cinema-11 Reviews

A History of Violence (2005)

Disappointed

[4/10 · 1 October 2005]

If the directors intention was to illicit an emotional response from me - it worked. He probably did more for infertility than anything else. I'll wager that most people drove straight home after this movie and it wasn't to watch the 11:00 news! I'll also wager that the birth rate goes up in nine months. I'm no prude but the blatant sexual scenes turned me off. I would have been happy had the movie not had the two leads crawling all over each other like a couple of earthworms. I don't care what others think-the two lead actors compromised their values by engaging in a porno flick and I am disappointed that Viggo Mortenson "went down" to this level.(Pun intended)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Mr. and Mrs. Self Centered

[5/10 · 14 June 2005]

I am not a particularly huge fan of Angelina Jolie – I believe she is somewhat typecast as a female "Rambo" although that may not be entirely her decision. This movie bothered me chiefly because of its implied message: that married couples have the right to beat the crap out of each other. It is violent, disrespectful to the sanctity of marriage, and predictable, I yawned throughout the movie. I wonder if it would ever be possible for two big "stars" to make a movie about a relationship that is based on honesty, forgiveness, tolerance, and integrity. That might be asking for too much since both of these actors have little knowledge (IMHO) of how to form a trusting healthy relationship. PerhAps they were the right individuals to be in a movie like this after all.

The Chronicles of Riddick (2004)

This movies should be renamed: The Chronicles of Boredom

[15 June 2004]

My biggest regret on Suday was wasting two and a half hours of my time This movie will (trust me) be cast on the bottom shelf of any major video store within a few weeks. The acting was horrible! What acting?! I could have spent my time watching paint dry or shock my pool than seeing this wasted effort. I have seen better acting and scripts from my daughters high school productions. Everyone should be embarassed by this movvie, including myself for getting caught up in the hype and wasting my time. Why is it that every "Stud" action hero can only speak a few lines of one syllable words with marbels in his mouth? I thought we had outgrown that with Arnold years ago.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

What was that movie about?

[1 June 2004]

My family saw this movie the night it opened at our local theatre. The next day I was trying to remember what movie we had seen...and that sadly tells it all. Dennis Quaid is too good to be in a movie like this, another version (with better computer usage) of the old disaster movies of the seventies. We walked out of the theatre feeling as if we had been at an environmental rally and saw a propoganda movie on global warming. I do believe in global warming caused by fossil emissions, I just don't want to see it done by Hollywood.

Love Actually (2003)

Lust Actually

[15 November 2003]

There were parts to this movie when I wanted to throw up my arms and say "Get Real!" The part with the little boy running past security at Heathrow airport was extreme. However my favorite was the writer and the portugese (sp) housekeeper - that alone was worth the admission price. I loved it.

In the end this movie offers something for everyone to identify with, and I believe it works. There were situations in the movie between people I could not relate to, or understand, yet others where I knew exactly what they were feeling, or trying to convey to the audience. Great acting and British tongue in cheek humor. Not a bad way to end the work week.

A Little Princess (1995)

A beautiful movie! A loving father and a beautiful daughter!

[11 January 2001]

There is a scene in this movie that is so very powerful. Sara is standing on the balcony and is facing the gentleman from India and snow is falling. It strikes me as a moment of redemption and deliverance. The acting is top notch and touching. I think the interaction between Sara and her father is entirely appropriate. Come on! Follow the story and go with it! One can make anything abnormal if they choose to look at it that way! Perhaps the same viewer that finds the relationship inappropriate also views the tornado in The Wizard of Oz as some giant phallic symbol as Dorothy is being tossed and turned in her bedroom! Get real! This movie is great wholesome entertainment!

Mission to Mars (2000)

Major Mission of Disappointment

[14 October 2000]

I agree with most of the viewers that this movie is a colossal bomb. It has great actors but they can't do much with a script that can't decide what direction to take and when it does, moves so slow it would put a meth user to sleep. I can't help but wonder if the actors themselves felt cheated when they saw the finished product, a true stinker.

Dark Shadows (1966–1971)

Angelique- you may be a bitch, but you are hot!

[14 October 2000]

Imagine going to a cemetery with the thought of robbing some 200 year old corpse, only to have an arm come straight out and grab your throat! By today's standards (sadly) this is quite tame. However "Dark Shadows" had some great acting and some very attractive females. Angelique, she was hot! Maggie Evans, not bad! What I can't understand is with everything going on around her, why didn't "Victoria Winters" have a clue that something might be a little dysfunctional in the old house of Collinwood. Hmmm. And, didn't these people ever work? I mean come on! Not

once did I ever hear Barnabas's ask "Willie" to take the Mercedes to Midas for a new muffler. Everyone in Collinsport was pretty much caught up in their own issues of incest, unrequited love,

anemia, cramped sleeping quarters, not one word ever mentioned of

reality such as Vietnam, riots in Detroit. Perhaps that is why we loved "Dark Shadows." It was easier to be afraid of fantasy

than reality in the mid 1960's.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

"Good Eeevening!"

[17 October 1999]

I saw this movie with my thirteen year old daughter. She enjoyed it so much she saw a total of four times! In my opinion this is an Oscar performance by Bruce Willis, I had no idea he was so versatile. I'm not sure if I have a "sixth sense" but as we were leaving the theater I could swear I saw Alfred Hitchcock applauding in approval!

House of Usher (1960)

Take your hand off my sister!

[30 August 1999]

Could it be that Poe was trying to tell us more than just horror? Perhaps he was sharing how strong family secrets can be. How they often die with a family, not matter how hard a 'therapist' or outsider tries to help the members. Alcoholism? Incest? Mental illness? Most of us don't put our siblings in caskets alive (I'll leave that alone) but families certainly will die first before sharing their dirty little secrets with anyone outside the system. Just a thought.

Braveheart (1995)

Great Movie - wonderful acting - poor history, and who should care?

[28 June 1999]

This movie deserved "Best Picture." It is truly one of the best directed and acted pieces of cinema I have ever seen. I've noticed some criticize it's lack of "historical accuracy." What movies today made anywhere, reflect anything in history accurately? And if I may be so bold, at the least, this movie entices viewers to open up their history books and find out "historical accuracies" of William Wallace.Enjoy the movie and it's great acting, beautiful scenery, and keep your history book on your lap if you really need to.

When a Stranger Calls (1979)

This film could have been a masterpiece - but went "thud" in the night.

[5 June 1999]

Like most of the other reviews, the first thirty minutes of this film are tense and frightful. There is a camera closeup of an inanimate object, I think it's a clock and for some reason that scene adds to the anticipation of just who or what is lurking out there or here! (similar to Hitchcock's use of closeups in Psycho) What made this movie go "thud" was when the murderer was so easily beaten up in a bar. Remember he had butchered two children with his own bare hands - I expected more "evil" what I saw was a weak

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The most powerful movie I have ever seen.

[25 May 1999]

My wife, our thirteen year old daughter, and I saw this movie together. I'm not sure this movie is for everyone, but everyone should see it once! Why the hell didn't this movie receive "Best Picture?" The opening sequence of landing on Omaha Beach is unlike ANYTHING I've ever seen. Yes, there is "Titanic", the "Star Wars" series and then there is "Saving Private Ryan." It actually changed me as a person, in a positive way. Something no movie had ever done

The Leech Woman (1960)

A stiff neck, puberty, and the old woman next door.

[24 May 1999]

I remember watching "The Leech Woman" when I was twelve years old. There is something absolutely terrifying about this movie, but yes I agree it isn't Oscar caliber. For a movie made back in 1960 I don't think it's that awful. (Ever mindful that another movie one year later came out called "Psycho") There is something sensual in the way men and women are punctured in the back of the neck and then their blood is consumed by a woman. Or perhaps at twelve my testosterone was starting to make itself known. I vividly remember the very end of the movie with Colleen Gray laying flat on her back looking like some old tattered witch. It terrified me. Know why? Because the old woman that lived next door to us looked very similar! For a long time after seeing this movie I went outside wearing a turtle neck sweater!

Not a great movie but certainly not as bad as others .