Movie Reviews

[Wyvern]

I saw two films on DVD recently: "Mystic River" and "The Cooler."

 

"Mystic River" was an excellent movie that probably ranks amongst the best films of 2003 in my book, and I highly recommend checking it out. The film was put together very realistically and has superb acting throughout it, including exceptional performances from Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon. The mystery of the film is intriguing, the drama is riveting, and the entire thing maintains a certain level of realism throughout it. Highly recommended.

 

"The Cooler," on the other hand, was an average Hollywood Casino/Gambling/Romance story that never really grabbed my attention, despite a great performance from Alec Baldwin as the head of the casino. The film bled cliches and dealt with themes very bluntly... it's mostly skippable.

[Wyvern]

I celebrated this fourth of July by seeing Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" in theatres, as I thought it would be a patriotic thing to do. ;-) It was a really excellent film that made me laugh, cry, and seriously think, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Hopefully, the movie will have some influence on the upcoming election and motivate people who would otherwise remain neutral to vote, since it's been doing extremely well in theatres and has a definite political focus. Highlights of the film for me include a segment in which Moore attempts to get U.S senators to enlist their children in the army, and Bush's reactions directly after being informed of the attacks of September 11th (which I won't spoil here). Fans of "Bowling for Columbine" will not be disappointed with "Fahrenheit," and even those who didn't care for the former film might find "Fahrenheit" more interesting due to its strong political focus.

 

I also saw what many consider one of the greatest spaghetti westerns of all time, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," on DVD recently. I thought that it was a decent film, but far from the classic that some have cracked it up to be. Then again, westerns have never been my favorite genre of film, so I might have a slight bias against it. ;p If anyone wants to see a really great western film, rent "Unforgiven..." hands down my favorite western movie of all time.

[Merelas]

Perhaps it's just me, perhaps I've missed it among the other reviews here, but I never did see one for The Passion.

 

Since I am one who constantly loves to put his foot in his mouth, I will go ahead and do my review now.

 

I can honestly say that I will never think of the crucifiction the same way again. I saw the beginning of the movie with relative indifference, not really liking the beginning and the way that Jesus dealt with Satan... then again, I'm one who ignores the old saying, "Discretion is the better part of valor."

 

When the beating scene began, I was at first horrorstruck, but relatively unmoved. However, it was when they began afresh, using whips with claws to beat Jesus that I started bawling my eyes out. As one caught in his skin, and then was jerked out with a sickening rip and spray of blood, I found my hand covering my mouth, and my eyes began leaking embarrassing tears, since I was right next to both my girlfriend (who didn't cry a single tear) and my best friend (who looked at me in what I can only assume was a mixture of awe and disgust). I cried more in those three hours than I had in the previous year combined.

 

I must say that this movie, regardless of religious affiliations (or lack thereof), is a moving film. I believe that everyone should give Mel Gibson some money and either buy it or see it. (And just out of curiosity, does anyone know if he is actually keeping the money or if he's donating it to charity? I never heard, it was a question I had.)

 

9/10 for the shady beginning, but still probably the most moving film I've ever seen.

[Wyvern]

Yesterday, I saw the film "The House of Sand and Fog" on DVD with Yui and Aegon.

 

It was a very good film overall, though it was very morbid and depressing over the course of its duration. I thought that both the character developement and the thematic undertones of the film were excellently done, as the characters of the film were very well-developed and it displayed the manners that material property and wealth can ruin ones life in a powerful manner. The acting from Jennifer Connolley and Ben Kingsley was also excellent throughout it, and Yui, Aegon and I were all left with a good impression. My only two complaints about the film are that it was a hard film to take at times due to its depressing nature, and that the "surprise ending that will leave you breathless," which was advertised on the back of the DVD cover, never really occured.

[Wyvern]

I've been seeing a lot of films recently, so here are a few reviews of some of the ones that stood out:

 

The Good:

 

City of God: Wow. This film absolutely stole my breath away and left me speechless. It's a devastating depiction of the gangs on the streets of Rio De Janero that shows the endless cycles of violence produced by a ghetto environment. The film triumphs on every level, as the cinematography is exotic and superb, the plot is complex and intriguing, the music is great, the dialogue is excellent and the characters are all very well-developed. The movie manages to maintain a strong focus on the setting by offering each character their own individual story, and the end result is stunning. A truly memorable and provocative film that I strongly recommend.

 

The Dreamers: This film stands out as an oddity amongst many recent movies, as numerous surreal details and homages to old-school cinema give it a certain eccentricity that's lacking in most films. Directed by the acclaimed director Bertelucci, the movie is semi-serious, semi-erotic (rated NC-17), and completely bizarre. Set during the Paris student uprisings in the years of Vietnam, it deals with three people who seclude themselves in a house and decide not to face the harsh reality of the world. Recommended for those who enjoy artistic and surreal cinema, and don't mind a bit of eroticism.

 

Monster: Though perhaps not quite as good as two films previously mentioned, Monster is also a very good movie that depicts the story of the first female serial killer and how she reached her semi-psychotic state. It's a very sad and harsh film that is difficult to watch at times, but features superb acting from both Charlize Theron (who got an Oscar for her performance in the movie) and Christina Ricci (who's talented and cute). Worth seeing for the acting and drama alone.

 

The Bad:

 

The Manchurian Candidate: Looking back, I'm not sure why I went to see this film... I wasn't a fan of the black and white original, as I found it horrendously outdated, and should have known that the remake of it wouldn't be any better. Despite some nice acting from Meryl Streep as the evil congress women, the plot seemed too fragmented and confusing to hold my interest and the duration of the film bored me. The most disappointing thing about this remake was that they left out one of the few elements that I found interesting in the original, which was that the candidates could be hypnotized through playing cards. A lot of people left the film scratching their heads in confusion, and I don't recommend it.

 

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster: Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Metallica fan, but I do appreciate some of their earlier works like "Enter Sandman" and was told that this documentary would be entertaining regardless of whether I liked them or not. If I picked up anything from this film, it's that the members of Metallica are some stuck-up whiny snobs that write random insignificant lyrics and need to hire an expensive psychologist to talk to one another (note: not a diss to their music). More importantly, however, this documentary was just bland, as nothing stood out about it and it bored me over the course of its duration. Avoid.

 

The Ugly:

 

Elephant: a very realistic film based on the Columbine shootings and directed by the same person who did Good Will Hunting that attempts to capture all of the events that took place that day in as realistic a manner of possible. The film more or less achieves its goal, but in the end I regret having seen it and don't recommend it to anyone. My problem with the film is that it doesn't seem to have any message to it, as it uses practically no dialogue and only focusses on following around students on their daily routines. Strange and somewhat original, but ultimately devoid of purpose and skippable.

 

Excel Saga (anime series): This review to be written Excel-like through uses of few periods (pun intended?!) and many many exclamation marks of super-hyper-enthusiastic-grandeur! See Excel Saga to watch all the pretty explosions and That Man steals the fate of the universe but is stopped by the super anime director and his afro posse! Yummy Mechi dog, side-characters, Lord Ilpallazo, even sub-plots (actual plot not included)! Many many character deaths and the theme changes every show unless the studio is out of inspiration at which point they create highly marketable robot characters to rehash and sing sad songs and Excel visits America and you get to see Sandora and the last last episode is hilarious cus it has gargantuan breasts and signature explosions accompanied by eye candy at a love motel!!! Series comes very very recommended but only if you like super-enthusiastic over-the-top comic hilarity like hair so long it kills people on baseball fields! Watch it watch it now!

[Finnius]

Response to Excel Saga to be written as an abstract conversation between senior agent Excel Excel and Loooooooooorrrrd Ilpalazo:

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

...?

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

...

 

 

!!

 

!?

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

*KABOOM*

 

...

 

.....................!!!

 

?

 

...

 

!!

 

*sigh*

 

*KABOOM*

[The Big Pointy One]

Awwww.... I love the Excel Saga series... maybe it's because of my low-level brain and such... anyways, *I* think it's entertaining. The trick is when you're watching it is not to expect anything special or serious. I enjoyed the ending, because they kinda turned the whole silly thing right around into something serious. Anyways, it's not really for everyone, but I think it's good to keep an open mind while watching it. It isn't supposed to be spectacular, just entertaining... like Kill Bill.

 

Anyways, I've seen a few movies this summer, and here's my short opinions:

 

The Good

 

Dodgeball: Now, some people around here may not be a fan of mainstream, low-brow comedy, or whatever you want to call it. Anyways, I thought it was pretty entertaining through and through. This was probably one of Stiller's best movies in a while. Vince Vaughn is pretty good too, although he was better in Old School. All in all, it wasn't a great movie, but I think it was still pretty entertaining. Plus, it has a guy who thinks he's a pirate.

 

Anchorman: If there's any comedy that's worth going to this summer, it's Anchorman. Will Ferrel is really funny, plain and simple. I was laughing pretty much the whole way through, and the cameos are great. I don't really have anything outstanding in my mind about this movie, except that everyone should see it. Freakin' hillarious it be.

 

The Bad

 

Aliens vs. Predator: I had a feeling this movie wasn't going to be spectacular, but I thought it'd redeem itself at one point. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It started off kinda slow... I'm not really sure what the whole deal with the opening was... it took too long in any case. Anyways, you know things are going down hill, when archaelogists pull out machine guns that they excuse with "Well, you never know..." or something stupid like that. The action was cool, especially with the ninja-like predator near the end... but it wasn't enough to pull it out. It kinda caught the atmosphere of the original movies, but again... it just didn't redeem it in the end. If you want to see an average movie with two sci-fi icons duking it out, by all means, otherwise, it isn't worth it.

 

I, Robot: Well, I was half-asleep during half of this, but I don't think it was that good either. It was mildly entertaining action-wise, but the dialogue and plot were both pretty weak. It seems to me it's just one of those movies to raise moral issues (i.e. playing god...) Will Smith was probably the best person in the movie, and that isn't saying much. I like the guy, but this was pretty weak too.

 

THE UGLY!!!

 

Okay, so I haven't seen any of the following movies, but that's because I'm sane.

 

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2: A movie about talking babies. With super powers. Someone will pay dearly. 'nuff said. The same goes for the first in the duo. If it turns into a series, I'm taking a road-trip to the bad movie factory, packing nothing but small, pointy objects.

 

Any movie about a dog, or a cat, or some animal doing things that animals don't do:

 

PLEASE STOP!!!! NO ONE ACTUALLY WANTS TO SEE THIS GARBAGE!!! A DOG PLAYING FOOTBALL OR A MONKEY PLAYING BASEBALL ISN'T A GOOD IDEA!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!! OH SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP THEM!!!

 

 

*seething anger*

 

*stick screams some more, then passes out and eventually someone drags him out*

 

 

 

{EDIT} Oh, and after reviewing the post completely, I figured I should share my thoughts on a few of the mentioned flicks:

 

Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 were both excellent. Although it may be hard for someone to take them as a serious movie... they are still really really cool. I actually bought the DVD of Volume 1 so I could see Volume 2 that night. Luckily, it wasn't a waste of money, and I've probably watched Volume 1 at least a half a dozen times. What I thought was cool was during the battle with the Crazy 88's where The Bride plucks out the dude's eye, it goes black and white... (foreshadowing!) and then the colour returns when the lights get turned back on. Volume 2 was cool, because I figured it was more about the journey of The Bride, as opposed to the actual revenge. Well, if you don't pay much attention to the whole people dying thing anyways... ;p What really got me was Budd. I felt sorry for the guy; I really wish he didn't die, because he knew what a crappy situation it was. His life had gone to hell, while everyone else's was pretty fine. I was hoping he'd take the Hanzo Sword and wreak some havoc at the bar, but alas, it was not meant to be...

 

To go way back, I believe I saw 28 Days Later last summer at the drive in last year... from what I remember I thought it was pretty cool. I'm a fan of the whole zombie movie thing, so it was pretty enjoyable. I really got into to the whole feel of the thing. Just imagining what it'd be like without people... pretty much everywhere... would be really cool, but at the same time, really terrifying.

 

Wyv, I have to say, I think when you're in a situation that you're not used to, or not trained for, you kinda fall into the whole 'stupid humans making dangerously stupid decisions' cliche ;p ...and about the zombies... THEY'RE ZOMBIES!!! If they didn't act stupid and scared of the light and all that, they wouldn't be zombies! ...they'd be... vampires... or something else! ;p

 

And a few short reviews:

 

The Day after Tomorrow: Cool, but really stupid. Yay for Jake Gyllenhaal, boo for the rest.

Bowling For Columbine: Awesome.

Donnie Darko: Awesome.

Bubba Ho-Tep: REALLY Awesome.

Donnie Darko: Oh yeah, it's REALLY REALLY Awesome.

The Punisher: WTF?!

Catwoman: Didn't see it, but I find it funny that it went to the second-run theaters not even two weeks after it opened. I *KNEW* that POS was gonna bomb...

Edited August 21, 2004 by The Big Pointy One

[Zadown]

Me and my friend watched "I, Robot" before it opened in Finland and we both pretty much hated it, but towards the end the visual language of the movie (if I am allowed to use such a clumsy term) was an interesting mishmash all stolen from well-known scifi/fantasy movies. Various Star Wars movies, Matrix, Space Odysseus 2001 etc all were represented in one way or another, and the hunting for these stolen pieces of imagery was sorta fun. The movie itself was crap.

 

Also, just saw "King Arthur", and .. uh, I don't really remember anything about it 4 hours after it ended. It was just sad, washed out "big ancient armies smash each others to bits" epic, with Arthur himself having the charisma of a turnip (please excuse my insult, all turnips out there) and Guinevere being rather .. flat, in more than one sense. Heh. Pirate it, watch it with loud friends, whatever, don't go to the theaters to see it.

[Mynx]

Went and saw Hellboy the other day...

I was looking forward to it because a reviewer I trust said it was very good...

I want my money back.

HB is slow, painful, full of waaaaaaaay too many cheesy lines...and nowhere near enough character development.

Two of the people who I thought were main characters were hardly in the film and never seen together even though the poster has them standing in a group!

Stupid stupid stupid movie...

[The Big Pointy One]

Oh yeah, Hellboy... I saw that one recently too... it had it's definite moments, but there were some totally pointless parts. I mean, what was the point of the fish dude? He barely had anything to do with anything in the movie. The lines were cheesy, yeah... but I think they were supposed to be cheesy. All in all, it was an average movie, with some alright parts, but it coulda been better. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd give it a rent, if you had nothing better to try and watch.

[Finnius]

Actually, I really enjoyed Hellboy if for no other reason than it's pretty much word for word the comic it was based on. (Hey, the intro is like so close it's creepy.) I thought the use of ambient music was excellent, (Best Use of a Nick Cave cover goes to...) and the acting was definitely dead on. Also, it's always good to see Ron Pearlman working, and still alive.

 

Then again, I was a big fan of the comics, so I may be a... er... tad biased. That and all the Lovecraft references that actually got ported from the book to the movie give it a thumbs up in my opinion.

[The Big Pointy One]

Can't go wrong with Lovecraft... references ;p

 

^.^

[Mynx]

Admittedly, I did like the intro, but I still maintain the pointlessness of the film.

Saw The BUtterfly Effect last night.

Interesting, and enough creepy moments to keep even me entertained, which is no small feat.

*grins* "I'd buy that for a dollar!"

[Wyvern]

Thanks for the observations, everyone... it's fun to read your reviews of recent films. For the record, Stick: I actually really enjoyed "Excel Saga" as well, and would recommend it to anime fans who don't mind some insanely over-the-top comedy. "The Ugly" section of my previous post was devoted to things that could either fall into the Good or the Bad range depending on one's tastes. I didn't care for Gus Van Zant's film "Elephant" personally, but loved "Excel Saga"s genre-bending goofiness.

 

I agree with the reviews that people have posted of "I, Robot" and both the "Kill Bill" films. I just saw "Kill Bill vol. 2" for the second time this evening on DVD, and liked it even more than when I first saw it in theatres. Perhaps the extended dialogues of the film are better-suited for smaller screens...

 

While I didn't see the movie, one thing I found shocking about the adds for "Catwoman" is that Michelle Pfeiffer isn't playing the lead role in it. I thought she was perfect as Catwoman in "Batman Returns," and might have even spent my money to see "Catwoman" had she been in it.

 

Lastly, let me strongly recommend "City of God" to everyone again... it's an incredibly powerful film.

[The Big Pointy One]

Wyv - ah, thanks for clarifying ;p ...also, in regards to Crapwoman... err, Catwoman... as far as I know, it has pretty much *nothing* to do with the comics. Final note, I don't think Halle Berry should be allowed to be in movies that aren't chilling dramas. She's cool and all, but I don't think she does good in movies that have weak dialogue. It's probably fun to act all cheesy and stuff, but she's done better serious stuff, and I think she's just hurting her credibility, hot or not.

[Aardvark]

Greatest movie of all time. A korean flick called True Man. God knows what it is in korean. If anyone has seen it and/or knows where I can get a copy, I will pay for it in human souls

 

If anyone else gets a chance to see this little gem, I promise you, you won't walk away disappointed.

 

Most recent film I've seen was I, Robot, simply because I love watching directors piss all over the works of great writers. Although Peter Jackson deserves a kick in the teeth. He was a wonderful b-grade horror director, once upon a time.

 

Good movies I've seen recently... hmmm.... only one that comes to mind was eternal sunset of the something or other. Jim Carey in a movie that didn't make me beat my skull in

[The Big Pointy One]

Hrm, speaking of foreign movies, another couple I've seen within the last year and a half:

 

Ping Pong: Cool Japanese movie... highly recommended.

Battle Royale: If you haven't seen this violent fightfest that's comparable to Lord of the Flies... well, except for the fact that the students *have* to fight each other... see it! It's pretty good... although the book is better... check your local comic shop/bookstore!

Attack the Gas Station: I can't remember, but I think this one is Korean. I think it's along the lines of a comedy, but it has some drama to it as well. I thought it was pretty entertaining.

 

I don't want to reveal too much about any of these movies; I just highly recommend seeing all three. Also, any Samurai movie by Akira Kurosawa is a good bet as far as foreign movies go.

[Gryphon]

I didn't go back over previous posts to see if I'm flogging a dead horse here, but what the hell...

 

I saw The Butterfly effect on DVD the other night... then went back and re-watched it the next day.

 

Fascinating movie. I'm not usually one for movies that make me engage my brain cells and get both of them moving in the same direction, but this one I enjoyed whilst still finding it truely thought provoking.

 

The concept is based on chaos theory where one little change by the main character alters the entire course of his life... and of course altering things once and only once is not enough.

 

The second time I saw it I had my brother in law with me - he's a physicist and he refreshed what little knowledge I have on chaos theory as we watched and he confirmed for me that they over-did it a little because the events being changed were actually quite large in comparison to the minute changes that chaos theory needs to work it's alterations on the world.

 

However I thought the whole thing was done rather well and I'd encourage anyone who can get their hands on a copy to have a look and decide for yourself if I'm right about this one or if I'm just displaying my taste in movies to be as shoddy as ever.

[Solivagus]

I'm not writing a review here, merely a complaint that all the films seem to come out for everyone else before england! You're going on about hellboy before it's even out here and Dodgeball while it's only just on advance showings! (btw, I agree with the view that it was entertaining, it's been a long time since I've heard so many people laughing in the cinema at the same time... )

 

Where are you living that you get all the films before england? And how much does it cost to move and live there?!

[Gryphon]

I'm living in New Zealand and Hellboy's been out here for a few weeks now. And we're always complaining that the US gets them before we do... usually anyway.

 

It costs less to live here than in England, but the pay is less too.

[Appy]

Relax Solivagus, you could've also had the other other side of the coin. Living in Germany is a different way to say that

 

You all have been going on about The Butterfly Effect and I just now, today, saw the first review of this movie... it's only just now out in Germany it seems....

 

Just... wanted to share that. Pity me

 

*hops on her skippyball and skips through the window*

[Wyvern]

This evening, I rented and watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" on DVD. I had heard many good things about it and was eager to see it, and after watching it I must say that I think it's a very good film. It was bizarre and extremely confusing, but came together like an elaborately constructed puzzle as it moved along. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet both handled their roles nicely, and the film definitely provided a lot of food for thought. My only complaint would be that they may have overdone it with the uses of the Lacuna drug just a bit, as it seemed like every other character was on it by the end. "Eternal Sunshine" is probably not the best film if you're looking for a quick fix, but I'd recommend it to movie viewers who like to piece together plots and reflect upon movies after watching them.

 

I also decided to watch the film "Catwoman" recently on a plane flight to see if it was really as bad as I had anticipated. I was surprised to find that it wasn't as bad as I thought... it was worse! This film is laughably horrible and incredibly easy to make fun of, but even loses its comedy value as it nears the end. Character development is entiirely ignored and replaced by a lightning fast action plot dealing with ancient egyption cats (?!), evil beauty product manufacturers (hahaha), and leather bondage outfits (the one positive thing in the movie). Halle Berry bombs in her role as Catwoman with the greatest of ease, effortlessly ruining the character and any sense of drama the film might have had to offer... not to say that it had any to begin with, given the "quality" of the dialogue. Four simple words: don't waste your cash.

[The Portrait of Zool]

Whoa! I need to keep up with this thread a bit more - lots of good reviews!

 

A few words of reviews above:

 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly;

I think one reason you found this so unremarkable is because it is the most copied western of all time. Basically, this was the original formula western as we know it today - any improvements are in depth, not in plot. When this film came out in, nineteenseventywhatever, it blew people away (pun not intended) pulling together and concentrating every gut-held notion about the west, and every successful western since contains the most important elements from it. In fact, I've seen a lot of suspense and drama with very similar scenes...

 

HellBoy;

I agree, this was a lot of fun, but was otherwise completely bungled. What ruined it for me was the moment where they were sitting in the alley and HB gave his gun to that guy and told him to load it. The other guy took this immense gun in his hand and... nothing! He handled it like the prop that it obviously was. I mean, why doesn't everyone carry a 1 caliber revolver? Because the weight would be prohibitive, but that giant sidearm was handled like a toy in the move, and a great opportunity was missed to give life to the HB character and thus the movie.

 

Another thing - what did that knife in the fist logo have to do with the movie?? I only saw him wield a sword once, and that really was not made out to be such a momentous and defining scene that it merited modeling the logo of the story after it, not to mention that that scene comes after the logo is already seen in the movie.

 

What this all says to me is that the movie really lacked a cohesive visionary person to guide the movie and ensure the consistency necessary to really transport the viewer. Ah well.

 

 

Favorite Directors: Pretty much anything by Akira Kurosawa is worth watching, and I would add Federico Fellini - except for Satyricon!

 

I highly recommend Juliet of the Spirits and Mulholland Drive as two of my favorite movies.

 

Anyway, recent movie I saw:

 

What the bleep do we know!?

http://www.whatthebleep.com/

I have been waiting a long time to see this and am I glad I finally did! I highly recommend this movie to most people.

 

The story of the movie, as well as the movie itself, is worthy of a few words before I get into the story. This is an unusual combination of dramatic story, animation, and documentary. Also, after finishing the film, the filmmakers were unable to get anyone to distribute it, so they devised a plan to get a few local theaters to show it, make a web-site, and depend on word-of mouth to get people to ask for the film at their local theaters. This has proven slow, but very successful, as they are now opening internationally.

 

So what is the movie about really? The movie is what it is, a dramatization with commentary on some people's view of the universe. Though some people will find it's anti-religious-dogma statements offensive, the film is definitely fresh and thought provoking, and definitely strikes a chord with the masses, as it's success has shown. Tying it's message together with the expert's commentary in the documentary portions of the film was a stroke of genius, yet I still found a LOT of entertainment in the dramatized portions of the film, such as the wedding dance scene and the bath scene.

 

Though I can't guarentee someone else will like it, I can guarentee that you haven't seen anything like it before, which in itself is of tremendous value in todays glutted formulaic movie market.

 

I sincerely reccomend you go see this film, and if it hasn't come around to where you are at yet, then go to your theater and ask for it!

[Wyvern]

I saw two movies on DVD recently: "Ray" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien."

 

"Ray" was a little better than I expected it to be, but mostly fell into the conventions of Hollywood life documentaries. What made this film slightly better was the interesting life that Ray Charles led, as well as the obvious benefit of a great soundtrack. If you don't know the recordings of Ray Charles, you might want to check this movie out. If you're looking for a "life-of" film that takes chances cinematically and structure-wise, you'd probably be better off searching elsewhere.

 

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" (Spanish for "And Your Mother Too"), on the other hand, was quite an excellent film. The plot revolves around two spoiled rich kids who care about very little other than sex and smoking pot, and hook up with an older woman undergoing marital problems. They take her on a road trip to a beach that doesn't exist, and things get more complicated from there. The cinematography of the movie was excellent, the dialogue was original and evocative, and the message that the film conveyed was very poignant. Two warnings: the film is quite a downer by the end, and is also very sexually explicit throughout (unrated in the U.S). Great film overall.

[Sparhawk]

Alright Wyvie has asked me to review Son of the Mask, but before I do I'm going to review one of my all time favourite Movies....Transformers the Movie! (The original 1986 Animated version).

 

Now then where shall I begin? Well lets start by showing off how much I like it, this scene was near the beginning:

 

"Ironhide, report to me at once." "Everytime I look into a monitor, Prime, my circuts sizzle. When are we going to start busting Deceptichops?" "Ironhide I want you to make a special run to Autobot city on earth." "But Prime..." "Listen Ironhide, we don't have enough Energon cubes to power a full scale assault. Ready the shuttle for launch." "Your days are numbered now Decepticreeps."

 

Awesome movie there. Umm everyone here should know the basic plot to this. I'm an avid Generation 1 fan so I found no real flaws with this movie really. I'd definetly recomend watching it. Generation 1 Transformers was the best out of all of the other Transformers Series.

 

Ok now for Son of the Mask.

 

What can I say? I liked this movie too. It was completely different from "The Mask" and it didn't have the same kinds of laughs, but it still got laughs out of me...could have been better I suppose, they kinda contradicted themselves from the first movie, when the mask would only work at night in the first movie, in this one, you see the Dog wearing the mask 24/7. I like it when Jamie Kennedy puts on the mask though, he's usually funny. And hell, it also gives you the answer to a question I'm sure some of you asked: "What would happen if a guy wearing the mask makes love to his wife while wearing the mask and a kid is formed from that?" Anyways the baby in the movie is like that, Jamie Kennedy made love to his wife with the mask on, and the kid was born with all of the mask's powers. Oh and guess what? Loki is in theis movie, and he wants his mask back. I enjoyed the movie, but it just didn't have the cops dancing in a congo line and singing in the middle of the street like the first one did. Now that I think about it, it wasn't as good as the first, but I'd still go out and watch it.