James Mendonca

I love Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino was right about this film being very close to Pulp Fiction. Brad Pitt was phenomenal as Cliff Booth, and I thoroughly liked him throughout the whole film. This is a sentiment I never had with Pitt since he played Tyler Durden in Fight Club. He is just so cool in the film. The chemistry between Dicaprio and Pitt is so magnetic. You just love watching them act against each other and completely buy them as best friends. Margot Robbie was great as Sharon Tate. She is not Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. However, she still brings beauty, respect and wistful positivity to the character that represents the lingering spirit of old Hollywood. Robbie has that magical presence that Tate had. I really like Julia Butters as Trudi Fraser, the child actor who interacts with Rick on set. She plays her character so maturely and like a professional. Al Pacino was a lot of fun to watch as Rick’s agent, Marvin Schwarz. The rest of the cast were great as well. From beginning to end, the production value is aesthetically appealing. Everything you see in the film screams 1960s California, from the wardrobe to the city blacks and film studios. There is scene where they superimpose Dicaprio’s Rick Dalton into a scene from The Great Escape that looks seamless when him and James Stacy was talking about his alleged audition for the film. The soundtrack is captivating, like all of Tarantino’s films. Listening to it, especially in the trailers, really got me into listening to The Mamas & The Papas. The Spahn Ranch scene felt really unsettling because of how run down it looked and all the questionable hippies surrounding the area. Things get more intense with the interaction between Cliff and Squeaky played by Dakota Fanning. You think something really bad was going to happen until Cliff finds his old friend awake and sort of well. My favourite scene is near the end, when the Manson followers decide to invade Rick Dalton’s home and things go hilariously wrong. Cliff is high out of his mind and does not take Tex or the female invaders seriously when he beats them all to death. While the last one runs screaming out into the pool where Rick was. When he noticed the threat, he goes to his shed and pulls out his flamethrower from one of his movies and sets her on fire. When I saw that in theaters, I heard someone in the audience applaud that moment at how awesome it was. Like the whole scene was a twist on the unfortunate Tate-LaBianca murders that occurred in real-life to avoid a darker, sadder ending. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my favourite film of 2019. This is a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood and can see why this is a personal film to Tarantino. I really hope he makes another film soon because I really miss his work.

Goldeneye is one of my favourite Bond films, and I am talking top 3. Pierce Brosnon was great as James Bond. He is my second favourite Bond actor behind Sean Connery. I just wish his other Bond movies were better in comparison. Sean Bean makes for a compelling villain as Alec Trevelyan, and I love Sean Bean as a character actor since I am a Lord of the Rings fan. Famke Janssen was amusing as Onatopp, if not a little over the top and cartoonish at times. Izabella Scorupco was a solid good Bond girl and is a standout with how much substance was given to her character compared to love interests in previous films. Judi Dench plays against gender as M, Bond’s superior, and she plays that character with a dominant demeanor and seriousness. Both Her and Brosnan have great chemistry with the little screen time they have together. Alan Cumming as Boris Grishenko was pretty amusing to watch whenever he is on screen. The music by Éric Serra is a standout feat. It has some of that 90s vibe while also having that industrial spy atmosphere to and it fits the cold Russian scenery as well. I just love the music here. The opening sequence was really cool and Tina Turner’s opening song was solid good while giving a good emphasis on eroticism overall. Another standout aspect is the stunt work, namely in the opening scene, where Bond bungee jumps into a chemical facility and jumps into a plain from a motorcycle. Goldeneye strays away from the usual aspects of Bond, such as the story formula and the gadgets he uses. Martin Campbell does an incredible job making Goldeneye his own and gave Bond a refreshing tone and action that outdid the other Bond movies. In fact, this is the first Bond film storyline that is not based on the Ian Fleming books or short stories. He was so great on Goldeneye, he rebooted James Bond again in Casino Royale. My favourite scene is when Bond is going after the bad guys in a tank, demolishing everything in site with it. It is such an insane chase scene that is reminiscent of the old Bond movies. Goldeneye is an instant classic, not just among Bond films, but also action films in general. Even in today’s standards, this still holds up.

Django Unchained is a classic among western films, no matter the generation. Jamie Foxx was excellent as Django. He is capable of showing vulnerability and confidence in a cool character. Christop Waltz is just as compelling and charismatic here as King Shultz as he was in Inglorious Basterds. My only issue with him is that he overshadows the titular character most times until his demise. Leonardo Dicaprio was great as Calvin Candie. He was so nonchalant playing a slave master that he did not seem reticent on using racial slurs. Samuel L. Jackson’s Stephen is a pretty interesting villain in the film. He is an educated black man and servant to Candie that turned his back on his own people. You come to realize that he is smarter and more of a threat than Calvin. Jackson’s performance makes him comical at times when he first interacts with Calvin and Django while other times he can be menacing and deceptive. Quentin Tarantino does an amazing job directing this film, like he always does. He knows how to make compelling scenes that pace so well. There are so many moments in the film that are dramatic, exciting, shocking or all of the above. The one thing this film could have done without is his minor role with the Australian accent. The violence is literally explosive, half the time when someone gets shot, they explode in a rain of blood. When the action comes into the picture it is very enticing and very well executed. The themes of slavery and racism do not bother me as much as some would be and it did not get in the way of enjoying Django. All of Tarantino’s films have their moments of comedy. But there is this one notable scene where Big Daddy played by Don Johnson brings a lynch mob to go after Django and Schultz. How they start complaining about how they could not see through the bags and how it could have been done better is just so memorable and could not believe it exist in a movie about slavery. My favourite scene is when Schultz refuses to shake Calvin’s hand. The two drag it out with their different ideals until Shultz shoots him and erupts into a shootout between Django and Candie’s men. Even though, Schultz chose the worst-case scenario, it was somewhat satisfying seeing him kill Candie rather than giving him the satisfaction. Also, it gives Jamie Foxx’s Django moment to really shine and take over for the rest of the film. Django Unchained is a phenomenal film that also stands out in Tarantino’s filmography. There are some, however, who will dislike and even hate this film, on account of its subject matter. I, on the other hand, will always enjoy watching this film.

Goodfellas is a masterpiece not just among crime movies, but in films period. People had called this film ‘the Father of The Sopranos’, the HBO show because they both have actors from those two and have a similar style of filming. Ray Liotta was great as Henry Hill, a gangster who balances his family and mafia lives, while making his personal gain. Liotta’s Henry Hill is my favourite performance from the actor. I always liked how he narrated the film with a gravelly casual voice while relishing those times as a gangster. Lorraine Bracco was fantastic as Henry’s wife, Karen. I enjoyed every scene she was in and how she acted against Liotta. I never thought she was overshadowed by any of the male actors in the film. Joe Pesci is a tour de force as Tommy Devito, a psychotic mobster and longtime friend of the Henry. Pesci definitely earned his Oscar for this film, and rather you like or hate his character is up to you since he does do some pretty destable things. Robert Deniro was really great as Jimmy Conway (Burke). He seemed so natural playing the part of a hotshot gangster. The ’Funny How’ scene was a very memorable part between Henry and Tommy, which is based on a real moment that happened with Pesci when he was young. When Tommy asks funny how, tension builds between him and Henry as if something bad was going to happen. Up until Henry knew how to break it by calling his bluff. Martin Scorsese knows how to make the bad guys in the film very watchable. He does so by glamourizing them through Henry’s narration, a soundtrack of songs and dialogue rewritten through improvisation. The lack of a film score, in exchange for a listing of antiquated yet popular songs was a pretty provocative approach to the story’s narrative. I especially love the use of Layla’s piano solo during the part where they cut loose ends from the Lufthansa heist. A lot of films would use this approach, even Scorsese for Casino and Wolf of Wall Street. My favourite scene is Henry’s last day as a gangster when he gets pinched for his drug smuggling. From morning to night, we see Henry is a strung-out mess, running around town while a helicopter hovering over him. You can tell from his ongoing impression that he is paranoid while his mind is racing all over. I also like how the soundtrack songs are aggressively playing one after another throughout this scene without a moment to breathe. Goodfellas is the epitome of art and entertainment coming together so masterfully. I just love this film. Scorsese knows how to portray the American mafia in a compelling picture. This is a film that everyone should watch before passing over.

This is definitely the best film Brian DePalma has made in his career. Al Pacino was phenomenal in this film. He is the definitive Tony Montana and is my favourite performance by the actor. He is a power-hungry sociopath who thinks big and always welcomes trouble. Al Pacino made the role iconic, and nobody could pull it off better, despite the fact that he is not actually Cuban in real life. That stare he does whenever he sees his sister, Gina with another man is just so intense and eerie. There is this ringing sound while the camera pans into his face to illustrate his inner Cuban rage. Steven Baur was great as Tony’s friend, Manny. He also stands out as the only Cuban actor in the main cast. I really like Michelle Pfieffer as Elvira, the cold as ice mistress and love interest to Tony. She played the character very maturely for an actress so young at the time. The rest of the cast were great and have their notable moments in the film. Brian DePalm does a phenomenal job conveying the dark twisted version of the American dream through Oliver Stone’s script. His trademark excessive use of violence, drugs and coarse language fits the film completely, especially during the finale shootout. They make us root for Tony Montana for all the wrong reasons, but that is what makes him such a great antihero, if not the greatest. Even though the film is almost three hours long, the pacing was so good that it felt like only two. There was never a point where the scenes were dragging out. The soundtrack is just so memorable, especially Paul Engemann’s Push It To The Limit, where it showcases Montana’s rise to power in a montage. I also love the music score composed by Giorgio Moroder. His music really stands out from his use of synthesized instruments and electronic textures, which was becoming the big thing during the rise of New Wave. My favourite scene is when Tony is in New York following the journalist during the bombing assassination. Tony’s morals were being tested about letting the blood of the man’s wife and kids get on his hands. I found it amusing that he still thinks of himself as a good man, even after all the murdering and detestable things he has done up until then. We watch him following the other vehicle, we see Montana being conflicted by his so-called principles as Sosa’s brother prepares to blow up the car, before Montana makes a judgement call. The shootout at the end was great as well. Tony Montana did not give a f*** when he cried out his notable line, going out gun blazing, taking in every shot until he gets a shotgun to the back. Scarface is one of the best films ever made in my fine-ass opinion. This is a gangster film with Cuban flavour that has become iconic through the decades. This is a film that has not lost its luster through repeated viewing and look forward to watching it again.

Spider-Man 2 is a phenomenal follow-up from the first film. Everything from the first Spider-Man is either improved or retained its quality. Acting, action, story, special effects, everything is better. Tobey Maguire is a better Spider-Man/Peter Parker having to struggle with two lives. Alfred Molina was brilliant as Doctor Octopus. He plays a man motivated by ambition, even when things go wrong and was manipulated by his mechanical arms. I also really like the jokes he makes throughout the film, especially the one about the rubber band. James Franco is more developed as Harry Osbourne with his character being motivated to get revenge against Spider-Man. Kirsten Dunst is better as well. JK Simmons, once again, was delightfully funny as Jameson. Rosemary Harris is also great, returning as Aunt May, carrying the same emotional drama as before. Spider-Man 2 has more gravitas between characters while enhancing the performances of most of the cast. The film deals with the themes of identity crisis and responsibility very well, especially when Peter Parker loses his powers and chooses to live his life as a normal person. The special effects in this installment are outstanding. I love how this film pays homage to the Evil Dead movies with the scene where the mechanical arms becomes sentient and start killing the surgeons. Like the camera work and how it looked was unsettling, especially when there was no music playing. That whole scene looked like it came straight from a horror movie, and it was awesome. The cinematography really is top-tier, thanks to the Spydercam, made specially for these films. This really made the action scenes more enthralling to watch. The fight scenes in this installment were way better. They are longer, more exciting-looking and the special effects make it look more appealing. Spider-Man 2 is a masterpiece among superhero film, and my favourite Spider-Man film, period. This installment stands the test of time as being one of the greatest sequels out there, even after 20 years. However, avoid the 2.1 extended version because I feels like it drags the film somewhat.

When I first watched Spider-Man, it was in theaters when I was a child. And at the time, I thought it was the best thing I ever saw. Although, as I got older and watched so much more, the film is not as effective to me as it used to. But I still really like the first Spider-Man film. Tobey Maguire was near-perfect casting as Spider-Ma/Peter Parker. He pulls off Parker with his nerdish, awkward qualities very well. He even looks like a teenager in the film, which is what this Spider-Man needed to look like. He was good as Spider-Man, although he was a lot better in the following films. Kirsten Dunst was okay as Mary-Jane with how one-dimensional she was written. The same could be said about James Franco as Harry Osbourne. Willem Dafoe was incredible as both the Green Goblin and Norman Osbourne. He is capable of playing crazy characters like flicking a light switch. As Norman, he is neutral yet ambitious while the Green Goblin is terrifying, deceptive and also fun to watch. I love JK Simmons as Jonah Jameson. He IS Jameson. He is funny, fast-talking, passive-aggressive and determined. He was so good playing the character, he would go to reprise him in No Way Home. Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris were also perfect casting as Uncle Ben and Aunt May respectively. They come off so naturally as Peter’s relatives and you care for these people when something bad happens to them. How Robertson delivers the iconic ‘great power come great responsibility’ line, it really hits you. Professional wrestler Randy Savage was so much fun to watch as Bonesaw for the short screen time he had. Sam Raimi did an excellent job directing all three of the Spider-Man films. And yes, I also mean Spider-Man 3 as well. In the first one, he really explores the superhero origin while showing the grief he endures and how he grows learning from it. The film was written with solid emphasis on character development and story progression. The studios were right to get Raimi as the director because of his camera work experience from the Evil Dead films. The music by Danny Elfman is great. He gave the film some cinematic gravitas. When the action comes into the picture, the music. The fight scenes are very well choreographed, and they use practical effect for a lot of the actions sequences when computer graphics are not really needed. Some of the special effects do look dated now. The parts when Peter Parker is jumping off rooftops and Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin at parade shows it did not age that much. But the parts where Spider-Man is swing during nighttime looks better. The first Spider-Man is a great film and a strong introduction to the comic book character. This was the steppingstone to the quality standard for other comic book/superhero movies would uphold.

The Devil’s Rejects is an extreme road trip western that can be uncomfortable viewing for some. Even some of the actors in the movie expressed discomfort about performing some of those scenes. The cast are very interesting, consisting of some returning members from House of 1000 Corpses and notable actors from other horror movies, like Ken Foree from Dawn of the Dead or Priscilla Barnes from Kevin Smith’s Mallrats. The three main leads give solid great performances, especially Bill Moseley as Otis, who people had petitioned him for an Oscar nomination. William Forsythe was pretty intense as Sherriff Wydel and really liked seeing him act in this movie. The music is really intense, and I am not just saying that. When Tyler Bates’ score comes in, it is anxiety-inducing and it fits the violence that occurs in the movie, like the opening shootout or when one of the last hotel victims met their gruesome end. The violence and gore are pretty neat, thanks to the added special effects used specially for the movie. The soundtrack was great as well, much better than in 1000 Corpses. My favourite scene would be when Wydell catches the remainder of the Firefly family and tortures them in their own home. How he does it is brutal yet deserving for how heinous these people are. Wydell staples pictures of the victims to them, tasers them and nails their hands to the chairs they are tied to. This is the part where they turn the tables on the cop becoming the bad guy. Even to the point where Baby Firefly turns into the final girl kind-of character, being chased by Wydell. Overall, the Devil’s Rejects is not for everyone. How you feel about the Firefly family, rather you sympathize with them or not, is a matter of preference. But this is still a unique and enjoyable horror movie.

This film is a very visceral watching experience. Natural Born Killers is like a jacked-up version of Bonnie and Clyde. I am not a fan of Oliver Stone, but I am fan of Tarantino’s work, including what he wrote. So Natural Born Killers is one of my favourite films from Stone. I thought Woody Harrelson was perfect casting as Mickey Knox. He captures both the manic energy and the cold composure of a serial killer. Harrelson is so natural in the role. Juliette Lewis, for me, was kind of annoying as Mallory. Robert Downey Jr. and Tommy Lee Jones steals the show whenever they are on screen, playing very eccentric characters. Downey as Wayne Gale is very talkative and somewhat persuasive in his zestful demeanor, up to his final scene in the film. Jones was very maniacal as the warden, showing a very similar performance, he would give as Two-Face in Batman Forever, except it works here in Natural Born Killers. The overall imagery is nightmarish and very hyper-stylized in execution. Watching this film feels like you are on drugs without actually taking drugs. The editing and cinematography in this film is interesting to say the least. The cuts are rapid, a lot of weird close-ups and uses a lot of coloured lighting and black-and-white filters. All throughout the film uses tongue-and-cheek metaphors that are hard to ignore. My favourite scene is when they show a flashback of how Mickey and Mallory meet in this dark parody of the I Love Lucy sitcom. It is pretty comical in a twisted sense while Rodney Dangerfield gives a brilliant performance as Mallory’s abusive father. Like, this is how Mallory remembers her upbringing through this sugar-coated backdrop, where reality seeps through the tacky scenery and the happy music to show the dark truth. Natural Born Killers is a mixed bag of ideas, good or bad, that becomes the epitome of a fever dream. It is like Clockwork Orange in the sense that they glamourize violence in such an insane way that you either love it or hate it. This film visually stands out among Stone’s filmography, and it is very enjoyable watch.

The Rock is a very enjoyable action-flick that stands out from all of Michael Bay’s other films. I tend to like his films from the 90s more so than any other decade, since I was a 90s kid. Sean Connery was awesome as John Mason with all his lines being so quotable. Nicolas Cage was fun to watch as the zany chemical expert, Stanley Goodspeed. Ed Harris was phenomenal as Hummel. Harris breathes life into the antagonist and making him the most human character in the film. He even has the most justifiable motivation for what he was doing, along with conflicting ideals that are constantly being tested. I like the rest of the cast consisting of William Forsythe, David Morse, Michael Biehn, Tony Todd and Bokeem Woodbine. The music by Hans Zimmer was incredible, and sounds pretty familiar to Pirates of the Caribbean, who would go on to compose one of the sequels. The action is very exciting to watch, and Michael Bay tends to be notable for his over-the-top sequences and explosions. The camera work is very energetic in its shots, while at the same time was too confusing. My favourite scene is the chase between Goodspeed and Mason from the top of the hotel to the rendezvous. The action is top-notch, and the music is at its best in this movie. My complaints about The Rock are racist stereotypes, which seems to be a common thing to see in all these Michael Bay movies. All in all, I really enjoy this movie, more so than any of Bay’s other films. I mean, yes this movie is seriously flawed, however all the good aspects outweigh the bad and made The Rock a really fun film.