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Steve R
Reviews
A Knight's Tale (2001)
The WWF of the 1400's! Great movie...
I just got back from a screening of this wonderful movie at the Pentagon City Mall thanks to Screenit.com and had really low expectations when driving down to see it. I was even thinking of sneaking into the 715pm showing of "The Brothers" instead of seeing this movie. This would have been a bad move in hindsight. After getting past an awkward first minute or two of the opening scene where it was difficult to catch the dialect, I immediately got into it in a big way when the hilarious opening "number" started. The movie was poignant, extremely funny in parts, heroic, dramatic, sexy, and just a fun sit through. I kept imagining the wide world of championship wrestling, the spectacle of "Gladiator", and a half dozen great historical comedies of the past(Mel Brooks came to mind) as I was watching. The attractive female lead reminded me of Jennifer Lopez, though my friend who was with me swore she was prettier than Miss Lopez. Who is this woman and when can I see her again! Comedic Medieval flicks are usually not my cup of tea, but this movie is sure to please. Many people in the audience were laughing their a--es off during some of the funnier scenes. One friend thought pairing modern pop songs to these circa 1400 events was a bit too over the top , while I found them to be perfect. This time period is sometimes a hard sit through, movie-wise, but with all the modern songs and silly dialogue - the flick really moved on quite nicely, depite it's overly long running time (2:08 or so). I'm really glad I went, and have no idea if the critics will like it or not, but I suspect that they will like it - alot! The dance scene to Bowie's "Golden Years" was particularly a hoot. I give it an A- on a scale of A to D. ... an "A" being "The Sweet Hereafter", "Manhattan" or "Annie Hall". Just my 2 cents.
The Wedding Planner (2001)
I was shocked that I liked this film!
I went to a preview showing with all our local critics last night here in Washington DC and was shocked when the movie finally started... I was expected a sappy, "chick flick", but was instead treated to an incredibly funny first 30 minutes. When this movie is funny, man-o-day - great stuff! When it was dramatic, it almost produced a tear in this jaded (almost) 40 year old, thinking back to my own marriage of 8 months ago. Everyone wants the kind of love that Jennifer Lopez describes to her brides to be. Yeah, sometimes it was sort of sappy, but never in a totally "oh please" way. I'd say it was mostly funny as hell, formulaic but not badly so, and had the ending I was soooo hoping for. Don't let the lame trailers fool you - this is actually a pretty darn decent flick, not a puff piece.
Chocolat (2000)
Beautifully shot, great looking chocolate!
I just saw this 12/8/00 at the new General Cinema in Chevy Chase Md with the Washington DC Film Society at a free 10:30am preview screening, and they put us in the expensive higher dollar theatre ($12 a ticket at night!) with the wide leather seats and stadium seating - yahooo! I guess they were preparing us for a decadently "sweet" experience, sitting in our soft chocolate brown leather seats. Well, it may have been a simple trifle, but the truffles were the thing that hooked me! Watching the elaborate process of her making the chocolates and hearing the description of the recipe's explaining how she'd make everything from her hot chocolate concoction, to the chocolates themselves - this is what made the movie fun for me. Binoche's beauty and charm, her daughter's adorable smile, and the quaintness of this small town drew me in a bit. Yeah, it was a puff piece of sorts, but I found it compelling here and there. I liked the way she would guess what each person liked or needed, after only meeting them seconds before. I guess I'm just less critical than most. I admit there were times in the movie when I thought a scene to be ultra corny or just plain silly, but I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt and took into account that it was a fable, a fairy tale - not a reality piece. Sit back and enjoy this film - especially if you are a chocolate lover like me! The part of the movie I didn't get was, if it was a small French town, why did everyone speak English? Call me oblivious, but this is the part that baffled me. Don't they speak French in every French town? I would recommend this movie, despite it's faults.
Falling to Peaces (1999)
Oh boy is this bad!
Well, I was the only one in the theatre tonight - the first of a double header. I guess this was a sign, as the movie started off pretty bad, the dialogue seemed stilted, the acting was wooden, and the camera work was amateurish to a fault. The storyline took forever to unfold, in that anything of interest to the viewer never seemed to materialize! I found the main character, the father, just plain difficult to look at, as he was grossly overweight, and all the lines he was given seemed to leave me with that thought... "I can't even believe this theatre was brave enough to pick up such a bad little uninteresting indie film such as this!" Falling to Peaces was playing at my local mulitplex, a beautiful stadium seating theatre - not the tiny little art house theatre in the city, but all the way out at the edges of the suburbs! The story never seemed to catch my attention, as I kept looking at my watch and wishing it would just be over soon. I did enjoy one scene - at the ending, with the au pair and her employer, but I don't want to giveaway too much away about that spicy scene. It only lasted a clever and twisting minute or two, then it was back to lameland. Sorry, but I give this poor work a - 1 out of 10.
Jakob the Liar (1999)
Pretty lame overall...
Well, I decided to finally see this film tonight after first sitting through a dreadful film - "Falling To Peaces". I was the only one in the theatre except for a family of 4 sitting in front of me. The movie started off pretty interestingly where Robin Williams is desperately trying to grab a piece of newspaper that has flown into the ghetto, yet it keeps lifting in the air just beyond his reach. This was really the only part of the movie that caught my attention, because after a few minutes, I found myself noticing the poor "polish" accents coming out of the mouths of well-known american actors, especially Allen Arkin - that was the worst. I just felt that these actors were so well known, and some just didn't seem jewish at all, the whole thing just seemed incredibly contrived and unbelievable. This is my first review ever, so bear with me, but the feeling I had during most of the movie, was that this was a "groaner" as I call them. Movies that I sit through and say to myself through most of it - oh boy, this is pretty bad. I just couldn't help comparing it to Life is Beautiful - whose story is so much more compelling, interesting, funny, beautifully done, and more tugging on the heartstrings. I thought Jakob the Liar was basically a total waste of time. Sorry to all of those who loved this movie - it just seemed stale to me, and I kept having the feeling that "I've seen that scene before in another movie, and the other movie was much more creative." The part where he pretended that he was the radio when his 10 year old boarder was looking the other way - I mean, come on. That was really bad! I give it a 4 out of 10.