Reviews

If so, I missed it. It wasn't so much that the movie was bad (as in, I couldn't stand it) that I didn't like it. It was the realization, probably 3/4 through it, that I had no idea how it could possibly end, due to the fact that nothing had happened in any sort of ordered plot line (you know, connected events, the usual things you expect in a movie or other work of 'literature'). Unfortunately there are too many movies like that out now.

A lot of people use the term "chick flick" to describe any movie with emotion, implying most guys couldn't stand a movie with deeper meaning than just people blowing each other up. If that were true, Gladiator would be classified as a chick flick, but the guys I know who have seen this movie have loved it. And I love it, too.

It's filled with star-making performances, especially in the three leads - Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, and Connie Nielsen. Phoenix and especially Crowe did an exceptionally good job, I thought. Maybe this is just because, as a big fan of the "sword and sandal" films of days gone by, I wanted to see some young hotties get into togas and armor. But I think I would have enjoyed this film even without these two very attractive actors as the leads.

Gladiator is over two hours long, but I never could tell. The story of Maximus (Crowe) and his quest for revenge against Commodus (Phoenix) is so engrossing I never once looked at my watch. The set and costume design, as well as special effects, are fantastic. Yes, this movie is bloody, and if you're under 14 you probably shouldn't go see it. But the focus of the story isn't the fighting. It's about the lengths humans will go to for love - to avenge their love, as in the case of Maximus, and to be loved, as in the case of Commodus. It's about love, and if that makes Gladiator a chick flick, then it's a chick flick. But it's the best gosh darned chick flick I've ever seen.

Jack Frost has everything. Laughs, romance, comedy, serious drama, family values, and (not-so) special effects. Chris Allport just made my heart flutter. He's still my favorite actor ever--watch out Harrison Ford! And those snow effects were so realistic (blanket)...I felt like I was in the movie! I don't know if having this tape from the video store for five days will be enough!

The central plot and themes of Varsity Blues are extremely meaningful and true to life--if you have to work hard for anything, work hard at it for yourself, not anyone else (or a foul-mouthed football coach played by Jon Voight). However, the movie was extremely unfocused on this central idea with such random plot items as the strip club, Mox's relationship with various girls, etc.

And one more thing. Seniors in high school are still taking sex ed? Apparently so according to this movie...overall, a teen flick that could have been more than average but just had to add immature side items to make it "appealing" to the immature teen crowd. Well, I'm a teenager, and I thought this movie's message was lost among the mess.

I never thought from seeing the preview for this movie that it would be about what it was about. Overall, I found it tasteless and relatively without merit. The best parts came before the ship started freaking out, with the crew traveling through space. After that, it was downhill. They should have just called this movie "Gory Semi-Ripoff of 2001." As somebody else said, I want my money back!

This movie made no sense at all. And that's pretty much all I can say about the plot.

Now I am going to list what wonderful resources this stupid, plotless movie wasted. Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, and Ralph Fiennes (the latter's extremely good looks being the only reason I didn't give this movie a 1)--three wonderful actors. And also some great special effects. I beg anyone reading this not to bother renting or seeing The Avengers--or if you decide to see for yourself anyway, don't say I didn't warn you.

Sam Neill is such a hottie. And I love that Mr. Box! And my favorite scene in the whole thing was the one where the trees were talking to each other with the subtitles. Brilliant filmmaking!

Going into the theater to see this movie, my friend and I (who are "cynical" teenage movie critics) honestly expected to be disappointed, especially after the relatively blah Pocahontas. When the movie was over 90 min. later, we both ran frantically to go buy the CD and read the book (which, actually, was rather different than the movie, but hey.).

I am 17 years old; I grew up watching The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. When Disney released this movie, which dealt with extremely heavy subject matter in an extremely tasteful manner, I jumped for joy. During the entire movie, I was amazed and spellbound. The music was also fantastic, by the way, as was the cinematography (although those crowd scenes begin to look really fake after a while). That scene where Quasimodo holds Esmerelda up in front of the rose window and yells, "Sanctuary!" still gives me chills.

This is not a movie for children in any way, shape or form. I think the only problem with Hunchback is the fact that Disney refused to accept that this is a serious, relatively adult motion picture and would not make any animated movie, no matter how serious, without obnoxiously cute little critters (i.e., the gargoyles) bouncing around to entertain the kiddies, or huge marketing campaigns at McDonald's, etc. As some others have written on here, it's pretty obvious this movie isn't for kiddies from its subject matter.

But anyone over 13 who's willing to think as well as be entertained when watching a Disney movie would probably love Hunchback.

I've seen both asteroid movies from this year now. This one was better, as I could tell (I didn't have that churning feeling in my stomach during this whole thing). I liked them both, but in both cases human emotions were extremely exploited. Especially in Armageddon, but the director did it in this movie too. It seemed like they'd do anything to make you cry, and that is why (I figured) critics didn't really like either of them. This one was more genuinely sad because the characters seemed more realistically depicted, but still much of it was a "let's see how many characters we can kill off" kind of attitude. I liked it, but I'm not going to see any more asteroid movies. I hope these are the last two they make for a long, long time.

This movie is by far the cutest I have seen in a long time! Wonderful animation and adorable characters (even the bad guys were cute!) made this one a total winner in my book, and also in the books of those I saw it with. I still want to see it again, but haven't had time. Better than Toy Story, which was good too, but not THIS good .