phrosty20

Ocean's Twelve isn't so much a movie as it is an opportunity for the majority of the actors involved to mirror their own predominant personal behavior: pretentiousness. The "coolness" of Ocean's Eleven, prevalently displayed in the previews for the movie, turned me off to it, but I saw it at a friend's after it was released on video and ended up liking it very much. This brand of "coolness" is irritating and confusing, and though the movie can be entertaining, there are far too many subplots for us to care (or most times understand) what is occurring. The major heist involved here is clever and the dialog can be very entertaining at times, but the majority of the movie still feels like a stranger's conversation in which we are just observers. The backstories of many events are shown after the scene in which it would be essential to comprehend, and while this may seem like an original cinematic twist, it just doesn't flow.

Simply put, the movie has little of the original, tightly packed feel of Ocean's Eleven. Most everything goes wrong for the crew this time around, whereas they had an almost perfect heist in the first movie. It's an interesting switch, but it dramatically hurts the pace of the movie. I didn't dislike the movie as a whole, but I didn't particularly enjoy it either.

This movie is totally atrocious. I just finished watching it on the Sci-Fi channel tonight, and the acting is just...well...irritating. Given that this is a B-Horror movie, however, it wasn't too much of a shock, but the acting seems to be even worse than par. Couple this with a fake looking CG crocodile with red(!) eyes, and all the lousy horror conventions makes this a hilarious film. If you're into bad horror movies, you'll love this, but if you're looking for a legit, sarcasm-free scare, look elsewhere.

Typical Jerry Bruckheimer film; if you've seen one of his horribly contrived movies, you've seen them all: the characters are all poorly developed stereotypes and unessential to the plot (except for, say, 2 of them). I'm proud to say I wasn't done in by the marketing and didn't shell out $7.50 to see it; I caught it on TNT the other night. Naturally, the cars are the coolest part of the movie, but I'd rather just go to a car show and check them out than sit through inane, uninspired dialogue loosely framed around a "plot".

The plot is this: Memphis Raines(Nic Cage) has to steal 50 cars in one night in order to save his brother from some kind of evil foreign guy, you know, the kind that's become an archtype in action movies. OK. Here's the thing: his brother is still free, they haven't captured him or done anything otherwise debilitating to him. Why can't Memphis come up with a better idea than doing what the bad guy tells him? Such a desperate attempt in the story is made to make Memphis the good guy, much to the detriment of the already fragile plot. Go see "The Fast and the Furious" instead; the plots are equally inept, but at least TFATF is entertaining.

The high point of "O" is that its probably the best "modern" adaptation of Shakespeare to date. However, given competition such as "10 Things I Hate About You", its not much of a compliment. Baz Luhrman's "Romeo and Juliet" was a wonderfully artistic movie, but keeping the original dialogue, a risky premise from the outset in a modern background, harmed the flow of the movie, making it seem incongruous. "O" gets it right, adapting modern language to emphatically convey emotion. For those who haven't picked up on it by now, "O" is a modernization of Shakespeare's "Othello".

O is Odin James(Mekhai Phifer), the protagonist, whose good intentions and tragic flaws work against him when provoked. James' fame comes from his incredible prowess on the basketball court. Odin is a knockout NBA prospect and the center of attention wherever he goes, and seems to have everything, including the dean's daughter as his girlfriend, Desi(Julia Stiles). The glory bestowed upon Odin draws ferocious envy one of his friends, Hugo(Josh Hartnett), who plots a scheme playing on Odin's jealous nature to break Odin and Desi up and, in the process, give him some sense of satisfaction. The story that ensues is stellar (naturally, as it is based off of one of Shakespeare's best works). But, as "Othello" is a tragedy, "O" can only come to a tragic end...

I felt the emotional prescence in this movie much more than I expected to, much more than I would have had had the movie toned its violence and sexual imagery down to snag a more desirable PG-13 rating. Phifer is very convincing in his role as Odin, especially in the dunk contest and the sex scene with Julia Stiles, breathing a murderous rage into a character tragically bound to demise despite his better efforts and honesty. His presence drives the movie, his raging jealousy a brash contrast with Hugo's cool and ruthless methods of deception.

I was very pleased that the issue of race wasn't expounded upon in the movie (as I expecting when I saw the first preview). It holds true to Shakespeare's original intention, which pictures Othello as a "Moor", a person with a strange fasion of dress and appearance. I don't believe Shakespeare meant to make an issue or a statement on race in Othello, and, despite what I'm sure was a juicy temptation, the writers hold true to this, except for one comment Odin makes, which makes sense. To ignore the issue would be foolish if making a true modernization of the play, but it never becomes a main focus of the film. The only thing I would change is to not make Hugo such a sympathetic character. Iago (Hugo's counterpart in "Othello") was an insanely evil character, with little reason to feel a bit of pity or sympathy for his deeds and his motives. Hugo's father clearly neglects his own son's well-being in deferrence to Odin, an important plot element in "O" that is absent from "Othello", making Hugo much more pitious than Iago. Also, some of the scenes felt a bit rushed. Other than this, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who can handle it; some of the scenes are very intense. I gave it an 8 out of 10.

If you can't enjoy this show, there must be something wrong with you. That's not being closed-minded. Your tastes aren't an issue with a show as unique as Home Movies.

If you're growing tired of animated shows that repeat the same say-something, wait-for-something-ironic/contradictory-to-happen-immediately-after jokes that have become obnoxiously cliche in shows such as The Simpsons, Futurama, come to think of it, most animated shows, this is the one for you. I loved The Simpsons and the genius new brand of humor it introduced, but its worn quite thin over the years.

I do have to admit, I didn't quite like the show at first. It seemed random and rambling, but after viewing a few times it became addictive. The dialogue itself isn't what's remarkable, its the tone and natural inflection that its presented with. The closest I can equate this to someone who has never seen the show would be an animated version of Seinfeld. Every episode is something over nothing, every conversation is something about nothing, nuances, and 8 year old kids who act like full grown adults (but not in the South Park sense of the phrase).

Home Movies succeeds in being totally unpretentious in a world full of 'comedy' that generates its laughs with laugh tracks and drawn out silences. Nothing about Home Movies has a "laugh at me, I'm so funny" moment. Catch it Monday through Thursday at 11:30 pm on Cartoon Network, its an excellent show .

"Old School" disappointed me. I've been a fan of Will Ferrell for a while, and he was hilarious. Unfortunately, he's the only redeeming factor in this film, a good waste of the rest of the people involved.

The characters are all classic cliches of college frat movies (only older): the lovable/aloof kind of dorky guy with a heart of gold, the indominable, obnoxious, lady killer/party guy, the blissfully dumb guy who everybody loves, the anal retentive dean who can find nothing more important to do than try and shut the fraternity down, etc. (played respectively by Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, and Jeremy Piven), the latter in an in-joke role reversal to anyone who's ever seen "PCU" (airing daily on Comedy Central at 3 p.m....seriously).

Mitch, played by Luke Wilson, is the main character, having recently divorced his wife after finding her involved in her kinky antics. To make a long story short, Mitch and his fellow buddies in their early 30s decide to form a fraternity to alleviate their relative crisises, and invite a wide variety of guys from all age groups to join (from 18 up to 90). Wild and crazy hijinks ensue, the dean gives them a hard time, the frat eventually prevails, ya, ya, ya...you know the drill. But then I don't expect many people going to see "Old School" wanting (or expecting) a great plot.

There's also a pointless sub-plot involving Luke Wilson, a former girl friend, and her jerky boyfriend (played by Craig Kilborn). Snoop Dogg makes a cameo near the beginning of the movie in a scene that feels like it should've been at the end of the movie rather than in the first 20 minutes (as it was probably the funniest). If you're a fan of the TV show "24", you'll recognize a couple of faces, including Elisha Cuthbert and Matthew Carey, the former in a role as Mitch's boss' daughter and the latter as one of the fraternity brothers.

Since I knew who was working the box office at the time, I got in to see "Old School" for free. I wouldn't recommend seeing it unless you happen to be in a similar situation, in which case it isn't a bad way to blow an hour and a half. Wait for the DVD, which will hopefully have a good deal of special features, rather than pay good money to see this in the theater.

I didn't care too much for "The Ring". I didn't find it scary in the least and fairly comedic at times when it wasn't intended to be (its pure slapstick when the horse jumps off the boat). The plotline seems solid enough but it lacks any real depth. The videotape in question origin is never explained, nor where it came from, only a horror story involving a child (which has become fairly cliche in psychological horror movies as of late).

The supposed 'twist' at the end (which was supposedly more surprising than the one in "The Sixth Sense") was bland and didn't warrant me going through and watching the movie again to appreciate the full magnitude of it, since there was no real magnitude to it whatsoever.

I always liked movies that had an open-ended finale, but this was just idiotic. The question "How can we stop this tape from killing more people?" is essentially asked. My response: JUST DESTROY THE DAMN TAPE!!! The special effects were admittedly very well done, especially in the final scene, but that's hardly reason to recommend so much as a rental of this. Don't waste your time.

Wow, as bad as "Scary Movie" was, I didn't expect it could get much worse. "Scary Movie 2" is exponentially worse, though there is something to be said for utter stupidity with no clever humor involved whatsoever. I just can't remember what it is at this moment...

If you hated Beverly Hills 90210, however, you'll get to see Tori Spelling in one of her finest roles yet: cheap ho for a polergeist.

I thought I had seen the best sci-fi movie of my life with "The Matrix". Not anymore. "Minority Report" has everything: special effects, suspense, mystery, action, storyline, twists...I could go on and on about this film and laud all kinds of praise upon it but I'd rather you just get on with it and GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! Even if you're not into sci-fi, you'll get so engrossed in this its incredible. Even if you don't like the premise, the actors, whatever, you won't be sorry. Trust me!!