Reviews by SJMJ91

Despite, Network being a famous classic, I was unsure whether I would like it at first because I just don't really like those kind of films but the actors and director that were involved with the film made me watch. When I did watch this film, I wasn't disappointed but I was blown away by it! What a powerful film Network turned out to be that I was gripped by all the way through. It was obviously a drama but I also found some bits within the film pretty tense because of the chemistry between the characters. It is one of these films that I would find very confusing and complex but after watching Network it wasn't half as complex as I was expecting it to be.


Faye Dunaway's performance as Diana Christensen was absolutely brilliant! I haven't ever seen her in a film like this before. Faye has always been an actress of giving out very powerful Oscar-nominated performances including Bonnie And Clyde and Chinatown. Diana starts to become a producer of entertainment programming. Diana's desire is to produce a hit show for the network results in her cutting a deal with a group of left-wing terrorists robbing banks, to use as the cold-opening for a new series based on terrorists for the network that she wishes developed for the upcoming fall season. Diana as feelings for Max Schumacher who is the president of the News Division and the network's old guard news editor. William Holden's performance was absolutely terrific as Max Schumacher. I actually felt sorry for Max because he loves his job, his best friend Howard Beale is on the verge of getting fired and his personal life starts to change around. His performance was really powerful. Personally, I thought he was better than Peter Finch who won the Oscar for Best Leading Actor in 1976. I think that Finch's role was more supporting than leading because not only was Finch not in it THAT much but also he didn't really get involved with other characters within the film. Peter Finch's performance was absolutely incredible as Howard Beale. Finch's performance is one of the two posthumous Oscar winning performances. The other one being Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Finch was awesome because he was a real weirdo and a bit insane. He has a condition and I feel for him because he wants to go on air but he can't because of his condition and most likely getting the sack due to low ratings of the show. Robert Duvall made a big name for himself in The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II but he makes his name even bigger in this film as Frank Hackett. He is the boss of the network. He is worried about Beale wrecking the show due to the low ratings and the reputation of the show. All four actors in this film were absolutely phenomenal and there's no denying that!


Sidney Lumet is a director of creating dark films but with mixed genres and different themes but his work on Network was so fascinating because you could see what is behind the scenes on the news and also it can inspire young people to work in a network or anything similar to it. Every single film that Lumet has done have all been ones that I think have taken an awful lot of working into to build up. It obviously was hard but when you watch it, you would appreciate that due to it's top-notch acting, directing, writing and producing.


Overall, Network is an absolutely terrific work of art that I think will be remembered for many years to come. I have absolutely no idea how neither Network nor Taxi Driver didn't win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1976 over the actual winner which was Rocky. Network has one of the most powerful and most shocking endings of all time as well. Faye Dunaway is still a legendary actress and after seeing three of her most famous films (Network, Bonnie And Clyde and Chinatown), I have decided that her performance as Diane Christensen is the best that she has done (of what I've seen from her so far). This is my favourite Sidney Lumet film so far from the ones I have seen. I even loved Network more than 12 Angry Men. Network is one of the greatest films of the 1970s as well as of all time!!

I wanted to see this second film because it seemed like an interesting, fun film like the first one was. To be honest, that is all I was expecting. It was a very fun film to watch but as far as acting and directing is concerned, it wasn't that good. I have always thought and still think that both National Treasure films aren't so much rip-offs but are more take-ons of Indiana Jones. Don't get me wrong, it is a decent film but it could've been a lot better in my opinion. National Treasure is supposedly called the Disney Indiana Jones except Indiana Jones is way better.


Nicolas Cage's performance as ... wasn't that good. I like Nicolas' character but I personally think he could have done better. Jon Voight was bad as ... because I think it is a really bad take-on of Dr. Henry Jones Sr. and how he treats his son. Helen Mirren didn't really make it any better either. I just didn't feel it was her kind of film especially after seeing her Oscar winning performance in The Queen.


The directing was average. The action scenes were good but unlike the four Indiana Jones films, it was too overloaded with CGI. The only thing that neither National Treasure 1 or 2 don't have that some archaeology films do have is that they doesn't have that epic feeling about them.


Overall, National Treasure 2: Book Of Secrets is a fun adventure film that could've been improved.

I wasn't interested at first in seeing this film because it just seemed like a waste but a good friend really wanted to watch it so I did. When I did see it, I was blown away by how good it turned out to be. The comedy was often rather silly because of all the mistakes Clark makes. Also, it was rather clever because some of those things could have happened normally especially when under pressure. I love films that are actually about Christmas not some pieces of crap that just rips it off. Christmas Vacation achieved its purpose by becoming one of the top Christmas films. It is a film that would be for a family who have teenaged kids who are at high school rather than for little kids because it has swearing and it could teach them bad habits such as setting a Christmas tree on fire, not being sensible enough to put Christmas lights up on the roof of a house and chopping a tree down from a neighbor.


I haven't seen Chevy Chase in any other film before this one and he really impressed me as Clark. He just acts like an ordinary guy who just wants to have a lovely Christmas with his family. However, that doesn't exactly go to plan especially when his cousin comes round his wife and kids. It becomes a really full household which is too much for Clark to cope with. He is a bloody hilarious guy because he makes those Bean-like slapstick mistakes especially when it involves a film about Christmas. He always gets himself into awkward situations and in the end he becomes a George Bailey-like sort of hero with his family. He made me laugh a lot because he obviously makes mistakes but he makes inadvertent mistakes within his job as well as preparing for Christmas.


The director gave us a lot of things that maybe some of us weren't expecting to see because this is a film from a franchise which I am unsure is a TV series as well as a film franchise. This one is a really awesome Christmas film that has a rightful place for people to consider watching around Christmas. He made it one of my top Christmas films. It is a bright Christmas film of course but it is quite a dark one too because as I said there is quite a lot of crude swearing. The script was written in a very original standard with its theme but with a very well adapted together script that has powerful and emotional scenes with a Home Alone-like tone to it.


National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is an awesome film that tells a story not only what it is about, how to celebrate Christmas but why Christmas is such a special time and why people gather together for it = family and loved ones. This is one of my favourite Christmas films ever but I love It's A Wonderful Life, The Grinch, Home Alone And Nightmare Before Christmas more. This is a film along with those four films that I could and will watch every Christmas from now on for the rest of my life. It is a masterpiece and it's that simple!

I love this film!!! Mystic River is a fantastic murder mystery that is filmed with a lot of events occuring. The dialogue is something that I found quite disturbing because of the way the characters were around each other. It is one of those films that shocks you at the beginning and shocks you at the end of it too. I love films like this that keeps you interested all the way through it. Finding out who Katie Markum's killer was almost excitement to me because I really wanted to know. As the story went on, it fell a bit obvious but on other occasions it became a real mystery. It is a breakdown film of not only heartbreak but also of love and friendship.


Sean Penn was amazing as Jimmy Markum. Before his daughter was killed, he seemed like a grumpy middle-aged man but he became a very caring father after his daughter was murdered. However, he ended up having something in him that I don't think he was anticipating. He ended up being filled with rage when he found out who killed his daughter. His performance is memorable but his best is definitely Milk. Tim Robbins surprised me a lot in this one as Dave. Dave and Jimmy were childhood friends. Dave was a victim of abuse by paedophiles as a child. After an average performance in The Shawshank Redemption, Robbins has now proved he can perform something that is filled with emotion, heartbreak and with very interesting character. Robbins was the best of the film. Marcia Gay Harden was awesome as well as Celeste Boyle who is Dave's wife.


Clint Eastwood has crafted a masterpiece! Clint is a fantastic director of making different kinds of films but in adult ways. One thing that all of his films have in common for me is that they are all ordinary dramas. This is probably the one Clint Eastwood film that is mixed on how to live life carefully and to always be certain of things.


This is my favourite Clint Eastwood film as a director and I think it will be for a long time. The Human Factor looks pretty good so that might be a tough challenge. I love Million Dollar Baby and Changeling too. Sean Penn's performance is fantastic after an Oscar win for this film but his best is his other and more recent Oscar-winning performance as Harvey Milk in bio-pic Milk. Mystic River won Tim Robbins an Oscar as well. A good performance is rare from Tim Robbins. I think that this will be his best performance forever! 2003 was a great year in cinema but I prefered films like Return Of The King, Lost In Translation, Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Finding Nemo that year. Mystic River is a fantastic film that has become very close to hitting my main favourite films list. January

Mulholland Drive is a very bizarre film from David Lynch. I find it a very hard film to describe because if is very unusual. I don't think that Mulholland Drive is hard to understand at all because it just got on with the story. It didn't go really slow, it just did its normal and original thing by doing so. It is one of those few films that is very bizarre and is a very emotional story too. It is a real psychological story. It is slightly similar to Requiem For A Dream as far as visions are concerned but Rita suffers from amnesia just like Jason Bourne did too. The psychological side to it is what can be inside a person's mind in both a scary and beautiful way. The beautiful side is because she is suffering from this, it feels like she starts to reveal her true colours and what sort of person she really is.


Naomi Watts's performance was fairly decent. She had the looks for the character but didn't fit well enough to portray a bizarre character like Betty. There could have been a better actress to portray Betty I think. There could have been not so much better actress than Naomi Watts but an actress who can portray those sorts of characters. In the lesbian love-making scenes, Naomi seemed very weak with those scenes because it isn't just a powerful film anyway but that is a powerful scene where desperate measures are taken one step closer. I obviously understand why people must be quite nervous about it but they should at least have the confidence to do those things whether you are gay or not. Heath Ledger was apparantly nervous with the love-making with Jake Gyllenhaal but he made a good impression of not being that way. At the end of the day, it is only acting. I found Laura Harring's performance to be more of a confident and more powerful performance not only because Rita is a more powerful character than Betty but because of how Laura portrayed her character. She was more confidence with the love-making scenes like Jake Gyllenhaal was in Brokeback Mountain.


David Lynch's direction was superb. It was how he made the audience feel which is one of the reasons why Lynch's direction was a success. His direction revealed different varieties of camera angles which is what other famous directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg and David Lean could do. David Lynch brings his typical bizarre psychological side which is different to my favourite Lynch film The Elephant Man because it was very emotional and heartbreaking which isn't what Lynch is really like but he did a good job of that. The screenplay in Mulholland Drive is unusual and is once again still outstanding which makes this film very typical Lynch. Despite of how much I loved this film, The Elephant Man is still my favourite from David Lynch.


Naomi Watts's performance was rather disappointing which makes it my least favourite from her after seeing Eastern Promises, King Kong and especially 21 Grams. To me, this is a modern masterpiece from David Lynch. I find Mulholland Drive quite an underrated David Lynch film that should have earned more credit than it got.

Mrs. Doubtfire has proved itself to be one of the most beautiful, heartwarming and touching films to have ever hit the screen. This is a story that helps young children understand what sort of effect divorce could have on them and what the beauty outcome really is. It teaches no matter whether your parents are together or not, whoever you live with you will truly feel like family. This film is a massive inspiration to me for the main reason about divorce because my parents divorced when I was 13 and this is the one film that made me get over that and make me truly understand how to get over divorce. It made me really understand this. The quote at the very start of my review is that quote I am talking about. That just warms and melts my heart every time I see this film. Mrs. Doubtfire is a film that is full of comedy that you could just laugh at forever with all the awkward situations and the mistakes Daniel makes when he is Mrs. Doubtfire. Well, I could anyway. Mrs. Doubtfire became a sudden blockbuster in 1993. Mrs. Doubtfire is such a loving family phenomenon that could be watched again and again and again. It is a comedy with a lot of class and with a realistic life force that can make it so realistic.


Robin Williams' performance as Mrs. Doubtfire is very unforgettable because he makes both of the characters such inspirations to people just like they did to me. Robin's performance is one of the funniest performances of all time without a single doubt in my mind. His performance as Daniel is still hilarious as Daniel because he finds life really difficult especially when he is with his 2 daughters and son in an apartment only down the road from where his ex-wife lives. Daniel is a man who has a very stressful job and he wants to take his job one step higher but that leads him into a very awkward situation later in the film especially with Mrs. Doubtfire as well. The things that I loved the most about Robin's performance as Mrs. Doubtfire was that he made her really seem like a real person even though she really wasn't and also, when Robin is Daniel he teaches not only children who have a divorced father (like me) and teaches single fathers about what it's really about. Robin makes Daniel truly see how important his children are to him. Daniel was even crazy enough to disguise himself as a woman who is twice his age. Sally Field's performance was awesome as well. She is really awesome at playing a mother because she really acts and appears like a really loving one. Pierce Brosnan was good as Miranda's boyfriend because he was like a real slime ball as well as a caring person towards the three children. Daniel hates him and when he is Mrs. Doubtfire he/she tries to manipulate him and try and break down the relationship between him and Miranda. I really loved the three young children's performances: Lisa Jakub as Lydia, Matthew Lawrence as Chris and Mara Wilson as Natalie. They are all adults now with Lisa and Matthew in their 30s and Mara in her early 20s. Top-notch child acting that was funny and very heartfelt.


Chris Columbus has always had a talent at creating family films. He has created family phenomenons Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York and Harry Potter 1+2. Chris's directing was just amazing and that was because he made Mrs. Doubtfire such a hilarious, inspiring and very heartfelt story. The script was really fantastic as well that does touch people and make people laugh which is after all what Mrs. Doubtfire is meant to do.


Mrs. Doubtfire is definitely my favourite Robin Williams film. It is my favourite Sally Field film as well but I loved her performance in Forrest Gump just as much. Mrs. Doubtfire is one of my all-time favourite comedies with A Fish Called Wanda and Hot Fuzz. Mrs. Doubtfire is to me the comedy of the 1990s. This film is very similar to Tootsie but Mrs. Doubtfire is far better. This is one of my top 10 most inspiring films of all time and one of my top family films of all time as well. Mrs. Doubtfire is a loving film that I could watch over and over again.

I am not really a great admirer of politics because I don't really understand them at all. This film was a real helping hand to me because I understand a bit more of what politics really are. I also understood what other things involving politics such as the government, laws and making decisions about things around the world. This is probably the feel-good political film because Capra is probably the best director who can make feel-good films. This film ends with a similar sort of feeling It's A Wonderful Life ended. This was very dramatic and it was very inspiring to watch. It is a film that is just a classic that could be definitely be watched more than once.


James Stewart's performance as Jefferson Smith was really awesome because he showed that he is a strong hero in the world of politics despite most of them are out to destroy him. He was rather similar to George Bailey in It's A Wonderful Life. Jefferson came from a small town and was then elected as a senator by replacing the previous senator who died. Jefferson doesn't have any children but when you see him in the political business and in the courts he might remind you of Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird. Stewart was an actor who would always play characters that are either inspirations (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, It's A Wonderful Life) or are just really entertaining with suspense (Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much).


Frank Capra's direction of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington was a lot like It's A Wonderful Life but was different as well (if you get what I mean) because they are both very different stories but with similar sort of feelings between them. He also brought that awesome feel-good feeling towards It Happened One Night as well. He is the legend for inspiring films and it is that simple and nobody will be able to take that away from him. After Hitchcock and Kubrick as favourite directors of the past, Capra comes along and takes that spot.


This isn't my favourite Frank Capra film. Out of the three I have seen so far, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is the least best from Capra. I prefer It's A Wonderful Life and It Happened One Night more. This is another legendary performance from Jimmy Stewart but his best performance is still It's A Wonderful Life. I would probably call this film my favourite political film so far and is one of the top films of the early days of cinema that were the 1930s. Masterpiece!! It is a story that a lot of people would understand and a story that a lot of people wouldn't because of the political theme of the film and the events that occur and the consequences that the characters come across. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington is a certain recommended film to people who love classics.

Bloody hell! I was speechless at the end of this film. I don't get that gripped at many films but this one made me feel lots of things in different ways. It is a very heartbreaking film and that was like someone grabbing me by my throat and turning it inside out. On the other hand, it is a very beautiful film and that made me feel like I was part of the story and I was almost in tears. I didn't really want to watch this film at first because I don't really like musicals but I think this is the one film I was totally surprised at that blew me away at almost every single angle. Before I watched this film, I wasn't that fond of musicals but I love them even more now. Sweeney Todd, The Sound Of Music and Moulin Rouge! are my breakthrough musicals that got me more into them and I am proud to say that. I figure that there are epic musicals like this, The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady and West Side Story. This film melted and broke my heart because of the story, the characters and also the way it was filmed. I think this film rivals with West Side Story as the musical Romeo And Juliet. I personally think that Moulin Rouge! is that because it is more magical, more tragic and also it is better directed and written. This film made me cry with tears especially near the end of the film because of its pure magic and its heartbreak and tragedy.


Nicole Kidman's performance as Satine was phenomenal. She was the perfect choice for Satine because Nicole turned out to be a fantastic singer and is absolutely beautiful playing such a powerful, emotional character with a big heart. Nicole Kidman's performance is one of the best leading female performances ever in my opinion. I am starting to become interesting in Baz Luhrmann's collaboration with Nicole Kidman. I did like Australia but isn't as good as this one obviously. Ewan McGregor's performance is absolutely fantastic as well as Christian. Christian is a young writer who falls in love with Satine at first sight. Ewan is becoming one of my favourite actors now because I really love his performances in Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge!, Shallow Grave, Big Fish and the prequel Star Wars trilogy. I was surprised by how good McGregor turned out to be at singing. I did think he would do like a Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia! but he didn't at all. He would be good in more musicals but not an epic one like this one. McGregor has proven himself to be an actor who is able to pull off any kind of character. Supporting actors Jim Broadbent and John Leguizamo deliver really awesome performances was really awesome as well.


Baz Luhrmann is a really good director at creating epics especially romantic epics. He also did Australia starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and Romeo And Juliet starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes which are other really good romantic epics. Australia flawed a little bit but Moulin Rouge! didn't in any way whatsoever. If Baz Luhrmann does another musical, I will be really annoyed with him. Baz Luhrmann's adaptation might seem like a remake to some people but it isn't really a remake. It just has the same title name. It is set around the same time but has different characters and story and most importantly the 2001 adaptation is a musical.


Moulin Rouge! is one of my very few films that have made me cry. It is a film that is stuffed with beauty and tragedy. I think Nicole Kidman's best and most famous films are Moulin Rouge! and Eyes Wide Shut. Ewan McGregor's performance was absolutely fantastic but Trainspotting is still his best film. It is Baz Luhrmann's best work and I think it always will be for me. Moulin Rouge! is the second best film of 2001 after The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring. Moulin Rouge! is a masterpiece that I was left speechless at and felt heartbroken by it. It inspired me a lot as well. It is a timeless classic for me and always will be.

This is a film that quite a lot of people would call a classic but I don't think it is that much of a classic but a really good film. There are reasons for this. The story was funny but was in a little bit of a mess. Yes, I do realise it is a silly slapstick film but I feel it was a bit too silly if you get what I mean. It was really funny don't get me wrong but I think that there were some scenes within the film that I personally think weren't relevant. The characters were very funny as I said. The story is fun and adventurous with a clever comedy experience especially from us British. I was unsure about Holy Grail to start with because it seemed like a film with sketches. Basically, like a TV British comedy show. When I think that mostly adults of this generation in our world love it more than teens and young adults do now because the adults nowadays would have grown up with that sort of comedy which could become childhood favourites to them.


John Cleese was funny as Sir Lancelot. John is the best British comedy actor ever. This is one of John's earliest works and as far as films are concerned, he will be best remembered for Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and particularly A Fish Called Wanda (in my opinion). John's crude slapstick led him to Fawlty Towers which is in my opinion the greatest comedy show of all time. Watching Cleese portray Lancelot was like watching a character from a fictional story. Michael Palin was pretty funny as Sir Galahad but doesn't sum up to watching Archie and Ken in A Fish Called Wanda. This film was made up by the whole team of Monty Python.


Terry Gilliam directed this film pretty well with a lot of hilarious yet utterly stupid moments. The script was awful but I am laughing because of that and it is part of the story. This is a short review because I find it hard to describe. Overall, Monty Python And The Holy Grail is a hilarious and stupid comedy that is a load of fun but no classic.

I was really hoping that I would like this film but when I saw it, I was disappointed. I thought that the story was very dull and very slow. It was like it needed to be really good for me because it had an Oscar winning performance from an actress who has been in some rather crap films over the years like Catwoman. I had high expectations at first because when I read the story of a few websites, it sounded very powerful and just a fantastic film. One scene which was very powerful which had a long duration and was very realistic. That was the sex scene. It must have lasted about five minutes at least. I didn't really know what to make of that scene because I don't think I've ever seen a sex scene that looks so realistic.


I wouldn't be surprised if either Halle Berry and/or Billy Bob Thornton were nervous about it but it is only acting after all. Billy Bob Thornton's performance is really brilliant which is very good from a leading male actor. He seemed like an abusive bastard at the start but changed throughout the film. Halle Berry's performance was absolutely fantastic. Leiticia is a mother who's husband is about to be executed and she is raising her obese son. Things start taking drastic turns for her especially when, where and how she met Han Grotowski. Halle Berry was awesome in it but I do honestly think that it was luck that she won her Academy Award. Nicole Kidman was robbed for Moulin Rouge!. Heath Ledger's appearance really disappointed me because he wasn't in it for very long.


The direction from Marc Forster was good but I do think that he is a rather weak director especially after seeing Quantum Of Solace but I did love Finding Neverland that he did. The writing was very long. It was very hard to follow and easy in other ways because it was an original plot.


This is probably Halle Berry's best acting performance but not my favourite film from her. I liked her more in X-Men 2 and Swordfish. I didn't like this film because as I already said, it was very boring and dull. I didn't fully understand it either. One of my most disappointing films but I have seen films that are more disappointing than Monster's Ball.