80s Movie Review - The Lost Boys

Director: Joel Schumacher
Genre: Horror/ Comedy
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 1987
Starring: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland, Diane Wiest, Barnard Hughes, Alex Winter, Jami Gertz, Jamison Newlander, Edward Herrmann

Description: When a recently divorced mother (Diane Wiest) and het two teenage sons (Jason Patric, Corey Haim) move to a coastal town to stay with her father, it doesn’t take long for the brothers to realize the area is a haven for something much more sinister than party-going surfers.

Review: In “The Lost Boys” the danger comes from vampires in a little town Santa Carla. There are some baleful omens, like posters with missing children, that show us that Santa Carla isn’t the safest place. But even with all those missing people, the vampires keep taking victims. The only ones trying to do something about it are the strange Frog brothers. 

A single mom and her two sons moves in with her dad in Santa Carla. While sons Michael and Sam are exploring town, Michael meets a girl named Star. With that he also meets a strange group of rebels. After their meeting, Michael starts hallucinating, can’t stand sunlight and hardly has a reflection in the mirror. He is turning into a vampire and little brother Sam asks the Frog brothers to help him. 

The movie is filled with horror moments, but it also has some comedy. This mostly comes from Sam and the Frog brothers. The way the vampires get their victims give us some scares, although it’s not very explicit. 

The vampires aren’t as prominent as you would hope in a vampire movie. The leader David, played by Kiefer Sutherland, gets a lot of attention, but the rest of his gang stays in the background. 

There is a good mix of tension, horror and humor, but the movie is never really scary. And “The Lost Boys” is also as ‘80s as it can be (that saxophone player in the beginning of the movie). An enjoyable vampire flick, one I rewatch a lot.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Movie Review - Juror # 2

Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, Leslie Bibb, Zoey Deutch
 
Description: While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, family man Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

Review: Clint Eastwood has stated that “Juror # 2” is his last directorial job. Should this really be the case, he will end his career on a strong note.

Justin is called as a juror in a murder trial. As it unfolds, a memory emerges and gives Justin a serious moral dilemma. Justin begins to influence the other jurors to lean them into a certain direction, which can potentially convict or free the wrong killer.

I didn’t know much about this film, and a huge plot twist is presented to us very early on in the film. It’s best not to know this beforehand, it makes for a better viewing experience. A masterful conflict forms the foundation of the drama, which makes you as a viewer also question what the right thing to do would be, if you were in the position of certain characters.

The film has a slow pace, which works perfectly here. Jurors begin to adjust their opinions, panic grows for other characters. We learn that some of them have specific motivations for forming and maintaining their opinions.

Nicholas Hoult is the lead and does an excellent job. He portrays a likeable family man, who is struggling with morals and ethics, that you can relate to as a viewer. What would you do in his situation? He is strongly supported by Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina and Zoey Deutch, and even a small role by Kiefer Sutherland.

“The Juror # 2” is not your typical court room drama. It has a good twists, makes you questions your morals and makes you think. And the ending will make you talk about it even more.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Movie Review - A Time to Kill

Director: Joel Schumacher
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bulloc, Kiefer Sutherland, Donald Sutherland, Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd, Kevin Spacey, Charles S. Dutton, Chris Cooper, Beth Grant

Description: In Clanton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) defends a black man (Samuel L. Jackson) accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Lu Klux Klan.

Review: When Carl Lee hailey’s 10-year-old daughter is brutally abused by two racist white men, something snaps inside him. The men will be tried in the usual way, but Carl Lee fears they will be released very soon. According to him, there is only one thing to do: take the law into his won hands. So he kills the two men and is arrested by the police. A trial will have to decide whether and how Carl Lee should be punished. As a lawyer, Carl Lee hires the inexperienced Jake Brigance. He must go up against top lawyer Rufus Buckley. Fortunately, Jake gets help from ambitious Ellen Roark. The trial is the subject of many demonstrations: the Ku Klux Klan calls for prosecution, while the black community pleads for release.

When it comes to courtroom thrillers, author John Grisham is one of the best-known writers. Over the years, numerous of Grisham’s books have been adapted for film.

The story is very clear in who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The charismatic underdog against the cynical veteran: anyone who has every read anything by Grisham has a clue as to who will win. On thing is certain: because of the complicated issue is portrayed as black and white, it does make it all nice and easy to get along with. And it’s very easy to sympathize with the main character.

A good script is essential here, but a good cast is just as important to deliver it with credibility. Matthew McConaughey, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey are all fantastic in their respective roles, as are Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland and Donald Sutherland in smaller roles. I believe that the final plead and that ending are a bit too dramatic for my taste, but work well as tear-jerking moments.

A film that doesn’t have a dull moment in it.

Rating: 4/ 5 

90s Movie Review - Eye for An Eye

Director: John Schlesinger
Genre: Thriller/ Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 1996

Starring: Sally Field, Ed Harris, Kiefer Sutherland, Beverly D’Angelo, Olivia Burnette, Alexandra Kyle, Joe Mategna, Keith David, Philip Baker Hall, Geoffrey Rivas, Charlayne Woodard

Description: When the courts fail to keep behind bars the man (Kiefer Sutherland) who raped and murdered her daughter, a woman (Sally Field) seeks her own form of justice.  

Review: When Karen McCann is stranded in a traffic jam on her way home one afternoon, she calls her eldest daughter Julie who is busy preparing for youngest daughter Megan’s birthday party. While on the phone, she hers Julie opening the door to a man and then being attacked. Panicked, Karen tries to get home and call the police. Once home, her world collapses when it appears that Julie has been murdered after being raped. A short time later, the killer Robert Doob is caught. But unfortunately, he is released after an error. Karen’s shock and grief slowly turn to disbelief and anger. Karen and her husband Mack join a support group for parents who have lost someone due to violence. There Karen meets a man who teaches her how to take justice in her own hands. But though she desperately wants to kill Doob, she can’t follow through. Until Doob strikes again. Karen is determined Doob has to pay for his actions.

A film about the search for justice in an unjust world. Sally Field pays her role as Karen McCann very well. The intense sadness that slowly turns into anger is portrayed well, I almost felt It myself. Kiefer Sutherland plays the bad guy and he does this well too.

“Eye for an Eye” has an excellent start, the first few scenes are very intense, and the way they portray the grief of losing a child, is very well done. The feeling of revenge quickly takes over. And the grief that the family feels is lost. Karen’s search for justice is understandable, yet it takes over way too fast. It is in fact very original that it’s the mother in this case, and not the father. In most movies with a revenge arc, after a child was murdered, it’s the father that seeks justice.

“Eye for an Eye” is a solid thriller, because it starts out so strong and has great performances. But overall an it’s very average.

Rating: 3/ 5

80s Movie Review - At Close Range

Director: James Foley
Genre: Drama/ Crime
Runtime: 111 minutes
Year: 1986
Starring: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson, Kiefer Sutherland, Millie Perkins, Eileen Ryan, Tracey Walter, David Strathairn, Crispin Glover

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 37: A MOVIE RECOMMENDED BY YOUR BROTHER
 
Description: Reunited with his career criminal father (Christopher Walken), tough teen Brad (Sean Penn) thinks he’s found his ticker to an exciting life of crime, only to find out he’s wrong.

Review: Brad Whitewood is a boy from a simple background whose life is going nowhere. Occasionally he has a job but he never really keeps it up for long. Then suddenly his father returns. Brad Sr. turns out to be the leader of a local gang. Soon Brad Jr. starts working for his father. He experiences success with some simple jobs and Brad’s friends join. They too have an appetite for making quick money. However, Brad’s friends are not the most efficient thieves and soon things go wrong. The police are after them and Brad Sr. has no problem getting some witnesses out of the way. Brad wonders how far his father will go to stay out of jail and even begins to fear for his own life.

Sean Penn and Christopher Walken in one movie, that’s going to be great. This is what any movie lover would think when they see who is starring in this film. I can say it is true. Penn and Walken both have rock solid performances and carry the film. Walken in particular is stellar as the criminal and psychotic Brad Whitewood Sr. One moment you think you are dealing with a caring father while a moment later he turns into a cold-blooded killer who does everything in his power not to get caught.

Director James Foley manages to keep the tension well throughout the film, the story is loosely based on a true story. Highly recommended for people who like dramas with a touch of thriller.

Rating: 4/ 5

80s Movie Review - Stand By Me

Director: Rob Reiner
Genre: Drama/ Adventure
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 1986
Starring: Will Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O’Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, Richard Dreyfuss

Description: After the death of a friend, a writer recounts a boyhood journey to find the body of a missing boy.

Review: The name Stephen King is easily linked to horror stories like “The Shining”, “It” and “Carrie”, but he also wrote some stories that fall in a different genre than horror. The movie  “Stand By Me” is one of them, which is based on the short story “The Body”. In this realistic drama we follow four teenagers in a coming of age story.
Those four boys are Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern. They grow up in a little town in Oregon. In the summer of 1958 a boy from their town goes missing. One of the boys overhears a conversation about the whereabouts of the dead body of the boy. The four kids decided to start a journey to find him. Their journey is more than just that, it’s testing their friendship and it’s the next step to adulthood.
Director Rob Reiner creates the perfect atmosphere and shows us the life of small-town American kids in the 50s. This movie makes you long for your own childhood, where a journey outside your town sounded like an adventure already.
River Phoenix, who unfortunately died too young, is the most impressive actor in the film. He manages to convince us as the tormented problem child. But also Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Jerry O’Connell manage to impress. It’s touching to see how all these very different characters grow on you.
Simple dialogue, a beautiful story and good acting make “Stand By Me” a fantastic film. It’s on my favorites list.

Rating: 5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Flatliners

Director: Niels Arden Oplev
Genre: Science Fiction/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, Kiefer Sutherland

Description: Five medical students, obsessed by what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods, each triggers a near-death experience - giving them a firsthand account of the afterlife.

Review: Another remake. Only a few really succeed. And “Flatliners”, a remake from the 1990 version, is not one of them. This is proof a totally useless remake.
The original “Flatliners” by director Joel Schumacher, wasn’t the best film in the first place. But it was entertaining and was solid. This remake doesn’t add anything new and is hardly ever surprising. It’s just an incoherent mess.
The story stays the same though. We follow a group of ambitious medical students. Courtney has a theory, which can give you a look inside the brain of someone who just died. Her experiment involves dying, stopping the heart for a minute, and then bring the patient back. During this minute, they monitor the brain activity. Courtney does it herself first and lets her fellow students bring her back. After Courtney’s near dead experience, things start happening to her. She remembers things that happened years ago, can all of a sudden play the piano extremely well and copies a recipe from memory. Soon her friends all want to experience it too. But it’s not all good. They start seeing things, that are not there.
All the characters are stereotypical: The rich boy, know it all, hard worker. And good performers like Ellen Page and Diego Luna can’t help any of that.
In the first half hour, a lot happens. The voluntary patients are confronted with their worst nightmares, which turn out to be things they feel guilty about. Director Niels Arden Oplev doesn’t know how to dose it here. The film is also very repetitive and along the way the movie gets less and less credible.
“Flatliners” is a big miss, very forgettable and wasn’t scary or inventive at all. I almost flatlined.

Rating: 1,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Pompeii

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Genre: Action/ Drama
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Kit Harington, Kiefer Sutherland, Emily Browning, Carrie-Ann Moss, Jared Harris, Jessica Lucas, Adewale Akunnuoye-Agbaje

Description: A slave-turned-gladiator (Kit Harington) finds himself in a race against time to save his true love (Emily Browning), who has been betrothed to a corrupt Roman Senator (Kiefer Sutherland). As Mount Vesuvius erupts, he must fight to save his beloved as Pompeii crumbles around him.

Review: Okay, I like honesty. The only reason I watched this movie is Kit Harington. Because I think he is perfect. And this movie definitely isn’t.
In Hollywood there is trendsetters and you have the ones that follow those trends. Directors like James Camermon and Ridley Scott are trendsetters. Their work has set the bar high for director of later generations. Like Paul W.S. Anderson, a definite follower of those trends. Most of his movies are lesser and more unoriginal versions of those films.
“Pompeii” is in fact a combination of “Gladiator” and “Titanic”. I love the first and hate the last, so that’s not good. And that’s kind of sad, because I think the Roman city of Pompeii deserves a good film. It has an interesting story.
You have to give it to him. Paul W.S. Anderson always has to work with a relatively small budget and they always make a whole lot of money. But they have never been very well received.
Since “Gladiator”, any movie about the Roman empire seems to deal with the concept of gladiators. And “Pompeii” is not any different. Kit Harington plays Milo, a Celtic gladiator, brought to Pompeii for a tournament. When he enters the city, he meets Cassia. She belongs to the Roman elite, but she someone sees through all the differences and off course they fall for each other.
The story is not special, the characters are one-dimensional and everything is really predictable. But Kit Harington is still perfect…

Rating: 2 / 5

Movie Moments: "Stand By Me"

"Stand By Me" is one of my favorite movies of all-time. People who follow my blog know this. Although the movie is only around 90 minutes long, it has plenty of great scenes. Here they are.

Moment # 1: Verne tells his friends about Ray
Chris, Gordie and Teddy are talking and playing cards in their treehouse. Verne wants to enter, but doesn’t remember the secret knock anymore. They let him in anyway. While still teasing Verne, he tells his friends about the dead body of Ray Brower. They decide to go on a fieldtrip and find the body.

Moment # 2: Danny gives Gordie the hat
When Gordie is at home, getting all his stuff together for the trip, he has to find his cantine. He goes into his brother Danny’s room, who recently past away. He starts to think about the moment when Danny gave him the New York Yankees cap.

Moment # 3: It’s loaded
When Gordie and Chris meet up for their trip, Chris shows him what he brought: a gun. Gordie starts playing with it and Chris tells him it isn’t loaded. When he points at a mark and wants to fire, they find out it is loaded and they run away.

Moment # 4: Dodging the train
When the boys are walking, they hear a train coming. Verne, Chris and Gordie get off the train rails, but Teddy doesn’t. He decides to dodge the train. He wants to wait untill the last moment to get off the rails.

Moment # 5: Gordie and Chris race each other
The boys climb over a fence and they want to take a break. Gordie and Chris decide to race each other. When they stop and Chris wins, they look at each other and smile, the look of true friendship.

Moment # 6: “Shut Up!”
The boys are hungry and one of them needs to gets something to eat. They flip coins and Gordie is the lucky one. Verne, Teddy and Chris start making fun of him and Gordie tells them to shut up. The other three respond: I don't shut up. I grow up. And when I look at you, I throw up. Aghhh!

Moment # 7: Chopper
When Gordie returns with the food and drinks, he sees his friends climbing over the fence. Than he sees the owner of the property and he releases his dog Chopper. All he hears is “Chopper, sic balls”. When he’s on the other side of the fence, the boys see Chopper’s true identity and he doesn’t look like an evil dog at all.

Moment # 8: “TRAIN!”
In order to get to the other side, the boys decide to take the bridge which has a railroad. While walking, Gordie looks behind and sees smoke. A train is coming and they have to start running to make it to the other side. Chris and Teddy are already there, but Verne and Gordie still have a long way to go. Verne is affraid that he is going to fall, but Gordie makes sure he starts running too.

Moment # 9: Campfire talk
The four friends make a campfire and start all sorts of discussions. Like what animal Goofy is, which food they could eat for the rest of their lives and Wagon Train. Especially the Goofy discussion is a hot topic.

Moment # 10: Gordie’s story
Still around the campfire, Gordie tells his friends a story he wrote. It’s about a fat boy, nicknamed Lard Ass, who enters a pie eating competition and takes revenge on all the people who always make fun of him.

Moment # 11: Gordie and Chris share a moment
While Verne and Teddy are sleeping, Chris and Gordie sit down and talk. Chris talks about his father and gets really emotional. Gordie comforts him. Than Chris tell Gordie that he will be a great writer someday and he might wright about them.

Moment # 12: Leeches
The boys have to cross a swamp to get on the other side. They start fooling around, but when they get out teddy sees something in Verne’s neck. They’re all covered in leeches. When they think they got rid of them all, Gordie checks his undies and than faints.

Moment # 13: They find the body
After a long trip, the guys finally find what they where looking for: the body of Ray Brower. They look at it and decide what to do next. Ace and his friends join them, because they knew about Gordie, Verne, Teddy and Chris trying to find Ray. He starts threatening the boys, but than Gordie pulls out the gun. Ace and his buddies leave.

Moment # 14: Goodbye
The boys return from their trip and say goodbye. They leave and they all go to their own lives again. The voice-over, who’s a grown up Gordie, tells us what happened to his friends. Like Chris, who became a lawyer and was stabbed and died instantly. His closing lines are: “I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone? “

Favorite Moment: Moment # 11: Gordie and Chris share a moment

In the Picture: The Characters from "Stand By Me"

A new item! I wanted to do some sort of an analysis of characters in a movie. Going deeper, trying to find out who they are and what they are like. I'll pick one movie and I sort of put a magnifier over the leading characters. I will start with one of my favorite movies of all-time: "Stand By Me".

Gordie Lachance
Played by: Will Wheaton
Gordie is the sensitive boy in the group, but also the one with the best looking future due to his writing talent. His parents, especially Gordie's father, doesn't really care much for him or his storytelling. Gordie is a loyal friend, he's best friends with Chris. He's is the most mature one of the foursome.

Chris Chambers
Played by: River Phoenix
He takes over the leader role. He is a tough kid, mainly because of his background and family history. He comes from a family of criminals and drunks. He wants to do better for himself and actually has ambitions. He doesn't trust adults, because of his father and older brother who beat him up. Chris is, despite of his tough act, a good kid with the best intentions.

Teddy Duchamp
Played by: Corey Feldman
Teddy is a troubled boy. He is a bit eccentric and likes thrills, like dodging a train. Although his father never treated him well, he still idolizes him and sees him as his hero, because he stormed the beach at Normandy. His dad caused him bad vision and hearing. Teddy is a bit crazy but also has a good heart.

Vern Tessio
Played by: Jerry O'Connell
Vern is often picked on. His friends even mess with him, because he is so easy to get to, and he's used to it. He's overweight, scared easily and timid, thus an easy target for his buddies. He's also the youngest in the group. Vern is not a very brave boy, but he's a kind, big hearted and loveable friend.

Ace Merril
Played by: Kiefer Sutherland
Ace is the leader of a local gang called 'The Cobras', someone you don't want to mess with. Everyone is affraid of him and he isn't affraid to use violence.

Denny Lachance
Played by: John Cusack
Not one of the leading characters, but worth putting up here. Denny is Gordie's older brother who died in a car accident. He was the favorite of the family and the only one who actually cared for Gordie and he saw what talent his little brother had. Their father thought Gordie should've died and not Denny.

My favorite character: Vern Tessio

Movie Tip #12 - Stand By Me

Director: Rob Reiner

Starring: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Cusack, Richard Dreyfuss

Description: 4 young friends set out on an adventure. Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern go looking for the missing body of a local teenager - found by a gang of older boys. A story of boys hangin' out and growin' up.

Review: This movie shows us about real friendship. It's based on a short story by Stephen King. Young as they are, they explore life and they test their friendship. Four different kids, an odd group, but you come to like every single one of them. It's heartwarming, sad, touching and funny. One thing made me think. At the end of the movie, the grown up Gordie tells us: "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?" And really... I think he's right.