Movies I have seen in January 2002
Rushmore
*A precocious teen ager falls in love with a young teacher and becopmes obsessed with her. An adult friend of his also falls for this woman and this leads to all sorts of comic misadventures. Right? Nope. This kid was nothing more than annoying as was his friend (Bill Murray). I never cracked a smile during this supposed comedy. Stupid, dull, masquerading as a big hollywood production. Really, nothing sadder than a Hollywood production that misses its mark this badly. Miss it.
See review by James Berardinelli
Jack the Dog
*A womanizer who works as a photographer falls in love with, and marries a nice woman. But he just can't stop womanizing. He tries to change his ways, to be a good father to his son, but it is hard. And it was hard watching this movie. I could not develop any empathy for any of the characters here, really, I intensly disliked them all. This is not a sign of a good movie. Boring, dumb and slow-mundane. Need I say any more? Miss it.
See review by Anthony Miele
Regeneration
**1/2Two great WWI poets, Sigfried Sasoon and Wilfred Owens are portrayed in this dark, anti-war movie. I don't know, maybe its me, but the imagery of their poetry remains starkly stronger than what is presented in this movie. I fear I may be getting tired of the anti-war genre, I have seen so many of them. The old "scare them to death with horrific scenes of war" presentation is gettig jaded. Or should I say it is WE that are getting jaded. Really, read the poets-their work is great. The movie? A war hero, seeing the truth of what he is experiencing, writes an anti-war declaration and is sent to a ment hospital to be "cured." There, we see many shell shock cases and empathize with the soldiers. Certainly a worthwhile endeavor, but not necessarily in this movie. Miss it.
See review by James Berardinelli
Twists of Terror
**1/2Remember the old horror shows from the 60's? Thriller, The Twilight Zone, or Alfred Hitchcock. They made use of lots of interesting literary devices to achieve their effect and this movie very much resembled those old shows. Threee short vignettes; a man wounded by a dog stumbles into a psychiatric hospital; a woman pursues a one night stand; and a car breaks down on a lonely back road. Sound interesting? Not too bad of a little movie. Creepy in parts, ironic plot turns, and good, spooky moods. I recommend it!
See review by Mike DeWolf
The Virgin Suicides
**1/2A reclusive family in the 1970's has four very beautiful daughters. One of them commits suicide. The family becomes the object of local gossip and of the media which serves to intensify their reclusiveness. As the surviving daughters mature, they catch the eyes of the local boys, who attempt to bring them out into normal life. This was a decent little movie. The storyline was intriguing and the tension very underplayed, which made it very effective. I recommend it.
See review by James Berardinelli
Mr Accident
**1/2A clumsy and accident prone man falls in love with an oddball young woman while his boss is feeding tobacco to chickens so people get hooked on eating eggs, which he sells. Yahoo Serious here in a slapstick comedy. If you like this genre, take a look at this film. Nothing heavy, nothing important. But I laughed and what more could I want out of a comedy. I do admit my tastes are rather strange, but go ahead, I recommend this one.
See review by Marjorie Baumgarten
Bojangles
***The life story of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the black dancer who became famous, and who became the highest paid black entertainer of his day. This movies was really well done. What I liked about it was that it did not soft pedal Robinson's flaws. He came across as quite believable. And this is a fascinating story. A timepiece-history. Definately see it!(Can't find a review of this one yet)
Morons From Outer Space
**1/2This was one of those very special movies that was so very, incredibly bad that it was entertaining. In spite of the fact that the intent of the movie was to be campy and oddball, it just flat failed at everything to the point that I had fun watching it. Why criticize a movie thats fun? I dunno. Four very stupiud aliens crash land their space ship on Earth and are greeted byu very stupid Earthlings. Nothing more to say about this plot! Why not see it? I did.
See review by John Hartl
Stir of Echoes
***Good ghost movie, a little reminiscent of The Sixth Sense. There was good suspense in this movie and enough plot twists to keep it interesting. A young man, hypnotized on a dare suddenly experiences a series of hallucinations involving a dead girl. His son seems to have the talent to see beyond this world. I recommend this movie. No blood, no gore, no overdone special effects. Just good tension and atmosphere. Hollywood, are you listening?
See review by James Berardinelly
Dick
**1/2A couple of air-headed teenage girls stumble into president Nixon and through a series of odd coincidences become the infamous "deep throat" of the watergate era. This movie, fun but not at all realistic, had its moments. Though it pretended to be a slapstick sort of comedy, it was kind of a sneaky political statement. Sigh. Just can't get away from those politics these days. Still, it was fun. A great, great soundtrack from the 60's and a nice trip down memory lane for old fogies like me adds up to a recommendation! See it!
See review by James Berardinelli
Kurt & Courtney
***Want to be a rock star? Take a look at this documentayr. It investigates the suicide of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain and as it progresses we discover a theory which implicates his wife Courtney. This is not pretty stuff. As the evidence builds (including attempts at censorship by Courtney) the journalist begins getting doubts and starts to discredit what he has discovered. All in all, this is a pretty effective movie. It is made all the heavier by the fact that Cobain's wife would not allow any Nirvavna music to be played. I recommend this one. See it!
See review by Roger Ebert
Lucky Numbers
**1/2A man in a desparate financial situation (he sells snowmobiles, its not snowing and he has a taste for the rich life) schemes with a hairbrained beauty to rig the Pennslvania State Lottery. The scheme works but complications ensue. Everybody, it seems, wants a piece of the money and the plotgets more and more mired in comic greed. Though this certainly wasn't a great movey, it had an interesting variety of characters and a neatly chaotic plot. A few funny moments. Why not, give it a look!
See review by Roger Ebert
Nurse Betty
**1/2A woman infatuated with a soap opera doctor witnesses the murder of her husband which causes her to lose contact with reality. She then thinks she is a character on the soap and sets out for Hollywood to meet the doctor, whom she imagines is an ex fiancee. Meanwhile, there is a bundle of drugs in her trunk and the murders of her husband are looking for her. Interesting story. This movie was billed as a comedy and, though, it had its moments was just lacking something. Believability? I should add that the actress who played Betty did so in a convincing way and was a bright spot in this film. I don't know. See it if you got a couple hours to spare, but really, your time could be better spent.
See review by James Berardineli