smhowell-1 Reviews

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Alfonso Cuarón ruined this movie!

[3/10 · 26 December 2007]

Book 2 is my least favorite of the books, but this Azkaban was completely ruined by Alfonso Cuarón. He has characters acting out of character and crammed the movie together without sufficient explanation or character development. Most of his "cute" bits were just plain stupid.

I read that he got the director of the fourth movie to do the entire book in one movie. If this is true, then he not only ruined the third movie, but the entire rest of the series. Boiling in oil would be too kind in this case.

Oh well, give it a decade and the remake will be out. With this dog, it almost certainly has to be better, even though Cuarón had almost the perfect cast to work with. What a loser!

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

A documentary should be based on truth

[1/10 · 9 August 2004]

The summary says it all.

I saw this film expecting that I would disagree with some of it, but thought there would some entertainment anyway. What a disappointing waste!

The difference between a Conservative and a Liberal is that Conservatives gather facts and THINK about them and the consequences. Liberals FEEL that their opinions are superior and it feels good to go with the chanting and the slogans. Except for the leaders of the Liberals, who know what to say to exploit the masses. A conservative is concerned about what is best for all, but a liberal is only concerned about his own self interest. I'm guessing that Hollywood is profoundly liberal because they fear that morality would cramp their style and reduce their profits.

Moore is heavy handed in his propaganda. This film doesn't rise to the level of a documentary. The only people that are going to be swayed by Moore's arguments are those that failed to get an education from the public school system. Anyone that can think will see the inconsistencies between the truth and this work of fiction.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

A True Classic

[10/10 · 22 October 2003]

Too bad about Tim Robbins' politics, because this is one of the best movies ever made. I never get tired of it. Plot is tightly woven and everything fits together. I particularly enjoy Morgan Freeman, but there are no weak players. This movie deserves to be at the top of the list.

One Little Indian (1973)

Wish they still made movies like this.

[7/10 · 23 February 2003]

The plot is a little predictable, or maybe I remembered it from 'way back when. As a James Garner fan, it's a sure bet that I've seen this before, but can't remember when. The timing and pace were superb; I was entertained without thinking about time passing. It's a little sentimental for today's tastes. Acting was flawless by the entire cast; every character was believable. The music was unpretentious, and unfortunately, unmemorable, but then it also doesn't date itself, either. At the end, I didn't have the feeling that this is an all time classic, but it did manage to jerk that little tear out of my eyeball. The only major flaw was the poor use of obvious studio shot closeups during the chase scenes, which jarred the viewer from the suspended disbelief necessary to enjoy fiction. Overall, I'm not sorry that I own the DVD. It's a real joy to escape the foul language and smut that passes itself off as entertainment these days.

America's Sweethearts (2001)

Much better than the rating on IMDB

[10/10 · 21 March 2002]

I just finished watching this movie for the first time, and can't understand why it only rated 6 of 10 here. It was a little predictable early, which only made it better. I never looked at the clock once during the entire movie. The pacing was superb, and the humor was truly funny, unlike some of the grodie junk that nowadays passes for humor (Sorry to spoil it for some of you, but there was not a single fart joke.) I'm going to guess that it was just too high-brow for the Southpark crowd.