Directory
Entertainment
Blog Details for "Maxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog"
Maxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions BlogMaxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions BlogObnoxious and fun independent movie reviews. Blog about movies on TV, DVD and in theatres
Articles:
1, 2
Articles
Bee Movie (2007) PG 90min
2007-11-12 09:15:00 Lovely and funny animated feature for the whole family about a bee who discovers that humans steal honey from bees and decides to sure the Humanity. More About: Comedy , Movies , Animation , Movie , Exploitation
The U.S. vs John Lennon (2006) PG-13 96min
2007-11-12 09:06:00 Documentary written and directed by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld about the part of life of John Lennon when he was more and more separating himself from Beatles and becoming a political peace activist. Yoko Ono also is interviewed in this movie. Lots of archive footage from the Vietnam War era, including footage and photographs ... More About: Black and White , Biographical
Deja Vu (2006) PG-13 128min
2007-11-11 10:21:00 Déjà Vu was directed by Tony Scott, producer and director of such films as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Tristan and Isolde, In Her Shoes, Man on Fire, Big Time, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, True Romance, Top Gun and many many more including TV series NUMB3RS. Produced by Jerry ... More About: Movies , Drama , Action , Denzel Washington , Sci-Fi
Lions For Lambs (2007) R 88min
2007-11-10 08:04:00 Since this movie was most expected movie of the week, considering all the marketing, I was surprised to see that the movie theater on the opening night was half empty. Lions For Lambs is directed by Robert Redford. It’s a movie with three parallel contemporary stories happening at the same time in the span of several hours of a morning. One story is about a progressive UC political science professor, also played by Robert Redford, trying to inspire his talented student Todd (Andrew Garfield) to… visit his classes. Second story is about a congressman (Tom Cruise) who gives one-on-one interview to a news channel reporter (Meryl Streep) about the new strategy in Afghanistan, where two wounded soldiers, former students of the professor mentioned above, who volunteered to go to Afghan If you liked this post, buy me a beer Share This Related reviews and articlesNovember 5, 2007 -- We Own The Night (2007) R 117min (0)November 4, 2007 -- American Gangster (2007) R 157m...
Movies to see this weekend (Nov 9, 2007)
2007-11-09 06:47:00 It’s the time of year for two kinds of movies now: Christmas-themed movies and ones that wish they won an Oscar nomination. Lions for Lambs. A widely advertised political thriller directed by Robert Redford and starring himself, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Michael Pena about how lives of different people (congressman, journalist, an idealistic professor who tries to inspire a student, two wonded soldeirs in Afghanistan) become inter-connected and affect eachother and the rest of the world. You can depend on Redford and Streep to deliver good performances, but will the story be good as well? War/Dance. Limited-release documentary about three children living in refugee camp in Uganda compete in the music and dance festival during that country’s 20-real-long war. Won Best Documentary at Wisconsin Film Festival and Best Documentary Director for Sean Fine and Andrea Nix. No Country for If you liked this post, buy me a beerShare This More About: Movies , Weekend
Films to see on Friday, November 2
2007-11-02 05:54:00 American Gangster (2007) - Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington star in a movie based on the life story of notorious drug-king-pin-turned-informant Frank Lucas. But don’t wait until tomorrow: BET has a same-name special on Wednesdays. Bee Movie (2007) - an animated feature film produced by Steven Spielberg et al about a bee who sued the Human race for stealing the honey from bees. Martian Child (2007) - John Cusack stars in a semi-sci-fi comedy about a fiction writer who forms a relationship with his friend’s adopted child, who claims to be from Mars. Darfur Now (2007) - a documentary starring Don Cheadle and George Clooney about the tragedy in Sudan the follows six individuals and shows how actions of one person may affect lives of millions. If you liked this post, buy me a beerShare This More About: Films , Friday , November
The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection (1919-1931) NR
2007-10-28 02:54:00 A great collection of Harrold Lloyd , the genious of silent comedy, films. They was popular and funny then and they are funny now. Don’t watch them alone - get an audience. If you liked this post, buy me a beerShare This Related reviews and articlesSeptember 18, 2007 -- La Chèvre (1981) (0) More About: Comedy , Harold
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2005-2007) R 16
2007-10-06 10:25:00 A western by Andrew Dominik. Shot in 2005 and after 2 years of editing, finally released in 2007. All locations and time line were meticulously reconstructed. Jesse James (Brad Bitt) is a famous outlaw who committed multiple train and bank robberies with his brother Frank (Sam Shepard) and a bunch of low-lifes like Ford brothers (Casey Afflek and ). He recruited Bob, a 19-year old who was fascinated with Jesse’s figure since he was a little kid and read about him in dime novels. After the last train robbery, Frank James retired, and Jesse wanted to retire too with his family, but could not get rid of Bob, who, like a leach, was always around. Jesse despised him for being a coward, but also was flattered with Bob’s fascination with him. “Do you want to be like me or do you want to be me?”, he asked. Slow with almost useless dialogs in the beginning but redeems itself in the second half with more action, drama and Brad Pitt’s best dramatic role. All ... More About: Robert
The Fall Of Fujimori (2005-2006) NR 83min
2007-10-05 21:10:00 Alberto Fujimori was President of Peru from 1990 to 2000. This documentary by Ellen Perry tells story of his presidency, his popularity and his downfall from president of Peru to an international fugitive, wanted by Interpol for corruption, kidnapping and murder. According to this documentary, the situation in late 80s and up to 1990 in Peru was this: Hyperinflation of 7,600%. Poverty. $1B in cocaine exports. Terrorism responsible for 35,000 deaths. Government was indecisive. Maoist revolutionaries of ”Shining Path” were close to taking power over. Their message was true: “the schools are rundown, you are poor. What has government done for you? Nothing.” In 1990 Fujimori ran for president on a popular platform of fighting terrorism, poverty and corruption, building roads and schools. His policies were mostly defined by his choice of his chief intelligence officer, Vladimiro Montesinos: death squads, executions of “suspected terrorists”. On April... More About: Fall
The Road to Guantanamo (2006) R 95min
2007-10-03 19:54:00 This movie was a big hit in Europe. I was on vacation in Paris at the time it came out in theatres, and every Parisian movie theatre that I passed by was showing it. I have not seen this movie advertised in Prague or Riga: either it hasn’t reached Eastern Europe by then (they download ... More About: Guantanamo , Road , The Road , Namo
La Petite Jérusalem (2005) 96min
2007-10-02 19:20:00 Young and beautiful Laura is a philosophy student and lives with her sister’s family and her mother in Jewish suburb of Paris a.k.a. La Petite Jérusalem, mostly populated by people from North Africa. Laura’s family is from Tunisia. The family is poor, and to make the ends meet she has to work the night shift as a made in school. There she falls in love with her Muslim co-worker from Algiers. At the same time her sister finds out that her husband has an affair, and goes to her spiritual mentor to help her cope and understand the duties of a married woman. This is a beautiful and gentle drama that looks at several issues that are as old as the World itself. The first one is “Romeo and Juliet” story of love across borders of the clans, or religious borders in this case. The second is even older: can people be rational or logical about things like love and god. The third issue is raised by Laura’s professor in her philosophy class: how can people achiev...
Downfall (2004)
2007-09-25 10:12:00 “Der Untergang” is a very realistic Oscar-nominated drama directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel about last days of Hitler told by his stenographer Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara). The details are pretty amazing: from Hitler’s appearance, manner of speech and behavior, to external details like destruction of archives, Hitler Jugend (brainwashed children 12-15 y.o.) still fighting or hoping ... More About: Drama , Germany , Biographical
La Chèvre (1981)
2007-09-19 09:31:00 “Knock on Wood” is the American title of this excellent French classic - a comedy directed by Msr. Francis Veber and starring great comedian Pierre Richard and famous Gérard Depardieu. I have not seen it since the 80s when it was in theatres and also on TV (we had black&white TV back then) and loved it. ... More About: Comedy , France , Adventure , Foreign
Peter Jackson?s ?King Kong? (2005) PG-13 181min
2007-09-18 09:01:00 It was so bloody long! And extended version is 20 minutes longer! It seems Peter Jackson is still in his “Lord of the Rings” mode with huge budgets, enormous landscapes and mountains so tall one cal almost reach the Moon from them. My most favorite King Kong is still one from the 1976: when I was a ... More About: Drama , Adventure
Gridirion Gang (2006) PG-13 120min
2007-09-17 09:04:00 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a juvenile detention camp officer decides that in order to rehabilitate the inmates and turn them from violent gang members into team players he can organize them into a football team. His superiors don’t believe into the idea at first, but with help of fellow detention officer (rapper Xzibit) he may ... More About: Drama , Gang , Idir
Shoot ?Em Up (2007) 86min R
2007-09-16 08:41:00 Saw it just 30 minutes ago. The plot: Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) is sitting at the bus stop, minding his business and chewing on his carrot (well, everybody has a habit, and this guy loves carrots, which he grows in his apartment) sees a pregnant woman on the run from a bunch of thugs and helps ... More About: Comedy , Action , Crime , Films , Gangster
Frida (2002)
2007-09-07 07:00:00 I saw this 6-Oscar nominated, 2-Oscar-winning movie on DVD several years ago, and now I watched it again on HD cable channel. The film directed by Julie Taylor shows what kind of people were Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) and Frida , how they came out to be what they are, what kind of people have surrounded them, how two ... More About: Drama , Biographical
Charlotte?s Web (2006)
2007-09-02 17:50:00 The plot: Wilbur (voiced by 9 year old Dominic Scott Kay) is a pig who dreads the Christmas because he’s afraid he’s going to be served on the farmer’s table, and he creates a plan to prove to the farmer that he is more valuable alive. Despite their differences, animals on the farm need to ... More About: Fantasy , Charlotte , Char , Charlot
War (2007)
2007-08-31 16:52:00 The plot: Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) is an FBI agent from Asian crime division seeking revenge for the murder of his partner (John Lone) and his family. Although his 3 year-long quest for vengeance cost him his marriage, he doesn’t stop looking for a mysterious and illusive assassin called “Rogue” (Jet Li), who has his ... More About: Action , Films
Pan?s Labyrinth (2006)
2007-08-30 07:31:00 Mexican director Guillermo Del Torro, who is familiar to American audience for directing Hellboy and Blade II, has written and directed “El laberinto del fauno”, which in 2007 has been nominated for Oscar in six categories and won in three: Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Cinematography and Best Achievement in Makeup. *** The ... More About: Mexican , Fantasy , War , Foreign , Labyrinth
Full Lunar Eclipse (August 28, 2007)
2007-08-28 13:14:00 Yours truly stayed up all night to watch and make pictures of the Lunar eclipse. It was gorgeous! I took my 15×60 binoculars, Canon 20D camera with tripod and 300mm zoom image-stabilizing lens, and went out to the warm summer night. The eclipse began a little later then predicted. At 12:52am there was nothing but a dark ... More About: Full , Eclipse , August , Clipse
Zubeidaa (2001)
2007-08-25 21:08:00 Bollywood’s Shyam Benegal directed this low budget, but beautiful film. Although the film flopped on the big screen, mostly due to low profile of Shyam Benegal, it gained quite a cult when it was released on video.1951 (around the time of decolonization?). The movie begins with a Zubeidaa’s (Karisma Kapoor) funeral. The rest of the movie is ... More About: Drama , Romance , Foreign , Musicals
Monster House (2006)
2007-08-17 07:29:00 Starts with music typical for horror movies and the image of the fall. Liefs all turn brown and red. Probably middle of October, which implies that Halloween is soon. Oh, yeah - that’s what kids say: Halloween in one day. One of the kids, DJ (Mitchel Musso) notices that the owner of the house (Kathleen Turner) ... More About: House , Monster , Monster House , Ouse , Mons
Delicatessen (1991)
2007-08-13 19:34:00 This movie is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeonet, same guy who directed “Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain” (aka “Amelie” in US release), which was so big in Europe and which I love so much. So I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that Netflix had added Deli catessen to my “Recommended Movies” list. Apart from director, these ... More About: Comedy , Film Noir , Essen , Delicate
Rush Hour 3 (2007)
2007-08-12 09:59:00 Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are back for the third installment of the cop buddy comedy (hasn’t this summer been good for all sorts of threequels?) and they are after Chinese triads this time - in Paris! And, on top of everything, they have to save the life of a mysterious nightclub performer Genevieve (Noemie Lenior) ... More About: Comedy , Action , Rush , Hour , Rush Hour 3
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
2007-08-11 00:29:00 Clint Eastwood directed this Oscar-winning war movie, which in many respects is a sequel to “The Flags Of Our Fathers”, or to be more precise, the look at the same events from the other side of the battlefield. It was released in January of 2007 - a time when vast majority of Oscar-nomination hopefuls are ... More About: Action , War , Historical , Letters
Agatha Christie?s Miss Marple (1984-2007)
2007-08-08 16:25:00 I was a big fan of these BBC series when they were broadcast on TV in the 80s. When I was a kid I was hungry for all sorts of detective stories, especially of Agatha Christie ’s books. I’ve seen TV version of Miss Marple produced in other countries, by who’s to play a little old ... More About: Agatha Christie , Detective , Gatha
The Fountain (2006)
More articles from this author:2007-08-07 20:12:00 The Fountain is a very strange and moody movie, with weird visuals that reminded me of “The Night Watch” introductory sequence, Peter Gabriel’s “Growing Up” tour visuals, Andrei Tarkovsky’s original 1972 “Solaris” and a more recent “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. More of “Solaris” then anything else.In “Solaris” the people on board the spaceship have ... More About: Drama , Fantasy , Sci-Fi , Romance 1, 2 |



