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DjTj
Reviews
Groove (2000)
Groove simply wanted to be about a rave, but it wasn't even that
I went to this movie expecting a nice look into the rave culture - the music, the drugs, and the dancing that characterize a rave and are the reason people go. Unfortunately, I found a movie that got horribly sidetracked. Instead of being about a rave, it was about this group of people - of 5, 10, 15...too many people - and too many horrible actors trying to be these people. I hesitate to use the word "characters" because since not one of them was developed at all, I can only call them people.
All the conversation in the movie was trite musing about myriad grand themes that should not have been the purpose of the movie. This should have been a movie about a rave - people should have talked about the music, the drugs, and the atmosphere. They should have danced and tripped and rolled - a rave is not a place you go to make a lifelong friend - its a place you go to separate yourself from reality...to meet people you will see again only at another rave, but each time you see them, to connect on a deeper level. A rave isn't a holy experience nor a time to reflect upon the meaning of one's existence - it is an escape - one thing this movie failed to grasp completely.
The Patriot (2000)
A movie that tried too hard - even Mel couldn't save it.
If the director could have just picked a theme and stuck with it, this could have been a great movie, but somewhere between the responsible father, invincible soldier, paragon of masculinity, clever frontiersman, and American patriot that Benjamin Martin was supposed to portray this movie lost me. What was he fighting for? What was America fighting for? Are the answers to these two questions the same? If someone had just tried to make that last answer yes, this could have been a great movie...unfortunately, the answer is "maybe" and what we got was a little bit cluttered - a good movie? Maybe.
X-Men (2000)
Nonstop action, but I wish it had slowed down just a bit.
The special effects were amazing and the movie was exciting from beginning to end, but I never found out what these mutants were all fighting for...There's obviously a lot going on beneath the surface between Professor X and Magneto - this is the central conflict in the original comic books, but this movie chooses not to delve in there at all. Instead, it sticks with its laser blasts and shapeshifting. There is a brief attempt to convince us to sympathize with Wolverine, but that ends up being too rushed and too shrouded in mystery to make any sense to anybody.
With its arsenal of fine actors, X-Men could've paused a second to let someone say something meaningful. I don't think I was allowed to blink for the full 104 minutes. Visually stunning and very entertaining, but it could have been more of a movie and less of a laser-light show...Hopefully they're planning to follow in the footsteps to make X2:Judgment Day - well, you get my drift.
Groundhog Day (1993)
Cute, funny - great romantic comedy fare
Bill Murray will always be one of the best comedy actors. In Groundhog Day he once again does a great job - he makes you laugh and laugh, and still earns your sympathy by the end. A fun movie to watch again and again.