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Movies that I want to see are listed in my previews page.
See past movie reviews for older movies.
My movie rating system.
Insomnia - Action/Drama
A movie about a dirty cop from LA that investigates a killer in Alaska. Decent enough movie, but something that's not generally my type of movie. IT was good, it is worth seeing. However, there are a dozen movies just as good.
The Crocodile Hunter - Kids/Comedy
I'm sure Steve Irwin is a good, upstanding and fun person. But he is just the most bizarre person I can think of. However, at least he's not as annoying as Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh or Tom Green (*shudder*). Good for a couple of laughs, the kids and Discovery fans will love it. It was obviously filmed with television in mind as several parts of the movie goes back and forth from letterbox to the square shape. All the Steve/Terri Irwin shots are TV-ready, and all the CIA parts are letterbox. Basically, Steve tries to rescue a crocodile from would be poachers but the poachers are really CIA agents trying to recover a secret spy satellite that fell to Earth and was eaten by said crocodile. Watch with morbid curiosity.
Signs - Sci-Fi/Horror
This War of the Worlds type spin-off is a very good movie. Despite one aspect this film actually got me interested in explanations for a seeming plot hole by pondering their physiology. This movie pulls off what Blair Witch attempted but didn't quite get right. It scared you in ways you wouldn't expect -- and has a fair bit of humor to keep pace in just the right ways. The direct of this film is also the same guy who did 6th Sense. Overall, very awesome! This guy is an awesome director.
I don't know what it was, but I found the documentary of the real K19 on the History Channel more entertaining than this movie. Harrison Ford's Russian accent seemed almost silly and I'm starting to wonder if Liam Neeson (sp?) is either a really good actor or just lacks any kind of affect. Not to say it was a total loss. The no-name actors in this movie really shine through and perform well. This could very well be the turning point for several of the actors.
I don't like the mix of fantasy and future simply because I feel it's hard to do well. Reign of Fire makes for a good dragon slayer movie despite the mad max duality. Nothing too spectacular, but the special effects and good acting makes for a good movie.
It's hard for a sequel to live up to the original (usually). This is one of those times. Yes, it's a good movie. Yes, it's a clean chuckle. But no, it won't win any awards for originality. Go see it, you'll enjoy it.
Sum of All Fears - Action
Tom Clancy makes good movies. Scary, but good movies. Whatever he does has such a touch of realism and realm of possibility that this would scare any sane person more than a movie like "Jason" or "Friday the 13th". From what I understand the details of the book have been changed--so that instead of Arabian terrorists the main bad guys are Neo-Nazis. The Jack Ryan in this film is not married yet so it's a prequel of sorts; but the president is post-Bill Clinton, so it's the present day. If you ignore the chronology of the characters the movie itself still stands. This is a great movie, but it scared the hell out of me. Thank God I saw MIBII -after- this movie.
Minority Report is a good movie, too bad privacy is one of things to die in the future (and apparently, present) but other than that. It's a good movie that took old movie staples and presents them in a new package. good, morbid humor in it too.
Scooby-Doo - Humor
Scooby-Doo was simply awesome. It's hard to note the good and the bad without spoiling it. Sufficed to say it did keep to the spirit of the original very well, and even modernizes it a bit. However, Daphne was tweaked waaay too much and the bad guy, well, put frankly, should've been someone else. Other than that the remaining 95% of the movie was great. Hopefully, now that the distasteful changes are out of the way, the sequels will continue to rock on--oh and by the way, MAD PROPS go out to the crew that did the CGI Scooby and the looks of Velma and Shaggy.
Episode II deals mainly about how the emperor gets his army, how the republic splits and the now infamous love story between Anakin and his future bride. Put frankly, this movie would have been a tremendously cool-ass movie if it wasn't for the way overdrawn love story between angst ridden Anakin and the apparently emotionless Padme. They could have cut the love story to a third of what it was, and had a better movie. Everyone except the actors that played Padme and Anakin had good range and could actually act. Also of note, is when Yoda shows how strong he is with the force. Not only is this guy the master he says he is in Episode IV (Empire Strikes Back) but when he throws down, it's not a 40-oz can of whoop ass, it's about 3 or 4 kegs. Cool scene but the little guy's so fast he's just this big string of green blur--play the scene in slow-mo and it'll be more dramatic. The battle scenes are strongly reminiscent of 50's sci-fi and I loved it! I just hope I can review Episode III and say it's actually better than Phantom Menace.
Despite the very incorrect details of this movie (genetic spiders, genetic mutation, the kids starting of as high school kids); the movie is wonderful. The genetic backdrop actually makes more sense than the radioactive spider. Also, they did a very true to form professional wrestling/uncle Ben bit. I always liked Spider-Man. Spider-Man, Batman, and Superman all shared the "with awesome power comes awesome responsibility" theme. That is, until the spirit of the comics and the initial movies they inspire are soiled by sequels.
This movie is an intelligent movie. This movie is an entertaining movie. However, here in my review I can't seem to say anything that seems to make this movie stand out. Which, I guess, is the review. This is a good movie and it's fun to watch. Most likely, however, you will come away with a smile and not much else. But really, does that make a movie bad? I think not!
Time Machine is a remake of the classic which itself was inspired by the book of the same name. The only reservation of my review is that I've never read the book. However, I do like the original movie and this movie was much, MUCH better. I thought it was also clever how the movie tied references to the book and earlier movie to itself. Although the book is undoubtedly different from the movies, I am confident the theme of fate would be found there too. He had his time machine because his fiancee died, although he wasn't able to change her fate otherwise he would have never made the time machine (garbled, i know - watch the movie). Just the era settings nearly made me cry - this is a beautiful movie.
Even though this movie is from the same people that brought us the instant classic "Shrek", this film doesn't have the same charm. I would be remiss to say that it's not a funny movie though. Think "chuckles" instead of Shrek's laughing out loud. I think a large part of it though (for me, anyway) is that the woolly mammoth is played by comedian Ray Romano - and I never cared for his flat delivery. It's a cute movie, however.
Weird, weird, weird and strange - but completely entertaining. The only thing that kind of pissed me off about this movie is how they treat the Native American population through the film's Indian character (who is supposed to be the last Mohican). Not only that, but the shamanistic cohort is the pillar of self-control and wisdom throughout the movie until they finally hunt for the beast. At which point he goes off by himself only to get his assed whooped. I guess the hero has to make himself look good somehow.
I didn't think I would enjoy this movie. I was expecting some kind of mathematician's porno flick or something but it took an awesome bent on someone's real life struggle and a serious and misunderstood issue. Very good and moving movie. It also shows how high of a calibre actor Russell Crowe really is.
Why is it not perfect? They skimped on Tom Bombadil (and showed Aragorn giving the Hobbits weapons), changed details of their journey, the ruse of the second house, gave a larger role between Aragorn and his elven girlfriend, made Agent Smith from the Matrix Elrond, skimped on the whole Galadriel bit but at the very least - they kept the Mines of Moria correct and kept the ending of the book mostly correct (I can't remember if they describe what they did with Boromir). As an obvious fan of the books, the movie was well done - and that was the shortest three hours I've ever sat through!
It's a Disney movie, nuff said; This movie was made more for kids than for adults, and while you might be thinking "Well, Duh!". However, anyone that reviews Toy Story and Toy Story II (and to some extent, Bug's Life) can definitely see the trend that the movies are becoming more and more for the kids. Although the friendship theme in the movies are still constant. The technical acheivements of lighting and "fur" are phemenonal and are so well done in this movie that unless you're into computer graphics you wouldn't even notice. Great job Pixar!
What can I say without giving away the very thing that makes this movie so cool? Hmm. I don't know - all I know is that I thought this movie sucked until the ending. The ending MAKES this movie great. Simply put: go see this movie!
At first I was dead set against this movie (although still curious). I had heard that it was just a mindless movie with a stupid plot made only for an excuse to show dinosaurs (but as stupid set ups go, it was actually believable). So basically it's a mindless monster movie, and to that I say "so what?" This is a good movie. The first was really cool, the second one was just a completely stupid rip-off of "King Kong" / "Mighty Joe Young" (and sucked horribly) and the third (and yet, hopefully final) movie was a "one more for the road" type movie. The only thing I didn't want this movie to be about was an excuse to showcase the t-rex and the raptors. Well, they did show a t-rex but he wasn't on for long because he got his ass kicked. As far as the raptors, they should just release "Jurassic Park IV: Raptors and Calculus" and be done with their raptor fetish. Even though it was over-done a bit, it was spread out enough to keep my head from exploding and didn't ruin my enjoyment of the film. A definite must see. As a side note, Stegasauri (Stegasauruses?) RULE!
Tim Burton has lost the dubious honor of being his own film genre. He has sunk in the horrible realm of predictability. Now, I like the original ending - and felt before going in to this movie that the first one was a classic with an untoppable ending. This movie just reaffirms that belief. When the movie was "over" with the conclusion of the "first" ending I was all "whoa! that was like a watered-down, futuristic Braveheart" (which is actually a good compliment considering my opinion of Braveheart). However, and this is a big "however", Mr. Burton totally screws the ending by trying for the "gotcha" ending which would have worked, had it not been completely obvious from the beginning of the scene (and more to a point, it didn't even really fit with the film). Had they finished the movie with the "first" ending and had not tried to "one up" or even match the original film's ending (regardless if this movie was a re-interpretation of the book or not) this movie would have scored higher. So when you see this movie, and you like the "first" ending (when this occurs you will realize it) and are satisfied with it, close your eyes, plug your ears and chant "LA! LA! LA! LA!" until the movie's over and you will be much happier.
Where to begin? This is an awesome movie. It's historically accurate so that's nice. It's told from the perspective of one of the president's aids. The DVD review is pending (the reason this review is so short is because I can't find the words to describe how completely intense and awesome this movie was).
OK. We all know and love Die Hard as the instant classic and prototypical action movie. This DVD is what makes it sparkle though. I haven't heard if the film was remastered but the print of movie seems to be clearer than any tape or television presentation i've seen. Maybe it's the magic of DVD that does this. I do know that the sound was corrected in this 5 Star Collection edition (was messed up slightly in previous DVD and LD releases) and the sound is really crystal clear. The "extras" are pretty standard fare - missing scenes, alternative view angles on some scenes. The DVD, while unexceptional, has a very nice menuing system and the case of the DVD is very distinct.
This is a decent enough movie and has a heavy "cute factor". There is nothing really exceptional about this movie other than it is a fun adventure. The one downer is pretty big though - the movie just falls flat, absolutely "ho-hum" for the last 1/3 of the movie. The ending is happy and standard fare. If you can stand an ending that is as flat as an opened soda then you'll like this movie.
This movie is sorta like an R-rated Jackie Chan movie. "Super cop" "Johnny" gets caught up in a french captain's drug plot is about all I can say. To be honest, the plot was barely there and completely disjointed. A super cop from china comes to france to meet the china-french drug connection (are there no asian cops in france?) and bust them. Then the french captain kills everybody (including some of his own guys) and then tries to pin it on the chinese hero. Later we find out that the captain is head of a mafia type drug and prostitute ring and all the cops seem to be in on it. Also in their pursuit of Johnny, they manage to kill literally hundreds of innocent people which goes unpunished (unnoticed?). I don't know what kind of country france is, but i'm sure that even if the entire government were corrupt and in on this scam, I seriously doubt that they'd overlook it - it would draw too much attention. Then on the flipside, there is Johnny. Not only is he a super cop but he's so good at acupuncture that he can make people's head explode just by sticking a pin in the back of people's necks. Now, i'm not an expert but I don't think sticking a pin in someone's neck, no matter where you stick can cause a blockage after a minute that will cause your head to bleed like that. But that's just me. However, the martial arts sequences were excellent. The rest was horrible.
I have not laughed this hard or for this long for a long, LONG time. At its heart the movie is a love fairy tale and it's a good one but the thing that really adds the "oomph" is the play on words and jokes it makes about other fairy tales (the whole muffin man bit at the beginning cracked me up as well as the theme park castle). From that point on it was little laughs and big laughs and a fun story in the middle (the frog balloons were a riot). If you don't watch this movie then you obviously are a cynical weirdo that doesn't like to laugh.
It seems that there are no shortages of movies and popular culture of anthropomorphizing machinery more and more recently. We have Data, we have Voyager's EMH program as popular cultural icons and now we have this. Sometimes I feel like this is an attempt by authors warning us about enslavement of AI. We have scientists on one side attempting to create AI to work for us and authors on the other side trying to free AI from bondage. Why are we trying to create life in our own image? Ego. Good movie though, but it shows the incredible ego of man by accident; and the nobility of man superficially.
This was not really a movie. This was a long episode of The Outer Limits. This is not to say it was a bad movie, but it smacked of "let's make a movie about Mars" kind of mentally with a bit of Hollywood formula thrown in. The robot goes astray and starts killing people? Shocker! They used a military robot on such a crucial mission? What logic! Carrie Ann Moss (did I spell that name right?) is a cool actress with her future made by her acting in The Matrix - she does well in this so-so movie. Fun but with no "bang".
Though I have seen this movie before this review and thoroughly enjoyed it, this is the first time that it appears here. It's as simple as this: if you like karate-type action and gun battle action movies you will love this movie; nay, you must own this movie. The DVD itself doesn't really sparkle, shine or otherwise have a nice sheen :-) It does the job but is not overflowing with frills.
I didn't think I was going to like this movie, so when my friend suggested we watch it, I hesitated but agreed. I was pleasantly surprised. While not exactly Shakespeare and Football it does profile a rough time in American history nicely within the movie's microcosm. It was nice to see that they focused on the characters, which were people and these were real events. It was a movie about people's lives with elements of football and not a movie about football with elements of real life.
From what I can tell, Enemy at the Gate was not only a good movie but was fairly accurate (if you can get past the British accents). I'm still not sure about some of the details of the movie but so what? This is a very good movie and is very tense. This movie is truly about the duel between snipers as the battle of Stalingrad is merely the backdrop of the whole thing.
What is it with Hollywood these days? I mean anyone who has seen this movie understands that The Matrix was a ground-breaking movie but what writers, directors and producers should understand is that it is possible to make a successful movie without blatantly copying a noticably unique aspect of other popular movies. The "x-ray" effect when an internal injury happens was pretty awesome though. Despite the feeling that this movie is like a ten year old kid trying to be like his older, cooler brother; this is still a pretty cool action movie. This is definitely the kind of movie you'd want to see if you want to watch a simply enjoyable and humorous movie. This movie is not the uber-intense, believable romance movie people might tell you about; but it does have the humor and the fight scenes.
While this movie is a good movie in terms of technical aspects (such as acting talent, solid story, good cinematography, etc.) this movie is about as fun to watch as watching a drunk, suicidal teenager. Granted, the middle 1/3 of the movie is fun to watch because you see the father take charge of his life for a change but as it progresses everyone else makes startling revelations about themselves and then they ALL blame their problems on the father rather their own behavior of emotional repression; at which point the only good character gets a bullet through his head. Now, I don't expect much from a movie anymore, other than it have a decent or better plot, decent or better writing/dialogue and ultimately be enjoyable - and watching a movie where everyone is spewing negativity is definitely not enjoyable. Why can't Hollywood make a well done movie that is ALSO positive. Next time I want get this depressed I'll start talking about the Bush presidency.
I can never remember the actual name of this movie. Anyway, this is a chinese movie (with subtitles, no dubbing) set in a Fantasy version of China. This movie is sort of like "live action animé". Also, this is a movie that most everyone can get "into". Despite the coolness of the film I had four basic problems with this movie. First, given the build up that Jade Fox had, the time spent in the final battle was disappointing to say the least. Next, the fact the movie ends right after the climax of the movie was a bit jolting. Third, the way he gets poisoned and then dies is just flat-out lame. I mean after all the BS he puts up with to convince Hidden Dragon that he's on the level, he buys the farm and just as he was starting to tell his girlfriend how he felt! All I could think of when he died was "this is LAME". Finally, the weird, LSD induced ending sequence was too conceptual for me. I mean, I could see that the movie was becoming more and more conceptual as it progressed but the ending was way over the top. Aside from these (actually pretty minor) complaints, I would recommend this movie whole heartedly.
The X-men DVD is the first DVD that I own to have movie previews. That, to me, says alot mostly because it seems that the encroachment of advertisements to every singular aspect of our lives is continuing unabated. Regardless of the commercial machines that surround our every waking moment the X-men DVD has a pretty standard fare DVD but has a REALLY nice intro to the main menu. I also like how you can watch the movie with the deleted scenes RESTORED into the main film via an option to turn this feature on or off (and it's nice that they tell you the footage was deleted by a big X-MEN marker in the black bar "underneath" the picture). It is a very well done disc. My only real complaint was that ads are creeping onto DVDs. The box is of particular notice - it's a very neat package.
We saw this Christmas day and it was a funny movie. Although it does have tons of stereotypes in it - but what would a comedy be without tons of stereotypes? The tough cop trying to be feminine, the jealous pageant holder, shallow and stupid women, gay men that are more effeminate than the beauty queens. At least this does break some stereotypes as the movie goes on. It turns out the contestants aren't stupid and enjoy other aspects of life, the tough cop can enjoy herself, and gay men can hold themselves with some bit of dignity. See this movie and know what you're in for, if you're expecting it to shatter social barriers you'd be better off seeing something else.
This movie has been panned by several critics saying that "appreciate what you have" movies are a cliche and are not worth repeating. To these critics I say that this movie is targeted directly at you and to those that think like that. I thought for sure that when I went into this movie that it would be a "Robinson Crusoe" type movie where he would land on the island and eventually meet the island's inhabitants and his future servants like all American movies end up being. However this movie shows a typical "A" type American land on an island where it finally dawns on him that Man isn't the master of the world and learns to appreciate the basics of life - like warm clothing, cooked food, and good company (well, and fire). However, even though it is a good movie I feel it would have been better timed for Thanksgiving.
I didn't know what to expect from this movie. It was a very cool movie that had things in it that both adults and kids could appreciate. The story is somewhat simple, the ending is a bit "deus ex machina" and the quality of animation is par but it is still a very enjoyable movie. The only thing I would hope for animated movies in the future is the realization that animation doesn't have to be just for kids. We need to break that mind set so we can see movies in the future without limiting the way they're presented to us.
Our lone survivor played by Bruce Willis is confronted with a remarkedly odd supposition. It's really hard to write about this movie and not give too much away; that being said, Unbreakable is a good movie. It is a good movie in the sense that it's entertaining but it's main detraction is that about the time the audience has a grasp about what the whole film's about, you're hungering for the "real movie" to begin. That's not to say the movie's confusing but the way it's set up is when it starts and the way it lures people in by its advertising has you expecting a whole other movie. This isn't bad per se, but feels like an episode in a series of shows and not an all-inclusive movie.
Hoping this would at the very least a semi-serious commentary on cloning as well as a fun 'shoot 'em up' kind of movie has made me realize one thing. I expect way too much from Hollywood. Granted, it is a fun action movie but it's like expecting Total Recall to be a open minded approached to alien civilization. Speaking of Total Recall this movie smacks of it all over - it even has "memory" subplots in it. This movie might as well be called Total Recall II: The Clone Wars. So I guess what I'm saying is if you even slightly enjoyed Total Recall, you will enjoy this film too.
It's been a while since I've seen this movie so I'll have to review it from memory. As I remember it the movie is great, well written, good acting, great action sequences and three very attractive women. I did feel a little bit overwhelmed by the whole thing and remember thinking that this is "girl's rule" attitude of a movie which for me, made and hindered this movie. Overall, it's good to see women portrayed as tough, intelligent action heroes for a change but at the same time it's a bit overdone - I'm not sure if it's because this is new in Hollywood's attitude or if it's because I generally don't like action movies anymore (they're usually too 2-dimensional).
The DVD adds soo much to this already great movie. Although to be honest, it's not the features of the DVD that add to this movie but the actual film itself. The 2nd disc doesn't really add much more than cut scenes, a "making of" and historical notes of the period. From people I talked to they seem to think that this movie is just about fighting, but it is so brutally honest about Roman civilization - I mean, here they were, conquered about one-quarter of the world, assimilating all kinds of cultures, the model of modern law, politics, philosophy and architecture (by virtue of stealing from the greeks) and improving on all these things; Rome was a virtual modern city (and the biggest of its time, one million people). The "making of" special sums it well - you see this brilliant civilization and all their accomplishments and in stark contrast you see the brutality of said civilization. Yeah, you can see a movie about some guy who cuts up other people; but there is SOOO much more to this movie than that.
This movie was great. It totally mocks the catholic faith (and other belief systems as well) and I love it! This movie not only has a great cast (chris rock, the dude from galaxy quest and miss Garofalo) but has great humor, satire and an on-going philosophy about stuff - the ending is pointedly slow compared to the beginning and seems very anti-climactic; however, it's appropriate but still seems to fall flat. Other than the lame, LSD induced ending, it was great (I mean, in a movie of this fashion, God shouldn't be alanis morsette (sp?) or even her doppleganger).
Very humorous, very appropriate and just a great movie overall; and it was cool how they kept it close to the original (though I did wish they showed more of the grinch's appreciation of christmas as it seemed so disproportionate to his earlier loathing of it and the whole bit about his childhood feels like they added it just to add minutes to the film). The final clincher of why this movie didn't get a higher rating was because they didn't even mention that everyone lived happily ever after :-P
Watching this movie again reminds that it truly is a fun one to watch. I still have a problem with S.J.'s death scene though Janice's doesn't bother me anymore (it's still a shame though - she was extra-cute). Anyway, this DVD is pretty standard fare. It has scene selection, a behind the scenes, commentaries but it was oddly lacking in the bios of the actors. Only the big-name actors had any kind of bios. Even if I was a brand new actor fresh out of acting school (or wherever actors go) I think I'd be pretty darned pissed that I didn't get some kind of description of what I had done earlier. I mean, even a paragraph stating how I got started or hooked up with the project would have been sufficient (unless the actors didn't want information about them listed on the DVD for whatever reasons). The disc also has a few interesting extras for your computer's DVD-rom drive. Even though it gets the job done and looks good, I can't help but get the feeling it was rushed somehow. Another oddity is that the deleted scenes gallery has the film in a pixely, cop-informant type effect going on - be thankful though that these scenes were removed; they added nothing to the movie except extra minutes. However the reason they added (I suppose) the mosaic effect to the film is beyond comprehension.
This is a pretty tough call for me to rate. I have fond memories of this movie from when I was a kid growing up in the eighties (seems so long ago now!). The movie is pretty basic but narrated in a neat way. It's your typical "hero rescues the princess" type of movie that focuses on fighting, swordplay, pirates, monsters, miracles, and of course, true love. It's strange but I'm really starting to like sappy movies these days :-) This was a re-release of the movie (like I said, it's from the eighties) in DVD format. The DVD is pretty basic, nothing spectacular but is double sided. One side has the theatrical, letterbox edition, and the flip-side has the TV edited, full-screen edition. Neither is edited for content or snipped in any way but neither is there a behind the scenes, actor bios or anything like that. If you like movies that are good, clean fun or have kids this movie/DVD is a DEFINITE MUST OWN.
This DVD is pretty standard fare. Not much to be excited about really. The behind the scenes was nice as was the bios on the actors but all in all the only thing you'd probably care about is the movie here (which is the point, afterall). This movie actually scared me more watching it at home (in the dark) than it did in the theatre (maybe it's because I wasn't freezing my butt off and actually could get sucked in the move - is it just me or do most theatres try to freeze the patrons?).
Now this is a DVD to own. Many nice extras such as behind the scenes, theatrical trailers, scene selection and a gallery of the cut scenes really add to this movie. Also, I have to admit; much like Star Trek, it is definitely more fun the second time around to watch as well. However, the Tech Sgt. Chen and The Crew Fighting Sarris scenes should have never been removed from the theatrical release of the film (however, they are presented unpolished - this is just an observation and not a real criticism). The actor bios seemed thorough.
See past movie reviews for older movies.