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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a review by Rick

Finally completed my 1st review:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 


Overview:
Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He's the nation's most notorious criminal, hunted by the law in 10 states. He's also the land's greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He'll befriend Jesse, ride with his gang. And if that doesn't bring Ford fame, he'll find a deadlier way.

Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in part by RIDLEY SCOTT and featuring gripping portrayals by BRAD PITT (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and CASEY AFFLECK as the youth drawn closer to his goal...and farther from his own humanity.

My Thoughts:
Holy cow... This one cracks my top 5 most boring movies I've ever seen. The others are (in no order) The Pledge, The Cell, Solaris (Clooney version) and Lost in Translation. Please note I did say boring, not necessarily bad, although I honestly have a hard time saying this was good.

The story is completely predictable. No surprises whatsoever. There was little to no action, no suspense, no mystery and very little comedy (none really but some of Pitts performance was funny). Fact is if it were not for Pitt's performance I would have felt like I completely wasted  2 1/2 hours of my life. I only kept watching to see what he would do next. Some of his scenes reminded me of his Twelve Monkeys role, which is a good thing.

The Cinematography was different. That too was a plus. It's almost lack of colors was quite striking in the HD transfer. Very cool at first but unfortunately it lost some appeal as the movie went on and eventually became a bit of a distraction I thought. Even the soundtrack wasn't that great. One notable exception was a song near the end sung by the always charming Zooey Deschanel. Didn't know she was in the movie but recognized the voice immediately. It's too bad she was only in it at the end.

Sorry Jon, I read your review but we certainly disagree on this one. Unlike Eric I did manage to stay awake through the entire movie. Too bad for me. 

My Rating:


(From Rick's "Vowels Only" Marathon Reviews on July 10th, 2010)

Larry Crowne, a review by Dragonfire

I'm going to say right from the start that this one isn't a typical summer big blockbuster type movie.  It isn't going to appeal to everyone.  The story is fairly simple, but I thought it was sweet and entertaining overall.  Some scenes do drag a bit, but that didn't bother me too much overall.  Most of the ones that were a little slower and less interesting were scenes in the speech class when they had to do speeches.  The fact that the speeches weren't that interesting is believable because I remember not being interested in the speeches when I had to take speech.  At least they didn't have to do longer speeches like I did. 

There is humor in the movie, though it isn't a hilarious comedy.  There are a few moments that are really funny.  The characters have some issues, especially Mercedes, but again, they seem believable and they end up being likable overall.  The cast is great and I do like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts in their parts.  I really like that Larry is interested in a woman close to his age instead of chasing after the ones young enough to be his daughter.

I did enjoy this one, but I know it isn't going to appeal to everyone.  It just has a sweet, if somewhat simple story.   



I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Larry Crowne

(From Larry Crowne on July 8th, 2011)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

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Bottle Fairy: Volume 2: Autumn and Winter (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 89 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:
As they continue their studies into human society, our four fairies learn about the meaning behind holidays like New Year's and Valentine's Day. They're also schooled on the all-important subject of sports. With this much knowledge and perseverance they should definitely be able to become human! But with a strange education like this - reading, writing and 'rithmatic doesn't seem to be part of their curriculum - what sort of humans will they turn out to be?


Bottle Fairy
Season 1.13 And Then
Writer: Yuiko Tokumi (Original Material By), Hideki Shirane (Screenwriter)
Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki
Cast: Nana Mizuki (Kururu), Kaori Nazuka (Chiriri), Yui Horie (Sarara), Ai Nonaka (Hororo), Kisho Taniyama (Sensei San), Haruko Momoi (Tama Chan), Yugo Takahashi (Announcement on the Train), Keiji Okuda (Old Man on the Train), Megumi Nasu (Student), Asami Imai (Fossil Excavation Club Leader), Makiko Ohmoto (Baseball Club Manager), Chie Nakamura (Scout), Ken Takeuchi (Fan A), Yukimasa Obi (Fan B), , Mia Bradly (Chiriri), Jennifer Sekiguchi (Hororo), Mari Daniel (Kururu), Vicky Green (Sarara), Yuri Lowenthal (Sensei-san), Riva West (Tama-chan), Amie Hill (Student), Amie Hill (Baseball Club Manager), Amie Hill (Talent Scout), Sabrina Weisz (Fossil Excavation Club Leader)

The first twelve episodes was teaching the four bottle fairies about Japanese customs. One for each month. This last episode has the bottle fairies being transformed into a human girl with the character traits of all four. A nice episode, but they could have done more with the idea.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on February 17th, 2013)