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Reviews
Hope Floats (1998)
Horrible horrible horrible....
...I watched Hope Floats last night and was so appalled at myself for having rented it. The one thing that ruined it all apart from lack of decent plot, the thin characters and mixed up message (just what exactly was it?)- was the kid who played Birdees daughter. I thought her acting was awful. It wasn't realistic - it was just a precocious brat trying to act like a knowitall 40 year old - not like an 8 year old child - it didn't work. Her scene with the father was grossly over the top... Someone please pull this kid aside and explain to her about *subtlety* don't be fooled just cos this child can scream, shout and cry on demand does not mean its worthy of any kind of award.... a slap maybe but not an award. I like Sandra Bullock - she wasnt too bad in this but she was just overshadowed by the daughters horrible OTT performance which was a shame. I am a Harry Connick Jnr fan which I have to confess why I rennted this - but I have now learned my lesson. He was ok but a bit too subdued - he could have sung or something to brighten it up. I think it could have sparked between them but the film was just too rushed - one minute hes saying 'oh hi havent seen you for 20 years' next minute hes nibbling her ear in the back of the car! There wasnt time for the romance to grow..too much time trying to pack in the kid getting bullied the senile dad and all the other numerous tragedies.. not enough time was spent on any of them. My message to anyone who (disturbingly) thought this film was 'powerful', 'gripping' 'well acted' and to anyone who wants an uplifting film about hope then for gods sake go out and rent something like the Shawshank Redemption - don't waste your time with this drivel you'll just be left with the feeling of being robbed of the rental fee and also wondering why exactly you took 2 hours out of your life to watch this...
Excess Baggage (1997)
Not that bad....
I read quite a few reviews around the time this film was released and they were all very negative towards it. Don't ask me why I rented it (probably in a moment of maddness) cos I had very low expectations of what it was going to be like but actually I didn't think it was that bad a film... I like Benicio Del Toro - if you don't like him or can't get to grips with the way he speaks etc then your probably instantly going to hate this film - I think he is an interesting character in real life and I think he made this film a little more interesting too... Silverstone was just basically Silverstone - I feel sorry for her its been pretty much down hill since Clueless, shes always playing these richgirl/brat characters there is no real variety..but shes ok - nothing special - Walken was as usual solid as a rock, Harry Connick Jnr cracked me up for some reason I thought he was funny! Plot - I could see where it wanted to go but it didn't quite get there - it wasnt quite clever enough - I don't think it was a fabulous film by any means but compare it to Batman and Robin? Speed 2? Its not as bad as that! Rent it if you are a Benicio/Alicia/Walken fan but otherwise you'll probably just feel robbed...
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
hits home but Speilberg goes overboard
I don't consider myself a squeamish person at all but sitting through this movie became an endurance test for me. I knew when I walked into the cinema that this wasn't going to be a nice film but I was still completely shocked at the opening Omagh Beach sequence. I realise that some people need to see this film and understand that war is futile and horrific etc but I found being flung into the middle of the slaughter, surround sound full blast, quite a distressful experience. No wonder war veterans watching this film could only last 10 minutes. I know Spielberg has to hit home and it really does and I know that a lot of men died and how messed up and bloody the operation was but I knew that anyway and personally would rather not know what a person looks like when they are shot/blown up into little pieces. But despite that I'm glad in a way that I saw the film as I was with Schindlers List and can appreciate what the veterans went through for us and how grateful we should be. It's one of those films that isn't pleasant one little bit but you should see it anyway.
Elizabeth (1998)
wow what a history lesson!
I'm doing A level hsitory and learned more during this film than in the past year of studying the tudors! I found it to be really interesting. I think Cate Blanchet was perfect as Elizabeth, Geoffrey rush was also good but I found Kathy Burke to be a rather strange casting descision as Mary. The film was visually stunning and the costumes were beautiful. By the end I felt hopelessly patriotic, could you imagine the present Queen saying that she is to be 'married to England'? No I can't either. It would have been nice if it got more at the oscars but the baftas made up for it though!
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
hits home but Speilberg goes overboard
I don't consider myself a squeamish person at all but sitting through this movie became an endurance test for me. I knew when I walked into the cinema that this wasn't going to be a nice film but I was still completely shocked at the opening Omagh Beach sequence. I realise that some people need to see this film and understand that war is futile and horrific etc but I found being flung into the middle of the slaughter, surround sound full blast, quite a distressful experience. No wonder war veterans watching this film could only last 10 minutes. I know Spielberg has to hit home and it really does and I know that a lot of men died and how messed up and bloody the operation was but I knew that anyway and personally would rather not know what a person looks like when they are shot/blown up into little pieces. But despite that I'm glad in a way that I saw the film as I was with Schindlers List and can appreciate what the veterans went through for us and how grateful we should be. It's one of those films that isn't pleasant one little bit but you should see it anyway.
The Horse Whisperer (1998)
arrrrrgh too long, but apart from that it's good
The Horse Whisperer is an acquired taste.... I can quite understand how sitting through this movie for some people could be like having a tooth pulled. But for me it wasn't. Maybe it's because I love horses....the film did seem to go on and on a bit and I think Redford could have easily trimmed it in a few places making it a bit less bum-numbing. It's beautifully shot, the scenery is fantastic, and that accident scene was frighteningly realistic. Redford wasn't too bad as the whisperer man but he looked a bit wrinkly. I think his days of using close up soft focus are numbered. Kristan Scott-Thomas was quite good as well as the cold, bitchy mother, the girl did begin to get on my nerves towards the end, I reckon Nathalie Portman, who the part was first offered to, could have done a better job. but the real star of this film has to be that horse Pilgrim, if anyone gets an Oscar out of this for acting,which no-one probably will, he should!
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
not a kiddie version
This is a very dark spin on the Robin Hood legend no tights or hats with feathers on in this version! It's entertaining though with a very good cast. The score is excellent. Freeman, as always is outstanding as the moor Azeem, Rickman provides the comic relief at times as the vile Sheriff of Nottingham, Costner, why can't the man attempt to do a British accent?? ok everyone else in the film can do it why can't he?? to me an american Robin Hood was very offputting and ruined the film a bit. But apart from that it's quite entertaining.
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
could have been a good film but erm....wasn't
Ok, so we have an english musketeer, a french musketeer and an american musketeer. Couldn't they have at least tried to make their accents vaguely the same?? I remember this film as being good at the cinema but having rented it recently I have discovered that it's really quite boring. Irons, Depardeu and sometimes Bryne are good, Malkovich was just totally wrong though, I cringed every time he uttered a line. DiCaprio was OK but couldn't he have even attempted to make his french king a little bit less 90's american?? I mean the guy gets paid millions he could at least have a go. I got the feeling that if the actors had tried a bit harder, even with the admittedly pants script, this could have been a different movie. Apart from that it is visually very attractive and if you haven't seen it yet then see it anyway cause it was alright the first time round but if you want to see a much better adaptation of the musketeers stories then see the Richard Lester films with Oliver Reed. Oh yeah and one last dig, I'm 16 and even I know that under Louis XIV France was not peaceful and his people were deffo not happy as the film claims at the end;it was at war with us for 30 years;. Someone needs to sort their facts out!
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
alotta frickin fun
This film is just the perfect spoof of the Bond movies and those old 60's TV series they repeat all the time. I could just about quote the whole film by now! Myers is the superspy who was frozen in the sixties and brought back to life in the nineties to stop his arch enemy Dr Evil (also Myers) from taking over the world. Myers as Austin is very funny at times but starts getting irritating about half way through the film. But Dr Evil steals the show, a send up of Donald Plesence in Dr No, he gets all the best situations (the way he holds the world to ransom for the ridiculously low sum of one million dollars and all the world leaders laugh at him) it's worth seeing this film just for him! Liz Hurly does a good job of sending herself up Powers sidekick and the unfortunate victim of his randiness. I recommend that you see this film because it is very fun and genuinely funny in places. It always has me in stitches!
Psycho (1998)
why?
I see absolutely no point at all in this film ever being made. You can't improve on Hitchcock's original. So what if some people haven't seen the original it's their loss. Vaughn and Heche are completely miscast. Vaughn not weedy or pathetic enough to be Norman Bates and Heche is not glamorous enough to be Crane. The film is not scary enough by today's standards. You can't remake a classic unless you chuck in special effects. The new Psycho just doesn't work for me.
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
hits home but Speilberg goes overboard
I don't consider myself a squeamish person at all but sitting through this movie became an endurance test for me. I knew when I walked into the cinema that this wasn't going to be a nice film but I was still completely shocked at the opening Omagh Beach sequence. I realise that some people need to see this film and understand that war is futile and horrific etc but I found being flung into the middle of the slaughter, surround sound full blast, quite a distressful experience. No wonder war veterans watching this film could only last 10 minutes. I know Spielberg has to hit home and it really does and I know that a lot of men died and how messed up and bloody the operation was but I knew that anyway and personally would rather not know what a person looks like when they are shot/blown up into little pieces. But despite that I'm glad in a way that I saw the film as I was with Schindlers List and can appreciate what the veterans went through for us and how grateful we should be. It's one of those films that isn't pleasant one little bit but you should see it anyway.
Memphis Belle (1990)
brilliant
This is definitely one of my favourite films. Although it is shamelessly cliched in parts it is a very moving, gripping story of ten young, American air crew based in England embarking on their 25th and final mission on a bombing raid over Germany in the midst of WW2. I found myself genuinely caring for all of the characters. The cast is a mixed but likable bunch, headed by Matthew Modine and Sean Astin and including Eric Stoltz in his pre Pulp Fiction and Killing Zoe days who gives a touching performance as Danny. They only have a short time at the beginning of the film to develop their characters before they are on the plane and in the action and as there are ten leading cast members the characters are quite stereotyped (the cheeky one, the virgin, the religious one, the nervous one, the southern one) but even so the characters are well defined and all of them aimable. I think what makes this film so emotionally gripping as with many other war films (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan) is the fact that Memphis Belle is based on real events and actually was the first plane to complete 25 missions. As well as being moving, the action in Memphis Belle is unbelievably tense in places and if you're anything like me you'll probably have to watch most of it behind a cushion! I strongly recommend that you see this film. I give it 10 icecreams out of 10.
Titanic (1997)
don't watch it on video if you haven't seen it on the big screen
I went to see Titanic 3 times at the cinema and each time I was completely bowled over by the sheer scale of this movie. There isn't much I can say about it that hasn't been said already apart from I certainly don't think Cameron was wasting his time when he made this movie, from the bit when the Titanic hits the iceburg I think it is a completely valid historical document which preserves the night when the Titanic sank forever.
However after singing its praises all year round I finally got it on video a few days ago and how disappointed am I? The small screen does Titanic absolutely no justice (unless that is you happen to have a miniature cinema in your front room). You begin to notice the flaws which maybe you missed in the cinema in the midst of the surround sound and large screen. I am no Barry Norman but the script even makes me cringe now,' I am king of the worrrrrld' (???) come on if Jim is gonna spend an amount of money that could feed a third world country for a few years then at least he could have hired some decent scriptwriters. The acting leaves a lot to be desired too (ok Winslet, Bates and maybe even Zane an exception). Dicaprio is nice to look at and it was clever casting him as he is definitetly responsible for pulling most of the crowds but his acting? And also one last little nit pick, did anyone notice how all of the bad guys were British and all of the nice jolly people were Irish/American/that bloke with the funny accent Mexican was it? Anyway despite the bad things I said Titanic is still one of my favourite films and even thought the impact on small-screen is a tad disappointing it still makes me shed a tear everytime for the people who died that night on the Titanic.
Schindler's List (1993)
everyone should see this film
This is a hugely powerful, emotional film which everyone must and should see. Spielburg tackles the delicate subject matter with respect and yet brutal honesty which leaves little to our imagination. The impact of this film when you first see it stays with you long after it has ended. Neeson, Fiennes and Kingsly all give career defining performances. It's hard to imagine this film was made by the same guy who made ET. A masterpiece.