Reviews

It's difficult to describe a movie like Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41. First let me say that I saw it in a film class that concentrates on the visual styles of several films. In this same class I have seen Touch of Evil and several other "classics." I was amazed to see that this film only had 6 votes(7 including mine), so I had to add my own comment.

This film is masterfully shot in a classic Japanese style that emphazises color and full use of the widescreen presentation. The film also has a bit of a campiness to it that adds a flavor that is unusual for a foreign film. Most foreign films that are thought of as being campy usually are just not well done. This is not the case with Female Convict Scorpion Jailhouse 41. The campiness that I refer to is the same campiness that has made the Evil Dead series such a success. Exaggeration of many shots and the characters themselves.

The story itself is very unique, following a group of escape female convicts lead by an awesome character named Scorpion. The filmmakers gave her a near godlike respect when shooting her, and she is very well developed even though she doesn't speak. She doesn't speak because she knows that actions speak louder than words.

Anyway, I highly recommend this film for anyone who is a fan of foreign films, and I also recommend it to those who like stories based on comic books. I believe that this film is based on a series of Japanese comics; it is put together like a comic book, so it is obvious that many shots and the story are out of this world, as movies such as The Matrix have proved to the main-stream audience.

From the company that brought you Battlefield Earth comes a movie that is almost as bad as that one. This is by far the worst movie out presently, including Digimon and Watcher. It contains some of the worst dialogue (written and spoken) as well as John Woo-wannabe camera motion that compares to riding a spinning orbitron for two hours straight. Serious nausea, people. If you got sick watching Blair Witch Project (I didn't), run away. The movie also contains some of the dumbest logic I have EVER seen in a movie. One question: Why are there people doing yoga/tai chi in the middle of a busy city and what does that pertain to the car chase going on when they are shown? Go see the better Warner Brother distributed movie- Pay It Forward.

Again another movie comes along that I have been waiting a long time for. Cameron Crowe's masterpiece based on his own life. Great. I also love when less known actors get to star in a big movie. Nice. However when I saw the film finally, I was disappointed, even bored at parts. The acting is very good and the movie is very beautiful at times, I felt that even though it was based on a true story, it was lacking real emotion in the writing. I may be wrong too, I have a habit for getting myself psyched up over movies and then being disappointed, such as what happened to everyone with SW Episode One. The ending of the film is very predictable and seemed out of balance with the rest of the film. I won't spoil it for those that want to waste money on such a mediocre film. Anyway, if you want to see a really beautiful and well thought out movie about a struggling Rock writer, check out Terry Gilliam's Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.

Robert Zemekis is famous for breaking ground with his films, Back to the Future, Forest Gump, and Contact to name a few. What Lies Beneath also breaks ground in an unconventional way. The film reminds me of a Hitchcock film, Rear Window. The characters spend most of their time in the home waiting for the action to come to them. Its hard to say a whole lot about What Lies Beneath without giving away much of the story. Hopefully this film will renew interest in Harrison Ford and in Michelle Pfeifer. The film is fun, scary, and I would recommend it to anyone!

Ever since I saw the first teaser trailer for Titan A.E. over a year ago, I have been dreading the release. Three other trailers that I personally thought were hokey have come and gone and until I saw the film I was convinced that it would be mediocre at best. Wrong. This is definitely the best animated sci-fi film I have ever seen. I also think that this is Don Bluth's master work (even though topping Land Before Time seemed impossible). The story is interesting, original and there are enough plot twists to keep me completly enthralled. The digital animation is awesome, and puts the lame CGI battle from the Phantom Menace to shame. I would recommend this to anyone with kids or to anyone that claims to still have a spirit of adventure. Other than a little blood shed and an alien that gets vaporized, the film ends up with a happy note that is sure to fill everyone with a sense of hope for the future of mankind. The cast is great, the music is excellent and the film itself is just beautiful. If you're planning to see this movie, I recommend finding a theatre that carries "premier" prints. That was what I saw and the image was very clear and crisp, making the digital shots so much more real. I can only hope that everyone gets a chance to see this movie.

Everything about this movie made me feel good about myself. While i have not read Nick Hornby's novel, the story seems to ring a real brutal truth to it. Setting John Cusack as the main character was brilliant, as he is king of the "I screwed up my relationship" movie. The movie centers around his love for women and music and how he struggles to get over the most recent girl that he has lost. The film almost seems like a documentary, Cusack talks to the camera, like an actor on a stage speaking to the audience. He makes top five lists of everything from painful breakups to the best songs about death (which sounds morbid, but really isn't). Being brutally honest about how men deal with emotional pain is what makes this movie good. There are enough comic moments in the film to make Cusack's depression not so bad(the movie is a comedy after all). Jack Black is also very good as the most obnoxious employee ever. This film also has the greatest 80's soundtrack ever made, and I'm going to buy it for sure when it comes out. In my top five movies of 2000 as of 3/18/00, High Fidelity is #1.

This film has a good side and a bad side.

The best part is the first short film. There is no plot whatsoever, the pokemon get to play and have fun, and this is the innocence that makes magic. All parents will hate this first section because it all cuteness and poke-talk. The movie itself is pretty good, the main drawback being the morals that WB inserted just to make parents happy. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Ash and Pikachu wearing matching WWJD? bracelets. This film is great if your kids are already into pokemon, if not, they wont appreciate the story.

I think End of Days has to be the biggest disappointment this year. I've been watching trailers with so much potential since before Star Wars. Arnold bumbles through his lines, when he reads the Bible I wanted to declare myself an atheist on general principles. It makes me sick to see Arnold martyred, and the FX are sooo bad. I would rather watch the Postman 25 times back to back than even look at the poster for this movie. A TV critic put it best when she described this movie in one word-- Painful

I Like Denzel Washington. I like Horror Films. I like suspense. I hated the Bone Collector. Why? This film basically lacked all the elements that it was advertised to have. This movie is compared to Seven and Silence of the Lambs! Who are we kidding? The Bone Collector uses sloppy special effects and terrible acting. I didn't understand why Washington and Jolie liked each other, it seemed they were at each other's thoats, and then suddenly she was molesting him! Isn't there some kind of law against this. This is one of those movies that I saw (with my mom no less) that I spent more time looking at my watch than at the movie screen. Unfortunatly, I can't find in terrible errors, the movie was just boring and made little sense.

Toy Story 2 is a great movie. This film moved me in a way that movies haven't done in a long time. Clean and good fun (except for one phallic reference that is most likely over kid's heads).

I did notice something the second time I saw the film. There is a scene where the new Buzz has his belt disappear. About an hour and fifteen minutes into the film, when new-Buzz runs down the air shaft and tells the other toys to advance, you can see the belt. The scene changes to the toys running past Buzz and "Huh?" where did the belt go?? You've got to be quick to notice it, but I guarantee it's there. Somebody must have gotten fired over that one!

One of the scariest movies I've seen. Lots of horrible gut wrenching nightmarish visions that are hard to ignore. I could feel my heart pumping in fear. The Haunting made me vomit from boredom. This is the real haunted house movie. The only drawback is possibly the lowest-budget, most ridiculous ending of all time. Stay 'til the end of the credits for an 'amusing' scene. All in all, one of the most fun movies i've seen since Fight Club.

Do not see this movie. Do not be fooled by the cool looking trailers that were released, for this movie only utilizes about half of the neat special effects shown therein. For $60 mil, you'd think they could have spent some dollars on a script of some sort. The false accents used by Fiennes and Thurman gave me a headache. The plot is a jumbled disaster including huge bear suits that are never explained or justified. Also a cleverly placed F-word really didn't fit, and was also in bad taste. It was also the only curse word in the entire movie. In conclusion, DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE!! I left with a headache from all the confusion and from hearing everyone talk about how bad the movie was.