rhbwebpages Reviews

Scary Movie 2 (2001)

One of the worst I've ever seen.

[1/10 · 10 July 2001]

Sorry, but you have to either be really drunk or have the mind of a 12-year-old boy to appreciate this movie. Apparently the Wayan brothers think it's automatically funny to take any scene from otherwise decent movies, throw in a few farts, some vomiting, and bucketloads of gratuitous and hackneyed sexual references. I just lost a great deal of respect for all the adults who could actually stomach this movie long enough to act in it.

Family Law (1999–2002)

Loved the recent inter-faith marriage episode

[12 March 2001]

Was my first time watching "Family Law," and I was glad to see a network weekly program tackling such a controversial episode. It effectively dealt with religion, atheism, interfaith marriages (and their problems), and separation of church and state, as well as the interaction of all these elements. I might be willing to give this a second viewing next week after seeing what they did with these topics.

I.Q. (1994)

Silly, but funny.

[8/10 · 11 June 2000]

Sure, it's a goofy movie with a silly plot. But for some reason, there were several parts throughout the movie in which I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The images of Albert Einstein and other famous early 20th-century physicists behaving like mischievous teenagers in a matchmaking process was just too funny! It's worth a watch from the video store or if you ever see it on TV.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Great film, especially cinematography and music.

[10/10 · 14 May 2000]

This is definitely a great film that is a wonderful finale for Kubrick. The storyline kept me on the edge of my seat throughout nearly the entire movie, as it was as much of a mystery as it was a drama or romance. And the "masked ball" scene was a wonderful display of cinema magic; you almost felt like you were Cruise walking through the mansion and seeing everything for the first time. Throw in a wonderful soundtrack whose CD I would definitely recommend purchasing, and you've got an A+ movie. I don't know if I'd say this is my all-time favorite film, but it's definitely in the top tier.

Office Space (1999)

Hilariously true!

[9/10 · 25 April 2000]

While I'm not an office worker myself, I have plenty of friends and associates who are, and I can completely sympathize with their plight as is wonderfully expressed in this movie. Everything from rush hour traffic woes to wimpy desk jockeys listening to gangster rap is adequately covered here. The actors are actually quite good for this sort of film, which wasn't exactly super-budget and wasn't shown all over the box office very much, to be honest. And Jennifer Aniston does a great job of blending nicely with the movie and doesn't have too much or too small a role, giving her sex-image, prime time TV status. All in all, great acting, great use of the soundtrack, and superb writing -- that's what makes this movie so great. And while it might actually sound like a slapstick type movie, the plot is, as the other reviewer stated, surprisingly complex and will surprise you in its cleverness, especially at the end.

The Marrying Man (1991)

Captures the allure of anticipation well.

[6/10 · 26 March 2000]

This movie is all about the allure of anticipation, especially between two lovers. It's about that feeling you get when you fall "in love" with that special someone and can't get that person out of your mind. But it's also about how that feeling can all too often leave you before you know what has happened. In this respect, I think the movie does a good job depicting this phenomenon. Baldwin and Basinger express a real yearning for each other that can really be felt throughout the movie.

The only really bad part about this film is that the story is somewhat chopped up and the "narration"-style presentation could use some work. Other than that, it's good to watch if you catch it on TV or something.

Contact (1997)

Somewhat disappointing after the book, but still worth a view.

[7/10 · 18 March 2000]

I had read the book to this film about three weeks before I had ever heard of the film, and I put off watching the film because I figured it probably would be a let-down after the book. Unfortunately, I was right. I just saw the movie on video recently, and there were many important elements explored in depth in the book that weren't covered at all in the movie. But I guess that's to be expected. So, in that light, I still give this movie a good review and recommend viewing it. My primary complaints would be that the character development left something to be desired and I never really felt "attached" to any of the characters as I did after reading the book a couple years ago.

New Nightmare (1994)

An OK horror flick, but poor ending.

[5/10 · 18 March 2000]

This movie's not bad, but it still leaves me desiring a really good horror flick that has the potential of giving goosebumps to someone past the age of 5. I suppose I'm comparing this and other horror films to how I viewed them when I was a kid, but I guess I just wish they were actually scary once in a while. If anyone has any recommendations, please e-mail me.

Anyhow, this movie's not bad and compares pretty well compared to the other Nightmare films. In fact, there are actually a few interesting shots in the first half of the film. The problem is that the last 30-40 minutes are REALLY bad. Once Heather/Nancy enters the "Nigthmare World," things go downhill fast. Freddy just sort of runs around taunting Heather and her child and the entire seen looks more like a comedy than horror. My advice is to watch this all the way through and then leave right after Nancy gets back to her house from the hospital.

Escape from New York (1981)

Don't waste your time on this one.

[3/10 · 18 March 2000]

I must admit that I saw this on TV (TNT is showing it a lot lately), so I might have missed a few things that got cut out, but this one didn't impress me at all. First off, the entire premise is ridiculous. For instance, why would the "United States Police Force" transform an island with some of the highest real estate in the country (Manhattan) into a prison? And, unfortunately, not much develops in the way of the action of the movie. I was at least expecting some interesting "underworld" groups to be exposed in the "prison New York," but instead, it's basically a bunch of shots of old buildings with a few prisoners running around in tattered clothing. In fact, you only see about 50 prisoners at any time, which is a ridiculously low number to warrant the transformation of an entire city into a prison. I haven't seen the sequel "Escape from L.A.," but this movie has lessened my desire to do so.