On the surface, The Secret of NIMH is an easy film to overlook. Animated mouse movies are a dime a dozen and, even though they usually manage to be at least decent, few really manage to break out of the pack. However, everyone I have spoken to who was given The Secret of NIMH a chance has the same thing to say. Not only is it a good film for its genre, but it is in facta masterpiece of animation as a whole. I myself will tell anyone that The Secret of NIMH ranks easily as one of if not the best 2D animated film I have ever seen (which is saying a lot).
Review of Batman Returns
One word that comes to mind to describe Batman Returns is, unusual. Whenever I talk to people about Batman movies, I generally hear the exact same things. The Nolan Trilogy is fantastic, Batman ’89 was also good and Batman Forever and Batman and Robin both suck. However, there seems to be an interesting divide on Batman Returns, Tim Burton’s second (and final) film about the Caped Crusader. Some say it’s an underrated classic while others like to pretend that this movie never happened. I’ve seen Batman Returns multiple times myself and, I’ll be honest, the first time I watched it I didn’t really know how to feel about it either. It was just such a bizarre movie, even by Batman standards. However, over the years, and several viewings later, I’ve come to appreciate this film; enough so that, in fact, it’s my personal favorite Batman film. Continue reading “Review of Batman Returns”
Review of Enemy Mine
Enemy Mine came out at an unfortunate time. After the success of Star Wars, sci-fi films became a dime a dozen almost over night. Some of them have managed to stand out as the years have gone by (Dune comes to mind) but most of them tend to fall through the cracks and disappear into obscurity. For that reason, when I first stumbled across Enemy Mine at my local University Library I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sci Fi movies from the 80s are usually entertaining at least, so I checked it out expecting some corny adventure with old school effects and sounds. As would be expected I ended up enjoying the movie immensely, but not necessarily for the reasons I was anticipating.
Review of The Return of Godzilla (AKA Godzilla 1985)
If you ask people who know me to describe me, likely they will mention that I am a Godzilla fan. I first saw the american cut on VHS of The Return of Godzilla (titled Godzilla 1985) as a youth and was mesmerized by it’s semi-apocalyptic tone and serious demeanor. Now, with Kraken’s long awaited official release of the uncut Japanese version in the US, I can safely say that, though the american cut holds nostalgic value for me, the original The Return of Godzilla is far superior. As a matter of fact I consider it the pinnacle of Godzilla’s 60 year movie career. Continue reading “Review of The Return of Godzilla (AKA Godzilla 1985)”
The Rating System
In order to know what a review is saying, it’s important to understand the rating system that the reviewer employees. Here is an example of The Dusty Reel’s rating system and what each level means.
Review of Wizards (1977)
I first stumbled across Wizards on a lazy Sunday afternoon. As I often do to pass the time I was looking through some IMDB lists (underappreciated animated movies at the time) when this poster caught my eye. I knew nothing about Wizards, but I was immediately interested. I mean, look at that poster! It’s amazing! For about a day I went back and forth, reading reviews and glancing over trailers and stills before committing buy it on DVD and give it a chance. After having seen it, I can admit that, while Wizards isn’t for everybody, it certainly qualifies as an animated gem and is easily one of my personal favorite animated movies.
My Top 5 Movies
This is the list of my top 5 movies. If you would like to read my thoughts on each movie, just click on the poster.
Note that these movies are not listed in any particular order and that the list may be updated at any time.