#96 (2007): Do the Right Thing

M: Ugh. Overdone, exaggerated film that ostensibly focuses on the outcry of the black community stuck in the struggle of racial judgment. I’m sure there was a message in this movie somewhere but was lost in manic dialogue, no flow in the storyline, and wildly overemphasized characters. The opening credits alone, with Rosie Perez angrily gyrating to a purpose unknown to me and unrelated to the movie, makes me hate this movie. Every one of Lee’s films I’ve seen all have this same, overwrought, unrealistic feel with the exception of Malcolm X, only because that was a true story and [fortunately] not from the mind of Lee. Spike Lee needs to take copious notes from John Singleton’s Boyz in the Hood, a powerful film about racial struggles.

M's Rating:






J: I enjoyed this Spike Lee joint a lot more than my movie-watching buddy up there. It was really funny, at least in the beginning. The characters had fun names like Radio Raheem and Coconut Sid. Also, it was an all-star cast of, "hey, that's so-and-so from [insert show here]", like Gus from Breaking Bad,Commissioner Burrell from The Wire, Martin from Martin, and Ossie Davis from everything. When it turns into a drama at the end, it really makes you think. Or, at least, it really made me think. Neither Radio Raheem nor Sal got what they deserved, and the cops definitely didn't do the right thing (zing!), but what about everyone else? I don't know. Plus, I'm sure my race influences my opinion. Anyway, I'd watch this again. It was quirky and weird and thought-provoking.

J's rating:





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#96 (1998): The Searchers

M: Didn’t care for it. I’m already not a fan of John Wayne, but piled on top of that is a long movie that gives no clear timeline of events. The film moves as if days or months are passing and it turns out to be years. Wayne plays a Civil War veteran (the confederate side…how’d that work out?). After a run-in with Indians, his niece is taken captive and Wayne takes on the long pursuit of rescuing her, his general hatred of Indians growing in the process.

M's rating:






J: Boooooooooooo! I had to watch this movie in college and I hated it. Maybe I'd like it more a decade later? As it turns out, no, no I would not. So far, the only movies we've watched that I've disliked have been Westerns. I'm not completely Western-averse. I liked the new True Grit. I remember enjoying The Quick and the Dead, but that was at the height of my DiCaprio-mania; I'm pretty sure that's actually a terrible movie. Anyway, I don't like this movie even a little bit. At least Charlie was a source of amusement, but I'm not sure if he was supposed to be slow. The only good thing about a second viewing of this movie is that at least this time I didn't have to write an essay about it. John Ford owes me four hours of my life back!

J's rating:






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#97 (2007): Blade Runner

Note: We actually watched this movie last year, but we're a little late on posting.

M: This is a classic film for me I’ve seen a dozen times. A futuristic L.A. overrun by industry. Blade Runners are the cops of artificial life forms called Replicants created to work in off-world colonies. When those replicants go rogue, Blade Runners are called in to “retire” the them. A Band of replicants escape with the intent to find their creator and get more life, because they are created with a 4-year lifespan and their time is running out. Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner forced out of retirement to track down the escaped replicants and retire them, but finds conflict when he acquires an unlikely love interest.

M's rating:





J: I thought this was going to be a fun action-adventure type Indiana Jones or Star Wars, but it was more sci-fi drama. Not really my thing, but I do like movies that take place in some kind of dystopian future. Of all the movies we've watched so far, it was probably my second-least favorite (after Unforgiven). Also, I wish I had done this write-up earlier so I had more to say about the movie. I guess it was just okay for me. We need a third mask, Comedy, Tragedy, Indifference. This would get an Indifference mask. But since I didn't spend the entire time wishing it would end, I'll put it on the positive side.

J's rating:





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