maccaveili Reviews

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

First big summer letdown

[3/10 · 25 May 2008]

I felt I was being generous by even giving it 3 stars out of 10 to be honest. How much longer will Hollywood put out movies where multiple people shooting machine guns at one person on the run from merely 30 yards away continue to just barely miss the hero of the film. Equally as annoying was how often all the action stopped to let one of the films 3 biggest stars fit in yet another one-liner....hardy har har. Maybe it's just me, but I cannot believe that Spielberg released something like this, he's one of my favorite directors after all. I don't recall hearing anyone in the packed theater I was in chuckle, oooh or even ahhh once the entire time. This movie is on par with Jurassic Park 3 and T3....in other words, just living off the fame of the preceding movies in the series.

Invincible (2006)

Just average

[5/10 · 27 August 2006]

I'm a big Eagles fan, and I've always liked Mark Wahlberg's work, but I got to be honest here, I didn't find this movie that riveting or entertaining. I didn't expect it to be a perfect 10, but I had hoped for it to be an 8 or better on a scale of 1-10. I thought the movie missed the boat on a lot of key elements of Vince Papale's relationship with coach Vermeil, his relationships between other teammates and his old friends pulling for him. It seemed like everything was forced in this movie, not natural. Even the gridiron scenes were quite a bit over the top - Hollywood style. This movie was missing something, I think an authenticity of any kind, meaning it seemed detached and not in depth enough into the mind of Papale.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

High Expectations....unfulfilled

[4/10 · 7 July 2006]

Let me first give a precursor to my review. When I went to see the first one, I had no expectations, I basically only went because my wife really wanted to see it in the theater, so I obliged figuring it wouldn't be the worst movie I've been to. In the end, I ended up loving it, and to this day, I can sit down and watch it again and again and not get tired of it.

With that said, I went into Dead Man's Chest with really high expectations. When it was all said and done, I came out completely disappointed. Maybe it was due to my expectations, maybe I'm just too critical, or maybe it really did suck in comparison to the first one. I can tell you this though, our theater was almost filled to capacity, and not once during the entire film did the theater go "ooh" or "ahh" or even laugh out loud together. Oh sure, there was that one girl in front of us and maybe 1 or 2 people behind us that laughed out loud more than a few times, but that was it.

**** SPOILERS *****

Basically, Capt Jack Sparrow had made a deal with Davey Jones to be captain of the Black Pearl for 13 years in exchange for giving his soul to Davey Jones for 100 years. Why anyone would make such a stupid deal for just 13 years of captaincy is unexplained in this movie, I guess you have to assume that he must have just really wanted to be the captain of that boat. But if I recall, Capt Barboso simply led a mutiny to overthrow Capt Sparrow, so if it was that easy to just become the captain of that ship, why the heck would anyone sell their soul for 100 years to just captain it for 13 years? Then there was this scene where Davey Jones, William Turner and his father were wagering their souls for eternity playing a dice game. The rules of this game were not explained at all, and when it was over, I had no idea how the game was played, why the guy who lost actually did lose, all you know is that he did lose.

At the end of the first Pirates of the Caribbean, you felt like Capt Sparrow, Elizabeth and Will Turner would remain long life friends forever after everything they had been through and done for each other. However, the first time they run into Capt Sparrow in this one, you'd have thought they were still rivals against one another.

Then there was the VERY weird tribal scene on the island where Capt Sparrow was the chief who was to be eaten when the drums stopped playing. What the heck was that all about? It really had no rhyme nor reason for being in the movie other than to eat up some time and prolong what was already too long of a movie.

I still don't understand something towards the end of the movie. When the "cracken" (sp?) came up the first time to attempt to destroy and bring down the black pearl with everyone in it EXCEPT Capt Sparrow who was in a rowboat about 100 yards away running away like a coward, why if it was really after Capt Sparrow and not the boat (like Elizabeth told Capt Sparrow before she handcuffed him to the Black Pearl later) did it not just attack him in the rowboat instead of trying to bring down the Black Pearl when he wasn't even on it? If it was Jack and not the boat it wanted, wouldn't have been easier to just swipe him from the rowboat since he was basically right there in the water anyways? What was the purpose of the attack on the Black Pearl w/o Jack on it? Another question, what was up with the jar of "land" or dirt as Jack called it? Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall any explanation as to it's purpose. It ended up getting broken but yet there was nothing to come of it as far as I could tell, but yet there was this big to do about it when that woman gave it to Jack. Anyways....

Also, why was the Commodore being arrested? Yes he did let Jack have a day head start based on the ending of the first movie, but according to the second movie, he lost his ship in a Hurricane trying to catch Capt Sparrow. So if he was after him, why was he charged for assisting his escape? He never conspired to assist Jack's escape, if he had, he wouldn't have lost his ship in a Hurricane trying to catch him again.

In the end you're left wondering how Capt Barboso was still alive. Not to mention what ever ended up with the governor (Elizabeth's father), assuming Jack was now dead which we know isn't true since there is a 3rd one so that really had no effect on the viewing audience as we know he must somehow return. Also, I guess we are to assume that since the Commodore was the one who brought back Davey Jone's heart and not Will or Elizabeth, that they are still on the run from the Lord. So now I guess we are forced to see part 3 just to see the answers to those questions. I hope part 3 is a lot better than part 2.

The Break-Up (2006)

Guys, not just a date movie, hilarious

[10/10 · 2 July 2006]

*********** Contains spoilers ************

OK I had written my reviewbelow, but after reading everyone elses', felt the need to add something here first. The most refreshing thing about this movie is the ending. The fact that it didn't have the "Hollywood ending" where everything is forgiven and everyone goes on to live happily ever after was a surprise, and a good one at that. The whole movie Jennifer Anniston's character tries and tries to get her ex (Vince Vaughn) back by making him jealous, etc, but by the time he comes around and sees the error of his ways, she's already too burnt out to give it another chance. With that said, I still thought towards the end "oh here comes the Hollywood ending now", but it didn't happen, which to me was REFRESHING! Yes they ended up running into each other by chance on the streets months later and were on good speaking terms, but that was it. Now ladies and gentlemen, that is realistic, not Hollywood, thank you for not making them end up together after it was all said and done.

For those of you who complained that this movie hit too close to the heart, get over it! C'mon now, I've been through more than one painful breakup in my life, and it didn't bother me one bit. Break ups happen, get over it. For those of you who felt you were mislead by the advertisement that it was a romantic comedy, get over it. It was called the break up, what did you expect? Did you think it would be like "Must love dogs" or what? It was called the break up!!!! Need I repeat that again. Anyone who was bothered by this movie, really needs to lighten up, and I'd imagine those who were, were probably women. I can't think of any men I know who would say something like that. It was funny, because all of us men, know that at some point in time, we've been that idiot that Vaughn plays in the movie. It was funny to watch someone other than ourselves be that guy. It's a movie people, a movie. It wasn't a documentary, so spare me the grief. Yes they made Vince Vaughn's character a little dense when it came to figuring out what he was doing wrong, but other than that, I thought he played it up well.

********** END OF SPOILERS ***************

The great thing about this movie is that any red blooded American guy who has ever been in a relationship or lived with a woman can relate to its humor. I saw a lot of myself in that movie, albeit in the movie everything was over exaggerated, but still, I found myself laughing because at some point in time or another that was me. The acting in it wasn't bad, better than I expected, then again I love Vince Vaughn. Yes it was a movie about relationships, but still, it's the kind of movie that either you and your significant other could watch together, or just a group of guys could watch and get a good laugh out of. Unlike other comedies, this movie actually has serious moments that we can all relate to, but overall it's a comedy all the way, and I gave it two thumbs up for acting by both Jennifer Anniston (whom I don't even like that much, but did a GREAT job) and Vaughn. Definitely would recommend seeing it in the theater.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Guys, this is a date movie, not bad but wait for the rental

[9/10 · 2 July 2006]

Speaking from the guy perspective, this is definitely a movie you will only watch with a woman. With that being said though, it's not really a romance movie, not that it doesn't involve any relationship stuff, but trust me, you and the guys won't be staying home on a Friday night to watch this. If though, you're attached to the ball and chain on said Friday night, and it's out on rental, by all means, you could do worse if you're staying in for a movie. It's actually kind of funny, and the lead actress is worth looking at for an hour and a half. However, I saw it in a theater, that's right, I'm married. It's a very intense movie as far as the levels of stress that the poor girl is going through at her new job as a fresh college graduate. I actually found myself feeling stressed out, thinking that if I ever had a job like that, I'd probably implode. So it actually made things go by quickly, I mean I wasn't looking at my watch much, and the wife was happy, so it was worth it in that regard. I gave it a 9 based on the fact that if you have to please your woman with a date flick, then with all things being considered, it's really not that bad. And I'm your typical all American sports loving guy, so that's really saying something for me. But if by any means you can put it off until it comes out for home rental, I'd say save yourself the money and do that.

Macc

Crash (I) (2004)

A daring movie exploring the issues of racism....

[8/10 · 18 October 2005]

....really gives you something to talk about with those you watched it with afterward. It is the most racy movie I've seen since American History X. You come away from this movie knowing that stuff like this truly does exist in real life, but at the same time wondering how everything can revolve around race with every single person in this movie with every single thing they are presented with. I know we are all racist at one time or another in our lives, to differing degrees. And I realize that many people are out there that think like these characters do, but thank god it's not as rampant as it was in this flick. In the end, it really gives you something to ponder, and even while you watch, you are sometimes taken back by what transpires from the very beginning, because you know in your heart that stuff like this exists everyday, and it makes you wonder how we all pretend to get along. A good movie, you could do a lot worse. Although, be prepared to be a little down after it's over, I'd recommend a comedy after watching this.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Had its moments...

[5/10 · 18 October 2005]

....was about the best thing I can say about this. For the most part, it's just early "Adam Sandler" type of humor, but I must say that there were about 3 scenes that genuinely had me rolling. Other than that though, it's just your typical teeny bop type of comedy that the kids will laugh at. You got to reduce your standards a little bit to enjoy this movie, well a lot, not just a little bit. The acting wasn't that bad, but at the same time, they weren't asked to do much, so that's not saying much. An OK movie to rent on DVD on a weekend if you want to invite some friends over for a few laughs....oh ya, it will help a lot if you include alcohol into your viewing. It's not really the type of movie you should watch sober.

The Fog (2005)

That was HORRIBLE.....

[1/10 · 17 October 2005]

...was the first thing somebody in the dark, mostly packed theater exclaimed at the top of their lungs as soon as the ending credits started scrolling. And they couldn't have said it any better. It was plain horrible. The acting was down right offensive, and the character development was non existent. Nobody reacted to anything spooky the way anyone in real life ever would. Tell me, if you were home alone and something crashed on the outside of your house to the tune of a giant hammer pounding on your door, would you honestly grab your robe and approach the front door and go outside in the dark of night to look around to see what it was? Well apparently that's exactly what you would do, as stuff like that happened over and over in this flick. Forget the $15 for the tickets and the $10 in snacks my wife and I bought, that's just 2 hours of my life I can't get back. Although it is good for those couples out there struggling to find anything to agree upon lately. One trip to this movie, and you'll both spend the entire car ride home agreeing how pathetic this movie was, ranting and raving about how Hollywood can't make anything good anymore.

The Incredibles (2004)

The name fits

[9/10 · 23 March 2005]

I found "The Incredibles" to be much better than anticipated. I'm not real big on Pixar movies, but they are growing on me thanks to movies like this. The opening scene where you see Mr and future Mrs. Incredible meeting at the scene of a crime, on the same day of their marriage to be, was just hilarious. Little did I know they already knew each other, let alone were getting married that night. Disney did a very good job of showing the flirtatious side of the two superheros there, had me laughing my butt off. The movie though, took a very slow pace for while the superheros were trying to live just normal lives, with very little action. But it made up for it in the 2nd half of the movie when Mr. Incredible (Bob) got into trouble and his wife (who thought he was cheating on her) and his kids (who snuck along with their mom) flew out to try to save Bob. One of the most riveting scenes was during the plane ride in to save Bob and the heat seeking missiles were chasing the plane with his wife and kids. It sounded as emotional as you would expect it to sound in a real life situation. Anyways, in the end, you learned that the youngest (baby) also had powers that were not revealed the entire movie before that, so it was a good ending. Everything came full circle, even down to the detail of the costume designer not wanting to put a cape on Mr. Incredible's uniform since she claimed it was responsible for several superhero's deaths. In the end, it was Syndrome's cape, fittingly that cost him his life. A well thought out movie, and very entertaining for the most part. I gave it a nine.

Jason

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Liked it better when it was called T-2

[2/10 · 12 July 2003]

This movie blew chunks, wanna know why? Cause until the very end, it was practically identical to T-2. The chase scene was nothing but destructive, other than alot of buildings and vehicles getting demolished it was ho hum.....I wasn't sitting on the edge of my seat or anything. Basically, a more sophisticated terminator, T-X, comes from the future to kill people, namely John Connor and his future wife. Arnold, comes back as the "has been" terminator (same model as in the other 2 movies) to try to stop the "faster, stronger, more advanced T-X". Ooooooh the drama.....wait this sounds familiar. The only difference was that this time the "bad" terminator was a female. Haven't we seen this plot line already in T-2???

Let me just say that I loved the original Terminator, and I really thought that T-2 was ahead of its time back in the day, and I enjoyed it almost as much as the 1st one because of that. But Cameron directed those two, not the 3rd one. These guys look like they couldn't come up with a new way of filming, so just followed the same basic principles that T-2 had. Trust me when I say that if you've seen T-2, then you've seen T-3 already.

*******************Spoilers*********************

The only difference is that in T-2, judgement day was averted, in this one judgement still happened, basically nukes were set off all around the world thanks to the machines. So while judgement day was avoided in T-2, it is learned in this movie that judgement day was only postponed. I swear that is the only "new" idea in T-3 that they used. It "could" have been really cool had the nukes gone off in say the middle of the movie and then we got to see John Connor and his mate still trying to survive the aftermath with a terminator after them....but no. They didn't even show the nukes going off!!!! All they did was in the final 2 minutes of the movie, show some mickey mouse grid with lines going across it representing the path of all the nukes so you could get a sense of just how many were set off. Great job Hollywood. The best aspect of the movie that you could have used, you decided to not even show.

Basically, it boils down to this. The future of the humans comes down to the hands of John Connor and his future wife. After 2 failed attempts to kill Connor in the first two movies, they try again. Like the 2nd movie, Arnold is sent back from the future to stop the more advanced T-X before she kills her targets. Like the 2nd movie, it is a "struggle" and she is always right behind them just "ever so close" but yet not ever close enough to finish the job. By the end of the movie, just as they "want" you to think that the T-X is about to kill her targets (ya as if), Arnold, our hero, saves the day. Oh ya, and he spouts out yet another dumb one liner like "you are terminated" to the other terminator.

There was one part where the T-X, who can control machines, got to Arnold and was controlling him against Connor and his future wife. This could have been a cool twist, like a blast from the past from Terminator the original, but no. This only lasted like a minute or two as Arnold shut himself down so he wouldn't "fail" his mission. So there went that little twist, yet another missed opportunity to make this movie unique.

God I hope they don't release a 4th one because this is starting to get as predictable as the "Rocky" series. There were attempts at humor in this movie, but they were "few and far between" and not very funny even when you saw them. Anyone who pays to see this movie once can be forgiven, but if you pay to see it twice, then you should seek a CAT scan to see what is wrong with your head.

Macc

Happy Accidents (2000)

I'd have to give it at least 4 stars if not 5

[10/10 · 8 February 2003]

***** Excellent movie, lives up to expecatations and then some

**** Decent movie, has few shortcomings, but could have been better

*** Not bad only if you don't have any high expectations

** Maybe a movie to watch while doing chores

* I'd rather be at work for no pay than watching this film

You can read the back of the box if you want to know what it is about, so instead of me reiterating that, I'll just give you all my opinion. Vincent D'Onofrio and Marisa Tomei were very very good in this movie. Marisa plays the type of girl that any woman could relate to, the down to earth, dysfunctional at times, normal single woman.

D'Onofrio plays his part to a tee. If you ever saw Feeling Minnesota, then you can get an idea of what his character is like in this one, the two aren't too much different.

Basically he meets Tomei in a park one day, then courts her in the most unusual and humorous fashion. Now Marisa and her friends have a long history of attracting psychos, and after getting to know him, she realizes that he just may be the king of all the psycho men that she has dated yet! But psycho in a cute way as opposed to a dangerous way, or so she thinks, but isn't really sure.

After probing him, he admits the truth to her about his past, however it is so unbelievable that she just thinks he needs help. However, this fantasy world that he seems to be living in keeps the relationship from ever getting stale, so rather than dumping him on several different occassions, she decides to keep him around just to see where it leads next, not to mention that there is something about him that she is attracted to.

I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say this. If you ever saw Kpax, then this movie kind of has the same format. Spacey in Kpax claims to be something so ridiculously unreal that at first it just seems like he needs mental help. However, he has an answer for every question that anyone asks him, and by the end of Kpax you are left wondering if he really was telling the truth or not. Well this is very similar to that. While D'Onofrio doesn't claim to be from another planet, his claims are just as ludicrous.

Overall, I'd give this at least 4 stars, but seeing how I had absolutely no expectations for this movie that I had never heard of, it far exceeded what I had hoped for, and I really don't a have problem with any of it. I thought it was very entertaining and time went by fast while watching it, and that usually doesn't happy with me. I give it 5 stars!

Blue Crush (2002)

3 star movie, not real deep in plot though.

[7/10 · 22 January 2003]

***** Excellent movie, lives up to expecatations and then some

**** Decent movie, has few shortcomings, but could have been better

*** Not bad only if you don't have any high expectations

** Maybe a movie to watch while doing chores

* I'd rather be at work for no pay than watching this film

You can read the back of the box to know that this is a movie about girls surfing. Unfortunately, that is really all it is about. It's basically a played out story line about a girl who once could. It revolves around a cute girl that once suffered a serious head injury while crashing her surf board, who now doubts herself as one of the biggest competitions in her life is upon her, one that could put her face on the map of women's surfing. I'm sure you can see where it is going.

In a weak attempt to add depth to the plot, there is a cheesy relationship which develops between an NFL player and the main surfer girl, one that begins taking up all of her time that should be spent practicing for the competition. It takes the will of a good friend of hers to try to get her to regain her focus just in the nick of time for the surfing event. Other than some added testosterone from local guys, one being an ex boyfriend of hers, this movie really doesn't have much more as far as the plot line goes. There was potential for depth as the main surfer is taking care of her little sister due to her mother not living up to responsibilities, but for some reason, the movie basically ignores this topic throughout most of the movie.

If you're a heterosexual guy, you won't mind this movie for the women in bikinis alone, but for the rest of you out there, I'd say this is a 2 star movie. I however, being a guy who likes women, gave it 3 stars. I didn't have any expectations for it, thus I really wasn't disappointed. However, my fiance who expected more for some reason, said afterwards that she thought it was highly cheesy and not a good movie. So there you go.

Signs (2002)

5 star movie well worth your time

[10/10 · 22 January 2003]

***** Excellent movie, lives up to expecatations and then some

**** Decent movie, has few shortcomings, but could have been better

*** Not bad only if you don't have any high expectations

** Maybe a movie to watch while doing chores

* I'd rather be at work for no pay than watching this film

What this movie isn't: A sci-fi movie about aliens. As a matter of fact, you only actually get to "see" an alien for a few minutes during the entire movie. What this movie is: An intense film that gradually builds anticipation as the movie unfolds, with just enough scares in the movie to keep you on the edge of your seat with one eye closed.

Basically, this isn't a movie with a lot of drama music incorporated into every scene. Contrary, there is very little music, which in my opinion makes it a much more realistic experience. Sure aliens landing on earth may sound corny, but if it were to ever happen, this movie would be a great depiction of how one family might deal with it. And like the movie "Unbreakable", this one also has a special twist at the end, which I won't give away.

This is probably one of the best examples of how a movie can be used to build up intensity and anticipation as it goes along until finally the big climax at the end. One could argue that it is kind of slow , without a lot of action going on, but it more than makes up for it in other ways, such as a real plot-line, imagine that!

In any case, this is definitely a 5 star movie that is even more fun to watch again with someone who hasn't seen it yet, just to see them jump out of their pants at certain points in the flick. You can't go wrong, especially if you love spooky movies.

Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001)

3 star movie, no bad if you don't expect much

[7/10 · 22 January 2003]

***** Excellent movie, lives up to expecatations and then some

**** Decent movie, has few shortcomings, but could have been better

*** Not bad only if you don't have any high expectations

** Maybe a movie to watch while doing chores

* I'd rather be at work for no pay than watching this film

You can read the back of the box if you want to know what it is about, so instead of me reiterating that, I'll just give you all my opinion. It is a B rated film in my opinion which stars Christian Slater. Tim Allen plays a different character, a hitman of some sort, but yet still finds many times to insert his brand of humor in the flick. Slater plays about the same kind of average role in this one that he always seems to play in most movies, meaning he doesn't hurt the film, but yet he doesn't oooh and ahhhh us either.

Basically, Slater is a prison escapee who assumes a false identity of a man that the mafia thought they had taken out. So now Slater finds himself on the run, claiming that of all the dead people who could steal an identity from, he had to choose the one dead guy that everyone wanted to kill. So yes, there is a bit of attempted comedy in it, but for the most part it is dry and not laugh out loud funny. Then there is the girl, you know, the girl that the escapee falls for, the girl that at first is too good for him, but who then later begins to warm up to him.

All in all, if you rent this expecting it to be just a B rated type of movie, meaning, not that good but not too horribly bad, you won't be disappointed. I'd give it 3 stars on my scale.

Minority Report (2002)

Thank you Spielberg - Finally a movie worth seeing in the theater

[10/10 · 23 June 2002]

Heading into see Minority Report, I was very excited and had high hopes. For me that is usually a recipe for disappointment, but that was NOT the case this time. As usual, Spielberg did a magnificent job again with only a couple of minor cheesy scenes which when you see it you'll know what I mean, but it did not detract from my overall impression of the movie.

Being a traditionalist when it comes to movies, I don't usually go for the futuristic/sci-fi atmosphere as usually those movies are done in such an unbelievable way that it just bores me. However, even though this one takes place in 2054 it doesn't bother me, because of the way that Spielberg presents it. He does it in a tactful way that lets people like me accept things like the futuristic mass transit system, the glass looking futuristic computers or the eye scanners at every mall and store that allowed the advertisements to personally address each customer.

I think that one reason it was easier for me to accept the futuristic atmosphere of a "Pre-crime" unit in Washington D.C. is due to the Pre-crime department's dependency on the three "pre-cogs". The pre-cogs were 3 human individuals who had a "gift" to be able to see murders before they happen, anywhere from minutes to days in advance, depending on whether the murder was an all of the sudden passion crime or a thought out, planned murder. Even though the department uses very high tech computers in their crime prevention, none of it could work without the 3 pre-cogs, who were human. So that human element helped me relate to all the high tech futuristic aspects that the rest of the movie sustained.

Anyways, w/o going on to describe the entire movie, let me just say that I thought Cruise did an extremely good job playing detective John Anderton. However, I truly believe that had any other director worked with this script, it would not have been nearly the same quality as it turned out to be. Much of the credit must go to Spielberg. This movie had so many elements. There was the high tech computers intertwined with the pre-cogs' abilities to foresee future murders which posed the moral dilemma of imprisoning people who have yet to actually commit any crime. To further explore that moral dilemma, sometimes not all 3 pre-cogs saw the same thing in their visions. Apparently, sometimes one of them would see something different, and that vision was called the minority report and was discarded. They had to be thrown out or else the Pre-Crime Department would have to be shut down if the public knew that sometimes these contradicting minority reports existed.

While it may seem like you know how the movie ends, you probably do not, as it has a few twists, and in addition to that it goes beyond the point of which you would expect it to end. I'd recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained not only with an interesting main plot, but with several sub-plots and the way that Spielberg mixes the "Hollywood-ness" of it all with the actual drama of the story line. Nobody in my mind does that better than him.

In the end, I really liked this movie, it was probably my favorite theater movie I've seen in a long time, since seeing The Matrix. And I've seen quite a few good ones (Enemy at the Gates, The Others and 13 Days to name a few.) Ironically, I found Minority Report to have a good bit of humor, spaced out at the perfect times to get the audience laughing together in what was otherwise an action-drama flick. And don't be surprised if on more than one occasion you find yourself jumping out of your seat on those "sudden, in your face" type of shots that put a spike in your heartbeat.

Great movie, well worth my money. Can't wait for it to come out on video now. If you liked the Matrix, you'll probably like this one too. Although I'd rank this a notch under the Matrix.

Windtalkers (2002)

Nicholas Cage??? Why him??? Very under achieving....

[4/10 · 15 June 2002]

Ok first of all, I am not going to sugar coat any of this. I went with my girlfriend and spent over $20 expecting a good 2+ hours of entertainment, and what I got was ripped off!!! If I had been at home watching this on dvd, I'd have turned it off and finished it sometime other than a Friday night, like say a Tuesday afternoon when there is nothing else to do. We had deliberated for a bit about whether to see Insomnia, Enough or The Bourne Identity, and about half way through the movie, I couldn't help but wonder how much more entertained I'd have been at any one of those than I currently was. Not that I think there are many movies worth spending $14 on (not counting snacks) to see in a theater, but at least I wouldn't have been sitting there comparing Windtalkers to Saving Private Ryan and wondering why nobody else can make a war movie as compelling as Spielberg and Tom Hanks combined to do.

When the movie first started, the camera spanned across the beautiful desert landscape in Arizona where the Navajo Indians lived, while the background music was reminiscent of that in the beginning of Saving Private Ryan in the cemetery scene. It was at this point that I took in the moment believing that what I was about to watch would be one of those rare movies that you never forget about as long as you live. It opened by zooming in on Adam Beach, soon to be Private Ben Yahzee, holding his baby son just before joining a bus load of Navajo Indians who were all heading off to the Marines to learn the "code" based on the Navajo language. On the bus, Roger Willie, soon to be Private Charles Whitehorse, was introduced as a friend of Yahzee's who you could tell right off the bat was only in the movie to play that proverbial good natured, wiser, older fellow who has a good sense of humor to give us some comedy relief. You know what I mean, that character that the audience is suppose to relate to and like, who almost always dies in the end in some weak attempt to make us shed a tear. Not that he does die or not, but at this point in the movie that is what I was thinking....I wont give away any individual's destination here in case you still want to waste your money on this Hollywood piece of crap for some reason.

In the next scene, we are introduced to Nicholas Cage's character, Joe Enders. It really catches the audience off guard the way the semi automatic rattles off a series of shots unexpectedly, startling everyone in the theater and getting some follow up chuckles afterwards from those who jumped out of their seats the highest. I believe that this was the high point in the movie unfortunately, as never again did anything get a rise out of me or get my heart pounding like that did.

Anyways, in this scene Cage plays a Marine (Enders) who fell into command for the first time ever after the former commander lost his life in the heat of the battle. Enders refuses to retreat and continues to obey the order which is to hold a useless piece of swamp land at the end of nowhere with the Japanese closing in everywhere. Even despite everyone begging him and pleading to retreat, seeing that they were all going to die if they stayed, he just orders them to hold their position thus everyone but Enders, somehow of course, ends up dead. But not until a very cheesy one liner by a friend of his as he takes several bullets in the back while Enders was face to face with him trying to pull him up over a barrier to safety. As Ender's friend is dying, he looks Enders in the eyes and calls him a son of a bitch. Of course then, this ends up haunting Enders for the rest of the movie, as he later blames himself (original isn't it) for everyone dying, despite the fact he was just following orders. At this point I think I knew that the movie was headed for mediocrity at best, and I was only 10 minutes into it. Sad.

I could go on in more detail but what's the point, I think you see where this is going. If you've seen even one preview for this movie then you already know that it is Sgt Ender's (Cage) job to protect the code at any cost, even if it means executing the "Windtalker" (Private Yahzee) if it looks like he is going to fall into enemy hands. Do I even have to spell out how this movie ends? In the beginning of the movie he lets his men die while being the lone survivor, and it haunts him forever. Then in the end he has a decision to make about the lives of his men once again. It doesn't take a Harvard graduate to see how it ends. Very predictable and boring, let me tell you.

I didn't like at all how they made every piece of artillery be as accurate as you could possibly imagine. Every time the camera zoomed in on some artillery as it was being fired, the target ALWAYS got hit, no matter what. And according to this movie, almost every Japanese soldier was too uncoordinated to shoot anyone before the Americans shot them first, even if the Japanese soldiers had a 5 second head start advantage. If this is how it was in real life then I don't know what took so long to end the war. There is nothing like having a dozen Japanese soldiers with machine guns jumping out of everywhere on all sides of Nicholas Cage and every other co-star in the movie, only to have Cage or someone else pull out a pistol or a knife and kill all of the Japanese first. Great job Hollywood.

Just for the record, Nicholas Cage did NOT, I say did NOT, sell me on being a Marine in any way, shape or form. As a matter of fact, I can't think of any actor that would have been worse for that lead role. He should stick to roles like he had in the Family Man.

Actually, I don't care what actor you get to play Sgt Enders, the movie shouldn't have revolved around him and his haunting flashbacks where he got everyone killed in the beginning of the movie. It was called Windtalkers, thus you'd think that the movie would have been centered around the Navajo Indians that served the United States as Marines. Nicholas Cage's character was about as uncompelling as you could get, and I was shocked that the movie was centered so much around him. It didn't help either that Cage acted like the guy he played in "Leaving Las Vegas" in between battles. Even though it was called Windtalkers, it seemed as though the Navajo's who were the "windtalkers" were almost a sidenote to Sgt. Enders' plight to redeem himself in the war. The movie should have been called "Sgt. Enders", seriously. They had a great concept with the Navajo language being used as a code that the Japanese couldn't crack, but they mucked it up with a predictable story line that didn't even really delve into the Navajo's importance in the war.

One other thing, I was very bored with how outlandish Hollywood made every explosion seem. They'd zoom in on the artillery that was firing on something, then cut away to the target, then we'd see the target explode in slow motion way too often as they were really trying to overdo every explosion. Hey Hollywood, when are you going to stop trying to make up for a lack of a compelling story line and actors that can pull it off, with fiery, loud explosions and slow motion takes of people flailing through the air? And they could have done away with all the symphonic background music behind every battle. Did they not learn anything from Saving Private Ryan? It is better to just leave that background music out of the picture, cause I want to feel like I am a part of the picture like I did with Saving Private Ryan. I don't think the soldiers who were there in real life were listening to an orchestra playing in the background, picking up momentum as they gained leverage on the enemy. I hate that crap so bad. Too much Hollywood for me.

One final note - The acting in this movie was some of the worst I've ever seen, aside from Adam Beach who played Private Ben Yahzee, the main windtalker, and Roger Willie who played the other windtalker. They were the only actors who looked natural as everyone else just looked like they were just standing there waiting for the camera to scroll over to them so they could say their one liner when it was their turn.

Very under achieving, very disappointing. The idea of doing a movie about how the Navajo's contributed to winning the war by using their native language to encrypt the Americans' code was great. Too bad the movie didn't actually revolve around that.

Boiler Room (2000)

Wall Street never looked so dark....not super, but not bad at all.

[8/10 · 8 February 2002]

There's A LOT of testosterone in this movie, so ladies beware. You might not be entertained by a lot of the exaggerated "manly" acts going on by these men on "Wall Street", but I think it is still a pretty decent movie for everyone to see, whether you're male, female, young or old.

Giovanni Ribisi is Seth who has basically done nothing in his life as far as his father (a judge) is concerned except let him down. After dropping out of college, he takes on a position as a stock broker in training at some unheard of firm after a chance meeting with one of the firm's employees. Everything at his new job seems to be well and good at first, as he begins to gain back his father's trust and support. However, over time Seth begins questioning how the firm makes its money and how it makes so much money at that while being virtually unheard of. Through some chance happenings, he begins to notice different oddities that don't make sense.

I don't want to give away too much of the movie so I'll stop there. In the end, I thought that Ribisi turned in another great performance. And even though most of the characters in the movie were anything but grounded in common values that you'd expect normal people to have, the actors did a really good job of acting the part. You may or may not enjoy the parts they played, you got to hand it to guys like Nicky Katt, Ben Affleck and Scott Caan for some good acting jobs.

The one thing I thought could have been better was the ending. Without giving it away, let me just say that I thought it ended too easily and too quickly. But other than that, I'd say it was an original movie, worth seeing once or twice. I give it an 8.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Best war movie ever...best movie ever? I think so.

[10/10 · 8 February 2002]

There really is no need to discuss what goes on in this film, since all of the world has seen it 10 times over. Tom Hanks is possibly the greatest actor of my generation, I being 26 when the film was released. Thomas Sizemore is one of my favorite actors, despite always being a supporting actor. No question, that this is the greatest war movie ever created, and it will take something VERY special to steal that crown away. As far as I'm concerned it was the best movie that I've ever seen to date. Obviously I gave it a 10.

The American President (1995)

A feel good romantic comedy, a little cheesy, but well done.

[9/10 · 8 February 2002]

This was a feel good romantic comedy, starring Michael Douglass and Annette Bening as the two romantics. Douglass is the President of the United States, while Bening is the hard nosed, workaholic, successful Sydney Ellen Wade, who at first was sent to meet with the President to gain his backing behind an environmental bill. However, it wouldn't be much of a romantic comedy if they didn't fall in love with each other, which is exactly what happens. What, the President having an affair? No, he is a widowed father to a daughter who amazingly supports her dad and even helps him court Sydney as he becomes closer to her. What a good kid, not realistic, but a nice thought.

The thing that makes this worth watching is first of all the quality of acting. This movie may not knock you off your feet or change the way you watch movies, but it does a really good job of keeping your attention. Douglass plays a President who just wants Sydney to see him as Andy, not Mr. President, all while Sydney is under pressure from the firm that originally hired her to change the President's views on the environment for getting involved personally with him. Not to mention the fact that the media is all over their relationship. After they find out that Sydney stayed the night at the White House, the President's impeccable approval rating during an upcoming election year suddenly begins to plummet.

Anyways, without giving any more of the movie away, let me just say that I gave it a 9 simply because the acting was so good in it. It's great to see a movie that doesn't have any special effects, but leans upon good acting to sell the characters. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the Shawshank Redemption or Goodwill Hunting, but it is still worth your time, especially if you're tired of movies that don't make sense and rely soley on big explosions and special effects to sell themselves.

Godzilla (I) (1998)

What a disgrace to real movie making and real acting!!!!

[1/10 · 27 January 2002]

The only reason I didn't leave the theater half way through this horrible movie was because I rode with my friend who actually wanted to stay and finish it out. To this day I cannot believe that Matthew Broderick is the same actor who gave us Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This guy hasn't done anything worth watching since then.

Let me just state for the record, that hollywood couldn't have made a dumber looking godzilla than what they put in this one. And the mickey mouse plot was about enough to make me want to vomit for actually willingly giving away $6.25 of my money to see this worthless piece of work. I haven't seen a more predictable, overly dramatic plot using overly dramatic theme music (which was oh so annoying) since I saw Twister.

I thought that Godzilla was supposed to have a cult following. I respect movies or actors that have earned those followers, hence the reason I wanted to see Godzilla. I had never really watched a godzilla flick from beginning to end before, so I figured I'd go to this one to see what the hype was about. I have rarely been as disappointed in my movie going life as I was on this day. Other movies that are comparable to this in terms of how poor and disappointing the movie was are in my mind Twister, Armegeddon, Scream 2 and 3, and Jurassic Park 3.

Honestly I wouldn't sit through this movie again even if Hollywood offered to double my money back. Just horrible.

Unforgiven (1992)

The greatest Eastwood flick ever, and that's saying something

[10/10 · 27 January 2002]

It's been many years since I first saw this movie, but I can still remember it like it was just yesterday. Rather than sit here and try to do justice to this GREAT film by explaining the plot, let me instead just say that Clint Eastwood was CLASSIC Clint in this one.

By the time it was over, it had me wanting to go out and find everyone who had ever wronged me and whoop their tails. Never has revenge been so sweet in any other movie. And what can I say about the cast. It is impossible to go wrong when your three leads are Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Gene Hackman.

This film is right up there with the greatest westerns I've ever seen. Between this and Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, I think it may be my favorite western of all time.

All in all, this movie is Clint's greatest flick yet, and he was also the one who directed it. This movie was easily a 10, and if I could rate it higher I would. It is a must own DVD. And if your are just starting out and only own one DVD, make sure this is it. You will earn the respect of your peers when they see that you chose Unforgiven to start your collection with.

One Night at McCool's (2001)

It had its moments (Paul Reiser) but it got tiresome after a while.

[7/10 · 26 January 2002]

I had never even heard of this movie when my girlfriend rented it, so I started watching it with a clear and open mind ready for anything. I didn't have high expectations for it due to never hearing about it, but I was actually somewhat surprised, somewhat.

It's basically a dry comedy in which Liv Tyler's character, Jewel, has this obsession with someday owning what is in her mind, the perfect house, although she has no job or any means of buying one herself. Throughout the entire movie every man that runs into her falls at her feet, and as you can guess, she never hesitates to take advantage. It is extremely similar to Penelope Cruz's character, Isabella, in Woman On Top in the way that she has this special womanly thing about her that drives all men wildly in love with her, except Isabella never used the men like Jewel does.

Some of the male characters in the movie are played by Matt Dillion, her main squeeze in the movie, Paul Reiser, Michael Douglass, and John Goodman. Despite this strong showing of actors though, this movie has really nothing to do with them, but everything to do with Jewel. One thing I will say though is that even if you don't want to see this movie, I would recommend it based only on the fact that you have to see Paul Reiser's character! For the life of me I will never forget that leather, studded, sex slave outfit he wore! He played a freak! I'm talking whips and chains and dog collars and so forth. Just seeing him, the guy from Mad About You, wanting to be spanked by Jewel is enough to make anyone laugh their butts off! I still can't believe he did that role.

All in all though, it was an O.K. movie. It had its moments, but it really got tiresome after awhile. I mean watching every guy in this movie continually keep falling for Jewel as she just kept blatantly using them on her obsessive compulsive quest to own her own home got old. It wasn't the worst movie, but it definitely will never be a classic. I gave it a generous 7.

Don't Say a Word (2001)

Had potential, but the overall plot was unoriginal and predictable

[6/10 · 18 January 2002]

When I first saw the preview of this movie, I thought that the movie really had potential. After all, I love psychological thrillers, (Primal Fear being one of my favorite of all time) so I thought that I should spend the 6 bucks and see this movie based on potential alone. Not to mention that Michael Douglass is a lock for great acting in just about every movie he is in.

I don't know if the unending repeatedly played previews of this movie for a month straight just gave too much away or what, but the movie right from the start was predictable and not very original at all. Basically, bad guy wants something, uses good guy to get it against good guy's will and morals, then good guy duels with bad guy in the end. We've all seen that script a thousand times before.

Elisabeth Burrows plays the psychotic girl who is locked up who has a code memorized in her head which the good guy, (Douglass) needs to get for the bad guy to save his little girl's life. Without giving away how this predictable plot evolves, let me just say that the only thing worth waiting for is to see what this code she has memorized corresponds to. And even that is anti climatic. This movie really had a lot of potential, but the plot was a "been there, done that" type of plot. Hence the reason I only gave it a 6, and I feel that 6 was very generous.

Evolution (2001)

For a cheesy comedy, this movie lives up to it's billing and more...had me laughing so hard!!

[10/10 · 18 January 2002]

I gave this film a 10, because it simply lived up to what it was supposed to be to a tee, and then some. It wasn't a drama or an action film or a romantic flick, it was a cheesy comedy, which had my girlfriend and I laughing so hard it was difficult to breath. Actually when I rented it, I was worried it might be some stupid movie with bad acting and bad directing, but I couldn't have been more wrong about it. Orlando Jones was absolutely hilarious (who knew the 7-up guy could act so well), while David Duchovny added that "off the wall" dry humor which blended perfectly with Jones. And then to top it off, Julianne Moore's (from Hannibal) character was hysterical in an offbeat style as well. As for Sean William Scott, he basically played the same role he usually plays in all of his movies, the "idiot", but nobody in acting pulls that off as well as he does. He's a riot! Granted, this movie is not Saving Private Ryan or The Green Mile, but for a cheesy comedy that is just supposed to make you laugh, it's at the top of it's genre.

The movie deals with an asteroid which strikes the Earth, but it is no ordinary asteroid. This asteroid brought single cells with it, but for some reason these cells are multiplying at- a high rate of speed. As time goes on, the cells become more advanced evolving from single celled organisms to multi-celled organisms and so forth. Don't get the wrong idea though, this movie is more about just being funny, than it is about sci-fi, or even evolution for that matter. Granted, the cells evolve into much more complex beings, but really folks, it's just a comedy to take your mind off of life for awhile. If you want something to make you laugh, then I highly recommend Evolution.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter is stupid and dorky, both him and the movie.

[5/10 · 18 January 2002]

The only reason I went to see this movie was because my girlfriend gave me no other option. However, once I got to the theater, I was really in the mood to try to open my mind up and let this movie capture my attention.

Unfortunately it never did. Granted, I am not big into dungeons and dragons, witchcraft, sorcerers or wizards, but that didn't stop me from really enjoying Lord of the Rings. So that proves that I am *capable* of enjoying a night out watching a movie such as this, however Harry Potter just didn't do it for me.

I don't know if was just the main character, Harry Potter, that turns me off or what, but I must say that he surely didn't help matters. He seemed to be nothing but a "do-gooder" who is a brainiac but yet the athletic "braveheart" of the movie. Yea right, ummm ok.

By the time the movie was over, I was dying to get out of the theater. Had it gone on for even 10 more minutes I think I would have had a nervous breakdown trying to hide my discontent from my girlfriend.

After the movie I just wrote it off as me not liking it due to the idea that I'll never like a fantasy movie with wizardry in it. However since seeing Lord of the Rings, I now know it isn't just me, as I loved that one. I guess I just don't like the character Harry Potter, thus making it hard to like the movie, Harry Potter. And by the way, no I never read the books about Harry Potter, and now I doubt I ever will.