Reviews

After seeing a part of the movie for the tenth time or so (this one seems to be playing a lot on one of the satellite movie channels), I figured it was high time to give it a rating. I was very surprised and disappointed to see that it rated so low overall, as I've always enjoyed the movie (over and over again!). I'm beginning to think that the general movie-viewing public has become too generic in their tastes, and don't have an appreciation for throwback oddball comedies such as The Road to Wellville. If that's so, it's a real shame! Ah well, to each their own! As for me, I love the movie's offbeat and subdued humor, with much of the cast greatly contributing to why I'm kept smiling. George (both the youth and adult versions), is especially hilarious-- "Meat and Potatoes!", "Give us a hug", and simply his appearance in both forms. I've always liked John Cusack and Matthew Broderick, so having them together in a movie such as this was a treat. And what a role for Anthony Hopkins-- a far cry from Hannibal Lector! The period nature of the movie was likewise attractive... oh how it would be fun to be able to step back into a setting such as that, though I'll pass on the cleansing processes!

I can't believe I didn't rate this movie before now! My toughest decision was whether to rate it a nine or a ten. This is the one Xmas special that I absolutely HAVE to see every holiday season-- it's become a flat-out tradition for me, as my wife and I open a gift or two at our place together on Christmas eve while the movie is on TV. What's not to love about this film?! Great characters, a heart-warming story, and some terrific, ageless humor (I triple dog dare you; drink your Ovaltine; the smell of tapioca; I can't move my arms; the bunny suit; a major prize; and fa-ra-ra-ra-ra!). It's one of very few movies I can watch over and over again and still immensely enjoy. To me it simply wouldn't be Christmas without A Christmas Story.

I have to admit I'm not the biggest action movie/monster movie fan, so my viewpoint is clearly jaded. We rented this movie and only made it through about half of it before we could take no more and turned it off. Come on, even in comic book movies you still need to have at least mediocre acting from the humans playing the roles! The lead woman role was simply atrocious. I found the action sequences to be run of the mill and ridiculous... it's hard to feel concern for a lead character when he appears to be invincible or unharmable from virtually the movie's start. I'm just glad we didn't pay movie theater prices for this work of garbage!

With the great reviews this movie has received, my wife and I went and saw it even though superhero movie are not my favorite genre. I liked most of the humor, and the animation (or whatever technical process was involved) was very good. However, I found myself nearly falling asleep at times, and felt the movie just wasn't very engrossing overall. The scene with the flying disc vehicles in particular seemed to drag on forever, and the whole "high tech marvel that learns from what it experiences" wasn't exactly real creative. Perhaps my disappointment with the movie is simply because I'm not big on superhero movies, or maybe the movie is simply intended for kids.

It's just not a movie I'd watch again, even if it were on TV for free.

Being a horse racing fan, and having read the totally engrossing book of the same name, I had high expectations for this movie. As is usually the case with lofty expectations, they weren't fulfilled. While I found Seabiscuit to be a likable movie overall, it unfortunately came up short in my mind. The character development just didn't seem to work, some of the bawdy and less-than-glamorous stuff from the book was left out for the sake of mainstreaming, and worse of all the dramatic buildup to Seabiscuit versus War Admiral wasn't so dramatic! I also feel that there was too little emphasis on the nearly career-ending injuries that took place prior to the final triumph. I guess judging the movie by comparing it to the book is unfair, but at the least I'd like to recommend that anyone who has only seen and enjoyed the movie is doing him/herself a major disservice if they do not read the book (which I read very quickly despite being a relatively slow reader).

You know those types of movies where things get twisted around SO MUCH that you come away thinking "they got too cute for their own good?!" Yep, that's how I feel about this movie. I like Cameron Diaz, but not in this movie. Heck, even seeing Tom Cruise's pretty-boy face messed up doesn't save this movie in my book (Yeah, I know I'm jealous!). I'm the kind of person that would probably rate around 80% of movies in the 5-7 point range, but boy I thought this one was a true stinker!!!

Just a short "review" here. I was very surprised to see this movie make the top 250, and I found it to be pretty bland and not real memorable. I really like Tom Hanks, but felt that this really wasn't a good starring role for him. Road to Perdition never drew me in emotionally, and it certainly didn't have an edge like many other traditional gangster movies. I can just imagine years from now coming across it in a video store (if they're still around!) and having a reaction of "I think I saw that, but I wasn't real impressed."

This is one of my all-time favorite movies, complete with belly-laughs galore! I've always been a fan of off-beat, less-than-commercial stuff that doesn't rely upon the standard comedy formulas-- there's no run-of-the-mill, cheap stereotype stuff; they don't do repetitive physical humor that gets one laugh for every ten tries; and the shallow, vulgar humor to which so many of us Americans have become accustomed is nowhere to be found. Waking Ned Devine caught me from the get-go, with the opening scene with the lottery and apple tart being my all-time favorite in movie history. The wry, offbeat, and somewhat dark humor is good stuff in my book, though I guess (from the looks of a previous review) it's not quite for everyone. It's been a while since I last saw the movie, but I still remember the pigs, intestines, the mad dash on the moped, Ned's dentures, mexican crisps, and the sea-bound telephone booth like I watched it yesterday! Then there's the funeral service, the wake, and the beautiful closing scenes, all of which add some good, clean emotion to the humor. I think I'll watch it again very soon!

Braveheart remains one of my all-time favorites, and as a Scotophile I'll be forever thankful for its role in awakening the patriotic spirit in the people of Scotland. Few movies can make a case for helping to change the history of a nation (it played a significant role in arousing the patriotic zeal of the people of Scotland who soon voted for a separate Parliament from that of the UK after hundreds of years of minority participation in that larger Parliament). Having already read some books and stories about William Wallace, I was thrilled when I learned that there was going to be a film about him. I became even happier when I found out it would be an epic movie, as I'm a major fan of the sweeping epics! I was somewhat skeptical about Mel Gibson as Wallace, but once the movie came out his performance dispelled my concerns, and I was pleased that he was cast for the role. I loved the color, the pageantry, the awesome scale, and the pulse-quickening action (big guys whacking at each other with swords and axes WAS bloody, so the level of violence was appropriate!) of Braveheart. So, they went a little overboard with the romanticism and villainy, but in my mind that only cost them one rating point out of ten. A spectacular movie that I'm sure to watch many, many times in the future!

When I filled out my personal profile after registering for IMDb, there was a question that asked me for my favorite movie. I thought for a minute or two, and decided that it was indeed Glory. As I sit and wonder why I consider it my favorite, I realize a number of things that draws me to the movie. There's the actors-- Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman, and Andre Braugher. All of their characters begin the movie with serious flaws, then evolve into admirable, if not exceptional human beings. Then there's the action, which is delicately balanced so that it neither inundates and desensitizes, nor comes across too weakly or diluted. In my opinion, few scenes in the myriad of war movies throughout time capture the power, brutality, and yes, the true glory of the assault on Fort Wagner. The closest comparison I can think of is the Normandy landing in Saving Private Ryan. Finally, there's an awful lot in the movie about tolerance, respect, and love for your fellow man, that should serve to show us Americans the way life is supposed to be. If certain movies, like classic books, were to be mandatory to the curriculum of high school students in the United States, this would certainly be one that I'd require.