tifgrant Reviews

Soul Plane (2004)

Crash and burn

[2/10 · 30 May 2004]

I wholeheartedly agree with Greg in Ontario. I saw this movie today with a friend who actually went to the theatre manager afterwards and told him "That was possibly the worst movie I have ever seen." I have seen a LOT of movies with this person, and he's pretty forgiving, so I was actually shocked. (The manager gave him a free pass!)

I was offended by much of the humor in the film (yes, the baked potato scene was on the top of the list!). My friend and I are white and saw the film with a primarily black audience. For awhile I thought, maybe I just don't get this movie because I'm white. Then I realized NO ONE was laughing. The writing was bad; the direction was bad; the timing was almost non-existent.

There were a few funny moments, there was just WAY too much time between them. Even Airplane Two was funnier than this, and that's saying a lot.

I was so dazzled by Snoop Dogg in Starsky and Hutch (as Huggy Bear) that I felt I was sure to enjoy this movie. Nope.

DL Hughley was funny, as usual, but his role was rather small. Tom Arnold had a few funny moments as "the white guy", but most other attempts at humor fell far short of the mark.

Sadly, I was not able to award this film a rating with negative stars.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

They got it just right!

[10/10 · 23 January 2002]

Like all fans of the late, great JRR Tolkien, I was holding my breath: Would they get it right? The answer? A resounding YES. With an amazing touch for every little detail, I felt that this film really brought the domain of Middle Earth to life quite genuinely.

When the fellowship were in the Mines of Moria. I said "yes" audibly, for I knew that THIS was exactly how it should be. Somehow everyone, everything and every place was just right.

The acting was understated and purposeful. The direction was subtle yet precise. I would highly recommend this film to fans of Tolkien as well as those who may not generally count themselves as fantasy fans. This movie is a genuine classic already, and I can hardly wait to buy the entire set in a DVD boxed set in 2005.

Kudos to all those involved in putting LOTR together for us. I look forward to this winter when I can once again step into the mystical realm of Frodo and all his compatriots.

Laughing Boy (2000)

Great effort from first time feature film director!

[10/10 · 9 November 2000]

Joe Grisaffi assembled a real quality cast and crew to work on a low-budget production that is really snowballing into an indie success story. With practically NO budget, and having to do most of the work himself, Grisaffi has emerged triumphant!

Definitely a fun piece worth seeing.