Change Your Image
jmurraymeriden
Reviews
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek delivers the goods and then some!
I just saw Star Trek at a local multiplex two nights ago and wanted to comment on it.From the beginning where James T.Kirk is born as his father sacrifices his ship and life to stop the villainous Nero,to Kirk and Spock growing up,tho the battles and climax,this is one hell of a movie and does it's roots proud.The cast is perfect.Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto shine as Kirk and Spock,and Eric Bana is a perfect villain.They are all good,but particular standouts are Karl Urban who is utterly perfect as "Bones" McCoy and Simon Pegg,who is hilarious as Scotty.Kudos also for getting Leonard Nimoy to return as the elder Spock.The special effects are stupendous and Michael Giacchino's score is wonderful. All possible praise must be showered upon director/producer J.J.Abrams and screenwriters/executive producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for honoring and bettering our beloved original Star Trek.A warp-driven 10 out of 10!!!
Black Irish (2007)
A terrific movie with great performances
I'd heard about this movie in an interview Emily Van Camp did at the time she joined the show Sons And Daughters,so when I saw it at my local Hollywood Video store on sale used for $5.99,I decided to pick it up,and boy,am I glad I did! This is a powerful and moving film about the disintegration of an Irish-American family in South Boston.First time director Brad Gann also wrote the screenplay and did a remarkable job.The performances by the actors playing the family are excellent to a one.Brendan Gleeson is magnificent as the Vietnam vet father,whose loss of work and descent into alcohol-fueled despair make him a shadow of the man who was.Melissa Leo as the Irish born mother(her brogue is perfect)clinging to faith and tradition shines.Emily Van Camp is great as the pregnant daughter who decides to go it alone.Tom Guiry shows both love and menace as the thuggish older brother.Michael Angarano,as the center of the film,younger son Cole who has baseball dreams is a revelation.10/10
The Mist (2007)
The Mist:Frank Darabont Totally Rocks!!
After so many disappointing adaptations of Stephen King works,Frank Darabont has shown yet again why he is hands down the best writer and director doing King films.His first two features(he did a great short film The Woman In The Room back in 1983)Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile were both outstanding dramas set in prisons,although Green Mile had supernatural elements. I wondered what Frank would do with a full throttle King horror story.Well,he hit it right out of the park! The Mist has been a favorite story of mine since Dark Forces in 1981.Mr Darabont give us as well-scripted and directed an adaptation as we could want.The performances are all solid.The standouts are Thomas Jane as David Drayton,Toby Jones as Ollie ,and of course Marcia Gay Harden,in a terrifying and Oscar worthy turn as the fanatical Mrs Carmody.
The creatures are like things from a nightmare by way of an acid trip,and are really scary.Good work with CGI and makeup effects. The ending is downbeat but chilling and effective. This is one of the best horror film's I've seen in years!! BIG 10 out of 10!!
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
a harrowing portrayal of the struggle for Irish independence and the subsequent Civil War
The Wind That Shakes The Barley is a riveting and harrowing depiction of the struggle for Irish independence and the subsequent Civil War.It starts with Damien O'Donovan,on his way to England to be a doctor,witnessing the abuse of a train driver by British soldiers.This compels him to join his older brother Teddy in the IRA.Cillian Murphy delivers a tremendous,mesmerizing performance as Damien who first fights with his brother then against him as Teddy joins the free state army.Padraic Delaney is very good as Teddy,as are Orla Fitzgerald as Sinead,Damien's girlfriend,who endures some awful abuse at the hands of the Black And Tans,and Liam Cunningham as Dan,the train driver who also joins Damien and Teddy's IRA unit.The depiction of what the men have to endure and what they have to do is to-the-bone harrowing.This film has tremendous personal resonance for me as my own grandfather served in the IRA in Cork at the same time period depicted herein.As an American of proud Irish lineage and a student of Irish history this is one of the finest films I've seen and one of the few to show the Civil War.