Reviews

I wonder how many times I shook my head while watching this movie. For research scientists, the characters in "Hollow Man" were so brainless it was nearly stupifying. First off, I had a problem with the collective youth of this top-secret research team. They are supposed to be pioneering invisibility, when most of them look (and I stress look) as if they should be only a year or so out of college. I know, I know, they're whiz kids or something. But they didn't seem to have much grasp of the obvious. Just look at the scene in which a female researcher rushed to the side of her mortally wounded comrade, who is spurting blood from the gaping wound in his head, and says something to the effect of, "His pulse is weak! Breathing shallow!" I don't know about her, but I thought the guy had bigger problems.

Then there is the ridiculous scene in which Elizabeth Shue is locked in a freezer. Kevin Bacon has turned the temp down to 30 degrees below zero, and somehow she is not only NOT DEAD within minutes, but, clothed in a light, clingy top, she doesn't even appear chilled.

I never was made to understand just what made Kevin Bacon's character such a jerk. I only know he was utterly unlikeable. Then there are fundamental questions about his behavior while invisible. Such as, why was he hiding behind the bushes in the general's yard before sneaking up on him? Habit?

The filmmakers must have had low expectations of their audience's intellect, and it showed in many little ways, like how the serum that makes you invisible is BLUE and the serum that reverses it is RED. Just so you won't get confused, you see. The actual transformation, while well done effects-wise, was absolutely repulsive to me. I did not care to see a bloody, living anatomy chart mess of muscles, guts and veins flopping around on the gurney in agony. Just plain disgusting.

Anyway, this was the worst movie I have seen in a while, but it makes me appreciate the average film a bit more. Nearly anything looks good compared to it.

You always know it's a bad sign if your mind starts wandering during a movie, and even worse when you find yourself critiquing the movie itself. Slow and tedious are the words that first spring to mind when considering "Mission to Mars". What on earth were Tim Robbins and Gary Sinise doing in this snoozer? Not acting, that's painfully clear. So much of this movie is painfully drawn out because of extended sequences in which the characters slowwwwwwly spin and turn in their movements in the space station. All right already, we understand there's zero gravity, can we cut to the chase? It's as if so much time and effort was put into filming those weightless scenes that the editors were instructed to make sure every last one of them made it into the film. The result is excruciating and an irresistable urge to fast forward to the point of the scene, except that there never is one. Product placement was blatently obvious to the point of being annoying. Especially the candy DNA. I wonder how many theater-goers decided they had a craving for Skittles when they saw that and left for the concession stand, never to return.

This is one of the most overlooked screen gems in cinematic history. By all rights, "Empire" should have won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, but inexplicably it was criticized for not being usual Spielberg fantasy fare. I believe that it is this movie, not "Schindler's List" that is Spielberg's masterpiece to date. He paints a moving, poignant epic upon a canvas of stunningly beautiful cinematography. Christian Bale pours his heart and soul into a performance that could well be the best ever given by a child actor. As young Jim, separated from his parents, he shows us the gritty, crafty resilience that children can have in dire circumstances. His fear and determination touch us and we admire him, wondering if we, as adults, could cope or adapt as well in the same situation.

Too numerous to mention are the scenes which are heart-rending or simply surreal. For me, the essence of this movie is captured in the scene in which Jim scurries to the roof to watch his heroes fly by, and cries in exultation, "CADILLAC OF THE SKY!..."

This movie screams for an editor. While it began with a great hook and had my full attention, it loses too much momentum through the middle. Unlike most reviewers here, I did NOT go into this movie expecting something as classic as "Usual Suspect", so I was less disappointed than others.

The film's strong points are Benicio Del Toro, and Juliette Lewis, who has finally, to me, resurfaced in something at least partially worthy of her talent. Del Toro is an unusual presence, brooding and silent, somehow pulling your attention to him through the movie with his James Dean-like indifference. This guy has star written all over him. Lewis is similarly magnetic, although perhaps not given as much to do as she could have been.

The weak points of the movie are its unnecessary length and some drawn-out scenes involving the doctor and his father and the two bodyguards. In one or two of these, I was struck that the dialogue was somewhat unrealistic, and was made too well aware that the only reason the characters were yammering on as they were was so that the audience would understand the movie's plot. Some well-placed trimming by an editor would have been helpful here (do we really care what the young doctor did "back in Baltimore"? Yet we have to hear about it three or four times).

Put together, this movie came across as uneven, but I liked some elements of it and would recommend it. Largely for the performances or Benicio de Toro and Juliette Lewis, but also for some clever writing, and a few good laughs.

Predictability is the key word here. This is a very standard movie-of-the-week involving an adoption between an upper-middle class couple and a down-on-their-luck couple, who want to give up their young toddler, Emily, because they can only barely afford to feed themselves. Ted Levine and Kathleen Wilhoite are the homeless couple, and being well into their thirties at least, the viewer gets the sense that their predicament is not the result of youthful inexperience but character issues. Ted Levine is simply fantastic, much too talented for this movie, to be blunt. He commands every scene he appears in with his rough, abrupt demeanor, often offending the prospective parents of his daughter. He is cavalier in the "sale" of his daughter, and yet it is hard to dislike him. His wife, Lily, played by Kathleen Wilhoite, is whipped-dog subdued, completely unassertive and willing to let her daughter be traded without a peep, although she is consumed by depression afterward. Both halves of this couple are the main reason to watch "Broken Promises". The story will not particularly surprise or enlighten, but their performances are magnetic.

Crime Story was very probably the best show of its kind ever. Although it ran only two seasons, it boasted a superbly worked story and, without question, the best cast ever assembled for television. Not a big star in the mix, but the finest selection of character actors around. Probably the best conflict ever between two men on screen, Denis Farina as cop Mike Torello, and Anthony Denison as hot-headed mob figure Ray Luca. Luca's rise to power in Chicago and later in Las Vegas is the central plot, with Torello and his task force on target to bring him down. With Torello's every failure to bring Luca to justice, he becomes more frustrated and empassioned, and turns up the heat a notch each time, while Luca dances just beyond his reach, increasingly arrogant in his new-found invincibility.

Along with the well-laid foundation of drama and conflict, there was quite a lot of dark humor, one of the things I liked best about the series. Much of this was provided by John Santucci as Paulie, and Ted Levine as Holman, as Luca's sleazy low-life helpers. One show in particular stands out, in which Luca dispatches Paulie and Holman to go to work at a competitor's casino, to do everything possible to make it lose money. Another great role was Luca's long-suffering wife, Cori, played with shrewish gusto by Johann Carlo.

The first season was superior to the second, mostly because the first was so close to perfect. The second half of the first season, in which Torello follows Luca to Las Vegas, is no less than outstanding. Having seen "Casino",the Martin Scorcese movie from 1995, I was struck by how many similarities there were between that movie and "Crime Story" in Las Vegas.

This show was in reruns on USA ten years ago, for a short time, it seems they only ran the whole series through twice. I did tape it at the time, but have since been able to order the entire series on tape, a ten-cassette set. Although the picture quality is not great (EP mode), I am grateful to have these episodes to watch at all. If anybody ever properly puts this series on video (two episodes per tape, stereo sound), I would be even more grateful. The best television show of the 1980's deserves better!

Sorry to see this movie is being picked on so much already. Maybe some people forget you go see Tim Burton's movies to have FUN, already! This is a beautifully stylish movie, I could not get enough of seeing that hellish figure flying on the back of his demon-horse, cloak flying and sword flailing. Fantastic! The town itself was a wonderful presence, with old covered bridges and wicked looking trees. Johnny Depp was of course fabulous, he looked as if he genuinely enjoyed himself while making this movie. A shame for an actor of such range to be so underappreciated. He seems to suffer from the "Ralph Fiennes Syndrome", where actors with tremendous talent are snubbed because they are simply too good looking. (They got the face, so they must not need the award, or some odd reasoning. Perhaps it's envy...?) "Sleepy Hollow" is not scary, but then very few horror films truly are. It is more like a horror-themed ride at an amusement park, a very expensive amusement park. There are some laughs, not big ones but chuckles, and a sense of good-humor throughout. If I had to choose a weak point it would be Christina Ricci, which pains me because I loved her in the "Addams Family" movies, but here she sleepwalks through her role, many of her lines of dialogue sounding much flat, as if she were reciting them for a boring grade-school report. But it did not matter enough to me to affect my overall opinion of "Sleepy Hollow", which is that it was good fun. And Christopher Walken as the Hessian- of course!

Having rented "The Matrix" in a pay-per-view channel last night, my first thought afterwards was why didn't I go see this in the theater. The visual effects and photography were pretty stunning on my 27-inch TV, they must have been stunning on the big screen. The best performance in the film was by far Lawrence Fishburne as Morpheus, Keanu Reeves' guide and mentor. If only I'd had teachers like this Morpheus in high school! The thought of reality being broken down into only a series of electrical impulses to our brains was actually a bit frightening. Almost makes you wonder if anything really is out there, outside our selves. Keanu Reeves was, as per usual, a sort of empty vessel in this movie, I could not help wondering how this movie could have been better with a different actor in the role. Yeah, I had a little bit of a hard time with the notion of Keanu Reeves as a "chosen one" of any kind. But on the whole I found this movie rather captivating, much more thought-provoking that I had anticipated. I especially liked the idea that deja vu is really a glitch in the Matrix. Hmmm... Overall I would describe "The Matrix" as a cross between "The Terminator" and "Strange Days", with more eye-popping visuals. I would be very suprised if this movie did not win the Academy Award for Visual Effects in 2000.

Nobody will read this review, because nobody saw the movie. I saw it late night on cable,soon after 1993's outstanding "Alive" was released. I was curious to see it and compare the two. "Survive!" is shockingly bad, dated beyond belief, and bears such a close resemblance to "Airplane!" that I have to now wonder if their inspiration was at least partially taken from this 1976 stinker. For one thing, it is poorly dubbed into English, and that would be forgivable, but the ineptness of the effects of the plane crash scene is such that I wished I had recorded it, so I could laugh at it again and again.

I have to admit, I really enjoyed this movie.I loved "Alive", and there is something similar about "Ravenous". Breathtaking scenery of course, with landscapes that looked so frozen I swear I felt my own nose gettting cold. Robert Carlyle is to be commended, I feel, for taking a chance and playing such an offbeat part, and very well at that. And I know from reading other reviews here that you either loved or violently HATED the musical score of this movie and I have to say that I really liked it. I can see how it could have been annoying, but I personally found it haunting in a good way. I do agree that there seems to be no category for this sort of movie, unless there is one for Horror/Dark Comedy/Suspense/Action.

Disappointing is the only word to describe the most over-hyped movie in the galaxy. I waited until mid-summer to see the movie, not wanting to be trampled by all the geeked-out mega-fans. This is an example of special effects run amok, with so many monsters and beings filling the screen you soon give up trying to look at them all, the novelty completely gone within 10 minutes. Bad casting and poor acting are my major gripes with the film, however, with not one role being played by an appropriate actor. Natalie Portman was positively wooden, as if the experience of being in "Episode I" had frightened her into utter stiffness. Darth Maul, the only character with some intrigue, is barely in the movie. The one sequence that woke me up was the pod-race, which reminded me of George Lucas' love for hot rods and drag racing, and made me wish he would go back to making movies like "American Graffiti", with wonderful, real people, cool cars, and not a monster in sight. And I won't even get into Jar Jar Binks...

Someone made the comment that this movie must have been hyped to death for it to be rated so highly, that people must have been brainwashed. I have to relate my own experience. I saw this movie in March of 1996, when it was only in limited release, and there certainly had not yet been any hype, because so few people had seen it. I had gotten a gut feeling from seeing the previews that it was going to be good, mostly from the people involved and the fact that so little was given away in the trailers, which is so rare these days. I drove 50 miles to see this movie on one of the few screens showing it in the country. The theater was full, and it was obvious the vast majority was enjoying it immensely, as did I. So, sorry, the "Brainwashed" theory just doesn't apply here. That only works with movies like "Star Wars: Episode I". "Fargo" was as far from the world of hype as Minnesota is from Naboo. "Fargo"- 10 out of 10, and that's MY opinion.

I rented "Hideaway" solely because Jeremy Sisto was in it, and I have to say I was only somewhat disappointed. The movie's weakest points, and they are WEAK, are the completely gratuitous, TV-show quality special effects. I have never seen effects that were as utterly ridiculous to end a movie with.This is the sort of movie that reminded me,"Oh, yeah,THIS is why I hate special effects." However, aside from the mind-blowingly bad effects and the predictable plot, there is one very, diamond-bright spot in the movie, and that is Jeremy Sisto as the killer Vassago. Spookily sexy in trenchcoat and leather, he resembles a seriously psychotic "Lost Boy". Projecting an enchantingly evil sensuality, he is magnetic in his too-few scenes of dialogue. Truth to tell, if Vassago had cast the spell of his eyes and voice on me, I would have gone with him to a terrible fate. I found enjoyable also the heavy, death-metal soundtrack. (Although I am beginning to tire of the stereotype that killers in movies always listen to metal. What about all the drive-by shooters who listen to rap? But I digress) To sum up, unless you're a big Sisto fan I wouldn't bother. But if you are, Bon Appetit!

I originally wanted to see this movie because the industrial metal band White Zombie named themselves after it - had to see why. It came on on Halloween night about 4:00 A.M. on my local station, which turned out to be the perfect time to see such a movie. I loved it! Bela Lugosi, looking somewhat bizarre and giving one of his finest (if not his very finest) performances, commands the screen even without speaking, just with mere presence.For some reason, I also liked the musical score, old and scratchy though it was. Yes, some of it was amusing, and yet there were moments of eerieness. One well-done scene involved drunken Neil clutching at his dead wife's ghostly form, which then disappears. I've seen modern movies that did similar effects worse, and this movie is almost 70 years old.

I recommend this highly as a Halloween-season movie - Pop some popcorn, turn out all the lights and forget the stereo surround, immerse yourself in old-time chills.

Tarantino's best and most inspired work. I was unprepared for the pure impact of this movie, although the opening diner-table dialogue between all members of the cast marked it immediately as a Tarantino film. No one shows us that "crooks are people too" the way he does, yet he will follow with scenes of such crushing brutality that we once again remember the differences between the good guys and the bad guys. His colorful characters- Mr. White (with the "cool-sounding name), Mr. Orange, psychotic Mr. Blonde, and feisty Mr. Pink interact with a variety of personality clashes that produce some outstanding scenes. No one character is the star, they all play tug-o-war for our attention. A lack of musical score lends a gritty, realistic, "Cops"-like feel to the interspersed action sequences- quite unusual, and a welcome change from the orchestral bombardment present in other movies during shootouts, car chases, etc. The crime that is the center of the plot is never shown, therefore the viewer uses his or her imagination and stories from each individual character as they tell it to piece together what took place in the jewelry store. Quite a lot of blood flows in the course of the movie, but it is never gratuitous nor glorified. Oscar-worthy performances abound, most especially from greviously wounded Tim Roth and nervously intense Steve Buscemi. Some wonderful twists and a stunning ending make this movie what is sure to be known as one of the classics of the 1990's.

I actually rented this with a friend many years ago, it was recommended by the same friend not for scariness but for its unintentional funniness. Did we laugh! Jiggling rubber werewolves,and bodies plummeting out of hi-rises accompanied by hilariously inappropriate cheery music had us rolling on the floor. It was painfully obvious the filmmakers had limited resources. In some movies this lends a somewhat creaky charm, but here the effect ranges from embarrassing to surprisingly humorous. Maybe, looking back on it, this movie was supposed to be a spoof of werewolf films, who can tell?