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Reviews
The Village (2004)
Are you kidding me?
I'm so glad I didn't waste money seeing this in the theaters and waited until it came to satellite. I can't think of a much worse way to spend $7.50 then to see this silly little movie.
First, let me say that I did enjoy the Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs immensely. They all were moving, well done films that knew how to keep your suspense heightened. Suspenseful films are some of my favorite films to watch and Shyamalan is normally a master at it.
The "suspense" in this film revolves around eerie creatures in woods outside a nineteenth century village. The people in the village fear the creatures but are safe as long as they don't venture out into the woods. Of course, you know some of the villagers, being naturally curious, will eventually wander out in the woods. So the creatures do some things to make sure the villagers don't do it again. Are there some hidden meanings and secrets involved with the creatures and the villagers? Of course there are...after all, it's a Shyamalan movie.
But there is no reason for me to even discuss the "secrets" involved with the creatures, the village, or any other part of this movie, because they are just so unbelievably silly. Let's just say that some secrets are not worth $7.50 nor an hour and a half of your life to find out. The difference with the other 3 Shyamalan movies I mentioned above is that the secrets involved with them were at least somewhat believable and so did not ruin the stories.
I really hope Shyamalan learns from this meager effort and puts a little more thought into his next movie.
12 Angry Men (1997)
It's just OK
I saw this one with an open mind after seeing the original a few times. I wanted to like it. I really did. But........
This movie did nothing for me. It was OK, just because the story is a very interesting story. I admire all of the actors in this movie...even Tony Danza to some degree. But the modernization of the original costs the movie valuable atmosphere points, which was what made the earlier version one of the best movies I've ever seen.
In the original, you couldn't help but feel the heat of the room, the rising anger, and ever-increasing claustrophobic state. A few director's "tricks" helped with that. I felt no heat and claustrophobia in this one...and the anger felt more forced.
I agree with the reviewers who stated that it was not a good idea to have older actors in so many roles, including Lemmon, Scott, and Davis. It ruins the storyline around the age of Juror #9, and doesn't allow Scott to be as forceful as Cobb was in the original. And Scott does not do nearly as good a job with his end of movie rant as Cobb did. I was totally unmoved, though I must admit while watching the remake that all I could think about was Cobb's masterful gut-wrenching speech. That's not to say that the acting wasn't good. It just wasn't great.
Other little things that annoyed me (ONE SPOILER):
Gandolfini was vastly underused.
Juror #10 never realizes his idiotic behavior, so it's totally unbelievable that he would change his vote for no reason.
We see a totally unnecessary and overly dramatic speech by the judge at the beginning of the movie.
We also see a shot of the defendant, which takes away from the imagination factor of the original.
I give this movie a rating of 5/10. If it were an original and not a remake, I'd give it 7/10 for the story alone. I gave the actual original movie (albeit a remake of a play) a 10/10. See the original and forget this one.
Shallow Hal (2001)
If you didn't like it, you didn't get it
I'm amazed at all the bad comments on this movie. I thought this was a very touching movie that was funny at times. This wasn't a normal Farrelly bros' movie that goes for laugh after laugh. This one showed that the Farrelly's have a heart too. If you can't see that from watching this movie, then you obviously didn't get it.
The key scene to me was seeing Hal realize the error of his ways in the late scene involving the girl at the hospital. It was more than just a plot device. The Farrelly's are actively involved in charity work, and they were trying to show how important that work is and how wonderful the people involved are. You can see the realization of that in Hal's eyes in that scene.
Jack Black isn't your normal Hollywood-type leading man, and I was very glad to watch him in the lead role. He showed some great depth in playing a shallow guy. And this was the best acting I've ever seen from Paltrow. The movie wasn't fantastic...not all the jokes work, but it was better than what most folks are saying.
I rate the Farrelly bros. movies in this order:
1. Kingpin (Wildly funny, best acting of all the Farrelly movies)
2. There's Something About Mary (Hilarious...plus Cameron Diaz)
3. Dumb and Dumber (Some huge laughs, a few groans)
4. Osmosis Jones (Clever stuff, gotta pay attention)
5. Shallow Hal (Touching with a few good jokes)
6. Me, Myself & Irene (I don't remember laughing at all)
Rat Race (2001)
Entertaining and Just Plain Fun
This movie was based on "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and sure enough, it copies the zaniness and pure fun of the race for big money. It also copies the bad ending.
There were many absolutely hilarious moments in the movie...my favorites were the gambling games of John Cleese and Dave Thomas (Pepto-Bismol??), the monster-truck rally slow-motion sequence, Cuba Gooding's reaction to the Lucy impersonator's confession, Rowan Atkinson singing the wrong song lyrics from what's being played on the radio, the squirrel-lady's shortcut, and the girls in the rocket car looking out the window at a certain projectile in the air.
But not everything hits the mark...there were some things that didn't work. As much as I like Wayne Knight, the whole sequence with the heart was pretty bad. And the ending....yikes. Just about anything would have been better than that. It's pretty sad when that made me yearn to see something like a bunch of people flying off a firetruck's ladder. At least that still had zaniness written all over it.
The acting is really good...I think comic acting is much tougher than dramatic. Kudos to John Cleese, Dave Thomas, Cuba Gooding, Seth Green, Vince Vieluf, Rowan Atkinson, and Amy Smart. You all made the movie to me. It wouldn't have worked unless you went over the top. Good job.
I wish Hollywood made more movies like this...except decide to be brave with the ending for once. As funny as it was, it could have been better. 7/10
Diggstown (1992)
Excellent con/boxing flick
Diggstown is one of the few movies that has ever made me actually cheer out loud. If you've seen it, you know the moment at the end that I'm talking about. I've seen it a few times now, and even though I know how it ends, I still love seeing the ending over and over. It's pretty much a formula movie, but is well-done and has some very clever moments and one-liners thrown in to keep you interested. Take for example when Woods and Dern are discussing the rules for the fight. Woods opens a bottled drink in one motion only with his thumb (twisting, not prying), right before answering one of the questions posed to him. It's a great effect and lets the audience know just how smooth Gabriel Cain is.
Louis Gossett does a great job and is believable as a boxer. The fights are obviously over-choreographed, but they're still better than any of the horribly unrealistic Rocky sequences. Oliver Platt is excellent as Cain's sidekick, Fitz. Look for Heather Graham before she became a celebrity....some things never change, though....yowsa!
I definitely recommend Diggstown...it's not an award-winning or thought-provoking type of movie, but it's a lot of fun.
Contact (1997)
Truly riveting for science fiction fans
Contact is a great movie....if you love science fiction. If you don't, then you will probably not get nearly as much out of it as some do. I, for one, was riveted throughout the entire movie, even during the first half-hour or so which is a bit slow. Once the "action" begins, the movie becomes extremely suspenseful, especially during the launch of the first machine. I rarely get that excited about a movie moment like that. It was brilliant.
The screenplay was good, not great, but had some excellent moments, especially between McConaughey and Foster. I didn't buy the end sequence of Foster's trip...I think that could have much more scientific and less corny.
But even with that, I was very happy with the film. I recommend buying the DVD and listening to the different audio commentaries on the film. It makes you appreciate the work that went into it even more.
9 out of 10...would have been 10/10 with that one sequence changed.
Fight Club (1999)
Interesting, but overrated
Yes, Fight Club has an amazing twist in it, and that twist did blow me away. It also starts out strong with Edward Norton, who is one of my favorite actors, in a therapy group meeting some interesting people.
However, as the plot kept rolling, it became too over-the-top for its own good. The movie was supposed to be about finding out who the true you is, but yet all of the "followers" had no personality at all. They were just drones, and I didn't buy into the fact that so many people would be involved in this "Project Mayhem", without somebody getting a conscience and blowing the lid off of it. I call this the "JFK" syndrome, where everybody and their dog is involved with the conspiracy. Completely unrealistic, and movie gets really bogged down with it.
The plot twist and the excellent performances by Norton and Pitt were enough for me to recommend you watch this once. But in my opinion, this movie was not nearly good enough to be rated in the top 250 of all time. Highly overrated. 6/10
Shrek (2001)
Entertaining, but not for little kids
This was a very entertaining movie. The visuals were excellent, and the dialogue walked a fine line between being funny for adults and funny for children. In fact, this movie isn't a good one for young children to see, hence the PG rating. That should be the first clue for those parents who have taken young children to see it, that they may not understand it.
However, this movie is extremely biting and funny for adults. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow do a great job with the subtle in-jokes. Eddie Murphy is probably the only person in the world who could take the obnoxious donkey and make him as funny and memorable as he did. He provides most of the jokes for the younger members of the audience.
The story was very predictable, but the movie wasn't really about the story, it was more about the in-jokes, wicked satirical comedy sequences (Robin Hood, the singing bird, Gingerbread Man, etc...) and witty dialogue. And that is where you get your money's worth. 9/10