Reviews

There are a lot of big time names involved in this movie - most of which I thoroughly enjoy most of the time. Some of those notables include Christina Ricci, Dave Chappelle, and Kate Hudson. But gosh, I just can't imagine that any of these actors/actresses were thrilled to have this film on there resume after they saw it. Never have I been more disappointed in an assembled all-star cast.

Ironically, I screened this film to a bunch of high schoolers (Thank you Hollywood Video for mislabeling this film PG-13) on how smoking is portrayed in films. Unfortunately for both my and the film's sake, the movie was so engulfed in annoying characters, sloppy dialouge, and utterly predictable series' of events that the smoking was a mere background mention, all tied together by one line at the end of the film. That's a long time to wait.

I really have no clue what the director was hoping for in this film. There are starts and stops on a number of sub-plots, but none which really develop. What we fall back on is the occasional bumblings of a recently deflowered girl, a twisted love plot involving *gack* Courtney Love (have you no mercy casting director?!??!), and a very odd cameo by Elvis Castello.

All in all, I was embarrassed to show this film, and even more embarrassed to have watched it myself. It appears to be a 101 minute Phillip Morris ad, but I'll tell you this... I'll sure never smoke, because I certainly don't want to end up in a film like this!

Hoop Dreams as a documentary stands out to me as the king of sports documentaries, and I truly doubt that it will be replaced by another film anytime soon. It was simply an amazing production of an incredible set of events that the producers had no idea would occur.

However, mentioning Hoop Dreams is not meant to belittle this film, but instead to say that it comes very close in quality, content, and film production. I received this film from a friend in DVD form, and was instantly taken by the story.

Being a South Bay native, I'm naturally drawn to Bay Area sports stars, and I had no idea this man existed until this film was presented to me. Without giving away key story points, I'll just say that it was very sad, but uplifting in way that only sadness can lead you too. The producers did an excellent job in getting big name players who were exposed to the legend of Hook Mitchell to talk about him and his athletic prowess on camera. Also interviewed are family members, friends, and members of the basketball community.

Highlighted by archive footage of Hook, this film is clearly for any lover of street ball, and additionally it plays well to anyone who can identify with the human condition.

Impressive film. I give it one of my very rare 10/10s for total satisfaction.

While this film is just another notch in the belt for Norris' long line of action films which all seem to place him in similar plots and characters... this film supposedly has the potential to reach out beyond those others into the horror genre. WRONG. This film was horrible, just as is most of his other work. I happened to stumble into the film the other day, but this time it was on one of the spanish-language channels. What used to be a subpar action/horror film, became hilarious with poor dubbing and rather sloppy translation.

So I'd advise watching this film with a version in some other language, just not the standard english version. It'll make it so much better. Won't help the plot or poor acting, but it'll make the night a lot better. Enjoy.

English: 3/10 Poorly dubbed other language: 7/10

Waiting to Exhale is guided thoroughly by a hot soundtrack from beginning to end. It is also complimented by sharply shot scenes and attractive locales. However, much of this is wasted on poor character development. Without likeable characters, this plot sinks quickly and doesn't recover. What should be shown is complex identities that the women have, but instead viewers are shown superficial confusions of the women which makes them out to be dumb and non-rational leading ladies. While the movie is supposed to highlight the women, and have males as supporting characters, the plot so demonized the men that even the "nice" men such as Gregory Hines and Wesley Snipes seem entirely out of place and more token goodness than believeable characters.

Worst of all, were some vastly misplaced and undesirable scenes, which I honestly hope were either more deeply probed in the book, or not part of the book at all. For instance, why was the fact that Gloria's former man is gay/bi-sexual even remotely important to this script. Clearly the answer is that it isn't. Gloria's character did not need that type of nonsense to provide a background that she could work with. Why the director didn't see this, I don't know.

Weak film, waste of acting talent by wonderful actresses like Angela Bassett, and a brutal waste of an excellent soundtrack by Babyface.

4/10

Interesting and impressive, Hollywood Shuffle allows the characters to make the point that Townsend is making, without being too harsh or lecture-like. The film incorporates some great parody scenes such as the Siskel and Ebert inspired "Speed and Tyrone" where the reviewers sneak into movies.

Most impressive is the background to the film, which makes the finished product all the more impressive. Townsend's freshmen effort is a true success, and goes where few first timers are normally able to go.

8/10

Like most viewers of the film, I was absolutely awed by the intense fight scenes in the movie. Unlike some, I was not really bothered by certain fight moves looking fake or anything like that. I felt they were beautifully produced, and the result was outstanding. Unfortunately the few great scenes were interupted by an annoying little thing called the rest of the movie. Hardly ever have I seen such pointless dialouge go on and on and on. There was simply too much talking, and not enough plot variation.

My three issues with the movie were the following - 1) A highly random dance scene, which looked like some sort of hip-hop music video (in the mud) placed in the center of a rather serious/intelligent action movie. Cool for a video, but misplaced in the movie. 2) too much talking for a movie of this sort 3) the last 20 minute of the film felt like it was being fastforwarded. I felt that they spent way too much time on the first couple hours, and then tried to cut down the last section of the movie which to me was the most interesting.

A decent attempt at a sequel for Matrix, but it failed in too many department for me to give it a good score. 4/10 for great fight scenes, nothing else.

Blue Chips - starting such wasted talent as Nick Nolte! Not to mention such all star actors as Shaquille O'Neal. From the get-go, it is not the smartest of movies, but it did have its fair share of entertaining value as the movie progressed. I thought Shaq would be a dismal actor, but he came to play, or at least more than Nolte did. I felt Nolte and his character were wildly out of control, not balanced with the movie, and simply not quality. I clearly understand that his character is a wild individual, but the odd mood swings, and multi-persona touch that he added to the character was weird and distracting.

Props to Shaq for dunking nearly continously during the film - once again showing that his shooting range is typically 2-3 inches. A shame too, because the movie highlight this stereotype and runs with it. Penny was alright, but in this day in age, where is his almost a forgotten player, it was more of a nostalgia to watch him in the movie.

Overall, the movie sucked. The moral plot was weak, and there was little else to the content of the film. By far the worst part was the ended which gives rather weak explanations of what happens post-ending.

5/10 stars for some decent basketball footage, and a different type of basketball movie. But it lacks five stars for poor plot, acting, and a sloppy ending which tries to tie together a bunch of moral stuff without much success.

I am enrolled in a film course at Pepperdine University, and had the unfortunate opportunity to see this film in class. The professor said he loved bringing in indepedent films where the class knew nothing about the film. I was sorry that I didn't know something about the film, or I would have known better to attend more films during the earlier part of the semester so I would not have to see this mess. It is a very sloppy attempt at comedy with pitiful character development. The director commented to my class that he took a "leap of faith" on some issues in development of characters. Looks like he leaped in the wrong direction.

I counted three occasions where the class laughed, I laughed only twice. The first laugh came nearly 1 hour and 5 minutes into the movie... talk about slllooooooww. Mixed in with the drab attempt at humor is an unlikable main character, a bizarre mix of filler characters who the audience knows nothing about, a story line that seems like we are missing major clips, and a time line that jumps months with no acknowledgement of the jump. The movie was also poorly edited - as I noticed an obvious error in the first five minutes. It only went downhill from there. The script was weak, and I see why this is an independent film.

If you enjoy films with little plot, non-developed characters, and films that appear to have major parts missing - then this is the film for you. Otherwise, you best find your enjoyable film experiences elsewhere. Film Critic Dirty Mike did not enjoy it either.

2/10

I'll start off by saying that this was definately worth the rental price I paid for it. The DVD was great, and I felt very satisfied with my rental. "The Brothers" was a good movie that I enjoyed while watching, but when it was over I did not have the same satisfaction that I have gotten from other films in the same genre (such as "The Best Man" or "The Wood").

For one thing, I felt at times the script was dead boring, and humor was often not used enough. D.L. was a misplaced role for sure, his "humor" did NOT shine through, which was a major trip for the film because he was supposed to be the most humorous character. Still, enjoyable roles were played by both parents, as well as the solid performances by Morris Chestnut and Gabrielle Union.

"The Brothers" of the cast all went pretty well together, and the whole basketball theme was a good background. However, "the sisters" were not a very good combination. I didn't so much enjoy their scenes together. Also the rather random discussion of rejecting their... you know what, was completely out of the blue, and it was sharply contradictary to things said both before and after that discussion. Tamala Jones was bad in this role. In fact, I really didn't like any of the female characters in this movie.

The script was not very complete at times, and there were some very random emotional scenes from time to time, like the "I need a hug" scene. Completely unnecessay! The film is wasted talent in many ways, but it still came enough together to give me a decent viewing that I enjoyed for the price. I won't rent it again though.

Interesting that as I write this review, I consider lowering my star rating because upon mental review, there are many non-satisfying aspects of this film. Still, for this I'll stick with my original rating - 6/10

As much as I love a good romantic comedy, I must say that it was refreshing to get ahold of a great romantic drama. Nice to see that sometimes things don't always go smoothly like in the movies, and that some films are in touch with the people of reality. I loved the love/hate relationship of Wesley and Sanaa. They both played the parts so well, and my goodness.... wash my eyes, ears, and mouth with soap, cause the love scenes were off the chain.

I love Sanaa for many reasons, and she didn't let me down in this film. Once again, good to see an empowered woman in a decent script. Also nice to see a brotha that's not some high powered exec being able to get with a good woman. I'm rather tired of the old sucessful young man with a snob, and falling in love with the girl next door. This new, up-and-coming women falling in love with the man who made her floors is unique and a winner.

Despite ups and downs, in which I'll admit, I was very into the film and the characters - I was very pleased with the movie at its conclusion. It was not an outrageously perfect ending like too many movies I've seen, but had a real life tone to it. A feel good movie in a very different way.

One of the aspects that really drew me into the film was the musical soundtrack and the excellent use of photography for the film. There were several key scenes in which I thought the photography was so instrumental in providing me the viewer a different view of situations. Bravo to all involved in that process. As well, the music was superb, with a lot of great slow jams.

This movie isn't for viewers who don't enjoy romance/drama... it was in some sense a bit much for me, but I still enjoyed the film very much. Gina - another great film, Sanaa - I enjoy no actress more, Wesley - came through in the clutch. 8/10

"The Best Man" has one of the most visually attractive female casts that I've seen in recent years. Not only are they eye-candy, but also strong female roles played by excellent actresses. Often hard to find is a film that presents both so well. Equally impressive was the bond between the main four male characters who, while different, are all intellectual and successful men. The combination of the two gave me the real feeling of quality characters.

As a big fan of Sanaa Lathan and Nia Long, I heavily looked forward to seeing them together in a film, but I was surprised by many other outstanding actors and actresses who really gave the film its boost. Morris Chesnut was excellent as the groom-to-be, Monica Calhoun excellent as the bride-to-be, and Taye Diggs did a very nice job with a softer and more reserved character than many of his other roles.

A very interesting script, a quality soundtrack, and well played roles made this film a winner for me. In some ways I was almost disappointed by parts of the ending of the film, but it did not really affect my overall enjoyment. Great movie - 8/10

Humorous to some extent, this film was so up in the air that I never was quite certain whether to enjoy it or not. No doubt, there were some funny parts, but often they were so few and far between that the film really lagged on me. The start of the film was especially slow before we really get introduced to the characters. I didn't out loud laugh until about 20-25 minutes into the film. After that point there were some real good moments, but the editing of the film was pretty poor with bad leadins, and no continuation of humor. Therefore, the humor derived from mainly one-liners and odd sexual situations.

Andy Dick was annoying - I loathed the parts that he was in. The wife's character should have been dumped as well because she seemed to just pop up in scenes from time to time with no real contribution to the humor. Sure the carrot was kinda humorous, but with Andy Dick in the scene, it was basically no good. Along those lines, a host of others characters were underdeveloped. Most obvious to me was the teenage girl played by Elisha Cuthberg. At the beginning of the flick, it appears she'll be a regular character, but then she just kinda flops out and the movie ends without explaining anything.

I would have rated the film a 4/10, but the scenes during the credits definately bumped it up to a 5/10. The film was enjoyable at times, but the lack of orginal material and funny gags left a bad taste in my mouth. Will was great in his scenes, but he couldn't lift the rest of the misplaced cast to great heights. If some better actors had replaced Andy Dick, Craig Kilborn, and a few more of the slumping cast, this could have been better. Overall though, the plot was weak, and even crazy gross out humor didn't provide enough entertainment for me to not miss the $7.50 that I paid for the ticket. If you want some good college style humor films, I'd recommend sticking with some of the classics like Animal House.

A delightful film from the beginning to the end. I liked this film for so many reasons. The primary reasons are the following:

1) A creative and deep look at the impact of hip hip as a music and culture on individuals 2) Beautiful chemistry between the characters Sidney and Dre. 3) Mos Def - period 4) Sanaa Lathan - for her essense as an actress in this film, as well as her amazing beauty. 5) Hip Hop Cameos

The start of the film was especially interesting with the old school (and some new) artists explaining their love of hip hop. I've grown so tired of seeing these new rap films with phony actors like Master P, Snoop, and the Roc-A-Fella crew. It was rewarding to see hip hop artists in a film IN THEIR ELEMENT. With that, I'd like to point out that Mos Def has established himself as one of the few rappers who has sucessfully crossed into the film industry without totally insulting the quality of movies (2pac, Will Smith, Ice-T to some degree, and Eve are a few of the better acting ones).

Aside from the hip-hop aspects, the romantic part of the movie worked very well for me. I really enjoyed the up and down relationship of Sidney and Dre. It helps that I love Sanaa Lathan no doubt, but overall it really was an enjoyable romantic comedy in that aspect. Taye Diggs was cast well as Dre, and I thought he showed a good perspective on the being-real v. getting-money battle that so many in the industry go through.

The Cameos were great with everyone from Russell Simmons to good ol' Angie M. up in the New York Studios. Personally surprising to me was seeing one of the assisant basketball coaches at my univeristy appear as a bartender. Questlove, Kool G. Rap, De La Soul all had good comments.

I can't refrain from commenting on Mos Def's character hitting up on Queen Latifah. hahaha, what a great series of scenes. Also cool was the reappearing blue vase (notice that?).

If you haven't seen the film, go out and rent it. Enjoy! 9/10

This movie was so great, and geez Sanaa is so hot in all of her scenes. An outstanding flick for keeping a good pace, while being romantic and very interesting. Excellent story line, with some good turns that I wasn't entirely expecting. Good sound track - favorite part of the movie was the dance when "I wanna be your man" comes on. That part was pure money. Only disappointment... why was Tyra cast again with Omar? Didn't we already do them in Higher Learning? Come to think of it, that was USC based as well. Well that doesn't matter much anyways. If you want a good date movie (if your date doesn't hate bball), this is it - 9/10.

I have seen parts of the series in no fewer than 3 academic classes of varrying topics during my time at Pepperdine University. This outstanding series is professional to the core, attracting the biggest names of the day to give interviews (from both Civil Rights fighters to pro-segregationists) and give an honest look at the moment in the 1950's and 1960's. Powerfully moving, it brings me to tears each time I watch certain scenes. As comprehensive as any documentary I've seen, Eyes on the Prize gives the low down on the movement, its highs and lows, and provides a very real perspective on why the events played out as they did. A winner in every sense, I give the PBS produced Eyes on the Prize a 10/10 without a second thought.

Kudos for the series.

I had heard some very positive vibes about this movie, and thus twelve years after its release, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately for me, it didn't quite live up to the hype.

This movie had a lot of potential, and it was rather disappointing that it didn't make the cut with me. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but it left me with a sour taste after viewing it.

The problem with this movie is simply that too much goes on, too many people die, problems are too extreme, and money talks... too much. While there is very valid social message in this film, especially about the dismal state of the poor urban communities post-Reagan years and the failing war on drugs, however the plot really does compromise it with almost unbelievable violence. Point taken, in reality so many deaths within law enforcement would have brought a heaftier response.

It is obvious to me that many of the situation pictured in this movie do occur far more often than most would like to admit, but the combination of them all in the rather short time period that this movie runs in, is basically overkill.

Still, enjoyed Ice-T and it was a good watch. Odd ending - 6/10

The third installment of Austin Powers in Goldmember was one that needed a few things for me to like it. First, I saw it with a bunch of my friends, and second, I saw it with a large theather packed with people. This way, the crowd was pretty reactive to what went on and people played off each other in enjoying the film. However, if I had to watch this movie alone, I might have turned it off.

Goldmember had its moments for entertaining value, but too much of the humor was either sick and twisted or just a repeat of the other two movies. Even the cameo by Ozzie Osbourne which tried to self-mock the movie couldn't save the fact that there were many recycled gags. Still, some of them were new and made the theather laugh.

Unfortunately, the best part of the movie was the first five minutes as Austin does an elaborate celebrity-filled musical number. From there it went down. Primarily with the introduction of the rest of the cast. Beyonce Knowles (Foxxy Cleopatra) was a horribly miscast actress. Her scenes were stupid, humorless, and heavily reliant on other characters to save the scenes. Sure - she was absolutely HOT, but it wasn't worth it. There was also very embarrasing cameo by Fred Savage.

There were certain scenes in this film that were downright disgusting. I'm not one with a weak-stomach, and some of the dialouge had me nearly nauseated (Fat Bastard describing his... releases, etc). Not to mention rather gross discussion between Mini-Me and Nigel Powers. Everything related to Goldmember was gross, especially the skin stuff.

A rather odd ending made the movie that much less enjoyable.

This Austin Powers was funnier than the second, but worse than the first. All in all, with the whole theather laughing, I would give that experience a 7/10, but the movie a 3/10. So I rated Goldmember a 5/10.

Let me first say that this is a film which I gave a 1/10 stars, but it was one of those "so bad, it's good" types, which is why I must say that it was an enjoyable painful film experience.

"Santa with Muscles" was just plain bad for a number of reasons... Let's Begin.

Acting- You know the acting will be subpar when the star of the film is Hulk Hogan. Hogan is a likeable character, but only in the ring, not the movie industry. You would hope that the director would soften the blow to the movie by placing Hogan in a cast that he could learn from and play off of - but in this case, he was cast in a miserable selection of actors and actresses that undoubtedly regret becoming a part of this movie. All acting was bad, but there were some enormously bad acting jobs by Steve Valentine and Kevin West.

Plot- Intro to characters was brief and rediculous. Viewers are supposed to buy into unbelievable situations, and are supposed to relate to characters that could be replaced with cardboard cutouts. So the plot is off to a bad start. It could still recover though... but it doesn't! No surprize. So it is something like this - rich dude goes to mall, hits head, thinks he's santa, saves the day against hapless thugs, finds orphanage with only 3 kids, wants to save orphanage from evil guy, beats people up, hits head (on soft garbage), recruits his staff, kicks butt, saves the day, orphanage now looks like a scene from Richie Rich. RRiiiiigggggghhhhhhhtttttt.

Continuity Problems- There are an incredible number of continuity problems in this film. Ranging from car damage, to car order, room setups, time of day, etc. Was there even an editor hired for this film?

Other Issues I Had with the Movie- 1. Blake falls down a multi-story trash shoot (which by the way leaves to the floor and not a trash bin) and wakes up seconds later, later he falls into soft trash and doesn't wake up until at least hours later. Hmmmmm... 2. It was so nice that even after her bedtime Sarah manages to get ahold of Blake's santa suit and totally alter it overnight. 3. An orphanage with three kids (unbelievable itself) uses a facility that it could never afford. 4. A white guy plays the sumo-type thug characters. interesting, maybe they were low on cast members. 5. Odd that the state allowed an orphanage to exist in the facility that had open access to old catacobs (complete with plastic skeletons!!), and even more odd that the kids were allowed to have a club in the catacombs by their inresponsible caretakers. 6. Once Blake gets his memory back, he fails to remember his childhood! But luckily, one photo brings it all back. facinating. 7. Frost's posse includes a geologist, a Canadian chemist, and an electifyingly ugly woman. Not to mention a sumo thug, several guys with t-squares as weapons, and a "doctor." 8. Blake stops a truck moving at 40+ miles an hour, or at least it is supposed to be that speed, but the obvious fastforward and then rewind effects didn't work too well. 9. Hapless police carry rocket launchers, fire at will, miss, and then make no attempt to chase after the hummer with a butler, chef, and driver hanging out the top. 10. My favorite... the HORRIBLE one-liners that filled the dialouge of the movie. Bar none the worst was "Santa Sleigh Me." I nearly peed my pants when I heard that.

I'll admit, I bought this movie online (used) after I saw it on the IMDB bottom 100. The reviews had me in tears, and I had to experience this movie. Even the reviews couldn't prepare me for a cinema experince of this low quality. It is a poorly thought out, poorly directed, poorly acted, poorly produced, poorly scripted, poorly casted movie that you have gotta see.

1/10 Stars

I'll be brief to keep from giving the movie ending away. The film had several weak points in the plot that I thought were less than thrilling, but they were overwhelmed by a wonderful plot of romance and drama that Harrison Ford dominated. I thought the casting for the film was some of the best I've seen.

I felt that the ending of the movie was the "right" ending, and even though I might have wanted something else, it was rewarding to have seen the film through to its own conclusion.

Great movie - 8/10

From what I've heard, the book was much better. To begin with, the plot made a little more sense due to the fact that the "bad guys" were a totally different group (Islamic extremists instead of Neo-Nazis). The movie was quite good, with some excellent acting from many characters - but I could never buy into Jack Ryan. After putting Harrison Ford in the last two Jack Ryan movies (Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games) it was hard for me to accept relative newbie Ben. He didn't play the part as well as I would have liked. The movie lacked the touch that the last two movies had - and it was pretty bad as a "prequel." However, aside from the comparison the movie was intense and it was very interesting. 7/10

This movie had a lot of promise as some sort of exotic drama when it started. For the first 30 or so minutes, it had the making of a good movie, but then the bottom fell out. In the end, I hated all the characters and I was sorry that I paid $4 to rent it. Stick with a better film.

There was a lot riding on this movie, and I set myself up for a potentially huge disappointment - but George Lucas didn't let me down. From the first to the last minute, I was in a trance over the film (which I saw in it's digital format). It was very intense at times, and it had the most intense battle scenes that I've seen in the Star Wars series. There were lots of twists and many surprises that really added to the film. I was stunned when I first read paper reviews of the movie that gave it low ratings. With so much hype I think the reviewers were just sippin' on the haterade just wanting to call it a flop. Whatever - Star Wars is cashing in again - with a grand performance.

Constantly seeing this film on the top ten list of IMDB and other film institutes, I felt the need to watch this film. I was not disappointed. In fact, it is probably UNDER rated. Brilliant acting - a great plot, surrounded by wonderful Cinematography makes this film worth watching over and over again. I really enjoyed the Eastern values of loyalty and honor that were deeply rooted in the film. I would highly recommend this film to anyone!

The Fellowship of the Ring was an intense 3 hour ride through the world of J.R.R. Tolkien! The movie didn't skimp on Tolkien's actual work, and the brilliance of the filming and acting helping to give a true portrayl of Middle Earth as J.R.R. Tolkien might have imagined it. This is by far one of the greatest films that I've ever seen.

What a sweet movie. This movie just about wraps up the "rad" pop culture of the 1980's, and puts it into one film. The skateboarding is incredible, and it features Tony Hawk who developed into the #1 skater in the world. While this movie might not be realistic, it made me laugh all the way through. The best scene by far involves Tony Hawk and a Pizza Hut truck. Enjoy this movie and remember the 80's.