suebasko Reviews

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Tense, dark, violent

[21 December 2007]

This movie is tense, dark and violent. If you liked "Gangs of New York," this is your type of film. Daniel Day Lewis plays the same sort of role-- he wears hats, sneers and snarls, does violent things, etc.

There is not one light, sunny, enjoyable, or uplifting moment in this film. If that is your idea of entertainment, go and enjoy!

This film has the most annoying soundtrack imaginable. It is loud, obnoxious, inappropriate and buzzing and humming all through. The sound effects are unbearably loud.

The whole thing is done very realistically. But is this a story that needs to be told? Is it a story that you need to experience? Is this how you want to spend your evening and your money? Decide, because once you have spent the money, it is hard to walk out, even if you want to so badly.

Hey, don't rate my review as "Not Useful" just because you worked on this film or for some other reason like it. I tell it as I see it.

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

Instant classic movie for stoners and tots

[16 December 2007]

Instant classic movie that stoners and their little kids can enjoy together. Mindless, goofy, with hilarious Chipmunk voices that are F-U-N to imitate.

Bring a kid. Borrow or rent a kid, if needed. Just get a kid and go see this!

IMDb is saying I am not writing enough here, that I need to put at least 10 lines for this review. But there are NOT 10 lines that can even be written about this movie!

Okay, I will try: This movie seems to be written by a third grader, for third graders. And they hired celebrity actors to do the voices, and you wonder why, because they speeded up the voices so they all sound the same.

Is that 10 lines?

Desert Bayou (2007)

Biting the Hand

[23 October 2007]

This is a nicely made documentary with clever touches. It tells an interesting story of two men who were among a group of 1000 evacuees from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The people board a Jet Blue to escape the devastation, unsure where they are going. It turns out they are flying to Utah, where people are prepared to help them.

The story focuses on two men, Curtis and Clifford, and their families. These folks are not just disaster survivors, they come loaded with personal problems. Curtis is a crack addict. Clifford is a long-ago convicted felon. Other problems are lack of education, poor nutrition, obesity, and a lifetime of a chaos, poverty, and lack of opportunities. And being Black, which one Black speaker in the films says, counts as two strikes against them.

This film pulls the race card in inexcusable ways. Instead of lauding this valiant effort of the Utahans to unselfishly help strangers so unlike themselves, this movie slaps those do- gooders hard. This viewer notes that it is not Curtis or Clifford complaining, it is others – Black and white alike, complaining for them. The complaints mar the movie and make it seem shallow, going after the easy, but shamefully false, claim of racist treatment.

What are the complaints? First, the refugees got on the plane without being told where they were going. So what? They were being evacuated from a disaster by overworked rescuers, not choosing a vacation at a travel agency. They were taken to a place with warm, dry buildings, clothes, food, medical care, phones, opportunities for life-changing education and jobs. They were not being held hostage and could have gone elsewhere if they had some other place. Nearby states and many major cities were swamped with hurricane evacuees. Utah, a distant state, mostly white, Mormon, crime-free, and diligent was willing to help a group of disaster victims who were mostly Black, poor, Baptist, uneducated, and loaded with personal problems.

Second, the hurricane people were searched when they got off the plane and later given background checks. Again, it is not the evacuees themselves complaining. In fact, Clifford talks of being in the tumult at the New Orleans convention center and seeing a man being stabbed, people dying, and children falling over balcony railings. It seems a protective measure to search people before putting them into shared housing. This is anything but racist – it aims to protect people from those among them who may be predatory. The racist thing is to say they are all black, let them fight it out amongst themselves.

Third, the refugees were housed on a military base outside Salt Lake City. The complaint –so silly and false -- was that if they were white, they would have been put up in hotels downtown. I am in Southern California at this moment, where wildfires are raging out of control. Hundreds of thousands of people are being evacuated – to school buildings, parks, and a sports arena – where, it is reported, they are behaving nicely and conditions are clean and well-organized.

These Katrina refugees were housed in a campus-like enclave of clean, well-constructed buildings with a spectacular view of mountains. It looks like a great place to rest, recuperate, mourn their losses, and receive the services and assistance needed to rebuild their lives. They established their own Baptist church on-site and there is much praise for God getting them through the disaster. The children attend area schools and the adults are offered education and help getting jobs.

I suspect that the real complaint is that the Utah base was not a place with easy access to alcohol, drugs, and mischief. But that did not stop Curtis from scoring crack while at the Utah center!

The film cuts several times to stock footage of military people firing a Howitzer. I guess this is supposed to be commentary on something. It seems false – the housing at the base seems cozy and secure for the hurricane survivors, and they seem to be receiving every conceivable type of assistance.

Rather than this grousing and race-baiting movie, it would have been uplifting to see a film about Utahans donating clothes, time, and money, and reaching out to educate, hire, and provide housing for their guests.

The fourth complaint? There is an 11:00 pm curfew at the housing center. How is this racist? Shared housing situations almost always have curfews so that a common group schedule can be effective. In this situation, especially, it is crucial that the late-nighters among them be respectful of those who are trying to rest and reconstruct their lives. Besides, this is Utah. Where would anyone go at night?

My movie companion thought the curfew was wrong, that adults should be able to go anywhere they please till whatever time at night. But he has never lived in shared housing. And he has never had a child who had to get up for school.

The commenters balk at the refugees being given this slight amount of organization and discipline. But Clifford and Curtis seem to bloom because of it. Curtis is off crack for a while and starts attending culinary school. Soon however, he is off living on his own, back on crack, and drops out of school. He eventually gets a job as a line cook.

Clifford, grateful to be in a place with opportunities for the first time in his life, finds a job in construction. He and his wife note better communication in their relationship. Early in the film, Clifford and his wife explain that New Orleans held only struggle for them – poverty, bills, no opportunities. It is touching to see them make a better life for themselves.

One hundred Katrina refugees, including Clifford and Curtis, chose to make Utah their permanent homes.

Reservation Road (2007)

Superbly crafted drama, but very sad

[19 October 2007]

Astounding. Impeccably crafted drama. The story is sad and very serious, but this is one of the most perfect examples of the art of simple dramatic film-making that exists. This is film storytelling at its pinnacle. On a scale of four stars, this is a five star movie. It is mature, thoughtful and thought-provoking.

This is a story of regular people (regular, middle class white people, that is) who experience a personal tragedy. How do they each handle the tragedy? What do they become in its wake?

This is the role of a lifetime for Mark Ruffalo, and he shows us what dramatic acting is at its finest. The rest of the cast is superb, too- from the other leads to the bit players. Even the kid actors are incredibly good here. Joaquin Phoenix also gives a performance of a lifetime, Jennifer Connelly is superb, Elle Fanning is haunting. Every actor, down to the minor parts, does a fantastic job – which lets you know the director made this possible. So GREAT directing!

This movie also has a perfect script. It is a classic literary work, with all the right elements of cohesive story with bigger thoughts and themes, multidimensional characters with moral shading and growth, emotional fullness. The story and characters are deep, rich, fully realized. This must have been written by an English major or serious playwright, since it has all the elements of good dramatic writing.

The direction is also perfect and unobtrusive. This movie is directed so flawlessly that the viewer never notices a shot; it is so perfect that there is only this on-screen reality, no presence whatever of a camera or even of a movie. This directing was there to give the actors what they needed to fully realize their characters.

The editing is utterly astoundingly perfect. Again, this matches the simplicity and unobtrusiveness of the directing. The cinematography is simple and perfect, appears to be shot on high quality video. The music is also perfectly placed and matched to this film. This movie is so good that I imagine they had incredible gaffers and drivers and caterers.

We, the viewers, were thoroughly engrossed in the places and the people. The audience in the movie theater was silent, absolutely silent, from the start to finish of this movie. This is a story we will think about for days and weeks to come.

The only slight bad thing about this movie is the title. I had no idea what it was supposed to be about when I was going to see it. From the word "reservation," I thought maybe it was about an Indian reservation. The promo photos make it look like some sort of adventure flick. I think the name and the ads might keep people from seeing it, and for sure will confuse them about what it is.

I guess theis movie will be depending on word of mouth, so I am happy to say here – Go see it.

Into the Wild (2007)

One of the best movies I've ever seen

[11 September 2007]

One of the best movies I've ever seen. Beautiful, deep, true, adventurous, sad, occasionally funny, real, at times very touching. Based on a real-life novel, it is written and directed by Sean Penn. I have always loved the movie work of Sean Penn. Congratulations and thank you to Mr. Penn on giving me a few hours of though-provoking delight. Can you say Oscar? This movie says it loud and clear!

The story; Christopher McCandless, just graduated from college in the early 1990s, goes off on an adventure. He is smitten with books he reads—Thoreau, London, Byron. He wants no money, so he gives his to needy causes or burns it. Chris is cocky, driven, industrious.

He is traumatized by his parents' bad marriage. He tries to work through his anguish. He seems determined to destroy himself just to prove that he has different values than his parents. He is inconsiderate of his family and keeps them worried about his whereabouts and safety, as if a single reassuring phone call would ruin his rebellion. He fancies himself a philosopher, but acts the petulant child. It is a great credit to the film that we see these character flaws in our hero.

Off on the road, he makes a number of foolish choices – and suffers from some of them. Other foolish choices, such as daring to kayak a rapid river, bring him joy. He meets a lot of people and almost all are kind to him. His interactions with people are intense, the kind you have when you are planning to run off and disappear while you are still a mysterious entity. He avoids getting too close to anyone.

The movie is gorgeous. Mountains, plains, sky, rivers, animals. The acting is fantastic, totally believable. The actors are incredible and perfectly cast – Catherine Keener as an aging hippie vagabond, Vince Vaughn as a wacky farmer growing who knows what, William Hurt as Chris' potbellied suburbanite dad, Marcia Gay Harden as the type of mom who breeds children who wants to run off to the wilderness to escape from her. Emile Hirsch plays Chris, and does a great job of it. When an actual photo of the real Chris McCandless comes on screen, we see that Hirsch resembles him. Original songs by Eddie Vedder give the right feel – that of a well-to-do young white man heading out on a chosen adventure, getting gritty by choice. His goal is to get to Alaska, but on the way there, he hits many other states and Mexico, too.

Chris is a clueless kid from the warm South. He plans to go to Alaska, yet only arrives with any needed equipment because kind folks force it upon him – a machete, warm clothes, rubber boots. He's highly educated and gets good grades, yet, early on his trip, ignores a big sign that warns of flash floods. That prepares us that we are going to wince many times at his low level of common sense, while at the same time reveling in his physical strength and willingness to press on.

At one point, Chris passes through Los Angeles. He is dirty, hungry, tired, and goes to a downtown mission shelter. The other men there are also dirty, hungry, and tired, but not of their own choosing. It is not their adventure, it is their life. He realizes fast that he does not want to feel categorized with men who are in dire straits due to misfortune and not due to following their own adventure.

The movie shows Chris as an honorable young man. I do not want to give away any of the plot, so I'll just say – the young man has principles and so does the movie.

A few parts of the movie confused me. After Chris's college graduation, he meets h is parents at a restaurant. He brings with him a lovely young woman, obviously his date. Weirdly, it turns out that she is his sister!

There is more confusion when Chris picks up work on a farm run by Wayne, the Vince Vaughn character. What are they growing or doing? What's up?

There is an unintentionally funny scene where an old man tells Chris that he does not have time for adventures because he is too busy with leather. I thought the old guy was confessing being into whips and chaps. But no, he has a workshop where he tools leather.

There were a couple spots where the editing distracted from the movie. I saw a preview; maybe it was a rough cut. There's a scene on the farm where a triple screen is used – like a cheesy commercial.

Another scene, where Chris is eating an apple, is a series of jump cuts, which I really liked. It seemed an homage to French auteur filmmakers. But it ends with Chris mugging at the camera. With it, Sean Penn breaks the believability and acknowledges that yes, this is just us making a movie.

There is another part where Chris is in a car with the older man who is dropping him off. As they pull up, there is an inexplicable cutaway shot of what looks to be the head of a cannon.

Much of the movie is like a travel montage or music video involving mountains and sky. The scenes are so beautiful.

I know people that have elements of Chris in them. And I think I've met all the characters he runs into out on the road.

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Funny funny funny

[12 August 2005]

This movie is funny! What do you get when a Mormon husband and wife team write a movie, and the husband directs it? A movie with no swear words, no guns, no violence, no sex-- just a really hip, really modern, really funny great movie!!!

This movie proves that stories about people hold our attention and draw our imaginations. Aren't we all so tired and bored of movies that rely on special effects, chase scenes, violence, or gross-out humor in order to try to be interesting? This movie just has good characters, great little vignette scenes, and a vague overall plot.

The lines in this movie are so funny I was laughing about them in the middle of the night after I saw the movie. And I was laughing thinking about them the next day.

We just went shopping and my brother bought a few T-shirts with sayings from the movie. It seems 20th Century Fox is marketing these things and the movie. I fear they will give Jared Hess lots of money to make a movie and that the money will make it junk, rather than the good that can come from a cheaply-made indie film!

Oh wait-- I read that Jared is already making a movie for lots of money, starring Jack Black. The plot sounds a bit confused, with religious confusion, about Jack Black as a cook who was raised in a monastery (with "religious elders"?) and a nun who arrives. Okay, so there is some level of religious confusion and maybe the Hesses should be writing a comedy about being Mormons instead of trying to understand something a bit out of their realm. It sounds like a bit of a redo of "School of Rock" for Black. But whatever, with the Hesses' sense of humor, and Black's acting skill, may that one be as superb as this one!!

As to the age thing-- heck, I am 50, my brother is a bit younger, and our mom is in her 70s -- and we are all laughing about this film days later. Mom even saw a picture of Jon Heder in the newspaper, and she got all excited to read the article. So even us old folks like this movie.

SPOILER-- My favorite line in the movie is Napoleans's come-on line to the girl at school, where he asks if she is drinking 1 percent milk because she thinks she is fat. Overall, I have to say this is the funniest line with the funniest delivery and best comic editing I have seen in a movie. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LINE???

The Postman (1997)

So Bad It is Almost Good

[3 December 2004]

This movie is so bad it is almost good. Supposedly it is based on a book, and maybe some incarnation of the book or script was okay. But it all got smoked up in too much weed and ended out completely inane.

The Plot, if it can be called that: It takes place in the rural western USA in the Rockies, after some sort of disaster has stricken the nation an returned it to a Civil War- era type of place, except there are modern signs around.

There are two warring groups, but why they are warring is anyone's guess. On one side is a neo-Nazi army called the Klan. Their leader, the General, quotes Shakespeare and keeps having people shot. Although supplies are short, the entire army dresses in matching rust-colored Eddie Bauer rain suits and rides on horses.

The other side are poor folks dressed in stylish rags. They have hoe-downs with music from the 1970s but played on bluegrass instruments.

Kevin Costner escapes from the Klan and arrives in the village dressed as a US Postal Worker. He is hailed as a savior. A young woman asks him to impregnate her. He agrees. Lucky for the plot line, her real husband gets killed shortly thereafter.

The Klan keeps coming around and shooting villagers, who have no guns or horses. The Costner character, the POSTMAN, gets them all to join up as postal workers, and suddenly they have horses, bags, and uniforms, and guns, and a desire to kill. In between they hold more hoe-downs. There is a nearby town with Tom Petty as the mayor.

I kept thinking this must be an allegory for something, but I cannot tell what it might be. The plot is filled with holes the size of the Grand Canyon. The characters are inane. The acting is shockingly bad. The whole thing makes absolutely no sense. The scenery is nice.

This movie is so mysterious. I kept thinking from a film-making perspective: What went wrong here? I assume the book and maybe the initial script were possibly okay. What happened? Did the parts that would make this make sense get edited out? Is it too grand an epic on too little a budget or something? What is this mess?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

I'll Explain the Movie

[12 April 2004]

SPOILER, ALL THE WAY THROUGH******* It scares me that people are so inured to the straight line narrative that they cannot understand a story told differently. So let me explain-- and this is meant for those who have seen the movie and just do not understand it. The first scene you see (winter beach in Montauk), and the close-to-last scene (getting out of bed, going to the train, deciding to go out to Montauk beach), are what is happening "now." The rest of the movie explains how Joel and Clementine got to the beach and what happened between their first meeting at a party on the beach in summer, and their subsequent first meeting on the beach in winter after memory erasure.

So what did happen? They met each other on the beach at a summer party, loved each other, and finally she got bored and he grew tired of her "charming" ways. Clementine went to Lacuna to have her memory of Joel erased. Then Joel followed suit. However,the technician, Stan, and the girl from the office, Mary, get stoned and drunk while doing Joel's memory erasure and screw it up. During the erasure, we see each memory of the relationship as it happens, and as it is being erased from the memory. At times Joel is partially aware of the erasure process taking place. This half-in, half-out state is what enables Joel to see what is taking place, and at times he is watching himself in the memories, and at other times, he is watching himself and the technicians as they attempt to erase his memory. (What may confuse you is that sometimes he is in the present watching the Lacuna techs erase the memories, and other times, he is in memories as they are being erased. Other times the movie is NOT in Joel's head, but is in the room with Stan and Mary, etc.)

While experiencing the memory erasure, Joel realizes how much he really loves Clementine. Joel decides that he does not want to erase all memory of Clementine, and so he tries to hide a memory of her in several places where he thinks it will be safe from the memory erasure process -- first, in an embarrassing childhood scene, and then in a scene of humiliation, and finally in a scene of shame.

In one memory, Clementine is able to tell Joel to meet her in Montauk-- and somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he still remembers this, and instead of going to work the morning after the mind erasure, he takes the train to Montauk, where he once again meets Clementine on the beach. Their relationship starts fresh and new. They both realize what has happened with the memory erasure when Mary, from Lacuna, in a move toward ethicality, mails all of the clients their files with the audio tapes they made in their initial visits to Lacuna.

To complicate the mess further, Patrick, the other Lacuna tech, decides he is "in love" with Clementine -- while she is knocked out in the memory erasure process. He steals the bag of items that Joel brought to the office-- all the love notes, journal entries, sketches, etc., that he has done for and about Clementine. Patrick uses these items to cause Clementine to like him, quoting Joel's words. However, Clementine senses that something is wrong - because Patrick is using Joel's exact words, this spurs memories of Joel to return to Clementine's mind.

And what is it that most interferes with Joel's memory erasure, aside from the sloppy work of the two techs? It is that Patrick is talking about his obsession with Clementine during the initial phases of the Joel's memory erasure--while they are still connecting the wires-- and this causes Joel to have new memories and understanding that Patrick is involved with Clementine. The Lacuna process is not so foolproof-- the company even needs to send out notices telling friends not to mention the person who was "erased."

ALL IN ALL, this movie is beautifully shot, beautifully edited, has wonderful sound and music, wonderful sound editing, a wonderful script, fantastic acting, even superb lighting. The movie is touching, and deep, and hilarious at times. This is a movie that says that love is never perfect, and we need to take love with its faults, if we want to have love. MY thanks to Kaufman, Gondry, and all, for giving me this incredibly special couple of hours spent in movie magic.

Home Team (1998)

Kind of Bright and Fun

[14 March 2003]

I just saw this movie on TV. It seemed like a movie that kids would like. Steve Guttenberg plays this goofy guy who comes to an orphanage for abused/neglected boys, as the handyman. He tries too hard to be amusing, and the kids find him annoying and irritating, which he is. He turns out to be a good soccer coach for them. While it is a movie for kids, there are some scenes that should not have been included, namely a scene in a funeral home, that is not funny or neccessary, but instead is creepy and disturbing. Sometimes, or often, I wonder where the brains are of the writer/ director/ producer, and which one of them is responsible for the poor taste in many otherwise okay films. Steve Guttenberg is really a good actor, and he is fun to watch in this role as a jerk who is trying too hard. The kids in the movie seem real.

Minority Report (2002)

Billiard Balls Tell the Future

[7 July 2002]

Spoilers. *** What is this movie about? Three people who can tell the future hang out all day in a swimming pool wearing fancy leotards, as everyone seems to wear in futuristic films. What are they doing in the pool? Foretelling the future! That's all they do, all day! How did they get that way? Their mothers used drugs when they were pregnant. (This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs-- hey, you can see the future!) What do they see about the future? Just the murders. How do they communicate that information to the people who are not in the swimming pool? By sending vibes to a machine that makes billiard balls that say the names of the victims and killers. Okay, are you with me so far?

And Tom Cruise is the guy who takes the balls and goes and catches the killers before they kill. (He's got em by the balls) When they catch the almost-killers, they put stereo headphones on them and put them into some kind of deep freeze. Works like a charm, every time. But then one day the billiard ball says Tom Cruise is the killer, and he runs away and causes a big raucous so he won't get caught.

There are lots of great moments in the movie. Tom goes to get his eyeballs removed and replaced, and he ends out accidentally eating a bad sandwich. He goes on a long chase scene, with cops who are flying on little gizmos- it is a scene so much like the Harry Potter Quidditch scene! For some unknown reason, the chase scene ends out in a car manufacturing plant- and Tom is tossed and turned and banged around, but drives off in the brand new car that was just created around him. And of course, like in every worthy movie, he can't just drive in the car, but has the sudden need to jump from car to car on a busy vertical expressway.

There is so much weird stuff, dumb stuff, scary stuff, and stuff that doesn't add up in this movie. The movie is a political allegory, turned into an action picture. The whole theme is You have a choice. Even if your future is supposedly predetermined, you have a choice. That is a worthy theme, and one people should take to heart.

Things you will see in this movie: A dirty bathtub. Very fancy public housing. A man with holes in his head. A rooftop scene reminiscent of Vanilla Sky. A mad doctor scene reminiscent of Rocky Horror Picture Show. A federal agent who carries a rosary -- come on! A pool boy who takes his job seriously. People who feel totally trapped by the totalitarian system in their city, but who don't just drive away to a different place. A laugh-out-loud funny scene about The Gap. Product placement every ten seconds. A scene with a strange old lady with lots of plants, kind of a cross between Harold and Maude and Dr. Who. A man about to kill his wife, where you find yourself cheering for the man, and are sad when he gets caught. A futuristic world, where everything is all modern, except the playgrounds in the park still have equipment leftover from the 1950s. A woman who can foretell the future, but when she's in the swimming pool, she can only see murders, not even rapes or other attacks. But when she's out in a shopping mall, hey, she knows every move everyone is going to make, including the balloon man. That just shows the deep powers inherent in any shopping mall.

What's weird? The premise of a plot, where an official would go to complicated technical lengths to beat the crime-detection system in order to murder a woman, when he could just take the woman out of the city and kill her anywhere else in America. What else? The fact they want to make the pre-cog system nationwide, when the system relies on children of drug addicts. So are they going to have to encourage women all over the nation to be drug addicts? I guess so, so there are enough pre-cogs for all 50 states.

And do the pre-cogs ever eat? And does their skin get all wrinkled from being in the pool all day? And why do they have to wear matching suits? And why are the pre-cogs sending secret messages to billiard balls, instead of basketballs or ping-pong balls, or even baseball bats? And do the cops shoot pool with the balls once they've finished catching enough killers? Maybe as the program expands to the 50 states, they could have the pre-cogs in each state send messages to make a different piece of sports equipment. New York pre-cogs could make baseballs, while Ohio pre-cogs could make volleyball nets, while Alaska pre-cogs could make squash racquets. That way, they could supply schools all around America with enough new sports equipment, so the children could work off their frustrations, so they don't grow up to be would-be killers. Now there's a plan!

Men in Black II (2002)

The Dog is the Best Actor

[3 July 2002]

The movie is good fun. Special effects predominate, and take over any script or acting that could have been there. There are funny moments, but the movie would have been a lot funnier and more interesting with more human interaction and more funny lines, and fewer monsters and effects. Hey, I don't want to bring down the stock in Industrial Light and Magic, but special effects are not so special- a little goes a loooooong way!

Will Smith is cool and funny. Tommy Lee Smith is deadpan as a post office worker who is really an alien. This movie explains what is actually going on when you go to the post office and wait forever while everyone working there looks dazed. On the monster side, there is Lara Flynn Boyle, who is way too skinny and with pounds of makeup on, she looks like an evil medusa. But it's the dog that has the best lines and who is the best actor! I always laugh when I see animals in clothes, and this dog in his little Men in Black suit is funny!

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

More Violent than Expected

[30 June 2002]

This animated Disney film aimed at little kids is more violent than I expected. I think the screenwriters sat down and tried to include some elements that would appeal to boys and others to appeal to girls. So, first the film is about outer space, with lots of ugly monsters and evil characters and shooting and space ships and things being blown up. Then the movie shifts into a tale about girls with dolls and big wheels, and human interaction involving a little girl being raised by her sister.



Everything about this movie shouts: We need to make a movie that will not be too offensive for watchful parents and critics, and yet appeal to little boys and girls. The movie has bits of humor for the adults who are stuck seeing it, as well as perky music that gets the toes tapping. This movie is a safe summer moneymaker, but it is not any extension of creativity, and will never be a "classic." Toys based on the film are for sale in stores, and they are cute. If you think McDonald's serves acceptable "food," you will probably think this is acceptable "entertainment."

13 Conversations About One Thing (2001)

A Really Good Small Movie

[30 June 2002]

This is a really good small movie, written and directed by women who are sisters of each other. I saw it two weeks ago, and I am still thinking about the characters. It is a quiet film, with lots of talking. Please don't plan to munch popcorn with your mouth open, since you will disturb those around you who want to hear the film. The characters are richly drawn. The cinematography is dark and lovely. Some have complained that the film was not made into "more." I think less can better, when it makes you think and feel.

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Matt Damon Reading the Phone Book

[30 June 2002]

A friend of mine (gay male) says he could enjoy watching Matt Damon reading the phone book. This movie is for people who demand more, but not MUCH more! Matt's hair is now brown instead of blond, and he now goes for a whole movie without flashing his big white teeth in a pretty boy smile. He is trying to look like a tough competitor for action films, so all the roles don't go to his pal Ben Affleck or to Tom Cruise. Does it work? Sure, Matt is a fine actor, and great to look at, too.

***Possible Spoilers*** This movie is supposedly based on a Robert Ludlum book. The script was probably good when it was written, but as it got doctored up and edited to bits, it's a ridiculous mess. That is why I prefer independent films, where the writer is often the actual writer-- rather than having a whole crew of hacks deciding what the story will be.

The story, as far as I can figure, is about a CIA assassin (Matt Damon) who goes onto a yacht to kill an African man with a French accent, who is some sort of leader of somebody and has an attitude problem that makes someone else want to kill him. Anyway, the assassin gets shot and tossed in the ocean, where he is rescued by a boatful of extras and stuntmen who look vaguely Eastern European. Oddly, the same extras and stuntmen are used much later in the film to play CIA agents who come to attack Matt Damon in his hotel room.

The whole idea here is amnesia, which as far as I know, only occurs in movies. The assassin can't remember who he is or why people are chasing him. The people chasing him, as it turns out, are his employers, and the audience can never really understand why they are chasing him, either.



The CIA has imbedded some sort of little capsule, the size of a little vitamin pill, into the assassin's skin. When it is excised, the capsule shines a little light that projects the name of a bank and an account number. How convenient! Matt knows what Swiss bank to go to, and his account number. He goes there and gets into his safe deposit box to find a big pile of money and a bunch of fake I.D.s. This would make his life a lot easier, except he packs the stuff into a red bag, which makes him easier to spot wherever he goes. He can get a car, hair dye, scissors, etc, but cannot seem to locate a different bag in all of Europe. When police are chasing him and calling out "Hey, red bag!", that would seem to be a clue to get a new bag. Matt, the assassin, aware that the CIA is trying to kill him, sets up a meeting with his CIA boss out on a bridge in Paris. Why? To kill him? To be killed? We don't know or care!

In this movie we see Matt climbing on a rusty fire escape, down the outside of a smooth brick building, driving in a clever chase scene where his vehicle is a pokey little car, fighting off and shooting lots of guys, blowing things up, etc.

The women's roles in this movie are hilarious! Franke Potente gets to stand within arm's length and watch as Matt fights a CIA goon to the death. It never occurs to the goon to harm her, and she does not appear afraid, she just stands there and watches! Later, the same thing happen with Julia Stiles just standing there! Apparently, women in this movie are invisible and invulnerable to harm.

This movie is goofy, mindless fun, for those who want to see beautiful grayish cinematography of sights in Europe. It is sure to be a big hit in Europe! It is surely not Oscar material, or even anything you will want to see twice, unless you are fixated on Matt or Franke.

About a Boy (2002)

Excellent Thought-Provoking Film

[4 June 2002]

Great script. Great directing. Great editing. Great acting. Great sets. Great costumes. Great music by Badly Drawn Boy. No special effects. No action sequences. No one gets shot. No one has sex on-screen. No one swears. Funny, interesting, though-provoking, real. How can you top this? If a viewer is thirteen, or forty, this movie will get the heart and mind going. What more can be said?

Hugh Grant has joined the Hollywood madness and lost too much weight. Toni Colette is superb as the depressed, crazy, hippie mom. Whoever costumed her was right on target and deserves high praise! Nicholas Hoult, who plays the kid with the bad haircut, is also great. He is the best, most true-to-life film geek ever!

If Nick Hornsby keeps writing books that make such great films, we can look forward to many such simple films. Let Hollywood know you like simple films!! GO SEE THIS ONE! I hope these producers and directors make many more like this! Great job, everyone!

The Sum of All Fears (2002)

Sum or All of Affleck?

[4 June 2002]

Great movie for fans of Ben Affleck. We see Ben in bed with a woman, Ben all scruffy going to work at the CIA, Ben in a suitjacket that doesn't fit him, Ben in a big duffle coat, Ben with that misty look when being told a lie by the Soviet president, Ben injured in a wreck, Ben running quickly through a fiery disaster scene, Ben fighting some guy who wants to choke him, Ben being smart, Ben being brash, and even Ben wearing a T-shirt and having a pleasant picnic.

SPOILERS AHEAD** Aside from Ben running around being all cute and action-adventure, what the hell is this picture about??? Questions arise: Why does he need to go to the loading dock to see the signature? Why would he care? If someone has blown up the city with a bomb, do you really need to see the packing slip? And what are those canisters laying on the floor at the dock supposed to be? Were those people killed with hairspray? Who are these evil masterminds and does any of it matter? And instead of blowing people up, couldn't they just wait for the Americans to smoke the cigarettes and die of cancer? And what's with the Nazi insignia on the inside of that guy's watch? Do they give you a gold watch if you've been a Nazi for 25 years or what? What do they give you after 30 years? How long till you're vested in the Nazi pension plan?

And did you notice that Ben's girlfriend and the Soviet President's wife are wearing the same little brown outfits in bed?? And how about the way Ben's apartment is decorated in brown? Is brown going to be the new color?



And there are so many really ugly older men in this movie.. when is someone going to make a movie that calls for a whole cast of ugly old women? This movie has tense, "exciting" music all through it. If the music wasn't there, would we be more likely to notice how the script makes little sense? Who cares? Once again, Ben is a great actor, a cute actor, and wearing wonderful simple outfits that emphasize how cute he is! Four stars!!!

Changing Lanes (2002)

Are there any legal plot lines left?

[18 May 2002]

Have all the legal plot lines been used up? There are a LOT of lawyer films. This script is about a lawyer who LOSES A CASE FILE. oooooh, too exciting! What makes it wonderful, and well worth seeing is that Ben Affleck is cute, cute CUTE, CUTE! We see Ben smart alecky, Ben embarrassed, Ben as a jerk, Ben being kind, Ben being sexy, Ben all wet under a fire sprinkler system, and we even see the now-trademark, once-every-Affleck-film BEN CRYING! Well worth seeing!

The New Guy (2002)

THE WORST MOVIE I EVER SAW- and I've seen many movies!

[18 May 2002]

This movie raises the need for a whole new category of Oscars- it should win an award as the Most Moronic Movie of the year. Seldom do so many finely-honed traits come together-- an utterly senseless script that is excruciatingly unfunny, extremely poorly drawn characters, constant breaks in continuity and logic, terrible directing, astonishingly bad editing... all in one film!

Oddly, D. J. Qualls is a superb comic actor, and this is obvious even in the midst of this wretched pile of junk. Many of the other actors are excellent, too. It's just that in this film, they are busy being excellent at acting out retarded non-jokes.

The trailer looked pretty funny, didn't it? The trailer WAS funny, but the movie is not. Not at all. If you spend your time and money on this film, don't say you weren't warned. Are you aware that millions of people in the world live on less than the equivalent of one US dollar per day? You could take the money you would have spent on this movie if it were worth seeing, and send it off to feed and house some people who have almost nothing, who are hungry for something to eat. You could donate your money to a medical group who will immunize 20 babies from deadly disease. Heck, they could have done that with the entire budget of this complete waste of a film.

Panic Room (2002)

Opening credits are great! So is Jodie!

[30 March 2002]

The opening credits are great! Large solid words hang in the air of the Manhattan skyline. Amazing!

Then we get to see Jodie Foster wearing funny glasses and looking all Hollywood. It looks like she has been spending time at the gym and has had a nose job. I liked her better the old way, but I suppose she wants to be considered a glamorous gal for roles.

The script is extremely well-written. There are no surprises here- everything is foreshadowed. But everything is also tight. Most of it is believable. This is a thriller, but it is not scary like a slasher film. The directing is great, the acting is superb. The young girl is especially good- I believed her every moment.

See the movie- but don't be a MOMENT late! YOu don't want to miss the opening credits- they are the best part of the film. Later enjoy the camera gymnastic-magic crane shots going through the house at night.

The moral of the story here is- bring your Pepsi with you when you run into a steel closet!

40 Days and 40 Nights (2002)

Funny funny funny

[30 March 2002]

This movie is FUNNY! And the shots of San Francisco are beautiful. Josh Hartnett is very skilled at being funny. His co-star is a girl who has been taking lessons from the Winona Ryder School of Drama. I guess messy hair and a lilting dip of the head is acting.

Sure, there are problems with the craft, such as very noticeable editing problems, voices dubbed in the ADR that don't BEGIN to match the voices in the other shots, etc. If you aren't a filmmaker you might not notice, and in any case, you shouldn't care. The reason you shouldn't care is this is a feel-good, genuinely funny movie. So many movies purport to be funny, so few succeed. This one does.

I was raised as a Catholic and I found the whole Catholic theme amusing. Of course, in the Catholic family, one brother is a repressed Seminarian, while the other is a ... Semen-arian? This sex-obsessed guy gives up sex for Lent, and it just happens he works in a place with all these impossibly beautiful, sexy young women. The geeky guys at the workplace sit around and make bets on how long he'll last.

I am having fun making up the sequel for this movie in my head---- 40 Minutes- where he tries not to put his hands in his pockets for a whole 40 minutes...

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Touching Film About Schizophrenic

[6 January 2002]

John Nash was a Princeton student studying math. He was also an unfriendly weirdo. Over time, he becomes full-blown schizophrenic. The illness ruins his work and his life. This is a touching portrayal of the way schizophrenia and paranoia eat away at the personality. The most touching thing is that, even after a ravaged lifetime, Nash has a sense of humor about the illness and the way others perceive him.

Even though the movie shows Nash as decidedly unfriendly and socially unacceptable, when not thoroughly nuts-- he still manages to get a gorgeous wife, and a Nobel Prize. The movie pulls no punches- we see his wife's frustration and sense of duty in sticking with a man who is not well. In a sense, this movie is about "Till death do us part", and about a woman who took that seriously, even though the man she married was no longer there. She married a dashing brilliant young professor, and was left shortly thereafter with a dangerous, surly delusional.

The movie will surprise you, frighten you, at times will warm your heart. The characters are realistic. The movie is not simplistic toward mental illness. It does not attempt to glorify illness, or give it a simple answer. Please realize that we have sent men to the moon, and invented the laser disc and DVD players, but we still do not have very good treatments for schizophrenia. Those unlucky adults who are stricken with this disease still tend to lead isolated lives of intermittent illness. This movie tells it like it is. Good job, Opie! And hats off to Russell Crowe for an incredible acting job.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Movie bored me silly

[5 January 2002]

I never read the Ring books. Therefore, I had no idea what this movie was all about or who the characters were.

This is the story: There's some kind of magical ring that looks like a wedding ring with weird writing on it. It holds some evil magical powers. Frodo, who is a little guy with curly hair and big ears, is supposed to take this ring somewhere. A group of guys gathers together to bring the ring with him. They walk along and then are attacked by a monster. They fight off the monster. Then they walk along. Then they are attacked by the monster. They fight off the monster. This repeats for three hours. After a while, I did not care which monster it was. Some of the monsters were rather clever, however.

What makes a good movie? I think story, plot, character, character interaction. These factors may have been obvious or available to those who read and loved the book. But for those of us just seeing this as a film, I think we had no idea. If you are not a die-hard fan, this movie is of little interest. It IS beautiful with wonderful scenery interwoven with sets, and colorful characters. I would say go to see it if you think you want to. It did not give me a moment of thoughtful reflection either during the movie or afterward. It did not inspire me or give me any particular emotions, such as sadness, happiness, curiosity, etc. It is a spectacle meant to make money. That is what it is doing. It is not a heartfelt work of art, though as you can see from other user comments, many disagree.

Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979)

Great Ramones Movie!

[31 December 2001]

There's no stopping the Cretins from hopping. Twenty twenty four hours to go, I want to be sedated. Just get me to the airport, get me on a plane, hurry hurry hurry before I go insane. We're a happy family, me. mom and daddy. Sitting here in Queens, eating refried beans, we're in all the magazines, gulping down Thorazine. We ain't got no friends, our troubles never end, no Christmas cards to send, Daddy likes men.

If you like the Ramones, and if you are a true lover of rock and roll, you do love the Ramones, then you will love this movie. It is a chance to see the late Joey Ramone in action.

This movie is fun and funny. It makes you want to put on your gym shoes and go dance in the girls' gym class. It is simply Americana at its finest. Hilarious, goofy, fun! Rock rock rock rock rock and roll high school!!! They should do a remake, with PJ Soles, probably now in her fifties, hopping all about. What ever happened to her??

Kate & Leopold (2001)

Two star movie by design, but men might learn manners

[30 December 2001]

Guys: Help a lady with her coat. Use your silverware properly. Stand when a lady leaves the table. You can learn these and other polite acts in this movie. What this movie will not do is entertain you very much.

This movie is not inspiring, not very funny, not very interesting, not thrilling, not challenging, not really anything. It is not good science fiction, not good drama, not good comedy. It is like a so-so sitcom, by design, on which millions of dollars have been spent. It is sad to think of all the wonderful movies that could have been made with the same money.

Breckin Meyer is the only real bright light in this film. He plays a funny young actor to perfection. He'll get a lot of roles off this film. He deserves them.

Meg Ryan is pretty as always but still can't act. Everything is the same with her. Every line is said exactly the same, with exactly the same inflection. There is one scene where she supposedly falls asleep and gets carried into bed. She can't even play "asleep."

Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber are fine in roles that could have been played by almost anyone. Spaulding Gray is supposed to be some character in this movie. His name was in the opening credits. It may be worth going back to see just what he contributed to this mishmash.

Spy Game (2001)

Tense thriller with real characters

[18 December 2001]

Robert Redford is a CIA agent, working against the system to save Brad Pitt, who is a loose cannon former contract agent who has gotten himself into deep trouble. Great script. Redford uses his brains and wiles. Pitt uses his muscle and wit. Brad Pitt gets beaten up. Flashbacks where Redford is supposed to be twenty years younger are funny because no one bothered to make him look any younger. Was there a continuity person on this shoot? It's a real good movie, with action, adventure, history, realistic settings, great cinematography, superb editing. An all-around high quality piece of film work, calculated to entertain in such a way that you feel you are being educated at the same time. Don't miss a moment or you will miss some plot bit that will leave you confused. See it!