Movie Review: New Jack City

New Jack City (1991/Warner Bros./Dir. Mario Van Peebles)

Made in the early nineties, when the crack epidemic was still a thing the media talked about on occasion, this is the story of one inner city drug lord’s rise and fall. So how does this early 90s gangster movie hold up when trying to watch it today? Surprisingly well actually. While some might want to compare this movie to gangster epics like Scarface, The Godfather or Goodfellas, I think there are a few points that separate them. For one thing, this is way shorter, it clocks in at just under two hours while the other films I mentioned hover around three. For another, there is a completely different flavor to this film and for a third… well, let’s talk about the movie, shall we?

Short Film Fest

Today I want to do something a little different. Today I want to talk about some short films that I really like.


Me and the Big Guy

What happens when Big Brother takes over and some idiot loves the idea? That’s sort of the question posed by this short movie. Citizen 43275-B talks to his view screen constantly, babbling the most inane garbage until Big Brother finally has enough and starts talking back. That’s not even the best part, the best part is the last few seconds of the film. I won’t spoil it, but the movie gets better as it goes along until the final punch line.

The Second Comeback

What starts as a comment on how the message of Jesus gets lost through all the marketing and BS gets turned into a pretty hilarious comedy. It’s only about ten minutes long, so there isn’t time for the one joke to wear thin. Some of the jokes are a little too obvious, but as the whole thing is so short it’s eminently forgivable. You can watch this on youtube, it’ll take you a couple of minutes and you probably won’t regret it.

Battle of the Sexes

What really happens in women’s bathrooms? Well, this movie tries to answer that question in humorous fashion. Yes, most the shorts are comedy, but shorts are easier to do as comedies. Anyway, a woman goes into the bathroom and gets a report on a man, deciding on whether or not to continue the date with him. Yeah, similar shorts have been done before, but this one is really fun.


Well, that’s if for now. I know this was short, but if you watched all the movies it should have taken about half an hour, and that’s not a bad slice of entertainment. Maybe later I’ll get you some more shorts to enjoy. For now though, this is all I’d planned on.

Movie Review: Horatio’s Drive

Haven’t done a documentary in a little while here, so let’s watch this one. This Ken Burns movie is the tale of the first cross country automobile journey undertaken by a rich Vermont Doctor. In one way, you might like the character of Horatio Nelson Jackson, in another way you might despise him and everything he purports to stand for. Strangely, this is also a movie where only men are interviewed save for two of Nelson’s granddaughters. So it’s guys, talking about a long car ride undertaken by a couple of guys. In a way, we could say that these are rich yuppies who have an adventure talking about another rich yuppie who once had an adventure. The story is pretty good, but there are drawbacks. Is it good or bad? Let’s have a look…

Movie Review: Clue

Clue (1985/Paramount/Jonathan Lynn)

A couple of weeks ago, I got the urge to watch Clue for what would be the first time since I was maybe fourteen. That’s twenty years of deep-seated nostalgia for this movie to combat. I really liked this movie when I was about twelve or so and that should make it an instant sell for me, right? Wrong. Sadly, nostalgia actually makes the trip harder, since I seem to be immune to the effect and far more critical of my old loves. So as an adult, how did Clue hold up? Surprisingly well, actually. Having spent the last 20 years reading mystery stories and watching mystery movies and TV shows, I now have a greater appreciation for the movie than I did when twelve. Let us discuss some of the better points (as well as some things that just didn’t work) over the next few paragraphs. Oh, and I’m going to spoil the hell out of this thing, but if you haven’t actually seen Clue yet then I’m not sure what you’ve been doing with your life.