Reviews

I think this movie is really unique & different, it's really cool. Jim Henson did all sorts of movies with the fun-loving Muppets, but this one was out of this world. Jim from time to time makes these really different movies, other than the Muppets, He did this movie & the Labyrinth & (even though it wasn't done by him but his studio) Mirrormask, but I think this one is my favorite. For a time, when I was younger, I couldn't see this film because it was rather scary, but I got it out again & I was like," whoa... this is really something". I mean seriously this film stands out among many of my other movies.

The story is about an ancient crystal; long ago it was tampered by one of the Urskeks, a race of godly beings and by doing this the Urskeks was divided into the 2 sub races, the good Uhru & the evil Skekses. The Skekses took hold of the now dark crystal & used its powers to find immortality… a 1000 years later a problem was that they found out another race, the Gelfing were the source of their bane they would put an end to the Skekses power, so the skekses got rid of all the Gelfing only 2 made it out alive. One was taken in by the Uhru, he was named Jen & the other by the Pod people, she was named Kira. One fateful day when both the Uhru chief & the Skekses emperor were close to death Jen learned of his destiny to cure the dark crystal & restore the unbalanced world to peace, he starts his journey by looking for the Keeper of Secrets, Aughra. I think I'd better stop there before I tell the whole plot; I know the story sounds stereo-type, but don't overlook it its really cool.

I love the world it's based in, its wonderfully different world with totally different landscape, it's sort of a prehistoric, neo-earthy sort of place; definitely not modern. The plants have an ancient under-water look about them; they are so bizarre but cool like a cross between plants & animal. The wild creatures are just as unique, like a bush-baby part mushroom, some very scary gigantic glowing-eyed beetles, an over- sized red-eyed toad or a rabbit combined with a catfish on stilts, really cool. The Characters are very memorable themselves, Jen is very pleasant, sensitive, and modest, I don't really know how to describe his character but he's very nice. Gelfings almost look human & yet they don't, they look shorter with long ears & long noses. Kira is also very pleasant but she's almost bolder, people who will like this movie will like Kira. The Uhru are these beings who almost look like an elderly herbivore-dinosaur part horse, none of them look young they are very ancient, their personality it celestial, meditative & almost monk-like. The Skekses are these prehistoric, reptilian vulture creatures, under their robes their bodies are disturbingly mangled & twisted just like their personalities & yet they are rather regal & pompous, one of the Skekses, Chamberlain, is very odd & sly. Aughra is quite a character she is quite sort of an impatient hermit, although she is almost womanly, a person on the DVD said she was so ugly she's beautiful.

All the voice-acting was great, Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw did very well. But the puppet-performing was done very good; they did have Jim Henson! So many things I wonder how they did on this movie. It's very creative & unique, but also very dark as well.

I HIGHLY doubt the Grimm Bros. went anything thru that, oh well, the things the cinema will do, at least its theatrical. I saw this movie on Saturday (rented it, I never saw it at the theater), the beginning was real confusing, I thought the story was about a freaky twist on classic fairy tales as the Grimm Bros. told them as they went thru their normal lives.

It was a freaky twist on fairy tales that for sure, maybe a a little too freaky. Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm have a job "ridding" towns of monsters, witches etc. but the thing is that the monsters are really actors that are hired by the Grimms, so they do it all for the money. But far away young girls are suddenly going missing by some unseen force, so the Grimms are sent there, but that's where the real fairy tales begin to uncurl.

Even though that was a pleasant preface, don't take it for granted, some parts of the film are super weird, there this one scene where a little girl has slime all over her, she tries wiping it off her face, but ends up wiping away her facial features, really weird scene. Another scene, a kitten (an adorable, bouncing, happy-to-be-alive kitten) is disintegrated up by a razor, disgusting! Anyway, the story is not that complex, it literally is like a fairy tale, but just a twisted one, so you'll see (if you want to, but I didn't like most of it) signs from stories such as Repunzel, Frog Prince, Little Riding Hood, Snow White, Jack & Beanstalk, Princess & Pea, and other hints here & there.

The characters were not really lovable especially Cavaldi, he was a sicko, he was some kind of master of torture. the Grimms were humorous protagonists, Will was sort of a handsome hunk & Jake was a nerdy bookworm. Angelika seemed like the only moral person in the whole movie (though the GrandMother Toad scene was rather weird). The Mirror Queen was very beautiful (or at least she was in the mirror), but she was a villainess that was very scared to lose, so she wasn't that "evilish".

I don't know if I can recommend it for you, I thought it was going to be good, but it was silly & twisted. The acting is pretty good, good for THIS film, but you probably think differently.

When this started to hit the big screen, people made a real big deal about it, I thought it was rather good, but I was kind of young so the story did not really make sense to me.

The story is about a Dinosaur (Aladar) who is raised up by some prehistoric monkeys, the island they live on has no carnivores, but is soon destroyed by a fleet of meteors, the dinosaur and his family escape to another region of land where they meet a herd of dinosaur that are not as friendly as the peaceful monkey isle, that where a new adventure begins. Aladar must persevere against the slap of reality that the outer realms of his former sanctuary are all too real.

The graphics left me in awe, it was very realistic! The story though, it's kind of cheesy, I mean people must of really loved all points of the story, romance, epic violence, sappy emotional scenes (no offense), the scene in the cave was rather cool, I've got to admit. But the artists of the film made the "good guy" characters look to humanoid, especially Aladar's species (Igaunodon), he almost looked like he had a human face. Ema, the Triceratops, was rather realistic though, but her pet thing was sorta like a dog. The Carnotaur was a notable entity in this flick, it was extremely savage and forbidding, it was creepy how mentally haunted it was just to get food, creepier yet living food that you found charming.

Buts its a film you'll want to see once every few years.

Pokemon FireRed is a game boy advance version of the original, Pokemon Red. Its very fun, I mean the graphics are like 500 times better than just plain old Red, more animated attacks, houses & buildings look cool & of course the Pokémon are are like much more colorful than the original & the color is very dazzling the trees are green, the grass is sheen and all that jazz. the sound & music is no longer just ear cramming beeps & sirens, its fluid, even beautiful (the S.S. Anne), and kinda spooky (Mt. Moon).

The story really is not mind blowing, but this game is an RPG & like I said, its fun. You start as a a boy or a girl and a highly acclaimed Pokémon professor, Samuel Oak invites you & his snooty grandson to choose between 3 starter Pokémon (the seed dinosaur Bulbasaur, the fire lizard Charmander, the aquatic baby turtle Squirtle) and then go out into the world as a Pokémon trainer, capturing as much Pokémon as you can & raising them (thats what the game is really all about). As the game moves on, you can face very powerful trainers who have their very own gym, each gym leader revolves around a favored Pokémon type (Brock, he buffs up rocky Pokémon, Misty she likes watery Pokémon), when defeat a gym leader they will give you a badge, when you get all badges you can go to the Indigo Plateau. This game has carried traits from other raising Pokémon games (gold & silver, ruby & sapphire), like new attacks, new creatures, Pokémon abilities & more.

In the end of the game the are some exotic island to be explored, and of course these islets were not in Red (or Pokemon Blue, its new version is Pokemon LeafGreen). But there was something really fantastic about the old Red, I mean when I first played, it was really fun. I remember going going to the lake with my family and playing Blue while we were driving there, I was training a Metapod (a cocoon Pokemon) in Veridian Forest so it could transform into a Butterfree. Yeah, I know Red & Blue are glitchy and cheap, but there was something really fun about it.

When I was about 5 years old, my mother came home with a whole lot of movies, Legend of Black Thunder Mountain was among one of these movies, I saw it at that age but I did not understand the story, years later when I was 12 or 13, I saw the movie again and I really liked it a lot. Directed by Tom Beemer in 1979 this movie was not at all popular, but its a wonderful movie for all ages, some people may think it's a "dorky" movie, but that's just their opinion.

The story is based in the pioneer age, a man and his daughter and son are traveling thru the Black Thunder mountains. the 2 kids are separated from their father by 2 gold-obsessed loons (I am pretty sure the loons are related…) who want some kind of map the traveling family has, the 2 siblings have the map in their nature book & escape from the 2 gold brothers. I don't want to give off too much information so I'll make this short. Anna & Jamie Parish (the lost kids, who are about 10 & 8 years old) are played by Holly & Steve Beeman (yep, they're related in real life), I think they give a very good performance because they are not at all haughty & they are really optimistic about finding their father, but they are just children so they show a sign of meekness, but best of all, they are not sibling rivals.

The film was shot in places such as the Wenatchee National Forest & more, but the scenery was very lovely, many gorgeous trees, merry rivers & a big beautiful mountain. There's also he fauna folk (animals, duh…), many animals include the adorable eagle chicks, raccoons & many more of our friendly animal friends. There's this one character, Mrs. Mullen a big bumbling lovable she-bear, who protects the kids as if they were her own cubs. Other characters include a crazed mountain man and an enigmatic, but trusty Indian boy.

I recommend you seeing this movie because its so moral, the father of the two children is Christian and no one (even the gold bros) dies in the end, it's totally for kids. Like I said, it was not a popular movie and its probably hard to come by.

I'm sorry to inform that the Goonies were not good enough for me.

I know this movie is famous and all, but it kinda grossed me out with the crudeness. I never saw this movie as a kid. I just saw it recently for the first time ever, and it wasn't the best childhood film ever-- sorry! I can't believe this movie is rated PG, it has some bad crudeness for a PG. But good points of the film I liked is the (slightly random) adventure and the development of the gaggle of kids, who are NOT perfect angels (if you thought that), none the less maybe that's why they are called the Goonies.

PLOT: On verge of being kicked out of their neighborhood, a rag-tag group of kids randomly find a treasure map in their attic (I guess that's childhood-dreamish). But around that time a tedious family of criminal have their hearts set on the treasure too (oh joy). They set out for their excursion hoping to find riches so that they can pay the financier allowing them to say in their neighborhood. Soon, 3 teens join them as they delve deeper following the map while escaping the petty criminals. It actually has sorta an exciting atmosphere to it.

CHARACTERS: Mikey,the protagonist is childish, simply and likable. His weird dialogue towards 1-eyed Willy really erked me. He's sorta clean. Data I liked, he was clever and funny, very clean most of the time. Mouth was kinda annoying but kinda sincere, but like a annoying toughboy. Chunk, he grew on me-- though I didn't like his use of profanity in his 1st scene. The infamous truffle-shuffle (I don't get th name) was kinda sad and pointless, many people said it was offensive to over-weight people (it gotta agree) but I guess it was used to force laughter out of children (I didn't laugh). I still just kinda liked Chunk though, he was pathetic and fun. Brand was nice (to his bro, that scene was good) and intelligent but his tough-guy rendo was typical and idiotic, his love interest with Andy grossed my out (she looked young). Andy herself was cute and smart, but her use as the sensual object erked me-- she was just a young girl, let her be one. Stef, I really liked her. She was awesome, with her geek's getup, she rocked! She was calm, pure, caring, passionate and panicked very little. Sloth scared me most of the time (always smiling) but he served well. The Fretelli were petty and demented-- singing spontaneously, trying to kill kids, and ultimately dull as hey were used as comical villains. That Mama Fretalli was wicked, not scary just sadistic. I felt sorry for the kind Roselita, a Latina housekeeper. I hated how Mouth made fun of her.

The acting just about good enough, but still the kids seemed fake, being in a shallow cave with horrific booby-traps they should have been out their minds scared making it realistic, but it's a kid film (still can't believe it though). At least the kids had fun doing the movie.

One scene in Mikey's house is the crudest, sexually horrible, unhumourous and unneeded. The kids cussing makes them lose innocence fast. Mikey's mom looks like she takes horrible care of her kids. There's a horrible scene where the younger kids bribe each other with porn (not a magazine fortunately, just something lesser). There's a gross scene with these men at the showers (upper torsos shown, fortunately) and a disgusting scene with a man at the restroom.

In the end, everything gross ruins the film. Maybe you'll like the bad kids or not, I know crudeness can be expected from kids, but this is overdoing it. It would have been so much better without the crudeness!

After almost never seeing it my whole life, I ended up really liking it! The entrance into the film is so kindling and awakening, we get a majestic view of New York City and then it slowly pans in... at that point, I knew I was going to see a good movie!

It's a like Disney version of Oliver Twist with an anthropomorphic mix. On the harsh municipal streets of New York we meet Oliver the kitten (voiced by Joey Lawrence), a very different star in Disney; Oliver soon finds himself on the streets in trouble and alone, but a much unexpected fellow comes to his aid, Dodger the street mongrel. Oliver soon meets the true parental guardian he always wished for, Penny.

The characters in general are very fascinating. As I watch a film I can usually get in the movie, and Oliver is no exception.

I almost feel like I have to be the surrogate big brother for Oliver, he's an irresistibly adorable orange kitten with those big captivating eyes and chuffy mouth, but has a great sense of dignity too, a kid who can survive the streets of an uncaring society (as we see when he first encounters Dodger).

I really like Dodger for some reason, he has that strutting machismo of a rough skinned archetype, but we soon see that he harbors that soft- heart of a big brother for Oliver. Dodger's homeys are a very colorful team of dogs. Tito (Cheech Marin), he's a gag, with his Latino flare and peppy personality he almost gives the will-to-go-on to the other member when they are blue. Francis is the refined one, with a daunting appearance; you'll soon see that he is the gentlemen of the group. Einstein (Richard Mulligan) is the strongman with a heart of gold, but but his role is very small, however we see a hidden leadership within him. Rita (Sheryl Lee Ralph)… I really like her; she's like Tina Turner in dog form! She seems to a maternal figure to Oliver and has an underlying superiority over everyone, even Dodger. She's the character you wish to be explained, and yet there is no revelation of her mysterious past.

Penny is very charming, and a very determined mind, but sometimes I find her a little bit annoying, but through her hardships I really begin to understand her, no one-on-one parental interaction, and very lonely spare time. Oh yes, then there's Georgette (the one and only Bette Midler), The pampered poodle blue-ribbon winning of Penny's household, Georgette is a definite screen-hogger; she is the most aberrant of all the Oliver characters and harbors no redeeming qualities throughout. She scheming and endearing at the same time.

Fagin (Dom DeLuise) is the "keeper" of Dodger's gang, even though he's supposed to funny, I can't help but feel sorry for this guy. I guess he represents the vagabond archetype. Sykes is one sick Disney villain; he's very realistic. The Dockyard crime lord wants every under his control and can't stand mistakes, but bestows dubious mercy dripping with poison. Not only is a physical threat to be reckoned with, those Doberman can instantly sic you with the snap of his fingers. His defeat is very unusual for a Disney villain; it makes this light-hearted film dark and interesting.

Like all Disney movies, the voice cast can be respectable or astounding, and for the case of Oliver, this is a rather cool voice cast. Lawrence portrayed a very innocent and even desperate soul for Oliver. Joel did one heck of a job for the macho Dodger, with a strange sly accent. Cheech is the fiery soul of Tito, invigoratingly raspy and even overwhelming. Bette Midler did an astounding job on Georgette's song debut, but I almost felt like Midler's others vocal parts were simmered down.

George Scribner directs Oliver and he did a very good job and graces Disney wonderfully, but he made the film very simple, and if you single out this film out from Disney (where is joins wonderfully) and into the world of the great movies (anyone say Shaw-shank?) it can be awfully weak and childish. The film however flows at a great place, and the sad or thought provoking scenes are put together with emotion and conciseness.

I love how the animation is incredibly urban and contemporary, conveying the flashiness and grittiness of downtown NY. It's like a moving children's book almost throughout (which is a delight). The character design is brimming with soul and life, every one of the animals like a specific human trapped in dog form, the humans are works of art, but sometimes over done. Some action scenes are not to precise, like when Oliver is climbing frantically over the hot dog man, it's very cartoony there as opposed to the rest of the film's child picture-book quality.

I can't expect less from Disney to make original numbers. Not only are the songs jive-provoking, but the score is good too, conveying tenseness and emotion. I absolutely love "Why Should I Worry" (Dodger's debut song); it fleshes the freedom of the city and freedom of an individual (Dodger namely). "Street of Gold" is cool, the theme is the notion of survival, and the virtue of social smarts—Ruth Pointer is amazing! "Perfect isn't Easy" is just good old entertainment, Midler does an amazing job fleshing out that show-tune vanity song. "Once Upon a Time in New York City" by Huey Lewis… this is a beautiful song, it's like the essence of the film, the city is can be a harsh place and this is one story of one individual, an orphan and his acceptance into a strange and new society.

It doesn't standout much, but I like it… a lot! It is a herald of those that would come; the transcendent Disney Renaissance of 1990's… and in a way deserves to be part of those majestic titles!

Emile Ardolino is no longer active in directing but he did on HEAVEN of a job on the simply divine comedy. I'm not an avid fan of Whoopi, but this is one of her finest things I've ever seen of her. Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi) is great. The movie has a good cast to boot, Maggie Smith is probably the most promising actress in the world of Whoopi's divine charade.

The story follows Doloris Van Cartier, the vivacious Las Vegas singer who finds herself down in dumps. Songtress Cartier must put up with ant- size audiences at the old Casinos of Vegas, while juggling affairs with her boyfriend (National Treasure's Harvey Keitel), who turns turns out to be a low-down no-good gangster when Doloris witnesses him having his men gun down this other dude. He doesn't like this witnessing, so he plans to have Doloris "wasted". But she's already got the draft and is wisely on the run. The police (Bill Nunn, his last name is sheer coincidence) have her safe but not for long, so they hide in all places that remains pure from gangster hands--- need I say more? Yes, a Nun's convent. Once there, strict the reverend mother (played by the ingenious Dame Maggie Smith) insists that if she must hide, she must also adopted their sacred ways also. Now stripped of her flashy suits, Whoopi adorns a nun's habit and alias Sister Mary Clarence, so now she's thinking she isn't shown such divine mercy... or is she? She soon befriends a rag-tag group of religious sisters, Kathy Najimy as the extremely plucky Sister Mary Patrick, Wendy Makkena as the meek and wonderful Sister Mary Robert and Mary Wickes as the gruff Sister Mary Lazarus whom she teaches them and the choir to break beyond a reclusive barrier to a roof raising praise for God.

The acting is pretty good. Whoopi role is very convincing and developed, a little goofy sometimes (but this is a comedy), but still very Whoopi- ish, her expression are so great; I can't believe she can sing, she's really good. The very pale Maggie Smith is of course great, but I felt this was very peculiar role for her, it almost unexpected, but her knife-like strictness as Mother Superior is very very good. One can tell she's determined to a practice nun's traditional lifestyle, you can see that she's absolutely thinks the monotonous repetitive old way will honor God, but when Whoopi's new way truly does. Air Bud is the only movie I'm familiar with Wendy Makkena, she's extremely shrewd yet very grand in here as Sister Roberts, her character is very captivating; her blossoming secretive personality is interesting to watch, but the writers of the film kind left me kinda disappointed in her outcome other than the fact that she turned out to be a rather angelic singer (though I heard that wasn't Makkena's real voice). Kathy Najimy almost steals the whole show, she's unrealistically bubbly and, dare I say adorable; she literally scene everyone's attention in all her scenes (p.s. if that is her voice... amazing). Mary Wickes is very gruff and almost at first unlikable, she also a little scary as a nun. Bill Nunn is very sweet in this movie, you kinda see a love interest between his character and Whoopi's.

Every set, except the church, was little odd. The Casino was barely noticeable as the camera didn't do lot of pan and scanning (whatever that means). The Church's location was very odd and out-of-place, the tramps around it were too, but the 90's kids were very unneeded (I guess the location was needed for the nun's to improve it and the kids' role meant that Whoopi's new praise to God appealed to them). The Church's set was very grand and regal, a place of shiny wooden surfaces and all that grand stuff to make it sacred (it was probably a real church they used).

The music is all instant classics, it has THAT touch to it. Whoopi's beginning numbers were fabulous, they were just so... so peachy and rhythmic! The Nuns' improved choir was literally heavenly the most being the "Regina" one, when Whoopi has the Nuns grooving. The entire soundtrack is really good, a collection of R&B/Soul hits, "Just a Touch of Love" is quite hypnotic.

One scene that very weird was when Bill Nunn punches this office double- agent, that scene kinda deviated from the main plot. The pope being involved in the story was little awkward, too. The film's climax is very good, I love how Keitel's goonies can't get the guts to rid of Whoopi, and she's comically calm and even forgiving to Keitel as if her old life was no longer important now that she's adopted nun-hood and he tediously bops her on the head, uneased by her behavior. Near the end there was a moment when Keital looked like he could turn the gun on Mother Superior- --heaven forbid! But good thing he didn't ;) The ending number is great but I think not as good as the "Regina" number, Whoopi is the greatest in that scene.

Overall this movie is underrated, Whoopi probably needed to win an award for her performance! There is a little cussing, but other than that it's great. The plot is goofy, but is a lot of fun. The story both has greatness of R&B/Soul and old traditional. If you like Whoopi see this movie, but if you like good movies in general see it!

I'm definitely not familiar with Mark Dindal, but kudos to him for making one heck of an animation. It's rather different, kiddish and yet there's stuff for adults too, it's fast-paced and yet there's some slow scenes, and all together it just ridiculously fun. Together with its cast of famous actors which includes John Rhys-Davies (Gimli in LOTR), Don Knotts (Andy Griffith Show, of course), and even Betty Lou Garson (the original Cruella De Vil). WARNING: if you want to see this movie, brace yourself for major Wackiness.

The story follows optimistic—sometimes air-headed—Danny the Cat who journeys to Hollywood from Kokomo to fulfill his dream of becoming a star, but his ambition is trampled by the pernicious vile child star Miss Darla Dimple. Danny finds a band of unlikely dreamers consisting of a grumpy grandpa goat, a sweet yet over-social hippo, a Bette Davis style Fish, a pudgy penguin kid who just loves to eat (yeah, and he's pretty annoying too), a poor turtle who relies on his fortune cookies to determine his day, and last but not least Sawyer the cat who believes her dreams have been completely crushed. Together the wacky dreamers try to prove even "different species" can be stars, before the lovely—more like loathsome—Darla smashes their dreams to smithereens.

Believe me; so many loony scenes are in this movie: Tilly Hippo and her ridiculous introducing method, the unbelievable flooding of Hollywood, any scene with Max and Darla, that eccentric director and many more! I just found it way too wacky when I was little.

The intro cast was a great opening (and those jiving moles!). This is a 90's film so the animation is so-so and slightly incomplete, though I loved how they did Sawyer. This is a kid's flick so everything was berzerkly colorful. The voice acting was great for an animation like this (especially Ashley Peldon as Darla). The dialogue was simple and clean. Almost every scene is musical, there's music going on every where! the songs themselves gave such a good vibe. "I Got Rhythm" was very nice with a those animals!

I rated this movie a 6 star because it's a fair animation, sincere movie; it's a little TOO fast-paced though (75 minutes, people!) and it's unrealistic, of course. The message is the usual fallow your dreams. Like I said before, brace yourself for wackiness.

I didn't read the book so I didn't know what to expect when I heard of Eragon. What went through my mind was dragon and wizards, sadly I knew I would be seeing a mediocre movie for Christmas. I walked out of the theater feeling no different than before, my family and me ripped the poor movie apart. I heard the book (even though written by a young home- schooler) is a spin off of LOTR, but there's a low depiction on film now.

PLOT: a mystical woman, Arya transports a sapphire egg far away before her fate is sealed by a evil spiritualist, Durza who works for the reclusive evil king, Galbatorix. The egg appears before a farm boy Eragon, it hatches soon revealing the last of few dragons Sapphira. The 2 happen to come across Brom, a shadowy swordsman who lead them to their destiny. Excess traveling and too many holes are some of the many cons.

CHARACTERS & ACTING: Eragon is a so-so protagonist, too much LOTR in him though, he was not to original. Arya wasn't very elfish, just too human, sorry. Brom was different, had slight originality, nice line (good job, Irons!). Durza was very interesting, he was very sinister and demonic, but too much slack by Carlyle (Saruman, anyone?). King Glbtrx... zip! Minors were okay except for Angela (why Joss Stone? Why? She was irrelevant) and Murtagh (just random). Acting was too LOTR, Brom and Durza were exceptions.

VISUALS: The landscaping healed some holes in the film, Varden was kinda original. Sapphira was very nice, she IS star (loved her attitude and her as a baby). The magic was budged, creatures were lame, all lame! Trolls- stupid, insectoid assassins- cheap, Dark dragon- TOO creepy.

CONCLUSION: If you like epics, knock yourself out with Eragon. If not, don't bother. Stefen Fangmeier gave this book a poor name, sorry. Jeremy Irons (Brom) and Rachel Weisz (Sapphira) are the only reason you may like this tolerable film. LOTR still remains in the throne.

Even though I rated this plucky movie a 4, it doesn't mean I hate it, my dear friends. I liked it but it doesn't have the stuff to make it to my higher favoritism of movies. Frank Oz is imaginative, but I have to say that this film to me is not so Frank Oz, and movies that are adapted from books are quite impressive, but I can only say I was slightly impressed. For one thing, the cast is inadequate, I never heard of David Keith and Litefoot.

This story follows Omri, an extremely childish youngster who, for his birthday, receives a MAGICAL (ooh!) cupboard. The Cupboard lacks its key so Omri's mother (actress Lindsay Crouse, never heard of her), gives him her collection of keys, and guess what…? He finds the certain key on his second try! That part always took me aback. He puts in an antique Iroquois figure in the cupboard, and later in the morning he opens it to find the figure alive as a small Iroquois man. The pair has many tedious adventures, some including an idiotic rat ball and a down-right scruffy cowboy who was a toy figure too. The cupboard MAGICALLY turns plastic (plaz-teck!) things into their real life counterparts, only smaller. The pair soon learns that every boy must become a man (a typical, yet true moral).

Omri's character really is childish, yet endearing; his parents seem to pamper him, he's afraid of the dark, and he has lame 90's action figures; but he does mellow out in the end of the movie. I liked the acting, but it was no To Kill a Mocking Bird, even at moving parts. The Iroquois man was different from other Indian movies; he was a guru in a way. The music was just moderate and odd, though with one exception you'll know when you hear it.

Be warned, my dear readers, this movie contains slight profanity (embarrassing really); simulative killing and some ladies do a loathsome dance on TV at one point (they call this a kid movie, how embarrassing. Let's hope Omri was sleeping at that adultish scene). And no the kid does not play God, its just a story, have fun. Other than the 3 points I pointed out, the movie is plucky and it has a rather moving ending. It's an poorish if okay movie.