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Reviews
28 Days (2000)
Surprisingly good...
I was expecting a real tear-jerker or something that was disgustingly sappy, but this movie was surprisingly effective without resorting to bush-league tactics... Bullock is quite good... She doesn't play up her cuteness like she does in other crappy movies like Hope Floats or Forces of Nature... Viggo Mortenson and Mike O'Malley are also very good...
American Psycho (2000)
Well done, but not as good as it could have been....
I thought American Psycho was very well-acted and a well-done film... However... They strayed away too much from the book, which I feel was a mistake... I obviously know they had to tone down the violence considerably, but I felt the film was a bit too tame... The film also implies several times that all of the murders are only in Bateman's mind, which makes it a lot less effective than the book... The book was brutal, devastating, but impossible to put down at the same time... The movie doesn't have the same impact, and that's a shame because it could have...
High Fidelity (2000)
Delightful...
I laughed my ass off... As a music fan and someone who could relate perhaps a little too much to the subject matter, I thorougly enjoyed the film... Cusack is great as are the two co-workers at the record store... The gal who played his girlfriend was a little distracting because she looked like Mary Stuart Masterson except she had a swedish accent...
Very good film... Cusack is at his best when he's getting dumped...
Mission to Mars (2000)
Surprisingly not bad...
I wanted to see Mission to Mars despite the horrendous reviews for the sole reason to see the special effects... I had very low expectations for the film itself... I was pleasantly surprised... The movie is good and it has a good plot... There are a few cheesy sub-plots involving Gary Sinise's dead wife, who was also supposed to go to Mars, blah, blah, blah... But otherwise I liked the film... The martian sucked... He looked like every alien in every film since E.T. and I thought they could have done a better job with that, but I really liked Sinise and Don Cheadle in this movie....
What Planet Are You From? (2000)
Laugh out loud funny....
This movie is a little slower than a lot of comedies, but I still laughed out loud at several parts... The only warning I would give people about this movie is that if you don't like Garry Shandling, you won't like this film... I loved The Larry Sanders Show, and Shandling's sarcastic humor floors me every time... I do know that a lot of people don't find him funny at all, and this movie would be lost on them... I laughed my ass off though...
Annette Bening is great (as always), and Linda Fiorentino has a great part, albeit small... John Goodman is funny and Greg Kinnear is good as Shandling's co-worker...
The Hurricane (1999)
Pretty good, but not Oscar worthy...
I was impressed by The Hurricane... It was an interesting story, with a good plot, that actually moves pretty quickly despite being over 2 1/2 hours long... I had a bit of a problem with the guys from Canada coming down to help him so quickly... The movie didn't give them enough reason to do it, but I'm sure that was just for time restraints... Washington is good, but he is nowhere near the level of Kevin Spacey in American Beauty and Russell Crowe in The Insider... I like Denzel a lot as an actor, but if he wins the Oscar, it will be because the Academy is trying to be politically correct...
Reindeer Games (2000)
Incredibly mediocre...
This movie has a lot of potential that is never delivered on... The plot is too complicated and there are definitely too many twists... Affleck is okay, but Theron is noticeably bad, and Gary Sinise is uncharacteristically bad... Can you say "Did it for the money", not that there is anything wrong with that...
I was very disappointed...
The Whole Nine Yards (2000)
A thoroughly enjoying film
This was a very enjoyable movie... It's light and it's not exactly highbrow, but Matthew Perry is very funny and Bruce Willis is hilarious as a hit man. The supporting cast is also good as Michael Clarke Duncan, Natasha Henstridge and Amanda Peet are all great... Peet, who I'd never heard of until I saw this movie is a real revelation... A gorgeous actress who can pull of very physical comedy... It's not a great film at the level of American Beauty or Green Mile, it's just a thoroughly enjoyable comedy...
The Beach (2000)
Visually magnificient, well-acted, great film...
The first misconception about The Beach is that because Leonardo DiCaprio is in it that it will be another cheesy love story like Titanic... People are quick to forget, that DiCaprio, despite being a poster boy for 14-year-old girls, can act... If anyone needs proof of that, they can rent This Boy's Life, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Basketball Diaries etc...
While The Beach is not as good as the book, the movie is very strong, exciting and can hold your attention for the full two hours... DiCaprio is great, as is Virginie Ledoyen (The gorgeous little Frenchy) who plays his love interest...
The previews make this look like a chick flick to get the women who want to see DiCaprio to the theatres... In reality, it is very dark, and very enjoyable for anyone who wants to see it...
Holy Smoke (1999)
A lot of potential that is never realized
Holy Smoke is a great idea for a film, as Harvey Keitel is brought to Australia, to "deprogram" Kate Winslet, who has become a member of a cult in India... Good concept, bad film... The movie goes south once Keitel and Winslet hook up, there's no chemistry, but Winslet walks around naked and Keitel dons a dress for the last 20 minutes of the film... Too wierd for its own good, and never seems to make a point... Awful script, and two very good actors are made to look very stupid...