Change Your Image
colin-411
Reviews
Unfrosted (2024)
The stupidest and Funniest Movie. Ever.
This film is both terrifically funny and terrifically stupid, simultaneously.
It helps to be old enough to understand things like the Cuban Missile Crisis (true), Nikita Khrushchev (true), and Marjorie Merriweather Post, the daughter of the founder of the Post Cereal Company, which she then ran from 1914 from to 1958, making it one of the biggest companies in the US.
Post later changed its name to General Foods Corporation, owner of such brands as Jell-O, Hellmann's Mayonnaise, Bakers Chocolate, and Maxwell House, among many others. She was also one of the two people that created the Frozen Food Industry. Clarence Birdseye created frozen foods, and Post funded the creation of his company, Birdseye, then bought it from him.
This film pokes fun at everyone and everything. Jerry Seinfeld, the star of the film, as well as it's director and chief writer, and the first comedian to become a billionaire, not only pokes fun at others, he pokes fun at himself-the rare Yellow Corsair station wagon he drives (only produced for about 1.5 years) is hardly the car an executive of one of the largest companies on Earth would drive!
To me, the standouts in the film are Peter Dinklage, who plays the head of a group of milkmen, and Hugh Grant, who plays Tony the Tiger. Both have smallish parts, but both are brilliant.
So, is it funny? Yes.
Is it historic? In a way, Yes.
Is it stupid? Yes.
Should you watch it? YES!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
Probably the best since the original
Pretty good flick. Good humor, generally good plot, generally moves along, though after the opening, it drags a bit for awhile.
However, there is one sour note I must report. The female lead,Carrie Coon, maybe the worst actress I have seen in years. Saying her looks AND performance was flat is, frankly, a compliment.
She added nothing to the film. Nothing.
McKenna Grace, playing Phoebe, carried the film, and did it well. Her interactions with the female ghost, Melody, were probably the highlight of the film, from an acting point-of-view.
The special Effects were, to put it mildly, SPECIAL. Really excellent work.
One thing I would like to point out as that this film was truly international. Parts were shot in Hollywood, parts in New York City, and parts of the film were done in Georgia, and parts in Reading, England (an outer suburb of London).
You gotta stay around for the small but hilarious comic bit that runs after some of the credits have run. Worth every second of your time.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Sub Rosa (1994)
Not a Star Trek episode.
Sub Rosa is not a Star Trek episode, it is simply a daytime soap opera with the wrong costumes.
None of it makes sense, and the 'action' in non-existent. Most of the main characters probably worked a couple of days during filming.
Galaxy Quest (1999)
One of the finest films ever IMO
If you want to strain your brain, think how you would improve the casting of Galaxy Quest.
Bet you can't. Flawless.
The best take off film since Airplane!, and better than Airplane!
The film perfectly balances the sci fi and comedy portions of the film, and manages to hit the StarTrek homage points exactly (the Captain losing his shirt...).
They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Truly amazing
Simply an amazing film event.
Using nothing but 100 year old film and 50 year old voice histories, Peter Jackson has crafted a film that makes you understand, makes you feel what it was like to be a front line soldier during WW1. It took Jackson and his staff almost a year just to watch and listen to the available film and recordings.
After the film, Peter Jackson (who also introduces the film) gives you a look behind the scenes at how they made this film. When Jackson shows you a scene that was so dark to be useless, and how they were able to recover the image, the entire audience literally gasped. He also showed how they were able to convert film that was hand-cranked at all kinds of speeds to the modern standard of 24 FPS. A truly stunning technical achievement.
Jackson decided not to make a film about a specific battle, nor a specific time nor place. He ignored the Naval and Air portions of the war. Jackson figured that service on the Wesrern Front for the average soldier was alike from one day to another, from one army to another, from one area to another, so that he could concentrate simply on what soldiers saw, heard, experienced, and felt. A truly stunning emotional and intellectual achievement.
IMO, this film is as revolutionary in the field of documentaries as his 'Lord of the Rings' series was to contemporary films. Brilliant. Stunning. Revolutionary. They should save time and engrave his name on the Oscar statue now-no other documentary stands even a remote chance.
PS Jackson spent almost 4 years on this project and was paid nothing; he did it to honor his grandfather, who was severely wounded during WW1.
Law & Order: Couples (2003)
My Favorite Law & Order episode
This is, without doubt, my favorite Law & Order episode.
First, it's unique, in that instead of the usual 1/2 cop and 1/2 lawyer format, the cop side dominates. I guess half the cast wanted some time off. The lawyer side probably did all their work in one day, instead of the usual 5-6 days.
Second, because of it's unique format, it surprises you, and keep you on the edge of your seat, waiting to see the lawyer side of the show. But when they show up, even the legal question is really unique.
Third, while some the of the murders are simple to solve (very unusual for L&O), some are twisted, really twisted.
Lastly, it shows that 'one of those days' happens to cops as well as to the rest of us working schmucks.
The below is not a spoiler, just funny: Last lines in the show:
Detective Green: "We got a jumper."
Detective Briscoe: "I may join him."
Monsters University (2013)
Disappointing
Just returned from seeing Monsters U. My wife and I both loved the original Monsters Inc. It was original, funny in bits, and worth the price of admission.
Monsters U is not original not particularly funny. While there were some funny bits, the trailers contain many of them. Both Crystal and Goodman do good jobs in the film, providing the voices of the main characters, but the script really lets them down.
In case you can't figure it out, it's pretty much the story of MIke and Sully attending Monsters U, one of the universities of the monster world (other universities are alluded to but not seen).
In reality, you have seen this movie. Two mis-matched people (read monsters) are thrown together (in college) and they try to succeed (or graduate in this case). Crystal is the hard- working brainiac, who studies constantly, while Sully is the 'natural', the one that does not have to work. At times, things are rough for them, then they come together, events pull them apart, and eventually ... well, you know the rest.
But the problem is that it's just not that funny. It has some poignant moments, some serious moments, some joyous moments, some sad moments, some very creative moments, but really, what you really want are more funny moments, and they are just not there.
Crystal still has genius timing and delivery, but the lines and situations are just too predictable. Sully can let loose some chilling roars when he needs to, and is a better actor than I would have thought in the tender moments, but his lines are not that great either.
IMO, if you liked the Original Monsters, Inc, watch that again, and don't bother with this one.
Single-Handed (1953)
Fine flick, with some of the most accurate action shots ever
A fine film, with good acting and excellent pacing-it never drags. This film will appeal to a wide audience, as the romantic and heart-breaking portions will appeal to one group, while the great action shots will appeal to a different audience.
One thing that is almost unique is that this is one of the few films that shows the crews donning flash suits. Flash suits are made of white fire-resistant material to prevent burns from firing the large guns in such close proximity, and fires caused by enemy action. In most naval movies the crews don't the flash suits. For the main actors, there is an obvious reason- you can't see their faces, but in this film all the British crews don the suits (though they don't wear the hoods that cover the face and neck). This makes this film more accurate than almost all WWI and WWII naval films.
Da Worfster, a previous reviewer, made the following comment: "Of course the ships are way to modern to be WWII vintage craft "-This is incorrect. The ships used in the film are HMS Glasgow, HMS Cleopatra, and HMS Manxman, and all three served during WWII, the Glasgow for the entire war, while the other two joined the war in 1941.
One last historical note: British and German ships used different optical rangefinder systems. The German system was more accurate, but lost accuracy from the concussion of the gun firing during battle. The British system was not as accurate, but more rugged and better in dim light. The result of this is actually shown during this film, with the German shells straddling the British with the first shots, but then losing accuracy as the battle progressed, while the British shooting got better as they 'got the range'.
All-in-all, a fine film, well made, and with better accuracy than most. Recommended.
Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Interesting, multi-faceted, but laborious film
Not your typical war film, this film has good and bad guys everywhere. Fine if not great acting spoiled by ponderous direction and editing.
The best part of this film is that it shows a series of incidents from a variety of view points. The worst part of this film is that while jumping form one part of the story to another, to tell all the viewpoints involved, it is easy to become lost in the plot, which drags on like a Yankees versus Red Sox baseball game.
There are a couple of scenes that are totally unnecessary to the telling of the story. For example, the ice cream parlor scene during training is completely unnecessary to the telling of this story. While stories like that are necessary to telling the story of racism in the USA before, during and after the war, it simply was extraneous to this particular story, and did nothing to drive the action, in fact, it created more confusion in an already difficult to follow story.
I wish I could have written a better review, but I cannot. I wanted to like the film, and I liked the acting very much, but the script, plot, direction, and editing mar an otherwise fine piece of acting.
The fact that posters to this film's Q&A section don't know who the victim of the post office shooting is demonstrates my point, that an otherwise interesting idea is damaged in getting it to the audience.
The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
Truly, a film they could not make today
This film is truly one of the best WWII naval films ever made, in my opinion. Fine acting, great actions shots, solid directing and editing, and a clear, straight forward story all combine to make superb film.
Others here have provided the synopsis of this film, so I will forgo the pleasure. While certain parts of the film did not actually, they were obviously added to tell the story in a clear and unambiguous way. One part this is 100% accurate is the see-sawing the British did with their position on the Graf Spee leaving harbor.
Unlike many war movies, like a Saving Private Ryan, this movie could not be made today as well as it was in 1956. The reason-the real stars of the film, the ships, simply don't exist anymore. There are only two WWII light cruisers left in the world, the HMS Belfast in London, and the USS Little Rock in Buffalo, and only one heavy cruiser, the USS Salem, in Massachusetts, which portrayed the Graf Spee in this film, and none of them are sea worthy. Models and even the best CG simply cannot provide the realism that the real thing provides, thus this movie could not be made today.
Lastly, to answer one previous reviewer as to why this movie is called the The Battle of the River Plate, it's simple. Most naval battles actually take place near land (the sinking of the Hood and Bismarck are notable exceptions)-for example, the Battle of Trafalgar took place about 80 miles from Cape Trafalgar, the Battle of Midway took place near Midway Island, Jutland near Jutland, etc. Traditionally, the victor of the battle picks the name of the battle, thus Admiral Harwood choose the River Plate, off whose coast the battle took place, and where the Spee scuttled herself.
Shrek the Third (2007)
"Whose ready for thirds?"-after viewing, not me.
Shrek was great. Shreak 2 was very, very good. Shrek 3 was poor, at best.
I mean, is comedy that hard to write? Shrek is supposed to be, you know, funny. Merlin (Eric Idle) was great, and Pinochio has (near the end) a great bit, but the rest is lacking in humor.
The plot was clear, and drawings/renderings superb (the best yet, IMO), and each individual character was played well. But the script was lacking in humor. It did have it's moments, but overall, it was dry. Blame the writers, not the actors, for this one.
I gave it a 4 because it was better than Pirates 3, but that is not saying much.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Undecided
This movie stinks. While the plot is easy to follow, and the individual performances are fine (but not great), the movie is confused.
It's lacking action for an action movie. This is probably it's worst failing-it simply does not have enough action.
It's lacking real romance for a romance movie.
It lacks comedy for a comedy or spoof.
In short, the director did not have a clear idea of what he wanted, and it shows.
Spiderman was one of my favorite comics as a child, but this one would be a great disappointment to most fans, IMO.
Beter than Pirates 3, but that is nothing to brag about.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
A great beginning two movies ago, now chaos
This is one of the most confusing films I have ever seen.
Loved the first film, but was only so-so about the second. This one was worse, much worse.
There was no plot that I could see, just a series of scenes shown one after the other. There was great comedy in the first movie, along with an understandable plot. The second movie had a confusing plot, but still had some great action and comedy. This movie has neither.
I would have given it a one, but the special effects are great.
Guess it just shows that there is only so much material to be gleaned from a 10 minute theme park ride.
National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
How can this not be in the top?
How anyone cannot consider Animal House one of the funniest films ever made is beyond me. My sides literally hurt when I saw this movie in the theater. There have only been a handful of movies that have done that to me.
The horse, the tape measure, and the chainsaw. Not a word is said, it only takes seconds on screen, by a nameless actor, yet it is one of the funniest bits ever filmed.
If nothing else, how many other comedies 30+ years old are still watched repeatedly by millions of people.
I will echo another's comment: You need to see this on a DVD or VHS, not on TV, where half the humor is bleeped or cut.