Friday, December 31, 2004

I, Robot (2004)

Sci-fi has never REALLY been my thing, but this movie wasn't too bad. Not brilliant but not too stupid. And I have to say that the robots looked very, very cool. So... would I recommend it? Probably, if they like futuristic robot movies. Well, unless they're a giant Asimov fan. Because the story uses all of Asimov's three laws but then contradicts them all at the end. *rolls eyes* 2.5 stars.

Hidalgo (2004)

Well, I'm rather irritated. Whenever I talked to people and said, "I don't think I'll see this, it's a horse movie," they always immediately reassured me that it WASN'T a horse movie. So my dad rented it and I watched it... and it WAS a horse movie! Gah. What lies. So anyway. It was a horse movie, and a horribly drawn-out one at that. I kept waiting for it to end and it didn't. Grr. I can't believe I spent the time to sit down and watch this. So long. So boring. So not worth seeing. 0.5 stars.

Big Business (1988)

Wow. This has to be one of the silliest premises ever. After the first ten minutes of movie, I had to say to myself, "Okay. I see where this is going." And I suspended disbelief... and enjoyed the movie. Some of the moments are so ridiculously forced that if I had been thinking about it, I would have been disgusted. But really, that suspension of disbelief does wonders for a movie. It was quite enjoyable when I didn't stop to think about the fact that it was loony. Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin were both quite funny in their roles. Will I ever see this again? I doubt it. Did I enjoy it this once? You bet. 3 stars.

Around the World in 80 Days (2004)

I'm VERY not fond of these movies that take fairy tales or dated stories and throw all this modernized humor into them. (Another prime example - Ella Enchanted.) It really ruins the spirit of the story. That being said, it makes sense that I hated this movie and found it mostly just stupid. I mean, come on. Martial arts in the middle of this story? Pfft. However, there *was* one part where I began to giggle uncontrollably... that San Francisco beggar was GREAT! Reminded me of the Clown or whoever the one loony guy was from Much Ado About Nothing. 0.5 stars.

Along Came a Spider (2001)

Ooh. A nice intelligent thriller. So refreshing. The villains were intelligent, the little girl was intelligent... none of those moments that made me go, "YOU IDIOT! *Why* did you just do that?" I also didn't catch on too early, not until right when I was supposed to. I'm now going to have to look up the first one in the series and see if I can watch that one next. 3 stars.

Finder's Fee (2001)

Ooh. This seems like a stage play. It really does. Five key characters, all in one room, with lots of dialogue? But apparently it wasn't one. However, this was a fascinating movie. The characters were intriguing... the five of them were so different and each one of their characters got fleshed out fairly well. And then just when you think everything's been wrapped up nice... Heh, but I'd better not give that away. ;-) It was something I didn't see coming at all, though. I don't know if I'd watch this again soon, but it was definitely cool to watch one. 4 stars.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)

Wow. What a powerful movie about alcoholism. It's got such a sad ending, too. I liked watching how they kept trying to get out of drinking, and then falling back in, and then getting out, and then falling back in, and how finally she just gave up. This is a movie I'd really like to own someday. 4.5 stars.