The acting wasn't the greatest, and overall it had an amateurish feel to it, but I couldn't help liking this flick. I'm not in the game(drugs) so I can't say how realistic it's portrayal of that world is, but I can say that I didn't regret spending 90 minutes watching this movie last night.
Reviews
16 Reviews
The Book of Stars
(1999)
almost made me cry at the end....ALMOST!!!!
5 January 2002
Just saw this film on cable this afternoon and it was pretty darn good. I just about shed a tear at the end and that hasn't happened for me since I saw "Brians Song" like 20some years ago. Everyone in the small talented cast deserves kudos...
Show Me Love
(1998)
Very good film!
4 December 2001
My only regret is that I missed the first 5 or 10 minutes of this gem. It was called "Show me love" when I saw it on cable here in the U.S. and I just saw it last night. I've only been able to enjoy a few movies that I watched with subtitles and this is one of them. The young actresses who played the leads were great and the supporting cast was perfect also. I won't go into a review of the plot since I'm sure other reviewers here have already done that, but I will say that I highly suggest this film to anyone who can enjoy a movie without shoot-ups or explosions. I look forward to seeing more from this director and this cast!
Night of the Living Dead
(1968)
subtext...
13 November 2001
Like a lot of other people posting here, I think Night of the Living Dead is a classic, but I also think that the story beneath the story is interesting enough to point out. Just think about it; the story is set in 1968 and who is the hero? Right, the hero is a young black man. Not too many young black heroes in movies back in "68", and this particular black guy just happens to come upon a mostly deserted farm house with a young frightened white woman inside. Might not seem like a big deal now, but back then this was stuff you just didn't see too much of. Also, who are the bad guys/gals? They are the corpses that have come back to life, and they just happen to be mostly rural white folks corpses.
Interesting stuff I think, kind of along the lines of what James Cameron usually does in his movies with the hero being female(Alien/Aliens - Sigorney Weaver, Terminator - Linda Hamilton)...
Interesting stuff I think, kind of along the lines of what James Cameron usually does in his movies with the hero being female(Alien/Aliens - Sigorney Weaver, Terminator - Linda Hamilton)...
The Mummy Returns
(2001)
Loved this one too, but...
22 October 2001
I truly loved the first Mummy(in it's recent incarnation) and this sequel, but yet again I just have to say this:
Why don't they buy a bunch of cats? As we learned in the first movie, Imhotep is afraid of felines so much that he exits the room if there is one around... Also, the two leads as likable as they are, must be the worst parents ever. Their little son gets left alone in a damn pyramid in the beginning while his parents are off searching hidden rooms etc. within the same pyramid. Most people don't leave their kids alone in an amusement park, let alone in a giant tomb...
Once again John Hannah is the man! That guy cracks me up in every movie I've seen him in. If I were English, I'd want to be him.
Why don't they buy a bunch of cats? As we learned in the first movie, Imhotep is afraid of felines so much that he exits the room if there is one around... Also, the two leads as likable as they are, must be the worst parents ever. Their little son gets left alone in a damn pyramid in the beginning while his parents are off searching hidden rooms etc. within the same pyramid. Most people don't leave their kids alone in an amusement park, let alone in a giant tomb...
Once again John Hannah is the man! That guy cracks me up in every movie I've seen him in. If I were English, I'd want to be him.
The Mummy
(1999)
I really liked it, but...
22 October 2001
Warning: Spoilers
Ok, first of all, I really liked the movie(and its' sequel). It is a very fun flick and all of the main characters are great(John Hannah is the man!).
There is only one question I have though, and this applies to this movie and the mummy returns(SMALL SPOILER to follow!!!):
Why, oh why didn't they just get a bunch of cats??? we saw early on that the one thing that Imotep fears is cats, so if I were one of the characters, I'd round up about 100 felines and he would never come near me...
Still though, it was great fun and I look forward to part III
There is only one question I have though, and this applies to this movie and the mummy returns(SMALL SPOILER to follow!!!):
Why, oh why didn't they just get a bunch of cats??? we saw early on that the one thing that Imotep fears is cats, so if I were one of the characters, I'd round up about 100 felines and he would never come near me...
Still though, it was great fun and I look forward to part III
Gates of Heaven
(1978)
can't stop watching it
22 October 2001
I saw this film for the first time about 2 years ago on IFC and thankfully I videotaped it. Since then, I've watched it 10 or 11 times and it always fascinates me. I especially like the last third of the film in which we meet the harberts family who own the Bubbling Well Pet Cemetary in Nappa Valley. They all seem so sincere and at the same time they crack me up. Errol Morris just has a way of letting real life people go on and on about a subject without it ever becoming boring...
City of Angels
(1998)
not great, but not as bad as many seem to think it is...
18 October 2001
This flick was watchable, but a little bit slow. I'm glad I didn't pay $8 to see it in a theater, but I've been perfectly happy to watch it a few times at home for free. I never saw the original German movie(Wings of Desire), so I viewed City of Angels without bias. I won't go into a review of the whole plot, but I will say that all of the actors do a decent job(even the slightly over-acting Cage). If nothing else, the opening scene with the dying little girl makes it worth watching.
Dracula 2000
(2000)
Omar and Johnny Lee, how could you
4 September 2001
Warning: Spoilers
Omar and Johnny, how could you????
I didn't think that this was going to be a great picture going in. It did not prove me wrong... It was watchable, but only barely; and I'm glad that I saw it for $3.95 on pay-per-view instead of for $7.00 at the theatre. Omar Epps and Johnny Lee Miller are two of my favorite actors, but I think they must've needed some cash or something because this movie is not worthy of them. Miller at least is given a little bit of material to work with, but Epps' performance is actually bad(he was bored, trust me).
They tried to do something interesting with an explanation of Dracula's origin, although they don't explain outright if dracula is the first vampire or not... either way, I liked Anne Rice's explanation in the Queen of the Damned much better.
One thing at the beginning of the movie bothered me a lot. It was the scene on the airplane when the curly haird thief kid, opens the coffin up and upon seeing a somewhat messed up looking corpse inside, he just starts trying to feel around and under it for treasure. Ok, so yes, the corpse wasn't exactly putrifying, but this kid didn't even hesitate. I would think that only doctors and mortitians would so quickly go about such a task, and even they would make sure that they had some latex gloves on. This stupid kid doesn't even look disgusted by what he's doing...
Also, (SPOILER!!!!), how the heck does Van-helsing's daughter get linked to Dracula. Her father injected himself with the count's blood so that he could stay alive for century's to keep watch over the vampire, but since when does injecting someone elses blood into your veins alter your(and your offsprings') dna????? If it worked like that, then the child of anyone who has ever had a blood transfusion would then be the child of the blood donor in addition to being the child of his birth parents... Or did I miss the explaination during the movie(entirely possible).
On the plus side, I went to high school with blond woman who play's the daughters roommate(Colleen Fitzpatrick/Vitamin C) and I did get to have a glimpse of her in a topless love scene for about 1.5 seconds. I myself never got any action in high school, so this is the first girl that I went to school with that I've ever seen at all in the buff, so it was pretty cool...
I didn't think that this was going to be a great picture going in. It did not prove me wrong... It was watchable, but only barely; and I'm glad that I saw it for $3.95 on pay-per-view instead of for $7.00 at the theatre. Omar Epps and Johnny Lee Miller are two of my favorite actors, but I think they must've needed some cash or something because this movie is not worthy of them. Miller at least is given a little bit of material to work with, but Epps' performance is actually bad(he was bored, trust me).
They tried to do something interesting with an explanation of Dracula's origin, although they don't explain outright if dracula is the first vampire or not... either way, I liked Anne Rice's explanation in the Queen of the Damned much better.
One thing at the beginning of the movie bothered me a lot. It was the scene on the airplane when the curly haird thief kid, opens the coffin up and upon seeing a somewhat messed up looking corpse inside, he just starts trying to feel around and under it for treasure. Ok, so yes, the corpse wasn't exactly putrifying, but this kid didn't even hesitate. I would think that only doctors and mortitians would so quickly go about such a task, and even they would make sure that they had some latex gloves on. This stupid kid doesn't even look disgusted by what he's doing...
Also, (SPOILER!!!!), how the heck does Van-helsing's daughter get linked to Dracula. Her father injected himself with the count's blood so that he could stay alive for century's to keep watch over the vampire, but since when does injecting someone elses blood into your veins alter your(and your offsprings') dna????? If it worked like that, then the child of anyone who has ever had a blood transfusion would then be the child of the blood donor in addition to being the child of his birth parents... Or did I miss the explaination during the movie(entirely possible).
On the plus side, I went to high school with blond woman who play's the daughters roommate(Colleen Fitzpatrick/Vitamin C) and I did get to have a glimpse of her in a topless love scene for about 1.5 seconds. I myself never got any action in high school, so this is the first girl that I went to school with that I've ever seen at all in the buff, so it was pretty cool...
Save the Last Dance
(2001)
wasn't expecting much, but it was pretty good
23 August 2001
The movie was well acted and very watchable, which is good because I wasn't really expecting much. Interesting fact though, the director, Thomas Carter, is the guy who used to play Haywood on The White Shadow(circa 1979).
Grosse Pointe Blank
(1997)
Cusack is the man!
23 August 2001
I've always said that I don't think John Cusack is capable of making a bad movie, and he does nothing to disprove that theory here. Taking an idea from Pulp Fiction, the film presents us with Martin Blank, a hitman, but also a normal guy, who when brought back to his hometown for a job, falls hard for the girl he left behind 10 years before. Of course, his efforts at renewing the romance are stymied by several people trying to wack Blank himself, for various reasons(the funniest being a dead dog named Budro). I loved the scene where the 2 federal agents burst into the house and get blasted by a two-gun shooting Dan Ackroyd. The gleeful smile on his face always makes me laugh. It's not often that I laugh while someone is getting shot up.
Fresh
(1994)
Good flick
23 August 2001
Good film about a very smart young boy who uses his wits to save himself and his sister from the streets. In the scenes between Fresh and his father in the park we see the boy learning how to act and react by watching/playing chess. His father even says at one point while playing chess, the queen is all you care about, and the pawns are only there to help you save the queen. Well, as the film goes on, you see that Fresh's sister is the queen and everyone else including Fresh's friend and fighting pit bull, dealers, cops, are pawns.
Masquerade
(1988)
Not too many saw this one, but...
23 August 2001
This is one of those movies that I'm glad I saw when it first came out. I remember that the theater was almost empty, but when I was leaving I heard people saying things like, "I never expected to like it that much". Rob Lowe gained credibility as an actor in my eyes with this film(and with another film called Bad Influence).
No Way Out
(1987)
The ending is right up there with "The Usual Suspects" and "The Sixth Sense"
6 April 2001
Really good film. Costner showed some acting chops when his character finds out that his girlfriend has been killed and can't show any emotion without giving up the fact that he was involved with her. Also, the guy who played Gene Hackman's assistant gives a performance that probably should have been nominated for an oscar(was it, I can't remember back that far...). The ending is as good as or better than "The Usual Suspects" and "The Sixth Sense".
The Other
(1972)
CHILLER!!<--if you are from NY/NJ in the 70's, you'll understand
6 April 2001
I saw this movie back in 1977 or 1978 on television, and it was very atmospherically scary(if there is such a word). It's not at all gory or bloody, but if you watch this movie on a boring sunday afternoon like I originally did, I promise you, it'll never leave your memory. I hadn't ever been to a funeral at the time when I saw it, so the scene with the twin talking to the other twins dead body in the coffin in the living room really really spooked me out. If you are from the NY/NJ area, you'll remember the old CHILLER!!! movies on channel 9 every saturday/sunday. This was one of the creepiest.
Nowhere
(1997)
I'm watching this movie as I write this...
13 March 2001
The writer and or director of this film were obviously trying to say something. What that something was, I do not know, but hopefully they succeeded at least in their mind(s). At least if they were able to do that, I might not feel so dumb for wasting the last hour watching this awful movie. It looks like a bunch of "up and coming" actors trying to act shocking and they all succeed... in looking like they are "ACTING" shocking. I swear, I could get 10 kids off of the bus stop by my apartment to do a better job. Don't think I'm entirely blaming the actors here though, because the director and the writer are truly to blame. I think they and the cast sat down and watched a bunch of cutting edge movies from different time periods and said, "now, lets do something like that... it'll look really cool and we'll get rave reviews". Needless to say, it didn't work.
I don't want to be too hard on anyone here because like I said, maybe somebody was trying to have some artistic integrity, but it's made plainly simple here, artistic integrity does not = a good film. I mean, I see actors that I actually like making fools of themselves, and doing so while trying to be cutting edge. I think on the actors part, it stems from the fact that they all look like they are all in on the joke(whatever it is...). The best comparison I can make is one to the Airplane and Naked Gun movies that did a great job of making people look stupid without making them look like they were trying, as opposed to movies like Hot Shots part II(or whatever it was called).
I've wasted enough time writing about this truly bad film.
Rachel True, if you ever read this, I apologize for it, because I've liked you for a while now,,, but this was BAD!!!!!!
I don't want to be too hard on anyone here because like I said, maybe somebody was trying to have some artistic integrity, but it's made plainly simple here, artistic integrity does not = a good film. I mean, I see actors that I actually like making fools of themselves, and doing so while trying to be cutting edge. I think on the actors part, it stems from the fact that they all look like they are all in on the joke(whatever it is...). The best comparison I can make is one to the Airplane and Naked Gun movies that did a great job of making people look stupid without making them look like they were trying, as opposed to movies like Hot Shots part II(or whatever it was called).
I've wasted enough time writing about this truly bad film.
Rachel True, if you ever read this, I apologize for it, because I've liked you for a while now,,, but this was BAD!!!!!!
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