JagsFanJay Reviews

August Underground (2001 Video)

Terrible, amateurish and plot less

[1/10 · 12 December 2007]

All I kept reading is how this was a must see film so I had to see it. Ugh! I wished I wouldn't have. This looks like super demented high school production. This movie is completely plot less. There is nothing that even comes close to comparing it to a film. It simply follows two mental cases as they torture women. Along they way you get to see them spend long periods of time riding in a car, frolicking in a field and attending a concert by a crappy band while carrying on inane conversations. It is all captured on a hand held camera that is so wobbly and shaky that I got motion sickness.

The movie isn't so much sick as in the special effects were so good the gore was realistic, no way. In fact, there really wasn't any gore at all. What the movie did show was so much rage and violence that I felt dirty, just watching it. I wanted to wash my eyeballs after watching it. I'm probably on some government watch list now and I can't blame the CIA for having one. If I knew what this movie really was, I never would have rented it. It was beyond terrible.

Zodiac (2007)

Was I the only one????

[7/10 · 27 August 2007]

I found this movie a little troubling because by the end, they still couldn't figure this thing out, when the answer was right there all along. I couldn't be the only one that saw this, but the movie acts as though it never happened. Let me explain...

When Robert Graysmith goes to meet with Bob Vaughn, he discovers that Vaughn was in fact the one who wrote the movie poster whose printing matched that of the letters send by the Zodiac to the newspaper. Vaughn then goes on to say that the Zodiac symbol could be the mark that is on the front of movie reels. He then leads him down to the basement where there are files and files of films and lots of things in storage.

While Graysmith and Vaughn are in the basement, Graysmith hears someone upstairs, but Vaughn insist there is no one there. Later in the movie, everything again appears to revert back to Arthur Leigh Allen as the prime suspect as he was identified by a surviving victim as the shooter in the first murder.

Does everyone see it now? There were actually two Zodiac Killers. Vaughn and Allen were working together. That is why Allen's writing samples didn't match the writing samples on the letters, because they were actually written by Vaughn. The two could have worked together to commit the murders or at the very least, Allen committed the murders while Vaughn wrote the letters.

It was so obvious to me, but I wonder why the film just kind of blew off the entire Vaughn/Graysmith scene as though it never happened. Was Graysmith just too blind to see the obvious or did the notion of two serial killers just seem to outlandish to consider? We now know such a thing is rare, but it does happen as was the case with serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. These two maniacs were homosexual lovers and confessed to the murders of over a hundred people between them, although many were unsubstantiated. Never the less, they were convicted of many murders and remain two of the most notorious serial killers in American history.

Could Graysmith and Allen have had such a partnership? Why wasn't this idea even discussed in the movie? It was like Vaughn was considered as a suspect even though his handwriting was the closest match to the Zodiac letters. Could anyone help me out here?

Oldboy (2003)

More people need to see this film!

[10/10 · 15 August 2007]

In an age of American cinema where our biggest blockbusters are based on films already successful overseas, this is one movie that needs to be seen by more American movie goers. This is the movie that got me hooked on Asian revenge films. Oldboy is an original movie that shows what happens when a man's freedom is taken away and he doesn't know why, or by whom. He is sudden thrust back into society where he must track down the person that took away his freedom. Along the way come multiple plot twist and surprises that you just don't see coming.

It's a shame so many American film goers refuse to see foreign films, because this movie is genius. Who knows, maybe someday the movie will get remade for audiences here in the U.S. and the main character will be played by Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis. If you want to stay true to the Asian vision, I even think Jackie Chan could be a candidate.

The Incredibles (2004)

Greatest Animated Movie Ever

[10/10 · 15 August 2007]

This is without a doubt the best animated movie I have ever seen and has the distinction of being the only animated film in my top 25 movies of all time. The reason I like this movie because unlike other animated films of this current generation, it isn't preachy, there is no symbolism like in "Finding Nemo" where Nemo's underdeveloped fin makes the entire film about overcoming his handicap and proving to his father that he is just like everyone else. Kids and adults alike watch these types of movies as an escape. They want to have a good time without being bombarded with "life lessons". The Incredibles is exactly that, a good time. It's not a movie directed strictly at kids either. Adults can enjoy this just as much as any child. The animation is great, the story is amazing and the action is non stop. If you only see one animated movie in your lifetime, this is the one. I hope they make a sequel.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

What????

[1/10 · 15 August 2007]

I truly don't understand why so many people hold this piece of crap in such high regard. I think the premise of the film is o.k. and there is enough material there to really make a quality film, but what was presented, is virtually unwatchable. Here we are shown, what is supposed to be violent street hooligans, but what I saw was wimpy looking, makeup wearing, nerds who dress in matching jumpsuits and sing show tunes while committing violent acts. What am I missing?

For me to admire such a piece of art, I would have to find this believable and I certainly don't. Even if I were tripping on acid, I wouldn't find this movie believable or enjoyable.

Se7en (1995)

Excellent piece of film making

[10/10 · 15 August 2007]

This is quite simply one of the best pieces of film making in cinematic history. I watch a lot of horror/serial killer flicks and for the most part, 99% of them all follow the same formula. Se7en on the other hand goes by no script ever presented before. This is a totally original, imaginative and twisted tale that keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire way through. It is quite simply one of the most well written movies I've ever seen and ranks as #3 on my all time favorite movies.

The ending is like nothing I've ever seen before and totally blew my mind. You never see it coming, but it is sheer genius! A true must see, movie.

The Matrix (1999)

God Awful!

[1/10 · 15 August 2007]

I love Sci Fi movies, but sitting through this piece of garbage was just torture! This movie definitely makes my bottom 10 of all time.

The movie was boring, I had no idea what was going on half the time, because I couldn't seem to pay attention. I found this movie uninteresting, hard to follow, unbelievable when I was was able to follow along and the acting left a lot to be desired. If it weren't for the special effects, I believe this movie would have been a total flop because the story was terrible.

This just proves that if you have enough special effects in a movie, that people will watch anything. Needless to say, I won't be watching any sequels to this film. I'd rather have my eyeballs gouged out with salad tongs!

The Sixth Sense (1999)

This movie was all hype and gave me nothing!

[1/10 · 9 September 2006]

This movie is awful. The "surprise ending" is given away in the first scene of the film. By the end, I was screaming "Where's the twist? Everyone told me there was a surprise twist at the end! Where is it?

The movie was oddly shot, too talky and the action was lacking. HJO did give a good performance and Bruce Willis was OK, but when you promise fans a movie based upon a twist at the end, you have to deliver. This movie falls completely off of that mark.

People, If you didn't see this ending coming, you weren't paying attention to the first five minutes of the film. This movie was a complete waste of my time.