Daryl-7 Reviews

The Beautiful Truth (2008)

A Helpful Lesson in Alternative Medicine

[8/10 · 18 March 2009]

This is a good movie to see for anyone even slightly open to alternative medicine / holistic health. It was interesting to hear the success stories of people who were saved by Gerson Therapy, which I don't doubt a bit (I know people who have survived cancer using similar means). However, I wish the film hadn't given the impression that --everyone-- gets better with Gerson, which of course isn't truth for any therapy.

It surprises me that some people are still so hostile to the fact that changes in diet can change a diagnosis like cancer. If you think about how you got cancer in the first place (just coincidence??? just genetics??? C'mon...) then it is easier to think about diet as cause, complication and/or cure. I guess it will just take time for more people to come around.

The movie was pretty well done. Very heavily biased towards the positive side of Gerson, very little airing of people dissenting against it, just a few seconds of those interviews, and unfortunately, focusing on guys like Stephen Barrett, who have been completely discredited in the medical field. I wish they would have had some good back-and-forth discussion on the pros and cons of Gerson without just throwing up a straw man like Barrett who is so easy to disparage. Unfortunately, stuff like Gerson Therapy tends to be a very emotional topic for Western medical specialists, so it must have been hard to find a person who could talk intelligently and somewhat calmly about it.

The movie tries to make this a personal journey for this young man, as he discovers what is going on with Gerson Therapy and food as medicine. I think the movie was paced nicely and it wasn't too preachy. Overall, quite good. 8 stars out of 10

Sahara (2005)

Loved It!

[9/10 · 14 November 2006]

We just loved this movie. A thriller from start to finish. Yes, it fits nicely into the Indiana Jones model. So what? It works.

Matthew McConaughey is looming large as one of Hollywood's best leading men, especially for action/adventures. My wife and I have been lamenting the loss of our best action heroes (Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, etc.) - they're all just too old. And who is supposed to take over? The Rock?? Vin Diesel?? No fricking way. Matthew M. is going to lead the charge.

Steve Zahn was an amazing sidekick. Loved him. And if Penelope Cruz was any more beautiful, well, let's just say she was a more than capable leading lady - tough, smart and lovely.

I loved the chemistry between these three. Saying William H. Macy was excellent seems obvious (he's always excellent).

Anyway, loved the entire movie, from front to back. Haven't read Cussler's books, but now I'm thinking about picking up a copy of one of them.

The only thorn in my side the entire movie was the soundtrack. What the hell???? Sweet Home Alabama when they're driving around Africa? Couldn't you find any suitable music for a desert adventure? The Faces? Seventies rock 'n roll? Are you kidding me? I mean, I love that music, but it was such a non sequitur with the story that it jarred me out of my seat. (And that's hard to do once I'm settled, let me tell ya.) Superb casting. Great acting. Nice story. Top notch entertainment.

Elf (2003)

Worst Film Ever? Possibly.

[1/10 · 11 June 2005]

What did I miss? Well, for starters, I missed the last half of the movie because it was so bad I had to ask TiVo to delete it.

This movie was so terrible I assumed that IMDb would be spilling over with bad reviews. Will Farrell was trying so hard, but falling so short. Bob Newhart provided the only 3 laughs in the first 2 minutes of the intro, it was downhill after that.

Christmas movies get under my skin anyway, but this one was the worst one. I know I'm just ranting here, but I had to get this off my chest.

The scene with Bob Newhart and Will Farrell looking at Santa's sleigh and the rocket boosters was like a comedy lesson that Bob was trying to teach to Will, but to no avail. The student just wasn't getting it.

Bob: "See, Will, uh, comedy is just a matter of, uh, uh, tim-ing!" Will: "YA MEAN LIKE THIS! HUH? DO YA? DO YA?" Bob: "Uh, no, Will. No, I don't. Hey, let's just forget it, okay?" The plot just seemed to drudge along like a molasses sandwich. I just couldn't take it anymore. Especially not to see good actors like Bob Newhart, James Caan, Ed Asner get dragged into it. It's not that I hate Will Farrell, I think he's okay, but this movie just stank.

The Italian Job (2003)

Barely Passable as a Movie

[4/10 · 5 February 2005]

I was really disappointed by this movie. Great actors in it, and potentially a great plot, but it just seemed to limp along.

Charlize Theron was masterful in her role and beautiful, but it seemed like 90% of her on-screen work was in car chases done with Austin Minis. Product placement gone wrong, so very wrong.

The direction seemed off, too. Edward Norton is the bad guy, and it was so obvious right from the start. Every time the camera would pass over him, it would linger too long and Norton would grimace or something. C'mon, Hollywood, give us a little credit! It's okay to surprise us with a plot twist without having to telegraph it.

Sorry, but this movie was just below average. I have always been one to appreciate the work and talent that goes into a movie, but this one just didn't have it.

The Buried Secret of M. Night Shyamalan (2004 TV Movie)

What a Great Idea!

[9/10 · 24 July 2004]

It seems like some people are whining that this was probably fake. Huh? Of course it was fake. I would think anyone could tell that within minutes of the opening.

But think about the idea. Either someone pitched this idea to M. Night or he thought of it himself. We need to do a "puff piece" on the upcoming movie "The Village" but, goddamn it, this is M. Night Shyamalan! We can't just do a normal thing - interview the actors, hype the movie, etc. (think Catwoman). "Oh, he's such a great director, y'know." "I loved working with her, she's so professional, y'know." "There was such great chemistry, blah, blah, blah." Y'know??

Instead, we'll treat the whole puff piece as if it was an M. Night conspiracy story, except the conspiracy involves M. Night himself! Then we'll farm it out to the Sci Fi channel and pretend that it was SUPPOSED TO be a puff piece but then the director changed it in midstream to this expose on M. Night's personal story.

It's genius, I think. They fit all the things that are noticeably about M. Night into the plot. Why does he live in Philly instead of L.A. like all the other directors? Why has he had such great success at such a young age? How does his Indian heritage play into his direction? Why is he so private? Why are his latest movies all so dark? Why does he write the scripts and direct?

Congratulations to the creators of this fake-umentary. We loved every minute of it, and my view of the Sci Fi Channel just went up 150 points. You guys rock.

As for the back-and-forth of whether it's fake? Get over it.

Heaven (1998)

How Things Can Go Wrong in a Life...

[8/10 · 18 January 2004]

I liked this movie quite a lot. The chopped-up plotline was a little annoying sometimes, but it was quite effective. Small things like intersplicing the phone call between the husband and wife with the phone call between the wife and psychologist.

The acting was quite good. Heaven, the transvestite, is this huge guy but somehow he comes off as being feminine and almost delicate. The big exception in the acting department is Martin Donovan. Several posters here thought he was good. In my opinion, he was almost bad enough to ruin the entire film! He is as wooden as a soap opera actor, and his timing is some of the worst I've ever seen. Differences in opinions, I guess.

This movie is well worth watching. A trip to the dark side of town, of obsessions, of addictions (gambling) and the human mind. Dark? yes. Entertaining? Also yes.

8 stars

Hysterical Blindness (2002 TV Movie)

Acting over the top; script a little telegraphed

[9/10 · 25 August 2002]

Great flick, mainly because of the acting. Uma Thurman, Gena Rowlands and Juliette Lewis were perfect in their roles, very well cast and so emotionally dead-on. That bar scene was murder, an emotional wasteland. I was only slightly disappointed with the direction and script. It seemed like things were a little too telegraphed and heavy-handed. When the two girls are walking on the railroad where the tracks meet they are "at a crossroads." Ugh, hit me again. Then, when someone is about to meet a terrible end, we see a long shot with a lot of weird light. Just a little too obvious.

But I digress too much on the downside. Overall, a fantastic movie, makes me miss the 80s and be glad they're over all at the same time.

9 out of 10

Waterproof (2000)

Drama and Laughs

[10/10 · 20 July 2002]

I highly recommend "Waterproof" as a dramatic movie with a lot of good laughs.

Burt Reynolds is Eli, an aging, limping Jewish shopkeeper in D.C. when he is suddenly robbed at gunpoint by a ten-year-old boy and two thugs who put him up to it. The gun goes off and Eli is injured. By coincidence, the young boy's mother is driving by in her cab, she sees her son and begins a cleanup effort. She basically kidnaps Eli and takes everyone down to Louisiana to her hometown which she hasn't visited since she was a teenager.

The kidnapping takes a very unique twist as Eli finds some comforts living with the mother's mother, brothers and grandfather. The grandfather, played by Whitman Mayo ("Grady" from Sanford & Son), is a scene-stealer every time he is on the screen. He concocts a remedy for Eli's gunwound made of spider legs, he says. That plus Eli has to watch nine consecutive sunrises and he'll be all healed up.

This is a beautiful tale wonderfully told. No special camera angles, very little violence, just people dealing with people. I agree with the other people posting that the Christian message is a little heavy-handed, but the rest of the story is a welcome break from the usual Hollywood style.

I rate this movie 10 out of 10. It is at once serious and funny. No matter what mood you're in, you'll probably like it, as long as you can get past the "go to church and that will make you a good person" stuff.

Parents (1989)

A Courageous Leap Away from Ordinary Hollywood

[6/10 · 16 February 2002]

I wish to congratulate the makers of this film for a truly unique idea and an interesting film. Although I rated it only 6 out of 10, I was happy to see someone being courageous enough to try something different.

The young boy is haunted by various evils in his sleep, but most of his fear is centered around his parents. They are so normal it's odd, if you know what I mean. This film takes place in 1950s America, when a lot of people were so normal they were odd.

Soon, the boy finds out that his fears of his parents are justified, and his dad in particular turns out to be quite a maniac. I can really relate to the boy's point-of-view. Being ten is quite horrifying, in many ways.

The music makes the movie, as a number of people have stated here. The song during the initial credits, and the funny fifties hits throughout the movie, including the scary parts, makes it a lot of fun.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

Rip-roaring good vampire time

[10/10 · 29 May 2001]

My wife and I loved this movie. Lots of twists and turns, and through the first 30 minutes, you've forgotten it's a vampire movie. It just seems like a kind of kidnapping thing, but then BLAM! you're in a sleazy strip joint and Salma Hayek is doing a really wild show with an albino snake and suddenly...vampires everywhere! The whole thing hung together for us and we loved every minute. Richard Rodriguez is at the top of my favorite directors list!

Thursday (1998)

What a Great Movie!!

[10/10 · 28 March 2000]

This movie was excellent from start-to-finish. I was riveted by the action, the black humour and the incredibly bad luck our hero encountered at every turn. Thomas Jane is a great actor and I hope to see him in many more movies to come. Reading through other people's comments, I have to admit I never once thought about Tarrantino while watching "Thursday" but now that I think about it I guess there are some similarities. I guess I don't spend much time trying to relate everything to everything else. The rape scene between Porizkova and Thomas Jane is one for the record books - sexiest scene ever.

Hugo Pool (1997)

Quirky plot and casting

[10/10 · 18 February 2000]

This is one of the quirkiest plots and casting I have ever seen. And yet, it worked beautifully. Alyssa Milano is usually associated with not-so-good television, but in this one -- Wow!! She was interesting, eccentric, thought-provoking and fun. Alyssa really carried things, but the addition of Malcolm McDowell, Sean Penn, Cathy Moriarty, Robert Downey Jr. and Patrick Dempsey were excellent casting choices.

Ten out of ten.

The 24 Hour Woman (1999)

Portrayal of Working/Family Life

[9/10 · 29 January 2000]

We thought this movie was excellent. Rosie Perez and Marianne Jean-Baptiste went through similar but different problems as working mothers. Marianne had problems getting her out-of-work husband to take care of the kids, Rosie had problems dealing with a brand new baby that cried constantly! The plot, the acting and the characters were believable and compelling. We loved it!

Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)

Breaking the Stereotypes

[10/10 · 8 January 2000]

What a movie! It took the original story of Cinderella, broke all the stereotypes associated with fairy tales and put on a great show! Drew Barrymore was exceptional, and the rest of the cast was excellent as well. Nice storyline, wonderful changes to the original tale and great costumes and castles. Couldn't have been better! Well done!

Driftwood (1997)

Entertaining movie, only a few flaws

[7/10 · 25 December 1999]

We enjoyed this movie quite a lot. Anne Brochet's character, Sarah, was a spinster, a psycho, yet quite erotic. James Spader is always good, and he did a great job going from confused to falling in love to fearing for his life.

There were a couple of strange problems that ruined things for us a little, though. The story was set in the islands off Ireland, yet Anne Brochet did not try to hide her strong French accent. I don't remember an explanation of her being French. Her mother appeared as a ghost, and her mother had an English accent. Huh???

The sex scenes were great, Anne Brochet has a fantastic body. We didn't think they were overdone or gratuitous.

Overall, it was a great movie. Intriguing and a nice look inside the mind of a strange, isolated person. Was the plot predictable? Yes. But that's okay sometimes.

Ronin (1998)

Car chases, De Niro, Paris

[8/10 · 11 December 1999]

Great car chases, I think the unique thing is that they shot the camera looking ahead on the road closer to the ground than usual, which made things seem faster. De Niro was great as always, and Natasha McElhone was excellent. Excellent action, shoot-em-up movie, if that's what you like.

The Truman Show (1998)

Excellent, just excellent

[10/10 · 11 December 1999]

This was a great movie, and I liked Jim Carrey performance especially. It was a bit different for him, yet he was a good fit. Natasha McElhone was excellent in her role, and the end was pretty emotional, while being completely odd at the same time. We loved it.

If you like movies that are offbeat and yet have some good belly laughs, and of course you like Jim Carrey, this is a goodie.