Thonolan3 Reviews (22)

The Incredibles (2004)

One of the best animated movies ever...

[9/10 · 6 November 2004]

This is easily one of the top five animated movies that I've ever seen (and believe me, I've seen a lot of them). First of all, I found the concept of a world where superheroes are constantly being sued and are finally put into a witness protection program, to be incredibly inspired. Add some incredible (sorry, I couldn't resist) animation as well as the vocal talents of Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee and Holly Hunter, and you have the formula for an extremely amazing movie. This movie had some of the best action and chase scenes that I've ever seen in a movie (animated or live action), and quite a few laughs as well. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't enjoy this movie. I gave it 9/10 stars.

Oh yeah, I also thought that Boundin', the short film with the sheep was hysterically funny.

The Village (2004)

A hard movie to rate...

[7/10 · 30 July 2004]

And an even harder movie to describe. Actually, there's a brief description on this site, and I'm not about to give away spoilers, so I'm not even going to even try to describe the plot. Instead, I'll concentrate on describing my opinion of the movie.

For starters, anyone who disliked Shyamalan's last three movies (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) will obviously dislike this one, as well. And anyone (such as myself) who enjoyed the last three, should of course enjoy this one. For those who only enjoyed one or two of them, you're on your own- I have no idea whether or not you'll enjoy The Village.

I felt that this was a typical Shyamalan movie: superb direction and acting, tension that you could cut with a knife, and of course, the twist ending. Like the others, it is slow and methodical without ever becoming boring, and is filled with suspense. In my opinion, this one had a better ending than Signs, but it was still not wholly satisfactory (I will say that I was completely fooled).

Overall, I'll give it a score of 8/10.

Hee Haw (1969–1997)

A wonderful show...

[10 June 2004]

This show lasted nearly a quarter century, but even that hardly seems enough. I'm not that big a fan of the stuff that currently passes for country music, but I love the older stuff. Many of country music's biggest legends guest starred on this show, and several others were regulars at one point or another. This was the last of the successful variety shows on tv and by far the most successful country music show on television. It's doubtful that we'll ever see anything like it again. It's a shame that this show is currently off the air- I don't think you can even catch reruns nowadays. Hopefully, Hee Haw (or at least the early seasons) will eventually become available on DVD. I certainly hope so.

12 Angry Men (1997 TV Movie)

I stumbled across this...

[6/10 · 1 June 2004]

Last night, I attempted to rent the b&w classic at the the local video store only to find that they had switched the classic with the remake (which I realized only after I got it home). I figured I might as well give it a try. Honestly, it wasn't a bad movie, but it doesn't even begin to compare with the original (which is one of my all-time favorites). An attempt has been made update the movie by adding minorities and modernizing some of the dialog. Some of this works, some of it doesn't. Also, a few of the roles in the remake are badly miscast (Tony Danza and Ozzie Davis both come to mind).

I'd give this version 6/10 and the original gets a 10/10 from me.

The Gunfighter (1950)

Best western ever.

[10/10 · 12 September 2003]

Absolutely incredible western. Peck might have been a bit too young for his role, but after a few minutes, that is quickly forgotten. Definitely the best western ever filmed, even surpassing Shane and High Noon. Actually, The Unforgiven is the only one that comes close.

Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)

Woefully Underappreciated...

[9/10 · 31 August 2003]

I've never understood why this movie wasn't more popular. I just don't get it- great acting by Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan (in three very different roles), Ossie Davis and Dan Hedaya, among others. Terrific, quirky direction and an excellent script. This movie is just so much fun to watch. It should have been hailed as an instant classic.

9/10

American Wedding (2003)

Better than the first two.

[8/10 · 6 August 2003]

I must be one of the few people who wasn't overly thrilled with the original movie. With the exception of Allison Hannigan's band geek and one or two of Jason Biggs' scenes, I really didn't care for it: 5/10 at the very most.

I saw the second one with great trepidation, and much to my surprise, I enjoyed it quite a lot- it was consistently funny. 7/10

So when American Pie was announced, I couldn't wait to see it. This one was even better, often hilarious, and even sort of sweet-natured in places. A very strong 8/10 from me.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Pixar's Best

[9/10 · 13 June 2003]

I've enjoyed all of Pixar's movies, but "Finding Nemo" was my favorite so far. Good story, with great dialouge, characters, vocal work and jokes. Among my favorites: the sharks (the twelve-step program was hilarious), Dory's "whale talk", the seagulls, the sea turtles (particularly Crush), the escape from the Angler Fish, and the final escape attempt by the aquarium fish (I'd love to know how they got out of those plastic bags). There were so many classic characters and moments in this picture... Personally, I think most adults will enjoy it as much (or more) as their kids.

9/10

American Idol (2002– )

Actually pretty good...

[12 February 2003]

I didn't watch the first season at all, but when the second season started, I gave it a try.

I like this show. Simon is sometimes unneccesarily cruel, but he is usually correct and is often very funny. The early episodes were full of people with zero singing ability, but most of those still in the competition are quite good (and a few of them are excellant).

I'd love to see Clay, Reuben or Ricky win this thing, but somehow I doubt it will happen.

Final Destination 2 (2003)

Better-Than-Average Horror Film.

[7/10 · 1 February 2003]

I never saw the first one; in fact I had never even heard of it until the trailers for the sequel came out. Since I enjoyed the trailers, and also because Tony Todd is one of my favorite character actors, I went and saw "Final Destiny 2" in the theater today. I was not disappointed- I enjoyed it quite a bit. Yes, it's gory, and yes, it's not hard to figure which characters are going to die (or live), but the death scenes are quite inventive, and the acting is fairly good. I would have liked to have seen more of Tony Todd (he only had one scene), and the last death was overly cheesy, but this is an entertaining movie.

Definitely recommended for everyone except the overly squeamish. I'll give it a rating of 7/10.

A Guy Thing (2003)

Unfunny Mess...

[1/10 · 27 January 2003]

This "movie" was dreadful, with no redeeming value whatsoever. Considering that I'm a big Jason Lee fan, I fully expected to enjoy it, but I couldn't. I gave up after watching an hour of this thing; it was juvenile and silly, with absolutely no humor. ...simply horrible....this deserves one star out of ten.

Just Married (2003)

Cute Movie...

[7/10 · 16 January 2003]

This isn't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is fun to watch. At times, it is very funny, due to genuine chemistry between the two leads. I'm usually not into slapstick, but hey, this is good slapstick. This movie would probably be enjoyed best by those who liked "Orange County" and loved "Rat Race". If you are one of those people, then you should get a kick out of this movie.

Gangs of New York (2002)

A Showcase For Daniel Day-Lewis

[7/10 · 11 January 2003]

Daniel Day-Lewis was simply amazing as "Bill the Butcher"; he certainly deserves the Oscar for best actor. Brendan Gleason was also quite effective as Monk. This movie was not perfect, but it was never boring, either. Also, it wasn't as violent as some have claimed.

Overall, it was a good movie, deserving of 7 out of 10 stars.

The Santa Clause 2 (2002)

Little kids might enjoy it...

[4/10 · 10 November 2002]

I haven't seen the original since it first came out in the theaters, but I do remember liking it. Unfortunately, the sequel was pretty bad. The subplot with the toy Santa was just horrible. The script and most of the acting was weak, and though I will admit to laughing at a few of the jokes, much of it wasn't remotely funny.

The Tooth Fairy provided a couple of snickers as did Michael Dorn as The Sandman. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't worth the price of a ticket, either.

4 out of 10 stars.

Frailty (2001)

Terrific- Right up until the end.

[7/10 · 12 October 2002]

For the first eighty minutes, this was a scary, brilliantly acted, amazing movie. Unfortunately, somebody apparently felt that a "trick" ending was absolutely neccessary. In my opinion, the last twenty minutes were quite weak and undermined the movie considerably.

Still, I'll give it 7 out of a possible 10 stars.

American Pie 2 (2001)

Much Better than the Original...

[8/10 · 12 October 2002]

The first one was (at best) a mediocre movie with a couple of good jokes and a solid supporting performance by Allyson Hannigan. I was shocked to see that the sequel was hilarious!

The extended series of jokes that extended from Stiffler's attempts to find a "lesbian artifact" were the highlight of the film. I can't wait to see "American Wedding".

Eight out of ten stars.

My So-Called Life (1994–1995)

Possibly My Favorite Show of All Time

[24 July 2002]

When this show came out, I was already in my mid 20's. But despite the fact that I was several years older than the target audience, I instantly loved this show. Realistic characters with real flaws, great dialog and incredible acting, this show deserved a far better fate than it got. I remain a fan of Claire Danes to this day.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

A Brilliant Movie.

[10/10 · 18 July 2002]

Much has been made of this movie humor (or lack thereof). I'll admit that there are not not an abundance of belly laughs in this movie. But this movie works beautifully as a comedy-drama. I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I won't go into specific details. I will say that Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Luke Wilson and Gwenneth Paltrow all give superb performances. In fact, there's not a week performance in the entire movie.

Special mention should be given for the first several minutes during which the characters are introduced by the narrator. This is possibly the best opening to a film that I have ever seen.

Finally, I would recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates original, quirky characters and to those who do not need multiple explosions, high-speed chases, gratuitous nudity, gross out gags, etc. to enjoy a movie.

I gave this movie a perfect ten stars.

Road to Perdition (2002)

I Expected More...

[7/10 · 13 July 2002]

Based on the trailers, I expected this to be great movie. It is not. Although the acting is uniformly first-rate (with special credit going to Tom Hanks and Paul Newman), the script wasn't much more than adequate. The dialog could have been better and some of the characters should have been fleshed out more. Jude Law deserved much better than the one-note role that he was stuck with. This movie never bored me, but it wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped it would be.

Still, on the basis of the two leads, I gave it seven stars.

Drawing Flies (1996)

A Must-See For All View Askew Fans

[7/10 · 28 June 2002]

Judged on it's own merits, it's a decent movie. When considered as part of the View Askew universe, it is a whole lot of fun. The basic plot is quite clever, Jason Lee's performance is excellent, and its a lot of fun to see most of the Mallrats cast reunited for this film. Its a very talky movie, but is never boring.

Of course, this film has it's share of problems, too. Poor sound, the fact that large sections of the movie seem to be missing ( it is somewhat disjointed and has a running time of less than a hour), plus an ending that I didn't particularly like.

If you're not a fan of View Askew, then there is no real reason to watch this movie. If you are a fan, then by all means buy the DVD. After one initial viewing, be sure to watch it again with the cast commentary.

I gave this movie 7 stars.

Don't Say a Word (2001)

Incredibly Dull

[3/10 · 18 June 2002]

I'm not a big Michael Douglas fan, but even if I was, I probably would not have enjoyed this muddled, plodding, dreadfully dull movie. None of the characters were particularly interesting, the dialog was completely forgettable, and the plot was rather thin.

There were no horrible scenes, nothing that made me want to throw something at the tv, nothing overly offensive. For these reasons, I'm giving this movie a charitable three out of ten stars. Not the worst movie I've ever seen (that was probably "Battlefield Earth"), but it was a complete waste of my time.

Rat Race (2001)

I Actually Made Myself Sick...

[9/10 · 4 June 2002]

Because I laughed so hard and so often while I watched this movie. God- it was so very funny. Seth Green and Vince Vieluf as the brothers and Amy Smart as the helicopter pilot were wonderful. I usually prefer movies with witty, intelligent dialogue, while this one was mostly slapstick humor. But it was marvelous slapstick!

I would recommend this movie to anyone with a sense of humor. I gave it 9 stars.