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Reviews
Star Trek (2009)
Completely not Star Trek
The effects were excellent, but I'm not sure why they chose to call it "Star Trek" if they were intent on changing so much of what made Star Trek "Star Trek".
No more thought-provoking issues, no more "exploration" and much more "fighting".
I don't know why they cast Winona Ryder as Spock's mother. She looks like her character Abigail Williams from "The Crucible", what with her cloak and bad age-makeup. Apparently Abigail fled Salem and ended up on Vulcan...
The plot is doesn't make sense and relies too much on coincidences. Supernovas threatening galaxies, black holes that act as worm holes, it doesn't make scientific sense at all. And what's with Uhura making out with Spock, not once but twice, second time in full view of other crew members! The scene where Captain Kirk feels the need to blast Nero even though a black hole's engulfing his ship was so not like Star Trek's values. What happened to humanistic values? Nero was going to die, his ship had a black hole in it, they should have just let the black hole deal with him. I really didn't understand the business of offering help to an enemy near death, then when the enemy rejects it, fires at said defenseless enemy.
All in all, great effects, but the core of Star Trek is gone.
The Family Stone (2005)
Enjoyed this film, despite flaws and wrong marketing angle
I really enjoyed watching this film. It was bittersweet but definitely thought-provoking and engaging at the same time.
The bulk of the negative reviews seem to come from people who thought they were in for a comedy but felt cheated out of that. I did go into the theater thinking it was a comedy but I wasn't that fixed in my expectations. I also don't understand the comments about the family being 'portrayed' in such and such a way and how the actions of the family member don't agree with that portrayal. When I watch movies I pretend to be the invisible observer...no one portrays anything to me other than what I see and interpret on my own. And I thought the family was quirky and plausible, which made it very entertaining for me to watch them 'in action' so to speak.
For me, "The Family Stone" was more of a snapshot of how a family spent Christmas and allows the viewers to leave with whatever interpretation they want.
200 American (2003)
Great movie, considering it had NO budget
Many of these negative reviews gripe about the poor production quality and the poor editing....well, try having NO budget (i.e., no money allocated, no funding) for a movie and see how high the production quality can get! I thought this film was an admirable piece of work. If one listens to the director's comments, many of the actors had to help carry the equipment around the set too! Basically, you have to compare this to a college level , purely voluntary, no budget film. In which case, this film comes out tops. One reviewer was comparing the movie to "Hitch"...umm, that movie had WILL SMITH in it, of course there was for more cash for the cinematography and music selection...millions more dollars i might add.
The actors did a great job and were all very hot. Definitely something worth checking out. Good story too, which was not cliché or overly angsty.
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Emperor Hath Not ANY Clothes!
*Spoiler Alert*
I am utterly shocked by the rave reviews this film has garnered from this site. My friend asked me to watch this sickening movie and I agreed, after hearing similarly rave reviews from my friends.
What an utter waste of time this was! A few bums wandering around suburbia, getting themselves into nonsensical situations and uttering obscenities every minute or so. If anything, this is a sad reflection of meaningless suburban existence (what's with the obsession over bowling??!). Like one reviewer said, this movie left me with nothing--no feelings of warmth, poignancy or encouragement.
Sure, there were some brilliant camera shots (a handful), but not enough to sustain a movie. The dream sequences were just bizarre...like something a stoned artist would dream up. Again, the setting of the movie (boring suburbia) did not help bolster my interest level. Dear me, there were times when I felt like stepping into the movie and bazooka-ing all the characters just so it would end! I was unmoved by the movie and completely bored out of my wits. 2 out of 4 of my friends left half-way through the movie (wisely enough). The series of 'revelations' (oooh! aaah!) at the end were trite and unsatisfying.
We all have our own opinions on this movie, but please, and 8.0 is way more than what this stinking mess deserves! Movies like this are the result of a culture that has become so saturated with material wealth, prosthetic 'beauty' and glamour that triteness and meaninglessness (along with gratuitous violence and obscenity) become glamorized.
Storm of the Century (1999)
Horrible ending...*spoilers*
Warning: Major spoilers!!!
I was quite happy with how the show progressed for the first few hours. Indeed, there was adequate suspense and viewers were left asking "what does he ( the demon ) want?". So we waited and waited and finally we got a answer--he wants a kid from the town. The town's response to his request seems weak and the story as a whole went down from there, despite the initial potential. The worst part of the story is that in the end, the only honourable person in the town ie the constable, has his son taken away. Given the good vs evil kind of build up ( Mike's exchanges with the pastor and the demon himself), one would have expected some kind of major show-down of sorts. Instead, the 'forces of good" ended up hapless and powerless to do anything and seemed to have lost everything and gained nothing without a proper chance to put up a decent fight. One ends up wondering if the ending had been too abrupt and unworthy of all that build-up. In fact, after the constable's son was taken away, for the last 15 min, my friends and I were desperately hoping for some resolution which would end the demon's "joy-ride". Sadly, nothing of the sort happened. All in all , not a very satisfying show.