johnmartindj Reviews

Gotti (2018)

NOBODY GOTTI WATCH THIS TRAINWRECK

[3/10 · 8 October 2018]

This movie was unwatchable. John Travolta's overacting was embarrassing. I couldn't stand it.

Long Shot (2017 TV Movie)

LONG SHOT is spot on

[8/10 · 16 August 2018]

Possibly the best short film I have seen in years. Exciting, suspenseful, quick paced, full of stars, villains, energy. Everything you would want from a thriller. I think everyone who has any interest in justice, criminal or otherwise would be satisfied by this 40 minute thrill ride.

Christine (2016)

Music from the movie

[7/10 · 28 March 2017]

I really enjoyed the 70's soundtrack but found some things disturbing. Some of the songs were beautifully interwoven like "Annie's Song," "Please Come to Boston" and "Rock Your Baby" while other 60's songs were distracting to the feel and style of the movie. The biggest mistake was the song "I'm Leaving It All Up to You" which was a big hit in 1974, the year the movie is set, by Donny and Marie Osmond but instead of using that track the director dug up an old album version by Sonny and Cher from 1966. It was very distracting and the kind of goof that is not necessary if they would have done the smallest research. Otherwise, the cars, computers and clothes were very 70's and helped to set the scene. The Mary Tyler Moore theme was a great addition and I did not find it distracting that they used the lyrics that were changed a few years later. The background news coverage of the Watergate hearings was eerie and set the tone. A very stylish, dark and meaningful piece of art. As a child of that era, I found the film educational and entertaining. Must see.

A Stand Up Guy (2016)

Worse than I could have expected

[2/10 · 11 July 2016]

I have seen many great films that have gotten rotten reviews and this one didn't have many expectations but I thought it might be off beat and funny in some sense. I was shocked that it was worse than my lowest expectations. The main character is not cute, funny, charming, smart or funny (did I already say not funny?). He is supposed to be a stand up comedienne and yet his act sucks. He makes fun on members of the audience and the act is disturbing and uncomfortable. The love interest is laughable but only because they have no charisma together and there is no way to believe she would be involved with such a loser. None of his friends are funny, none of her friends are funny especially her brother who tried so very hard to be funny and failed. Terrible script, terrible directing, terrible film. A couple of nice moments with his daughter but that isn't the main focus of the film because the director shined the light in all the wrong places.

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013)

A man with the prescience of a Prophet I can prove it

[27 February 2016]

I can prove that watching this movie will convince you that this man had the ability to see the future. To watch his predictions coming true is jaw dropping. There is a great scene with Jerry Brown when he ran against him in the primary for Senate in California. One man in an unemployment office told him he had never seen a politician there before. Gore knew based on the political economic structure, he would not win but said Jerry should drop out take a year off and read and explore himself. Jerry, won the primary, lost the election and took a year off to explore his mind. I mean yoga explore. It's uncanny. The most convincing proof is when Christopher Hitchens, his protégé, proclaimed himself the new Gore, Vidal said, " He's not the new me because I am still here and will be here after he's gone." Gore was in his 80s, Hitchens was in his 50s. Hitchens died 2011, Vidal 2012. Of course he was not a God and had some odd views. He didn't believe in monogamy or long term relationships but had the greatest interview about being Gay. He said the difference between a Homosexual and a Heterosexual is the same as having brown eyes and blue eyes. When asked who says so, he said, "I say so." It is truly enlightening to watch. He sees the rich taking over the government, the economic structure, buying Congress to make sure they make all the money and take all the advantages. He was Bernie Sanders, except back then the top 20% had more wealth than the rest combined. Of course now we call them the 1%. I recommend this movie.

Knute Rockne All American (1940)

There's a reason you only know one line from this movie

[5/10 · 14 September 2014]

I have always wanted to see this movie since there has been so much American hype about winning one for the Gipper. Now I can cross that off my bucket list. This movie has not held up well at all. Maybe in 1940 it was sentimental but now it comes across as maudlin and soapy. I had to listen to that Fighting Irish theme song from start to finish in just about every scene and I couldn't even finish the credits it was so grating. Pat O'Brian does a good job until he starts sounding like James Cagney for no apparent reason and since there have been so many jokes about that accent, it doesn't sound authentic at all and unintentionally humorous (Yeah, see, yeah). The wife had almost no role, neither did any other character including Reagan who only had about 3 scenes and was OK and then forgotten for the rest of the movie. There were so many other great movies that year and this one will forever be seen as average.

Coriolanus (2011)

me thinks thou doth protest too much

[1/10 · 11 June 2012]

I couldn't take more than 33 minutes of this. It was just too boring and unrealistic. Shakespeare wrote for the common people of his day. Now we consider it high brow but I find it totally out of touch with anything from the last 500 years. Trying to update this to a modern setting is unrealistic and doesn't make any sense to me. The characters are all delivering long speeches that will bore even the hard core Sharkespeare fans. To try to make this modern and using the language of the original is laughable. Watching the current citizens of Rome going to the "grain" silo to protest lack of bread and having the SWAT team come out to stop them and proclaiming that thou art thine enemy rings hollow. I'm just glad that I didn't have to sit through it in a theater and waited the two weeks till it came out on DVD.

In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

Excellent

[8/10 · 22 May 2012]

This is a very powerful and important film. I know why there are so many bad reviews. It too hard for people to accept that we have not progressed as a humanity since the Nazis caused the most unbelievable atrocities in this century. Too many reviewers on this site refuse to accept that 50,000 women were raped and ethnic cleansing means killing every living soul one at a time until a final solution is achieved. Everyone should be forced to watch this film. Only through knowledge is there a hope that we will not keep repeating our failures. The story is well told and the characters are real. The Serbs side is told by the father of a sympathetic commander. He has been filled with hatred for Muslims since WW2 killed many of his loved ones and he is out for revenge as all the Serbs are taught to hate. I have seen so many World War 2 movies and we have been taught that it won't happen again and here we see it happening again. It is brutal, painful and real. How could we have allowed this to happen in our lifetime. How could the U.S. have claimed not "to have a dog in this fight?" The cinematography was art, the direction was clear and the acting was heart warming and believable. One reviewer wrote that the cinematography was "too bright" when showing so many rape scenes which would have better shot in the dark. Close your eyes if you want dark, this film is designed to open your eyes and let you see the reality and brutality of war. The goal is to shake you into never supporting war again. It succeeds. I don't care if the director is a famous Hollywood actress or an unknown, she did what she set out to do. Bravo.