Grosse Pointe Blank:I really like this movie, I can't really explain why exactly, it offers some relief from the standard Assassin-based plot. John Cusak is an assassin called (something)Blank and he is supposedly very good at what he does. This does not make him a nasty man however, he is still nice, he just has was he calls "a certain moral flexibility". After being harrassed by his secretary for several days he finally decides to attend his high school reunion at Grosse Pointe as he has a job (a hit) to do near there anyway. Problems arise when he meets up with his old shcool sweetheart whom he stood up on prom night and hasn't seen or heard from since. The plot is dealt with in a thoroughly original and highly entertaining and amusing manner. Definitely worth hiring (still a new release)# # # #
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The Devil's Advocate:A nice little tale about good resisting temptation. Perhaps not a highly original concept but it still makes for a damn good movie. Keanu Reeves plays the hot-shot defense attorney who has never lost a case, even when he has known his clients to be guilty of awful crimes. He is approached by a HUGE lawfirm company thingy supposedly because of his great reputation but of course there is more to it than that. His new job pays well but he is nudged into temptation constantly by his big-wig boss, Al Pacino- who is also much more than he seems. It takes Keanu a while to realise that his wife has been going mad with neglect and fear of what she can see. An entertaining film, with some very good moments and an excellent conclusion. Ignore the R rating, it's completely unnecessary.# # # #
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Death and the Maiden:Just to prove that I don't like every movie that I see I thought I should also write about some that I don't like much. Death and the Maiden is about some woman who was tortured in her past and one rainy night a stranger who gives her husband a lift home shows up on her doorstep and she's convinced it was one of her torturers from years ago. She then decides to take her revenge but is unsure how to go about it. This is basically the entire storyline, and though in some ways it may be realistic it really does fail to entertain. Sigourney Weaver plays this slightly crazed character quite well but the plot is not strong enough to work. Unfortunately this is just one of those movies which drags on and on. If your looking for something heavy and weighted with deep meaning by all means go ahead a rent the video but is it's entertainment you're after, find something else. #
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Murder at 1600:What the hell is 1600? The address of the Whitehouse of course! In many ways this is the standard good-guy bad-guy plot, this doesn't mean that it's not a good movie though. Wesley Snipes is (of course) the good cop who runs into trouble while trying to investigate a murder in the whitehouse. It seems that the whitehouse is it's own country and has it's own rules which are not necessarily the same as those of the rest of America. People are obviously trying to cover things up but there is nothing really that poor Wesley can do about it as he has not the authority. Luckily (hah!) for him his badgering of a secret service woman has provoked her to assist him and together they struggle against the odds to save the President from the baddies who are forcing him to resign. The Baddies get killed and the good guys win (oh dear! I hope I didn't spoil the ending for anyone...) Not bad, but light entertainment, good for a rainy day.# # #
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Mrs. Winterbourne:Interesting to see Ricki Lake acting, she's really not that bad. This movie is alarmingly similar to "While You Were Sleeping" but I think that they came out at about the same time so I don't know who copied who. This movie is actually a little bit better than WYWS plot-wise, more happens and it is more interesting but is a little bit more fictional than WYWS. Connie (Ricki) is pregnant and has nowhere to go, boyfriend dumped her when he found out she was pregnant (bastard!). She catches a train which subsequently crashes, killing Mr&Mrs. Winterbourne(who was also pregnant) Anyway, Connie gets mistaken for Mrs. Winterbourne and protests a lot at first before finally accepting it. Her life becomes complicated when her ex-boyfriend discovers her new position (the Winterbournes are mega-rich)and decides he wants something from her, and also when her supposed brother-in-law asks her to marry him (although surprisingly the whole family seems to support this match) Good enough for me.# # #
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Clerks:Hard to sit through with only a few good points. In so many ways this film is too arty, too obscure to be watched as a movie and actually understood. EXTREMELY crude and very odd, the plot is majorly non-existent. A clerk at a convenience store is worried about his relationship with his girlfriend when he discovers that she has "gone down" on numerous men, many of which he himself knows. He is bothered constantly by a fellow clerk of the video store across the road which is never open because the clerk is always visiting the convenience store. I'm sure that this film has some deep meaning but I couldn't see it when I watched it. One good thing is that is was the first in a trilogy of sorts, of which the next two(listed below) were outstanding. If you're a fan of this trilogy perhaps you can be bothered watching this, if not, I can assure you it will not be what you expect and you'll be left restless and confused. #
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Mall Rats:Very, very funny, without being tacky, vastly different from clerks. Basically about 2 best friends who go to hang out at the mall for a day and get themselves into a number of odd situations. 2 Mall regulars, Jay and Silent Bob (who appear throughout all three of these movies) are hysterically humorous and it is almost worth seeing the movie just for them. A number of different threads of the story all come together neatly at the end. One of the funniest movies I've ever seen.# # # # #
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Chasing Amy:At times mildly crude but generally amusing. This movie is about a guy (Ben Affleck before anybody knew who he was)who writes comic books and who falls in love with a lesbian, and the lesbian gradually realises that she is in love with him and betrays her friends by turning out straight. Ben's friend finds that he has a really big problem with Ben's relationship with this girl and Ben decides that his friend is secretly in love with him, and confronts him with this theory. Very interesting, highly entertaining, you must see this movie!!!# # # # #
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Fallen:Good, good, i think it is a slightly original idea but I'm no authority. You'll love Denzel Washington, how can you not?>he is just so damn suave. Everyone should really know by now what this movie is about but I'm sure some don't so here i go...A bad/evil/murderer dude is gassed but his bad/evil characteristics are actually due to the evil angel Azezel who inhabits his body. Azezel can transport himself into other ppl by touching them, he cannot survive unless he is inside the body of a person. Anyway, this evil angel manages to leave the bad dude's body before he is executed and predictably, bad things ensue. It is a mystery to us all how the hell Denzel expects to defeat this evil angel who has it in for him, but like all men he stubbornly believes he can do something. I have no problem with the acting and I enjoyed the story as much as I expected to, although I didn't like the ending(they pull a nasty twist...) # # #
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Can't Hardly Wait: I don't know about you, but there is just something about that title that is very good...Typical American/teenage/teenybopper/Hollywood bullshit do I hear you say? I suppose that you're probably right, but what's wrong with that once in a while? Don't be put off by the fact that it has Jennifer Love-Hewitt in it (and I should tell you now, no she does not pull her hair back the entire night, i found that very annoying)It is a sweet story although I concede that it ignores most ppl's scope of realism (I mean JLH doesn't even know who Preston is...)My main motivation for seeing it was Ethan Embry, that gorgeous sweetie from "Empire Records" who plays Preston, an adorable guy with good intentions. I did like this movie but as I write about it now I realise that it may not have been as good as I thought it was... anybody older than about 18 certainly would find it hard to relate to. EE makes it worthwhile (if you're a guy you probably wouldn't agree)Still, I thought it was fun although I feel I can only give it # # 1/2
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Empire Records: One of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. Not a murder mystery or an action flick but something much better. It is great (my English teacher advises me not to use that word) to see how the ppl working at this record store interact and the various quirks in their characters and the odd things that they get up to. Liv Tyler plays some girl who is obsessed with this really daggy singer who is going to be making an appearance at the record store later in the day; JC (or some such stupid initial name)is the beautiful boy that Liv manages to not notice is crazy about her; the girl from "the Craft"(I can't remember her name) is a troubled soul who has many problems; some other guy (I saw it a while ago okay? I can't remember) does something strange and gets himself into trouble with the manager guy; Ethan Embry is a cutie; the manager is nice but also just a tad psychopathic; and a would-be shoplifter is amusing in his punishment. All of the characters come together to prevent their humble record store from being taken over by a huge conglomerate mainstream (and thus crappy) music company thing. Excellent, excellent, if you don't agree I think there must be something wrong with you...:>) # # # # 1/2
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The Truman Show: My one an only hesitation in seeing this movie was the role of Jim Carrey, but it didn't stop me for long. All the ads and talk had worked their manipulative magic on me and by the time it came out i was dying to see it. It was good. Nice little story, new idea... a neat to the point of surreal (which in fact it pretty much is) town where there lives one of those awfully stereotypical vest-over-shirt wearing men to whom everything in life is simple, happy, and terribly repetitive. Very 1960's American life almost (by life of course i mean the type of life portrayed on tv...)or maybe i mean 1950's...whatever...(there are no hippies). This boring-ish man is Truman and his squeaky clean, repetitive, clichéd life is the world's highest rating tv show, only he doesn't know it... Every move he makes is watched by an immense network of something like 5000 video cameras, everyone in his entire hometown are actors....strangely enough one day he gets the feeling that someone is watching him, brought on mainly by something a rebellious actress once said to him. Truman makes up his mind to get out of town, but is not aware of the fact that the entire world as he knows it (for he has never left his town)is but a giant production studio, encompassed in a dome. This film actually has something to say, i suppose about the desensitisation of society, of the growing and fearful power of television, of the basic flaw in human nature that is capable of going along with something as cruel as the adoption of a baby by a corporation for the purpose of entertainment... Poor Truman's entire life is nothing but a lie; his best friend, his wife, his parents are all actors sprouting the lines they have been told to in order to create good television viewing.VERY good, VERY thought provoking, entertaining also.# # # #
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Hype:A movie that is really a documentary but with it's subject of such popular focus that it even made it to the cinemas. The Seattle "scene" and the poor musicians who are the "scene" despising the label, the attention, the intrusion and who are more than willing to poke fun at the whole thing. It does come across as a little ingenuine in some places, i mean the prevailing attitude "we were only in it for the MUSIC (man) we didn't want any of this fame shit (or the money...) these people attacked us...we had no choice (we're innocent!!!, helpless)" But overall it gives a good coverage to a lot of the little bands who all have their own perspectives regarding the "scene". It succeeds in making the audience feel guilty about any preconceived perceptions that they were already in possession of, as well as turning the explosion of the "scene" into a historical event, comparable to San Francisco in the 70's and the birth of rock even earlier. An honest but very one-sided approach to the topic, fairly structured and not overly long. I would have found it more interesting if they had somehow managed to mention the Pumpkins even though they are from Chicago... # # #
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The Wedding Singer: A lovely film, a not too mushy romance, a neat little plot. Only two things that bothered me 1. Drew Barrymore's voice and stupid facial expression whilst talking (too cute and innocent), and also Adam's Sandler's voice and stupid facial expression whilst talking (a left over from his days as the village idiot of mediocre films). 2. The ending (but i won't say anything more about that)Brief plot summary: Adam is a wedding singer who is engaged to this daggy witch of a woman whom he loves and is really excited about marrying her because he has waited his whole life to be married (sentimental fool?) He meets a sweet girl called Julia who has recently started waitressing at weddings, which makes her depressed because it reminds her that her fiancé may never set a date to be married (her fiancé is a shithead) Adam's (can't remember character name) fiancé leaves him at the alter --> he is crushed--> has a nervous breakdown type-thing. MEANWHILE Julia has managed to get her fiance to set a date(but he won't help with the details) and is concerned about Adam;s mental health. To deal with both situations at once she enlists Adam's expertise to assist her preparations for the wedding -->they fall in love -->encounter a series of obstacles--> the end. Well done, I recommend it highly # # # #
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Wild Things: This moving pulls more twists and turns than [insert a metaphor] I can't say too much about it without giving the whole plot away so I'll just vaguely outline what it initially looks to be. A meg-rich popular high school girl has a crush on a young male teacher. She tries to charm him in some very obvious ways. He is wary of her and tries not to let her get him alone. One day she manages to get him alone and tries to make her move only to be rebuffed. She gets angry and goes off crying to her mummy that he raped her... I was very pleased to find that the audience is deliberately kept guessing as this movie is pleasantly devoid of that tedious technique of "dramatic irony" which I never found particularly ironic myself... this is a really entertaining movie. Watch out for the ending; be sure not to rewind until the final credits roll. # # # #
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Sliding Doors: An interesting little idea which explores the world of the "What if?" and "if only...". What if Helen didn't miss the train and subsequently got home in time to discover her boyfriend in bed with another woman? Well, her life would be entirely different of course, maybe she would find herself a better man and a better job... But she did miss the train and never discovered her boyfriend cheating, not that she doesn't have her suspicions. The life of the "what if?" seems infinitely more promising than the reality but in both lives there are definite parallels. The ending, I suppose, is meant to reinforce the idea that everything happens for the best...fate and all that. Bonus points for concept.
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Ever After: Wonderful! But then I must admit I am a female. A much nicer and more realistic version of the tale of Cinderella. At last a role where Drew Barrymore's voice and stupid facial expression whilst talking are an asset to her. I can't really seem to think of anything else to say about it except that it really is very good. I mean, everybody knows the story of Cinderella. Right? About the only thing that is carried through in this film is the glass slipper. The period piece factor is mildly interesting and the love story is well done, the abusive family is toned down from the story book but are still nasty... I suggest that you go and see this now!
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Cube:As my beloved "filmink" describes it- "freaky Canadian sci-fi flick about a bunch of citizens stuck in a cubic structure with no way to get out" Yes, very much so, except that these citizens are not random, they have been carefully selected to suit a purpose ie. each in their own way can assist in escaping from the cube. The "cube" is actually made up of lots of smaller cubes with door things on each side. some cubes are booby trapped, and there are some lovely graphic scenes depicting some gruesome deaths. Certainly i was worried that this premise was not enough to prop up an entire movie's worth...(perhaps it wasn't) there are about 5 characters and they are stuck in this bare cubic structure--so what? I imagine that it was intended more as an examination of the human organism [or some such blah] but it disturbed me slightly [maybe guys enjoy it more] Some good observations but the plot begins to fall to pieces towards the end, and the fact that no answers or explanations are offered is irritating, boy was i dissatisfied with that ending! Anyway, it wasn't bad but no one would never make the mistake of calling it "entertainment"--perhaps it wasn't meant to be...# # 1/2
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The Birdcage:Yes, the remake. I was disappointed, i had been told that it was so good..blah blah... A gay man runs a drag club thingy and lives with one of his main stars (some guy who would like to be a woman) and one day his son (obviously the result of an ill-fated affair with a woman) informs him that he is getting married. I expect that they were hoping the boy would turn out gay...anyway everyone gets a bit upset, especially since the girl he is planning on marrying is the daughter of one of America’s most outspoken right wing conservative senators who would really hate the bad press. So the daughter lies about her fiancé’s parents (ie. does not say "daddy his mommy and daddy are both men and they own a drag club...") Anyway, they pretend to be something they're not for the sake of the boy and it is almost painfully boring to watch, in fact the whole movie was decidedly tedious, nothing happened and what did happen was so far removed from interesting i had trouble staying awake. on top of this the characters were irritating. see it if you like...# 1/2
The Rugrats Movie:It was so funny! as a devoted rugrats fan however i am very likely to have a biased view, but how can anyone not find this bunch cute? All of the babies + angelica keep us amused with their twisted interpretations of what adults say (and therefore mean). They are completely innocent and so so easily corrupted by angelica's lies (she tells them spike used to be a baby until tommy was born and his parents put him out in the backyard and he turned into a dog) but they only ever want to do good, in contrast with angelicas need to do bad... ah the many layers of rugrats! The plot: Tommy's mother has another baby, a boy called Dylan (dill pickles, get it? ha!) angelica tries to tell the babies that this is a bad thing, but phil and lil already agree with her, the baby never stops crying and looks to be another angelica in the making, lil tries to take dill back to the baby store to get tommy's money back… this leads to a rather frightening outdoor adventure where eventually tommy and his brother are able to bond, _ah_ how sweet… packed full of hilarious one-liners and idiotic actions the rugrats is definitely a wonderful movie for all ages (even though the cinema was full of little kids when I saw it…) # # # #
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Varsity Blues:Yes i actually saw this movie. Please don't judge me. I was bored. There was nothing on TV. I didn't feel like studying. yes i agree there certainly is something funny about that James Van-der-beak's (give me a break as if i should know how to spell it)head. Something with the eyes. Well I saw it a while ago. What is it about exactly? Those good 'ol American teenage heroes (football players) James is more of a bench warmer than a quaterback but when the god-like starring quaterback falls from his throne James is the replacement God. This whole God business (I would hope) is a bit far fetched, I mean these boys are worshipped! Even the police grudgingly admit that they are above the law, I think I remember that the quaterback has like this billboard poster erected in his honour and everything...The coach is a bastard who pushes the boys too hard and doesn't give a shit about their health (I mean, they live, hell they _exist_ to play football) James does that big hero thing that we all expect and along the way fights back the groupies who now love him 'cos he's a God, to stay faithful to his girlfriend who also happens to be the ex-starring-quaterback's little sister...At least this film doesn't pretend to be something it's not, it's teen angst, courage, romance etc etc...I just hope to God(the one who doesn't play football) that it is not an accurate depiction of American teenagers, 'cos if it is I pity them # #
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Notting Hill: Ahh this is a sweet movie. A superstar walks into a humble man's bookstore, the kind of encounter we all imagine at times (come on Billy Corgan! I'm waiting) realistically she just wants to buy the book and get out of there. Later that day however the 2 bump into each other again, Hugh spilling orange juice all over Julia (sorry, can't remember character names) conveniently Julia changes her clothes at Hugh's house (which is just across the road) but once again she really just wants to get out of there, refusing Hugh's bumbling offers for apricots in honey. At the door she kisses him on impulse. A few days later she calls him, looking for some entertainment (or something) anyway, they seem to get along very well and I love the thought of such a superstar turning up at a family birthday party, how can you not? We come to learn that being a star is not as good as it looks and feel some sympathy for the real person behind the superstar. There are obstcales to the romance (aren't there always?) mainly caused by the ordinary/famous difference and I admit to a very touching scene (the "I'm just a girl … standing in front of a boy asking him to love me") that was nice. One fault would have to be that there is no apparent cause for Hugh's affection towards Julia, I think that he just loves the idea of her, what she is, but what do I know? I like the stylised finish. # # # #
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