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tzar26
Reviews
Bill Cosby: Himself (1983)
Hands-down, one of the funniest...
ANYTHINGS of all time. I grew up on this movie/stand-up/sit-down act playing on HBO seemingly every day back in the mid-80s. It was incredibly funny then, and incredibly funny now. Cosby has a way of bringing class to the stage and telling stories in a way that can make you laugh until you hurt.
Remember when you were young and there was that one person in your family who, no matter what he/she said, made you laugh until your stomach ached and you'd get actually get in trouble for laughing too much? That's Cos in this. Sheerly, sheerly hilarious. Even if you aren't a fan of his, have an open mind and watch this classic work.
Jason X (2001)
Jason is dead, so what did you expect?
For anyone who is expecting a good-to-great storyline, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you. C'MON PEOPLE! Jason is deader than the deadest-dead guy wrapped in celophane on Christmas morning and you want a storyline befitting of a some literary idea of suspending your disbelief? You want some classic horror genre-writing? ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING, this film is going to base itself on is going to be a FARCE. How could you expect anything more? As the director said about the film, "The Friday the 13th series is beyond criticism now." Why? Because EVEN HE KNOWS the F13 series passed any semblance of reason and sensibility about 20 years. This is not a film to make you wow at the writing, it is a fun, high-end campy slasher film with cool ways people die. That's it. End of story. The movie never attempted to be anything more than it is and means everything it does.
Someone once defined "quality" as the creation of something that does exactly what you want it to do. The thought realized clearly, per se. In that sense, this is a quality film. It sets out to be a fun slasher flick, and it is. I can't tell you the last time a group of friends and I jumped out of our seats yelling, laughing, and clapping at a scene as when the "frozen face" scene occurs. What else do you want?
Now, if you were fooled by the previews that might have misrepresented the intention of the movie, that's the studio's fault--and yours. What were you expecting? This was a fun, good movie. It wasn't great, shoot it wasn't nearly as good as the first 2 movies in this series, but I still had a great time watching this film--exactly what the director and producers set out to do.
Signs (2002)
One Question... (Spoiler)
The movie plays very well, but I am left with this one disturbing question:
Why would a bunch of aliens spend all this time making all these plans to bring 400 UFOs all the way across the universe in order to "harvest humans" on a planet where everything on that planet is comprised of a substance (water) that kills them? How weak.
Otherwise, I do recommend seeing it, it is very good in many ways.
Love Stinks (1999)
For males eyes only...
A couple years ago, I was working at Blockbuster right after graduating from college. I saw the cover to this movie on the shelf since I'd starting working there, but judged it as kinetic crap by its horribly cheesy cover and name. Yes, I judged this movie by its cover. A customer about my age (25) then told me, unprovoked, that it was one of the funniest movies he had seen in years. He said he was surprised by it and that I should check it out. So, I did.
Wow. I laughed and laughed and laughed. I hadn't seen a movie that made me laugh that hard in a long time. I actually couldn't wait to watch it again--this time with my girlfriend. What a disaster. She absolutely hated it as much as I liked it. We didn't even get through 45 minutes of it because she couldn't take it anymore. Apparently, she thought it was one of the most un-funny movies she'd ever seen. A negative funniness even, if that's possible.
What does this tell us?
This movie probably has a target audience of 18-30 year old males.
Its rather dark view of the motives of women and, to that end, perceived "psycho" women, is fit-form to any man who's been with a woman that went too far, too fast--no matter how well the both of you got along. This movie is funny because of the powerlessness men feel in the face of a psycho woman--they can absolutely tear you apart and make everyone else think that it's your fault because you're the one who is falling apart. As Yoda might say: Dark, this movie is.
French Stewart is completely impotent emotionally, physically, and mentally in this relationship. If you're a man, you probably know this emotion all too well. This movie capitalizes on that darkest of dark corners with which to view a woman in a relationship such as this. In that sense, the movie is almost hyperbolic. Needless to say, it doesn't paint women in any sort of real favorable light. No wonder my girlfriend hated it.
So, guys, watch this movie, laugh you arse off--and don't show it to your girlfriend, she'll hate it. I, on the other hand, watched it three more times.
Black Knight (2001)
This was hilarious, but...
OK. First things first: 1) I laughed so hard at parts of this movie, I was almost kicking; 2) I laughed so hard at other parts of the movie, I was almost kicking; 3) I never expected to laugh this hard at this movie; 4) You have to like physical humor. HAVE TO.
OK. Second things second: 1) If you want a really engaging character-driven plot line, go see The Big Chill; 2) If you expect a great plot, check yourself before you wreck yourself; 3) What in God's good name did you expect from this movie? A great plot? C'mon, get real--it's a slapstick comedy.
This movie is not about a plot. It doesn't have to be, it has Martin Lawrence in it. Blue Streak was boring. Bad Boys certainly had its moments. Life (w/ Eddie Murphy) was OK also. Let it be known that I am not a person who will like a movie just because it has Martin Lawrence in it. That being said, Martin Lawrence was absolutely hilarious in this movie. This was a jewel of physical comedy from him.
This movie is not about some ironic/comi-tragedy that makes you laugh intellectually or smile wryly. This was about his situation. Granted, you have to make a mental leap with what happens to send him back in time, but it is a very funny movie if you can do that. If you can't do that, then you'll severely dislike this movie.
At first, Martin Lawrence doesn't believe where he's at, so he's acting completely out-of-place--which turns out to be hilarious. Then, once he realizes he really is where he is, he has no choice but to be himself--which is equally as funny. When will you ever see a guy from South Central L.A. in Medieval England interacting with them? How about him trying to teach 14th century English folks syncopated rhythms about 600 years too early? Truly funny.
If you can get over the plot, and subsequently get over yourself, you have a good chance to really like this movie. This movie was no 10/10 but it certainly was not a lowly, disparaging 3.6. I would give this a 6.5/10. After all, you can't completely ignore a flat plot line. The laughs prop this baby way up--which would make me want to watch it again some rainy Saturday afternoon.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
Entertaining and hopeful...
This movie surprised me. I knew absolutely nothing about the movie going in to it, had read no reviews, and had no expectations about it other than it is a Woody Allen film. With this in mind, I thought I might be in for another evening of Woody Allen-style neurotic mental masturbation, but alas, I was treated to a an evening of an entertaining, if at times topical, movie.
This kind of movie makes you ask what you want in a movie. Do you want a mental-twister a la Memento, or do you want something that is more for sheer entertainment value? Granted, Woody Allen as a halfway romantic lead might not have been the best choice, but who else is going to play a hapless schlep in this case? How could some of the jokes and comments work if it was Tom Selleck playing his role? The scene where Charlize Theron's character tells him why she likes him was absolutely priceless and had me rolling with out-loud laughter. Her little rambling was so perfectly dead-panned, making so obvious how odd it was that he was the eventual yin to Helen Hunt's yang. (C'mon folks, the scenes at the end where he's telling Helen Hunt that maybe he CAN actually make her feel the way she was saying she felt about him while under trance were really good. He was such a ne'er-do-well hoping for more. Wonderful.)
With this in mind, the key to this movie is not too ask too much of it. It is not going to offer you a grand philosophy on life, nor is it a cerebral film in the sense of an intense whodunit because you know whodunit. The joy is in the characters and their interactions. The fun is in seeing Woody Allen's character get a beautiful woman (and might I say that Helen Hunt looked great in this film). If you are looking for a Sixth Sense plot twist ending, go look somewhere else.
This movie was entertaining, no more no less. It may not be for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. That being said, what else does a movie need to do? What is it that you want from your movie?
Score? 7.5 out of 10.
Wendigo (2001)
Don't waste your time...
This movie was hilarious. Problem is, it wasn't supposed to be. The movie had a lot of potential, but moved so completely slow that it murders you before anyone is even dead. I found myself laughing out loud at the screen when they attempt to give the spirit Wendigo a sort-of physical living-form of deer and antlers. It was comic to the "nth" degree. It reminded me of a cheap B movie on TBS. The symbolism is bad, if even discernible, capped off by a hilarious scene at the end which will leave you wondering what the heck the filmmakers were thinking. Actually, I feel kind of bad for the filmmakers, because they had a really good idea, it was just laughably executed. It makes you appreciate how hard it truly is to make a scary movie in this day and age of desensitized and jaded moviegoers.