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C.J.-7
Reviews
Match Point (2005)
See "Crimes and Misdemeanors" instead
And the award for Most Overrated Film of the Year goes to...
The critics wanted so badly to like this movie. They really did. "The best Woody Allen film in years!" they croaked. Well, maybe so, but that's not saying much. It's surely his most serious film in years, but so what? Seriousness does not equate to good drama.
I love Woody - or used to - but haven't liked a movie of his since Crimes And Misdemeanors, which, not coincidentally, is the very film Woody reheats and waters down to make the tepid Match Point. The differences? Crimes had a humorous subplot to balance the dark narrative, a story that wasn't completely predictable, three-dimensional characters and, above all, good acting (the supporting cast in both films was very good, but the leads in Match Point were shockingly bad, especially Ms. Johanssen).
If you want to see Match Point, rent Crimes & Misdemeanors. Same movie, done right the first time.
Oleanna (1994)
The worst movie I have ever seen
That's not exaggeration. It's the truth. When someone asks me what's the worst movie I have ever seen, I name this dog. Just plain rotten and self-indulgent. I would rather watch the entire Police Academy series one hundred times than have to sit through one minute of "Oleanna" again. Mamet fell in love with his writing on this one and it's unbearable.
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
More weird than interesting
I usually love Coen brothers films but this one didn't cut it for me. Slow. Pointless. Weird for weirdness' sake. Tightly plotted and beautifully shot, like Miller's Crossing, but not nearly as good. This one goes in the Coens' "so-so" file along with The Hudsucker Proxy.
The Goonies (1985)
Certainly NOT the greatest movie ever made...
Call me a cynic. Not only do I not like this film, but I am amazed at how many people here seem to love it so deeply. I did not see this movie as a child, so I don't have the same exaggerated emotional attachment to it as some. Still, I found it silly, overdone and incredibly annoying. Every one of the forced-cutesy kids in the movie (thanks, Mr. Spielberg!) needs a good throttling. The fat kid is the constant butt of cliched, mean-spirited joking. I have no idea what the Asian kid is saying anywhere in the film. Corey Feldman is obnoxious and, oh.. just happens to be able to translate Spanish and treasure maps and anything else when need be. Uh huh.
The plot is absurd: are we really supposed to believe the kids could so easily track down a 400-year-old treasure that everyone else has overlooked? Would a group of professional counterfeiters run off and leave evidence of their crime in plain sight, knowing that a group of kids is nosing around? I don't think so.
This lame movie is par for the course for Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire, Bicentennial Man) and one of Spielberg's weaker efforts (right up there with Hook, which suffers from many of the same problems as this film). There are some great films for kids out there. This isn't one of them.
My Girl 2 (1994)
Not as bad as you might think
I'm not a big fan of any of the actors in this movie, particularly Austin O'Brien (Last Action Hero), and I didn't really like the original My Girl, but I have to say that this movie was better than expected. Something just touched me about Vada (Anna Chlumsky) trying to find out about the mother she never knew; it was honest and poignant. Singer/songwriter J.D. Souther does a nice turn as an old boyfriend of the mother. It's no masterpiece, to be sure, and is indeed slow and pointless in parts, but it's a pleasant diversion. I give it a (generous) 7.