THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON *½ Rating: R Length: 114 minutes Director: Andrew Piddington (The Dinosaur Hunters; Supersleuth) Writer: Andrew Piddington (The Dinosaur Hunters; Supersleuth) Starring: Jonas Ball, Sofia Dubrawksy, Tom Zolandz, Mie Omori, Krisha Fairchild, Richard Sherman
I watched “Chapter 27” last week- the other movie about the night John Lennon was killed by Mark David Chapman- and complained in my review that while Jared Leto gave an outstanding performance as Chapman, the movie didn’t give us anything to learn about him as a person. Watching “The Killing of John Lennon” I figured out why. There wasn’t too much to learn about him to begin with and what there was, wasn’t that interesting. Chapman, in both of these films, is exactly as I have always imagined him- lonely, crazy, and starved for notoriety. “The Killing of John Lennon” is the weaker of the two films because, well, it gave me exactly what I asked for- more information on Chapman. He’s played here by a relatively unknown actor named Jonas Ball. Ball drops the heavy Southern accent Leto used in the other film and plays Chapman rather blandly. Leto became the man, Ball gives us a performance and to be quite honest, not a very good one. It was a bold (or maybe cheaper) move to go with a no-name for the lead, but it’s not like Ball was overflowing with talent. The reason I stated I wanted to know more about Chapman in the “Chapter 27” review was because Leto’s performance made me want to. Ball, on the other hand, seems to be too bored to play him. He doesn’t portray him as a crazy or sane person- he just, well, plays him (if that makes any sense). The plot lines between the two films are obviously pretty identical, except the two major supporting characters from “Chapter 27”- Lennon groupie Jude Stein (played in that film by Lindsay Lohan) and photographer Paul Goresh- are largely absent. Stein (played here by Sofia Dubrawsky)gets about one or two scene- ditto Goresh (Tom Zolandz). So we are left with, like most of “Chapter 27”, a whole lot of alone time with Chapman and since the guy is so presented as so dull and predictable, it is one boring watch. In “Chapter 27”’s case, more would have better to make a better film. In “The Killing of John Lennon”’s case perhaps nothing at all would have been better.
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This was another music blog, but let's face it- there are enough of those to go around at the moment and the web is becoming a bit too crowded for them (except for the bomb ass ones like "Fight Test", "Fluxblog", etc...). So, I decided to make this a movie review blog where I'll post reviews of the movies I watch. I'll include MP3s from the movie soundtracks to download when I can find them. Keep in mind these are just my OPINIONS, so you could very well love a movie I hate or vice versa- so please, don't bother posting comments on what an idiot I am for not liking a movie you like (or for confusing a slight fact- no need to call someone a dumbass for not knowing a remake was originally Thai and not Japanese. There are some rude people out there) It is pointless and I'd rather you just not come to the site if that's the case. Also, the MP3s posted are to help encourage you to either purchase the soundtrack and/or the individual group or artist's album(s). If you are the owner of any of the songs posted and want them removed- please let me know and it will be done ASAP. Thank you for stopping by!
THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON
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