Reviews

Not an avid fan of the genre I have to admit Ghostship has a lot going for it. Well-paced, a serious cast, no overuse of special effects to mask a lack of storyline or continuity and a working concept. (minor spoiler) The opening scenes promise more gore than we actually get, but maybe that's a plus after all. Somehow you're never sure whether another gore fest is around the corner. Margulies holds her own amongst the roughnecks, she's well cast in my honest opinion, and she deserves bigger roles based on her performance. (She held ER together for quite a while, that should count for something). As is obligatory in this genre the closing scenes leave the door ajar for a sequel. Not sure the idea has enough for another 90 minutes but okay. If anything negative can be said about Ghost Ship it's a lack of zest and fun in the entire cast, it all has a bit too much "I'm here now so I might as well do some work" written over it. Pity. All in all, worth watching.

I am a sucker for impending disaster movies and there are tons of enjoyable titles out there. This, however, definitely isn't one of them.

I have to admit I sort of knew I was in for a bad movie, but it still managed to exceed all my expectations. They sometimes say having starred in an adult film isn't exactly gonna help your future career as an actor. Well, I dare say having had a role in this horrendous waste of celluloid could well be more hurtful to your resume and I bet Alec Baldwin regrets ever signing up for it and has left it out of his. One can only guess why he chose to participate. Really, about everything in this movie stinks. The script was probably written by a lobotomized rodent, it's so full of plot holes and utterly idiotic reasoning I just can't believe someone actually was paid to write it. In fact, it's so lame it almost becomes funny. The 'stunts' and special effects are way below par, even for a B-film. All actors, none excluded, come across like it's each scene's first rehearsal. All the 'scientific' content (computer stuff, cell phones, the virus related 'medical' information) is complete crap.

** Minor Spoiler, but really, you knew this at the start ** Halfway through the film the idea is launched the infested plane should be crashed into the ocean, and I sincerely shouted 'YES! Please!' when the suggestion was made. Please trash the plane and all actors in it. There are bad films, and then there is this. An insult to anyone's intelligence. Someone should be punished, I'm thinking medieval torture here.

I read elsewhere the company that spawned this film have created only a handful of flicks, their IMDb scores combined average about 4.3. I think that's rather high even for this horrible film.

If you decide to watch it, it may be most fun to first load up a crate of beer, share the experience with a few good friends and have a contest: who can spot the most flaws, worst lines uttered, plot holes and such. Have a lot of paper, some pencils and a sharpener ready! You could hand out bonus points for who spots which actor is -based on his/her performance here- most likely never to be cast again.

It's a nice thought experiment. How would you perceive the people around you if all you could see was their inner beauty? How clearly would it demonstrate we mostly judge people based on their looks, clothing, make-up and style. Unfortunately Hollywood has managed to use this premise and ruin it in Shallow Hal. It may seem to be a filmed version of exactly that experiment, yet is isn't once you think about it. It's not our shallow lead character only sees Rosemary's inner beauty, he is mind-tricked into seeing inner beauty translated into a hot and sexy package. So after all he is not wooing Gwynneth Paltrow because of her great personality, he is still chasing his usual hare, today's ideal in looks, who also happens to be a nice person. Duhh! THINK! In fact, this movie boils down to shallow jokes about fat people, like huge knickers and such, where the source of many of the corny jokes lies in the fact the audience know how fat his dream girl really is, a fact which he is oblivious to. And of course, in the end, when he 'wakes up' he cannot but conclude Rosemary is still who he wants to be with. So, lucky nice and fat people, there is hope after all. All you have to hope for is a blind or hypnotised goof ball who cannot see you are fat, and then, maybe you'll get lucky if this period lasts long enough. Be honest, would you have liked Rosemary (kind of a boring goodie two shoes gal if you ask me) if you had to constantly watch let's say Roseanne Arnold (Barr) play that exact same character? It amazes me how many people apparently don't see the hypocrisy in this flick and don't even feel their intelligence is abused here. Besides this stupidity the film just isn't funny, it hardly made me laugh. In a nutshell: trash it. Waste of your time and intelligence. 2/10

Often simple story lines work best, and Blast from the Past fits that rule. It's a delicate little gem. Silverstone in one of her better roles, and Brendan Fraser really becomes the 35 year old goody two shoes meeting today's world for the first time in his life. Basically everything works in this sympathetic little film, from Silverstone's gay friend ***** minor spoilers (Not surprisingly Fraser never gets the message when Silverstone describes her friend as such) to the Archbishop and his weird collection of devoted followers who think they have seen Jesus, his father and mother Mary pop out of their underground dwelling. ***** I think the script writer and director managed to squeeze about every conceivable time lapse misconception in the scenario in a way that works and skipped the overly obvious ones that would have made this film a corny event. Nowhere the film lapses into a cheap series of "Seve Martin/Leslie Nielsen" type jokes just for the sake of inducing a laugh. Focus remains with the inevitable storyline, which is rather predictable, something that can ruin a film, but sometimes work in its favour, as it does here. A heart warming pastime, well worth taking up space in your DVD collection. Watching such a film one could easily be tempted to think making it was a breeze. Having seen tons of other movies in the same genre certainly proves making a good film, even a light comedy, is nothing but. Glad I watched it, watched it again, and I will certainly give it another go in the near future.

The story outline is promising, and scenery, acting, cinematography all match the grim situation mankind is in, in 2027, roughly 18 years after homo sapiens lost the ability to procreate. The first half of the movie is a nice mix of character introduction, allowing the viewer to get into the non existent but feasible alternative reality, some great and quite realistic and shocking action (without the typical Hollywood style massive explosions), and plotting out the route towards the inevitable. ***SPOILERS MOSTLY FROM THIS POINT ON*** Up to and including the self sacrifice by Jasper (Michael Caine) and his brutal killing I liked every bit about this movie. As if the director switched his 'subtle & typical British' hat for his Hollywood one. Action becomes the main ingredient, far too much useless war imagery and an over the top 'public discovery' of the first known newborn baby, like Jesus' resurrection or something, and everything else is a bit of a letdown. Can you say cliché?

I am still puzzled about how big a contrast the first and latter half of the movie are. Pity, really. It would have gotten 9 out of 10 for the first, and 3 or 4 for the latter half. So in total 6/10.

I hope someone takes this great premise and invents a less action packed scenario from the middle stages of the movie.

The storyline has too many flaws and illogical sequences to be worthwhile. Jolie's acting is pretty flat and poor, Washington's is OK, the rest of the cast are cardboard cutouts. Somehow almost everything about this film oozes mediocrity. The plot is lame. The only thing I liked more or less about this film are the fairly original methods the perpetrator uses to end his victims. Technical details are worse than the most far-stretched CSI 'knowledge' and gizmos and halfway the movie one wonders if the director even cared about detail credibility. (Some Spoilers hereafter!) I mean, an EKG machine with a pure sinus wave reflecting a man's heartbeat, a quadriplegic with full body muscle spasms and one working index finger, sure. A killer gutting a man's bowels whilst keeping him alive to allow the rats to feast on him followed by a rat aiming for the guy's FACE! What's with all that stupidity? Then there are quite a few continuity goofs, but you can find those elsewhere here on IMDb Honestly I found it a bit of an insult even to my limited intelligence.

Waste of time. Still 4 out of 10 to keep my girlfriend from kicking me.

I've seen it about twenty or so times now, and I never get bored with it. If you have seen it, ever tried explaining to your friends what this movie is about? Somehow I never manage to really capture the essence of this flick, which is part of the attraction I suppose. Of course, there is the basic 'story' line about a guy whose rug has been stolen by some nihilists who hold him for someone else having the same name, but to be honest that storyline only serves to piece together the incredibly funny scenes that make up this movie. Oh boy do I wish I had some of the laid-back-ness The Dude possesses. Bridges is your parents' nightmare, and lovable for that. Goodman and his never-ending flirtations with Jewish Religion and Vietnam are so utterly ridiculous without ever being offensive, hilarious! Then there is Donny, a marvel in his own right. The nihilists, Lebowski's daughter Maude and her vaginal art, her gayer than gay house friend Anton, The Jesus in his purple shiny training suit, The Dude's landlord / neighbour, the list is almost endless. This movie walks the good side of the thin line where cheap stop-or-I'll-shoot humor Leslie Nielsen style flicks occupy the opposite side.

Watch it, watch it again, have a ball talking about it with your friends, then watch it again together, you won't be disappointed, it's a killer movie. Highly recommended.

I expected a straightforward format movie. No extreme expectations, even though Jackson and especially Farrell have a fair track record. Yet it still managed to be really disappointing. Everything about this flick is just not enough to make the viewer shift in his seat. (Well maybe your girlfriend, I've heard Farrell is eye-candy in this one.) The storyline is so utterly predictable, it never requires more than a few braincells to know what's coming next. The acting is tame, bored, everybody just seems to want to go home and have a beer instead. Without this being a spoiler, if I say: eager having-to-prove-themselves-worthy S.W.A.T members, a wary chief, a (former) colleague, turning rogue, wealthy rich absolute stereotype bad guy arrested early on in the movie and you and maybe even your pet hamster easily can join up the dots. All that's left is the action scenes. And yes, you have seen better, a gazillion times at least.

Waste of your time, really. I ticked the spoiler check-mark simply because telling the basic storyline equals spelling out the entire movie. Don't blame me, I'm just the messenger here.

The series is being rerun on one of the Dutch commercial channels, in a time slot usually occupied by home shopping broadcasts. It's probably cheap. And that's no surprise to me. I vaguely recall having seen some episodes on a previous run. Today, after having seen only half of one episode bad memories popped up. The show stinks. Incredibly flat, stereotype, characters, a dull storyline, all the predictable issues being tackled in even more predictable fashion, styled along the American way, which especially in Europe makes people's hair stand on end. Outdated, boring, poorly acted. Identification with any of the characters is highly unlikely, in particular to people with at least half a brain.

Without having said a single thing that actually happens in the show, without having quoted one single line of text, I probably have said all there is to say about this show. In that sense, above comments may be considered a spoiler ! Can you spell waste of time ?

ABSOLUTELY MARGINAl spoiler below, one irrelevant scene is described in detail...

Unlike the first Dirty Harry, and maybe the first sequel, this one misses out on all fronts. Harry doesn't seem to want to get all dirty this time, he's on cruise control throughout the film. His female newly assigned partner (later she played Lacey in the Cagney and Lacey TV series) is annoying. A prop that breathes. Since this type of flick doesn't lean on a thoroughly crafted plot and storyline to begin with all that remains are action scenes, car chases and above all a lot of fast paced action with questionable violence interspersed with the main character's cynical witticisms. I'll give it 5 out of 10, and that's because I am in a good mood today. If you have nothing better to do and are into 70s style hero cop flicks, it's watchable. This punk didn't feel lucky this time! Tip: notice the ridiculous jazzy score accompanying some of the action scenes. It's funny. So seventies!

Funniest scene/dialog: Female cop is being 'tested' for adequacy as inspector with the force. Some stuck-up local government tart sitting at the interview table clearly hates his guts and his behaviour Harry (to candidate): Let's say I walk on the street and Mrs Grey over here makes me a proposal: for 5 dollar I'll do a show with a pony for you. Which misdemeanor is applicable, apart from animal abuse, obviously !?

It's so bad it's almost hilariously funny. Almost. Because it's not. I have truly never seen worse acting/actors than the idiots running around in this waste of film, heck I've seen porn stars acting better. Just watch the undead fellows in the first scene, or the guy and girl quarreling in a coffin in the next and you will have wet your pants or hit the off switch by then. (This line could be seen as a spoiler so to be on the safe side I ticked the box) I'm not gonna go into the story, you can figure that out for yourself. If you want to sit this out, make sure you have friends there, a case of brewskis and crisps, beer nuts and what have you. In a group his can be enjoyed, as you can re-enact the dialogs yourselves and outperform the original cast! Feel famous! SKIP this one if you are into serious horror films. Somehow this genre never seems to be able to shed the idiot image it got way back in time. Too often pulp like this sees the light of day. Waste of time and money. (1 out of 10)

Having seen only a short trailer I already knew this was a film I would not want to miss. It's outright gorgeous. It proves one doesn't need an immense epic story to have enough material for a decent flick. It's lovable, sweet, funny, imaginative, fantastic. Nowhere does it get mushy, corny or standard. It's a tiny story, but what a tale it becomes! I won't give away any of the miracles, I can tell you it's about a guy whose father is about to die. Old man tells his fiancée about his life's events. He tells her not to believe him, like he never believed any of his stories. Whether or not particular events took place like he said is not certain for all of them, it sure is certain not everything was a lie. Let yourself be amused by the storytelling, the weirdest of adventures and funny dialogs. Filmed in beautiful colors too, great eye for details. I LOVE IT! (10/10)

True, I've seen worse. It has all the ingredients all the other quadrillion movies of this type have. Kids, growing pains (never understood what that element has to do in these stories), beloved father gone missing, a save-the-day animal, two flatter than flat bad guys, some sidekicks (friend, an old Indian, sigh) and a flimsy excuse for a story. If I am really honest, the only thing that I will remember about this one is Thora Birch's relatively large chest for a girl her age. Acting is all poor. Benedict was better in his worst A-team episode, Birch is or at least was no actress (sorry to say) when she made this. Her brother is ridiculously bad, and whatever made Charlton Heston accept a role in this vehicle, must be they had something on him to blackmail him with. Even the pictures of the Alaskan nature are nothing to write home about. Your kids may like it, for adults it just lacks too much in all areas.

spoilers herein

Tim Roth shows once more he can really act. In No Way Home he enters the stage as a prisoner-on-parole, who is determined never to go back again. As we learn he suffered mental damage resulting from having had an accident while playing as a kid, after which he went in a coma for a while. Though not a retard, he comes across a bit slow. He doesn't overdo this trait, very subtle acting I think! He is kind and softspoken without being sweet and innocent or mushy. He stays with his brother Tommy (Russo) and his wife Lorraine (Unger) who have a far from happy marriage. The film brings across the problems he faces as an ex-convict. His former fiance, turns out to have left him for another man, has kids even. From her we learn he spent his time in jail for a crime his brother committed for which he scapegoated voluntarily. Too bad the director switches halfway through from the dramatic angle -this motif really works, and especially Unger and Roth's emerging friendship deserves more celluloid- to the typical theatrical crime-action approach. That part isn't at all bad, and the flick has a reasonable plot but the power of this movie was in the character-developments and family-relationships if you ask me (you didn't). Gladly no simple happy ending.

Worth mentioning also is the brief and utterly unimportant sex scene between Russo and Heather Gottlieb. Although not too depictive in nature I thought it was the best steamy erotic scene I've seen in ages in a 'regular' movie. Gottlieb is a stunning beaut too by the way. I think we'll see more of her.

Definitely a film worth watching, unless you like Reservoir Dogs style (Would it be a coincidence Roth was in that as well ?) blood and gore be prepared to look away by the time you reach the end.

(8/10)