brichtr1 Reviews

The Island (2005)

Not just a great action movie, but a great film!

[10/10 · 11 July 2005]

I saw this movie at a sneak preview expecting another throwaway action flick from Michael Bay, with more attention to giant explosions than to characters or plot.. I can gladly say that I was dead wrong! This movie is genuinely entertaining, with comedic moments that are truly funny (not the usual cheesy one-liners) and the movie is beautifully shot. A lot of time is devoted to the story (which happens to be very interesting) and the action scenes revolve around the plot for once (not the other way around). The futuristic aspects of the movie are beautiful and look awesome, while still being believable.

Also, the cast is one of the best I've seen in a while. Ewan Mcgregor is fascinating to watch as he plays dual roles. He captures the innocent child-like curiosity of Lincoln and the ruthlessness of rich bastard Tom with equal believability and his comedic timing is perfect. Scarlett Johansson is also great and kicks ass while looking gorgeous and she and Ewan have wonderful on-screen chemistry. The supporting cast is also fabulous with Steve Buscemi as an ally and Sean Bean as a perfect villain. Djimon Hounsou brings a lot of weight to his character and Michael Clarke Duncan is brilliant in a small but important role.

The movie also has a great score which fits perfectly, and the action scenes are great without being over the top.

In all, it's a great movie and I can't wait until July 22nd for it to come out so I can see it again!

The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992)

Fun!

[10/10 · 30 June 2003]

I saw this movie on TV and I have to admit.. I loved it! I was planning to go to sleep but once this movie came on I watched it all the way through! Although not exactly an Oscar winner, it had a charm all it's own. I think the cast was what made it, I loved Betty Lou and especially Eric Thal as Alex! They had great chemistry and were really cute together! This is a fun cute movie definitely NOT to be taken seriously, but just to sit back and enjoy! It still has a little bit of 80's fun to it.. I think in the 80's a lot of movies were made that would NEVER be made now, but now they are so fun to watch! This had a little bit of that. I dunno, I just loved it!

Sakura (2002)

I love this show!!!!!

[28 June 2003]

This show is so cute! I love it! I watch it any time I'm lucky enough to catch it on TV. It's a great fish out of water type show, and the main girl is so cute! It's fun to see how she (an American) clashes with the employees where she works in Japan and how she has to get used to the customs. It's a really cute show and may even help you learn some Japanese!

I Love the '80s (2002)

I Love the 'I love the 80's!' show!

[29 April 2003]

This show is great! The commentary by some of the actors, especially Hal Sparks and Michael Ian Black, is some of the funniest stuff ever.. and who can deny that it's fun as hell to see all those crazy things that made the 80's what it is.. This show makes pretty much a documentary of media in the 80's entertaining and great fun to watch. I love it!!

The Green Hornet (1966–1967)

Great Stuff

[17 April 2003]

I ordered the entire series on VHS (pirated) and this show is great! It's definitely not everybody's taste, since it is a little hokey, but NOT campy. It really is a treat to see Bruce Lee before he'd made those great movies, even though in most episodes he has about 2 lines. It's kind of obvious that 60's American TV wasn't ready for a real chinese action star. (the show Kung Fu anyone??)But even so it's a fun show and it would have been even better if they'd let Bruce show them what he can really do. The best episode has to be the Preying Mantis where Kato totally stole the show!

Vertical Limit (2000)

Live action Johnny quest! (but lame)

[1 December 2002]

Watching this movie I was immediately reminded of Johnny quest! There are many striking similarities.. (Although I like Johnny quest, I did NOT like this movie). Just like JQ, this movie has countless "falling from a cliff only to grab a ledge at the last moment" moments. This movie was unbelievable. Not in the sense of being great, but it was just literally UNBELIEVABLE. I don't think if ONE thing that happened in the movie happened in real life anyone would survive.

Also, acting was mediocre, and music could have well been the score to any other action movie. The facts were frighteningly inaccurate, and it wasn't even the correct mountain!

If you want to see a REAL mountain climber's movie, check out Everest (1998)!!

Clay Pigeons (1998)

great movie!

[10/10 · 1 December 2002]

I really liked this movie. I first saw it on one of those movie channels and I had no idea it was edited. I later bought it and actually I think the edited version is better! There were no swear words in it which made it more light hearted and funnier because you didn't take it as seriously. (Even though murder is involved). Also some scenes were taken out that prevented it from ever becoming slow. However the unedited version is great too.

Also, I absolutely loved the music! Even though I'm not a fan of country, it was still a great soundtrack. The acting was great too, especially Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn. I'm glad they got to be in a movie together again after this. (Return to Paradise). This is a great movie to watch if you're in a movie watching mood! I've seen it 5 times already!

Tomcats (2001)

sick doesn't mean funny

[29 November 2002]

Poorly made and just plain sick movie that made me wince more than smile. The plot is the bare minimum of what is required for teen movies today, (and that's saying a lot) as is the acting and humor. The only really funny part of the movie is the outtakes at the end, accompanied by a feeling of great relief.

Battlefield Earth (2000)

This movie would be hilarious (if it weren't so sad.)

[1/10 · 13 August 2002]

My friend and I knew ALL about all the bad hype about this movie (Not that we doubted any of it for a second), when we rented it. We both knew about the Razzies (Worst film of the year goes to Battlefield: Earth!!! ...oh yeah AND worst actor, supporting actress, worst screen couple, supporting actor, screen play ...and about 5 others) and we knew about all the reviews. But the negative reviews didn't sway us from renting it... it was the reason we did! We were obviously waay to hyper (I wonder if there's a legal limit?) when we watched this… but! I did laugh so hard I almost peed my pants (twice!) and if it had been a comedy up front I would think it was the best one of the year... sadly however, VERY sadly.. it is NOT. It was trying to be serious… amazing. We kept replaying certain bits of scenes or words that sounded funny over and over.. and they get funnier EVERY SINGLE TIME! (Try it!.. don't rent it or buy it though.. maybe if you find it in it's rightful home, the gutter) for example.. when some guy dies in the jet and it blows up. Some guys yells his name.. it's like "Pashaaaaaaa" or something.. he looked so stupid! and the "emotion" was SOO forced. (The fact that he was probably staring at a blue screen anyway probably didn't help)... also… the best part (worst?) is the ridiculous and pointless scene where Terl (do they say his name even once?-maybe once-)hits his head on the ceiling! It so damn funny it hurts! (Probably more than his head.) John Travolta really should stayed faaaar away from this one.. (I guess everyone's gotta pay the bills for their $5 million home)

Here's all the bad stuff about it here--First of all.. once you get over a few not-intendedly funny scenes the movie itself really IS painful to watch. It hard enough watching the strained and forced emotions and dialogue between the "actors" , the screenplay does NOT help.. and adding gasoline to an already humongous BOMB is the cinematography.. --I'll admit we rented the DVD (the VHS were all out -don't even ASK me why-) and watching that stupid "making the 'movie'" crap.. they were actually BRAGGING about how every SINGLE frame is crooked and hurts your eyes!- The movie itself, when you take away all the 'special effects' and stupid costumes… isn't ANY better! (Sad, I know) There doesn't even seem to be anything resembling a distant relative of a plot until the movie has almost reached its blessed conclusion. There are dozens of scenes (If not the whole movie) that could have been left on the cutting room floor. The characters are more annoying than lovable. The hero is weakly played by Barry Pepper and not even John Travolta can salvage his cardboard bad guy into anything more than 2-D. If anything.. he makes it worse.

There are also plot holes the size of Canada (which is incredible seeing as the plot itself is as big as Rhode Island in comparison.) and the fact that a bunch of cavemen with an average IQ of 56 could learn to fly military fighter jets in less than a week boggles the mind. And that whole bit with dogs (not 'dog animals'???) being the superior species and that pointless scene of trying to find out their 'favorite food' when there was nothing around to eat but rats anyway was really inane and forced the movie to drag on and on EVEN more if conceivably possible. (It was 6 PM and we BOTH fell asleep!) Also, all the people acted like imbeciles and it was embarrassing, they all acted like monkeys! (People don't devolve just because they don't know quadratic equations!) and they made it look SOO easy to escape this supposedly 'advanced species' that has been ruling the earth for what..1000 years? (..and should probably have the ropes down.) Furthermore, there is that whole Fort Knox business, and why Terl was so nice to Johnny. (He spares John's life OVER AND OVER after escaping 40 times, yet kills a bunch of his guards who were just doing their jobs!) Also.. what was with having him use the 'learning machine'?? That's the ONLY reason they win in the end anyway! And it never really explains why they need the minerals in the first place, why they look so freakin' ugly, why they needed to put that air-breathing stuff in there, why the radiation bomb made a huge explosion, why that one guy always looked like he'd just crapped his pants, why they put that whole pointless s*** about the 'good luck charm', why the cities look as if they've only been neglected for 20 years, why there's still electricity, why they started TRYING to make the main guy 'hot' as he got smarter towards the end of the movie, why the only girl aliens in the movie were portrayed as being whores and tramps, why there were so many brawl scenes, why when that guy said 'Watch your tongue' he had a Scottish accent for a minute, why they chose to have the world invaded in 2002 when the movie came out in '01, why that Forrest guy didn't even FLINCH when his hand got blown off, and why in the BLEEDING HELL ANYONE would think this movie is ANYTHING more than the worst movie of this millennium, if not the last as well. (But then again, I bet at LEAST one person watched Glitter all the way through and LIKED it… is there no hope for the human race?)Well there might be if Roger Christian decides to end his directing career VERY soon.

C'mon! Even the trailer was god-awful!

My final rating… 10… (Out of a possible 1,000,000,000)

Gladiator (2000)

Have people forgotten what a GOOD movie IS??

[10/10 · 12 July 2002]

I am as amazed as confused at how anyone could find this movie anything less that a masterpiece. A triumph in acting, special effects, directing, setting design, costume design, plot, dialogue, and anything else associated with movie-making.

Long ago, when movies were time-spent productions, when only one movie would come out in theatres a month, when a movie earning 4 stars wasn't a rarity.. this was the time when audiences knew how good some movies could be. (Hence all the classics.) It's frightening to see today what movies have become. With 3 movies coming out each week, sometimes many more, it's hard to determine the quality from the "merely entertaining". Some movies have their moments. Almost every one does. A funny one-liner, a cool death scene, or a wicked plot twist. But this doesn't make up a good movie. That isn't what it's all about.

What also needs to be realized, is that when someone thinks of a movie as their "favorite movie" or a movie that they "hated", they are merely saying their opinion about it, which has nothing to do with the movie itself. Obviously what one person thinks of as a great movie is not the universal definition for cinematic greatness. (I remember my brother feeling betrayed when Corky Romano wasn't nominated for an Oscar). For example: what one person may hate about a movie, another person may love about it for the exact opposite reason (An overprotective parent may hate this movie for it's violence, while if it had been cuddles a bunnies, some "macho man" may have hated it too.) Truly these are not grounds to be judging movies. However, there are universal traits for movies which one can rate a movie on. (Acting, story, etc.) Perhaps this is why we have award ceremonies. Because some people can't decide for themselves what good acting really is.

As a serious movie lover, these are my strong opinions. I am merely trying to make sense of all the negative comments about this movie.

(God I wrote a lot!)

My opinion about it anyways:: In my opinion Joaquin Phoenix MADE the movie. (My FAVORITE actor!) Russell Crow was great in this type of role, but Joaquin did an AMAZING job. He was able to portray the bad guy but with soul (Something VERY difficult to do.) This was obviously overlooked however at the Oscars. The Academy must have forgotten how much easier it is to be the guy everyone loves, the "good guy". The story itself seems to be the reason we loved Maximus. We felt sorry for him. We wanted him to win. Whereas Joaquin was just so damn GOOD at it, you HATED Commodus within the first 5 minutes. He was so damn good at being bad. You must judge good acting NOT only by how well they preformed, but how into character, and how believable, and how 3-D their character was(not always in the actor's control), and how hard their role was to bring to life. I know this is becoming a Joaquin praise rather than a review, but I think this was the BEST I have ever seen him.

BESIDES Joaquin, the MOVIE is nothing short of spectacular. A true movie is inspiring, it's good at what it does. (In this case it can make you cry for an hour after the movie's over, feel suspense, and realize that this is more than fiction which little people do.) We need to remember that this stuff really happened. Obviously being 2000 years from the time it took place, it isn't entirely accurate. But than again, when was the last time a documentary won Best Picture? Would any of YOU see a documentary with such enthusiasm? Would it have made enough money to pay for the lavish settings and costumes the crew would have to create? NO!! Which is why it is a MOVIE. Besides, for NOT being a doc, it actually IS pretty damn accurate. Almost all the characters were real -except Maximus- and the fact that Rome was/is real at all is amazing enough. The recreations of everything to the gravel is breathtaking. The sets are so beautiful and real, you feel immediately as though you are in ancient Rome. Also the corruption and insanity that was going on with the politics back then is also there. They were murdering each other left and right! (Due to the lead poisoning.)So the themes fit as well.

It is also a very simple yet powerful story which any decent human being can sympathize and relate to. So in short, it really IS a good movie, not worthy of the ignorant, inane comments by some who probably couldn't tell a Shakespeare masterpiece from the Nutrition Facts on a Snickers Bar.

~Rhea

U Turn (1997)

great cast (oh yeah.. the film too!)

[10/10 · 11 July 2002]

although some may hate the film for its darkness, you can't dismiss the great talent of the cast. Sean Penn was amazing as his constantly tormented character, Billy Bob Thornton was almost unrecognizable and his character soon became just as equally easy to hate, Claire Danes was funny "You killed him!" I almost died laughing.. but perhaps the BEST part of the movie was the sadly short but scene stealing role by Joaquin Phoenix! I actually bought this movie (as a DVD too!) JUST because he was in it.. in fact i was on a hunt for Joaquin movies.. and i am glad to say that I wasn't disappointed. He is not only an amazing actor (and scene stealer ^__^) but also able to be funny as hell! (Toby N. Tucker!) He also really gets into the roles (he shaved TNT into his hair for christ's sake! ).

Thankfully though I really liked the movie. It is dark, but that doesn't make it a bad movie, ONLY a movie that people who hate dark movies obviously wouldn't like. And that's all there is to it. (**SPOILER**) I admit I was disappointed when Bobby died at the end.. but at the same time I was also relieved. You can't for one second think that with all of his bad luck and bad decisions that he's gonna live happily ever after.. It went with the whole dark theme of the movie.

I also want to say that movies are SOO much better when you have NO idea what you are about to see. Your mind is untainted and unbiased on what is going to happen/how good it will be/etc. and you really get to judge it on your own, based on your own likes and dislikes. I had no idea what I was going to get when I bought this movie (other than Joaquin Phoenix ^_^) and it made the sick twisted plot of the movie that much more surprising. It really is a "weird" movie, but at least it's good at what it does.

Golden Boy (1995–1996)

funny stuff (regardless of gender)

[10/10 · 10 July 2002]

Although I'm a girl, thankfully I have a sense of humor and realize that this really IS a funny anime! Watching it does give you an overwhelming feeling that it's definitely a guy show but that doesn't take away from the fact that its hilarious! 10/10

Schindler's List (1993)

frighteningly realistic

[10/10 · 30 May 2002]

Reading some of the other comments i noticed that the only reason the film is EVER criticized is because of the fact that 1. It doesn't say how the war started blah blah it's just about the poor old Jews and 2. they always make the Germans the bad guys.. well i have much to say about that but first of all.. this isn't a STORY ABOUT HOW WWII BEGAN. It's a story about how one man saved hundreds of lives and countless generations. And about the 'poor old Jews'... More than 7 million jews were killed during the Hacaust. A period of less than a decade. Even if this many had died in a century, it's still unbelievable. So maybe, yeah, they deserve a movie showing what happenned. Also, I know it's unbelievable, but you'd be surprised at how many people don't actually know about the Halocaust and how much more you can learn from this movie than by staring at digits in a text book. The deaths begin to actually mean something. Each person who was murdered was a PERSON. Many people fail to understand that. That may be because it so incomprehensible.

Also, about the Germans always being the badguys.. obviously in this case, in this movie.. THEY ARE... The director isn't going to make the nazis Canadian or something just so the Germans won't be offended! This period in history REALLY did happen, sickeningly enough, and people will just have to get used to it. So for those who gave this movie a '1' aren't seeing what this movie really is. There's a reason why this movie is the top 10 of all time... on any list.. Some people are just too ignorant and blind to see it.

This is what a real movie is.

Quills (2000)

Quills is absolutely amazing!!!

[10/10 · 2 March 2002]

I immediately wanted to see this movie once i saw the preview and i am thankful that I did. This movie is definitely not for the kids but the acting and writing make it simply breathtaking. Amazing. Everyone is so ridiculously talented at acting.. but most wonderful of all is Joaquin Phoenix. He has been my favorite actor since he was in Gladiator... when he steps on screen its as though everything melts away. He steals every scene he's in. He's amazing. I couldn't breathe half of the movie. if you don't see this movie at least once in your life then you haven't lived!!!