The Movie Journal

  Smallville: Season 1, Episode 4 "X-Ray" Nov 06, 2001 Well, “X-Ray,” was lots of fun to watch. It had an interesting villain, a shape-shifter, who delivers headaches to Lex Luthor and Lana Lang because of her actions. The villain-of-the-week plot was good, but nothing that compares to what else happens. First, we get hints of evil Lex. Lex blackmails a news reporter so he can have the media under his wing. Most importantly, as the title of the episode suggests, Clark delivers a new superpower in which anyone familiar with Superman lore would know…x-ray vision. It was funny trying to watch Clark struggle to harness his new power. We got a strong episode with great performances and an engaging story that is worth every second. In this episode, we meet Tina Greer. Tina is a teenage girl who has the power to transform into any person she wishes. Pretending to be Lex Luthor, she robs the Smallville Bank. She also accidentally kills her mother, Rose. She becomes obsessed with La...

  Smallville: Season 1, Episode 3 "Hothead" October 30, 2001 “Hothead” continues a thrilling beginning to Smallville . This week’s villain is the high school’s football coach who is given the power of kryptonite but also has a quick fuse of a temper which creates all sorts of issues. Characters are developed further…especially those of Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor. At least to start, the younger Luthor is not pure evil as he shows some empathy towards his employees. There is also the father versus son dynamic at play here. Clark wants to play football…but he is hardly human so you cannot blame Jonathan for wanting his son to take it easy and not reveal who he really is to the world. There are thrilling moments scattered throughout. The principal’s car being blown up with flames comes to mind. Walt Arnold, played by Dan Lauria, is Smallville’s arrogant football coach coming up on two hundred victories. During a sauna bath, he is exposed to kryptonite and now is given the powe...

  Danger: Diabolik (1968) Danger: Diabolik is a cheesy, campy exploitation film that makes you scratch your head wondering how on earth this film was greenlighted. On paper, the film should have been a horrible James Bond spinoff….but I was down for every second of this movie. What if James Bond was a Bond villain with some Batman attributes? From the opening helicopter action sequence, that is what this movie feels like. Based off a long-running Italian comic strip, the movie was released during a time where the 1960’s counterculture movement was prevalent. Diabolik is an anti-hero, not a government contracted person. Considering the Italians were losers of a major war only two decades earlier, faith in the institution of government was not high and that can be seen within the actions and movements of our silver screen heroes. I mentioned how I wonder how the film was given the greenlight. Once it received the greenlight, there was plenty of production problems. Producer Dino de L...

  Bull Durham (1988) In terms of cinema, you will come to realize, if you haven’t already, that Kevin Costner and baseball are synonymous with one another. A match made in heaven. Field of Dreams is one of my favorite movies, but a year before that classic came the funny Bull Durham . Directed by former minor-leaguer Ron Shelton, this movie is one that all sports fans need to see. What I especially like that even if you are not familiar with the in-and-outs of baseball, one can still understand the movie with its rich characterizations and a romantic comedy that mostly avoids it usual tropes. Shelton was going for the fences with this film and he succeeded with his ground-rule double. It could have been a home run with some minor tweaks, but it still worked very well for me. Before he ventured into a filmmaking career, Ron Shelton was a minor-leaguer who retired at the age of 25 because he had no shot at the big leagues despite making it as high as Triple A. As much as the feature ...

  Big (1988) Tom Hank’s Big is one of my favorite films of 1988. It is a poignant film that will make you laugh, cry, and want to see many times. It is one of those features that is rewatchable. This magical adventure is about your inner child and how you should never, ever lose it no matter how old you are. For a film that is more than thirty years old, it is a tale that is more relatable than ever especially as we live in a world that grows more cynical by the day. In lesser hands, this film probably would not have worked. But, Tom Hanks was able to sell his childlike demeanor into something that will inspire people for all ages to come. On top of that, he is a mighty fine dancer (yes, I am referring to the famous FAO Schwartz piano dance). Penny Marshall directed the film, and a fun trivia fact is that her film became the first one directed by a female director to gross more than a hundred million dollars at the box office. Well deserved too. It was not always going to be that w...

  Smallville: Season 1, Episode 2 "Metamorphosis" October 23, 2001 I thoroughly enjoyed Smallville’s second episode. I feel like these small-time villains will be hit-or-miss as the series continues. Our main villain here is more…buggy…but is an interesting, if not entirely unoriginal villain. The episode does a good job continuing its important character development and the effects of Kryptonite has on Clark and the people in Smallville. Guilt is prevalent here because Clark believes he is at fault for the death of Lana’s parents since he brought the meteors with him. Clark has some interesting discussions with Lana and Chloe. Even Lex has some good lines connecting with Lana. In this episode, “Metamorphosis,” teenager Greg Arkin (Chad Donella) lives all alone with his mother. As a hobby, he collects insects. After an argument with his mother, he gets into a car accident and the bugs he is with goes into the metamorphosis process thus turning Greg into an insect. He kills ...

  Smallville: Season 1, Episode 1 'Pilot" October 16, 2001  The beginnings of Superman! As soon as “saaaaaaavvvvvveeee meeeeeee” was bellowed during the opening credits as the theme song, I was instantly hooked. For a show that came out in 2001 with lots of fanfare, I was very impressed with how well the first season held up. It has been known the series would often go over budget, but we are telling the story of future Superman after all. The visual effects are top-notch and the meteor shower where young Kal-El comes to Earth seemed very real. Instead of being a serious superhero drama, the show is about teenage angst and small-town drama. It is like a coming-of-age film/series but with more special effects and a superhero background. At least for the first season, the show will combine these elements along with a villain-of-the week story. Just bring me everything you got, Smallville! In this pilot episode, we learn the origins of Clark Kent aka Kal-El. It is 1989, and Sma...

  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Frank Capra, the legend behind classics like It Happened One Night , created what is probably the most sensational film of his career, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington . When released, it created a stir within Washington insiders and around the globe. The movie appeals to the tendencies of Capra as a director using themes such as idealism and hope. But if one looks closely, you can see ideas of pessimism start creeping in the mind of Capra. Regardless, Capra created a film that resonates with all ages and generations. With the idea of the filibuster being in the news lately, the relevance of Capra’s picture is still prevalent with Americans in today’s day and age. As a film itself, the movie does a great job switching gears from comedy to tense drama. The performances, especially from the great Jimmy Stewart, are all fantastic. I also really loved the ending! Before the film was even in production, Sidney Buchman’s screenplay already had Hollywoo...