Forgotten Film Gems: Guarding Tess

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Guarding Tess is a combination of Driving Miss Daisy and In the Line of Fire. In fact, it came out right in the middle of a slew of films focused on the president and/or the Secret Service: 1993’s Dave and In the Line of Fire, 1995’s The American President, 1996’s First Kid, and 1997’s Absolute Power. During the Clinton Administration, people were just really intrigued by the presidency, I guess.

A lot of those films are quite good, and 1994’s Guarding Tess definitely falls into that category. Let’s talk about what works in this film and why it is definitely worth a look this Christmas. Continue reading →

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10 Villains Who Think They Are Heroes

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Not every movie villain is interested in being evil. Some are misguided or wrongly believe that they are completely in the right. They see the supposed heroes of the story as hindrances to their righteous cause.

Let’s examine 10 bad guys who never think of themselves as “bad” guys, but as heroes: Continue reading →

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Something New to Admire About The Last Starfighter Besides Its Special Effects

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I have to admit I was wrong about The Last Starfighter. In one of my first articles on this website, I mocked that film and said that it was a bad movie with good music. A few years later, I gave it another chance and I discovered something remarkable that has completely changed the way I think about it.

It is an example of Cinematic Chiasmus!

The first half almost perfectly mirrors the second half, creating a wonderfully symmetrical film experience. Let’s find out just how wrong I was to dismiss this film as just another special effects-driven film by crossing the frontier and showing how The Last Starfighter is a cinematic chiasmus.

The Chiasmus

As with all my other articles in this category, let’s begin by showing the chiasmus in all its glory:

A. The camera moves away from a planet called Rylos and goes to Earth

 B. Louis Rogan finds his older brother Alex playing the Starfighter arcade

  C. Alex’s mom calls to Alex while his girlfriend Maggie leaves him

   D. Alex looks up at the planet models hanging in his bedroom

    E. Trailer manager Otis tells Alex to follow his dreams

     F. Alex breaks the record on the Starfighter arcade

      G. Alex and Maggie proclaim their love for each other

       H. Alex gets rejected for a school loan and then meets Centauri and Beta

        I. Alex goes to Rylos with Centauri, and soon regrets it

         J. Louis and Maggie listen to Beta moaning under a blanket as he transforms into a double for Alex

          K. Alex sees several Gunstar spacecraft and gets briefed by Ambassador Enduran

           L. Xur scares Alex by showing a spy he caught and killed

            M. Centauri takes Alex back to Earth

             N. Xur kills almost all of the Starfighters after their hangar’s defensive guns are disabled

              O. Centauri lectures Alex and leaves him with a communicator if he changes his mind

              O. Beta tries to convince Alex to return, and Alex uses the communicator to call Centauri back

             N. An alien nearly kills Alex, and Centauri is seriously wounded defending him

            M. Centauri takes Alex back to Rylos

           L. With his “dying” breath, Centauri convinces Alex to stay and fight

          K. Alex enters a Gunstar as Grig briefs him on the controls (Note: K and J take place out of order)

         J. Louis is shocked to see Beta take off his head to fix a malfunction

        I. Alex goes to the Frontier with Grig, and soon regrets it

       H. As Beta serves his purpose by sacrificing himself for Alex, Alex finally accepts his role as a Starfighter

      G. Maggie looks up at the stars and says, “I love you, Alex Rogan”

     F. Alex destroys the Ko-Dan Armada and the Command Ship for real

    E. The ambassador and a revived Centauri convince Alex to stay on Rylos

   D. Alex’s friends and family look up as a Gunstar descends on their trailer park

  C. Grig calls to Alex while Maggie decides to go with him

 B. Louis starts playing the Starfighter arcade as Alex leaves on a Gunstar

A. Alex and Maggie leave Earth for Rylos

Now I’ll go into greater depth on each of these points: Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Exodus (1960)

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

They don’t make ‘em like they used to. Old epics are usually better than new ones. Seriously, I’d rate Spartacus (1960) higher than Gladiator (2000), Tora! Tora! Tora! higher than Pearl Harbor, and The Ten Commandments (1956) higher than this year’s Noah or probably Exodus: Gods and Kings (based on the trailers I’ve seen for it).

Older films have a more laid-back approach to their storytelling. They don’t need an attention-grabbing opening scene, but they gradually take hold of the audience until we are deeply invested in the characters without knowing exactly when or how it happened. Modern films like Braveheart and Schindler’s List have an old-fashioned feel to them, which is part of the reason why I like them so much compared to other epic films.

And that brings us to the 1960 classic Exodus. This film is about the birth of the modern State of Israel in 1948. It was made back when Israel was still a serious underdog and when the Holocaust wasn’t an old part of history but a fresh memory burned into people’s minds like an open wound. This was before the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War, both of which put Israel’s very existence in jeopardy. This movie reflects the seriousness of the time it was made in.

Let’s explore some of the things that make this three-and-a-half-hour film worth watching today. Continue reading →

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Thank You from the Deja Reviewer

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

To all of my readers, thank you for helping to make my website such a huge success. I got my 1 millionth view and my 1,000th follower last month, and everything just keeps booming. I am amazed by what has happened this year, and what better time than Thanksgiving to take a minute to show my appreciation for all of you!

Humble Beginnings

Robert Lockard and one of his sons.I created the Deja Reviewer website in June 2011 to keep my brain from exploding. My mind never stops generating crazy ideas and odd ways of looking at films, but for years I had no way of getting those ideas out there for others to see. But after the birth of my second child, I knew something needed to change.

This website started purely as an outlet for my creativity. I just wanted to share my thoughts and see if they would resonate with anyone else. For the first three years, I had a few moderately popular articles here and there, but nothing really spectacular. Continue reading →

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10 Movies Whose Hero and Villain Never Actually Meet

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Some movies are so well-constructed, they don’t even need their hero and villain to be anywhere close to each other to create lots of suspense and conflict. They might talk with each other over the phone, but they never have a face-to-face encounter.

Let’s get right to the point and explore 10 movies whose hero and villain never actually meet! Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Always

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Always is the one Steven Spielberg film that no one ever talks about. People like to rag on 1941 as Spielberg’s one true bomb or discuss Hook’s shortcomings or Empire of the Sun’s good qualities. But no one seems to care about Always.

I watched this movie as a kid and I thought it was painfully boring. There wasn’t much to hold my interest. I rented it again last week to show to my wife and see if it was really as bad as I remembered. I’m happy to report that it is not what I expected.

Sure, it’s definitely imperfect with a lot of jokes that fail to hit their target and an overly long opening sequence. But overall the movie works surprisingly well.

Get ready to explore what worked and what didn’t in the 1989 Spielberg film, Always. Continue reading →

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10 Successful Actors Who Have Never Starred in a Sequel

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s nice to have a steady paycheck. Actors have a notoriously hard time hitting the big time, and even for those who do, there’s no guarantee that they’ll continue to land great roles. That’s probably why it’s so tempting to reprise roles that have worked well for them in franchises that have built-in audiences.

So it’s cool to see that some actors can have successful careers without ever starring in a sequel to one of their popular films. Some of the actors on this list did appear in a sequel/reboot in a series, but they never showed up in more than one film in that series, so they weren’t returning to a series they had helped start.

So sit back and prepare to be surprised as we showcase 10 successful actors who have never starred in a sequel to one of their popular films. Continue reading →

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Movie Matchups: Atlantis: The Lost Empire vs. Stargate

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Stargate debuted in theaters exactly 20 years ago today. It was so good that they released it again seven years later, except that time it was called Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

These movies are so closely related that it’s crazy that Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin didn’t get story credit on Atlantis or at least an “Inspired by.”

We’re going to correct this oversight today by exploring the numerous similarities between Stargate and Atlantis: The Lost Empire! Continue reading →

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‘I’ll Be Back’ Takes on New Meaning: Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s First Half Mirrors Its Second Half

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

October 26, 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of The Terminator. That was James Cameron’s first real directing job, and he followed it up with the even better Aliens and The Abyss. In 1991, he returned to the franchise that made him famous and produced a film that is superior to the original in just about every way.

Not only is Terminator 2: Judgment Day one of the best sequels ever made, it is also another example of Cinematic Chiasmus. Is it overkill to do two examples of this ancient storytelling technique from the same director in one month? Probably, but I don’t care because Aliens and Terminator 2 are both awesome films and they deserve the star treatment.

So let’s explore the chiasmus found in Terminator 2. Come with me if you want to give this movie a whole new meaning! Continue reading →

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