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jamez1965
Reviews
Gojira tai Mosura tai Mekagojira: Tôkyô S.O.S. (2003)
Sorry, fans of GMK... Toho has gone back to making crap.
I've been a fan of Godzilla forever, but I really wish Toho would take a long walk off a short pier. They have been making the same d@mn movie since 1989, and it's a lousy one. With the exception of the brilliant "GMK: Giant Monsters All Out Attack," every modern Godzilla movie I watch never fails to disappoint. I guess director Shusuke Kaneko shook things up a little too much by making a Godzilla movie that's actually good (GMK), and it appears he wasn't asked to do another. "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" on the other hand is Toho doing what it does best - cranking out big-budget crap. As usual, the direction lacks any sense of style or grace. The human characters are such dorks that you almost don't even notice the dumb story lines. Godzilla mostly stands around showing off his radical new look and blasting CGI breath at anything and everything. It's not always clear what Godzilla is doing when he's on screen, or why he's doing it, but at least he's got plenty of animatronic head and neck movement, right? The other monster, Mothra, has been a staple character in a countless number of movies and looks basically the same, yet when he appears on film, the human actors gasp with surprise and awe as if it's some glorious return to the screen. Whatever. In short, if you've seen a Godzilla movie made within the last two decades, you've seen this one. Not even a direct tie-in with the original 1961 "Mothra" movie can save "Godzilla: Tokyo SOS" from joining the long list of Toho stinkers that have utterly demolished any chance for commercial success in the US.
Return to Oz (1985)
Misunderstood? Yes. A good movie? No.
L. Frank Baum fans should realize the reason this movie flopped with critics is it's just not a very good movie. Despite the darker, more sinister tone and the interesting re-imagining of characters and places from The Wizard of Oz, I was surprised to find this movie is actually pretty dull! The pacing is horrendous, making it difficult to really get involved in what's happening on screen. There's WAY too much claymation going on, and you wonder why the filmmakers are showing us so much of it when there're awesome costumes and sets to look at instead. There're a few good moments, but overall, Return to Oz isn't worth the time unless you're a fan of the books.
Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road (2002)
The moron's "thinking" movie.
If you like being spoon-fed grade school level philosophy and corny, literal exposition, then this may be the most thought-provoking movie you've ever seen - knock yourself out! Otherwise you, like me, will have a hard time sitting through this contrived stinker. You can almost see the confident smirks on the faces of the filmmakers, believing that they have in fact wowed you with their deep, meaningful masterpiece. And while it appears that many have indeed been wowed, the bitter truth is it's just a horrible movie. Many defend this exercise in bad film-making as being "quirky." I love quirky movies, but there's a difference between quirky art (a David Lynch or Tim Burton movie perhaps) and quirky BAD (Interstate 60). I'm sure this movie is so well liked because it's a nice, feel-good movie with a happy-as-pie ending and those wonderful actors from Back to the Future. But if you don't consider yourself part of the lowest common denominator, stay as far away from Interstate 60 as you possibly can!
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Thanks for a stupid movie.
You blew it, Disney. The Haunted Mansion should've been what Pirates of the Caribbean was. Unfortunately, they took everything that is great about the ride and turned it into a stupid movie. Haunted Mansion virgins will now disregard the greatest dark ride in history thinking that it must be as stupid as this movie is. The ride's wonderful imagery that never fails to delight and spook fans will now only serve to remind people of the money they wasted on one superbly stupid movie. Thanks, Disney, for such a stupid movie, and for putting a big, ugly blemish on the face of a Disney classic.
Dragon Seed (1944)
Chinese perspective on this movie.
I was lucky to have watched this movie with my girlfriend's father, who is Chinese. Although he didn't understand a word, he LOVED IT! He was part of the original communist movement and could totally relate to the scenes of farmers taking up arms and meeting in the mountains to plan the fight against the Japanese invaders.
He wondered why, despite the fact that the budding commies in the movie were portrayed as very heroic, he'd never heard of this movie in China. Here is an American movie that glorifies his struggles - that was produced at a time when he was told to completely shun everything Western. Made him think a little, I bet.
Oh, and by the way, don't listen to what anybody else says about the white actors playing Chinese in this movie... it's almost painful to watch!