Reviews

Fahrenheit 9/11 is a bold, brazen attempt by Michael Moore to bring down the George W. Bush presidency, and it just might succeed. Much of the movie's damning evidence against Bush is circumstantial. Some of it is exaggerated or taken out of context. But Fahrenheit 9/11 presents so much compelling evidence with so much emotion and passion that it could be the most effective political tool to ever come out of Hollywood. In addition to being a skillfully crafted documentary that should be the odds-on favorite to put another Oscar on Moore's mantle, Fahrenheit 9/11 should be a future case study in movie marketing. Moore successfully hyped a minor controversy with Disney into a big deal, then let the right wing blunder their way into making it into an even bigger deal. In the process of trying to prevent people from seeing the movie, the right wing fuss is only raising the curiosity level. If Bush is indeed defeated for re-election by a small margin, he might have good reason to blame this movie and the man behind it.

Matrix Revolutions is a disappointing way to end what could have been a great trilogy. No one expected the 2nd and 3rd films to live up to The Matrix's mind-bending coolness. At least Reloaded maintained much of the original spirit, had some memorable scenes such as the highway chase and the army of agents battle. Not so with Revolutions, which is riddled with pseudo-profound dialogue and several stretches of dullness. The battle scenes are as much headache-inducing as entertaining. I'll be generous and give this a 5/10.

Two hours, Richard Gere and a half dozen of Hollywood's most beautiful and talented actresses, and they come up with THIS garbage? This has got to be one of the biggest wastes of talent in the last 10 years. The live birth scene at the end was the topper on this travesty of a film.

The main problem with this movie is the screenplay . . . the almost non-existent character development makes it difficult to empathize with anyone, resulting in a rather ho-hum, uninvolving movie. The actors do the best with what they're given, but the screenplay is too horrid to be saved by the cast. For an example of a similar type of drama that really works because of a superb screenplay and excellent acting, watch "You Can Count On Me" starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo and Matthew Broderick.

I found A.I. to be spectacular, thought-provoking and touching. There aren't many movies you can say that about. Spielberg's effort in A.I. was awfully ambitious, and while he may not have quite connected on all levels, the end result is still impressive.

If one could watch Black Hawk Down strictly for its entertainment value, it should rate 9/10 or 10/10 for anyone who likes action or war movies. But unfortunately, as usual Hollywood takes a very complex historical situation and turns it into a ridiculously simplistic good vs. evil battle that completely ignores the entire context of what really happened in Somalia leading up to the events depicted in the movie.

By seeing the "Behind the Scenes" featurette on the DVD, you learn that the Pentagon provided unprecedented cooperation for this movie. It's no wonder that Black Hawk Down, stripped of the Hollywood veneer, is essentially just a very entertaining, very expensive 2+ hour reel of U.S. military propaganda that attempts to portray our involvement in Somalia in the very best light, when in fact there were all sorts of ulterior motives.

For a much more balanced perspective of what really happened, read this article about the movie: www.onlinejournal.com/01-03-02_Chin.pdf

Miracle Beach is probably my favorite B movie of all time. Charming, romantic and silly all at the same time. Terrific performance by Ami Dolenz, who really carries this movie. Basketball fans should get a kick out of the rather creative cameo by former Clippers guard Gary Grant.

Heartbreakers is one of the most underrated comedies in years. The dialogue is chock full of juicy one-liners. The chemistry between Hewitt and Weaver is fantastic, and Liotta is terrific as a near-parody of his previous mobster roles. Hackman is solid as usual although he isn't given as much funny material to work with.

The Art of War is an action-packed technothriller with a decidedly Chinese flavor, as the somewhat convoluted plot is tied into the fragile state of Sino-American relations. This was a great role for Wesley Snipes, and the overall cast and acting was solid.

The gadgetry is almost 007-like, while the violence is definitely more intense. The body count gets pretty high. While the storyline included several twists and turns, and was hard to follow in some places, the overall "big picture" was quite predictable. You'll probably figure out who's ultimately responsible for the mayhem well before the midpoint of the movie.

While Art of War was certainly entertaining overall, it was just too long, and the believability factor was stretched, even for this genre.

"Walking Across Egypt" is a pleasant little film whose entertainment comes mainly from the dialogue and interaction. Yes, it's fairly predictable, but you almost can't help be charmed by the rich character development. The filmmakers did an excellent job creating a little Southern town where everyone knows everyone and everything. Fantastic starring role by Ellen Burstyn.

I absolutely loved X-Men. I seriously think it was more entertaining than all the Batman and Superman movies put together. I am only an occasional reader of the comic book, but from my viewpoint the movie was as faithful to the comic as it needed to be, or could be expected to be in order to appeal to a wide audience.

The casting was absolutely terrific from top to bottom. The action scenes and special effects were spectacular. The dialogue was witty yet appropriately restrained, unlike the endless barbs that go back and forth during every fight in a Batman movie. The plot was interesting, involving, and directly related to the core X-Men theme.

Can't wait to own it on DVD and to see the sequel!

What an odd movie. I think the fact that it's never really explained why he was chasing her or what his intentions were kept me interested -- I figured the ending would explain everything, but instead, it was so abrupt! That left me with an empty, unsatisfied feeling that I doubt the creators intentioned.

The neat visual tricks and gadgets contributed to the entertainment value. But with a patched-up plot and better editing, this movie could have been great instead of mediocre.

This was perhaps the worst science fiction movie I've ever seen. I sat through it for as long as I could and then I had to leave before I threw up. Or fell asleep. I can't think of one redeeming quality. There was no humor (at least no INTENTIONAL humor). The acting was horrific. The plot was incredibly absurd, even by sci-fi standards. Battlefield Earth makes Lost in Space and Starship Troopers look like Star Wars!

I'm a bit surprised by all the people saying this movie didn't deserve Best Picture. Okay, so it's not really the #2 movie of all time as the IMDB users have voted, but in my opinion it was the best movie of the year (incidentally my runner-up would be October Sky, which wasn't even nominated). I found it to be a fascinating slice of twisted suburban life, with characters you could identify with and be repulsed by at the same time -- not an easy feat. True, the film has rampant drug use, homophobia and near statutory rape, BUT none of these are glorified at all, they are used as plot elements to show the downfalls and weaknesses of the characters. I truly enjoyed it, and it certainly will stick in my memory. Not a masterpiece, but pretty close in my book.

I thought October Sky deserved a Best Picture nomination. I consider it the best non-animated family movie of the entire decade. Terrific performances and truly moving. It really struck home for me because my father wasn't particularly encouraging when I chose a career path he didn't approve of.