crystalc1020 Reviews

Titanic (1997)

Still a Favorite..

[10/10 · 16 September 2003]

I still love this movie Titanic to this day. No matter how many bad reviews it might get from critics today, this movie is still one of my favorites. I haven't seen this movie on DVD yet (I'm still holding out for the ~*~*~Special Edition~*~*~ DVD supposedly coming out soon) but I'm sure it has even BETTER sound quality, crispness in screen clarity, and even louder special effects. I just think the dvd out now sucks. How can you have such a lousy dvd for such a HUGE film?? The name of the movie was called "TITANIC" for goodness sakes! Hahah..that's like having the movie "The Hulk" come out with a lousy dvd.

Oh well..I can dream can't I??

Either way, this movie still holds a special place in my heart.

The Musketeer (2001)

Oh, what a dissapointment!!

[23 June 2003]

Well, the title says it all. Perhaps not the WORST film in history, but certainly not the BEST! I wouldn't even call this movie "good". It was "okay" at best. To think, that my family and I were sooo hyped to see this movie! The previews looked so "good" and "awesome", that I was sure that "The Musketeer" was going to be a box-office hit! I had high expectations for this film. I think that's where the first mistake was. "High expectations". Perhaps if I had just gone into the theater not expecting much from it, then maybe the film would have been fairly decent. First of all, the movie sucked from the beginning. Bad plot, horrible dialogue, boring/life-less characters (honestly, I didn't even care about the MAIN character..now that's BAD!! lol*), and what the HECK was wrong with the color in this film?? Was it just me, or was most of the movie in a brown, dull, dark, (low-budget) type of hue?? Hahah....

Justin Chambers did an awful acting job (although he's not bad to look at), and Mena Suvari was awful...ughg..the whole thing was so disapointing! I walked out of the theater in disgust. I LOVE 3 Musketeer/sword-fighting type of movies! I was looking forward to this film so much! What a HUGE let down. I felt like this film went on and on, and on, and ON!! I know it wasn't that long..(compared to other films I've seen), but boy....it was surely BORING! Snore-ville.

The special effects fight scenes were pretty good. The villain wasn't even interesting to even care about. Why was he trying to kill him again?? I don't even remember the plot...it's been so long since I've seen this movie. I don't care to see it again either.

Final Verdict: A "must-skip". Huge disapointment...

The Man in the Iron Mask (I) (1998)

Fun, entertaining movie!

[23 June 2003]

I never saw this movie in the theaters (it seemed like another Leo-mania "no REAL talent" type of film), but I remember a friend recommending it to me one night about 5 years back. Since I love sword fighting movies/3 musketeer flicks, I just had to give it a try. Plus, I had seen the previews, and they looked interesting. Well, let me tell you...from the opening scene to the ending credits, I was hooked with this film! It grabbed my attention, and was just pure fun!! I don't know why this movie got such a low rating on IMDB. It may not be a "masterpiece", but it's surely a great, fun, entertaining film!

First of all, the cast is great. I mean, have you seen so many good actors in one film?? Byrnes, Depardieu, Malcovich, DiCaprio, and Irons. All such a WONDERFUL cast, with good acting. I liked Leo's duel roles too. At first I thought it would be cheesy, but Leo delivered it well! He played both roles of Louis (bad king) and Phillipe (good king) so diversely! I liked how he had you loving one king, and totally despising the other! Someone also mentioned the way Leo totally changed characters with his "eyes". THe "EYES" say a lot, and Leo nailed it. I almost had to ask myself if this was the SAME actor playing Phillipe!

The plot was good (eh...might have been predictable, but still...great), the cinematagraphy was awesome, the music was moving, the sword fighting/action was cool! I absolutely loved Gabriel Byrnes in this movie. He was so great as D'Artagnan (sp?). John Malcovich was perfect for his role of Athos too. I really felt his pain. I have both the VHS (older) and the DVD version (hey, it was on sale for 9 bucks!! lol) of The Man In The Iron Mask, and the DVD version (although not a whole lot of extras) has a nice directors commentary. It really tells the director's vision for the film and all the behind the scene info. I STILL can't believe that this movie was his FIRST film!!

Very entertaining movie. I really don't know why people dogged this movie so much. It was SOOOO much better than that "OTHER" more RECENT musketeer movie that came out called "THE Musketeer". UGghgh...what a dissapointment!

But The Man In The Iron MASK is DEFINITELY a movie worth giving a try.

Titanic (1997)

If this movie is "over-hyped" we only have the public to blame....

[10/10 · 20 June 2003]

I find it so amazing that even after all these years, we are STILL talking about this movie! Obviously this movie wasn't THAT bad or else people wouldn't even BOTHER to talk about it. I personally enjoyed this film immensly, and still do! I guess this film isn't for everyone, but it certainly did touch the hearts of many.

As for those that think that this film is "overrated" or "over-hyped"...well, we only have the movie-going public to thank for that! lol* You see, it's not CRITICS/article writers that make a film "HUGE" or a "HIT" with the general movie-going public. PEOPLE make the film a huge success. With Titanic, everyone was in awe. Let's face it, a film like this had never been made before. At least not with the type of special effects needed to really capture the essence of the ship actually sinking. This film is so accurate that even James Cameron timed the actual sinking of the ship in the film with the REAL sinking that fateful day in April 1912. Even the silverware for goodness sakes matched!

Give this movie a break you guys! The critics thought this movie would sink BIG time! When this movie actually came out and people started hearing by WORD OF MOUTH (which is the BEST form of advertisement mind you) that this was a good/decent/movie worth seeing, then everyone started flocking to the theaters in droves to see this movie...not once, not twice, but maybe 3 times and more! So, I really wouldn't say that this movie was "overhyped"...at least not like the buildup for the MATRIX reloaded or the HULK is being "overhyped". ha! Critics didn't even think that Titanic would make enough money to cover Cameron's gigantic film budget that it took to make this mammoth of a film. However, the films money took care of that 200 million budget and MUCH more!

Personally, I LOVE this film. However, this film might not be for everyone. DOn't say that this film sucks just because of romance though! THat is the most sexist thing I've ever heard! Disliking a movie just because it has romance in it! The story was sweet. The dialogue could have been better, but let's face it...the REAL star of the movie wasn't Leo or Kate...it was that GIGANTIC Ship! I think all of the actors including DiCaprio and Winslet did a fine job. It's not thier best work (I've seen much BETTER work from both of them) but it wasn't the WORST I've seen on screen before. Give them a break!

Titanic (1997)

So what if it was "cheesy"??

[10/10 · 23 April 2003]

Hey, I'll take a cheesy but WELL done romance story anytime! You see, that's what is so good about Hollywood. Hollywood TRIES to make movies for everyone. If Hollywood only made the same historical/factual/documentary type movies, that could get boring. So, hollywood likes to spice things up a bit. Sure the romance between Jack and Rose MAY have been unrealistic, but that doesn't mean it could NEVER have happened! I've seen stranger things believe it or not. Plus, we have to remember, that NO historical movie (not even the "good ones") are 100% factually accurate. Sure, some are more accurate than others, but that's not necessarily the case in MOST movies. Most movies add more drama or romantic stories in them to make things more interesting. How "interesting" would the 1997 version of "Titanic" had been if all you saw was the ship take off and then sink?? I LIKE to know the background stories of the people in the movie, even if it IS a "sappy cheesy love story". Otherwise, it might be a bit boring. Who would even CARE about the characters if we didn't know at least a LITTLE about them? And a tragic love story is the best formula. Lovely! James Cameron was smart...VERY smart to add this in this film. He has something for the men (action, special fx), and stuff for the ladies (some good-looking guys, and a love story). There's nothing wrong with that. Sure, the dialogue wasn't "OScar-caliber"...haha...yet it won 11 oscars out of 14! A new record? Go figure! Besides, it seems like MOST of the general public enjoyed the movie...so, who cares what the dialogue was like?

I didn't see much wrong with Pearl Harbor except for the fact that the dialogue was VERY weak (10 times worse than Titanic ever was!), and it seemed to me like the main goal was to sort of RE-create another "Titanicesque" film to garner the same success Titanic had. Not many movies can touch a WIDE ranging audience like Titanic did. It might be some time before another movie does. It's the highest grossing movie to date. Another one of Pearl Harbor's weaknesses (aside from the elementary plot and lines) was that I feel like perhaps maybe this historic event hit home to many Americans, and perhaps it was a little too "close-to-home" to make a shody job of a movie about Pearl Harbor. Maybe in 30 years people wouldn't care if this movie had come out then, but there are still veterans still alive from the war, and although I'm not sure what MOST of them felt about the movie, from what I heard, a lot of them enjoyed it.

Titanic (1997)

I Still love this movie to this day...

[10/10 · 19 April 2003]

After seeing TItanic again just this past January (after not seeing it in 5 years) I must say, this movie is STILL One of my favorite movies to this day. I still LOVE the "magical" feeling I get when I watch this film. I really felt like I was back in the early 1900's about to take a voyage on that infamous ship. Very few movies can actually MAKE you feel like you're there...but Titanic did. I still love the performances from DiCaprion, Winslet, Zane, and Bates. I think they did amazing jobs given the sub-par script they had to work with. EVen the "lousy dialogue" as people say didn't ruin this movie for me. It MORE than made up for itself with costume, set design, historical accuracy and detail, and special fx.

I think the MAIN reason why people bash this movie is because it WAS so good and LOVED by many people. It didn't become the highest grossing movie of all time by people hating this movie! LOL*

Also, the orchestra playing music on the deck is NOT a copy from Monty Python. There's actual HISTORICAL truth to that. It's a FACT that the orchestra played that night on deck to "calm" the nerves of the rich upper crusty people. One of the MAIN reasons why I love this movie is because Cameron really made you think about society and class EVEN in our days today. The same thing goes on. The people with $money$ make the rules and own the land so to speak.

Also, I'm not so SURE Cameron WANTED the audience to INITIALLY feel sorry for the "Rich" upper class snobs. I felt sadder for the lower class people. However, in the end, when ALL of of bodies are swimming and struggling to stay alive in the ocean...it didn't matter WHAT class ticket you held in your hand....you were most likely going to die if you drowned or froze to death in that water. Now, it's true, MORE of the rich people survived, but hey...that's life. It was still a tragic tragic event in history, and I don't know why people love to bash this movie. Because it was so successful?? Most likely..

Such a good moral...

Moonlight and Valentino (1995)

It was alright....a bit boring though...

[5/10 · 19 April 2003]

I just got finished watching this movie last night. I had always wanted to see it and so when it unexpectedly came on tv last night, I decided to watch it. Well...I have mixed feelings about this movie.

****************NOTE!! SPOILERS!!!!*************************

I thought the acting overall was good...I was a bit dissapointed however in Perkin's character, and how emotionless she was after he husband died. I know that part of this was because she was partly shocked and in denial, but still....I expected a STRONGER outburst of emotion from her. This is your HUSBAND that has just died for goodness sakes! Not only that, but I felt like this movie tended to go on and on with not real point. IT felt very boring at times, and just plotless. I liked how the movie focuses on each of the women's lives and the problems they are facing in them, however if I were the director, I would have had the movie continue on with a slightly FASTER pace. The movie felt like 2 hours long when I had only watched an hour of it!

Bottom line: I didn't even finish this movie because it was just sooo slow and kind of boring. I was already tired to begin with...I didn't need this movie to put me even faster to sleep. However, if you want a good chick flick about women overcoming thier problems in life, then this movie is for you. The acting is great (except that little part I mentioned above) and the it's a touching story about enduring hardships, and moving on with your life after a tragic death.

7th Heaven (1996–2007)

A very good show in my opinion

[22 August 2002]

I think that 7th Heaven is actually a pretty GOOD show. I've enjoyed it ever since it came on the air in 1996. I've even been watching it more so lately. I love watching it during the school season, on Monday nights at 8pm because it sort of gives me a break from all the craziness that goes on at college sometimes. Sure, this show can be kinda cheesy sometimes, but that's the most fun of the show. I find it a relief to finally have at least ONE show that seems to have SOME kind of morals and religious background. When's the last time you've seen a show where the WHOLE family actually goes to church?? It's very rare. Since I'm a church-going person myself, with morals, I think that 7th Heaven is a breath of fresh air compared to SOME shows on the air these days.

What I find even more commendable is that I don't feel wierd about watching this show infront of my mom. In fact, I actually LIKE watching this show with my mom. (Imagine that!!) I don't see the Camden family as this "Picture Perfect" sort of family like some may see. Sure, not every family is as "perfect" as theirs, but they aren't THAT much different from MY own family. Just because the kids aren't out doing drugs, sleeping around, and cursing their parents out doesn't mean that they are wierd to me. That's actually NORMAL in my household.

I hope the show continues to go on for more seasons. I'm happy for thier awards. I think they deserve them. The whole cast is wonderful, and seems to get along well. It's been great to see the cast grow up through the years, and have the characters involved in different situations. I really feel bad for Barry Watson who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. I really hope he feels better soon, and comes back to the show.

Like I said before...sure...some of the lines may seem cheesy, but hey...that's the beauty of television. I don't have to worry about some kind of crude, gross humor, that may come on. Just because they don't value sexual immorality, smoking, and other gross acts, doesn't make this show bad. At least in my eyes it doesn't. It's the first show in a LONG time I've seen that has some kind of religious background without being preachy and self righteous.

Over all...I think it's a great show for the family! :-)