Change Your Image
dseliber
Reviews
What's Up, Doc? (1972)
Curiously overlooked piece of insanity
Don't we all have a movie that has a special place in our heart? A movie that isn't necessarily a great movie, but we love it so much that we wonder why other people don't. Mine is "What's Up, Doc?", a homage to the classic screwballs of the past - most notably compared to Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby".
The plot in brief: there are four people with four identical plaid traveling cases all staying on the same floor of the same hotel. One of the cases has igneous rocks, one has valuable jewels, one has secret government documents, and one has just odds and ends. Inevitably, the cases are eventually mismatched and end up in the wrong hands. The climax is a fantastic, riotous car chase through the streets of San Francisco (where better place to have one?) which has a wet finale.
I'm a serious moviegoer for the most part, but "What's Up, Doc?" is one of my sentimental favorites - a movie I like just because it makes me smile.
Minority Report (2002)
Spielberg spins another triumph
Say what you will about the soft ending, but this is one of the finest sci-fi films we've gotten in quite a while! Even from Steven Spielberg, you really couldn't have expected much more. Let's examine some of the plot:
Well, it takes place in 2057 in Washington D.C., and it explores a new system of crime-stopping in which crimes are predicted before they are committed, giving the police, or whatever they're called in 2057, enough time to arrest the would-be criminal before they commit their crime. Cool, eh? Well anyway, if you haven't already heard the next part: Tom Cruise is one of the head workers there, and not too far into the movie, HE is accused of committing a future crime. And as it turns out, he is accused of killing someone whom he's never heard of. And the plot certainly takes off from there, in which he tries to prove an error in the pre-crime system to clear his name. But to reveal any more would be ridiculous.
The bottom line with "Minority Report" is that it is another total triumph for master director Steven Spielberg, who takes advantage of numerous special effects AND a wonderful story. It is one of the years best!
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
One of the best sequels I've ever seen
Sequels are annoying. They think they can take the ideas from the original, and somehow build up a plot different enough and interesting enough to arouse people's interest in seeing it. And yes, people see it, but it really isn't any good. "Back to the Future" is perhaps the best 'sci-fi-comedy-thriller' ever made. Then they made "Back to the Future Part II", which I said was not an exception to that rule I mentioned, but indeed an improvement. But what about "Back to the Future Part III"? Does it meet the mediocre expectations everyone had? No. It exceeds them.
Honestly, "Back to the Future Part III" is just as good as the original "Back to the Future". On paper, it actually looks pretty boring; especially compared to the fast-packed action we got in the first two. And even after I've given you to storyline, you'll still have doubts. I'll explain my arguments contradicting that later on.
Here's the story: Just like BTTF2, BTTF3 takes place at the exact time BTTF2 left off. Marty goes back to 1955 Doc and Doc passes out. The first new scene is actually the funniest scene in the movie: Marty had taken Doc home, and it's now the next morning. Marty and Doc are lying on adjacent couches in Doc's den, and when Doc wakes up, he still doesn't realize Marty's there. Then he voice records the events of the previous night into some kind of 1955 tape recorder, and then Marty taps Doc on his shoulder and Doc turns around, and puts on a hilarious performance, of how shocked he is to see him. Well anyway, the movie proceeds with Marty reading 1985 Doc's letter, in which Doc tells him that he's buried the DeLorean he took with him to 1885 in a mine (so Marty can use it to go back to 1985). HOWEVER...the mine is right next to an old cemetery, and Marty comes across a familiar tombstone.
There's a whole lot more. As a matter of fact, what I just described is only the first 15 minutes or so. Hopefully, what I DID just tell you will convince you enough. And the bottom line of BTTF3 is: though Roger Ebert complained about how they've toned down on the time traveling quite a bit in this one, it really is just as fun and entertaining as the first and the second. The climax is especially wonderfully worth watching, as is the rest of it. Go see it.
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
As far as sequels go, this is great entertainment
It happens a lot: you get a wonderful, original movie that's both funny and exciting, and then you get a sequel that tries to be as good as the original, but it tries too much, and turns out to not even come close. "Back to the Future Part II" isn't an exception, but it's definitely an improvement.
Here's the story: literally starting off where the original ended, Doc takes Marty (and Jennifer) to the future (2015, to be exact), where Marty has to correct a terrible incident that would result in disaster to his family (his future family, that is). And he more or less succeeds in doing that. However, what happens next is where the plot really takes off: Marty buys a sports almanac with statistics from 1950-2000 in it, simply to take back with him to 1985, and use it to 'place a couple bets'. But not if Doc has anything to say about it! Doc throws it away immediately, reminding Marty that that's not what he built the time machine for. So what's the problem? Seventy-seven year old Biff Tannen overhears that whole conversation! So what does he do? Exactly what 17 year old and 47 year old Biff would do: he takes the book from the trash can, steals the DeLorean, goes back in time, and gives the book to young Biff and tells him exactly what to do with it. How Doc and Marty find out about all this is far to interesting to reveal. And there are still a few surprises after that, but I think I may have already gone too far.
So the bottom line for "Back to the Future Part II" is this: no, it's not as good as the original. The primary reason is the fact that the first 30-40 minutes or so are just too 'gimmicky', with too many little jokes about what the year 2015 will be like in Hill Valley. However, it's the second half of the movie that's really worth watching, as Marty and Doc travel all over time, trying to put Hill Valley and everyone in it back to normal. Another reason to see this is simply so you can watch "Back to the Future Part III", which is even better than this one (really).
Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)
A treat for the fans
My friend and I had said before "Hey Arnold!" came out that it'll probably be a pretty bad movie, because of the excessive advertising Nickelodeon put together before the release. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully entertaining it was. Now, I've been a relatively big fan of the t.v. show since it first came out, so this is a biased review, but for anyone who's a fan of the show (and as one critic pointed out, who else would want to see this?), this is well worth watching. There's a few good pieces of comedy (mostly from Grandma and Grandpa), and the parents (who'll probably be a least a little amused by it) will notice a whole bunch of cliches from other movies, which is the style in the which many of the episodes are based upon. So the bottom line of this movie is: if you're a fan of the show, this is well worth seeing. If you're not a fan (I then don't know why you're even reading this), you might be entertained, but it's up to you.
Casablanca (1942)
the greatest motion picture of all time
Joe E. Brown said "nobody's perfect". Apparently, he never saw "Casablanca". It's widely regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, and for a good reason. Everyone and everything about "Casablanca" is perfect. The acting (Bogart and Bergman in particular, though the supporting acting is excellent as well), the story, which is of two past lovers meeting again in the midst of WW2, and the ending, perhaps the most memorable, and most heart-breaking in history. This won best picture, and should have won more. Humphrey Bogart deserved best actor, hands down. Ingrid Bergman, as well, gives the performance of her life. This is the biggest 'must-see' movie ever made.
12 Angry Men (1957)
One of the greatest pictures ever made
Looking at the lists from over the years of the American Film Institute (best movies, comedies, thrillers, and passions), I've come to the conclusion that they know what they're talking about. However, they did make one mistake: the failure to recognize '12 angry men' as one of the best motion pictures ever made. Quite simply, '12 angry men' is perfect, or very close. It's the story of a court case, in which an 18-year old Hispanic kid is accused of killing his father. What's very interesting is that, with the exception of the first two minutes and the last 30 seconds, the entire movie takes place in the jury room. The twelve jurors are discussing the case, and the bottom line is that every single solitary shred of evidence points to the direction that the kid is guilty. At the preliminary vote, eleven of the men vote guilty, and the twelfth man (played by Henry Fonda) votes not guilty. And then the fun starts. The film progresses with the eleven men convincing Henry Fonda that the boy is guilty ("they proved it a dozen different ways in court. Would you like me to list them for you?"), and meanwhile, Henry Fonda tries to convince them that there is enough reasonable doubt to consider that maybe the boy didn't commit the murder after all. There are several things that make this movie so good, and perhaps the most impressive is the fact that the acting performances are perfect; all twelve of them; a feat almost unthinkable in today's cinema. Each of the twelve men have a different personality, and you'll remember every one of them. The one that really stands out is Lee J. Cobb, because his character is very complex. He starts off polite and pleasant, and as the film progresses, starts to become 'excitable', as one of the characters calls it, and seems to suddenly be personally involved in the case. "12 Angry Men" is riveting, exciting, fascinating, and one of the greatest motion pictures of all time. A must-see.
Back to the Future (1985)
It's my all-time film favorite, and here's why...
It's not the best movie ever made, and E.T. is a better-made sci-fi, but no other film has combined laughs and thrills the way "Back to the Future" has. I don't want to tell too much of the storyline, (because if you haven't seen it yet, you really should) but it starts off with Marty McFly, a standard '80's teenager (the setting is 1985) with a goofy, nerdy dad, an alcoholic mom, a fast-food working older brother, and older sister who doesn't really do much at all. Marty's best friend is a scientist, Dr. Emmett Brown ("Doc"), who calls him and invites him to the mall parking lot at 1:15 in the morning the next day. So he goes, and Doc reveals what he has in fact spent the last 30 years inventing: a time machine. Unlike the past versions of what time machines would look like (generally a little room), Doc's time machine is in the form of a DeLorean ("the way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine out of a car, why not do it with some style!"). It has to go 88 MPH to work (along with a few other details I won't reveal now). After a series of surprises, Marty finds himself transported back in time to the year 1955. Right after he gets there, he accidentally runs into his parents (30 years younger; Marty's age now), and VERY accidentally, interferes with the event of his parents falling in love for the first time. Not thinking much of it at the time, he goes around town, looking for the one man who can help him: Doc Brown, 30 years younger. After he finds him, Doc realizes that Marty's interfering with his parents' first meeting could have VERY bad consequences. As I said, "Back to the Future" is not the best movie ever made. However, it provides outstanding entertainment; the likes of which we haven't seen since!