Reviews

My first instinct after flipping through the TV and seeing a beautiful woman in a room of young guys?

I thought: "Ok, what reality show is Fox running now?"

I checked the channel, to see Comcast's synopsis of the show, and realized it wasn't Fox but TV Land -- a cable station that typically airs MASH, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Star Trek.

Like other reviewers note, this is reality television at its worst. Granted I only watched for 10 minutes, but that was more than enough. If the content doesn't do it for you, the cable station it's located on will. Lame.

A friend invited me to an advance screening last night and I was hesitant at best. I'd only seen a trailer and read minimal previews of the film as a means of walking in with a fresh pair of eyes.

My friend and I were each disappointed. He hoped for more Jet Li action and I hoped for more kick-butt mummy battles.

After a longer-than-usual introduction setting the background, we meet the O'Connell family, 50% of whom are played by new actors. James Bond and Batman are believable with new actors, but Evelyn and Alex O'Connell are not. To me, anyway. If you haven't seen the earlier films in the trilogy (which you don't need to see to understand this new plot), you wouldn't blink.

In favor of the film, I enjoyed the cinematography, costumes, set direction, and stunning visual effects. But acting? As another reviewer wrote here, "Meh!" But I enjoyed it, despite few one-line comedic gags that ruled the earlier films. I laughed last night but nothing I remember today.

The Mummy 3 is mindless entertainment. Nothing memorable, though.

Nikol Leidman is spectacular. Near the beginning of Meduzot, she plays a 5-year-old girl who walks out of the Mediterranean Sea onto a Tel Aviv beach wearing a flotation device around her waist. She may as well be naked. She doesn't speak but her wide-open and captivating eyes convey all that needs to be said.

The girl befriends Batia, a 20-something woman with family problems, a job she hates, and a forgotten past. Social rules don't apply to Batia and the girl, as even the police don't place missing children on their list of priorities.

One day, Batia literally runs into Joy, a Filipino woman who speaks English but is learning Hebrew while freelancing as a caregiver. Joy tries to help Malka recover from a hospital stay but Malka appears mean but that's only because of her relationship with her daughter. Nothing's what it seems.

The hospital where Malka stayed is also where Keren was treated after she slammed her leg into the bathroom floor when trying to climb over a locked toilet stall on her wedding night. She and her new husband Michael stay at the famous Dan Hotel but the only beach-facing suite is taken by a mysterious woman who is writing a novel. Or is she? Walking out of the movie theater, I thought a lot about Meduzot and the translucent nature of jellyfish. The husband-and-wife filmmakers could have provided extra footage and explained more connections between the characters and put questions to rest with who the girl from the sea really is, but why spoil anything? I liked it fine the way it was.

When asked by a reporter in early 2008 to name his favorite movie, U.S. presidential candidate John McCain said, "Viva Zapata!" "I still think it's the great classic," he said.

This 1952 Darryl Zanuck production directed by Elia Kazan and the recipient of an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor to Anthony Quinn, stars Marlon Brando as Mexican peasant-turned-revolutionary Emiliano Zapata set in the years leading up to World War I.

I'm a film buff and I never heard of it until I heard McCain speak.

I found a VHS copy through my library and watched it today.

Written by John Steinbeck with his only original screenplay, the script contains memorable passages on democracy, human conscience, violence, and peace. The language flows evenly.

Despite filming locations in the American southwest, Joe MacDonald's cinematography brought Mexico to life in this black & white picture.

I don't question why McCain liked it, as I can see that, but his favorite movie?

If you want to see a mindless action flick, disregard most of the other commentators and check out "The Contract." I'd found the title on the public library shelf, read like an interesting plot, and of course had the star power of Morgan Freeman and John Cusack, not to mention acclaimed Driving Miss Daisy director Bruce Beresford, so I checked it out.

I watched the film last night and didn't venture onto the IMDb site until today when I just saw other comments.

Yes, there are 14 producers to this film which is a tad on the heavy side, but this isn't too surprising when you consider most of the cinematography occurs in Bulgaria.

Again, it's mindless entertainment. The plot can be more defined but who sees action movies for plot?

I couldn't sleep last night and browsed through Comcast On Demand to find a cute comedy and saw HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS! I don't think I'd seen the film since the late 1980s.

It was released in 1987 and I don't recall seeing it in the theater, but I digress.

Harry is a hairy behemoth of the Sasquatch genus. A Bigfoot. What kid wouldn't want a pet Bigfoot of his own? What adult wouldn't? But Harry is no pet. He's an adopted member of Seattle's Henderson family, eating goldfish and plants, burying stuffed deer heads and mink coats, and relaxing in front of the TV while laughing at re-runs of "The Addams Family." He wasn't always in the family. Mr. Henderson had almost run him (it?) over in the road, brought him home, and cared for the big guy.

All good things must come to an end, and the Hendersons eventually must choose if Harry remains with their family or if he should be driven back to the wild.

Watch the movie for mindless entertainment and you won't be disappointed!!

Imagine sitting in a room with 30 other people and an average age of 75.

Imagine you and your peers recently toured Europe, singing covers of rock songs to sold-out audiences.

Now you're back in the rehearsal studio and you're listening to a song that your great-granddaughter may adore but to you is a mishmash of noise. You can't decipher the words, let alone the staccato of the drum beat.

Your leader asks you to try to listen to it because later on he will ask you to sing it. You're not a quitter, having survived numerous heart bypass surgeries, and moreover the leader has faith in you, so you adjust your hearing aid and persevere.

When you ultimately perform the song on a stage in a sold-out amphitheater, everyone applauds.

You did it! *** When was the last time you clapped and chuckled at a group of octogenarians singing covers to Sonic Youth, David Bowie, the Ramones, and James Brown? If you were like me, then see this film!

Until today, I never watched this film. I only lasted about 30 minutes on the DVD before turning it off. It's fair to say I won't watch the rest.

I'll agree the film was worthy to receive awards for Best Editing but by the same token the editing killed it for me. I didn't mind the editing in "Moulin Rouge" because the plot was linear and framed. "Chicago," though, chops up the plot into two, three, four parallel tracks and so-called acting is interspersed by vaudeville song and dance routines. Keep it to one genre (musical) or another (drama) but let's not make "Chicago" into another "Evita" where editing is necessary.

Until today, I'd never seen a Norwegian film before.

Not that it makes a difference, although I can't think of any film, independent or not, coming out of Hollywood or New York closets that resembles the mishmash of "The Bothersome Man." Blame it on the translation, but why is Andreas bothered? Curious for sure, tickled pink perhaps, but bothered? The DVD case for this film talks about the superficiality of the characters who surround Andreas in the purgatory-like city he finds himself in after attempting suicide.

What the DVD case doesn't say is that the first five minutes of the film are full of silence and noise, but no dialogue. The first spoken word is "Hello." Welcome to Norwegian film.

I remember watching a few episodes of the TV cartoon to the extent when I started driving and saw fast drivers, I always commented (and still do), "There goes speed racer!" The film version of "Speed Racer" is a wicked fun time on the big screen. I saw this on an IMAX screen and so I can assure you the acting is so-so but people don't attend or make these films for acting but for the special/visual effects which are snazzy.

John Goodman and Susan Sarandon play off each other as typical parents who want their children to succeed but are not concerned when school grades plummet when tragedy befalls the family. Of the other actors, Matthew Fox (taking a break from the "Lost" TV series) puts in some good scenes and Christina Ricci is hot hot hot all the way (but I've always been a, err, fan of her), but Chim Chim the monkey steals the show.

I remember singing "As Tears Go By" around the campfire in summer camp, and until tonight when I watched this film, I never knew Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote it nor had I seen them sing it.

Then again, I never appreciated rock music until a few years before The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and they produced the successful "Steel Wheels" album.

One of my favorite moments of "Shine a Light" was about halfway through the 2006 concert during a duet with blues musician Buddy Guy on "Champagne and Reefer." There is a scene lasting more than a few seconds when Martin Scorsese directed the camera to hold a shot of Guy smiling and gazing at Jagger. To me, it was a moment of genius acknowledging genius.

Imagine my surprise at seeing 393 comments for LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, but due to watching this film for the first time in my 32-year life, I feel I should add my own comment.

Echoing everyone else, this film is a magnificent masterpiece in many ways: screenplay, cinematography, on-location scouting, sound, acting, devotion to T.E. Lawrence' life.

I have not read Lawrence' tale that sparked this film, and while I feel the film expertly told his life albeit from a skewed perspective, I don't think I need to read the book to understand the man.

There is plot and there is narrative, and both are wonderfully told without any doubt to their purpose. From the silence of the eastern sun rising over the desert does to the battle scenes' clamor, this film is a clever look at the intricacies of the human element.

A unique collaboration of 12 Boston area directors and starring a local ensemble cast of relative unknowns or actors with limited professional experience, I had the privilege of watching this phenomenal work at its world premiere.

Co-producers Scott Masterson and Steve Oare hand-picked 12 directors to shoot a maximum 10-minute short during a different month of 2007. Each director had creative license to explain a story any way he/she wanted, with the caveat that a tree is framed in at least one scene.

The films were directed by Scott Masterson, Seanbaker Carter, Andy McCarthy, Garth Donovan, Luke Poling, Noah Lydiard, Megan Summers, Brynmore Williams, Joan Meister, Marc Colucci, Jared Goodman, and Vladmir Minuty.

Individually, the 12 short films were shot in and around Boston and focus on love, friendship, despair, addiction, and violence using elements of comedy, romance, song, and documentary.

I liked each film in a different way, but my favorites include:

"March" - about a serial murderer and the police detective who tracks him down in a very funny way.

"June" - following the inventive exploits of a teenage boy who builds a flying contraption to escape his alcoholic stepmother. How many kids don't want to fly?

"August" - an educational documentary about bees and the hive sounds they make. Very intellectual here, and a bold contrast to many fictional elements of the other months.

"November" - a jarring look at inner-city youth who live a life of drugs, guns, and violence.

"What is the difference between plot and narrative?" a student asks Jon Savage, a college professor, near the end of the film.

This question goes to the heart of the film. There is only a loose plot, namely: Jon and Wendy Savage are siblings who help their father in the last days of his elderly life.

Yet, there is much narrative, ranging from Wendy's adulterous affair reflected in a ficus tree to Jon's fear of commitment to social commentary on the role of a nursing home.

I entered the theater, not unlike other IMDb reviewers it seems, having only seen a repetitive trailer that had many elements of comedy. There were some comic moments in this film but it was much more of a drama, full of narrative but not a lot of plot.

There is a pleasant surprise to entering a movie theater with zero expectations, having not seen the trailer or read any reviews.

A dark dramatic comedy, I enjoyed the camaraderie between Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes, each actor playing off the other. Clémence Poésy, someone I'd never heard of, put in a surprising performance playing Farrell's love interest.

Kudos to the filmmakers for shooting in Bruges, which is the silent co-star here. With its centuries-old architecture, historical significance, and homey atmosphere, I'd like to visit this city the next time I make my way to Europe.

Other than its setting in Ceausescu's Romania and its receipt of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, I knew nothing about this film before walking into the theater.

By the time the end credits started rolling, I murmured to my companion, "Wow!" The film was so powerful, namely the cinematography, visuals, lack of music, and dialogue. Like others in the theater, I stayed until the very end of the credits despite not understanding the language.

Some reviewers call the ending anticlimactic and others say it is inevitable. Does it matter?

Jerzy Gwiazdowski (David) and Leah Goldstein (Cara) co-star in a heartwarming romantic drama as twenty-something young adults who meet quite randomly, flirt, date, get intimate, break up, and question their future.

The directing/writing/producing triumvirate of brothers Alex and Paul Cannon and Michael Lerman conceived "Natural Causes" after their own failed relationships. During a pivotal scene about halfway through the film, Kate MacCluggage (Amy) tells Gwiazdowski's David that early relationships are meant to fail to provide a backdrop for reflection and compatibility.

I watched "Natural Causes" as part of Boston's International Film Festival, and while understanding that the film was intended as a series of vignettes of a relationship interrupted by black screens to signify elapsed time, I would have enjoyed the film more if the blackness was either shorter or nonexistent. I was struck by the amazing cinematography and location shoots throughout the New York-based film, but there were a few outdoor scenes that were very choppy due to unsteady hand cameras; this sort of footage reminded me of "The Blair Witch Project." Aside from some of the camera shots and the blackness in between the vignettes, my only other complaint is the soundtrack appeared music-intensive. While some music was appropriate to set a scene or segue into another scene, there were other points when music was played for no apparent reason.

I did enjoy many aspects of symbolism, such as the sound of heavy thunder to accompany relationship conflict and scenes of David and Cara driving on a very curvy road to signify their unknown future, neither one knowing what's behind the next curve.

I walked into the theater during a special screening through Boston's International Film Festival only seeing the trailer and hearing bits and pieces of the plot.

Let me be the first to say on the IMDb that the ensemble acting, plot development, and art direction is simply fantastic! In a word, the film was awesome! While a drama, there were many comedic moments through the talents of Elle Fanning and other characters, and stay tuned to a tear-jerking moment near the end that caused many of us in the theater to sniffle.

I recommend this to everyone once it hits mainstream theaters this fall.

I am a fan of the series and watched this special TV-movie with anticipation many of the Centre's secrets would be answered. Some were but there were also many unanswered questions. Part of the problem lay with numerous and simultaneous subplots. I got the sense there were more scenes that were cut out of the final production due to time restraints. I am now curious for the next installment.

Yes, this was a drama and not as much a romance or comedy but there were just so many comedic scenes I was laughing alot. I later talked to another friend who saw it and she felt it was dreary and sad; I didn't see those elements. James Woods is a fine actor and makes an awesome supporting role. Drew Barrymore is awesome period. Steve Zahn is another fine albeit quirky actor in his roles. Here they all come together to make chemistry. Check it out.

Some critics have noted when an actor wins an award their subsequent roles are poor. In this case, Kevin Spacey won the Oscar for American Beauty but his performance in K-PAX was not unsatisfactory but exemplary. I was able to believe in him and was able to follow his movements and interactions clearly in the film. Very enjoyable!

To introduce myself, I am 26 years of age and like other commenters, not the target audience. I had read the book in advance and while I really can't compare the book to the movie, I was able to see my imagination of the scenes come to life, and that was a very magical experience for me! Maggie Smith's and Robbie Coltrane's performances were excellent, yet by far, the three children were the best! The film stuck very close to the book's contents, changing some scenes around and modifying some subplots to keep the film shorter but to the lay person without having read the book, the changes would not spoil the film. I went to see this movie during opening night to witness my imagination take shape...and that did happen and so I am happy!

The summary above says it all. Meet Buffy: A female co-ed who is chosen as a vampire slayer and goes around day and night masquerading as a student when she is really spiking demons and kicking ghouls. She can defeat her enemies with any type of tool and her appearance and looks alone can cause the evil ones to salivate. She can also make certain TV watchers salivate...

A touching piece about a young girl being told to pack a suitcase in the high chance the family would have to run away during occupied France. There is much symbolism in the items she selects and the last 60 seconds explain everything in such a delicate manner, it is chillingly refreshing. I viewed this through the 2001 Boston Jewish Film Festival and the director had flown in to make some simple remarks.