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Reviews
There's No Fish Food in Heaven (1998)
Well worth a rental
The story is not predictable, every time I thought they were going to resort to a cliche, the film zips off in another direction. Although neither the acting or plot are brilliant, it has does have a few laughs, and it held my interest until the very end. In that respect, it is much better than most of the "commercial" films I have seen lately. Well worth a rental.
Final Destination (2000)
Teen slasher film without the slasher, see it on cable.
The premise of the new James Wong film, Final Destination, is that Alex Browning, the protagonist, prevents six of his friends from boarding a doomed airplane, thereby cheating fate. However, fate is not so easily bested, and Alex's friends soon begin dying in unusual circumstances. Essentially, this premise is a clever-way to make a slasher-flick without the slasher. Unfortunately, this is practically the only clever thing about the film. As far as teen horror flicks go, Final Destination is better than many. There is enough shocking death, graphic gore, and requisite black humor to provide the essential "roller coaster" type thrill at the heart of the average horror flick. Unfortunately, this film also suffers from the worst characteristics of this genre. The relationships between the main characters are tenuous and their motivations are meaningless except as excuse to set-up the next death. The scene where two of the characters break into a funeral home to view the body of their recently killed friend is suppose to be scary and dramatic but features some of the dumbest dialogue I have witnessed. If you are looking for a Saturday night thriller to scare your date, this film might do the trick. Other than that, wait until it goes into heavy-rotation on cable.
Man on the Moon (1999)
Stand-out performance by Jim Carrey, but film lacks depth.
Jim Carrey gives a phenomenal performance as Andy Kaufman, but ultimately that performance is lessened by the lack of depth in the script and the development of the other characters. Although Carrey's portrayal of Kaufman is eerily accurate, the story spends so much time concentrating on Kaufman that it seems like a remake of the cable documentary of Andy Kaufman's life. The film would have been much better had they developed the other characters to show the conflict and impact that Kaufman's "insanity" had on his friends, family, and co-workers.