Change Your Image
daddyben2k
Reviews
The Core (2003)
Are you freekin' kidding me?
I read through other comments here and thought, hmmm, maybe a light bit of science fiction. Heck, I love science fiction. This piece of crap had no science whatsover. 800,000 PSI!!!! are you for real? 9000 degrees, who the frick are we kidding here?
This isn't science fiction - there has to be science. As for the fiction part, does Hillary want her career to go down in B-grade flames?
Pass, no wait, run from this one. If it comes on cable, call your cable operator and ask them to disconnect your line - this may contaminate something else on that may be good.
1 outta ten because there is no zero.
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
If I crap in my hand and call it art...
It still wouldn't be art.
This is an horrific attempt to be catty and avant garde all at once and instead is the portrayal of why I should take the reviews on this board with a shaker of salt.
A mixed up, poorly edited, spottily acted piece of drivel is what I got for my time. Thanks to Netflix, I can't measure the exact dollars and cents that I wasted on this one.
Pass and go for some real films or at least be genuinely entertained.
2 ** out of 10.
Red Dragon (2002)
Did anyone else feel a little empty?
Anthony Hopkins was laughable this go 'round. He tried to reproduce Hanibal the cannibal but all I saw was over acting and a thin veil of money-money-money grubbing.
Fiennes was awesome. I really loved the film but can't get over how weak Hopkins has become.
B- overall. A+ with the old Hopkins.
Trapped (2002)
What a piece of trash.
The first five minutes are riveting. The next 100 are painful; painful only to the viewer. None of the actors gave a crap what happened next. The high point of the movie was that this farce of action was finally over. Nothing in this movie is compelling or commendable. Bacon was flat and unconvincing. Theron was bored stiff for most of it. Love is as forgettable as you'd expect. The editing is so sub-rate that B-movie sounds good right now.
Can I say something good? Yeah, the first sentence sums it up.
Boo, hiss. 2 outta 10 stars.
S1m0ne (2002)
Pacino has done better.
I long for the day when the pretentious, overpayed and vacuous superstar is replaced by the sim. Alas, the science wasn't enough to carry the fiction in this film. Pacino let me down again and again in this piece. His limits to help the director carry the very thin script were painfully apparent. This is a good Sunday afternoon watcher, but if there's a good game on, fuggedabowdit. 6 of 10.
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
Ohmigawd this was bad.
My 4-year old wanted to see this movie this weekend. So, with nothing on the calendar to excuse me, we went.
Can I please have those 100 minutes of my life back? I have been rooked yet again by Hollywood's desperate attempt to produce something for kids that doesn't rely on adult innuendo to make it fly.
We saw Scooby Doo horrid and filled with innuendo. We saw Master of Disguise watchable although very short and long on adult references (Scarface anyone?). I'm not a hater of children's movies. I loved Dinosaur, all of the Land Before Time series, Monsters, Inc., Jimmy Neutron and many others. They are well-directed, well-scripted (for the most part), and usually well acted. Is that so hard??!!
There was a gentleman in the theatre, obviously with his granddaughter, who laughed at EVERYTHING. I'm not joking. He even laughed when the glass was clinked to get everyone's attention at the OSS party! I love comedy. I found NO comedy here. I found no entertainment. The best part of the entire thing was Emily Osment (Gerti). She was on cue, genuine and even entertaining. Daryl Sabara (Juni) couldn't even say the lines without sounding like he was reading at a second-grade level! What in the heck was Buscemi thinking to be tied up with this disaster?
All I'm left with is a hole in my pocket where $18.50 used to be and the soundtrack was played too loud for me to even get a nap in. Avoid like the plague! I gave it a 3 (of 10) for being tolerable to my 4-year old.
The Master of Disguise (2002)
A half-hour nap with a half-hour of mild interest.
I trust Dana Carvey. He was on an "E" interview and said that he had made a good family film. He was partly right. There was not too much objectionable (save the plethora of fart jokes and way too many references to a large booty). If Sir Mixalot had been on hand to escort J-Lo around the screen, the big butt references would have been just fine. Anyway, I ramble...
The best scenes were of the Pacino (Scarface) impression. It was very good and funny to watch. Esposito is passable and Spiner looked positively bizarre in bright blue eyes.
I gave it a 5 for the ability to remain humorous and not have to swear or go over the sexual line for the children's sake.
Rush Hour 2 (2001)
Unless you can't stand to live
without Jackie Chan for more than a couple months at a time - this is a pass. Not even close to the fun and genuity that existed in the first.
Boo hiss
I gave it a 6
Vanilla Sky (2001)
More fun without the cruising/cruzing.
My two least favorite big name stars put together for the remarkable beauty of their looks and not the acting.
Loved the script and the direction. Very bizarre plot twists and virtually non-existent acting talent combine to leave me thoroughly confused but yet somehow entertained.
I rate movies on the merit of the intent of entertainment.
This is a solid 7.
City of Angels (1998)
Beautiful, touching
A real tear-jerker.
Love that Meg.
'nuff said.
An 8.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Not because it's the best thing on celluloid...
But because it's one the the most entertaining movies of the 80's. Just have fun and be sucked in. Marvelous interaction of characters and even Jennifer Beals (PNJ - pre nose job) is entertaining.
I gave it a 10 for simply the fun.
I Am Sam (2001)
A Must See
I don't remember when this passed through the theatres but I am so glad, so glad you see, that I did find it on DVD. OK, enough camp.
I loved this movie, the second half being twice as powerful as the first. That being said, I have grown to respect an actor I used to despise (Penn). He studied and portrayed the most dynamic disabled person I have ever seen on screen.
Having grown up with twin brothers who were mentally disabled, I felt in a superior position to make judgment over the treatment of the characters, the development of the story and the eventual direction of the plot. All were superb.
If I had one pick or pan, I didn't think Michelle Pfeiffer was the best choice. She did get the rhythm of the character but left me a little empty.
Brilliant writing and direction, camera work top notch. I gave this a 9.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Got to hate it, hate it, hate it.
Scooby-Doo was (is) an endearing cartoon. Something about it's lovable characters and virtually see-through plots gives it room in my heart.
This movie is garbage! You can say that with a French accent if it makes you feel better... It is directed at the juvenile crowd, of which I am no longer a member, however, the mixture of adult entendre and fart jokes just goes too far off the path of what Scooby-Doo is all about. A cut-up and disjointed story line confuses from the beginning as the friends all split up and then rejoin two years later. In the theater, it's 5 minutes later and the story so weak that the viewer can't tell the difference! Weak!
The voice-overs are very canned: standing in a jungle atmosphere and the only sounds are the voices of the actors sounding as if they are in a living room. No ambiance, no echo. Boo Hiss.
On the brighter side, the animation and blending of live action and animation are state of the art. Very seamless for the most part. The characters are very well costumed and coifed and surprisingly believable.
Music is very good. Many original tracks and very well timed.
I recommend this only for those extremely bored on Tuesday night (if your local theater gives a discount or if there's nothing left to rent).
Three stars *** (One for the three laughs I got, one for the excellent casting and chipped in one extra for the excellent animation)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
A fantastic carnival of a film.
The Coen's strike again. I had no presuppositions going in and I was amazed at the bizarre telling of a good-bad guy story. Although Clooney is easily replaceable in this, his cornball style is welcome. Turturro and Nelson are dead ringers. And I loved "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" as performed by the "Soggy Bottom Boys". Catchy tune...
8 of 10
Johnny Dangerously (1984)
C'mon, this is cute AND funny.
All of those who voted less than 5 are obviously not fans of clean, tongue-in-cheek humor. Keaton is brilliant in this - as in most of his work. This is not a blockbuster, bigger-than-life affair. This is campy, slapstick humor played out by some of Hollywood's best (and very versatile) actors. Piscopo was equally on the mark as the top dog wannabee, once.
If you want to see the funniest attempt at not really cussing ever filmed, you gotta see Dimitri do his piece as Morone.
I gave it a 7.
The Straight Story (1999)
A suprisingly excellent small film
I rented the DVD based on the comments and votes of the other IMDB members. While not always an accurate yardstick, more so on small films than big studio stuff. This film had all the qualities I love in movies: great writing, great casting and some breakout performances. Spacek was phenomenal. Although her character was not central to the story, she was so on character I had trouble believing this is same person that was the "Coal Miner's Daughter". The movie had just enough fantasy value (never got pulled over by the Highway Patrol??, never ran out of gas??, never got run over??) to keep it from being a docudrama and yet a story not so far from probable to make it real.
I gave it 9 of 10 and a hearty recommendation to all.
The Way of the Gun (2000)
Oh________My________God
What exactly was the point of the first scene? I thought I was watching Fight Club again. I like an adventure movie. And I like a compelling story. However, about every two years a movie comes along that has the great story (and good storytelling) but goes WAY over the top in what I consider sensible use of graphic detail: Fight Club, Kalifornia and Natural Born Killers just to name a few. I got enough violence and blood and gore to make Scarface look like a day at Disneyland. The point? Not sure. Anywho, I liked the premise of bad guys v. bad guys, but it was all just too bad. What was the deal at the hotel? They had agreed to leave, she shot at them and they decided to stay? WTF??!!
8 of 10 for the screenplay and direction. 3 of 10 for "watchability".
Anywhere But Here (1999)
Chick flick
But I knew that when I rented it. I thought it was one of the weaker performances of Susan. She seemed distracted during most of her scenes and Natalie, although easy to look at, was not nearly as disturbing as her character seemed to be written. I would have given 3 of 10, but I did like the story and don't want to be too much of a chauvinist so I gave it a 6. Hmmmmph.