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Reviews
Billy the Kid (1941)
Do not look to this movie for historical accuracy
This movie is Billy the Kid in name only. Anyone who has any kind of fascination with the Wild West or the historical William H. Bonney would do well to shy away from this flick. Almost all of the names have been switched around, the plot shares only a marginal familiarity with the true Billy and the lead actor Robert Taylor seems better suited for playing a 1930's era Chicago gangster than he does playing one of the most famous outlaws of all time.
Now that I've got my historical accuracy niggling out of the way - I still find myself unable to say many positive things about this film. But I'll give it a shot.
Some of the dialogue is rather inventive - and I do actually appreciate the relationship that Billy shares with ranch herder Eric Keating. There's an interesting exchange during Keating's introduction wherein he explains to a wary-eyed Billy why he doesn't carry a gun. Keating's naiveté rests upon a mythological ideal of frontier honor - an ideal that comes with a heavy price.
The movie itself is also wonderfully shot. The Technicolor treatment produces stunning visuals that can easily compare to westerns that are produced ten, fifteen, sometimes even twenty years after Billy the Kid.
Sadly, there simply isn't a lot of material available for Billy the Kid enthusiasts. Again, do NOT refer to this movie if you are looking to find insight into the true story of Billy the Kid. The closest you will probably come towards finding the definitive Billy story is in the 1988 fluff film, "Young Guns" and its subsequent continuation in "Young Guns II" - and even they take great spoonfuls of poetic license with history.
Phone Booth (2002)
Kiefer's Best Performance (Even though he's not in the movie)
Hopefully Phone Booth will take away some of the stigma Joel Schumacher earned for himself as a result of Batman and Robin.
I won't bother running down the plot-points, since that's been done thoroughly throughout.
This is an above average movie with an engaging plot and solid performances. Even though Kiefer Sutherland only has about 8 seconds of actual screen-time, he is clearly the most captivating aspect of the entire spectacle. Not only does he have one of the most instantly recognizable voices in Hollywood, but his abrasive staccato easily dominates every scene.
The movie has an adequate running time of 81 minutes which is just enough to accomplish everything the film sets out to do. Any longer than that and you would end up with a tedious monotonous movie that drags on for far too long.
My only real criticism is the illogical segue into the second act. A pimp gets shot in the streets of New York and before you know it, eighteen cars with cops with kevlar vests are on the scene. The only reason they are there is based on the unreliable witness accounts of three overly-dramatic prostitutes. This was a bitter pill for me to swallow. But if you can get manage to turn off your "logic circuits" for a few minutes, I think you will be able to forgive it in light of the later dramatic sequences.
Sutherland rocks. I'm glad to see him doing movies again. (Or NOT see him, as the case may be).
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
EAT SOMETHING!
There should be a standard rule in Hollywood. If you are going to dress up in anything less than a bikini, then pound for pound, you should weigh at least as much as your clothing. Malnourished women running around in their tighty whiteys doesn't do a lot when you can see their ribs sticking through their bodies.
But if you can get past that...Charlie's Angels is still a fun film. Don't look for any semblance of a plot. Don't look for high-quality acting. Just ease back for some fun explosions, music and corny dialogue.
It's not Shakespere in the Park. It's not meant to be. Some people seem to have a real hard time wrapping their widdle brains around that.
Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company' (2003)
Interesting
This was an interesting look into the background behind one of the most famous sit-coms of all time. This movie showed the ugly behind the scenes lifestyles of all the actors involved. The actors all do a good job, especially the gentleman portraying Don Knotts. You won't look at the classic episodes the same way anymore. Kinda cool.
Birds of Prey (2002)
I wanted to like this.
I really wanted to like this show. I truly did. I was completely stoked at the idea of seeing the 'black-sheep' bat-title brought to life on the small screen.
But Birds of Prey just goes to show that lightning doesn't always strike twice. I guess the WB execs and the lazy producers were hoping that BoP could coast on the success of Smallville.
The only one who was worth my while in this show was Dina Meyer. (She is an AWESOME Batgirl/Oracle). Everyone else blew. We had sexual tensions that went nowhere. Under-the-top villains and subplots that were about as exciting as watching flies vomit. Even the two hour series-finale did little to stoke my interest. Their final hurrah and they couldn't even excite me enough to care. The only scene that was worth viewing out of the entire series was the final fight in the Clocktower in the last episode (Although I think most of that is owed to the T.a.T.u. song that was being played)
The Forsaken (2001)
Better than I expected!
Anymore these days I find myself approaching the Horror section at my local video chain with great trepidation. There have been too many times that I have been burned by a groovy looking hologram box display or a four-star A-list film that really should have been better suited as a straight-to-video release. These flicks usually involve some guy with a hook who goes around imitating old Halloween gags on various must-see-TV film stars.
I had passed by the Forsaken over a dozen times throughout the course of my journey. But it was a Tuesday night and Smallville was a re-run so what was I to do. With a heavy heart I reluctantly took the video up to the counter. The clerk gave me a wounded gaze and I sorrowfully dipped my head in shame muttering, "I know. I know."
Regardless, I took the film home and popped it in ye olde VCR. (No way in hell you were going to get me to spend DVD rental prices for this.) But much to my surprise, this film ISN'T HALF BAD!
Yes half of the cast are the surviving characters from Final Destination that's true. And granted, the remaining half are the drippings sloughing off of waning TV hits like Dawson's Creek and Felicity. But by gum, I LIKE this movie!
It doesn't offer too much in the way of originality or even plot for that matter. But the scenery is really sharp, the music is kicking and the characters are almost interesting. I really got a kick out of the character of Nick. This is the LAST guy on the face of the Earth that you would ever expect to see as a Vampire hunter! It's actually quite a refreshing change of pace for once. Typically your vampire hunters are tough acting black martial arts stars or kewpie doll California blondes. But this guy looked like he just stepped out of the Betty Ford Clinic. Nice touch.
I'm not going to bore you by giving forth a long-winded summary. But let's just say that as far as vampire movies go, you could do a lot worse. Remember kiddies, if you go in expecting absolutely ZERO, then the only place you can possibly go is UP right?
Cheers, --The Headhunter
Hollow Man (2000)
Good but not great
This movie had the potential to be a really great modern 'invisible man' horror flick. But it didn't live up to certain expectations and in many areas, I feel the audience was cheated. The FX are of course awesome. The acting is very good as well. However, the film fails to endear you to Bacon's character. He is introduced as an arrogant egomaniac who is willing to do anything for personal fame no matter the cost, nor who it harms. With this being said, it is difficult to feel bad for him when things start going downhill. I also feel as if I fell asleep and missed certain parts of the movie. Never at any moment is it ever explained whey Sebastian Kane went from being an egocentric scientist to becoming a full-blown psychotic schizo! This could have been easily corrected by showing three minutes of footage of the Gorilla suddenly going nuts as a side-effect of the serum. I guess we are supposed to just assume that that is the reason why Kane goes buggy towards the end but it would have been nice if they had bothered to take the time to explain that to us. They also fail to explore the highlights of having this kind of power. I would have liked to have seen more of Kane stalking the city and playing the part of the voyeur. Instead, we have him raping women, smashing dogs and otherwise not being much of a gentlemen. The film starts off with a strong dramatic drive, but ultimately spirals down into every typecast, stereotypical, cookie-cutter, trite horror movie cliche. And yes, the end sucked. Like I said earlier, this is not a BAD film, its actually a lot of fun. But don't take it too seriously. At least it was named correctly....this film is certainly 'HOLLOW'. :)
Dracula 2000 (2000)
Trite
This is one of the most trite vampire films I have ever seen. I'm surprised that veterans like Wes Craven and Christopher Plummer even stapled their names to this amateur project. The religious innuendo is so overt as to be nauseating. You have heroine 'Mary' who works for 'Virgin' records whose life is saved by someone named Simon 'Shepard'. Figuring out Dracula's secret identity was about as subtle as finding out that Clark Kent is Superman. (I won't spoil it by revealing his name, but lets just say the 'writing is on the wall'.) Since this film was obviously lacking the quintessential elements to construct a successful film (i.e. good-actors, good script, good dialogue...) I thought it would at least titilate you with some of the more guilty pleasures of shlock horror. Nope. It fails in this too. The gore is almost non-existent...and for you T&A hounds...well, look elsewhere. (Did Jeri Ryan even have a purpose in this film?) The means used to defeat Dracula was lifted directly from Friday the 13th VI. (He has to be killed in the manner in which he originally died.) So I can't really give it points for originality. The film seemed desperate to glamorize itself by harnessing every tried Vampire cliche in the business. For fans of the genre, I DO NOT recommend this...it is very empty and you will be disappointed.