Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Number Rolled: 37

Movie Name/Year: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 104 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Kevin Smith

Writer: Kevin Smith

Actors: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, Carrie Fisher, Ali Larter, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Jeff Anderson, Will Ferrell, Judd Nelson, Brian O’Halloran, Seann William Scott, Jon Stewart, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Jamie Kennedy, Wes Craven, Shannen Doherty, Mark Hamill, Amy Noble, Ever Carradine, Joey Lauren Adams, Alanis Morissette, James Van Der Beek, Jason Biggs, Matt Damon, Scott Mosier

Ok, before I start this review I must remind you all that I fucking love Kevin Smith. He’s on my list. Of course, the one chance I had to talk to the guy I choked like the chicken of a perma-virgin. That being said, I can move on with the review.

From a movie point of view… this movie sucks. If you know and love all the other Jay and Silent Bob storyline movies, then you can watch this one and laugh all the way through. However, if it’s the first movie you see of Kevin Smiths, you wind up staring at the screen like an idiot wondering what monkey wrote the script.

The movie is one long reference to Kevin Smith’s better movies. You get Dante’s “I’m not even supposed to be here today.”  Brody’s chocolate covered pretzels and Holden’s Bluntman and Chronic. The late, great, George Carlin’s cameo is reason enough to watch the movie.

My advice is, if you want to see this movie, watch the other movies from the storyline first. Those are: “Clerks,” “Mallrats,” and “Chasing Amy.”

To be fair, there is a silly slapstick quality to the movie that Will Ferrell fans will enjoy – especially seeing as he’s in the movie. Personally, I hate Will Ferrell. I think he’s a waste of film reel. Someone could shit on a camera lens and it would be considered better acting than anything I’ve seen of his. But, hey, to each his own.

So yeah, Kevin Smith, if you happen to ever stumble across this blog and see this particular entry which, knowing my luck, it’s probably the only one you’d ever see. Don’t hold it against me. I love your movies and you are so on my “to do” list forever!

Overall Opinion – 3/5

The Craft (1996)

Number Rolled: 68

Movie Name/Year: The Craft (1996)

Genre: Teen Scream, Supernatural Horror, Horror

Length: 100 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Andrew Fleming

Writer: Peter Filardi, Andrew Fleming

Actors: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True, Christine Taylor, Skeet Ulrich, Assumpta Serna, Cliff De Young, Breckin Meyer, Nathaniel Marston, Helen Shaver, Jeanine Jackson, Brenda Strong

I remember loving this movie when it came out. I was in Junior High School, I hated just about everyone and everything and I felt like I had nowhere to fit in. So when this movie came out, I clung to it like a security blanket. I didn’t know of anyone at my age, at that time, who didn’t at least like the movie a bit. I understand the basic psychology behind it, and watching it again, now, it still gives me the warm and fuzzies as my first horror movie – but I saw it in a different light this time.

Considering the time frame of when the movie came out, the script and plot is actually pretty original (by our time, not so much, but keep in mind this move was made over a decade ago). Along with that, Fairuza Balk plays insanity like no one else possibly can. I’d love to be able to say the rest of this review goes down this same road, but I can’t.

Neve Campbell has a couple of believable moments, but otherwise wound up completely overshadowed (like Rachel True) by just about anyone in the cast. Even people who only see minor screen time like Skeet Ulrich or Brenda Strong. Robin Tunney, the lead in this particular movie, was horrible. The start of the movie comes in, she seems to be a strong actress and then it’s like she got bored or distracted or something because she lost it. Then the last three minutes of the movie come along and she’s strong again. I don’t know what happened to that strength. Maybe she’s just not cut out for horror flicks.

Regardless of the acting snafus, I still believe this is a movie worth seeing at least once.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

Personal Effects (2009)

Number Rolled: 13

Movie Name/Year: Personal Effects (2009)

Genre: Crime Drama

Length: 110 minutes

Rating: R

Director: David Hollander

Writer: David Hollander. Rick Moody

Actors: Michelle Pfeiffer, Ashton Kutcher, Kathy Bates, Mary Black, Spencer Hudson, John Mann, Rob LaBelle, Sarah Lind, Aleks Paunovic, Kyle Toy, David Lewis, Brian Markinson, Alissa Skovbye, Dean Wray, Brock Johnson

This movie was terrifically horrible from the first moments. There are a few moments of personal triumph throughout the film, but mostly it’s just the main characters crash into hell.

Now-a-days we’re used to seeing movies and TV shows about death. It’s everywhere. CSI, NCIS, Bones, Law and Order, etc. Sometimes we get to see a little bit of the lives of the family a murder victim leaves behind, but the plot always really circles around the victim or killer. This movie took a different viewpoint of murder. The plot was based around a realistic view of the lives of families that survive a murder victim. The trials, trying to move on, even dealing with support groups and verdicts.

There’s a romantic line woven in between the main character and an older woman in the group. I enjoy some romantic storylines, but so far you’ve mostly read about ones that I thought were unnecessary. This movie, however, utilized the love plot to further the storyline significantly. It was important to the film, but didn’t suck it up and become a sappy piece of bullshit – as drama’s can be prone to do.

My only issue with this movie was some slight redundancies. A few things in the beginning were told instead of shown and were told in such a manner that I was worried I was going to have to sit through two hours of someone telling me the same thing over and over again. It corrected itself though, and I found myself very impressed. Just don’t make the same mistake as me. Don’t watch it right before bed. It’s VERY depressing.

Overall Opinion – 4.5/5