Caddyshack (1980) 5 out of 5 stars

In memory of the late, great, and hysterical Harold Ramis, I decided to review, in my opinion, one of the funniest movies of all time, Caddyshack. Ramis co-wrote and directed this comedy classic about a bunch of rich golfers, misfit caddies, one over the top grounds keeper, and of course, a gopher. The comedic talents of Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, Rodney Dangerfield,and Bill Murray as the unforgettable Carl Spackler, make this a movie to love for generations to come.

Caddyshack was made in the early 80's before everything was of so very P.C.. If you were born before 1985 you'll know what I'm talking about. There are stereotypes everywhere in this movie. The trouble making Italian to the uber snooty rich. But don't let that distract you from watching this comedy masterpiece.  
I feel that Rodney Dangerfield as Al Czervik really steals the show. His one liners and his over the top personality make his role in Caddyshack a memorable one. In fact, all of the actors are at the top of their games in this comedy classic.

Now let's talk about the other star of the movie, the gopher. Now, it's is obviously a just puppet and in no way looks real, but that only adds to the charm of the movie. The many ways that Carl tries to exterminate him is really one of the many highlights of this film. In no way would any of the things that happen in this movie ever happen in real life. Not without lawsuits and prison time of course.






There are so many funny lines in this movie, and you can still hear them repeated on golf courses everywhere. It's comedy geniuses at their very best and the laughs keep on coming from the beginning to the explosive end. I highly recommend seeing this movie.

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2014)
4 out of  5



When it comes to Matt Reeve's sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the film deserves it's success and rave reviews. While the special effects are amazing, they are not overdone in a way that compromises the splendid performances. And it's the performances of the actors who portray the main apes in the movie are the ones that shine bright in this movie, making the human performances seem quite drab, even for the brilliant Gary Oldman. Not exactly his best work, but he's such a great actor that his performance was still enjoyable to watch.



Andy Serkis

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is ripe with emotion and captures it triumphantly. It draws you into this world without very little effort, which the 2001 Tim Burton version seemed to fail to do. Andy Serkis, whom also plays Golem in the Lord of the Rings, gives another compelling and realistic performance of Caesar and deserves every acclaim that has given to him, but he is not the only actor that shines. Toby Kebbell's performance as the fearsome Koba is also spectacular. The CGI is absolutely top notch and so believable that one has to remind themselves it's a movie.


Caesar

The best and worst part of this movie is that it is so relatable and speaks intelligently to any viewer. The Planet of the Apes concept in the original film series gave audiences a mirror reflection of humanity and challenged it's ugliness, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes also does the same. While it does this and exposes the ugliness of humanity, the movie also shows the best of humanity and the constant struggle it has in doing what's morally right as opposed to doing things just to survive. The story shows deadly consequences that stem from the latter without pulling punches.

Knowing the past sins of humanity towards itself and life in general, it's easy to root for the apes. Call it our own human arrogance, but while watching the film one cannot help but see the apes as the underdogs even though they outnumber the human survivors and have the advantage. The film brilliantly does succeed in not demonizing one group or the other more or less, and the struggle both species encounter in the film is brutally relevant.

Koba

The hard part for this movie was making it as unpredictable as possible since most already know what the over-all end result is concerning the Planet of the Apes mythology. The film mildly succeeds in this and some parts were pretty predictable, but the why and hows were still quite entertaining to watch unfold. While that was the only minor weakness, another great strength of the story was the plausibility and realism that would draw the apes and humans into conflict. While I hoped the apes would help the humans in their quest for survival, deep down I knew that would be a mistake. It would only be a matter of time before the humans would want more and try to take more.

It's movies like Matt Reeve's Planet of the Apes series that still proves that movies with loads of special effects and some action can still have substance and say something. This movie gets four stars.

Vicb

The Frozen Ground (2013) 2.5 out of  5 stars





The hunt for a serial killer is on. And so it the hunt for a good movie, because this one wasn't very good.

For a first time feature writer and director, Scott Walker adequately manages to tell you a story , but I'm not sure which genre this movie fell under. Is it a thriller? A suspense? If any, I'd have to say it's a crime drama because there were definitely no thrills or suspense. It barely qualifies as a drama. There's more suspense in a T.V. Crime drama.

Even though the movie is based on a true story, I almost knew everything that was going to happen after watching it for 15 minutes, and I know nothing of the actual events that inspired this film. There were no twists or turns, just a straight line of how this killer got caught.

John Cusack

Maybe it's because I like him as an actor, but the only redeming quality about this movie was John Cusack. He plays the part of Robert Hansen, the serial killer. Of all the characters in the movie, he's the one I cared about the most, and he plays the bad guy. He did a good, not great, job of expressing the emotions of a man's mind that most of us will never understand. For that reason, I gave this movie an extra half star. As for Nicholas Cage? Eh... That's pretty much all I can say about him. He seems to play his parts the same way in most of his movies. I'm not very impressed with him in this one. I do have to say that Vanessa Hudgens did do a pretty good job of playing the drug addicted prostitute Cindy Paulson in this one, but after a while, I gave up caring about her character.

Nicholas Cage

Without any real action or suspense, this 105 minute movie seemed more like it was over 2 hours. For me, I was hoping for somthing a little more engaging. However, if you're a fan of Nick Cage or John Cusack you might want to give it a watch, just don't expect very much.

Signs (2002)  2.5 out of 5 stars

 

For me, most of M. Night Shyamalan's movies start out with a really good idea, but then seem to lose their way somewhere along the line and this movie is no different.

The acting was, overall, pretty good. You have Mel Gibson, love him or hate him, that seems to always give a good performance, but you also have some young actors, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, kinda holding their own too. They weren't outstanding, but they weren't bad either. And it's a little scary how much Joaquin Phoenix looks like Gibsons brother.



Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix

To be honest, I liked the movie the first couple times I watched it. Then, I saw it again the other day and it left me with a couple of questions about the story and made me ask to myself "Why?". If you haven't seen the movie yet, you may not want to read the next paragraph.

Question 1) Why would they bother to send this small group of aliens to a small farmhouse to kill 4 people when they could be used to help invade and take over a bigger city or town or military bases and send out smaller parties out afterward? and 2) If water is lethal to these aliens, then why would they invade a planet that is 70% covered by it?

What I did like was the use of sound. The sound of running on the porch outside and climbing on the roof really let your mind paint a good picture of what your eyes can't see. Of course, Signs still has the Shyamalan "twist" he's become known for but it doesn't really work for me in this movie. I have to say that overall, it's not a bad movie by any means, but it just loses steam halfway through and left me wanting for a different ending.

What an Ordinary Guy is all about

I'm not a  film school major, didn't learn film theory or take a writing class. I'm just a normal guy with a day job, that likes to watch movies and be entertained for a while.

I figured I'd take some time to review some movies and give you an ordinary guys opinion of why I liked or didn't like them. And that's all they are, my opinions. We all have them and I encourage you to share yours here too.



New movie reviews coming soon!!