Movie Reviews

I've decided it's time I gave a small explanation of my movie ratings.<G>

- Definitely worth the cost of the ticket. I saw it more than once in the theater.

- Almost definitely worth the cost of the ticket to see it once in the theater.

- Pretty good, but you might want to consider waiting to rent it.

- Decent, but you're better off renting it or waiting for it to hit one of the movie channels.

No Rating - (yes, I have used this) A total waste of money and time. You couldn't pay me to watch it again.

7/20/2003
Egads! December of 2000 was the last time I updated this page?! Bad Wynde! Bad! Time to remedy that.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - I loved this movie. I still love this movie. Despite the fact that I was never able to get through the books when I was younger I loved the animated version. I feel that this movie did a wonderful job of bringing the first book of the trilogy to life. Certain things were cut out from the book, most of which I agree with, but overall it did a wonderful job of introducing a large number of characters and getting them started on the journey. The only two minor problems I had with it, one being it was a little slow in a couple of places, and the other is when *Arwen* finds them after the attack at Amon Hen and she takes Frodo to Rivendell. It was supposed to be Glorfindel. Poor Glorfindel always seem to get cut out of the movies. 

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - The second installment of the trilogy

The Matrix -

The Matrix: Reloaded -

X2 -

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone -

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -

XXX -

Ballistics: Ecks Vs Sever -

T3: Rise of the Machines -

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde -

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas -

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl -

12/12/2000
Here's the latest movie review. I've seen a couple others than this but unfortunately I can't remember them right now. Hmm, must not have been that memorable then.<G>

Dungeons&Dragons - This was a fun movie. You didn't necessarily need to be a fan of the Dungeons&Dragons game, but it does help a little with the background. I really enjoyed it. A little overacted by some (Jeremy Irons) and a bit cheesy in parts, but watching Justin Whalen more than made up for it. That boy has a serious body. Yum-yum-yum.

9/20/2000
Time really seems to fly when you're having fun or at least when you're really busy.<G> Let's see what movies have I seen recently. I've seen The Art of War and Highlander 4: Endgame. Can we say yum?

Highlander: End Game - This was a pretty good Highlander movie. Much better than Final Dimension, and better than The Quickening, although I consider that one AU Highlander. It definitely messed with the original Highlander movie and a bit with the series. Unfortunately it was with a couple of major points in both of them. If you're not a serious fan than it probably won't bother you all that much. Awesome fight scenes. Pretty much worth the eight bucks just to see them. And yes, one of them does die, but I ain't gonna tell you who. You gotta go see it to find out.

The Art of War - The latest Michael Biehn movie to hit the theatres. Okay, well it's really the latest Wesley Snipes movie to hit theatres but he sure wasn't why I went to see it. Wesley just doesn't impress me all that much anymore. If you've seen one of his characters, well, you've pretty much seen them all. At least Michael gives each of his characters a life of their own even if they seem to be the same at first glance; i.e. he always seems to play the Navy SEAL/military guy who bites the dust at some point in the movie. But when you look at them Curran is very different from Hickes, who's different from Coffey. Although, did Curran die? Have to rewatch Navy SEALs now.<G> Back to the movie. It was really good. It came close to being as complicated at Mission Impossible, but I found it relatively easy to follow. Granted I could tell right away who had been typecast. The final villain really surprised me though. Not a clue until the very end. Good flick. Go see it.

8/24/2000
Wow, I must be slipping. Here it is almost the end of August and the only new movie I've seen in all that time is Coyote Ugly. I have got to get me to the movies more often. Well, that shouldn't be too difficult with some of the new movies coming out in the next couple of weeks. Like The Art of War with Wesley Snipes, and one of my favorites Michael Biehn; and then there's the latest Highlander movie. I so cannot wait for this to come out. I just really hope it lives up to the previews and we don't end up with another HL 3: The Final Dimension. Well, on to what I've actually seen.

Coyote Ugly - This is one of those sweet-coming-of-age-while-trying-to-make-it-in-the-big-city movies. With a little bit of a kick to it. It was at times a little on the hokey side, some of it so clichéd, but the rest of the time it was amusing and fun. Overall a good movie. The bar scenes were particularly fun. I greatly enjoyed it and recommend seeing it. If you have your doubts then wait until it's out on video. It's a good date movie.

7/18/2000
I know, I know. It's been a bit more than a week since my last update. But I'm back and I've got lots of opinions on the movies I've seen.

X-Men - Whether or not you're familiar with the comic books or the cartoon this is an awesome movie. There are a couple of in-jokes so it helps a little if you go with a friend who is familiar with the comic book series, but not absolutely necessary. It has a great ensemble cast. With such 'power' actors as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan leading the two opposing forces I had fully expected it to be more of a struggle between them with the others as background players. Director Brian Singer did a great job however of keeping everyone on equal terms. If anything Wolverine and Rogue seemed to get the most attention, but it worked wonderfully. This movie had everything person could want in a movie. Awesome special effects, a strong cast, a little bit of a romance, and a real plot dealing with real issues such as prejudice, politics, and loneliness. A definite must see.

Scary Movie - Okay, I'll be honest. I went to see this because the new Highlander movie trailer was in the previews before this movie. I cannot wait to see that. On to Scary Movie. This is a spoof of just about every teen horror/thriller movie that has come out in the past few years. Completely and totally irreverent. Relying almost totally on the same type of humor that made Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, Road Trip and similar movies funny. This is not my favorite type of humor; actually I usually can't stand it, but being familiar with all the movies that were spoofed helped to make the movie funny and not just basely crude. If you enjoyed the above mentioned movies you'll probably like this one as well.

The Perfect Storm - As someone who is familiar with the dangers of the fishing industry, and has friends not far from the Gloucester area who are also in the fishing industry this movie has special meaning for me. I think that George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and the others did a great job in this movie, and did justice to the men whose lives they were portraying. This was an awesome movie and should definitely be seen.

6/30/2000
Since our last update I've seen Titan AE and The Patriot. Tomorrow I'll be seeing The Perfect Storm. Can we say awesome movies? :>

The Patriot - I'm the first to admit I love most of Mel Gibson's movies and I love historical movies. Braveheart blew me away and so did this. A little heavy on the blood and guts in a couple of places, but this was a brutal war. I found Mel very believable as a man who has seen war and it's atrocities and now that he has a family to care for is not eager to see it again. At times very funny and heart-wrenchingly sad. Heath Ledger, another cutie from the land Down Under, was incredible in this movie. I first saw him in the short-lived TV series Roar and again in 10 Things I Hate About You. He's a wonderful actor who convincingly portrayed a headstrong son eager to defend his country and his beliefs. The only problem I had with the movie was the two little romantic subplots. Not much attention was paid to either of them so when they came to 'fruition' so to speak it wasn't entirely believable. However that wasn't why I went to see the movie and it wasn't overly distracting. Just a small annoyance on my part. Awesome movie. Will probably see it again before the weekend is out. I strongly recommend you see it as well. Just one warning: It is a 3 hour movie, go to the bathroom before it starts.

Titan AE - This was pretty good for a teenage/adult cartoon. Normally I tend to either watch Disney-type cartoons or anime. My one foray into American adult-oriented animation was Heavy Metal. Really didn't like it. This I enjoyed. It had a decent plot, I liked the characters and even sympathized with Cale. My two favorite sequences were the space angels and the ice belt?. Really good animation in these sequences. There were a couple of times when I felt like going 'yeah right, that'd happen', but overall I liked it and would recommend seeing it.

6/12/2000
This was the week of comedies apparently. Normally I won't go to see them in the theaters, because if they're funny they'll be just as funny on a small screen as on a big screen. I'd rather spend my $8.50 to see the awesome special effects of action/adventure and science fiction/fantasy movies that are supposed to be seen on the big screen. However my friends decided they wanted to see Road Trip and Shanghai Noon. So off we went. Also rented Dogma.

(No Rating) Road Trip - This was hands down a waste of $8.50. I wouldn't even recommend renting it. If you get any of the premium channels wait until it shows up there. Even then it's probably a waste of a perfectly good hour and a half. Juvenile doesn't even begin to describe this travesty of a movie. Once, maybe twice, I laughed because something was genuinely funny. The rest of the time it was either laugh or start crying. 

Shanghai Noon - This was an absolutely hysterical, laughing-so-hard-I-almost-peed, rolling in the aisles funny movie. I'm normally not that much of a Jackie Chan fan. His movies are usually too cheesy even for me. This movie lent itself to that kind of cheesiness though. It required cheesiness and Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson gave it to the audience in spades. This was worth my $8.50 and I'd even be willing to go see it again. If you can't see it in the theaters, definitely rent it. Whether you see it in the theater or rent it stick around for when the credits start rolling. They show clips of some of the funnier mess ups during production.

Dogma - This movie was surrounded by controversy when it came out because of its irreverence towards the Catholic faith in particular, and religion in general. I am by no means a devout worshiper of any religion, but I did study Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and the various other isms that are out there before coming to a decision. If you are a devout Catholic, possibly even a devout Jew , this movie will probably offend you if you try and take it seriously. Don't. This is not a movie to take seriously. The writer admitted this movie was the product of too many late night philosophy discussions and some bad pizza. :) It's a fun movie that makes you think about the current state of religion today and the inherent flaws. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as two fallen angels who just want to go home are well-scripted. Linda Fiorentino as a woman who has been told she is humanities only hope and not given any details does a great job. Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Jay and Silent Bob are all hysterical as her willing and often unwitting sidekicks. Silent Bob brings new meaning to facial expressions. Alan Rickman is always cool. All I can say is go rent it.

6/3/2000
Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and I have been to the movies. Oh, like that's unusual. :) Over the weekend I saw Gladiator for the second time and Mission: Impossible 2. Talk about cool flicks.

Gladiator - Let me say RUSSELL CROWE was the movie. I've always liked him, granted I've only seen him in The Quick and the Dead and Virtuosity, but I thought he was cool then and I think he's awesome now. While it's true that the story is very similar to Braveheart, okay really similar, there are some subtle but important differences. William Wallace was fighting to free his country but he was mainly fighting to avenge his dead love and what was done to her because of the brutal English laws. Maximus (Gladiator) once he started fighting instead of waiting to die, was fighting to avenge his family, but more importantly he was fighting to honor the last wish of a dying man, for the honor of Rome and to destroy an evil and immoral man. Similar but different. Russell Crowe made me want to follow Maximus. Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, the corrupt son of the dead emperor, was pretty good although half the time I wanted to smack him and say get over it. Connie Nielsen as Lucilla, Commodus' sister was very regal. I also want to mention Tommy Flanagan who played Cicero, Maximus' manservant. He was also in Braveheart. He's such a cool guy, and I really believed his Cicero would do anything Maximus asked of him.

Mission: Impossible 2 - Definitely less complicated than the first. I understood the plot of the first movie the first time around, but even I have to admit it was pretty damn complicated. This time out there's all the same cool special effects and 'aerial acrobatics' that made the first movie cool. Obviously Tom Cruise was back as Ethan Hunt. There's not much to say there. He's TOM CRUISE. He's awesome. End of story. Ving Rhames returned as Luther and as always his slightly confused state was more than enough to keep me in stitches. Thandie Newton as beautiful thief Nyah Hall was great. I can't remember seeing her in anything else, but I may have to change that. She held her own against Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott who were both playing roles that could easily overpower her character's presence. Then there's Dougray Scott. Mmm, mmm, good. I loved him in Ever After and I loved him here. His accent was more than enough for me. I love Scottish accents, and yes, he really is Scottish so it was real. His character was deliciously evil without being too over the top most of the time. The one flaw I had a hard time with in the movie was Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) is obviously not someone to be trusted, I don't think this was a sudden plan on his part otherwise how the hell did he know what Belleraphon and Chimera were and IMF didn't? So why the hell did IMF even employ him for the job or at all? It doesn't ring true to me and I'm pretty good at suspending my disbelief to enjoy a movie.