some more from her. Sarah Packard is a young woman who is a college girl who used to be an actress (so she says) and has a bit of an alcohol problem. She is looking for a break in her life like meeting Eddie and making the relationship with him last. To start with, it was like they were just in each others company sleeping with each other and that was it but they do gradually fall for each other but prepare for a heartbreaking end. George C. Scott was fantastic as Bert Gordon! Gordon is a professional gambler who is like an accomplice to Eddie on his trip to Louisville but he is really against him by being alongside professional pool player Minnesota Fats. Despite his role was minor, Jackie Gleason was awesome as Minnesota Fats!


Director Robert Rossen may not have made that many films in his career but he certainly knows how to direct great films. I thought he was really creative with The Hustler because you'd only have to read the plot of the film to automatically assume it is a sports film when it actually isn't really. Very creative filming too especially with the pool games and the shots he used. Was pretty good when there were awesome shots when Eddie took good shots into the holes where only a professional would be able to put in. I mean, throughout most of those moments, it really did look like it was Paul Newman taking all of them when most of them where Paul wasn't in the shot was a professional pool player taking the close-up ones. Despite that neither of the screenwriters actually wrote the book, they wrote it pretty well. I have never read the book but I have heard that they are like pretty much the same.


Overall, The Hustler is an amazing classic that I probably could watch repeatedly and not many classics do that for me. It is a very moving, personal and inspiring film that will remain one of the best films of all time for many generations to come.

Well, there were many things that led me to watch Easy Rider! The main reason was because only a couple of months ago, Dennis Hopper past away and this is supposed to have been his most famous film as a director and maybe even his most famous role as an actor. Also, it was Jack Nicholson's breakthrough film so just couldn't afford to miss this one! However, when I watched it I enjoyed it but I was expecting more so was a very slight disappointment to me. Referred by many as the "original road movie". Yeah, it is perhaps one of the first road films but it is quite far from the best one that I have seen.


Two counter-culture bikers set off from Los Angeles to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, meeting a cross-section of American characters en route. Like pretty much all road films: the stories are straight forward and predictable but some are unpredictable and take drastic twists and turns which is what I like best but unfortunately Easy Rider didn't really do that for me completely, I'm afraid. This was the first film I have seen with Peter Fonda in. His performance was good but I cannot see him being better in any film than how awesome his father Henry Fonda was. The late Dennis Hopper was brilliant too. Now, the main man and best actor of the film Jack Nicholson. No, Easy Rider wasn't his first feature film but it was the film that became a breakthrough for him in his career which lead to his first Academy Award nomination and rightly so!


Dennis Hopper's job as director was impressive despite starring in the film as well. Hopper himself had the original cut of the film at an estimated three hours in length. Upon reviewing it with some of the other key members of the production staff the length was cut down to its current length. Some of the film was shot on 16mm film instead of 35mm. This was demo footage shot a year before production began. Production of the film was incredible but the outcome of the film wasn't so amazing.


Overall, Easy Rider is an enjoyable classic that I thought could have been better.

The first thing that came straight into my mind about The Road was (perhaps like most people who want to watch it) "the Into The Wild of 2009" but when one watches it, it is pretty easy to figure out that it really wasn't! They are both different films as you watch both of them. I mean, yeah there were similarities like the obvious: living in like the wild and trying to survive but as far as the characters and their pasts etc were totally different! The Road is a very suspenseful thrill-ride surprisingly and the fact that it involved cannibalism and there was a boy involved, it made it pretty damn terrifying to watch on occasions. It was indeed a very emotional story but there are two problems that I had with it and that was nothing really changed in the story. "Stuggling to survive" as said in the synopsis was pretty much the whole film. I mean, anybody can write a novel like that because it is so basic and so simple. The second problem was how did America become like that? Like where is the history of what has been happening? Was mankind on the brink of extinction? Power problems? What? Nevertheless, was still gripping despite that.


Well, the plot is just pretty much this: a man and his young son try to survive in post-apocalyptic America. The acting was just terrific from EVERYBODY in this film! One serious question: why the fuck was Viggo Mortensen not nominated for Best Leading Actor?! He totally deserved it! Should've been him instead of Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. Obviously, everyone knows him best from the legendary Lord Of The Rings trilogy but The Road is a film from him that should not be missed! Kodi Smit-McPhee made a fantastic debut too as the young son. Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron make great appearances too.


I had not even heard of Australian director John Hillcoat until The Road's release and I must say that he did do a great job! I found the direction very similar to how Alfonso Caurón directed Children Of Men in 2006 like with the post-apocalyptic environment and the violence between everyone. Just like Into The Wild, The Road is another film about survival and adventure that was robbed off Academy Award nominations. It should have been nominated for Best Leading Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Make-Up but shockingly, it wasn't nominated for any of them! The best it got was a Best Cinematography nomination at the BAFTA's!


Overall, The Road is a heartbreaking but beautifully crafted film that I really enjoyed. It takes you on a road of violence, bravery and love. Recommended!

Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens is one of those horror films that most people will not at least try to watch because it is 'being too old and not scary enough' so-called. I mean, the older horror films are the scariest whereas most of the horror films out today don't feel half as scary and just feel over the top with violence! Nosferatu is the one horror film that just goes to show that horror and suspense comes out amazingly without hardly any violence involved at all. What was so special about this film was that despite it being a silent film and there wasn't any talking involved at all, it was just so scary and tense! Personally, I think the silence (besides the music) made the film even more terrifying.


Count Orloc moves from his ruined castle to the city of Wisborg, after the visit of one Jonathan Harker. Once there he becomes involved with Jonathan's fiancée Nina, who alone holds the power to destroy him. Max Schreck was absolutely AMAZING as Count Orlok! I would say he was almost as creepy as Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Orlok is actually a vampire but poses as a nobleman from the Carpathian Mountains who moves to Wiscom, Germany. He lives in a vast castle high in the mountains, which is badly neglected and has a highly sinister feel to it. Local townsfolk refuse to go anywhere near his castle. Orlok is visited by the film's protagonist, the young Thomas Hutter, the assistant of a Wisborg estate agent, who travels to his castle to show properties for sale in Wisborg. And from then on to the end, it becomes more suspenseful and terrifying than ever. What will the consequences be? What I loved about Schreck's performance in this film was that you only have to look at him to be terrified (like Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs). You know what the odd thing is? The Nosferatu character is on screen for only a bit less then 9 minutes out of the 84 minute duration. So that just goes to show that the character may not have appeared that much, it was still a terrifying piece of cinema.


F.W. Maurau has accomplished perhaps his best feature film and one of the best horror films of all time! Maurau gave the audience the option to just switch off the film but I feel and I am sure that many people thought that it was too gripping, tense and just too amazing to turn off! Filming commenced in August 1921 and it ended in October of that same year. Director F.W. Murnau found Max Schreck "strikingly ugly" in real life and decided the vampire makeup would suffice with just pointy ears and false teeth. There is one scene where there is very clearly a Hyena but in the film, it is a werewolf. The music was breathtaking as well. I would say that the music in silent films and old cartoon programmes (like Tom And Jerry) always have the best music within.


Overall, Nosferatu: eine Symphonie des Grauens is a terrifying, suspenseful classic that I loved from the start right until the very end! There aren't many films that terrify me now but this one certainly did (in a good way, if you get me). It has now become one of my favourite classics as well as one of my favourite horror/thrillers.

'A very dark and disturbing film' came straight to my mind when I had finished watching it! It is a very powerful, amazingly filmed story that has received lots of complaints, release issues and other problems. I do feel that the film perhaps has inspired more people to commit these crimes like some of the moments of brutality, death and punishment would be demonstrated nowadays. I mean, violence in our world are inspired by violent films unfortunately so got to put up with it. Anyway, Natural Born Killers really took hold of me about half way through and I thought 'this could be another 5-star film' but during the last half of the film, I just lost the grip of it a bit and drifted it down to 4-stars.


It is about the misadventures of Mickey and Mallory: outcasts, lovers, and serial killers. They travel across Route 666 conducting psychedelic mass-slaughters not for money, not for revenge, just for kicks. Glorified by the media, the pair become legendary folk heroes; their story told by the single person they leave alive at the scene of each of their slaughters. Woody Harrelson's performance as Mickey Knox was amazing! The character is based on the infamous real-life spree killer known as Charles Starkweather. As a child, Mickey was abused by both his parents and witnessed his father commit suicide when he was ten. Mickey is shown throughout the movie as an efficient killer, with knowledge of firearms and knife throwing. It is also shown that he knows how to kill with his bare hands such as the time in prison when he demonstrates killing a man by breaking his neck during a yoga session. Juliette Lewis was awesome too as Mallory Knox! After Lewis's breathtaking powerful breakthrough performance in Martin Scorsese's Cape Fear, she once again delivers a performance that is a bit different but shows that she was back in the early 90s a great actress! As a child, Mallory suffered physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Mallory devotes herself to Mickey, stating he's her one true love. Mallory often tells stories and fantasies about her and Mickey living in paradise. Mickey often quotes, "That is poetry". Out of the two, Mallory seems to be the more aggressive, showing signs of being an uncontrolled psychopath with zero empathy for the people she kills. One example is when she and Mickey kill their last victim, Wayne Gale (Downey Jr.). Mallory continues shooting Gale repeatedly after he is dead. Tom Sizemore, Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones were pretty awesome too!


Unlikely duo Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino have together crafted together something gruesome and something extraordinary. Also, I would say that they have crafted an influence to criminals to commit these kind of crimes seeing as the characters within the film actually enjoyed murdering those people. Quentin has produced a pretty cool story too as well as gruesome obviously.


Overall, Natural Born KillerS is a very gruesome, dark, psychologically terrifying film that I perhaps wouldn't watch again but did really enjoy watching.

Brief Encounter was made at a dark time (towards the end of WWII in England) and I would've thought that it would have been a risky project back then but obviously not. The war didn't stop them from creating a fine film that is still classed as one of the best romantic films of all time. I suppose adultery teaches the audience of this film that just how easily you can fall in love with someone else despite being married. I mean, no the film isn't very long but it certainly is very gripping from start to finish. You are there with Laura and Alec even before they met.



Middle-class housewife Laura meets Dr. Alec Harvey when she gets grit in the eye at the railway buffet, who skilfully removes the dirt in question only to fill her heart with longing and hope. Gradually they fall in love which culminated in little more than a kiss, though they know that their love, in a middle-class England of strict sensibilities, is impossible. Trevor Howard's performance as Dr. Alec Harvey was good but one problem I do have is that Harvey is meant to be a charming man who would sweep Laura off her feet but I just don't think that Howard did that enough. He felt more like a stalker. Celia Johnson was awesome as Laura! I would say it is one of the best leading female roles of the old generations. I mean, what Laura did was really bad. I thought despite falling in love with Alec 'instantly' when she has already got a respectful and loving husband with a good child. Alec was just as bad cheating on his wife too.


Even though Brief Encounter was released over 10 years before The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia and I have seen those before this film, I just went into Brief Encounter not knowing what to expect. Lean had obviously proved himself as a great director of epic adventure films but Brief Encounter shows that he is a great director of romantic films too. David Lean has always been and always will be one of the directors who have been named as one of the best British film directors of all time (same with Hitchcock, Boyle and Nolan). Anyhow, his work on Brief Encounter was quite extraordinary to me after seeing The Bridge On The River Kwai and Lawrence Of Arabia before it but it was nevertheless excellent.


Overall, Brief Encounter is a brilliant romantic drama that is one of the best films of the 1940s. Perhaps not as much of a breakthrough in Lean's career as The Bridge On The River Kwai but still one never to be forgotten and one that Lean should have been proud of!

Boogie Nights was made by the same director of Magnolia and it also has a very similar cast. I loved Magnolia so expectations were very high for me to love Boogie Nights. I did love it but didn't like it as much as Magnolia but it was better than There Will Be Blood. I mean, yeah the film is about pornography and adult entertainment but it has a message. And that message is that being a porn star actor is obviously a pleasurable and fun job but it doesn't make you the happiest person alive as one gets older which does happen to Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler.


Set in Southern California in the late 70s and early 80s during the Golden Age Of Porn. It focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who dropped out of high school and is also a male prostitute. When he is discovered by porn director Jack Horner, his career as a porn actor begins but his addiction to cocaine and his sudden violent attitude begins to make his life a misery. Mark Wahlberg was awesome as Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler! I can't believe he wasn't even a contender for Best Leading Actor by the Academy, Golden Globes or BAFTA's! Julianne Moore's acting was really good but she really wasn't attractive enough for Amber at all! I mean, if you're gonna have an actress playing a character who is like the leader of porn actresses in the film, at least give it to a middle-aged woman who was really attractive back then! Like Jamie Lee Curtis, Elizabeth Hurley or someone like that. Burt Reynolds was fantastic as well as Jack Horner. He deserved the Oscar nomination and was the best actor out of everyone in this film.


After Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson as a great director truly is becoming to be a force to be reckoned with and because of this, he is now becoming one of my favourite directors. What I love about his work on Boogie Nights is that, yeah he has a similar style as Quentin Tarantino does but despite he tries to use that style, he really doesn't fail at what he does. Can't wait to see what he does next! I dislike when people say 'ohhh this is a dirty porno!' No, it isn't a porno but it is just a film about porn. They had to cut 40 seconds of the film to make it a rated R film when it would have been the original NC-17.


Overall, Boogie Nights is an absolutely amazing film that I loved from start to finish. Think it'll entertain people because of the sex involved even though it obviously isn't real sex. One of the best films of the 90s!