Laner

Seriously - has he done anything worthwhile since Good Will Hunting? Even in that movie he was out-funnied by his brother Casey. High profile girlfriends and a poor hair transplant will only take you so far, and Benny is one or two big flops away from being nothing more than a question in a future edition of Trivial Pursuit.

This movie was trash - pure trash. $11 million in BO receipts and a quick transfer to DVD is the best this movie could do? How sad. And the supporting cast wasn't very good either. James Gandolfini can't seem to shake his Sopranos character, and Christina Applegate needs better roles than this or Anchorman if she hopes to ever shed the stigma of being Kelly Bundy.

Well, we have all of the Sandler movie cliches (ex SNL cast, dead parents, tons of bathroom humor, dumb songs, etc.), with none of the wit or heart. Adam can make really good movies (The Wedding Singer, 50 First Dates, Happy Gilmore) and really bad ones (Little Nicky, Big Daddy) - there is no middle ground. Unfortunately, this movie falls squarely in the latter category. Mr. Sandler, if you're going to insist making essentially the same movie over and over again, they're going to have to be *good* - and this definitely wasn't. It wasn't funny, it wasn't touching, it was just bad. I'm not Jewish, but I think it would be cool to have a Haunakkah movie that's as memorable as some of the Christmas classics. But if that's what Sandler was going for, he was WAAAAAY off the mark. This is memorable simply due to how bad it is. There is no redeeming qualities to this movie - avoid at all costs.

"Working on a sex farm

Plowing through your beanfield

Picking up my pitchfork

And poking your hay."

How can you not love inane lyrics like that? As a beginning musician, I often read/heard other musicians make quips about "the saddest of all keys", "now that's a rock and roll town", and "this one goes to 11". It wasn't until I saw This Is Spinal Tap that it all became clear. If you have ever been in a band, you will "get it". There are so many in-jokes that a lot of people wouldn't appreciate, but I have several non-musician friends who love this movie as well. And the commentary on DVD is worth the purchase alone for those who are already familiar with the movie... the guys take their act and have 20 more years worth of pop culture to spoof (the Jerry Maguire bit killed me).

A must-see for anyone who can appreciate today's ridiculous Behind the Music "rockumentaries".

I've read a lot of the reviews here, and was surprised at the (admittedly few) negative responses. I honestly can't imagine how anyone could dislike Monsters, Inc. It may not be the Greatest Movie Ever(tm), but without a doubt continues the string of home runs Pixar has been hitting since Toy Story.

Excellent casting, plot, humor, animation - all of it is top-notch.

"Boo" may irritated by those who are easily annoyed by the stereotypical "precocious child" characters, but honestly... the movie isn't about her. The overarching plot is the friendship of Sully and Mike Wazowski... Boo is simply the wedge that is driven between these two lifelong friends.

I too agree with the sentiment that Pixar was robbed at the Oscars this year. While Shrek was excellent, Pixar deserved it more - not just for Monsters, Inc. but for their previous works as well (which Shrek owes a huge debt of gratitude)

Ya just gotta ask, "What were they thinking?" The first movie was a classic - a genuine piece of pop culture, and a great "underdog" movie. While the second wasn't as good, it was still a decent movie which expanded on the story of Daniel & Mr. Miyagi. But this one stunk up the joint... first off the new bad guy Terry Silver (the millionaire mogul/karate expert) is laughable as a villain - his performance is *so* over the top it's ridiculous. It's obvious they got someone who knew his karate, but didn't know jack about acting. It's also ironic that he's actually younger than Ralph Macchio

Robyn Lively - she's attractive enough, but belongs in sitcoms. Also, what's with Daniel *never* getting the girl in the long term???

As for Macchio - I don't know... he seemed to be *way* too enthusiastic. Was he this much of a motormouth in the first two movies? It's almost as if he was trying too hard to compensate for the fact that he is five years older, trying to portray a character that is only one year older.

The pacing of this movie is all wrong. They spend way too much time on trivialities such as the Macchio/Lively relationship. What was the point of that anyway? There was hardly any time spent on the training and actual fight (and as any fan of the Rocky movies could tell you, that's the most important part!)

As for the karate itself, it's L A M E. The Karate Kid series has always been more about the philosophy behind martial arts rather than the physical aspect. All of Mr. Miyagi's wise platitudes are dead-on, but the "crane technique" would be easily countered by any half-competent black belt. Even so, it worked in the first two flicks. But in this one, it's just ridiculous. The final fight, the "bad boy of karate" is whipping Daniel like a government mule, then in sudden death Daniel decides to break into his "Secret Miyagi family kata", which causes both his opponent and his partners to suddenly back away in fear! This is so absolutely ridiculous it's pathetic. Once again, any competent karate student would simply look at Daniel with a bit of confusion, then continue on with the business of kicking his butt. It just seemed all too anti-climactic.

I'm really surprised they made a fourth movie after this stinker, but at least it gave us our first look at Hillary Swank. Yum :)

I really think all the Kubrick-worshippers read far too much into his films than intended. Yes, I "got" this movie - I just don't think it's really that groundbreaking, important, or thought-provoking. Malcolm McDowell's performance is great, and the cinematogrophy is interesting. Other than that, there's not that much to gain from watching this movie.

EXCELLENT movie. I'm not a fan of romantic comedies, per se, but Return to Me was great. It was funny, touching (without being sappy), had a top-notch cast and a tight script. Bonnie Hunt did a great job in scripting, directing and acting. Minnie Driver was as engaging as always, and David Duchovney can actually act (who would've thunk it?). Carol O'Connor and Jim Belushi were perfectly cast as well. Did I mention it was funny?

Most of all, this movie was relatively *clean*. Unlike almost every other "date" movie released in the past decade, this didn't have the lead characters hopping in bed seconds after they meet. There was some profanity, but it was used mostly for comedic effect (think the little kid in Jerry Maguire, and you get the idea).

Overall, I give it an 8. I'll definitely pick this up on video.

But not a great movie by any means - another summer popcorn muncher along the lines of Independence Day (or any Will Smith flick for that matter). The two brothers (or is that bruthas?) are the only characters worth watching. A shame that Jackson had so little screen time, but at least it was an unexpected plot twist. Saffron Burrows looks good in wet underwear, but can't act her way out of a wet paper bag.

Then ya better close the garage door and fire up the car :) This is a great movie, and there's not much I can say that hasn't already been said many times over. I am not a musical fan - I rented this movie only for it's historical value. But I loved it - it reflects everything that was good about the time period. Sure, it was an idealized version, but I'll take an idealized 30s/50s over an idealized 90s/00s any day! The characters were great, the singing and dancing were superb, and the sets were gorgeous. The only thing that slowed the movie down was the ending Broadway number. Other than that though, no complaints! A great movie to watch if you're feeling down. I give it a 9 out of 10.

I've wasted far too much time watching movies that are supposed to be classics (Citizen Kane, 2001, Pulp Fiction, etc.), so with much trepidation I rented The Graduate. I was pleasantly surprised, however. Great performances all around, the story was great, and I particularly liked how no character was especially likeable. They were all pretty nasty or shallow in their own way. It was a pretty accurate representation of the times, it seems (I was born several years after it was released, so I can't say for sure).

At any rate, it works on many levels. I can't say if it belongs in the API top 10, but it's certainly more worthy than the films I listed above.

And the ending is great - the happy ending which isn't!

This was basically a summary of what Kaufman was famous for. It didn't dig that deep into Kaufman's life - and completely glossed over some points (but that's understandable). Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly funny, nor was it particularly introspective or touching. The cast was good - although Courtney Love's character was never developed to any degree. Devito was impressive as usual.

As for Jim Carey - he had Kaufman's mannerisms down pat. But whenever they went for a closeup, I never thought I was watching Andy Kaufman... Carey's face is just too well known - especially during the "Mighty Mouse" bit... very Carey-esque expressions. Part of what made Andy so recognizable was his cherubic quality - something Carey does not have. Tony Clifton was dead on, however... It wouldn't surprise me if that was really the actual Bob Zmuda playing that part.

Carey is a good actor, no doubt. But nothing he has done (including The Truman Show and Man on the Moon) has justified his $20 million paycheck, IMO.

Overall a good movie, but falls flat on too many fronts. I give it a 6 out of 10

Sure, this movie is emotionally manipulating - why else do we go to movies? Sure there are elements which are unbelievable - since when are movies a perfect duplicate of reality? I thought the purpose of movies was to escape the reality of our lives and experience something different through someone else's eyes. Mr. Holland's Opus does that - sure, from a musician's standpoint the final "opus" was lame, but who cares? That's not the point of the movie.

As a Christian and someone generally interested in "end time prophecy", I was interested to see what "The Omega Code" had to offer. Unfortunately, what I found was a very poorly made movie. The dialogue was horrible, the plot was sketchy at best, and the picture was very poor - was this shot on 16mm film? And why-oh-why was there a 15 minute dream sequence that had nothing to do with the actual plot, when the time would have been much better served to explain the "code" in better detail, flesh out the characters somehow, explain and go into more detail of Revelations prophecy, or really focus on the lead character's conversion to Christianity?

I know a lot of people will give this rave reviews and 10 ratings because it is a blatantly-Christian movie. And I can respect that - we need more movies that don't rely on sex, violence, and worldly-attitudes to put people in the seats. But this was a poor movie, any way you look at it. "Prince of Egypt" did a much better job all-around of respecting and telling a Biblical story - granted, Dreamworks has a vastly larger resource pool than TBN. But I can't help but think that if TBN had of spent all that money that went to useless special effects on better scriptwriter, directors, actors and cinematographers, we would have had a much better all-around movie.

This was possibly the most uninspiring 100 minutes of film I have sat through in recent history (Pulp Fiction being a close second). There's no WAY I'm renting Jackie Brown at this point, despite being a huge Samuel Jackson fan.

This show was only memorable for basically one thing - John Stamos playing essentially the same character as "Jesse" in Full House (i.e. struggling pretty boy musician). In one episode he tries out to play drums for the Beach Boys, but is turned down because he doesn't read music.

For the video game geeks, this is a definite classic. I'm sure all of us wished such a game were actually possible at the time (of course today's technology blows the Cray used to create the graphics out of the water). Anyway, the storyline is pretty thin, but it was and is fun for those who enjoy post- Star Wars sci-fi and video games. But it's kind of depressing to think "Maggie" is now 40... wow...

The DVD is a must see - someone at Universal must have grown up with this movie as well, because the presentation is excellent.

I am definitely a child of the 80's, but I have never seen this movie in its entirety until tonight. What was wrong with me? While I was only 10 when it was released, every time that Simple Minds song comes on I am just flooded with nostalgia. This is a great movie. I wish they'd make movies like that now. Unfortunately all the 90's teen movies are too concerned with being "hip" to relay any kind of message.

But I do have a gripe - what's with the brain not getting the girl? I realize it might be a little cliche, but c'mon - even dorks need love!

And I think they missed one character - the guy (or girl) who is not easily defined - the one who can get along with every group, but really doesn't belong to any clique. Just a thought...

While not being as great as Shawshank Redemption, it does have the same feel to it- being emotional, uplifting, and inspiring. It also is continuing the recent trend of family-friendly movies which are actually good (better than a lot of the trash-mouthed sex-laced flicks that are pushed on us these days). The father-son relationship is very well done. While the father seems hard, calloused and completely devoid of any feelings for his son, he does love his son and wants what the best for him. This movie will probably be a slow burner - even a month after its release, it's slowly gaining word of mouth and selling out theaters. Go see it.

A bad bad movie... terrible plot, hinges on Bolo Yeung's charater, but he speaks maybe 20 words in the entire movie and only has one fight scene - still in great shape considering he was also in the kung fu classic "Enter The Dragon" Interesting to see William Zabka ("Johnny" from The Karate Kid) in another martial-arts role.

Stallone tries to bring the Rocky series back to it's "street" roots. While it's not the worst in the series (IV gets that award with it's Baywatch/MTV video feel), it's definitely a disappointing finale to the series. The music which was so great in the first two movies (heck, I'll throw in "Eye of the Tiger" as well), thoroughly disappoints. Stallone wanted a street-feel to the music, so he (unfortunately) used rap and hip-hop remixes for some of the classic themes. Ugh. I kind of wish he'd make another, more satisfying movie to wrap up the series, but a 50 year old boxer?

This movie was responsible for launching Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, and Survivor's respective careers (although the latter two's fame was short lived). Probably the most influential of all of the Rocky movies as far as pop culture goes... there were so many classic lines ("My prediction? Pain."), and anyone on the street could at least hum a few bars of "Eye of the Tiger"

While this was the first movie I ever saw in the theater, I was more of a fan of III and IV in my younger days due to the faster pace and more aggressive nature. But they pale in comparison to the original now. A classic movie, instantly making Stallone a star and introducing the "feel good" movie for a new generation (which may or may not be a good thing). The movie has such a genuine feel - much like "Good Will Hunting", it gives a seemingly accurate glimpse into urban blue collar life. The music is also masterfully done... of course the main theme is immediately recognizable (and if it doesn't get your heart rate up, you must be comatose), but the supporting music creates a wonderful ambience... the music Rocky plays on his turntable, the lone french horn theme as he begins his training, the a capella group in the beginning - it's all classic.

I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't "get it" - if you can't appreciate the story, the wonderful characters, the plain and simple "Good trimuphs over evil" theme, then you're just too snobby for you're own good. Not every movie has to be an artsy-fartsy flick to be worth watching. Yes, maybe 2001 was a better pure sci-fi movie, but it's also the most boring 2+ hours I've ever spent in my life. Star Wars never tried to be a thinker's film - it just tried to be entertaining, and managed to do so in a way that no other film has before or since. It's a perfect example of the whole being much greater than the sum of its parts.

To this movie (or Anthony Edwards hairline). There are so many superfluous scenes, if you took them all away you'd only have about 30 minutes of flying and a few good lines by Goose. The love story is pointless, the whole "living up to dad" element falls short, "Take My Breath Away" gets old after the first scene it shows up in, and what's with that "Great Balls of Fire" scene? Does *anyone* actually act that corny? If it weren't for the great flying scenes for the guys, and of course Tom Cruise for the girls, this movie would have been a real dud.

Let's get the negative out of the way... DiCaprio and Winselt are akin to a Boston Terrier and a Golden Retriever. They really needed a more masculine lead for the love story to be convincing (but then that would have cut into ticket sales for the 13-19 female demographic, right?) Anyway, one other thing that bothered me was unevenness of the dialogue. Winselt's dialogue seems to jump from Victorian to Gen X somewhere during the halfway point; the merging of 90's attitude with a pre-WWI setting bothered me in general (language, cursing, general attitude of some of the characters, etc.), not to mention the way Cameron manipulates the audience against Billy Zane's character, who really has done nothing wrong until he whips out a gun near the end (wouldn't *you* be mad if your fiance was carousing around with some strange guy days before your wedding? Me too). And what was the deal with "old Rose" throwing the diamond off the ship? That made absolutely no sense to me.

With all that said, the overriding message of the movie (which was summarized in Jack's speech at dinner) is a good one, the storytelling is well done for the most part, and the special effects are awesome (with the exception of one or two scenes)