ISNIndigo

I am a huge, huge fan of John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Tony Shalhoub. I'm slightly less fond of Stephen King, but I like some of his work.

This said, I should have LOVED 1408.

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT****

I walked in eager. I walked out disappointed.

This is not the fault of the actors. Shalhoub and Jackson both have very small roles because the premise of the movie puts Cusack in the "guy in a locked room" scenario.

This wasn't a BAD movie, but I can't call it a good one either. It was a muddied mess that had moments of "ouch, that's just WRONG," combined with moments of "ouch, that's just painful," and moments of "oh, now THAT'S just unfortunate" with very little continuity-connectivity between them. Eislin's father shows up once, and there's no seeming connection to the rest of Mike's personal life that we see displayed while he tries to survive the room.

A previous commenter described the Olin/Enslin argument as worth watching, and I very much agree. But other than that, aside from some clever musical cues (the room almost playfully torments Enslin a little bit, and gives him one chance to get out before upping the ante...at which point it gives him the one-hour countdown clock and the titular line from the Carpenters "We've Only Just Begun.") it's mostly "stuff jumps out at you when you least expect it!" type horror that was fun when I was fourteen, and surrounded by friends my age, clutching each other in the summer while Jason stalked Camp Crystal Lake.

The rest of the movie was "let's make him relive some of his most painful experiences" mindgaming, with "let's animate the paintings in creepy ways" cliché cheesiness.

******END SPOILERS*****

I expected better from this movie with Stephen King's name attached to it, as well as the actors I mentioned above.

We never find out the origin of the evil. We never get to see the evil defeated, though we can presume maybe it was defeated.

And the ending was just a jarring "What?!" moment.

Wait for it to come on cable. I wouldn't have minded paying for it as a matinée, but I'm feeling a bit shortchanged for having paid opening night prices for it.

I'm surprised this is on Kids WB instead of Cartoon Network, but I was lucky enough to catch the premiere on a second airing. I love that networks do that.

Anyway -- clearly they're capitalizing just a little bit on the Superman Returns movie, although the movie didn't do all that well, and there isn't all that much to capitalize on.

((ETA: I understand that Clark is portrayed as young Superman instead of Superboy because DC is currently in limbo/litigation? about whether they can legally use the name Superboy to describe Superman in his youth.))

There's continuity here. This episode is very much like the Superman: Animated Series episode wherein the Legion shows up in Smallville to ask for Clark's help. Clark is about to leave Smallville for Metropolis -- it looks as if he's just finished high school and about to head for college. So he's more Superboy on the cusp of becoming Superman.

The story wasn't bad. It established a handful of the Legionnaires: Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, Triplicate Girl, Bouncing Boy, and Brainiac 5. It mentioned a few more: Shrinking Violet, Colossal Boy, and Cosmic Boy (the latter having appeared in the Superman episode mentioned above). It also established the Fatal Five as the villains of the piece. Getting all this done in thirty minutes, and showing that Clark is still coming to grips with having super powers and learning to use them is no mean feat but I think it was pulled off pretty smoothly.

The voice acting is also pretty good.

The design work is impressive. Saturn Girl's telepathic powers are drawn as a variation on Aquaman's -- glowing concentric circles.

Triplicate Girl is designed as a girl who splits into three costumes, hairstyles, and makeup palettes.

Lightning Lad has a scar that lights up when he uses his powers.

The only stylistic that didn't seem to jibe right was Brainiac 5, but I expect that to grow on me.

Definitely worth a look. Don't let the overly busy opening sequence throw you.

Scott Menville is not Casey Kasem. That is the first, most important, and most disturbing thing about this attempt at re-imagining Scooby-Doo and company.

Shaggy's voice is squeaky and does not sound anything like he has ever sounded in any of the previous incarnations of the Scooby shows. They've also changed the outfit and the classic mode of walking from the original.

I'm not sure what they're on about yet with the villain angle, but it surely isn't following the formula used in any of the previous Scooby shows.

And the animation style is very bizarre and distorted. I like it, but it's not real Scooby-Doo type animation. But the weird animation used for other WB shows grew on me; this might, too.

It's worth a glance at -- once -- if you can handle the lack of proper Shaggy voice. That right there is enough to jar one out of enjoying the show properly. Besides, I am trying not to be an inflexible, nitpicking fan. Evolve or die, as the saying goes. We'll see how it looks after two more episodes -- by then I'll have formed a much more solid opinion.

Kowtowing to the wishes of Halle Berry has done significant damage. The movie was pretty much the Wolverine and Storm show because she demanded more to do as befits her station as an Oscar recipient. The problem is, she was given so much to do that short shrift was given to most of the other characters on team Xavier.

I begin with the film's weaknesses first, because there were several.

The plot had potential but fell short. The mutants you saw picketing the cure as well as the mutants lining up for it -- looked like normal people. There were few drastic mutations on anyone except Magneto's team. This made things look bad for Xavier's team, too, for that matter; Xavier's group is the one with the dream of unity between human and mutant, and his team had the "pretty" mutations.

The special effects were less than sensible. The scene wherein Magneto rescues Mystique does have the cool factor, but it falls flat because although Mystique, Madrox, and Juggernaut were all treated as "dangerous criminals", and the government acknowledged that capturing Mystique was inviting Magneto's wrath -- they had these prisoners in a convoy of _all metal vehicles._ It's only later in the movie when they're going "no metal, no metal."

Fans of the comic would spot discontinuities in the characters Magneto recruits.

It seemed this movie was built with "let's do fan favourites and show off how cool our special effects are, but barely attend to anything else" in mind first and foremost.

The Danger Room is only obvious for what it is if you're a comic reader. It's never identified, nor is the Sentinel Wolverine takes down. Likewise, neither is the Fastball Special move wherein Colossus throws Wolverine at an enemy.

Jean Grey as Phoenix without a Phoenix Effect is practically a slap in the face to a comic reader. Also, she's supposed to be as beautiful as she is terrible, but the effects used made her look psychotic, and like her powers were destroying her from the inside out.

Angel's part is small and not memorable. Leech's part likewise. The majority of the other mutants were just extras thrown in to be Magneto's army...

All that out of the way, what there is good about this movie is the characterization. Rock solid. Well portrayed for the most part.

Beginning with Sir Ian McKellan as Magneto: The man goes from being charming and campy in one scene to tragic in another, to cold and heartless, to astonishingly respectful, to briefly benevolent, and back to ruthless and vicious. His range is seemingly without limit, and every moment he's on the screen, he's captivating.

Rebecca Romijin has barely any screen time, but she does well with Mystique. Her acting for two movies and part of a third was mostly through airbrushed blue paint, contacts, and latex prosthetics, and she pulled that off. She was able to portray Mystique's adoring devotion to Magneto believably, and more, to portray her shattering sense of horrified betrayal when Magneto turns his back on her.

Paquin was a little overwrought as Rogue, but that's forgivable as her character is the one X-Man who might genuinely benefit from a cure.

Stewart was a little understated, still playing the kindly Xavier, even when his ethics were questionable. And that was chilling, really. He did things he wasn't sure weren't reprehensible himself, but with the conviction he was doing them for the best reasons. And Stewart made that visible.

Grammar as the Beast was the best bit of new casting for this movie. He had the intellectual, elegant, classy vibe completely down to an art.

Janssen as Phoenix/Jean was actually one of the best acted parts in the movie. Despite a horrible costuming job, an atrocious wig, and practically no lines at all, she portrayed the fight of good Jean Grey vs. chaotic Phoenix persona all the way through the movie. People who don't understand how Wolverine could get thrown around by her in one scene but he gets near to her in the end aren't noticing this subtlety of the performance...Jean loved Logan in her way, and was allowing him close enough to stop her while she still could.

Jackman as Wolverine pulled off the complexity of the most popular character. Again, people who thought that Wolverine's show of emotion was unseemly and out of character for him miss the subtlety of his performance, and the depth of character; Wolverine has always been more than animal senses and claws.

Berry as Storm is as she has been throughout the series -- consistently bad. Her scenes are either overacted or under-acted. The best scenes in which Storm appears are the ones that should've been in from the first two movies -- Storm using her powers. Any talented woman who took the role seriously could've done better. She has more to do, but thankfully, the special effects do most of the brilliance of the character here because Berry has never respected the role to do more than phone in her "performance."

This said, it's still a decent movie. It is clear that multiple script changes, directoral musical chairs, and the rushed script-to-release are why there are so many obvious flaws.

It's the weakest of the trilogy, but the darkness and characterization kind of outstrip the problems with script and direction. With any luck, the DVD will have deleted scenes that fill those in.

As a summer blockbuster goes, it's good. As an X-Men movie goes, it's so-so at best, especially in comparison with the first two. But so-so is still pretty entertaining.

It's always difficult to top a groundbreaking, trendsetting special effects film. The original Matrix's "bullet time" technique became an instant success for the Wachovsky brothers. They have done a lot to tweak and perfect that techniques here.

And now -- SPOILER WARNING.

Ready? . . . S P O I L E R S

last exit before spoilers

5 4 3 2 1

okay. You were warned!

The Matrix has me.

Sequels tend to be formulaic. I found that not to be so much the case in this one. There was a lot more going on.

It's been at least six months since Neo's mind was freed and he joined the Nebuchadnezzar. We now know that Morpheus' ship is not the only ship of its kind, but one of a fleet. We meet Link, the replacement for Tank and Dozer , both of them. The one who survived the first film apparently died offscreen in the interim between that movie and this].

We meet Mauser, the Mouse-type wannabe/Neo-fanboy. We meet Niobe, Morpheus' old lover. And we see Zion. In all of its mingled high tech/low tech glory.

The old elements from the last movie are there.

The Oracle is still a dotty old girl who never gives a straight answer and really messes with Neo's mind since Neo dislikes the idea of having no control or choice over his life.

Smith returns, and gets many of the best lines in the movie.

Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo all get beautifully choreographed new fight scenes. Not a whole lot of subtstance, but if you expect more than Mind Candy from a Matrix movie, I guess that's just a matter of preference.

There was, to be sure a lot more to be thinking about. The Morpheus/Niobe backstory was barely surface-scratched. Fishburne's charisma still radiated off the screen like the heat of an explosion in the middle of Siberia, though.

Neo, thanks to Reaves, still looked faintly befuddled through the whole thing. And I think I missed Reaves uttering his trademark clueless "Whoa." Then again, Neo's not clueless this time.

The Smith backstory is the one I like best. He's no longer an Agent, and he's become something bigger and different and scarier than he was. The Agents don't like him. He doesn't like the Matrix. And he really doesn't like Neo for costing him his place, even though Neo also made him the clone-manufacturing monster he is now.

I am only on three hours sleep since I saw the movie in a late showing last night and had to work this morning. So if this makes little sense, I apologize. Expect me to write another more coherent comment after my second viewing tomorrow.

Predictability factor: Low. I could only predict two elements. Love/hate factor: The ending is a cliffhanger. Grrr. Easter eggs: Stay until the end of the credits. There's a trailer for Matrix Revolution

Stars: 8/10

I've seen Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone four times already, so I think I have seen it from a variety of mindsets and viewpoints. First and foremost, the titling was changed as a result of the book's title being changed in the US because Scholastic thought "Philosopher's Stone" would go over the heads of kids or bore them.

That said, I must respectfully disagree with those who said that Daniel Radcliffe's portrayal of Harry was underperformed. Harry Potter is a boy who has lived in a hostile environment of emotional abuse and physical neglect. This is in no way conducive to the generation of an outgoing, over-the-top personality. Plus, the English are a little more circumspect in their attitudes. Columbus was correct in portraying Harry as sort of meek and mild-mannered, and only riled when his friends were provoked or endangered.

Insofar as there was only so much Columbus could squeeze into two and a half hours, this was, bar none, the most faithful adaptation of a novel I have seen in many years. The few liberties taken for cinematic convention were understandable and forgiveable. The major problem I had with the film was the score by John Williams -- who is succumbing to Horner/Elfman syndrome; which is to say that his scores are starting to sound all like one another. I kept thinking of "Hook".

The portrayals of the adults were exceptional. Rickman was exquisitely foreboding as Snape. Smith as McGonnagal was prim and severe. Harris took a bit to warm to the role of Dumbledore but once he got it, had the same warm, benevolent sense I got from reading the character in the book. Robbie Coltraine as Hagrid was nothing short of a perfect portrayal.

Harry and his compatriots were also well-done. I've already spoken about Radcliffe. Felton has this lovely faux-innocence and malice that he plays together. Watson's got the whole overachiever thing down to perfection, and Grint has the quiet pride of Ron Weasley subtle at first, but like Harris, warms to the role and makes it his.

It was difficult to cram an entire year of Harry's life into a 2.5 hour movie, and it will only become more difficult to squeeze a year of Hogwarts into the next three films as Rowling's books only get bigger and more involved.

Summing up, any movie that can keep kids from age 3 to age 14 quiet for two and a half hours has something going for it. And if *they* didn't believe it was true to the book, we would've heard about it before now.

This film had a lot of expectations and a lot of hype. To me, it met both. Columbus has a lot to be proud of, as does his entire cast. I look forward with equal eagerness to the next film in the series next year.

GO GO GRYFFINDOR! ;D

"Man turns Invisible. Man revels in it for a while. Man goes nuts." That's the story that HG Wells started, and has been carried through cinematic history to Verhoven's HOLLOW MAN.

There are a couple glaring errors in the otherwise gorgeous and disturbingly real special effects. But other than that, the story is the same old thing with a year 2000 twist. There's only so much of this story that should ever come as a surprise to the viewer. The rest is just the Invisible Man genre/cliche.

Elizabeth Shue is taking advantage of the fact that she's getting too old for the cutie-girl roles, and playing scientists now. She just needs to pick slightly more plausible movies in which to play a scientist. In this, she seems little more than a comely toy for Caine's uninhibited tendencies once he becomes invisible.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT! .....

Four important things that would've kept the people in HOLLOW MAN alive:

1) Tranquilize the gorilla BEFORE you make it invisible.

2) When you know well in advance that the invisibility serum causes erratic and aggressive behaviour, you put a transmitter or tracking device on your volunteer that he can't take off! 3) Don't answer the door wearing only your bathrobe if you can't see who rang the bell. 4) Do not turn your back on the invisible guy just because there's a camera on him!

But to their credit, the scientists did have the presence of mind to start with fire extinguishers and sprinklers to give them a slightly more even chance against Sebastian Caine once he turns the whole thing into a game of cat and mouse.

Best line: "It's amazing what you can do when you don't have to look at yourself in the mirror anymore."

Funniest moment: Two children spot Caine in his car wearing his latex mask. Caine takes off his shades and opens his mouth, revealing nothing but the back of the mask through the holes to the children.

Four stupid things in two hours isn't a bad average. The goofs in the SPFX were forgiveable in that the movie's rating was only PG-13. Bacon's performance was solid and believable. Shue needs to work on hers a bit.

Oh, and the "enhanced strength and resilience" other reviewers here have complained about? That's not a flub. The insane or people on hard drugs [such as PCP] have exhibited berserker strength and resistance to injuries that would capacitate an ordinary person. The climax was a bit "suspend your disbelief," but isn't that true of all science-fiction?

Six out of ten. Good enough for DVD on a dull afternoon.

I expected to hate Charlie's Angels. I'm not the biggest fan of Drew Barrymore, but I like Cameron Diaz, and I actually respect Lucy Liu's talents as an actress and martial artist , that's really her!]

In the first few minutes of the movie, you can spot parodies of 70s TV and other movies. There's a parody of TJ Hooker, several of Mission Impossible, at least one of The Matrix, one of The Avengers, one of FLED, and one of Saturday Night Fever. After that I forgot to count because I was busy laughing.

This movie is eye and mind candy and makes no pretense at being anything else. It's fun that leaves you smiling but doesn't fill you up with anything substantial. The plot is thin at best, but that's fine because it's just there to link together gorgeous location shots, amped-up SPFX fight scenes, and the Angels themselves looking deadly and gorgeous.

Funniest moment: Too many to count. But sticking in every 70s rock song with "Angel" in it somewhere is right near the top.

Best line: "Chinese fighting muffins." -- Dylan. "They're not Chinese. They're not fighting. They're Blueberry." -- Alex.

Six out of ten. Definite light fare with pretty packaging.