Tag RT (TV network)

Film Review : Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012)

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Netflix Watch Instant
IMDB Score – 5.3
RT Score – 86%

Some documentaries are uniquely filmed and offer compelling narrative to go along with beautiful cinematography. Others rely solely on the subject matter to sell the film. Évocateur falls into the 2nd category in which simply the story of Morton Downey Jr. was enough to keep me interesting. The story is told from the perspective of the people who knew him personally and also features audience members of his now infamous show. It’s an interesting look into a man who covered many spectrums such as politics, television, and music, and also was batshit insane. The film features plenty of great footage from his talk show which was filmed in Secaucus, NJ, which is a 30 minute drive from where I live. It’s no wonder lunatics of all shapes and sizes comprised the audience and fueled the angry machine that was Morton Downey Jr.

3/5

Film Review : The Third Man (1949)

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IMDB Score – 8.4
RT Score – 100%

Academy Award WINNER for Best Cinematography
Academy Award Nominee for Best Director (Carol Reed)
Academy Award Nominee for Best Editing
IMDB TOP 250 – #76

Ahhh, Noir. It’s a genre I haven’t quite tackled as much as I would like too but this is certainly a great example of how good a Noir film can be. The film revolves around Holly Martins, a mystery novelist who travels to Vienna to see his friend Harry Lime. Upon arrival he finds out Lime was killed in an accident but the evidence doesn’t sit well with Martins. The film progresses as Martins tries to find out what really happened.

I’m going to get my only gripe with the film out of the way now. The music. The film had this weird carnival music in the background of a film that was actually very dark in subject matter. It wasn’t enough to take me out of the movie but it just didn’t fit with me. The mystery of what happened to Harry Lime is a good one. The viewer generally doesn’t know why the pieces don’t fit and in my case, was very interested in seeing Martins piece them together. Orson Wells, who plays Harry, dominates the entire film even though he is barely in it. It’s an iconic role for somebody with such little screen time. Reminded me a little of Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. The whole movie revolves around a character who is barely present. The visuals in The Third Man were also very nice and got really stunning as the film progressed. Overall it was a fantastic Noir film that will probably catapult me into the genre a bit more.

4.5/5

Film Review : Panic (200)

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Netflix Instant Watch
IMDB Score – 6.7
RT Score – 92%

Do you have Netflix? Add this to your queue. I think I’ll be doing a feature article soon on some of the ACTUAL hidden gems on Netflix. Every single list I come across on google has the same movies. I’m sorry said lists, but The Untouchables is not a hidden gem even though it’s cool it’s on Netflix. This film however is one that I’m sure not a lot of people have seen and I’ve never seen it on any list generated in the Neflix lobby but it’s a film well worth your time. William H. Macy, who is amazing in everything, plays an assassin who no longer wants to live his life of murder and enters therapy to try to deal with his emotions about it. There he meets Neve Campbell and the two hit it off.

What has the makings of a typical dark romantic comedy actually turns out a very well crafted and subtle piece on what it means to be truly happy doing what you do for work and how what other people want for you may not always be the best thing. I was very surprised by the film balancing the dark subject matter with little splashes of humor and heart. It also features probably one of the most adorable five year old kids I’ve ever seen even though his dialogue would never be utter by a five year old no matter how smart or sarcastic they are. The late John Ritter and Donald Sutherland also star in this so check it out if you have the time. You have the time just do it.

3.5/5



Film Review – Apollo 18 (2012)

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IMDB Score – 5.2
RT Score – 24%
Netflix Instant Watch

This was fucking horrible. I like to keep my reviews PG-13 but every once in a while, like a movie now an then, I’ll slip a “fuck” in there. Hey, I just did it twice. I think I broke the PG-13 mold. I had to do it though. This movie was that bad. The scares were cheap, what few there were. The acting was atrocious. The aliens were horribly stupid. I don’t even consider that a spoiler. This movie was so unoriginal what else did you expect besides horrible aliens. It as 90 minutes that felt like three hours.

Never watch this movie. I don’t really have much else to say. I’d be wasting more of my time.

0/5

Film Review : A Passage to India (1984)

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(This trailer is fan made I think)

IMDB Score – 7.3
RT Score – 85%

Academy Award Wins
Best Supporting Actress – Peggy Ashcroft
Best Original Score

Academy Award Nominations
Best Picture
Best Director – David Lean
Best Actress – Judy Davis
Best Set Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
Best Costume Design
Best Adapted Screenplay

For a film with so many Oscar nominations and an accomplished director in David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia/Bridge of a River Kwai), I expected a bit more than what I got. The movie was beautiful to look at but I just couldn’t really keep up with the lackluster pace and found myself eager for it to end. There was some overacting from the Indian actors and Alec Guinness played a strange character. I just found it pretty dull but still very colorful and nice to look at.

2.5/5