Reviews

I only watched "Joe Dirt" to see David Spade, and he pretty much turned out to be the only reason worth watching it. He was pretty funny acting in his mullet. Dennis Miller's appearance in the film was a pleasant surprise. His constant bantering with Spade was fun to watch. I wouldn't recommend the movie to many people, but there it is a guilty pleasure of mine.

In a movie where the story involves men caring for little children, the potential for fart-jokes and humor of that nature is extremely high. Surprisingly, "Daddy Day Care" doesn't rely on a million jokes of that kind in order to get laughs. Eddie Murphy is his usual funny character, and can always be relied upon for some decent laughs. The real hero in this movie in my mind is Steve Zahn, playing "Marvin" to perfection. I laughed many times at his character's zaniness. "Daddy Day Care" is safe viewing for the entire family. Everyone in the family will probably like it.

I was so excited for "8 Crazy Nights" after seeing the trailer over the summer. I went with high expectations because Sandler has rarely been synonymous with unsuccessful. The movie does have a good story. I liked the incorporation of both winter holidays that the townspeople had. And the story of Sandler's character, Davey Stone, getting his life back in line was also pretty good. Animation didn't look too bad either. However, the movie was way too gross, more gross than anything else Sandler has done. Also, it almost hurt to listen to the Sandler voice the older characters, Whitey and Eleanore Duvall, after a while. Something about their high-pitched voices made them very unpleasant sounds to listen to for over 90 minutes. I have to give accolades to Sandler for wanting to try something new, and he came close to pulling it off. The story was there, but some of the extra stuff ended up being unnecessary and detracted from the quality of the movie.

"Beverly Hills Ninja" is exactly what you would expect from a Chris Farley movie. A good percentage of the laughs come from physical comedy happening to Farley's character. If this formula has worked before, then why not try it again? It does work again, but I would not consider this movie equal to "Tommy Boy." Some of the ninja action in the movie also lends itself to funny moments. The story is also good enough to carry the movie for 90+ minutes. Chris Rock plays a funny role as a character aspiring to be a ninja. If you're looking to watch Farley's best movie, watch "Tommy Boy", but if you just want to laugh and enjoy a movie, go ahead and watch "Beverly Hills Ninja."

I did not know what kind of movie to expect when I watched "The Last Castle." My logic was that Robert Redford would at least make it watchable. I found myself really liking this movie. To anyone I would describe it as "Shawshank Redemption" with more action. This was also my first exposure to James Gandolfini and I really liked his work in this film as the officer in charge of the prison. Redford gives a strong performance in the film. He seems broken and commanding at the same time. He made his character interesting through his relationships with the other inmates. It was fun to watch many of the characters go through various developments. "The Last Castle" has a good story and gives messages of patriotism, and second chances.

"Bull Durham" is funny, intelligent, passionate and dramatic. First, its a movie about baseball; that's always a good start. I liked seeing minor league baseball get its moment on the big screen. The movie conveys a real love for baseball from the people who made it. The scenes at the minor league ballparks were shot in a very appealing way. Small grandstands and outfield walls covered in advertisements are common sites in the film. The movie's casting is excellent. Costner, Robbins and Sarandon work great together. Any scene with Coster and Robbins together is exciting to watch because their friendship takes interesting turns as it develops. You can't tell if they're getting along or upset at each other. Seeing the relationship between pitcher and catcher examined was a plot element I really liked. I would recommend "Bull Durham" to any baseball fan, but it would also suit any fan of the romantic-comedy.

Given that this movie is a VeggieTales enterprise of course the kids are going to eat it up. The real challenge for the film makers was to make the movie enjoyable for the parents. "Jonah" comes so close to accomplishing this for 100% of the movie. The strength of the VeggieTales series has always been the songs. "Oh Where is my Hairbrush?" ring a bell. "Jonah" does have its fair share of songs, but I felt that there were too many long gaps in between some of the musical numbers. It didn't help that most of this time was spent listening to Jonah whine. Get rid of Jonah's whining and add in a few more songs and this movie would have been perfect for all ages. As it stands however, "Jonah" teaches a strong lesson to children in an enjoyable way. Can't argue with that.

This movie is for everyone who has ever wondered what it would be like if police officers abused their power in comical ways. "Super Troopers" is very very funny. I was laughing so much at this movie. The first 15 minutes are great. It was exciting to watch what the cast of state troopers would do next. I've never seen any of these actors before but they were perfect together. They had excellent chemistry and sharp wits that led to comical delivery of their lines. The story was simple, and that doesn't hurt the film at all. "Super Troopers" is comedy at its best.

If you are looking for a dialogue-heavy movie, try watching something else. If not, sit down and get ready to watch a movie filled with action and lots of sword fights. "The Scorpion King" basically follows this formula throughout the movie: sword fight... dialogue... sword fight... sword fight... dialogue... sword fight. This is okay with me! The fights are well choreographed and shot at attractive angles. For those wary of gore have no fear. In this movie you hear most of the fatal blows, instead of seeing them and the gore that would ensue. The Rock has a genuine screen presence and I hope he gets the chance to play action-hero in some more movies. He really held his own amongst more seasoned actors. "The Scorpion King" is very different from the Mummy movies, but it still manages to be an entertaining venture.

I went into "Sweet Home Alabama" with fairly high expectations. I left feeling a bit underwhelmed. Something about the movie did not click. Maybe it was that both the leading males, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Lucas, played very likable characters. I didn't want to see either one of them get dumped by Reese Witherspoon's "Melanie Carmichael" character. Two guys going after the same girl can't work for an entire movie. Ultimately someone had to get the boot and I am guilty of wishing it could have been Witherspoon's Melanie. I thought the movie would be funnier, but it left me with prolonged periods of silence. Yes it is a romance movie, but romance can be funny. And my final quarrel, in a movie called "Sweet Home Alabama" I guess its impossible to exclude the popular song of the same name. I like movies to be unpredictable, so that predictable move upset me. But playing the song TWICE!?! C'mon! So with all my negative thoughts on the movie after thinking I would really like it, I had to find something it was good at. I came to the conclusion that "Sweet Home Alabama" is probably the best movie to have a reference to the Winn-Dixie.

"Coneheads" is the perfect kind of movie to have on killing time late at night, or when you just want to veg and not think about anything. The humor in the movie is simple to understand and easy to laugh at. Adam Sandler's cameo in the movie was great. Sinbad has a cameo too that he turns into many laughs. This movie was fun to watch. Of course there are many jokes about how these people have cones for heads, but that is the title of the movie, so no complaints warranted there. Dan Aykroyd really loves his Beldar character, and it shows here as much as it does in the many Saturday Night Live skits about the Coneheads.

"For the Birds" has so much funny packed into its miniscule running time. The birds portrayed are easily the funniest looking birds I have ever seen. Their mannerisms are perfectly hilarious. The way they act as a flock all mimicking each other is great. I loved when they teased the bigger goofier looking bird. I think it is safe to say that "For the Birds" is the funniest short film ever made.

With either John Goodman or Billy Crystal, you cannot go wrong. Put them together and you have a guaranteed success. That's exactly what "Monsters, Inc." is. These two actors know how do everything. I don't think they even need to be directed anymore. This shows in their dialogue throughout the movie; they never deliver a line incorrectly. Sometimes this movie is intelligent, sometimes it's very funny and other times it's both! The movie is stunning visually. The giant warehouse of doors is impressive. Sully's fur is a sign of how far computer animation has come since the days of "Toy Story." The story is very interesting as well and applies to everyone. Who didn't ever think that monsters were hiding in their closets? Pixar has an amazing way of capturing childhood imaginations like this and "What if our toys were alive?" that no other studio has ever been able to match.

What interested me the most about "The One" was its story. The idea of a multiverse, with many universes in which there is one representative of every individual in the multiverse is original and mind-bending. I really paid attention to the movie just to learn as much about this concept as I could. Jet Li is not the most inspiring actor in the world, but his physical abilities compensate for that as he gets to show off many times in this action flick. It's a good thing that most of this movie is action, that way we get to see the interesting side of Jet Li, and not his lacking acting side. Overall, the story is what made this movie for me and the reason I liked it so much.

"Hot Shots! Part Deux" is funny because it is full of references to other movies and T.V. shows. This movie does not take itself seriously. It is a total parody of almost every movie ever made it seems like. This is the movie's best element. It was fun to watch with anticipation of what they would make fun of next. The "American Gladiators" send-up caught me completely off guard and was hilarious. I could probably watch this movie over and over again and laugh every time.

Kids, adults, seniors, teens...everyone should like "Ice Age." It was funny, it had a good story, it was visually impressive, the voice cast was talented...what else do I need to say here? When an animated movie can feature the development of numerous characters only through the actors' vocal performances, I think that is a great accomplishment. Denis Leary especially, as Diego the sabertooth-tiger, goes through so much development. As a villain helping the heroes, its impossible to see which way he will turn when the climax comes. And when it does come, you feel as if you have just watched something amazing happen. Ray Romano and John Leguizamo also give immense emotional contributions to the story. All the actors gave this movie a charming element that is not encountered often on film. When the movie was over, I wanted for there to be more. But I'll be okay; "Ice Age" is a tremendously good movie.

Do not see "Mr. Magoo." It is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Leslie Nielson was not funny in it. He has not been funny since the Naked Gun movies. Well it won't take long to figure out that this is not a Naked Gun movie! The movie's plot is ridiculously foolish. Nothing in the entire movie was funny. The first few minutes of the film were animated to look like the old Magoo cartoons. I wish the movie would have stayed that way.

"Happy Gilmore" is the Adam Sandler movie to see. If everyone had to see one Sandler movie before their lives were complete, I would seriously hope this is the movie they see. It's nice to see golf and hockey in a movie again. I don't think there is another movie out there that makes me laugh as much as "Happy Gilmore" does. You have Happy, the ultimate hero, fighting to win a life of security for his grandma. There's Shooter McGavin, the villain you love to hate, who attempts to foil Happy's quest. And then there's Mr. Larson, Happy's 8' tall monster of a former employer, threatening Shooter at every turn. Hey Bob Barker is in this movie! It doesn't get much funnier than Mr. Price Is Right insulting our hero. Well maybe Ben Stiller's part in this movie is funnier, as he corruptly directs a retirement home. It doesn't matter what's the funniest. This whole movie is one hilarious moment after another.

"Cool Runnings" is one of my favorite movies. I watch this movie a lot. It makes me laugh. I think it is one of John Candy's best performances. The story is amazing and unthinkable. Some true story movies can end up being really bad, but "Cool Runnings" is a great success. During the final run down the track, a moment is displayed where the director knows to turn off the funny, and let the movie become serious. That is an awesome moment. I will continue to enjoy this movie for many years to come.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" is just as fun as the original movie. It uses the same formula as before: good guys against a real bad guy. They even bring back to life the same bad guy, Shredder, to be the villain again. But hey, who cares? The turtles are fun to watch. I guess you could say there's good chemistry between the four guys in the turtle suits. I liked how the plot in this movie further explained the origin of the turtles. This is a funny movie with some good turtle action.

Henry Sellick, director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," seems to be at a loss in his latest directing effort without a imaginative story from Tim Burton this time around. "Monkeybone" was silly, and I mean that in a bad way. It was not funny. There were some parts that were visually impressive, but that is about all the movie had going for it. The acting was bad, the story was boring and there was no humor. I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

"The Sword in the Stone" is a good effort from the Disney animation studio. For some reason, it just felt a little different from some of the other Disney classics. The movie didn't have as many songs, and I feel that is a major characteristic of the early Disney animated classics. I think would have preferred more songs. Character development was good in the movie. It was fun to watch Merlin's character and listen to him talk of events in the future. Overall, this movie just seemed average when compared to the other Disney classics. It almost felt like they wanted to do a King Arthur cartoon, but no one really wanted to put a lot of effort into it. The story of Arthur saves the movie however, as his story has always been one the world has been interested in.

"Spies Like Us" to me was a movie that could have been so much more. Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd together is a combination that has so much potential. The movie did put them in some pretty funny situations. Chase with the Russian interrogators was a humorous moment in the movie. I just felt like there could have been more. Both are very good at spurting off one-liners, Chase especially, but even their one-liners in this movie seemed like they needed some work. This is one of those movies that was good to watch, but I'm not sure if it will be one that I'll always remember.