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ekh2001
Reviews
Gigli (2003)
Low Expectations Are Met
I decided to rent this movie the other night just to see what all the hoopla was about. Of course, I had extremely low expectations because of all the bad press and reviews. I figured it would be horrible. Generally, when I have the bottommost expectations, I am pleasantly surprised by how bad the movie isn't. That was not the case with this flick. I watched it and was completely shocked that they even bothered to release this absurdity. This is a straight-to-DVD movie if I've ever seen one. I feel bad for the poor saps that actually paid to see this in the theater.
Chicago (2002)
Hail Chicago
Overall, I thought it was a great film. The direction was excellent. I liked how they cut back and forth between reality and the musical interpretation of that reality. The supporting cast was incredible, especially Queen Latifah (Mama Morton) and John C. Reilly (Amos Hart). I think Richard Gere's (Billy Flynn) performance was good (portraying sleazy lawyers should be his specialty). I especially liked his "Razzle Dazzle" number. Catherine Zeta-Jones was wonderful. I thought she was perfectly cast. Renee Zellweger was pretty good. Compared with everyone else, her performance wasn't as impressive. It wasn't that she didn't sing and dance well. I just think I preferred the Roxie I saw in the Broadway play. I think her performance is better than some of the other actresses' would've been that were previously being considered (Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sharon Stone, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, etc.). The movie was still wonderful.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
Great Performance By Rockwell. That's it.
Unfortunately, I am a little young and never saw "The Gong Show" or "The Dating Game". I do remember watching "The Newly Wed Game", possibly in re-runs. Because of this, I don't think I was able to appreciate those parts of the movie as much as others may.
The double life aspect was fun. I don't believe Barris was ever a CIA hitman though. I mean, what successful television producer has time to fly off to Germany and chaperone contestants in between tapings?
Julia Roberts and Drew Barrymore were a little disappointing. Sam Rockwell's performance is the best part of this film.
Overall, I give it a B.
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Terrible!
This is the worst historical drama I have ever seen. Actually there are very few historically accurate facts in the movie. It's essentially a trifling love-triangle romance with some action sequences. The Pearl Harbor attack is just a backdrop. The direction is horrible, the writing is horrible, and the acting is horrible. There are some interesting special effects, especially when the torpedo strikes USS Arizona, but who cares? With a title like "Pearl Harbor", I assumed this was supposed to be a picture about the horror and the heroes, about the event. Instead, it was a sappy love story between three fictional characters. If anything the special effects and melodrama just distracted the audience from the fact that real people actually died. This is a movie for people who know nothing about the harrowing events that took place on December 7, 1941 and don't care to find out.
Waking Life (2001)
Visually extraordinary, but drab nonetheless.
I think this movie had a great idea in filming real life actors portraying characters then animating them afterwards. A lot of interesting nuances and emotions were picked up that are normally unseen in animated characters. The waviness of the animation also enhances the scenes, making them more life-like. Unfortunately, this movie made the mistake of not having an interesting story to tell. It's 99 minutes of rambling about the metaphysical meaning of dreams, telepathically sharing experiences, and existentialism versus predestination. Linklater lets the camera aimlessly roam around while the main character sits through one cryptic dissertation after another. Beautifully animated but boring.
Manna from Heaven (2002)
Just Okay
This was an okay movie. With the exception of lively performances by such greats as Shirley Jones, Frank Gorshin, Cloris Leachman, and Austin Pendleten, there was nothing really special about this film. The story was kind of hokey and extremely predictable, some lines that were suppose to be funny weren't, and the pacing was off in a few scenes. To see all of these great actors on screen together was great. I just wish they had a more interesting story to tell.
Frida (2002)
Oscar worthy
This is definitely an Oscar pick. I was never impressed by anything Salma Hayek was in before I saw this. Her performance is amazing. The entire cast is great. The cinematography is beautiful. The direction is brilliant. This is without a doubt on the top ten list of best films for the year. If Frida doesn't get any Oscar nods, I want a drug test done because the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences would have to be on crack to overlook it.
Satin Rouge (2002)
A Pretty Good Movie
I liked this film, mostly because it was different from anything that comes out of Hollywood these days. First of all, the women actually look like normal women. I was pleasantly surprised to see older women with imperfect bodies depicted as sexy. Unlike shane k, I didn't think it was so predictable. I actually thought it was amazing how a once plain, shy, wallflower-like widow transforms into a manipulative and deceiving exotic dancer. What was most amazing was that it was not entirely implausible. The belly dancing, for her, was a way to feel things she had either never felt before or not in a long time - enchanting, desirable, alive. In the beginning, she was obsessed with her daughter because she didn't have a life of her own. Rather, she was envious of her daughter because she actually had a life. Once Lilia found something interesting on her own, she could let her daughter go. One warning, it is a little slow in the beginning. But like the dancing in the cabaret, it picks up to a rapid pace by the end. All in all, a pretty good movie.
The Good Girl (2002)
The Good and Bad Girl
I'm still not sure whether or not I like The Good Girl. I think the movie was well cast. Jennifer Aniston was convincing as Justine. I definitely could identify with her character in many ways, especially in the beginning. Who isn't familiar with that feeling of being trapped and realizing one day that a lot of life has just passed you by? It's that middle-middle life crisis when you're still trying to figure out what you want to do when you should've figured it out a few years ago. That's a compelling and interesting story! I guess what bothered me the most was that the movie was fairly predictable when it shouldn't have been. I thought the story would have been much better had the screenplay left room for surprise. There were a few surprises. ***SPOILERS BEGIN*** I definitely wasn't expecting Gwen to die so suddenly (which was both ironic and morbidly funny). I was equally disturbingly astonished that Justine would actually be so desperate as to have sex with Bubba. Nevertheless, writer Mike White, for whatever reason, wanted to make it painfully clear where this story was going. After Justine practically spells out that she is more than fertile and tells Phil that his drug habit is probably affecting their chance of having a child, who didn't know that Justine was going to become pregnant by Holden? Who didn't see the cashier at the motel swiping the credit card and figure out that eventually the bill was going to come? How could you not figure out that Holden would kill himself after he made SO MANY remarks about how he wanted to die? ***SPOILERS END*** The story, overall, was good. I just wish the movie had been a little bit more subtle. I think that would have made the movie good.
Possession (2002)
I'm sorry, but I don't get the big deal.
I really didn't like this movie. I tried, I really tried hard, but I just couldn't get into it. True, it does stand out from most of the trivial action fare every studio is putting out this summer, but that doesn't make it a great movie. As much as I use to love Gwyneth Paltrow, I have to admit that her British characters are starting to get on my nerves. She was perfect as Viola in Shakespeare In Love and I admired her in Sliding Doors, but I think another actress (maybe a slightly more bookish looking one) would have been more interesting in this role. The same goes for Aaron Eckhart who's way to brash and handsome to be believable as a literary nut who is so broken-hearted about past romances that he refuses to have sex with a horny Gwyneth. Please! I think the best sequences are the flashbacks to Ash and LaMotte played by Jeremy Northam and Jennifer Ehle. Their story is definitely believable but still a little boring. I truly believe that this is one of those movies that gets lots of critical acclaim simply because it is unlike everything else out and for no other reason than that.
Blue Crush (2002)
Wasn't as bad as I thought, but still...
This movie wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. Actually, I think it would have been pretty good had they actually hired professional actors. Michelle Rodriguez did okay, but everyone else was horrible. The story was pretty predictable too. The cinematography was excellent. I especially liked the shot where they were running underwater and the shots inside the wave. It's a decent movie to watch at home on one of the movie channels.
Chasing Amy (1997)
Romantic Comedy Done Right!
This is one of the best romantic comedy films ever. I usually can't stand the mushy, melodramatic antics in the vast majority of these films. Unlike most, Chasing Amy is as funny as it is original. This film is pretty much the only reason why I like Ben Affleck. Jason Lee is also phenomenal. Also, what happened to Dwight Ewell? I thought his character Hooper was pure genius. Joey Lauren Adams voice was slightly annoying in parts, but I think she did a great job overall. In two words, EXCELLENT MOVIE!