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CineMikey
Reviews
Kangaroo Jack (2003)
This is proof that a kangaroo can indeed be a dog...
Please do not believe the previous comment. It is clearly a studio plant. This film is just plain awful. I went to the movie because I was able to see it for free, since I had friends who worked on it. They warned me that it "wasn't great." Well, they grossly understated it. I find it hard to believe that any studio would release this junk. Maybe the 12-14 year old crowd will like it, and keep it alive on video, but the principals on this should never be allowed to make another movie, except for Scott Rosenberg, who was clearly brought in to save a sinking ship. If you want a better example of his work, rent "Beautiful Girls."
Hey, it is no crime to make a bad movie, it happens. But what ticks me off is when someone makes Alpo and passes it off on prime rib. There are some scenes with the Roo that are funny, but you can wait for video/DVD to view those.
The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
Man, that guy can spin a tale...
Bob Evans starts off the movie by saying there are three sides to every story "My Side, Your Side, and The Truth" and how accurate he is.
Granted, a good deal of this movie is Evans' self-flattering version of his rise and fall in Hollywood, but damn, it's entertaining. He is a fantastic raconteur, and five minutes into the movie, it didn't matter to me whether he was lying or telling the truth.
He touches on some landmark films in his career, like Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, Bonnie and Clyde, and of course, The Godfather.
Most of the film uses stills, but they do so in a unique way, that never takes you out of the flow of the story. Once you walk out of the theatre, you'll run right out and buy the book on tape (Evans narrates it himself, and it is what is excepted for the film)
Pretty good execution of a usually dry format (documentary)
Fletch (1985)
A classic all-time comedy...
...in the sense that people will continue to quote this movie until the end of time.
This is the kind of role Chevy Chase should have built his career on, and for whatever reason didn't. I am anxious to see the upcoming prequel with Jason Lee as well.
Okay, so the story and characters will never be mistaken for Billy Wilder, but this has got to place in the top ten comedies of the 80s at very least.
In addition to Chase, Joe Don Baker, Tim Matheson, and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, some great supporting performances by George Wendt, Geena Davis, M. Emmet Walsh (as always), Richard Libertini, Larry Flash Jenkins (Wardell Stone from White Shadow fame) as well as both Tony Luonfo and James Avery, as police thugs assigned to rough "Fletch" up.
Hollywood needs to make more movies like this, which good characters, a compelling plot, and decent action, without taking itself all that seriously.
Sorry, call me what you will. I love it.
"I was going to buy this place until I found out Hopalong Cassidy killed himself here... Bow and arrow, very weird." Gotta luv it.
One Tough Cop (1998)
Come on, People...
...this would have been better off as an HBO or Showtime Original, but I liked the biographical look at rogue New York Cop Bo Deitl. I confess, I heard him on the Howard Stern Show, and thought he was notes, but the movie is tightly and carefully plotted and the characters were believable. If the film has a fault, the plot is almost too tight. Good performances by Stephen Baldwin, Gina Gershon, and Mike McGlone. I liked the opening sequence okay as well. Come on, it's a cop movie, and a decent one at that.
In the Wrong Hands (2002)
Uneven film, but shows some good flashes...
Decent effort for a production that looked like it operated on a limited budget. My main problem was that for the first 2/3 of the flick, I was being sold a pretty decent character story, which ended up with a bunch of action sequences. Not that they were bad (though the gunfight at the end was confusing) but it was like they kind of jumped over some decent story just so they could shoot off guns and blow up stuff.
The movie is half in Farsi (Persian) and half in English, but it is subtitled where necessary, so it isn't that confusing. It gets slow at times, but overall, it is worth watching. It ain't Chinatown, but I have seen worse. There are a couple of the actors who should invest their checks in some lessons, but aside from that it does show some flashes, as I said.
I don't know if I would pay to see it again, but I have to admit there were things about the movie that stood out when I left, and I can't say that about a lot of movies I have seen that were made for a lot more money.