PeeJay

This Western-style movie by Eastwood shows that Eastwood still is a master in portraying Western-characters. Even more he knows how to create the classic-western feeling even when his plot and story are up to modern standards. He builds up his character carefully, till the glorious moment which in fact means also his downfall from the standards and moral he has set for himself. A good performance by Morgan Freeman, the most sympathetic character in this movie, and a violent and annoying as almost always Gene Hackman combined with a appearance of Richard Harris give the movie a strong foundation when it comes to acting-talents. The main disappointment is the predictability and simplicity of the story. In fact the story is not much more than a background to the character-development of Eastwood and thus falls a bit short of a 5-star or even a 4-star movie, in my opinion. Nonetheless a movie worth watching for Eastwood fans.

This is the shocking story of the genocide that took place in Rwanda in 1994 - while the whole world was watching. It is not only a black page in Rwanda's history but because of modern internationalization and media a black page in the history of mankind. One becomes aware of the worthlessness of life and the price that is paid for the colonization of Africa and its consequences. This film is a statement in itself, and remembers us of so many mass murders in recent ages. The superb acting by Don Cheadle who acts like a hero, but a very good cast overall support the story and message. Equally good is the storyline and involvement with the characters. This combined with the fact that violence is always on the background, but only seldom on the foreground (although there are some violent scenes, mainly the results are shown) makes this movie not a vampire movie... This movie should be in history lessons everywhere... with the full background story. But I'm afraid the words of Jack (Joaquim Phoenix) will also apply here: I think if people see this footage they'll say, "Oh my God, that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners. (pause) What the Hell do I know?

Disappointing Henson production. Not only does this movie lack story, character development, and tension it also misses Henson creativity and above all humor. No drama, no laughs and very little excitement make this movie too long and seem like going on forever. Basically the story is too predictable and almost by necessity develops according to very predictable lines and characters. Although the beginning of the movie gives opportunities, somehow it seems that the director and/or scriptwriters did not know how to build this into a good movie. For me the worst Henson production I saw. Only some of the actors save the movie from becoming a complete bore although Hustons role is below her skills and Atkinsons role is too boring to be really interesting or humorous.

By far the worst movie i have seen with such a good cast. Blanchett gives the movie an acceptable look-a-like queen. Costumes and scenery are good. But what a dramatic story-developing. The whole movie develops around the idea that sexuality was the only thing that really counted in the life of Elizabeth. Unnecessary sex-scenes, modern-day views and biases and too many scenery and overviews shots slow down the movie and make it hard to watch. Fantasy is one thing, good film-making another. But if you don't have any of them in a movie... If this movie won anything it will have been only because of its political correct hidden agenda and the even worse other movies of this year. Dramatically bad and historically doubtful.

This movie has a small cast, and is only worth a good mark already for the acting performance of Holden and Hepburn. Without these two and the comical, but very over-acted, appearance of Curtis the movie would surely be lost in its poor story. The satirical part is mainly in the beginning of the movie and the plot is more and more gone in the end. But the movie is worth watching: an excellent and beautiful Hepburn is at her most charming and Holden is giving her good support. The story develops mainly around the two main characters who hardly leave their apartment(s). There are some nice switches in the plot but the end is weak and quite predictable. On the other hand it is a good movie that does not want you to do much more than watch and relax on a calm evening.

The 'Mutiny' and 'Retribution' parts of the Hornblower series are the best till now. Even when the books do not develop characters much, and the previous parts give some lines, it is in these two parts that the series comes to an height. Good acting and beautiful photography, and a good story; it all makes this series worth watching, and especially these parts. Themes like good leadership, loyalty, honour, friendship are in potential not very easy to be communicated in these times, but in this case it is done in the right and proper way... never overdone, never unbalanced. In short, a good cast, nice story, good photography, good plot, very good acting: *****

Take a good script, some good actors, dancers and singers... add up some nice music and see what you get. There is no real recipe to create a good movie and certainly not if it also needs to be a musical. This movie goes beyond the sum of it's elements. It is one of the very rare top movies in which activity, creativity and effort are rewarded and thus a timeless monument to the movie-industry is coming forward. Always worth watching, never boring, never tiring and a good lot of fun. The full 5 stars without one doubt.

A certain amount of scepticism was my first reaction when i heard of the making of this movie. It has been tried several times to bring comic-characters to life, and somehow it's never been a big success. When i heard of the casting of actors like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to play the roles of Xavier and Magneto, I also became aware Singer was trying to bring some real acting in this movie, and not trying to make comic-book copies only. The result is even better than i expected. Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin and the two great actors mentioned above make this movie worth watching. The story and plot haven't disappeared amongst the special effects and even some characters are deepened and you feel the tension and involvement with characters, story and people. All in all not the best movie in the world, but due to good acting, a fairly good plot, a nice story, and some beautiful scenes as well as not too much and too heavy aggressive scenes this movie has become one of the better comic-book films and guarantees almost two hours of fun and entertainment. Four stars out of five, i would say.

If one could relate too movies in terms of historical art-trends, this movie could be called the rococo of 'sci-fi' it has almost too much of everything, except maybe a well-prepared design. Often effects and action leaves you alone, sitting on the couch as if there is nothing to relate to. Characters and what happens too them almost leaves you cold and indifferent as if they're just fantasies...the only thing you hope for is that your imagination isn't as sick as the characters in this movie. It is a pity as the basics of this movie, maybe even some of the actors, give a right direction, which in almost every sentence, action, special effect or camera move is blown into pieces. Slow motion action shots, overdone computer graphics, too much make-up (Travolta looks like a misshaped Klingon), bad character building and development, and all the cliche's that could be put into text, graphics and photography make this movie a good example of how things should not be done if you want to tell a sci-fi story. One should at least leave the audience a peg to leave their coats on... one remainder of the real world would have been nice, and i think just one figure to identify with or one character to at least be able to recognize a little isn't too much to ask with this cast. In fact that's the only reason i did not bomb this movie completely. Admiration of people being able to movie at all in these costumes may be called a miracle. No denying there... i didn't envy those actors....not even with the money they get payed to produce this kind of movies...and to see all your efforts gone, blown to pieces in special effects...

Underrated comedy.... but this may count for most movies in this genre... No wonder with the comedies released lately... There is a rare highlight now and then, and certainly this is one of these occasions. A fairly good cast, with Willis as the really cool guy, and a fairly good story that in itself guarantees for a lot of laughs. The way the whole plot develops, as well as the way the actors in this movie enjoyed themselves and played their roles, make this movie more than just the 'fairly good' comedy it normally would have been, and thus a nice and relaxed way to spend some time to watch it. Just enjoy...!

Now that we have had the pioneering-stages of film-making, and passed through the first stages of computer-animation and graphics creating the illusion of another world within the one we live in, life and movies could have become exciting. But in fact the results are pretty disappointing. Hollywood bores us almost to death with re-makes and re-makes of re-makes and the results are almost consistently worse than the originals which at least, but certainly not only, had the profits of being original. This case isn't much different. The producers should be given credit in creating a fantasy and doing it convincingly, as well as doing a good job on dealing with some of the special effects and stunts. Fighting scenes are not too bad either, but lack involvement, and could very rarely be called exciting. This makes the Matrix certainly not a thriller or good action movie. In this way the Matrix is disappointing due to a weak plot, a badly told story that suffers from a lack of story-telling abilities, involvement, surprise and continuity. This movie could make a nice prequel to a series, but a lot needs to be done to really make this a success: better and deeper characters, a good story-line, a more realistic view of mankind, better directing and more involvement with characters and less attention drawn on special effects could make the sequels a good start for a new kind of sci-fi movies. The cast seems good enough, and should not be blamed for the way the story evolves in this movie; one only gets the idea, certainly after having seen the extras on the dvd and 'the making of'-documentary the attention of the directors and producers was drawn almost totally towards the 'Kung-fu' and special effects this way creating a life-like comic-book sci-fi movie. Some involvement of George Lucas could do a lot of good to this movie, even if only consulting him on creating and telling stories. But he certainly would not have been proud of this movie if the result would be this disappointing on so many points. Referring to the beginning of this comment, the Matrix is hugely overrated, but over-looking the releases of the last few years this should not be a surprise... people are not exactly spoiled with good movies, and if trying to be original could be rewarded, this movie should earn an award for maybe a not fully successful, but at least one of the most successful attempts to be original of the last few years. Maybe only exceeded by the largely underrated 'Dark City'.

Strong playing by Baldwin and Connery does not prevent this movie to be a little simple. For anyone who read the book of Clancy at least. Although the story is intriguing, and the movie fun to watch it misses some of the key features that would have made it a lot better. In other words, although the original story is good, and the key figures are played well, the film lacks the fantasy and courage that would have made it the success the book almost guaranteed. That it still gives you a good time is the full merit of Alec Baldwin, Sean Connery, James Earl Jones and other actors.

A good atmosphere fitting the Conan Doyle books takes you back to the days of the late 19th and early 20th century. Dialogs are often exactly or nearly the original text. Jeremy Brett plays a great Sherlock, with all the weird habits, qualities of character and humor which made this detective so popular that his return was requested after his death. Even the sense of superiority Sherlock shows is great. Watson is a good partner who is a background person, but present when necessary and so creating a good couple, and the right antipole. Just a good series for who loves the books, adding a person to a fiction character.