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CMartin
Reviews
The Muppet Show (1976)
It's about time!
As a true fan of Muppets in all their incarnations, I have been waiting for this DVD set.
The Muppet Show has to be one of the best programs produced. Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and the gang will always make me laugh. Considering I was only 6 when the show originally aired, I'm finally able to see all the episodes in their original broadcast order. And just being able to hear all the songs and comedy bits is awesome. I'm especially looking forward to hearing all of the "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem" songs.
The DVD set isn't loaded with extras, but it's got a "Fact Track" which has a lot of great info, although the graphic overlay sometimes interferes with the action and comedy on the screen (similar to the Back To The Future fact tracks). But the basic fact you get 24 episodes is well worth the money you spend on it (I got it for my birthday, although it retails at Wal-Mart for about 30 bucks), and I can't wait for the other seasons to come out on DVD (along with the season of "Fraggle Rock") If you are a Muppet Fan, or at least a Kermit fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up this set. The variety show is pretty much a dead art form, but the Muppet Show is a classic example of how it should be done.
The Core (2003)
Excruciatingly Predictable - Contains spoilers
Young scientist with crazy theory... check Cool looking ship... check Typecast acting... check Rehased plot... check
All systems go! The Core is a really good FX flick with some great one-liners and humor, but it's really predictable in it's plot.
My friends and I were saying lines before they happened, and even figured out that the ship would surface near Hawaii. We even guessed where they'd get the extra plutonium from (at least 10 minutes before it became a factor in the movie), and we were almost right on who died and in what sequence.
As for the acting, DJ Qualls did a better job portraying a kid that was suffering from the stress and overwhelimng fear of doom than ANY of the characters in the ship.
All in all a fun romp, but not very believable. 5/10
The Mole: Episode #3.1 (2003)
Well.. It's not the REAL Third Season
OK. Yes I watched the "Celebrity" Edition of the Mole.
Yes. I was as suprised as everyone else when the Mole was revealed.
But COME ON ABC! I loved watching the First and Second Seasons of The Mole, because it took a 9-13 weeks and gave us time to come to a decent hypothesis on who the Mole is. The viewers on the boards (and my friends) would debate who the mole was. But to give us a pathetic 5-6 weeks of shows as a filler is ridiculous. And to churn out a "Celebrity" Mole is like what you did with "Millionaire". If you keep it up, it gets stale.
If it ever repeats - watch it because it follows the play-style of the first two seasons. But at least give the loyal fans of the show a REAL Third Season with real people. Not Celebrities.
Sponk! (2001)
Welcome to "Whose Line is it Anyway? Junior"!
Sponk! (on Noggin) is basically Whose Line for Kids. Which is a good thing. Watching the show is fun, even though the show blatantly rips-off Whose Line with some of it's games (Helping Hands and Superheroes to name a couple). Only difference is instead of having writers thinking up the stuff, it's all submitted through Noggin's website by kids from all around. It's a very interesting spin on the improv comedy genre, and well worth watching with your kids. Heck, watch it when it's on anyways, It's a fantastic show.
K-PAX (2001)
It makes you think (unlike most of the stuff coming out of Hollywood)
I really enjoyed K-PAX. I went in expecting a sci-fi movie, but it's really a drama with sci-fi undertones.
Everyone in the comments are griping about the portrayal of mental patients, or the implausibility of an alien not knowing what a family is, or the fact that the ending gives no closure.
Hello! It's a movie! It's Hollywood, therefore screenwriters/directors/producers are GOING to take creative liberites with reality.
I found it extremely compelling. Throughout the movie, you don't really know if Prot is an alien. The movie explains that he sees ultra-violet, yet he has flashbacks (under hypnosis) about his life in New Mexico. Many people think that the screenwriters were runnign out of ideas. I think that they did it so that we need to draw our OWN conclusions about Prot.
But what I really want to know is... where did Bess go? :)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
One word sums this movie up.... Wow...
Unbelieveable. Simply unbelieveable.
Final Fantasy has shown us the REAL future of computer animation. Forget Shrek, forget Atlantis, even forget Toy Story. The animation in this movie surpasses everything that I was expecting from it. After about 20 mintues into the movie, my mind shift from thinking this was animation, to thinking that these were REAL actors.
Even the "camera movement" within scenes looked like it was actually filmed and not animated. The backgrounds were detailed beyond description. And there were time that I honestly thought "There is no way this could be computer animation". All I know is the rendering time for this movie must have taken years.
The only problem I really had was with the plot. The "New Age" concept is in full force in this movie, culminating with the emergence of Gaia, the eath spirit.
Other than that, Final Fantasy IS cutting edge cinema. If this is what can be produced in 2001, I can't wait to see what in store for us in the future.
X-Men (2000)
Why tear it apart due to "inconsistancies"?
I've been reading all the different comments about the X-Men movie.
Yes, It's not true to the comics. Yes, It's riddled with inconsistancies and goofs. Yes, The Beast wasn't there (Although I was a little disappointed with that ommision).
But if you look at the movie from a neutral view, I thought it was a fanastic movie. To take a movie and rip it apart because it isn't "true" to what has been laid before it for canonical reasons is ridiculous.
I went into the theater not expecting anything. Because if I did go in and started to compare the movie with the comics and the animated series, I feel I would have lost the whole point of the experience. The Special Effects are just that - special. No huge CG stuff (except for Mystique's shape changes), but the SFX we subtle, I actually did double takes on some of the scenes. Come on, didn't you kinda freak out when the girl walked through Professor Xavier's door? It's Visual Effects like that that make a lasting impression on movie-goers.
I have yet to see a movie that takes a book/TV Series, and does it justice on the big screen (with the exception of "Hunt for Red October"). But this movie comes awfully close.
The Mole (2001)
Who is the Mole? I can't wait to find out.
The Mole. Throughout history, moles have been used successfully to worm their way into empires, nations and dynasties... only to cause dissention, mistrust, and paranoia. What a great idea for a TV Series.
The hype that is "Survivor" is mixed with the format of MTV's "Road Rules". Take 10 strangers, 9 real contestants and 1 that is working for the producers. In the end, one person will win the money, one person will be "executed", and one will be unmasked as "The Mole".
I tuned into this fantastic series about 1/3 the way through, and I've been hooked. Every time I think I have the Mole figured out, That person gets executed. And it makes for great "reality TV". Unlike Survivor, where everyone is backstabbing each other, "The Mole" is sabotaging the "tests" and the other players know it. The amount of paranoia is great. Who can you trust, when the mole is out to get you?
A fantastic series, and I hope and pray It's picked up for another season.
Chicken Run (2000)
Now I know what Nick Parks has been workin' on!
I have been a fan of Nick Parks since I saw Wallace and Gromit in "The Wrong Trousers". I was watching "Road to El Dorado", when I though out loud to my friend, "I wonder what Nick Parks has been doing, I haven't seen a new Wallace and Gromit in a while."
Then, lo and behold, the "Chicken Run" Trailer came on!
Personally, I love this movie. I think it really show what a hand animator can do without the use of a lot of CG effects.
The story isn't timeless, but it's a fun romp. I love the scenes that borrow from some of the old movies, like "The Great Escape", "Stalag 17", and even "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
I've always loved animaton of all kinds, be it claymation or Japanese Animation. Chicken Run is possisbly one of the best, funniest, and well though out movies in animation history.
It's a definite must-see for animation, and Wallace and Gromit Fans alike.
Now... I wonder when the Wallace and Gromit movie will be out? :)