Reviews

I saw After the Sunset during a sneak preview last night. It is a fairly typical heist movie. As with most decent heist flicks, the fun is in seeing how they thieves manage what you already know they are going to do. In this movie, the waiting is made much more bearable by the presence of Salma Hayek. Without her, maybe the movie makes a "5." Regardless, it's still a decent way to pass a couple of hours. Pierce Brosnan does basically a retread of his character in The Thomas Crown Affair remake -- but with a few days' stubble on his face. Although Salma Hayek's primary function in this movie is to look beautiful (which she does wonderfully), she actually manages to take the female sidekick role and make her a strong woman who stands up for herself and what she believes. Woody Harrelson is adequate as the FBI agent repeatedly made a fool by Pierce. And Naomie Harris, from 28 Days Later, is almost unrecognizable with long hair and islands accent. She does fairly well with a mostly thankless role. All in all, worth a few bucks for a diversion.

This film is actually a rather intelligent, if cynical, satire of the shallow and idiotic nature of Hollywood. More cameos than you can shake a stick at. Ryan O'Neal is great as an amoral producer. Eric Idle is even better as an unfortunate director named Alan Smithee whose movie is corrupted by the studio. He wants to remove his name from the movie, but since Alan Smithee is the pseudonym used for directors who want to remove their name from a picture, he is out of luck and becomes... unbalanced. Very dry, but very amusing. If you liked Last Action Hero and Purple Rose of Cairo, you'll probably like this.

Before sitting down to watch Hardbodies, decide what you are looking for out of this film. Do you want a well-written movie with an engaging plot, Oscar-worthy performances and beautifully-written dialogue? Then stay away from this movie. Do you want to see a fairly entertaining movie centered around fitting as much gratuitous shots of topless women as possible? Then you've found what you're looking for!

Hardbodies is a cheesy, 80's teen sex movie. But if you like cheesy, 80's teen sex movies, it's actually pretty good. It's better than any of the other ones out there. Some funny, quotable lines. A few entertaining characters. And many, many hot naked women. I mean, really -- how can you go wrong when there's bikini tops flying off before the opening credits even end?

The Matrix is a very good movie. The plot is derivative, but good. The acting ranges from passable (Keanu Reeves) to good (everyone else). What sets this movie apart from all others is the visual effects. I have never seen anything like the action sequences in The Matrix... Stunningly original. From the opening scene of the movie, we are given one breathtaking sequence after another. Word of warning, though -- it is a bit campy. I think it would have played better as straight action, but if a little corniness is expected, it can be enjoyed, so realize that going in. If you are expecting a profound movie about the meaning of life, you're at the wrong movie. If you want an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours, you'd be hard pressed to find a better movie currently in the theatres.

F/X is a highly enjoyable movie. It's not the best movie ever to come out of Hollywood, but it is original, fairly well acted and very entertaining. The only exception being the young blonde actress who plays Rollie's assistant. She is quite literally the worst actress I have ever seen. However, in its own strange way, that adds to the entertainment value of the movie. If you missed this movie when it was out, it is well worth the cost of a rental to catch it now.

I rented this movie expecting to enjoy it. I had seen the previews and I like the stars. I thought Get Shorty was well written, so I expected the same from Out of Sight. Even with all that, I was still very pleasantly surprised. This was a highly entertaining movie with great dialogue and engaging characters. The chemistry between Lopez and Clooney was sizzling. The characters all held my interest and the plot moved along quite well. I don't understand why so many people have such a dislike of George Clooney. He is a handsome and charismatic actor who has repeatedly given very good performances. He held up very well against Jennifer Lopez and Ving Rhames, two very powerful actors. He made a fine leading man in a wonderfully made movie.