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Reviews
The Glass House (2001)
Pretty Good
Let's face it, there is a certain formula for psychological thrillers like this. Hero stalking around the house trying to evade the villan? Check. Villan obviously menacing to the hero, but nice to everyone else? Check Final showdown at the house? Check.
Does this make the formula any less tasty? No. There are certain things fans of the genre expect, and when it's delivered as well as it was in "The Glass House", we're happy. Not profound, spectacular, oscar-worthy, just decent entertainment.
Clue (1985)
"Husbands should be like Kleenex. Soft, strong and disposible."
I love this movie, with the wit, one-liners, and great talent. A great performance by the entire cast, but especially Tim Curry, who puts plenty of energy into his performance, and it's my second favorite of his, behind the obvious choice of Dr. Frank N. Furter, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Get Over It (2001)
Surprisingly funny.
Nothing too profound, but still really funny, and a definate change of pace from usual teen flick.
Heck, any movie that opens with a dance number to Captain & Tenille deserves at least a bit of credit!
I want Berke's parents! An parent that doesn't get mad when you are arrested in a sex club raid or when your friends throw a party at your house is okay by me!!!
Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
They just tried too hard...
I really wanted to like Me, Myself and Irene but it just seemed too forced.
I will admit that there are a few laugh out loud moments, but they are few and far between. This is definately a low point in the career of the Farelly brothers, whose 'Dumb & Dumber' and 'Mary' were a couple of the most consistently funny comedies I've seen in years. I hope for thier next flick they decide to rely less on the toilet humor, and try and try to bring it a little bit closer to the humor of 'Mary'. I'm all for controversial humor, but when it's more gross than funny, forget it.
The Luck of the Irish (2001)
Pretty Good
A really rather decent film. Good clean fun, with good acting and good performances.
The story is about a junior high kid who finds out he's a descendent from a clan of leprechauns, and when he loses the clans lucky coin, he starts to turn into one!
A fun movie and really rather well done.
Caddyshack II (1988)
Pretty Lame...
The near-classic first film is really a great comedy, whereas, this one recycles some of the jokes, and doesn't do nearly as well. There was a magic about the first film where everything just worked, whereas this time around, nothing worked and for the most part was rather unfunny. Watch the first ten-twenty minutes for the return of Ty Webb, and then go about your business...
The Odyssey (1992)
Brilliant and Engrossing
Probably one of the better examples of fantasy work, especially for television. A very deep, and well acted series, never really gets old. I really wish they'd release the series on tape and/or DVD so that I could buy it. Really well done.
Shallow Grave (1994)
Utterly Terrifying
I think Shallow Grave, like A Simple Plan, worked so well because the characters were treated as real people. I know there have been a lot of reviews of how people said the characters were completely nasty, and maybe they were, especially to the people they were interviewing for the Fourth Flatmate. (Although it did give us some really great quotes, such as: "When was the last time someone said these exact words to you:'You are the sunshine of my life'?" and "When you wake up in the morning, how do you decide exactly what shade of black to wear?" My Point is that these characters seem a bit more three dimensional to me than three completely nice people would.
Once they find the money, things begin to spin out of control, and the flatmates begin to become more and more paranoid, leading to a memorable, and proably questionable ending.
P.S: If you don't quite get the ending, e-mail me, and I'll explain it to you.
Scream 3 (2000)
A Good Final Chapter
Scream 3 provides a nice closing chapter to the series and manages to work pretty well in the process.
A Lot of what worked in Scream 3 can be attributed mainly to Parker Posey, who breathed an amazing amount of energy and freshness into what may have turned out to be another slaughterfest!
Overall a well done ending chapter.
The Sugarland Express (1974)
Very well done.
I must say, even though this is not one of Steven Spielberg's more popular movies, it should be. This is a film that doesn't depend on action or mayhem but instead on the main characters, mainly Goldie Hawn and William Atherton, who all turn in good and convincing performances. Definately one of Speilberg's better movies!
Final Voyage (1999)
I want a refund on my 90 minutes!
This movie is poorly made, and also has nothing fresh or new to add. This movie was already done, and better i might add, in both Under Siege and Speed 2.
I also think Ice-T should never act in a movie again, if you can call what he does acting.
Senior Trip (1995)
Guilty Pleasure
I will willingly admit that this movie is incredibly stupid and not particularly original, but it is funny, and everyone tries hard.
I watched this movie on T.V late one night with my brother trying not to laugh so loud for fear of waking our parents. Overall, I felt the movie was very funny, but not exactly the best comedy.
Assassins (1995)
Definately underrated...
Assassins is definately one of the better written action films I've seen, but then again, it was written by the Wachowski Brothers, who also wrote (and directed) the equally well done Matrix.
This film was directed By Richard Donner, who also directed Lethal Weapon 1-4 and Superman, among other films. I felt the characters were all well presented and the story was told well.
Apparently, Brian Hegleand rewrote parts of the script, but I can't imagine what, since the whole script seems so Wachowski. Huh...
Next Friday (2000)
Close, but not quite there.
You have to give Ice Cube credit. He tried to make a good sequel, but somehow it didn't quite work. It was close though, and fairly funny.
At one point, in narration, Craig says, "I sure miss Smokey."
We do too.
Drive Me Crazy (1999)
Fun and Entertaining film, just nothing new
Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier star in a suprisingly entertaing movie, even though you know where it's going in the first ten minutes.
Melissa Joan Hart stars as Nicole and Adrian Grenier stars as Chase. The two have been life long neighbors, and also have recently been dumped by their significant others. In a plan to make their ex-significant others jealous they pretend to be dating. In the process, Nicole cleans up Chase, so that he'll fit in with her friends, which drives a wedge between him and his friends.
Drive Me Crazy is a fun high school movie that is entertaining and occasionally funny. It's well made, but if you're looking for depth or originality, I suggest Grenier's "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole" instead.
Gladiator (2000)
A real throwback to the epics of yesteryear...
Gladiator is a very well done film that also contains some of the most seamless computer graphics I've ever seen (most of Rome and the Collisuem are computer generated.)
Russell Crowe gives a wonderful performance as Maximus. I think we may have a new, and better action hero on our hands here.
Cheaters (2000)
Very Well Done.
This is a complicated movie, because you're not always sure you SHOULD be rooting for the main characters.
The film is about the apparently true story (I never heard about it) of how a teacher encouraged his students to cheat on an academic decathalon. The story was well told, but you're never really made to feel pity towards the characters. The story is told fairly and not just to be entertaining. I suppose it's a morality tale to a certain extent. But, be warned, there is a fair amount of foul language, more than I expected.
Still, a great and well done movie, and I feel will please those who are curious.
Die unendliche Geschichte III: Rettung aus Phantasien (1994)
What were they thinking?!!!
This movie is only the second to put me in the fetal position and almost make me cry out of it's sheer badness...(the other movie was Dr. Giggles, thank you very much) This movie has lost all the magic the other two had. I have no idea what went wrong, but I'm sure the writers and Director aren't getting much work anymore.
But, to be fair, the story had a good premise, but it's execution was terrible. And the whenever Jack Black is on-screen, the movie becomes stomachable.
It still gets a one though, because they turned Falkor into a yellow bellied wimp, and forgot about Atreyu. Ugh...the pits.
The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
Better than you'd think...
I think this film deserves more credit than it gets. I mean, at least the filmmakers tried to make a decent sequel to the film (however, they had source material to go off of, as the first movie was only based on the first half of the book, which probably explains everything). Watch this one and the first one back to back, and you'll see that the filmmakers were at least trying, unlike the third which reeked of direct to video (and explains why it sat on the shelf for years...) Why aren't the first two on DVD yet?
The Neverending Story (1984)
A Modern Day Classic
I have spoken to a lot of people over the years who hold this film in high regard. It is a very well made film, that is near impossible to beat (although Labyrinth comes close). This movie is the best and really reminds a lot of us of our childhoods. Was followed by two sequels, one that was decent, and one that was terrible.
Return to Me (2000)
They really don't make movies like this anymore.
I saw this movie on opening night with my friend and, I must say we both enjoyed it immensely. We found both Minnie Driver and David Duchovny very entertaining and very good actors. I think Bonnie Hunt did a great job directing, especially for a directorial debut. I also enjoyed James Belushi as her husband in the film. Definitely a well done date movie! It will probably be the sleeper hit of the spring, if not an all-out hit!
Jaws 2 (1978)
Not quite as great...but good fun.
Jaws 2 is as close of a worthy sequel as we may ever get. It doesn't quite manage to capture the pure exhiliration the first one had, but it's still fun, and perhaps less adventure and more horror. And theres a couple of death scenes that are downright terrifying, especially for a PG movie. Not particularily gory, but scary.
Jaws (1975)
"That's It! I'm not wasting my time with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch!"
There's something about this movie, where everything clicked and just sorta became this amazing movie, that not only thrilled audiences, but Spielberg on the map (I think Dreyfuss was already there thanks to American Grafitti), but it stands up amazingly well, and doesn't really seem to have dated much. Besides, Richard Dreyfuss is a hoot and sorely missed in Jaws 2. Ignore Jaws 3 and especially Jaws: The Revenge. Do yourself a favor and stop at Jaws 2.
American Beauty (1999)
Amazing...Lester is my personal hero.
I knew there was something special about American Beauty from the moment I first saw the trailer for it in front of the Forces of Nature video. I slowly watched how it did, finally get around to seeing it when it was re-released a couple of months ago. I have since seen in twice and wait in agony to buy it on DVD, even though it won't come out for sale till this fall. AGH!!!
The Substitute 3: Winner Takes All (1999)
Could have used some more work...
I'm a fan of Substitute and Substitute 2, but this one left me a little lukewarm. I hope they keep the series going, because this installment needs some redeeming. I felt that the ending was too quick and sudden, and there wasn't really enough establishing of all the characters to give us a feeling of if we should care.