The Movie Journal

Private Benjamin (1980) Private Benjamin is a movie that could have been a comedy classic. It has an all-star cast led by the likes of Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, and Albert Brooks. The premise is comedy gold. Who wouldn’t like a snobby, self-centered person put into his/her place by the military. The thing is, Private Benjamin only partly delivers on the promise of an endearing comedy. The first half of the film is solid entertainment filled with funny gags. However, the second half was stale and it left me with a sour taste in my mouth that diminished the overall quality and effectiveness of the movie.   When Yale Goodman (Albert Brooks) dies after marrying his wife Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), Judy decides to enlist in the United States Army. The Army recruiter, Jim Ballard (Harry Dean Stanton) paints her a picture about a wonderful life in the Army. But when she arrives to basic training, it is anything but that pretty picture. Now she must survive from the likes...

The Elephant Man (1980) “ I am not an animal. I am a human being.”   These are the heartbreaking words that John Merrick says when he gets fed up with people gawking at him and comparing him to an animal. David Lynch’s The Elephant Man is a hard-hitting story about a real-life person who is an outcast due to his deformities. However, Lynch who also wrote the script, portrays this subject matter in a more positive light. Themes of courage, and the fact that everyone is human no matter the circumstances are brought to light here. Prepare to bring the tissues, because this story is an emotional story and I can guarantee no one will have a dry eye when the end credits appear on screen.   I will go right into the thick of the story. John Merrick (John Hurt), nicknamed “The Elephant Man” is a man with a wonderful personality, but is hated by the English society because of his deformed body. He was discovered at a freak show by a kind doctor named Frederick Treves (...

We have here another fabulous episode of Breaking Bad and one of the best in the series so far. There are many things to like about this episode ranging from the bleak and chilling opening of an abandoned car and the shower of bullet casings to the introduction of a interesting character, Tuco’s mute wheelchair-bound uncle played wonderfully by Mark Margolis. This is definitely the most intense episode of the season from start to finish. I was dripping with sweat by the end due to the intense nature of the episode. This episode, “Grilled” picks up after the excellent cliffhanger from the previous episode where Tuco forces Walt in his car at gunpoint. So Walter and Jesse are kidnapped by Tuco because he believes that they are the source for the DEA because they ended his drug organization. They are taken to the shack in the desert where he hides out and takes care of his sick uncle. Walt and Jesse try to cook up a plan to murder Tuco with the ricin they have. Meanwhile, Sk...

We are back for another season of Breaking Bad! Breaking Bad has become one of my favorite shows for a variety of reasons. The acting, the stylish and artsy nature of the show, the relevant topic, and so forth. After a powerful introductory season, we are back for more adventures of Walt and his delicious blue meth. This episode begins the season with quite a bang for many reasons. Right away, we are given the sense of foreshadowing. The episode starts off with a burnt stuffed animal with a detached eyeball floating in Walt’s backyard pool. What on earth could this mean? It looks like we will know at some point this season. The big theme of this episode is paranoia. If we remember correctly, Walt and Jesse met up with the dangerous Tuco to become their meth supplier last season. Now this season, they get the paranoid sense that Tuco is trying to kill them. After all, it’s not normal to see a black Escalade sitting outside their house in the dead of night. So paranoia is a prevale...

Well, here we are! The season one finale of what is so far the greatest television series on this planet. This first season came to an abrupt end as there are only seven episodes. But these episodes are high-powered pieces of art, and this episode is no exception. This episode did not act like a finale and the high-charged megawatts were kept to a minimum. But this episode finely sets up the next season as we should expect bigger and badder things to come. There are many things I loved about the episode. But I liked the chances it gave Jesse and Skylar to shine. It has essentially been “The Walt Show” since day one so it was nice to see the producers shine a light on these characters. That being said, Walt remains an excellent character as he basks in his Heisenberg persona and Tuco remains to be a crazy villain who may have something up his sleeves. Lets get to it! After the events of the past episode where Walt and Jesse made a deal with Tuco to supply two pounds of meth the...

Ah, the power of transformations! As Season 1 draws to a close (only one more episode left), we are here with an episode based on transformations and reactions (chemical and then some). Take Walter White for example. He begins the episode as a weak, frail man as the effects of chemotherapy begin to settle in. He is puking in the school bathroom’s toilet and clumps of hair is falling out. He also lies to Skylar about his long absences and the money he uses to pay for the treatment. Skylar is led to believe that Walt likes nature, and that Elliot is paying for the treatment. Well, you will come to see that Mr. White is the king of bullshit! (and in an entertaining way). But by the end of the episode, Walter becomes such a “badass” (thanks, Walter Jr.) due to the events of this episode. It is the power of characters why I loved this episode and in general this much. We see such transformations over the course of an episode, and it is incredible how Vince Gilligan pulls this off....

Welcome back to another review for another solid episode of the fantastic series, Breaking Bad . This fifth episode is once again entertaining and very fun to watch, but we actually get a little historical background. We know Walt as the man who works as a teacher and at a car wash, but we get to delve deeper into his past and what kind of career he had going for him. It was all very insightful. Not only did I like learning about the past, I also like how Jesse is putting the drugs behind him and attempting to find a job. Is he successful? No, not really. But at least he tried. The episode features several fine comedic moments. Two scenes that stand out are 1. When Jesse is interviewing for a job, his buddy Badger runs across the street wearing an overlarge chicken suit. Damn funny it what is. 2. When Walt is at a dinner party at an old friend’s place, he and some people are talking about their careers. When Walt talks about moving into education, his peers ask about what college...

Well, we finally go back down to earth in this fourth episode of Breaking Bad . The first three episodes were crazy, non-stop fun but now we need a quieter episode that will set up the building blocks for future episodes. Mostly, this reflective episode succeeds. Although it’s an episode based on the future, it’s still plenty of fun to watch. There are several cool one-liners (mainly by Jesse). “Check out these mad Pop-tarts. They’re mad tight.” See, isn’t that awesome? But this episode does have moments of sadness. After all, this is where Walt finally tells his family about his cancer. He tells Skylar at first, but her breakdown at a family dinner forces him to let Hank and his wife, Marie as well as Walter Jr. in the scoop. It was interesting to see how his family make up ways for him to get treatment although Walt does not believe it’s the right thing to do. In this episode, Walt finally tells Skylar about his cancer. After she breaks down at a barbecue, he is forced to te...

If you have noticed, last episode and this episode share interconnected titles. I will say an interesting piece of trivia on the origins of these titles, which is a good way to start off this review. This title is based of the 1957 film, Sweet Smell of Success. One man asks another man if he can deliver. The other’s man response is, “Tonight, before you go to bed. The cat’s in the bag and the bag’s in the river.” I enjoy modern media that pulls from older media. The title of these episodes aroused my curiosity, and it’s nice to get my answer. If you can relate these words to the context of the plot, then you know what the title means. So does this third episode follow in the footsteps of the first two great episodes. My answer is a big, resounding yes. Actually, I think this improves upon those episodes just a little bit. The episode consists of rather dark, heavy material but there are some instantly memorable deadpan comedic moments. There are two excellent scenes in thi...

What I normally find about television shows after a powerhouse premiere is that the quality tends to go downhill. Not to say these episodes are bad, but they tend to settle in a routine-to tie up events that occurred in the premiere. So just imagine my surprise when I discovered this episode was just as strong as the first episode. This is when I realized just how special this series truly is. This episode manages to be funny, dramatic, and tense. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul continue to prove their skills and chemistry in this episode. Another thing that sticks out is detail. This show is all about detail, and sometimes it’s just the small details that make each episode engaging. There are some detailed scenes that stick out. One: how Walter and Jesse bribe their way out of the desert after they killed the drug dealers by trying to explain their situation to a Native American and that involves the spilling of coffee. Just priceless dialogue. Two: This show is good in learning c...

Breaking Bad, over the course of its five seasons, has often been given the praise as “the best television show in history.” Quite frankly, that is actually a sentiment I can wholeheartedly support. From this first episode aptly named “Pilot,” we can tell right away the show, which premiered on AMC, won’t hold back on its gruesome imagery. I also like the realistic tone of the story. Many shows or movies will intentionally give their product an over-the-top tone, but this show gave me a realistic vibe. I enjoyed this episode very much. It really packs a lot into the first episode, but its important that the story is set up correctly. The showrunner, Vince Gilligan, created an episode that is dark and intense, but also features some humor. I mean, I laughed when I saw a naked middle-aged man running around in a desert. I also liked how this episode was told via flashback method. We figure out in the five minutes that hardcore stuff went down. I won’t forget the opening where our m...

Ordinary People (1980) 1980’s Ordinary People is a masterpiece. The story is about how grief can impact and tear apart a family, so this film is a very hard watch and it will most likely leave the viewer in an emotional state. That being said, this film is powerful because of the themes the movie tackles and because of four heartfelt, emotionally-driven acting performances.   Tragedy is something every family deals with. Someone dies, thus turning the world into pieces for families. Many families also have underlying problems that they choose to ignore or they cannot see, but are forced to confront these problems when tragedy strikes as it occurs with this one particular family, the Jarrett family. That is the whole essence of this movie, how these very real characters confront their issues.   By 1980, Robert Redford was a full-fledged movie star. He was in such movies like Bonnie and Clyde and The Sting. The time was ripe for Redford to make his directori...

Caddyshack (1980)   Golf is my least favorite sport. I think it’s boring, and not fun to play. So you could imagine my trepidation heading into a golf film such as 1980’s Caddyshack . I was pleasantly surprised by my reaction to this movie. The movie is really not about golf, but about the zany antics of the many characters in the film. The movie is crude and juvenile, but the humor really works. Not every joke is going to work, but there was enough screwball comedy to keep me chortling throughout the film.   Caddyshack is Harold Ramis’s directorial debut and he also written the screenplay along with Brian Doyle-Murray and Douglas Kenney. Ramis previously wrote one of my favorite 1978 comedies, Animal House . It is natural that he would bring the same type of humor to this film. As for directing, Ramis did a rather good job in his debut. There were some issues regarding connectivity of the characters, but I think he passed his first test.   When coming...

My Bodyguard (1980) My Bodyguard is a forgotten little gem of a movie. It is one of those movies you never hear of, but then you stumble across   it and fall in love with. This is a coming-of-age drama about how to gain revenge on the high school bullies; by hiring a guy who’s bigger and stronger than the bullies. The story is engaging, funny, and surprisingly heartfelt. It can also be a little predictable at times, mainly towards the end. The performances by the younger actors are phenomenal, and unlike many films that feature mostly younger actors, you actually care what happens to these well-developed characters.   Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is the new kid in town. His popularity instantly diminishes when he insults the tough bully, Moody (Matt Dillon). Moody is a punk who makes a career extorting lunch money from kids. They pretend to protect the kids from the school legend, Linderman (Adam Baldwin). It is rumored that Linderman, a tall freak of nature...

Airplane! (1980) Airplane! is an early example of a spoof movie, and is one of the better spoof movies out there. Maybe it’s the garbage that has been released the past decade, but spoof movies are my least favorite genre. The concept of making fun of other movies is a genius idea, but the execution have been ranging anywhere from downright mediocre to absolutely horrendous. Fortunately, Airplane! is the right example how to make a spoof movie. There is no over-reliance on poop or fart jokes and although the movie is nearly forty years old, the humor ages like a nice bottle of fine wine. Plus it helps the movie sports a wonderful cast. One that began a career of comedy for many of the talented actors and actresses.   Although the plot can be tricky to describe because it pulls from many films, I will do my best to tell you about the basic story. Ted Striker (Robert Hays) is an ex-Navy pilot who is afraid of boarding a plane because of the war. He faces his fear and bo...