margoworld Reviews

The Perfect Score (2004)

Not the greatest teen movie, but not the worst, either

[26 November 2004]

SPOILERS INSIDE

I had pretty high expectations of this movie; it has Scarlett Johanson in it (great actress) and looked good in the previews. Twenty minutes in I realized that the acting seemed amateur, overall. Darius Miles's, especially. The guy had pretty much no feeling in his voice - I think some members of our high school drama club can act better. Scarlett Johanson was fine, but her performance didn't look that great next to all the mediocre actors.

When the two main guy characters were in the bathroom discussing their plan to steal the SAT's and Leonardo Nam made his first appearance, my brothers and I laughed so hard. I know it's stupid humor, but that guy as the Asian stoner Roy was the highlight of the movie for us. The way he talked and the stuff he said was so hilarious. I wouldn't have enjoyed the movie nearly as much of it weren't for him.

The best word to describe this movie is average. When I saw it was put out by MTV I thought, I hope it doesn't suck, then. It is an interesting plot idea that they could've taken so much further and made into a much better movie. The way they tried to get into the character's lives (humanize them as someone else said) seemed very Breakfast Clubish, but more cliché and less thought out. Maybe this is supposed to be The Breakfast club for the new generation, but it just doesn't measure up.

This movie really got me thinking about SAT's. I am a freshman in high school. The movie did a good job showing the reality of doing whatever necessary to get a decent score.

Many parts of the plot were unrealistic. The way they just managed to FIND the SAT scores as easily as they did. I mean, honestly, in real life they would not be nearly that accessible. There were only a few roadblocks. Also, the romance between Francesca and Matty wasn't that realistic either.

A fine movie to watch if you have nothing else to do. It's way better than a TV movie, not boring, and I think it's worth watching just to see Leonardo Nam's performance!

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Watch this movie

[4 July 2004]

This movie was really, really good. I think the first Spider-man was more entertaining and showed more of Peter's life as Spider-man, but the sequel is definitely worth watching. I don't think it really met my expectations, maybe it's because of all the media attention it got. I just expected more. There is, however, some great "eye candy" type scenes in this movie; nice outdoor cinematography. I kept thinking, Wow, I can tell they spent a lot of money on this.

There were some really interesting, cool scenes; the movie starts off with a bang showing Peter delivering pizzas on busy city streets. However, maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I thought the scenes showing Doc Ock and Spiderman fighting were too long. (Might even say the whole movie was too long.) I enjoyed the scenes showing Peter's relationships with people much more. I loved how the writers put humorous lines in the most stressful/dangerous scenes. It helped keep the movie a little lighter. The scene where Peter's in the elevator is one of my favorites.

Tobey Maguire is the PERFECT Spider-man; his character is so incredibly vulnerable and likable. Plus he's a very good dramatic actor. And that VOICE! He looked like he was going to actually cry about three times. There were definitely some sad scenes.

Kirsten Dunst, however, doesn't really measure up. The character just didn't appeal to me very much. Her scenes seemed to be lacking something. She's okay, just not as good as some other actresses out there.

Overall, 8/10, could have been better, but still great.

Good Boy (2003)

Cute kiddie movie

[17 June 2004]

My brother (13) and I (15) watched this movie yesterday and concluded that it's a fine movie for kids under ten. The talking animals are cute, there's nothing really horrible about the movie, but there's nothing really great about it either.

The parents were a little annoying and weren't really part of the plot. It got on my nerves that the mother in the movie didn't seem to notice that her son was lonely and hardly paid any attention to him, except when she wanted to get out her KODAK camera and snap a picture of him.

I am a fan of Liam Aiken; his character was pleasant and lovable. I think Liam did as well as he could with the role, considering he was talking to dogs that didn't respond to him the entire movie. The scene towards the end of the movie where he's pouring out his heart to Hubble is really well done and shows what a great actor Liam is.

The girl who played Connie wasn't much of an actor, in my opinion, she seemed kind of fake.

The two bullies in the movie were really stereotypical. Most of their scenes show them following Owen around and repeating the same old insults over and over. Real creative.

Bottom line: This is a "good clean fun" kind of movie for younger kids. It is rated PG because of all the poop jokes, which I'm sure they will find amusing. Make sure you watch it with the director's commentary - it was a lot more interesting than the film by itself.

Uncle Buck (1989)

A hilarious, feel-good movie

[17 June 2004]

I was BORN the year this film came out, but I've managed to see it on TV a few times and am proud to say I love it. Uncle Buck is one of my all time favorite movies. John Candy's jokes are just hilarious. He plays the part perfectly - if he wasn't cast as Uncle Buck, it wouldn't be half the movie it is. There are so many funny parts in this movie, even if you're in a horrible mood, you cannot help but laugh at least once. The music really enhances the movie, also. The teenager got on my nerves, but I suppose that's what she was supposed to do. Macaulay Culkin is charming and cute and has a few good scenes. Uncle Buck grabs onto your imagination and you cannot help but love it. If you haven't seen it, go out and rent it. You won't be sorry.