Gordon S's Reviews

While it feels a bit hokey by today's horror standards, this one set the pace for pretty much any haunted house film going forward. Brolin really makes the sense of helplessness seem real, and I'd argue that his performance as George Lutz rivals Nicholson in The Shining, released shortly after this movie.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

seeing Robin Williams and Kurt Russell spending half the movie together have friend moments and drinking beers was kinda neat. Not the best thing ever but a fun time waster.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

An ode to friendship. Great dialogue and performances, especially Jeff Goldblum. The entire movie feels effortless.
Review Date: 11/13/2024

Quirky, funny film. Matthew Perry and Lauren Graham. Can't go wrong with them
Review Date: 8/20/2024

"I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain."

Jane Campion's Bright Star is....hypnotic. One of the purest depictions of love.
Review Date: 11/4/2024

A character study of two longtime associates set against a desolate outdoor background, framed with misty panoramic cinematography. One of the most moving portraits of friendship I've ever seen.
Review Date: 8/30/2024

Leave it to Vince Vaughn to take the well-worn tropes of your usual Hallmark Christmas movie and drag them through the sex-crazed innuendo of a horny teenager growing up in the 90s. It plays out exactly how you’d think, complete with JoAnna Garcia’s Becky diverting both men’s eyes with her “tasty treats.” Jesse (Brittany Snow) gets to hear everyone air their dirty sex laundry; Duffy and Wendt are forced to say “purple drank,” “lean,” and “sizzurp” unironically in the same sequence - when not talking about their overactive libidos; and we’re reminded how some people will never understand that comedic trends evolve.
Review Date: 12/3/2024

DID YOU JUST TALK SMACK ABOUT NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE? TO HELL WITH YOU.

Ryan Gosling revives Steve Carell's ability to pick up women, via a new wardrobe and some face slaps.

Ryan Gosling's hair is awesome.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

Honestly, not even sure how much I enjoyed this wacky horror-action-comedy starring Eddie Murphy (at the peak of his superstardom), but you have to admire the audacity of everyone involved. Big Trouble in Little… Tibet????????
Review Date: 11/3/2024

Let's get one thing straight: I'm a weird guy. I'm a real weird guy, so I like real weird stuff... and this movie is REAL weird. But sometimes (most of the time, actually), weirdness is a gorgeous thing, and this is one of those times.

What's not to love about Harold and Maude? It's existential, it's political, it's romantic, and it's hilarious. This might be Hal Ashby's best film, but it's difficult to pinpoint a best film when it comes to this director, because he was so consistent.

What a beautiful, beautiful film. Oh, and you can't go wrong with Cat Stevens.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

A mostly light-hearted and charming nostalgia piece, propped up by a warm and engaging cast. A little of the dialogue is clunky and the scenarios very stock, but scenery, Alan Arkin as the camp patriarch, Diane Lane, Vincent Spano and the gang of returnees are having too much fun and it is contagious. Arkin is the real standout, as is a goofy reoccurring cameo from director Sam Raimi. If you ever went away to summer camp, it resonates a bit more.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

an inventive film with cool visuals and an a-OK plot, mixed with witty dialogue and effective jumpscares that would totally pee the pants of anyone pre-puberty. What I love most from this animated coming-of-age comedy is just how perfect the voice actors are in sync with their characters and the tight pacing. Also deserving of praise is the effective storytelling of mature themes like maturity, death, and grief in a way children can understand while still having fun.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

lovely and quirky sweet movie with young women who have real relationships and sex lives and rebel and yearn in their own ways. very rewatchable, drama, cuteness, laughs
Review Date: 11/3/2024

The only movie of this type that works at all, let alone this well. Films that deal with colonization are often embarrassing at best and insulting at worst, but here Terrence Malick actually pulls it off. There may be some inaccuracies or liberties taken for drama, but emotionally this works and it handles the story with respect. Only Malick could tackle this story in the way it needed to, a way that is completely natural and alive. The first half of this is Malick's finest work in a sea of masterpieces and the final moments are utterly astonishing in its usage of fundamental cinematic traits in the search for new feelings and experiences, sights and sounds, impressions and pictorial nuances.
Review Date: 11/15/2024

With a blaring red atmospheric haze, well-sketched characters, and hardly anything else, Thom Eberhardt's hilarious, satirical blast on Reaganism and the joy of consumer control is intermingled with a low-fi sci-fi hang-out vibe. It exists on the brink of a void, totally consumed in its premise, promising nothing more than the greatest version of itself. Samantha and Regina, in the face of desolation, know exactly what to do - embrace what you love.
Review Date: 12/3/2024

One of the great performances of Newman's career, Nobody's Fool is a layered, entertaining character piece that's centered on men who are or are not something because of their fathers. Robert Benton displays his ear and his steady hand on the screenplay and direction respectively. Wonderful character actors and stars like Melanie Griffith and Bruce Willis fill out the supporting roles. It is Paul Newman though that makes this a must see. His charm, nuance, presence, and talent were on full display; a true Movie Star.
Review Date: 11/10/2024

Annual autumn rewatch. Jake Gyllenhaal’s breakthrough role. Him and Chris Cooper are lights out. Poignant father/son drama that always hits me in the feels.

Btw, October Sky is an anagram of “rocket boys” 🤯
Review Date: 11/3/2024

A misunderstood triumph in the mall-cop crime genre. It transcends words and is an experience like none other. I laughed, I cried, I loved, I felt. I experienced many an emotion while watching this work of art. True cinema and dare I say... the story of America.
Review Date: 11/16/2024

Good premise, poor follow-through.
Review Date: 8/30/2024

Brilliant crime-drama, one of the best of its genre in the 2010s. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal are phenomenal. And Denis Villeneuve is just an extraordinary filmmaker. Including Radiohead songs in his films doesn't hurt either.
Review Date: 11/17/2024

One of my trusty catharsis go-tos. I’m glad this movie exists for me to reach for in uncertain times.

"I've had a rough year, Dad."
Review Date: 11/6/2024

This superb odd couple movie is perhaps primarily remembered for Al Pacino's Oscar-winning turn, but it also stars Chris O'Donnell on fine form giving a significantly more toned-down though by no means less impressive performance. Both actors are perfectly cast in their roles and utterly convincing. Director Martin Brest, known more for fast-paced action films, shows that he can handle the drama format just as well, perhaps even better.
Review Date: 11/5/2024

I loved the focus on the early 90s Seattle music scene, and the soundtrack is killer. Was great to catch Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam all in cameos. This is also probably the hottest Matt Dillon has ever been. Anyways the stories and all that are good, good film overall.
Review Date: 11/3/2024

Plays out like a Wes Anderson rip-off. Occasionally quirky, but most often irritatingly unoriginal. Overall a boring watch.
Review Date: 11/10/2024

This is a good example of how as the 80s went on it became more and more a parody of itself. This movie's goofy and dumb but kind of sweet, and it makes more sense than the average Disney channel movie, so I say it did its job well.
Review Date: 11/6/2024

Serenely volatile cinema, and as gorgeously engulfing as anything M. Night Shyamalan has ever crafted. I usually try to not be one of those viewers that proclaims a particular film as "misunderstood" or "underrated", but I still can't fathom how the general audience sees this as a "bad Twilight Zone episode", especially because even (and not only) on a surface level, The Village is astonishing.

With Roger Deakins' cinematography establishing unprecedented atmosphere and James Newton Howard scoring one of the finest soundtracks of the 21st Century; The Village flourishes because of its visual/aural elements, both of which compliment the tender love story at its core. M. Night tackles this tale with the mindset of being a genuine artist with something to say, and as a result, typical Hollywood expectations were shockingly upended.

So close to a 5/5
Review Date: 11/3/2024

Pure B-horror cheese that never aspires to be anything beyond its basic premise. In terms of nuts-and-bolts slasher fodder, it's pretty enjoyable, thanks in large part to brilliant practical effects work and Andrew Divoff's terrifying performance. Cameos from a whole host of genre icons and an agreeably mean shot of dark humor sweeten the deal.
Review Date: 11/8/2024

"you taste like a burger. i don't like you anymore." peak cinema
Review Date: 11/3/2024

This film is dark, grim, gritty, hopeless, haunting, and mysterious; but is elevated by some truly great performances by Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes.
Review Date: 8/30/2024

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