The Movie Journal

  The Princess Bride (1987) “ Inconceivable” As someone who loves fantasy films, I always avoided The Princess Bride . Growing up, I felt more in line with the grandson. “Is there any kissing?” Gross, lol. That and the marketing is shameful. The trailer was so bad that the studio actually removed it from theaters. It confused so many people which maybe why the film was not a major box office success upon release. But me and like so many others, the film’s pure magic transcended over me and I became a firm believer how awesome Rob Reiner’s ( Stand by Me) film is. I was surprised how often I laughed. Reiner approached the film as a satire, and it was very effective. Still, there are some fantasy film elements I loved such as the beautiful romance, the effective characters, and the amazingly-choreographed swordplay. William Goldman wrote the original novel and adapted his bestselling novel into the screenplay. In the process, he created memorable lines that will forever be remember...

  Fatal Attraction (1987) Adrian Lyne’s erotic thriller Fatal Attraction is a fun, horrifying film about a predatory, neurotic woman bent on destroying one man’s life. The first two-thirds of the movie is a fun insight of the psychology behind the damaged woman’s advances. The final third, while still watchable and entertaining at times, turns into Friday the 13 th . The ending has shock value, but perhaps not for the best reasons. Alex Forrest, one of the cinema’s best villains, turned into a psychopathic murderer after some unforgivable actions such as boiling the pet bunny alive and kidnapping the six-year-old daughter and scaring her with a rollercoaster. While entertainment value is top notch for these scenes, the message is unclear. I wanted more of a psychological thriller of the first two-thirds. That said, the movie still rocks. This is one of the few erotic thrillers I did enjoy, so hats off to the team behind the feature. The performances, especially from Glenn Close, ar...

  Maniac: Episode 2 "Windmills" “Windmills” drastically improves from Maniac’s first episode. It still is a bit long and clunky but has some interesting characters. No offense to Jonah Hill, but Emma Stone’s Annie character has a better story because she has an emotional, more traumatic background. Although both characters are antisocial, I would rather see Annie’s outbursts rather than Owen’s depression. There are some absolutely bonkers and funny moments such as Annie’s line, “but I am a recreational drug user” (check out the context of this line), Annie’s friend playing chess with a robotic koala, and Fujita reading William Blake poems to the drug study’s machine named GRTA. Cary Fukanaga has a keen mind and does a good job turning weirdness into something that is relatable. In this episode, this story runs parallel to Owen’s adventure in the premiere. Annie steals money from her father to visit her sister in Salt Lake City and she is very keen on taking this mysterious ...

  Maniac: Episode 1 "The Chosen One!" September 21, 2018 Cary Fukunaga’s newest series Maniac has potential. It feels like some sort of hybrid of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Memento . With Jonah Hill and Emma Stone as the lead actors, there is a strong core in place in terms of characters. With “The Chosen One!,” I liked the style, the visuals, and the performances. My main concern is that the episode seems lumpy and just meanders. With the advent of Netflix and streaming, commercials are not used to break up an episode…which I believe goes against this episode. There are too many things happening or sequences that go on for too long. But with any premiere to a series, there are kinks to be worked out. There is plenty of promise and intrigue and I do enjoy these weird vibes. Fukunaga also balances his work with a hefty balance of drama and comedy, so that was a nice surprise considering I did not expect much comedy based on the synopsis. Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hi...

  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is more than just a classic. It is a movie, which was released in 1937, that changed the style of filmmaking, particularly within the world of animation. Prior, animation was just seen as a bunch of gags pushed together with talking ducks to keep the kids occupied for several minutes before the main feature. Mr. Disney himself drastically changed that notion. In addition to be the first full-length animated film in color, the film also introduced some very important technical techniques. Even with the hubbub surrounding the historical nature of the film, I feel like it is important to note the film is legitimately a good one. The story is basic and simple, but the characters are well-developed, the songs are great (and would set a standard for future Disney flicks), and the film is still great to look at-especially the sequence involving Snow White’s dash to the forest, which still manages to fre...

  The Lost Boys (1987) Two decades before Twilight arrived, the vampire genre received a boost with the game-changing The Lost Boys . Prior to this 1987 classic, vampires were seen as deadly creatures of the night a la Nosferatu or Dracula- older men with a neater, more distinct style. Joel Schumacher’s vision, for the first time, allowed teens and tweens to take the spotlight within the vampire community. In addition, this is not a straight-out horror feature. The film walks the tight line within the genres of horror, action, and comedy. Thanks to the delightful Frog Brothers, there are some incredible, laugh-out-loud lines that shows the film does not take itself too seriously. I do not think it ventures far into campy territory as well. Just enough scares, enough comedy to make for an awesome cinematic adventure. I was not expecting much, so I was very pleasantly surprised. Also, the creature design is great. I love what they did to the fangs of the vampires. Really creepy stuff...

  Spaceballs (1987) “ May the Schwartz be with you! ” In 1977, there was a certain sci-fi movie named Star Wars that was released and would go on to change how movies were made and distributed. To honor the juggernaut’s release, Mel Brooks would release a spoof of the movies, ten years later and with George Lucas’s blessing. Believe it or not, this is my first actually foray into the zany and crazy mind of Mr. Brooks. I mostly liked what I saw, although pundits do not favorably compare this movie to his earlier ones. As spoofs go, this is a masterpiece compared to the drivel that is released today. Through the potty humor and physical comedy, at least Brooks incorporates a story unlike people today (looking at you, Aaron Seltzer). Yeah, the movie is dumb and silly, but its memorable and will make you laugh a few times at least. It is an honorable spoof, and it has a very nice cast. My favorite character is Pizza the Hutt. The pieces of cheese or the sliding pepperoni on his body ...