Reviews by SJMJ91

Raging Bull is definitely one of the most serious, aggressive and violent films of all time. The title says it all. It is a real life story about a famous boxer and his downfall. Raging Bull is a sport film that I personally think is a perfect sport film because Raging Bull is a story full of ups and downs. Raging Bull shows the very aggressive side because of the way Jake LaMotta really was when he was a boxer. This film is just legendary as far as I am concerned. This film was very emotional with betrayal, utter rage and even quite psychological.


Robert De Niro's performance as Jake LaMotta is definitely one of De Niro's most famous performances of all time. I was really fascinated by Robert De Niro being trained by the real Jake LaMotta to prepare for the boxing scenes of the film. Jake LaMotta is a professional boxer who meets a young 15-year-old girl called Vickie at a local swimming pool. They both form a relationship and end up getting married together but something happens which breaks Jake's heart which you will have to see for yourself. Robert De Niro's performance was absolutely outstanding with such powerful, motivating, moving and very intriguing regarding the boxing. His personal life becomes the most effective part of his life which affects his career as a boxer. I loved Joe Pesci's performance as Joey LaMotta who is the brother of Jake LaMotta. Joe's performance was very slimy and very encouraging and helpful because he was a one-time manager of Jake in his boxing fights. Joey LaMotta was also a boxer but for a short time and wasn't as well known as Jake. His record was 32 wins (22 KOs), 5 losses, and 2 draws. Cathy Moriarty's performance as Vickie reminds me a lot of Sue Lyon's performance in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita because she is a blonde haired young girl who is just irresistible to adults. Cathy was 9 years younger than her husband Jake even though I think she looked a lot younger than he was.


Martin Scorsese's directing in Raging Bull is absolutely awesome. I read that Scorsese was unsure about making a boxing film because Scorsese isn't really into sports but it was Robert De Niro who persuaded him to make it and it was a damn good choice that he did make it because it turned out to be the greatest sport film of all time. This is obviously a sport film but Scorsese makes it have that aggressive gangster/criminal taste within it partly because of Jake's aggressive personality and very short temper. The way this film is written is absolutely typical from Scorsese and is very rare from a sport film.


Raging Bull is without a doubt the greatest sports film of all time. It is my favourite Scorsese film. It is one of Robert De Niro's best performances. I do love his performances in Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, The Godfather: Part II and The Deer Hunter as well. Raging Bull is one of my favourite films of the 1980s. It is also one of my favourite bio-pic films too. Raging Bull is a sports masterpiece that I would watch quite regularly without getting bored of it.

Danny Zuko, leader of the greaser gang "T-Birds" of Rydell High, falls in love with a goody two shoes girl named Sandy Olsen over the summer. They thought she'd be leaving and never see each other again, but to their luck...she begins to attend Rydell High. She is immediately accepted into the group "Pink Ladies" and shortly Danny and her re-meet. Danny has seemed to have changed but in the hopes of winning Sandy back, he changes into the loving, jock Danny Zuko that Sandy met during the summer permanently. This film is just so beautiful because of the absolutely fantastic songs and well written lyrics and the adorable characters aswell. All of the songs are a complete delight to watch and listen to. My favourite song is Greased Lightning which is sung by John Travolta in the car garage while they fantasize how the T-Birds car is going to come out like. This film was really emotional and was very heartbreaking but the musical genre made it even more of an emotional story because there are some songs that are sung about a particular character. It wasnt just Sandy and Dannys love that was in the air but the 4 other Pink Ladies women and T-Birds men were falling in love. Kenickie with Rizzo, Marty with Sonny (didnt fancy him at first until they eventually got together), Doody with Frenchy and Putzie with Jan. This film made me feel good because I think there wasnt anything seriously wrong with it at all. Not just the music in the songs were beautiful but the music in the scenes were just absolutely brilliant.


John Travoltas performance as Danny Zuko was really good. John Travolta was like a real heart throb in the 1970s. Not only in Grease but also in Saturday Night Fever. John looked like a real greaser in this film who only wants women for sex but he also seems like a nice man with a charming attitude inside him. I could easily feel his lust for Sandy and how much he loved her and how cool he wanted to act in front of his friends. His performance is the best of the film. I think Olivia Newton-John delivers an average performance as good girl geek Sandy Olsen. I thought Olivia had the looks for Sandy and she certainly is a great singer but I couldnt quite feel the chemistry and love for Danny that much which is the main reason why I think she was quite poor in this film. It was mostly how she appeared rather how she played the character. Stockard Channing delivers an awesome performance as Rizzo. Rizzo seems like a real nasty tart but she falls for mens charms really easily. Rizzo is one of those women that has really short curly hair but is a really charming and gorgeous one too which makes Stockard Channing a really excellent choice for Rizzo. Stockard looked like a real gang leader of the Pink Ladies. She acts a bit like an alcoholic aswell as a strong heavy smoker. But Stockard makes Rizzo a really vile bully in other ways too by pressurising Sandy to try some very strong wine and also to try a cigarette too and because she doesnt want to do it she mocks Sandy by singing about her and being sarcastic about who she is. I really liked Jeff Conaway as Kenickie too because he seemed like a real greaser aswell as a real charmer like John Travolta. I could tell of this because Rizzo fell for his charms almost instantly when they saw each other outside a house. Jeff seemed like the leader of the T-Birds at first because he was the biggest and toughest man of all 5 of them but Danny is the real charming one so that sort of makes him the leader of the T-Birds.


The direction was really good in all of the songs and were just so cool which is why Greased Lightning is my favourite song from the whole film. I love Summer Lovin too. I really liked the script an awful lot but there were a few light flaws that some of the scenes should have been cut a slight bit. For example, the scene when Danny was in the café and he approached Sandy and was talking to her about what he did to her and then she changed the subject. As far as I am concerned, that line when Sandy changed the subject was a bit pointless.


This film made it very different to other musicals because it is set in a high school and is like a teenage musical and also a typical family musical which is what most musicals are: family films. But it is a teen musical classic. This is John Travoltas second best film after obviously Pulp Fiction. The only mild thing that disappointed me about this film was the quite weak performance from Olivia Newton-John. Apart from that little flaw, Grease is the best musical of the 1970s and for me after Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Grease is the best musical of all time.

Closer is an amazing example of a film involving relationships, sexual education and also divorce, marriage and betrayal. This film was very inspiring to me because they are all four completely different kinds of people who have different professions but when each turns nasty or betrays they all become the same and it affects all four of them and relationships change and swap around quite regularly. By watching Closer it feels like watching a soap opera like EastEnders, Home And Away, Coronation Street etc. All four people are aiming to find what they would like to achieve in the future. It was very heartbreaking too because if one reveals something to someone then that could change not only their lives but hurt other peopleThe relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other people's feelings.


The cast is absolutely fantastic which is one of the reasons why I knew I was going to love it. Julia Roberts was good as professional photographer Anna. I love her performances in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill and Erin Brockovich but in my own personal opinion this is a performance that didn't bring very much force towards Anna's character. Jude Law has been in some crap apart from this and Cold Mountain and probably The Talented Mr. Ripley. Dan is a sweet man but is a bit of a slimeball. Dan lives with his girlfriend Alice but when he meets Anna twists and turns start to happen. Clive Owen's performance was fantastic as Dr. Larry. Clive has given the performance of his career. His character was very slimy because he acts nice at times but acts like a pervert and an abuser to women. His character was very powerful because he has a nasty side to his personality. It is bad especially because he's a doctor and a surgeon. He marries Anna and acts all nice but when she decides to leave him he changes back to who he was before. Natalie Portman was fantastic too in this masterpiece as Alice. Alice is a young girl who has a bit of a muddled and mixed up life but her life gets slightly worse after separating with Dan. She is a stripper in a strip club where Larry finds her.


Mike Nichols directs this film very well with trying to bring this story to life. The directing was very good with a lot of moving camera angles. The script is absolutely fantastic because it was very powerful with lots of bad language particularly with graphic sexual dialogue.


This is my favourite film of 2004, my favourite Clive Owen film, my favourite Natalie Portman film. It isn't my favourite Julia Roberts film. She is better in Pretty Woman, Notting Hill and Erin Brockovich. Jude Law's best is still Cold Mountain. I have to say that this is the best film with a really excellent side to how relationships work in real life. Masterpiece!!

A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic that I could watch repeatedly and not get bored. I knew I was going to like this film but I had no idea that I was going to like it as much as I really did. I loved it so much that it made me realise that it is a classic that I should have watched before when I first got into classic films. A Streetcar Named Desire is a story about brutality, aggression, betrayal and also manipulation. It is a very classic masterpiece with a very different mixture of personalities. I think the main thing I truly loved about A Streetcar Named Desire is that it is a story that wants answers in the end and it is a rather questionable story of how much longer Stanley can stand to have Blanche living with him and his wife Stella. It is rather tense as far as sex is concerned especially between Blanche and Stanley. It is probably the tensest film that I have seen that I have seen from an ensemble cast with amazing performances. It was a rather dramatic story to watch as well because of the circumstances that the characters come across.


Vivien Leigh's performance as Blanche DuBois was really awesome with a very heartfelt, tense and even quite disturbing performance. Vivien was an actress who would always give amazing performances in all sorts of different ways. Her performances in A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind were performances about characters who always like to appear as proper "ladies" who speak and appear very posh with bright clothes. Blanche is a woman who goes to New Orleans to move in with her sister Stella but she ends up in a bit of a rivalry with Stanley Kowalski who is her brother-in-law. She becomes very mixed-up while she lives with them and especially when she is sort of bullied by Stanley with his brutal attitude towards you. A Streetcar Named Desire was Marlon Brando's first film and is his best performance as well in my opinion. I have quite a lot of reasons for this: Marlon was in his young days a real heart throb and an ultimate sex symbol. I personally think that Marlon Brando's performance is the best acting debut of all time. Marlon didn't only show what sort of person Stanley is but he also showed what Stanley truly is capable of. Marlon was a big muscley man in his 20s and 30s which is amazing and pretty much perfect for his performance as Stanley Kowalski and is one of the best ways to describe Stanley's character. Kim Hunter's performance as Stella Kowalski was awesome as well with a very supporting, friendly and even quite argumentative performance. She understands her sister Blanche for being the way she wants to be. Stella is a Southern belle who leaves her home town of Laurel, Mississippi to find work after her family falls on hard times. There she meets her soon-to-be husband, Stanley Kowalski, who has just returned from World War II, complete with decorations. Her character is portrayed as independent of mind, young, and fair, everything that Blanche once was and no longer is. I really loved Karl Malden as Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell because he certainly showed his love for Blanche but unfortunately they couldn't completely work out because of Blanche's slightly disturbed attitude. This film has an absolutely fantastic cast with a very rare Oscar nominated cast. Three out of the four won the Oscars.


The directing from Elia Kazan was absolutely fantastic. The director wanted us all to know what becomes of the relationship between Stanley and Blanche because he is rather brutal towards her. Because of the deep tension within the house, the director sort of pushes us into a circle to watch what would happen to each of the three characters that lived in the house. That is where they made me feel the deep reality of the characters. Kazan directed this one better than On The Waterfront even though his directing in that was still awesome.


This is my second favourite Marlon Brando film after The Godfather. I do still love his performances in The Godfather and On The Waterfront as well. Elia Kazan's work is really amazing but I preferred A Streetcar Named Desire to On The Waterfront. A Streetcar Named Desire is my favourite film of the 1950s let along of 1951. I am torn what performance is better of Vivien Leigh between A Streetcar Named Desire and Gone With The Wind as my favourite leading actress performance of all time is. A Streetcar Named Desire is certainly one of my all-time favourite films as well as one of my favourite classic films as well and it totally deserves it. Masterpiece with one of the best ensemble casts of all time.

I have always loved Stephen King's novels because they all are either scary or emotional. Misery is in my opinion the most psychological King novel. This is a real hard film to watch at times because the audience do know what sort of person Annie is but don't fully know why she is doing what she is doing to Paul. It was a complete thrill-ride that I did think was a total masterpiece. It was the thrilling suspense that made me like this film so much. I thought that the characters were very powerful and were very well combined together because they both had bitter hate for each other but in a secretive manner. This is one of those films that despite of how tense or how scary Annie is, you gotta love it because of how it made the viewers of the film feel. It has a rare quality that not many psychological thrillers have. For example, Annie doesn't hurt Paul that much at all really. That is what I truly love about the Annie Wilkes character: she's mean, she's twisted, she's mysterious, she's manipulating and she likes to scare. I have no idea how she become the way she did but she must have had something in the past that just made her snap. There were a few scenes in this film that I had to walk about for a little breather because it was so tense. I sort of knew what was going to happen but it didn't spoil it for me because I truly loved the characters.


Kathy Bates gives the single most terrifying female performance that I have ever seen. I have mostly seen Kathy portray those sorts of characters that are really delightful, nice and very powerful particularly in a supporting role. She is the perfect choice for Annie Wilkes because Kathy has that appearance that shows that Annie is a widow, is a farmer, is a lonely woman who has a hidden dark psychotic shadow inside her. She says she is his number one fan but I don't even think that she likes him at all really. She is just obsessed with his work but not him. She is very disturbed in that case aswell. She frequently maims herself during her bouts with depression. She sort of has a world of her own by comparing the novels and the characters with real-life. No actress has blown me away playing a villain as much as Kathy Bates did in Misery. Louise Fletcher is a close rival to that too in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I really liked the great James Caan in this film aswell as Paul Sheldon. He is a man who accidentally crashes his car in a forest and is saved by Annie. He broke both of his legs and his right arm. Upon learning that Annie is a bit mental and has quite bad intentions for him, he takes measures that the audience can't wait to see because she is such a psycho. I find Paul more of a supporting character than a leading character because this film is about Annie and what sort of person she is involving Paul.


The direction was really good. It was quite similar to how Kubrick directed The Shining with slow views and then very far out and also close up angles too. I can guarentee that the film is just as good as the book. I haven't read the book yet but will try and do so when I get the chance. The script was fantastic. It was a fantastic adaptation of a great book from a great novelist like Stephen King.


This is definitely Kathy Bates best performance. I really liked James Caan aswell in this film. He is a legendary actor especially for The Godfather. I do love Stephen King's work but I do like other novels like The Shawshank Redemption, The Shining and especially The Green Mile. Misery is a masterpiece of psychological thrillers and is one of the best of that genre. I would recommend to everyone!! Masterpiece!

Fight Club is a total masterful work of art from David Fincher. Fight Club is a film that is just complete kick ass all the way through it. It is one of those films that is very violent even before you watch it because the two words in the title are ways of violence. Fight Club is a new cinematic experience that truly reveals human behaviour not only because of the fighting in Fight Club but also because of the psychological side of humans. It is a film that some people wouldn't like because of the violence but would because of really cool characters and actors involved. I find Fight Club was underestimated at first because it came out but now it is a cult masterpiece with a lot of meaning to it. It is a little overrated but can't help but adore it to bits as I do.


Brad Pitt is awesome in this film as Tyler Durden. He makes me laugh in this film because Tyler can be a total arsehole and a slimy arrogant character but in a humurous way. Tyler is described just the same as Brad Pitt as far as appearances is concerned. He was a very hard leader at Fight Club. Tyler is a very manipulating character because of what he does to the narrator in this film and what he usually likes to do. Edward Norton is really good too. I think he was chosen to be in this film because his character is slightly similar to his character in American History X. Edward told a story in that film as he does in Fight Club in which he is really good at. I find Marla Singer a typical Helena Bonham Carter character because she is a very unusual and mysterious character and also because of Marla's appearance. She is like a really heavy smoker and a mixed up slag. It is really unusual when she attends the testicular cancer obviously because she is a woman. Marla is a sort of character that Helena hasn't ever portrayed before but now feels like she should portray characters like Marla now. Marla's bizzareness is sort of like Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street.


The direction from David Fincher was simply outstanding. I liked it more than Se7en. I loved the instant camera angles that Fincher has in this film particularly the fight scenes. The script was very original which is what most cult films are like as far as screenplay is concerned. It was written to catch the audience's attention and to keep their eyes on it because it is so breathtaking.


This is my favourite film from Fincher so far. It is my second favourite film from Brad Pitt after The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Edward Norton so far but it is my second favourite Helena Bonham Carter film after obviously Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street. Fight Club is my favourite cult film and third favourite film of 1999 after American Beauty and The Green Mile. It is on the list of favourite films without a single doubt. Also, it has the greatest plot twist that I have ever seen and in my opinion, the biggest twist of all time. Masterpiece!!!!!

I was literally blown away by The Departed. Every single thing about this film was so tense. Despite how many times I've watched it, I still find it really suspensful. The Departed is an absolutely outstanding film that has a few unexpected twists that will leave you totally shocked. It does have a lot of crime within it but I find it to be more of a drama film because it goes get pretty personal whereas crime films are more violent and deadly than personal. The Departed is still violent and deadly. The Departed is a remake of a Hong Kong film called Infernal Affairs. I haven't seen Infernal Affairs yet but I have serious doubts that I will like it more than The Departed. One thing that this film definitely does have out of all of the films that I have watched is there is an awful lot of swearing in it. That didn't bother me at all because on occasions it actually made me laugh. This film totally deserved every single Oscar it won including Best Picture 2006, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.


This film has an absolutely fantastic cast with a lot of well known actors that are very famous. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as Billy Costigan is absolutely incredible which I find extremely underrated. Billy is a young man who has grown up in crime because pretty much all of his family were criminals. He doesn't want to be like his family so he decides he wants to be a cop. He has a few problems though because he has to get through Captain Queenan and Staff Sergeant Dignam first. They don't think he would be a very good cop because of his family being criminals. He goes undercover to bring down mob boss Frank Costello. Matt Damon was good as Colin Sullivan. He is a sergeant in the Massachussetts State Police but there is something about him which makes it a very suspensful ride. There is a lot of questions whether there are moles in each and what is going to happen. Jack Nicholson's performance as Frank Costello was really powerful because it was pretty terrifying and pretty funny as well. Costello is a typical Jack Nicholson because Costello is a real ladies man and Jack is such a charming actor for his age which makes him perfect for the character. Mark Wahlberg really cracked me up in this one because he cannot stop swearing. He acts like he suffers from tourettes syndrome but does it in a funny way which can be quite offensive. I think due to his black-comedy performance, he earned his Oscar nomination for that. Wahlberg was really awesome but Jack Nicholson should have been nominated instead for Best Supporting Actor. Ray Winstone was pretty awesome as well as Costello's right-hand-man Mr. French. I don't know why but Vera Farmiga sort of irritated me in this one. Martin Sheen and Alec Guinness were good in this film too.


Martin Scorsese directs his best film since Raging Bull in my opinion. It is quite a different film from Scorsese because he isn't really a director for thrillers; he's more of a crime director. I find The Departed and Cape Fear to be the Scorsese thrillers. Scorsese usually creates gangster/mafia films but this one was a bit like that still which makes them re-born in his filmography. There hasn't been a proper mafia film since Casino. He finally deserved his Best Director Oscar for this film. He should have previously won ones for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and GoodFellas. The script is very well adapted because of it being a remake but it was written quite originally because of some of the black comedy within it.


The Departed is definitely the best film of 2006 and it totally deserves to be. It is Martin Scorsese's second best film after Raging Bull, it is my favourite Leonardo DiCaprio film, it is my favourite Matt Damon film and it is my third favourite Jack Nicholson film after One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Shining. The Departed is an absolutely amazing suspensful thrill ride that I have watched over and over again that I really love every time! Highly recommended to everyone!

E.T. truly is one of the most pleasurable, heartwarming films that I and probably everybody has ever laid eyes on in front of the screen. It is very much loved from Hollywood, from critics and from the public as well. E.T. is a film that is just an unforgettable classic with such famous scenes and excellent pieces of filmmaking. The most famous scene is when E.T. is inside the basket which is strapped to Elliott's bike and he makes the bike fly in the air. That is just so magical and is just a film you could wail in tears at. E.T is a lovely film that sends a very important message to families and also to young children. The main keyword in the message E.T. sends is friendship and what it really means. This film is such an inspiration to me and is one of the most tear-jerking films of all time. It can make you cry because of how beautiful the friendship is between Elliott and Henry and also the E.T. character. This film is such a legendary phenomenon that is just amazing. It is a real adventure of experiencing each of the characters' personalities but also exploring the beauty of friendship and loved ones. This became a worldwide phenomenon in the 1980s and it still is in the modern days after 20 years. E.T. is a really funny film as well because E.T. is obviously cute but he is pretty funny as well with the things he gets himself into when he is in the house like when he drinks a can of lager from the fridge.


The cast is really awesome! Henry Thomas has been in some good films at the present time like Legends Of The Fall and Gangs Of New York but he will obviously be best remembered for E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial. Henry's performance as Elliot was very heartfelt and funny as well because he ends up making it hard for the family to have to look after E.T without anybody finding out. E.T. comes along at a great time for Elliott because he is a lonely ten-year-old boy who is bullied by his older brother Michael. When Elliott finds E.T he adopts him and their bond becomes very heartfelt and pretty tear jerking. Robert MacNaughton was good as Michael. He is 16-years-old and he picks on his younger brother Elliott but that doesn't occur as much when he meets E.T and they become responsible for him. Drew Barrymore was just an ordinary child star when this film was released but now she is a Hollywood actress she is really remembered for portraying the youngest child Gertie. Gertie is a young seven-year-old girl who is very mischievous. When E.T. first comes into the film she is terrified of him but she slowly begins to love him. E.T. taught Michael and Gertie lessons by not being troublemakers. It felt like they couldn't resist E.T's cute beauty.


Steven Spielberg directed his first and only family film in his legendary career and has created one of the most famous family films of all time. E.T. inspired Spielberg because he said so himself that E.T. destined him to become a father. Spielberg was only mid 30s when he directed this film. After seeing thrillers that were Duel, Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Spielberg creates a one-of-a-king film. There aren't very many science fiction films that are family films, that are touching and thought provoking like this film really is. Spielberg is the perfect director for E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial. The script is absolutely amazing. I think it is probably the best written science fiction film of all time. Spielberg is one of the films from the past that has made Steven Spielberg a legend in only his 5th film. He was already a blockbuster legend when Jaws was released but was even more at E.T.


E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial is one of the biggest tear jerking films of all time because of its pure beauty. It is my third favourite Spielberg film after Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. It is my third favourite science fiction film after The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens. E.T. is just a beautiful family phenomenon that everybody loves. E.T is one of my favourite film characters and is a close similarity to WALL-E's character because of the way they both speak and behave around others. E.T. is a magical film that makes you really think about things. I have to say that E.T. can be a character you can just think about and can be a friend to you in a way to help you so to speak. E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial is one of my all-time favourite childhood films. Masterpiece, phenomenal, beautiful, inspiring and there are loads more words to describe E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial. You will have to watch the film yourself to find out why.

The Shining is an absolute masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick. This is the phenomenon of horror films. I loved pretty much everything about this film. The Shining is a scary, haunting and psychological film that makes me feel really good which is very rare of a horror film. That is one of the main reasons why The Shining is the greatest horror film of all time. It is like a fantasy film when you look at it in a deeper way because of the visions within Jack's mind and Danny's as well. It was scary but not scary enough for it to freak me out. It wasn't so much the characters but it was the music that did it for me. It is scary because it is a massive hotel which is beautiful, clean and peaceful. What I find really twisted about this is that its a nice hotel in the countryside but unfortunately it is possessed and the Torrance family are the unlucky ones. They are torn apart by the hotel through Jack. This teaches about a lot of things in life particularly wherever you are it is never 100% certain that you are safe. It was a very clever horror film not just because it is a piece of work from the late Stanley Kubrick, not just because it stars Jack Nicholson and that it's a novel from my favourite novelist Stephen King but because of the cinematic qualities it has and how well it was filmed.


Jack Nicholson delivers one of the most terrifying performances I've ever seen. Jack has always been one of those actors who plays really entertaining characters both heroes and villains. When he is Jack Torrance he shows how scary he really can be. I get an impression that people underestimated Nicholson as a villain before The Shining. I think Jack's performance leads to his role as the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman because of the real psychological side of seeing Nicholson as a complete psycho. I really liked Jack's determination to this film because he made the acting decent to watch especially because Shelley Duvall was pretty bad as Wendy Torrance. There are quite a few reasons for this. I don't think she took Wendy's character which is what should be done in a film particularly from a director like Stanley Kubrick I also realise that Wendy is an innocent woman who's husband is going mad and her son is wrapped up in his own world as well, so she is suffering from this but what annoyed me about Shelley was that she always pulled the same face when upset, she was constantly wailing and wasn't even crying. I also think that she didn't quite say her words in a correct way of professional acting. Even director Kubrick said that her performance was dreadful. I saw this on a documentary called "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures " on Kubrick's work. He stated to Shelley Duvall during filming of The Shining: "You've got to sound serious, Shelley, or else you re just wasting everyone's f***ing time". Kubrick was right about that though. But I will Shelley credit for how scary she looks when freaked out so that's where her acting was decent. I liked Danny Lloyd as Danny Torrance as well. Because of him being a child star in a horror film, I find it a close similarity to Linda Blair as possessed girl in The Exorcist.


I cannot believe that Kubrick earned a Razzie nomination as Worst Director. I think he directed it pretty well with camera angles especially the "Here's Johnny!" scene. He just did what he does best and that is that he directs his films in his own way. Directs them very similarly as zooming out/in camera angles. He directed Jack Nicholson's actions well but I admit he didn't do very well with Shelley Duvall's which could have been improved. I have always admired King's work but I think that this film is the closest film to its book. The script was half original-half adapted because most horrors are original but The Shining is like an epic horror film which makes it the first and only of that kind. Epics are films that are written into adapted scripts.


The Shining is a haunting and epic masterpiece. It is one of Jack Nicholsons best and one of Kubricks best as well. It is one of the most iconic horrors of all time if not the most iconic. I think that this film is almost perfect (apart from Shelley Duvall) which is why The Shining is the greatest horror film of all time.

The Godfather is probably the most famous motion picture that has been filmed ever. When I first saw a poster of Vito Corleone I thought to myself "what the hell is this film?" But I didn't really understand the plot of the film so I needed to see the film and find out myself. The first time I saw The Godfather I didn't understand it even though I really liked the characters. The second viewing of the film was absolutely incredible for me because I understood it more and finally realised how much of a classic it really was. The Godfather truly is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece that is just a complete gangster classic. It is obviously rather dramatic but it is a thriller as well because there are some threats involving each of the different families within the film. The Godfather is a film that you just have to call a classic whether you like it or not. I can understand why some people wouldn't like this film because it is hard to understand and it is a long film as well. People would appreciate The Godfather because of how it was filmed, how interesting the characters are whether they are heroes or villains.


The Godfather including the second one has one of the best ensemble cast members of all time. The Godfather is the one film where the entire cast have all delivered top-notch performances. They are all ones worthy of an Oscar win. Marlon Brando delivers an ultimately legendary performance as Don Vito Corleone. Don Corleone is the father of Sonny, Fredo, Michael and Connie Corleone. He has an adopted son called Tom Hagen which is still classified as a member of the family. Marlon's portrayal of Don Corleone was very unique because he has a very bizarre voice and with absolutely awesome make-up as well. I think the producers and director wanted to make it look the least like Marlon Brando even though it is obviously still him. I think they wanted to make the Vito Corleone character as realistic as possible. It is quite hard to compare Marlon Brando as Don Corleone with characters like Stanley Kowalski and Terry Malloy because he is almost 20 years older and also Vito is a rather odd person. Marlon was an actor with a really specific taste of characters he would portray which is a very good talent for Marlon because he wanted to keep his reputation at a very high standard. There were some films that I have heard he has done bad performances in including his Razzie win. Unfortunately Marlon declined his Oscar winning performance as Don Corleone because Hollywood were discriminating against Native Americans. Al Pacino's performances in his early years are probably his best performances. His performance as Michael Corleone was really awesome. Michael became a totally changed person when he got himself involved with the family's affairs. Michael was just going to live a normal private life but when Don Corleone was assassinated but not killed, he ends up becoming a big part of the family even though he is the youngest son of Don Corleone. Al Pacino showed Michael slowly becoming a monster in which he did become in The Godfather: Part II. James Caan was really awesome as Sonny Corleone who is the oldest son of Don Corleone. Robert Duvall was absolutely awesome as Tom Hagen. Tom Hagen is the adopted son of Don Corleone. I really liked Diane Keaton as Kay Adams as well who is Michael's girlfriend and then ultimately becomes his wife and the mother of his children.


Francis Ford Coppola has created the start of a classic trilogy that are just legends of cinema. Coppola's Godfather is like Jackson's Lord Of The Rings. It's like Lord Of The Rings are this decade or maybe even century of The Godfather. The Godfather is a story that is a mafia sort of film that would be something Martin Scorsese would do but to be perfectly honest he would have made it rather crap. Francis Ford Coppola made it feel like I don't need to read the novels because the films are just so good including the third one as well. Coppola has made The Godfather a very unusual gangster film with dark settings, cinematography, costumes and make-up design. Coppola hasn't really directed any films at all really because I think he wanted The Godfather Parts 1 and 2 to be his most memorable works as well as extremely memorable works in cinema. The script is just absolutely outstanding with a famous quote from Don Corleone: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Despite the fact I haven't read the novels yet, I think the films are probably better.


The Godfather is one of the two trilogies that had had all three films nominated for Best Picture. The other trilogy is Lord Of The Rings. The Godfather is one of the all-time best classic films. The first is the best and most famous in the trilogy. The first one started absolutely amazingly and ended amazingly as well. The Godfather is one of those films you might have to watch twice to understand it like I did. The Godfather is Marlon Brando's most famous performance but it isn't his best and my favourite. My favourite is A Streetcar Named Desire which was his first film. Vito Corleone is one of my 10 favourite film characters of all time. I love Vito more than Michael. Al Pacino's best performance is still in The Godfather franchise but he is the best in the second film. The Godfather is my 5th favourite film franchise of all time after Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Batman and Harry Potter. The Godfather made me watch classic films no matter how old they are. I absolutely adore the second film but this one is better. The Godfather will always have its rightful place in history as one of the best films of all time and one of my all-time favourites ever.