REVIEW: Jumanji [1995]

“Til the dice read five or eight” If asked who my favorite illustrator was growing up, I’d always reply Chris Van Allsburg. My elementary school years in Florida saw our librarian reading us many of his lusciously detailed books and I fell in love with the paintings as well as the stories. So when I saw that Jumanji had been made into a film, I was very excited. I think I really had fun watching it back in 1995 and revisiting it today kept a lot of that childish enjoyment…

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REVIEW: Matilda [1996]

“Moby what?!” Leave it to the warped mind of Danny DeVito to take a Roald Dahl book and adapt it into a very enjoyable children’s film that has enough crazy fun for adults to watch as well. A very apparent passion project for him, DeVito stars as the father to the titular Matilda, the story’s narrator, (which is a bit confusing since the father neglecting her is also the one telling the audience about what she is doing, but it’s just the same voice, not the same character), and is…

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REVIEW: Gran Torino [2008]

“Why does everyone want my car?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big Clint Eastwood, the director, fan. Mystic River was one of my favorite films from its release year and Million Dollar Baby deserved much of its acclaim, if not the actual best picture Oscar. However, Gran Torino is getting buzz like crazy. It hasn’t even opened wide yet and already ranks #184 of all time on IMDB. I’ll agree that it is a very good movie, well composed and paced with a fantastic final act; I just can’t…

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