Reviews

I was pleasantly surprised by Mumford, with my interest having only been mildly piqued by the trailers. It's a very engaging film, partly due to the believeable characters, and partly due to the offbeat plot development. Although the plot line is not terribly original, the way it moves forward is refreshing.

The cast is very well-rounded, with no big stars, althnough the performances of Loren Dean, Jason Lee, Mary McDonnell and David Paymer (yes, David Paymer) really gave the story some juice.

Although no Muppet movie will ever touch the original, Muppets From Space is a great introduction of the next generation Muppets to the original Muppet fans of my generation. The new Muppets Tonight characters are a wonderful addition to the old gang, especially Clifford and Pepe, who bring a more adult sensibility without compromising the juvenile appeal that makes the Muppets so timeless.

Drawing heavily from movies like Men in Black, Independence Day and other recent alien encounter movies (as well as a great nod to Close Encounters), much of the parody is sharp enough to keep the older audience laughing, with enough silliness to satisfy younger viewers.

Good to see that Jim Henson's legacy is alive and well, with good and (dare I say) wholesome entertainment for everyone.

The only thing lacking in this quintessential Bruckheimer production is a great collection of quotable one-liners. Otherwise, it was a terrific action flick with elaborate car chases (in standard shaky hand-held zooming style), grand explosions and LOUD special effects set to a driving soundrtrack. Don't expect too much and you'll get your $7.50 worth.

Where Scream was clever and Scream 2 was hip, the third installment of the Craven/Williamson too-cool-to-be-cult series was a pretty big dissapointment. Although they kept me guessing at who the killer was until the end, the suspenseful scenes were predictably scary (a friend and I were timing how long it would take for Ghostface to pop up in the window, etc.) and the blood and gore were rather PG.

Despite fine performances throughout, here's hoping Scream doesn't continue to parody slasher flicks and turn into a six or seven-part series. Let it go out on a marginally good note rather than mock itself into the books a la Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th.

I went into Fight Club already more or less aware of the plot and outcome, but that didn't stop me from getting sucked right into it, and by the time the climax rolled around, I'd forgotten everything I thought I knew beforehand.

If you only saw some pretty graphic barefisted fighting, and didn't leave the theater with a new way to look at life, you need to sit down and watch it again. What a marvelous study of the human psyche and statement about modern living!