MovieSorter

loading Title loading Tws summary ▲ loading Trust loading Year Viewable
Alpha Dog
Very Good 66 Points 2006

Suburban drug running goes tragically awry in this fictionalized account of a real Southern California murder. Nearly as alarming as the 2000 murder is the callow nihilism of the SoCal teens and twentysomethings involved with it. Living in comfort, they admire the gangsta doggs celebrated on MT…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Justin Timberlake: Dude can act.
Brick
Very Good 66 Points 2005

What we have here is a hard-boiled High School movie. Students in and around an underground drug ring allow Brick to revel in deceit and ironic detachment. Rian Johnson’s first movie then leavens itself through Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s romantic heroism.

So what if JGL is mid-twenties posing …

Full Review »
WikChip Image Richly Romantic: JGL & Nora Zehetner
Pi
Very Good 94 Points 1998

The brilliant Darren Aronofsky got his start with Pi, a low budget thriller about a math genius who holds the key to success for two secretive groups. The movie starts off wonderfully disturbing, later depicting a severe psychotic incident that’s not so wonderful, that’s very disturbing actual…

Full Review »
WikChip Video Samia Shoaib should be a star.
Gods and Generals
Very Good 83 Points 2003

The battles of 1st Bull Run, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville get brought to terribly glorious life in this opening salvo of a planned Civil War trilogy. Funded by a son of the South, Gods and Generals focuses on sympathetic Confederate heroes Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. It could …

Full Review »
WikChip Video One of the signal moments in US history.
2 Replies
  • BrianSez – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2728-go...
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2728-go...
Revolutionary Road
Very Good 83 Points 2008

A smug couple fights spectacularly over their narcissistic disappointments, with their immature worldview presented as the final word on family-centered suburban existence. Melodramatic, occasionally quite funny, flawlessly performed, supremely well made, Rev. Road is worth seeing if family tr…

Full Review »
WikChip Image The classic novel behind the movie.
2 Replies
  • BrianSez – Yeah - maybe I was a bit liberal with that acting. M...
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2707-re...
Gettysburg
Very Good 83 Points 1993

The Civil War’s decisive battle can get extensively aired over nearly 4½ hours, and does in Gettysburg. The real battle lasted three days in July of 1863, say 36 hours actually fighting. The movie covers fully an eighth of that. Stamina is required, a long plane ride ideal.

Consider it a …

Full Review »
WikChip Image Hell saved the Exceptional Nation.
1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Blood Work
Very Good 66 Points 2002

Prime Clint, the reluctant avenging hero, forced here to battle a faulty heart and a cleverly playful serial killer. This understated classic proves that even Eastwood’s minor movies tend to be tautly paced, cleverly constructed and richly satisfying.

The clever construction comes from the co…

Full Review »
WikChip Image Wanda De Jesus: Clint loves strong wo...
Hud
Very Good 66 Points 1963

Paul Newman wanted to be bad and got his wish with Hud. He plays a charismatic asshole, a user and abuser whose evil becomes increasingly evident as the movie rolls along. Three Oscars came in its wake, though King Cool himself had to be satisfied with just a nomination. Think Hud would’ve s…

Full Review »
WikChip Image His unwanted attention brought her an...
The Road
Very Good 92 Points 2009

Think of this de facto zombie movie as No Country for Little Boys: a surreally grim milieu through which a dauntless Father must shepherd his pure-hearted Son. Such a nihilistic extravaganza creates ample opportunities for life lessons of the most extreme sort. The result is gripping, though …

Full Review »
WikChip Image Dauntless Paternal Love
6 Replies
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2881-th...
  • Wick – Nope, don't think I'm gonna see Lovely Bones. Howev...
  • MJ5K – Regarding "Wick's Review":/movie_reviews/2105-the-ro...
  • Wick – Regarding "Wick's Review":/movie_reviews/2105-the-ro...
Observe and Report
Very Good 73 Points 2009

40% LOL, 50% hide the women and children. Make that 80% hide the innocents, yet still 40% LOL, more than enough funny to get the job done. Yes, it’s spectacularly mean, violently so, but it’s no more cruelly subversive than was Borat. (Oh great. Now Borat

Full Review »
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "Spaceghost's Review":/movie_reviews/1819-...