Reviews

this is an honest attempt to make a bewitchingly sweet love story. the obvious inspiration behind the successful TV series "Bewitched," this lovely sweet rom-com is a timeless treasure. the comparisons are obvious. jimmy stewart plays a hapless but stolid "straight." kim novac plays a voluptuous blond witch who captures him through the use of a love spell. but when that spell is broken by a stronger witch, she contents herself with the duties of running her own shop and takes comfort in the fact that her beloved pyewacket (her feline familiar) is being cared for by her beloved aunt. you'll recognize the aunt from "Murder by Death." this movie is fun and touchingly sweet, bearing some spectacular wit and a nice witchy feel. worth a look.

don't listen to those anything non chri$tian is wrong bigots. practical magic is a solid, well-told story with stellar performances from even the children involved. it is compelling in such a way as to drag you in and make you involved in the story. nicole kidman is delightful as the enchantress sister, giving a seemingly natural performance all the way through. even when things get sticky, kidman's character stays focused and in character. sandra bullock has the lead and does an amazing job. you can believe the shop owner side of her character, but you also believe the mother, the witch, the heartache, and the love her character endures. the direction and production quality were tops, and it shows. this was a most enchanting movie which i watch again and again. i highly recommend giving it a good look.

considering this TV show obviously stole its base idea from "Bell Book and Candle," i fail to understand its large popularity. it's obvious (at least to me) that this was nothing but a cheesy rip off of that great work. humor me, if you will and let's look at the characters.

James Stewart as Shep Henderson and dick york as Darrin Stevens. both are hapless. they are in related fields; Shep is an editor while Darrin is an ad designer. both are in love with a Witch who is not supposed to fall in love with a mortal. both men are mortal. while neither York nor Sargent are any comparison to Stewart, their characters are obviously identical.

Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stevens and Kim Novak as Gillian Holroyd. while Montgomery is no comparison to Novak, both are young, both are beautiful. both are blond. both have access to powers to control. both use them. both are part of a witches council; Stevens is official, while Holroyd's council is unofficial, yet both have positions of power within their circles. both lose those positions and power when they fall in love with a mortal man. Samantha did not want to control her man through magick. Gillian, upon forcing Shep to love her by the use of magick, confesses and resigns herself to a life of loneliness and sorrow out of penance for her actions. simply put, she did not want to control her man through magick.

Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara and Elsa Lanchester as Queenie. both are the dottery old aunties whose magick is somewhat quirky due to advanced age. both ask their niece for permission to use magick, and are chastised softly for asking. they also bear a strong physical resemblance, and their characters are quite identical. while Clara's part was enhanced through many appearances in a long-running TV show, Queenie's part was as just as endearing in the short side of two hours you received of her performance.

those are the principal characters, but the supporting cast has the same comparison.

Jack Lemmon as Gillian's beatnik brother Nicky. Paul Lynde as Samantha's beatnik "Uncle Arthur."

Agnes Moorhead as Endora, Samantha's rival and mother (who is stronger). Hermione Gingold as Bianca de Passe, Gillian's older (enough to be her mother) rival who is stronger.

David White as Larry Tate, Darrin's clueless human partner. Ernie Kovacs as Sidney Redlitch, Stewart's clueless human partner.

i really don't think there is any question that this series, much thought of as original and fresh for its time, was nothing but a long adulteration of a much better work which held superior story, stellar performances, and inspired direction.

the TV series "Bewitched" is nothing more than a low-class trailer park rip off of a much better work.

the original version of this movie rates a 10/10. the newest cgi-xtravaganza rates a 7/10. why? because it didn't take creative ingenuity to get there. luca$ seems to be more concerned with making a buck than he is with the quality of his productions, of late. luca$ does not care that his fans (the fans who made him a billionaire, btw) want the OT in its original version. luca$ does not care that he churns ill conceived garbage into the luca$ money machine just to further his own ambitions. luca$ just doesn't care. ij4 was put on hold because luca$ didn't like the script?! guess what, mr. luca$? your writing is inferior and you are no one to judge anyone else's talent. you're uninspired and flaccid in your entertainment value these days, mr. luca$. and until you give me the OT in its original version, on DVD, i don't care what you do with yourself. i couldn't be bothered in seeing it.

the cgi added to the newest release further degrades the original which was made of models, imagination, and ingenuity. those elements are long gone, and in their place, you have cgi, cgi, and more cgi. enjoy it if you can.

roland emmerich is one of the brightest film makers of Hollywood. prior to writing his own scripts and stories, his career was less than lackluster. but once he began writing his own stuff, directing his own writing, and producing his own directing, he got good! i'm fearful of his upcoming "King Tut" as it is not one of his own creations, he wrote neither the story nor the screenplay. most of the works he has directed have been flops when he did not write them. even the much-loathed godzilla was written, directed, and produced by emmerich. true godzilla fans actually liked the movie for the most part. they just hated that it bore the godzilla name. other than that it's a good monster movie.

same with this movie. most people just hate that it's an American movie about America. it does involve the rest of the world, but it's called "Independence Day." what DID you expect to see? a movie touting England or perhaps France? get real. if you think the movie itself is not up to par, then fine. but if you hate it for being an American movie glamorizing America, you're as ignorant as those people who hated godzilla because it was named "Godzilla."

this IS a great movie. it's fun, it showcases some great performances, and it gives you some excellent story. it's thoroughly enjoyable.

Elektra is not intelligent but it's fun. the filming style has a mild yet distinct "Kill Bill, Volume 1" feel to it, without the gore. the performances are good, not brilliant, but good. the story is great if you're into ancient mythological powers, et al.

there were some weak points, but overall, i enjoyed this film on several levels. the story was fun, but had a nice depth just enough to keep you entertained without having to think your way through it. the relationships were well defined and mirrored perfectly between Elektra and the special girl, and their fathers. the character development was sacrificed for a later "twist" and then picked up further on in the work. this was not a case of too little, too late. i found that it closed well after a strong performance.

garner worked hard and contributed all she had to this work, and i cannot wait to see where her path leads her when her talent, and she, matures.

i usually fight for the underdog in these movie wars. stir of echoes was trying to compete against the cutest little kid who ever was (eye rolling), H J Osment. it fell flat because kevin bacon just isn't as edgy as osment is adorable. go figure. but. stir of echoes should have been named echoes of other movies. it was not as uniquely clever as "The Sight," and did not hold the charm of "Ghost." it was not as scary as "Poltergeist," and it was not the eye candy treat "The Haunting" remake was. it was not as atmospheric as "Rebecca" and did not hold the charm that "The Bat" held. it was not as intelligent as "Vertigo" and was not as charming as "Casper." it did have a decent story, but it was obviously ripped off from "The Changeling." obvious to any horror buff. unfortunately, i cannot recommend its viewing. i suggest instead, any other movie i've listed above.

some critics have declared this to be the best of the Star Trek series. i must agree that in story and execution it is probably the most "arthouse" of the series. but as far as enjoyability, i loved 4 and 6 much more. this is enjoyable and the characters outside the usual star trek flunkies are quirky and in the case of the borg Goddess (okay, she's not a goddess, but she may as well be), malevolent while still being evilly fun. the execution of cochran was probably my biggest problem with this one in that i found the character lacking. the performance associated was dead on what it was supposed to be, but the character itself was noisome and irritating. he's a legend to the engineers of what will later be known as Star Fleet, and yet, he's so volatile yet emotionally and mentally...delicate. i don't know. it just seemed to me that by making him a responsibility-shirking drunk who developed warp drive because he could and not for a more noble reason, took away any power this movie could have mustered. it's okay, but not one of my favorites.

jurassic park is nothing more than a twisted live-action cgi-fest version of "Westworld." if you've never seen this movie, you're likely saying, "whatever" to this review and just going about your perusal of IMDb. but if you have, you know just exactly what i'm talking about. the robots are replaced with huge awe-inspiring cgi dinosaurs that are amazing for like the first 20 minutes of the film, and then for the whole rest of the movie, you can't help but notice the obvious rip off this was. the performances are nothing compared to someone's real reaction to seeing these amazing (if they were real) animals walking our earth. they're just thin as cardboard, plastic programmed responses which hold none of the awe and thrall one would experience upon actually witnessing them. the story was decent, the added elements (the ones NOT taken from "Westworld," that is) are a little convoluted, and the direction was found lacking in that there are plot holes large enough to drive your over-fed, suv-driving American butts through. but for 20 minutes, it was fun.