Founder Rory Dean & Blogger @ Large Melissa K. Dean
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Above the Line: Practical Movie Reviews
Tag Archives: oliver stone
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Oliver Stone’s films live and breathe in the aether of happenstance and catastrophe, hand-wrung spaghetti noodles on the wall of Americana in Technicolor pasticcio, washed in controversy and teeming causticity. Driven by Stone’s familiar and articulate camera, his branded editing techniques and his signature bravado that makes heroes of all his criminal souls, Born on the 4th is quite easily among his best films. Continue reading
Posted in Blu-ray, Essays on art, Essays on Film, Movie I've Seen, Movie Makers & Shakers, philosophy and film
Tagged 4th of July is about community and the celebration of togetherness, above the line, aether of happenstance and catastrophe, born on the fourth of july, Character actor, condemnation and awe, everyday Americana of the 1960s, Film, hollywood, Independence Day (United States), oliver stone, practical movie reviews, rory dean, savages, specter of curiosity, Stone, Stone's driving passion and ability to weave together history and fantasy, Stone's most salient talent is to empower his broken characters with gut-level verisimilitude, tom cruise, war movies
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Midnight Express (1978) a racist agitprop?
Part morality tale, part prison crime drama, part culture-shock with a young American held in a Turkish prison, the story is told with such conviction and painstaking detail as to be both heralded for its truthfulness and condemned for being a racist diatribe against an entire country. Alan Parker’s film, based on the non-fiction book by William Hayes (the protagonist of the story) with William Hoffer, was sold as “based on a true story” but there was plenty of meddling with the truth between Parker and then burgeoning screenwriter Oliver Stone (who won an Oscar for his script). Continue reading
Posted in Essays on Film, Movie I've Seen, Movies You Should or Should Not See, On DVD, philosophy and film, Speak-Freely
Tagged 70's movies, above the line, alan parker, Bo Hopkins, Brad Davis, David Puttnam, Irene Miracle, john hurt, midnight express, Norbert Weisser, oliver stone, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Peter Jeffrey, practical movie reviews, Randy Quaid, rory dean
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Josh Brolin – His Father’s Son
The similarities between Josh Brolin and his father, veteran television actor James Brolin are uncanny. Solid character actors equally adept at starring roles, the Brolins have carved a special place in television and films across a broad range of genres. Continue reading
Posted in On DVD, Speak-Freely
Tagged above the line, james brolin, josh brolin, no country for old men, oliver stone, rory dean, W.
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Memorial Day for All – Platoon (1986)
Platoon is an epic film about life, love, death and innocence that holds up against the test of time nearly twenty-five years later. Olive Stone has surrounded us with sand bags, dug us in for the long haul. Platoon achieves what so many films have failed to do before or since – populate a world he knew intimately with characters we all can relate to in a hell we hope we’ll never have to experience ourselves and are glad so many did for us. Continue reading
Posted in On DVD
Tagged charlie sheen, john c. mcginley, keith david, kevin dillon, memorial day, move review, oliver stone, platoon, rory dean, tom berenger, vietnam, war movie, willem dafoe
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Above the Line 
Savages (2012)
“Savages” is based on the wildly popular novel of the same name by Don Winslow, with a script co-collaborated between Stone, Winslow and Shane Salerno, the film is rapid fire tongues and razor wire wit governed by Stone’s obsession with the collateral damage of good and evil. It.feels like the perfect vehicle for Stone to crack the whip on the lazy and the uninspired who watch in idle fascination as media and technology washes the consequences of their detachment to violence over them. Continue reading →