Movies That Improve on Multiple Viewings: The Deer Hunter

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Many years ago I read a review of The Deer Hunter in which the author said that the film is great up until the point where the three main characters get separated on the river in Vietnam. From then on, the film meanders until it comes to a muddled conclusion. I can’t remember where I read that review, so I unfortunately can’t cite it. It was more than 10 years ago, which is ancient history in the Internet age.

I disagree with that assessment of The Deer Hunter. All of the boring and meandering moments become brilliant on repeated watches. They can’t be appreciated in a single viewing because they don’t seem important until you see the final payoff for everything.  

If you haven’t seen the film in a while, go back and watch it to see what I mean. Continue reading →

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Welcome and Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This has been a fantastic year in many ways. I’m optimistic about the future, and I have quite a few ideas for movie-related articles that I can’t wait to share with my wonderful readers. In the past few weeks I have had a huge influx of new subscribers, and I don’t know exactly what to attribute that to. All I can say is welcome!

Welcome, everyone, to the Deja Reviewer website! Today is Christmas, and I wish all of you a happy one.

I am the Deja Reviewer and I come up with all of the crazy, unconventional ways of looking at films that you’ll find on this website. I’ve published more than 300 articles since 2011. Obviously, very few of you have known about me or my work that whole time, so this Christmas I want to share some of my favorite articles with you to enjoy. Here are two or three articles from each year that I’ve been writing as the Deja Reviewer, along with some of my thoughts on how they came about. Continue reading →

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The Symmetry of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s been more than a year since my last Cinematic Chiasmus. But you know what? Christmas is coming early this year because I am offering another amazing example of Cinematic Chiasmus right now.

If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, a chiasmus is a storytelling technique that reveals parts of a story in one order in the first half and then reverses the order in the second half. So everything that happens in the first half gets repeated, just in the opposite order, in the second half. It’s quite beautiful to behold once you realize it’s happening, and it deepens the meaning of already-great films.

And this brings me to Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. It’s unique among Star Trek films because it shows the aftermath of the previous film and sets the stage for its sequel, so it has quite a few dangling plot threads at the start and finish of its story. And I’m about to demonstrate another way that Star Trek III is unique as it delicately lays out a symmetrical story that begins and ends the same way and has the rest of the events in the film line up perfectly with each other. Continue reading →

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Jason Bourne vs. James Bond

Posted on December 13, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Talk about déjà vu. In the first article I ever published as the Deja Reviewer, I noted that it wasn’t fan fiction about RoboCop fighting Iron Man, but a comparison of their respective first films. And now here I am five years later saying that this is going to be an analysis of the Bourne and Bond film franchises, not a battle to the death between super-spies.

I saw Jason Bourne earlier this year, and I was pretty disappointed. I mean, the movie was fine. It had plenty of great action sequences. But everything felt played out and run-of-the-mill. Another girl close to Bourne gets killed early in the film. Another up-and-coming CIA woman tries to win Bourne’s trust. Another old guy with a connection to Bourne turns up. Another fellow assassin tries to take Bourne down. What was accomplished in this film besides attempting to justify its own existence? Bourne is still on the run and everyone is just as miserable as ever.

I miss the good old days when spy movies could have moments of levity, beautiful exotic women for the hero to woo, and more going on in the plot than just surviving murder plots and attempting to dig up clues about the past. Oh yeah, we have that in the form of Bond films. Admittedly, 2015’s Spectre wasn’t my favorite Bond film, but that’s at least in part because the other Daniel Craig films have been so amazing.

I’m going to explain why the Bourne series could never last as long as the Bond series. They were fine as a trilogy, but trying to keep them going just doesn’t work. Continue reading →

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The Return of ‘The Return of’ Movie

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Will xXx: Return of Xander Cage be a return to glory?It’s back. On January 20, 2017, xXx: Return of Xander Cage will debut in theaters, marking actor Vin Diesel’s return to the series 15 years after he appeared in the first xXx film in 2002. That film was a surprise hit while its sequel xXx: State of the Union, starring Ice Cube, failed to find the same audience as its predecessor. Kong: Skull Island is also shaping up to be what amounts to a “Return of King Kong” movie or an homage to Jurassic Park.

These films aren’t terribly interesting to me on their own. But they are intriguing inasmuch as they showcase what happens when a popular actor or character leaves a series he or she started and later returns to it. Some series try to ignore the fact that they were gone at all while others make it a big selling point that they’re back, such as advertising it right in the film title.

Let’s talk about a few examples of this in honor of the return of “the return of” movie. Continue reading →

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The ‘Leaving Spacedock’ Scene Is a Microcosm of Most Star Trek Films

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Nine of the 13 Star Trek films that have been released thus far include a scene featuring the Enterprise in Spacedock around the Earth. And, interestingly, those scenes encapsulates what each film is about.

Let’s check out those “leaving Spacedock” scenes and explore them to see how they perfectly capture the tone and even the deeper story elements and themes of their respective films in the Star Trek series. Continue reading →

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How to Be Happy

Posted on November 22, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I have much to be grateful for.

I live a happy life. And it’s not because I’ve had everything handed to me on a silver platter. Lasting happiness isn’t the product of ease, but of determination. I’ve had to work hard to earn my station in life. I’ve certainly enjoyed certain times more than others, but I’ve found a way to be happy, no matter what difficulty I’ve faced.

This Thanksgiving I’d like to share five simple steps I take on a daily basis to be happy. Continue reading →

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Why This Is My Favorite Scene in Any Superman Film

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I love the first two Superman films starring Christopher Reeve. I think they are nearly perfect in just about every way. They’re exciting, funny, dramatic, and emotional. And, best of all, they earn all of their big Superman moments by putting the character through a number of moral dilemmas and forcing him to make tough choices along the way. My favorite of these comes in Superman II.

No, it isn’t Superman’s showdown with the three Kryptonian criminals in Metropolis or the Fortress of Solitude. It’s actually the moment when Clark Kent hits rock bottom and is forced to admit that he made the wrong choice in giving up his powers to be with the woman he loves.

Not only is this a great scene on its own, but I would argue that it is the best scene in the entire pantheon of Superman films. I mean it. It’s got everything I could want in a Superman film. It shows the suffering that Superman has to endure because of his earlier choice, and it’s the reason why the fight in Metropolis and the Fortress of Solitude resonate so much. Seeing Superman fall so hard and then pick himself up and return to greatness as the Man of Steel is awe-inspiring. And seeing him outsmart General Zod at the end is so satisfying, as well, thanks to this scene.

Let’s delve deeper into the elements that make this scene perfect. Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Frequency

Posted on November 8, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

There are two kinds of people: those who love Frequency and those who haven’t seen it yet. Those are the words of my younger brother Kevin. He has been asking me to review Frequency almost since I created the Deja Reviewer website more than five years ago. I’m sorry for taking so long to finally get to it.

If you have not seen this movie, please drop what you’re doing and watch it immediately. It’s so good. It’s a time travel movie unlike any other. It uses time travel to tell a gripping crime drama spanning decades. You keep thinking the film is going in one direction until it pulls the rug out from under you and finds a whole new avenue to explore.

Join me as we discover what a freakin’ awesome movie Frequency is! Continue reading →

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Clue (1985) Is a Parody of House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Happy Halloween! I have a special treat for you to mark this holiday. 1985’s comedy classic Clue is obviously based on the popular board game. And yet its plot and characters seem to have quite a bit in common with the ones in 1959’s House on Haunted Hill. The big difference is that Clue is a dark comedy while House on Haunted Hill plays it completely straight as a horror film.

There is a lot to cover in this Movie Matchup, so let’s not dilly dally, but consider each similarity one by one as we discover that Clue is a brilliant parody of House on Haunted Hill. Continue reading →

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