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The New Tom Green Show (2003)
Meet the new David Letterman of the 21st century
I didn't think I would like "The New Tom Green Show," but it's pretty good. I guess Tom Green is our newer, wackier David Letterman. He really could do this show (or a version of it) for 20 or 30 years and become even better and more respected as time goes on. I think he has the right combination of intelligence and silliness to keep people interested for many decades.
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Tootsie revisited
If you can get past the obvious mistakes and the fact that Russell Crowe sounds like he's doing an impression of Dustin Hoffman as "Tootsie," it's not a bad movie. I loved the surprises. If you haven't seen the film yet, it's worth your time.
The Time Machine (2002)
Poor plot point poisons picture
Although many people are skeptical about time travel, it might be possible, but just not in the way that it's presented in this movie. The concept of time travel within one timeline is for the simple minded. There are probably an infinite number of timelines that can be slightly or hugely different from each other. Think of it as a more complicated version of the TV show called "Sliders."
If you found a way to go back in time, you couldn't go back within your own timeline because there is most likely a paradox barrier. Even if you weren't blocked by that barrier, there are probably an infinite number of timelines, so it would be improbable that you could ever find your own timeline to jump within. Since the only way to travel in time is to jump out of your own timeline because of the paradox barrier, there's no guarantee what reality you'll find yourself in (unless you know how to return to a reality you've been to before). For example, you may visit a timeline where Abraham Lincoln was never assassinated, he may look like a lizard-man, he may be three feet tall, or he may never have existed in the first place. The earth may not even exist in some timelines. In that case, time travel could be even more dangerous than you would think. You may be able to map as many realities as possible and return to them whenever you want, but new time jumps would be very risky and should be done using some kind of sturdy spaceship that has its own oxygen supply.
It should be clear that no matter how hard you tried, there's nothing you could do to change your own past. Even if you traveled back in time and killed your father by mistake (before he met your mother), nothing would happen to you. There would be no paradoxes because any change you made would effect the people in the future of the other timeline that you were visiting. Since you cannot jump within your own timeline, skeptics are correct when they say that time travel (the way most people think of it) is impossible. Time travel is both possible and impossible, depending on how you look at it.
If you can forget all of that and accept how time travel is portrayed in this movie, it still won't help you much because there is a major flaw from the start. The main character's girlfriend is killed, but he cannot accept this, so he does what most people think is impossible and invents a time machine. He goes back in time to save her and then he stupidly has her stand in a clearly dangerous spot and she is killed again. After that, he is convinced that he could come back a thousand times and she would always die. That's not very "scientific." Only a total idiot would make that assumption.
He was so upset by his girlfriend's death that he bent the forces of time and space to his will, but quit trying to save her life after only one try? That's totally unbelievable. The filmmakers could have made a short montage of him going back and having her die in various ways so that we could believe he would finally quit and look to the future for an answer. If they didn't want to waste money doing that, they could have had him say that he did try a thousand times to save her, but as it is, the movie is ruined because of that one simple mistake. If you want me to believe your messed up version of time travel for the sake of the plot, I'm more than happy to, but at least have a little respect for the story.
I won't bother talking about the rest of the movie too much since so many other people did such a great job ripping it apart. I will say that I wish they would have shown more from the pre-Morlock future because we mostly just saw the library. I'd even rather see more from the main character's own time than that "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome", "Waterworld", "The Postman", etc. looking Eloi world.
One last thing. If you are impressed by the Morlocks and can't tell the difference between the goofy looking "real" Morlocks and the horrible CGI Morlocks, you'll love the werewolf from "An American Werewolf in Paris" and the creatures from "Jumanji."
Better Off Dead... (1985)
Better off without it
I can't believe how many people like this movie. It's cartoony fluff about shallow rich kids who like to ski. The main character (Lane) wants to kill himself because his girlfriend broke up with him. He eventually gets over it and falls in love with the first girl who is nice to him.
Although Lane and his family seem to have more money than God (he has a huge walk-in closet on top of everything else), they somehow can't afford to pay the evil paperboy two dollars. The paperboy then stalks Lane throughout the movie which is just one of the many things that lowers the quality to the level of a second-rate Saturday morning kiddy show.
If you're a not-too-bright, upper-middle class ten or eleven year old kid, you'll probably love this movie and laugh until you wet yourself. But, if you hate trivial movies that contain silly chase scenes, lame car crashes, idiotic daydreams, and unbelievable situations that the director seems to think are ever-so-wacky, you'll want to avoid this movie.
If you like wacky movies, but don't want your intelligence insulted too much, try "Weird Science." Lots of crazy stuff happens in that movie, but it's a thousand times more believable because of the premise.
Firefly (2002)
This show is getting better each week
Although I really didn't like the 'first' show very much, I've seen every episode which has aired so far. Since it's right before the show that I watch called John Doe and nothing else is on anyway, I kept watching. Firefly has quickly improved.
The show where they break into a hospital to steal drugs and smuggle in the doctor and his seemingly insane sister was great. Even though I usually hate anything done in a Pulp Fiction style, I also thought the episode where everything happens out of order was great too (where everyone but the captain leaves the ship).
I don't love the theme song, but at least I can stand to hear it without wanting to end someone's life (unlike that crappy theme song from Enterprise). The song from Firefly is a dream compared to the Enterprise theme, and that's saying a lot because I hate 99% of all hillbilly/country music. I just can't stand that whole nose picking, beer drinking, wife beating, bad hair day type of music, but I could listen to the Firefly theme song all day if I had to without vomiting.
I also need to mention the great computer graphics. The ships and things look totally real. I don't think I've seen anything on TV that looks better or has a more convincing look, forget that, I think it looks better than most movies I've seen. Those guys should win a bunch of awards. The whole team, actors and so on, have done a great job on the show. I hope Firefly stays on for as long as they have the energy to put out quality shows. I hope that will be five years or more.
As I said, I watched Firefly because nothing else was on and it was on before John Doe, but now I think that I'm starting to like Firefly even more than John Doe. I'm glad Fox put those two shows together so I got a chance to find out how good Firefly is. Thanks again Fox. (Update: Fox canceled Firefly and John Doe. It seems that's what FOX does best. Give you a good show and then yank it away if it's not in the top 5.)
Do Over (2002)
My kind of show
I always wanted to go back into my younger body to see if I could change things for the better. I know that if time travel is possible, the chances of finding the correct timeline would be almost impossible (where everything newsworthy happens exactly the way it did my first time around). I probably couldn't get rich from betting on famous games or get rich from the stock market because things would be different (or slightly different) in each timeline.
I wouldn't care if "Do Over" was a comedy or a drama because it's my kind of show. I just love the whole idea. It doesn't hurt that the show has a good cast and the quality is worthy of one of the major three or four networks.
There's only one thing to complain about, the music. I don't mean the music is bad, I just hate it when TV shows and movies pick a specific time in history and then use music from the future. Anyone with half a brain knows that most people use music as the soundtrack of their lives, and when you use music from the wrong time period, it breaks the reality. They start thinking about the screw-up and attention is pulled away from the story (and maybe even the commercials). If the people in charge of the music of a TV show like this aren't old enough to remember the 1980s, they could at least look in a top 40 hits book or get the information off the internet. Everything before 1990 didn't happen in the same year. Here are three songs used in "Do Over" that made my jaw hit the floor:
"Our House" by Madness - 1983
"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! - 1984
"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" by Dead or Alive - 1985
Remember, it's supposed to be 1981, those songs should be in future seasons of the show. I'm sure they could have found appropriate songs to use from 1981 if they cared about the integrity of the show. I like "Do Over," but I would like it even more if they got the music right.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
All I need is the Scooby Gang
I didn't even want to watch "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" the first few years it was on. A serious TV show based on the lame movie which was supposed to be a comedy? Blah. I then saw a few repeats once in a while at night when I was trying to find something decent to watch last year. I discovered that it wasn't total drama queen garbage, it had little mysteries and bits of humor throughout.
To me, the sex scenes and fight scenes are boring (although I do like how the vampires turn into dust). What interests me are the times when the gang's trying to figure out a mystery and when they are just chatting (with bits of sarcasm and humor flying around).
I don't know if season 6 is the last season, but whether it is or not, I hope they have a lot more "Scooby Gang" moments in the time they have left and just cut out the boring sex scenes which seems to be a favorite pastime this season.
Of everyone in the Scooby Gang, one of my favorites is Xander because he has some of the best lines. But it looks like the actor playing Xander has gained 5,000 pounds since the series started, so he's becoming less effective as the bouncy, funny, quick witted, sarcastic guy. If there is a season 7, I hope the actor goes on a sensible diet so he can play Xander with more energy. He's looking too old and tired for his age. 50 will come soon enough, there's no need to rush it.
When You Remember Me (1990)
I wish I could forget
I don't want to remember "When You Remember Me," but I'm sure it will be etched into my mind for eternity. I understand that Fred Savage wasn't considered the greatest actor of the 20th century, but holy cow! A little more research and practice wouldn't have hurt.
I've heard that people work just as hard on bad movies as they do on good ones, but I wonder if the cast and crew knew they were working on a poorly done rip-off of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." If everybody realizes they are making something that isn't that good, maybe they don't really work "just as hard."
I'm not saying that everyone in the cast was terrible. People such as Kevin Spacey are almost always good and Ellen Burstyn did a great "Nurse Ratched" impression.