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Reviews
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Ridiculous, glittery, silly...and totally worth it,
The first thing you need to know going into this movie is that it is not serious, and is intended solely to provide unrestricted amusement to the audience. After the first number or so, it becomes really easy to just relax and join in on the joke which all of the actors are so obviously aware of. Everyone in this knows that it is campy and silly, which is what adds to the film's overall enjoyment. You feel as though you should be uncomfortable as Pierce Brosnan sings a rock-starry, amusingly affected version of "SOS," but as he, and the rest of the cast, don't take themselves seriously at all, you don't get embarrassed, and feel free to laugh and enjoy it. This movie is a ton of fun for a hot summer afternoon, and will really brighten anyone's day.
That said, a few warnings first: 1) do not see it alone, because your enjoyment will be exponentially increased if you can laugh and sing with other people, and 2) you really cannot enjoy this movie half as much if you don't know the actors. You won't really appreciate Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth in glittery spandex if you don't have a prior knowledge of their suave, tough guy roles, and you won't understand that Meryl Streep is allowed to relax and be dramatically silly if you don't know how great an actress she really is. But, since most people do know them, it will be enjoyed by most who see it. If you like Abba, or really just music, and you like (or even just know) the main actors, you will have a lot of fun with this, and I recommend it. I gave it 9 out of 10 stars, but for what it is--silly and fun.
August Rush (2007)
Good Production, Bad Script
August Rush is about the unrequited love between an American cellist and an Irish guitar player which results in a baby boy, who is given up for adoption, and the role music plays in their lives, which eventually brings them all together. Robin Williams plays a Fagin type, who Evan, the baby boy grown up, encounters after being brought to the rundown theater where he and his gang of runaway child street musicians live. After Williams discovers Evan's intrinsic musical gift, he gives him the name August Rush to be a street performer, and the story unfolds as his talent is discovered. His plot is weaved in with the stories of his parents, both left feeling unfulfilled after their romantic encounter.
This movie was really cute, and I thought all of the acting except Johnathan Rhys Meyers', was pretty good, especially Highmore and Williams. The concept is sweet, despite being too complicated and therefore unbelievable, but you get into and have to let the details go. However, there were two things that really distracted me throughout the whole movie; Johnathan Rhys Meyers, who is English, tries too hard to put on an Irish accent, and instead it ends up sounding jumbled and all over the place. Secondly, the screenplay was severely lacking--the romantic scene between Meyers and Russel was terribly crafty, not to mention extremely corny, and it seemed as though they were already acquainted, and I didn't see them fall in love. This was a problem as Rhys Meyers spent the length of the film yearning for his long lost love. All in all, it's worth seeing, and the soundtrack is what made this film enjoyable.
Scary Movie 3 (2003)
I don't get it...
To make this movie funny, they needed to re-write the definition of funny and make it utterly dumb, stupid and tasteless. Everyone seems to love it, but I just don't get it. It wasn't funny. From the first scene, I could tell the rest of the movie was going to be crap. The actors weren't funny, either. Normally I like Charlie Sheen, but his performance didn't tickle a single amused fiber in my body. The only actors I didn't find stupid, bad or annoying were the little boy, Cody, and Queen Latifa. The crude jokes just added to my looking at my watch. SOOOOOOOO TERRIBLE!!! If you have any intellect AT ALL, then do not watch this movie. I don't know what kind of idiots would get together and say this would be a good movie to make. It was definitely the worst movie I've ever ever seen
Lightning, the White Stallion (1986)
Probably the worst movie I've ever seen
Probably the worst movie I've ever seen, and, having seen many movies from all different times and genres, this is a big insult. First of all, Isabel Lorca's incredibly bad French accent makes it very hard to understand what she is saying, and terrible performances by all of the actors. Also, the editing is the worst in the world. There are about 500 obvious switches of the horse, from albinos, to Arabians, dapple grays, etc. Plus, what was with the song? "You're the Lightning in my eyes, you lift me up, you bring me high!!" Also, the stunt doubles that they got were very bad. She looked like her neck was snapping back, especially when she was jumping for Mme. Rene. Also, the plot with her stepfather was completely ridiculous, as was her going blind, since both those plots went absolutely NOWHERE!!! It was as though someone got to lazy too shoot the rest of the movie. Plus, Lucas Mitchell was very ugly. Just a note. Mickey Rooney must have been in a very bad place to do this movie. DO NOT SEE IT! Unless you want to mock it, like me and my friends, in which case go right ahead, and rent it for a long time, since you'll want to watch it over and over again, you'll be laughing so hard at it! And I will agree with auwhite that it was indeed very disturbing when, let's just say, certain aspects of her wardrobe were missing, and that part of her body was sticking right out in front of the camera. (GROSS!)