andrewthezeppo Reviews

Scoop (2006)

Delightful summer comedy

[8/10 · 29 July 2006]

I thought this was a wonderful way to spend time on a too hot summer weekend, sitting in the air conditioned theater and watching a light-hearted comedy. The plot is simplistic, but the dialogue is witty and the characters are likable (even the well bread suspected serial killer). While some may be disappointed when they realize this is not Match Point 2: Risk Addiction, I thought it was proof that Woody Allen is still fully in control of the style many of us have grown to love.

This was the most I'd laughed at one of Woody's comedies in years (dare I say a decade?). While I've never been impressed with Scarlet Johanson, in this she managed to tone down her "sexy" image and jumped right into a average, but spirited young woman.

This may not be the crown jewel of his career, but it was wittier than "Devil Wears Prada" and more interesting than "Superman" a great comedy to go see with friends.

Audition (1999)

Not scary, not disturbing and definitely not interesting

[1/10 · 27 June 2006]

I saw this movie recently based on the recommendation of a few friends and several online sites ranking it one of the most frightening and disturbing films of all time. And can I say I have never been more disappointed. The pacing of the film is all wrong and serves to bore the audience into a stupor for over an hour just so it can shock them with 20 minutes of gore at the end. Had some of the flashbacks been longer, or introduced earlier in the film it could have been more effective, but as is the film had no suspense.

Because of the mind numbingly slow pacing, and general lack of genuine scares this movie is a big let down. I watched "3 Extremes" fairly recently and thought that "Cut" had become a tighter more horrifying experience in comparison to watching the original. "Audition" would also benefit greatly from being from a re-cut to make it shorter, tighter and quicker paced.

If you are looking for a shocking and disturbing experience there are literally hundreds of better films to choose from. "3 Extremes" would make an excellent choice as you get 3 shortened (though not any less horrific) films all of which are much better than audition.

King Kong (2005)

Lame and long

[1/10 · 24 December 2005]

What a waste of my life, at 3 hours and 7 minutes spent on a version of the film that is inferior to both the original and the Jessica Lang version.

The film started off on the wrong foot with some terrible and distracting casting. With the exception of Naomi Watts who does a decent enough job, the rest of the cast is a bunch of hacks hamming it up for the camera.

After spending about 2 hours running from dinosaurs in scenes taken directly from Jurassic Park (Brontosauras at watering hole, T-Rex knocking them off the cliff, log suspended by vines = car suspended by cables) The movie the quickly ends in the familiar NY scenes.

Adding so much time to the movie did nothing to add to its depth of intrigue, and since Jurassic Park came out like 10 years ago, why do the dinosaurs in this movie look worse?

A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Unfortunate indeed

[1/10 · 24 December 2004]

I would caution anybody who was expecting a witty and original children's movie to save their time and money. Asside from the amazing production design this movie brings absolutely nothing to the table. What bits of a plot the film had weren't tied together by anything at all. There was no consistency in the acting or directing, just a jumble of dull event after dull event. There are lots of cameos from some of today's funniest actors and actresses, Dustin Hoffman, Jennifer Coolidge, Catherine O'Hara but none of the normally hilarious actors are given a single line that was intended to be funny. Jim Carry and Meryl Streep are way off their game, simply being famous people in costumes and not actors or comedians or even villains. Asside from the infrequently funny voice over by Jude Law the film would be better enjoyed on mute.

Life as We Know It (2004–2005)

Yawn, "My so called wannabe"

[22 October 2004]

I gave this show a chance as all the reviews were raves, but it's terrible. The characters a flat, irrational and badly acted, the plots are lifted from better teen dramas like My So Called Life and the first season of Dawson's Creek. The teacher/student thing is the worst representation of this cliché plot line, and the mother/coach thing just makes it worse...when you start a show off with 2 affairs what they hell are you going to do next season?

Apart from the surprisingly good Kelley Osbourne the show is unwatchable, and I won't be watching any longer.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Better than the first, but pointless altogether

[1/10 · 28 July 2004]

While the special effects and story lines are greatly improved from the under-whelming first Spider-Man movie they alone can't make this movie worth your money. The strongest points of this movie were in the supporting roles of Aunt Mae, Dr. Octavius (before he turned evil) and of course Harry Osborn. They were the only characters that acted like actual human being in this movie and the only actors that didn't just chew up their words and spit them out.

For me the real problem with this movie is that it accomplishes nothing that wasn't a part of the first film. All the themes of the original are just redone here, and for no apparent reason. We learned from the first movie that 'With great power comes great responsibility' and that 'there's a hero in all of us'.

So why is the sequel not trying to cover any new territory? Peter loves MJ but they can't be together…um why? Obviously her life is in danger already so what would it hurt to tell her? Peter is reluctant to become Spider-Man and struggles to use his powers, yeah that happens again to. The news paper irrationally hates Spider-Man yet Peter sells them pictures for only $300?!?! Paparazzi photographers can get THOUSANDS of dollars for a picture of Brad Pitt or Madonna or Britney Spears, so why is the clown only making $300?

All in all if you liked the first movie you'll like this one more. If you thought the first one was lame, you should save your money and just rent Hellboy or X-men 2, which are both superior super hero films.