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Reviews
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Finally! a good werewolf flick
Hey film fans we have a winner in the horror category. "Dog Soldiers" is a gory, action packed, quick, straight to the point werewolf movie. wonderful location (set in the backwoods of Scotland) that would put the European landscape of "An American Werewolf in London" to shame. I love British actors! Their dry humor and acting styles have always intrigued me. The movie is about six British soldiers who are sent on a training mission set in the backwoods of Scotland. All seems well when they come up upon their fake enemy's campsite and see that it has been ransacked and blood and guts are everywhere. From there they find one survivor (a British special ops commander)and the mystery of the massacre unfolds. They end up fighting strange creatures and try to survive until dawn. Now, the reason why this movie is so good is A: very good action cinematography B: It's simple and sticks to just people outwitting the creatures. C: keeps the characters' back-story a secret until the very end and D: ITS A HORROR MOVIE! any true horror movie fan doesn't need anything more. The rank of true good werewolf movies go as follows (to me anyway) 1. An American Werewolf in London 2, Silver bullet. and for number 3 I can't decide on this new found gem or "The Howling" I'll have to buy it on dvd and and break both of the movies ("The Howling" and "Dog Soldiers") down and rate them that way. All in All if you like gore, and horror flicks like yours truly then definitely check this movie out!
Bad Company (2002)
pretty good for what it is
well i have to say that chris rock is a better comedian than an actor. in this movie he plays two different roles. one is top CIA agent and the other is a streetwise hustler. now he had a few lines as a top agent which was cool because on an acting level it wasn't working for him. the other side, the hustler, was a hell of a lot better because he was himself, the comedian. moving on, anthony hopkins was good in this flick and this is the first film i've seen with him were he is an action hero. the action was great, the comedy was hilarious and it was nice to see an action movie released with new york as its backdrop and have a terrorist plot to. especially after the 911 attacks. all in all a funny flick. till next time!
Frailty (2001)
very good
Well for his first movie Bill Paxton did a very good job. I love horror and thriller flicks and this one was a bit scary. It wasn't as good as the "Mothman Prophecies" or "From Hell" but it did keep my interest. I hope Bill Paxton keeps up with this new leap in his career. He has come far from being just a character actor.
Spider-Man (2002)
Sam Raimi did a great job
I was worried when the torch was passed to Sam Raimi to direct this film. His take on he whole comic book themes and transitions was a great way to get the audience into the film. Toby Mcguire was an astounding Peter Parker. His looks and mannerism were just comical. I'm not a big fan of cg in films of this caliber but I got passed it because Spider-man is a different kind of super hero. His is fast, agile, and always on the move when he's swinging from building to building. Kirstin Dunst is a great Mary Jane and the dialouge between her and Peter Parker/Spider-man is pretty good. The Green Goblin was a good villian, it was like watching the first Batman with the Joker (the only good Batman) when he and Spider-man got together. The film was cursed to stay in the dark for years because of legal problems. I was really hoping to see James Cameron's vision on the film since he is a great writer and director; which is why i had my reservations when Sam Raimi got the go ahead to make the movie. All in all a great way to introduce the many great films this summer. Also, congrats to all who made Spider-Man for getting in the box office record books, hopefully some flick will beat that cursed film "Titanic".
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Pretty good
A.I. was a different movie for Spielberg but it was interesting. Of course the visual effects were astonishing and the acting was pretty good. Haley Joel Osment, I hope spelled his name right, portrayal of an android trying to become a real boy so the parents, mainly the mother, who bought him would love him. The movie had its sad points and Kubrick/Spielberg's vision of the future were pretty impressive. The points in the movie that should be notice is Jude Law's performance as a gigolo robot. He had a Gene Kelly quality, when he moved and danced about. His dialogue was quite clever and he seemed to be an unlikely partner for the young android. The point to pay attention to when watching this movie is the bear. A lot of my friends felt the bear was the coolest and the most disturbing toy you could give a young child. He was a good addition to the movie. I really enjoyed the ending of the movie, alien spaceships that are the shapes of cubes who break apart when they land and oceans that are blocks of ice, was astounding. It was almost depressing seeing what could become of our world and the human race hundreds of thousands or millions of years in the future but still - awe inspiring. All in all a little long and weird but it does deserve a look see.
Miss Congeniality (2000)
Micheal Caine made the movie for me!
This was a cute movie for Sandra Bullock. I enjoyed the fact that she didn't win the pageant and she did an okay job at portraying the tomboy F.B.I. agent Gracie. I just couldn't get pass the fact that this was Sandra Bullock who is one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood.They tried to make her look unattractive but even when her hair is messy and she doesn't have any make-up on she can pull off her sexy demeanor with that smile and voice, c'mon she can't be ugly even if she tried! With this aside, Michael Caine was the true gem in this film! His sarcasm had my crying! This guy was really funny, he had that same wit he portrayed in "Noise Off" and seemed to apply it to this flick. Benjiman Bratt did an okay job as a Sandra's conceited rival. The problem was that you can tell that two were going to hook up in the movie before you get to the middle of it. All in all a very funny movie with some predictable parts in it but still worth watching.
Panic Room (2002)
very, good, but not his best
Panic Room had almost everything David Fincher has in his movies. The cast did a great job and the writing was subtle,yet excellent, which is what you would expect from David Koepp. Jodie Foster portrayal of a nervous, quiet, almost paranoid mother, was very believable. She has always done a great job in her films and this one is no exception. Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, and Forest Whitaker all did a great job in the film. The lighting and photography for the flick was superb except that David Fincher is relying a little too much on his tricky motion camera work that was done so well in Fight Club. I felt this movie had a little too much of that. The movie was a simple thriller that kept me entertained. I was worried what the director was going to do next to keep the pace going but the story worked it out. The burglars kept the movie very entertaining because they seemed to be a bunch of bungling idiots who really didn't think this plan through. The ending didn't have David Fincher's twists and turns but it was good. All in all a very good movie to see.
Session 9 (2001)
very creepy, with a decent ending
It's too bad this movie got over shadowed when "The Others" came out. They both were great movies. Session Nine was simplistic and haunting. We have some asbestos cleaners fix up an old asylum and one of them finds some old tapes recounting the counseling "Sessions" of a female inmate. Once we get going on the tapes the insane break-up of the woman's mind coincides with the break-up (psychologically) of the crew. I don't want to give away some key points in the movie. Don't mistake the footage of this as another "Blair Witch" rip off. It seems that it was filmed with digital cameras, Hi 8 or another brand. Anyway, the film is slow and don't expect a lot of blood; which gives it its creepy charm. David Caruso does and okay job but as a whole the cast is pretty good. I can't talk much about this film without giving away some things and also it's a film you need to see for yourself. If you like creepy things ( like yours truly ) you might want to try and give this film a chance. All in all, until next time!
Blade II (2002)
Simple, yet full of fun and blood
I have to say that I got what I expected from "Blade 2", a fast and fun horror/action flick. To begin with the downside I wish there could have been more of a relationship development with Blade and Whistler. The partial love story was alright but the torment of not belonging to either world wasn't stressed enough in Blade's character. I felt the love story of this movie could have touched a little more on this. Now, to cast doubt on my last comments, Blade does seem to be a character who shows his pain and loneliness on his face, but it is hard to see that pain when he is wearing sunglasses through out half the movie. I also wish that directors who feel "martial arts" is the cool thing in action flicks now a days, would stop allowing every single character know martial arts to make the movie look cool. Blade was fighting the head of the "Reapers" (new vampires) and he (Reaper leader) seemed to know the same fighting style as Blade. I have a theory for this to argue my last statement but it would ruin the flick for those who haven't seen it.
Now for the good stuff, the "Blade hunter" vampires were very cool, full of attitude and arrogance. The names the writer thought of for these characters were very cool, almost comic book-like (image that). One character is massive and carries a huge hammer and his name is "Lighthammer" I like that name. The choreography of the action scenes had some cg bumps but in the end I really enjoyed them because in the end this is a movie to fully entertain you and not make you think about social issues. Blade was great as usual, he seemed to be faster and stronger than in the first one. They bring back Whistler, who I thought died in the first one, so I was skeptical when I read and saw he was in the sequel but there was a good explanation for it. Finally the Reapers. These vampires look great!!!! They look like zombies (and I love Zombies!!!!)The sounds that were edited for them were superb and there superior strength and movements were awesome!!!The way they look matched with the dark and gritty cinematography enhanced their characters. All in all a good flick for a bunch of friends to see, for a you action buffs, give it a try you might like it. Sorry, the sets for one of the "Ancient Vampires" was alright, I don't know if I like old Victorian style (Gothic statues, paintings, etc) in a modern day setting, but just an opinion. Anyway, worth seeing!!
The Time Machine (2002)
Basic, yet worth seeing
The Time Machine was pretty basic in what it was trying to achieve. I saw it as the beginning for the upcoming summer action flicks. There were some problems in this movie that could have been fixed. Guy Pierces erratic acting to portray an absent minded professor was a little over the top for me. I felt the event for him to built the time machine happened a little too soon in the movie. The effects that describe what happens when one goes through time were very good though but i wanted more out of the movie than effects. I guess the first plot point of the movie is when he bumps his head and travels to the future to meet the Eloi. I felt this happened too fast in the movie,the director or screenwriter should have taken their time in getting Guy Pierce from one end of time to the other, although could make for a boring movie but the development of the adventure would have been better (only an opinion). The Morlocks looked good and I liked Jeremy Irons bit part in the film. I have to see it again to have some things explained to me about the creation of the Eloi and tha Morlocks. I have only seen a small scene from the 1960 film so i guess i have to look at that one and compare the two. All in all the Time Machine prepared me for the summer blockbusters (my favorite time of year)so in the end i guess it did it's job.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
An excellent, haunting and ominous flick!!!!!!!!
Where do I begin with this movie? I'm a big fan of horror, suspense,and thrillers. If it's scary and the story intrigues me enough (even if it doesn't) I'm there to see it. I saw the trailer for the "Mothman" and I immediately wanted to see it. The director of the movie also directed "Arlington Road" another good flick about terrorism in quiet suburbia. Here he went a little deeper in the realm of paranoia and connected it with the realm of paranormal (so we believe). Every frame of the flick was dark and foreboding, we (the audience) always knew that something was watching him(Richard Gere) and we (well... me personally) couldn't wait for the first moment the main character in the movie and the "Mothman" were going to speak or see each other. The cast performance was pretty good. They were pretty basic on a character level, we have a city slicker trying to investigate the sightings in a small town, while at the same time trying to fit in while he is staying there, (actually he was brought there mysteriously). The point where the characters do shine is near the end of the flick where Laura Linney"s character (the love interest), flat out tells Richard Gere that he is imagining things and he needs to get on with his life. Sorry for the banter but the point is that Richard Gere breaks down and we see and ask ourselves is he going to continue this quest? Does he answer the phone knowing it could be the haunting "Mothman" on the other line? Or does he let it ring and realize that there could be no "Mothman" and he should get on with his life. This wasn't an Oscar winning scene, but in the context of the movie it worked well. The minor downside to the flick is the ending seems to dilute the mystery of this "Mothman", but that is just my opinion, see the ending for yourself and you might think differently. Sorry for the banter but it truly was a great flick.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Excellent flick
Ridley Scott has done it again with a gritty and powerful film that excels in cinematography and editing. The characters were real and their emotions transcends to the audience! The movie begins with the innocence of the young soldiers and by the time the intense ride is over you see their beaten faces as they realize they have grown up in the worst way. I don't feel talking about one character in the film is appropriate. They all did a superb job at bringing the emotions of war to the screen. I'm a big fan of Ridley Scott's work and he has yet to disappoint me.