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Secret Window (2004)
The dumbest movie I've seen in years...and I've seen Matrix part 2.
12 March 2004
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

If you can't tell within 20 minutes of Secret Window that Johnny Depp's character has split personality and he'll turn out to be the killer, well then, you're even more stupid than the writers of this horrible, horrible movie.

What the hell was Johnny Depp thinking? There isn't one good quality about this movie. Not one. Bad writing, bad pacing, no suspense, no scares, no surprises, and worst of all, no nudity. And how many times is Hollywood gonna churn out the same story? Not only has this split personality crap been done a million times before, Secret Window does it worse. It doesn't even have the decency to improve upon an already worn out plot twist.

Example: Even though "The Others" was a complete rip off of "The Sixth Sense", The Others was a better told story, was more believable, had more suspense, and in my opinion (the only one that matters, by the way) was just an all around better movie. Secret Window borrows-- I mean steals-- from dozens of other movies and doesn't even attempt to make things better. It's a step backwards. Johnny "I Gotta Eat, Too" Depp has never made a movie this bad. After 20 years of quality movies, the power of money has finally spoken to him. You can count on him no longer. This movie was bad enough for me to ban Johnny from any of my movie watching experiences from now on.

Johnny Depp plays this dumb author writing a dumb story in a dumb cabin. He is getting away from his wife who has been cheating on him, so now he's writing a story about an author whose wife cheated on him and then he killed her. That's real smart. Now after you murder your wife for real (which he does later) all the cops have to do is read your book to find out exactly how you did it. Johnny is then visited by a Mississippi hick played by John Turturro who claims Depp stole an earlier story of his. Depp says it isn't true, and he can prove it. Turturro gives Depp 3 days to come up with some proof and he promises to leave him alone. This is where all the 6 year olds in the audience figured out the ending.

Please save your money, people. If you've seen Fight Club, Usual Suspects, Stir of Echoes, Identity, or Finding Nemo, then you've already seen Secret Window. This movie is bad, bad bad! I saw it at an early matinee for only 6 bucks and I demanded my money back. The girl at the booth told me I was the third person in one day who asked the same thing. So she gave me a free movie pass to use at a later date.

Zero stars out of 5.
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Quite possibly the greatest movie ever made...
14 August 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

The movie's opening scene takes place in a strip joint, chock-full of gratuitous nudity; if there even IS such a thing-- it's just a phrase I always hear wimp critics use. I have no idea how that's a bad thing. And any movie with people getting offed repeatedly is a friend of mine. State Property is that movie.

State Property, the straight to video movie, stars rapper Beanie Sigel, who is one of Hollywood's ugliest-- second only to Kevin Bacon. Beanie will ruin your day. Period. If he doesn't like you, or you don't do what he says, you're dead. Period. Broad daylight, he doesn't care. 900 witnesses, he doesn't care. You'll be out in the street chillin' somewhere and Beanie and his gang will come by, and blow your whole chest cavity out and ruin your whole day. Period.

This whole movie is one scene. One scene done dozens of times: Beanie asks someone to join his team. They say no. Beanie comes back and wets their shirts up with blood. Ruins all your plans, I tell you. This is one of those "Let's get all our friends together and make a movie" kinda movies. Let's fill it with everything that we don't have in reality (money, respect, women) and live out all our fantasies on TV. And since I, Rocky, share these exact fantasies, I have no problem with this movie.

Talk about one perfect movie. Every man in the movie who isn't Beanie Sigel gets blown away. Every woman in the film has amazon breasts and the ass of life. The movie is incoherent in terms of plot, and that's just fine with me. My attention span rivals that of a rabid goldfish, and the less plot you put in a movie, the more time you allow for people getting blown away. Lack of plot is 100% redeemed when you got people getting killed by the masses in between scenes of pointless nudity (oxymoron, I know.)

For all of you that say State Property has bad acting and a bad script, I say to all of you, WHO CARES!! If you want a great script, look for Chopping Mall. If you want great acting, rent Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-A-Rama. I have seen State Property 3 times now and I am firing up the ol' DVD player for another serving as I come to the conclusion of this review. It's a gun toting revenge movie, what do you expect? I'd root for a sequel, but the whole cast is dead. Maybe the heavens will bless us with a prequel.

* * * * * out of 5.
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Gloria (1980)
3/10
One of the stupidest movies ever made...
14 August 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL OF MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I was told that this movie was a classic, so I decided to give it a shot. What I wasn't told was that it is probably one of the stupidest movies ever made. Yes, I am aware that "stupidest" is not a word, but after sitting through this garbage, I cannot be blamed for my newfound idiocy. No, Gloria is not the worst movie I have ever seen, but it sure holds the current title in the Bad Dialogue Contest. Gloria runs through the city Charles Bronson style, and whenever confronted by mobsters she says such gems as, "You punks! You sissies! You bunch of nothings! You Bananas!!"

This also marks the first time I have ever watched a movie and prayed for NO nudity. And believe me, there are plenty of close calls here, as when Gloria prances around in scantily clad lingerie showcasing her glorious middle aged body. And when people are lacking in the Attractive Department, they sure as hell better have a good personality. But Gloria sucks. Are we supposed to like this lady? I sure as hell don't. Actually, I hate her. She makes bad decisions. She treats the kid like sh**. Why won't she just drop him off at the police station and walk away? Why won't she buy the kid some clothes? Her selfish ass changes clothes every scene, but won't let Phil get out of his Chico and the Man attire.

The movie begins with a Hispanic woman having a very bad day. Thank God they kill her off early, because I don't think I could take that horrible Rosie Perez accent for 2 hours. Her good friend Gloria takes her son named Phil away from the mob who kill the rest of the family. The story soon is all over the street, and Phil's face is in the papers. Instead of being inconspicuous, Gloria goes all over town like a NYC tour guide in broad daylight. So, why can't anybody find this pair? True, I don't expect the cops to give a sh** about locating a poor Puerto Rican kid, but how about street witnesses? How about the mob? And speaking of the mob, this is the softest mob I have ever seen. They repeatedly let Gloria have their way with them, with no question. In her home, in restaurants, on the train, etc. In one scene, Gloria even rescues Phil from a mobster's house, leaves pointing a gun, and then her taxi driver actually lets her in his cab with a gun and mobsters behind her.

Personally, I believe the kid playing Phil was probably a 12 year old (or so) midget and not a little kid. His body seems shrunken, and not far from puberty. But whether he's a real kid or a midget, one thing's for sure...he is one horrendous actor. The writers of this movie also forgot that the kid is supposed to be 6, not 16. He is depressed and angry at the world, as if life has stressed him with burdens since birth. Yes, the kid is from a tough background and was forced to grow up fast, but don't make him an adult for the convenience of the plot. He is a young, frightened child in some scenes, and an experienced, mature man in others. But he doesn't mature with the movie, his character shifts back and forth during the course of the film, wherever convenient. Phil has some really oddball lines for a child to say. Some of Phil's greatest hits include:

1.) A dame like you and a guy like me, they don't understand.

2.) You're a cute girl Gloria, but you're not for me.

3.) You're my mother, my father...you're even my friend.

4.) If you don't know what the system is, how do you know you can't beat it?

5.) We gotta keep trying, even if we get shot. You can't just continue shooting everybody who comes knocking on your door.

He's got the world down pat better than Gloria. And my personal favorite:

6.) I love you Gloria. I love you to death.

God in heaven.

He's even smart enough to REALIZE he is growing up fast: "Gloria, I am growing up so fast. When I first met you, I was ashamed to speak!" By the time the movie was over, I actually WANTED the mob to come and kill this duo. I couldn't decide which character I wanted dead first. Gloria is a travesty of a movie with pedophile undertones that go unmentioned simply because the adult is female. If the sexes were reversed, we'd have an NC-17 film with R. Kelly as the protagonist.

Zero stars out of 5.
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2/10
She doesn't jump the shark-- SHE PUNCHES HIM
29 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM

There's one thing I hate worse than a movie with no nudity-- a movie that teases us with implied nudity and never delivers. Angelina Jolie, whose days of not being in Playboy are numbered, plays Lara Croft in the world's most boring action movie. People, I don't ask for much; I do realize every movie is not going to be the next D.C. Cab. Just a nipple or two is enough to keep me awake-- but this film is so boring!!!! Yes, Angelina is one hot piece of meat. There were plenty of scenes that had guys in my theater take multiple bathroom breaks. But even a nice rack and a great set of DSL's can't get this movie off the ground.

The movie starts off with her underwater searching for some stupid yellow ball, and as soon as she finds it, it's stolen from her. Her two man crew is immediately killed (you can always smell a death scene coming-- they were just too happy to live.) Lara is stranded under water. In order to get to the surface, she cuts her flesh and lets the blood flow so that a shark will smell it. Pay attention very closely to my following sentence: Once the shark comes, Lara Croft punches him in the face! Reader, you are not hallucinating, and to prove it, I will say it again: SHE PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE. Then, she rides his fin to the top of the water. This is without a shadow of a doubt the absolute dumbest thing I have ever seen in cinema history. Period. Moving on...

She finds out this stupid yellow ball is a map that leads to Pandora's box. According to legend, this box was opened and its contents started life. The box was then closed before the rest of the contents (sickness and disease) were spread throughout the world. Okay, riddle me this: If the box's contents started life, then who opened the box?? Furthermore, who made the box? See how stupid movies have gotten? And the summer is the absolute worst time of all. I call it Mongoloid Season, because I take it that's all Hollywood intends to enjoy these summertime films.

Lara meets up with her best friend, slash ex lover, slash felon, slash horrible actor named Terry Sheridan. Terry is tough. Why? Because he has a five o'clock shadow, wears a leather coat, and does push ups on the ceiling. I mean, what did the tough guys in your neighborhood do? Anyway, she needs his help, and I have no idea why. She does any and everything in this movie except reverse the earth, but I'm sure they're saving that for the next sequel. She and Terry soon get on some motorcycles and this part marks the first chase scene I've ever seen where no one chases anything.

The movie's bad guy is some guy named Reiss, who's about as scary as Eddie Deezen. I don't even really know what he was trying to do. I thought all bad guys were after one of 2 things: money, or world domination. But no, this guy has some childhood dream of spreading sickness throughout the land. I don't see the benefit, but hey-- that's just me. Different strokes.

The movie takes us to many locations, each one more boring than the last. Djimon "I Will Forever Play A Big Black African" Hounsou plays Lara's tour guide and translator during the African section of the movie. Poor guy. He is suffering from a severe case of Michael Clarke Duncan-itis. Maybe one day we'll see him play an accountant. And maybe one day Pamela Anderson will win an Oscar.

The name of this movie should have been Lara Croft: Jedi Knight, because this chick does it all. She knows your moves before you do, she defies gravity, she even charms her way into a family's home and temporarily sabotages it. But in the end, she kills her man over Pandora's Box because of course, it's all about the craft of archeology and not the money. Yeah right. And that's why she's called a tomb RAIDER. Gimme a friggin' break. I'll give it 2 stars (one for each breast) but as far as everything else goes, the film sucks just like the first one. I pray to the gods of all things holy that there is no sequel...

* * stars out of 5.
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New Jack City (1991)
7/10
The Van Peebles Curse Continues...
29 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I have a strict Hollywood rule I follow: If Mario Van Peebles' name is anywhere near the credits, run as fast as humanly possible. I mean, look at this guy's track record: Posse, Panther, Gunmen, Riot, Solo, Blowback, and Ali. Curiously all one word titles, and curiously all complete crap. Mario's pretty popular, too. I know some decent scripts have come his way at some point in his life. Why does he refuse to acknowledge them? Did he sell his soul to the devil a long time ago and is now forced to live in Hollywood purgatory? I won't even get into the Highlander movie he did.

Anyway, New Jack City is another truckload of crap on wheels to add to his sh** box resume. This time Van Peebles is credited as director, so hold onto your barfbags people-- it could get ugly. The movie stars Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, and Allen Payne. Ice-T is one dreadful actor, and Allen Payne is the worst actor since Ice-T. The movie's only saving grace is Wesley Snipes, and only Wesley Snipes. His portrayal of drug lord Nino Brown is right on the money, and could easily be used as an inspirational reference for future crack dealers. As the minutes ticked on during this movie, I literally got dumber, so I apologize in advance for any misspelled words or errors in grammar in this review.

The movie begins in 1986, around the time crack first hit the streets. Nino Brown and his number one lug, Duh Duh Duh Man are dangling a man over a bridge because he owes them money. Nevermind the fact that it's broad daylight with a thousand witnesses during rush hour, Duh Duh Duh Man drops him anyway, killing him instantly. This scene alone made me want to get up and leave the theater, but I have another Hollywood rule I follow: Never let a stupid movie beat you. So I sucked it up and endured the next 2 hours of total idiocy and wasted life.

We cut to Ice-T, an undercover cop about to buy some dope from a dealer named Pookie, played by Chris Rock. After a long chase, (note the woman who drops and spills her box of Corn Flakes all over the ground, an impossible feat considering how sealed cereal is) Ice-T arrests Chris Rock and sends him to jail. This scene isn't so bad, but once it's over, stupidity ensues. We cut to Gee Money (Payne) who is on the basketball court, attempting a shot he bet about 10 other guys he'd make. Nobody puts their money in a

hat, on the ground, or anything. To make matters even more unbelievable, after Gee Money makes the shot, they all pay him!! What the f*ck?! WHY!! Just walk away, there's about a hundred people on the court! Trust me folks, I've lived everywhere and seen everything, and this would never happen in real life.

Gee Money introduces his leader Nino to the crack game, and Nino runs with the idea. He brilliantly takes over an entire apartment complex to set up as his crack operation. Time passes, and Nino rises in power. Pookie is out of jail, but has become a stone cold crack head. Nino offers him a job if he cleans himself up (Why?) But Ice-T gets to Pookie first and sends him to rehab (Why?) Pookie then takes the job Nino offered earlier, but is really working as an informant for the police. At first Pookie is a security guard but Gee Money gets the bright idea of promoting him and sending an ex crack head (yeah right) into the drug house, WHERE THEY ACTUALLY MAKE THE CRACK (Why?) This is an ex junkie we're talking about. How the hell did this idiot Gee Money become head of personnel?

I don't even have to tell you what happens next. But yet, more unbelievability is shipped in by the truckloads. Ice-T, who's cover was blown ever since he publicly arrested Pookie, goes undercover yet again, this time as a partner for Nino Brown. Nino repeatedly watches Scarface, (God, I hate when bad movies blatantly pay homage to the better movie they're ripping off) and has become so drunk on power, he loses touch with all things that once mattered to him. His deals with the Italian mob have gone sour, and Nino wants blood. So he sends some hitmen out to kill all the Mafia heads, who are all conveniently together and all conveniently out in broad daylight on the corner playing Go Fish.

There are some Scooby-Doo like mystery moments, such as when Ice-T discovers Nino is responsible for his mother's death, or when an unsuspected old man shoots Nino in court, (nevermind the metal detectors) but the movie's biggest problem is that it simply isn't realistic. The movie's second biggest problem is that it's stupid. There is a scene at a wedding when Kiesha, one of Nino's aids, pointlessly runs out into a hail of gunfire as if she's from Krypton. Another scene has a cop played by Judd Nelson, breaking into Nino's home to steal some files. Has Nino used any of the millions of dollars he has earned to buy top notch security and surveillance? No. He has invested in a watchdog! What the f***?!! And a chained watchdog at that! What good is that? This movie stinks like hot trash in August.

* star out of 5.
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Ali (2001)
4/10
Floats like a tank and stings like a banana...
26 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Will Smith playing Muhammad Ali makes about as much sense as a solar powered flashlight. There are so many other actors who could portray Ali better than Smith: Ving Rhames, Morris Chestnut, or Kirsten Dunst. Muhammad Ali's entire career and legacy was over before I was even born, so all my knowledge on one of history's greatest figures came strictly from books, television and word of mouth. I eagerly anticipated the movie, but wasn't looking forward to Will Smith.

What the movie is, specifically, is frozen crap on a stick. Michael Mann was obviously high off uncut sawdust during production, because this dung fest of a movie doesn't even try. Just look at the horrific opening sequence, when Ali trains to the credits. The movie rapidly whizzes through his humble beginnings, which are the most important elements of a biography movie, especially one featuring a larger than life character. We never even meet Cassius Clay; the movie begins with him already as Ali. We never learn what life was like for him as a kid growing up, we never learn how he hooked up with The Nation Of Islam, hell-- we never even learn how he got into boxing. What were his motivations? Who were his inspirations? We meet Ali's dad for all of 2 seconds (he's about 8 years older than Ali, by the way.) And Bundini Brown's character, played by Jamie Foxx, is introduced out of nowhere. When you watch the movie, just take note at how rapid the first 30 minutes of the movie are. The film just plain sucks.

And when the movie finally does slow down, it sloooowwws down-- and stretches out the insignificant parts of Ali's life and rushes over the important ones. Did we really need all that Malcolm X junk? Didn't Spike Lee already make that movie? And didn't Spike Lee also play Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" when Malcolm was killed? And shouldn't Michael Mann be getting a summons in the mail from Spike any day now? Also, check out how Muhammad Ali's wives come and go. They just pop on the screen without warning, nor introduction, and as soon as you realize what's going on, they have vanished, as if David Blaine stepped in as director.

As for Will's acting, it should not be praised. Everybody in the cast does a better job acting than he does, including Jeffrey Wright as photographer Howard Bingham. In this movie, Bingham barely has 2 lines, he just repeatedly (and repeatedly) takes snapshots and smiles (okay, he's a photographer, we get it!!!) Will Smith's southern accent comes and goes, and gets hilarious early on in the movie. Instead of Ali, he sounds a lot like Snagglepuss. He even says "Exit, stage left," but that scene was cut from the movie. Jon Voight was nominated for an Oscar for playing Alfred E. Newman. And I sincerely believe Jamie Foxx may hold the title as the world's least funny funnyman, and in this movie he shamelessly steals George Carlin's famous joke of how he never had a 10, but one night had five 2's.

There is another part where Ali goes to Africa to face George Foreman in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" match. Michael Mann decides he wants to show Will Smith running for 7 hours, surrounded by screaming young fans. This scene goes on and on, and by the time it was over, I was shocked to notice I had gray hair and a receding hairline. Thanks a lot Michael Mann, I missed about 25 years of life.

This movie is terrible and was a big disappointment. If you want to watch a good movie about boxing, I suggest you rent D.C. Cab, Leprechaun, or Jack Frost. These films are all great and at least you'll be able to follow what's going on. They all have characters you will care about and feel sympathy for. Ali has none of these elements, and if you happen to watch it while you're in your 60's, you just might wake up dead once it's over.

* star out of 5.
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Flatliners (1990)
Smoke: The Movie
26 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I say that because never have I seen a movie with more smoke. Smokey streets, foggy locations; after a while, it becomes ridiculous. Who directed this, Rod Serling? Trust me folks, I live in Chicago-- and although my good friend Violence runs throughout these streets, this is not a haunted city. But if you watch this movie, you'd think Chicago was the setting to every episode of Scooby-Doo.

Joel Schumacher, who hasn't made one good movie since D.C. Cab, serves us all up a heaping helping of crap on a platter and calls it Flatliners. He tries to hide the weak script by giving us an attractive cast (save the horrendously ugly Kevin Bacon) but we catch on early that this movie just plain sucks. The movie begins in the Vatican, I mean Chicago, and it's about 5 medical students who are fascinated with the afterlife. Their leader is Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts plays the damsel in distress, Kevin Bacon is the sensitive one who, of course, gets the girl in the end, William Baldwin (at least I think it was William) is the slick ladies' man, and Oliver Platt is...um, well...Oliver Platt is f***ing useless. What's the point of this character? If you take him out, the movie is identical; he doesn't do ONE thing!!!

Early in the movie, Julia Roberts learns about the afterlife through one of her patients whom we'll call Yoda. This old woman is afraid to die, and understandably so. Just look at her. Death is about 2 and a half minutes from her. This woman is so old, it's a miracle she finished her scene. So in order to cheat death, these med students kill themselves, then zap themselves back to life after so many minutes. It was cool the first time, but after Kiefer does it, the movie becomes so repetitive it's unbearable. Soon, the students are arguing over who goes next. "I wanna die!" "No, me next!" I was yelling at the screen: "No, ME next! For God sakes, somebody kill ME!!!"

Basically, nothing happens in this movie. The students die and when they do, they see people they hurt in the past. What a dumb idea. If they would have died and had some kick ass demons chasing them once they were brought back, the movie would have been cool. And I don't mean human demons that teach a lesson. I mean monster demons that eat flesh. But instead, we get the following skeletons: Kiefer teased a little boy, Bacon teased a little girl (I guess Schumacher couldn't think of 2 different situations), Baldwin video taped sex with women without them knowing, and Julia Roberts has the dumbest skeleton of all....she opened a door. That's it, folks! She opened a door! So this is the worst thing Julia has ever done? Gimme a break.

Then in order to resolve these skeletons, it is implicated that they all must face their pasts and apologize. Well, this makes sense in Kevin Bacon's case. He finds the girl he bullied and apologizes. But Baldwin never apologizes to any of the women he taped, and his demon fades away all on its own. And both Julia Roberts and Kiefer's demons are dead, so how do you make amends? Even this movie isn't sure, and it doubles back and changes its own rules that it has set up. At the end when you see Julia hugging her dead daddy, you'll barely be able to retain the rising vomit in your throat.

Is this supposed to be a thriller? It isn't very thrilling. After all, there isn't one drop of nudity, and the sex scene is done off camera. Is this supposed to be horror? Hell, the scariest thing in it is Kevin Bacon's face. Is this supposed to be a comedy? Bingo!! I laughed throughout the whole thing. The funniest parts involve a kid about 10 years old beating the dog snot out of Kiefer Sutherland. I think he was the kid from Stand By Me getting his revenge. But anyway, he beats him up over and over and although these scenes are also repetitive, they are welcomed with open arms in this crap fest of a flick with hardly any action anyway. Nobody even dies in this movie! Come on folks, this is a horror movie, give me SOMETHING!

What this movie needs is some kick ass demons who eat people, a graphic sex scene (if Julia's not willing to do that, maybe we could have a scene with all the guys discussing death at a strip club or something), and we also need more little boy whuppin' Kiefer Sutherland. Oh yeah, and somebody getting killed violently. Preferably Oliver Platt, but this movie is so dull, I'll take a death scene from anybody they give me. As I've always stated, I am a reasonable man.

Zero stars out of 5.
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3/10
I actually saw an early premiere screening of this movie back in 99, when its original title was Mystery Men...
16 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, or LXG for all you druggies, is a misleading title, because the movie doesn't feature TK Carter, Verne Troyer, or Mr. T. Instead we get an action flick starring the ever aging Sean Connery. How he was picked as the lead for this film is the movie's biggest mystery. Sean Connery is 73 years old, and looks every day of it. Yet, we are supposed to believe when he sails through the air, or leaps backwards from tables firing handguns John Woo style, or jumps out of a moving car and lands on his feet.

Sean Connery plays Allan Quatermain, a geriatric adventurer. He is relaxing in Kenya when an old British chap informs him he is wanted in Great Britain to possibly thwart a world war at the hands of the world's least frightening villain named The Fantom. He goes, where he meets the organizer of the escapade; a man named "M." Joining Quatermain on his adventure will be U.S. spy Tom Sawyer, the completely useless Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, a vampire who at will pulls magic bats out of nowhere, Skinner the Invisible Man, Dorian Gray the Immortal, and Dr. Jekyll aka Mr. Hyde, a combination of Quasimodo, Bane from Batman, and Vin Diesel.

Skinner wears white make up when he wants to be seen, but the amount he wears shifts, depending on how the editors feel at the time. Mina the vampire not only has a fleet of bat friends (what the hell is that all about?) but also cleans herself in a mirror after she attacks a man. Helloooo! Last time I checked, vampires and mirrors didn't mix. And never mind the fact that she practically sunbathes atop Nemo's ship, The Nautilus. And since we're talking about The Nautilus, let me mention that it is about the size of the Sears Tower on it's side. This immense ship may stay afloat on the ocean, but how it manages to stay afloat and sail on those small little rivers in the streets of Venice is beyond me.

As for the movie itself, yes, it's pretty stupid. I was most interested in the Dorian Gray character. Dorian turns out to be a traitor, and I thought that was when the movie was going to become interesting. After all, an Immortal cannot be killed. But Dorian does have a weakness-- a painting of himself. Now, if the only thing that could kill you was a painting of yourself, wouldn't you destroy the painting? Dorian doesn't. He waits until someone gift wraps it, and keeps it with them for blackmail purposes. And when Mina finally does show it to him, why didn't Dorian just look away or shut his eyes? He decides to look right at it and study it like it's one of those 3-D eye jumbles at the mall. Then he dies and it scares Mina. She actually jumps, like she hasn't been seeing death (as well as causing it) for the past hundred years.

The movie not only defies logic, but it is directed at a poor level. The editing is sloppy, the camera repeatedly shakes, and every scene is shot in pitch black. I mentioned earlier that The Fantom was not frightening in the least. When his true identity is revealed, he becomes even less frightening. And what's up with that cornball ending? Quatermain is tough as nails throughout the movie, but at the end he turns into margarine and dies so easily by a pocket knife to the shoulder. Then some hokey pokey voodoo dude (ooo, scary) does some abracadabra over his grave. Was that a hint towards a sequel? I hate endings like this. I call this the "cover your ass" ending, meaning it can go either way. If the movie is successful, it can be used as a sequel opener. If the movie fails, it can be used as a "Oh, well, he was just a crazy old voodoo guy." Actually I hope a sequel is made. That way, I can howl at the screen at an 80 year old Sean Connery in his power wheelchair fighting bad guys with his colostomy bag.

* star out of 5.
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8 Mile (2002)
4/10
A musical that forgot to add music...
15 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

What I am talking about is the fact that 8 Mile may be the first movie I have ever seen with no musical score. Scenes are painfully quiet, and have no background instrumentals to keep us company. Trust me, the dialogue is not that compelling, so the lack of music is definitely noticeable. What else is noticeable is the fact that Eminem has about as much screen presence as the Key Grip credit in the end of the movie. As an actor, he has 3 ranges: Mad, madder, and sorta mad. Just watch the scenes when he gets angry and snaps on people. It's some of the funniest work you'll ever see from an "actor."

How can a movie about the greatest form of music be so bad? There is no such thing as a bad rap movie. Even the bad ones are good!! I love Krush Groove, Beat Street, CB4, and Rappin'. Okay, maybe not Rappin'...but you guys get my point. It's a fool proof topic that can't fail. But 8 Mile does, and fails miserably at best. I also don't appreciate how 8 Mile tried to deceive me. This is a low budget independent movie, disguised as a major Hollywood production. They do a sneaky good job hiding the fact that the film has no score by filling every scene with a soundtrack song from somebody's album. And although the songs they chose are great, this movie cannot fool Rocky the Bear.

It starts with Eminem playing-- you guessed it, a rapper-- named B. Rabbit. The B stands for "Bunny." That's right folks...Bunny. And he actually thinks it's because he's white that people make fun of him. The film opens with him in the bathroom of a Detroit nightclub, all alone, rehearsing his rhymes. Ladies and gentlemen, I go to clubs routinely and I have never seen a vacant bathroom once. Anyway, he is involved in a rap battle, he chokes on the mic and is booed off stage. Hilarity ensues. He leaves the club, eyeballing his number one nemesis, Papa Doc, the Clubber Lang of MC's. Bunny Rabbit then goes home to his mom's trailer where we get an awesome shot of a naked body double we're supposed to believe is Kim Basinger. Basinger, playing his mom, speaks in southern hillbilly dialect, the same way most Detroiters do.

Nothing is right in Bunny Rabbit's life. He works at what everyone calls a dead end job (personally, I thought he had a very good job) and he has just broken up with his girlfriend and moved out their house, and back with Moms and live in boyfriend. Kim Basinger without question agrees to take Bunny Rabbit in (how realistic) and of course, the rest of the movie becomes Bunny vs. Boyfriend. Eminem is one dead actor. Sometimes I wondered if he was actually present during the movie, or did they just use still photographs of him and animate his mouth, Clutch Cargo style. One funny thing he does repeatedly is get angry at Boyfriend, cuss him out and threaten him, then in 2 seconds turns into Mr. friggin' Rogers and grabs his little sister and showers her with over-affectionate baby talk. In one scene even serenades her. Very creepy; it's probably the scene that secured the R rating.

8 Mile, or as I like to call it, "Riding Around In Cars With Boys" is one boring snoozefest of a movie. Every scene entails Bunny Rabbit riding around in different cars with his boys. After a while, it becomes painful to endure, and I made the decision that I'd rather use gravel as eyedrops than to watch another frame. And to make matters worse, while I was in the theater, this strange smell would not leave my area, so I had to sit there in my seat, continually smelling this God awful aroma. Then I looked up at the screen and realized it was 8 Mile I was smelling.

Bunny Rabbit hangs with the wackest crew in crew history. It's leader is a guy named Future, which is actually Mekhi Phifer with a brown mop on his head we're supposed to believe are dreads. Next up is the Farrakhan of the group, Angry Boy X. Angry Boy X is one of Hollywood's latest stereotypes they've been doing since Zebrahead. There's also a big fat boy for comic relief (fat boys are always funny) and a true loser named Cheddar who's slightly retarded. Watch the sensitive scene where Bunny Rabbit visits him after he is shot. Cheddar actually tells Rabbit, "I-- I just don't want them making fun of me." Oh, boo hoo. I thought they were going to kiss.

Oh yeah, the movie also stars Brittany "I'll Never Tell" Murphy, playing what else-- a slut. Early in the movie, the gang set an abandoned building on fire, I think they were trying to make some Detroit public service announcement. Unfortunately, Bunny Rabbit makes it out the building alive. He then walks over to Brittany, who's watching the fire she actually says this line: "It's almost beautiful." I hate when movies feel obligated to include that mushy mumbo jumbo and force out lines like "It's almost beautiful." These days anybody can be a director, the only requirement is a heartbeat.

Eminem also looks really weird in this movie. For the most part, he keeps a hat on, I guess to hide his thinning hair. When he does take it off, he looks like a chemo patient you feel sorry for. As for the movie itself, it's so boring! It's like watching an ABC After School Special with no message at the end. No message because after the big rap showdown at the end, Bunny Rabbit beats his nemesis, but does he get a record deal and become famous? NO. He goes back to work!! What the hell did I even watch this crap for?!

I've even read lots of professional critics hail this movie, and compare it to Purple Rain-- like that's a good thing. That's like telling a new mayor he reminds you of Marion Barry. 8 Mile is basically bad scene after bad scene. Eminem gets into a fight with his mom's boyfriend, Eminem gets into a fight with a rival rap group, Eminem gets into a fight with his old girlfriend, Eminem gets into a fight with his new girlfriend, Eminem gets into a fight with his best friend, Eminem gets into a fight with a rap promoter, and then Eminem befriends a gay guy?? Hey, YOU try to make sense out of this movie. I gave up on the lunch truck scene. Pure crap.

Zero stars out of 5.
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4/10
Greatest cartoon since Song of the South...
14 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I first saw this movie when I was 6 years old. Until that time, all my knowledge about the 50's greaser era was fed to me through a miserable show ironically called Happy Days. Fonzie was the type of no nonsense gang leader who encouraged children to drink milk and say their prayers. He was my hero until I watched Hey Good Lookin' and met Vinnie. Vinnie's salute wasn't a thumbs up sign, it was a crotch grab. Vinnie reminded me so much of myself: Perverted, rebellious, and mad at the world. I could relate on so many levels. He also had the biggest hands known to mankind, the better to kick your ass with, my dear.

Vinnie was definitely frightening. He was an ugly, ape-like man with plenty of Neanderthal features. His buddy Crazy was no pretty portrait, either. But Vinnie had the finest girlfriend on God's green Earth. Her name was Roz, a sexy post-Betty Boop but pre-Jessica Rabbit cartoon who fulfilled all my night time fantasies as a child, and sometimes in adulthood as well. Not only was this movie packed with 3 major interests of mine (cursing, violence, and sex) but it was a cartoon as well. I was 6 years old. I literally thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Hey Good Lookin' is vulgar and rude. It is violent, pointless, and cliched. It is ugly, stereotypical, and misogynistic. In other words, it is perfect. It begins with a completely senseless opening featuring a garbage can conversing with trash about spiritual philosophy. What this scene means I will never know, but that's the beauty of it. It makes no sense! I was howling with belly aching laughter from the opening frame. We meet Old Vinnie and Old Roz in present time first, and they both look absolutely terrible. We flashback 30 years to Vinnie as a young man, and he looks absolutely terrible. Vinnie is the leader of a Brooklyn gang called The Stompers. His first Lieutenant and best buddy is a guy named Crazy. Crazy is a misunderstood hoodlum with silver dollar nipples. His dad is a detective who hates him, and routinely tries to kill him.

Vinnie meets Roz, a sultry sex pot drawn specifically for the adolescent male demographic. A running gag in the movie is the fact that Vinnie can't keep his hands off her more than ample breasts. That same joke is done repeatedly throughout the movie, and I had no problem with it. One day, at the beach, Vinnie bumps into his old nemesis, Boog-a-loo, the leader of a rival gang called The Chaplins. Boog-a-loo is the blackest black man I have ever seen in a movie. If there were ever any stereotypes towards black people, Boog-a-loo fits every one of them. He looks a lot like Eddie Griffin, and part of me is convinced Griffin did his voice...but I don't think he was around back then. Anyway, a rumble is set. The movie rapidly moves from one pointless scene to the next, leading up to the big rumble showdown, which is actually a try out for Dance Fever.

But who even cares about the "plot..." what the hell was going on in this movie?? Remember the scene where Crazy bangs this fat broad in a sea of hamburgers? And how about the scene where Crazy becomes a rooftop superhero and fights an army of man eating trash cans and giant naked ladies with no face? Boog-a-loo shows up on the roof with Crazy, and to this day I still am not sure if he tossed Crazy off the roof, or if Crazy jumped on purpose. If it was indeed suicide, why even include Boog-a-loo in the scene? And if Boog-a-loo pushed him off, why didn't they show it? I can't believe I'm even asking questions about this movie.

The movie is basically an animated version of Mean Streets. Speaking of the animation, it's horrible-- but that's cool, cuz I've never been a fan of The Lion King anyway. Everyone is drawn terribly, and all the characters look like Satan. The audio comes in and out and many characters talk at once, so you never really know what's being said. This is why the movie will forever be a classic, it leaves the mystery door open. I have been waiting for the sequel now for 20 years, and if Ralph Bakshi reads this, hopefully he will oblige, instead of going "Hollywood" and making pure crap like Cool World, a movie with no nudity.

* * * * * stars out of 5.
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Purple Rain (1984)
6/10
Even gayer than Rocky Horror...
13 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

At least the cast of Rocky Horror came from a planet called Transsexual. I don't know WHAT Prince's excuse is. I thought he was supposed to be this big, seductive ladies' man. He's got on lace!!! Are my eyes deceiving me? And no need to wonder if that's eyeliner Prince is wearing, folks. They actually SHOW him applying it! And any man who's favorite color is "purple" has a sexuality that's suspect. Purple Rain is the definitive 80's film that couldn't stand the test of time past 1986. The only reason to even watch this movie is the presence of fine ass Appolonia (and her two friends) who steal every scene they're in.

Prince stars as The Kid, an up and coming musician who plays at a Minneapolis nightclub called First Avenue. His rival musician and equally feminine nemesis is Morris Day, playing himself. The movie is so 80's it's sickening. The 80's never had a chance. The music sucked, the movies sucked, and the clothes especially sucked. I don't think the decade will ever be looked upon with the style and grace of the 40's or 50's. Instead, it will forever be a joke in our minds like the 60's and the 70's. As for Purple Rain (whatever that means) the movie is just short scenes between videos. VH-1 videos at that.

Look folks, I don't give a fat baby's d*ck if Prince is gay or not. But don't come off like a world class smooth operator, when you wear lipstick and garters to bed. In this film, women are continuously looked down upon, and everybody knows constant misogyny is an obvious gay trait. Women are talked about, beaten on, thrown in trash cans, and at one point The Kid actually gets Appolonia naked in a lake. Does he jump her bones? No, he rides off on his purple motorcycle, nearly falling in the process. In fairness, he does return to give her a lift, but why didn't he bang her like anybody else would have? Probably because he's daydreaming about Morris.

The Kid, like all musicians, comes from a dysfunctional household. His dad beats his mom every night, angry because his house is never clean and possibly because he had a daughter instead of a son. One night the dad goes nuts and shoots himself in the head. He lives, so I guess he missed or something (you all know how easy it is to miss your head.) The Kid then calls the incompetent local authorities of Minneapolis; the only police force that'll draw a chalk outline around a man who is still alive. The Kid goes back home and finds his dad's old music and finally understands his old man. He's been beating on his mother because he is a musician!! It all makes sense now! The Kid does one last big show at the end, in dedication to his father. Why? His dad was a jerk. Not only did he beat his wife, he beat his son as well. The Kid even adapted some of dad's traits by beating on Appolonia. I refuse to believe that any woman would let a 5 foot man with a mullet beat her up.

And what does she see in this guy anyway? He still lives in his mamma's basement for Christ's sake. The peak of Prince's acting is when he paces back and forth when upset. Purple Rain is bad on just about every level. Horrendous acting, not enough nudity, and way too much misogyny. I'd rather chew a mouthful of aluminum foil than to watch it again.

* star out of 5.
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8/10
A movie to make punks feel good...
13 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Am I the only one who looks at good vs. evil films with a moderate point of view? Am I the only one who perfectly understands why Johnny and the Kobra-Kai's hate Daniel so much? People tend to watch television and accept whomever the writers tell you is the hero. But they never look at it from the antagonist's point of view. To put it simply, Daniel should just mind his own business. There are about 4 or 5 million girls his age in Los Angeles, why does he pick the one who is dating a black belt named Johnny, who also happens to be the leader of an awesome karate clique called the Kobra-Kais?

In the beginning, Daniel moves to LA via Newark, NJ, a town ten times worse than happy, sunny Cali. How he grew up there and ended up a punk I'll never understand. When he moves to LA, he meets an equally punkish kid named Freddy. Daniel brags to Freddy that he knows karate and how he can handle himself. Mistake number one. Everybody knows that lies eventually catch up to you, so when Daniel gets his ass kicked on the beach (just hours later) I felt no sympathy for him. He falls for this girl named Ali and when her man comes to talk to her, Daniel butts his head in where it doesn't belong. Mistake number two. Any man knows you never jump in between a lover's spat. Women never fully get over their ex's, that's why when the cops come, they never press charges. Freddy never hangs with him ever again, but can you blame him? Not only is he a complete embarrassment, he's a liar. Again, no sympathy for Daniel.

Daniel doesn't learn his lesson. He hits on Ali some more, this time at school. Johnny, understandably is p**sed. So when he sees Daniel in his karate dojo, he takes it upon himself to round up his boys and push Daniel off a steep hill. What was Daniel doing out there on a lonely deserted road anyway? Even if he didn't have a flock of crazed ninjas after him, that's simply stupid anyway. After he fell down the hill, he got what he deserved, and I'll bet any money he'll think twice before riding his Schwinn where no people hang out.

The maintenance man of Daniel's building is a thousand year old Japanese man named Mr. Miyagi. When Daniel first meets him, he sees Miyagi at home trying to catch a fly with chopsticks. This alone should have let Daniel know the man was obviously nuts. But Daniel is nuts himself, so the two become best buddies. There is even a scene later in the film where Daniel himself catches a fly with chopsticks. I can dismiss human physics and except Hollywood disbelief for this scene. But what I can't accept is a fly that flies around in one spot.

Daniel goes to a Halloween party and makes the dumbest decision I've ever seen in a movie. To impress a girl, (the same one who Johnny is after, mind you) Daniel decides to set up Johnny by putting a garden hose in the bathroom stall over his head. Mistake number three. Not only is Daniel adding fuel to the fire between them, but he ruins the joint Johnny was rolling; a mistake that cannot be forgiven. Johnny is soaking wet and looks like a fool. Can anyone BLAME him for being p**sed? I totally understand the ass whuppin' him and his buddies lay on Daniel. But Mr. Miyagi comes and saves the day, and beats up all the kids. Miyagi is a trained karate master, this act is not done in self defense, and all the kids are minors. Why Miyagi isn't in jail for the duration of the movie, I'll never understand.

Daniel goes to the Kobra-Kai dojo and like a true punk, brings his new bodyguard Miyagi with him. He pleads with Kreese, the dojo's master to have his boys leave him alone until an upcoming karate tournament. Miyagi then agrees to teach Daniel karate, but instead turns him into his own personal mail order bride, and Daniel cleans up Miyagi's house for the next 2 weeks. Daniel then learns some karate, gets Johnny's girl, and ends up in the tournament at the end of the movie. Now let me get this straight...I can learn a lifetime of karate from a feeble old man in about 6 weeks? Now there's reality.

Needless to say, in traditional Hollywood cliché fashion, Daniel's tournament ends with him directly facing off with his nemesis, Johnny. Daniel of course wins, gets the trophy, gets the girl then even gets the friendship of Johnny. Then all the nerds watching the movie stand and cheer. Gimme a break. Who could even swallow this crap? I can accept far fetched movies like Superman before movies like these. This movie is totally fake.

If this movie was real, after Miyagi was bailed out of jail, he would have trained Daniel the best he could, failed miserably because of the short time span, Daniel would have been eliminated in the first round, Johnny would have made it to the end of the tournament with some other kid who can truly fight, Johnny would have won, and Ali would have been so turned on by her ex man, she would have jumped into his arms kissing him frantically. Johnny then would have taken her home, banged her one last time, then dumped her for being so shallow. Meanwhile, Daniel would have gone back to Miyagi's house, donned a full maid outfit and once he turned 18, the two would have run off to Vegas and got married in one of those drive thru marriage places. Now that would be a truly good movie.

Zero stars out of 5.
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10/10
Hell on Earth...
12 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

I've always considered myself a reasonable man. If a movie isn't chock-full of nudity, sure, I may be p***ed, but at least give me wall to wall violence. If the movie isn't overflowing with blood, I may be disappointed, but at least give me some form of conflict. I'm a big fan of chaos, confusion, and disorder; in reality as well as in the movies. To put it plainly...DRAMA. Movies do not need comedy to work, nor horror, nor sex-- but DRAMA is a necessity. It is an absolute must. And what's the definition of drama? Conflict of some kind. Before Sunrise is the only movie known to mankind with no drama.

Before you applaud the film's originality, understand this: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS DURING THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE MOVIE. Let me repeat that. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS DURING THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE MOVIE. When I say nothing, I mean NOTHING. Trust me, reader I understand movies don't all have to have warehouse explosions, truck explosions, and people explosions (that would be Utopia) but at least have something happen!!! This movie is hardcore proof that hell exists. Because here is a 2 hour slice of it. I do not see how Satan can run his underground operation without including this movie in some way.

Yes, we want our movies to be true to life. But not at entertainment's expense. And don't gimme that "Oh, how interesting and realistic this film was" crap either. My own personal life on any given day is more interesting than this movie!! If I wake up puking from last night's beer escapade, at least that's SOMETHING. And I don't wanna hear that "It's a chick flick, guys won't get it" crap either. The chick I was watching it with was BEGGING me to turn it off, but I am stubborn and I can never let a movie beat me.

The movie stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Here is the plot: Two people, one whom you can't even understand, talk for 2 hours. Period. That's it. They never argue. No one bothers them. There isn't even conflict in the general conversation! And you people call this realistic?? Guys, you mean to tell me it is possible to chat with a woman without wondering "What the hell is she even talking about?" I think not. And women, you mean to tell me it is possible to meet a man who is so sensitive and understanding to your needs that he just wants to "listen" without any thought of reward for his troubles? Yeah, keep dreaming. And keep watching these Hollywood romance movies.

See, here is the difference between how men and women watch movies. A guy can watch Bruce Willis run through a building barefoot and take on a dozen terrorists all by himself and dismiss it as the sheer entertainment of a movie. We know this will never happen, and if we find ourselves in that situation, we will be the first ones to run away screaming and looking for a phone to dial 911. But women can't seem to differentiate movie from reality. Especially when it comes to these Hollywood romances. So let me tell you women a few things...

1.) Men and women do NOT meet by crashing their cars together at a red light and exchanging phone numbers! Every time I've ever been in a car wreck, whether male or female, I had to prepare for a fight.

2.) If he starts off perfect at first, unlike television, he will not end that way, too. You wanna know why he started nice? He wants the panties!! This is not Quantum physics here! I thought you ladies were the smarter of the 2 genders. It sure doesn't seem like it. And if you're waiting for your own personal Ben Affleck, Luke Wilson, or Matthew McConaughey to come and sweep you off your feet, guess what? Even THEY are the same way. They are only playing characters in a movie! That's why they call it ACTING. It's all pretend!!

3.) No man will ever, and I mean EVER, propose to you on the screen of a Jumbo-Tron at a baseball game. What man would risk that type of possible embarrassment? Not only that, no man wants the world (especially other ladies) to see that he has officially become a fool by taking himself off the open market. Ladies, be grateful he even proposes! If he does it on an answering machine, email, or through Morse code, thank your lucky stars every day of your life.

After suffering through the nonsense called Before Sunrise, you'd think the director would have the common curtesy to thank the audience by AT LEAST showing a sex scene, right? Wrong. The sex is done off camera. I mean, what is this movie even trying to prove??? After about 45 minutes, I mean, it's not even funny anymore. Something has GOT to happen! But it doesn't. It goes on and on, with no resolution. Then on top of that, it ends like there will be a sequel. Not in my life time. I never thought movies could get worse than Magnolia, but this one wins with flying colors. Before Sunrise is the absolute worst movie of all time.

Zero stars out of 5.
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Hollow Man (2000)
You know it's bad when you hate a movie that isn't there...
10 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

"It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore."

How true this quote from the movie is. Kevin Bacon, the ugliest man in Hollywood, has found a role he was born to play. A role in which we no longer have to look at that mug of his. I mean, who are we kidding, folks? This is one ugly dude.

Bacon plays Sebastian Cane, a (mad) scientist who develops a formula for invisibility. Sebastian is not a likable guy. To put it plain, he is an a**hole. He is a sex fiend (okay, my fault-- nothing wrong there.) But he also treats people like sh*t and even jokes around about calling himself "God." Elisabeth Shue (ya know, that 30 year old high school chick from Adventures In Babysitting) plays Linda McKay, fellow colleague and Sebastian's ex lover. Josh Brolin plays Matthew, fellow colleague as well as the guy who's currently bangin' Linda, but this fact is being kept secret from Sebastian.

The Pentagon has instilled their trust (and millions) in 5 workers with a dream. Right there, is where the movie lost me, and we learn this about 10 minutes in. Sebastian injects his formula into lab animals, then tests it on himself and becomes invisible. After 3 days of testing, the serum malfunctions, for reasons not explained in the movie, and Sebastian remains invisible.

Actually, not much happens in this movie. You would think the possibilities would be endless, but Paul Verhoeven (who also directed RoboCop and Total Recall) leaves us hanging. The tagline for the film is "What would YOU do if you were invisible?" I thought about this. After becoming invisible, after about 5 minutes of adjustments from initial shock, I'm sure I would, of course, grab a few booties. But rape? Murder? I think not. You see, the film asks us if our human nature is more far fetched than we dare to dream. The reason why this question doesn't work is because Sebastian is an a**hole already. We don't like him visible OR invisible. He is NOT like most people, therefore, we can throw the human nature element out the window. We do not sympathize with him.

Instead of exploring the many ways being invisible can help or hurt a man, this movie keeps him in a lab for the most part. And when Sebastian DOES get out into the real world, what does he do? Murders a man. Rapes a woman. Is this all the writers could think of? Actually, we only assume the woman was raped. They leave this as a mystery, probably to leave a door open for a sequel (Hollow Boy, anyone?) This movie is full of bad acting and worse dialogue. When Sebastian finds out that Linda is screwing Matthew, he goes into a fit of rage and actually mutters the line: "I'll show them!!!" Like he's friggin' Lex Luthor or something.

This is the kind of movie where a man gets bitten in his hand by a gorilla and is fine in the next scene. The kind of film where fire does not hurt the villain, where bullets, cuts and gashes don't hurt the hero, and yes...the kind of movie that still has the balls to kill the black character first. I love it. Most critics and most people I have talked with all agree this movie is downright stupid, but for some reason, everyone is trippin' off the superior special effects. But it's the 21st century. Aren't the special effects SUPPOSED to be great by now? I mean, it's what I have come to expect in movies now. Wake up, people!! We are in the future, I don't expect to see objects floating around on a string!

So I'll be fair. I'll give this movie 2 stars out of 5. One star for the special effects (yawn) and one more star because we saw very little of Kevin Bacon, and that face of sin that only a mother could love.

* * out of 5.
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Hulk (2003)
2/10
Call it Angry Shrek...
8 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

First, they made Coleco-Vision. Then they made Turbo Grafix. But now the makers of PlayStation 2 bring you The Hulk, or as I like to call it, "Angry Shrek." Of course, this is sarcasm, I don't know what animation team created The Hulk, but whoever they are, they should be fired. I don't mean fired from their jobs, I mean fired by a firing squad. They were right to drop the "Incredible" from the title, because this Hulk is anything but. This big green guy was about as menacing as Sprout from the Green Giant ads. Drop Dead Fred was scarier than this animated feature passing as good CGI.

Good CGI is Starship Troopers. Bad CGI is The Hulk. Good action is Speed. Bad action is The Hulk. Challenging foes are the dinosaurs King Kong faced. Bad foes are the gamma ray infected dogs The Hulk faced. Dogs? Dogs?? This scene wasn't even funny accidentally. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing. That movie Congo must now pass its torch-- we finally have animals that look more fake and are even less scary. And that "puny human" scene...let's talk about that. No wait, we'll get to that later.

I should have known the movie was in trouble when I realized the star was some guy nobody ever heard of named Eric Bana. But I gave the film the benefit of the doubt because after all, Christopher Reeve and Mark Hamill were both unknowns when their blockbusters came out (and ironically, they both still are.) But this movie started bad and got worse. The first 10 minutes move at a crappy lightning pace, and the comic book directing style gets old and annoying very quickly. Watching the movie was like sliding down a razor blade nude...and to cool off, landing in an alcohol river.

Nick Nolte plays a (mad) scientist and father of Bruce Banner. Nolte has experimented with his DNA against lab policy, and he is banished. He then goes nuts and does something to his wife that isn't shown, and we don't care. Jennifer Connelly plays Betty Ross, a fellow scientist and colleague of Bruce's. Take a guess if a love affair between them ensues.

To make a long story short, which this movie is firmly against, Bruce gets infected with gamma rays and that causes him to become a big Hulk whenever he gets mad. But that's hardly the problem with this movie. The problem is the fact that Kangaroo Jack looks more real than The Hulk. And how about that "puny human" scene? Oh, God. Bruce has a dream that the Hulk grabs him by the throat and says "PUNY HUMAN." It is easily the worst scene of the film. Even worse than the scene where The Hulk, or as I like to say, Angry Shrek, fights off more animated dogs in a never ending scene.

Another never ending scene is the climax, or as I like to say, Bouncing Banner. The Hulk bounces like a Superball for the last 45 minutes of the movie and it isn't even in a city. It's in a desert. At least a city would make it more exciting, but The Hulk bounces for 45 minutes throughout a non-scenic desert and it wears thin very quickly. Then the military comes and tries to destroy the Hulk, Nick Nolte is captured as well and becomes some strange electro-super monster that isn't even explained. He then fights The Hulk in a final duel and of course, the Hulk wins. After all, we need a sequel. Bruce then ends up in Columbia somewhere speaking Spanish and then says in espanol the famous Bill Bixby quote, "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." And if you don't wish to know the ending of the movie, don't read anything I just wrote.

Sam Elliot is also in the movie, as a General and father of Betty Ross. But he trimmed down his push-broom, so you hardly recognize him. Ang Lee, helloooo. I only like my Sam Elliot in hillbilly mode, thank you very much. And Lou Ferrigno has a "don't blink or you'll miss him" cameo and in that small scene alone, he is ten times more frightening than the actual Hulk. Sure, they gave him a security uniform 4 sizes too small, but he looks like if he punched you, you'd be seeing pink hearts, yellow moons, orange clovers, and green diamonds. At just the sight of him, I felt like such a puny human. God in heaven, what a bad movie.

Zero out of 5.
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Let's talk for 3 hours and call it Matrix Reloaded...
8 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Not only do I hate The Matrix movies, I hate people who like the Matrix movies. Yes, reader this means you, too. You people make me sick. And the ones who try to make The Matrix this deep, emotional, philosophical, metaphorical, conceptual "experience" are even dumber than the Wachowski Bros. At least they are smart enough to steal your money! You all, on the other hand, are dumb enough to see this movie repeatedly for more hidden meanings, when there is nothing to witness but mindless dialogue jargan disguised as Bible truth.

The first Matrix, although better than part 2, did not impress me. I had already seen the "suspended animation" effect twice before its release. You know the effect I'm talking about: when somebody jumps in the air, freezes, and the camera slowly pans around their entire body. Once in Lost in Space, the other in Wing Commander. By the time The Matrix used it, that effect was old to me. But Matrix gets all of the credit. I didn't care about Neo, I didn't care about Trinity, I didn't care about the machines, I didn't care about the Miss Cleo lady, but most of all, I did not care about Morpheus. I hate him so much I hope he turns out to be a machine in part 3, or better yet, hopefully he'll drop dead in part 3. But I will never know because I will never see part 3. The Wachowski's have already stolen my money twice. A third time will make me just downright stupid.

The Matrix Reloaded likes to talk. And it likes to talk down to us as well. Each character has a 50 minute soliloquy that must be delivered before we continue onto the next scene. If they're not talking, they are dancing "Club Mtv" style underground for about 35 minutes. This makes a lot of sense: "People, there is no hope for the world, the machines are gonna take over, and we're all gonna die. But first...WE DANCE!!" How long was this scene! My god!

There is another scene where Neo talks to Miss Cleo again for 55 minutes. They talk and they talk and they talk...and during this conversation, two things are happening. One: the writers lay the dialogue on so thick to hide the illusion that the screenplay doesn't make sense. Two: all the 13-18 year olds will see the movie again and again to catch everything. And three: intelligent, and rational individuals like myself are wondering where we can go to watch some paint dry. Ya know, some real entertainment. Neo then breaks out into a fight with Agent Smith to the hundredth power, and this is the best scene in the movie. Not because it is exciting, but because it is hilariously phony. Neo will be fighting, and then out of nowhere will turn into a cartoon on your a*s, giving you the shock of your life. You heard me. A CARTOON. All I needed was an X-Box controller in my hand to complete the scene. Then, he would jump back to Keanu Reeves for the close-ups. Then he would fight some more, and then turn into a complete cartoon on your a*s all over again. This scene by the way is 42 minutes.

I like when Neo, who you can now call Superman, flies through the air, with one fist extended. I guess he forgot his name is KEANU Reeves, not Christopher Reeves. At one point, he even flies high above the clouds and pointlessly does this gay little pose before deciding to come back down. What kinda self-gratifying move is that? Don't you have people to save? Get to it!

Then, a bunch of other crap happens. We meet some unexplained French dude, we meet some unexplained ghost guys, we meet some unexplained Keymaster (didn't we meet him in Ghostbusters?) and then we meet The Architect. Yeah, let's talk about The Architect. Neo goes into this room that resembles Circuit City and talks to a man in a chair who looks like Colonel Sanders. The Architect then proceeds to talk down to us, the audience for a very long time. He even starts his speech with "You will not understand what the hell I am about to say." That means even the writers couldn't even handle this whopper. The Architect scene clocks in at a full one hour, 13 minutes and represents the climax of the movie.

The final scene of the movie comes out of nowhere, makes no sense and has the entire audience yelling "Huh???" but I was already saying that long before. For all the geeky Matrix fans who claim I "don't get it" my argument is, "Yes I do!!" I got it during the first Matrix, there was no reason other than money to expound on the topic. I got it when I wrote a similar story myself back in high school!! I got it when I first read philosophy books by Plato and Socrates in junior high!! It's YOU guys who don't get it! What you don't get is...The Matrix is DUMB, and you are too! Go watch a REAL hero movie! Like Smokey and the Bandit 2.

Zero stars out of 5.
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5/10
Snubbed at the Oscars...
8 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS HAVE SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

This is the type of movie that was 80's back when it was the 80's. Let's start off with the movie's hero, Jesse-- androgynously played by Mark "I Have Yet To Make Another Movie" Patton. How did this guy get the lead in a flick? Just look at him. And how 'bout that Oscar winning bedroom dance number he did. Take special note of the part where he closes his dresser drawer with his butt. I was laughing so hard, no sound was coming out my body. "How do you like THAT, Dad!" I guess he told him. This scene alone sealed the film in my opinion as an instant cinematic classic.

I first saw this movie in theaters when I was just a fetus, and I thought it was bad. Now I'm watching it 20 years later and boy, was I wrong. It's horrible. Let's start with the credits, which read "Special Appearance by Clu Gulager;" the same man who happens to be in every scene of the movie. Our main character, Jesse wakes up screaming from a nightmare and sounds a lot like a woman; but this dream is nothing compared to his "gym teacher" nightmare. Note the end of this dream, where Jesse looks at his hand and sees he is wearing the famous razor glove. When he screams, oh my god. I must have rewound the scream about 12 times. I think Fay Wray's voice was dubbed over his, because he shrills like the classic women of the 30's. This may very well be the movie's finest hour.

Was this scene even in the original version? For some reason, I don't remember Killer Basketballs when I saw this in the theater. Was I watching a director's cut or something? This couldn't have been in theaters, could it? I must be slipping in my old age, because I would have been laughing too hard to forget a scene like Killer Basketballs. This scene is second place only to the unbeatable Killer Braces scene in Poltergeist 2.

Midway through Freddy's Revenge, Alfred Hitchcock takes over and directs a cool "When Parrots Attack" scene. The scene comes out of nowhere, but the sudden shifting of gears is welcomed in this movie. The parrot destroys his lovebird partner, and for some reason, Jesse lets the Cujo of birds out of his cage. The bird then begins to terrorize the family and by this time, the scene is going great. Easily comparable to the great shower scene of Psycho, or when Michael Corleone kisses Fredo. The director then gets tired of this sequence and decides to end it by having the bird explode into thin air. What a disappointment!! They could have dropped Freddy and expounded with this bird concept for the rest of the movie! I was having a ball. It was clearly the only well thought-out scene of the movie. Hollywood just doesn't make enough Attack Bird movies. That's exactly what this industry needs! More Attack Bird movies! If Titanic had an Attack Bird scene, I guarantee you nobody would have complained about the 7 hour running time. The possibilities are endless when it comes to movies about disgruntled birds.

Freddy's Revenge is directed by some guy named Jack Sholder. Now I don't know who this guy is, and I have a theory as to why we've never heard of him again: Once he got famous, he eventually changed his name to Joel Schumacher. Laugh if you must, but I am convinced the two men are one and the same. Jack Sholder is as queer as a 3 dollar bill. Not that I am gay bashing, but I do like my slasher flicks more scary and less Rocky Horror. How gay was Freddy's Revenge," let me count the ways:

1.) A slasher movie starring a man is unheard of. We want breasts, Hollywood! 2.) Our freakishly feminine hero, has the unisexual name "Jesse." 3.) More locker room and shower scenes than you can shake a stick at. Get it-- shake a stick at? 4.) Plenty of bare ass shots of men. 5.) What's up with Jesse having that dream at the Blue Oyster bar? Then the dream evolves into a bondage S&M concept; which is truly a nightmare-- more frightening than anything Freddy could ever do.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. There is also this guy named Freddy who goes around killing people or something. I don't know, who cares? This movie has an Attack Bird scene!!!

* * * * * out of 5.
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E.T. (1982)
6/10
Steaming crap on wheels...
7 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Screw E.T. Why is this movie praised so much? It's pure garbage. ET is an a**hole. Why? Because he was out in the forest lolly-gaggin' when his superiors were calling him back to his ship. He was careless and missed the boat! Simple as that. And instead of being a man and paying the price for his own mistakes, he lays this guilt trip on all us humans and begs us to help him get back home. Now it's our problem. What a jerk! Sorry, ET but I got my own problems. What were you doing out there in the woods anyway? Probably devising some elaborate alien conspiracy that will baffle the minds of millions of society's greatest analysts for the next thousand generations. I DO NOT TRUST ALIENS. Period.

And once he gets here, look what he does. He makes Elliot (the only one who loved him) sick. So sick, in fact, he is near death. If ET can touch a flower and bring it back to life, why doesn't he touch the boy who is doing his best to help him??? Elliot is really bustin' his ass for this punk alien. He's telling his mother boldface lies, he is missing days at school, he becomes a part time wino, he gets a police rap sheet, quarantined from his neighborhood, then chased and shot at by the FBI. All for this ingrate named ET, who never even gives so much as a thank you. This is the thanks I get? I DO NOT TRUST ALIENS.

I purchased the ET Scholastic book when I was in 2nd grade. There, it stated that ET is 300 light years away from his home. I don't think people realize how far that is. A light year is the distance the speed of light travels during the course of 1 year. The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Now there are 86,400 seconds in just one day, which means the distance of the speed of light is 148,800,000,000 miles in a day. This number multiplied by the number of days in a year (365) brings us to 54,312,000,000,000. This is the distance light travels (in miles) in just one year. I repeat ONE year. Now then, ET is 300 light years away from his home planet? Fine. There are 109,500 days in 300 years. Which means the total mileage of how far ET's home from Earth is 10,346,436,000,000,000,000. I know these are all just mind numbing figures to you, so to put it in greater perspective, ET had to begin his journey to Earth about 10 trillion years before the first dinosaur was created in order to get here by 1982, the year of the movie's release. And Elliot made contact with his home with a friggin' Speak-N-Spell.

This movie is so stupid. How ET even has the balls to ask his homies to COME BACK and get him a second time is beyond me. The speed of sound is even slower than light, so Elliot should have been about 20 trillion years old before the aliens even GOT the signal. Then another approximate 47 trillion years later (not counting rest stops and space tolls) before they actually arrive to get ET. Elliot would be an old man by the time they got back.

As for the movie itself, it introduces some of the dumbest characters I have ever seen in a movie. During Halloween, the kids throw a sheet over ET and Dee Wallace doesn't even notice her own child is a foot shorter and her head's 10 pounds heavier. Then when they go trick or treating, ET mistakes a kid dressed as Yoda as one of his hometown natives. How stupid is this alien? He's smart enough to learn English in 2 hours but can't tell a kid in a costume. Yoda's from Dagobah, for Christ's sake! He looks nothing like ET. Even I can tell the difference and I've never even been to Dagobah. ET must be the Rain Man of his planet. The more I watch the movie, the more I realize how autistic ET is. He even enjoyed it when Drew Barrymore had her way with him and turned him into a cross dresser.

I really like the end sequence when all the kids put masks over their faces during the big FBI chase. Is Spielberg that stingy with his money that he couldn't afford stunt look alikes? So instead he'll save a buck by hiding their faces so we can't see them, but never mind the fact that each kid grows 2 feet taller and 20 pounds heavier. And after they all fly, how corny was their landing? Perfect formation, BMX style! Hahaha! It looked like a deleted scene from that movie Rad.

So, yes, ET is a bad movie. Crap special effects, crap acting, crap story. It wasn't even half as good as Mac and Me. ET is not fun for the entire family, as most believe it to be. Fun for the whole family is a movie like Animal House. Kids like d*ck and fart jokes, trust me. Not some kid hugging a nightmare inducing creature with his heart pumpin' on the outside. How scary was that? I tell, you, one day the sequel will come out and you will all see I was right. ET is evil. Just like every other alien in every other movie. After Close Encounters, Independence Day, and V.....I DO NOT TRUST ALIENS.

Zero stars out of 5.
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Jack Frost (1997 Video)
If only I could give 6 stars...
6 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Brilliant. Exhilarating. Riveting. Astonishing. All adjectives I am not afraid to use when describing Jack Frost, one of the greatest films in motion picture history. This is the horror version. I say that because there is another version floating around starring Michael Keaton as a happy snowman who helps out his punk son or some crap. No, my friends. This is the ORIGINAL. Better effects, better storytelling, and much more realistic, I might add.

The movie begins with the narration of 2 characters we never see or ever hear from again. It's the poignant tale of a convicted serial killer named Jack Frost who is sentenced to death. Other than word of mouth rumors, we never even learn what it was Jack is guilty of, which makes me believe he was wrongly accused and screwed by the American justice system like so many other poor criminals in the movies. My heart went out to him. The movie opens with Jack in a paddy wagon, chained up and on his way to execution. He politely asks the guard for a smoke, in my opinion a reasonable request from a dying man. But the guard gets smart, and Jack takes matters into his own hands. Then, a miracle happens. His paddy wagon crashes into a genetic DNA truck and his molecules mix with the snow. Through dazzling special effects, his spirit forms with the snow crystals and Jack gets a second chance on life. These transformation scenes get somewhat abstract and may be a little too artsy for the general public, but those of us with an open mind will appreciate the effort that went into these special effects. Jack then becomes a 6 foot (or 9 foot, depending on the scene) Snowman who seeks revenge on those who have wronged him. First on his list: a small town sheriff who arrested Jack for taking a leak in the woods.

This movie wastes no time. A neighborhood bully is beheaded almost 10 minutes into the film. He was picking on the son of the town sheriff. I never have a problem with bullies in movies. Usually they are picking on some punk kid who not only deserves it, but needs massive doses of testosterone anyway. Bullies are necessary because they teach valuable lessons. This is why the death scene of the bully is all the more heartbreaking, but Jack Frost is just that type of movie. It is deliberately merciless in order to show us the realism of today's society, and for that it earns my respect.

The movie takes place in a town cleverly named Snomonton County. Snowmen are everywhere, which is amazing because the town has no snow. Kids make perfect snowballs made of shaved soap and coconuts. There is a scene where Jack is in the yard of the grief stricken father of the now deceased bully. Jack again, politely asks for a smoke; a reasonable request from a man who just found out his molecular structure is now that of a snowman. But nooo, the father wants to grab an axe and challenge Jack. He then gets what he deserved, and it's at this moment we get the best line of the movie: "Gosh-- I only axed you for a smoke." Tell me about it, Jack.

Fine a*s Shannon Elizabeth shows up in the movie. She later went on to do crap fests like American Pie, Tomcats, and Scary Movie, but she will never reach the superior caliber of filmmaking she did with Jack Frost. She plays the town's sultry slut (I guess every small town has one. Fortunately, people like me in big cities get thousands to choose from.) Even Jack can't resist getting a piece of her before he kills her. I mean, can you blame him? Not only is she fine, the poor guy probably hasn't seen a woman in years. I sympathize with ol' Jack.

Jack has many tricks up his sleeve. He can melt at will, a trick that truly comes in handy when breaking into somebody's house. He can throw snowballs of himself, shoot missle-like ice cycles, and grow 10 inch fangs. To be frank, I was getting kind of envious of Jack and began to wish I could do some of those things. He is invincible. When asked how does it feel to be Jack Frost, his reply is perfect: "COOL!!!!!" A triumph of a film with flawless performances from all involved. Superior.

* * * * * out of 5.
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6/10
And this movie is a classic becauseeee......?
6 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

No plot, boring characters, and crappy music make up the world's largest cult movie. Why the planet chose this as the movie to follow lets me know mankind is in trouble. Serious, cross dressing trouble. This movie wanders around aimlessly for 2 hours, with no pacing and no direction. An hour into it, I didn't even know what I was watching anymore. Sex, drugs, and violence I can understand. But when did homo eroticism, incest, and adultery with aliens become entertainment?

The movie opens with some big ass lips singing a song during the opening credit sequence. Once that part ends, it's all downhill from there. We then see Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon playing Brad and Janet, two 30 year-old college kids. Brad proposes to Janet with the world's stupidest song and then they are off to God knows where and God knows why. During a dark and stormy night, (never trust a movie that takes place on a dark and stormy night) they get a flat tire and go into a haunted mansion filled with a bunch of gay Chorus Line rejects. Here's where the movie truly becomes idiotic, and Dr. Frank-N-furter is introduced as the owner of the mansion. Frank-N-furter is played by a very young Tim Curry, before he discovered the powers of the pastry section.

After Frank-N-furter sings his "I'm here and queer!!!" song, he shows us the man he has created, in homage to Frankenstein. This is where the movie slows down to a screeching halt, and nothing happens for the duration of its running time. I repeat-- NOTHING. What you get is a 2 hour crap fest filled with wall to wall sh*t bombs and a bunch of men running around in fishnet stockings and high heeled pumps. Who does this appeal to? The queer! Ohhhh! No wonder I didn't like it. No man is straighter than me, so I guess this flick just aint my bag, baby. How dare this movie even have my name in the title.

People actually line up every night to see this garbage. Lines that go around the corner. For a 30 year old movie that they know every line to! There are people who have seen this flick hundreds of times! Like it's D.C. Cab or something. Don't believe me? See for yourself. Every big city has a Weirdoville and I ask you, reader, to go visit yours at about 11:30 p.m. on any given night. You'll see a long line of people dressed like gay mimes, ready to do the same ritual they've been doing for the past 30 years. 30 years! Talk about not having a life! They say the "fun" of the movie is throwing toast at the screen. Well, I don't know about you people, but I eat my toast. And making food just to throw it at a screen is a sin worse than gluttony and for that, you toast tossers should all understandably burn in hell.

And if I go to the movie theater and someone squirts water on me, be prepared for a fight. Correction: be prepared to LOSE a fight, because I win every quarrel I participate in. I'm just that good. I'm a Bear, for Christ's sake, I'll eat you alive! Who wants to get messy when they go out to a show? Why do you think Gallagher is in the unemployment line these days? Because people finally grew up! They got tired of that silly sh*t. Rocky Horror sucks. And for people who argue with me that I just "didn't get it," my reply to you is, "Thank God!" I would be worried about myself if I did.

Going to a theater with a bunch of aging baby boomers trying to recapture the peak of their lives (70's drug explosion) is not my idea of a good time. I grew up in the 90's...the machine gun era, and I'll take violence in my theaters over singing any day.

Zero stars out of 5.
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Identity (2003)
From the makers of Jack Frost...
5 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Identity is a rug snatcher. This is a phrase I made up but will soon lose credit for now that it's been made public. Anyway, it defines a movie that deliberately tries to snatch the rug out from under your feet, just for the sake of messing with your head. Just when you think you know the movie, A-ha! SNATCH! It isn't what it seems, is it, silly audience member? Boy, are we Hollywood writers smart!!

This technique was done well with The Usual Suspects, but since then, it has erupted into almost a Hollywood tradition. The Sixth Sense, The Game, Planet of the Apes, Fight Club, Wild Things, The Others, and now Identity are all rug snatchers. A Nightmare on Elm Street 6 was also a rug snatcher, because who would have ever thought Freddy would have actually died?

Identity is also stupid. One of my strict movie rules I follow: Never trust a movie that begins on a dark and stormy night. The film is about 10 strangers who all meet up to spend the night in a motel and end up getting bumped off one by one. A woman is hit by a car and is hurt badly through most of the movie. Her husband and weirdo son tend to her wounds. John Cusack plays a limo driver who used to be a cop. And Rebecca DeMornay, who has been visiting the tasty cakes section too often, plays a snobby ex movie star. I can't believe this is the same woman who played the hot hooker in Risky Business. I think she alone is the reason this film is called Identity. Try to guess who she is.

Anyway, the film starts off well. The characters are introduced in a fairly original way and the tension builds to a great premise. Then...A-ha! SNATCH! The writers give up and snatch the rug from under us and flips our whole world upside down. The movie gives us a twist on top of the original twist, because once we learn the 10 characters are all the same guy (from Natural Born Killers) we then have to figure out which fake personality did all the fake killing. Like we even care at this point. I mean, it's all fake. The movie even cheats in this aspect, because they purposely leave out huge details and clues to prevent the audience from trying to figure things out. Well, isn't that the definition of a mystery? Figuring out clues? God, I hate a stupid movie.

I had good intentions for Identity because its writer, Michael Cooney, also wrote a brilliant movie called Jack Frost. No, not the happy Michael Keaton version. I'm talking about the REAL Jack Frost-- the original. The one that was snubbed at the Oscars. The one about a killer snowman who terrorizes a small down with his big teeth and deadly ice cycles that shoot like bullets.

But now, he's gone from genius to commercial and brings us this crap on a stick called Identity. Movies that start off well and end crappy piss me off more than movies that are crappy from jump. At least the 100% crappy movies don't lie and mislead us. But the ones that start well build our anticipation with false hope. That's like the Prom Queen inviting you to her bedroom...to read Tolstoy.

* out of 5.
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28 Days Later (2002)
No, it's not a movie about PMS
5 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS HAVE SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Any movie with a monkey is a friend of mine. Some of my favorite movies include: Project X, Monkey Shines, and Every Which Way But Loose. You just can't go wrong with a monkey in your movie. The only thing funnier than a monkey is a barrel of them. Hell, even the WORD monkey is funny. So I am sure you can imagine my delight when this film OPENED with ATTACKING MONKEYS!!

Some animal activist group with the IQ of baked velvet break into a science lab and decide to free all the chimps. But we quickly learn that the animals are infected with a rage virus (how they could even say that line without laughing is beyond me) that makes them stark raving mad. We then cut to 28 Days Later (oh, I get it now) where we see a bicycle messenger named Jim waking up from a 4 week coma. Why he was butt naked I have no idea. Perhaps his doctor was Larry Drake. He then realizes he is the only man left in London, and he walks around shouting "Hellooooo" for quite some time. I must admit I enjoyed these early scenes, they were mysteriously creepy. That is, until Jim stumbles upon a church full of zombies, who must have been searching for salvation. He is then rescued by some rough and tough zombie killers who update him on the last 4 weeks.

Then after about 45 minutes, I realized something horrible. The monkeys were not coming back. I waited and waited, but yep-- they were gone for good. I hadn't been this disappointed since that movie 12 Monkeys deceived the world by not having ONE monkey!

The other problem I had with 28 Days Later was the fact that you can't see anything. The movie looks like it was shot on a freakin' View Master, therefore even the daytime shots look dark. Zombies come and go, but the action is so dark and frantic, you can't see anything! Another thing that defies logic: There is a charcter named Selina who is tough as nails in the beginning of the movie, but in one day softens up so much, she lets any military man have his way with her. She doesn't even TRY to fight anymore! Michelle Rodriguez would never have stood for that. Jim then snaps "Lord of the Flies style" and becomes a one man killing machine. Not only does he kill zombies, but he kills highly skilled and trained military personnel including a Major. At least I think he was a Major. Oh, who cares, he was weak anyway. The movie also tempts us with nudity, but it never arrives. Oh wait, I take that back. We do get to see a nude zombie for all the necropheliacs in the audience. Oh yeah...one last thing that makes this movie so bad. It sucks! They should change the title to $18 Dollars Later. That's right. I actually took a date with me and ended up wasting $18 dollars; not counting popcorn and my traditional pre-movie arcade game ritual.

* * out of 5.
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Coyote Ugly (2000)
Uglier than you think...
5 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Whenever I am discussing Tyra Banks, the woman I plan to marry, to other women, without fail, they immediately begin to sip on a tall bottle of Hatorade and dis the hell out of her. I've heard it all: She's phony, her forehead is too big, her breasts are man made; all statements in which Rocky the Bear does not care. My latest Tyra complaint however, intrigued me somewhat. I was arguing with a girl, a post sex tradition for me, and when she realized she couldn't change my mind regarding my feelings towards the famed Victoria Secrets model, she scraped the bottom of the barrel and said, "...And what the hell does Coyote Ugly mean anyway??"

At first, I didn't know she was serious, but when I began to ask around, I noticed many women did not know what this phrase meant. Maybe because it's a guy thing. Coyote Ugly is a bar or club term, used to define "a stranger in your bed, particularly one who was fine as hell last night, but in the morning is coyote ugly." The kind of chick who is so disgusting, you'd rather gnaw your arm off than wake her up, in the same fashion a coyote gnaws off his leg, if caught in a trap. Ladies who aren't familiar with this term are probably the same ones who wake up in the morning with a lone bicep under their necks.

Sharp readers out there will probably notice how I am discussing other issues, and not the movie. I am doing it on purpose. I am saving you the time, and saving myself the embarrassment of admitting that I actually sat through this travesty of a flick; a flick that not even T&A could save, if you could imagine that. What happens when you mix a half pint of Cocktail, add two cups of Flashdance, and a shot of Fast Forward? Actually, you get nothing, but when you stick an umbrella in it, it instantly becomes "Coyote Ugly." Fine a*s Piper Perabo plays "Violet," a New Jersey girl who moves to New York City with dreams of becoming a songwriter. Everyone in Manhattan treats her like a complete outsider, as if Jersey is on the other side of the earth, and not 40 miles away. Okay, on second thought, I can understand that. But what I can't understand is how when she moves to a dump in Chinatown, we do not see a single Chinese person.

After no luck with the music biz, she auditions for a job at a bar named Coyote Ugly. Three girls work there already, including Zoe, the token, brilliantly played by Tyra Banks. Zoe is leaving the bar in one week, to go to law school. This is completely understandable because she only makes a measley 300 bucks a night at the bar (or 78k a year.) Violet takes her spot as a Coyote, and then the 80s pop era of film, which I thought was dead, begins. The bar itself is handled very realistically. Why? Because the bartenders perform choreographed routines on the bar, as if in a music video. The NYC fire marshal frequents the bar regularly, yet never shuts it down-- even though every night the place is 100 people over maximum capacity. Bartenders spit fire balls at the crowd, and on some occasions, light the bar itself on fire for no reason.

The film is one cliche after another, including the following scenes: boy meets girl, girl hates boy, boy shows "stalker persistence" so naturally girl begins to like boy, boy and girl have an opening up discussion on the hood of a car overlooking Manhattan's skyline, girl has fight with over protective dad, girl has fight with boy, girl loses job, girl makes up with over protective dad, girl makes up with boy, girl even gets her job back, girl makes it big in the music biz, girl meets LeAnn Rimes.

There. You've just seen the whole movie, but chances are you've seen this same movie dozens of times before this one even came out. My only surprise of the film was Jerry Bruckheimer's name in the credits as a producer. He truly is the hardest working man in Hollywood. Or the most desperate.

* out of 5.
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Just garbage...
5 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS HAVE SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Terminator 3 defies logic on so many levels. First of all, I have the same initial question with T-3 that I did with T-2. Why the hell does the future John Connor (or military personnel) continue to send old, obsolete model cyborgs to save him in the past? Wouldn't it make sense to send the same updated, slicker model that was sent to kill him? And why does the female T-X pump up her clevage to flirt with a cop? Isn't she the Terminator?? Why does she need tricks to get his gun? Just JACK HIM FOR IT like you do everything else! Speaking of the cop's gun, why does she even need it?? Her arm can shape into a gun, a rocket launcher, and a flame thrower. And why does she need to taste a bloody woman and bloody gauze pad to identify people? Isn't her tongue made from the same synthetic material her finger is? She should taste it as soon as she sticks her finger in it. She also murders a guy in a drive thru burger joint, but the window is on the right hand side. Why? Isn't this America?? And what happened to her mission to destroy John Connor's future lieutenants? She abandons that idea early on and decides to pursue John Connor and his future wife for the duration of the movie. The ending is anti-climatic. So anti-climatic in fact, I don't even remember how they destroyed the female Terminator in the end.

T-3 is a poor movie with a convoluted plot, uneven pacing, and boring action. The film in general feels small and incomplete. It ends with a door open for a sequel, but my anticipation is greater for Problem Child 9. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is simply garbage and anyone who likes it is stupid. Zero stars out of 5.
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4/10
Return of Fat Boy
5 July 2003
Warning: Spoilers
ALL MY REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

Eddie Murphy is a genius. His rhythm, his timing and his performances in "Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps" are flawless. Scenes involving him to play every single character at any given time are acts of brilliance. One problem. The movie sucks.

I enjoyed the first Nutty, and up to about 30 minutes into the sequel, I was having a ball. Eddie broke new grounds in the first, and he was taking it to an even further level in part 2. While watching, I said to myself, "Eddie, the master of disguise, has done it again." Then, the actual movie kicked in.

Unfortunately, Janet Jackson will probably always be a bad casting choice in any role, simply because she is Janet Jackson. Her stardom is so huge, that whenever I see her on screen, all I can see is her, not her character. I had the same problem with 1993's "Poetic Justice." That and the fact that that movie sucked, too. And yeah, I know-- famous recording artists have made names for themselves in Hollywood (Madonna, Will Smith.) But Janet seems so..."Janet" to me. I dunno, maybe it's because she can't act. At least, she can't act ANYMORE; we all felt for her as poor Penny, the burn victim from "Good Times." God, I wanted to beat her mamma's a**.

Here, she plays Denise Gaines, Sherman Klump's fiance and fellow scientist. She is complete and utter eye candy, which I have no problem with. As fine as she is, while watching the film, I was sooo full. In the film, Sherman fights split personality Buddy Love, who is still trapped inside his DNA. Buddy lives within Sherman, and occasionally pops out of Sherman's personality without warning, making life for the fat man miserable. Sherman is forced to eventually make a genetic split, externalizing Buddy Love.

This is where the film sloooowws down, almost to a halt. Things got so dull at one point, I began to daydream, looking around the theater for single women who may need some Rocky the Bear in their lives. When the action finally picked back up in the end, things got so crazy, zany, and yes, I'm going to say it...NUTTY, that the film becomes everything but animated. At some points I felt the movie was targeted for kids, but then a d*ck joke, or a fart joke, or say, a SODOMIZING joke would change my mind, so I don't know WHO this film is aimed at. 2 stars, simply off of Eddie's brilliant performances as the Klump family alone. * * out of 5.
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