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Reviews
Spanglish (2004)
Good Movie
Spanglish is the story of a Mexican single mom who begins working for an incredibly successful chef and restaurant owner, and is emotionally unstable wife, and their two kids. As the wife learns through her many mistakes what really is important in life, her husband deals with the struggle of keeping his restaurant full of heart while dealing with the popularity that comes with a 4 star rating, does his best to raise his kids the right way, and tries to overcome his anxieties and stand up to his train-wreck wife.
While the story-line and script may be mediocre, what amazes me about this film is how the relationships between the characters are developed: Flor, the housekeeper seems to bring out different, yet positive sides of every family member, which was shone superbly through the acting of all the leads. I was especially impressed by Sandler, who, it turns out, does just fine in a heavier role. The way Sandler and Vega portrayed their character's connection, even through the language barrier was just beautiful.
7/10 stars. Good acting.
Brave New Girl (2004)
Incredibly Insulting
Wow. I am really really disgusted at this movie. Not only is it so tacky, unoriginal, poorly acted, poorly directed, and over-advertised, it also teaches little girls everywhere that they can go up on stage and sing tacky out-of-date pop songs, send in a tape and get into a CLASSICAL music conservatory among some of the worlds finest and most hard-working musicians. The people that get into those conservatories work their ASSES off trying to perfect their style, and especially in the vocal category, it takes even more hard work and dedication. It is even more insulting later on to see her sitting there not even able to read music. READING MUSIC IS A NECESSITY WHEN YOU WANT TO BE A MUSICIAN!!! period. End of story. You cannot expect to be a music major without being able to read music. If you can sing your favorite pop song after listening to it 20 times over again, somewhat in tune, this does not mean you are talented. It does not mean you belong in a music conservatory. It doesn't even mean you belong in choir. It means you should try out your local karaoke bar. Its enough of a problem to have these blonde bimbos making HIGH-SCHOOL choirs sound like crap, but to put out a movie like this encouraging them that they can major in music with such mediocre abilities is degrating, and insulting to anyone who's worked hard at what they do. This is not a brave new girl, this is a talentless idiot who belongs in beauty school across the street from the music conservatory. I really wish I could sue someone over this, it makes me that mad.
I give this 0 stars out of 10. Don't even see it. Don't support such insulting behavior.
Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story (2003)
Stupid
Poorly directed. Poorly acted. Cheesy storyline. Cheesy soundtrack. Nothing really worth while in this movie. I respect Liz Murray a lot for what she did, and this movie just didn't do her any justice whatsoever. They made it seem like getting into harvard was just something anyone can do, and I think Liz Murray deserves a little more credit than this for her hard work. I did enjoy the portrayal of Liz Murray's father. He brought a certain lovability to such a messed up person. He made it believable that Liz would have respect for this man. Other than that, the acting didn't impress me at all.
I give it 2/10 stars. Sorry guys. Just didn't see anything I really liked in this movie.
Against the Ropes (2004)
Don't waste you time
Its been a long time since I've seen a movie THIS unoriginal. Its the same old tacky sports-hero storyline. Athlete discovers sport of choice in early child hood. Athlete is directed away from sport, being told that they'd never make it. Athlete grows up, and is still determined to pursue sport of choice. Athlete finds a friend and mentor to guide them along the way. Athlete has moment of dissapointment, but in the end, Athlete wins, and proves everyone wrong. The only difference between this movie and all of those other tacky sports-hero movies, is that this one is about a MANAGER, not an actual athlete. Meg Ryan portrays a boxing manager's secretary. After a bet, Ryan buys a boxer for one dollar, and later becomes one of the first successful female managers in the history of boxing. Of course, this is based on a true story, like all cheesy sports flicks are. The only worth while thing in this movie is Meg Ryan's performance. Its so refreshing to see a real talent like Meg Ryan take on a role that actually has substance, unlike most of her romantic comedy roles.
I give it 2/10 stars. Now I know why our blockbuster only had three copies.
Trapped (2002)
Entertaining but not memorable
Trapped is about a couple who has had their daughter kidnapped for ransom, by a team of kidnappers who apparently have done it 4 times successfully without hurting a child.
Nothing in this movie really made it seem too different from the heavily populated pool of thrillers about kidnappings. None of the performances really stuck out, the music wasn't really terrific, the storyline wasn't terribly creative. It did however keep me watching the entire way through, which is more than I can say for a lot of thrillers like this.
Rent it. It's good on a rainy day when your looking to kill a few hours. 6/10 stars
Phone Booth (2002)
Loved It (possible spoilers)
How is it that a two hour movie that's one and only scene is in a phone booth can have audience members entranced? I'm not really sure, all I know is that it got me. Phone Booth is about a successful publicist named Stu who walks into a phone booth to call the woman he's contemplating having an affair with, and as soon as he hangs up the phone, receives a phone call from a sniper threatening to kill him if he puts down the phone.
At first glance, you think this movie is all about Stu, how he is in distress, and how he chooses to handle this deadly situation. But really, the whole thing is about the killer. Its about a guy who watches this man day after day, committing sin on top of sin on top of sin, and being baffled that the guy doesn't even know he's doing anything wrong. Finally he decides that he has to take drastic measures. He's going to give him the scare of his life, in hopes that he'll repent. Now that I think about it, its very similar to the killer in Se7en. It kind of makes you wonder who's the bad guy. Is it the guy who for a few hours points a gun in a man's face in order to make him not only realize but confess that he is NOT perfect, but has done wrong? Or is it the man who has spent day after day after day hurting the people he loves with his selfishness and greed, and is ignorant enough to think himself innocent?
I loved this movie. I give it 8/10 stars.
The Village (2004)
I like it, I think
I just don't know what to think of this movie. It was good, I guess. M. Night Shamalan once again came up with a really creative idea, and I loved that part of it. There was also some great acting, which was a plus. In the end it has a really great message, which is another good aspect. On a normal day, I would recommend it to anyone.
However, I didn't go into this movie to see a moving, beautiful and meaningful masterpiece, I went in to get scared. And I guess in that aspect, I was incredibly disappointed. Go see it. Its good. You'll like it.
Just don't go in expecting a pee in your pants suspense movie, cause thats not what this is.
All in all, I give it a 6/10 stars.
Cold Mountain (2003)
Ummm, can't think of a one line summary. Sorry.
I didn't go into cold mountain expecting very much. I heard from a lot of people it wasn't good, that it was boring, and unoriginal. And they weren't totally wrong, however there were a few things that saved this movie from having a horrible rating for me. Renee Zellweger kicked ass. I always liked Zellweger, but I never thought she was very versatile. To me she just always seemed to play the same kind of character. Until Cold Mountain. She was just so in your face, and over the top, and all together it was just an outstanding performance. I don't remember whether she got best supporting actress or not, but if she didn't, she was robbed. By far the best I've seen her perform.
Also very impressed by the soundtrack. Now, don't go out and buy the soundtrack because you think your going to be listening to some good tunes. Its mainly bluegrass, and I don't know a whole lot of people who listen to bluegrass in their spare time. But the way they worked it into the storyline was really subtle, and really completed the whole southern-romance kind of a mood. The storyline was a little slow, the battle scenes were kind of boring, and, I can't believe I'm going to say it, Nicole Kidman just wasn't a good choice for this one. Just wasn't impressed by her performance at all.
All in all, I'd give this movie a 6/10. Was worth seeing, just not that memorable.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Disappointing
Sooooooooooooooooo not impressed. This doesn't even go under my great "so stupid its funny movies." I wouldn't even consider it good for a cheap laugh. Its just not worth the hour and a half it takes to get through it all.
Normally this is where I give a brief summary of the storyline. Unfortunately, this movie had NOOOOOO storyline, making this quite impossible. This movie was basically just watching Napoleon walk around doing ordinary things. He had an occasional conflict, but there was no rising action or climax or suspense in any way shape or form.
Now, don't get me wrong, I laughed along with everyone else. Everyone in it was just hilarious. The performances were phenomenal, and Napoleon, (sorry, forgot the actor's name) has set up a great character. However you can only take watching a guy walk around, eat his food, go to school, talk to his friends, make a phone call, go shopping, for so long! I don't think I've ever sat through a short movie like that (only an hour and a half) that felt SOOO long in my entire life. My advice? Don't waste your money.
I give it 3/10 stars. One for Napoleon, one for the hispanic dude, and one for that girl that sells the key chains.
Along Came Polly (2004)
Not as cute as expected
Along Came Polly is the story of an Insurance Salesman, (Ben Stiller), who has caught his wife cheating on him with a scuba instructor on their honeymoon. He Returns home alone, and is taken by surprise when he meets up with Polly, an old classmate at a party (Jennifer Aniston). As the movie progresses, Ben Stiller realizes that to pursue a relationship with Polly he's going to have to abandon his safe, familiar life-style.
This movie had great potential to be a cute romantic comedy a bunch of giggly girls on a rainy day would enjoy, and not much else, however the casting someone ruined its cuteness. A much greater contrast between Messing's character Lisa and Aniston's character Polly is needed for this movie to be a success. Aniston did an OK job of portraying an off the wall new-yorker, but she was still a little TOO believable. I think to pull off the effect they were going for in this movie it has to be evident right off the bat the Polly is COMPLETELY wrong for stiller. Even sloppier costumes would help. Polly's differences from lisa should be what attracts stiller to aniston, and to me there just wasn't enough difference between Lisa and Polly.