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Reviews
Alone in the Dark II (2008)
Makes for good entertainment, if you walk in with low-expectations
With a DVD follow-up of the original "Alone in the Dark" movie, my prejudgment whispered in my ear that this will be just another worthless follower. Actually, it wasn't that bad. The film had a much smaller budget than the original, but you could probably guess that since this was a straight to video movie. The cast is great and fun to watch. OK, this film is never going to win an Oscar. It takes itself to seriously, the effects are occasionally ropey (but good considering the budget) and the acting is not always up to De Nero's standard. But this is a great B movie. The cinematography is actually quite good considering the shooting time and the lighting in extremely good.
Hitch (2005)
I'm glad I didn't pay to see this movie.
A couple of redeeming things about this movie. First, Kevin James. His performance stole the show, and his budding relationship was much more interesting than the jaded exchanges between Hitch and Sara (quite tiresome). Will Smith is his naturally charming self, which he plays in every movie I've ever seen him in (exception for Ali). The writers of the movie did come up with some clever dialogue / dating tips for those of us who are single. {Spoilers} And now the bad. The movie was enjoyable up until about a third of the way through. Sara's friend is seduced in to a one-night-stand by a real creep. As Sara's friend cries about "being used" and manipulated by the creep, Sara becomes determined to expose the "Love Doctor" that she mistakenly thinks set up the circumstances/date. The problems here are many. First, why exactly is Sara's friend crying? What are you crying over? You went out on one date with someone and had sex, what do you have emotionally invested here? Second, Sara, instead of pointing out to her friend that she is suffering the consequences of fornicating with a known adulterer, blames the "Love Doctor" (Hitch). So we're supposed to believe that Sara's friend wasn't in control of her body and completely at the mercy of a trained acolyte of the "Love Doctor"? And so Sara must expose this predatory "Love Doctor" and his evil minions. So much for personal responsibility. Great Hollywood victimization logic here. Third, Sara upon finding out that the "Love Doctor" was her new boy-friend could have just confronted him with her friend's problem instead of destroying his livlihood and Kevin James' budding romance in one self-righteous swoop. And lastly, how could Hitch (or any self-respecting man) want to make up with this self-righteous vindictive b*&*h? Fortunately, I got to watch this movie recently at a friend's house.
Jurassic Park III (2001)
Jurassic Park III
Most sequels never seem to live up to the original film, and "Jurassic Park III" is no exception. The film pretty much rips off from the first film, but they add some new dinosaurs to movie including the deadly Spinenosaurus; the Raptors start showing signs of intelligence. The film is about a boy and his brother wave boarding, one day, on the outskirts of a deserted island. Unfortunately, the boat crashes, and the boy is forced to fend for himself. However, it seems that the island that the boy is stranded on is actually another Jurassic Park that was secretly under development a few years ago. It's now up to the paleontoligist from the original film to go to this island and save this young man before it's too late. The movie fails to offer anything original to the series except for a few new dinosaurs. Overall, I still think fans of the series will still find some things good about this film but don't expect too much out of it.
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Amazing
This is a fantastic movie. At first you may think that it's for kids but you are very wrong. I watched this for the first time when I was in my 16-18 year spirt and I laughed non stop. The story is Sulley accidentally lets a little girl into there world. Usually him and all the other monsters who work at monsters inc go through a door that leads them into a childs room once there they scare the kids and the children's screams are put into capsules and brought back and used as energy. So when the girl gets into there world it causes a lot of trouble. This is a great film that you can watch alone or with your entire family.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Dark prequel takes Indy to the Temple of Doom....
After the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark, series creator George Lucas and director Steven Spielberg took the Indiana Jones series into its dark second installment, 1984's Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Written by American Graffiti's Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz and set in 1935 (making this film a prequel to the first film), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom takes its archaeologist hero (Harrison Ford) from a swank Shanghai night club to the rain forest of India as Indy, his orphaned sidekick Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and his very reluctant companion Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw, who would later be Mrs. Steven Spielberg) go on a quest for an Indian village's sacred stone, which has been stolen by evil Thugee followers of the Kali cult. Indy is at first reluctant to go on this quest for yet another mythical artifact, but when the villagers tell the archaeologist and his two companions that the followers of Kali, now based in Pankot Palace, have stolen their children, Jones agrees to pay the new Maharajah of Pankot a visit. His interest is peaked when a dying young escapee arrives at the village and hands Indy a scrap of cloth with a fragment of tapestry. Reading its Sanskrit inscription and by looking at the pictographs on the cloth, Indiana discovers that the villagers' sacred stone is one of five Sankara stones, left to men by the Hindu god Shiva. When a puzzled Short Round asks Indy what a Sankara stone represents, the professor/adventurer replies, "Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory." But Indy's quest for "fortune and glory" takes a disturbing turn when the trio reaches Pankot Palace. The prime minister, Chattar Lal (Roshan Seth) appears to be just another Oxford-trained Indian bureaucrat, but in reality he's one of Kali priest Mola Ram's (Amrish Puri) lieutenants. Soon, Indy, Short Round and Willie go from honored guests to prisoners when they discover the goings-on behind the high walls of Pankot Palace. Although Temple of Doom is an enjoyable adventure film, its dark tones (both in storytelling and visual terms) and a few gory scenes involving a really gross banquet and a human sacrifice made it the least favorite entry in the series. And even though it was rated PG, the criticism Temple of Doom received caused director Spielberg to be one of the advocates of the PG-13 rating that the Motion Picture Association of America created within months of the film's release. Nevertheless, the film's action set pieces (some of them conceived for Raiders but left out for time constraints) are still thrilling, Spielberg's directing is top-notch and John Williams' 1930s-flavored musical score is, as always, brilliant. Although the other two films in the series are more fun and lighter in tone, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is still worth watching. Just not, of course, right after dinner. Alex Diaz-Granados
Forrest Gump (1994)
Like Peas and Carrots
Jenny and Forrest.......what can I say ... excellent movie. Great entertainment. Tom Hanks like you have never seen him before. Sally Field as his Mother ... as you have never imagined her before. It is about determination and doing the RIGHT thing because it is RIGHT. It is a very good movie..well produced and Tom was fantastic in it. If you are the one in a Million who has NOT seen this movie ... It will be a CLASSIC in twenty years...it already is. GREAT MOVIE, full of comedy with some Drama through his life experiences. Just an all time favorite movie of mine. Life is Like a Box of Chocolates, You never know what your gonna get ! I couldn't have summed life up any better than Forrest ! Good thing about this movie IS...you KNOW you will get some wonderful entertainment .. it is definite ! OH and Bubba's Shrinp ...did YOU know there are over 500 ways to cook shrimp...Bubba names about 100 .... hehe !
X2 (2003)
Fun, but very overrated.
I'll keep this short and to-the-point. I am a life long reader of comic books. I love them and passionately anticipate and enjoy most of the recent motion pictures based on them. DC and Dark Horse comics have always been my favorites, and aside from The Punisher and Ghost Rider, I do not care too much for Marvel. However, despite that, I enjoyed the original X-Men very much. I think Bryan Singer is one of the most talented directors of his generation (see The Usual Suspects.) Yet, I was really disappointed by this sequel. Don't get me wrong, X2 is a very well done comic book adaption when compared to shameful misfires such as Hulk and Elektra, yet I do not believe it to be nearly as wonderful as everyone says. The whole film just feels so muddled and pointless to me. The ending drags on forever, and doesn't really have much of anything new to offer. Perhaps I missed something, but other than the addition of the awesome Nightcrawler character, this felt very routine and meaningless. I can't say I have very high hopes for X3 either. I do highly recommend the original X-Men, but I don't feel either of these films come close to the real masterpieces in the genre, such as Batman Begins, Hellboy, V For Vendetta, or Sin City.