Lawrence-20 Reviews

Miami Vice (2006)

Not so hot

[5/10 · 8 August 2006]

I had high hopes for this. They showed the pilot a couple of weeks ago on network TV, it hasn't aged much surprisingly. It is a very powerful effort. Most of why that was great are the same reasons this 2006 version is not. Mostly Crockett is not explained, there is no back story, there is no effort made to care about any of the characters. I was really disappointed by this, I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters to the point I would overlook blown scenes or lines delivered half ass.

That being said, I am glad I saw it. The last 30 minutes or so are what you might expect from Mann, very real action.

But walking away I felt a little taken for granted, like Mann spent the effort on the wrong thing. Crocket was a failure, college football player, couldn't be pro. Failed marriage drank too much. Generally was scared of doing his job. 2006 Crockett was a mumbling guy that said little, we have not reason to care about him.

The nightlife scenes looked staged and fake to me. Also Gong Li's accent was almost impossible to understand and her uttering some of those lines was a bad joke.

Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)

Red, White and Brown maybe...

[14 July 2003]

OK, the first one was all right and the wife asked me to go so ok, things could be worse...WRONG. This movie stank, big time. This and dreamcatcher are the only two movies I actually almmost walked out on. And Bob Newhart, what a poor milestone in his career, he's surely ashamed of himself for contributing to this nonsense. I am boycotting future Reese films as well as that Wilson character. I do not have anything good to say about this movie except wardrobe...that is ALL. Avoid this movie at all costs.

Dreamcatcher (2003)

Terrible Film

[1/10 · 24 March 2003]

This was one of the worste movies I have ever seen. Even as a cult film, this is almost unwatchable...it is THAT BAD. I actually enjoy seeing bad films from time to time, but this...no way. This is beyond bad. This is the closest I have come to leaving a movie before it's over. The film is every bit as bad as you have read, probably worse. There is actually nothing good to say about it. I do not know what the studio is thinking investing in this pile. The trailer made it look like a spooky native american folk lore type of thing...kind of creepy. Instead it is all camp and circus gore. The story is not even worth describing it is so fragmented. Again, stay away, nothing good about this one. Some films are so bad they are good. This one is way worse. My eyes were bleeding after.

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Why did they bother?

[5/10 · 7 December 2001]

Watching this garbage was a complete waste of time. I had pretty high hopes with Tim Burton directing, but he spent way too much (time and money) on the dumb things: makeup, effects and not enough time on the important things: story, character development. It makes me wonder why they bothered to make this crap. Answer: money, the movie is rediculous and has no value add to the original. Sure the apes look more real, but their dialog is rediculous and a huge missed opportunity to even make the apes scary: something that shouldn't be too hard.

I hold Burton responsible for this blunder and I'll never see another movie he makes in the theatre again, he's violated my trust by churning out this crap. He should be embarrassed and retire.

Oh well, at least I have the original on DVD.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Good Movie, could have been better

[7/10 · 6 July 2001]

Jude Law steals most scenes, that's a good thing. The first 1/3 of the film is great, however the parents performance seemed a little awkward, they weren't that great. The kid was ok, but his laughing scene was a little over the top for my taste. The end stunk and the film should have been 30 minutes shorter, there were a few things in the last half that could have been cut out. The story was a little contrived, too obvious parallels between pinochio and the wizard of oz. A strong film that makes you think, it just takes too long to do it. I think they threw in the last hellicopter underwater scene so they can make it a thrill ride at some theme park...totally unecessary.

Bring It On (2000)

A let down

[6/10 · 6 July 2001]

A lot of my friends told me to see this. They said it was hilarious. I didn't enjoy it that much. It's kind of a cheap effort, with silly little jokes that I assume will appeal to the cult audience or the immature. People have to either enjoy the silly jokes or have a pretty low humor bar. If you see this movie with a group of friends, it'll be better. If you want a funny or good teen type of film, see dick or clueless.

Saving Grace (2000)

Funny Movie

[7/10 · 6 July 2001]

I didn't want to rent this as it seemed another gimmicky type of british import. I was surprised by this film. It's funny and warm. Great script and ok acting. It's a movie my mom and grandma would like too. All around a solid piece of work. It is a cute and fun movie. I like it more than waking ned devine, a film some other posts compare it to.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Great Technical Achievement

[8/10 · 6 July 2001]

The first half hour of this movie is incredible. I watch it in awe. But after that the film has to rely on the story and characters...it kind of is a let down. The story is kind of ho hum. I think this file would have been better if it were structured differently. I think starting off so strong only made it more difficult to keep the audience interested in it's characters and story. I think the intent was to grip the audience in the beginning, and that they'd have no choice but to be involved in the story. I didn't find this to be the case. I would give this a 11 out of 10 for the first 30 minutes (it really is the most gut wrenching thing I've ever seen on film) and a 7 out of 10 for the rest of it.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Weird Title, Great Movie

[8/10 · 6 July 2001]

This movie is rare in that I can watch it over and over again and still enjoy it. Don't put off seeing this because of the weird title or because you don't like Jennifer Jason Leigh. I only saw it because I realized it was a Cohen film and Tim Robbins was in it. That alone should entice most to see it. I watched it, I was amazed. The pace is brilliant, everything about this film is just plain fun to watch. The scene where the kid finds the hoop, is probably my favorite 3 minutes of film I've ever watched...seriously. Buy this dvd and keep it around for a rainy day.

The Long Day Closes (1992)

This long movie is boring

[6 July 2001]

I was expecting some indie cinematic masterpiece. I was disappointed. My friend and I watched this in awe as scene after scene put us to sleep. There is a shot of a rug in a boring washed out room that just hangs on forever, no panning, no nothing, just a shot of a rug, for about a minute. People will either consider this film a work of art or a waste of time. Me? A waste of time. We did laugh out loud at the pretentiousness of it all though. I use this as an example that all critically acclaimed films that didn't make a lot of money are not, by that definition, great. This one stinks.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Best Film of all time

[10/10 · 6 July 2001]

I can't say enough about this film. It's amazing. The director doesn't cop out by trying to sell the lead character as some infallible hero without flaws. Instead, he digs deep into the character, letting you see him slowly go mad. Very powerful stuff. They do not make them like this anymore. I think this is Lean's best work, better than A Bridge.. Although I usually refrain from giving this a 10 out of 10, since I'd like to think a 10 is unattainable, I gave this a 10 to get it back where it belongs in the list: in the top 3. This is as perfect a film as I can imagine.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Great Film

[9/10 · 4 March 2001]

The complaints I've read about this film here are not valid: too long, subtitles, unrealistic special effects. First, the length. I'm guessing this criticism is mostly because people got "tired" having to "read" through the movie. THese are the same people that ruin foriegn films by convincing studios to dub them with English. If you don't like subtitles, wait for the DVD, don't see the film or learn the language. Of these only learning the language is the truest way to experience the intent of the script. Second, subtitles...see above. Third is the special effects. I've got some advice for people that "laugh" at the flying scenes: stay at home. People seeing this move should just accept the idea that people can fly if trained right. If people can't get over this part of the story, they should just walk out rather than laugh out loud because they don't understand. On the film: it's a great story, great direction, great acting. The desert scene seemed a little long but it was necessary to the story and very enjoyable to watch. As far as the last star wars piece of junk being better than this: uh, whatever. If Michelle Yo doesn't win an oscar for her perfmance it will be the biggest mistake for the Academy, second only to the Titanic sweep a few years back.

Cast Away (2000)

Cast Away over rated

[7/10 · 4 March 2001]

I heard many great things about Hank's performance in this movie. When I watched it, I couldn't help but turn my head at times, not because of grotesque scenes or scenes that were too real. Instead, there were scenes of Hanks getting down on his belly and melodramatically licking water droplets. Come on! Also, the scene where he 4 years later, can harpoon a fish from 20 plus feed out. The camera pans up to him standing there..all stoic..nonesense. I realize that some of this is the directors fault, letting Hanks go too far with some of this stuff. But for the people tauting this as "Hanks for Oscar" etc. ..no way. Also, the last 3rd of the movie lagged and could have editted to half. Not a great film: too long and too many melodramatic scenes. Also, the whale scene was so fake I couldn't take it. With all the modern technology these days, that scene was pathetic. As for the product placement, I didn't find it distracting as it was part of the story, fortunately or not.

Mission to Mars (2000)

Not as bad as everyone says

[6/10 · 29 December 2000]

I skipped seeing this in the theatre because of all the bad press it got. Everyone makes this film sound like a dissaster, a total mistake, a movie that is one of the worst ever made. It is not. It's kind of silly at times and it's not clear whether the director meant for this to be or not, so in that sense it has some weird scenes that make you wonder what the heck the point is. But from start to finish, it's fun to watch. It's not a bad rental.

Unforgiven (1992)

Best Western

[9/10 · 29 December 2000]

I can watch this movie again and again. It is the best western ever made. My favorite part about this movie is the fact that there are no heros. little bill and william munny are very similiar, both have a ruthless streak. The only thing that separates them is the fact that Little Bill happens to be a law man and the fact that Eastwood's character is a step more evil than little bill. Little Bill is more evil than the duke of death and eastwood's character raises it up a notch from there. When he grabs the whiskey bottle, you know that he has just snapped. I can find few flaws with this film and can find something new to appreciate ever time I watch it, although the morality of the kid realizing killing is a bad thing was laid on a little thick. The entire film builds up to the last 10 minutes. During that last 10 minutes you will see the most purely evil, dangerous and frightful cowboy ever put to film. On a scale of one to ten on the evil/dangerous index: duck of death : 6 Little Bill: 8 William Munny: 11

Tango & Cash (1989)

A dumb fun movie

[4/10 · 29 December 2000]

This isn't oscar material for sure but it's so dumb it's fun to watch. If you expect a serious action movie pass on this. But if you want to watch a dumb movie that is so bad it's funny, rent it. It's way over the top with bad writing. If the director's intentions were to make an unbelievable piece of poop movie that can be laughed at for years, they have succeeded here.

The Exorcist (1973)

Scariest Movie Ever

[9/10 · 29 December 2000]

I grew up watching "scary" movies like Friday the 13th, Halloween, the Fog, the Thing, etc. I saw the Exorcist on TV (edited for TV) and had to watch it through the blanket. I have teased others for doing this and it was the only movie that forced me to. I felt scared after I watched it, as if I had seen something I shouldn't have, something evil and sinful. It's the scariest movie of all time, hands down. What makes it scary is how the story is told and the idea that something like this could happen. There have been reports of this kind of thing in the past and there really are priests in the Catholic church that specialize in this sort of thing.

Drowning Mona (2000)

Funny, Funny Movie

[8/10 · 8 August 2000]

I put off on seeing this because I thought it'd be yet another middle aged ladies film along the lines of "hanging up", which by the way, totally sucked. But this movie was fresh, funny and kept me wanting to watch. A spirited and clever dark comedy. The script was first rate and the direction was compelling, lot's of attention to detail. I have no idea what people are talking about when they rip on Casey Affleck, he was really great in this. As for his wife's character not being necessary, she was the whole motivation behind the killing, didn't you guys watch the same movie I did? I really think this film was marketed wrong, it could have been much more successful than it was. There are a lot of criticisms below made by people who obviously didn't get it, it was a comedy folks. These are probably the same people that think This is Spinal Tap is not realistic because drummers never really blow up. Don't make the same mistake I made because Bette Middler is in this...SEE THIS MOVIE, it's funny and entertaining and a lot of hard work went into it. I think it may end up a pseudo cult classic someday. I liked it more than Serial Mom, which is a similar type of clever, black comedy.

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Funny Spoof

[3 July 2000]

This film is a spoof. Those that understand how rediculous some (most) action films are will enjoy watching Carpenter make fun of them with this movie. That's the point of this movie: to mock the action genre. They do a good job, it's very funny. I'm just waiting for the DVD so I can watch it over and over again without the silly VCR version munging the synth music and giving me a crappy experience. Why they don't release this on DVD is beyond me, it's a cult classic, one of my favorites.

Fight Club (1999)

Not THAT great

[8/10 · 20 June 2000]

I cannot believe so many people rated this a 10. I did not think this film was that grotesque. It had a dark mood and a dark message but it isn't that bad in regards to being gross. The fight scenes aren't that gross. The film was great, but not a 10. The film's style, mood, acting and story are all pretty great. Although I felt the narrative was a little accessive at times. The pace is OK, but I actually though if anything more cuts could have been made. All in all, a solid entertaining film, not a '10' but probably an '8'.