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Reviews
American Dreamz (2006)
American nightmare
This is one of the worst films I've ever seen in my life. It was so unfunny that most of the cinema audience was watching the entire thing in stunned silence. Every scene with Dennis Quaid was so torturous that it made me wish he really would get blown up at the end.
I think the funniest person in this film was Adam Busch (also played Warren on Buffy), even Hugh Grant wasn't that funny here - although I guess he didn't have great material to work with. I would've expected more from Paul Weitz, who also directed About A Boy which I liked, but I don't know what he was thinking with this film. I thought it would be an amusing parody of American Idol if nothing else, but sadly no, it wasn't even that. Spare yourself the pain and don't watch it!
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Perfection
It's so rare these days to go to the cinema and see a truly touching film, or even an original film, since so much of the films released these days are so formulaic. As far as romances go, most films nowadays seem to follow the same pattern. So it was unbelievably refreshing to see a film like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I wanted to watch this film as I knew it had been written by Charlie Kaufman, and I enjoyed two of his earlier films Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. The unusual combination of Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet also intrigued me.
I think that when you watch a good film, every frame seems to fit exactly in place and that's what this film was like for me. There are many films that play with memory, but this does so successfully while maintaining the premise of the romantic comedy. I found it clever how Michel Gondry played with continuity editing as Joel's memories were being erased and, the ending also impressed me as it resolved the plot points successfully while leaving some things uncertain. I have a whole new respect for Jim Carrey after seeing this film. Kate Winslet was also brilliant. Hopefully the Academy will remember this film next year, as it deserves at least a nomination for Best Picture.
To me this film is as wonderful as The Shawshank Redemption (my favourite film of all time) so I would give it, without hesitation, 10/10
The Simpsons (1989)
Still the best
For me, The Simpsons is, by far, the best television show of all time. The way the humour is created so a single episode contains jokes ranging from Homer tripping and falling to an elaborate parody of Citizen Kane, means that it appeals to people of all ages. I know that personally, I have grown up watching this TV show, and the intertextuality means I can often watch episodes over and over again and discover new things each time.
Admittedly the later seasons aren't as good as the earlier ones with endings which rarely resolve the storylines presented throughout the episodes, but still, The Simpsons is better than many shows on air now. I know I will greatly miss this show when it ends.
The Ring (2002)
Reasonable Horror Film
*May Contain Spoilers*
The Ring is not an entirely scary film, but there are some scenes which are frightening. The reason I watched The Ring, was because I thought the idea of watching a video, then receiving a phone call telling you you have 'seven days' left to live was interesting. I was especially intrigued to see the explanation of how this came about. However, the supernatural explanation (which I suppose was the only way of justifying the strange events which occurred) was a little bit of a let down. The film leaves a few questions unanswered and there are also plot holes. Having said that, however, the ending is fairly unexpected. (The reason Rachel isn't killed is a bit dubious, although the final scene is rather disturbing). I am interested now however in watching the Japanese version (Ringu) on which this film is based.
The single most annoying this about this film, however, is the overacting of the two girls (Amber Tamblyn & Rachael Bella) at the start. Their performances are almost laughable and detracted from the horror of the first scene. I found it incredibly difficult to take this scene seriously. Thankfully the other actors in this film are much more talented. Naomi Watts does a good job as Rachel, the protagonist.
Upon reading other reviews on IMDb for this film, I was surprised at how many people commented on how the images stayed with them for a long time after watching The Ring, as I found this was not the case for me. I definitely did not feel afraid of the television set after watching this film - it was only upon reading other reviews that the idea even occurred to me.
The Ring was definitely not the scariest horror film I have ever seen (that honour would have to go to The Exorcist). However it was suspenseful and entertaining, overall I would give it 7 out of 10.
Spider-Man (2002)
Over hyped
I never read any of the Spider-Man comics so I can't say whether this is an accurate portrayal of the comic books but I can say that as a film, Spider-Man was only mediocre. While the acting was good, it couldn't save what was ultimately a very badly written script.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***
The scene in which MJ (Kirsten Dunst) says to Peter (Tobey Maguire) "I love you, I love you so much" was so ridiculous that my friends and I couldn't help but laugh - this seemed to be the worst line in a script that just got worse over the course of the film. The dialogue for the romantic subplot was so badly written that it made it difficult to take the film seriously.
However this is not to say that the film didn't have some funny moments (even though a lot of the lines were funny for all the wrong reasons), and the special effects were good but I can't begin to imagine why this film broke box office records. I suppose if you enjoy action films this film is worth watching (if you can overlook the bad dialogue...)
Rush Hour (1998)
The film is not *that* great...
Prior to watching this film I had heard about how wonderfully funny and brilliantly acted it was, maybe for this reason I was expecting too much of it, but I can't say that I found this film to be all that funny.
The jokes were very typical and although it was well acted to a certain degree, that was definitely not enough to save the film. And even though this is probably irrelevant, I was told the outtakes were incredibly funny, and let me assure you they were not!
This film is not worth paying money to watch - you're probably better off watching it on TV as I did.
Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
Interesting Concept...
I watched this film because I thought the theory of six degrees of separation (that everyone in the world is separated by only six people) sounded interesting. I found the film to be quite intriguing, even funny at times and surprisingly, Will Smith's acting was bearable.The directing by Fred Schepisi was excellent. My only complaint with this film is the ending...
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Why was this film made?
I don't know what was going through the minds of Paul Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson when they wrote the script to this horrible movie - they probably thought audiences would buy anything as long as a lot of people died throughout the film.
Not only was the plot bad, the acting wasn't much better. But the worst part of the film was the directing by John Ottman. I think he should just stick to editing and writing musical scores because he did that much better in movies such as The Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil. And Urban Legends actually seems *good* in comparison to this film.
Do NOT waste your money on this movie as i so stupidly did - you'd be better off watching paint dry...
Heart and Souls (1993)
One of my favourite movies...
This film is one of my favourites - although the storyline may be a little too sentimental for some, i found this movie to be very sweet. The acting is wonderful - especially by Robert Downey Jnr. who, when you think about it, really plays five characters (his character plus the other four main characters when they enter his body).
Heart and Souls deserves more recognition than it has gotten, and if you haven't seen it yet, i recommend you rent the video and watch it - you won't be disappointed!
Teen Angel (1997)
Sabrina's soulmate?
When this show first aired in Australia, Teen Angel was described as Sabrina's soul mate - well that in itself is not exactly a flattering comment, but nonetheless I watched it - if only because I couldn't be bothered to move from the couch...
What can I really say about this show? It had incredibly lame jokes which were made worse by the fact that the actors could not act them out properly, and then some of the plotlines seemed to be stolen from other better TV shows and given tacky endings. They obviously also trivialise the issue of death - probably trying to come up with an original concept - well the concept was original but whoever wrote the script had no idea how to write a funny sitcom.
The most useful purpose this TV show ever served me was to laugh at their pathetic attempts to act. I feel sorry for Mike Damus (Marty) who only ever had one good film (Lost In Yonkers) and then his career went downhill.
Lost in Yonkers (1993)
Intriguing film...
This film was better than I expected it to be - after all Mike Damus (Arty) was on the ill fated Teen Angel, so I didn't think he would be too good in this - but surprisingly his acting was quite reasonable.
The other actors were also good and the only regret I had was that they didn't get Kevin Spacey to play the part of Uncle Louie (as he did in one of the Broadway productions). And as one person I was watching this film with commented, Aunt Bella should have been played by Frenchie from Grease.
Although Lost in Yonkers is not entirely captivating, it is a good film to watch on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, I would give it 7 out of 10!
Bed of Roses (1996)
Attack of the killer roses (of boredom)
I can honestly say this is the worst movie I have ever seen, never has there been such an overplayed pathetic attempt at a romantic comedy. The funniest thing about this movie was the title! If you enjoy romantic comedies I recommend you watch "When Harry Met Sally". Stay clear of Bed of Roses for all costs - or suffer horribly...