themadhatter_2000 Reviews

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Oh You Can't Help That.....Most Everyone's Mad Here

[20 May 2001]

Disney has a knack for enlightening children to tales from centuries ago by animating them, adding some songs and making everything pretty and colourful, Alice In Wonderland is that and a whole lot more.

Learning about Literary Classics from Disney cartoons is the most convenient, entertaining and wildly amusing ways of seeing what an author had intended the viewer to create in their mind. But nowadays, thanks to television, children can hardly get past the first sentence of a book without wanting a Pikachu or some sort of explosion to take place.

That's where the magic of Disney films come in. The animators, imagineers, musicians and creators take massive pride in the making of their literary classics to Disney masterpieces and Alice In Wonderland is a prime example.

The story of young Alice toppling down a rabbit hole and meeting a bunch of locals in the magical world of Wonderland is created perfectly through this Disney adaptation. Taking aspects from both the original Alice and Through The Looking Glass, the exploits of Tweedledum and Dee to the Mad Hatter's Tea party blend seemlessly in this brilliant animational masterpiece.

The musical score, with each character owning their own theme music, and the various songs throughout are enjoyable and fantastic.

The characters themselves shine, making each and everyone of them memorable especially the talents of Ed Wynn as The Mad Hatter and the brilliant J. Pat O'Malley as the Tweedles and their story telling equivalents.

So, the ideal way to introduce children, or even Highschool Students having to do books from the 19th Century, is to find a Disney Classic such as Alice In Wonderland and marvel at the creative genius behind the team that made books exciting for the new generation.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

I was so scared I lost my M&M's....

[11 January 2001]

The Blair Witch Project was a revolutionary experiment in fear through an audience's perceptions of what could have happened to those three student film makers in their ill fated trip to Burkettsville after their footage was found showing their strange demise.

Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows is really just another film where strange flashes and frights are rampant, though a mild sense of fear is created.

The difference between the two? The 1st Blair Witch was actually believable, the 2nd one isn't.

This time around, rather than the more convincing shaky black and white snippets of film mixed with shaky coloured film, the piece is a "Fictional Re-enactment" of events that occurred after the first film was released at cinema's everywhere, following four budding students into the Black Hills once more to find out just what happened to Heather, Josh and Mike.

Sadly, the fact that it is a "Fictional Re-enactment" takes the fun out of believing that this piece could possibly be true. BW2 is simply too professional looking to seem realistic, even for a "Re-enactment" Whereas BW1 had a certain sense of mystery and reality.

Although entertaining in it's own right, the fact that you don't really believe that these bizarre things happened to people lets down the aura that the first created. Because of the shakiness and poor quality of the picture in the first Blair Witch it made things more believable...

But this time, with a literal cast of thousands, a soundtrack, cinematic score, boom mike and casting director, you begin to feel that the Blair Witch makers are just out the make a buck...And I hear you all gasp.

My bitterness though did not spoil my outing, though a wayward film reel did. Actually, it added to the movie, as during their first visit to that Mill the film on screen was strangely angled and I thought it was clever. Until the Cinema Man walked in and apologised before having it promptly reassigned.

Onto the movie now...there were actual scary bits. The bit where the Gothic Girl sees the fun dead kids was kinda creepy. The good 'ole laughing and crying children made a comeback, plus flashes, distressed looks and visions of what took place during a lost 5 hours.

Which is where the story comes in. The four new people, one was called Tristian I remember that much, go on The Blair Witch Hunt into the Black Hills to have a camp out in the ruins of the Rustin Parr ( see the first film to find out who he is ) house to catch a glimpse of our favourite Blair Witch.

After a drinking and smoking session, the four awaken to discover strew paper and smashed, lost video equipment, before realising that they had in fact lost 5 hours during the night. Then, to make matters worse, hikers seen earlier by the quad are found dead on Coffin Rock in good old Stickman Pentagram fashion and strange Wiccan Alphabet symbols are etching themselves onto their skin.

That is the overall premise of BW2. Mixed with interviews with police, townspeople, flashes of strange rituals and murders and the occasional dead child waddling around, a certain creep factor begins to appear, but not nearly as much as it's predecessor.

Overall, BW2 had it's own sort of appeal. If you just wanted a strange movie with a fun witch back-story then it'd do, but as a follow up to an actual "scary" movie with a more creepy sub-text then it sadly falters.

The actors are great, with the occasional worried look and shocked appearance during trippy murder visions. Burkettsville is looking as spooky as ever, though a Mill is the new scene of madness for this outing.

The Blair Witch Mythology, created for the first movie, kinda takes a back-step in this film. Sure, there's the whole blame the witch possession aspect, but no actual explanation of what happened to Rustin Parr's house since the last film. The whole Coffin Rock past murder things. The disappearance of Heather and Co. in the last movie. Or even the Blair Witch herself, though the facing the corner Rustin Parr murder style thing is seen for a brief moment.

The absence of the mythology and the sort of twist that the ending takes leads viewers to believe, rather reluctantly, that the apparent 3rd movie will consist of five students going to the Mill to find out what happened to the students in the 2nd film, who in turn were just trying to find out what happened to the three students in the first film and so on and so forth for another 59 sequels...

Hopefully the guys take the first BW approach and just send people out and chase them around shouting Oooga Booga for the 3rd one Prequel thing.

The point of all my rambling simply comes down to Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows being a great movie in it's own right. Creepy, strange and thought provoking. But, it doesn't quite make it as a sequel to the original Blair Witch as it misses the essence of its predecessor.

Go see it just to see what everyone is complaining about and get your own opinion of it. That way, you'll enjoy the 3rd one and consequently the 1st one more next you view it. And oh yes, Take your Nan!

Fantasia 2000 (1999)

Fantasia 2ooo is a cinematic masterpiece....

[9 November 2000]

The most hated word in the English language is sequel, as most of the time a "sequel" to a movie is a money laundering plot that offers a pointless outing to an already finished tale.

Fantasia 2ooo is not a sequel.

Fantasia 2ooo is a continuation of the most historical musical masterpiece that paired brilliant animation with well known symphonic classics...and that was just the credits.

Continuing on from Fantasia, this 2ooo revival adds seven new pieces as well as The Sorcerer's Apprentice from the original. This time, with technology enabling the masters to finally somewhat portray what brilliance is going through their minds, Fantasia uses revolutionary new computer animation techniques, as well as the good old pen and ink method of the past.

From Beethoven's 5th to The Firebird Suite, there's a new myriad of classical pieces that burn into the minds of the intellectually sound. Critics of such films as Fantasia are simply, to put it bluntly, uneducated and unintelligent, because truly Fantasia 2ooo and its predecessor and nothing short of an art form in themselves.

Bringing exciting tales to somewhat 'boring' pieces of classical music is Fantasia's forté. And after watching such films, those 'boring' pieces are suddenly vivid and you begin to realise the complexity, brilliance and mastery that goes behind each musical number, thanks to the pictures put forth by the Disney crew. Fantasia 2ooo takes musical appreciation to a new level.

Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance makes the viewer almost weep as the booming march highlights Donald Duck's safe delivery of animals to the new world. The Carnival Of The Animals Finalé entertains the viewer visually as well as humorously. And the Pines Of Rome is truly breath-taking as whales take to the sky in an amazing beginning to this millennium presentation.

Truly, as a stand-alone film, Fantasia 2ooo falls into no category. It is a film, a symphony, an experience to be encountered by young and old alike and remembered as the most amazing film ever to grace human eyes.

Oh yeah...Did I mention I liked it?

Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)

There was a Doggy in it. Contains Spoiler

[28 September 2000]

Oh, Urban Legends. Will they ever win?

Apparently so, as listed among the film are a literal myriad of all the tales we've heard happened to a friend of a friend, and even the 'one' we've heard about this film being a tad silly can be justified somewhat by this film.

Urban Legends: Final Cut is a movie that cannot really be taken seriously seeing is though it's post "we actually care about horror movies". Because of this, no one was really completely scared about what was going on within the film at any one point, which is by no means a fault of the movie, just by us, the de-sensitised viewers.

As a stand-alone film I actually enjoyed ULFC. It had it's own little situations occurring, it's own character structure and it's own way to have a completely irrelevant killer (or 'ers' for those who haven't seen it and think that there may be some sort of plot that makes two killers possible...I digress)

Knowing that ULFC was not a direct sequel to Urban Legends, all you die hard fans out there will be listening out and jumping to possible link conclusions for the film, and sadly will be let down.

Only Reese, the delightful security guard, has anything to do with the first, but all you die hard fans will laugh manically when a visitor from the very end of the first Urban Legend returns for an 'in-joke' cameo at the very end of this one. Just to see this particular cameo will make the entire film more fun.

There are times when you could be genuinely scared in this film, say, if it was released before 1998. There are even moments where spooky music makes an appearance just because a tree is in the background, which makes you get scared, but then it's the end of the scene and you forget about it. Sections like that frequent this film and only two of about thirty are actually frightening, if you could call them that.

Oh, plot revelations. If any genre were tainted with the most ludicrous of plot revelations, the Horror genre wins hands down. Not since the repetition of the same killer in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer has the horror genre been subjected to such stupidly pointless killer identification.

I'm sorry, but surely if they wanted a point to the film they could have made someone remotely relevant to the rest of the characters the killer.

Don't read this next bit if you don't want the pointless ending to be wrecked;

But why that stupid useless teacher? The end of this film must have been written on a cocktail napkin, as it isn't very plot thickening or thought provoking. More like annoying. Why not make it Joey Lawrence's character? That would have made more sense (movie and motive wise).

Why not make it an amusing ending? Like, Joey's character could have blamed years of working on Blossom or with his brothers, for his killing everyone at the film school. That would have been more impressive than the selected mental teacher tact ULFC chose to take.

But because of the irrelevant ending, sometimes copied situations between killer and heroinne ( Scoring Room scene was very very remeniscent of Scream 2's Gale Sound Rec scene )and even the omnipresent sinister music when male characters say things like "trust me", mark this film as a last hurrah to the teen slasher genre. And I'm sad to say, it's about time.

So, overall, Urban Legends: Final Cut is a fun movie in it's own right. It's suspenseful, at some point's original, moving, confusing ( what with that whole make up a twin brother scheme ) and generally well done. It is just a pity that everyone is so over the teen slasher genre and just find themselves viewing it because it's got one rating below 18+

Before you go see it, if you haven't already, watch Urban Legend just so you can get the joke at the end of the second one, and watch how eerily similar the two films are in the typical 'horror movie' structure and the way certain parts are filmed and you won't be as scared as, say, your 3 year old cousin when you take them to go see it.

Go see Urban Legends: Final Cut and enjoy what could possibly be the very last of the teeny-bopper horror movie films for a long while yet.

Pokémon the Movie 2000 (1999)

Pokemon 2000 is fun!

[19 September 2000]

Pokemon 2000 is much more fun than the first Pokemon movie. The various new Pokemon sprouting about the place was minutes of pointing and gasping fun, and the evil fellow in the flying machine was quite a bad man.

Graphically, P2000 looked prettier also, though they could have spent a bit more on making the raging ocean look a bit more "oceany". Plot wise, the story seemed more entertaining ( in the second part, not Pikachu's Rescure Bit ). The inclusion of Slowking and the cameo of Mr. Mime made my day.

Countless in-jokes and such were evident more also, as it seems now the movie makers are having more fun with their creation. One line, in particular, where two girls are talking and one replies " No, but I have Krabbies " gave me quite a giggle. As did Slowking pondering that he could use some pants, and even Jesse's ( of Team Rocket ) sexuality preferences as he said when discussing the opposite sex, " that's why I steer clear of that. "

So, overall, Pokemon 2000 is the best of the two movies, the third one sounds fun, but without the line " No, but I've got Krabbies " I doubt it will be as fun. Go see it, and take Grandma!

Scary Movie (2000)

Scary Movie is great...even without Sidney's Mother...

[19 September 2000]

Scary Movie is a classic comedy film taking elements from the Naked Gun all the way to Saved By The Bell as it takes every conceivable situation that has been done to death ( literally ) by the teen horror movies that were born again with Scream.

The movie has been cleverly worked around the scripts, situations and even characters of past scary movies to create a film that's fun for everyone...who's seen every horror movie after Scream up until now, that is.

From Carmen Electra farting all the way to Cindy's drug dealing father, every element of flawed horror movie situations has been jumped on, from Puss Puss in the garage to knock things over, to the killer walking around in the background whilst the leads ponder where he or she is, Scary Movie is the ultimate way to kindly say to the horror genre, Ne Pas De Sequel.

The elements of comedy in Scary Movie range from the crass to the intelligent, as not many people would appreciate the ending with Doofy unless they watched The Usual Suspects, a joke lost on stupid 14 year olds in the row in front of this reviewer, or even the inclusion of Bobby's finale would be lost on an audience who don't know what it's like to be...erm..sexually anorexic (as Tatum from Scream calls it).

Though for the people with no prior movie knowledge the numerous fart jokes, Cindy getting kicked by Ray, gratuitous genitalia and everyone's favourite teacher Miss Mann should provide a good chuckle.

Scary Movie is a very funny movie but only for those with the knowledge to back it up, mind frame to appreciate clever and thought out humour, and the patience to wait until after the credits to see Doofy and the Vaccuum Cleaner re-kindling their relationship.

So, go see it, hire it on video, whatever, and to laugh even harder, hire the Scream Trilogy, The Usual Suspects, I Know What You Did Last Summer and even the good 'ole Blair Witch Project and enjoy one of the funniest films this "teen slasher generation " can appreciate, Scary Movie.