Dean's Thoughts on Entertainment

Supporting Actor of the Week
R. Lee Ermey



Inspired by his role in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre I decided to honor our favorite Drill Sergeant and freaky old man in Hollywood. He became a legend with his portrayal of the Drill Sergeant in Full Metal Jacket, whose opening rip into the cadets is a favorite MP3 for many people. Since that point, almost every Drill Sergeant is a poor imitation of how R. Lee Ermey played it in the Kubrick classic. Recently, Ermey has been taking quite a few horror movie roles, Willard and Texas Chain being his most recent, and I believe this is wise because the man scares the marrow of my bones. But, I found myself laughing hysterically at his comedic turn in Saving Silverman as the homicidal gay football coach who marries Jack Black. I’m excited about his sudden boost of popularity, and hopefully he’ll continue to entertain as he has before. God bless Ermey.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Review

I saw the movie more interested in how they would adapt the original, which is what I will make the centerpiece of my little review here. The movie is a Hollywood adaptation of the original and they made little effort to maintain the gritty style and features that made the first one notorious. The original was trying to truly create a believable and horrid portrayal of this freakish country family, the goal of the movie was more to say “Isn’t this F@#^&$ up?” Therefore, scenes and characters were not built up for suspense or emotional value, just a shot of what it might have been like. This edition, takes the time and effort to get the most out of all the scary moments, extended chase sequences, suspenseful hiding scenes, freaky neighbors and police officers, all things absent from the classic version. The first one had gritty and disturbing down, but ultimately lacked any kind of plot or character development, which is what I expected to be added for this film and they delivered. The remake is far more entertaining, but compared to its father it is tame and run-of-the-mill. I was surprised at all the changes made but it is really what I expected, a commercial version of the original. For most of you, this remake will be far superior, but me I wanted to see their take on the dinner table scene from the original. And sadly, they opted out and chose another wet t-shirt chase with Jessica Biel. To each his own I guess.

Godfather 1 Review

What can I say that hasn’t been said about this movie series? I am ashamed that as a film lover it took me this long to finally sit down and watch them. I even owned them, and only because my roommate urged me did I finally break down and take them to work with me. I’m gonna keep it short and just give you my feelings about the movie. It is a beautifully filmed movie, and the mobster family was portrayed in an interesting light when compared to the many Mafia type movies that have been made. It opened better than the book, which opens with like two sex scenes after which I put the book down to never be revisited. The acting is excellent, especially from Brando, Pacino, Caan, and Duvall. Honestly, I like Brando better as the Don, and would have liked more of him but Pacino isn’t bad. It’s good, I liked the first half best and I’ll review the 2nd once I complete it.