Reviews

It seems that Hollywood has always got to turn to Mobsters, hitmen and bitchy wives when it needs a quick, entertaining film. It works, I was entertained, but this was no great thing, it was just another movie that demonstrates how Hollywood is forever looking for more and more ways to distance itself from real life for film entertainment .You can read between the lines with these tired old clichés easier than you can tell that there will always be an instant film about hitmen, crazy people with guns and cheap sex from Hollywood. You have to ask, isn't this theme getting a tad predictable now. But I would say the plot was rather complicated and that always seems to do a movie good, but let's not forget to see it for what it is. Another cheap clichéd flick, which is dropping any conscience Hollwyood might have for the value of human life faster than the time it took for thm to reckon there'd be a Matrix 2. If every hitman character that was ever invented by Hollywood descended on Tinseltown, the place ould be wiped out. This tries to make violence fun, because we're not there and are safe in our cinematic seats but the values portrayed by this film are real. While i enjoyed the Matthew Perry comedy I thought this whole effort was rather lame, and didn't have anything new to offer an older and wiser audience.

After reading some of the comments here I felt I should defend this show because it is as good as Nichelodeon's Rugrats in capturing the atmosphere of suburban life. This show manages to capture the culture of the street and focuses directly in on it, ignoring the restrictions of reality and giving this thing a surreal feel. The charcters are people you could relate to in that crazy world that is childhood, My favourite episode is the Kevin one where they are desperately trying to get at the jawbreaker supply in his garage. Admittedly sometimes it gets too far-fetched and extreme but this in many kids minds anyway ,they would do what Ed, Edd & Eddy do if it were possible.

Stimulating drama about a man who decides to question the disfunctionalities of society. On an extremely hot day stuck in a LA traffic jam, he abandoms his car and begins a downward sprial of self-destruction, impulsively reacting on every irritant the city throws at him. This is wonderful because we can all relate to this, but we would never dare to challenge it directly as Douglas does, and that's the thrill of this movie. Favorite scene is where he is sitting in a spot in Gangland and two hoodlums move in and try to intimidate him, but he lashes out with a baseball bat! A close second is his reaction to a ludicrously overpriced soda, smashing the store. Frustrations build up inside us about life's inadequacies, and this film is liberating as Douglas storms through LA and faces it head on with no thought for the consequences. if you're feeling cynical about the values of today's society, then this film is for you!

I've been watching the endless showings of this Eddie Murphy movie on Sky Digital for a while now, and it grows on you. When I first saw it over a year ago I thought it was crude and unbearably corny, typical Hollywood. Now I realise it is that but I enjoy it. There's some pretty sharp wit here, and some nice Hollywood characterisations, like Dr Dolittle's kiss-assing colleague. Although obviously we have put our human clichés onto the creatures for us to laugh at, it still made for a great laugh and it took the mick nicely. Adding to the easy storyline with it's all's well that ends well conclusion is some pretty hip music. Favorite quote "what the hell do you think barking is, an involuntary spasm!".

This is one cool teen movie which ranks amongst such films as Serial Mom and Wayne's World for great light-hearted Saturday Night entertainemnt. While the premise is definitly not exaxtly believable, babysitters dying and 17 year olds becoming Career women on their summer vacation, it's not as medicore as it is made out to be. it is a story about Teens and what their summer vacation is like without any parents, they become like parents themselves!. It was a humorous look at corporate life too! as the daughter joins the rat race to make ends meet while the passed-out son stays home to enjoy his spectacular sloth. While it's admittedly slow-paced and the storyline's not very credible ,it has a real feel-good factor, and the son's new meaning of "doing the dishes" had me laughing for 15 minutes! If you like films like Bill & Ted, Wayne's World and Serial Mom, you won't go wrong with this one! WHEN I WATCHED IT: Saturday 5 February 8PM CHANNEL I WATCHED IT ON: FilmFour

I found out to my delight that it was 2 for 1 at the video store, so when I rented "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" ,I had to pick a second film and that was "Pleasantville". I'm a fan of "The Truman Show" and so I thougt the premise for this was intersting. So I watched it on the Friday Afternoon, someone had left it halfway through the tape, later I realised why. What had been a very good idea for a film, that could have worked on many levels, many of the levels that people seem to think it does work on (50's vs the 90's), (the US Society) etc. Although I liked the characters and the idea of the film, I found the whole affair turned out be rather mediocre. The film wasn't very credible, and it lacked action, which just resulted in boredom. The full possibilites of the situation, weren't properly explored. The 50's Pleasant Tv-moulded characters who they met do not seem to have a point to them. The messages in this film seem to be very vague, better more dynamic writing what probably bring them about better. The film comes across as a bit of a mish-mash, while they spirit of it is good, and the characters are sond, the rebellious sister from the 90's forced to live in a different role. Many people seem to moved by the atmospherics for the film, but much of it was fantasy based on nothing with any credibility. It may be that I cannot relate to the 50's TV world of the US or something. It just seemed such a mediocre film and such a waste of a good idea. It didn't seem to symbolise anything, because the TV World didn't mean anything, adn they were trying to use color as a symbol. If the film was trying to show us that the 90's were dysfunctional or something, then why does it turn out that Pleasantville is such a dysfunctional place too. Color is sued to symbolise the corruption of the town's innocence, and it was crudely applied, this is contradictive (colour eventually becomes a symbol of freedom). And anyway if those 50's networks had had color, that's how they would have filmed it, people aren't black and white if they have to be, so why is that symbolic. It's all too abstract. However the fact that there still were things I liked about it, were probably enough for some people to like it a lot. They must have clearly understood the abstract sublimial meanigns of the film, which didnt exactly go out of it's way to explain itself. It was just another mediocre movie. However if you can see something in it, then that is great, I was amazed at the praise it got on the IMDB, because I had truly thought that it would have bad reviews. Either we're al being taken in by Hollywood or I'm just dumb and shoukld get back to watching blockbusters, 'cause if you all feel that way about it, it must be good. I'm gonna watch it again, I might get it this time.

I thought this feature started a little slow. The situation of the created war in Albania as a distraction from presidential scandal was both quite accurate and believable. But the film didn't seem to have quite the energy for the high-powered storyline set in the halls of power it could have been. I was expecting it to be more like a thriller-turned satire, but I suppose the formula was actualy quite a successful one in the end, it grew on you as you watched, and the characters slowly became more likeable ,progressing from corrupt men who'll stoop at nothing, to corrupt men who'll still stoop at nothing ,but actually make it seem as if it's the only logical thing to do, and you forgive them for it.

I am a big fan of Grisham novels, in that I am compelled to read them like so many millions. I am also compelled to watch the adaptations, because they are usually equally as compulsive. The Rainmaker is no different, but in this it is more than just another thriller about a young lawyer fulfilling his materialistic dreams. In fact it's quite the opposite, here young Rudy Baylor is defending someone completely conquered by a corporation's quest for dollars. it is a wonderful ethical tale about corporate greed and its effects on people it has ridden roughshod over. It's chilling when you consider that modern society is mostly dominated now by corporations ,and that their reason for existence is ultimately for money. Of course we all know this, but this film highlights it in a brilliant way, and shows an excellent example of the injustice. So this tale of an evil insurance corporation preying on underprivileged folk trying to sell them 'streetsurance' becomes quite moving. Rudy Baylor takes up the case against 'Great Benefit' who will not pay up on a life insurance claim that would be the only form of survival for a teenager dying with leukemia. Matt Damon portrays accurately the young, rookie lawyer who still has ideals and is not too cynical yet as to not feel uncomfortable about being presented with blatant ambulance-chasing. Danny De Vito is perfect as the bar-exam flunking, wisecracking paralegal with questionable ethics. In addition to a moving storyline and quintessential characters, the film is shot very atmospherically with locations that are more than just background and comment as much on the situation as the dialogue. Also there are some excellent pieces of lawyer intrique and humour that of course can be attributed directly to Grisham. The soundtrack was also something worth commenting on, it was never invasive and had a great jazzy, murky feel which summed up the moviue and the legal profession in general. If you're looking for a good way to spend a Monday Night, then watch this intelligent legal thriller, the story being relatively simplistic and with an odd extra piece of storyline about a very clichéd battered girl. This is a very high quality popular film.

Good Will Hunting was one of the most moving movies I've ever seen, dealing with themes of hope, potential and abuse it gave such a real-life portrait that almost everything in the film was something you could easily relate to and felt very familiar. The choice of locations and backdrops were very appropriately atmospheric, as the film was shot in pubs, bars and coffee bars. The film was original and worked on a deeper level throughout, it was able to drop all the usual clichéd characters and scenarios that populate so many of the mass bulk of formulaic films that account for the vast majority of Hollywood's output. This never strayed far from scenarios real ,and a storyline that could be related to, I first believed and then upon realisation wanted to believe that it was a true story, because the degree of observational accuracy on real-life and the familiar feel of real-life that is believable and credible ,the film had been quite remarkable. It is ironic that many people are not convinced that Matt Damon's character could be a genius and yet could have come from such circumstances of abuse and now be living such a 9-5 philistine lifestyle of laying bricks and nights on the town, as the film manages to persuade us that it is more than just the usual triumph over adversity case. It is a film about abuse ,and in it we are shown that the loss in normal family values and the resulting towing of society's line that that would probably normally cause ,brings up strongly other aspects of a person's character, and this might explain the heightened creativity or ability as depicted by Will Hunting. The story is very psychologically real and is refreshingly not so simplistic as most other popular films. It is so re-assuring to know that the films of this type can be made and can be profitable and that it doesn't always have to be the lowest common denominator that we so feared having a monopoly on the majority of films. He is a maths genius but he doesn't know it, he naively just gets on with it, just like Mozart with the box of wood known as a piano. But when he is discovered by a maths professor ,he must be brought out of himself, and his cocky, confident front that hides a deeply insecure individual whose fundamentals have been rocked by abuse. After being exposed to and brushing off a number of conservative and conformist psychologists he is brought under the wing of a very philosophical psychologist who he has some common ground with. Some of their procrastinations and profundities are alone worth the two hours. For a deeper, more philosophical film that will make you truly think and feel in this realistic view of human nature, there is Good Will Hunting.

I'm really surprised that there are next-to-no comments on this excellent thriller. It has been on ITV many times now, but I have only just caught it now after reading a second-hand copy of the novel. This thriller deals with the inequality between men and women in the corporate workplace brilliantly, displaying the clichéd attitudes of so-called friends and colleagues. this film has a real moral to it that rises it up from the blockbuster it is intended to be. The plight of the man against the megalomaniac female corporate boss seems quite desperate against the political correctness of the 90's, but is also sadly realistic showing what an unphilanthropic, complicated world this sometimes is. Especially in the ever-dominant world of corporations, simple human empathy is lost against a backlash of other most often selfish concerns. Michael Douglas as Tom was superb, although the acting of Meredith was sometimes a bit too clichéd, although this of course is what it was meant to be. All-in-all a very enjoyable, gripping thriller with all the plot that only usually a novel adaptation can give, exploring a real contemporary issue which other thrillers typically leave blank.

I was reading the Movie Database sometime after I'd seen the film, and I noticed that there weren't that many reviews which always makes me inclined to write. Even here on the internet it isn't talked about as much as Star Wars or Men In Black or something of that kind would be, it's as understated as it was in the press, I hadn't even heard of it before I accidentally came across it on Satellite. I saw it and immediately realsied it was rather a classic, anyway here are my thoughts. Fly Away Home was just the kind of unsensational, understated film that is usual lacking in today's world of cinema which seeks to shock & amaze to the detriment of all other qualities. I liked it because it was a simple, unclichéd film about a father who had not seen his daughter in years but is now forced to bring her up because her mother had been killed in a car accident. She discovers some abandoned geese-eggs and becomes the mother of the flock, which she turns to for comfort. They need to re-build their relationship and she remains distant until he hits on the idea of guiding the flock of geese south for the winter by way of a hand-built plane. It pits realism against a far-out idea which would bring a father and daughter together. The characters are something that in everyday life you can relate to, it's as if the writers had tried to avoid movie ideals and to present a picture of something that's just the way it is, and nothing in the film (not even the dramatic saucepan incident) is hyped up too much to extract entertainment from it or underplayed or neglected either. It's as restrained as many classic children's novels are but doesn't lose sight of incidents and storyturns for entertainment value ,such as the cleverly orchestrated plan to rescue the geese from the local ranger) It's not the sort of film that needs to use stereotypes for entertainment, it's a quietly atmospheric film interspersed with beautiful cinematographic shots, the music blends in comfortably with the atmosphere,and the story develops gently and gradually as the daughter becomes used to life with her estranged Dad and his sometimes eccentric existence in Canada. The melancholay beginning leads us to something we're not expecting, when in a state of bereavement she turns to some abandoned geese for comfort, the resolution of the film as her Dad's migration experiment comes to it's head, and when they fly their makeshift planes heading the geese south for the winter it is rewarding. Other films rely on so much action and suspense, to the complete denail of real-life situations, so even though many aspects of the plot of Fly Way Home were technically far-fetched, it is the realism and believability of the film that makes it's climax so glorious and breathtaking. It's one of those classic family films that takes a break from the usual genre of the stereotypical all-american family perpetuated by such films as Home Alone and Liar Liar ,not that I haven't throroughly enjoyed them, but this film is special because it doesn't have the same old formulaic traits. If you're in the mood for an easily-digestible drama, watch this one because it'll give you a much better view of family-life. you won't go far wrong with the soundtrack either.