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highheadblues77
Reviews
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
not as good as expected.
SPOILERS---there is one problem with all the great reviews this film seems to be getting, it raises the bar when its your turn to view it. i was expecting nothing less than comedy gold and i what i got was an OK movie that lost its direction. i too am a fan of the View Askew world. Clerks and Mallrats are fun and funny movies that stick with you. Strikes Back had all the makings for another classic but falls just short. there were moments where i couldnt stop laughing and there were moments where i was just staring blank at the screen. seems after the first 30 minutes the movie lost some steam but picked up again for the ending. ill start with the good. There were some damn funny one-liners in this movie. "What The F#*k Is The Internet?" still has me rolling, as does the small part when Will Ferrell attempts to jump over his car. Jason Biggs is great and so is Mark Hammil. problem is there are too many cameos that dont make the cut. George Carlin is the funniest man ever put on this earth, or any other planet, but that doesnt mean you get pure comedy. his part may have looked funny on paper but failed to get one chuckle from the crowed. Shannon Elizibeth may be Jay's dream but her nerdy ways envoked deep R.E.M. sleep for me. the jewel hiest seemed forced and only worked to muddy up story, this movie didnt need a bigger plot. trying to stop Bluntman and Chronic was enough, what came after that wasnt needed and is where i find fault with this movie. while the other Askew flicks were direct and to the point, this one trailed off at times. with that said, i did enjoy this, i look forward to seeing it again when blockbuster gets it. im sure it will be enjoyed in my house for years to come, but too much buildup and just a tad disappointment makes me give this movie 6 stars out of 10. could and should have been better. but works because Jason Lea is too funny!
Unbreakable (2000)
Good Idea, Bad Idea
After the first 3 minutes of this movie I thought my video store made and error and placed the wrong movie in the box for Unbreakable. I was wrong but I did watch a movie that wasnt what I thought it was, you know...GOOD! The actors where there, the idea was there, but the director over-shot. Too many long and drawnout conversations that never get going ruined this movie. There was no buildup and the storyline seemed to have been made up as it went along. Superheros and Villans? Water and Kryptonite? I could follow this movie well, problem is it had know where to go. I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing did. The "swerve" at the end? moderatly interesting but not worth the hour and forty-five minutes it took to get there. 2 out of 10 stars...stay away from this one.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
O Brother is right....
Being the fan of the Brothers as I am I was scratching at the doors to see this film. Ive always enjoyed they way they tell a story. This was no exception in the light that they tell a good story but too many cameos and not enought intelligence sink this movie. The Brothers never were ones to put the brightest people in there movies, Barton Fink aside. But at least with movies like Rasing Arizona and Fargo the MUCH UNDERRATED Big Lebowski they didnt question the viewers intelligence. This movie went from bad to worse and its a shame because it didnt have to. There was 3 ideas that were used over and over and over again untill the movie was over. Not much fun for the viewer. A big dissapointment. 3 out of 10 stars...rent the Big Lebowski instead.
Little Nicky (2000)
ummm, can i have my 8 bucks back?
oh was i waiting for this flick! i love adam's movies!! all of them are funny with the exception of some weak moments in the waterboy. i knew going in that this one may be bad but i was shocked at how bad it was!! the storyline was blah, seen it last year in a film called dogma. the acting was blah, saw adam play this guy before only he was called bobby boucher. the laughs were blah, cant say ONE joke had me laughing or even a smirk. it was nothing short of stupid and i was BIG time dissapointed. i thought after me, myself and irene, carey being another one of my favs, that this movie would have it all but nope...what a waste. sorry adam but you struck out with the bases loaded on this one....
no stars out of 10.
Magnolia (1999)
The most emotional movie ive ever Seen
From the first five minuts of this movie i knew i was in for something strange, something unique, something different. What i got was a powerful movie that forced me to think and just be drawn into a world unlike any other ive seen. The human element was so real it was scary. When the dying man confessed his life to his nurse i almost had to turn it off and pull myself back together. It wasnt that long ago i lost my mother to cancer and the reality of this man lying is his death bed was so powerful, so brilliantly horrific, i was in tears. The story of his, at first money hungry, druged up, guilt ridden, wife was painfully beautiful. When she goes to get some prescripitions only to have the clerks stare and probe into as why someone would need such things evoked a sence of privacy being violated for someone who deserves no sympathy yet screams at you for help. Tom Cruise's character as the idealistic ID of a man's personality to the infinite power was brave and unabashed. Him lying by his fathers side, a man who deserted him and his dying mother, a man who he had not seen in years, a man who's dying wish was to see his son, was played with such raw emotion its a wonder why these two people were not givin some kind of reward for there acting. We get the story of a whiz kid quiz show star and a story of a former whiz kid quiz show star where the former is so fed up with having to do everything and being the smart one and dealing with his overcrazed father while the latter cant shake the shadows of his former "fame" and just cant do anything with his life. This man was disturbing, all he wanted to do was love. He just wanted to love someone, anyone, anything, because he didnt love himself enough to move on from his past.....ahhh the past...a subject so defined in this film. Some poeple are able to move through life and things either fall into place all nice and cozy or there little speed bumps dont affect them. Yet there are many out there who cant get through the past. cant understand why they may have done certain things and are left with the guilt of there "sins" and it runs them into the ground day after day after day. No one said life was easy and certainly there is no handbook. we all should know right and wrong but once you cross that line is there anyway to come back? that is what this movie is asking. and like life there is no answer. we just dont know.
Now the sing a long that has got everyone's attention was perfect in my eyes. at the time of the story to see something you really never seen before with so much meaning was amazing. Mann's song rang through my ears like few others have before. And the frogs...well...im not a religous person...i understand this came from the bible...its exact meaning i do not know. but as the movie tells you all along regret is blatantly hard.
i give this movie, film, story, personal page out of life, what ever you want to call it, a 10.
The Runner (1999)
Interesting and Uniuqe
I got this movie for free from a clerk at Blockbuster who had more than he could handle. After about two months i remembered i had it and popped it on. What a great surprise of a film. It held my intrest from start to finish. The idea of this movie is nothing new but the story is very original, i think. There are moments of great suspense. The ending had me on the egde of my seat. ****Spoiler**** The scene where he goes to the black jack table to win back the money was simply fantastic. To win it all and have his life back only to lose in a matter of seconds makes you feel so bad for this guy while at the same time screaming at him to stop! This may not be a Grade-A Hollywood film but it proves to show you what can happen with a top cast and a great story to tell. Courtney Cox wasnt as translucent at she usually is which was nice. John Goodman was good as the evil one, well in a movie like this evil is all around. Ill give this movie an 9...great story.
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
Could be the funniest movie ive ever Seen!!!!
personally i think this blows the first one out of the water. the jokes are non-stop. and its all Jim all the time. there is a plot in the movie, all be it a weak one, but that really doesnt matter. i was laughing so hard i forgot what was going on. isnt the point of a sequel to NOT copy the first? how many movies have come and gone by trying to recreate the success it once had? sure other than jim there are no other people from the first one, and so what? the characters in this do their job. its just a non stop joke fest. if you want to laugh then laugh some more and when you think thats done, laugh again, rent this classic!!!
The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994)
A Campy Remake
Leatherface is back..or should i say Pocketbookface??
This is nothing more than a campy remake of the original film. Its not meant to be taken seriosly. Its the typical teens+madman=horroh film. Its not a note for note copy of the first but i have a feeling they were trying (as all horroh movies seem to) create a cult fave. The acting is laughable and it was meant to be that way. You couldnt care about these people if you grew up next to their house. But once again, i think thats the point. Its campy, its a B-movie, nothing more, nothing less. Even with a few notible stars (rennie and matt) it wants to come off almost as a joke, and it does. There is one scean where im almost held in suspence (the drive thu) but thats about it for more than half of the movie. The real fun doesnt start until we are back at the Family's house for yet another trek into the minds of a lunatic group.
I see this movie for what it is, and i like it on that merit. Its not trying to be scary, its not trying to gore you into submission, its just something to pass the time, make a few bucks, and let the studio decide if a part 5 is worth while. But with all that they did make one HUGE mistake: Leatherface.
His "Mask o' Skin" is replaced by, well, a k-mart wallot. Thats half the fun with the chainsaw series, that mask! Not in this one, Leatherface is as scary as a smurf in this, the real creepy dude is Matthew Machangy's charector as leader of the "family" and his over-zealous wife.
If you are not a fan of the chainsaw movies you wont be reading this right now, if you are looking for a new horror movie to see with suspence and gore, skip this, if you are in the mood to watch a new twist on all the cheezy 80's horroh movies go to blockbuster and go home happy.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Yawn, Yawn, Yawn...is this a movie or a way to cure insomnia? OK, we get Wes back trying to save a long dead series. We get the original main "victim." We get an attempt at rehashing a "classic." The end result is a pointless bore that wouldnt make you scared if Freddy was sitting next to you. After watching the original again ive come up with something...Heather cant act!!! Her words come off as unemotional as Clinton trying to explain what the word IS means. The ending is brutaly stupid....you wait and hour and a half just to see NOTHING!!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzz
While thinking about this series as a whole, im left with a final conclusion...a great idea that never matured into anything worth seeing. Go back and watch part one again..its almost embarassing how slow and pointless ALL the Freddy movies are. Once again a GREAT idea but horrid execution.
Zero stars out of 10
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz
House of the Long Shadows (1983)
Ooh what strange things happen in the night
--------POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!--------
I first saw this movie when i was just this tall, watching with my father more than a few times. There were always scenes that stuck in my head and i grew up wondering just what the name of that movie was. Low and behold about 4 years ago a local TV station ran the film at 3 in the morning. I figured out the timer on my vcr and i have a cherished moment of movie magic.
From washing your face with burning acid, to being "locked" in a room by your own family for years, to poisoned drinks and piano wire misfortune, this movie keeps you wondering just what is going on, why its going on, and what will happen next. A steller cast indeed. Vincent Price plays a brother tourtued with his own sins that the Family bestoyed on an innocent son, played by Christopher Lee. Its a "who done it" with more twists than David Lynch could dream of. Throw in the horroh aspect and sit back, relax, and enjoy the night in the house...the house of the long shadows that is.
10 out of 10 stars....Fantastic!!
Man on the Moon (1999)
Jim Carrey's Finest Movie!!!
I was never into Andy Kaufman. Never understood him and never cared to. I waited till it came out on home video to pick it up and boy was i surprised. What i found was a kind, honest, hard-working person who may have been a little off his kilter but still wanted to entertain people while make something of himself. There was so much more to Andy then just that guy from Taxi and this movie allows us to love this guy regretfully years after his death.
Now lets get down to Jim Carrey. They billed this as the role he was born to do. I cant disagree there. People either love or hate Jim and those who do love him seem to be hung up for a need of comedy from him. Where is the next Dumb and Dumber? Where is the next Ace Ventura? Like a good music band, a good actor cant be backed into a corner and try to keep making the same thing that brought em to superstardom (steve martin, bill murray anyone) This was Jim at his best, convincing me that this person and his alter ego were someone special, someone who matterd. Jim did a fantastic job in all aspects in this role. The movie was a bit long winded but i was so wrapped up in the story it didnt matter, i never wanted it to end. The way it was done reminded me of their other documentary "The People vs Larry Flint." While that movie was just an excuse for excess, Man On The Moon is a touching, brutaly honest, thought provoking, entertaining movie about a guy people over-looked and thats a shame. Thank god Jim gave this man justice.