ufx187 Reviews

The Steve Harvey Show (1996–2002)

"Ye-uhh!" -- A review of The Steve Harvey Show

[1 September 2003]

I have to say that when I was growings up in the hood we didn't have many tv's in our neighborhood. Most of them got bad receptions, too. Well, the only show I really watched each week was THE STEVE HARVEY SHOW.

Me and my little sister Shaniqua would always watch Steve before bedtime because he'd make us laugh. He's also a great role model, having a perfect head of hair and a great personality. Cedric the Entertainer is also really cool. He has a lot of hunnies and is very very funny.

I give the STEVE HARVEY SHOW a C+ if it were a school grade. The show is awesome. "Yee-uhh!"

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

Disney's back!

[7/10 · 3 August 2002]

Disney brings back watercolor backgrounds, not since 1941's Dumbo, in this stunningly-awesome looking animated movie. Even with that to boot, Dean Deblois and Chris Sanders managed to come up with a respectable plot that wasn't a complete rip off of E.T. (1982) or even, well, Mac and Me (1988). It's funny to see that the average person who doesn't enjoy any type of Disney production has been favoring this movie more than others, as I feel, it's a pretty nice step for the company. Disney goes flat-out to create a funny character put into a situation where only large laughs are going to occur. The Emperor's New Groove (2000) tried so hard to accomplish that, but fell just short of a home run. `Stitch' gets that extra foot or two.

After being created by a mad scientist named Jumba (David Ogden Stiers), Stitch (Chris Sanders) is immediately set aside as a misfit and ordered to spend his life on a remote asteroid. After finding his way to a spacecraft, Stitch outruns the galactic police and crash lands in Hawaii, where is wounded and treated in an animal shelter as a dog. The following day, Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a lonely and misunderstood young girl, arrives at the shelter to adopt a dog after her sister Nani (Tia Carrere) allows her to.

Along with the frustrating social worker Mr. Bubbles (Ving Rhames), Stitch proves to be too much for the sisterly duo. Their own relationship, scarred by the death of their parents, starts to fall apart. Lilo feels that Stitch is the only one who understands her, her sister just doesn't respect her anymore, and her peers don't seem to be accepting her at all. Two relationships in this movie are key, with Lilo & Stitch and Lilo & Nani. Acting as the stronger point, Lilo helps transform Stitch and Nani into different people with different priorities, the main one being family.

`Ohana,' which means `family,' seems to be one of the largest elements in this film. Being referenced numerous times by Lilo throughout the film, it eventually starts to grow onto Nani and Stitch, until they use it themselves by the end of the film to … well, you'll have to see it for yourselves. Reading some user comments on the film, it seems that most Hawaiians are glad that the message of `ohana' is being used, and the meaning is becoming known a little better. It's almost like if people in Japan made a movie and had the main character say `Yeah baby, yeah!' dozens upon dozens of times. It represents our great culture, so it feels good to let others know about it.

The comic character is there, the sappy child-left-behind character is there, the setting is there. Everything seems to be `there' for this really un-sappy (besides a few short moments) cartoon. Oh, and did I mention that this one is awesome enough to contain no please-cry-because-I'm-lonely songs sung by the characters? Just some good ole' fashioned Elvis playing. Even without the tunes, this movie would still be rock n' rollin'.

Minority Report (2002)

Minority Report succeeds upon all levels

[3 August 2002]

Philip K. Dick's short story comes to a remarkable life in this extraordinary epic that Steven Spielberg just happened to direct. Being his second futuristic, sci-fi thriller in less than a year, `Minority Report' shattered most everyone's opinions, unlike last year's `A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.' Going places he couldn't go with `A.I.,' Spielberg really gives `Minority Report' it's own perfect setting, believably set in the year 2054. Everything seems to be more open, and useful, as in `A.I.' where it seemed most of the outside settings where bright lights when indoors.

`Minority Report,' as mentioned above, is set in an amazingly realistic Washington, D.C., fifty odd years in the future. One of the highest-ranked and well respected cops in the new Pre-Crime Police Force, John Anderton (Tom Cruise), gets a wakeup call when the pre-cogs, three select people who can see future murders, accuse Anderton of murder.

Running from authority, which seems to be the movie's main premise, Anderton runs into a collage of outlandish characters and places, including a mysterious man who removes peoples' eyes so they cannot be identified, and a loner caretaker in charge of all the current pre-crime prisoners. Without a doubt, the action scenes in the film are top-notch, never outdoing their selves in pride or length. Two of the scenes that stick out in my mind would have to be Anderton's pursuit among the highway, where he must jump from vehicle-to-vehicle to escape his capture… and a scene in an apartment complex where a group of Police-controlled electronic spiders are sent to identify all living persons inside.

Professionalism aside (heh), this movie just kicks some major ass. From the moment you see him, you know Anderton is a hard-ass, and won't quit being one the whole movie. That's Tom for you, folks. Another actor who really caught my eye was Colin Farrell (Hart's War), who played an FBI rookie to inspect the whole Pre-Crime process. I've never seen anybody transform their voice as much as him, starting with a deep Irish accent… smoothly going into a perfect American one.

The actors, the settings, the plot. Everything seems to be intact. And it is. `Minority Report' succeeds in keeping the audience thrilled, yet intrigued with the plot at the same time. Twist and turns seem to be two of the biggest ingredients in this thrill ride's list, enough to make the ending unpredictable to even the most intelligent of moviegoers. Even if you manage to see one or two bad reviews of `Minority Report,' don't let them fool you. Those people are probably still aching over their oddly terrible `A.I.' experiences.