‘The Dead Zone’ 1983 Review – AMC Fearfest

• Plot: A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic detective ability.
• Director: David Cronenberg
• Writers: Jeffrey Boam (screenplay), Stephen King (novel)
• Stars: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams and Tom Skerritt | See full cast and crew

Story: I was really surprised by this one. The poster looks kind of stupid and the trailer is very misleading. The trailer makes it seem like if you touch this man’s hand, then you’re going to die. But no, in fact, you could be saved from dying. Also, not only does he just see into the future, he can see in the past too. Whoever they chose to market this did not do a good job, but it doesn’t matter since the movie is good.

Now I did not know that Stephen King had so many movies and tv series after his books. Heck, I didn’t even know ‘The Shining’ was based off of a Stephen King book. Well, ‘The Dead Zone’ proves to be one of the best of the wave of Stephen King film adaptions of the early 80s.

With an interesting story and a great performance from Christopher Walken who is scary and friendly at the same time, this film would not have been the same without him. Martin Sheen plays a maniac who is running for president and after touching Walken’s hand in the film, Walken sees that he will become president and he will choose to bomb other countries when a diplomatic solution was offered right in front of him. Martin Sheen’s career and campaign for president was over after putting a baby in front of him as a shield from bullets you thought? You were wrong! (*wink wink* to West Wing fans).

Verdict: A chilling story from the mind of Stephen King on film with a great performance from the limping Chrstopher Walken who knows how to play a scary and caring man at the same time, ‘The Dead Zone’ proves to be one of the better Stephen King book adaptions.

‘World Trade Center’ 2006 Review – Remember 9/11

• Plot: Two Port Authority police officers become trapped under the rubble of the World Trade Center.
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Writers: Andrea Berloff, John McLoughlin (true story), and 3 more credits »
• Stars: Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña and Maria Bello | See full cast and crew
• Based On A True Story

Story: On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, I am here to give you Retrospect Realm’s review of ‘World Trade Center’ which came out in 2006, the 5th anniversary of 9/11. Really, this was a great film. It was a little slow at parts. I think being trapped in the rubble was not much to work with, but Oliver Stone, the writers, and the whole team made it work however they could.

When the rubble started collapsing or when the towers fell on top of them, that was frightening. “NO, GET TO THE ELEVATOR SHAFT” John said as the towers were falling on top of them.

Even with seeing how their families reacted, they did not have much to work with but seeing their memories of their loved ones. Anyways, they made it work. Not in the greatest of ways, but in touching and accepting ways.

Not showing the towers actually get hit or fall was great, it would have probably been too painful to see that happen again.

Music: Not much music heard in this. But the piano song that played throughout the film was touching and set the mood for whichever scene it was playing for. It was most affective at the end when both were at the ‘Thank You Barb-E-Q”.

Cast & Characters: Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena did great for what they had to work with. Just lying down, thinking of movies and Starsky and Hutch. A solid B in performances of the cast as a whole.

Rewatch Value: Moderate

Verdict: Although hard to understand what exactly is going on underground since it’s so dark, a film that truly touches the heart and makes you go through the pain and sorror the two port authority officers went through on that day of September 11, 2001.

‘Taxi Driver’ 1976 Review – Movie Friday

Story: This is an amazing story of “God’s Lonely Man”. A story that anyone can relate to. Loneliness, the blurs of the lines of good and evil and doing the right thing, the evil in the world. Paul Schrader did a FANTASTIC job in the writing of this film, which is one of the three major parts of this film. The story is phenomenal. Travis Bickle just wanting to find someone. Someone who is like him, but he is a rather unique person. He is one of those people who needs to take time in order to find someone special. He’s a troubled man that wants to do the right thing, but does the right thing the wrong way. That might not make sense to some, but that’s how awesome Paul Schrader was for writing this film. I love that guy.

Visuals: Amazing depiction of New York with the scum and slime of it all. One of Martin Scorcese’s greatest works, he knows how New York works, exactly. And the shows of De Niro driving in the taxi at night look so awesome. When we see De Niro’s eyes in the rearview mirror or lights out of focus in the rear view mirror is just mesmerizing. All of the bright and colorful lights. Just amazing cinematography and direction here.

Music: There only seemed to be literally one track that played throughout the whole film, which was the theme song. But either way, I loved it. It didn’t need anything more or anything less.

Characters: Robert De Niro. This is one of the films I saw that established Robert De Niro as my most favorite actor of all time. He is brilliant in this film. You didn’t think I would leave out the talking to the mirror scene did you? You talkin’ to me? I say this all the time in real life as a joke, it’s just not many people have seen this movie so they don’t realize this. De Niro was improvising too! Just like Dustin Hoffman in ‘Midnight Cowboy’ with the “I’M WALKING HERE!” Jodie Foster played a nice young prostitute. She should go pro… nahhh, I joke. Cybill Sheperd was also real nice too, looking like an angel with that elegant walk, she played a convincing performance too.

Rewatch Value: A great film that will live on forever. Phenomenal story and acting.

‘GoodFellas’ 1990 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Friday

Story: Everybody knows about GoodFellas. Everybody. Not a soul that does not know that GoodFellas is one of the greatest mafia movies ever. This was the very first time I had ever seen it. Perhaps not as great as The Godfather, but still a classic for all time. What makes a great mob movie like The Godfather, Scarface, and GoodFellas? I believe it’s when a movie shows other parts and things of how the mob works. What do they do, why do they do that, where do they do it, when? All of those question, when those are answered, make a great mob movie. GoodFellas, The Godfather, and Scarface each show different parts and stories in American history of honor, betrayal, glory, love, hatred, etc, you name it, everything you’d think of in the mafia. Not only does it have these aspects of a good mob movie, but it introduces new mob movie aspects to the film audience. Sure, if you’ve ever read the mafia books, some of these movies are based on real life events, just condensed into movie format. This also was a really funny film. It had some great ‘haha’ moments.

Visuals: I got the real 40s to the 80s feels throughout the film. Cinematography and set was great.

Music: Also, to help the change in years, the songs would change too according to the years, which was cool. Plus, to top it off, they were all classics. Scorcese also seems to like Tony Bennet a lot, which is cool.

Characters: I really liked Ray Liotta as Henry Hill. When he started snorting cocaine in the movie, his appearance REALLY looked like he was on drugs. For Karen, I loved her most of the time, but I didn’t sometimes. She just got annoying at some parts. Robert DeNiro. Him and Al Pacino are the ultimate mob guys. The only thing is, Al Pacino wasn’t in this film. Joe Pesci was. I really wanted mroe of Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, this was one of the only things I didn’t like much. I felt like we didn’t get enough of them. And Joe Pesci’s mother in the film. LOVED HER. She looked just like him and had somewhat of he same hairstyle as him.

Rewatch Value: A true classic. Everyone who loves mob movies like The Godfather or Scarface needs to go watch this film.

‘Donnie Brasco’ 1997 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Friday

Story: I was very impressed by this one. It’s based on a true story and it was very good. Going into this, I was thinking “Hey Johnny Depp is a cool guy, Al Pacino has a goofy overcoat”. That’s all I thought. I really didn’t know what it was about either, except that it had something to do with the mob. But to my suprise, I loved this movie. The ending was a little ehhh, but yeah, you know. They tried to stay to the real story and be as accurate as possible. They even got the real Joseph Pistone to be an advisor to the film to make sure they were staying true to the real story.

Visuals: The cinematography, lighting, and colors of the film were a little bland at parts, but overall, it was good.

Music: I didn’t notice much music really. I even tried paying attention to try and hear music. But I heard very little background music throughout the film. The opening credits music really fit with all the snapshots of Brasco and Lefty though. I even looked up that song after finishing the film.

Characters: Based on a true story, the characters were very interesting. Going into this, I couldn’t really imagine Johnny Depp playing a serious role after seeing films of his such as Pirates Of The Carribean, Willy Wonka, Alice And Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, etc. As for Al Pacino, I did not like his big, fluffy, goofy coat he wore throughout the film.

Rewatch Value: Moderate. I’ll probably watch it again with my dad and so I can fully understand the story.

‘The Godfather Part III’ Review 1990 – AMC Mob Week – Movie Wednesday

Story: The story of this movie is more based off of continually than the past two movies. The story follows the events after part II and Micheal is shown more as a old man than a mob boss. This might have to do with the fact that Coppola didn’t want to do this movie, as he felt Part II did it nicely, but since he ran out of money, he took the long standing offer to make the third one. The story acts more like a unnecessary addition to the movies rather than a nice wrap up.

Visuals: The director of cinematography from the first two come back the third, and did a pretty decent job at it. I don’t feel that it is as good as the first two, but it could also be because we’ve seen a similar style in the past two movies.

Music: This music was composed by Coppola’s father this time around, and while it isn’t as strong as Rota’s music it isn’t bad. Of course, we would all rather have Rota do it.

Characters: Now, the Characters aren’t strongly portrayed in this. In the part II we’ve come to see Micheal Corleone as more of a bad guy, but in this movie, he is more of an old man. He isn’t the center of attention either, and we’re more focused around Vincent, his nephew, who has a clear goal, and possibly the strongest character of the film. Not because any of the Actors are bad, but they are given weak, and somewhat confusing roles.  Mary, Michael’s daughter is also a very weak character, which is strange seeing how she plays a somewhat important role. Overall, like stated before, the actors of the movie are good, but the characters given aren’t as strong as the actors could make them.

Rewatch Value: The rewatch value to this isn’t very strong. The story is weak, as are the characters. It also doesn’t help that this wasn’t originally planed during the making of the first two, but rather a way for Coppola to make a quick buck.