Reviews
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Forget the hype. Please, please forget the hype!
*No spoilers below. I swear*
Well I was one of the lucky people to check this movie out opening day and have been thinking about how I'm going to write this up. Now I will.
While not nearly as good as any of the original trilogy (TPM is just a hair below ROTJ) it is still very good. I hate how the critics are tearing this movie up. First on the chopping block is Jar Jar Binks who is voiced by Ahmed Best. Now while I call this kind of character a Blue Monkey (after the horrible monkey sidekick in 1998's LOST IN SPACE movie) I found myself kind of liking the guy. He does get annoying and is overplayed but I thought about how I looked at R2-D2, C3PO, and Chewbacca the first time I saw and heard them.
Next up is Jake Lloyd. I found him unbearable in HOME ALONE 3 but in THE PHANTOM MENACE I thought he was good for being a child actor. He was well cast.
A few of my favorite things about this film (without getting into spoilers) are how well Liam and Ewan did with their characters. I have liked these actors for quite some time. The beautiful Natalie Portman did well in both her roles. She, along with Reese Witherspoon and Christiana Ricci are going to lead the way for young female roles in Hollywood very soon.
Overview: Go into EPISODE 1 with a clear, spoiler less mind that is not touched too much by the hype TV has created (no TV spots, just all news reports) and you will come out of it having a fun time and a great way to use 130 minutes.
***1/2 out of ****
The Rugrats Movie (1998)
Yet another TV series movie gone to waste
I actually kind of like the RUGRATS TV series. It's a perfect movie to watch with the kids that both of us like. So of course seeing the current RUGRATS MOVIE was a no-brainer.
No the movie is a no-brainer.
This film's 85 minute length feels like forever. They've taken the funny dialogue of the babies and changed them into a slew of "poo" and "pee" jokes.
SAMPLE SCENE: A group of babies at a hospital urinate into the air, which goes through light which creates a rainbow.
Now do you really want your children to see this movie?
It's not a total waste. A handful of jokes work and having David Spade voice a Park Ranger are major pluses. But they still can't help this movie which joins LOST IN SPACE and THE AVENGERS of good TV shows gone bad at the multiplex.
What Dreams May Come (1998)
Amazingly great film
Robin Williams stars in what seems to be the year's most over-looked amazingly wonderful film.
Williams stars as a doctor who has recently died and is taken to his own personal heaven. The only thing that is missing is his beautiful loving wife. The wife commits suicide and is sent to Hell.
So Williams must travel to Hell to find her because he believes she is his soul mate.
This movie is this year's "CONTACT". It's perfect in every shape and form but won't be nominated for anything except visuals. This is very sad because this is a perfect film.
Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., the writing, the visuals, the sound, and production design are all perfect. It is the only film to make me cry since FORREST GUMP.
BE WARNED: This film is very sad and sometimes extremly scary. Don't go in on a happy mood.