Reviews

This is, hands down, the worst show I have seen in my life. By virtue of being a children's show, it should either fall into the category of being educational or entertaining, but this show is neither. The animation (computer generated images obviously done on a very tight budget) is terrible. All of the characters are annoying. Even more offensive is the theme and seeming moral of the show. The monkey whom the show is about is uncontrollably violent, and continuously challenges the gods. One might expect, in that case, for the gods to be the "good guys" and teach the stupid monkey a lesson in each episode. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The gods seem to be in competition with this monkey to see who can be the most aggressive, evil, and unreasonable. This review is, in all likelihood, completely wasted at this point, because no one in their right mind would ever put this show back on television or release it on DVD. Of course, I also would have said that no one is psychotic enough to have made this show in the first place, and obviously I would have been wrong.

The makers of this film apparently thought that all it takes to make a good movie is an idea stolen from a good book (Like Water For Chocolate) and a couple of hot actors (Flanery and Gellar). This movie is a testament to how wrong they were. The dialogue is dry and boring, the plot is weak at best, and even the stars who are both good actors manage to have no chemistry whatsoever. I can't imagine that the people working on this film cared whether or not these two main characters ever got together. The worst element in the film, though, was easily the music. Either taken from a copyright-free CD or out of an after-school special, it is some of the cheesiest crap ever composed. In the very few points in the film where the viewer might possibly forget what a bad movie they're watching and actually get involved, the music chimes in, subtle as a bulldozer, and any emotion the viewer may have been feeling becomes an eye roll.

This is a great horror film but a mediocre Hitchcock film. It's worth seeing for all the great shots, such as the two love birds swaying back and forth as the car turns and the scene at the end of the film when Mitch opens the door and sees ALL the BIRDS, but all in all, I was disappointed in the film. The ending was abrupt and left me feeling very unfulfilled. However, don't let me discourage you from watching it... If you're in the mood for some shock horror and want to see a bunch of screaming children get their eyes poked out, rent this and Night of the Living Dead (the original one) and be shocked at the similarities.

To me, this is a movie about looking on the bright side of life... from the point of view of someone who isn't. We follow Cleo, a beautiful singer, through a day of her life (from 5:00 to 7:00) as she waits to find out if she has cancer. It's a very simple plot, and I think this simplicity is what allows the film to show Cleo's inner turmoil so well. This movie has strong existential undertones. In the beginning of the film, Cleo believes her fate is just that: fate. She is superstitious to the point of paranoia. Through the course of the film, she discovers that she is in control of her own life, and even in something that seems out of her control -- like cancer -- she has the freedom to decide how she will look at it and whether or not she will let it ruin her life.