Risky Business By Elyse Lightner

Sometimes  saying “what the fuck” just won’t cut it.
Talk about the ethical egoist of the decade. Tom cruise starts his binge of selfish acts by cranking up the sound system and dancing around the house to Bob Seger (without pants) after his father had just told him not to mess with the speaker system. Next, he doesn’t object when his friend calls a hooker to his house; when (s)he isn’t good enough, he calls another one to do nothing other than please himself. He tips off the evening by taking the Porsche out after his father specifically ordered him not to.
Of course, not all can go well: the hooker he ordered stole his mothers prized egg, the Porsche falls into Lake Michigan, and a pimp stole all of the living room furniture.
To save his own butt, Tom cruise devises a plan to get out of trouble. He decides to start his own “business” by throwing a party for all of his geeky, young friends with available hookers lingering around. Tom makes a cut of everything the hookers bring in for the evening and with the money, miraculously affords to buy back all the missing furniture, egg, and fix the car. Along the way he finds himself accepted to Princeton University.
Tom cruise admits to “helping is friends out” solely for the purpose of saving himself from getting yelled at and forever being indebted to his parents.
Somehow he pulls it off. If only being an ethical egoist were this easy for everyone.
 Check out this trend started by tom cruise in this film. www.rayban.com
www.movie-gazette.com/cinereviews/688  And this movie review!

Romancing the Stone By Elyse Lightner

The lighting in the film makes the movie work. Firstly, the lighting directs the mood of the film. There are many suspenseful parts in Colombia that the director could choose to make very scary but instead chooses to make the movie humorous; this sense of humor is achieved by filming in the light and poking fun at the little mishaps along the way. Secondly, the movie is an adventure film and in order to see Joan Wilder’s expedition, the camera must shoot in the daytime.
 
See more about the Colombian adventure: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/co.html
 
Music also contributes a great deal to the mood of the film. When Joan nearly falls through the swinging bridge, trumpets sound as if to poke fun at her clumsiness rather than build on the fall to create suspense. The same occurs when Michael Douglas is held at gunpoint as he is being searched, a little tune carries on in the background suggesting a lighter undertone than what the scene could be made out to be which is suspenseful and terrifying. Once again, the director took a lighter approach to make matters funny as opposed to making tension.

 
Characterization in the film is excellent as well at typical 80's. Danny DeVito plays the bad guy in the film as he usually does; he’s a man with Napoleon complex. There is a studly hero played by Michael Douglas and a helpless woman that needs rescuing played by Kathleen Turner. In the end, typically and in this movie, the handsome man comes back after rescuing the damsel for true love.

Troop Beverly Hills By Elyse Lightner

Troop Beverly Hills 1989
I grew up selling cookies from door to door as a Girl Scout but my leader didn’t live in Beverly Hills, nor did she have a mansion, but we did camp out in the wilderness unlike the girls in this film who camp out in the Great Room of their Beverly Hills estates. To be honest though, I would have preferred the Beverly Hills way instead. After all they do learn a very valuable lesson and they do it in style. Being from a wealthy neighborhood, the other troops don’t give full credit to the troop; they assume that when it comes time to sell cookies, the girls’ parents will just buy all the cookies that they need to sell and their job is over, well not this year, not with Shelly Long as the leader. Just to prove that their troop is as good as any other, the girls order a huge amount of cookies and promise to sell them honestly. As in all 80s films, the girls pull it off and the ending is perfect and happy.

There is one ethical issue brought up in the film and that is the idea of using the scouts as a means to Shelly Long’s end. She goes through a divorce, as the divorce rate was increasing rapidly in the late 80s, and to prove to her husband that she is competent and not only good at shopping and spending, she takes on the duty of troop leader. While she does a fine job, her intentions aren’t to teach the girls life lessons but rather to amend her own broken marriage.
This childhood favorite didn’t turn out to be as sweet and innocent as I had expected.
Here is a peek at the list of characters and a story summary.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098519/

Full Metal Jacket

This film is one of the great films about intense basic training of young recruits in the army. The title, while perhaps not a perfect match for the story, is very fitting for this film. The full metal jacket supports not only the military aspect involved (a full supply list,) but also a metaphor for the fully equipt and fully prepared soldier...Prepared, of course, thanks to Sgt. Hartman's (Lee Ermey) zealous and undeniably painful formula of training. The question is not whether or not his training is efficient, it is about the manner in which these young boys become brute American soldiers.

It's funny! It's really funny. Sgt. Hartman is terribly tough on the young recruits, deriding and humiliating each one on a regular basis. His way with harsh words is actually quite amusing. The harsh structure pays a tole on all the soldiers, turning them into the most disciplined men...except for Private Pyle, who endures the impossible experience only to lose his mind with a dangerous rifle.

I like this film, up until it changes direction entirely. This is about US marines all the way from training to the dangerous streets of Vietnam in 1968. The problem is this: the majority of the film is about training and tough Sgt. Hartman's program. The focus of the film quickly turns to Pvt. Joker, a seemingly minor character from training. After the training is over and the soldiers experience war first hand, it feels like the film drags. I truly believe the film would have more success if it focused only on basic training, and Hartman's murder marked the resolution.

Clint Eastwood's Heartbreak Ridge

One of the five 80's films I watched over the past two nights is "Heartbreak Ridge," produced and directed by Clint Eastwood. Eastwood plays a hard, old American marine named Sgt. Tom "Gunny" Highway. He is on the brink of retirement, pressed by his colleagues, but ignores the notion, and takes responsibilty of a no-good recon unit. Despite the indignity of the job, Gunny’s experiences with his unit, along with the featured love life, aid in his character development. Dynamic character development is interesting to examine in this film. However, combat scenes are week, and the majority of the scenes with the unit are a bit dull. More could be expected from the action sequences. Gunny's situation is intiguing but his character, overall, is a few steps above boring. The way Gunny's emotions are so well hidden does not put him in a position to be a strong main character, and Eastwood's subpar performance does little for me (although he is indeed a powerful actor.)

Members of the unit ultimately insists on proving themselves to their Sergeant. The unit is well represented by Gunny, and Eastwood's typical tough guy persona empowers the group. The only feelings that are expressed by Gunny seem to be evident in his ordeal with his ex wife. To win her love, Gunny must successfully balance his Marine lifestyle with time spent with her. Adapting and improvising is a big lesson he teaches, and a big theme of the film. The skills he teaches his men uniquely relate to his life.

The film was alright, nothing special. If you're a huge Eastwood fan, this is a perfect film for you. There are some funny scenes here and there as well, and Clint fires some sharp, straight-faced, wit that I really enjoy.

This is Spinal Tap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Spinal Tap" is such a classic comedy, actually Rob Reiner (he is actually called Marty Dibergi in the film, and yes he acts!) likes to call it a "rockumentary." And "Spinal Tap" is actually the name of the dim-witted British band that takes place in the movie. This movie is so great because it blatantly mocks the 80s metal hair band movement that took place; it really makes it look retarded, and it is uproarious! Some of the jokes are songs named "Lick my love pump" or when Marty personally interviews the guitarist and asks why they should not have just made the sound system go up to 10 (instead of how it went up to eleven) and why they could not just make ten louder, the guitarist answers, "yes, but this goes up to eleven"! I definitely have to mention the part where the band gets lost backstage, as they are trying to get to the stage, and they repeatedly come to some place backstage and yell, “Helloooo Cleveland!” It is stupid little jokes that make this movie great, and the Stonehenge part makes me laugh even thinking about it! (To fill you in, the band orders a Stonehenge background piece for one of their scenes, and it turns out to be two feet tall! So they are playing a song about Stonehenge and going back in time to a Stonehenge monument where the midgets are bigger than it) Anyway, you can't help but laugh at all the goofy things in this movie!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088258/

Mississippi Burning (1988)

“1964. When America was at war with itself.”

Gene Hackman and William Defoe star in this intense and very powerful ethical movie. It is set in the racially tense era of the sixties in Mississippi, where the town is largely prejudiced against African Americans. A cold-hearted murder sets the tone for this movie, as FBI Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) and Agent Alan Ward (William Defoe) investigate and get to the dirty truth of this. It is very interesting because Rupert and Alan are like complete opposites, and so are the many views of the town. It is horrible to see this hate between black and white in the movie. I felt very uneasy at times because this movie does not hold back and shows many heartless murders and crimes. You can really feel the emotions of the people who have been hurt in the movie because the movie really displays the horrors of the result of the hate that went on. You really do see this as there is scenes of a black man being hung, people being beaten after leaving a church, and the often occurrence of bricks that are thrown through windows. Other than that, I do have to add that I cannot stand Gene Hackman’s southern accent in the movie, because it is so put on and fake! But other than Gene’s horrible rendition of a southern person, the acting is definitely top notch because you can feel the intensity in the movie. Overall, the movie is very powerful and makes you thankful that you were not in this place of injustice and hate.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095647/

The Shinning

I personally didn’t really like the Shinning

I know this is supposed to be some all-time classic movie, but I think I was just expecting too much when I saw it. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the movie was scary, but I was expecting to be experiencing ass clenching terror, which I simply did not get. I find the movie is creepier than it is scary. The movie is creepy because it holds the thought that these kinds of things can happen to anyone. When it all started, Jack had his problems, this is true, but he was still a regular guy like the rest of us. The scary thing is that he just went insane, and that can happen to anyone, so that’s why the movie is scary.

Although I didn’t like the movie very much, I think Jack Nicholson was superb in this movie. Yet again he delivers a mesmerizing performance. He is so convincing in every roll he plays, and the sting of his smile is an image that is pretty hard to erase.

Danny Lloyd, the boy who played Danny, was also an amazing actor for his age. He was really cute, but also had a wounderful way of making you want to help him. He was so believable the whole time, and I thought his acting was great. I find it so surprising that someone that young can do such a good job at acting. He must have really known a lot for his age.

Shelly Duvall is a very good actress, and it is not her fault that the wife in the movie has such an annoying role, but I cannot help but hate her in this movie. I find her so annoying at all times. Everything about her annoys me. Her clothes, the way she talks, the way she wont run away, the way she wimpers. EVERYTHING. She is a very good acress though, and I dont think it is her fault that she was annoying, becuase the role of her charactor was supposed to be an annoying lady anyway, so she portrayed it well.



On a side note, I also find it really creepy that Jack and Danny both have the same name's in real life.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

The movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is basically a mystery about cartoons running around the Warner brother’s studio. There is a murder and Roger Rabbit is said to be the killer. The cartoons hire a detective to solve the case, but the detective is a human. He finds himself caught up in this cartoon world, trying to solve a cartoon mystery.

I really liked watching this movie because it reminded me a lot of Space Jam. I like movies like this that involve humans in cartoon worlds because it makes it seem like cartoon worlds really do exist, and brings that whole childhood fantasy to life. I also like movies like this because they are pretty uncommon. You don’t see too many movies that mix cartoons and people together. The thought of cartoons just being actors, and walking around in the real world, and real life is such a fun idea, it reminds you of being a child. You can say the same about watching a person traveling through a cartoon world, like many of the scenes show. That is equally as fun to see, it is fun to imagine that cartoon worlds really do exist.

Kathleen Turner as the voice of Jessica is wounderful. The animation done by Dean Cundey is also superb, but Brantley has a perfect way of making her voice sexy and mysterious. It fits perfectly for Jessica's sexy sultry charactor.

Bob Hoskens was good in the film in the fact that he interacted well with the cartoon charactor's. I immagine it is probably hard to have coversations with people who aren't really there, so he pulled that off well, but other than that I dont think his acting was anything special to be honest.

Overall I reccomend this movie and I liked it alot.

The Fox and the Hound

The fox and the hound is one of the sweetest movies I have ever seen. I loved this movie when I was a kid. I remember it always being one of my favorite Disney movies.

The two grow up together as best friends. Little do they know, they are actuallyThe movie is about a baby fox that gets found and rescued by a woman. The woman raises the fox as her pet, and names him Tod. Tod soon meets his neighbor Copper, a puppy basset hound. supposed to be enemies, because Copper is a hunting dog, and Tod is his kind of prey.

As the two grow older, they start to realize the tensions between the two of them. The movie is sad because the friendship gets torn apart when Copper is forced to hunt Tod. Tod is taken to a place game preserve, and eventually when Copper is hunting he finds Tod. He is going to get him, but they realize that friendship is strongest in the end, and he lets him go.

This relates a lot to the time period of the 80's due to racial tensions and other types of things.

I love this movie, even though it is a cartoon, it is one for all ages. It is so cute, but it also has a really meaningful message, that friendship is what’s really important, and that we should be able to see past our differences and be friends with all kinds of people.