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Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
The worst movie I have ever sat through.
OK, so I didn't walk out. I kept thinking it had to get better or would start making sense, or some plot detail would explain why the acting was so stilted. And then it was over. The movie seemed to me to be incomprehensible garbage.
The Cell (2000)
What I saw disgusted and upset me: visuals alone aren't film
I walked out after 50 minutes because the images I was seeing were upsetting me and it didn't look like things were going to get better any time soon. I guess this is a tribute to the film's "power," but what I saw just seemed like gratuitous grossness. The film had nary an idea in its pretty/ugly little head and seemed proud of it. A break. To me. Give.
Road Trip (2000)
Even considering its extremely modest aspirations: LOUSY!
Winner of the trailer-was-better award for 2000. There are extremely long and boring stretches between the hi-jinks shown in the trailer and this thing has the affrontery to make a claim for some kind of, well, meaning too. Ugh! You want a real Road Trip -- funny and scary and artfully-done? Check out Doug Liman's GO (also with Breckin Meyer).
The Skulls (2000)
Plan 9 from Dawson's Creek
This movie is about a secret society that's about as secret as McDonald's! There is literally NOBODY in the film who isn't in the know. OK, it does have that Jude & Matt "Mr. Ripley" thing going on with Paul Walker as the golden preppie here and Joshua Jackson as the eager prole. But it doesn't have anything else: logic, conviction, continuity, dialogue. I was prepared for a hoot but the filmmaking was so slovenly that it was hard to pay attention. Joshua, "Road Trip" had better be damn good!
Action (1999)
Hilariously going where "good taste" dares not follow!
ACTION is the most interesting half-hour on TV, or was until a merciless series of pre-emptions effectively took it off the air. It had (or, please God, has) among other things, the best guest spots in the history of the medium! No coy, lemme-win-an-Emmy-playing-a-bag-lady-or-a-psycho nonsense, this series puts the "ow!" back in "show business" as Sandra Bullock, Scott Wolf, et al. demonstrate that the feet of clay of our idols sometime extend up to the waist! Jay Mohr and castmates, especially Jack Plotnick (of the quivering eyebrow) and Ileana Douglas as the designated hooker, all bring great zest to their roles. This is niche-entertainment at its best -- if only it can find the right niche! Since Fox regularly shoves it aside for "Noisy Sanitation Men Caught on Tape!" it doesn't look like its home will be there for long.
Stir of Echoes (1999)
Homogenized, predictable would-be suspenser
Opening so close to THE SIXTH SENSE does not redound to the advantage of STIR OF ECHOES. There are just enough similarities between the two to remind you of how superior the earlier film is in every respect: script, acting, direction, mise en scene. There are a couple of frights here, but early on it becomes very clear what the "trouble" is, and after that it's just a question of waiting until the characters catch up with the audience.
Mickey Blue Eyes (1999)
Hugh Grant can't -- make this turkey fly, that is.
The flattest, most labored comedy in a long, long time. The premise does seem tenable for a comedy ("Bullets Over Broadway" and "Prizzi's Honor" did it; hey, that's a good idea -- go rent either of them instead of seeing "Mickey Blue Eyes.") Grant is charming but he could use a script and a director, James Caan is strained, and Jeanne Triplehorn I just don't get, never have. The only thing that made me laugh was James Fox's reprise of his familiar silly-ass Englishman (drunk, this time).
Bowfinger (1999)
"The Con Is On" alright -- at the ticket window
This just didn't work for me. Aside from seeming like a grade "D" rip-off of "Ed Wood," there wasn't enough reality here to work as a base for the comedy. Eddie Murphy was funny and the premise and the situations seemed loaded for laughs, but they didn't pay off. Maybe Frank Oz isn't the director to light the match. Steve Martin hit some of the same targets a lot more effectively in "L.A. Story." And in the penultimate scene he offers Robin Williams some stiff competition as Contemporary Cinema's "Saintly Fool." Ick.
Outside Providence (1999)
Funny, sometimes endearing coming-of-age dramedy
Director Michael Corrente must be credited with the more humane parts of this atypical Farrelly Brothers outing. It's hilarious in spots, some provided by Alec Baldwin as a tough-guy father, others by his son's burnout friends. The lead, Sean Fatosy, plays a character named "Tim" but called "Dildo" by Baldwin. Fatosy is convincing as he navigates the intricacies of prep school, family matters, drugs, and affairs of the heart, and the emotional honesty of his portrayal holds the movie together. The outlines of the story are VERY familiar (it's sort of Cheech and Chong meet "Summer of '42"), but there are a lot of details which ring true. It's too spottily effective to pack a wallop (and I don't know what fans of the Farrelly's previous films will make of it), but I had a good-enough time to make me glad I went.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Surprisingly moving, offbeat drama of therapist and child
The trailer hadn't prepared me for a film as thoughtful, big-hearted, and, well, spiritual as THE SIXTH SENSE turned out to be. Bruce Willis as the therapist, Toni Collette as the mother, Haley Joel Osment as the kid and an unrecognizable Donnie Wahlberg as another key patient all give credible performances, and in the case of Osment, a heartbreaking portrait of a child encased in his all-too-real fears. Has a Bruce Willis movie EVER moved me to tears? Well, this one did.
Mystery Men (1999)
The wittiest script and the best cast of the summer!
Neil Cuthbert, working from Bob Burden's comics, has written one of the most verbally dextrous, socially aware and hilarious scripts to come along in a long while. The sterling cast reminded me of one of the glories of the studio system when the supporting players really SUPPORTED the film. Everyone here is working on the same loopy wavelength (no mean feat in itself) and the result is very funny indeed. The superhero genre requires a certain number of gimmicks (what am I saying, it's ALL gimmicks!) and battles, but what I responded to were the characters and how they related to each other. The pace slackens now and then and the staging of some of the fights is muddy, but basically I say "Bravos all around!"
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Literally visceral impact from a simple, clever idea
My response to this film was influenced most by my reaction to the relentless jumpiness of the hand-held cameras. I must have a low tolerance for this kind of thing (I've had the same reaction trying to playing computer video games), but by the middle of TBWP I thought I'd have to leave the theater, I was feeling so nauseated. I tried to exercise some control by looking away from the screen but my eyes were drawn back there because I wanted to see what was going on! I thought that I might see something that the characters didn't. Considering that I knew the premise beforehand, I was astounded at how much of a rise the movie got out of me, and I must admit that I bought the whole thing. Even their continuing to film after they were scared seemed acceptable as an attempt on the characters' part to maintain some kind of distance and control. Bravos all around.
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Faithful to the letter but not the spirit of the novel
This is a workmanlike job of filmmaking. Many of the incidents and characters of the Kurt Vonnegut novel are in the film, but the filmmakers have not come up with a way of duplicating the novel's darkly comic tone, and the climactic firebombing of Dresden, the book's reason for being, is curiously unimpressive in the film. Michael Sacks is suitably sweet and blank as Billy Pilgrim and Ron Liebman gives frightening life to the maniacal Paul Lazzaro. Not showing us the Trafalmadorians, who abduct Billy and put him on display on their planet, seems a cheat.
The General's Daughter (1999)
A well made and suspenseful, though grisly, mystery
I was pretty much enthralled, thought I had it figured out (wrong) and was more or less clenched for the duration. The violence certainly was graphic and not cartoonish, but the violence which really scared me was psychological, e.g., in the hospital room -- YIKES! All in all, a happy alternative to Jar-Jar, Tarzan and Austin Powers.
This Is My Father (1998)
An emotional wrenching cross-cultural journey
Just when I thought my Irish/American/Catholic scabs had healed over pretty thoroughly! I expected a "romance," I guess (that IS the imdb genre category), but "drama" would have been more accurate, maybe even "tragedy." Aidan Quinn gives nothing less than a great performance here and the work of his brothers in writing/directing and photographing it are equally fine. The overall impact reminds me of THE FAMILY WAY (1966), when John Mills weeps and is asked what the matter is; he replies, "It's life, lad. At your age it may make you laugh, but someday it'll bloody make you cry."
Notting Hill (1999)
Pleasant performers in overlong fantasy
Certainly the best vehicle Julia Roberts has had in a while, and reconfirming Hugh Grant's diffident charm (and hair), NOTTING HILL is, however, paced much too slowly and has at least one superfluous complicating event to try the audience's patience. There are some nice British-y supporting performances, and a lovely passage-of-time sequence. Much better than YOU'VE GOT MAIL or THE LOVE LETTER.
Trekkies (1997)
Even for a non-fan, a likable sometimes fascinating film
My principal experience with "Star Trek" is that I had two roommates (one in the late 60s and one in the late 90s) who were rabid fans. Happily, TREKKIES is neither an expose, or an easy, prolonged "Sat Nite Live" sketch. The filmmaker takes the Margaret Mead approach to study this subculture, but with a sense of humor, and produces a surprisingly humane and layered documentary.
L'assedio (1998)
A work of art and of the heart
I saw this film under the title "Besieged" in May of 1999. Since the film is itself a hymn to the virtues of artistic simplicity and understatement, I have to resist reducing it to the usual advertising blurbs. It is beautifully made and photographed. At times I felt as though I had never before seen a man's ankle or a woman's arm in a sleeveless dress or soapy water on a tile floor. The story drew me in immediately and kept me involved. The soundtrack was wonderfully nuanced and evocative. I will see this movie again and again.
The Winslow Boy (1999)
Mamet explores new territory and triumphs!
A highly satisfying, fact-based drama of 1910's media frenzy in England turns out to be hospitable territory for tough-talker Mamet, as he plumbs the depths of the legendary sang-froid of the British. Impeccably cast, with a star-making performance by Jeremy Northam and the best work to date of veteran actor Nigel Hawthorne.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
See Last 20 Minutes First
Everett as Oberon and Tucci as Puck have a kind of chemistry which is notably lacking in the other actor pairings. Performances, direction, etc., are extremely spotty until the "Rude Mechanicals'" performance of "Pyramus and Thisbe" at the end. Great soundtrack which perhaps explains the film's being set in late 19th century Italy.
Edge of Seventeen (1998)
Bullseye!
There are movies that try to get it right and movies that don't try and movies that are not at all about getting it right and movies that do get it right, and when "it" is "coming of age" the number of movies that get it right is even smaller and EDGE OF SEVENTEEN is one of the few. Heartbreakingly funny, heartbreakingly sad, very few concessions to tidiness, no special pleading.
The Mummy (1999)
Eyes Wide Open, PUL-EEESE!
Great to look at, I mean GREAT to look at, but when there are no special effects (truth to tell, not often) it sags. It's going for that thrill/comedy thing that "Raiders of the Lost Ark" defined for modern audiences, but, Harrison Ford, Come back! We forgive you for "Regarding Henry"!!! Eye candy for sure and a couple of good scares.
Go (1999)
GO!
Assured, surprising, humorous, serious -- the real goods. Best of the year so far.
Idle Hands (1999)
Cheech & Chong meet Freddy Kruger: Nobody wins.
Seth Green was much better used in both AUSTIN POWERS and CAN'T HARDLY WAIT. Even low expectations can't save this poorly paced, unevenly toned, scattershot "comedy." Hey, even Fred Willard can't provide a smile.