bottledwater2002 Reviews

Walking Tall (2004)

Delivers as expected

[7/10 · 18 April 2004]

I saw Walking Tall and found it predictable but enjoyable. I went in not expecting to have my consciousness expanded, I mean the movie stars a Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Knoxville. There was the bad guy, his dumb muscle, the hero, his sidekick, and a lot of kicking butt.

I saw things which were not too believable, but I learned long ago to ignore certain things and just enjoy the movie.

Fifteen years from now if THE ROCK is doing excellent drama with subtle nuances in his characters I think everyone will be a bit surprised. This is definitely not that. Dwayne Johnson turns in the performance you expect, the film moves as you expect, and just as you expect the highlights are when things get smashed, broken, cut up, or shot.

Out Cold (2001)

Delivers what you expect

[6/10 · 14 March 2004]

In the tradition of raunchy ski movies of the past Out Cold hits on all the classic cliches with a no attempt at innovation, but what do you really expect? Kubrick never made ski movies. I wonder if he had the sense of humor for it. The ironic dark humor of Dr Strangelove would not be appropriate for the genre. The requisite dick and fart jokes are more Kevin Smith's area, and even he has grown beyond that.

The key things required are a wacky race on snow, menacing authority figures, inept authority figures, hot chicks, booze and drugs humor, and an anti-hero who delivers in the end. All of these elements arrive on schedule, as I said not innovative, just fun.

If you are in the mood for the Pianist, watch Adrien Brody. If you are in the mood for goofy good times you could do worse than picking Out Cold.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Why?

[1/10 · 28 July 2002]

This abysmal film seemed nothing more than an excuse to link stunts and flex SFX muscles. John Woo should stick to war movies. The intrigue of the first Mission Impossible was completely ignored. The worst botching of a sequel since Highland 2. 1/10

SLC Punk! (1998)

My FAVORITE MOVIE!

[10/10 · 20 July 2002]

SLC Punk is my favorite movie. I missed it in the theater, but bought it on VHS as soon as it came out and after I made the jump to DVD and had worn out the tape, I picked up the disc. Matthew Lillard is one of the few actors who can get me to a screen just because he's in something, and this is his finest work. I enjoy the fresh dialog, often delivered as asides, (I've always enjoyed asides) and the subtle jokes paying homage to John Hughes, Spinal Tap etc. The entire film is essentially Stevo(Lillard) building a case, attourney style, for himself to grow up and abandon his old beliefs, which he slowly realizes are no longer his.