Pascal-12

I've read the other comments and they're all alike: "The movie sucks! Roger Rabbit had better animation, better plot, better acting, better rules about cartoon laws of physics, etc." Yet, everybody seems to think the movie is about interaction between real life characters and cartoon characters. It isn't. The movie is about two men who flee the harsh reality of life and end up in a fantasy world called "The Cool World", which just happens to be animated. One man (Brad Pitt) has been living there for quite a while and has integrated in this society. The other man (Gabriel Byrne) recently entered and believes the entire Cool World came from his personal imagination. Both men, when they meet, don't get along, because they both consider each other as intruding into their own fantasy world. The story then revolves around a cartoon girl who wants to become human by having sex with a (non-cartoon) man. Gabriel is the guy she attempts to seduce into sleeping with her, while Brad tries to stop them because he believes a crazy old professor he once met, who told him this would disrupt the separation of the two realities (the real world and the Cool World), which would be a bad thing. The movie then ends with a climactic finale and a happy end.

About the laws of physics (Spoiler Warning). The rules in both of these worlds are very clear, though somehow, most commentators completely missed it. Cartoon characters behave like they do in Looney Tunes or WB cartoons. There is a continuous flow of random acts of violence, which never seem to permanently harm the characters. The entire Cool World is chaotic, hectic and feverish. However, no bad or traumatic things ever happen there. The real world is just the world we know. Less chaotic and feverish, but it is a world where traumatic things happen and where people die. Real people, who can't cope with reality, might end up in the Cool World, where they're still real people, with the only exception that they don't age. Cartoon characters are not able to enter the real wold, with the exception of one professor who once managed it. A cartoon character becomes a real person after having sex with a real person and is then able to travel to the real world. As we learn later on in the movie, a real person will become a cartoon character after being killed by a cartoon character. So, it's not that complicated after all.

I was born in 1971 and grew up with a number of wonderful TV series. "Pipo de clown" was possibly one of the best. It was an exciting, fairy-tale like adventure about a group of traveling companions who were faced will all sorts of problems and dangers. Pipo the clown and mama Lou were traveling around in a 19th century circus wagon, pulled by a single mule. They had a close friend in Kluk-kluk the Indian, and were often harassed by the mean circus director who wanted them back in his circus. Unfortunately, most episodes were not taped and virtually all tapes that did exist have been destroyed. I saw one of the very few that remained in a rerun a couple of years ago. It was an episode where Pipo the clown and mama Lou meet king Winter in his castle of ice, and Pipo persuades him to loosen his icy grip on the land. Aside from this episode, I don't remember a single episode of the series. I just remember the faces, the names and the fact that is was such a wonderful experience.

I watched ET when I was a kid, about 11 years old. I loved it. I think, this is a movie every child should have seen at least once. It's a wonderful story about friendship and about overcoming difficulties. A young boy befriends an alien and must then fight for the freedom, and eventually the life, of his friend against people who don't understand. The movie also features Drew Barrymore and Erika Eleniak. Drew was too young for me then, but I did have a childhood crush on Erika. In retrospect, ET is everything I hate about Steven Spielberg. It's blatantly emotionally manipulative. Every scene practically had a big neon sign on top saying "SMILE", "LAUGH" or "CRY". The movie tries to be multi layered and only succeeds in being pretentious. I'm too annoyed by this to really enjoy the movie, which, I can't deny, is still really good. But when I was a kid, I loved it and I think every kid will love it.

This is yet another movie in the style that has become so popular in the second half of the 90's. Lots and lots of expensive special effects and no big names in any of the leading roles. Just like "Independence Day", "Starship Troopers", "Jurassic Park", "Stargate", etc. Movies you have to watch on a big screen with massive THX sound. If you like this style, you'll like The Mummy. If not, don't bother watching this movie. "The Mummy" is funny, fast and over the top. I's not really scary, but then, I don't think it was meant that way. The story is OK, but why the mummy uses biblical plagues in stead of other terrors is beyond me. But they look cool! And the half decayed mummy itself is the most realistic living deadguy I have ever seen.

This is the perfect combination of over the top violence, humor, cliches and stereotypes. The hero and heroine are beautiful and sexy. The badguys are not. Except maybe for Bucho, the leader of the badguys. Antonio will probably make many female hearts go faster and, wow, that Salma Hayek is hot. I especially loved the scene where Tarentino tells this really stupid joke at the bar. It is completely irrelevant for the story and takes way too long. Beside, the joke is really lame. But that is exactly why this scene is so funny. Another really funny scene is the one, where Salma does her nurse-thing on Antonio. I won't give out any spoilers, suffice it to say her bedside manner needs improvement. This movie is way at the top of my favorite movie list.

This is one of my favourite Rutger Hauer flicks. You might argue this movie lacks a good story, good special effects and decent acting, but that is exactly why this movie is great. Come on people, you can't take a movie about a giant, man slaying aqua-monster in a flooded-because-of-sea-level-rising-after-global-warming London seriously. At least Rutger Hauer doesn't. You can see he's just having fun in this movie. You can even catch him looking straight into the camara a couple of times, with a tongue in cheek look in his eyes. Officially, this is a horror flick, but in reality it's a very funny comedy. I would compare it to "An American Werewolf In London". (In London as well. Coincidence? I think not.) Just sit back, grab a beer or a coke, popcorn, nacho's or potato chips, turn off your brain and enjoy the movie. Don't analyse, criticise or scrutinise. Just make "we need bigger guns" your motto.