tynera Reviews

Gladiator (1992)

A kick ass boxing movie

[9/10 · 19 February 2002]

What does every action movie need?

A nasty villian that the audience can hate, and a good, tough hero that the audience can love. If these character premises are established and the plot flows, the final confrontation between these two arch-enemies should be breath-taking and keep the audience guessing.

Gladiator does this perfectly. The boxing scenes are gripping, intense and pull the audience out of their seats to cheer for the films two heroes... Tommy Riley and Cuba. The movie has a great soundtrack and a noticeable visual style that stays constant throughout the film.

Horn (the bad guy) played by Brian Dennehy and his sidekick Pappy Jack played by Robert Loggia are a great combination of nastiness. Horn is brutally evil and rules his underground boxing contingent with an iron fist, while Pappy Jack is a sleezy, humorous villian that compliments Horn's seriousness beautifully.

The characters have some depth, but not much. Who needs depth in an action movie anyway? Tommy Riley, Cuba, and Romano's stations in life and their particular choices are explained adequately enough for the audience to sympathize with their situations and want them to kick some serious ass.

Bottomline:

A kick-ass action movie. You will find yourself cheering loudly and rewinding parts because of their sheer intensity and visual, ass-kicking style.

Saving Silverman (2001)

A classic for the Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore types!

[8/10 · 18 February 2002]

If you don't like stupid humor, DON'T see this movie.

If you are a fan of the kick-in-the balls, farty, beer humor this movie is a must see for you.

Saving Silverman stars Jason Biggs as Silverman who has the life that most young, male post high-school Americans do. We are trying to get a little nookie while drinking beer, farting and obsessing over Neil Diamond.

He meets a very controlling woman named Judith who proceeds to take over his life and force him to marry her. His friends try to stop this by kidnapping Judith, and hooking him back up with his old high school sweetheart who is back in town after years in the circus.

The plot thickens when Judith is more than a handful for Silverman's bumbling friends and his high school sweetheart is days away to committing her life to become a nun forever. The toilet humor and ridiculous antics of this movie are absolutely top-notch and make me laugh every single time. The scene where Jack Black talks about his Bunsen burner mayhap in high school is classic.

Bottomline: See this movie if you like stupid humor and you will be won over. If you are the witty, A Fish Called Wands humor type, don't see it, you will hate it.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

The best movie of all time

[10/10 · 18 February 2002]

As a die-hard fantasy fan, I can apreciate the pressure Peter Jackson felt in adapting the greatest story ever told into a full-length feature film. Every move, every scene would be critiqued as no movie had ever been scrutinized before. He told the bull by the horns and ran with it, creating something we fantasy-buffs have not seen since the likes of Legend or Labyrinth... a magnificent, beautiful, intense fantasy film.

Although some characters were taken out from the original book and some scenes were changed slightly, the adaptation is excellent. The visual imagery and the score of the movie captures Tolkien's world as any fan would have imagined it. The make-up and special effects are the product of many years of planning and hard work by Jackson and his crew. The capture the epitomy of good and the eerie darkness of evil.

The story is well-illustrated and easy to follow for everyone. The direction of the action scenes keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Jackson even adds his own touches that made my testerone boil, i.e when Aragorn decapitates the evil Orc.

I can not think of one thing the movie lacked or embellished, and that's amazing considering the devil's advocate I always play on even the best films.

Bottom Line: If you are a dungeon and dragons, sword-in-the-stone, doublet-wearing, Magic playing, fantasy fanatic... GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! If you despise everything about fantasy and hate elves and hobbits and the like.... GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! This movie has something for everyone everywhere and the scenery will bring tears to your eyes.

I salute you Peter, you are a fantasy-freak of the best material and that's exactly what was needed to get fantasy back on track and in the mainstream. The greatest story ever written needs to be heard and you are helping bring back the legend.

As an afterthought, for those of you that are still gloating on no Tom Bombadil, get over it!!! He was a marginal and vague character at best in the book and characters like that are best left on the editing room floor.