Reviews

After I came home from seeing this movie, I remembered that when I was a teenage kid I used to watch The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights after I got myself ready for the school week. This movie reminded me of those types of movies. Yet, I am very glad I saw it on the big screen rather than waiting until it came out on DVD. That is because the scenery is spectacular.

I saw a matinée performance of this film during which the theater was full of children and teenagers. The theater was more silent than I have experienced, literally, in years. I think that shows clearly that the film captivated the youngsters' attention. It also worked for me, a kid at heart.

The film had an educational feeling to it. I felt as if I was learning from start to finish --- about Antarctic exploration, wildlife in the Antarctic, Antarctic topography, and especially about sled dogs. I felt like I was observing a documentary that was put in the form of a major motion picture. Interestingly enough, I did not find the concern with the dogs' plight to be a source of suspense. Rather, instead, I became fascinating with the dogs' behavior and emotions throughout the entire movie. It seemed as if they were truly going through what they were going through in the plot of the film. There must have been an incredible amount of work in training these dogs and in shooting the film piece by piece, dog command by dog command. But the movie did not appear like that is what occurred in the making of it. Instead, the film was seamless. As well, the dogs portrayed emotion throughout the entire movie. That was perhaps just as fascinating as their actions. The one thing, then, that I would stress about the film is that it seemed real, as if these people were really in the Antarctic and their dogs were going through their ordeal.

The movie had the requisite romance subplot and tension between characters. These aspects of the film seemed blatantly put there like they were mandatory simply because the characters were in a Hollywood script, but the wholesomeness of the manner in which these subplots were done were quite Disney.

I would recommend this movie for anyone who is physically a kid or a kid at heart, or who is fascinated being transported into other worlds, including the world of science at the bottom of planet earth.

I was expecting this movie to be really horrible. I'd heard that the critics were panning it. As well, I saw the trailer and it looked really dumb. But I decided to see it because I adore Harrison Ford.

I was pleasantly surprised. I found the movie immensely entertaining. Perhaps the trick to enjoying it is in letting go of questioning whether or not it is believable and simply go with the flow. That, I did. And I found myself shifting in my seat because, as the cliché says, the suspense was killing me.

Many people have criticized the film for being another bank robber film, executive's family kidnapped --- etc. But for me it worked. If Harrison Ford was not in the film, I don't know if the movie would have worked as well. But the man is gifted at showing vulnerability and drawing in an audience and playing the role of hero against bad guys I guess, then, if you're a Harrison Ford fan, go see the film. If you're not, don't see it. If you don't like clichés, avoid the movie. But if you're willing to forgive film makers for clichés because you are a fan of Harrison Ford, go. I guess it all comes down to being a fan of Harrison Ford.

One thing I noticed in this film was the cinematography. I haven't noticed anyone else comment on this, but I found the angles fascinating. As well, some of the scenes were stunning. There was a lot of rain in this movie, and some scenes, particularly where cars drove into a driveway lined by flowers, looked almost like Monet painted them.

Thank goodness this film was given a bad review by others and a voting average below 5 out of 10. I just saw this movie and I was expecting some light popcorn fluff, old fashioned silly horror --- just entertainment to pass the time. What a disappointment. This film had every cliché that horror films have. And guess what? They did not work. Why? Because they came one right after the other, to the point where I had a hard time believing I was sitting there watching this garbage. And then when something horrible really did happen, 1/2 of the movie had passed. And I thought -- yippeeee, something exciting. But even that did not last long. Why? Because the entire sequence of horror turned cliché. This is one of the worst movies I have seen in the past 10 years, at least. The horror is that this film is such a waste of time and money, to the point where I don't even know how it got out of the studio and into the movie theaters. This is not one of those situations where I would say to go see it just to see how bad a film can be. If anyone did that based on bad reviews, I would feel so sorry for him/her. Thank goodness I can watch wallpaper dry. Sounds exciting compared to this film. Signed, I survived cinematic garbage.

I was a huge fan of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. But I must say that it wasn't until seeing this movie that I realized he is an extremely gifted actor. His comedic ability in this film is nothing less than brilliant. This is not to understate the inspired performance by Greg Kinnear. The two of them are flawless together.

The script of this movie could probably offend a lot of people, but the more perverse it was, the more I laughed. That is what makes the film work. It is a wonderfully warped, sick comedy. How sick is it? It is so sick it can make you hope that Pierce Brosnan's character will assassinate someone so he himself will not get into trouble. How much more warped can a film get? But yes, there is more warped material --- dialogue that would make some people rush to get a refund at the ticket booth, yet made me and plenty of others in the theatre howl with laughter.

I truly was sad when this film finished. I wanted more. That doesn't happen very often. My only consolation is that now that I know how versatile Pierce Brosnan is, I will go see another movie with him in it simply because he is in it.

If you like dark, warped comedies, don't miss "The Matador".

I was looking forward to this movie for over a month after seeing the trailer many times. I thought it was going to be a hilarious film, based on the trailers. I thought I would see Queen Latifah living it up, doing and saying whatever she wanted, after being given three weeks to live.

And she does. But the story is much more than that. It has warmth. Queen Latifah's performance in itself drew me into the film from start to finish. But so did the storyline and the characters. Without giving anything about the movie away, the people whom Queen Latifah meets at the luxurious resort are a varied slew of characters with high level stakes in the world of power, and we see dimensions of human-ness to them that are drawn out by Queen Latifah's visit. The transformations do not come across as phony. Rather, what could have been cardboard cut-out one dimensional characters become more real and more human as the film moves along. That too adds more warmth to the film. The film also has a romantic element which I personally thought was the first convincing romantic storyline I have seen in over a decade. What I mean by that is that from the very start, when we see Queen Latifah and her romantic interest interact, I actually saw chemistry between them and thought they belonged together, and I hoped they would become an item --- versus so many romantic comedies I have seen where witty scripting seems more important than chemistry and a feeling of authenticity in the bond between the romantic partners.

I came out of this movie feeling really satisfied, like I had a hearty meal versus mass produced Hollywood popcorn fluff. Go see it and have a really wonderful time.

I think this movie ties for number one spot as the strangest film I have ever seen. But totally in a good way. I laughed from beginning to end. The greatest part of the film is that all of the actors play their very strange comedic roles as if the characters were real people, and they put a lot of heart into their performances. That lifts up the film from being a cheap slapstick comedy to something much better, something to treasure from beginning to end.

The film evolves around a computer game company that is trying to finish a computer game. The employees are the strangest cast of characters you can muster in a film. The main character in the film has to live with his grandmother, since he got evicted from his apartment. The cast of characters from the computer games company and the grandma and her roommates intertwine in hilarious ways in the film, and in the process breach taboos.

All in all, a wonderful night out. A feel good film.

I have not been so disturbed by a movie since I saw a massacre seen in the film "Ghandi" way back in 1983.

It is hard to believe that this film is based on a book by John Le Carre. He used to write cold war novels full of espionage and intrigue. He would bring us into worlds that seemed real, yet were full of enough fictional intrigue and suspense that the books would feel like adventurous rides. His books were exhilarating.

But not this work. Le Carre takes his writing talent to present day Africa. No cold war here. No Soviets or KGB. Instead, he portrays present day Africa with disturbing intensity even more than some documentaries have achieved.

The film has a very centered premise. A British diplomat's wife is found dead alongside a road and he suspects foul play. She belonged to Amnesty International and he suspects that her work led to her demise. The film takes us on his journey to find out what really happened to her and why.

But for me, the premise of the film serves as a tool to weave the movie together. The real focus of the movie for me is the current situation in Africa. The poverty. The corruption. The hiv/AIDS epidemic. The need for medications. And most of all, the West's seemingly endless policy of considering African lives to be of less value than those in the West.

The film portrays the rule of anarchy in Africa not only by African tribespeople, but by African governments and Western governments.

This film does not hold anything back when addressing Africa. I know I have used the word "disturbing" already, but I must use it again. This is a profoundly disturbing movie. In a sense, I am sorry for having gone to see it because it shook me up immensely. It also leaves me wondering what we could ever do to fix the problems that are in Africa.

I ironically say – If you go to see this movie, don't expect to enjoy it. It is definitely a rare gem, a 10 out of 10, a memorable film to stir up controversy and debate. But those with weak stomachs, or very sensitive nerves, just prepare yourselves.

I was looking forward to seeing this movie based on the trailers. I figured it would be a good summer film, something light yet full of suspense. Sure enough, it was. But the movie was better than what I expected.

There were three aspects to the film that I found made it work really well. First, the setting of the movie was done so well. In the context of airlines cutting back on expenses, and service not being what it used to be, and passengers disgruntled, the movie portrayed current air travel in an almost farcical manner, and it was quite entertaining. Secondly, the casting of the villain was a key factor in the film's success. He looked like a wholesome pretty boy, or the boy next door. That worked better than if he had been made to look evil, since often in the news, serial killers or rapists, etc., are like the boy next door. This character's wholesome looks made the scenario on the plane really creepy. The one other thing in this movie that lifted it from being simply a thriller to being a really good thriller is that I did not know how the heroine was going to save the day. In the movie trailers, the movie is set up as having a female on board a plane being told that unless she cooperated with the villain, her father would be killed. I therefore went to the film figuring the movie would be about how the girl got herself out of that situation. Throughout the film, I did not find her efforts to be predictable. And when she did try to escape from the situation, I did not immediately guess how the villain was going to spoil her efforts. That made the film so much more enjoyable than if it was predictable. It made it a thrilling ride.

I came out of the movie feeling satisfied. I think the box office receipts will be boosted by word of mouth promoting of this film by people who have seen it.