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KristinNAz
Reviews
Runaway Train (1985)
Entertaining,, but you can't be too critical of this film
After watching Runaway Train, I would say the film lived up to my expectations, but it is not without its faults. First of all, I just did not like John Voight's "tough guy" character or his thug-like accent. But I did think Eric Roberts character was more likable and he played it well. The first third of the movie takes place in an Alaskan prison, supposedly. It shows the inmates burning cloths and throwing them out of their cells while the guards just look on.. OK. The prison warden "Ranken" patronizes Manny, John Voight's character as he is going to be released from prison due to some legal action. But he screws up his release by starting a riot at one of the boxing matches held inside the prison. Yes, a cold, die-hard killer is released into the regular inmate population. So, Manny and his fellow inmate manage to break out of the actual prison,, and go smear some gooey stuff all over themselves,, then wrap themselves in Saran wrap- why? I don't know,, couldn't figure that out,, maybe to stay warm? Then they travel miles to a train station, where they steal some clothes (no sign of the gooey stuff) and try and hitch a ride on a train. They manage to get on one of the locomotives that has gotten loose, and unbeknownst to them, is also being occupied by a young female rail road worker. The movie picks up in pace and manages to do its job,, and the ending is forgivable.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Requires multiple viewings to get the full impact of Stanley Kubrick
When I saw this film for the very first time, I will admit that I did not like it,,but I couldn't think of the exact reason why. I thought it was very slow in some parts (mainly when Tom and Nicole are in their bedroom getting stoned and having an argument, that part just dragged on and on), and the movie scared me a little bit. After HBO kept airing Eyes Wide Shut I found myself watching it over and over, and now I think this movie is a work of art and a masterpiece. You really have to have an appreciation for Stanley Kubrick to appreciate this film.The movie is supposed to be set in NYC,, but one of its biggest flaws was , it was apparent it was filmed in another city (London to be exact). Tom Cruise plays a physician, Bill Hartford. His wife, Nicole Kidman, admits she often fantasizes about sex with another man,, and then he starts to question his true desires and feels he should get back at his wife for her fantasies. It's almost like this movie sends a subtle message- don't cheat or even think of cheating or "they" will get you! This is all proved by a series of strange coincidences throughout the film, including the prostitute that Dr. Hartford attempts to hook up with. Sydney Pollack has a role in this film as a friend of Bill Hartford, seemingly normal, but then he too is involved in orgy-like escapades that involves people wearing masks,, another part of the film I thought was creepy.The music played during the orgy scenes, believe it or not, is hauntingly beautiful. There is a lot of speculation as to whether Dr. Hartford is dreaming the entire time the film takes place. I honestly do not know and this never occurred to me the many times I've seen this film. Also, I couldn't figure out the purpose of the scene involving the "Rainbow Fashions" shop owner,, who apparently allows his underage daughter to seduce older men. I guess Mr. Kubrick is just telling us that the world is full of perverted sickos. I think, overall, this is a fine film but you have to be open minded about it.
The Next Best Thing (2000)
Very disgraceful that this is Schlesinger's last movie,,,,,
I cannot believe John Schlesinger directed this mess. The man who made "Midnight Cowboy" and "Maraton Man" would end his movie career affiliating himself with one of the worst actresses known to mankind: Madonna. Why he would use Madonna for a lead role makes no sense to me. THe movie is basically quite simple: a middle aged California woman (Madonna) gets pregnant from her gay friend (played by Rupert Everett)and she wants to raise the child, and then ends up going to court and ensuing in some legal battle. I actually got a few unintentional laughs from her bad acting in this movie. It had a good premise and a very likable actor, Rubert Everett, but the movie was very hard to sit through. It literally started to fall apart about 3/4 of the way, almost like the writers and the director gave up. Madonna's character simply was not believable,, and she is completely unable to focus enough on herself to make any character real. THis is where she lacks acting talent. I like her as an entertainer and some of her music,, but dayimmm, this movie blows. I feel bad that this turned out to be Mr. Schlesinger's last movie. May his legacy continue to live on with his better films.
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
For die-hard Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman fans only
Though I enjoyed looking at the strikingly handsome Jon Voight in this 1969 movie, I wouldn't consider this movie, as a whole, great. The biggest weakness in this movie is we knew everything about Voight's character Joe Buck, but new nothing about Hoffman's character, "Ratso" Rizzo. Jon Voight plays an uneducated and clueless dishwasher from Texas who thinks he's going to get rich being a gigolo in New York. He meets a transient with a limp ,Rizzo, in a bar, and the two quickly depend on each other for survival, sharing a cockroach infested rat hole in NYC. This movie originally received an "X" rating, though I really don't see how, other than the "flashbacks" of his life had some perverted content in them. Obviously he was molested as a child by his pedophile granny. The streets of New York in 1969 are pretty cool in this movie and the movie has its moments, but unless you're a big fan of Voight or Hoffman, you may find "Midnight Cowboy" both a little disturbing and disappointing.
James Dean (2001)
A rip-off from every book that's been written about James Dean
There was nothing I didn't already know about James Dean in this movie. The director, Mark Rydell, just transposed David Dalton's "The Mutant King" or Donald Spoto's "Rebel" right onto the screen. The only part of the movie that impressed me was James Franco,, who did a great job playing Dean. I just expected more from this TNT movie. Also, like other reviews, the movie isn't 100 percent accurate, and sadly, we'll never know the entire truth. James Franco, the actress that played Pier Angeli ,and the actor that portrayed Elia Kazan helped bring this movie more to life. Decent effort, but the authors of James Dean biographies who actually did interviews and research,deserve most of the credit. 6 out of 10.
Titanic (1997)
This Movie Deserved Every Oscar It Got
For the people on here who commented that Titanic was the "worst movie they've ever seen," apparently they haven't seen "Showgirls" or anything with Anna Nicole SMith. Give me a break guys. James Cameron did a phenomenal job with this movie; it truly brought the Titanic disaster back to life. Mr. Cameron did hundreds of hours (if not thousands) of research on the Titanic, including getting the poignant footage under water of the ship. A lot of facts and history with the Titanic disaster was incorporated into this movie,, giving us all the more reason to love it. Though it was over 3 hours long, I was not bored for one minute and that's very unusual for me to be able to sit through a movie this long. I was captivated by the love story and suspense Mr. Cameron created. The theme song " My Heart Will Go On" was perfect for the movie but it was terribly over played on the radio stations during this time. The ending was magnificent and I think everyone in the theatre cried, knowing that almost 2,000 people perished in the end. Yes, there were a couple of corny lines in the movie but no movie is perfect. I think the special effects used while the ship was sinking and the passengers were loading up in the boats, was extremely realistic and just moving. The replica ship used was also incredible. I think both Kate Winslet and Leonardo DeCaprio were fantastic in the lead, though I think Ms. Winslet was a little miscast since she looks a lot older than Leo. I have seen this movie several times and still watch it when it's on television. I do not think any other Titanic movie is superior to this one. **** 1/2 stars out of 5.
National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)
Still one of my favorite comedies of all time
Maybe it's the part when they visit the white trash relatives (Randy Quaid and his family) and they acquire Aunt Edna for the family trip. Maybe it's the part when Aunt Edna dies and they put her on the top of the old station wagon,, maybe it's the fighting and bickering all kids do when the family goes somewhere,, or maybe it's the part where the Griswolds drive through a cruddy neighborhood and the station wagon gets vandalised and all of the hib caps taken..I cannot think of a "favorite" part of this movie because it is hilarious from start to finish. Clark Griswold's good intentions gone bad makes this a decent, highly watchable movie with non-stop laughs. It's not ridiculous nor highly exaggarated either- just a typical American family trying to get to Wally World in one piece and everything goes wrong. I think we can all relate to something in this movie when it comes to going on vacation. I still watch this movie every time it's on television and I still laugh every time.
The Omen (1976)
I don't scare easily,, but this movie gave me the heebie jeebies bigtime!
Movies that involve the devil and satan are the only ones that really bug me,, and the Omen is one of the scariest movies of all time, next to the Excorcist.Great performances by acting legends Gregory Peck and Lee Remick make the movie all the more real. The fact that it takes place in England for some reason makes the movie even spookier. The part that gave me the willies was when the Photographer was developing pictures of the people who had died, and they had red lines through them. The script, the fine acting, the dialogue, everything seemed true to life, and all of these ingredients mixed together made a highly effective horror movie- they really don't make horror movies like this anymore. Unfortunately, the sequels weren't as good. The Omen deserves 9*** out of ten.
3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
Bad, ridiculously bad movie
Ok, I rented the DVD on this but allowed my neighbor to watch it first-he returned it saying it was "bad" and not to bother. Though he and usually disagree on alot of things, he was correcto-mundo on this one. The movie started out ok and just gradually got worse and worse. As far as casino heists are concerned, seeing all of the casinos security people get shot up just bugged me; not only is it not realistic for a gang of Elvis impersonators to do this, but the fact that these dumb idiots got away with it just hit a spot with me. The "shoot em up" scenes and constant killing of everyone just didnt belong in this movie-Quentin Tarntino movie, yes, this one, no. And portraying the two cops that were folling these guys as idiots just did not make the movie any more entertaining. The dumbest, most ridiculous scene was when the highway patrol officer pulled Kevin Costner's character over, and started twirling his gun around his finger. Yeah. The ending was even worse. If I were to ever meet Mr. Costner I would give him my condolences on this film.
American Wedding (2003)
None of us liked it!
Well, I am so glad I didnt waste my $8 going to see this in the theatre- this was a very disappointing end to the "American" trilogy- the first American Pie was suprisingly good and nostalgic, the second was ok, but American Wedding was a major disappointment. This was way too obnoxious and over-the-top to even be funny, though the movie did have a couple (two exactly) funny parts. The Stifler character was just downright annoying and the scene with him eating the dog doo was, again, not funny, just gross. Mostly, the over-kill with the unnecessary grossed-out humor is what ruined this movie, along with the fact that it was predictable and you could of made bets as to what stupid event and stroke of bad luck would happen next to Jason Biggs' character. This movie was as big of a let-down as "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion", another movie which could of been good, but was ruined by a bad script and unfunny dialogue. They really missed the boat on this one.
Message in a Bottle (1999)
A very romantic movie and a great love story
**POSSIBLE SPOILER*** If you like a good, soppy love story (and WE ALL do on occassion), this movie hits the spot. The two attractive characters (Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn) have great chemistry, and the story (though a little unprobable) appears to work. Kevin Costner is a widower who lost his wife to cancer. After she died, he wrote letters to her to help with the grieving process, and he put them in bottle, and threw them out to sea. A writer, played by Robin Wright Penn, stumbles across one of them while jogging on the beach, and then she comes across more. She does research and finds out who the gentleman may be, and finds him in North Carolina, where he has a boat and lives with his father (played by Paul Newman). She pretended to not know about the letters and she starts a relationship with this guy. She falls in love with him and he doesn't find out about the letters until later. Another tragedy occurs in this movie as well- I won't give away everything- but this is one of my favorite love stories, and one of Kevin Costner's better movies.
The Pledge (2001)
Movie was blase' at best
I was disappointed in this movie. This is proof that a great cast doesn't necessarily mean a great movie-remember Pret-a-Poiter (Ready To Wear)? Terrible. First, I thought the police interrigation scene with Aaron Ekhart and Benicio Del Toro was awful- way over-acted and not realistic at all. When you work for the police dept (like me) you know first hand how many flaws this movie had. And Jack Nicholson's promise to "find the killer" was also just plain dumb- police dont do that. I did not understand why the image of the chubby little boy kept re-appearing throughout the movie. I cannot believe this movie averaged 7 out of 10 stars on this site- too generous. If Sean Penn would of done more research on police work prior to making this film, it could of been alot better.
Shallow Hal (2001)
Enjoyable Movie
I thought the movie was quite clever and cute; certainly has a big moral to it. Gwyneth Paltrow pulled this part off very well and even the fat suit looked real. I watch this movie every time it is on cable. Jack Black was a little miscast I thought considering both he and his very annoying friend (mauricio) are kind of dorks, but I guess that's exactly the way theyre supposed to be-people judging others' physical appearance when they have no right to. This movie is certainly not Academy Award material but I think it's worth the cost of a Blockbuster rental. And it did make me laugh in several parts. I'm not a fan of the Farrelly Brothers but I think this is their best film.
Gangs of New York (2002)
Just imagine a giant hairball,,and trying to figure out which hair is yours
Thats what I thought of this movie,,and the fact that it was way too long. I totally agree with the other comments about Cameron Diaz being miscast for the role,, I just couldn't see her as Jenny. I also considered Scorcese's attempt to incorporate fact with fiction a disaster- I honestly found the movie dreadful. And the accents-terrible. While Leo was narrating the film, I heard both an American accent, then Irish (whoops!) and his character did the same thing.I also realized a couple of the characters in the movie were Irish and not American, when their accents changed-you have to look at the movie differently when you finally learn whose side they're on. Too much unnecessary violence also gives this movie the booby prize-speaking of booby, you see alot of them in the film too-also seemed out of place. Maybe it was a good excuse to have Cameron and Leo get their freak on, circa 1846. The producers ought to have included good ole'Abe Lincoln in a threesome-it couldn't of made the film any more ridiculous. Sorry, I am normally a fan of Martin Scorcese but if there's a such thing as "trying too hard", this is a great example.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
If youre a man, you'll like this movie
Sorry,,but every person that thinks this movie rocks has been a DUDE- this is a guy's movie,,the violence,, the F****d up parts, especially the scene where the big black dude gets raped. I had to see what all of the hoopla surrounding this movie was about. I didn't like the movie being out of order and too many things going on at once. I admit the cast was great but after it was all over, I was glad.