The Movie Journal

  Stumptown: Season 1, Episode 1, "Forget It Dex, It's Stumptown" September 25, 2019  I gotta say…I really liked the premiere episode of this private investigator series Stumptown . I was worried because the first ten minutes didn’t really do it for me. Then I was able to warm up to Cobie Smulders’s sarcastic, barely-able-to-do-her-job character, Dex. Her character, or the show itself, is nothing revolutionary but Smulders’s charm is able to make her character easy to root for even if she makes bone-headed mistakes on the job or in her personal life. Her character is surrounded by a likable cast whom we mostly get to meet in this episode. Michael Ealy plays Detective Hoffman, an immediate romantic interest for Smulders. Jake Johnson plays Grey McConnell, her best friend and potential slow-burn romantic interest. His character is interesting enough, but is not fleshed out enough. Thankfully, Johnson is another underrated actor who knows how to be charming. The cast is roun...

  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) Here we go with another adaptation of Robin Hood. The Robin Hood tale has been told many times over and over. The edition that made the biggest bucks at the box office is Kevin Reynolds’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves . In my opinion, it barely squeaks by with a passing grade. There are moments of fun and lots of adventure. The action is pretty good and well-choreographed. It is certainly more graphic than I have imagined it would be. Most of the performances, especially those from Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman, are good. I also consider Michael Kamen’s score to be magnificent and one of his most epic, lushest scores. Even to this day, Bryan Adams’s ballad “Everything I Do (I Do It for You) remains a popular, soulful hit. Unfortunately, there are some glaring issues. After Kevin Costner delivered an emotional engaging performance in Dance with Wolves , he delivers the complete opposite here. His accent would be right at home in LA, certainly...

  Thelma & Louise (1991) Thelma & Louise takes the road trip genre to a whole new level. Rather than follow the simple formula, Ridley Scott took the story and gave it an empowering, feminist angle that shows what women go through on a daily basis. For a film released in 1991, it is way ahead of its time. There are familiar beats (we meet the usual road trip types such as state troopers and Adrian Biddle’s strong visual interpretation of the West), but Scott never allows the story to grow stale. We are taken on a journey that not only empowers, but also makes you laugh with some comedic dialogue gems and will also break your heart. The ending is now iconic in film history. For me, the ending was unexpected. As the Thunderbird was hurling itself to the cliff as Hans Zimmer’s score swelled, a pit grew in my stomach. I grew to care about the two ladies that are the heart of the film. They are put into impossible (and downright criminal) situations, but the audience has no choi...

  Backdraft (1991) Backdraft is a technical tour de force that must be seen on the biggest and loudest screen possible to get most out of the pyro techniques. The best part is watching the visual and audio splendor of the raging fires that seemingly has a mind of its own. You have to put realism on the backside because not everything will be realistic…not unless you want every firefighter to die from smoke inhalation within seconds. As an action movie, the effects are incredible. They still hold up many years later. Fire is a beast not to be trifled with and even the very best may fall victim to the unpredictability of the flames. The action is serviceable, and the effects are outstanding, but they could have been served better with an adequate screenplay. Gregory Widen’s screenplay, to put quite bluntly, is not good. The characters are paper thin and the character’s dilemmas with each other is something that has been done thousands of times before, often better. Two brothers at od...

  Stephen King's It (1990) As a child, the mini-series IT, based off the 1,300 page novel from author Stephen King, gave me nightmare after nightmare. Honestly, I only have one person to blame (other than King himself) and that is Tim Curry. Only Curry’s flawless Pennywise performance would be enough to keep up the nightmares. He made me despise clowns for a long, long time! About the mini-series itself, it is a solid horror series. It is elevated by Curry’s wicked performance, some strong scares (especially strong for a television production), and good performances from the majority of the child actors. Tommy Lee Wallace, who directed and wrote the screenplay, does a good job adapting the novel to the screen. There was so much he needed to cut from such an incredible novel with strong characterization. Sadly, some of the adult character plot points had to be removed. That said, Wallace was able to keep the strong centrality of Pennywise, which is important to the story whether it ...

  Citizen Kane (1941) It took me a long time to finally watch Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane . I mean, it has the reputation as the greatest movie ever made. I did not want to ruin my perceived notion about this classic. I finally caved in, and I remember my thoughts as I watched the film and when it immediately ended. I was like, “this is good, but seriously the best movie ever?” Here is the thing. The movie kept replaying in my head for some time afterwards. I found myself thinking about how the film innovated cinema with its unique story structure, experimental cinematography, and strong performances from a cast that has never been in a motion picture before. The movie may not seem like a big deal to younger generations, but it was a huge deal in 1941. It paved a path for future filmmakers. When people like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese or practically everyone who directed a film, they will always circle to Welles’s first Hollywood picture. In the end, my thoughts kept circli...

  Defending Your Life (1991) Albert Brooks’s comedy Defending Your Life is a thoughtful, amusing, and generally light-hearted film despite a topic that can be pretty grim depending on your view. There are movies that ask the question, “What happens when you die?” Some movies can be philosophical or even religious. Brooks, on the other hand, chose a different and more intelligent approach to the subject matter. He approached our heavenly adventures as a courtroom film with prosecutors and judges. A very unique spin that is designed to make you think. Brooks later said that he received letters from people whose relatives are dying or dying themselves, and this film made them feel better about their journey ahead. It does ask some questions that can hit home hard. Have you done enough with your life? Is there anything that you could have done better? With only one life given to you, you should live it to the fullest. That was the message that came across for me. The screenplay, writt...