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Reviews
Garden State [09/01/2004]
Went to see this one with Amanda. I'd seen the trailer and the movie intrigued me mostly because Natalie Portman was in it (another crush). I really enjoyed this movie, a lot more than I expected. Written and directed by Zach Braff, he also has the main lead in the movie and well, this guy is good, folks. I'm getting the DVD when it comes out. This is mostly a love story, mixed in with some self-exploration.. Pretty cool.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Girl Next Door [08/28/2004]
Pretty cute romantic movie about a guy who meets his new next door neighbour, a beautiful girl. I'll admit the main reason why I wanted to see this movie is because of Elisha Cuthbert. I have a bit of a crush on her. Anyway, the movie isn't so bad but it's not a masterpiece. Pretty funny stuff, though.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Open Water [08/25/2004]
I went to see this movie with my friend, Amanda. It was apparently based on a true story, about two divers (husband and wife) being stranded in the middle of the ocean after the expedition they were part of mistakenly leaves them there. Practically two thirds of the movie is just the two of them and the ocean. It's filmed with handheld cameras, so the movie reminded me a lot of The Blair Witch Project, a movie I really liked.. and just like in that movie, Open Water explores how people cope with crisis situations.. Pretty interesting movie but it's not the kind of movie I'd want to see again.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Love Actually [08/08/2004]
Pretty cute romantic movie with a bunch of actors/actresses, including Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant and some others that I can't recall right now, since I'm writing this review several months after having seen the movie. However, I remember the movie itself and this was a good one.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Hellboy [08/07/2004]
Typical superhero movie... I found it pretty lame, actually. No chemistry at all from the two characters who are/were supposedly in love. Forgettable movie.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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The Village [08/04/2004]
M. Night Shyamalan's fourth movie (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Signs came before), I had some high expectations for this movie and I was somewhat letdown in a few aspects. The movie's good, but there's something missing from it. I didn't feel the performances were that good.. and I could see the twist ending coming a mile away. I'll still buy the DVD though.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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The Butterfly Effect [07/25/2004]
This movie was recommended to me by both some online friends and some people from work. Sadly, I knew what most of what the movie was about and what would happen, even before watching it, because of the preview trailer, which I'd seen several times.. probably because it was in front of Return of the King or some other movie I'd seen often. The story takes a bit getting used to at first.. but it all makes sense in the end. I found it really touching and the performances were good, even Ashton Kutcher, which has the main lead. The director's cut includes an alternate ending that wasn't seen in theaters and I have to say that the alternate ending is pretty shocking.. very sad as well.. and I guess I can understand why the studio probably felt the movie had to end a bit more on an upbeat and hopeful note than that. Great movie. It's an Infinifilm too, so I look forward to watching the extras.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Ju-On: The Grudge [07/08/2004]
I went to see this movie with my friend Sylvie and her boyfriend, it was part of the Fantasia 2004 Film Festival in Montr�al. Pretty freaky movie, some scenes gave me some chills and goosebumps. It's a Japanese movie, the dialogue was in Japanese with english subtitles. The crowd at the festival was fairly annoying, laughing at most of the scary scenes.. but that's become almost the norm in horror movies these days, it seems. There's an American version coming out this fall, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.. wonder how that one will turn out...
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Mystic River [07/04/2004]
Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, this tragic story about three childhood friends and how they all grew up after a tragic incident befell one of the kids. This story is pretty emotional and I liked the movie. Great performances by all the cast.. I can see why this movie was nominated at the Oscars.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Spider-Man 2 [07/02/2004]
Spidey is back for his second adventure. Right off the bat, let me say that in the same vein as X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2 is a great sequel. It stays true to the first movie. What I really liked was how they integrated the opening credits with all the backstory of the first movie, in really beautiful artwork. Really amazing. The new villain, Dr. Octopus, is played really well by Alfred Molina. The action sequences are really good. Danny Elfman once again scores very nicely, using themes from the first movie, while creating some new ones. And what can we say about the ending, with Harry Osborne filling his dead father's 'persona', so to speak. Really great movie.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [06/16/2004]
Third installment in the movie adaptations of J.K. Rowling's series of books about the life of young wizard in training, Harry Potter and his friends. There's a new director at the helm, Chris Columbus having given the reigns over to Alfonso Cuar�n and the new direction makes this a pretty different movie in tone from the previous two. We're introduced to a few new characters of course, chief among them Sirius Black (quite well played by Gary Oldman) and Professor Lupin. I won't talk about the plot much but it's very well woven, even for people who haven't read the book (like me). People who've seen the movie will also probably not even recognize Emma Thompson as Professor Trelawney. Very nice performance. Alan Rickman is delightful as Professor Snape, once again, although I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever have more to do in further books.
The special effects are spectacular, especially the creatures known as Dementors. Truly creepy, kind of reminds me of the Ringwraiths in Lord of the Rings but much more... wispy. The hippogriff is very well made, too. All in all, quite clearly the best of the Harry Potter movies yet.. heck, it even has some very nifty time travel in it!
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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The Day After Tomorrow [06/10/2004]
I was looking forward to seeing this movie. Directed by Roland Emmerich, of Independence Day fame, I knew this movie wouldn't be too realistic. The visuals are completely stunning. The story is a bit far fetched, everyone can agree there.. but the characters are endearing. I liked this one.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World [06/06/2004]
Starring Russell Crowe. I wish I would have liked this movie but to be honest, it didn't have much of an impact on me. Yes, it's very well-made.. but I just couldn't feel any sort of connection with any of the characters whatsoever. Oh well.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [05/26/2004]
Well, I couldn't wait until the Extended Edition came out for the holidays, and besides, I'm a huge fan of these movies, so I decided to buy this 'standard' version. Great movie, no doubts there. However, out of the 3 'standard' editions for the trilogy, this one is the weakest, in my opinion. There are only two documentaries, both of which have several segments in them that are repeated. There's also the National Geographic special, which I already owned, featurettes from the website, the super-trailer, which is basically a long trailer for the whole trilogy (again, which I'd already seen online) and several TV spots. There aren't any easter eggs, to my knowledge, either. Somewhat disappointing but hey, I really wanted to watch the movie again. Of course, the Special Extended Edition will blow this set out the water, like for the previous two sets.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Shrek 2 [05/22/2004]
Sequel to the 2001 hit by Dreamworks Animation. Starring Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, reprising their roles from the first movie. They're joined by Antonio Banderas, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Saunders. The movie picks up soon after the first movie ended, during Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon. They get invited by Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian, so that the parents can give their blessing to their daughter's new husband. They're in for quite a shock when they will realize that the "prince charming" that rescued their daughter from the dragon is actually a large ogre.
Very hilarious movie and the true star of this movie this time around is Antonio Banderas as Puss In Boots. Truly memorable performance. Every scene the character is in is great. All in all, a great movie.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Matrix Revolutions [05/16/2004]
As I stated in my previous review for The Matrix Reloaded, when the first Matrix movie came out in 1999, it just didn't appeal to me that much. I wish I could get interested in this universe but even after enjoying Reloaded a lot more than the first movie, this third and final installment in the trilogy didn't impress me much at all. Maybe I've seen too many special effects in movies but I'm really starting to become unimpressed with them more and more, as time goes by. Okay, Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy was incredibly well-made, I'll admit that... but the effects in this movie? Yes, they are very well done and the amount of work it took to achieve them is phenomenal. The story just flat out does not interest me and when that happens for someone while watching a movie, no amount of special effects, explosions or whatever else can make the movie enjoyable... *shrugs*
The special features included on this 2-disc set are fairly standard. There's a documentary on the making of the movie, another about the CG elements in the movie, another about the super fight between Neo and Smith, a look at the upcoming Matrix Online video game, some stills and storyboards, etc. Probably the extra feature I enjoyed the most though was the one called "Before the Revolution", where they explain all the story points very briefly from even before the first movie, some parts being from the Animatrix movies.. Pretty interesting for someone who doesn't follow the story like I do.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [05/10/2004]
Repeat viewing made me appreciate this remake of the 1974 original even more. I still haven't seen the original yet but I have to say that this movie is truly scary and I'm not one that scares easily when watching horror movies. It's not that the movie is 'scary' per se.. it's just.. the subject matter and the way the story evolves is what is scary. Definitely not for the weak at heart. Very awesome special features included on this set, including a very nice documentary of the life of Ed Gein, the "American Psycho", who was the inspiration for movies like The Silence of the Lambs and Hitchcock's Psycho.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - Special Collector's Edition [05/09/2004]
Among my favorite of the original Trek movies. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, the same director as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, another movie I like very much. This is the last movie with all of the original cast members. Kirk and some other crew members appear in the seventh 'bridging' movie, Star Trek Generations, though. Very intriguing story in this movie, about the Klingon empire being on the verge of collapse and them wanting to negotiate some form of peace treaty with the Federation. This movie bridges the gap pretty nicely between the original show and the Next Generation show. Michael Dorn, the actor who plays Worf in TNG appears as Worf's great grandfather in this movie, Kirk and McCoy's counsel during their "show trial". Once again, the special features included on this collector's edition set are amazing. Very touching tribute to DeForest Kelley, the actor who played Doctor Bones McCoy on the original series. It brought a tear to my eye. >_>
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Dreamcatcher [05/08/2004]
Terrible, terrible movie, based on a book by Stephen King. Below average performances by the actors and the pacing of the 'story' is completely insane. I really can't think of anything good to say about this movie, at all. Special features on the DVD are nothing special either. Bleh.
Rating: 1 out of 4 stars
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The Last Samurai [05/07/2004]
It's kind of like Braveheart but set in 19th century Japan. I really liked this movie. It gave an intriguing glimpse into the samurai lifestyle and the clash between the two cultures and two ways of living. The fight and battle scenes are very nice and the music is great too. The special features on the two-disc set are also quite nice.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [05/02/2004]
The movie is not as good as the second one but better than the first. The story revolves more around John Connor, 10 years after he destroyed Cyberdine with his mom and the Terminator. Judgment Day is apparently inevitable and yet another 'Terminator' gets sent back through time to assassinate some people. This time, the new model targets John Connor's lieutenants, seeing as Skynet can't locate John Connor. Anyway, the new Terminator model is female... It was easy to figure out that they'd go this way. The new Terminator is fairly impressive and the actress who plays her is quite hot. Arnold is back, of course, reprising the role of the Terminator, who also gets sent back through time to protect John Connor and Kate Brewster, his future wife or whatever. Anyway, the movie is still good... it just didn't have the same impact on me as the other two movies did. The special features included on the set are very good, though.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Wayne's World 1 and Wayne's World 2 [04/24/2004 and 04/28/2004]
Well, I didn't buy these DVDs, I got them as gifts for Christmas. I was never that much of a fan of the movies or the characters but it's Mike Myers, still. I prefer his Austin Powers character, to be honest. I also prefer the first movie to the second. I was bored to death with the second and the gags just didn't make me laugh anymore... Oh well. The special features on the DVD are fairly basic, nothing too special or out of the ordinary.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Kill Bill: Volume 2 [04/20/2004]
Fairly different style of movie from the first volume. There's less action, more dialogue between the characters. We get properly introduced to Bill, who kicks a lot of ass. We get to see Budd and more of Elle Driver. Very awesome scenes with the master, Pai Mei. Really awesome movie, though, even if it is quite different in style than the first one. I can't wait until Tarantino releases the definitive deluxe DVD set with these two volumes...
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Kill Bill: Volume 1 [04/17/2004]
The movie was even better after a repeat viewing. I watched it not long before I went to see Volume 2 in theaters and that helped. Sadly, I'll have to give this a lower rating because the special features including on this disc are very meager. I can only hope that Tarantino will release the 'special edition deluxe set' with both volumes and a ton of extras, sometime next year.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Underworld [04/17/2004]
Again, a movie I wasn't that much impressed with when I saw it in theaters but felt compelled to purchase the DVD. The movie did seem a bit better after a repeat viewing but not that much. I understood the plot of the movie a bit better, at least. The special features included on the DVD are well done.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [04/12/2004]
I was not impressed much by the movie when it came out in theaters but I nonetheless wanted to have a look at it again on DVD. I can't really say the movie is any better but the special features on DVD are fairly interesting. The DVD commentaries are okay too, but I would have really liked Sean Connery to be on one of the tracks. I don't think he likes doing those, though. At any rate, the movie is still below average...
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Dawn of the Dead [04/03/2004]
Probably contrary to many others who will see this movie, I have not seen the 1978 original, nor the other 1990 remake. With that being said, I came into this movie expecting an exciting zombie movie and that's what I got. I was very amazed at some of the special effects in this movie, especially the effects during the opening sequence. They really are starting to make special effects more and more believable as time goes by so kudos to them for that. Don't look for a deep story filled with plot twists... this is like any other zombie movie I've seen.. it's placing ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and watching each person deal differently in times of crisis. I've always been fascinated by movies about the "end of the world" and this one was no exception. Nice flick.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The Lion King 1� [03/13/2004]
The story takes place before and during the first Lion King movie and concentrates on the characters of Timon and Pumba. There's more backstory to the Timon character, we get to meet members of his family, including his mother, who is voiced by the same actress that does Marge Simpson. Pretty funny movie but eh, I'm really getting a bit too old for these movies, I think. I can't wait until Aladdin gets released on DVD this fall.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Cabin Fever [02/29/2004]
I'd heard some hype about this horror movie, especially since Peter Jackson had stated that this was the best horror movie in years. I've never been a huge fan of horror, mostly because I find it hard to get scared or frightened by anything but sometimes, I get seriously disturbed by some horror movies. I think I flinched maybe once or twice during this movie but the rest had no effect on me. The story is fairly basic... bunch of teens head out into the woods for a weekend in a log cabin, and someone gets infected with a flesh-eating virus, etc. I found it hard to care about the characters much. There is one scene in the movie though that's one of the most erotic and sensual scenes I've seen in a long time and it ends with some gore, which makes you feel sick to your stomach, really. There is lots of gore in this movie but not as much as I'd expected. The music was a strong point though.. some themes were composed by Angelo Badalementi, of Twin Peaks fame. Eli Roth directed it, he's apparently David Lynch's prot�g� or something. You need to teach some more to Eli, David.. because this movie didn't really impress me.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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G.I. Joe - Season 1, Part 1 [02/15/2004]
Well, this was a trip down memory lane. I used to be completely nuts about this cartoon and the toys, especially, back in the 80s. I remember I had tons of action figures and lots of vehicles.. I think there might be some still left in storage down in the basement, even. I remember I was completely hooked on it back then and now, looking at it decades later, I can't help but be a little disappointed, even with the nostalgia factor. The animation looks completely outdated of course, compared to today's superior technology with computers and such. Still, the stories are fairly interesting and the characters all have distinct personnalities. Cobra Commander is just as great today as he was then... He's probably my favorite character... Also, I can't believe how hot the Baroness looks... Something about an evil woman with glasses and tight leather pants...
27 episodes are includes on this set, all from the first season of the show that aired in 1985. I assume the rest of the episodes from the first season will be included in a later set, like they did with the Transformers seasons. There's also two interviews with people that were involved with the show but they're both fairly boring. There's a trailer for the Special Edition set Rhino released with the 2 mini-series. Finally, and my highlight of this set, are 20+ of those Public Service Announcements that used to air after each episode... Those things are hilarious... And remember... Knowing is half the battle!
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [01/18/2004]
Great pirate movie. I saw it last summer in the theaters and this was the first time I re-watched it. Enjoyed it just as much and the special features on the set (although not completely explored yet) are pretty good.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Big Fish [01/17/2004]
Film directed by Tim Burton, one of my favorite directors. This is a very unique movie, I've not seen anything like it before. It tells the story of a man called Edward Bloom, who is a great storyteller... and ever since his son Will was born, he's been telling extraordinary tales about his past. Will eventually becomes a man and discovers that the stories his dad used to tell him are all lies. I won't really go further than that... but the way the tales are told and shown on the screen is a real treat. The typical Burton-esque style is ever present and the movie is also very touching.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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X2: X-Men United [01/11/2004]
I really enjoyed this movie in the theaters the first time around and this DVD is pretty damn cool too. I've noticed Bryan Singer has added or extended certain scenes for this DVD release and that's always a bonus. I was a huge fan of the first movie and this second movie is just as good, if not better than the original. Nice plot, cool characters, including Nightcrawler.. the opening sequence of this movie is really awesome.. I'd forgotten how awesome it was.
As far as the special features go, pretty standard stuff but very well made. Two commentary tracks (only 1 of which I've listened to so far), featurettes about the making of the movie and about the lore for certain characters (especially Nightcrawler and Lady Deathstrike) and many more cool extras make this a very neat 2-disc package. I can't wait to see what they'll come up with for the 3rd movie of this franchise.. but it's fair to say that it's among my favorite movie franchises right now. If only they released the cartoon series on DVD, I'd be a happy camper.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle [01/09/2004]
Enjoyed this movie in the theaters and this DVD is pretty cool. I'm not exactly sure why they call this a special "unrated" version. I didn't discern any changes from the version I saw in the theaters. Anyway, some nice special features, including some featurettes on the making of the movie and a pretty nifty "jukebox" menu where you can listen to the songs heard in the movie along with an intro by McG and the music supervisor on why they chose that particular movie. The audio commentary track by McG, with the 'telestrator', is pretty distracting.. and the commentary isn't that interesting anyway. Cool movie, though.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Donnie Darko [12/31/2003]
I'd heard some things about this movie, mostly that it could be fairly hard to understand what was going on. If any of you go read the plot summaries on IMDB.com, you'll find out why this is a fairly strange movie. First time director Richard Kelly.. the cast is pretty nice and the acting is good too. Music's good too.. but even after listening to the commentaries, I still have somewhat of a hard time understanding it. However, it's fairly clear that the movie is open to interpretation. Still, I enjoyed it anyway.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Adventures of Indiana Jones DVD Collection [12/31/2003]
I didn't really bother watching all 3 movies again because I wasn't really in the mood. I managed to get through about half of Raiders and just stopped. Of course, they are amazing movies though. I did watch the Bonus Materials DVD completely and I was pleased with it. "Making of" documentaries for each movie, with recent interviews with almost every cast member, featurettes about the stunts, the sounds, the music and the special effects.. this DVD is a great watch for any fan of the movies. I learned a lot of stuff when I watched this. I'm glad they finally released the movies on DVD and I'm sure when I'll be in the mood, I'll watch them again. Now if only they started releasing the Young Indy episodes on DVD, I'd be a happy camper.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - Special Collector's Edition [12/30/2003]
Quite possibly my least favorite of all the Trek movies, I nevertheless got a hold of this DVD. I've been very impressed with the quality and depth of the previous DVD sets in this collection and so far, this has probably been the weakest as well. The extras just aren't really that interesting. I mean, they interviewed the two actors who played Klingons in the movie and I couldn't care any less what those two had to say, plus the woman was annoying as all hell. The tribute to Herman Zimmerman was really nice, though. The press conference was super lame and horrible to watch... as was William Shatner's original interview for the movie. The commentary track is lame... it's Shatner and his daughter and I frankly didn't care much for what they had to say. Previous commentary tracks on the previous movies were way better... Oh well.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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The Matrix Reloaded [12/29/2003]
First of all, let me just point out that I was never really a huge fan of the first Matrix movie. It just didn't have an impact on me the way it had an impact on many other people. Maybe it's because I can't really stand Keanu Reeves, I don't really know. However, I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised with this sequel and perhaps if I re-watch the original again, I will appreciate it a bit more.
I won't really get into the story because even now, I have a hard time fully understanding what it's all about. The special features included in the DVD are plentiful and a great surprise was that they included the spoof that MTV did for their 2003 MTV Movie Awards introduction piece. Hilarious stuff. The documentaries cover a lot of ground and the documentary on the making of the video game actually made me want to go out and buy it, heh. Pretty cool DVD.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [12/19/2003]
I've only seen the movie once so far and I plan on going to see it at least once more because these movies deserve to be seen more than once in theaters. I think I saw the first two movies 3 times each in the theaters. I'm writing this review more than 2 weeks after I've seen the movie, so my recollection of the movie isn't that good. I remember crying several times throughout the movie... this whole trilogy has really moved me and made an impact on me. It's come to the point where I'm more interested in what goes on in the Lord of the Rings trilogy than in the Star Wars trilogy. Anyway, I'll probably refine my review once I've seen the movie again, hopefully very soon. A true masterpiece in filmmaking, it is.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Smallville - Season 1 [12/02/2003]
I'd always wanted to try watching this show when it first came around but I never really got the chance to, mostly because I was interested in too many shows back then. When I saw this DVD set at the store, I just couldn't resist. This show is actually a lot better than I thought it would be and I can clearly see why they are on their 3rd season now. Smallville explores Clark Kent's (you know, that Superman guy?) teenage years, basically. The pilot is really amazing and some of the episodes are real gems. Granted, the same formula seems to be used for almost every show, with some person being... changed by contact with some of the meteor rocks that crashed into Smallville but still, a lot of interesting story threads remain during the whole season. The actors are really good, especially the one who plays Lex Luthor. Clark and Lex start out as friends when they first meet and they still are, which I found really cool. The Kents (Jonathan and Martha) are both very well portrayed. I'm really looking forward to Season 2 because the last show ends in a cliffhanger...
As for the DVDs extras themselves, very nice presentation. There's commentary on the first two episodes of the season, deleted scenes from the first two shows as well, storyboard comparisons, a Smallville virtual tour and a few promos for the show along with some other WB shows. I still would have liked more commentaries, especially from the main cast, seeing how the two commentaries present on this set are from the show's creators. Ah well, still very nice.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Special Extended Edition) [10/28/2003]
Same kind of presentation that they'd made for The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition set last year, except this time, for the gift set, instead of two Argonath bookend figurines, it's an awesome Gollum figurine. My review will be short and sweet:
These DVD packages (for the first two movies and I'm sure the third movie will be just as good as the previous ones, if not better) are the ultimate DVDs. No self-respecting DVD collector should skip these. For one thing, the movies are simply amazing. I've yet to find someone in my entourage that thinks the movies suck. Yes, some people have certain issues with them but trust me on this... these movies are masterpieces and will be talked about for many decades to come, by our children, our children's children, etc. If you've not seen any of these movies, please, go see them.
As far as the special features go, it's all pretty much the same thing as in the previous set, except for the second movie, really. This extended cut includes well over 40 minutes of new and extended scenes, all with score specially recorded for this DVD set, composed by Howard Shore. Four audio commentary tracks for the movie (which is spread across 2 discs, like the previous movie): Director/Writers, Design Team, Production and Post-Production and finally, the Cast.
The Director/Writers (Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens) all bring various insight into the making of this movie and is a very entertaining listen for any fan. The Design Team and Production and Post-Production commentaries tend to be a bit more boring at times because they are technical and don't bring that many new insight that is not included in the two appendices discs (see below). Finally, like last year, the cast commentary is a blast, with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd (Merry and Pippin) providing most of the comic relief, so to speak.. the complicity between them is amazing.. Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Karl Urban, Orlando Bloom, John-Rhys Davies, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Craig Parker, David Denham, Sean Bean, etc... I've probably forgotten a few but the group is huge. Notably absent, once again, is Viggo Mortensen, who has been reported as disliking commentaries. Thankfully, he's spread all over the documentaries included in the appendices. I also noticed Ian McKellen isn't on the cast commentary for this one, which makes sense because he's absent for a large part of the movie... but considering Karl Urban (�omer) was in the group and he has even less screen time than Gandalf did, I found that sort of odd. Maybe Sir Ian wasn't feeling so good... which kind of makes me wonder if Christopher Lee will even want to be in the cast audio commentary for the extended cut of The Return of the King, seeing how he has been cut completely for the theatrical cut and seems very miffed about it... but I digress..
The two appendices discs are a direct continuation of the documentaries and featurettes included in the appendices for The Fellowship of the Ring. Highly informative stuff is found in here.. but be prepared because all the documentaries on the discs run for a total of about 6 hours and that's not even counting the design galleries.. Sheesh. I still haven't watched the Gollum disc included in the gift set though.
Bottom line: This DVD set is perfect, pretty much. I can't possibly see what else they could have included in this set. They even put an easter egg with the Andy Serkis/Gollum acceptance speech for the Best Virtual Performance at the MTV Movie Awards. Too bad they didn't include the trailer for The Return of the King anywhere but looking at the timeline, they clearly hadn't cut the trailer in time for the release of the DVD. Bummer. Would have loved to see the trailer in DVD quality. Guess I'll just have to wait... about 20 days now... I can't wait.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Finding Nemo [11/10/2003]
Note: I still haven't watched the extra features on this 2-disc set so I'll probably edit my review once I do.
I enjoyed this movie. I just wish I would have seen it on the big screen, instead. Oh well. Although it didn't quite resonate as much with me compared to previous Pixar movies, I just can't help but marvel at how far animation has gone over the last few years. Basic premise of the story is that Nemo, a little fish, gets captured by a human and put into an aquarium. Nemo's dad, Marlin, goes out to try and find him. On his search, Marlin meets Dory, another fish that has short-term memory loss. Anyway, great movie, as I said... Next up for Pixar Studios: Mr. Incredible, which looks kind of weird but eh...
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 1 [10/26/2003]
I rarely put up reviews for TV shows here but when a show catches my eye and interests me a lot, I tend to put reviews for them. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, is one of those shows. I remember my mom having bought the first volume of DVDs for the first season many months ago but I never really felt interested in watching it. I'd never really heard much about the show but I figured it was your basic cop drama. It's not. Very original premise for the show, that details the lives of 5 particular CSIs (Crime Scene Investigators) and the crimes they have to solve. CSIs aren't police officers, they're actually civilians. The show is set in Las Vegas and it gives the show a really nice look without resorting to the clich�d "strip" scenes with the casinos and such too often.
The supervising CSI, Gil Grissom, is a very nice character. All of the characters are, actually. Each episode in interesting in its own way and you get completely sucked into each episode, trying to figure out how all the pieces of the puzzles fit together. Unlike some other dramas, each episode is stand-alone, meaning you don't have to have watched previous episodes to understand what's going on. Sometimes, characters who've appeared in previous episodes make appearances again, so it's not like every episode is self-contained entirely.
The first season is split into two volumes. The first volume contains de first 12 episodes of the season and the second volume contains the remaining 11. Each disc has a certain amount of extra features but let's just say they didn't do a lot of work for the extras on these sets. Production notes, little featurettes and cast and crew interviews are spread among all the discs but the image quality for these extras is just too awful to bear. The episodes themselves are of a very good quality and the sound quality is great too. Great show, though. I'm going to buy the second season soon.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 Remake) [10/24/2003]
I've never seen the original although I'm curious to see it. The trailer for this one had caught my eye in one of my last movie outtings and well, my brother and his girlfriend wanted to go see it so I went. Very gruesome stuff in here, not for the weak at heart. I mean, I don't cringe very easily when there is violent stuff in movies and TV shows because I've been mostly desensitized to it all. Some of the scenes in the movie made me cringe. I liked the cinematography, the sound effects... the acting was a bit... bland and well, Jessica Biel just annoys me. Other than that, pretty nice movie but nothing spectacular.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Kill Bill: Volume 1 [10/12/2003]
Went into this one knowing three things: Quentin Tarantino movie, Uma Thurman and samurai sword fights. Needless to say, I didn't know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd only seen one other Tarantino movie, Pulp Fiction and it was a very unique movie. This one is unique as well. Very violent. Lots of blood. Very artistic. Great cinematography. Nice performance by all the actors, especially Uma Thurman. Spectacular music too. I can't wait to go see Volume 2, next year. Highly recommended.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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24 - Season 2 [10/04/2003]
Contrary to the first season, I had practically watched every episode of the 2nd season on TV, episode by episode. I had missed a few episodes though so it was really cool to see those I'd missed. This is the best show on FOX right now. I know that's not really saying that much but trust me, this show is among the best on TV right now. Great acting, great story, great intrigue and suspense, awesome cinematography, great production value... I find it hard to come up with flaws for this show. About the only one I can come up with are Kim's trials and tribulations, which seem contrived most of the time.
As for the DVD package itself, it's a LOT better than the first season package. The first season package, even though the show's first run was spectacular, fell a little short on the extras side. In fact, there were practically none. They realized their error this time and presented a complete package, with lots of extras. First, there are 44 alternate/deleted scenes, scatterered throughout the 24 episodes. You have the option or not of including them in your viewing. There are audio commentaries, one episode per disc (for a total of 6 commentary tracks), by cast members, directors, producers, etc. On the 7th disc, there are documentaries, multi-angle shots and all 44 alternate/deleted scenes with optional director's commentary. Very awesome package.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Underworld [09/28/2003]
I've always enjoyed stories about vampires and werewolves. When I saw the trailer for this movie at my last visit in the cinema and after seeing how freaking hot Kate Beckinsale looks in a black tight leather body suit, I figured... I need to see this one. I came in expecting not much though, actually. The trailer had a definite "Matrix" feel to it and well, lots of people kept saying that this was a Matrix vampire/werewolf movie. Were they right? In a way, yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, the visuals are stunning, the story is actually not that bad, the characters are nice... but something's missing in this movie and I wish I knew what. I think the main reason why I didn't like this movie as much as I'd hoped is because of Beckinsale's performance. It's bland and nothing really special. Her on-screen chemistry with her love interest just isn't there, either.
However, the fight scenes alone in this movie are worth seeing. The music got on my nerves too much though. The villains weren't that intriguing either. I've seen better. Not too bad of a movie but nothing really outstanding.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Daredevil (DVD) [09/13/2003]
Just finished watching all the special features of this 2-disc set. Pretty impressive and well done, actually. I'd seen this movie last February with Am�lie. Ah, what a nice night that was. ^_^ Anyway, it's a pretty good movie, pretty dark for a superhero movie but then again, Daredevil is a darker character than other superheroes like Spider-Man or Superman. The features I liked the best were the second part on the 2nd disc, the parts about the comic, since I'd never even read any of the comics. Always great to hear about comic book artists talk about their work. Lots of material included on this set. Very nice.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Jeepers Creepers 2 [09/11/2003]
I haven't seen the first movie. Went to see this one with my brother and his girlfriend. Pretty basic horror movie. I was expecting a lot more gruesome deaths. The decapitation was pretty well done, I must admit. The makeup effects are pretty well done. Ray Wise does a nice performance. Some of the kids "acting" in this movie really need to continue to learn acting though. Most of their performances are just god damn awful. Just because you can act like you're all angry and throwing swear words every few minutes doesn't mean you can act well. The kids just grated on my nerves too much. The story is pretty lame too. No backstory or mythology is explained about the Creeper and why it needs to feed every 23 years and stuff. Was it explained in the first one? Who knows? Who cares? So... bottom line... this is a movie I'll have pretty much forgotten a few months from now. Nothing special.
Rating: 1� out of 4 stars
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There's Something (More) About Mary [09/07/2003]
Funny movie, even after all these years. This recently released "More" edition of the 1998 comedy hit by the Farelly Brothers contains 15 minutes of additional scenes. To be honest, it had been such a long time since I'd seen the movie, I didn't even know what were those new scenes. Nevertheless, it's still a very cool movie. The extra features on the 2nd disc are plentiful as well. Very nice special edition.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Band of Brothers [09/05/2003]
This is truly among the best series I have ever seen. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it and wants to learn more about World War II. For those of you who don't really know what I'm talking about, Band of Brothers is an HBO original series that aired last year. It was produced by Spielberg and Tom Hanks. The cast are all mostly unknowns. All the episodes are based on true events during WWII. Band of Brothers is the story of just that, a band of brothers, the men of Easy Company, part of the 101st Airborne Division, paratroopers who fought during the Second World War. The first part shows their training at Camp Toccoa, in the States. After their training, their are shipped out to England and their first assignment? Really not the easiest one... D-Day at Normandy, where they are dropped behind enemy lines. The rest of the parts detail Easy Company's actions during the war. Some really horrifying things happened, of course... The second to last part, after Germany is fleeing and in a state of disarray, Easy Company discovers a concentration camp... I was crying the whole time during the episode. Same thing with the last one... All of the soldiers depicted in the series are real soldiers, lots of them died, some of them survived.. and the survivors even get interviewed a little before each episode.. and after the last one too. Very well done... Classy and respectful.
I'm actually starting to be at a loss for words here...
I've always respected the men and women who serve in the Army. Watching this series made me respect them even more. It's because of men and women like that, that I can sit here, in my cozy room, my family downstairs sleeping peacefully, my friends all over the world, the comfort and life that I have, I owe it to them, in a very large part. If those brave men and women hadn't been there, during those times, chances are I wouldn't even be here right now... So, my respect goes to all of them.
The DVD package is very well made. There are 10 parts in the series, 2 parts per disc and a 6th disc for the special features. Among the special features is a special documentary called "We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company", with interviews with the real WWII veterans that were in Easy Company and who are portrayed in the series. Very poignant stuff. There's a making of featurette, there are video diaries recorded by Ron Livingston (plays Lewis Nixon), a photo gallery and previews for each of the parts.
This series, quite simply, is a masterpiece. I strongly recommend it to anyone... but a fair warning, it's really not for the weak at heart.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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The Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers [08/26/2003]
The second movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Very nice DVD package they've made, as with the previous one for The Fellowship of the Ring. Just enough to wet my appetite for the Special Extended Edition that's coming out this November. My main review for the movie can be found here.
I'll review the special features. First are two television specials, One the Set - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return to Middle-earth. Pretty cool specials. Then, there's the short film directed by Sean Astin, The Long and Short of It and the making of the short movie. Pretty cute little movie, I must say. Then there's 8 lordoftherings.net featurettes about several aspects of the movie like the sound effects, the arms and armor and various stuff about the movie. I enjoyed those.
Next, there's a preview for the Special Extended Edition DVD of The Two Towers. The new scenes they are adding are great. I can't wait. Then, there's the exclusive 10-minute behind-the-scenes preview of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Simply awesome. I can't wait for December. Then there's the trailers and TV spots. The TV spots are pretty much all the same but that's to be expected. I like the music they used for certain of the spots. I can't put my finger (or ear) on it but I've heard it before for another movie, I think. After that, there's the Gollum's Song music video by Emiliana Torrini. Pretty sexy lady. Rawr. Finally, there's a preview for the upcoming EA video game, The Return of the King. They actually spend more time showing clips of The Two Towers game than the newest game. I figure EA didn't have much to give them for the release of the DVD yet.
All in all, very nice package.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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From Hell [08/24/2003]
Directed by the Hughes brothers and starring Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Ian Holm and Robbie Coltrane. Plot summary from IMDB: It is 1888 in London, and the unfortunate poor lead horrifying lives in the city's deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to walk the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her small group of companions trudge on through this daily misery, their only consolation being that things can't get any worse. Yet things somehow do when their friend Ann is kidnapped and they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher up than they could possibly imagine. The kidnapping is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Polly, and it becomes apparent that they are being hunted down, one by one. Sinister even by Whitechapel standards, the murder grabs the attention of Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant yet troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic abilities. Abberline becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on personal meaning to him when he and Mary begin to fall in love. But as he gets closer to the truth Whitechapel becomes more and more dangerous for Abberline, Mary, and the other girls. Whoever is responsible for the grisly acts is not going to give up his secret without a fight....will they be able to survive the avenging force that has been sent after them from hell?
First, the attention to detail in this movie is amazing. I didn't really know that much about the Jack the Ripper story but the filmmakers really took care of the details. Some of the scenes in the movie made me squirm. I mean, we -are- talking about a man who would literally cut these women to pieces... Truly frightening and disturbing stuff. Nice performance by all the main actors and a great performance by Ian Holm, as usual. The special features on the 2nd disc are very nice too. I liked them.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Freddy Vs. Jason [08/15/2003]
First, I'd never really seen any of the Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th movies. However, I of course knew of these two horror icons. My brother called me when I was at work and asked if I wanted to go see it and I figured, what the hell, I'll go. I expected to be disappointed but... it's actually pretty cool. They did a good job of explaining much of the backstory for the two characters, which I thought was nice. Lots of gory and violent scenes in the movie of course but that's what they are really... Gory and violent movies. A few girls in the theater screamed... I have to say part of the audience was really annoying. I think this was among the most annoying movie audiences I've been with in my life. During the first few minutes, some kid with a laser pointer fooled around and people were talking all during the movie. Nonetheless, I enjoyed myself anyway.
Also saw the trailer for the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. I think I'll go see that one too.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Spirited Away [08/10/2003]
What can I say? This film is a masterpiece, pure and simple. I'm glad Disney decided to bring this movie to American audiences, else I would have probably never even seen it. From the mind of acclaimed Japanase filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away is the story of a little girl called Chihiro. She becomes trapped in a strange fantasy world of spirits, her parents get transformed into pigs... and she must find a way to turn them back and return her family to the outside world.
You have to experience this film... Trust me.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [08/09/2003]
I finally got around to watching it. For whatever reason, I skipped watching it in the theaters last winter and well, it took me a while to watch it on DVD. I think I like it even more than the first one. The story just seems to flow more smoothly than in the second, the characters are more alive, also. I don't know. The visual effects are amazing and John Williams' score is beautiful, as usual. Very good movie. It makes me want to read the books...
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Dead Zone (TV Series) [08/03/2003]
Just finished watching the first season on DVD. Not since 24 has a show hooked me like that. The characters are amazing, the stories are well written, the special effects are great, the music is good... Everything about this show is very high quality. Based on the Stephen King novel, The Dead Zone tells the story of a man named Johnny Smith. When he was a child, young Johnny fell on the ice and knocked his head hard. From that point on, he has had visions, either of the past or the future.
Now a grown man and a teacher in his hometown of Cleaves Hills, Maine, Johnny is engaged to his long-time sweetheart, Sarah. Everything in his life is going well. One night, they share a night of passion and conceive a child. That same night, Johnny leaves to get some videos and gets into a car accident. He slips into a coma and awakens 6 years later. His fianc�e is now married to another man, the local sheriff. His son (conceived 6 years earlier) doesn't know who he is. His visions are also more involved now... much more detailed. Whenever he touches someone, he receives a vision of something past or future about the person or the object.
Great concept for a show, right from the start. I've never seen the movie starring Christopher Walken but I might make it a point to try and go rent it, eventually. I liked every single episode of the first season (all 13 of them) and the season finale ends on a really disturbing note... I won't really spoil anything, in case anyone wants to watch it for themselves. I strongly recommend it.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Basic [07/20/2003]
Military murder mystery starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. You know, those types of movies where there are survivors to some event, and each survivor tells different stories about what happened and you don't know who is lying and who's telling the truth? Well, it's that type of movie. Up until the end, you have no idea what really happened. There are more twists in this one than any movie I remember. Pretty entertaining but nothing memorable.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Phone Booth [07/19/2003]
Directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell and Kiefer Sutherland, this movie tells the story of an hour or so in the life of Stu Shepard and a phone booth. I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and being intrigued by the concept. About 90% of this movie happens in a phone booth and listening to the commentary, this movie was done in 10 days. Yes, 10 days. No joke. Anyway, I won't really explain the story, seeing as this movie is more of an experience. Really exciting movie, not too long either. Very touching moment near the end of the movie. Kiefer Sutherland plays The Caller and I -never- get tired of his voice. Heh, he's really a cool actor. Can't wait for the 2nd season of 24 to be released on DVD and for the 3rd season of 24 to start.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [07/17/2003]
Well, I'm back from seeing it. I'd seen the previews and I was intrigued. I didn't know about the story or the characters, except that it starred Sean Connery and had an invisible man and lots of other cool looking characters. I'm now feeling somewhat disappointed. The story (fiction, of course) is set in 1899, on the eve of a new century. We're introduced to an old hero of sorts, Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery), being recruited by a man named "M", working for the Queen of England. Seems there's a nefarious villain called The Phantom that's planning some evil deeds... and the British Empire is in need of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
The first quarter of the movie is spent introducing each of these gentlemen, which includes a woman, by the way. First, there's Captain Nemo. Yes, Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. A cool looking Indian dude that kicks lots of ass, has a very nice automobile and of course, his famous submarine, the Nautilus. Then, there's Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), a mysterious woman who is a vampire (apparently turned into one by the big one, Count Dracula). There's Skinner, the aforementioned Invisible Man. Also, there's Dorian Gray, a man who is impervious to everything. Next, there's Tom Sawyer. Yes, you heard right. Tom Sawyer, from the Mark Twain novel, the American boy and youngest of the group. Finally, rounding up the League is Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde... Hyde is our equivalent of the Incredible Hulk, so to speak.
Sounds interesting on paper, doesn't it? Well, on the screen, it's not that interesting. The plot is boring, the characters are boring, the villain is lame, the plot twists are entirely predictable and lame... and the special effects are nothing special. I mean, we've all seen invisible men on the screen before. Mr. Hyde, I'll admit, is entirely impressive and does seem to look way better than the shots I've seen of the Hulk. Captain Nemo does kick lots of ass. However, that's where the appeal of the movie ends, for me. Connery's performance is okay... but nothing special. He ages well, let me tell you. However, the complete lack of character development of the other characters is very apparent. I figure it was intended that way because it's very obvious with the ending, that it leaves the door open for a sequel, which of course, I'm quite sure they're going to do... I can just see it now... LXG2... Insert long subtitle here... *yawns*
One final positive note: The visuals are quite spectacular.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Catch Me If You Can [07/13/2003]
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, directed by Steven Spielberg, this movie is based on a true story about a man named Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), a successful con artist who managed to pass himself off as several identities and elude the FBI agent (Tom Hanks) hot on his trail. Nice performances by both DiCaprio and Hanks. My brother had said that he really liked this movie. I wasn't disappointed either.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Just Married [07/13/2003]
Very cute romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy about the good and bad parts of a new marriage. I enjoyed this movie. Kutcher is really funny and Brittany Murphy is sexy and adorable as ever. The both of them have a great chemistry together and they're quite charming. The movie starts with the ending and then, we kind of head into flashback country. They meet, they get married, they go on their honeymoon, the honeymoon sucks... distrust and fights break out... Anyway, won't really get into the story. It was a fun movie.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Die Hard: With a Vengeance [07/13/2003]
I loved the first two Die Hard movies and for some reason, I never did get around to seeing the third one, until now. The movie ties into the first one in some way, which I won't really explain. It stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons. Irons is the villain and I have to say that he's not nearly as interesting a villain as the ones in the two previous movies. Some of the action sequences in the movie are really nice but the ending of the movie feels tacked on and entirely rushed. Nothing special. I liked the first two movies better.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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The Scorpion King [07/12/2003]
I'm a fan of The Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser. I was kind of jaded about this movie and I must say that I was disappointed. The Rock just isn't that good of an actor, in my opinion. Some scenes he was in made me cringe. The story is completely lame, the sidekick is not funny at all and the supporting characters are boring and uninteresting. There are some nice fight scenes of course, yes... but fight scenes alone do not make a movie. Ah well. At least the special features on the disc aren't too bad.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Dogma (Special Edition) [07/12/2003]
I watched the movie sometime last week and today, I finished watching the special features. Great movie, of course, if you're a fan of Kevin Smith's View Askew series. This is the fourth movie in the series. I can see why this movie caused such a stir back when it was released. It's mostly about religion and stuff. Anyway, basic premise of the story is that two angels, Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have found a 'loophole' in modern Catholicism that would allow them back into Heaven. To stop them, the Voice of God (Alan Rickman) sets Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), the Last Scion, on a 'crusade' to stop the two angels from ending all of existence. Joining Bethany are the 13th Apostle (Chris Rock), Serendipity (Salma Hayek) and two special 'prophets', Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith). Thrown into the mix is the demon Azrael (Jason Lee) and the Stygian Triplets. Sounds confusing? It's pretty easy to follow once you watch the movie, even if you're not very religious. Good movie.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [07/09/2003]
I've just come back from seeing it with my mom and my sister. Awesome movie. First of all, Johnny Depp's performance as pirate Captain Jack Sparrow is amazing. Orlando Bloom (Legolas in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, for those who don't know) is good also, as is the female lead, Keira Knightley. Speaking of her, my sister remarked, after the movie, that she looks a lot like Nathalie Portman. Then it dawned on me that I recognized her name from the credits of Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace. Yup, she played one of Amidala's decoys/handmaidens, Sab�. She is extremely sexy... Visual effects are totally out of this world and the music is very well done too. I won't really spoil the story but it's a nice one. Movie runs a bit long and there are a few slow parts but other than that, it's really quite amazing. Don't miss this one.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle [07/04/2003]
My sister really wanted to go see it and since I really enjoyed the first one, I figured I'd go see it. First of all, if you go see this movie, try and not follow the "plot" too much. They head from one scene to the next so rapidly that half the time, you ask yourself: "Why are they here doing this again?" My sister, who's usually not that bad at understanding stories and movie plots was completely baffled most of the time during this movie. Nonetheless, the action sequences are quite amazing and the girls are just as nice as in the first, perhaps even nicer in this one... Sexiness personnified. Grrrr. Especially Drew Barrymore. Finally, Bernie Mac doesn't play a good a Bosley as Bill Murray did. Not sure why Murray wasn't in this one.. Oh and Demi Moore is smokin' hot too. Yowch..
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The Ring [07/02/2003]
Well, I wasn't as scared as I thought I'd be. There are many disturbing images and scenes in the movie, yes, especially the whole videotape footage. Gah. Freaky stuff. The story is nice.. but I don't know.. it just didn't (pardon the pun) ring well with me very much. Plus, the special features on the DVD are practically non-existent. There's a trailer for the original movie that inspired this one (Ringu) and there's some kind of montage with additional/extended scenes. That's it. A commentary on those scenes would have been nice.. Ah well..
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Special Extended Edition) [06/29/2003]
I really should add this one to my list of favorite movies. I'd forgotten how much I liked this one. Really good movie. Great DVD package too, filled with really cool special features like two commentary tracks, photo galleries, making of featurette and even Michael Kamen's movie score in surround sound! That score kicks so much ass, it's not even funny. Let me put it this way. They still use cues from the soundtrack for certain movie trailers these days.. They've also added an additional 12 minutes of deleted scenes into the movie, most of the revolving around the Sheriff of Nottingham and Mortiana. Anyway, awesome flick and great DVD.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Stargate (Ultimate Edition) [06/25/2003]
One of my all-time favorite movies. I remember seeing this one in the theaters and being completely blown away by the scope and scale of this movie. Since I've always been fascinated by Egyptian stuff, this movie really appealed to me almost 10 years ago and it still does. The special effects in this movie really were ahead of their time. This movie was made almost 10 years ago and it holds up very nicely, even by today's standards. Anyone who hasn't seen this movie and considers himself/herself a sci-fi fan is really missing something.
The extra features on this "Ultimate Edition" set leave a lot to be desired though, sadly. First, the set is separated on two discs, one for the director's cut of the movie with added and extended scenes and the second disc for the theatrical cut. The director's cut is really nice.. adds more depth to the characters and stuff. However, the extra features on the first disc are almost non-existent. There's an audio commentary track by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, which is okay, I guess... and there's a documentary entitled "Is There a Stargate?", about an author of a book called "Chariots of the Gods", which theorizes that most of the great structures, temples, buildings, etc. (like the great pyramids in Egypt, for instance) were built by extra-terrestrials. Pretty neat stuff. On the second disc, you get a making of featurette along with the production notes, cast & crew information and two trailers. I felt the extra features left a lot to be desired. All in all though, a nice little package for fans of the movie, for certain.
Heh, one last note: I didn't know that the producers of the movie had such disdain for the TV series... Poor MacGyver...
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Red Dragon [06/24/2003]
The first part of the Hannibal Lecter trilogy, prequel to both The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Very entertaining movie and very well played characters. Nice suspense too. Sir Anthony Hopkins, on top of his game, as usual. Not quite as disturbing as Hannibal though. There aren't many graphic scenes in the movie. Hannibal was just... a gore fest. Still can't shake that final scene from my head... Gah. Anyway... Great movie but I'm really kicking myself for not realizing that there is a "Director's Cut" DVD of this movie and that I bought the "normal" version. Consequently, the special features on this DVD probably aren't as extensive as the ones in the other version. D'oh!
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home [06/24/2003]
One of the best Star Trek movies, arguably the best in the movie series. Quite different from the previous 3 movies, this movie is much, much lighter and funnier. The story picks up a few months after the previous film. Kirk's crew were reunited with Spock on Vulcan, the Enterprise had been destroyed and they now faced the task of heading back home and facing the consequences of their actions during the last movie. The only ship available to them was the Klingon Bird of Prey they got during the last movie. So, they head back home... but in the meantime, a strange probe has approached Earth and starts emitting strange sounds.. the probe eventually starts to disrupt all the energy about ships and starbases.. and puts the entire planet in jeopardy. Kirk and crew must travel back to the past, San Francisco 1986, to be more precise.. and find some humpback whales.. and bring them back to the future, hoping that the creatures will be able to communicate with the probe. Very interesting story.
The special features of the Special Edition DVD set are very nice, as they have been with the previous 2 Special Editions I've seen thus far. Nice featurettes about the Star Trek universe, including a very interesting one on quantum physics and the theories of time travel. Production featurettes are also nice but the sound design one, with the sound design person was just completely annoying. The visual effects featurettes were also nice but the Bird of Prey one seems repetitive. They'd already talked about the ship at length on the previous movie. Two nice tributes: one for Gene Roddenberry by his son, Eugene and another for Mark Lenard, who played Sarek, Spock's father on the original series, TNG and this movie (perhaps others, I'm not sure). The audio commentary by Nimoy and Shatner isn't all I expected it to be. Nice humor between the two though. Finally, probably the most lame of the special features are the original interviews included (they were filmed back in 1986). William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley are interviewed.. and the least horrible interviewer is probably the one for Kelley. Nimoy's interviewed by some dimwit and Shatner is interviewed on the Paramount lot, while they're building sets and moving stuff around.. you can barely hear anything at all with all the background noise.. plus the interviewer evidently annoys Shatner a few times.. and Shatner's annoyed at the noise around him and such.. Oh well. Nice DVD package though.
(Heh. Extensive review.. these don't happen very often anymore..)
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Ghost in the Shell [06/23/2003]
Well, as most anime movies I watch, I was mostly clueless about what was going on exactly, in this movie. Something about a "hacker" and cyborgs and futuristic stuff. The visuals are quite nice and the animation is great. Music kind of annoyed me though and well, I'd heard alot about this movie. Hype, I guess you could call it. I'm not really sure what the hype was all about. Oh well. I figure it appealed to the fans of The Matrix somehow.. a film that never really intrigued me that much. DVD extra features are lame. I don't know. I just can't stand listening to Japanese people talk and reading subtitles.. I've just been greatly disappointed with my last few anime purchases. About the only anime I've really enjoyed watching lately is Slayers..
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Minority Report [06/22/2003]
Nice movie. Directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise. I really loved the special effects in this movie.. you know, special effects that aren't there -just- to be special effects. I especially liked the interface for the computers. Really futuristic without looking completely lame. Most sci-fi movies have a hard time pulling that off, usually.. but Spielberg and company went at it really well. Nice story too.. suspensful thriller. I liked it. Nice special features on the DVD too, albeit not that many of them, for a 2-Disc set.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Old School [06/15/2003]
Is this movie supposed to be a comedy? Aren't comedies supposed to be funny? I didn't find this movie funny at all. Actually, I found it highly boring and uninteresting. I'm usually a fan of Will Ferrell's work but this one isn't one of his best performances. Didn't care much for the rest of the characters or the movie. It's saying something when the outtakes and bloopers are actually -more- funny than the movie itself...
Rating: 1 out of 4 stars
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Die Another Day [06/07/2003]
One of the best Bond movies I've seen. I've seen all of the Brosnan movies though, none of the older ones. I almost liked this one more than Goldeneye. Great action sequences and some new twists to the genre. Loved the new Q scene with John Cleese. Music was great too. As for the DVD package itself, very well done. Nice presentation and neat featurettes.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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WWE: RAW 10th Anniversary [06/07/2003]
Amazing to see that RAW has been on the air for over 10 years now. I even remember watching it in the very beginning, like when the 1-2-3 Kid beat Razor Ramon. Lots of great memories from those years. Back when I really liked wrestling. Nowadays, I almost never get interested in the storylines anymore. I mostly just watch it because it's around, you know? Seems like I've seen pretty much everything, after all these years. Plus, the athleticism, it gets kind of boring after a while too. However, this DVD was great. Really enjoyed it.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Bruce Almighty [05/23/2003]
Just came back from seeing the latest Jim Carrey flick. Went on an impulse... actually, my sister invited me, so... I'd seen the trailer on TV and it looked pretty groovy. I've always kind of liked Jim Carrey's style but the last movie I'd seen with him, I didn't like: The Truman Show. So, I was a tad hesitant about this one. A few things:
1. I'd never realized how beautiful Jennifer Aniston actually is. Guess the TV screen doesn't do her much justice on Friends. Wow...
2. Very funny movie. My sister and I were practically peeing our pants during a stretch of the movie. Lots of fun.
3. Nice message to the movie too. Again, it made me think a lot about a few things, which is rare for comedies.
So, that's it, basically. Enjoyable movie but it's not like it's a MUST see or anything.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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X-Men 2 [05/19/2003]
Very nice sequel. They developed some of the fringe characters from the first movie, namely Bobby Drake (Iceman) and Mystique while also introducing a few new characters like Pyro, Lady Deathstrike and Stryker. I liked the story of this one and of course, the visuals. The movie looks simply amazing. Nice amount of humour too. It was a bit slow at certain parts but that's to be expected. Is it better than the first movie? Definitely. Am I looking to the third movie? Hell yes.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Signs [05/12/2003]
Directed by M. Night Shamalayan, the man behind The Sixth Sense, a movie I'd enjoyed a lot. Pretty strange movie, I must say. Very nice, though. Story about a family... on a farm... and about... crop circles and yes... aliens. The kind of fear and terror that this movie inspired in me was all psychological.. I practically jumped out of my seat on a few occasions. I can only imagine how great this movie would have been at the theater. Very nice performances by all the actors in the movie and there's also a message... one that made me think a lot... but that's another story...
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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A Beautiful Mind [05/05/2003]
I've finally seen it. I'd heard lots of good things about this movie and I wasn't disappointed. I have to admit that I had no earthly idea what this movie was about until seeing it. I'd never heard of John Nash... and that just goes to show how uncultured I am. I mean the guy won a Nobel Prize! Heh. Anyway, powerful performances by all the actors and very touching story. A masterpiece.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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K-19: The Widowmaker [05/04/2003]
Well, it's a submarine movie. Great production but... I don't know, the story didn't really interest me that much. It's about a Russian nuclear submarine, the first actually, and its ill-fated first mission. Starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson, I really hoped I'd like this movie. It's not exactly a bad movie but... I don't know. I just didn't find it that appealing. I didn't care about the characters at all, so the perils they faced and the courage they showed, it just didn't resonate with me. Oh well.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Ice Age [05/02/2003]
Great CGI animation movie and pretty neat special features. I liked it.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Spider-Man [04/28/2003]
Great DVD set. Lots of neat special features, including lots of information on the comics, which I didn't really know. Great movie too. Still enjoyable. They are currently filming the sequel and I hear the villain will be Dr. Octopus! Oh yeah!
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Shawshank Redemption [04/27/2003]
Like The Usual Suspects, I'd heard a great deal about this movie in the past decade or so. I knew it was a prison movie and I knew that Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were in it but that's about it. Well, let me tell you, this is probably the best movie I've seen all year, so far. I just wish I'd seen it sooner. This movie carries a lot of powerful messages about life and hope.. and whenever a movie makes me cry, it's good, trust me. A must-see.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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The Royal Tenenbaums [04/27/2003]
Directed by Wes Anderson. He also did Rushmore, a movie I really liked. Thing is, when I bought this DVD, I wasn't even aware that it was from the director of Rushmore so when I learned that he had directed this one, it was a pleasant surprise because I'd enjoyed Rushmore a lot. This movie is the story of the Tenenbaum family. The patriarch of the family, Royal, wants to get back into the good graces of his family since he hasn't really spoken to them in almost 20 years, after separating from his wife. Anyway, Royal discovers that his wife got engaged to another man, so Royal, unable to stand that she's going to marry another man, tries to manipulate his way back into his family and wife's good graces. Pretty entertaining flick and nice performances all around. I liked it.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Memento [04/26/2003]
I'd already seen this movie maybe last year or something. Rented it on DVD, actually. When I saw the Special Edition of this movie at the store, I just couldn't resist purchasing it. Pretty unique movie and experience. Story is pretty complex and even I have a hard time really understanding what goes on during the movie. You'll have to see it for yourself. Very enjoyable though.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Usual Suspects [04/26/2003]
I'd heard about this movie for many years but I'd never seen it entirely until now. I'd started watching it a few months ago but I must not have been feeling good that day/night because I stopped after about 10 minutes. However, I can say that this movie really rocks. I can't really talk about the movie without spoiling it in some ways. Just make it a point to watch it if you haven't already. Kevin Spacey won his first Oscar for Best Actor for this movie and you will see why.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The Mummy [02/23/2003]
Strange thing about this movie. I remember having watched it a while ago but yet, watching it again, it seemed like I'd never seen it before. I remember watching it for the first time on VHS when it probably first came out. Everything was pretty new to me. Enjoyed this movie a great deal, even though it's a bit too long for my tastes. Pretty amazing special effects, I might add.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Daredevil [02/21/2003]
I went to see this movie with Am�lie, her boyfriend and two of their friends. Great movie, I really liked it. I wasn't extremely familiar with Matt Murdock's story and the Daredevil comic. Only thing I was familiar with was the Kingpin because he's in that 'new' Spider-Man cartoon I used to watch. Liked Ben Affleck's performance, loved Kevin Smith's cameo.. and that Jennifer Garner girl is quite the hottie, I'll admit. Read a comment somewhere that the movie felt like just a string of music videos put together. I guess I can agree with that but the movie is very well made, visually. Love Bullseye too, played by Colin Farrell. Let's not forget the intensely amazing X-Men 2 trailer. Wow! I want to go see that one, for sure.
Can you tell I liked this one more than Chicago? ^_~
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Austin Powers in Goldmember [02/15/2003]
Liked more of the jokes while watching the DVD. That's pretty much all. Main review is down below.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Chicago [02/11/2003]
I don't like musicals.
Yes, that's my review. That is all.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [01/26/2003]
Wow. What a great movie. It's not hard to see why this movie got such critical acclaim worldwide, including 10 nominations at the 2000 Oscars. Awesome cinematography and great original score. Great fight scenes too, especially the one between Jen and Shu near the end. Great message to the film too. All in all, one kick ass film.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Run Lola Run [01/11/2003]
Movie lent to me by my friend, Am�lie. German movie. I watched it in German, with English subtitles. I didn't really feel like hearing the French translation anyway. Pretty groovy movie and quite unique, I must say. Rollercoaster ride, kind of. It's the story of a girl named Lola and her boyfriend, Minna. Minna gets in trouble by losing a bag of money (100,000 marks) after a drug deal. He says that if he doesn't get the money really soon, he'll die. Lola runs and tries to find a way to get some money, somehow. I won't really spoil anything but... let's just say this movie is... something to watch.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Lilo & Stitch [01/04/2003]
Cute movie. I'd seen the previews for this movie a while ago and never really thought much of it. Just finished watching it with the family. It's a Disney movie but still, the characters are pretty well fleshed out and the voice acting is great. I foresee some new adventures where Stitch is concerned...
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Perfect Blue [01/03/2003]
This movie was recommended to me by a few of my friends. It's the first anime I've watched in a long time. My last anime experience, Blood: The Last Vampire, really disappointed me. This movie, however, did not disappoint me at all. Very entertaining suspense thriller. A few disturbing scenes though... pretty violent in a few places. Great characters though and I love the music. I'll probably watch it again some other time, down the line. Great animation.. for the time. I think this is a masterpiece of anime.. although I've not seen many animes so far.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Back to the Future (Part II and III) [12/26/2002 and 12/27/2002]
I also remember watching these movies when I was young, probably around 14 or 15 this time around. I remember watching them for the first time at Luc's house, once again, on videotape. I'd been waiting for the sequel to this movie for a very long time. Did I enjoy them as much as the original? Not as much... but they're still very good movies, in my opinion. Part II takes place mostly in 2015 and in 1955 (the 1955 parts are very awesome, especially if you're an avid fan of the first movie). The final part of the trilogy takes place in 1955 at first and then, the rest of the movie is mostly in 1885. One of the most cohesive and entertaining movie trilogies I've ever seen.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Back to the Future [12/26/2002]
This movie is one of the movies that marked my childhood. 1985. The movie came out when I was 9 years old. I probably watched it soon after it came out on video. I have faint memories of watching the movie with my friend Luc when we were young. I enjoyed this movie a great deal and it had been a very long time since I'd last seen it before watching it on DVD. Watching it now, I understand a bit more of the jokes that I originally missed or didn't understand. I even understand the story better now. This movie captivated my imagination. It's also one of the only movies, if not the only that I'm able to stand watching its french translation. Must be because the first time I saw it, it was probably in french. It's a story of time travel, of course. Anyway, I don't feel like explaining the story right now... just... if you've never seen this movie (or the sequels), watch them.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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The Lord
of the Rings: The Two Towers [12/19/2002]
The second movie in The Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Evidently, I'd been anticipating this movie for almost a year now. I completely adored the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring. I got both versions on DVD and watched them many times. My adoration of this series has even surpassed my love for Star Wars. Needless to say, my expectations for this movie were very high. Did I end up disappointed in the end? Yes and no.
On one hand, it's great that the movie doesn't feel like an entirely new movie, with subtle differences in the actors and whatnot. PJ really made a wise decision in shooting these 3 movies back to back. Makes for a more uniform whole, as it should be. The Lord of the Rings -should- be just one movie... but evidently, the movie would be about 6 or 7 hours long and that's not really enjoyable to watch in a movie theater, is it?
First of all, let me say that the opening of this movie is most possibly the most amazing introduction I've ever seen in my life... Anyway, the real star of this movie is the character that really needed to become more central in this part of the story... Gollum. Wow. That's all I can really say. The actor who played Gollum was simply amazing and the animators who animated him deserve an Oscar. Heck, I even think the actor who voices Gollum, Andy Serkis, should be nominated for an Oscar. I'm not kidding. Gollum in this movie is, bar none, the most realistic and believable CGI character I've ever seen in any movie in my life. I forgot he was actually computer generated... and that means the animators and the actor did their jobs perfectly, in my view.
Of course, at the end of the Fellowship movie, the Fellowship is splintered. Gandalf fell into a pit after his battle with the Balrog. Boromir tried to steal the ring from Frodo at Amon Hen. Boromir dies at the hands of the Uruk-hai, defending Merry and Pippin as best he could. Frodo and Sam head off to Mordor alone. They're both followed by Gollum. Merry and Pippin are captured by the Uruk-hai to be brought to Isenguard. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli track the orcs that captured Merry and Pippin... I really liked the way Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli became closer comrades. The rivalry/friendship between Legolas and Gimli was very well done. I liked that they kept the "competition" aspect of their relationship intact.
Massive battles in this movie, especially the one at Helm's Deep. The Ents were very well made. About the only part of this movie that I didn't like is the clich� love triangle between Aragorn, Arwen and Eowyn. It was faily easy to guess that it was going to be present, especially after I saw one of the movie posters where he's flanked by the two beauties. I don't know... I just felt it didn't really add anything to the movie. The movie in itself is quite long... almost 3 hours long again, like the Fellowship.
Still, I enjoyed myself and I wasn't that much disappointed, even though I still like the first movie better than this one. It's still a very awesome movie and I look forward to going to see it again with my family over in Toronto for New Years.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock [12/13/2002]
I haven't really watched any of the special features of this DVD yet. I've watched the movie though. Not really one of my favorites. It's really not as good as the second movie, The Wrath of Khan, in my opinion. Main villain is a Klingon called Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd. Maybe it's because I associate that actor too much with the role he played in the Back to the Future series but I just can't consider him as a serious villain in this movie. Khan was played WAY better and even Shinzon in the most recent movie is a better villain... The story isn't that good either, in this movie... However, the main appeal of the movie, in my view, is how Kirk's crew all risk their careers in Starfleet to help Kirk find Spock and help him. I don't feel the death of Kirk's son was handled very well... but it's unique, to say the least... and it gives a good incentive for Kirk to hate the Klingons and it explains a few of his actions in the sixth movie, The Undiscovered Country. The ending is really amazing, when the crew is reunited... and the adventure continues in the next movie, The Voyage Home, one of my favorite movies apart from the second one in the series.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Star Trek: Nemesis [12/13/2002]
Just a slight warning. I'll be discussing spoilers here. Read at your own peril. Well, I've seen it. I'd seen the previews of the movie also and I have to say that the previews alone made me want to see it. I'd been very disappointed in the last movie, Insurrection. To me, it felt more like a very long episode of The Next Generation instead of a feature movie. In First Contact, I didn't have that feeling... it's a movie. So, what about Nemesis? Well, somewhere in between, I guess. Certainly better than Insurrection but still not as good as First Contact. The main strength of the movie comes from the title.. the main nemesis of the movie, Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard that had been created many years ago as a ploy by the Romulans to infiltrate the Federation. The plan eventually was abandoned when the government on Romulus changed.. and Shinzon was abandoned and sent to the dilithium mines on some backward planet in the Empire. Imprisoned there for many years, his hatred for humanity molds him into a very menacing and dangerous villain. Very well acted part, in my view. There isn't much development made for the main characters, apart from Picard, Riker, Troy and of course, Data. Nice cameos by Guinan and Admiral Kathryn Janeway. A sacrifice at the end of the movie puts an end to the last adventure the Next Generation crew will ever have, apparently.. Still felt kind of empty at the end of the movie but I get that feeling a lot with movies... Still very enjoyable.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Hannibal [10/19/2002]
I'm having a hard time coming up with a review for this movie. Quite unique, a mix of a suspense thriller, a horror movie, a love story and... a gore movie, all mixed into one. Very gory and disturbing scenes in this movie. Definitely not for the weak of heart. Anthony Hopkins reprises his infamous role of Doctor Hannibal Lecter in this sequel to The Silence of the Lambs. Jodie Foster doesn't play Clarice Sterling, Julianne Moore does. That was kind of a letdown. I'd heard Foster declined the offer to do this movie because she thought it was too violent and she was involved with another project at the time. Pretty basic special features on the second disc. I wonder if I should go see Red Dragon now...
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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The Silence of the Lambs [10/12/2002]
First time I'd seen this movie, surprisingly. I'd seen bits and parts of it through the years but never really watched it from beginning to end until now. Completely awesome performance by Anthony Hopkins of course. This role probably redefined his career, I think. Jodie Foster was excellent too. Kind of surprised that it won that many Oscars though. Very disturbing scenes in this movie... and I shudder what to think there is in the sequel that I've heard through the grapevine...
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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24 - Season 1 [10/06/2002]
Normally, I only put movie reviews here but I wanted to review the DVD set of 24 I bought last week. I purchased it on October 1st and I watched all the 24 episodes in 4 days, including 12 consecutive ones yesterday. I have to say that this show is one of the best shows I've ever watched and it hooked me, big time. There are tons of plot twists in it, shocking endings, shocking scenes, emotional scenes... It's a rollercoaster ride and I cared very much about the characters. If you have never seen this show, try and get the DVD set for Season 1. It's amazing...
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Monsters, Inc. [09/17/2002]
Saw this movie last year in the theaters with my sister and I liked it. My mother had never seen it before so we watched the DVD. Very cute movie, pretty funny and of course, awesome animation by Pixar Studios. If you haven't seen this movie, go rent it or something. It's worth at least one viewing. Haven't really explored much of the bonus features on the DVD apart from the two short animated films (For The Birds, which won the 2001 Oscar for Best Animated Short Film and a new short film called Mike's New Car, which is absolutely hilarious). We also watched the outtakes and those alone are worth the purchase of this DVD... Outtakes from an animated movie... I mean, they'd done these before in previous Pixar movies and they've become sort of a trademark and they are extremely funny. Oh... and I cried at the end of the movie again... �_�
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Independence Day [09/15/2002]
One of my all-time favorite movies. I'd been wanting to get the Special Collector's Edition of this DVD but sadly, it's very hard to find now. So, I decided to buy this newly released version, which doesn't feature as much stuff as the special one. Nevertheless, this movie really kicks ass. I don't care what other people think about it.. There's something about Roland Emmerich's style that appeals to me. I adore Stargate and I adore this movie. Enough said.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Blood: The Last Vampire [09/07/2002]
At the Yokota Air Force base in Japan, a nervous American military is on the brink of the Vietnam War. But a greater threat exists within the walls of the heavily guarded compound: Vampires. A team of top-secret undercover agents dispatches a mysterious young woman to destroy them... she is the last remaining original...
Picked up this anime DVD almost a year ago and didn't even watch it until today. I'd heard the movie was really short, so I figured I'd give it a try. Beautiful animation, mixing both 2D and 3D very well. It has great sound and great music. The story is even good, except that the movie basically stops when the story really starts to get going, which is an immense let down. The extra features on the DVD aren't good. The making of featurette is excruciating to watch. Maybe it's because I don't understand Japanese but god, these people, the animators and various people they interviewed for this thing, they talk like drones, in the same monotonous, boring voice. What's worse is the damn interviewer, who says "Hmm..." about every 5-10 seconds. Extremely annoying. I would have been happy merely renting this one but apparently, this movie will or has revolutionalized Japanese animation as we know it. As beautiful and groundbreaking this movie is, the shortness of the movie detracts too much for it to be actually enjoyed, in my opinion. Disappointment...
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Resident Evil [09/02/2002]
Saw this one in the theaters this year. Said I'd get the DVD and I did. Still haven't watched all of the special features on it but it's been cool so far. Watched the movie along with the audio commentary from the director, Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez. It was nice but... Milla just annoyed me at times, so did Michelle. Their commentary wasn't really that good at times. Watched a few of the featurettes, including one about the music (which was composed in part by Marylin Manson). At any rate, cool DVD.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Saving Private Ryan [09/02/2002]
I'd seen this movie many years ago, when it came out on video. I was younger back then and I didn't even know that much about WWII or didn't even care that much about it. As the years went by, I learned more about what happened on D-Day in 1944 and I got interested in it. A few months ago, I played Medal of Honor Frontline. The first level of the game is D-Day... straight out of the movie, basically. Storming the beaches of Normandy. So, when I saw this DVD on the shelves a few months ago, I had to pick it up. Just finished watching the movie. I remembered that the movie was graphic and very violent (it is war, after all) but I didn't remember it to be quite as graphic and violent. Definitely not an easy movie to watch... but it made me realize just how much these men had to go through back then... the horrors... and here I am, living my life as a free man... because of them... I mean, I've felt this way for a long time but seeing this movie really makes me respect what all those men and women did almost 60 years ago...
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [09/01/2002]
Among my favorite of the Star Trek movies, I jumped at the chance to get this Collector's Edition, Director's Cut DVD earlier this month. I was not disappointed by the presentation, nor the content. The movie, of course, is quite good (among the better, if not the best Star Trek movie to date, in my opinion) and the extras on the DVD are quite good as well, from recent interviews with the cast, older interviews from when the movie was released, featurettes on the visual effects and the design. My favorite special feature has to be the little featurette they did on the Star Trek Universe, where two Star Trek authors are interviewed. One is Greg Cox and the other I can't remember. Pretty interesting stuff on the continuity of Star Trek, in regards to the various TV shows, the movies and the expanded universe explored in the myriad of novels. All in all, a great buy for any Star Trek fan.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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The New Guy [08/31/2002]
Cute movie. Very hot girl. Eliza Dushku. Goddess. Watched this one with my brother. Have to admit my favorite part is when Eliza's character models swimsuits for the main lead actor. Wow... Just wow. Anyway, story is about a guy in high school who gets tormented beyond belief... something happens one day at school that makes him the laughing stock of the entire school. In a not so well explained "plot twist", the kid finds himself in jail after being expelled from school (hey, it's not a serious movie) and receives guidance from one of the inmates on how to change his image, his attitude and his persona. Transfers to a new school after getting out of jail and becomes the bully of the school, the "new guy" to which all the girls flock to and things like that. As I said, cute movie but nothing more than a rent. Pretty funny moments.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Buffy The Vampire Slayer [08/31/2002]
I'd always wanted to see where one of my favorite TV shows started at as and I finally did. The Buffy The Vampire Slayer movie, first of all, I have to say, is completely and utterly corny. The valley girl type dialogue (which is normal because the story happens in L.A.) is very present but it's somewhat annoying at times. Another thing that bothered me were the way the vampires were portrayed. Not one single bit like in the TV series. In the movie, they're portrayed in a very clich� style and that annoyed me also. However, it gives us a fair idea of how Buffy started to change her outlook on life, taking on her role as the Chosen One, to fight the vampires. I liked the Merrick character (played by Donald Sutherland), Buffy's first Watcher. Luke Perry's character, Pike, was also cool. I'm hoping Joss will somehow convince him to make a cameo appearance for an episode in the last season of Buffy or something. That would be really cool.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Charlie's Angels [08/22/2002]
One of the first DVDs I ever watched, this movie, for some odd reason, has always appealed to me. I know most people thought that this movie sucked beyond belief but I've always enjoyed watching it. I think I saw it for the first time 2 summers ago up at my aunt's lodge. So, the movie is based on the TV show from the 70s called Charlie's Angels. Story of three beautiful women which form a team that fights crime with various talents. There's Natalie (played by Cameron Diaz), Alex (played by Lucy Liu) and Dylan (played by Drew Barrymore). They work for some mysterious billionaire called simply "Charlie". Their liaison to Charlie is a man called Bosley (played by Bill Murray). The story in this movie is pretty straightforward, filled with twists and turns and pretty entertaining action sequences. I like the villain played Crispin Glover, the Thin Man. He's very creepy. Heh. Bill Murray is great in this one. I like the music in this movie too. So, I know most people didn't like this movie but I do. Sue me. :�
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Shallow Hal [08/10/2002]
Following the advice of his dying father, Hal dates only women
who are physically beautiful. One day, however, he runs into self-help
guru Tony Robbins, who hypnotizes him into recognizing only the
inner beauty of women. Hal thereafter meets Rosemary, a grossly
obese woman whom only he can see as a vision of loveliness. But
will their relationship survive when Hal's equally shallow friend
undoes the hypnosis?
So, I'll start by saying that I didn't like this movie. It's somewhat
touching in a few moments but the main actor, I just couldn't stand
him. Jack Black or something. I don't like him and I probably never
will. He's not even that good of an actor. Story is pretty clich�d.
I had high hopes for this movie because it was done by the Farrelly
brothers. I was disappointed.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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The Others [Summer 2002 Vacation]
Creepy movie directed by someone I had never heard of before. I
like his style a lot. Starring Nicole Kidman and other mostly unknown
actors. Amazing performance by Kidman. It's a psychological suspense
thriller with a very nice twist at the end that I really didn't
see coming. Great cinematography. Another good rent but I'm glad
I got the DVD, nonetheless.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Behind Enemy Lines [Summer
2002 Vacation]
Pretty good action movie set near the end of the war in Bosnia.
Story of a fighter pilot that gets shot down behind enemy lines
in Bosnia near the end of the war. Starring Owen Wilson and Gene
Hackman. Nice action sequences. Very shocking and disturbing scene
in it though. A good rent, nothing more.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone [06/01/2002]
Watched this one the previous weekend at my aunt and uncle's lodge.
I'd seen the movie already in the theaters and I liked it but re-watching
it on DVD made me appreciate it even more and made me look forward
to the next movie in the series this December (Chamber of Secrets).
Based on J.K. Rowling's very popular children's books, it's the
story of a young boy called Harry who is destined to become the
greatest wizard in the world. Very well cast young actors to play
the roles of the three main leads (Harry, Ron and Hermione) as well
as a great cast of supporting actors (Richard Harris, Maggie Smith,
Robert Coltrane and Alan Rickman) make this movie extremely enjoyable,
even after a repeat viewing. Awesome musical score once again by
my favorite composer, John Williams. I found some of the special
effects to be somewhat poor in quality though. For instance, the
troll in this movie is not as well done as the one they made for
Fellowship of the Ring, in my opinion. Anyway, great movie.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Clerks [05/25/2002]
First movie in the View Askew Kevin Smith series of five movies.
First time I've seen it. Black and white movie. Very wordy movie,
meaning that there are some extremely long dialogues between characters.
Some of them are really bland but others are real gems. The usual
crude sexual humor that permeates some of his movies is ever present.
Anyway, pretty good movie but definitely not Smith's best.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Edward Scissorhands [05/25/2002]
I've liked all of Tim Burton's movies I've seen in my life (Beetlejuice,
Batman, Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow and Planet of the Apes). This
one is no exception. His movies are like works of art, visually
rich and engrossing. It's a fairy tale type story about a man that
has scissors for hands. Movie has a strong message to it and I found
it to be very touching. It's mostly about the feeling we sometimes
get about not belonging in certain places, our desire to belong
in those places and being unable to fit in to certain places. Starring
Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and an unforgettable performance by Burton's
idol, Vincent Price, as The Inventor. Beautiful musical score by
Danny Elfman, Burton's long time collaborator. I'd heard about this
movie back when it was originally released. It was released on DVD
this year so I'm glad I got to see it.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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American Outlaws
[05/20/2002]
Plot summary from http://www.imdb.com - When a Midwest town learns
that a corrupt railroad baron has captured the deeds to their homesteads
without their knowledge, a group of young ranchers join forces to
take back what is rightfully theirs. In the course of their vendetta,
they will become the object of the biggest manhunt in the history
of the Old West and, as their fame grows, so will the legend of
their leader, a young outlaw by the name of Jesse James.
Fairly entertaining action-oriented western-style movie with good
young actors. Ali Larter, always the goddess. Not the kind of movie
I want to see again and again though. Once is quite enough. Cool
extra features on the DVD too including several behind the scenes
featurettes.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Pearl Harbor [05/19/2002]
Just finished watching it on DVD. Starring Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett
and Kate Beckinsale, this movie chronicles the events leading up
to, during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan during
World War II. Typical American movie, making the Japanese out to
be some kind of evil monsters and what have you. Nonetheless, somewhat
engaging story and spectacular effects. The attack on Pearl Harbor
is very well made and shockingly realistic. Love triangle story
thrown into the mix between the three main actors. Lots of actors
seem to have been thrown in there just for show. Anyway, can't really
find anything else to say about it... except that it was midly entertaining.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Requiem For A Dream [04/26/2002]
Great movie, recommended to me by Ellyn. Awesome performances by
all the actors/actresses but especially Ellen Burnstyn, who was
nominated at the Oscars for Best Female Actress in a Leading Role
in 2000 (she lost to Julia Roberts). Anyway, very heavy and depressing
movie and awesome music. Great visuals and cinematography too. Sadly,
the DVD I rented was scratched at many places so I missed a few
chapters. I'll probably go buy it when I have the money.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Zoolander [04/21/2002]
Plot outline from http://www.imdb.com - Male supermodel Derek Zoolander
(Ben Stiller) is on his way down after three years of continuously
winning the "Male Model of the Year" award. When he is beaten by
the hot newcomer Hansel (Owen Wilson), Derek starts searching for
a new meaning in his life. Just then fashion czar Mugatu (Will Ferrell)
offers Derek a comeback in his new "Derelicte"-line. What nobody
suspected is that Mugatu plans to assassinate the new Malaysian
Prime Minister on his visit to New York, so that cheap child labor
is still available for Mugatu's fashion producing. By brainwashing
Zoolander, Mugatu and his evil associate Katinka (Milla Jovovich)
create a dumb and willing killer to do the job. Only in Time Magazine
journalist Matilda (Christine Taylor) suspicion arises slowly, and
she tries to stop Derek.
As I said, it's a very funny movie and I like Ben Stiller's humor
style. Owen Wilson is also pretty good. I enjoyed watching this
one. Will Ferrell seems to be a bit... restrained in this one though,
not nearly as hilarious as he was in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
Dozens of cameos as well. Very funny movie. A must rent.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Soul Survivors [04/16/2002]
Very odd movie. I had heard about this one in some magazine. Seems
it had been delayed for ages by the movie studio. Here's the basic
story: 4 college students, 2 males and 2 females go to some weird
party in an abandoned church. After they leave the party, they are
pursued by sinister looking people on the drive back. Car crash
ensues. Audience left to wonder who actually survived. Main character,
one of the females, experiences visions and delusions. The whole
movie made absolutely no sense whatsoever and even worse, it never
makes you interested in any of the characters or the story. Very
bad. Not even worth a rent.
Rating: 1 out of 4 stars
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Serendipity [04/14/2002]
Cute romantic movie with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale. Definitely
can be fit in the "chick flick" category. A man and a woman meet
on a night right before Christmas. They spend a wonderful romantic
time together. Man asks for her number, even though they both have
girlfriends/boyfriends. Woman proposes to let fate and destiny decide
if they will meet again. Man writes his name and phone number of
5 dollar bill and she sends it out into circulation. Woman writes
her name and phone number inside a book and says she'll sell it
to the next used book store she'll encounter. If any of them find
either the 5 dollar bill or the book, fate and destiny will have
decided that they should be together. Interesting story and quite
a few funny moments. Enjoyable but nothing out of the ordinary.
Rating: 2 out of 4 stars
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Gone With The Wind [04/09/2002]
Recommended to me by my girlfriend. First time I'd seen this classic.
Won't even begin to explain the story. Happens during and after
the American Civil War. I had a rough time staying awake and interested
during it. Ah well.
Rating: 1� out of 4 stars
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Don't Say A Word [04/07/2002]
Interesting suspense thriller with Michael Douglas. Nice villain
played by Sean Bean, one of my favorite actors. Very interesting
storyline and good performances by most if not all of the actors.
A must see.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Jay and Silent Bob Strike
Back [03/29/2002]
Fifth and final movie in Kevin Smith's View Askew series. I love
his movies. Saw this one in the theaters and my brother bought the
DVD. Great extras on the DVD. If you're a fan of his movies and
especially of Jay and Silent Bob, you'll love this. Many Star Wars
references and Will Ferrell is hilarious in this one.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Austin Powers 3: Goldmember
[07/26/2002]
Third in the highly successful series created in part by Mike Myers.
I was expecting a good movie when I went to see this. There were
some funny parts but... too many musical numbers and too many recycled
jokes and gags from the previous two movies. The cameos at the start
of the movie are priceless (maybe apart from one) but the rest of
the movie is uneven. I liked the new character Myers created, Goldmember.
So, Myers actually plays FOUR roles in this movie: Austin Powers,
Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and Goldmember. I didn't like the woman that
was along with Austin in the movie, the lead singer of Destiny's
Child or so my sister tells me. The weakest of the three movies
so far. Maybe Myers should have stopped after two...
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Men In Black II [07/11/2002]
Sequel to the first hit, again starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will
Smith as Agents K and J, respectively, members of a secret planetwide
organization which protects mankind from aliens and such. Amazing
special effects in this one and quite funny too. The real show stealer
though is the short animated movie that they presented right before
it called The ChubbChubbs or something like that. Truly amazing...
wonder if I can find it on the Net somewhere. Heh.
Rating: 2� out of 4 stars
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Star Wars Episode
II: Attack of the Clones [05/17/2002]
Just came back from watching it. It's almost midnight now so I apologize
in advance if this review is incoherent. First off, let me just
start by saying that I enjoyed it but as I expected, it left me
disappointed in a few areas. Also, even though I swore to myself
3 years ago at around this time that I'd make an effort of staying
away from spoilers about this movie, I can honestly say that I knew
more than I would have prefered to know about this movie and it
definitely dampened my enjoyment of it.
Story starts off with a bang, so to speak. Senator Amidala returns
to Coruscant to vote on something and there's an attempt made on
her life. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Learner, Anakin Skywalker
are assigned by the Jedi Council to protect her. The two love birds
are reunited after having been apart for 10 years. Obi-Wan is eventually
entrusted by the Council to discover the identity of the person
who hired the assassin that made an attempt on Padm� while Anakin
is entrusted with protecting her. Obi-Wan goes off on his own adventure,
while Anakin goes off on an adventure of a different sort. The heroes
are all reunited at the end of the movie for a spectacular showdown
between armies of droids, armies of clones and a large group of
Jedi.
Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) I went into this movie
expecting to dislike him very much but I was pleasantly surprised
by his acting. Many say that his acting is horrid but I found it
to be the best acting in the whole movie (this is, after all, a
Star Wars movie and thus, not an "actor's movie"). His arrogance,
his rebellious nature against Obi-Wan, his love/obsession over Padm�,
his first steps towards the Dark Side, they're all well-portrayed,
in my opinion. Any kind of performance would have been better than
Jake Lloyd's horrid portrayal of the Chosen One. The big moment
in this movie, for Anakin, is when he returns to Tatooine to rescue
his mother, only to arrive too late, to watch her die in his arms
and to then witness his anger and hatred coming through as he butchers
and entire camp of Tusken Raiders: men, women and children alike.
After he returns to the homestead and talks to Padm�, I found it
to be quite emotional and moving. A few parts of his acting left
to be desired of course and a few of his lines were simply horrid
but all in all, a good performance.
Padm� Amidala (Natalie Portman) Her performance in this
movie had much more substance than in Episode I. She gets to do
a lot more action while also showing a lot more emotion. That woman
is simply stunning. She takes up the screen in almost every scene
she is in and even though many critics said that the chemistry between
her and Hayden was awful, I found it to be quite good.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) At least he gets a more pivotal
role in this one than simply be Qui-Gon's errand boy like he was
in about 75% of Episode I. We get to see how really powerful and
skillful he is and we also start to see how difficult it was to
train Anakin. The relationship he has with Anakin is very well portrayed.
I can't see any other actor playing a younger Obi-Wan than Ewan
McGregor.
Now, onto the flow of the movie. Action starts pretty early in the
movie with the chase after the assassin in the various levels of
Coruscant. I liked the scenes in Coruscant a lot because I felt
it was sorely underused in Episode I. All we ever saw in Episode
I were wide shots of buildings and scenery. In this movie, we get
down to the details and we even see some of the lower class levels
of the city and they are very well designed. The story splits in
two after Obi-Wan departs for Kamino and Anakin returns to Naboo
with Padm�. The scenes are intercut and I feel it didn't detract
too much from the flow of the movie. The pace was easy to follow,
even though it felt a little uneven at times. I adored the aliens
on Kamino and I was pleasantly surprised about the performance of
the actor who played Jango Fett. Nice battle scene in the rain between
Obi-Wan and Jango. I felt the asteroid belt chase scene was devoid
of any actual tension, even though it was very well-made.
A few of the romance parts of the Anakin/Padm� scenes on Naboo bothered
me a little but most of them were well done. I really loved it when
Anakin decides to return to Tatooine to rescue his mother. My favorite
scenes in the movie take part on Tatooine, actually (well, apart
from the ending on Geonosis). As I said earlier, when Anakin goes
ballistic on the Tusken Raiders and then admits to Padm� that he
killed every last one of them: men, women and children alike, it
moved me... The look he had after witnessing her mother's death
was chilling to the bone... Loved it... One of the great traumas
that will lead him to the Dark Side. Very well made.
The climax of the movie happens on Geonosis, when Obi-Wan, Anakin
and Padm� are reunited for the big battle. Threepio and Artoo are
brought along and provide the comic relief, which I felt was overdone,
especially when Threepio gets his parts mixed up with a battle droid.
I loved the battle sequences on Geonosis but a space battle was
missing and that was bad. Now, I have to address this now...
Yoda. When I first heard rumors about him eventually fighting in
one of the prequel movies, I was very reluctant about that idea.
I always envisioned him to be the peaceful, calm and non-violent
type, especially because of how he is in Episodes V and VI (where
he's very old in Episode V and dying in Episode VI). Yoda fights
Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus in this movie. A lot of people think that
seeing Yoda fighting is very awesome. Although I did enjoy the duel
he has with Dooku, it left me feeling some kind of weird sensation...
most of the audience cheered when he made his entrance to face Dooku.
They laughed when he started walking feebly on his cane after Dooku
escapes. I don't know... seeing Yoda fighting felt just... weird
for me... The lightsaber duels didn't leave me with the same kind
of exilaration feeling that I felt after the Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Darth
Maul duel at the end of Episode I... again, probably because of
my feeling of weirdness about seeing Yoda fight with a lightsaber.
The ending... Extremely anti-climatic. I was expecting some kind
of major cliffhanger like in Episode V. I was left very disappointed
in the ending. Big deal. The Clone Wars have begun. We already knew
that. Oooooh, Anakin and Padm� get married.. That's so unexpected...
Bah. It was all predictable, boring and didn't leave me wanting
to see Episode III. When the Fellowship of the Ring ended, I was
left with an extreme desire to watch the second movie immediately.
For Episode II, I was left with a feeling of slight disappointment
and no urging desire to have Episode III arrive quickly.
So, bottom line: Much better movie than Episode I but I was still
left disappointed in several aspects. I will, of course, go see
it a few more times. My opinion might change after repeated viewings
like it did for Episode I. I felt something that could be best described
as... emptiness, after leaving the theater. The ending really disappointed
me. It didn't feel like an ending at all. Oh well, 3 more years
to wait until the Saga is wrapped up into a nifty little bundle,
I guess.
Rating: 3� out of 4 stars
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Spider-Man [05/05/2002]
Very enjoyable movie. I went to see it with my sister last night.
Quite faithful to the comic and the new TV series. Awesome portrayal
of the Green Goblin by Willem Dafoe. I liked Tobey Maguire as Peter
Parker/Spider-Man too. Left the window wide open for a sequel, just
like X-Men did. The movie did have the nasty tendency to dwell too
much on emotional scenes sometimes, especially scenes between Peter
and MJ. The movie was a bit uneven at times. Oh, loved the actor
who played Jameson as well. Great special effects and awesome music
by Danny Elfman, one of my favorite composers. Nice cameos by Bruce
Campbell, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Lucy Lawless, Ted Raimi and
Stan Lee. I liked this one.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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Resident Evil [04/04/2002]
Story evolves before the first game. Great imagery and wonderful
special effects, the story did however have a hard time making me
care about the characters. Only known actor in it is Milla Jovovich
and honestly, I've never really liked her. Entertaining movie though.
I'll probably get the DVD.
Rating: 3 out of 4 stars
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The Lord
of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [12/22/2001]
When I first saw this movie back in December of 2001 at the theaters,
I was in complete awe. From the first scene near the beginning of
the movie, where Frodo is sitting in a forest in the Shire while
reading a book, I was completely taken away. I'd seen a few trailers
of the movie and I really wanted to see this one. I'd only seen
the cartoon movie and it was a long time ago, during my younger
days, when I didn't really comprehend what was going on and such.
Well, after seeing this movie, I got interested in the story and
its characters, very much so.
Plot outline, from IMDB: An ancient Ring thought lost for centuries
has been found, and through a strange twist in fate has been given
to a small Hobbit named Frodo. When Gandalf discovers the Ring is
in fact the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, Frodo must make an
epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it! However
he does not go alone. He is joined by Gandalf, Legolas the elf,
Gimli the Dwarf, Aragorn, Boromir and his three Hobbit friends Merry,
Pippin and Samwise. Through mountains, snow, darkness, forests,
rivers and plains, facing evil and danger at every corner the Fellowship
of the Ring must go. Their quest to destroy the One Ring is the
only hope for the end of the Dark Lords reign!
I'll start by saying that this movie, perhaps this entire movie
series, is right up there with the original Star Wars movies in
my book, anyway. The visuals, the cinematography, the music, the
actors, the characters, the action sequences, the visual effects,
the scenery, the sound, EVERYTHING about this movie is amazing.
I simply can't wait until the other movies come out. The Two Towers
in December 2002 and The Return of the King in December 2003. I've
finished watching all of the special features included on the DVD.
Looking forward to watching the Special Extended version coming
out on DVD this November.
If you haven't seen this movie, shame on you. Go see it. I haven't
found one person yet in my entourage that doesn't like this movie.
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
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