2007 / 121 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

I had always thought the love of action movies was a decidedly American thing. But the existence of “Hot Fuzz” proves me wrong. Then again, why shouldn’t British people and all other people, for that matter, enjoy the brand of mayhem that American film studios seem especially great at serving up? The French produce a lot of kinky, sex-filled films about relationships. The British produce a lot of handsomely mounted costume dramas (and, truth be told, bizarre, off-the-cuff comedies). India loves making musicals. America’s number one cinematic import has always involved car chases and things blowing up real good. But, when you stop to think it over, it makes perfect sense. Who doesn’t enjoy the occasional explosion? Some nation had to fill that niche.

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2007 / 99 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

According to many sources, the movie “Pathfinder” was completed over a year ago and has been sitting on a studio shelf ever since. Well, it should have stayed on the shelf even longer. It’s tragic that we live in a world where the missing footage from Orson Welles’s “The Magnificent Ambersons” has never been found but wherein someone apparently found this piece of Viking-related shit, dusted it off and decided it warranted a national release.

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2007 / 191 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

The way I understand it, back in the Seventies there were crappy little movie theaters that did nothing but play exploitive B-movies and gory horror films. The films were usually in horrible shape (scratches, frames missing, bad sound, etc.) and the theaters weren’t much better (sticky floors, seats falling apart, dilapidated screens, located in a rough part of town, etc.). These theaters were called grindhouses and, I take it, existed mainly in urban areas. The rural areas had their own equivalent: the drive-in. If they would have called this movie drive-in, the basic idea would have been the same.

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2006 / 120 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is NOT a children’s film. Most reviews I’ve seen of this film make mention of this fact, but it still bears repeating. Do not take your children to this film unless you want them to have nightmares so intense that years of therapy will be required to erase them…unless, of course, your child is like my own sister. She could sit through ANYTHING and not be fazed. Seriously. I was five years older than her and there was stuff that freaked me out that didn’t have any effect on her. Then again, it’s entirely possible that I was far too sensitive as a child and, frankly, a complete wuss.

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2006 / 151 Minutes / R
Reviewed by Dale Nauertz

I’ve seen “The Departed” at least twice now (some of it three times) and I’m glad that I did not review it before now. On my initial viewing of Martin Scorsese’s latest opus, I thought it a brilliant masterpiece on a par with the director’s best work. Perhaps this was because 2006 was a fairly lean year, cinematically, and compared to most of the crap that I had sat through I was so blown away by such a competent piece of work. Seeing it again, however, in the comfort of my own home…I am confident of its competence but no longer so sure of its brilliance.

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Today is Oscar day and it is the most wide open race in recent memory, so tune in tonight to check it out. It should be interesting if nothing else. So get in there!

To celebrate, Dale and I have cranked out a new pre-Oscar podcast after many months of non-activity. We discuss the following:

Download and enjoy!

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS] Add the A Fistful of Reviews Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3).
[MP3] Download the show in MP3 format. 

- Jones