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dwfreeman
Reviews
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Don't Over-think This Movie
A lot of comments about Scary Movie 2 summarizes it as collage of stolen scenes from other movies( as well as from commercials, TV shows, and music videos) that have jokes sketched into them. Well if that is what you think then you understand the whole concept of this movie.
Some comedies are meant to play out as a cohesive story that not only makes you laugh, but gives you a memorable movie-going experience. Scary Movie 2 is not one of those comedies, and it's not meant to be that way either. I will admit not all parodies are funny, and that the Wayans parody I'm Gonna Git You Sucka was better, but for the most part if go into a movie like Scary Movie 2 and turn the logical part of your brain off you will enjoy this film and films like it.
I will warn you that there are a lot of scenes that feature flatulation, urination, defecation, and regurgitation. So if you plan to have some popcorn and you have a weak stomach, be prepared.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Let's Not Just Accept it Because We Have to
I've seen so many comments about how younger viewers don't understand how people in that time period felt about going to war or that the characters were to "Hollywoodized". The same can be said of Titanic, but that was a highly acclaimed film.
What truly made this movie bad was the fact that it was muddled. In all truth you could have made two (or possibly three) movies out of this one movie. Now I'm not saying that the length of 3 hours was the problem, but that what we saw could have been six or seven hours of film easily. Cutting out some of the froth around this film could have given the directors a chance to flesh out the events more so than they did. I think even WW2 Vets will admit that although the film provided a decent portrait of what happened there, it still did not capture the heart of whole event.
Titanic had a great eye for detail, and it really tugged at the heart strings, but in Pearl Harbor I did not feel for the plight of these brave and unsuspecting soldiers, not because I did not understand what they went through, but because no one who developed the film took the time to get you to care.
If you really want to see a film that captures the heart of WW2 go rent Saving Private Ryan. But if you are willing to compromise for a sketchy anecdotal depiction about a horrific event in America's history then Pearl Harbor is your best bet.
Witchblade (2001)
My Hopes For This Show Are Fading Fast
The movie that premiered last year for this show was decent enough. I did not expect it to live up to stature of the comic book, but it did live up to my expectations.
However, the first episode of the series did not keep my attention. I found myself channel surfing off and on throughout the show. My expectation for the show was that it would start to develop the characters and start giving more clues as to what the Witchblade can do and its purpose.
The show also employs some of the freeze frame techniques popularized in "The Matrix". But, where the that movie creates fluid action with this technique, Witchblade seemed to use it heavy-handedly making the action scene boring and idiotic. Besides that it also used the same scene in the movie, where Sara phases in and out of the suit of armor. If I wanted to watch the same action sequences reused I could have just as well rented a "Sailor Moon" video.
In the end, if this is all the Witchblade can do then this show is not going to last past its first multi-episode commitment with TNT. Until then I can only hope it gets better than what I saw in the first episode.