elainew32 Reviews

The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

This was not a dog-it was a human accidentally transplanted into a dog body!

[2/10 · 9 August 2019]

This dog tells you almost from the beginning that he wants to become a human in his next life, but remember everything of his "dogness". . .He also expresses things that are more complicated philosophically than I believe most humans would. I never felt the usual connection I feel with dogs in these movies, because I felt this not really a dog. But that isn't why I walked out of the movie. . .I thought Milo Ventimglia was wonderful in his role, and the other actors were good as well, but the movie was so disgustingly depressing by the middle, that I didn't even care how it ended. . .I just couldn't take anymore unfairness and grief, so I left and felt better very soon!

Ghost World (2001)

A gem of a movie, with spot on vignettes about record collectors.

[8/10 · 12 December 2009]

I was told I had to see this film by a fellow record collector. As it turns out, Steve Buscemi's record collector in it only collects 78's, but otherwise has many of the classic earmarks of the record collector, well-displayed in an authentic performance. Turns out his record room was based on the author's own . . .I love the scene in which he is trying to sell some of his seconds to an older finicky collector who will have nothing to do with even a hairline crack, even though the record is very rare and otherwise in fine shape. . .We all know collectors like that! Although I was steered to this movie because of the vignettes of the record collector & dealer, this movie is really an under-appreciated gem. One might call it a dark comedy, one the writer-director describes as equal amounts of funny and pain, but the characterizations, dialogue, etc. are spot on, and I felt that each character, even the minor ones, were authentic. Look for a small role by Brian George as the middle-eastern owner of the Sidewinder Convenience Store. . .he is probably best known for having played Babu Batt on Seinfeld, the middle-eastern character who opened up a restaurant in Jerry's neighborhood, changed the cuisine at Jerry's suggestion, only to have the restaurant then fail, and who got deported, because his renewal Visa was trapped in Jerry's mailbox when Elaine didn't check the mail while Jerry was gone.

The story is basically about 2 girls just graduating from high school. They are 2 of the many high school misfits, who seem to be down on most everyone else and everything in the world, but one of them, Becca, is starting to grow up a little and accept her responsibilities in the world (played by Scarlett Johnansen), getting a job, moving into an apartment, whereas the other one, really the main character, Enid, played by Thora Birch, can't figure out what she wants to do with her life and seems to only be able to see the negative side, losing her job by spieling out her negative views of everything on the customers. Both of them have a thing about following people and playing jokes on people, just to see what they will do, while they stand in the shadows and make fun of them. . .And that is how they happen on to the older record collector, played by Steve Buscemi. . .But as Enid silently mocks him, she develops a grudging admiration for him, because he accepts who he is, as a misfit and on one level is happy with himself about it, even though on other levels he doesn't have the happiness of "fitting in", but he also doesn't really want to fit in.

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Disappointing; go see Star Trek instead

[5/10 · 22 May 2009]

Okay, I was all primed, because I have read that this one is the best one yet; even went to a specific Thursday afternoon showing, because it was going to be shown on the Ultrascreen. Well, I'm beginning to think I'm not cut out for the average 2009 action adventure movie, because it seems like it was too loud and too much destruction and too little of anything else, but, hey, the new Star Trek wasn't this way! It was great and there was a lot of great action, but there was also human drama going on.

The movie starts out in 2003 with a guy, Marcus Wright, who was on death row, and was being persuaded to give his body to science, which he agreed to do, if he could get a kiss from the scientist (played by a bald Helena Bonham Carter). It shows him undergoing his execution by lethal injection, then flashes forward in time to 2018. He comes out of a pit of mud, naked, and resurrected in the midst of the Machine vs. Man war, but appears to be human. Now if you have seen the previews, then you will know that a little later, he has some metal showing on his face, but still proclaims he is human.

The other main part of the story is that Kyle Reese, who will later go back to the past and will actually have sex with Sarah Connor and become John's father, is only a teenager and is also hiding from the machines, and has to be saved so he can go back and create John. Kyle is played by Anton Yelchin, a Russian-born, American raised actor, now 20, who also plays Chekhov in the new Star Trek movie, and very well, I might add; but it is hard to imagine this character being the guy who went back in time to save Sarah Connor; it was a total disconnect for me. That Kyle Reese had a charisma and a presence that is hard to imagine coming out of this guy in his future, but this part of the story didn't get developed; he didn't really do much here except get captured. Marcus Wright has brought the information that Kyle Reese and a whole lot of other humans are captive at the main Skynet headquarters in San Francisco. So both Connor and Wright want to go to San Fran to infiltrate Skynet, Connor, to liberate the humans, and Wright to find out what happened to him, how he ended up here in the future.

During several of the sequences, we see lots of Terminators, of the old T-600 class (the ones like Terminator I), but we also see a new class of machines that looks like they were taken right out of Transformers.. They also have some ships that spot humans, that reminded me of smaller Millennium Falcons out of Star Wars. And there were some cool, crazy motorcycle/driver machines with guns that could really chase people down—the best machine we haven't seen before. All in all, I thought it was fairly entertaining, but in the end I was disappointed that not much was accomplished, and that they left it wide open for a sequel, which I really don't want to see now, because nothing much happened in this one! I guess if John Connor hasn't sent Kyle Reese back in time yet to save his mother from the first Terminator, then this must be early in the time sequence, and a long time away from the finish. . .perfect for dribbling out many more sequels, but basically, not much happens except the introduction of Marcus Wright, who I thought was the most interesting character in this movie. John Connor really didn't do much, a total waste of Christian Bale's talent.

One of the disturbing things was trying to follow the plot, as they kept shifting back and forth between John Connor and Marcus Wright. The two guys, each outfitted in stark looking military garb with short hair and scars and wounds, etc. looked too much alike. After Marcus had the steel showing in his face, it was easier to keep them straight, but I had to see the steel to be sure.

I think you can see that I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I'm sure the fans will love it. Even Arnie had personality as a robot by Terminator II (even as we laughed at his Austrian accent!) And in Transformers, the good robots also had personalities, especially "Bee", the one that was also Sam Witwicky's car! I don't know, it just left me feeling kind of empty, whereas I loved the new Star Trek so much, I went back and saw it again last night! I expected to be kind of numb to a totally new redone Star Trek, and I expected to love the new Terminator, but it turned out the other way around.

The Shaggy Dog (2006)

Deserves much better than 2.0

[6/10 · 18 March 2006]

I wanted to see this movie, but when I saw that it got a user rating of 2.0, thought maybe it was too horrible. I read the user reviews, and it seemed a lot better than that, but I thought I'd pass. Then I went over to some friends' house, and their 13-year-old son said, "Why do you care what rating it got? If you aren't expecting it to be a great movie, then you could still just go and see it and have some laughs and have a good time." I decided he was right, and I really enjoyed it.

I loved the "evil plot", in which Robert Downey, Jr.'s character had captured a 300-year-old sheep dog in order to extract material that could produce immortality in man, even though some of his early experiments produced some weird part-dog/part-other animal creatures. In the end, it played out like a funny sci-fi movie, but with a message: Tim Allen's assistant D.A. character was spending too much time on his job, which included a trial against a teacher who protested the way they were using animals at the company where Downey's character worked. It took changing to a dog to be able to see that he was missing many things that were going on with his family, and that they were all suffering for it. Then he was able to reorder his priorities, as well as go after the bad guy!

It is not surprising that this theme of spending so much time on one's job surfaces so frequently. It is endemic in our society. But enough of all that. Just take time to go and see the movie and enjoy it, and forget the ratings! This wasn't supposed to be a piece on rocket science!!!

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Very Ordinary Action Flick

[3/10 · 24 February 2004]

The gentlemen (and lady) were extraordinary--kind of a motley crew of characters with great skills in defeating adversaries, some of them venerable, some of them more of the outlaw variety, but that was the most extraordinary part of the film. I admit, I viewed it just to see Sean Connery, hoping he would make it better than the critics had said, but it was truly one of his most disappointing roles. (I wonder if he was disappointed in the result, after having produced it.) The plot is quite thin, with many holes, and there are fights every few minutes--not very interesting fights--just fights, and I thought it was one of the most boring action-adventure flicks I have seen. A previous comment that Mr. Hyde looks like the Incredible Hulk was right on--how weird. I'm glad some found this entertaining, but I just found it boring! I think I'll go back and dig out my old James Bond movies, with the best James Bond of all--Sean Connery.

The Whole Wide World (1996)

D'Onofrio and Zellweger outdid themselves in this movie, and that is really saying something!

[9/10 · 19 August 2003]

I became aware of this movie when I saw a list of Vincent D'Onofrio's movies on this website. I was ordering as many as I could, but had to wait until August, when it came out on DVD. It was well worth the wait. I see why Vincent says it is his favorite of all the things he has done. I really get into actors who consider acting a craft and who work at it, and he is certainly one of them. Renee Zellweger has been doing that, too, and she says in a special interview done just for the DVD, that Vincent taught her so many things about acting while they were making this movie. It was this performance that brought her the part in "Jerry Maguire". It is a tremendous story, all the better because it is true, and because Hollywood didn't mess it up or jazz it up. So go get the DVD now. . . Remember, even if they don't have it in smaller towns like Wausau, you can always order it over the internet! You'll want to watch it several times for sure!

The Newton Boys (1998)

Tremendous cast, good, but not great, historical narrative

[6/10 · 15 August 2003]

In a way, it seems like a waste to gather Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Skeet Ulrich, and Vincent D'Onofrio for this movie, because they should've been able to do something great, although, if it weren't for them, it would have been boring. It is a straightforward assembly of the facts of the incredible run of 80 bank robberies by the Newton brothers. Then they go for the big one, a train robbery of Federal Reserve funds. It is entertaining, but I was most entertained during the running of the credits. Over to the left, they show clips of Joe Newton at about age 79, on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, interspersed with film clips of an interview with Willis Newton in his 80's, both giving their views of what it was like and how they felt about what they had done. After seeing Hollywood's version of their lives, it was interesting to see what they were like in old age.

Happy Accidents (2000)

Fantastic romantic movie with time travel!

[9/10 · 9 August 2003]

This is one of the best romantic comedies that many have not seen. I never heard of it until I looked up Vincent D'Onofrio's movies. Marisa Tomei plays a girl who is always trying to fix up the guys she dates. She finds Vincent's character, who is sweet, sincere, lovable, but a bit odd, he says, because he came back from 2470 to be with her, but can she fix him up by getting him to recognize reality, or should she become a co-dependent in his fantasy of being a time traveler? There are certain elements of this that remind me "Groundhog Day", another favorite movie that involves moving back in time. Vincent is a tremendous actor, including many character parts that no one else could play, and he performs well here. Marisa Tomei does a great job, too. A very enjoyable movie, with that element of science fiction that adds just the right spark. A great sleeper!

Mr. Wonderful (1993)

Leads lack chemistry to make story end convincing

[4/10 · 9 August 2003]

This is a very pleasant romantic comedy with a good cast, lots of good performances. Look for James Gandolfini in an earlier role as a shy lover.. .The premise is very believable. Matt Dillon's character is divorced, has killer alimony payments, but would like to invest in a bowling alley with his buddies. He has a girlfriend with a child, but hasn't quite committed. He has minor quarrels with his ex-wife, and it truly looks like there is no love lost between them! The plan is to find her a husband, a Mr. Wonderful, so he won't have to pay alimony any more, but when she finds one, he discovers he wants her back, says the video jacket. Matt Dillon puts in a very convincing performance as a working man, "fix-it" kind of guy who doesn't understand his more intellectual ex-wife; Annabella Sciorra is wonderful as his ex-wife, going to college and working with plants; William Hurt puts in a great performance as her married professor and lover; and Vincent D'Onofrio is excellent as the pharmacist who remembers her from high school. But I didn't feel that the ending was convincing, unlike other great romantic comedies, like "You've Got Mail", "While You Were Sleeping", or "Sleepless in Seattle".

Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Jim Carrey was incredible when his two characters fought with each other in the one body!

[4/10 · 5 June 2003]

Now you realize before you ever watch a movie like this that you will have to suspend belief in a few things, including definitions of "split personality" and "schizophrenia", so that aside, this is a pleasant comedy that looks at what could happen to a very nice man who never has the courage to stand up for himself, and is always a Mr. Milktoast (even though he is a State Patrolman). The suppressed anger and rage build up in him until one day they errupt, and his rage side comes out whenever he sees something happen that he feels should be corrected, while the person doing it just flaunts it in his face. It turns into a crazy adventure story, in which his two sides alternately come out, and both of them try to win Renee Zellweger's character, as they try to outrun crooked law enforcement agents. It was an enjoyable zany movie, but the absolute standout scenes in the movie involved Jim Carrey's performance, as his two sides decide to have it out with each other, but all while occupying the same body. Carrey is known for being a tremendously physical comedic actor, but this is beyond extreme ultra! I have frank admiration for what he pulled off, and it has to be seen to be believed.