Reviews

The Girl Next Door is just simply an entertaining movie. It's got plenty of flaws - almost every single scene of the second half of the film seems to act as the climax, and then the movie keeps going - but it's also got one of the most appealing casts I've seen in a while. Emile Hirsh (Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, Emperor's Club) is the central character Matthew, about to graduate from high school. He's just plain likable. The drop-dead gorgeous Elisha Cuthbert (Kim Bauer on 24, in a very different type of role here) is the title character, Danielle. Matthew's two friends and one of Danielle's associates played by Tim Olyphant are particular standouts in terms of comic relief; the movie is genuinely funny. Funny, a bit silly, and at times honestly sweet, it's an entertaining movie that's harmless and worth seeing.

I'm afraid the previous poster (Tim Cox) completely missed the point of the film. Unforgiven is the anti-Western, all too aware of the impact of actually killing a man and the blurring of morals between the "bad" and "good" guys. An absolutely riveting story, grounded by characters that could be described as old Western legends that have grown into aging men. Not to be missed, Western fan or not.

I consider myself a movie freak and sat down to watch The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly with baited breath.

What a long and torturous road it was.

One of the most overrated movies of all time, up there with 2001.

I have nothing against slow movies, if there's a point to them and if we give a rat's behind about any character in it. Not in this movie.

Even the memorable score is loud and overused and becomes annoying before the halfway point.

Avoid at all costs.

Nobody can really say Dazed and Confused is not like high school, because what they're really saying is that it wasn't like THEIR high school experience. Personally, even though I went to school in the '90s, I found plenty of similarities -- the small town, with nothing to do but drink and smoke pot and drive around.

But what the movie does more than connect factually with everyone's high school experience is capture the ESSENCE of how high school students really feel. The seniors' superiority. The need to find your own identity. Being stuck in different social groups, but every once in a while having a great time outside of one. The "if I ever start referring to these as the best days of my life, do me a favor and shoot me" quote. Trying to rebel against the teachers and coaches.

It's kind of annoying that this was marketed as a stoner movie, because it's really so much more. It's a fairly accurate portrayal of the thoughts and actions of high school students, way more so than the 95% of all other teen movie junk that doesn't resemble high school whatsoever.

And the actors do look their age, for the most part. Some of the seniors look a bit old, sure, but the freshman really look like freshman. It's refreshing, since these days you turn on the TV to watch someone pushing thirty pretend to go to her junior prom.

Overall, Dazed and Confused is a real original, a high school movie that really doesn't try to be anything more than an interesting and funny and even poignant portrayal of high school students and their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. No cute plots recycled from Shakespeare. No romantic comedy lameness. Just real people and their lives.

The post earlier said that the Man Show was too degrading to women and was offensive...I thought that was the point! The show is sexist in such an outrageous and ridiculous manner that it's definitely not to be taken seriously. And with that philosophy, it's very very funny...

The preview for this movie makes it look like some Dreamworks wannabe, with all the cute little jokes ("James Isaac Neutron", etc.) you would expect. However, the film is an absolute blast, mostly due to it's outstanding sense of humor. Unlike Monster's Inc, with its tired assortment of cute gags, Jimmy Neutron makes you laugh out loud numerous occasions while being supremely clever and creating characters you care about. Before I saw it, I was surprised that it was nominated for Best Animated Feature...now I think it's as good if not better than Shrek.

The fact that Newsies got bad reviews, didn't make much money and was considered a huge disappointment is incredibly upsetting, considering that it is fun, the songs are catchy, and it is a well-written and interesting story.

It stars Christian Bale and David Moscow as the two main teenagers, with Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret, and Bill Pullman in some of the main adult roles. The teenagers are "newsies", who sell newspapers on the street to earn a living; the story is kicked into action when greedy Pulitzer (Duvall) decides to up the price of the newspapers a tenth of a cent. The newsies decide to go on strike, lead by Bale (the charismatic leader) and Moscow (the brains). Pullman plays a reporter who befriends the newsies.

Turning this story into a musical was an excellent decision, and despite what critics said, the songs are good, catchy, and fun. The choreography starts out looking amateurish but soon becomes impressive. There's something just plain cool abut seeing a bunch of teenage guys jump, twirl, and dance around in unison. And in one of the songs, "King of New York", Pullman sings. It's always fun to see established actors unexpectedly sing.

Faults? The Ann-Margret character is in only two scenes and lends nothing to the story or the music - the one song she sings is the only weak song in the movie. The whole thing would've been better and shorter without her, and indeed it seems as though the screenwriters patched in a part for her after the script was written. Duvall plays Joseph Pulitzer very oddly sometimes, and is not really an interesting or well-written character - just a standard greedy villian, only more quiet and deliberate.

Yes, the heart of the movie and the best scenes are the ones with the Newsies themselves (and Pullman), which is good considering the vast majority of the movie is held on their shoulders (both Duvall and Margret have very minor roles, really, odd since they're the only names on the cover). Bale is naturally charismatic in his role, and is a good singer, as is Moscow, who convincingly plays a very likeable person.

The movie cost a good deal to make but was very badly advertised and was only released in about half as many theaters as normal. Consequently, no one went to see it, especially considering the bad reviews it received. A real shame, because Newsies is a fantastic amount of fun.

Here's a question that far too many critics forget the answer to: What is the point of watching a movie? The answer is, of course, To Be Entertained. With this philosophy, I must say that The Faculty is one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen.

The story, which is openly and happily silly, is about alien slugs that reproduce and enter humans bodies, making them slaves. These aliens first infest the teachers of a normal suburban high school, then move onto the students. The eventual plan is, of course, to take over the world, but six lucky students soon realize what's going on and try to put an end to the invasion.

I'm really getting tired of annoying critics who say that this is a blatant ripoff of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I have two things to say to that: 1) Every Romantic Comedy in existence is a ripoff of each other (how many times have you seen that "I'll take her out as a bet but then I start to fall in love with her but then she finds out about the bet..." or "We meet once and then five years later I realize she's my true love and have to find her!...") ...so start complaining about that, and 2) They ADMIT within the very movie that it's a blatant ripoff of Invasion of the Body Snatchers! (And, of course, that the Body Snatchers were also a blatant ripoff of The Puppetmasters!) So who cares?

The cast is great. All of the teenagers in the movie are likeable - especially Zeke, the incredible-slacker-yet-really-smart kid (Josh Hartnett, "Pearl Harbor", "O") and Elijah Wood (soon to star in the Lord of the Rings) as the dreamy nerd. And expect to see Jordana Brewster, the popular girl, in many more movies to come. Another great plus is that most of the adults are famous too - Robert Patrick (T2, X-Files) is the football coach, and Famke Janssen (X-Men, Rounders), Salma Hayek, and Jon Stewart also appear.

Teenagers, who are obviously this movie's target audience, will love this movie. For one thing, it's like a list of stuff that parents don't want kids to watch: Plenty of language, some gore, and get this: the teens in the movie figure out tht the only way to find out who's an alien is to sniff drugs up their nose. And, for those horny guys, there's even a bit of nudity near the end.

However, that aside, I think it's the very core idea of the movie that makes it so appealling: six normal (and very likable) teenagers (A geek, a jock, a druggie, etc) are throw together by chance to save the world. Forget about the parallels to Body Snatchers and the Breakfast Club. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy this thrill ride of a movie. Citizen Kane it ain't (thank goodness!). I had more fun watching The Faculty than probably any movie in the past year.

A classic Stanley Kubrick film, Full Metal Jacket is a two part movie in which the first hlaf is generally considered better. I would have to agree - it centers around new recruits in basic training, a fat one, (vincent D'Onofrio) and the classic drill-instructor (Lee Ermey). After that, the last hour and twenty minutes centers around the new soldiers' adventures in Vietnam. Let me merely say that the movie is extremely memorable - it won't get out of my head a year after seeing it - and has tons of great one liners that you'll want to repeat, over and over again. The D'Onofrio and Ermey charcters are classics, sure to be remembered and referenced (at least by me and other Kubrick fans) for scores to come.