guest150669 Reviews

Barfly (1987)

It may be a great movie, but I wish I had never seen it

[12 December 2003]

This is a sad movie. The main character isn't happy, and no one around him is happy. I saw it 13 years ago, and without seeing it since, I can still easily recall just how deeply sad this movie made me feel. Just thinking about the story long enough now can bring me to the verge of tears. That is a mark of brilliance, but it is also a warning. If you like happy stories/happy endings, don't watch this movie. It's not a typical tale. It's about a guy who has a real talent, yet he has a lot of real issues.

He isn't happy, and no one around him is happy. If you are a viewer with any level of empathy, it will make you unhappy.

Don't get me wrong. The movie is well-done. How else could it have touched me so deeply? It is very well done, but it is a very sad story focused on a lot of very sad people.

Caveat emptor.

Men in Black II (2002)

Well below my lowest expectations

[2/10 · 12 July 2003]

This movie was terrible. Utterly unbelievable. Not funny. boring. Perhaps, because I liked Men In Black so much, I was so disappointed by the sequel.

It was as if they took all the intelligence out of it, took all the mystery out of it, and then tried to replace those elements with Will Smith's ability to be funny. But then they forgot to ask Will Smith what was funny.

They ended up with no humour, no mystery, no believability, no .. I could go one. All they had left was Will Smith acting "cool", which I think even he could agree, given the script, was lame. It was a B-movie... unless there is such a thing as a D-movie.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

A wondrous tale for kids, but a little frightening for little kids

[10/10 · 15 June 2003]

I watched this movie growing up, and I must have seen it over a dozen times. It never fails to amaze me at the breadth of situations. It is truly epic.

I've always loved the movie, and with kids of my own, just bought it.

The story is great and there's a lot to it, but there is a character that hates little kids (and can 'sniff' them out with his huge proboscis). He is scary. You should be with your kids during the last 1/3 of the film when he is around. However, the entire film is a delightful flight of fantasy, starting with no particular goal and then drawing the (child) viewer in by becoming more and more engrossing.

Can you imagine the people who made the bond films making a child's film? They did it, and 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' is it. Ian Fleming wrote, Albert Broccoli produced, but wait, Roald Dahl also wrote!!! It's a kid's film of gigantic proportions. (They squeezed this in between 'You only live twice' and 'her majesty's secret service')

It needs to be seen to be appreciated.

Caveat - if you hate musicals like I do, there is a bunch of singing. I grew up with this one, so the music doesn't bug me, but it might drive you crazy, a la Disney films.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

After several viewings, funnier than I ever thought

[10/10 · 6 January 2003]

I reviewed this movie earlier and since have bought the DVD. Now I've watched it several times and loaned it out to friends (who had never even watched star trek), and it just gets better every time. This movie has longevity. It is funny, and then it is even funnier. Watch it over and over again, and it is still funny. Heck, we lent it to a friend who had never watched even one episode of star trek, and she thought it was uproarious also!

This movie really is a gem, I cannot implore you enough to give it a rental fee. Once you've rented it, you might want to buy it. We pull it out every several months, and find new humor (and still laugh at the other stuff). It really is layered comedy and very worth having in your library.

Taken (2002)

I agree, this mini-series is "the sun and the moon to me"

[11 December 2002]

A character in the miniseries uses this phrase to describe women that he pretends to love, but would rather (and eventually does) kill. This series is something that I have watched now for 16 hours (with 4 hours to go) and I would like to kill.

"why?" you ask, "have you spent so much time watching it, if you don't like it?" "good question!" is my only answer. Some of the actors are great (james kirk comes to mind), but some aren't that great. My real problem is with the thin plot and the transparent directing.

There are 10 2 hour episodes (so just over 13 hours of real showtime), and you'd think you'd get some depth, yet each character is merely a plot device. I rarely cared about any of them. And the story moved at a crawl.

If you've got a bit of time to waste (or if for some unfathomable reason you want to watch something attached to spielberg's name) then this can be an OK diversion, just don't expect too much.

Overall, Don't spend your time on this.

Vanilla Sky (2001)

A sci-fi movie marketed as a murder mystery

[29 May 2002]

A movie that is arguably great, but not what it is sold as in the trailers.

A guy (who happens to be rich) has a great life. An out of whack woman that loves him ends all that and turns his life into a series of psychotic episodes. He has to wrestle with his own sense of self to bring himself back to reality.

The movie tells a story, but it is *not* a suspense/mystery. It is a story of self discovery. While it is a great story and beautifully told, don't think that it is a mystery, or you'll lose the essence of the movie while you search for clues.

His self-involved fantasies are the mainstay of the movie. The real "moral" of the story comes at the end when he comes to grips with who and what he is, and decides to embrace reality once more.

(spoiler alert) the end is somewhat disappointing, when he must decide between the psychotic and self-abusive reality he has created and the real world (here's where the rich part comes into play) that is financially less for him than what he left behind. He then chooses the real world.

A rewarding movie, and a fun tale to watch, a self-discovery really.

Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers: To Live and Die in Starlight (2002 TV Movie)

Not up to par for Babylon 5

[2/10 · 19 January 2002]

This movie is not terrible, but it is most definitely not what I, as a Babylon 5 fan, had hoped for. If you have not seen Babylon 5, then you might enjoy it as a bit of a sci-fi action flick. And, on the other extreme, if you are a rabid, noncritical, fan of Babylon 5 that drools at anything new because you miss B5 so much, then you might even love it (like 16 of the 22 people who voted so far and gave it a 10. A 10! Please!). Don't get me wrong, I am a pretty big fan, and perhaps because of that, I was really looking forward to this, and hence really disappointed. It was absolutely *not* up to snuff with the complex and genius writing that MJS did for the series.

The humor was heavy-handed, and often plot-wise inappropriately placed. The new characters were OK. Andreas Katsulas returns as G'Kar, a welcome return. Yet even his character doesn't display the depth and wisdom and brilliance that was developed in the series. At a low point of the movie, he leaves a scene with a Hollywood stereotypical "kiss kiss", presumably for the audience's amusement.

The plot is more like the kick off premiere feature length episode to a new series than a premiere feature length Babylon 5 film. And please, don't get me started on the ridiculous space-fight scenes. A crewman performing karate moves in zero-g is not the futuristic fight environment that the producers think it is. Good Googly, she didn't even have the same point of view as the craft she was shooting from.

I have to recommend that people not waste their time on this feature. If you must see it, wait until it fits your schedule, do not fit your schedule around seeing this, or you will be as disappointed as I.

I'd like to leave you with one example of the poor execution of this feature. When you are facing a mine field, what do you do? Shoot the mines in your path, you say? No! Shoot all the mines behind you that you have already eluded! Then when you are done flying through the mine field, you get to show a shot of all the mines blowing up behind you. Who was the supermind behind that?

Again, as a big Babylon 5 fan, this feature was a bust. But if you have 2 hours of your life to waste, and you don't expect too much, then go ahead. Watch this film. Man, I hate being so negative.

Sealab 2021 (2000–2005)

Absolutely brilliant!

[9 December 2001]

I've only seen this as part of Cartoon Network's Adult swim, and in context, it is brilliant (out of context I imagine it would still be just as brilliant). Adult swim has a whole slew of take-off cartoons ( as well as a non-humorous adult cartoon space-opera, Cowboy BeBop).

If you've ever found the stifled dialogue and character profiles of the late 70's and early 80's cartoons to be ripe for ridicule, then you *must* see sealab 2021. It uses the same cheap animation techniques from those shows (reusing cels, and reusing major components of cels for repeated scenes) to spectacular comedic effect. The deadpan humor and the outright ridiculous scenes and dialogue are great. Honestly, if you've a hint of braincells, and have sat through these types of cartoons as a kid, I don't think you can help but love this show. Based on the facts related below, I can also assume that people who haven't sat through those shows will love this also.

Ah, ok, here's a better comparison, if you like the Spaceghost lampooning on Spaceghost Coast to Coast, then you'll absolutely love Sealab 2021 (lampooning an earlier show Sealab 2020). Frankly, I never saw Sealab 2020. Despite having never seen the original (and I saw pretty much all the animated junk from that time period (when I was a kid)) I still laugh out loud *every* time I watch this show.

Please, if you have the chance, try to catch this startlingly brilliant show.

Galaxy Quest (1999)

WillfulSuspensionOfDisbelief makes this movie one of a kind and amazingly enjoyable

[10/10 · 1 June 2000]

This movie was a blast! I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in quite some time. If you are familiar with Star Trek (both the original and TNG) then the humour won't be lost upon you. The story is fun and quirky, but the jokes and jabs are precious! Each character added to the movie's value, and that value is extraordinary!

The characters from a 'Star Trek' type show are asked to help save an alien race. They even bring along a red shirt! The alien scenarios are remarkably similar to the show's tv scenarios, making for great lines for the semi-abuducted cast!

A kid's movie for adults!

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Pathetic. Rip off. Need I say more?

[1/10 · 1 June 2000]

One of the worst movies I've seen in quite some time. And considering I went in with low expectations, that speaks volumes. It directly ripped off a scene from Last of the Mohicans, and ripped off its general feel from all the bond movies. Not only is this movie not a sequel to Mission Impossible the TV series, it isn't even a sequel to Mission Impossible the movie. I'm not sure if I can say this movie sucked, but only because I think that comment might be censored. This movie was predictable, lame and annoyingly plagiaristic. I can't say enough poor things about this movie. If I can help even one person from spending their hard earned money on this movie, then perhaps my misspent dollars are not gone completely in vain.

Did I mention that John Woo (of whom I am generally a fan) did his worst work yet here? His methods (e.g. slo-mo to build up drama and emphasize action) are tedious here. The instant deep bond between the two main characters is ridiculous ('hey we almost killed each other! Let's sleep together and form a lasting love bond') and all the other relationships are barely more believable. Again, I don't think I can count in 1000 words how many ways this movie was disappointing!

So I'll stop at 234 words with saying that this movie wasn't even worth a rental rate.

Y2K (1999)

Good concept, poorly tied to the false millenium

[3/10 · 23 January 2000]

Nice idea. A secret silo has a computer failure at the change of the year (y2k, get the title?). A skilled team is coerced to go in and fix it, but their efforts are fatigued by drug lords and internal US armed forces strife. Unfortunately the characters are hollow and the idea is poorly executed. Remove the y2k theme and the glib characters, and there might be a solid movie here. Definitely worthy of a remake! If you watch it, don't sweat the details (which aren't terrible, just bad) and try to enjoy the underlying concept. While the current version is a 'MacGyver' movie (at best), a remake could be on par with 'Force 10 from Navarone.' If you like tension, a good plot, well developed characters, and nice plot twists... wait for the remake.

Gattaca (1997)

Gorgeous story of Man vs society

[10/10 · 23 January 2000]

Futuristic only in the setting. This is one of the best movies I've seen in quite some time. Little violence, gore or sexuality, yet remarkably captivating. Insightful and touching. The story about an imperfect person in a world which values perfection. The struggle of the protagonist is beautiful, yet, just as in life, it is only with the aid of others that one's dreams may be realized. A story about the triumph of the individual against society. A story of the triumph of individual spirit against mass conceit. A story that can re-energize one's flagging confidence in one's fellow man. ('Man' here being used in the genderless sense of Man). Beauty can be shown in many lights, but rarely is it shown enlightening the better aspects of the person as it is here. Truly genius, thought-provoking, and touching. PS - I deeply dislike Ethan Hawke *and* Uma Thurman, yet I love this film.