drjnfever

This movie caught my attention on cable as I was flipping channels. The mystery and the setup were great. The placement of suspicious events was great. At one point, I even commented to myself, "this is a good f---in' movie!" Boy was I wrong.

As the story unfolded, you wish it didn't. It's a good movie before you find out what's going on. Then the plot holes, cheesy dialogue, outrageously contrived situations, and just plain comical story progression spread like wildfire. It's almost as if someone came up with a great story idea and then left it in the hands of a high school scriptwriting hobbyist.

The investigation of the murder of the US Defense Secretary in front of 14,000 witnesses is left up to one city cop and one military security officer who are best friends? People are running around a casino and being able to stay hidden? I better stop there because if I start listing plot holes and stupid scenarios, we'll never get out of here. I'm trying really hard not to comment on the end. It's like whoever was writing the script got tired of writing and just threw something together so he could rest his fingers and get paid.

However, if you can not focus on the bad writing (kinda like not focusing on a speeding train heading towards you), the style of the film is quite interesting. I liked how the story (terrible as it was) unfolded through the different angles and points of view of different people. The timing and placement of action were executed well.

It's too bad that a movie has to rely on something as minor as a script in order to be good.

-----SPOILER-----

I like Gary Sinise. He's a good actor. But unfortunately, he's usually typecast as a bad guy, so I kinda suspected he was involved all along.

I was really disappointed when TLC took this show off the air. I discovered it by accident back in college. I set my TV to turn on and wake me up every morning, and one night it was left on TLC. The next morning, I was awakened by the catchy tune, "Big, Big, Big Garage...Big, Big, Big, Big, Big Garage..." From that point on, I made sure to be up in time to watch my favorite show. Great characters, good story lines and good lessons. The sets were fun too. There's just something about squishy cars that can talk. I can imagine how hooked the kids who knew about this show must have been. It really is a shame to lose such a good show, and I'm surprised that it wasn't more popular. I wish it would make a comeback someday.

Gene Hackman...Dustin Hoffman...John Cusack. Some of my favorite actors of all time. So much talent wasted on someone's underhanded political agenda. Let's hear it for the poor widow abusing the legal system and bending the law so she can drape herself in luxury for the rest of her life. What a freaking hero.

Dammit, this story about juries for sale had great dramatic potential. Why do movie makers think we care about their stupid two-dimensional political agendas? I watch movies to be entertained. Not so the entertainment industry can mold me into their liberal puppet. Sorry guys, not everyone who sees this movie is going to be your sheep.

While we're in the political arena, here are a few words of wisdom. The person liable for gun deaths is the shooter. No one else. Screw your politics, screw your lobbying, screw your brainwashing. It's the criminals, stupid. Violence is an ugly thing. That is exactly why I will always have a gun. I don't plan on handing the lives of my loved ones over to a criminal who intends to harm them. More children die in swimming pools each year than from guns. Are we about to ban swimming pools? Or sue the guys who dig the hole? Of course not. Because there's no political agenda attached to swimming pools. It's about control. Nothing else. A government can't control an armed population. Disarm the people, control everything. That is EXACTLY what the Constitution is there to prevent. You can't rally for certain parts of the Constitution and ignore others. Defend every word of it with your life or go be a Fascist somewhere. Hitler had pretty effective gun control policy. Give him a call and get the **** out of my country.

I PAY YOU TO ENTERTAIN ME. LEAVE YOUR POLITICS TO YOURSELF.

What a waste of two hours.

I LOVED this movie! I've shied away from watching "horror" movies of late because they are just the usual studio production line crap. Cabin Fever is a welcome change--a nod to the old days of true cult horror. I've read many reviews--most of them calling it "stupid" and "insipid," among other adjectives. Anyone who uses these words to describe this movie simply does not understand the genre. There are many types of horror movies, and to compare this to a "serious" horror film is a travesty, robbing a true future classic of its value.

Cabin Fever would have been terrible if it weren't "stupid" and "insipid." It's a tongue-in-cheek homage to the great cult classics. Tongue-in-cheek doesn't work very well if the retarded viewer tries to judge it as a serious horror. If that's your intent, skip this one. It's not for you. But for everyone who loves chips with their cheesy horrors, drop everything and see Cabin Fever. For those of you who worship Sam Raimi and Pre-LOTR Peter Jackson (Don't get me wrong, the trilogy rocks too), this movie is certain to end up in your DVD collection.

So to sum up, here's my review: As a serious horror = 1. As an original, intellectually stimulating script = 1. As anything to be taken seriously = 1. As a tongue-in-cheek new horror classic dripping cheese onto my chips = 10!

*****SPOILERS*****

I'll try to keep this short. I am one of the more discerning Trekkies, and I can hold my own with the nerdiest of Star Trek fans, but I still have a grip on reality and I am completely at ease in social situations...

But I am well aware of the continual TNG plot holes throughout the series and movies, yet I have learned to accept a certain artistic-license-filled-script-style over the course of the TNG storyline. I love the momentum of the character development over the years, and have come to love the Enterprise crew both professionally and personally.

That being said, I'd have to concede that "A Generation's Final Journey" is actually "A Generation's Flop Under A Director Who Has No Insight Into The True Spirit Of Star Trek." I read the reviews of Nemesis before seeing it, so I had some time to prepare for the possibility of a let-down. But I still had high hopes for its salvation, and viewed it without preconceptions. It was all for naught. Star Trek: Nemesis is the product of a great concept and the great evolving storyline of TNG clashing with a typical cliche-spewing, chase-scene-loving, explosion-happy, catch-phrase-driven, commercial Hollywood action director. Star Trek: Nemesis is actually that: Star Trek's Nemesis. It's your typical 21st century action movie. There were a few scenes where I thought I accidentally wandered into The Matrix theater.

I tried to love the last TNG theatrical installment, but with the off-road chase scene, the ship-flying-within-a-ship sequence, Data's free-form space flight, and the dismal time-wasting, thumb-twiddling final fight scene (not to mention the relaxed, meaningful gazes as the countdown rolls on towards ultimate destruction), I had to give up. Nemesis has a weak plot to begin with, but perhaps could have been salvaged through heartfelt style. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. For true Star Trek fans, Nemesis as a movie is a sadder situation than the death of Data. However, if you like the storyless, one-dimensional, catch-phrase-laden action flicks that Hollywood has been diligently churning out over the past several years, just set your TIVO to catch all the Bruce Willis flicks and NASCAR races on cable and run out and rent Nemesis. There are plenty of out-of-this-world physics and reality-defying action devices to keep you and your entire toothless trailer family happy for hours.

And the music? Hmmmm... Disturbing in and of itself. Not what you'd expect for a Star Trek film. That could be a refreshing concept under more normal circumstances, but it just turned out to be bizarre. Who knows what the hell Jerry Goldsmith was thinking with this one. At one point I could have sworn the crew was watching "The Young And The Restless" in the background. Perhaps another terrible suggestion from the Trek-spirit-less director.

One last thing: Having Data die is one doozie of a climax, but the calculated setup of the retarded older brother, B-4, (and his convenient transfer of all of Data's memory) negates any real impact that story turn could have had on the fans.

All in all, I forced myself to like Nemesis, but I think that's just nostalgia and longing taking over. Many reviewers equate Nemesis with Star Trek V, and I'd have to agree. It's the bastard brother that no one in the family wants to acknowledge. Oh well. There are always reruns...

Well worth the two-year wait. I have to admit I was a little scared that it wouldn't live up to the hype. But I'm glad to say that it did...and more. Peter Jackson and the entire crew deserve a big congratulations. I'm not an edge-of-my-seat kind of moviegoer, but Frodo, Sam and Gollum had me shaking, sweating and very distressed. No movie has had that effect on me before.

I'm tired of hearing complaining "purists." I understand their loyalty to Tolkien, but how many times does it have to be said? You cannot transfer a book directly to screen. Especially one as unique and intricate as The Lord Of The Rings. An exciting book won't necessarily become an exciting movie. The flow of action is completely different and the story must be adapted accordingly. I am an avid fan of the book, and I am also an avid fan of the movies. Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh did a top-notch job in adapting the story in the spirit of Tolkien's vision. The changes are understandable, necessary and a marvelous example of genius screenwriting. Those that say different are just narrow-minded. Many of these "purists" who have nothing positive to say are using Tolkien negatively to put others down in an attempt to validate their own lack of understanding. Yes, the movies are different from the book. But the spirit is the same. The LOTR series is a welcome change to the high-budget, high-special effects, low-content garbage Hollywood has been churning out. The series was made with love and it shows. ROTK is by far the best movie I've ever seen.

One of the worst movies ever made...I love it! It's bad zombie cheese at its finest. Marilyn Burns of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and ex-teen idol Fabian are way too much star power for this script. (EEK!) The director/writer's kids give probably the worst acting performance under the sun. Strange that they never went on to do anything else...

First movie: excellent! Second movie: never should have been made.

The Matrix Reloaded has NO STORY. Not a coherent one anyway. The whole first hour of the movie is nothing but repetitive doomsaying and characters trading off the "be careful...don't go..." speech. But hang on, it only gets worse after that. The "state of the art" camera techniques and digital effects that were interesting in the first movie are now overrated, tired, and overdone. But for some reason, they do it even more in The Matrix Reloaded. The great digital effects are so great that in the scene in which Neo is fighting scores of Agent Smiths, Neo looks like a video game graphic. Terrible. Then as I was staring at the ceiling praying for the movie to end, it did what I didn't think was possible. It got dumber. I can't imagine "spoiling" The Matrix Reloaded any more than the writers did, but for the dumbest parts, you'll have to see it for yourself. The storyline is like the talk of a bunch of drunk guys at a party..."Yeah, yeah, and then he almost gets knocked off the truck...yeah, but then he doesn't fall...yeah, yeah, then he catches the edge at the last second...yeah, then he does a flip to stand back up and a kick at the same time...yeah, and then he almost falls again..." and on and on. If you liked the first Matrix, then watch it again. If you like fight scenes, then watch a Bruce Lee movie. If you like digital effects, then go watch Star Wars Episode II. There's no reason on the planet to see The Matrix Reloaded.