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Movie Reviews
These are my movie reviews. They are generally placed just after I watch a movie. And this is usually shortly after they come out. They are listed in the order I wrote them.
I do not do ratings. Because different movies appeal to different people. I hate horror movies but that doesn't mean I should give a rating of 0 to The Sixth Sense. So I discuss the movie in terms of if I think you will like it. And I try to give a picture of what the movie is like, without spoiling the movie.
If you think back to the 80's and early 90's, not a lot of movies jump out. There were some good ones but the overall level of quality was pretty poor. But in the last couple of years it's been tremendous. For whatever reason Hollywood is out of a creative drought and is producing some really good movies. It will never be as good as back in the 30's and 40's because they just don't make as many movies now - we have TV. But not only are the best movies this year as good as ever, but there are a number of excellent movies. Much better than some years when the question was - should any movie that year get the best picture.

Pearl Harbor
What a waste of time. The time spent outside of the actual battle was a complete waste. Just like Michael Bay's last movie, one man died so Ben Affleck got the girl. This was an incredibly forced romance. So lets move to the battle scenes. A lot of it was really good - done with a level of realism and on a scale never done before (for Pearl Harbor - Saving Private Ryan's D-Day battle was far better). But again, the stupid, unrealistic, inaccurate part with the two fighter planes detracted immensely from the entire battle. (About the only thing historically accurate in the movie was that the attack was on Dec. 7.) In fact, every battle scene with Affleck/Hartman in it was bad. They're good actors - but the scenes were totally implausible. If you want to see a good Pearl Harbor movie - rent Tora Tora Tora - an excellent flick. (Note to female teens - according to my daughter Josh Hartman is the cutest thing that ever lived so you must see it.) Finally, FDR's heirs should sue Jon Voight for the terrible job he did playing FDR.

Shreck
This was absolutely superb. The storyline was imaginative and original. The characters were imaginative and original. And the animation itself was worlds beyond anything else ever done. The best way to state how good the movie was, it wasn't until after I left the movie that I started to realize how incredible the animation was. And the kids love it - characters that fart, burp, are rude and crude - this is what they want. The animation was akin to when Jessica Rabbit first stepped out on the stage in Roger Rabbit - it wasn't animation - it was real. Go see this now.

Chunhyang
Ok, it's playing in the theaters here so I figure it has to be pretty good - a Korean film in a U.S. theater. WRONG. This was sooo boring my wife and I left after 1 hour (and snuck into Pearl Harbor instead). Not only was it a slow boring story, but there was this stupid narrator guy you wanted to strangle because his narration made it even worse. So I e-mailed some Korean friends of mine in case something got lost in the translation but one replied - no, it's not a movie for fun - it's an art film. Run away - even Pearl Harbor was better than this.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
This has won awards everywhere and I have one question - why? I loved the Matrix. But this film was slow and nonsensical. What really got me was that sometimes they could leap miles but other times they couldn't jump up on a wall - there was no logic to their super-powers. And the characters weren't terribly interesting either. The only part that I thought was well done was when the young princess was trapped in the desert with the Mongol warrior - that was a well developed series of scenes. But that was it. Rent The Matrix instead.

Traffic
This was excellent. Easily one of the two best films of the year. It holds you from the first second. The stories are incredible. The character development was amazing. The transformation of Catherine Zeta-Jones' character was simply amazing and incredibly nuanced - she is a much greater actress than I had thought before this. Don Cheadle and Luiz Guzman steal the show at times. And Benicio Del Toro is just amazing - a Kevin Spacey level of acting (i.e. none better). And this should not take anything away from anyone else - from Michael Douglass down to every bit actor, each role was perfect, each part of the story was perfect. When Michael Douglas asks for new ideas in the war on drugs and the scene is then just silent - 20 seconds of silence in a movie. Simply amazing. Rent this tonight. And if you have teenage kids, have them watch it too.

O Brother, Where Art Thou
I have decided that this is the year where either; a) I lost all taste in movies, b) The rest of the world lost all taste, or c) People went to bad movies because there were no good ones. How on earth did people like this one? It made Crouching Tiger seem sensible by comparison. Yes I know that it follows Homer's The Oddesy. Well there's a reason that the only people who read that book now are High School kids assigned it. The story is lame and when moved to the deep South - even lamer. Not dumb funny - just dumb.

Best in Show
This was one of the most clever and innovative films of the year. And roll on the floor funny at times too. The main story is about a dog show. And that is the main story. But the real story is the people that own the dogs. And not so much the dogs (well the dog is central to one couple), but just their lives as they go to the show. And you actually find yourself starting to care about these people, their relationships, what is going to happen. Very interesting people with unusual but believable traits that together give you the most original funny picture of the year. Do not miss this. (Eugene Levy is definitely one of the funniest people in the business - and he does it while acting serious.)

Billy Elliot
This was one of the most touching films I have seen in a long time. An absolute tear-jerker. It is about a young boy in an English mining town who would rather learn ballet than boxing. And of course we have Margaret Thatcher against the miners union and the union is out on strike. (The battle between Thatcher and the miner's union has now led to (at least) three brilliant films; this one, Brassed Off, and The Full Monty.) The boy's family is dysfunctional as are most of the people around him. And his best friend is discovering that he (the friend) is gay which is handled very well but leads to additional complications. Absolutely beautiful - the film, the characters, and the dancing.

Two interesting postscripts to this movie. First, I think English films should have subtitles in American. I was translating for my daughters every couple of minutes and sometimes I have no idea what they said. Second, it has an R rating for language - but what kid hasn't heard the word fuck on the playground today (although in the movie it's pronounced fouk). Personally I think it got the R rating because it showed a grade school boy deciding he was homosexual and his friend accepting it. I have a feeling that the ratings people were actually upset about that. Anyways, unless you're in complete denial about what your kids already see and hear - this is fine for kids as young as 8 - in my opinion.

Almost Famous
In my opinion this film, along with Traffic, was one of the two best films of the year. It was both a sweet coming of age journey for a young boy and almost a love ballad to the early days of rock and roll. Billy Crudup was incredible - another amazing actor that should continue delivering incredible performances. And the others were all excellent, with my personal favorite being Frances McDormand as his mom. It's the story of a high school boy who follows one of the bands to write a story about them for Rolling Stone and seeing the world of the bands from his eyes. There's the relationship between the band members, there's the relationship between the band members and the groupies, there's the fans, and there's Russell and his relationship with all of them and with his mother. And along with all of that, you also get a clear picture of what that slice of the 60's was like. Definitely well worth watching.

Save the Last Dance
Ok, what's not to like. You have two beautiful teenagers who are both dancers that fall in love in High School. She has had her mother die and is rich. He is poor and his sister has a kid. She is white, he is black. We've got it all here. And they are both good dancers and good actors. This could have been one hell of a film. Could of... Instead the biggest suspense was waiting for the bad thing to happen that they would have to surmount. This was boring. A good film is a roller coaster ride with each problem bigger, each success bigger, reaching to a crescendo. This was the kiddie boats with a constant ride and an occasional small wave - very small. Not only boring, but painful because of what it could have been.

What Women Want
They were working on a TV show years ago called What Men Want - but the renamed it Baywatch. Women apparently have a much more complicated outlook on life - it actually consists of more than one thing. (This explains a lot.) Anyways, this was a very entertaining and funny movie - one of the best of the year. It wasn't groundbreaking but it was enjoyable from start to finish. And the moments of drama while not great, were the right touch to stop it from being too light. This may turn out to be one of the best films ever about the difference between men and women. And Mel Gibson both clearly carried this film and also, of the superstar actors out there, is willing to take more chances than most of the others. He is very good.

Meet the Parents
When my kids bring home their future husbands, this is how I want to treat them. This film is hilarious - absolutely hilarious. Robert DeNiro is the future father-in-law from hell. and Ben Stiller is the bad-luck guy, named Gaylord Focker, for whom nothing goes right. The combination is that everything that can go wrong - does. When you want to spend the night laughing so hard you can't breath - see this.

Rocket Man
So my 8 year old daughter wants to rent this film and tells us we will all love it. Well, she never gets to pick what we watch so we get it. We sit down to watch. And this film is stupid, I mean really STUPID. It is so stupid it makes G.W. Bush look smart. And we watched the whole thing. There are a few movies that are incredibly stupid and yet so very funny. This is one of those rarities. Watch it with your kids. And if you don't have kids, watch it anyways.

October Sky
This is the true story of a group of kids who live in a West Virginia mining town who's future is to graduate high school and go work in the mine. The mine is their life, it owns the town, it owns the businesses in the town, it basically owns the people. But one of the boys sees sputnik and decides he is going to go work for NASA. And talks his friends into helping him and together they start building rockets. Even if it wasn't true, it would be a touching, wonderful movie. The fact that it's true makes it even sweeter. A story about four normal high school students who achieved incredible dreams.

Space Cowboys
Clint Eastwood still stars in and makes some incredible films, like Absolute Power. This is not one of them. It's a cute little romp for four older actors to show that you can be over 29 and still be a stud-muffin. In fact, it shows them sort-of competing with the younger astronauts. There's not much of a story here and what is there is pretty forced. But there are quite a few cute scenes in the movie. If you're bored, it's better than channel surfing. (And it's definitely better than Pearl Harbor.)

Gladiator
This was an interesting movie. At it's core it is your standard roman toga & sandals movie. It is very well done with strong performances across the board. Joaquim Phoenix was outstanding and will probably get a nomination for best supporting actor. And Russell Crowe was superb. But when it was all said and done, I didn't like it that much. Why? First off, it was pretty bloody. But that era was bloody. What bothered me was the main story. I just didn't buy it. The driving force and choices the main character made just didn't ring true for me. Now the obviously did for many viewers because it is doing real well. But I found it illogical. And I found the ending very unrealistic - way too Hollywood. On the flip side, it is an awesome spectacle and it gives a feel for the level of civilization that Rome had reached. But Spartacus was much better. If you like gladiator or Arnold Schwarzenegger movies - go see this.

Road Trip
This is being called the American Pie of this summer. And it is in the same genre. I do think American Pie was much better - and more classy. But Road Trip is it's own movie and has scenes that are so funny you will have trouble breathing - assuming you like gross teen humor. The real interesting thing I noticed was that while in American Pie the women had real roles and basically controlled if the guys got sex, Road Trip goes back to the teen summer movie standard where the female roles are there as necessary and the guys are, in fact, get sex whenever they try. Tom Green is the star of this movie in my opinion - the guy is a world-class comedian and every scene he is in is excellent. Well worth watching if you liked American Pie.

Center Stage
This is a chick flick so I didn't go watch it. But my wife and 11 year old daughter both loved it. (I went and say Gladiator and Road Trip by myself at the same time.)

Battlefield Earth
If L. Ron Hubbard wasn't dead, this would have killed him. I haven't seen it but based on what some friends have told me, I think watching a chick-flick would be less painful than watching this.

U-571
I will probably go see this but here is why I haven't. I've seen the preview. Ok so what's the problem? 1) The allies already had the enigma machine to decode the German coded radio transmissions before England was in the war. It was first stolen by the Poles who took it to England. 2) Early on in the war, before the U.S. ever entered the war, a British captain boarded a German u-boat that had been abandoned and grabbed their coding machine and code books. There was no need to go steal a code machine! But lets assume there was. And lets assume the Germans found out. All they had to do was change the code keys. The trick at Bletchley Park (where the allies did their code breaking) was to determine the code keys based on the transmission. Having the machine once you knew the keys was easy. If you want to see a good WWII movie, rent "The Bridge at Remagen" or watch the first 1/2 hour of "Saving Private Ryan" (the rest of it, I think, sucked).

Rules of Engagement
Until Battlefield Earth came along, I was going to nominate this for worst movie of the year. And with the breadth of talent in this movie someone should be shot for wasting it on such a one-dimensional piece of crap. The real problem here is the storyline. A movie is supposed to be a rollercoaster, taking you up then down. Problems get harder and are then overcome. But in this movie there is no effort to make this believable. The ambassador lies on the stand. The attorney talks to the ambassadors wife trying to get her to recant the testimony. She refuses. End of attempt. And at the end of the movie it wraps up the lose ends by printing what happened to everyone else. Every bad guys was punished, every good guy was ok. Watch it only to see exactly how not to write a movie script.

Erin Brokovich
Finally a really good movie. Not a great movie but at least a really good movie. And while I have never cared much for Julia Roberts, this one shows she is a really good actress with a wide range. Definitely a different role for her, but after 20 minutes or so you forget it's Julia Roberts swearing up a storm and it's Erin Brockovich you are watching on the screen. And while the main story is about her getting a legal settlement for environmental poisoning, the more interesting story is that of a working class single mother without much education trying just to survive and provide for her kids. And the conflicts between work, the children, and the boyfriend. It definitely showed this conflict in a new and interesting way. Definitely worth seeing.

Galaxy Quest
Ok, some people don't like Star Trek. If you don't that's ok. There is something very wrong with you but - well actually - why don't you like Star Trek? How can you not like it????? Anyways, if you are "one of those" who don't like Star Trek, you probably won't like Galaxy Quest. However, if you do like Star Trek, then you will love Galaxy Quest. It is a complete tongue in cheek story about a has-been TV cast that now makes their living opening electronics stores and going to fan conventions. And some aliens think that they were for real and come to them for help. It skirts dangerously close to the line of being too ridiculous without ever going over the edge (too much). This is what would happen if William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were asked to help - it is - I know it. And my favorite line in the movie (minor spoiler) is near the end when Tim Allen calls the kid on earth and tells him it's all real and the kid says "I KNEW IT!" - that was the crux of the concept. So remember, "Never Give Up, Never Surrender."

American Beauty
Don't walk, run to go see this. See it tonight. This is the best movie that has come out in the last several years. It should, and probably will, win Best Movie, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and best screenplay. I have always thought Kevin Spacey is one of the best actors around. This movie shows he is better than that. And Wes Bentley is incredible. It is disturbing. It will get under your skin. It will stay with you. It is both depressing and also uplifting and beautiful. I won't describe the movie at all to avoid spoiling it. Awesome.

Ok, we're back to this one. I still believe this is the best movie I have seen in years. Numerous people have told me that they have not gone because the story is about an older man chasing after a high school girl. That story is the McGuffin. (McGuffin is Hitchcock's term for an item the story is supposedly about, but actually isn't about at all - like the necklace in Titanic.) This story is about life and relationships and living.
In the first 5 minutes the movie tells you Kevin Spacey is going to die. You know throughout the movie that he is going to die. At the same time, you see him start to wake up from a life where he was emotionally dead. It's an amazing thing to watch as someone re-looks at their life and makes new choices to once again embrace life. This movie will hit you hard. But for each person it hits them differently. It covers so much ground from relationships (not just marriage) to work to intolerance to death. There is the relationship between Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning who's the "perfect wife." There is the relationship between the kid next door and his ex-military father. There is the relationship between the kid next door and Kevin Spacey's daughter. It goes on and on.
I left the movie very sad that Spacey had come alive, only to die. A couple of days later I changed my view to happy that he had come alive before he had died. This movie will get inside you and bother you and disturb you. It will almost certainly strike a major chord with something in your own life. And you will still be thinking of it days later. This is movie making at it's finest. Go see it while it's still in the theaters. (And if this doesn't win most of the major Oscars across the board I am going to be very unhappy.)
And if you think Kevin Spacey is possibly the greatest actor alive today, rent both "L.A. Confidential" and "The Usual Suspects." Both superb films with great roles by him.

Being John Malkovich
This movie is also different. While it had funny and dramatic parts, it was mostly weird. But it was also very good. I don't know any better way to explain it. You can't go into this movie expecting a "normal" movie with the normal kind of plot flow. But if you are open to something that is different and done well, then go see this.
John Cusack plays a puppeteer who has to go get real work. Cameron Diaz plays his frumpy wife (and proves that she is a very talented actress). John discovers a portal into John Malkovich's mind. In there you see what he is seeing. John Malkovich plays himself which I think must have been pretty weird.
Anyways, between the three of them they start wanting each other, some only when the other is inside John Malkovich. And the relationship problems escalate from there. Add in a chimpanzee that is suffering from emotional scars when it was young (this makes sense in the movie), John Malkovich trying to control himself, and an office building with lower overhead than our new site and it all gets very interesting. This movie is about relationships and immortality. Some people get what they want, and some don't. And how it works out is also very weird.

The Insider
Al Pacino is a great actor. And he does a very good job in this movie. Not his best work ever but very good. And he is totally overshadowed by Russell Crowe who plays Jeffery Wigand. Once in awhile you see a movie where the actor is the character. It's not a movie anymore, it's being there seeing the person portrayed. Every second Russell Crowe is on the screen he is Jeffery Wigand.
This movie is about Jeffery Wigand who was head of research at Brown & Williamson, the third largest tobacco company. He was fired and then testified against the tobacco companies. While they made some minor changes from the true story, it is shown basically as it went down. And because of that you are left waiting to see what happens rather than assuming it follows the normal Hollywood story line. There is no guarantee of a happy ending and there will be no neat and tidy ending.
On the surface this story is about the relationship between Pacino who is a producer at 60 minutes and Wigand who he is trying to cultivate as a source. But most of the way through it hit me that, to me, it is really about what true bravery is. It's not the one heroic action at the critical moment. It is living through day by day trying to do right when the consequences for your actions are additional horrendous problems. It's continuing to live your life as a good person regardless of what happens.
This is a must-see movie.

Princess Mononoke
This is Anime (Japanese animation). But not the normal style where the girls all have weird color hair, etc. It is a very different style from Disney but one that is every bit as good and much more beautiful. The landscapes are as breathtaking as any in a real-world film. I read somewhere that the studio that did this film has two animators who do nothing but clouds. It is that level of detail.
The story is Japanese. So again, it is not a standard Hollywood plot line. Although it is not that different other. It's more that it does feel foreign because different things are emphasized and the story twists differently than it would if it had been written by an American. I like Japanese movies because they are less predictable but are still designed to entertain. (By entertain I don't mean it's all happy - but that it is there to take you on a journey you are glad you took).
Princess Mononoke is a movie about Deities, environmentalism, women's rights, loyalty, love, and the ramifications of the march of civilization. And it's all wrapped up in a love story between a boy and a girl. There are demons, battles, etc. that keep it moving. But at the same time it takes the time necessary to fully develop the story. I believe the film is over 2 hours long. If you want a different take on the story of the single man fighting for what is right and for the girl - this is it.
It is playing at the Village theater on it's large screen right now. Go see it there. The landscapes are too gorgeous for the smaller theater screens. I read one review from someone who saw it in Japanese and did not speak a word of Japanese - and he said it was awesome. It's that good.

Shall We Dance
And if you like Princess Mononoke, there is another Japanese movie that I highly recommend is "Shall We Dance." It is out on video and is excellent. It is one of a handful of films that are either in black & white or foreign that my wife liked. This is both black & white and foreign and she loved it. Shall We Dance is about a salary-man (white collar worker) who finds nothing satisfactory in life and takes ballroom dancing because the instructor is beautiful. And in Japan his doing this is akin to someone here cross-dressing. It just isn't done. A very moving story about relationships.

Anna and the King
Everyone has seen The King and I. And so for the first 45 minutes I kept going in my mind, ok we get a song here and it was disconcerting that they didn't break out into song. I wish I didn't do that because it detracted from the movie. But that was me, not the movie. The basic story is similar, but different enough that it is it's own story. And they bring in a lot more detail about the extreme danger to the throne. The king needed bodyguards with him constantly.
The relationship between Anna and the King is much more realistic here. Both in terms of the power and weakness each had in their arguments and in the tremendous cultural barriers between a white woman and an Asian king. The scene where they go to dance, with all of the English gentry watching, with Anna deciding if she can dance. And on the political side, the character development of the King's brother and his top general show a breadth of characters in the Siamese palace.
Chow Yun Fat is superb. And Jodie Foster is excellent. Although not as good as she was in Contact. (If you have not seen Contact, leave work now, drive straight to the video store, rent it, drive straight home, and watch it. Contact is an excellent movie that is more about god, belief, relationships, and politics than it is about SETI. In my book it is one of the best films ever made.)
Anyways, Anna and the King is well worth seeing but is not quite in the same league as the movies listed above.

Dogma
If you have a real perverse, not perverted, but perverse sense of humor, then Dogma is for you. If you don't, it isn't. (A perverted sense of humor helps too.) This is done by Kevin Smith who did Clerks and Chasing Amy. And it does have Matt Damon and Ben Afleck in it which, I have been informed by several high school girls, is reason alone enough to see it. I view it as basically pro-god although others might disagree on that. But it is clearly anti-organized religion and especially skewers the Catholics. So be warned on that point.
It is basically a road movie. One group needs to get from point A to point B, stopping along the way to wreak divine carnage on some people who violate the ten commandments. Another group needs to stop the first group from reaching their destination. And there are others involved here and there. This is a movie where you laugh when someone is killed for adultery. Either that or it's a movie you really won't like.

The World is not Enough
Q. How do you make James Bond look non-threatening?
A. He wears glasses (first scene).
*****This review is politically incorrect. Please skip if this offends you.*****
When done right the James Bond movies are the ultimate guy movies. Women throw themselves at you, you get really cool gadgets no one else has, and you get to blow up very expensive things in real big explosions. What most guys would define as the perfect life. The World is not Enough, while it has a couple of weak points, does all of this and does it very well.
Pierce Brosnan is excellent as James Bond. Sean Connery was also great. They're each different but I think neither is "better." In this one he plays the role perfectly. Sophie Marceau is absolutely awesome. She plays her role to perfection - and that requires a pretty significant range as the movie progresses. At the end she is pulls off a really difficult performance absolutely beautifully. The other female lead, Denise Richards, can't act to save her life. But as a friend of mine said after we watched it - does it matter?
Beautifully done escapist guy stuff with a couple of unexpected plot twists (but nothing too hard to comprehend). Go see it with some other guys and suggest to your significant others that they go see "Anywhere But Here" while you see it. Because if you see it with your significant other, you will have to pretend that Denise Richard's inability to act detracted from the film.

The Iron Giant
This is a great movie for the entire family. It's an animated film drawn in the style of the 50's art for sci-fi books. It's about an Iron Giant who crashes to earth just after sputnik launched. A young boy helps him and becomes his friend (natch). And the government wants to destroy him because they are scared of him. Oh yes, and the boy has a mom and no dad. If Drew Barrymore was his sister Stephen Spielberg could probably sue for copyright infringement.
It's a good story very well done. Nothing spectacular but across the board very good.

Notting Hill
This is like Sleepless in Seattle, it transcends the "chick flick" genre to be a movie that guys like too. Julia Roberts basically plays Julia Roberts, falling in love with a normal guy. The fact that Julia has a short temper and is pretty impulsive puts quite a few roadblocks in the path. The basic story is not terribly surprising but it is done so well, and has so many light funny touches, that it is a thoroughly enjoyable movie. And if you're a guy, you get credit for suggestion a relationship movie.

Runaway Bride
It stunk. Not a single original thought in the entire movie.

Bowfinger
This movie is about Steve Martin as a nowhere movie producer who has a film greenlighted if he can get Eddie Murphy to star in his movie. Eddie Murphy basically plays Eddie Murphy - the top bankable black star in Hollywood. Eddie Murphy has no interest in the movie. So they set up shots where Eddie is going to be, have the actors do their thing, and film it, getting Eddie Murphy in the film.
And if you know anything about Hollywood, the portrayals are exquisite. Heather Graham sleeps here way to the top over the course of the movie. The illegal aliens working on the film are "players" by the end. And everything is done with borrowed equipment. And they bring Scientology into it too (I'm surprised they weren't sued). Absolutely hilarious.

South Park
Ok, this may not be for you. Among other things you have the devil and Saddam Hussien having sex together. (In fact, they put in one scene just to give the censors something totally outrageous to cut - and the censors left it, so it's in the film.) But this film is also about the evils of intolerance, the importance of parents taking responsibility for raising their kids, and what can happen when people look for a scapegoat (war with Canada). And if you have an extremely perverse and perverted sense of humor, you will enjoy it.
On the flip side, you probably don't want to admit to anyone if you did like it. As for me, I thought it was shocking that they allow stuff like this in the theaters.

ED TV
This is the Truman show only the person knows they are on TV. It's not great, it's not high drama, but it is a fun entertaining movie. And it is populated with some very interesting characters. Sort of the trademark Ron Howard film. It has a ton of funny moments. Watch it when you want a laugh.

Austin Powers
If my daughters didn't insist on watching this, I probably never would have watched it, and probably would have lived just as fulfilling a life. On the flip side, there were scenes I though were hilarious in it. And lots of other people really really like it. If you saw the first one, this is more of the same - better in places, worse in others. If you didn't see the first one, stick with your plan. As to me, I've not got the 7 year old liking it too which has me a little worried...

Three Kings
This was supposed to be this great movie. It was good. And it was worth going to. But I didn't think it was great. And it didn't really suck me in - it was more like I was just sitting there watching. My wife found it disquieting in the way it portrayed the violence. It was less bloody than a lot of movies, but it handled the violence in a very powerful way. Worth watching.

American Pie
The funniest movie in years. Better (and more disgusting) than Something About Mary. It's a teenage sex comedy but so well done that that description does not do it justice. If you want to laugh until you cannot breathe, go see this. One note, my teenage daughter loved it. And some women I know in their early 20's loved it. But my wife and a couple of other women who have celebrated their 29th birthdays a couple of times didn't like it - they just got mad at how stupid guys are. So if you are female, you may not like it. Excellent.

The Matrix
During the 90's there were not a lot of great films. Boy has this changed in the last 2 years or so. The Matrix is the best Sci-Fi movie in years. The special effects are great but what really makes this good is the story and the concept are incredible. The acting is really good (Keanu Reeves actually is a good actor) across the board. And my wife who is not a Sci-Fi fan (she has only seen two Star Trek movies) liked it so much she's buying the DVD. You should see this on a good, large-screen TV playing the DVD. Excellent.

Election
Premiere Magazine had a great comment about "Election" and "10 Things I Hate About You." That while both are teen comedies, they transcend that genre and are both very good movies. Election is about a student who is so driven she makes us all look like slackers running for student body president and a teacher who tries to teach her some humility. It's different from the normal teen movie story line and filled with black humor. Good.

10 Things I Hate About You
This is really The Taming of the Shrew set in a Seattle High School. (Shakespeare actually got writing credit on the movie.) I think it's better than Burton's and Taylor's version although that is unfair as they did it as Shakespeare wrote it and this is modernized and written to be a lot funnier. It is roll on the floor funny at times. And the lead is almost a dead ringer for Erica Greenwood (but a couple of years younger). Really Good.

Dick
This has been on Video for awhile but I never mentioned it and there is a dearth of good movies right now so... This movie is about what really happened at Watergate. The title of the movie is named after President Dick Nixon. And this movie explains everything - the 18 minute gap, détente with the Russians, and who deep throat is. It all fell apart because of two teenage girls who are just ordinary ditzy teenage girls. And in the course of their reacting like normal teenage girls, exposed the whole thing. And no one is spared. Woodward & Berstein are shown as vain egoists (probably true), Henry Kissinger is mocked, and Nixon is superb. If you don't know the details of Watergate and that time, you probably won't get a lot of it. But if you do remember, this is a glorious picture of how it all could have happened. Definitely much funnier than how it actually did happen.