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Cast Away (2000)
2/10
A Very Long FedEx Commercial (spoilers ahead)
19 June 2001
Warning: Spoilers
I gave this movie a "2" only because Tom Hanks is superb. Otherwise, this film has no redeeming features as far as I'm concerned. It's one big yawn, and poorly written to boot.

One of the pivotal things that enables our hero to survive is that packages wash up with items he's able to use. Yet he deliberately leaves one package unopened and at the end delivers it. Aw, c'mon! We're talking life-and-death here! In the end he delivers the package to it's proper destination -- 'cuz that's what FedEx is all about, I guess.

The movie crawls along showing Hanks' adjustment to the island. Some time passes -- we see he's started a beard, but his hair hasn't grown too much -- maybe two weeks? Then, bam! four years have passed. Now the first thing that crossed my mind when it was announced that he'd been there four years was, "Why hasn't he committed suicide?" Well, it crossed his mind, too and we hear him tell about it -- twice. But we don't see it! This crucial scene occurs off-camera! Bad story-telling. I'm not saying that we needed scenes of every day on the island, but some showing his adjustment and time passing would have been appropriate and made a smoother transition into the escape sequence.
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5/10
Bicentennial Yawn
2 September 2000
This film seems to have such promise, but alas... It starts off with fascinating visuals during the credits, leads into scenes of style and wit, then halfway through, it deteriorates to mawkish treacle. I guess the writers decided it wasn't enough to just entertain, they had to leave us with some feeling of deep sentiment. Unfortunately, the sentiment I mostly felt was boredom.
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Fantasia 2000 (1999)
10/10
Ooooh-Aaah Spectacle!
27 December 1999
Quick! Find me a thesaurus! I need to know how many ways there are to say "Wonderful." I was lucky enough to be invited to an advance screening of Fantasia 2000 and can't say enough good things about it. Yes, it's a must-see for any fan of animation and yes, you really should see it at an IMAX if at all possible. The sights and sounds are spectacular.

Following the pattern set by the original Fantasia, the film opens with an abstract piece exploring color and movement, this time accompanied by Beethoven's Fifth. Did you like the ostrich ballerinas in the first film? Wait till you see the hilarious yo-yo playing flamingo! There's a breath-taking sequence set to Respighi's "Fountains of Rome" about a pod of whales with a baby who rivals Newborn Dumbo in cuteness. (Actually, I have mixed feelings about this sequence: I was totally caught up in it both because of the beauty of the artwork and the emotional impact of the baby separated from its parents. Then it became, well..., strange. I don't want to spoil it for you. Suffice it to say, the symbolism was lost on me.)

The low point for me was the Noah's Ark sequence, set to Elgar's processional (You know, that thing you marched to to get your diploma). Cute concept, but didn't have any place to go. The high point, as far as I'm concerned, was "Rhapsody in Blue", a tribute to Gershwin, New York, and the art of Hirschfield.

What can I say? Wonderful! Totally wonderful!
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1/10
What an unpleasant way to spend an evening!!!!
25 December 1999
About the only positive thing I can say is that Andy Kaufman would have loved this. Apparently he enjoyed producing a negative effect in his audience far more than he cared about entertaining them, so this certainly is the film he would have wanted to make. Mr. Kaufman was capable of being incredibly funny and incredibly unfunny, but he was incapable of telling the difference.
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Notting Hill (1999)
8/10
Delightful!
8 June 1999
Sure, the plot's predictable, but so what? The leads are charming, the secondary characters are delightfully eccentric. The jokes were laugh-out-loud funny, but the film makers trusted the audience to be intelligent enough to appreciate the gentle wit rather than relying on in-your-face crudity. I found myself really rooting for this couple. Altogether, this was a joyous experience.
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9/10
A glorious romp!
9 December 1998
Witty dialogue, terrific acting and a beautifully crafted film more than make up for the slender plot line. It's "fluff" but it's oh-so-much fun!
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