Movie Reviews

More than 20 years (sort of) in the making: I've launched a new database of my movie disc collection, and 100 new capsule movie reviews from that collection are now posted. Please be sure to read the introduction, which goes into much more detail about this newly revamped section.

Welp I guess it's time to rename the site Jammer's all you can eat buffet.

Needless to say I scrolled quickly to the bottom of the list looking for Wrongfully Accused, but I'll happily accept the Naked Gun trilogy and Spaceballs in its place.

Who will be first to do a Jammer's favorites watch-a-thon and post a reaction to each in turn?

Re: "American Pie" — Roger Ebert would have agreed with your comments about the MPAA!

Re: "Batman" — it had no plot or story (very different things) to speak of-it got by on considerable style and some good set pieces

Re: "Jurassic Park" — ‘“Check the vending machines!” - one of the funniest not-intended-to-be-funny lines ever!

Re: "Reservoir Dogs" — Agree this is overrated and not as good as Pulp Fiction.

I remembered you alluding to this in your anniversary post. I think it's a neat idea, and I can see how it's a lot more sustainable than doing another TV show. Thanks for keeping this site going, Jammer -- it's a tremendous amount of effort, and I really enjoy reading your writing. (I was really excited hoping that I guessed right!)

This makes me realize I think we need reviews of the complete Marvel Infinity saga- Iron Man through Endgame. What say you, Jammer??

"This makes me realize I think we need reviews of the complete Marvel Infinity saga- Iron Man through Endgame. What say you, Jammer??"

Probably not a priority.

Re: "American Beauty" — I simply can't imagine anybody other than Kevin Spacey portraying Lester Burnham, compliments to whoever cast him.

To Jammer, good luck with the new reviews.

Always good to see some love for Back to the Future part II

Wonderful reviews. Brings back some memories.
I couldn't help but wonder though: where's Galaxy Quest?!

Minority Report is an absolute joke.
Terrible film

Thanks for sharing your movie list and your thoughts on them. Very impressive! Noticed that many of the movies listed are also in my own DVD collection (well over 600 at last count though it’s more or less come to a halt in the streaming era).

Don’t take this as a criticism as much as sharing movies that I love. One director in particular. Sergio Leone. Probably known more for his Dollar Trilogy with Clint Eastwood culminating with his stunning epic The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. He actually followed this well known movie with three equally stunning epic masterpieces Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time In Mexico (unfortunately titled as Duck, You Sucker! In some countries) and Once Upon a Time in America. Each epic. Each too long for studio executives. Each having no filler. Unfortunately, these movies were butchered by before mentioned studio executives. Many audiences have seen only the inferior edited versions which have little to do with Sergio Leone’s artistic vision. The uncut directors versions is the only way to go for Sergio Leone.

Sadly he passed away too soon as he was in the process of creating another probable masterpiece The 900 days: The Siege of Leningrad ( great book by the way). He just got the go ahead for filming before he suddenly passed away at the age of 60.

Re: "Stargate" — Oh yes; the TV shows were way better. I started watching SG1 during the pandemic and it felt like I had discovered a long forgotten Star Trek series that no one had ever seen before. Be sure to watch the *directors cut* of the SG1 pilot though - if you can get past some of the more implausible elements and plot inconsistencies of the pilot, and the at times clumsy attempts to junk the worst parts of the movie while building on the good, SG1 is a fantastic series as a whole and well worth the ride. Some of the episodes even rival TNG at its height, the main character chemistry is amazing, and there is a certain groundedness in the world-building which helps to differentiate it from other series like TNG which definitely influenced it.

Atlantis is also very very good - I’m almost done with that series, but real life keeps getting in the way. Planning to skip Universe though - it tried to copy Voyager and the BSG reboot at the same time, and didn’t do a great job IMO - just not my cup of tea.

Re: "Dogma" — I saw it some years ago and it made an impact. It was a very strange movie with a controversiola story and good actors. It is very easy to understand that some christian groups does not like it.

I was facinated and it is one of the movies that I want to see again in detail. I has not left my brain.

Jammer, how can you not have Galaxy Quest or Zoolander in your movie collection?? You're also missing 12 Monkeys, Starship Troopers, Robocop and so many other good movies.

Sure, I'm missing tons of good stuff from my collection. But not everything is going to get added. Movies cost money, space, and time, and some of these I can be content to watch on streaming. Not every good movie is going to get into the collection, and not everything in the collection was worth adding to it in the first place.

Forgive me, but I've been dying to say this:

JAMMER, HURRY UP AND REVIEW "LITTLE FOCKERS".


Mike A said: "...and Once Upon a Time in America."

That reminds me, I need to give this film another chance. I like everything by Leone, but this one confused me the only time I watched it. I feel like it's one of those flicks that needs more than one viewing to appreciate (Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" is similar).

I like that Jammer gave "The Insider" full marks. I've been binging Michael Mann's films, and this one stood out (the last great Pacino performance?) for me. Mann's "Ali" - which I rewatched last week - has also aged well IMO. I feel we've all been underrating it for decades.

I like how Jammer gave "Lebowski" five stars. The universe feels so much better knowing that Jammer abides by the credo of the Dude.

@Jammer - I understand that you can't own everything, but some of the your choices are really puzzling. Like, why do you own Clerks II, but not the original Clerks? And you have From Dusk Til Dawn 2 and 3, really?!

The From Dusk Till Dawn movies all came in a 3-pack for $10, and the movie by itself was the same price or more. I've never even seen #2 or #3. Clerks II my wife bought used before we were married. There's a story for a lot of the puzzling choices. If you read the intro I explained some of this generally.

Nothing wrong with some schlock now and then. Bad movies build character.

This is pretty cool, thanks Jammer! Looking forward to your thoughts on the Mission: Impossible films in your collection. I think Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, and Fallout are really great in particular. The only thing missing from them are SLOW MOTION DOVES like in Woo's MI:2, lol.

Nice! I fully respect people who collect physical media, even though I personally no longer even have any devices that can play them.

Hi Jammer,

Absolutely love this new feature! I’ve been following your reviews for decades, and I’ve always appreciated them.

I don’t know if you are accepting requests, but would love to hear your thoughts on Romeo + Juliet (1996). I’ve always really appreciated this movie for its ability to bring Shakespearean dialogue into a modern telling.

Re: "The Big Lebowski" — hey Jammer. The plot is actually the big sleep by Ray chandler. It’s an amazing and brilliant take on that classic.

Btw Jammer I do intend to also get into the fray and check out your movie reviews and comment on them. I can't speak for others but I'm in serious crunch time in various areas of my life and will be totally bushwhacked for a few weeks at least. I'm excited to dive in when I can relax a little.

I was hoping there would be a comment section for each title (each of the ones that have a review, at least).

"I was hoping there would be a comment section for each title (each of the ones that have a review, at least)."

That takes considerably more technical effort. I'm not ruling it out for the future, but first I want to see if this section even gets any traction to warrant the need for individual pages. It may very well not.

Hell yeah! Always good to get more Jammer. I highly approve of this collection. Especially the True Grit remake, one of my favourite movies. On some days it's even *the* favourite.

RE: 4K movies. You're not wrong that the resolution upgrade isn't typically worth it. HDR or Dolby Vision, though? On a good TV they really do add a lot. Cameron's recent remasters of The Abyss and Aliens look fantastic. (True Lies sadly does not; something is off with whatever image processing they used.)

Re: "Jurassic Park" — I too have vivd memories of seeing this one in the theatre. Nine years old. The movie blew me away, but what really sticks with me is how crowded it was. The queue to get seats was massive, and there were people *sitting in the aisles*, the movie was that popular. Theatres today would commit unspeakable acts to draw crowds that big again!

Re: "The X-Files" — I completed a series rewatch of this last year, which took about two years in total. What I was very impressed by was how the series, by the time the movie comes along (slotting between season 5 and 6), each episode of the show itself is shot with the same level of craft. As far as 90's production teams go, The X-Files crew might have been the best in the business. It was no surprise that given a bigger budget, they were able to take it to a higher level. The movie was quite enjoyable, and I think the best praise of it is that it would be a fun movie even if the TV show had never existed.

Re: "Twister" —  It's entertaining. Just remember to check your brain at the door.

I got rid of my DVD collection around the time of the pandemic. Now I look at streaming prices and would sometimes take the square SD format just to watch old favorites on my own terms.

Re: "Batman" — The 1989 movie was well remembered last time I checked? Baby Boomers sometimes swear (wrongly!) that Nicholson is the best Joker. The one that “ got by on considerable style and some good set pieces” was Batman Returns. Or maybe didn’t get by considering the fate of the franchise, but young me ate it up in my Burton era.

Re: "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry" — not a highlight of Adam Sandler’s career. It’s tough to explain or account for why some Adam Sandler movies are funny and some aren’t, sometimes, but not in this case. Kind of reminds me what Jammer noted in his review of “Profit and Lace” - evidently we were supposed to find the mere sight of Quark in drag to be hilarious. Premises aren’t hilarious.
Jokes are (or are not).

Re: "The Abyss" — 

When this film came out I remember that it was running practically alongside Deep Star 6, a sci-fi horror movie of seemingly the same genre. At least, the marketing between these two looked similar to me at the time, as I was a kid. I watched both not too long after they hit the video market, and, well, they're not similar at all. Whereas DS6 is basically forgettable, The Abyss clung to my memory as a grand sci-fi adventure, not quite as easy to digest as some of Cameron's other ventures like Aliens and Terminator 2, but more grand in scope than these others. The theatrical version was already impressive to watch, but when my parents learned of the super-updated LASERDISC version which included all the FX that couldn't be ready in time for the theatrical release, I honestly think they bought a laserdisc player just to get this disc, and got a few others at the same time. It was an *incredible* upgrade, with FX the likes of which I'd not seen before, even outdoing T2. The entire finale was bacially redone, iirc, among other changes.

Honestly, I haven't watched this in over 20 years and forget a lot of the plot details, other than it takes place in...an abyss. I won't post spoilers anyhow, and will try to watch it again soon. For some reason this film remained an uncelebrated epic, famous among some fans but otherwise missing the radar of the mainstream pop film culture. But one group who definitely didn't forget it were the cast, who in interviews and in the commentary track mention over and over how this was the most insane, difficult, scary, and arduous film shoot any of them had ever done. When anyone would boast or complain about difficult filming conditions, in the jungle, desert, or wherever, the cast members would laugh and just say "hey man, I did THE ABYSS." End of conversation, apparently. For me this one was never as re-watchable as the likes of Total Recall and T2, but somehow it's been burned into my brain as a monolith that requires respect. Yeah, I'll watch it again soon.

I had a similar experience with The Abyss in relation to the other deep water adventures of the late 80s, in addition to Deep Star 6, there was also Leviathan, apparently that particular moment in cinematic history was awash with the unknown of the oceans. But The Abyss, particularly the extended and upgraded version, has definitely aged better and comes across as a far more legitimate movie than its peers.

“Re: "Batman" — The 1989 movie was well remembered last time I checked? Baby Boomers sometimes swear (wrongly!) that Nicholson is the best Joker. The one that “ got by on considerable style and some good set pieces” was Batman Returns. Or maybe didn’t get by considering the fate of the franchise, but young me ate it up in my Burton era.”

I ate up Batman Returns as a teenager. It runs almost entirely on Burton's signature aesthetic and the sheer voltage of Pfeiffer, DeVito, and Walken. The plot is paper-thin, but there's a sharp parallel baked in: Bruce and Oswald were both born into massive wealth. Society accepts Bruce because his surface is "normal," while Oswald is thrown into the sewer purely for his physical mutations.

And you're dead on about Nicholson's Joker. It's a highly entertaining ride, but the more Nicholson movies you watch, the faster you realize he isn't playing the Joker - he's just playing Jack.

Heeeeere's Jokey!

Re: "Bowling for Columbine" — Michael Moore, going back to “Roger & Me”, is a very effective demagogue. Here he appears to ambush Heston, whose mental acuity seems diminished but who can nonetheless rattle off NRA platitudes. Moor’s staging of a “gotcha” moment is unfair. Was he hoping to show that what gets drummed into your head at a younger age, doesn’t leave, and becomes your reality, even if you no longer believe in what you are saying or forgot why you are saying it? Don’t know. Moore’s movies are effective liberal agitprop. For whatever reason, there are no conservative equivalents of Moore-that is, none who have his skills to entertainingly poke and prod. No, Dinesh D’Souza and Brett Ratner don’t count.

Re: "Gettysburg" — one of the best film adaptations of a book (The Killer Angels) I've ever seen. Heartbreaking, inspiring, informative -- 10/10

Re: "Batman & Robin" — Not as bad as its rep would suggest. Is it a good film? Nope. But it's reasonably entertaining in the way a lot of comic books are, especially older ones. A stupid plot that makes no sense? So what? We're not reading Batman comics because we hunger for great literature. This movie, like many earlier Batman stories, is entertaining cartoony nonsense that elicits scoffs and big dopey grins in equal measure.

An improvement over Batman Forever, that one was just way too much (Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones.. insufferable). This movie dialed down the intensity somewhat (both in the performances and camerawork) resulting in the goofiness feeling much more tolerable this time. The action scenes are filmed more clearly and are more fun to watch than its predecessor's. And they remembered to turn on the lights on set this time.

It looks good. I like the colourful, stylised visual approach to Gotham city and all the sets. I loved Tim Burton's visual style, but really, Batman does not need to be dark and grim ALL the time. I have plenty of time for a more colourful and kid friendly take on the material.

Regarding the cast, Uma Thurman is a highlight, clearly relishing the opportunity to chew up the scenery while delivering her ridiculous lines. Ok, Alicia Silverstone is pretty bad. Everyone else is absolutely fine, including Clooney. Sorry, but with all the debate you see about "who was the best Batman actor?" how much does it actually matter who plays him? There's almost nothing TO Bruce Wayne or his alter ego, at least in this film series, and it's often like that in the comics as well. From Keaton through Clooney, I never felt I had a handle on who this guy is. So just get a decent actor who looks the part, and mission accomplished.

Not good, but not that bad, either. I'm glad I finally watched it all the way through, I think it's worth watching at least once to get a similar feeling as reading some of the goofier Batman comics (of which there are many!)

Re: "Independence Day" — This is the movie that makes me despair that only four capital letters can be included when writing DUMB.

Really pleasantly surprised to find this, Jammer. I can see I'm going to have a lot of fun reading these. Thank you.

Re: The Negotiator,

I intiated my "Jammer reviews movie watch", a very slow-motion event to be sure, with The Negotiator, a film I'm surprised I missed at the time given the cast and popcorn flick genre film that it is. I have to say that Spacey is doing good work here, underplaying scenes that could have been over the top, in a subdued performance reminiscent of his breakout role in Glengarry Glen Ross. He still demands respect, but doesn't run with it. Jackson delivers exactly what you'd expect.

My wife watched this with me, despite not generally being a fan of loud 90's films, and I think we both generally enjoyed it. She, more than I, was surprised to what extent turning off one's brain is required to enjoy the story. Particularly galling was the "I'm being framed of embezzlement, so to prove my innocenece I'll engage in some hostage-taking, death threats, arson, grand theft, battery, and ultimately fleeing from the law. He may be innocent of the framed-up charges, but I can't see how he's anything but guilty of the rest. This insanity was initiated with very little provocation by the villains of the piece, and essentially amounted to him figuring he was 'going down' for white collar crime so may as well drive to crazy town and step on it. We can almost imagine everyone knows he still is and always will be Jules, and wrote the plot accordingly: what would Jules do if someone was trying to f** him like a b****? If you take that as a premise almost all the rest makes sense. And in fact the main cast completely understands and figures they had it coming if they were going to pull that on a man like Jules.

There are also some signfiicant plot threads lost on the cutting room floor here, most notably who actually conducted the fraudulant deposits and did the white collar dirty work. Danny's white collar friend, Frost, doesn't fit the bill: he's a cop, not an accountant. He may be the ringleader of his fellow corrupt cops, but not the mastermind.

SPOILER ALERT

All arrows point to Maggie, Niebaum's secretary. We already know that Niebaum merely caught them in the act and took a one-time bribe to look the other way. Granted, he was likely going to continue to milk them for more, and had .WAV files of all of them on audio to protect himself and further blackmail them. But it was Maggie he pointed the finger at him, told Danny how to access his computer, and most importantly, falsely informed Danny that more files were to be found at Niebaum's house. By that point in the story the new alliance between Danny and Chris took center stage of the story, leaving the whodunnit in the dust and shifting gears into a reversal where we find out Frost had left his 'buddy' out to dry. The story leaves no room to consider that after Maggie led the two of them to Niebaum's house, and also ordered the goon squad to pursue, it's clear she (a) knew who they were, and (b) was setting Danny up to be executed during a "shootout" after his hostage stint. As Niebaum's secretary she'd have access to all the computer systems she needed, was a white collar type, and for all we know had a banking or finance background since she was working in internal affairs.

There's another critical plot thread which went nowhere, about who the "informant" was that tipped Argento off. Turns out Chris brings in a false informant to shake the nest and see what fell out, but in the meantime the real informant was still awol, and then Danny out of nowhere announces "aha! there was no informant! Argento was his own informant!" This, after we'd already learned that he and his wife drove somewhere specifically to meet the informant the night before. And also, why make up this informant story when you're already confiding in your buddy and taking the plunge, and also admitting to now knowing everything. The fact that he heard it from an informant would only matter if he claimed not to know the details yet, to protect himself. But since "the informant" told him, why make up a lie? That was the A plot for the first half of the film, thrown away when Danny decided he was bored of it.

If not for these imprecise plotting details, along with the aburdity of Danny's hostage crisis ploy in the first place, I'd have given this a solid 3/4 as a cool popcorn flick. Ultimately I think it gets 2 1/2, still not a bad final score considering a lot more work could have been put into cleaning it up and making it actually smart. The solid cast is what earns the stars is does get; the scripting merits little at all.

Re: "Black Hawk Down" — Francois Truffaut said " Some films claim to be antiwar, but I don't think I've really seen an antiwar film. Every film about war ends up being pro-war." Not this one. I saw this movie when it opened wide in January of 2002. I can't recall another film experience I left from that left me so simultaenously exhausted, angry, and even small.

"None too pleasurable to sit through," criticized Variety's Todd McCarthy.

Precisely the point.