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lewiswill
Reviews
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Fun and silly - contains very vague spoilers
Bright and happy, fun and silly, this movie is definitely a mood-improver. The plot is ridiculous and the characters are retarded (ie: extremely ditsy and fun). The houses are idyllic and the lifestyles are hedonistic. Many of the situations, conversations, mannerisms etc are humorously symbolic of elements of society and stereotypes - men's club, women's reading club, carefully designed look for women in contrast to casual "practical" look for men. It was nice to see gender stereotypes mocked with such good humor. Problems: (1) too many of the characters looked bizarre, especially the husband, whose face was too childlike for my liking; (2) the beginning - very tacky - they should have carried the slightly old-fashioned theme throughout; (3) Nicole probably (well certainly) was not the best choice for the lead - when the threesome were sneaking around houses she was the boring person who makes things less fun - I don't know why BM and that other guy put up with her. 7/10
The Girl Next Door (2004)
Random plot, not fun, just dumb
Why did I see this movie? Why did someone make this movie? I can't answer either of these questions. This movie had an unsatisfying, disturbing, boring and demented plot. Partially funny moments were mixed with disturbing scenes of cruelty and randomness (lots of adults being mean to kids - lovely). I came out of the theatre feeling annoyed and extremely uninspired. The themes in this movie were incredibly superficial - what about the "I'm so ashamed to be a porn-star" theme - all I have to say about this is "what!?!" The acting was bad and there was no subtlety or beauty. I strongly discourage the viewing of this movie - I'd rather blow my nose with sandpaper (continuously).
Phone Booth (2002)
A terrible terrible movie
Phone Booth really is one of the worst movies I have ever seen - one of those ones that leads to resentment due to having paid for the ticket. Had I known what Phone Booth would actually be like, I would have required payment to attend the movie. Phone Booth's plot is simplistic and involves unnecessary and boring violence and cruelty. It is clear throughout that those who created the movie thought that its ideas were very interesting and thoughtful - really this is an example of indulgence of the worst kind, akin to Matrix II and III (dare I say it) - fun for movie-makers but painful for audiences. None of the characters are endearing and there is no subtlety or anything remotely attractive or memorable. The voice of the "baddy" is that "scary person" voice used in so many American movies (such as Scream etc) - very tacky. I strongly discourage people from watching this movie - 0/10.
Collateral (2004)
Stupid stupid stupid
Sorry but I really thought this movie was pretty stupid. I enjoyed the conversation in the taxi at the beginning, but once it became clear that Max was required to keep driving Tom around LA, bad memories of Phone Booth (even worse) came back and the stupidity quickly ensued. The actors are good but the plot is one of those silly whipped up stories that movie-makers are tending to use more and more to fill up two hours. There was no real flow to this movie, nor any subtlety or beauty. I am not a particularly demanding movie-watcher, but I require movies to have an IQ of at least 80 - this movie fell well short of that. I am surprised that it is getting so many good reviews.