Reviews

My Neighbor Totoro is one of those truly wonderful films that transcend the words "heartwarming" and "joyful." This is a movie that any human from 5 to 95 can enjoy. There is something truly powerful and transcendent about happiness and innocence; and Totoro is a reminder that there is something happy and joyful inside all of us that is truly our strength, and the basis for life itself.

Totoro is a superior movie that stands on its own, without reference to pop-culture tawdriness, melodrama, or mindless violence.

Totoro is a great barometer for friends and relationships. If you have doubts about the sanity of anybody you know, play this movie for them. Haters, anti-social types, and people with indelible character flaws won't like this movie, and you can dump them!

And oh by the way, the animation is awesome.

Many viewers will simply go gaga at the special effects in this movie, which are, frankly, unbelievable. Although it is worthwhile seeing the movie just for that, it is a trivial and superficial view of Avatar. The movie is really a battle between those who believe in life, and those who will sacrifice life for profit. There is evil in the world, and it is graphically displayed in the RDA corporation's willingness to kill as often as necessary to obtain a precious metal that will feed their stupid, mindless, machine culture. Do you believe in life or do you believe in death? In which direction will the human race go, toward more mechanization, hierarchy, and conflict (which represents a contempt for life) or towards a higher consciousness? These are the questions Avatar asks, and the answer lies within you.

This is a tightly written time travel thriller that holds together, with all loose ends tied up. The explanation for the device is a little unbelievable, but hey, it's the movies. Unlike Premonition, which had so many plot inconsistencies that made the film unwatchable, the writers of this screenplay clearly gave their plot line a lot of thought. The director gives you subtle clues throughout the movie that connect events and link them to the plot, so it's possible to keep up with the action without getting too confused, but it does keep you guessing. All in all, a cleverly written sci-fi drama that holds your interest. Denzel, as usual, holds the movie together with another great performance.

As others have already mentioned, this movie is logically inconsistent. The problem for Sandra Bullock is that she, like all actors and actresses, need to feel that they are "serious" actors, and so they will always try to get a dramatic lead role. Unfortunately, Bullock chose the wrong movie. She should either stick to more lighthearted roles, or choose a script that actually makes sense. I found this plot really confusing, and unfortunately so did the director. In one scene, the husband's body falls out of the coffin, and in another scene he gets incinerated in a collision with a gigantic 18 wheeler. These obvious inconsistencies should have been caught in the screen writing stage. One bright spot in this movie is Amber Valetta. Wow, this lady has screen presence and she is utterly gorgeous. It's not worth seeing the movie just for Amber, but she lights up the screen whenever she appears.

Great performances by Ronny Cox and Wesley Snipes. A standard political thriller, made more interesting by Snipes' character's interest in history. He has made huge models of the DC area in his apartment, and uses them to solve a murder case that threatens to bring down the president. The gorgeous Diane Lane gives a creditable performance as a secret service agent. I liked the fact that the two main characters never have sex. Their relationship suggests it, and I kept waiting for the usual (and boring) bedroom scene. Sex is often used as a gimmick to hold interest in a boring plot and uninteresting characters. You either like the plot and this movie for what it is, or you don't.

David Lynch is a master film maker, no question about that. But I guess life according to Lynch, or at least this movie, is: start out happy and cheerful, and end up killing yourself. I'm so tired of 'critically acclaimed' movies that are all about disconnecting from life. According to this theory, messing up your life is the only alternative because that's what 'reality' is. Well, if you're a fan of meaningless glorification of psychosis, then this is the film for you. A lot of clever film gimmicks, quirky editing, and a film noir, almost a dreamlike feel, characterizes this movie. I will say that Naomi Watts is terrific and shows off her versatility, playing the full range of emotions effortlessly. It's almost worth it to sit through this jumble of disconnected scenes to see her performance. But what a waste of time for such a pointless motif as this film has. As a friend of mine who watched the movie with me said: "I want those two hours of my life back."

A psychotic, irrational and meaningless plot with so many film gimmicks it's hard to keep track of anything. I don't think the director (David Lynch) had a clue what the writer(David Lynch) wanted to say, if he wanted to say anything. Completely pointless. As a friend of mine who saw the movie with me said: "I want those 2 hours of my life back." The only bright spot for me was the performance of Naomi Watts.

This film is a combination of "It's a Wonderful Life" in reverse, and "Heaven Can Wait". The story line has been done before, but I found this film inspiring and entertaining. It is a deep film, but can be viewed shallowly as mere entertainment. Both Nicolas Cage and Tea Leone are superb. The film has a real message but is not preachy or corny. I found myself wondering throughout the film how I would react if I were in Cage's shoes. The ending is not the predictable "and they lived happily ever after", but inspiring nevertheless. I thought Tea Leone was wonderful and Cage gives his usual solid performance. A great flick.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes continues the excellence of the original series. Jeremy Brett (Jeremy Huggins) is quite clearly the best Sherlock ever. These films are superbly done, the acting is uniformly excellent, and what I enjoy most of all is the meticulous attention to detail in all of these productions. They all have the feeling of the 1890's, I feel like I am transported back in time. I have purchased or recorded all of these videos, and and have viewed them regularly over the past 15 years. They are so well done, one never gets tired of seeing them. If you are a fan of Conan Doyle or if you are just looking for fine entertainment, you can't miss with these films.

This is an excellently done black comedy. Vince Vaughn plays a

serial killer that you can really like. Joaquin Phoenix plays

the guy who seems to be a magnet for trouble, and gives a very believable performance. Georgina Cates is perfectly disgusting as his girlfriend, and Jeanene Garofalo is her idiosyncratic self as Agent Shelby. This movie is different. It's funny, but quirky in a good way. You don't know how it's going to turn out until the very end. The script and the direction are superb, because this movie could have easily been really bad. I give it a 8, which is really high for this genre.

This is a movie for those seeking their truth. It is about a period in the life of Gurdjieff and his struggle (and obsession) to find himself. Investigating philosophy, religion, science, spirituality, he finally comes to a point (at the end of the movie) of being at peace with himself and on his path. I found it to be a remarkable film, and, at the end, inspiring and uplifting.