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"See, and then speak
yourselves."
Recent movies
Election
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
The Love Letter
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Notting Hill
Entrapment
The Mummy
Twin Dragons
Life
Shakespeare in Love
10 Things I Hate About You
Never Been Kissed
True Crime
Forces of Nature
Analyze This
October Sky
Blast from the Past
Message in a Bottle
At First Sight
Varsity Blues
She's All That
You've Got Mail
Election
I giggled all the way through "Election," a biting, often vicious satire.
Reese Witherspoon nailed the prissy overachieving character so well, I was
transported back to high school and Stacy Whittington. Not pleasant thoughts.
If Matthew Broderick were a man, I'd call his appearance positively frumpy. I
cannot decide upon a male equivalent. A sparkler of a movie that deserved more
attention.
Austin Powers: TSWSM
I love spoofs, parodies, satire, and the original Austin Powers was
chock full of all three. Dr. Evil was gleefully... evil. Austin was silly,
Vanessa cool, and the whole thing had an irreverent chic that I admired. I'll admit
I was looking forward to a sequel. What I cannot fathom is why. The first
trailers were absurd, and delightful. Darth Evil and Mr. Yodasworth. The
movie? It has its moments. "What if God was one of us" indeed.
Dr. Evil is welcome on my screen; he is such a deliciously odd villain. And
Frau Farbissima amuses me greatly. Don't ask why. The movie, though, fails in
too many respects. Fat Bastard is nothing but repulsive. Even genuinely
amusing throw-aways, like "The Alan Parsons Project" are not... thrown away.
They should be tossed out to the audience, respect their knowledge; don't have
Scott Evil explain the joke. The first rule of jokes: If you have to explain
it, it won't be funny.
The Love Letter
We chose this movie more because of the crowds at other films.
Certainly not a bad effort, though I found the main character utterly
unsympathetic. It had very fine moments, and I'm a sucker for Tom Selleck (though I
miss the moustache). I'm slightly curious about the book, wondering if the
"letter" of the movie is lifted directly from the page. If so, it is a
disappointment. All of those people so enthralled by such a Hallmark moment.
Star Wars: TPM
I enjoyed the original trilogy very much indeed, mostly for its
exuberance. TPM is a more sedate entrant into the Star Wars universe, and that is my
quarrel with it. The two Jedi were a rather welcome change; Liam Neeson has the
presence to carry Qui-Gon off quite believably. The Child is irritating. I
would have thought such a budget could have purchased a better actor. With any luck
enough "time" will elapse before a second installment that the Child will be
replaced by another, older, less obnoxious Child. I also wonder why they tried to
make Yoda look younger. The little fellow is supposed to be hundreds of years old
already; not enough time elapses between TPM and TESB to make him age so drastically... or
does it?
Notting Hill
An acceptable piece of fluff, with one fatal flaw. The music is
appalling. The opening song made me long to wedge a whole bucket of popcorn in my
unwary ears. As always, Hugh Grant is more appealing than his lackluster costar.
However, since I'd really rather find him appealing than Julia Roberts, this is
perfectly acceptable.
Entrapment
Occasionally, I go to a movie and feel like I'm entering a timewarp. Last year's Six
Days, Seven Nights gave me that feeling; it was a slightly modernized take on forties
screwball comedy. Entrapment is another such movie. I kept expecting Cary
Grant to come waltzing in from offstage. Catherine Zeta-Jones is, fortunately, a
better actress than Grace Kelly, and just as pretty. ( I heard someone say once that
Grace Kelly's job wasn't to act, but to glisten.) But Sean Connery never really
clicked with me as the gentleman thief—not enough of a gentleman, and not enough of a
rogue. I didn't dislike the characters and I didn't guess all of the plot twists in
advance, so I have to say it was a success.
The Mummy
I'm a wimp. I can't hide it, so I might as well admit it up front. When I saw
the trailer for "The Mummy," I thought that it looked as if it followed in the
entertaining footsteps of "Raiders." At the same time, I wondered if I'd
be able to tolerate the gruesome special effects that moviemakers in the nineties insist
on stuffing into films. While I grant the use of such effects in movies like
"Saving Private Ryan," in which reality is far worse than anything that can be
invented for film, I cannot understand the insistence in putting exploding heads into
movies that have no claims upon realism. Do filmmakers think that we have no
imagination? That being said, "The Mummy" was an entertaining bit of fun.
The characters were perfect movie clich�s, quite well done. Brendan Fraser
is, I think, the handsomest man in films today, and he does a good job with the broad,
comedic aspects of his role, including the action sequences. Miss Weisz is even more
effective in the role of the dingy, but very well-read, librarian. The mummy himself
is the sexiest bald man this side of Yul Brynner. I share my husband's confusion,
though; if cats are so effective at warding the mummy off, why didn't all the characters
strap cats onto their heads and dare the mummy to do his worst? If they found cats
like my cat Albert, they'd never have to worry about being caught cat-free.
Twin Dragons
I have, at this late date, become a self-avowed Jackie Chan fan.
Even outdated, dubbed Jackie Chan with an exceptionally annoying sidekick named
Tyson. This is not a movie to watch if you're searching for the meaning of life.
It is simply mindless, joyful, kung fu theater. If that doesn't sound like
your type of thing, it probably isn't.
Life
There are times when one is at the movies, that the movie ceases to matter. It isn't
so much that Life is a bad movie; so far as I remember it isn't. But it is in sole
possession of the most irritating movie audience I can ever remember. I assume the
children in attendance were expecting an uproarious comedy. They certainly behaved
as if they were seeing one. Collapsing in hoots and giggles after every obscenity,
every "nigger," every silence. I suppose that they knew Murphy and Martin
were comedians and therefore, everything either man said was comedy, damn it. So I
can't say all that much about Life as a movie. Much of the dialogue was drowned in
pointless, spontaneous, fundamentally inappropriate laughter. Before the movie
began, the usher threw some children out; apparently he needed to come back for a second
sweep.
Shakespeare in Love
I wanted to see this movie when it came out. I knew very little about it, but I find
period pieces appealing, and period comedies are even better. My husband, however,
was unenthused. The movie faded from the local theaters with hardly a whimper.
Then came the Oscar buzz. It won. I became glad that I hadn't bothered,
since winning an Oscar is nearly a guarantee that a movie will bore me to tears. It
returned to local theaters. Suddenly, my husband wanted to see it, while I had lost
all inclination. As always, though, he won. Thank goodness. I take
back everything I've ever said about the Academy. They chose a winner. This
movie was beautifully written and acted; young Will Shakespeare/Joseph Fiennes was
exceedingly attractive; Gwyneth Paltrow in a Victor/Victoria-type role shines; Colin
Firth, who deserves better than always to be the villain (see Pride and Prejudice), is, however, suitably villainous.
I love love stories, and this is one of the best I've seen in years. And my
husband has been awakened to the beauty that is Shakespeare. Good show.
10 Things I Hate About You
Shakespeare has evidently never been cooler. This is just the
latest in a recent string of teen movies that is based on some classic source, from Austen
to Shaw and on to Shakespeare. It has the obligatory denouement with the obligatory
tears, but this movie does at least attempt to break a few clich�s along the way.
The heroine is neither a goody-two-shoes nor a vamp, but an intelligent young woman,
unafraid to make her own way. That she wails about oppression while wallowing in
comfortable middle-class is an amusing twist. I didn't find the hero particularly
attractive, but then I'm no longer a teenager. When I was, I tended to fall for the
brainy, rather than the dangerous, type. But he was at least somewhat appealing, if
only for his charming Australian accent. Occasionally amusing, lightweight fluff.
Never Been Kissed
I'm no fan of Drew Barrymore. She always plays, or so it seems, self-obsessed little
girls. So I wasn't particularly looking forward to this movie. The plot
sounded silly but appealing—a perfect combination for me. And it was a
pleasant, amusing, and touching story. After "She's All That," it's a
relief to see a movie in which there genuinely is a transformation from ugly duckling to
swan. Barrymore is positively frumpy when the film begins, and quite pretty by the
time it ends. More importantly, though, her Josie Gellar finds a way to rise above
the petty horrors of high school and shine. For all of the clich�s in the plot,
Josie is fundamentally real, the abused nerd who, with all of her brains, screams for
acceptance.
True Crime
I used to think, I have no idea why, that good actors couldn't have personalities.
Actually, maybe that's true; but maybe good "acting" isn't the important
point. Clint Eastwood is not a good actor. He is... well... Clint Eastwood.
He isn't the sensitive type. He doesn't cry. He doesn't dance jigs.
He squints a lot. He looks better with a cigar or cigarette in his mouth than
without. He sounds mean even when he's trying to be nice. That said, I like
him. I used to like him a little; now I like him a lot. He's not acting; he's
Clinting. He's not gazing; he's squinting. Is True Crime a great movie?
No. I'm not even sure it's a good movie. But it has plenty of Clinting, and
that's what I paid to see.
Forces of Nature
Sandra Bullock is a very likable actress, despite my irritation that my husband adores her
and longs to see her in a nude scene. My only previous exposure to Ben Affleck was
his role in Armageddon. With that uninspiring movie in mind, I was prepared
to dislike Mr. Affleck and like Ms. Bullock. Surprisingly, while I thought Bullock
did a tolerable job as a free-spirited and kohl-eyed adventuress, Affleck was more
effective. Sara (Bullock) was supposed to bring life to Ben (Affleck), but Ben was
more alive than Sara. But Bullock is still very likable. There were some
interesting slow-motion shots that I thought added to the fantasy atmosphere.
Analyze This
I had some qualms about going to this movie, despite generally liking Billy Crystal ever
since his days on "Soap." Robert DeNiro is no favorite of mine, more based
on his choice of films than on any perceived failings as an actor. I do not care for
heavy, violent drama; I especially dislike gangster movies. So DeNiro comes rarely
into my movie universe. My dislike for Mafia movies almost kept me from AT.
That would have been a shame, since it was a truly funny film. My favorite scene,
DeNiro is talking to his loyal henchman, Jelly. He tells Jelly that he feels he may
need to find a shrink for a friend of his, and that the search has to be utterly
secret. Jelly accepts that unblinkingly, then, "Can I ask one question?"
"Yeah." "Is the friend me?" Good stuff. Not
great, and too violent for this eternal wimp, but good.
October Sky
A very fine, old-fashioned style film with a likable hero. Homer's relationship with
his father feels authentic, more authentic than I've seen in a movie since... well...
hmm. Actually I can't remember, so it must have been a while. The four
"rocket boys" were quite well done, especially the young man playing the
quintessentially geeky Quentin. My only quibble is with a very odd, wooden vignette
outside of a theater in Indianapolis. It was ludicrously false. OS is the best
movie I've seen this year, with only "Babe" and "The Truman Show"
challenging it from 1998.
Blast from the Past
An enjoyable piece of fluff, with the delightfully warped Christopher
Walken as a brilliant, and more than slightly mad, scientist who is certain the Russians
are coming. This movie held few surprises, but it was fun, and I like that in a
movie. Brendan Fraser is wide-eyed and very likable (I never realized he was quite
so attractive). But what in the world happened to Dave Foley? I barely
recognized him.
Message in a Bottle
Paul Newman tries to walk away with this one. I hadn't seen him
in a movie since "The Sting," and was pleased that he was much more an asset
than a liability in this movie. I like Kevin Costner, have always liked him, and was
glad he was finally doing a movie that I wanted to see. Unfortunately, the pointless
ending left me feeling cheated.
At First Sight
In a way, I probably have the opportunity to understand the theme of
this movie intimately. I'm not blind, but I am extremely nearsighted. When I
go to the optometrist now, he always nudges me toward eye surgery to correct my vision
(I'd snatch the chance if I could come up with the money). So I watch this movie
about a blind man who is restored to sight, and I wonder what it would truly be like to see
again. In many ways, AFS is more interesting for re-evoking the wonder of sight than
for telling a rather simple story.
Varsity Blues
I wasn't expecting much from this movie, so I was pleasantly surprised. It isn't a
great film, but it is more complex than I expected, and more human. The characters are
even reasonably well-developed, at least for a teen film.
She's All That
I like Pygmalion stories, but this one has a near-fatal flaw—it's obvious from the
start that the Galatea/Eliza Doolittle of this film is a very pretty girl. The
Pygmalion/Higgins is handsome, the story is predictable, and the dance number at the end
is just plain weird. It adds up to a watchable but utterly uninspiring piece of
work.
You've Got Mail
Since I met my husband on the internet, you can understand if we felt a special kinship
with this movie. In many ways, it's a pretty realistic look at the way relationships
grow in this faceless, voiceless medium. Meg Ryan is charming, as always, and Tom
Hanks is a good match for her. Of their movies together, "Sleepless in
Seattle" is probably the best, but this one has special resonance for me.
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