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Frasier: Something Borrowed, Someone Blue: Part 2 (2000)
Goosebumps
I don't get emotionally involved in television shows very often, especially not sitcoms. But this episode gave me goosebumps.
First, the scene when Niles tells Daphne he loves her in the hotel room. Second, the scene on the balcony when Daphne says, "Oh for God's sake, Dr. Crane" right before kissing him, and he responds with, "I think you can call me Niles now." But that final scene in the Winnebago, while Niles is sitting by himself expecting the hotel employee to be delivering the Champagne, and then we all see Daphne enter, wearing her wedding dress, and she says, "I was wondering if you might be free for a date?" But none of those lines were as good as the final two lines of the episode:
Niles: Fasten your seatbelt, Daphne.
Daphne: Fasten yours, Niles.
Niles FINALLY got what he, and all of us, have been waiting for. And they did an amazing job of dragging out the suspense, making us think that she really did decide to marry Donny and that he would be stuck with Mel for the rest of his life.
Perfect writing. Perfect delivery.
And PS, to those who were upset about Niles' immediate willingness to dump Mel two days after marrying her... have you been paying attention to this show for first seven seasons? He had been OBSESSED with Daphne to the point where he really can't stop thinking about her. His willingness to marry Mel in the first place stemmed out of his observation that Daphne was finally no longer available. If he had known that she was prepared to break off the engagement to Donny, he would have never married her in the first place. People make mistakes. Better he dump Mel two days after their wedding than wait until after they had a few kids (what most people do). In the end, both Donny and Mel were able to move on to other relationships with no baggage or lifelong ties to Daphne and Niles. I think the writers handled this perfectly.
Frasier: Daphne Returns (2001)
The flashback scenes made this episode!
In many ways, this was a frustrating episode. I just wanted to tell Niles to shut-up when he kept criticizing Gloria (Daphne's therapist) and making Daphne feel like crap.
On the other hand, I LOVED the flashback scenes where Niles and Frasier revisit Niles' memories of Daphne, including their first meeting in Season 1, the "Moon Dance" episode of Season 3, and First Date of Season 5. I have to think all fans of the show loved watching Niles take Frasier down memory lane, with his commentary thrown in there. "This is one of my favorite memories of Daphne. I come here often." Or when Niles in the present joined the duet of Season 5 Niles and Daphne singing 'Heart and Soul.' This was BRILLIANT!
And of course, the final scene of the episode with Niles smirking at Cafe Nervosa, the day after his "first time" with Daphne, when he said, "You know the best part, Frasier? It wasn't at all like I had imagined." Sometimes, while watching the show, you really start to feel like these characters are real people. Such excellent writing and acting!
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
What's not to like?
Okay, so there are lot of nuts out there who think George Lucas is God and this new Star Wars trilogy is, quite literally, the second coming. Putting that aside, Attack of the Clones is a truly entertaining movie that has all of the elements of a great sci-fi flick. More than that, it is a great Star Wars movie, definitely better than Phantom Menace, and I thought more enjoyable than Return of the Jedi. From the battle scenes to a look at both the dark and romantic sides of Anakin Skywalker, this movie seems to fulfill all expectations. When the movie ended, I was ready for it to continue on to Episode 3! Arghhhh, 3 more years!!!
Anyway, the bottom line is that if you like Star Wars movies at all, you should LOVE this one. If you don't know the difference between Boba Fett and C3P0, you may want to watch the other movies first, because this one just might lose you in parts. Oh, and as far as the awkward and stilted lovey-dovey dialog between Anakin and Padme goes, I agree with the general consensus. However, it is certainly not annoying enough to ruin the movie. Who cares? They NEED to fall in love in order to have Luke and Leia. George is just NOT a romantic. You can tell that when they interview him on TV -- he seems to have the personality of the typical software engineer who attends these movies dressed up as a stormtrooper. But he sure knows how to create great action sequences and lightsaber battles!
Overall, I give this movie 10 out of 10. Best movie of the year so far.
Spider-Man (2002)
Awesome!
This was the first movie in a long time that truly lived up to the hype generated by the trailers. While many of the best scenes were shown in the trailers, the action and adrenaline levels remained high throughout the film. It was PERFECTLY cast, as Tobey Maguire captured the essence of the nerdy high school kid who suddenly developed super powers. I especially enjoyed how the movie was mostly shot from his perspective, giving you a feeling about how his emotions and actions were governed by his feelings for his aunt and uncle as well as Mary Jane. Kirsten Dunst, by the way, is the IDEAL beautiful girl next door. While they could have easily cast an exotic actress (like Penelope Cruz or Liv Tyler), they seemed to hit the nail on the head with Dunst.
Definitely the best superhero movie since the original Superman.
I give it a 10!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Are you kidding me?
Okay, first let me say that I did NOT read the trilogy, so I had very little background in the world of Middle Earth. That being said, I am usually a HUGE science fiction/adventure/fantasy fan and I LOVE Star Wars, Star Trek, The Matrix, X-Men, etc... so I had every reason to expect that I would love this too. However, this movie was basically three hours of feeling how hard my seat was on my ass! It seems that at least 30 minutes of camera time was spent on Elijah Wood's dumbfounded and bewildered expression as he stared blankly into space or at his hand as he held the ring. Furthermore, what's the deal with all of these characters? I mean, you have Frodo and Sam (two hobbits), two other random hobbits whose names are hardly mentioned and are only put in for comic relief, Gandorf (spelling?) the wizard whose magic is mostly useless since he runs and cowers just like the hobbits; blonde- haired elf boy (another one without a name) who shoots arrows and seems to have spidey-senses; and bearded dwarf/troll man (another nameless creature) who seems motivated by killing and battle (the Klingon of the group). Then you have two apparent humans, one of which is a "ranger" (whatever that means) whose ancestor cut the hand (with the ring) off the evil dark lord (or whatever) thousands of years ago, and the other random human who doesn't seem to have a name, but he really seems to want the ring. Then there's Agent Smith from the Matrix ("Human beings are like a disease") who plays a 3000 year old elf who almost destroyed the ring, and his ?daughter/relative female elf (Liv Tyler) who is basically inserted to add a pretty female face to a completely male cast. What the hell is all of this nonsense? Okay, now while I'm ranting and raving (sorry, still upset about my sore ass from sitting for 3 hours), who were those faceless guys in black robes who were chasing the hobbits early in the movie and what happened to them? At some point in the movie, the bad guys turned from them into orcs for no apparent reason. And who was the old wizard who used to be friends with Gandorf, but then turned to the dark side? Is he like Darth Vader? What does he hope to gain from all of this? Finally, other than turning you invisible and putting you in some scary special effects dimension, what exactly does the ring do for its bearer?? Oh yeah, it made Bilbo look a little younger than he was. And I guess it makes you feel good, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted it back so badly. Ughhhhh, confusion, chaos, nameless characters (and named characters I can't remember/pronounce/spell), many VERY ANNOYING shots of Elijah Wood's stupid emotionless expression holding his ring, and ... more confusion and chaos. Now, this movie gets 9.5 out of 10 on IMDB?!?!? I give it 3 out of 10 (but I voted for 1 out of 10, just to help bring the average down to where it should be). I'll need to be stoned or drunk before I consider seeing a sequel to this nonsense! Very disappointing!
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Are you kidding me?
Okay, first let me say that I did NOT read the trilogy, so I had very little background in the world of Middle Earth. That being said, I am usually a HUGE science fiction/adventure/fantasy fan and I LOVE Star Wars, Star Trek, The Matrix, X-Men, etc... so I had every reason to expect that I would love this too. However, this movie was basically three hours of feeling how hard my seat was on my ass! It seems that at least 30 minutes of camera time was spent on Elijah Wood's dumbfounded and bewildered expression as he stared blankly into space or at his hand as he held the ring. Furthermore, what's the deal with all of these characters? I mean, you have Frodo and Sam (two hobbits), two other random hobbits whose names are hardly mentioned and are only put in for comic relief, Gandorf (spelling?) the wizard whose magic is mostly useless since he runs and cowers just like the hobbits; blonde- haired elf boy (another one without a name) who shoots arrows and seems to have spidey-senses; and bearded dwarf/troll man (another nameless creature) who seems motivated by killing and battle (the Klingon of the group). Then you have two apparent humans, one of which is a "ranger" (whatever that means) whose ancestor cut the hand (with the ring) off the evil dark lord (or whatever) thousands of years ago, and the other random human who doesn't seem to have a name, but he really seems to want the ring. Then there's Agent Smith from the Matrix ("Human beings are like a disease") who plays a 3000 year old elf who almost destroyed the ring, and his ?daughter/relative female elf (Liv Tyler) who is basically inserted to add a pretty female face to a completely male cast. What the hell is all of this nonsense? Okay, now while I'm ranting and raving (sorry, still upset about my sore ass from sitting for 3 hours), who were those faceless guys in black robes who were chasing the hobbits early in the movie and what happened to them? At some point in the movie, the bad guys turned from them into orcs for no apparent reason. And who was the old wizard who used to be friends with Gandorf, but then turned to the dark side? Is he like Darth Vader? What does he hope to gain from all of this? Finally, other than turning you invisible and putting you in some scary special effects dimension, what exactly does the ring do for its bearer?? Oh yeah, it made Bilbo look a little younger than he was. And I guess it makes you feel good, otherwise he wouldn't have wanted it back so badly. Ughhhhh, confusion, chaos, nameless characters (and named characters I can't remember/pronounce/spell), many VERY ANNOYING shots of Elijah Wood's stupid emotionless expression holding his ring, and ... more confusion and chaos. Now, this movie gets 9.5 out of 10 on IMDB?!?!? I give it 3 out of 10 (but I voted for 1 out of 10, just to help bring the average down to where it should be). I'll need to be stoned or drunk before I consider seeing a sequel to this nonsense! Very disappointing!