Reviews

Even with a few plot holes, such as the fact that blowing up credit card company buildings will not kill data records since they all have separate and well-protected backup systems, this is an excellent comment on the modern human condition.

Watching it for the second time I saw it as a worthy sequel in spirit, theme and sub-themes, to Arthur Miller's landmark "Death of a Salesman." Call it a 21st-century update. All of the same topics are revisited - consumerism, materialism, job-derived self-identity, the cheapening of humanity, emotional and social impotence, the blurring and blending of reality and imagination.

The fight scenes seemed somewhat improbable, but if one views them as figurative rather than literal, the improbability becomes immaterial.

A thinking man's film, up there with the best.

This was probably the perfect animation flick. I got invested in the characters, enjoyed their sudden realizations of power, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride until the end. I was sad when the movie was over. It didn't seem like a 2-hour movie, which is very long by animation standards.

What blew me away though was the retro-futuristic look of the entire film. It reminded me of "Gattaca" but even better. Everything from the 50s-60s-style cars (with tailfins) to the font choices for the building lettering (very 50s GM/GE) to the upscale 50s suburb architecture (angular, with jutting eaves). And in keeping with that theme, when the movie first starts out, it's the late 30s - the cars are very curvy and low to the ground, the buildings are largely concrete (Empire State Bldg./Art Deco-ish).

Outstanding. 10 out of 10 stars.

Nothing that you wouldn't expect from a stoner flick. Thoroughly entertaining nonetheless. And it's great to see Americans of Asian origin being themselves - cultural inner conflicts and all.

I think it was quite refreshing to see potential race issues in all of the conflict scenes be treated as marginal to the main issue, which was jocks v. nerds, and jerks v. lone storeowner. Harold, Kumar and the Hindi-speaking store clerk could easily have been white guys, and the conflicts would have varied little.

I have to confess that after the movie I really wanted to make a trip to White Castle...strange.

While most series finales are less than stellar, I thought the Friends finale stank particularly bad. I was beginning to think that Seinfeld ended better - they brought back all the memorable characters, relived old memories, and generally engaged the audience much better.

By contrast, in Friends, there was absolutely no mention of Joey moving to L.A. and nothing about Ross' kid Ben, just to name a few large loose ends. They should've spent less time on the Rachel-Ross simpering sessions, which got really annoying towards the end, and a tad more time tying everything up.

The Frasier finale from last night on the other hand was very satisfying. Now that was a good show.

I watched this on an airplane ride. Loved it. Didn't have high expectations because of the mixed reviews. Then realized that reviews are always to be taken with a grain of salt.

Unlike other comic book films that almost always appear cartoon-ish, this film was far more introspective. Relative to the length of the film, the minimal amount of screen time spent on showcasing the actual Hulk was actually quite refreshing. I found the emphasis on why the Hulk is who he is, and how he got there, to be a successful attempt by Lee to humanize him.

And Bana played the tormented Banner awfully well. I hope to see more of him in the future.

I give this film 7 out of 10.

There was so much T&A in this movie that after a while I became immune to it. Fine talents like Gina Gershon and Kyle Maclachlan were completely wasted. And Elizabeth Berkley can't act to save her life. Nor can Glenn Plummer. I've seen Glenn on Fresh Prince and the Women of Brewster Place. He needs to go back to acting school.

I don't know what everyone is complaining about. I have to admit the first time I saw it I was less than impressed. But the movie grew on me on the second viewing. I had a similar experience with 'Austin Powers: Int'l Man of Mystery', which I think is wickedly funny. I can spot just about every Bond reference.

Here, Ferrell and Owen were particularly funny.

This movie does not try and pretend to be anything other than a silly comedy. And I think Stiller's comedic talents were perfectly showcased. I just hope he doesn't go Hollywood and try to make a sequel.

If you're looking for a rollicking good time, go see this movie. I like to think of myself as a fairly discerning critic when it comes to film and I must say that as far as entertainment value goes, I got my $8.50's worth and then some.

Rat Race is not perfect. There are a few plotholes, but these imperfections are few and far between and are adequately compensated by the rest of the movie which is pure old-school chase film gold.

My favorite scene has to be the one where the two brothers are trying to get out of the convertible. During that scene, for what seemed like an eternity (but was really probably about a minute long), everybody in the theater (which was quite packed) was tripping. It was that funny.

And with comedy flicks increasingly veering in the direction of gross-out fests these days, it's refreshing to see something very different. Go with friends. That makes it even more fun.

I give this movie 9 out of 10.

They say that all great societies reach a point from where they can go no higher and that one can only go down from there. It happened to the Romans, it happened to the Brits and I believe it's beginning to happen to us.

I think our current fascination with lurid and pointless shows such as this one is symptomatic of the excesses with which we lead our lives. At the risk of sounding like the ultimate pessimist, I can only see us descending into a society of apathetic, uninformed individuals. I believe we've already entered that phase.

Your moment of enlightenment.

I found this film to be heavily laden with stereotypes - everything from the depiction of fraternity members being sexist, skirt-chasing rapists, to the african-american male doing the 'hood walk, to the white male hick who just has to end up becoming a neo-Nazi. The ending was uncalled for and decidedly cheesy. Makes you wonder if the writers/director ever went to college, and if so which ones, cause the one I went to was not nearly as exciting. I realize that Mr. Singleton was attempting to deal with multiple issues in a limited timespan, which accounts for the film having very little by way of realism, but that doesn't excuse many of the situations being as over the top as they were, nor does it warrant such heavy usage of stereotypes.

And the near lack of non-black and non-white (I don't count Jewish people as not being white) characters only served to lessen my respect for this piece of work. I am South Asian myself (that's the Indian subcontinent for those who feel geographically challenged) and, in general, find our lack of presence in any mainstream production about higher education just a little bit annoying, especially given the large numbers of such people on any college campus. And by presence, I don't mean "boy at fountain" or "girl in classroom" cardboard characters. I mean real, live people with relevant parts.

The cinematography, on the other hand, was great. His crowd scenes in particular were shot beautifully.

After being blown away by Boyz n' the 'hood, I was very disappointed by Higher Learning. I give it a 4 out of 10.