Ian Mc-3 Reviews

X-Men (2000)

I am X-tremely X-ited about this X-hilarating Adventure

[17 July 2000]

I saw this on its opening day of July 12 in Australia. Having watched the animated TV series about 9 years ago I knew a "Fair" amount about the X men but I wasn't a long term fan of the comic (never bought one). So was I expecting to grow to love the characters of this Bryan Singer film in only 2 hours?

Y-E-S!!!! From Magneto's heartbreaking separation from his parents, to Rogue's near fatal bedroom pash to Wolverine's "X-treme Fighting" introduction, I was instantly gripped by these characters. The writing was flawless, the plot moved along very fast but for an action movie I was amazed how little this adventure was plot driven and how majorly it was character driven.

I couldn't believe I was looking at Hugh Jackman, the musical theatre pretty boy as the meanest toughest superhero of them all, Wolverine.......what an acting standout! He even stole the show away from Patrick Stewart and that is no small feat. When I saw how far down the list Anna Paquin's name was on posters I thought "She'll be lucky to even say anything in the movie let alone act up to her potential........all I can say is the on screen pairing of Wolverine and Rogue is Cinema magic.....I cried when "That" scene (you know the one....let sleeping dogs lie....)occurred.

In fact the whole movie overwhelmed me emotionally. I went "Wow!" at the action and most action movies don't do that to me (seen one building explode you've seen them all) but the fight scenes, especially the one on top of the Statue of Liberty were fantastic. It was also symbollic to fight for justice and humanity on the symbol of liberty I thought.

Everything was spot on, the bickering of Cyclops and Wolverine, the calm cold war chess game mind set between proffessor X and Magneto and the mesmerizing body of Mystique made sure I didn't look away from the screen once during the whole movie.......heck I even stayed right to the last credit in case there was a "One Shot" to give a clue of a sequel.....

The best comic book to screen adaption EVER, even outdid Superman the Movie and that is the ultimate compliment.

10/10

Galaxy Quest (1999)

I laughed so hard my nacelles fell off!

[14 April 2000]

True Star Trek fans will find humour in the title of my review, just as they will find humour in EVERYTHING in this wonderful movie. A friend of mine and I saw it together and had wet collars on our shirts from the tears of laughter.

I am about as hard-core as trekkers get and what I don't know about trek trivia could fit on a pin head, every visual joke, every background scene, every bit of musical score and every line uttered.....i got it all and laughed non-stop. The only jokes I would have used that they didn't wouldn't fall within PG rating parimeters.

Tim Allen's character was obviously the best Shatner impersonation I've ever seen......well done Tim! From the stature, the tanned chest/shirt off slight blood fight scene down to the roll from rock to rock way of moving 10 feet on a planet, he was perfect!

Sigourney Weaver was obviously 7 of 9 the Borg babe on Voyager who doesn't really have a ship board function except for regulation 12 subsection 4..."Wear the catsuit with boobs lifted up gravity defyingly high!", the fact she she said she knows she doesn't REALLY do anything made her all the funnier!

Alan Rickman has always made me laugh, from Die Hard and Prince of Thieves to this gem, he is brilliant as the combination of Patrick Stewart's shakespearean actor and disgruntled star (ala Leonard Nimoy being peeved as being called spock in the street for the last 30 odd years) accusing the lead actor of stealing lines over the years.

Tony Shaoulab was the big surprise though, apart from Men in Black hadn't seen him before, his "Anti-Scotty" demeanour was spot on! When he announced an imminent explosion like he was asking for headache tablets instead of Scotty's ravings about being unable "..ta' change tha' laws o' physics!!!!!!" was 10 times funnier than if he had played it over the top like Jimmy Doohan did.

I also loved the dark actor from veronica's closet (name gone-mental block) who was a hybrid of wesley crusher (since his character was a child pilot in the earlier ep's of Galaxy Quest) and Geordie La Forge (smart mouth and quick wit) ....and crewman 6, the expendable red shirt? What a brilliant idea to put him in EVERY conceivable death situation and let him keep going to the next, he was like "Kenny" in South Park. You just kept waiting for his demise with baited breath, but in a NICE way (you know?).

The Thermians? They RULE!!! They absolutely made this movie great. Every time they spoke, walked, ran, smiled or even entered a scene I was doubled over with laughter......excellent idea creating these guys!

On a different note, I LOVED the ship! It was visually very impressive and the space battle scenes did not look cheap, a lot of effort went in and it showed........where can I buy the model the kid had on his desk??????

Best comedy of ANY genre since LIAR LIAR!!!

10/10

American Beauty (1999)

Barbie's Ken has just become Action-Man

[29 February 2000]

A truly excellent example of how everyone has a skeleton in their closet and how sooner or later someone opens the door and gets killed in the avalanche of bones.

What an amazing assortement of characters in this one little suburban street of anywhere, America. There's the man in midlife suppressed in his individuality by his wife's obsession to be better than everyone else......the spoilt daughter who has everything materialistically she could want (molded in mother's image there) but can't feel loved because it wasn't a priority growing up ......... a young man physically and psychologically abused by his father looking for a way out and only finding it in a fantasy world of drugs and video moments, not reality ....... a pompous little pretty girl who thinks the world was created so she would have an audience to bask in her percieved magnificence......a wife who self medicates her depression instead of confronting her husband's demons....... and a gay couple.

The above paragraph strangely enough could also have come from my personal journal describing neighbours, work colleagues and relatives. I have seen discovered secrets ruin many lives around me and I am a "Lester" of sorts. What you see is what you get, no pretences and certainly no excuses. This guy was the embodiment of myself taken to the nth degree in everyway, he is my hero.

When you are losing the game of life, playing by society's rules do as he did ..........reinvent the game so you can win on your terms and make losers out of the other participants.

What was the most important realisation in the film? Look at the 2 most underused characters in the film......the 2 jims. The screenplay glides by these 2, not because the film has nothing to say about homosexuality, but because the film is about what destroys souls........not being true to yourself destroys you. These 2 had no skeletons, no secrets, no "appearances of success" apart from reality. There was nothing beyond their appearance, nothing to strip away and therefore by movie's end they were the only characters that wouldn't have to forever change their attitudes......everyone else had to take stock and wake up to themselves.

Lesters of the world unite !!!! ......now where is that personell office address for my work? I'm starting my "I Rule!" job description paper today!

The Green Mile (1999)

Visit the Green Mile, it will make you smile!

[29 February 2000]

What can I say about Tom Hanks movies that hasn't been said before? probably nothing different but here goes......

The first time I cried listening to Tom Hanks voice while watching a movie scene with his powerful acting was "Philadelphia" and I didn't know any gay people.....

The second time was when he visited Jenny's grave under the tree in "Forrest Gump", and I'd never lost a lover.

The third time was in "saving Private Ryan" and I never lost anyone in a war.

Now I've just seen "The Green Mile" and sobbed myself silly over John Coffey, and yet I've never cared about ONE SINGLE prisoner on this earth.

Something about Tom Hanks name on the poster of any movie says to me "Purchase tissues before entering cinema". Of course I didn't cry FOR Hanks in this movie, rather WITH him (and every single person in the cinema with me). Some movies you miss a line here and there because of opening chip packets or chatter between bored viewers being overheard. With "The Green Mile" you miss lines from nose blowing, breath catching mid cry and sniffling back the runny nose and tears.

I LOVED this movie and what it said ------ it didn't hit you over the head with its spirituality either which i liked. I am appalled by the evangelistic style "Events" that are staged by so-called faith healers today, trying to get you to join their one true church of god to be healed (credit cards accepted of course)and pushing their own agenda before you get "healed" which of course you don't. No, John COFFEY truly was a spiritual man, one who's spirit was powerful and therefore didn't need to preach in order to share his soul with others.

That's what I feel spirituality is ...... not organised religion or churches, rather it is the honest love between one another of people. When Coffey said "it's the same all over the world, they kill them with their love!" I understood! I hope we all can understand one day and stop man's inhumanity to man.

The best film I have ever seen! 10/10

PS to Haley Joel OSMET, sorry kid, you'll be crying too soon! On Oscar night your little gold man will be stolen away from you by the biggest black guy in Hollywood. He's not a bully, he's the embodiment of love, he's Michael Clarke Duncan, winner of this year's Best Supporting Actor Oscar.......trust me, he will be!.....just hope they move the stage lights up high so he doesn't bump his head on them, he's HUGE!

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Will you see the plot twist coming? I think not!!!!

[7 January 2000]

I was the only one in my group of friends who hadn't seen the Sixth Sense by the new year. Lucky for me they really are true friends and they spared me any likelihood of discovering the truth behind this movie accidently from idle conversation between them.

All that I knew of this movie before seeing it was this:

1. EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE was impressed by it! 2. It was Bruce Willis's best role since Die Hard 3. The boy playing the disturbed child Cole should get an Oscar nomination 4. Toni Collette has picked a winner to expand her movie career. 5. There is a "Shock" ending that no one guessed beforehand.

Being a movie buff and quite fond of thrillers I thought I could solve this one, so I watched the movie, paid attention to every scene and every piece of dialogue and thought I had it.......i thought you were going to discover that Bruce Willis' ex patient from the start of the film would be Cole's dad..........WRONG WRONG WRONG!

I was so off the mark it wasn't funny..... I didn't have a clue. When I found out what the movie was REALLY about I turned to my wife and she looked back at me in one of those "Wow that's freaky!" kind of looks.

I will show the same respect to others as was shown to me and NOT reveal the secret of The Sixth Sense, all I can say is WOW !!!!!

Not to be missed 10/10.

PS The scene between Cole and his mum in the car late in the film made my wife and I cry!

Crusade (1999)

This is Star Trek for the 90's

[7 January 2000]

I mean that in a complimentary way of course! Something that Star Trek the original series did in the late 60's was to define its character's lovable traits immediately from the start. Crusade has done this very well with Dureena's warrior spirit, Galen's wisdom and laconic wit, Max's greed and low opinions of other crewmembers and Gideon's "My way or the highway" type of attitude to the running of "His" ship.

Look at the later incarnations of Star Trek and they all took time to put the pieces together to make their characters lovable. In just 13 short episodes JMS gave us a family to cherish as much as our beloved B5 family, alas I fear we will not see them again except in syndication........

And that PEEVES me!!!! This show deserved better, the fans deserved better and JMS himself deserved better. TNT should have sat back, read the fan mail, made their profit and butted the hell out of JMS's story telling. When JMS wants to make a 5 year series within bouncy rubber ropes I'm sure he'll let you guys know!

My favourite episode was the "X-Files" spoof which encapsulated running gags from about 20 xfile eps and put an interesting unpredictable story behind it which also gave us additional insight behind Gideon (the man behind) the Captain.

Somebody with TV production clout and brains (are the 2 exclusive of each other?) please read this, find JMS and revive this show......sci fi needs it!

Edtv (1999)

Very funny

[23 December 1999]

I admit that when the ads came out for this movie I had just seen The Trueman Show and was less than impressed with its ability to make me laugh. I figured if a comic genius like Jim carrey couldn't split my sides with this promise how could matthew Machonagey do it? ...and then I actually saw it. Very funny indeed! The producers (with Ron Howard's deft hand directing) chose not to look on how technology has intruded on our lives without our knowledge (as Trueman did) but rather to look at how we all crave fame but not the trappings that accompany it.

and they made it laugh out loud funny too.......special kudos to woody harrelson as ed's loser brother a top performance

Well done.

8/10

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Best Film of 1999

[23 December 1999]

I loved this movie! The advances in computer animation were superb.....from Buzz's video game to the stubble on Al's chin.

The humour was wonderful, they took situations from the first movie, reversed the roles and made them funny in a bright new way!

Well done pixar and disney. You've got a winner.......long after pokemon is gone this movie will be played on dvd (or future equivelant) for my grandchildren 30 years from now.

10/10

Batfink: This Is Your Life (1967 TV Short)

My Wings are like a Shield of Steel

[12 November 1999]

I can't believe that I'm the first Batfink fan on the site to comment on the amazing cartoon adventures of Batfink.

His exploits with karate were the stuff of legend when I was a kid. To this very day some 30 years later i still use the meorable quote:

"Your (bullets, insults, cannons etc) can't hurt me. My wings are like a shield of steel!"

If only the kids of today grew up with Batfink and Hong Kong Phooee instead of Pokemon and Transformers we would have a better less violent society...true story!

The Thin Red Line (1998)

What a Complete waste of Time!

[12 November 1999]

Being Australian, I am proud to think that our film crews and locations are finally being recognised by America for high quality film making, so when i heard that the war drama Thin red line was being filmed here I was wrapped. A movie with Nick Nolte, John Travolta, John Cusack, Elias Koteas, Woody harelson and Sean Penn would be awesome and do wonders for the local industy.............and then I saw this movie, which in good light makes a more than passing resemblence to a floater in a toilet bowl!

The film was nominated for a sqillion Oscars (including editing??????) why I must ask? The film was disjointed it couldn't decide which characters to focus on so whenever a member of Charlie Company died we didn't even know him well enough to even care at all! I won't make the obvious comparison to Saving Private Ryan but you can't spend 170 minutes in a cinema with people on screen that don't interest you.

All of the big names were wasted in this production, even PENN and NOLTE who were at least allowed to speak for more than 4 minutes onscreen. I can only summize that their sole reasons for agreeing to take part in this claptrap were to get a holiday in Queensland during filming.

save your money, save your bored sole, save the world ....seek out the original print of this film and Bar-b-que it!!!

Rating out of 10? Can I use fractions or decimals?

Cape Fear (1991)

de Niro and Scorcessee do it again!

[12 November 1999]

Robert de Niro got himself in the best condition of his life to play this role. I was certainly impressed. The man was 47 years old when he played this role and his physique only looked like it belonged on a 23 yr old (a 23 yr old that constantly worked out mind you).

The film was scary and suspenseful and everyone's character was spot on. I had an initial problem accepting Nick NOLTE as anything but a "Tough Guy" given his 48hrs role but I think he did a good job. Jessica Lange is one of my fabvourite actresses and Juliet Lewis showed the shades of future ability that would be prevelant in films like "The Other Sister".

Overall 8/10

Staying Alive (1983)

One Actor - - - - many shapes!!!!!

[12 November 1999]

Seeing this film on TV again the other night made me wonder how amazing the human body is.... or more specifically John Travolta's body.

In Michael and Get Shorty he had a tremendous girth for the character's roles yet the films before and after Phenomenon and Broken arrow show a different size. and then we have the extreme end of the scale in this film. Sly Stallone trained Travolta for 3 months to get him into the rippling muscled fat free condition he displays in this film.

It just goes to show you that your fat levels aren't really THAT predetermined by birth and genetics afterall. All you have to to is be committed to attaining a the shape you want to be. Travolta can be slim, medium or large build, muscled, fat or average depending on the film role his ability in this regard is second only to Robert deNiro of raging Bull and Cape fear physique abilities.

Travolta wil never be out of work while he is able to mold himself into his characters. The charcter of Tony would not have been believeable in this film in any shape other than the one depicted by John Travolta in this film. he got it spot on --- in appearance, line delivery and overall feeling!

7/10

Hong Kong Phooey (1974–1975)

Everybody's super-guy

[12 November 1999]

It's funny how as a kid you watch some programs on Saturday morning and don't realise how quickly they are repeated. I was amazed to discover HKP only existed for 16 episodes. It felt like I grew up watching him for years.

I absolutely loved this show, more than Flintstones, more than Jetsons, even more than Birdman and that's saying something.

They just don't make funny harmless cartoons for kids anymore (and I should know, I'm the self appointed censor against the drivell that is on TV for my kids these days .... Pokemon? Poke Off I say!) and that's a shame because being a kid should be about growth and fun, not violence and fierce competition. Plenty of time for those life lessons once childhood is behind you

The Punisher (1989)

Adapted a lot for the big screen

[9 October 1999]

This movie was one of the first Warner Bros films made in Australia and edited and partly shot at Warner Bros Movie World on the Gold Coast. Dolph Lundgren was perfectly cast in the role although the pencilled 5 O'clock shadow took a little getting used to!

It was true to the character in most respects but for the sake of budget they changed his origins from ex-military (which would have involved more expensive flashback scenes) to ex-cop thereby making Louis Gossett Jr's role more of a kindred spirit to the man he is pursuing.

Punisher is a loner and he has a sour taste in his mouth about the way the world is .....the criminals are more viscious than ever and the law seems weaker than ever! Frank Castle is different, he lives by his own code and others die by it!

It had an R rating here in Australia and deserved it very muvch so!! The bloodletting element was extreme but then Punisher is not the sort to sprout speeches to bad guys and hand them over to Commissioner Gordon is he?

The movie deserved to do better at the box office than it did but I won't be pining. I've bought the video and Frank and I go to work together in the comfort of my living room often.

Punisher rules, because there is no justice from fools!

Superman II (1980)

Lex Luthor, Ruler of Australia

[9 October 1999]

Being Australian, I thought Lex's beachfront property dream was wonderful in fact I'm tempted to vote for him as our first president when we become a Republic very soon!

This movie follows on beautifully from the first and viewed back to back it's like one long epic. The 3 villains who were wasted in their short roles in movie I are back with a vengeance and that is what's on their minds. As a kid I thought the effects were fabulous but as an adult I can pick the cost cutting and wonder what the actual budget of the film was.

The characters are again spot on but I felt that Jimmy was sorely under used.

The most interseting thing I notice about this film is what's known in the industry as "Product Placement". When Superman battles the 3 Kryptonian criminals in Metropolis we see more flagrant advertising than has ever been seen in a film since (and yes that includes the fights in front of Pepsi machines in 'Total Recall').

Coke a cola, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Malboro cigarettes and JVC all get a pretty good plug during the fight scene, in fact Coke got the most obvious one of all with Superman hurtling a foe straight at a sign that fills the viewer's screen!

Adverts aside this battle was riveting and I couldn't help but see the inspiration drawn from it for the Comic book adventures of Superman's battle to the death with Doomsday (look especially for a shot of doomsday punched up from street level right through a building - it's identical to Non's fate!).

They should have stopped the series with this one because you should always leave them wanting for more! I'd rather wish for another great sequel and not get it than sit through a poor one made just for coattail riding exploitation from the producers (by that I mean Superman 3 and 4 and throw in Supergirl for good measure!).

A few cheap effects and poor editing let it down compared to the original (the quick shot of REEVE's sweaty armpit as he raises Zod above his head was a BAAAAAD editing SNAFU!!!) and did they just pull some guy off the street to be Hackman's stuntman for the flying scenes or what?

All of this aside I give it 7.5/10

DragonHeart (1996)

Ja Ja wasn't first !!!!!!!

[8 October 1999]

George Lucas was recently quoted as saying how proud he was of the character of Ja Ja Binks in the Phantom Menace as the FIRST fully realised digital character........ Well sorry George but you were not the first to direct one. Try Buzz and Woody in Toy Story or Draco in this masterful movie.

You can put what I know about knights and dragons on the back of a postage stamp and still have enough room for the glue to stick to the envelope but that didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying this fanatsy tale (or is that tail in Draco's case?).

Sean Connery is perfect as Draco, he isn't just the voice of Draco but the whole character as the CGI artists went to great lengths to ensure that Draco's face mimicked Connery's facial expressions perfectly, which they did it was magnificent to watch and my eyes were glued to the scene whenever Draco had something to say. Dennis Quaid was great also finally rewarded with the best role offered to him since "Enemy Mine".

My only complaint was with the casting was David thewlis as King EINON. A villain must, to be truly loathsome, have nothing with which the audience can sympathise. A whining mummy's boy with a crown is not a fitting villain against such strong heroes as the galant night and dragon.

They way they went from town to town conning people with the dragon slaying spectacle was a riot especially the village with a river too shallow to make a swim to freedom within.

The sacrifice of Draco was very noble and had similarities to Spock's "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" sacrifice in Star Trek Wrath of Khan.

I don't know if their are better dragon movies about but I don't care. This movie doesn't deserve comparisons. As a stand alone flick, it's brilliant saying everything it wants to without needless filler scenes.

9/10 (a stronger villain would have secured 10/10)

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Loose Threads Left Hanging

[6 October 1999]

Generations was a great Trek movie (they all are!) but it was a bit loose in the plot department. Its continuity with stories that had gone before it in Trek history were only just barely able to be contained within Trek standards of story telling.

The events of the next Gen crew occur in 2371 (Geodie refers to Farpoint mission circa 2364 as 7 years ago) and the events of the Enterprise B occurred 78 yr prior to this being 2293. Scotty is still in his original timeline in this film and yet he was in a sixth season episode "Relics" set in 2369 which had him trapped in a transporter for 75 years. This puts his transporter accident as happening in 2294 which JUST allows his appearance in this film to squeeze by unchecked.

In 2370, 7th season TNG Lursa discovers that she is pregnant with child yet by Generations not only is she not pregnant nor holding a klingon infant, there's no mention of her son ....period. Surely ONE throw away line would have been nice for continuity's sake (it's not like the film was the final entry in Trek's captain's log is it?)

Data's emotion chip had been mentioned several times over the 7 seasons of TNG but why does it appear here as a different size and shape from its last appearance (only 14 months prior) in Descent part 2?

Picard's family died in a house fire? Aren't smoke detectors manadatory today? I know Robert was old fashioned but refusing to install them proved to be a fatal mistake. Additionally Picard didn't feel he had to add to the family line because Robert had Rene. ..... excuse me but if rene survived and grew up gay wouldn't it STILL be up to Jean-Luc to pull the loins out of stasis for one more away mission?

And Kirk, didn't he say he knew he'd die alone? Why did he look at Picard and say "Oh my!" then? It was a cheap way to hand over the torch to have one captain die in front of the other.

On the other hand he lived on the bridge and he died on the bridge (or did he die with the bridge on him?).

And as for the many sex changes of SPOT the cat ....don't even get me started!!!

Additionally can anyone tell me why Whoopi Goldberg's name is not in the credits on film? It's not like she had a surprise cameo, she was in the trailers for god's sake!! She also had a fair ammount of dialogue in her scenes as well.

On the plus side Data's emotions were funny and the saucer crash was excellent! Don't get me wrong I loved the movie it's just if I can spot the mistakes as a viewer how come proffessional screenwriters with 5 to 7 year histories on the show didn't?

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)

An eerie prophecy indeed !!!!

[6 October 1999]

For this movie to portray a demon stalking the LEE sons including Brandon was scary indeed. When I first saw this movie at the drive in Brandon Lee's death was just making headlines here in Australia. To see that his father thought that Brandon would meet his demon if he did not conquer it first was truly eerie. It is sad that 2 fine men should both have died at such young ages through misadventure.

May the legacy of the Lee family live forever. A powerful docu-movie if ever I saw one. More powerful than Once were Kings!!!

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

Jurassic Park part 2 would have been a better Title

[26 September 1999]

Some reviewers of this movie were expecting a movie adaption of Michael Crichton's second dinosaur novel and they were disappointed! The screenplay to 80% of the Lost World movie actually comes from his first novel now including all of the scenes that they wanted in the first one but couldn't fit in due to the length of the film.

The proof of this theorum is the following scenes are all depicted in the first novel:

1. Opening scene of young girl feeding a Compsognathus (compy) in the grass and being bitten.

2. Sarah HARDING's character being an expert in carnivores

3. Stegosaurs with offspring

4. T-rex hunted down and shot with tranquilizer dart by Roland Tembo (in 1st JP novel, Muldoon hunted down rex in this manner).

5. Dieter slides down hill to be pecked to death by group of Compies (in 1st JP novel Hammond met his demise this way!).

6. When group of people run from T-rex into waterfall it sticks its head in and licks one eerily with it's tongue.

7. Pteradons appear at the end of the film (they were involved in an aerial attack in first JP novel and this almost became a complete scene with them in this movie but was cut in favour of the "Rex does Godzilla" scene late into production).

I personally loved this movie because it included those scenes that I wished were in the first film but didn't appear.

This film is Jurassic park part 2 the same way Superman 2 flows into Superman the movie.

Well done Spielberg, can't wait for the third in the trilogy.

PS The other thing I like about both of the JP movies is that not one dinosaur is killed by a human in either film, thereby not reducing the dinos to the role of simple monsters.

9/10.

The Cable Guy (1996)

Loved it!!!

[26 September 1999]

When this movie came on my cable channel (of all things!) I watched it having let time be kind to it. It had been a long time since it flopped at the box office here so I gave it a go!

Boy did I laugh my head off. I am always looking to expand my home theatre system and when I saw Chip's gift to matthew Broderick I was in heaven. ....... and the scene in knight suits where Carrey is singing the battle music of Star Trek's "Amok Time" episode just had me in stitches.

Well done Carrey! I actually thought the humour of "The Mask" was forced and this was a more natural role for Jim Carrey.

8/10

Toy Story (1995)

Not to be missed!!!!

[26 September 1999]

This is probably the best effort Disney has ever put into a movie and it shows!

The animation can not be faulted (I even noticed reflections in polished wood tables when the toys walk across them!) the attention to detail in this digital world was brilliant.

The characters were hilarious and I still laugh in all the same places after multiple viewings. It's a movie about friendship and doing the right thing after you make a mistake. A valuable lesson for young children.

The jokes for adults are spot on aswell such as the quick "Blink and you'll miss it" scene where Mr Potatohead mocks another toy by taking his mouth off and patting his rear end with it. The word "A##kisser!" immediately came to mind and I laughed for ages at that alone! It was also subtle enough for young children watching to miss it altogether which shows how cleverly this movie was put together.

Can't wait for the sequel!

10/10 even better than Bug's Life (another Disney / Pixar collaboration) and that's high praise indeed!

Godzilla (I) (1998)

So it wasn't Cassablanca!!!!!

[20 September 1999]

A lot of people are saying that they were dissappointed with Godzilla but come on people .... this movie is a remake of a LOW BUDGET japanese film involving a guy in a rubber suit stomping on cardboard buildings.

NO remake is going to escape beyond those beginnings. Why do people love the original? Because it's so bad it's actually entertaining....and so is this remake.

Sure the dialogue is laughable but why not just laugh then?

I admit the sub-story of little godzilla's in Madison Square Gardens was a bit off but it only occuppies 15 minutes of the film. The visual effects are acceptable if not superb and the sound editing is spot on.

Never could understand why hollywood gets a winner with destructive asteroids but gets losers out of reptile movies ,,,,go figure!

Forrest Gump (1994)

A movie about what life is REALLY about!

[20 September 1999]

Forrest Gump holds a special place in my heart. My son is intellectually disabled and I hope his life will be a full as Forrest's (without going to war though....pass on that one!).

The characters are all spot on. What young man hasn't been secretly in love with a "Jenny" who spurned his love when it wasn't convenient but needed it when the frivolous part of her life was over. The pop singer Prince once had a line in a song "Life is just a party and parties weren't meant to last!".

From the passing of Forrest's mother to Bubba to Jenny Forrest outlived them all and was somehow a better person, a more complete human being for the experience.

10/10 for a movie with heart.

PS The gunfire and napalm scenes in the jungle were brilliant!

Planet of the Apes (1968)

As true today as when first released!

[17 September 1999]

My first introduction to the Planet of the Apes saga was as a small child watching the 1973 TV series. It was only years later when I viewed the movies on television (shown in random order to make the story more confusing no less!) that I came to appreciate that the first film was worthy of all of the accolades poured onto it, and also some accolades and Oscars that it didn't receive.

The comments on man of the 20th century made by Charleton "Bright Eyes" HESTON at the start of the film strike just the right chord of where we went wrong "Does he still wage war with his brother?" .... unfortunately he does!

The subject of heresay and doctrine is challenged in a very intelligent manner befitting the best court room drama motion picture of that era, but alas the monkey make-up would unfortunately stop some movie buffs from viewing this scene because of the film title. Indeed the trial scene would have been lauded by the general audience in another film of the same material, where the actors all represent humans instead of apes.

The strength of this movie is that TAYLOR is a 20th century man, an astronaught no less who is educated and articulate. We see the apes' world through his eyes and we can all understand the pacing and plot in the same "real time" that he does. We, the audience don't understand why this world exists until the last frame because that's when TAYLOR understands it all (no, I don't believe in spoiling it, the film is more of a masterpiece when viewed as directed - giving nothing away).

The latter films were a terrible joke (an unfunny one to be sure) with the characters reduced to A: Mutants (Too silly to contemplate!) or B: The apes themselves! In the first movie man was a threat to the apes because of his intelligence not because he had guns or neuclear arms! The latter movies became stupid gunplay tales with smaller and smaller doses of morality in each movie.

2001: A Space Oddessy was a classic with a forgettable sequel, so is the Original Planet of the Apes! Watch this movie as a one off and forget that they even made a sequel at all!

10/10.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994)

"I'm sensing something!" - Troi

[12 September 1999]

I agree with the common concensus that TNG improved markedly on its first 2 seasons, what nobody seems to know is WHY were the first 2 lame compared to the high quality that followed.

Well, guess what? I think I do: Character development! The writers didn't know which ones to follow and which to discard.

Denise Crosby shared a magic scene with Data in "The Naked Now" h, you KNOW the one :-)] yet after this episode her characterisation was virtually untouched to the point where she said to the producers "Show me the door!"....of course all doors in star trek are revolving doors and she reappeared later but only when the writing had picked up to the point of the excellent "Yesterday's Enterprise".

By contrast in early seasons, TROI's telepathic / empathic skills had her sensing everything except the audience's yawns during her forced dialogue. It was only when the writers made her a THINKING counsellor with emotions and a touch of humour that she began to grow on the audience. It's no co-incidence that she started to "Sense" a heck of a lot less as the series progressed. They even got the others to call her Deanna instead of just "Troi" - case in point, the ep. "Skin of Evil". She's hurt, they don't know if they can get her to safety from Armus and not one concerned crewmember can be compassionate enough to call her by her first name? I personally am a big Deanna fan but only of the episodes where someone noticed that Marina Sirtis actually was an actress and gave her a script worthy of her talent.

And now the taboo subject that everyone wanted to know ...... why was the character of Wesley ever conceived ( Come to think of it, why was the annoying man-child Wil WHEATON ever conceived? )?

The character of Wesley was a clever way to sell the show to young boys who probably couldn't relate to the maturity of the male lead roles like Picard and Riker. Here was a teenage boy who was soooooo intelligent that he got to outsmart the adults and save the ship, what teenage boy watching Trek hasn't imagined that one? So you see Wesley annoyed adult viewers (such as myself) on purpose because he was never there for us to appreciate, he was a marketing tool for children, like George Lucas' stupid ewoks in Return of the Jedi.

I confess to having ONE Wesley scene that I actually liked - in Datalore he's going off at the Senior staff for not recognising Lore as Data and he's told "Shut up Wesley!" by Picard AND his own mother!

The screen time given to these 2 poorly written characters delayed the characterization process of other characters over the first 2 seasons and this is why we weren't quite as in love with the show from day 1.

Some people thought the ferengi were wasted as villians, but gosh darn it, I like them. DS9 showed that they could be put to better use than TNG did at first. TNG realised that they were the perfect race to trade information for profit and utilised them much more effectively in episodes such as "Unification" and "Chain of Command". Also the klingons weren't particularly complex when they first appeared in TOS. It took a little while to work out how to use them too. So don't dismiss the Ferengi and give the little guys a chance!!!

This show always made me think, it sometimes pricked my conscience, it sometimes made me laugh and it even made me cry once (Worf's scene in "Ethics") you couldn't ask for more!