Reviews by SJMJ91

This is a underrated film from Steven Spielberg. It is an epic war film with a lot of raw emotion, epic music, fantastic qualities of cinema. It was very emotional because obviously a war film but it was mostly the characters and what happened to them. This is a very inspiring film too because no matter how small or young you are, it is never too late to give up on hope. Also, when Jim is separated from his parents, he shows a huge sign of bravery by looking after himself and especially growing up without his parents in an unpleasant environment. It was bad luck to me that Jim was living in a camp in Shanghai and he is British. It felt like wrong place, wrong time and being enemy to the wrong people.


This is an extremely underrated child star performance from Christian Bale. I think that most people would remember him as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Patrick Bateman but this is a solid performance that in my opinion didn't get enough appreciation from critics just like Natalie Portman didn't in Léon neither. When I saw that Christian Bale was in this film especially when he was only 13 years old, I needed to see it as soon as possible. I needed to anyway because it's a Spielberg film. After seeing him in The Dark Knight, American Psycho, The Prestige and Batman Begins, I knew that it was him but couldn't believe it because he looks and sounds different. The only similarity is his mouth and the way he speaks. John Malkovich has always been good at playing that emotional and supporting character. Also, can be a really talented villainous actor when playing a villain. He makes me laugh always because of his facial expressions which are his best talent.


Steven Spielberg directs this film in such a great way. Spielberg has directed his epic films like David Lean did with a wide range of groups involving filmmaking. Empire Of The Sun introduced the epic style to Spielberg for him to make his best film Schindler's List. The way the script is written is unbelievable. It was very well done with a really good adapted script.


This isn't my favourite Christian Bale film but it is one of my favourite male child performances. It is a great Steven Spielberg film but doesn't beat Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T., Indiana Jones 1 and 3, Jaws, The Terminal, Jurassic Park and Duel. The only thing that disappointed me was that it was too long. There could have been at least 10-20 minutes cut scenes or made scenes a bit shorter. Apart from that, it is a very good film.

Ed Wood is a film from a director that was a bit of a hard risk because Tim has done dark film with imagination to it but he goes to a bio-pic and in a huge way. Ed Wood turned out to be a witty, hilarious, dark, dramatic and even romantic masterpiece that is definitely a film to be remembered. I loved this film for those reasons but also because of the way it was filmed. Ed Wood turned out to be a typical Tim Burton film because of the way it was filmed and the very bizarre person that was Ed Wood. Ed Wood's personality with films and with women was very witty and Burton is good at expressing characters in that way. This must have been a hard film to make because in the scenes where Ed Wood is shooting a scene in one of his films because there is a film making a film.


Johnny Depp's performance as Ed Wood was absolutely fantastic! It is definitely one of Johnny's best performances so far. His acting as Ed Wood when he is in women's clothes is just absolutely hilarious that I couldn't believe it. Was very funny and unique seeing Johnny in women's clothes. Johnny Depp should have earned an Oscar nomination for this film as well as a Golden Globe win for portraying Ed Wood. Martin Landau was awesome as Bela Lugosi but I was dead surprised that he beat both Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction and Gary Sinise in Forrest Gump to the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. I personally believe that was luck that he won it.


Ed Wood is an adventure of bad filmmaking as well as clumsiness, drama and romance. I loved this film all the way through but it doesn't quite beat Burton masterpieces Sweeney Todd, Edward Scissorhands or Sleepy Hollow. Ed Wood is still a masterpiece from Tim Burton and is one of the greatest films of 1994 and that was a phenomenal year in cinema. I loved Johnny Depp's performance as Ed Wood but he is better in Sweeney Todd, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Edward Scissorhands and Finding Neverland. Ed Wood is a very unique masterpiece that I think cannot be beaten or be attempted at better than Tim Burton starring Johnny Depp.

I saw this film for the first time when I was 14 years old at high school. When I was in the shops, I spotted it and thought to myself that it is long overdue for a rewatch. When I rewatched it, I really enjoyed it!! I cannot believe how underrated this film really is! It isn't as popular as the 2009 version but it should be! This film is very different compared to the Robert Zemeckis adaptation and there are some things that are better in this version than in the new version. This one wasn't even HALF as terrifying as the 2009 version was. This 1984 version isn't as good as the 2009 version but one thing that it does have more: a bit more Christmas magic.


George C. Scott's performance as Ebenezer Scrooge was absolutely brilliant!! I cannot believe how underrated his performance is. He not only made Scrooge quite terrifying at the start of the film before the three Christmas Ghosts visit him but made him a really kind and gentle man on Christmas Day AFTER the three ghosts visited him. It's a damn shame that he didn't receive as much credit as he deserved in this film. It is set on Christmas Eve seven years after the death of Scrooge's business partner Jacob Marley. Ebenezer Scrooge is a cold-hearted, greedy and tight-fisted man who absolutely despises Christmas and all happiness. That night Marley's ghost confronted Scrooge and warns Scrooge that a series of other ghosts will visit him that night. Scrooge goes on a journey that will change his ways forever.


Overall, A Christmas Carol is an extremely underrated adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic! I do prefer the 2009 version but I can't deny that is one of the best Christmas films of all time and one of the best George C. Scott films as well.

This is a Steven Spielberg film that truly is underrated. It is very tense with a lot of Hitchcock-like suspense. This suspense of Duel leads to the suspense in Jaws. This film wasn't on for very long at all but the thrills and action never seemed to stop. It was a film that wasn't a well-known film from Steven Spielberg especially when Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind were released because they are both masterpieces of their genres. It was a rather weird film in some ways because a random gas truck driver tries to kill a random guy. Also, we don't see who is driving the truck. There are just suspects. The suspense was similar to Jaws and also like Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window with the music and sound effects. I do wish that this film had enough credit like other Spielberg films have. For some reason, it feels like Jaws replaced Duel for Spielberg thrillers.


Dennis Weaver was good as David Mann. He wasn't a well known actor to start with. He seemed like a random actor that Spielberg chose to start with in his films just like Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. He made us want to get into the character and make us feel for him because of the stalking lorry driver.


Spielberg directs this film a lot like how Alfred Hitchcock directed North By Northwest and Rear Window with the hard-hitting action sequences and with the slow yet sudden moments. Most of the film was complete action and suspense so there wasn't a massive story nor script to it and nor with a chemistry between character because there weren't any characters properly involved at all apart from David Mann. Steven Spielberg has always been a director of developing new characters and bringing them and his films to life but there wasn't any characters at all.


Overall, Duel is a really good Steven Spielberg film but I prefer others like Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Last Crusade, Jaws, The Terminal and Jurassic Park. Duel is a thriller that deservedly should have drawn more attention to the public like Jaws did. Duel is a definate recommendation to Spielberg fans and fans of action packed thrill-rides.

When I first read about this film on the internet I was unsure about whether I would like this film. Because Stanley Kubrick directed it with both Peter Sellers and George C. Scott in the leading roles of the film, I decided to watch it and I am ever so glad I did. The first time I saw it I really enjoyed it but after a second viewing of it, I absolutely loved it. Dr. Strangelove is a comedy but one that you won't literally laugh out load at because it is quite a serious story but has quite amusing characters especially Dr. Strangelove. The title of this film is very long and in a way it is quite a mysterious one to me because I don't fully get why it has to be so long. Dr. Strangelove is a film that I think is appreciated by most classic film fans and critics from all over the world but it won't really be appreciated or likable to people who either don't like classics, dark comedy or Kubrick/Sellers/Scott. My favourite shots of the film are where the planes are in the air and there are the beautiful settings of the mountains and fields. Depending on the angle of the plane, it looks like the plane is coming towards the camera, the camera is alongside the plane or the camera is following the plane.


Peter Sellers was a legendary actor with a very wide taste of comedy. His performance in this film was so serious and so funny at the same time especially when he was playing three characters. He portrays Group Captain Lionel Mandrake who is a British exchange officer, President Merkin Muffley who is the American Commander-In-Chief and Dr. Strangelove who is a disabled ex-Nazi war expert. Dr. Strangelove was my favourite character in this film because he was the comedy of this film and he was a very tight character to watch. Peter Sellers' Dr Strangelove voice was absolutely fantastic that was quite frightening at times especially with his facial expressions when he speaks to people. Peter Sellers should have won the Best Leading Actor Oscar instead of Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. George C. Scott was awesome too as General Buck Turgidson. The whole cast was mostly men with only one woman cast in this film. That woman was Tracy Reed who was Miss. Scott. Miss. Scott is the secretary and mistress of General Buck Turgidson. She only appeared in one scene in this film.


I absolutely love the very beginning and the very end of this film because it shows the pure beauty of what the film is going to bring despite the genre. Also did it because it was about the possible ending of the world but those scenes proved the beauty and innocence of the world. Kubrick did this for the beginning and end of 2001: A Space Odyssey too which was absolutely brilliant. I think that Dr. Strangelove was his breakthrough film despite Paths Of Glory because after Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick truly does what he can do regarding the art of cinema and how he creates the characters and writes the scripts for them. Most black comedies are very original but because it was a film that involves quite a complex dialogue. Kubrick was nominated for Best Director in this film. Dr. Strangelove should have won all the Oscars it was nominated for including Best Picture 1964. Kubrick should have had an Oscar for A Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey too.


Dr. Strangelove is an absolutely phenomenal masterpiece that is the most famous black-comedy of all time and it is one of my favourites of that kind. Kubrick is one of my close favourite directors so Dr. Strangelove is the fourth best film from him after A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. It isn't 5-stars but it is very, very close to reaching that rating. When I watch it again in the future and love it more, it could be 5-stars. Dr. Strangelove is a beautifully filmed masterpiece that I think I will love more as I watch it more.

I was literally blown away by how good this film turned out to be. I knew I was going to love this film because I really love seeing Clint Eastwood playing that total kick-ass character and a film with such a great story to it. I found the story of Dirty Harry very similar to films like Heat and The Dark Knight. Not because of the main character because main character in all three are totally different but it was mostly the fact that all three are about a particular killer who is held fugitive within one city and never seems to get caught. Also, they sweep themselves around and always get away with crimes they commit. The characters I mean are Scorpio (Dirty Harry), The Joker (The Dark Knight) and Neil McCauley (Heat). When you watch all three of them or two of them or if you already have, you will see what I mean. Dirty Harry truly is one of those few kick-ass motion pictures that people would call a classic even now after 30 years.


I didn't think I would like any other Clint Eastwood character than The Man With No Name but I think Harry Callahan is my favourite character from him now. Not only was it typical of Clint to play that sort of character but also because of how Clint approaches the character and how he shows how well the character is developed as we gradually go through seeing the character in the film. He also made me laugh a lot which Clint Eastwood doesn't really do for me. I know he isn't a comedy actor but its what he looks like when he plays these sorts of characters but I mean it in a black comedy sort of way of course. He was very entertaining because Harry is one of those characters that everyone would love for just being the way they are. He is probably the perfect example of a bad cop character and with a very dark personality for his profession. I could not believe how much resemblance there is between Andrew Robinson and Malcolm McDowell (man who plays Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). What makes them so similar is that in those days, they had long thick brown/greyish hair. They both have similar voices and they both play similar sorts of characters. The only difference between the two of them is that Malcolm McDowell is British and Andrew Robinson is American. What I really loved about Scorpio's character is that he has a very funky, cool name for a serial killer. That name shows that he doesn't have a proper name and shows how twisted he is especially killing innocent and random victims within the city. He shows that slight innocent look and always prays for mercy when he is caught but he always seems to look like a real thug and to be a real identical killer in which he is anyway.


The director knew how to make the characters within the film very gripping and how he wanted the audience to realise what each one of them were capable of. They were both villains in a way but Harry is a hero as well as a villain (only a little as far as killing thugs, burglars etc). The action scenes and the epic thrill rides are another close similarity when comparing The Dark Knight and Heat with Dirty Harry. Don Siegel directed this a lot like Chris Nolan and Michael Mann did. The script was awesome! Sometimes I find it rather hard to see whether a script is awful or amazing but it really depends on the scenes. I feel the same with actors when they portray their characters.


This is definitely one of the top action thrillers of the 1970s if not one of the best of that decade. It is my favourite Clint Eastwood film as an actor but not as director. I prefer Clint as a director than an actor but still really talented at both. Masterpiece!! Clint's Harry Callahan is one of my top kick ass characters of all time but not one of my favourite characters ever though. This is a cool classic that shouldn't be avoided for anything in the world.

To be absolutely fair here, I was unsure of what to expect with this film when I was going to see if for the first time. Well, first of all, it is a film from Quentin Tarantino and I love his work but it didn't really look like a typical Tarantino film. When I saw this film for the first time, I really enjoyed it but after a rewatch I found it pretty boring on occasions. The flaws it has are that the film lacks character development and very slow dialogue that took forever to get going. I really enjoyed the car crashing between the two cars around the end of the film. That almost kept me on the edge of my seat because I enjoyed it so much. The violence within this film was really gruesome especially with that blonde girl who was Stuntman Mike's first victim. If that scene wasn't on this film, I would have rated this film 2-stars instead of 3-stars so that scene made a big difference. This film reminds me of Steven Spielberg's Duel.


Kurt Russell's performance as Stuntman Mike wasn't so much bad but it was a rather weird performance because it's obvious that he does have some psychological problems by killing the passengers inside his car. Stuntman Mike is a an absolute psycho who just likes to have fun but takes things a little over the top. He is a bit of a serial killer because he kills women in the car numerously but he doesn't kill them with his bare hands; like he doesn't touch them or anything. It's really the car that kills them. Rosario Dawson is a cool actress but I think she lost the plot by starring in this one. I think she was chosen to be in this film because she is a black woman and she is really hot!


I personally think Quentin Tarantino sort of lost the plot with this film because it felt more like a Fast And Furious film. I don't really like racing films very much but Death Proof obviously caught my attention because of it being a Quentin Tarantino film. The directing in the action scene near the end was terrifically crafted but everything else became a bit of a mess. Quentin has always been a director of original scripts, cool characters and gory violence. He has that in Death Proof but this time they aren't half as good as they were in Kill Bill: Volumes 1+2, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs, Inglourious Basterds and especially Pulp Fiction. I don't think that Quentin was the right director to make this film; maybe Robert Rodriguez would've done a better job at making this a good film.


Overall, Death Proof is a disappointing yet an explosive, intense mayhem that could've been a lot better.

Dead Man Walking is in my point of view a very typical prison story because the characters were very original of that particularly because of the theme. This was very typical because it is very emotional with a very interesting story. Dead Man Walking is a prison story of what most criminals are like today: looking for forgiveness and a way for him to be forgiven in the easiest way possible. That is one of the reasons why there was a nun involved with a prisoner. It was a very predictable story because the story just flowed and just carried on until it finished which is obviously very good and is the main priority of the story of the film and like almost every other film.


Sean Penn delivers one of his best achieved performances as Matthew Poncelet. Sean has always been extremely talented at playing sinister characters. Especially because he appears rather evil at times in other films he has been involved in the past, e.g. Mystic River. He was very emotional with a lot of upset and with a lot of heartbreak. Susan Sarandon delivers the performance of her career as Sister Helen Prejean. I could really see all of the tears and emotion running down her eyes. She was the perfect choice for portraying a character like Sister Helen Prejean. What I really like about Susan Sarandon is that she can portray characters with a lot of heartbreak and emotion no matter what type of person that character really is.


I truly underestimated Tim Robbins as a director in this film because it is a debut of directing for him and he isn't a top class actor but I do have to say that his directing in Dead Man Walking was absolutely superb. Tim Robbin's directing of Dead Man Walking reminds me a lot of how Frank Darabont directed The Shawshank Redemption. The screenplay was awesome which doesn't surprise me in slightest way whatsoever.


Dead Man Walking is definitely one of the best films of 1995. It is an absolutely awesome prison film but I prefer prison films like The Green Mile, A Clockwork Orange, The Shawshank Redemption, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Cool Hand Luke and The Bridge On The River Kwai. It isn't Sean Penn's best performance. I preferred him in Milk, Mystic River and 21 Grams. Susan Sarandon's best performance to date. Tim Robbins should quit acting and be a director instead which is one reason why this film really surprised me because I liked it a lot.

I had high expectations for this film because it stars two great and late actors who were both very talented but what I was mostly disappointed with in this film was that I don't think the acting from the actors were brilliant. It is good when it comes to action but when it comes to the story it feels sort of rushed. When the English Civil War ends it feels really rushed from then until the end. The Civil War ended about 1 hour 30 minutes and it had less than 40 minutes to try and write up and film the rest of the story with 2 hours 15 minutes duration. Well, that is what I think about it anyway. The costumes, art direction and cinematography were the best thing about this film apart from that is was pretty crap.


I wasn't that keen on neither Richard Harris as Oliver Cromwell nor Alec Guinness as King Charles I because neither actor made Charles or Cromwell very believable like they were history and lived 400 years ago. Richard Harris was better than Alec Guinness but neither actor gave me that feeling where there was any proper emotion involved within the characters like that really was England 400 years ago.


Ken Hughes' direction wasn't brilliant to be honest because it wasn't as believable as I was anticipating. The epic action scenes in the English Civil War didn't really help it very much. I wasn't that fond of the script neither because it was more like a made-up story rather than historical England. I am disappointed with saying that but it is true though.


This film won the Oscar for Best Costume Design and was nominated for Best Music Original Score but lost to Love Story. It was nominated for Best Music Original Score at the Golden Globes but lost to Love Story. Overall, Cromwell is a film that I found really disappointing. Alec Guinness was a legendary actor and his portrayal of King Charles I is at the moment his most disappointing. The late Richard Harris wasn't bad and wasn't good either but he was better. It is a film that is extremely underrated but should be considered for its technical design rather than its acting, directing and producing.

Somehow I knew I was going to like this film because I love epic war films. It was a lot like a romantic epic like Gone With The Wind, The English Patient, Atonement, Pride And Prejudice, The Duchess and Australia. It is a story of adventure, war and strength within humans. It is a dark time for all of the characters because it is during the Civil War and there are awkward twists and turns that come across the characters. I find this film to be quite similar to Atonement because of the romance with separations between Inman and Ada just like Cecilia and Robbie. Also, I find the characters to be quite similar. There are two stories involved in Cold Mountain. Inman escapes the Civil War and travels to get to his lover Ada. On his journey, he meets new people. The other, Ada meets Ruby Thewes and they become good friends and try to survive during the Civil War but the two stories try and bond together to form an epic masterpiece in the end in which it did achieve.


Jude Law has taken some rather weak roles and given out bad performances in the past but when I heard he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Leading Actor in Cold Mountain, I thought to myself "he can't have been that good surely" but I was wrong. His performance was amazing. He gave Inman more of a sympathetic character because he almost starves and almost gets killed. Jude is good at playing that sort of character because everyone knows he has a voice that quite a lot of people would find attractive. I liked Jude Law in Closer but loved him even more in Cold Mountain. Nicole Kidman's performance was really good as Ada. Ada is a young, sexy and posh American woman who is alone because of being without her lover until she meets Ruby. Nicole pulls off a fantastic American accent for an Australian just like the late Heath Ledger did in Brokeback Mountain. I will be looking forward to seeing her in epic films such as Australia. Renée Zellweger delivers a performance that in my opinion she will be best known for other than Bridget Jones. Renée really made me laugh because Ruby was such a cow at times but mostly it was what Renée appeared like in Cold Mountain. She was the best in the whole film. Other supporting actors in this film are Eileen Atkins, Brandon Gleeson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland and Ray Winstone. This film has an unbelievable cast.


Anthony Minghella seemed like he wanted Cold Mountain to be just as successful as The English Patient did. He had a great talent for making romantic epics. He made his work always open to a positive side of a story and a negative side as well. This film isn't Minghella's best work; I preferred The English Patient. It was a tragedy when Minghella died in March 2008. R.I.P. Anthony Minghella. The script was very good with a typical writing of its genre with American western words, short words and with very detailed and powerful scenes. When we see Ada and Ruby in this film, we sort of realise what it must have been like for the innocent people during the Civil War. It also makes us realise what is was like for a soldier during not just the Civil War but every war there has ever been which is what Inman went through.


This is both Jude Law and Renée Zellweger's best performances. Nicole Kidman was awesome but preferred in Moulin Rouge! and Eyes Wide Shut. Anthony Minghella created a masterpiece which isn't as much of a masterpiece than The English Patient. It is one of best films of 2003 and one of the best ensemble casts of all time.