Schindler's List

What many consider Steven Spielberg's best film, Schindler's List is a moving, powerful, and inspiring film.  The story is forceful, and the cast gives top-notch performances throughout.  This is a film that anybody will love, and is one of the greatest films ever as well.

Taking place in a Nazi-occupied Poland, an arrogant businessman who is a member of the Nazi party named Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) gradually becomes philanthropic as he sympathizes with the Jews and soon turns his factory into a place to hide them.  It is a true story of how he and his Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) saved over 1,100 Jews (named the "Schindler Jews") from being gassed and exterminated at Auschwitz.

This film is unlike any other, and is of the highest-art for filmmaking.  Everything from the art-direction, to the gorgeous black-and-white photography done by Janusz Kaminski, to the editing from Michael Kahn, and most importantly Steven Spielberg being the director, the behind-the-scenes work to the film is perfect.  The marvelous setting is all added by what is arguably composer John Williams' best work in the soundtrack department.

Lastly, I want to cover the awe-inspiring performances by the cast.  Neeson's performance is done so well, and easily stands out as one of the best heroes of film, as the same can be said for Kingsley as Stern.  But by far the best performance of Schindler's List is Ralph Fiennes as the villainous Amon Goeth.  Any time the Hauptsturmführer is on screen, it makes you despise him even more.  


Goeth is so nasty, because he says it is part of his job just to kill Jews who don't do their job.  He kills Jews for the heck of it at times.  As an example, while some Jews shovel snow, Goeth pulls one over because he has one arm, and shoots him straight in the head despite working for Schindler.  He is absolutely rotten and makes you root for Oskar Schindler more and more throughout.


What else is there to say?  This film is Spielberg's strongest work.  Everything done is phenomenal, and is very memorable and worth watching multiple times.  It is voted as one of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute and the community, as on IMDb it is voted as the seventh greatest film ever.  And it really is one of the best, easily being one of my personal favorites after viewing it several times.  Undoubtably, Schindler's List receives a 4/4.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

One thing I always appreciate is when actors write, direct, and star in their own film (i.e. Orson Welles, Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, etc.).  That's one of the many things that appeal to me in Kevin Smith's film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.  It has a plot crazy enough to intrigue, pacing that goes steady enough not to bore the viewer, and is just funny as a whole.

Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) are two stoners who have lived in the same neighborhood their entire lives and have been best friends ever since being dropped off in front of a convenience store while their mothers go in briefly.  When two kids get a restraining order to prevent the two from selling drugs outside of the same store, they lose meaning in their lives.

However, when they meet their friend Brodie, he tells them that a movie is being made based on the comic book characters inspired by Jay and Silent Bob (Bluntman and Chronic).  As they will not receive profit for the adaptation, they then make a plan to go to Hollywood to wreck the set.  On the way, nonetheless, there are many turns of events that happen as the two venture to get from New Jersey to California.

This movie is very entertaining.  Neither of the two leads are very special, but the supporting cast including a pre-Anchorman Will Ferrell and a hitchhiking George Carlin, and Ferrell steals the show each second he's on screen.  They meet up with a group of jewel thieves who are pretty flat as an ensemble, but are fascinating to see anyway.

Lastly, I just want to mention how funny the cameo is with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.  Being spoiler-free, it needs to be mentioned that the joke they make referencing a Good Will Hunting 2 (because the first one was so phenomenal in my opinion) was great.  I would pay ten dollars to see that, honestly.

All-in-all, this film isn't perfect; it is a delightful late-night comedy that you should see beyond any doubt with your friends.  You will have an enjoyable time, and stands out amongst other comedies at the time.  It's a film so bad it's great.  As a comedy, this movie receives a 2.5/4, but as a general movie, it gets a 1.5/4.

From Dusk Till Dawn

One of the lesser known films of the "modern day Orson Welles" Quentin Tarantino, his mid 90s flick From Dusk Till Dawn is one of his most enjoyable films yet.  Despite it being directed by Sin City filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, it really has that Tarantino-esque feeling to it.  You will not be disappointed watching this horror classic.

Brothers Seth (George Clooney) and Richard (Tarantino) are two fugitives escaping from a robbery at a convenience store in Texas.  They meet up with a family (the father being a memorable Harvey Keitel) and make them unwillingly assist the brothers in getting to Mexico.  After crossing the border, the family takes them to bar which is the rendezvous point (a common Tarantino cliché) open from dusk 'till dawn, but it turns out to be a bar nobody ever expected.

From the exciting well-written first scene at the robbery, to the divine performances of the leads, this film keeps you at the edge of your seat throughout each minute.  The pacing never slows down, and the action is superbly done.  By far the most fine performance, however, is Clooney, being funny, sympathetic, and downright breathtaking.

What makes this film best is its screenplay, the thing that made two of Tarantino's other films, Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, such classics of their own.  As Gene Siskel had stated for Pulp Fiction, what makes it so wonderful is that you realize that all of the small-talk that is done in the movie is deliberately scripted, and I think the same can be applied for this film as well.

Overall, this movie is great.  It surely isn't Tarantino's best work.  Nevertheless, it does stand out as a very good film of his and one of the best horror films of the 90s.  The amount of entertainment provided in From Dusk Till Dawn is through the roof, and stands out amongst other films, even nowadays.  Without any regret, this film proudly receives a 3/4.

Horror Movies You Should Not Watch: Gothika

After an actor or actress wins an Oscar, it is very common that their career heads even more successful.  From all the back with Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn, to Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro, all the way up to now with Kevin Spacey and Sean Penn - all of these people are actors who have won at least two Oscars and have had successful careers following them.  Halle Berry, however, doesn't, despite winning one Award.

Berry stars in a modern blockbuster horror film, in which she plays a psychologist named Miranda Grey who wakes up in the exact asylum she has worked at.  The doctors tell her she is accused of murder, however she doesn't recall anything happening.  As she tries to regain her memory, a spirit mentally torments her, frequently reading the phrase, "not alone."

 There is no other way to describe this film besides saying that it is absolutely boring.  Any scene without build-up is just atrocious, and scenes with "fake-scares" (a cliché I completely despise) make me cringe.  Berry's performance wasn't that memorable.  Most of it consisted of ugly hallucinations or screaming, which becomes monotonous very quickly.

Fortunately, Robert Downey, Jr. gives a solid supporting performance as the lead doctor, Pete Graham.  He doesn't have as much screen-time as you'd assume as he is second-billed, but when he's on screen Downey impresses me.

As I stated earlier, this film is just plain boring.  The visual effects are weak, the ensemble of the cast is subpar, and is not worth the 98 minutes.  Made in 2003, many critics could see that immediately Berry's career would decline and it seems up to today that still is true.  I feel nothing but pity for anyone who appreciates this film as it receives a 1.5/4.  Lesson of the day:  creepy doesn't mean good.