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Reviews
The Breaks (1999)
This is not funny
This is the least funny movie I have ever seen. There is not one laugh in this entire picture. Screaming instead of talking, in and of itself, is not funny. I almost laughed at a "special effects" "car wreck" scene not because it was funny but because it was so poorly done.
Any Given Sunday (1999)
An Over Long Mess
The action in this movie is meaningless, there is no context. There are no surprises here unless you have never before seen a sports (any sport) movie. The changes in the characters are unbelievable given what supposedly motivates the changes. The middle is long and a bore. I only believed one character in the whole film and that was Lawrence Taylor's character. I was surprised and impressed by his acting. People should be warned that the story goes on into the credits. Some people missed the end at the showing I saw. James Woods, one of our finest film actors, was wasted in this movie.
The Matrix (1999)
Confusing
Basically this is a western (most action movies are) in sci-fi land--nothing new here. Visually the movie is a cross between Pi and 7 Monkeys. But all the visual technology never goes beyond window dressing. The plot is, at best, confusing. The dialogue ranges from stupid to insulting. This is about as far below typical film fare as their Bound was above. Not a total loss, they do show their considerable talent at creating tension.
Psycho (1998)
A wasted use of film
I went to see Psycho to see if Van Sant had found some good reason to remake the film. I doubted there was one. I was right. With very few exceptions the film uses Hitchcock's shooting script (along with the Herrmann music and the Bass titles). There is even a "Hitchcock" in the correct scene. The casting is not as good as the original with a few exceptions. Some of the minor parts are better cast. For example, Robert Forester is a better shrink than Simon Oakland was. During the entire film I felt cheated. I went home and watched the original.