HomeTech Reviews

Magic in the Water (1995)

Do You Believe In Magic?

[8/10 · 15 November 2001]

What a great movie!

Saw this on HBO recently (11-15-2001) for the second time and it was wonderful. While not quite as good as "The Boy Who Could Fly", which is in a special class all it's own, I rank this movie right up there.

Sarah Wayne as Ashley Black especially stole our hearts. It is a shame that this is the only movie she has ever done according to IMDB's records. This little girl holds quite a bit of the movie on her own merit. Her smile captivated our entire family; her acting was excellent.

This is a decent, well centered story concerning a family at loss and their rediscovery of themselves in the community they are visiting to "get away". Through the magical help of a rather large friend, the local resident Indian shaman and local lore, miracles can happen.

A reflective, spirited movie ultimately about love and caring about others that lifts the heart and spirit of anybody who watches.

Well worth anybodies time. Two thumbs way up!

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

A very good attempt at the essence of humanity....

[10/10 · 1 July 2001]

Having always been an avid movie enthusiast, I've seen just about every type of story line imaginable rehashed in ways to boggle the mind.

So I am very happy to announce that this isn't one of them, nor is it a film whose intellect rides in the pages of a pulp fiction novel you'd find at your local bookstore. It is in fact a movie very much about what the title may seem, about technologies coming right at us like a freight train. It is a movie about how we would, as human beings, feel and deal with such, and then it becomes a movie of much, much more.

I've not left a movie that had me as thoughtful as this one since Contact was released in 97 with Jodie Foster. That movie had a pronounced affect on the audience each and every time I saw it of both appreciation and quiet meditation.

Perhaps most importantly, already a great fan of Steven Spielberg, my respect for him has risen significantly in the fact he still gave Stanley Kubrick, the man who brought the idea to Steve in the first place, full credit for the project.

And you definitely feel Stanley here. I am glad that this was his "last" movie, instead of Eyes Wide Shut, which is rapidly becoming a classic just due to the fact that Stanley made it. No, A.I. is the film which best brings to the table probably more than any of (except 2001) his others the wonder that Stanley had about humanity itself.

Steven does a wonderful job of directing to an extent I've not had the pleasure of seeing since E.T. and Close Encounters. Always a master of garnering ones emotions, his hand is not slight here.

The movie is over two and a half hours long, but well worth it for the development of characters and ideas, and gives us a totally believable and realistic glimpse of the future in all its awesome possibilities.

The acting of the young boy was, as is becoming expected, excellent. A definite Academy Award nominee for 2002 as I am sure Michael Caine would agree.

Do not miss this movie…it is truly a movie making milestone. I will definitely see it again.

Thanks Steve!