Zach's Movie Reviews

• [5/25/03!] Last night Josh, Noah and I saw XMen2. Fine, I guess, but not great; the boys liked it. Last week, Micki, Josh, Noah and I saw Matrix Reloaded (second in the series) and I thought it was fantastic. Great and mysterious sci-fi plot, outstanding special effects, restrained but effective sex scenes. The fight between Neo and 100 Agents Smith was outstanding. Excellent blending of live action and animation. Other recent flics include: Two Weeks Notice (Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock in predictably fun, light, romantic comedy), My Darling Clementine (40s vintage western with Henry Fonda - ok), and I'm sure there have been a few others since the last posting. Oh yeah, Harry Potter 1 and 2, Lord of the Rings 1 and 2 - all four were ok, but I prefer the Potters being less sadistically violent and doing a nice job visualizing the novels. Life is Beautiful was beautiful (was that in the last five years?) - mind is a blank.
• [10/31/98] Somewhat enjoyed seeing "Something About Mary" - couple of fun chuckles but that's about it.
• [10/31/98] Really, really liked "The Great Liebowski" - great, great, characters - John Goodman was excellent as the wacky trouble-making friend. Fun script, too.
• [10/31/98] "Ulee's Gold" was OK for a chick flic.
• [8/5/98]Micki, Noah and I went to see "Saving Private Ryan" Very moving film, great cinematography, powerful theme, excellent acting, memorable images. Some of the thematic elements were a little heavy handed (obvious tear jerking) but that may have been unavoidable due to the subject matter. I did not find it as powerful as "Schindler's List" which really was quite special. This is probably Noah's last movie until he's older - the loud noises continually startled him.
• [7/21/98]"Armegadon" featured painfully bad and distracting science, no exciting performances, ok special effects, unintersting and formulaic script and a silly unbelievable ending.  At least they should have made a huge status for Bruce Willis in the end - but no - no real imagination or creativity here.  Noah's second movie!!
• "Mulan" - one of Disney's best attempts.  The kids loved it and so did we.  Noah's first movie
• "The Truman Show" had a great story and was real fun to watch.  Very original compared to other recent fare.
• "Lost in Space" was a decent movie-ification of the classic series, with good cameos by the original stars, and a well planned out storyline.  Acting was mediocre (and pretty lame by "Joey"), but the effects were very good (especially the space suits and deep-sleep suits that grow over the actors).
• "Dead Man Walking" was outstanding.  Sean Penn plays a despicable character on death row - Susan Sarandon is the nun he asks to be his spiritual advisor.  She is completely naive and innocent, engendering the wrath of his victim's families, but she is true to her faith and remains focused upon bringing him to the point where he can take responsibility for his deeds - which he does just before he is killed by leathal injection.  Fantastic acting by Penn and Sarandon - she won an Oscar for best supporting actress (but it sure seemed like she was the leading actress?!?!! go figure).
• "Best Friends Wedding" (Julia Roberts).  Girl can't decide if she still loves her old flame and attempts to wreck his wedding as she decides; pretty fun stuff.  Good performances by Roberts and especially Carmen Diaz.
• Really did not like "Titanic".  OK as a disaster flick, great effects.  Fantastic pathos.  The scene with the ship upended and sliding into the water was extremely moving.  Other than that, though, I hated it.  Leo DiCaprio is an annoying punk - Kate Winslet was OK but their lines were ridiculous and their love so unsatisfying.  The thought that they would develop some real, lasting serious love out of this meeting is just silly.  I thought the best performance was by the woman who played Winslet's mother, in the scene where she explained why her daughter had to marry the rich guy.  I found nothing satisfying in any of the other acting or dialog.  Sorry - I'm probably just reacting to the other hundred million people who loved it.
• "Good Will Hunting" was terrific.  Rough guy genius meets supportive professor and equally troubled shrink.  Finds peace with himself and love with Minnie Driver.  Great performances, simple theme, fun lines - highly recommended.
• "The Apostle" - Duvall acted well but the movie was very unsatisfying.  Don't recommend this at all.
• Joel recommends "Love and Death in Long Island"
• "The Rainmaker" was well directed (the humor was always quirky and surprising) and well acted (or cast) (Devito was a great side kick, Voight was a terrifically villainous lawyer, Glover was the novice judge) .  The screen play was a little uneven (love theme often got lost beneath the insurance trial excitement) but overall worth a look see.
• "Gattaca" was appropriately bleak and Orwellian, but not as successful as it could have been.
• Rented "Liar Liar" and laughed the whole way through!
• Loved "Donnie Brasco".  Johnny Depp was terrific as an undercover FBI agent who makes his way up the ranks of the Mob.  Al Pacino is great as his mobster sponsor.  Forget about it!
• Didn't really love any of the summer block busters:
  • "Air Force One" was the best of the bunch with a great role for Harrison Ford - but some of the stunts were too unbelievable and on the whole it was pretty predictable.
  • "Contact" had a great opening sequence (zooming out from a girl's eye to a view of the universe), but I hated the theme here and in the book...science is not subjective, and it is so possible to prove results without having direct experience of those results, and faith is not a necessary element of truth
  • "Face Off" was terrible.  I normally love Cage, but this premise was so far off the mark (face swapping technology includes vacuum faceplate to suck one face off and plop it down on your neighbor), and the violence so extreme (young boy is killed in his father's arms) that I couldn't stomach it.
  • "The Saint" was a real bore.  Predictable and poorly written.
• Enjoyed "Hercules" although had to leave in the middle - I'm sure I'll see it a billion times as a rental.
• "The Fifth Element" was hilarious.  Bruce Willis was great.
• Two great rentals in one week!  "Phenomenon" and "The Nutty Professor".  Four thumbs up!
• Enjoyed Howard Stern's "Private Parts" - was a little let down right after watching, but strong "repeatable" lines keep it on the recommended list.  Beginning was a little weak, but the NBC scenes were memorable.
• "Star Wars" 20th anniversary release was ok.  Still all the fun of the original - could have done without the obvious new scenes.  Our fictionalized view of the future has not changed much in the last 20 years.  Compare this delta with the great change over the previous 20 years (i.e.. Lost in Space).
• "Shine" was great.
• Kid's loved "101 Dalmatians"
• "Emma" and "Seven" are recent favorites.

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