Week 4/23/12-4/29/12: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off


Released: 1986
Director: John Hughes
Genre: Comedy
Main Actors: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, and Mia Sara (Charlie Sheen also plays a minor part in here. Can anyone say ~winning~?)

This was the requested movie for this week. I was going to end up reviewing it anyway, so I figured I might as well.

Summary, as told by IMDb:

A high school wise guy is determined to have the day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that.

This is actually a pretty good summary of the movie. I mean, Ferris pretends to be sick (like we all have done, right?) in order to get out of school. His unknowing parents believe him and he has the time of his life with his best friend (who was also sick) and his girlfriend (who he managed to get out of school).

My in-depth summary:

So, Ferris wakes up in the morning and, like most high school kids, just decides he doesn't want to go. He pretends to be extremely sick, while be a major suck-up to his parents. So they end up believing him and leave him to sleep at home while they go do their daily-parent-things. Shortly after, Ferris calls his best friend (who was sick himself) and makes him come pick Ferris up. They get Sloane out of school as well and go spend the day in the [bias]absolutely AMAZING city of Chicago[/bias]. They go eat at  fancy restaurant, go to a parade (which actually happens to be where that random musical number in pretty much EVERY 80's movie breaks out. Not that I'm complaining, I liked it.), go to a Chicago Cubs game, etc, etc. Oh, and I forgot to mention, they took Cameron's dad's Ferrari out for a joyride through Chicago as well. The car that he doesn't drive. The car that he loves more than life itself, according to Cameron. Not the smartest idea in the world, but hey, who can blame 'em? I know I wouldn't. Throughout this entire day, they spend their amazing time enjoying themselves -- and trying not to get caught by Ferris's parents. Plus, the school principal seems to have the creepy obsession with Ferris and catching him red-handed for skipping school. So, they're pretty much avoiding him all day as well. Anyway. Yeah, so they enjoy their time, they get the Ferrari back, they go home. Cameron manages to destroy the Ferrari. (I wish they would have included what had happened when his dad found out, but hey. I'm not the director.) Ferris goes home, and ALMOST gets caught. His sister saves his ass, after she made out with Charlie Sheen at the police station. (I told you. ~winning~) Ferris enjoyed his day off and didn't get caught. It's a win/win for everyone. Except Ed Rooney. His day kind of sucked.

So, yeah. Pretty good movie. Extremely entertaining at times. Had it's downfalls, but was still pretty amazing.  I'm kind of sad I hadn't watched it previously to now. Those 80's movies are better than everyone gives them credit for. I enjoyed it. It was funny, it had a little bit of romance here and there, and it even had people getting hurt, which makes everything better. Am I right? Oh, hush. I know I am. It's definitely better than I thought it would be as well. Like I said. 80's movies. Better than everyone thinks. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes comedies. It's not vulgar, like most comedies are today. (Especially Bridesmaids (which WILL be coming up in reviews here sometime soon, although I won't tell you when~). That movie is hilarious, but extremely... well, out there. xD) So, yeah. Awesome movie. Would watch again. A+

To be quite honest, there wasn't much I DIDN'T like about this. I mean, I wish they would've gone a little more in-depth with a couple things, but overall it was really good and I wouldn't have changed a thing about it, had I been the director. They did an awesome job.

TLDR; High school kid pretends to be sick, takes the day off from school, and has the time of his life with his best friend and girlfriend. Oh, and a Ferrari gets destroyed and his sister makes out with Charlie Sheen. The End. Pretty good movie. Would watch again.


Overall Rating: 8.7/10. Great, but not amazing.

Watch on!


-Tiffany


PS, I just have to put this here. Enjoy~

Week 4/23/12-4/29/12: Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko

Released: 2001
Director: Richard Kelly
Genre: Drama/Mystery/Sci-Fi
Main Actors: Jake Gyllenhaal and Jena Malone and Mary McDonnell (Not to mention, Patrick Swayze was also in there somewhere.)

So, first review of the blog. Exciting, isn't it? I guess I'd better start out with my pick for this week. Donnie Darko is, despite the creepiness factor, a pretty damn good movie. Not gonna lie there.

Anyway, here's the summary, as told by IMDb:

"A troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulated him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident."

Now, is it just me, or does that make is sound like some sort of... I dunno. Camp movie? Maybe it is. Either way. Here's MY summary.

Donnie Darko, some messed up kid that quite possibly has a mental disorder, is out of his house the SAME night a plane jet falls through the roof of his room. Had he been there, he most definitely would have died. Cut to the next scene. Donnie wakes up random on the side of the road with no memory of how he got there. Goes home. Isn't dead. Woot. Go Donnie, right? So, he and his parents don't really get along very well, to be quite honest. For that matter, Donnie doesn't really get along well with ANYONE. But anyway. The next night, Donnie gets woken up by... yep. A guy in a giant bunny rabbit suit with a fucking creepy ass smile on the mask. I swear, it will give me nightmares just because of that damn bunny. The bunny tells Donnie that the world is going to end. So, a bunch of stuff happens, and in the end [spoiler]Donnie kills Frank the creepy bunny rabbit, Donnie goes back in time to before the plane engine fell into his room, plane engine crushes him and he dies, everyone else is fine. The end.[/spoiler]

Didn't want to ruin the WHOLE movie for anyone who hasn't seen it. So, how do I personally feel about this movie? It's actually pretty good. It makes you think. It's not just some movie where everything is what it seems. Not to mention, the whole creepiness factor REALLY adds to the whole "let's creep the hell out of everyone that watches this" feeling you get when you see it. Oh, and you can't forget the music. some of the music in this movie is seriously awesome. I loved Mad World LONG before I ever saw this movie. Hell, half the reason I knew this movie existed was because of that song. It's more-than-slightly depressing, but it's still awesome, if I do say so myself.

Would I watch this movie again? Most definitely. In fact, I would willingly do so. I think it's one of those movies that you have to watch more than once to really understand. And I'm honestly not a fan of seeing something more than once. So you know I like it if I'd willingly watch it again.

What did I not like about it? The creepy bunny rabbit really got to me... But I think that's kind of a given. The video and audio quality also wasn't the best. Then again, the budget WAS only $4,500,000. Compared to movies today, with, oh I dunno... budgets in the hundreds-of-millions, it's not bad.

Anyway, I supposed that's enough rambling.

TLDR; Pretty good movie, despite the low budget and creepy bunny rabbit. Would watch again.


Overall Rating: 8.4/10

Watch on!


-Tiffany

Movies: Week of 4/23/12-4/29/12

Okay, guys. I'm sure you're ALL curious to know what my picks for this week are. Well, wait no longer. This week's movie are.... *drumroll*

My pick: Donnie Darko (2001)
Requested: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Disney/Pixar: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

I guess 2001 movies are the things for me this week, eh? Well, hopefully, at least some of you will enjoy these. Or haven't seen them and were thinking about it. Or just want to know what I think about them. Either way, watch on.

-Tiffany

Just a Little Background Info

Well, here I am. Second try for starting a blog. But definitely something I can get more interested in than I would have with the other. (The previous was a music review blog that I stole the idea for from a friend. Lost interest VERY quickly.) Now, that's not to say I won't with this, but I have more ideas, and already have a list for this one.

I guess it would be a good idea to list exactly what type of blog this is going to be. I intend for this to be a movie review blog of sorts. Now, I'm sure this isn't the first, nor will it be the last, but it'll still be mine if nothing else. Various types, genres, lengths, and time periods of movies will be watched and reviewed by me. The structure for each week's worth of reviews is as follows:

Per week, I'll be reviewing 3 movies. One of my choice, one requested, and one Disney/Pixar movie. (Because Disney and Pixar movies are awesome and don't you dare say otherwise.) What happens if no one requests a movie? Well then, I'll do two of my choice. I don't think that'll be as much fun, so please guys. Request stuff. It's only polite.

I really hope I do manage to stick with this, because, I mean, who DOESN'T like being told what to like and dislike, right? Well, at least, I know I do. Sometimes. Sort of. Anyway.

Any questions (as well as requests!) are welcome to be sent to this email: apileoffilm@gmail.com.

Enjoy the blog, share with your friends, read, comment, and all that good stuff. :)

-Tiffany