John-C.-McGinley Movie Reviews

Col. James Burton (Cary Elwes) is a by-the-books Air Force officer who is given the job of making sure the Bradley is effective and ready for use. He quickly learns that the vehicle is a Frankenstein's monster, designed by committee and unable to do any of the tasks it was meant for, but which is being built anyway. In his attempts to adequately test the vehicle, Burton is up against Gen. Partridge (Kelsey Grammer), who is determined to get the Bradley into production no matter what. After all, it has been 17 years in design, with $14 billion already spent on it. Who cares whether it works or not? Burton does, actually, and is equally determined to make sure the Bradley actually works before he signs off on it, an attitude which does not earn him plaudits from Partridge. Running interference are Col. Bock and Maj. Sayers (John C. McGinley and Tom Wright), who sabotage every one of Burton's tests with darkly hilarious results.

(The buy-it-now-and-test-it-later culture is, unfortunately, alive and well in the Pentagon even today. No better illustration exists than the $50 billion -- pre-cost overruns -- National Missile Defense, now in production despite failing most tests and passing a few only under grossly rigged test conditions.)

"The Pentagon Wars" is a darkly gleeful look at the government weapons procurement culture. Pick it up if you get a chance.

Col. James Burton (Cary Elwes) is a by-the-books Air Force officer who is given the job of making sure the Bradley is effective and ready for use. He quickly learns that the vehicle is a Frankenstein's monster, designed by committee and unable to do any of the tasks it was meant for, but which is being built anyway. In his attempts to adequately test the vehicle, Burton is up against Gen. Partridge (Kelsey Grammer), who is determined to get the Bradley into production no matter what. After all, it has been 17 years in design, with $14 billion already spent on it. Who cares whether it works or not? Burton does, actually, and is equally determined to make sure the Bradley actually works before he signs off on it, an attitude which does not earn him plaudits from Partridge. Running interference are Col. Bock and Maj. Sayers (John C. McGinley and Tom Wright), who sabotage every one of Burton's tests with darkly hilarious results.

(The buy-it-now-and-test-it-later culture is, unfortunately, alive and well in the Pentagon even today. No better illustration exists than the $50 billion -- pre-cost overruns -- National Missile Defense, now in production despite failing most tests and passing a few only under grossly rigged test conditions.)

"The Pentagon Wars" is a darkly gleeful look at the government weapons procurement culture. Pick it up if you get a chance.

This is a delightful comedy about the annoyances and indignities of the modern workaday world, as seen through the eyes of Peter, a cube-dwelling software developer, and his prospective girlfriend, a frustrated waitress at Chachki's restaurant where over-eager teenagers ("try the EXTREME fajitas") take your order.

Although seemingly aimed at Gen-Xers, Office Space resonates with us older folks too. The characters and situations are hilarious, the dialogue wittily unexpected ("during these conjugal visits.... can you have sex with a woman?"), and the only people who seem content with life are those who don't do too much thinking--like Peter's neighbor, a happy-go-lucky construction worker whose sole concerns are naked women and beer.

If you don't enjoy this movie, it's either because you lack a sense of humor or else you didn't get the memo.

Well worth the price of the DVD, even though the transfer was only fair.

This is a delightful comedy about the annoyances and indignities of the modern workaday world, as seen through the eyes of Peter, a cube-dwelling software developer, and his prospective girlfriend, a frustrated waitress at Chachki's restaurant where over-eager teenagers ("try the EXTREME fajitas") take your order.

Although seemingly aimed at Gen-Xers, Office Space resonates with us older folks too. The characters and situations are hilarious, the dialogue wittily unexpected ("during these conjugal visits.... can you have sex with a woman?"), and the only people who seem content with life are those who don't do too much thinking--like Peter's neighbor, a happy-go-lucky construction worker whose sole concerns are naked women and beer.

If you don't enjoy this movie, it's either because you lack a sense of humor or else you didn't get the memo.

Well worth the price of the DVD, even though the transfer was only fair.

Great casting, with Sean Connery as a political prisoner (and former member of the British elite Special Air Service, the only man alive to break out of Alcatraz). Add Nicholas Cage as FBI agent (and self-described biochemical "super freak", who of course is grossly overmatched among these hard guys. Their foil is Ed Harris, who is great as a highly decorated military officer, disillusioned by the betrayal of his men during Desert Storm, and his cadre of soldiers. The supporting roles include David Morse, John McGinley and Greg Collins as his loyal soldiers, and John Spencer as a less than honorable FBI director They are all joined at Alcatraz prison, taken over by Harris and his men. They hold a few hostages (irrelevant to the story), along with rockets filled with deadly poison gas. Unless the government pays the big bucks, they will unleash their deadly toxins. Only a sixty year old Connery can get them onto the Rock, with the support of a group of Navy Seals and fighter planes to save the day.

Of course, they do.

Not a dull moment in this movie.

The DVD presented by those generous folks at Criterion is pretty good. The video transfer is exceptionally good with only a few artefacts here and there. The sound comes in DTS and Dolby Digital and both are loud and make full use of the surrounds. The score by Hans Zimmer just roars into action.

The special features are extensive with a commentary and several interesting documentaries. It is a pretty extensive (not more so than Armageddon) 2 disc set with a very interesting commentary on disc 1. The Hollywood Gunplay feature is one of the more interesting ones that deserve a mention

This movie with a running time over 2 hours goes by at a blistering pace. I highly recommend the Criterion Collection set of The Rock.

Great casting, with Sean Connery as a political prisoner (and former member of the British elite Special Air Service, the only man alive to break out of Alcatraz). Add Nicholas Cage as FBI agent (and self-described biochemical "super freak", who of course is grossly overmatched among these hard guys. Their foil is Ed Harris, who is great as a highly decorated military officer, disillusioned by the betrayal of his men during Desert Storm, and his cadre of soldiers. The supporting roles include David Morse, John McGinley and Greg Collins as his loyal soldiers, and John Spencer as a less than honorable FBI director They are all joined at Alcatraz prison, taken over by Harris and his men. They hold a few hostages (irrelevant to the story), along with rockets filled with deadly poison gas. Unless the government pays the big bucks, they will unleash their deadly toxins. Only a sixty year old Connery can get them onto the Rock, with the support of a group of Navy Seals and fighter planes to save the day.

Of course, they do.

Not a dull moment in this movie.

The DVD presented by those generous folks at Criterion is pretty good. The video transfer is exceptionally good with only a few artefacts here and there. The sound comes in DTS and Dolby Digital and both are loud and make full use of the surrounds. The score by Hans Zimmer just roars into action.

The special features are extensive with a commentary and several interesting documentaries. It is a pretty extensive (not more so than Armageddon) 2 disc set with a very interesting commentary on disc 1. The Hollywood Gunplay feature is one of the more interesting ones that deserve a mention

This movie with a running time over 2 hours goes by at a blistering pace. I highly recommend the Criterion Collection set of The Rock.

"Wall Street" is a very good movie thanks to the script, the direction, the dialogues, and above all the performances of the lead actors Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen, all of them gave an outstanding performance, specially Michael Douglas in the role that got him an Academy Award.

As usual, Oliver Stone created a very personal movie, he co-wrote the screenplay and dedicated the story to his father, a former stockholder. But Stone didn't exclude the audience because the movie presents the fascinating and complex world in Wall Street, and also the movie shows very human feelings such as the ambition, the greed, the envy, the revenge and the personal integrity.

The DVD doesn't include a lot of extra material, but the features that does include are quite good: an audio commentary by Oliver Stone, very valuable, of course, theatrical trailers and a very interesting "Making Of Wall Street" documentary, with interviews and commentaries by the cast and the production crew of the movie. "Wall Street" is a very interesting and entertaining movie, very recommendable.

Douglas was excellent and deserved his Oscar, and Sheen (both dad and son) were terrific. I'm not a great fan of Oliver Stone's other movies, but this is one movie I treasure as much as my MSFT stock certificate !

The quotes from the dialogue should be printed in bold and stuck up on the wall of every investment bank's office:

"It's all about bucks kid. The rest is conversation".

"See this building over here ... it was my first real estate deal ...I made over $900,000. At the time I thought it was all the money in the world - now it's a day's pay".

Surprised it didn't win the Oscar for best screenplay as well.

Wall Street takes us into the world of the stock market and insider trading. It is definately Oliver Stone's best film, and one of the best that I have ever seen overall. No matter how many times you see this movie, it never gets boring, or seems any less amazing. Michael Douglas offers one of the most memorable lines of all time with "Greed is good". This is the driving force for the film. This perhaps, is the film's best feature because the story is so authentic. Stone manages to fully capture all of the glory that Wall Street can bring, and the misery that it can cause.

Of course, you need talented actors to make it convincing. Michael Douglas gives the best role of his career as Gordon Gecko. In fact, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. It is that good. Gordon is a man that is ruled by greed, and is completely ruthless. That is why Charlie Sheen's portrayal of Bud Fox plays so well off of Douglas. Sheen is young, ambitious, and also extremely naive. He is the puppet, and Gecko is the puppeteer. Martin Sheen delivers an extremely solid role as Bud's father Carl. I loved the fact that Martin Sheen got the role, because only a real father could bring such a realistic portrayal of love. There are other great actors as well in this film, and they include Hal Halbrook, John C McGinley, Daryl Hannah, and Terrance Stamp.

Wall Street is a classic story dealing with ambition, greed, and betrayal. The story is extremely authentic, all of the acting is superb, and the suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat. The DVD extras are nice too. The making of documentary is great, and so is the commentary from Oliver Stone.

Charlie Sheen stars as the raw recruit. At first we see him as the young boy who wrote daily to his grandmother about the bugs and the blisters and the constant fatigue. Later, we see join the camaraderie of the platoon. And still later, we watch him make some hard choices of his own. Tom Berenger is cast as the scar-faced sergeant with the kind of cruel streak that doesn't stop at murder. And Willem Dafoe is cast as an equally experienced soldier who deplores the cruelty and is willing to stand up for his views.

The film focuses only on the experience in the jungle. There are no flashbacks to childhood or stateside relations. There is no mention of the anti-war movement or the plans of the generals. It is all about just humping through the jungle, in constant fear for their lives and lots of macho swaggering to keep up their courage. There are constant ambushes, horrible injuries, lots of death. But the most awful scene of all is when the platoon, overtired and angry because of recent horrific casualties, goes into a village. Here, all the pent up emotion is unleashed on the innocent villagers. This is the moral center of the film, where there are choices between right and wrong. Here is the part of the film where I burst into tears myself. War sure is ugly.

This is a great film and it makes most the other war films I've seen pale by comparison. I give it my highest recommendation.

The film brought me right into reality of what its like for the soldiers fearing for their lives and the civilians who happen to get in their way. I have no illusions. Such it is. Such it has always been. And such it will always be.

Charlie Sheen stars as the raw recruit. At first we see him as the young boy who wrote daily to his grandmother about the bugs and the blisters and the constant fatigue. Later, we see join the camaraderie of the platoon. And still later, we watch him make some hard choices of his own. Tom Berenger is cast as the scar-faced sergeant with the kind of cruel streak that doesn't stop at murder. And Willem Dafoe is cast as an equally experienced soldier who deplores the cruelty and is willing to stand up for his views.

The film focuses only on the experience in the jungle. There are no flashbacks to childhood or stateside relations. There is no mention of the anti-war movement or the plans of the generals. It is all about just humping through the jungle, in constant fear for their lives and lots of macho swaggering to keep up their courage. There are constant ambushes, horrible injuries, lots of death. But the most awful scene of all is when the platoon, overtired and angry because of recent horrific casualties, goes into a village. Here, all the pent up emotion is unleashed on the innocent villagers. This is the moral center of the film, where there are choices between right and wrong. Here is the part of the film where I burst into tears myself. War sure is ugly.

This is a great film and it makes most the other war films I've seen pale by comparison. I give it my highest recommendation.

The film brought me right into reality of what its like for the soldiers fearing for their lives and the civilians who happen to get in their way. I have no illusions. Such it is. Such it has always been. And such it will always be.

Charlie Sheen stars as the raw recruit. At first we see him as the young boy who wrote daily to his grandmother about the bugs and the blisters and the constant fatigue. Later, we see join the camaraderie of the platoon. And still later, we watch him make some hard choices of his own. Tom Berenger is cast as the scar-faced sergeant with the kind of cruel streak that doesn't stop at murder. And Willem Dafoe is cast as an equally experienced soldier who deplores the cruelty and is willing to stand up for his views.

The film focuses only on the experience in the jungle. There are no flashbacks to childhood or stateside relations. There is no mention of the anti-war movement or the plans of the generals. It is all about just humping through the jungle, in constant fear for their lives and lots of macho swaggering to keep up their courage. There are constant ambushes, horrible injuries, lots of death. But the most awful scene of all is when the platoon, overtired and angry because of recent horrific casualties, goes into a village. Here, all the pent up emotion is unleashed on the innocent villagers. This is the moral center of the film, where there are choices between right and wrong. Here is the part of the film where I burst into tears myself. War sure is ugly.

This is a great film and it makes most the other war films I've seen pale by comparison. I give it my highest recommendation.

The film brought me right into reality of what its like for the soldiers fearing for their lives and the civilians who happen to get in their way. I have no illusions. Such it is. Such it has always been. And such it will always be.