ESSEMTEE Online More Movies

Movies viewed on the big screen since August 1998:
ATTENTION!
This is probably the only film review site on the net that includes the endings! (I'm not sure though, I haven't really checked!) Of course if you've already seen the films, you've got nothing to worry about! Thing is, you have have to look at the list to know which ones you have or haven't seen! ; )

1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002

- 1998 -
SpiceWorld - Who's in it: Mel B, Mel C, Emma, Geri, Victoria, Richard E. Grant, Roger Moore.
Five days in the life of the five spicey gals, as they sing, drive around in a big Union Jack coloured bus, and say "Girl Power" a lot.
Ending: They get to their gig on time and sing one of their famous tunes onstage.
Best scene: Seeing the girls years from now, barefoot and pregnant, and still living together!

As Good As It Gets - Who's in it: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear.
An obsessive-compulsive S.O.B. decides to be a better man when he becomes charmed by his favourite waitress (Helen).
Ending: Helen eventually warms up to Jack.
Best scene: The road trip with neighbour Greg.

Wild Things - Who's in it: Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Kevin Bacon.
A guilty pleasure of a whodunit where horny Matt, trashy Neve, and bratty Denise Richards are steamily tangled up in a money-stealing scam, and it's up to squinty detective Kevin to figure out what's going on.
Ending: Out of those four, only one survives...or is it two? (Don't jump out of your seat and leave when the end credits appear.)
Best scene: When Matt's Lionel Hutz-ish Lawyer Bill Murray wins the court case.

Lost In Space - Who's in it: Matt LeBlanc, William Hurt, Heather Graham.
The 60's TV show is revamped and slicked over as the dysfunctional family Robinson become lost...in space!
Ending: Well, they don't get back home, but they do find a new one, or at least they're seen making their way there. (A typical ending for a sequel!)
Best scene: The opening battle was impressive, but it's topped when the Robinson's Jupiter 2 ship gets pulled into the sun.

Deep Impact - Who's in it: Tea Leoni, Morgan Freeman, Elijah Wood.
A group of ordinary people's (and a newscaster's) lives are viewed as a huge comet heads towards Earth, threatening to do to the human race what another comet did to the dinosaurs.
Ending: The comet hits, and it's bad, but not as bad as you'd think.
Best scene: When the really, really, really big tidal waves hit!

Godzilla - Who's in it: Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo.
There's no guy in a rubber suit, no dubbed Japanese actors, this is one buffed up beast who trashes New York, lays some eggs, and trashes New York again.
Ending: The beastie and her offspring are gotten rid of, or are they?
Best scene: Godzilla stomps on cameraman Hank Azaria, and amazingly, Hank survives (barely)!

The Truman Show - Who's in it: Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney.
Carrey's Truman Burbank goes through life not knowing that he's the main star of a 24 hour TV show, and his family, friends and the rest of the citizens of the small town/soundstage are actually actors.
Ending: Truman no longer becomes the star of the TV show.
Best scene: When Carrey wigs out and tries to drive out of town, only to be faced with various technical obstacles.

Mulan - Who's doing the voices: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, B. D. Wong.
Disney strays (a little) from its worn-out formula with the tale of a young girl who passes herself off as a male warrior to help defeat the Hun Army. A crazy dragon named Mushu, and a cricket named Cri-Kee go along for the ride.
Ending: She saves China from the Hun, and nabs the hunky captain too!
Best scene: The way Mulan defeats the enemy soldiers.

Armageddon - Who's in it: Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck.
Big, loud and veryveryquicklyedited. Blue-collar driller Bruce leads a team of blue-collar driller buddies to drill a hole, then drop a bomb into an Earthbound asteroid. Plenty of tuff-guy talk, and close-ups of digital timers counting down.
Ending: Out of the surviving team, one has to stay behind and manually detonate the bomb.
Best scene: New York getting rained on with fiery rocks, and Paris going ka-blooey were fun, but the demands that Bruce and co. make for having to go on the mission is a hoot!
(Bonus!) Weirdest scene: Watching Liv and Ben making out while you hear Liv's dad sing in the background.

Lethal Weapon 4 - Who's in it: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Chris Rock.
The boys are back, blowing stuff up like only they can. There's a Chinese money making scam subplot too.
Ending: The bad guys are dealt with accordingly. Riggs becomes a daddy, Murtaugh becomes a granddaddy.
Best scene: They grill a suspect in a dentist's office, and end up inhaling too much laughing gas.

Saving Private Ryan - Who's in it: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Matt Damon.
Spielberg's gritty World War II epic centers on a captain and his men with the order of seeking out a soldier whose brothers had been killed in battle.
Ending: In present day, at a huge cemetery, an elderly man tearfully pays his respects to a fallen soldier.
Best scene: The gruesome opening invasion sequence at Omaha beach.

There's Something About Mary - Who's in it: Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon.
Outrageously hilarious, disgustingly side-splitting romantic comedy where a bunch of goofballs root for the same girl (Mary), and there is indeed something about her.
Ending: Mary has to choose which goofball she'll stay with.
Best scene: Well, there's so many to choose from, but that "hair gel" scene tops them all.

Antz - Who's doing the voices: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman.
Z the worker ant (Woody) longs for more in life than just digging tunnels in an garantuan colony, and he finds it when he meets, falls for, and accidentally kidnaps the Queen ant's daughter (Sharon). And the film's computer animation rocks!
Ending: The nutcase General soldier ant really louses things up for the entire colony, but they build a ladder to success!
Best scene: The wrecking ball scene, good. The Land of Red and White, good. The magnifying glass scene, really good!

What Dreams May Come - Who's in it: Robin Williams, Anabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow.
Passionate, thought-provoking love story with a somewhat maudlin premise: A man dies in an accident and goes to Heaven years after he and his soulmate wife tragically lose their children. He then tries to retrieve his wife from Hell after she ends her life. A box of hankies is needed for this one!
Ending: If you can't guess, I won't tell you!
Best scene: The stunning visions of Heaven which, apparently, are "what you want them to be!"

Rush Hour - Who's in it: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Elizabeth Pena.
Another pair-up for the buddy-cop genre. Jackie's wild kicks mix with Chris's wild mouth as they attempt to rescue a girl held hostage.
Ending: The surprise villain is done away with.
Best scene: It starts with the quote: "Which one of y'all kicked me??"

Pleasantville - Who's in it: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Daniels.
Sweet concept movie where a pair of 90's kids get zapped into a black-and-white 50's TV show environment, and they gradually show the idyllic world a phenomeon called 'colour'.
Ending: One of the kids leaves, the other stays behind.
Best scene: The "experienced" 90's girl introduces her "innocent" 50's boyfriend to something more than just holding hands!

Enemy Of The State - Who's in it: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight.
Spy thriller in which attorney Will gets hunted down by officials who want a political assassination tape that he doesn't even know he possesses! A hypoglycemic Gene Hackman helps him out, and all craziness ensues.
Ending: Willy doesn't get rid of the bad guys, but there is one helluva climactic shoot-out!
Best scene: Will checks out a lingerie store for a Christmas gift for his wife. (I don't think actual lingerie stores have its saleswomen wearing only lingerie, but hey, a guy can dream!)

A Bug's Life - Who's doing the voices: Dave Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Spacey.
Flik the well-meaning ant longs to make a difference in his colony, and he does when he rounds up a group of what he thinks are warrior bugs (they're actually flea circus performing bugs) to fight off a horde of scavenging grasshoppers. And the film's computer animation rocks!
Ending: The 'hoppers are sent packing, but not completely by the new bugs.
Best scene: The end credits, definetely a first for an animated film!

The Waterboy - Who's in it: Adam Sandler, Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates.
Sheltered H20 supplier Bobby Boucher (Sandler) gets on a lousy football team thanks to his badass tackling technique...
Ending: ...but can he lead the team to victory? Well duh!
Best scene: Bobby opens up a can o' whoop-ass on his Colonel Sanders-looking teacher. That and any scene with Bobby's cute girlfriend, played by Fairuza Balk.

Psycho - Who's in it: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore.
There's some strange goings on at the Bates Motel, as a young woman checks in, checks out dead, and a search for her uncovers a killer. Is it the motel owner Norman Bates, or his mother? If anything, this shot-for-shot remake just shows how brilliant the 1960 Hitchcock original is.
Ending: The killer is incarcerated.
Best scene: I could easily say the shower scene, but...ahh heck yeah, the shower scene!

You've Got Mail - Who's in it: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Parker Posey.
Meg is the owner of a tiny bookstore, Tom is the new owner of an adjacent rival-swallowing mega-bookstore, and both really dislike each other...too bad they fall in love over the internet, without even knowing each other's real identities! What a sweet film this is!
Ending: Meg declares online "I think we should meet...", does Tom agree?
Best scene: Tom's reaction to seeing Meg being interviewed on TV about his big, bad bookstore.

The Prince Of Egypt - Who's doing the voices: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer.
A gorgeously animated version of the story of Exodus. Moses is instructed by God to free the Hebrew slaves from the rule of his brother Rameses.
Ending: Moses presents his freed people with two stone tablets...
Best scene: The parting of the Red Sea.
- 1999 -
Payback - Who's in it: Mel Gibson, Maria Bello, David Paymer.
Mel's the bad guy you won't mind rooting for, as he tries to get back $130,000... no wait, that's $70,000 from some other bad guys.
Ending: Does Mel get the money at all? And what's the bad guy body count at the end anyway?
Best scene: It involves a dominatrix saying to her customer "Me love you long time!" Ouch!

The Matrix - Who's in it: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss.
Cyberthriller in which a group of hacker rebels seeks out and enlist the chosen one that is Keanu to overthrow The Matrix. But, what is The Matrix?
Ending: Keanu finally finds out what The Matrix actually is.
Best scene: The face-off on the rooftop... defines the term "Faster than a speeding bullet" or in this case, a whole slew of bullets!

Entrapment - Who's in it: Sean Connery, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ving Rhames.
Connery and Zeta-Jones are really, really good art thieves who help each other out during the days leading up to the Millennium... or are they actually cops trying to rat each other out? Or is she a cop and he a thief, or is it the other way around, or... ahh who cares, Connery's cool and Zeta-Jones is hot!
Ending: They finally find out each other's true identities, or do they...?
Best scene: Zeta-Jones slowly pirouettes around a maze of invisible security beams to reach a very valuable museum piece.

The Mummy - Who's in it: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Arnold Vosloo.
More like Raiders Of The Lost Mummy. Circa 1920's, Fraser, Weisz, and a bunch of expendable sarcophagus seekers flee from the resurrected Imhotep, who brings biblical curses on the land, and looks less gruesome each time he finds another one of his stolen treasures. Or something like that.
Ending: The ones left alive ride off into the sunset, as the mummy's home sinks into the sand, or something.
Best scene: When you first see the mummy. Hoo boy, he could sure use some liquids!

Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace - Who's in it: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Jake Lloyd.
The most anticipated movie of the century... and it delivers! I mean, really delivers! The planet of Naboo faces an invasion by the Trade Federation, and two Jedi Knights are summoned to help sort out the dispute.
Ending: Well, it's suitable for Episode II, not unlike the final scenes in Episode IV.
Best scene: The Jedi Knights Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan confront Darth Maul, then things start cooking!

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me - Who's in it: Mike Myers, Mike Myers (again), Mike Myers (once more), Heather Graham, Rob Lowe.
Austin follows Dr. Evil back to the 60's to retrieve his stolen "mojo." Oh behave!
Ending: Austin gets to go back to the 90's with Felicity Shagwell, the girl he was assigned to work with. Dr. Evil escapes, yet again!
Best scene: Mr. Powers struts around stark naked in a crowded hotel, his naughty bits covered up by... the film's opening credits!

Tarzan - Who's doing the voices: Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Glenn Close.
This retelling of the ape man goes against the Disney tradition with no characters singing!
Ending: Have you read the book? Seen the classic movie versions? Then you'll know if Jane leaves for London or stays with Tarzan!
Best scene: When Jane gets rescued from a whole fleet of monkeys by a man in a loincloth. (Yes, that would be Tarzan!)

The Blair Witch Project - Who's in it: Heather Donahue, Michael Williams, Joshua Leonard.
Three students get lost in the woods while filming a documentary about the mysterious Blair Witch of Maryland. Bring the Gravol, this is one shaky movie!
Ending: If you haven't seen it yet, pay good attention to what the interviewed townsfolk say near the beginning. Without that knowledge, you'll just go "Huh?" at the end.
Best scene: Heather finds a wrapped-up bundle of twigs outside her tent, she opens up the bundle, and... eww, what is that?

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut - Who's in it: Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny.
What they can't show on the TV version, they show plenty of in this musical extravaganza, in which the boys sneak into an R-rated film, and it ends up warping their fragile little minds!
Ending: Well, it involves a huge war against Canadians(!), Satan coming to Earth, and the vision of a giant talking, err...
Best scene: Cartman uses his powers of obscenity to get rid of Satan's sex-obsessed lover... Saddam Hussein.

The Sixth Sense - Who's in it: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette.
Haunting tale of a sheltered young boy (Osment) who "sees dead people," and the case worker (Willis) who tries to help him. More spooky than scary. And yes, there's that twist ending that you'll never see coming! It'll have you running the film's earlier scenes in your head.
Ending: See above.
Best scene: See above.

American Pie - Who's in it: Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth.
A buncha guys made a deal to each get laid by, or better yet, on their prom night. Hilarious teen sex comedy, shows some surprising heart with its share of naughty stuff!
Ending: Yeah, they all go off to college as men, although not having done the deed with the ladies some of them were expecting to wind up with!
Best scene: There's a few great ones, like making love to pastry, or 'popping the cork' in someone's beer, or doing a striptease live on the net where all your buddies from school are watching, or putting Ex-Lax in someone's coffee...

Eyes Wide Shut - Who's in it: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack.
Butt-numbingly long but well-made sexual drama where Tom and Nic smoke some pot after a party, a few confessions are revealed, and Tom winds up at some strange fancy dress club where everyone invited, er, gets busy. Then the Tom-Man starts getting paranoid by the strange events that happen afterwards.
Ending: Nic and the Cruiser decide to patch up their crumbling relationship... by mutually agreeing to get busy!
Best scene: When Tommo goes to the fancy dress par-tay... and watches a bunch of naked masked people getting busy!

Man Of The Century - Who's in it: Gibson Frazier, Susan Egan, Anthony Rapp.
Swell, truly original black-and-white comedy where newspaper columnist Johnny Twennies walks and talks as if he's living in the 20's, blissfully unaware that everyone and everything around him is in the 90's. (And yes, Susan is wonderful as his girlfriend!)
Ending: Johnny gets the scoop he needs to keep his job at the paper, and gets rid of a few bad guys on his tail in the process.
Best scene: Johnny and his gal Samantha step out on the dance floor and cut a mean rug doing the Charleston.

Bowfinger - Who's in it: Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Heather Graham.
A hack director (Steve) gets the biggest action star in the universe (that would be Eddie) in his sci-fi movie by having his actors blurt out their lines to him on the street, and filming him as he "starts the chase sequence" (runs away!) Plan B is to have his nerdy brother (also Eddie) as a stand-in.
Ending: Does the movie even get made? And does Eddie ever find out why all these crazy people keep yelling at him about aliens??
Best scene: Secretly setting up a shot at an open-air restaurant, involving lights, sound, and a hidden camera!

Sleepy Hollow - Who's in it: Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson.
Johnny plays Ichabod Crane, and seeks out a mysterious Headless Horseman, who's apparently been cutting off people's heads in a small village. One of Tim Burton's better scary flicks.
Ending: Ichabod and his new found friends make themselves a new home... in New York City.
Best scene: Hack at a haunted tree with an axe, it bleeds. Keep hacking at it, it spurts blood. So why is it bleeding? See what's inside the tree!

Dogma - Who's in it: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino.
Two destructive outcasted angels find a loophole to get back to their "home", while a descendant of Christ meets up with and gets help from the 13th apostle(!), a muse, and two prophets, among other spiritual folk. Pretty much a 'Life Of Brian' for the 90's.
Ending: Linda the descendant gets a visit from God, played by, er, well she's a Canadian singer, of all people!
Best scene: Basically any scene with prophets Jay and Silent Bob!

Toy Story 2 - Who's doing the voices: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack.
Woody is kidnapped by a toy collector, finds out he was the main star of a popular 50's TV show/toy line, and meets up with his show's Roundup Gang: a trusty steed named Bullseye, Jessie the cowgirl, and Stinky Pete the Prospector. Meanwhile, Buzz and the gang set out on the mean streets to find their missing friend. (Incidentally, it's the first movie I've seen in two years where the theatre audience actually applauded at the end. The movie's that good!)
Ending: A squeaky-toy penguin with the voice of Robert Goulet, and three Barbie backup singers croon a swingin' version of You've Got A Friend In Me.
Best scene: Seeing Buzz Lightyear duking it out with another Buzz Lightyear... in a large toy store section filled with Buzz Lightyears!

Bicentennial Man - Who's in it: Robin Williams, Embeth Davidtz, Oliver Platt.
Syrupy goings-on as Andrew, a robot with human emotions goes on his 200 year journey, watching his owners and friends grow old and die, as he/it longs to be fully human. He ultimately meets a technician who can help him achieve his goal.
Ending: Well, robots don't die, but humans do...
Best scene: Either when Andrew sits there slack-metal-jawed as his owner tells him about the um, 'facts of life,' or when Andrew decides to makes his owners laugh by telling a barrage of increasingly naughty jokes!

Man On The Moon - Who's in it: Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love.
Jim channels the late, great Andy Kaufman in this interesting biopic that blows the whistle on the comic's wild and crazy stunts.
Ending: Andy dies(?), but his lounge lizard alter-ego, Tony Clifton, lives on.
Best scene: Andy's final stage performance, after which he invited the whole audience out for milk and cookies!

The Green Mile - Who's in it: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse.
Mr. Hanks plays Mr. Edgecomb, a death row prison guard in this dramatic (and long!) story of hulking men, miracles, and clever mice, courtesy of a certain Mr. Jingles!
Ending: A very elderly Mr. Edgecomb finishes his story of his amazing experiences on the Green Mile, so named for the colour of the floor leading to the electric chair.
Best scene: After doing many awful things, a nasty prison guard finally gets what's coming to him, as does a nasty inmate.

Magnolia - Who's in it: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, and two-thirds of the cast of 'Boogie Nights'.
The crazy lives of a select bunch of kooks are viewed and examined one after the other, in this long, somewhat overblown pseudo-epic.
Ending: All the main characters get connected by a very, veeery bizarre, twisted phenomena.
Best scene: The main characters engage in a sing-along with the movie's soundtrack, one after the other. All in all, an interesting way to cap off the decade!