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Shooshoo80
Reviews
Le pacte des loups (2001)
The Best Movie I've Seen in a While
May Contain Spoilers: Who would think that a movie that is part horror, part period film, part romance, part suspense, part fantasy, and part martial arts film would work? I had my doubts when I heard about this film, but when I saw it my doubts were no more. All the actors were pretty good, with some out-shining others. Mark Dacascos did very well. His acting has improved since "Only the strong." One of the reviewers mentioned that the guy who plays Fronsac (LeBihan) was another version of Christopher Lambert. I disagree. LeBihan has more range than Lambert, who tends to be kind of wooden. I will say that the wolf was kind of a disappointment. I was expecting something like "An American Wolf in London." Maybe I got my hopes a little to high. In addition, another reviewer commented that the movie got its facts wrong about the French fighting against the Native Americans, in the French and Indian War. Well, that's not true. Now most of the Indian tribes did side with the French, but some did side with the English. Also, some reviewers complained about the noble savage concept throughout the movie. Now this is the 18th century, it's not like the French or almost any white person during that time was going to be hand-shaken with Mani. Society forced Mani to play second tier to Fronsac; not Fronsac or the director. Although I loved Mani, I also loved Sylvia. Even though she was a prostitute, she still had a certain strength and way about her that made you want to fear her and respect her. In addition, Jean-Francois de Marangias was a villain and a tragic character at the same time. Is it me or did anyone start to think of "Gladiator," when he started to confess his love/obsession for his sister? The fight sequences were good, but comparing them to Crouching Tiger is a little much. Like another viewer I did notice that during the fight scenes the bad guys tended to attack one at a time. However, it wasn't as bad as some Van Damme and Norris movies. There were times when they did attack two or three at a time. Some people complained that there were too many people who knew martial arts in the movie; that it was 18th century France not 18th century China. Look! The movie is part fantasy, so lets not be picky. Besides it was understandable that Fronsac and Mani weren't the only ones to know martial arts, Jean-Francois knew it. Since he was a hunter/traveler he could of learned it during one of his travels. Also, that could be the explanation for why Fronsac and Mani knew martial arts too. I will say that the Gypsies knowing martial arts was a little far-fetched. The movie was damn good. The best movie I've seen in a while. In fact, to a certain degree it's better than "Lord of the Rings." This is the movie I should of went to see two weeks ago instead of the dismal "Queen of the Damned." What has happened to Hollywood in the past 3 or 4 years? The movies they're producing lately are for crap. Many people in the U.S. are starting to look overseas to get good entertainment. I give the movie a 9/10. I had to take off for the wolf.
Drive (1997)
Why do decent movies get over-looked?
Why do decent movies get over-looked, while the trash runs rampant through the theaters. I'm still pi**ed off about losing my money to the crappy movies that came at the theaters this summer. I saw part of "The Drive" on HBO or Showtime. I can't remember which one. Then I saw the rest of it on USA. I was surprised to see how good the movie was, to be second rate. In fact, the production value of the movie was pretty good. What surprised me most of all was the action. The action was better than most of the action in American made movies. Mark Dascasos was pretty good. I've seen in him in other movies, and in the Crow TV series. But his acting her was decent. It was like he was given a chance to shine. Also, I was surprised the movie came out in 1996 or 1997. During that time, this movie was ahead of the game. My big question is, "WHY WASN'T THIS RELEASED IN THEATERS?" Hell, Van Damme was still releasing crap in the theaters (Universal Soldier: The Return). Kadeem Hardison (TV series: A Diffent World) was decent too. However, I absolutely loved Brittany Murphy (Clueless), as the ditzy girl in the movie. PEOPLE PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THIS MOVIE. I hope Hollywood will catch on and weed all the turds out of the theaters. Underrated movies like "The Drive" deserve a chance. In addition, Mark Dascasos deserves a chance too. Please, retire Chuck Norris, Van Damme, etc. they have nothing left to offer. I give this movie a 6.5/10. I give this rating, because the plot was a little cliched. All in all a good movie.
House Party 2 (1991)
This movie should have a higher rating
I don't understand why this movie doesn't have a higher rating. I mean this movie was off the chain. Almost everybody in the movie had me cracking up. The movie maybe a little more silly and heavy-handed with it's message than the first one, but on the whole it still works. The only bad side is that Robin Harris (father) wasn't able to be in this sequel, because he died of a heart attack shortly after the first House Party came out. On a brighter note, people get to see Martin Lawrence before he started racking in the big bucks. I give this movie an 8/10.
The Last Dragon (1985)
This movie is funny and cheesy with some martial arts
A lot of this movie can't be taken seriously. Once the viewer gets that through their head, then they will be okay. This movie will have almost anybody dying laughing, from the sheer it's absurdity. Spoilers: The part with Sho'Nuff and his gang, in the movie theater was funny as hell. In fact, it was the character Sho'Nuff who had me rolling. The other person who was funny in the movie was the kid brother of Bruce Leroy. When he dogged out Bruce Leroy about letting Sho'Nuff bully him in his own Martial Arts class, I just couldn't contain myself. But the scene that really did it, was when Bruce Leroy and Sho'Nuff had their final showdown, and someone shot a bullet at Leroy. The man caught it in between his teeth. I laughed so hard my stomach started to ache. I give this movie a 6/10. I give it this rating because some of the other characters were irritating. For example, the mob boss, his girlfriend, and other stupid characters. The writers could of just left them out of the story. Their antics weren't funny at all. Vanity was okay, and so was the guy who played Bruce Leroy. The movie is trash, but it's good trash.
Sarafina! (1992)
Good Movie Filled with a Message of Hope
A DAMN GOOD MOVIE! One that is seriously underrated. The songs that the children sing in the movie gave me a sense of their pain, but also their hope for the future. Whoopi Goldberg puts in a good performance here, but the best performance throughout the whole movie is that of the actress who plays the title character. I wish she was in more movies.
This movie should have a higher rating. I give it a 10/10.
Simon Sez (1999)
RODMAN NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
This movie is awful. It has only a few redeeming qualities, and they don't include Rodman. The man can't act worth a damn. PLEASE, HOLLYWOOD DON'T HAND ANY MORE SCRIPTS TO THIS MAN! Throughout the whole movie Rodman tries to be cool, but fails miserably. Is it me or did anyone notice that most of the people in this movie couldn't act. I could of done a better job and I've only taken one acting class.
Minor Spoilers: On the bright side, the 2 monks did help move the movie along. But at times their jokes began to wear thin. In addition, I liked the chick who was working against Rodman at the beginning but soon joined on his side. She spent half of the movie kicking Rodman's a** everytime she met up with him; that was enough for me to sit through this pitful excuse of a movie. Besides beating the crap out of Rodman, she did have some nice fight scenes with other characters in the movie (especially when she was fighting against Rodman and the bodygaurd to the villain in the movie). Another character that made this movie slighlty better was the boyfriend of the kidnapped girl. Sure, he looked like a pretty boy but he had some okay fight scenes. I kind of liked the bodyguard too. I gave him points for kicking Rodman's a**.
The bad side to this movie is Rodman, of course, and the sidekick. What was the point of that guy? All he did throughout the whole movie was make lamb jokes and act stupid. I was glad when Rodman's enemy/girldfriend, in the movie, kicked him in the face and shut him up. In addition, the villain in this movie was lamb. Villains are suppose to be smart, charming, and kind of likeable. The villian in this turd was awful. Everytime he came on the screen I got a headache. The special effects were awful. The scene where Rodman rides his bike on the wall of a tunnel was so fake it wasn't funny. Also, the fight scene with the overweight monk was weak. A couple of times during the fight I could tell it was a thin guy padded down to look overweight.
This movie would have been decent if Rodman wasn't in it, if the CGI was better, if it didn't try so hard to be funny, and if it had focused on 3 of the characters in the movie (Rodman's enemy/love interest, the bodyguard, and pretty boy). The two guys who played the monks I have seen in other movies 10 times better than this. Hell, the Snoop Dog video that Taa-Dow (the black monk) was in looks like Oscar winning fare next to this dog. I give this movie a 3.5/10. Next time I will go rent a movie or read a book, when there's nothing on television.
A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)
FUNNY!
I saw this movie when it first came out. There are three words that describe this movie: FUNNY AS HELL! Keenan Ivory Wayans was good in the title role, but Jada Pinkett and Charles S. Dutton were the two best things in the movie. Andrew Divoff was good as the villian and Salli Richardson was good as the damsel/villian in the movie. This movie will have you cracking up with laughter. But don't watch it on regular television, it won't do you justice. I saw from other reviews that people were complaining about the absurdity of the action. Well, it's an action-comedy. It's suppose to absurd. Besides, most movies that are in the action category are absurd anyway. On the other hand, this movie shows off the superb acting skills of Jada Pinkett, which Hollywood has just notice. In almost every scene that Keenan and Jada are in together, Jada usually outshines him. In addition, Salli Richarson is another black actress Hollywood seems to be ignoring. In her role, Richardson is sensual, dangerous, and cunning (If anyone wants to see more of Richardson, she's currently starring in the show "Family Law," on CBS). Charles S. Dutton overacts at times, but it adds to comedy part of the movie. MIGHT BE A SPOILER: This movie has a decent fight scene between the two female leads. Personally, it could have been longer. I give this movie a 8/10.
Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
More Realistic than the fairytale version
I like the fairy tale version of Snow white,but I always had a couple of questions about the story. (1)Why did the evil queen die so easily? (Lighting strikes the cliff and the queen falls to her death. Come on! I was a little kid when I read the story but give me some credit.) (2)Why did Snow White fall deeply in love with the prince? She barely knows him. (3) Why did the huntsman decide not to kill Snow White? I doubt that her kindness had an effect on his decision. These are couple of questions I always had pertaining to Snow White. The movie version of the tale, which I found out recently is closer to the original version, answers most my questions. The characters were more realistic. The movie was a good mix of realism and fantasy. The movie isn't really scary or gruesome, but it is supenseful and creepy. I liked the change of the dwarfs. I would of liked the movie to go into more detail about the relationship between the stepmother and Snow White. The twist with the love interest was good too. Also, Snow White in this movie has more heart than in the Disney version. If this movie had a little bigger budget, some good advertising, and people seriously backing it than it probably would of been in the theaters around the same time as "Ever After". More people need to take notice of Monica Keena (Snow White), more likely known from the show Dawson Creek and the made for T.V. movie First Daughter, she's one of the few good young actors out today. Gil Bellows was good in his part too. And Mrs. Weaver is excellent in her role as the evil stepmother. Everybody else in the movie was decent. For all the people who are expecting a gorefest with nudity, look elsewhere because this isn't the movie for you. The movie is based more on atmosphere and the humanization of the characters. The movie is a gothic fantasy film with a little bit of horror, romance, and suspense mixed together. I give the movie a 7/10.
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Disrespect to the Cartoon Series
May Contain Spoilers: This is one of the worse adaptations of a cartoon series by a movie I have ever seen. Hollywood has been known for dropping the ball, when it comes to making movies based on cartoons, comic books, and video games. They seem to always screw up. And this is proof right here. I was a fan of He-Man and She-Ra back in the eighties, and when I heard that there was a movie out that was based on He-Man I was thrilled. When I finally saw the movie, I was highly upset. First of all, Why did they set most of the movie on earth? What about GRAYSKULL dammit! Second, why was Skeletor only in the movie for the first 5 minutes and the last 15 minutes? Third, what did those lame teenage characters have to do with the story?
Another complaint is that there wasn't really any sword fighting in the movie. The only sword fighting that took place was between Skeletor and He-man, and that was poorly choreographed. The best part of the movie is the first five minutes. The rest goes down hill. This movie isn't good enough to watch even when there's nothing on T.V. In addition, the characters could of been developed a little bit more. The special effects could of been better too. My other big complaint is Dolph Lungren. He looks the part, but he can't act worth a sh**. He spends most of his time smiling and looking cute in the camera. Hard-rock pecks can only get you so far. When Lungren tries to show some depth, it's just pathetic. Sure, he looks the part but he needs to stick to roles where he hardly speaks and/or just pouts in the camera (Rocky IV and Universal Soldier). Marc Singer, of Beastmaster fame, would have been better for the part. Since, he can act and had a wash board stomach at the time. Yes...his hair is brown but it could of been dyed. Frank Langella was okay as Skeletor for the short time he was in the movie. But he kind of hammed it up. All of the hamm in the world can't save a DOO-DOO script, and this movie has a doo-doo script. Courtney Cox is probably shaking her head in shame at this one. Thank God...they didn't make a movie to the SHE-RA series. Godzilla (1998)was better than this trash. The movie isn't even bad/entertaining (Kull the Conqueror).
I give this movie a 2/10, and that's for the first 5 minutes and the brief scenes with Skeletor.
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Cheesy, but great fun
Charlie's Angels is one of the best movies to come out in 2000. It's one of the few movies based on a TV series that is actually good. Even though the heroes of the movie are three females, they kick plenty of butt. The critics were hard on the movie, and I don't know why. The movie was suppose to be cheesy because it was based on a cheesy hit TV show. I'm tired of people who are always looking for a deep plot and realistic circumstances in every movie they go to see. Part of going to the movie theaters is to venture into another world; a world that's partly fantasy. It's called ESCAPISM. If you want a movie with a deep plot and very realistic characters, go rent SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. I give it 9/10.