The Movie Journal

  Wall Street (1987) “The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for the lack of a better word, is good.” (Gordon Gekko) I will be the first one to tell you that I am not an expert at the financial system and probably will never me. If only to see the Michael Douglas performance that everyone raves about, I eventually had to give Oliver Stone’s Wall Street a watch. A complete turnaround from the Oscar-winning Platoon , Stone made a film that is not so much a criticism about capitalism, but how cynical the 1980’s were. The film is very intelligent, so some terms/statements flew over my head, but I got the gist. Despite that strike against me, I still found the film to be reasonably entertaining with a killer performance by Michael Douglas. Coming off the success of the war film Platoon (also starring Charlie Sheen), Stone wanted to make something different. He linked up with a friend of his named Stanley Weiser and asked him to write a screenplay about the quiz show scandals

  Empire of the Sun (1987) My thoughts are complicated regarding Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun . It is one of the director’s most ambitious films and it has a strong narrative pull that displays the notions you would come to expect in a Spielberg film; child separated from his parents, child finding hope and magic, etc.). At times, I was drawn away from the film because the kid, named Jim, is a spoiled brat. I gather that was the intention of Spielberg and writer Tom Stoppard, but holy moly that kid was annoying…especially in the beginning. But through the terrors of war, maybe he will learn a lesson or two. With that in mind, the film is beautifully photographed thanks to Allen Daviau’s camerawork. The production design is excellent as I felt the Japanese POW camp felt authentic. As usual, John Williams crafted another beautiful score which is par for a Spielberg movie. Any narrative shortcomings were made up (to a degree) on the technical side of things. The film was based o

  Maniac: Episode 8 "The Lake of the Clouds"  September 21, 2018 “The Lake of the Clouds” continues the storyline of the last episode, almost as if it were written as a two-parter. Once again, both storylines impress at times. The fantasy section remains the strongest as we learn more backstory and Julia Garner’s performance continues to be awesome, but the mafia story improved. Jonah Hill’s acting is not the greatest here (although I love his “Annie, I’m a hawk” line.) That story has some solid twists and turns regarding betrayal. I did not see this act of betrayal happening. Also, the episode ends on a sense of terror. GRTA, which is the pathology of Greta, does something you will never forget. I did not feel as if the episode is as well-paced, so it did feel a little slow at times. In this episode, the mob story turns into The Departed . Owen’s dad believes that one of his brothers is the rat, but the true rat is someone you would least expect. He orders the cops to be m

 Maniac: Episode 7, "Ceci N'est Pas Une Drill"  September 21, 2018 “Ceci N’est Pas Une Drill” is a very interesting episode of Maniac . It sets up the effects of the C-Pill as it takes our characters into different directions; Owen into the mafia world and Annie into the land of fantasy. The episode is very short (a brisk 22 minutes) but it sets up everything well. Upon further watch, this episode is deep and more thematic. I had to watch once more but I got the message how stability within a genre works well as coping mechanisms, which is why Fukunaga decided to use these two genres to get the point across. I think the fantasy world works better for me. No offense to Gabriel Byrne and his “hippocampus” drill method, but Annie and Ellie elven story is a sweeter, more relatable part. Plus, Jonah Hill looks like he is trying to impersonate Post Malone with those tattoos and hair. Annie and Owen are now taking the final C pill. In Owen’s story, his dad wants him to the tak

  The Maltese Falcon (1941) John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon is a masterpiece. This film is essentially a series of brilliant conversations interrupted by some violent interludes. You think for a second, ‘Uh oh, a talkative film…how boring!” Be prepared to change your way of thinking because its anything but. The flow and apt characterization are just some of the many things that hold this masterpiece together. The cast, starting with the fantastic Humphrey Bogart and brilliant Mary Astor, are exceptional. On the technical side of things, cinematographer Arthur Edeson and composer Adolph Deutsch prove how skilled they are with their respective crafts. The story itself is not the most original (as it is basically about trying to obtain a precious and rare object), but the three-dimensional characters, the excellent direction, and the editing/camerawork/score elevate that story into one of the best mystery thrillers of all time. Some film historians call this film the very first film-n