Movie Rental Recommendations -- D
Dead Man On Campus
A marijuana-smoking college student corrupts his bookworm roommate, and they both end up on academic probation. Their only way out is through a little-known loophole stating that if a student's roommate commits suicide, the other roommates all get "A" grades for the semester. Thus begins their quest to find a suicidal roommate, not to mention the viewers' fruitless quest to find any laughs or entertainment value in this idiotic film. Let this one rest in peace.
IMDb | Other Reviews Erik Nelson
Deconstructing Harry
Woody Allen movies are an acquired taste. And this film is one of the reasons I'm glad I acquired it. It's funny as hell and smartly written. My only problem is, the plot revolving around the negative consequences of Woody's character's sex life. It hit a little to close too his real tabloid-worthy personal life.
IMDb | Other Reviews Denise Felder
I'm going to go out on a limb here and call this consistently hilarious, and surprisingly raw (Has Soon-Yi been bringing home Kevin Smith videos or something?) look at the thin line between fiction and plagiarism Woody Allen's most satisfying film since "Annie Hall". Allen, even more neurotic and self-loathing than usual, plays a successful author catching hell from both the people around him and their thinly veiled fictional counterparts. As usual, the Woodman is backed by some stellar talent, including Julia-Louise Dreyfuss, a surprisingly capable Demi Moore, and especially the wondrous Judy Davis, who once again proves that no other actor can make a 10 or 12 letter obscenity detonate off the screen quite the way she can.
IMDb | Other Reviews Andrew Wright
Deep Blue Sea
Giant mutant brainiac sharks munching on the scientists that created them. Does anything more really need to be said? Director Renny Harlin takes this irresistibly cheesy premise and runs with it, creating a pulse-pounding action flick that actually delivers the promised goods. Big dumb fun, with a talented cast of potential chum (including Samuel L. Jackson and L.L. Cool J), and one simply magnificent shock effect destined to wear out rewind buttons across America.
IMDb | Other Reviews Andrew Wright
Defending You Life
Of the countless movies that ponder the afterlife, I like the scenario in this Albert Brook's comedy the best. Brooks pulls his usual Woody Allen-eque duty here as writer, director and star with smart, insightful and funny results. Despite the mushy ending, this movie is a must see.
IMDb | Other Reviews Denise Felder
Denise Calls Up
An interesting commentary on the state of interpersonal relationships in this digital age. Almost all of the action in this movie takes place between people talking on the phone. Early on its established that this group of characters, linked together by one personable gabber, will probably never meet in person. How these people form and maintain relationships strictly by phone, e-mail and fax is intriguing, irritating, disturbing, and sadly true to life.
IMDb | Other Reviews Denise Felder
The Devil's Advocate
If you are an Al Pacino fan at all, and who isn't, you'll love this movie. Pacino does an excellent job and has some really great lines as he plays, well, Satan. He was so good it practically gave me nightmares. Keanu Reeves is in the movie and actually does a great. The role of his wife is played by Charlize Theron and I really like the job she does. The stuff she goes through in this movie is amazing. Definitely a date movie for a Friday or Saturday night -- you'll be cuddled up on the couch afraid to let go of each other.
IMDb | Other Reviews Jon Errickson
Do The Right Thing
Spike Lee's classic "Do the Right Thing" is already being called one of the best dramas in history, and that's no exaggeration. One of the few '80s movies that even tries to matter, "Do the Right Thing" is a free-form assortment of characters and events on a scorching summer day in an already-charged Brooklyn neighborhood. By an amazing feat of writing, the disparate stories come together in the mind-blowing ending, one of the more devastating, yet tragically truthful ever filmed. Not for the escapist-of-heart, "Do the Right Thing" portrays the reality of American racial strife with an intelligent, unflinching eye.
IMDb | Other Reviews
Ed Dykhuizen
Down In The Delta
This is an admirable first directorial attempt for Maya Angelou. A good antidote for the typically stereotyped depictions of African-American life, but it suffers from being a bit
too normal. Despite getting good performances from Al Freeman Jr., Alfre Woodward, and Wesley Snipes, the characters aren't terribly arresting, and the plot is a typical one. Of course, I saw it in the theater, and it is the type of film that works much better on the small screen. Solid, if unspectacular choice for a rental.
IMDb | Other Reviews
Ed Dykhuizen
Dr. Strangelove
There's a reason this one is considered among the all-time greatest movies every made, and you have to see it to understand. Stanley Kurbrick -- I'm not sure how he does it -- simply immerses us into this story through the sets, camera work and writing. And what characters! He indicts the military in a subtler and more powerful way than in "Catch-22." And George C. Scott turns in a wonderful performance as the paranoid general who sees opportunity when a nuclear attack is launched by a renegade base commander. But this movie is the masterpiece of Kubrick and Peter Sellers, who plays three roles: An RAF officer who can't believe what he sees happening, the president trying desperately to stave off military meglomaniacs, and the crazed physicist with a God-like complex. This is the blackest of black comedies and well worth the price of a rental.
IMDb | Other Reviews
Parker Hodges
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