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Reviews
A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967)
My Favorite Robin Hood Movie
I like many others remember seeing this on HBO in the early 80s many times. I was able to procure a copy at a later date (You can get this title from Amazon.com for those looking for a copy) and found it just as enjoyable as I did when I was younger.
Like most Robin Hood movies you have to take it with a grain of salt. In some places the acting is a little over the top, some of the combat feats are unbelievable and everything is very black and white but this is what Robin Hood is all about. I honestly enjoy this version much more than any others that come to mind. I thought that all the actors were very well cast and I like that they are all Englishmen so no bad accents to be found. The settings are perfect and one of the best things about the film as is the costuming. What I think I love most about this film is the scale. This story's take on the myth is Robin as the adopted son of a minor Norman lord who is in conflict w/ his cousin who wrongly inherits his father's title and lands and is in league w/ the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Prince John is nowhere to be found though he is mentioned. In all truth I think that a minor lord w/ the help of the Sheriff is more than enough for any group of outlaws to face.
If you are a fan of the Robin Hood mythos I think you could do far worse than checking out this excellent take on this popular tale.
EuroTrip (2004)
Extremely Funny Bit of Fluff
As anyone would guess this movie isn't The Godfather, Shawshank Redemption or even Godfather III but in truth I found myself just as entertained.
I know it's trendy for some folks to turn their noses up at "teen comedies" but who wouldn't rather watch Animal House than Yentil? To that end I've got to say that Eurotrip is a great teen comedy. I absolultey roared throughout the movie with laughter. Sure some of the comedy a little crude but much was subtle and even Pythonesque (now a word) in it's mannerisms. The (mis)perceptions about Europe and European society was wonderfully entertaining and the characters were all well cast and I thought well acted.
In the end I highly suggest that you give this movie a chance. As a comedy I give this one 9/10. Funniest movie I've seen in 2 yrs.
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Misrepresentation of Facts
I honestly can't stress how dangerous this film is. In his usual way Moore presents legit facts in ways and with images that make you think 2+2=4. I myself left the theatre feeling quite disturbed, mixed-up and not proud to be a US citizen. Fortunately, once you are out of the theatre and have had time to think, which hopefully you will do, logic steps in and you see a bit more clearly. It's the visuals that are in bad taste in my opinion. We are subject to many of the worst images associated with war and we should be disturbed but that in and of itself doesn't mean that we should never go to war. The truth is that Michael Moore could make a very convincing film about how he himself profited from the events of 9/11 but you won't see that. Instead you will see him doing this same number on our President. Let's not forget that Mr. Moore is a multi-millionaire at the expense of folks losing jobs in Mich, kids dying at Columbine and now those who died in New York and Iraq. Michael Moore has not and probably never will give a sizable portion of the profits from his films or books to the victims he likes to exploit. These are not non-profit undertakings. He has made more than enough money to never have to work again and be much more profitable than those unfortunates he first showed us in Flint, MI. You'd have to look a long way to find such hypocrisy. Please remember when you watch this film that Michael Moore will be making millions off the events he is presenting to you.
Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Horrifically Stupid Movie
I'm stunned at all the positive comments for this movie as it is easilly one of the most incredibly stupid movies I have ever seen. I'm thoroughly convinced that they must asked Steven Seagal to write the last 20 minutes of this movie as it was so mind-numbingly vapid.
<spoilers below>
The action in this movie wasn't bad. In fact a few of the scenes were quite good and as a whole while extremely contrived the first hour was pretty enjoyable but then the last 30 minutes kick in and your brain goes into shock at what you're seeing on screen. Some of my fav bits about the movie...the villains lock a little girl in a van they just stole by locking it from the outside, apparently the door handles and manual windows stopped working for her. The good guys are able to drive a tank to airport at the end of the movie w/out any difficulty, the whole "black diamond"/nuclear material concept and my fav that all the protection they needed for this "several times stronger than plutonium" material were goggles and it could be handled by hand afterwards. The entire training level of DMX's team was unreal plus I like how Daria (Gabrielle Union) went from being a hooker to a ninja apparently in the course of a yr. Trust me when I say I could write pages and pages about scenes that just made my brain hurt.
Anyways the movie is just so contrived and unbelievable that it's was almost impossible to enjoy. This one is best saved for the rents or on cable.
Blue Vinyl (2002)
Totally Without Merit, A Documentary at it's Worst
This is one of those documentaries where folks have a knee jerk reaction and start thinking how horrible this is and we must save the environment and I'm so glad this was brought to my attention.
Problem is what exactly was brought to our attention. This "documentary" had a conclusion first and then set out to prove it. She asks folks what they think, they tell her and she then presents this as fact. When she interviews folks who have an opposite viewpoint she misrepresents what they say and then mocks it. There is a scene in this show where she goes to a convention for the makers of vinyl one of the folks mentions that two of the components in PVC are sodium and chloride which are the components that make table salt, she then says that chemical compounds such as PVC are made up of common elements. Right after this our narrator says that she was just told that PVC is safe as table salt which is absolutely not what she was told. Later on she wants to get an expert opinion on if PVC is dangerous or not, so she has two "scientists" from Greenpeace come. Gee...we know this will be a fair evaluation. Basically the rest of this show is the same way and I think you can get the idea.
Stay away from this program as it's more harmful than good.
Theodore Rex (1995)
Friends Don't Let Friends Watch This Movie...
This movie was amazingly bad. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where every attempt at humor failed as miserably. Let's see...the acting was pathetic, the "special effects" where horrible, the plot non-existant...that pretty much sums up this movie.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
A Great Movie for Those With Imagination
Let me say that this is a great movie. The concept was totally original and the market was unique and inventive for a change.
Be warned if you are of little imagination or don't like to use your brain very much then this movie won't be for you. For those who dislike this movie they can still go watch Friday the 13th part 26.
This movie rocked because it made you think. There wasn't anything in this movie that wasn't plausible, that's the true appeal of this movie I think. It's very easy to imagine camping in a dark wood and not truly knowing what is out there. Seriously this movie was able to chill you using sticks and stones. There wasn't a need for a few gallons of fake blood, a cheesy soundtrack and an axe.
I found myself dreading whenever night came. I truly felt for the people in this movie and wouldn't have exchanged places with them for anything. The ending was great and if you think back you truly still don't know what happened and you can actually hypothesize on different possibilities.
House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Showing glimpses of true style this was still a credit to the genre'
House on Haunted Hill had great potential. Although it wasn't wasn't able to quite pull it off it's still a very good movie and not just mindless hack and slash.
Geoffrey Rush does an outstanding job as Stephen Price, eccentric millionaire owner of a chain of theme parks. Famke Jannsen turns in a good performance as his scheming witch of a wife. Chris Kattan also turns in a surprisingly good performance as the current owner of the "house". The rest of the cast performs their jobs well although none truly stand out.
House on Haunted Hill has some great moments and shows flashes of brilliance. The scenes that show the ghosts from the 30s are great and I wish there had been more of those and in the end that they were more the focus as the evil within the house. Unfortunately the director chose to go a different route and this is why the film is just another horror movie on the rental shelf. The visuals are truly outstanding and there are enough good performances and flashes of brilliance to justify seeing this movie more than once.