Change Your Image
roboticman
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Argo (2012)
One of the best films of the decade
If there is one film that gets your heart pounding, it is this one.
Since he started being in the motion picture industry, Ben Affleck has been known to be a good writer(Good Will Hunting) but a pretty bland actor(Daredevil, Gigli, Pearl Harbor, Reindeer Games). That's also saying he's in very good films(Chasing Amy, The Accountant). But what he's best at is directing, and Argo is his crowning achievement
Set during the late 70's, the story follows Tony Mendez, played by Affleck, a CIA agent who disguises himself as a producer to rescue six American Embassy workers in Iran and bring them back home, before the Iranian government finds them and takes them hostage.
Where do I even begin with this movie, just from the opening sequence, it puts you in the right frame of mood. It shows the audience what they're in for and what the world has become. Affleck does a great job making us feel for the characters and it shows how to use suspense in a film.
During the whole movie, you want them to escape so badly and it gets your heart pounding. It makes the audience feel claustrophobic with it's setting, especially during the van scene.
The reasons why this film works is that they're focusing on a story that got little attention during one of the most important moments of American history during the 70's. It makes the audience more engaged in the film
Even with people saying that the whole idea was orchestrated by the Canadian Embassy, that fact is very true and it's what actually happened, but if they kept that in the movie, it would have made Tony Mendez less heroic. But it still is a bad move to ignore the people that orchestrated the whole plan.
To me, this is one of the greatest films ever made and it really shows off Affleck's directing talents. I know calling it one of the greatest films ever made is quite a stretch, but I don't care, it's still an awesome film
Taxi Driver (1976)
"Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere"
Have you ever had that feeling where you're alone. You feel like your isolated from the world. You move into a big city and you feel scared. or maybe you're trying to escape something like a traumatizing experience. That is the main message of Taxi Driver.
Travis Bickle(Robert De Niro)plays a Vietnam veteran who is suffering from insomnia. He moves to New York and decides to become a taxi driver. He feels like a loner due to him being a Midwestern and him entering a big city in unnerving to him. He develops an obsession with porno theaters and becomes disgusted by the world around him which is full of prostitutes, drug addicts and pimps. He tries to rescue an underage prostitute named Iris(Jodie Foster) from the world she's living on. Will he succeed or will he die a hero like in war?
Taxi Driver is the definitive term for a 70's sleaze movie. it's set in New York, it takes place mostly at night, involves violence, bloodshed and sex. You can sympathize with Travis about what's happening to him, he's an outcast who feels like he doesn't belong. The city is also perfectly done too. It's almost like Travis is living in a garbage can, where people discard the things they don't want.
To me, Robert De Niro is Travis Bickle. He's a guy who almost everyone can sympathize with. And you also understand his motivations too. Jodie Foster also does a really good job too. She can come across as an innocent girl but you're not sure if she likes what she does. The other supporting characters do a really good job too. Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks and Peter Boyle all provide good performances that add life and sanity to the movie.
But the main stars of this movie are director Martin Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader. Schrader has said multiple times that this was partially based off a true story and you can tell that the way he writes his dialogue can come close to home. Scorsese was a new director when this was released and this is one hell of a movie to have as one of your firsts. You can also tell that Scorsese adds some of his memories from when he lived in New York into parts of the movie.
What else can I say, Taxi Driver is not only one of the best movies to come out of the 70's, it's also one of the best movies ever made. It deals with a lot of things that people can relate too. Go see it. it's definitely worth your time.
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
"I'd never want to hurt you Charlie, We're like twins"
What if the person who you looked up to, the person who you loved most, the person who you trusted and could go to when you're in trouble...What if that person wasn't who they seemed to be? That is what Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 suspense thriller Shadow of a Doubt does so beautifully.
In the quiet innocent town of Santa Rosa, California, terror is about to enter in the form of a man named Charlie. He is visiting his sister for a while. She has a daughter that is named after Charlie. Young Charlie looks up to Uncle Charlie as a father figure, someone she loves and who loves her too. But she soon realizes that Uncle Charlie might be on the run from some cops.
Hitchcock is widely regarded as the master of suspense which he rightly deserves. There definitely is suspense in this movie but he doesn't use it as much like in Rope or Strangers on a Train where the suspense is built around the movie, this movie focuses on the fear of a person who you know is guilty of a crime but you keep refusing that it's true.
Joseph Cotten, who is more well known for Orson Welles' movies like Citizen Kane or The Third Man, masterfully plays Uncle Charlie. It's very similar to the performance of Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter or Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs: he's a person who comes around as a complete gentleman, but as you get to know him, he could lash out at you to complete his goal, no matter what. Just the way he talks or how clenches his fists together as he's talking to you is only something Hitchcock can do perfectly.
The town is also a perfect setting too. This takes place and was filmed in Santa Rosa, California, my home town. It's kind of cool that one of the most acclaimed directors of all time filmed one of his best movies in a place where I've lived my whole life. Santa Rosa is also the perfect town too, the perfect town where everyone is happy and the landscape is beautiful, unknown of the terror that'll take place.The other actors are also pretty good, but the guy that puts the most effort is Joseph Cotten.
Alfred Hitchcock put a lot of effort into the movie and it shows. This is a movie that is the definitive Hitchcock movie. And it just so happened to be, his personal favorite.
Disco (2017)
The biggest homage to the genre disco
How can I sum up the movie Disco, I think the opening title can: The Present...If the 70's never ended.
Movie reviewer and filmmaker Brad Jones makes his big comeback to directing seven years after his previous movie The Hooker with a Heart of Gold in this Patreon exclusive movie. It not only stars his regular actors, but also introduces some new ones like his friends Doug Walker, Lewis Lovhaug, Allison Pregler, Fard Muhammad and also stars his wife Laura Luke in her acting debut.
The story follows three sisters, Emily, Crystal and Lana who previously had a strong relationship but have grown apart. After a bad date with her husband, Emily gets a call from Lana, who has become a drug addict, asking her to come get her at a disco club called the Star-Crash. Emily decided to invite Crystal along who has suffered from depression due to her husband having an affair with Lana. They both go and try to reconcile their relationship at the disco club.
From then on, they deal with their social issues and meet the strange people that populate the club: an eccentric dancer named Rudy, a bouncer who is in a relationship with a fellow drug dealer who lives upstairs, Lana's drug dealing boyfriend, Emily dealing with her lazy husband, Lana and her boyfriend being offered to star in a porno, Crystal and Emily trying to reconcile their friendship and a moment in their lives that they will never forget.
This movie is probably the biggest homage to disco movies ever. It's similar to Saturday Night Fever or Disco Godfather by how it constantly plays 70's music or it's constant use drugs. But it's not just about that. There are moments of serious discussion, like when Crystal has trouble trying to forgive Lana for having sex with her husband. Stuff like that gives the movie more depth.
There are things that really suck about this movie. It is impressive that Brad Jones can make a movie that's almost 90% talking into an hour and thirty minute long movie, but because of this, it can become boring very quickly. Also, it throws too much stuff in it. Lana's boyfriend doing a drug deal, Emily dealing with her husband, Rudy's social problems, Lana and Rudy in a dance competition, and the drug dealer upstairs. It can be sort of confusing to watchers.
This is probably Brad Jones second best movie behind The Hooker with a Heart of Gold, which I also reviewed. If you want something with a little more action, look somewhere else. But if you want a movie with developed characters, awesome 70's music, and a desire to watch a disco movie, you should check this movie out.
Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta (1986)
Studio Ghibli's best movie
Most animated movies that come out are pretty good. Not all of them are perfect, but you'd be surprised how many good ones there are. But there's one that in my opinion, is the definitive one. The one that stands out above all. That movie is Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.
In a different time period or world, there exists a legend of a floating castle named Laputa. Only few people have heard or seen it. One of them is a boy named Patzu, an adventurous thirteen year old kid who's father was obsessed with the castle after he took a picture of it. He is determined to find the castle and prove justice for his father.
At the same time, the princess of the Laputa, a girl named Sheeta, is kidnapped by a goverment agent named Muska who wants her amulet that is the key to a secret room on Laputa. As Muska is taking her away, a group of pirates hijack the ship and try to take the amulet from her. She climbs outside of the blimp and accidentally falls before they can get her. Her amulet saves her from falling and she gently glides down to a mysterious location. Patzu discovers her and takes care of her.
From then on, it turns into a full on adventure movies complete with robots, evil corporations, fighting, and the discovery of Laputa.
Watching this movie is like an experience. Something that takes you away from reality and puts you in this fantasy realm. When I first watched this movie, everything on screen that Studio Ghibli did, they did right. The animation, the music, the voice acting, the plot, and the resolution.
James Van Der Beek and Anna Paquin do fantastic jobs as both Patzu and Sheeta. So does Cloris Leachman as the main pirate. But the person that steals the show is Mark Hamill as Muska. Mark Hamill is a definitive villain. Just hearing his voice when he's threatening Sheeta gives me chills. This is probably his best performance since The Joker from Batman the Animated Series.
Hayao Miyazaki and his team did a really good job creating the world and Laputa. You could probably take any frame from this movie and hang it on your wall. Just the way they put so much detail into Laputa is a real treat.
If you're looking for an adventure movie that is also an anime, has fantastic characters and of course and original story, then what are you doing reading my review. Go watch it.
The Hooker with a Heart of Gold (2010)
A great movie that is pure fun
Sometime in the future, Dr. Rogen(Brian Lewis) has successfully completed building a heart made of solid gold and according to him it "pumps 3 times the amount of blood as a standard artificial heart". Also during this time, a hooker(Sarah Lewis) is trying to leave the business and start a new life, but her pimp(Brad Jones) won't let her. She eventually runs away and is accidentally hit by Dr. Rogen's car. The only way to save her is to transplant the heart of gold into her. From there, a bunch of stuff happens: the death of her pimp, her friend(Jillian Zurawski) becoming a sex slave, assassins hired to kill her, and one of her patients(Ryan Mitchelle) trying to prove his love for her.
As you'd expect from the title, this is not a movie that you should take seriously. Don't expect this to become the next Citizen Kane or Shawshank Redemption, this is a movie that needs to be watched solely as a popcorn movie, just sit back and enjoy it.
The plot is stupid, the acting is mediocre, the special effects are bad, the flowing of the story makes no sense...and that's why it's fun. This movie was made by a guy who reviews movies for a living and the actors are his friends who haven't had a single acting class. Because of this, the movie is only view able online and it is done beautifully in 5 parts.
If you love the cinema snob and want to go looking for something just to enjoy and not worry about plot details, this movie is definitely for you.