Instinct (1999)

Too many jungle bits. But the psychiatry bit was quite fascinating. 2.5 stars.

Guys and Dolls (1955)

After just having seen a live performance, I would have to say... I have no idea which is better. I liked the Adelaide from the show better--the girl in this movie just drove me nuts with her voice--but on the other hand, Marlon Brando's Sky Masterson was definitely a much more interesting character than what's-his-name in Pecatonica. They did a pretty decent job taking this movie to the big screen. They took out many of the boring songs (replacing them, however, with songs even more uninteresting) BUT my big bone to pick with them is...THEY TOOK OUT "MARRY THE MAN TODAY"!!!! How could they do that?!? That song was awesome! Grrrr.... 2.5 stars.

Funny Girl (1968)

Half the songs in this show were musical staples in my house. My mom often sings "I'm the Greatest Star" for no particular reason - there's even a story that when partially anesthized while having a tooth removed, she sang it at the top of her lungs. She has no memory of this event, but the dentist does. :-) But aside from enjoying the music (not to mention Barbra's amazing performances of them . . . I'll never cease to be amazed at her marvelous voice) it even had a moderately interesting plot. How often does *that* happen in a '50's musical, where many musicals seemed to be created by writing a bunch of songs and trying to write a show around them? The final scene, with the performance of "My Man," is a truly touching scene that had me closing my eyes and simply listening to the music. Ahhh . . . definitely worth another watch. 3.5 stars.

Finding Nemo (2003)

I will probably be cast out into the street when I say that nothing in this movie particularly struck me. Yes, the animation was superb (causing me to draw gasping breaths throughout the movie due to a combination of hydrophobia and claustrophobia kicking in), the plotline was sweet, the performances were very solid . . . So what was missing? I have no idea. But something in this movie reached out and grabbed at me. Even the comedy scenes weren't that funny to me. The most enjoyment I had was relating to Dory . . . Curse short-term memory loss! Wait . . . who was Dory again? But, seriously, there wasn't much about this movie that I *really* enjoyed. I moderately enjoyed the whole thing, but for me that's not enough to make a good movie. 3 stars.

101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003)

Plot: Being one of 101 takes its toll on Patch, who doesn't feel unique. When he's accidentally left behind on moving day, he meets his idol, Thunderbolt, who enlists him on a publicity campaign.

There were only two good things about this movie. 1) Lars' cool little hand thing that my brother can do but I can't, and 2) Patch was VERY cute in the French-dubbed version. 0.5 stars.

Back to the Future Part III (1990)

This isn't a dud, by any means, but it's not nearly as funny as the first or the second. It has a few laughable moments, but this became more of a romance than a comedy. I'll still watch it, but the first two are definitely the precious gems of the trilogy. 3 stars.

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

This one is more of a "mess-with-your-mind" comedy than the first one was. I had to watch it about three times before I figured out all the time travel explanations. Still funny, but the first one was better. 3 stars.

Back to the Future (1985)

Definitely one of the funniest family comedies out there. It has so many memorable moments, and is overall just a completely goofy movie. Gotta love this one. 4 stars.

Evita (1996)

One of the very few instances where I like the movie better than the OBC. But the OBC for Evita didn't do anything for me. Patti LuPone always sounds about 50 years old to me, Mandy Patinkin was tolerable but he just wasn't Che, and Bob Gutton, or whatever his name is, had a boring singing voice. (Well, so does Jonathan Pryce, but he just seemed to fill the role perfectly.) My only qualm about this is that they took "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from Peron's mistress and gave it to Eva. Grr. 4 stars.

Edward Scissorhands (1990)

"Awwww! It's POTO!" Well, that was the thought running through my head during most of this movie. It's definitely a bizarre movie, but incredibly moving and very sweet. Definitely goes on my "Top However Many Movies" list that I'm building one of these days. 4.5 stars.

Dave (1993)

A great movie. It is one of the very few movies that I actually could watch over and over again, it's just so much fun. Much better than your typical romantic comedy. 4 stars.

Agent Cody Banks (2003)

Plot: A government agent trains Cody Banks in the ways of covert operations that require younger participants.

Back in April, I heard about this movie, and I thought, "Hmm. That could be either really stupid, or really funny." It was the latter. The key to making kids' spy movies is to not take it seriously. This makes fun of itself with every move. It's always fun to watch movies where you *know* the actors are having a blast playing their melodramatic, overhyped characters. Definitely a great movie. 3 stars.

Field of Dreams (1989)

Okay, this movie was... odd. And I was confused all the way through. But it was still fun to watch. The dialogue was funny in a lifelike way. Not just funny situations, but people just naturally joking around with each other (something that, actually, you don't see too often in today's movies). That alone made it worth watching once. 3 stars.

Fantasia 2000 (1999)

This has some great pieces of music - Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" being the best one on here. I like their interpretation of Beethoven's 5th as well. But the best part was their replay of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." That is so classic that it's worth renting either Fantasia movie just to see. 3 stars.