The Princess Bride - Lots of silliness and adventure - 8*/10

The Princess Bride is a classic of comedic fantasy. It's witty, nicely paced with a very interesting story. Beyond the rats and eels, it has aged well. The key point is not to take it seriously and just enjoy the silliness.

For fantasy and comedy lovers.
8*/10

Predator — A truly unique creature for unique entertainment — 8*/10

Predator is a classic. It's a mix between the action hero style, the slasher flick, and the sci-fi.

The good. Excellent design of the Predator, its background, habits, tactics, and equipment. Beyond that, what makes this movie is the initial creep factor, the way he hunts them down one by one, how he takes them out, the various ambush tactics, and the final confrontation. Perfect choice of special effects which still holds pretty well today. Nice action. Well paced scenario.

The actors. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura are doing their thing, but the nice performances come from Elpidia Carrillo, Richard Chaves, Shane Black, and, especially, Bill Duke.

The bad. All army talk and fighting aren't realistic, they're stylized. Those action hero quip are lame and badly used, fortunately there are only two of them. Simple characters. Lousy intro story.

The ugly. The bow and arrows are just crap.

The result. Don't take it too seriously, enjoy the style, and then you can appreciate what makes this film good.

8*/10

Full Metal Jacket — Get through the gruesome training and maybe you'll survive hell — 10*/10

Full Metal Jacket is Vietnam war movie by Stanley Kubrick and it is a masterpiece.

The good. The mood is set to perfection with the exemplary score and the smooth pacing of the scenario. The story is done in two part, you get to see the ongoing effect of the training as it happens and its result in the field. It is personal, it is gripping, and psychologically brutal. A clear picture of what it is to become a soldier and what it requires on the field. Great photography and editing. Solid dialogs.

The actors. Matthew Modine is in one of his best role, presenting a steadfast young man with the rare quality necessary to get through marine training with all his head. A young Vincent D'Onofrio, almost unrecognizable, gives us a performance of a lifetime with incredible realism. R. Lee Ermey is the quintessential army drill sergeant, a perfect performance. Adam Baldwin plays a shallow role, but gives it his best.

The bad. Nothing.

The ugly. Giving loud orders in an echoing building while sneaking on an enemy. It's the only error of the flick.

The result. An excellent war movie. Not for the faint of heart.

10*/10

Lethal Weapon — A mold for modern law enforcement action flick — 8*/10

Lethal Weapon is now a classic of law enforcement action, and at its release, it put Mel Gibson on the map.

The good. Plenty of action. Great main characters. Nice intrigue. Interesting story. Very well paced scenario.

The actors. Mel Gibson is definitively the best of the bunch as the crazy suicidal Martin Riggs. Danny Glover is pretty good too as his more conservative partner Roger Murtaugh who has a heart of gold and hidden depths of ruthlessness.

The bad. The age of the movie is showing in a number of places, but not too much. Still pretty acceptable. The bad guys have no depth at all.

The ugly. The actor playing the jumper is just terrible.

The result. Excellent action geared entertainment if you can get past the age.

8*/10

Good Morning, Vietnam — How to view the Vietnam War from a different angle — 9*/10

Good Morning, Vietnam is one of the best movie that Robin Williams has made. It's funny, unpretentious, has some real drama without being too heavy, and it brings home some nice open values.

Williams' acting is excellent, displaying all of the above qualities, and it will transport you easily into his world. You'll laugh and you'll be touch, even though you might not be able to understand everything he says.

It's a very different view point of the Vietnam War, and just that makes the whole film very interesting. It's a must see, even if you don't like movies on that particular subject, because the split between the personal angle and the conflict angle is about even.

9*/10

The Untouchables — The story of Eliot Ness taking down Al Capone — 7*/10

The Untouchables, by Brian De Palma, was quite a hit when it came out and for good causes. Action, violence, and blood done with a touch of class, a solid dose of heroism, and some drama.

The theme music is excellent. The rest of the soundtrack, though, is not always up to the same standard. Sean Connery is very good, as well as Robert De Niro. The same cannot be said for the others, like Kevin Costner who did give a good performance, but not one of his best.

The costumes are great, especially the suits, thanks to Giorgio Armani. The story is uninventive, yet interesting, even if the events seem to move along too quickly, giving us the impression that everything happened at the same time. The sets are great, and detailed. However, the dialogs of the good guys are rather simplistic, to the exception of Connery's.

The film is good entertainment, especially if you like old prohibition cops versus gangster flicks.

7*/10

Wall Street — How to make money by screwing with the financial system — 7*/10

Wall Street, by director Oliver Stone, was quite a movie in its heyday, and understandably so. It has some good acting, nice suspense, intrigue, drama, a strong theme, a well built script, and interesting visuals.

However, it has some flaws. First, Daryl Hannah is definitively the worst actress of the cast, and can't even pull off a believable beautiful blond social climber. The decoration style of her character is mediocre at best, ugly probably being closer to the mark, even by the mid-80s standards. I'd like to think that Stone deliberately made her bad at decorating, but I think he simply was off the mark in terms of what good result is. There's also the fact that when we meet Gecko for the first time, he's over done (a common thing in Hollywood when introducing some characters).  The Sheen family crying time seems unreal, probably due to bad editing, bad coverage, or bad script, because they do the rest to perfection. Finally, the undercover wire recording is unrealistic, the way Gecko just goes with it and the final sound quality.

Now, it's still an interesting movie, and it has aged relatively well considering. The story is still captivating and entertaining. The main male actors, Charlie Sheen, his father Martin Sheen, and Michael Douglas, all have solid performance, if not oscar worthy.

It's a classic, and warrant to be watched before seeing the second installment.

7*/10

The Witches of Eastwick — A light magical comedy about empowering women — 7*/10

The Witches of Eastwick is a light comedic tale about women in a small town, their status as single parents or divorcé, and about magic.

The story itself and the plot are quite interesting, well written, directed and edited. No complaints on that level. You're rapidly plunged into the thick of it, and everything moves at a rather rapid pace. Each scene is well set and linked with the others. The intrigue thickens with each one passing, and the end is nice, logical, and well rounded.

Now for the bad. The three main female characters are probably the least well acted. Cher's, from the get go, is over acted or maybe simply over done, but in Hollywood, that happens often at the beginning of movies. Michel Pfeiffer's is probably the most balanced and best acted of them. Susan Sarandon over does hers in the middle of the story. Maybe that's the director's fault, maybe he pushed them a little too much.

That being said, I must say that some of the monologs of Veronica Cartwright and Jack Nicholson are impressive in delivery and content.

It's a movie that's easy to watch and will make you think if you stop a minute to consider the implications. I recommend it.

7*/10