Reviews

I really liked this movie. Granted, it was not scary at all, so if you are looking for a horror movie, then DO NOT go see this one. But this movie does have Burton's creative imagery shining through every angle.

There isn't anything really spectacular about the acting, or the horror aspect of the film, but the direction is just amazing. Tim Burton does it again, what can I say. With Edward Scissorhands, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and now Sleepy Hollow, he has a nice bag of films under his belt that he should be very proud of.

Burton has the ability to be so creative in so many different ways that only a microscopic amount of directors can do. A perfect example is the animation in The Nightmare Before Christmas (if you haven't seen that yet, what are you waiting for!). That movie had so much imagery and imagination that it made the movie phenomenal.

Anyway, go see Sleepy Hollow, and if you're not looking to be scared, you will enjoy it. My grade: B

"The Matrix" was excellent. The action was awesome, the science fiction was awesome, the plot line was awesome, all of the twists and turns were awesome, and, hey, the acting wasn't all that bad either.

I'm not a big sci-fi fan. At all. So when I went to go see "The Matrix," I expected it to be nothing. Instead, it was more than the exact opposite. It was as far away from what I expected as you can get.

Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishborne, and Carrie-Anne Moss star in "The Matrix," which is about one man, Thomas Anderson (Reeves), or "Neo," who is trying to find the matrix. The matrix is the real world, the world we live in being nothing except that everyone is controlled. After Neo, with the help of Morpheous (Fishborne) and Trinity (Moss), discovers the truth, he must fight for survival to take control of his own life.

With all the plot twists in this movie, it easily keeps you interested. It keeps feeding you, and you want to know more and more. What also helps is most of the performances weren't all that bad (bravo Keanu Reeves). The only problem I had with this movie were the Agents and their sllllloooooowwwww talking.

Besides that one flaw, "The Matrix" is a must see movie. If you were unfortunate enough to miss it in theaters, go rent it or buy it (it's worth it) when it comes out on video or if you have DVD. My grade: A-

I saw "Stir of Echoes" today, the second day it was out in wide release. When I first saw the previews for it, I thought it looked...interesting, so I decided to go see it. It turned out to be much better than I had expected.

"Stir of Echoes," written and directed by David Koepp, tells the story of a man who goes under hypnosis during a party in his neighborhood. The effect that it had on him no one had suspected. He starts to see visions, always very, very creepy and always having to do with the same teenage girl. After he is led by some clues, he tries to figure out what happened to a missing teenage girl in his neighborhood, the same girl in his "visions."

Now, I am sure most of you all know why I would relate this to "The Sixth Sense," as many people have. It talks about a man, and his boy, who can both see ghost(s). The ghost(s) that they can see only a small percent of people can.

Now, I know everyone is wondering why I would say this film, in a way, reminded me of "Pulp Fiction." It isn't as drastic a reason as you would think. Throughout all of "Stir of Echoes," when Kevin Bacon would get all of these "visions," you just saw different things that you thought were just trying to creep the h-ll out of you, and they still did. Also, different things happened. At the end, it turned out that there was a reason for all of the weird visions to make sense, and when some people said something and you didn't have a clue what they were talking about, it turns out to all come together, somewhat reminiscent of "Pulp Fiction," where the same thing happened different times. Another movie like that would be "Go," which I recommend.

Kevin Bacon gave one of the strongest performances of his career. He was very believable at being haunted by all that was happening to him. Go see this movie, it is very interesting, strange, and different. All the more intriguing. My grade: B+

With the success of "Scream," "Scream 2," and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," which are all movies that I really liked, I really wanted to go out and see "The Faculty." I expected it to be just as good, if not better, than the previous Kevin Williamson scripted films I had seen before. Thankfully, he did not disappoint.

This film tells the tale of six totally different high school kids, the new student, the football quarterback and the cheerleader, the class geek, the school druggy, and the school loner. However, this six students come together after realizing that the Faculty have become extra-terrestrial and are taking over the student body.

This film had an excellent teenage cast: Josh Hartnett (Halloween:H20), Elijah Wood (Deep Impact which was bad), Shawn Hatosey (Outside Providence), Clea DuVall (Can't Hardly Wait), Jordana Brewster ("The 60's TV miniseries), and with the star likes of Selma Hayak, Jon Stewert, and Piper Laurie, you couldn't go wrong with this movie. The film was scripted by the now infamous Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2, I Know What You Did Last Summer, TV's "Dawson's Creek") and directed by Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn). With such a great cast and crew as that, how could you go wrong?

Everybody, do yourself a favor and go out and see this movie. It's not serious or Oscar-worthy, but for purely entertaining purposes, this deserves an Academy Award. Rent it or buy it. My grade: A-

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is an entertaining movie. Sure, the plot may be a little dull and sometimes predictable, but for purely entertaining purposes, it is a fairly good movie.

I Still Know takes place after 4 teens accidentally hit a man in the middle of the night on the road, then he comes back seeking revenge. The two remaining survivors, Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) return to star in this sequel, along with stars Brandy and Mekhi Pfifer. Julie and friends (except for Ray) go to the Bahamas for a vacationing weekend, and reunite with the hook-wielding maniac.

Even though I enjoyed this movie, still one of the best things going for it was, like many other people have said, Jennifer Love Hewitt's breasts. Wow those are incredible!! Thank you Jennifer, you are truly one of God's greatest gifts.

There were definitely plot holes in this script, and some was predictable, but I thought this movie was entertaining. Definitely not as good as the original, but worth seeing. My grade: B-

This movie was great. I loved Scott B. Smith's book, and I thought he made an excellent screenplay out of it that deserved its Academy Award Nomination. I have loved Sam Raimi's directing style dating all the way back to The Evil Dead. Billy Bob Thornton was superb as Jacob, the brother. I think it is pathetic that James Coburn beat him out for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in affliction. I saw both movies, and thought Billy Bob Thornton was by far the better actor. I also thought that Raimi deserved a nod for his directing style, and Bill Paxton should have also gotten a nod, but the tough competition this year put him out.

This thriller tells the tale of three men, Hank (Paxton), his brother Jacob (Thornton), and Jacob's friend (Brent Briscoe, who also gave a credited performance), who find $4.4 million dollars in a downed plane. It is the American dream in a duffel bag. They decide to hold on to the money until spring, and then if there are no reports of a missing plane or missing money, they will separate the cash three ways, and then go their own separate ways. However greed leads to problems, problems lead to catastrophe, catastrophe leads to murder.

All of the acting in this film was some of the best of 1998. However, I feel easily the performance that stood out in this movie was Billy Bob Thornton and his role as Jacob. It was somewhat familiar to his role as Karl in "Sling Blade," a performance he acted out very well. I still think he deserved an Academy Award for his performance. He was robbed.

You can see this films somewhat reminiscent and fimiliar to "Fargo" and "MacBeth." All three were good movies, and you should go out and see them all.

I think "A Simple Plan" was robbed by the Academy. The two nominations it did get, for Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, it more than deserved. I also think it deserved a Best Actor nod for Bill Paxton, a Best Director nod for Sam Raimi, and maybe even a Best Picture nod (who needs "Elizabeth?"). But whatever you do, go see this movie. My grade: A

Warning: Plot Details in this Review!

Scream 2 was excellent! With the return of writer Kevin Williamson, director Wes Craven, and cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Liev Schrieber, you could not go wrong with this movie. And, with the additions of the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jerry O'Connell, and Jada Pinkett, what's not to love, huh? What's not to love?

Anyway, this movie takes place after the murders of Woodsboro. The killers, Billy and Stu, were brought to justice after killing several people in the small town. Now, Sidney and the surviving and additional kids have gone off to college, hoping for a new start. However, that dream quickly fades away after two of her college classmates are murdered in a movie theater (Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps). After that, the new killers attack Billy and Stu's former targets in hope for redemption.

I thought this was an excellent movie. In Scream 3, I have heard that Wes Craven has come back once again (yes!) to direct the final chapter in the trilogy, but Kevin Williamson is not on full duty for writing the script. For this, I should be very disappointed, but the writer taking his place is Ehren Kruger, who also wrote Arlington Road, a very very good movie. So I don't know how this will turn out, but my expectations are very high. Go see all of them. My grade: A

Warning: This Review Contains Plot Material

I really liked this movie a lot. A lot of the scenes were great (including the now infamous Jason Biggs and the Pie scene), and the acting was hilarious and excellent.

I thought the two strongest characters who really made this movie extremely entertaining were Eugene Levy and Alyson Hannigan, and I don't think many people disagree with me there. Eugene Levy, playing Jason Biggs' father, was just downright hilarious as usual. Seeing someone like Eugene giving a sex-ed role like he did was just so funny. Like when he saw the condoms in his sons room, or the opening scene (I still laugh thinking about this) when he walks in on his son....I just can't get enough of how funny Eugene Levy was in that movie.

The same goes true for Alyson Hannigan. Seeing her play the "geek" (no offense) on TV's Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, a show that I love, and then seeing her change of character in this movie is hilarious. At first, you see her pretty much resembling her dorky character in Buffy, but then she suddenly changes, and she becomes a totally different person. It has to be one of the funniest things I have seen on the silver screen in a long time.

I really liked this movie, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to be purely entertained, because this is what American Pie does, and in a very big way. Go see this movie soon. My grade: A-

Warning: Plot Discription in the following review!

8MM talks about a detective, Tom Wells, who goes underground into the world of pornography to discover the truth on whether a snuff film where a girl was murdered is real. After being haunted by what he discovers, he must bring the creators of the snuff film to justice and hope for the whole experience to become a distant memory.

This movie was very different. I must give it some credit on its originality, however. I feel though, that, because of the constant discussion on the world of pornography, this film should have been rated NC-17.

Nicholas Cage's character, Tom Wells, lives a fairly distant and private life. I came to the conclusion that he likes to keep to himself a lot, and this hurts the relationship between him and his wife. He is always very focused on his work, and that always seems to come first over everything else.

This was a different film that wasn't particularly into my interests. It became slow and sometimes boring at parts. Nicholas Cage gave a steady performance, definitely not the best of his career, however. Face/Off and Leaving Las Vegas portray his skills as an action, dramatic and romantic actor very well. My grade: C

Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace is the first of 6 Star Wars movies. We have already seen A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back (the best out of all of them), and Return of the Jedi, Episodes 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The problem with Episode 1 is that it was more geared towards kids. We can all thank this to the very very annoying Jar Jar Binks. No matter how big a Star Wars fan you are, no one can like Jar Jar Binks. It is just that simple.

Another problem with Episode 1 is Anakin Skywalker, or Jake Lloyd. I know everyone should give the kid a break; after all, he is a kid, but he just downright sucked. He couldn't even act when he was cheering! That was a horrible casting job by Lucas and everyone else behind Episode 1.

There were some strong points to this movie also. A few to be named is the scenery in the movie, which was just absolutely spectacular. Also, Darth Maul. He was awesome, especially in the final showdown between him, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon Jinn. Also, Natalie Portman, who portrayed Queen Amidala, was very good in her role as the 14-year old Queen.

Not a great movie at all, but definitely worth a look, especially if you liked Episodes 4, 5, and 6. My grade: B-

I loved this movie. It is that simple. I have been a fan of South Park since they first aired the "Jesus vs. Santa Clause" skit. I think the show is incredible, and I am also a big fan of the movie "BASEketball." I think that "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" is a terrific movie that challenges several things. While everyone and everything is made fun of in this movie, from Christians to Jews to Homosexuals to Canadians to Satan to Winona Ryder, this movie also brings out an important message: the right to freedom of speech. While I don't know if the ingenious creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, meant to do this, or if they just wanted to get away with as many things as possible, or if their only reason was to flick off the MPAA, I have no idea. What I do think however, was it was all three of those. Sure Parker and Stone have expressed their dislike for the MPAA, and they have a right to after being smacked with an NC-17 rating for "Orgazmo," their previous movie attempt before "South Park." But they also created with this movie a very offensive, yet hilarious opinion on freedom of speech in America. And who can't love this movie anyway? Sure, every single viewer of this movie is made fun of one way or another, sometimes more than once, but who can't love the American Army going to war with Canada, and their creative language of mixing sex terms with various other nouns? For example: "You donkey-r*ping sh*t-eater." C'mon, that is just downright hilarious. Plus, this was an excellent musical. From the Terrance and Phillip movie's number one hit, "Uncle F**ka," to Satan singing "Up There," or Saddamm claiming "I Can Change?" I own the soundtrack, have seen the movie twice, and I cannot get enough of it. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie as soon as possible. If you missed it at the theater, wait till video, but you have to see it. My grade: A

This was a hilarious movie, and an excellent directing debut for Mike Judge, who is behind MTV's Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill. This movie talks about a few friends and coworkers who try to bring their company, Initech, down because of the unfair employment and downsizing that is taking place. With great characters in the movie, from the main character, Ron Livingston, to his next door neighbor, to Michael Bolton (that's the character's name, not the singer. He was the funniest character in the movie!). I think one of the funniest scenes was when they take the copying machine out into plain grass, and the three guys have baseball bats with them, and Mike Judge has the film going in slow motion, almost like there is going to be a showdown between the Initech workers and the corrupt copying machine. This movie was hilarious, and I'll see anything that has Jennifer Aniston in it (call me). I liked Ron Livingston with his work in Swingers (which was also a very funny movie), so I was familiar with the type of character he could play. Although I am not a huge fan of Beavis and Butthead or King of the Hill for that matter, I still thought this was one good time at the theater that was worth the price of admission (and go buy it on DVD, it came out today)! My grade: A-

Do you know what this movie was? It was GARBAGE!! Matthew Broderick, man, what happened? You never were the greatest actor, but everyone could always rely on Ferris Bueller!! Now you just ruined it! I respected your Ferris Bueller's Day Off! That was a great movie! This was horrible! Ok, enough of Matthew Broderick bashing. It wasn't just his fault in this movie. It was everyone who had any relation to this picture. The effects were good, but the acting was horrible, the fact that it was constantly raining was horrible because you didn't get to see anything, the direction overall was horrible, the dialogue and every other part of the script was horrible, Godzilla was horrible, the acting was horrible, the acting was horrible...man, I can't get over how horrible the acting was. This was just a really really bad movie. I was one of many people who were suckered in to wasting good money on this. If you haven't seen this movie yet, good for you. You are lucky you didn't waste money for a ticket on this. Don't rent it, definitely don't buy it, stay as far away from Godzilla as possible, it is EVIL. My grade: F

Some people may think this is just another typical slasher flick. I disagree, and I'm sure lots of people feel the same way. First off, when "Scream" came out in 1996. it started off mild at the box office. When more and more things were said about this movie, it became better and better and had big success. After this movie, several teen slasher films came out as copycats of the film. I am a huge fan of Kevin Williamson as well. I have seen "Scream," "Scream 2," "The Faculty," "I Know What You Did Last Summer," "Halloween H20" (which he helped with the script but was not credited), "Teaching Mrs. Tingle" (which, in my opinion, was his worst film), and TV's "Dawson's Creek," but I have stopped watching that because me and Kevin both feel the same way: the show has become too "mushy." He is starting a new tv series called "Wasteland" which you can be guaranteed I will tune into. Anyway, back to "Scream." This film was entertaining from start to finish, and the fact that Wes Craven directed it also helped as well. He is as creative a horror director there ever was. This was the first well known horror film of the 90's, and it helped revive the genre in a HUGE way. Its creativeness in the sense that people were having the movies get to their head, and the killers were two of the main characters (don't worry, if you are one of the few people who have not seen this, I won't tell you who they are), was excellent. This is a great, somewhat classic, horror film that should be in anyone's library. Also, go see the sequel (it is just as good, if not better) and watch out for when Scream 3 comes out Dec. 10, it is sure to complete the already incredible trilogy in a huge way. My grade: A

The Sixth Sense is definitely the breakout movie of the year. It has stayed at number 1 four straight weeks at the box office (staying above the $20 million mark each time), has an excellent plot with a superb twist at the end, gives some Oscar-worthy performances, and the whole concept of it freaks the h-ll out of me. So, where should I begin? First things first: Who here agrees with me that Haley Joel Osment should get at least an Oscar nod for his spectacular role as playing nine year old Cole Sear, the troubled child who could see ghosts? I think several people could agree with me on that (including Entertainment Weekly, no doubt). I also think Bruce Willis gave the performance of his career as the child psychologist trying to recuperate from a past incident with another patient he couldn't cure, and is trying to fix his mistake through Cole. I also give M. Night Shyamalan all the credit in the world for writing AND directing this masterpiece of the movie. Going in, I expected your average movie: not good, but not bad either. I came out blown away by the surprise ending, the acting, the direction, the writing, the ghosts, just everything. One of my top picks for the year by far. My grade: A

Ok, this movie had great cinematography, and the scenery was excellent, but all this movie was was a big pile of gore and dead bodies. Now, don't get me wrong, I love that stuff, but an actual MOVIE would be nice to go along with it (ie Braveheart). Every piece of acting in this movie was horrific, including Antonio Banderas. The worst part about this movie was the fact that there were so many holes left in the plot after the movie. Right after Banderas found out he was "The Thirteenth Warrior," in the next scene you see him going out with the other twelve warriors, not even questioning a thing! This is definitely one movie that falls dead. If you are looking for a nice gory movie with an actual plot inside it as well, go rent Braveheart. If you already own it, you've made a wise decision. Don't waste your money on The Thirteenth Warrior. My grade: D

After I watched this movie, I could only say one thing: wow. I think that this is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen in my life. Not only did Edward Norton deserve by far that Academy Award nod for this movie, I am surprised that Edward Furlong, who played Danny, Derek's (Norton) younger brother, didn't get a nomination as well. I am also dissapointed in the Academy for not putting this down as a contender for Best Picture of the year. I have seen all five of the nominees for this past year, and sure I agree with Life Is Beautiful, The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, and even Shakespeare in Love, but American History X could have easily taken the place of Elizabeth. This movie was great. The ending was sad, the acting was more-than-phenomenal, the direction was excellent, all of the scenes were gripping (especially when Derek was being arrested after killing a black man. I still get chills down my spine when I think of that scene, with him smiling and then noticing his younger brother, and suddenly his whole facial expression changes in an instant). I own this movie on DVD, and I've seen it three times. Even my mom, who doesn't like any movies, watched this and was stunned. She's seen it twice. This is a great example of cinematic masterpiece that everyone should watch at least once. My grade: A+

If there was such a thing as a perfect film, this would be it. This 1995 Academy Award Winning film had everything any film lover could ask for: action, adventure, drama, romance........even a little speck of comedy here and there. Mel Gibson didn't an excellent job of directing this movie and playing the hero, William Wallace. This extremely violent tale tells the story of the wars between the English and the Scottish. After one Scottish man (guess who? Yes, Mr. Wallace) has had enough and decides to fight back, his wife is murdered. Seeking revenge, he starts an army to fight against their enemies and lead a nation. I could not praise this movie enough. I admit that I like violence, and this had that. It was a very graphic movie that showed beheadings and all sorts of barbaric violence. You fell in love with all of the characters, especially William Wallace. I have never seen a better movie that tells the tale of such a heroic person like William Wallace. In the scene where he is riding back and forth on his horse, dressed in blue paint, talking to all of the Scottish people ready to leave, announcing that he is William Wallace.........you can't help but be proud of him. Go see this movie. My grade: A

I am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock. I have seen all of his movies, and think all of them are excellent. This one, however, is at the top of the food chain. Psycho is brilliant. Hitchcock gave this film excellent direction, and the acting was superb. Especially Anthony Perkins playing the role of Norman Bates. He always talked so fast, like he was nervous and anxious all the time. When he talked to Marion Crane about his mother, it gave me chills down my spine. "She just...she just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes." At that era, I don't think a better person could have delivered that line than Anthony Perkins. What makes this movie so great is its originality. Sure, there have been lots of films about "psychos," but this is pretty much the first one. The script was excellent, the acting was excellent, the direction was excellent, the cinematography was excellent, the music was excellent, the scenery was incredible, especially that dark old house where "Mother" lived. I could just go on and on about what a great movie this is. My grade: A+