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Movie Reviews - S

The Santa Clause: You know, since this movie came out, I can't remember how to actually spell "Santa Clause" is there an "e" on the end or not? Claus? that looks naked. Somebody help me!

Saturday Night Fever: Why do fads have to die?  Disco looked like so much fun.  Of course, I probably would have never gotten into it anyway... wait a second, what the hell am I talking about?  I don't like disco... I don't even like to dance.  So, why should I care? If you like disco, you've probably seen this.  If you don't, never mind.

Saving Pvt. Ryan: Steven Spielberg's latest.  This movie was about what I expected.  All the bare 'grit' of war.  I can't really think of anything too critical to say about this movie... it was quite good. I really liked the camera work, it added a bit more realism and was not overdone like some MTV video.   I especially liked the lack of fiery explosions and the lack of any slow-motion violence sequences.  For some reason, the movie industry seems to think that we can't relate to explosions unless there is a lot of fire involved, even though almost all explosions are really fireless.  Also, Hollywood seems to think that we "get more out of" slow motion sequences.  I think slow-motion totally ruins the reality of a scene (with some exceptions).  Real life is not in slow motion.  Unlike a lot of people, I didn't think this movie was necessarily 'too much' for some younger people (say... kids over ~13 depending on their maturity level... ) I'm sure a lot of people will disagree though, and I can understand why.  It is very graphic, but I don't think it will do permanent harm to anyone's character.   A lot of movies tend to make violence and death overly glamorous and dramatic - I think that's a lot worse than just telling the truth about it. This movie shows what real violence does to people - there's nothing glamorous about it.  A lot of real soldiers get killed in agonizing ways, and luck has more to do with survival than skill.  Who wants to bet their life that they'll be lucky? War does indeed suck.  Maybe people who see this movie will be less inclined to start them. (Oh, I think there was one plot screwup: Pvt. Ryan talks about the last time he was together with his brothers - back on the farm in Iowa.  But, we learned earlier that they were all stationed together, and only split up after a different (and real-life) tragedy happened. )

Say Anything: It was ok, but my life probably isn't any different just because I saw this movie.  I guess that goes for a lot of movies.

Scarface: "Look at the pelicans", I think that was my favorite line from the movie.  It showed how "scarface" was really just an idiot / tough guy.  He was one of those people who eventually destroyed everything that he touched.

School of Rock: On the 8th day, God created Rock! But man was not ready to Rock, and woman would not let him Rock, so Rock remained a secret. But, through a combination of perseverence, luck, and fate, Rock discovered man, and now the two will never be the same... Dude.

Scoop: Woody allen plays a fidgety neurotic wimp along side a glamorous young woman. Sound familiar?

Seabiscuit: Something about this movie seemed "forced", like the actors weren't really into it, and just going through the paces. Sure, it's a great story, but do we really need a movie about "everything"?

Sea of Love: Uh, a good movie I guess.  My favorite scene was when Al Pacino is going out with "everyone in the personals", and this overweight woman sees right through him & calls him on his insincerity.  I liked the ending too - it was obvious in hindsight, but I didn't guess it.

The Secret of My Success: A fun, consistantly entertaining movie. Lots of well-structured writing, wit and well, just good watchable stuff.

The Secret of NIMH: An animated mouse drama.  There's something that I really liked about this movie.  It was almost like an epic or something.

The Secret of Roan Inish: Seriously boring.  I know it was supposed to be some great film or something, but I really couldn't take the drawn out pace. And at the end? she's a seal?  what the hell is that supposed to mean?

See no Evil, Hear no Evil: If you actually can pay attention for this whole movie, you'll find that it's not too bad - it's really ugly to watch for some reason.  I'm not sure exactly why though.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Some people sigh when they're very sad, and others sigh when they're very satisfied. But as I sit here in my one room apartment, typing by candlelight and hiding from the baseball team that would surely like to see me dead, I'm sighing because I just don't know what to say. Violet, Klaus and Sonny were exactly as I had pictured them, so were their adventures, and general look and feel of their world. But, the movie was missing a certain coherence, a word which here means, something to tie all the bits together. It was a great movie to watch, but difficult to appreciate as a complete film. The problem is the books are just too short, and too dijointed - it's difficult to adapt them into one story. What this movie needed was a whole new story, but that would have betrayed the whole point of the books in the first place. So, I sigh, because the movie didn't have a chance in that regard. But, I did like it purely for the asthetic value.

Seven: I never really can get into "lunatic" movies because they always make these people out to be geniuses, when they never really would be. Go see "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" if you want to see a good lunatic movie.

Seven Years in Tibet: I thought this movie was a lot better than the "word on the street" made it out to be.  I actually liked Brad Pitt in it.  I couldn't believe people were upset that he was a nazi... like the movie somehow forgave the nazis or something.  You know, a lot of nazis were really bad people, but most of them were just caught up in the whole thing.  BP's character wasn't even a real supporter of the nazis either, he just wanted to go climb mountains.  If you're upset about that whole angle, then I guess you hated Das Boot too.

Shadow of the Vampire: I kept waiting for the movie to "break open", but it never did. It had a neat 'look', some decent acting, a good premise, but there was just something missing.

The Shaggy Dog (the Tim Allen one): Woof! Aw shucks, I guess it was perfectly watchable and mildly entertaining. They really tried hard to make the events in the movie "believable" - not that the premise is remotely believeable, but little things like the way he has a hard time convincing people he's a dog, and that fact that eventually he does, and it's prior to the climax of the movie.

Shakespeare in Love: Ok, I'll admit it, it was pretty good.  But "picture of the year"? it wasn't THAT good.  I did like how the whole plot was constructed though, how it was all kind of a mirror of the Romeo and Juliet story.  I liked the non-hollywood ending too.

Shallow Hal: Man, what a seriously dumb movie. Absolutely dreadful. If you're able to sit through this, you ARE shallow. It's so full of cliches and horrible dialogue it made me physically ill.
Shanghai Knights: Loads of action fun like only Jackie Chan can muster. Never did see the prequel, and only saw this one by accident.

The Shawshank Redemption: I hope I'm never wrongly convicted of a murder, that would just totally suck (of course, if actually DID it, then it would be OK).  In the end, this movie really was a redemption, everything worked out and stuff.. ya know?

Shine: Believe it or not, the actual person who the movie is based on is 100 times more wacko than the character portrayed in the film.  It was a great movie anyway, really put together well.

The Shining: Almost the only decent Stephen King-based movie.  And he didn't like it!  What a frickin moron.

Short Cuts: Go see this movie - yes it's long, but your life is not that interesting so you have the time to spend.

Shrek: A great movie - very clever. Don't worry if you're not a kid - you'll still laugh when Shrek farts in the mud... and laughing is what it's all about isn't it?

Shrek 2: For some reason, I just didn't laugh so much in this one. Most of the best jokes were repeats of Shrek 1. Still, it was entertaining, and I thought the plot was actually more original & interesting than the plot of Shrek 1.

Shut up and Sing: The Dixie Chicks make the transition from redneck pinups to granola heronies. Three chicks are smarter than one bush.

Siam Sunset: Very unique & splendid. It's got a little bit of everything: a man who is a professional "color mixer", a woman killed by a refridgerator that's fallen out of a plane, a drug dealer, ta our bus rivalry, and the australian outback... what more could you want?

Sid and Nancy: I heard this hilarious song once called "Rex and Sid and Nancy".  It was Rex Reed's audio review of Sid & Nancy over some heavy punk/metal music.  A great song, but I never heard it again.  Rex Reed didn't like the grittiness of the movie and annoying portrayal of Nancy (to put it mildly... he went on and on for 3 minutes about how he hated the movie).  The stuff that Rex hated was exactly what I liked, and what made this a wonderfully tragic movie.  I recently saw a version of S&N with the volume toned down and comments from "people involved in the movie" dubbed in - it was really interesting.

The Siege:The sickest thing about this was the fact that all the people profiled HAD insurance. What about those who don't? While I know it's hard to make a case that an entire system is messed up by looking at case studies, without doing so, the statistics are just numbers. There are people behind the numbers, and they're in this movie.

The Siege: I think this was the Steven Segal movie where he's the cook... If so, it was his best movie (still not very good). If not, then never mind.

Signs: This movie has some of the same problems as Independence Day (see review), which is not a good sign! Apparently, the aliens haven't invented gore-tex. Also, the atmospheric humidity would slowly-burn/corrode thier skin, but they seem unaffected by that... just walking around naked. Bottom line - if they want to get us, we wouldn't stand a chance. Also, why the complicated crop circles? can't they just use radios?

Silver Bullet: Another really stupid Stephen King book that somehow became a movie.  Man this was dumb.  Don't waste your time, go clean your gutters instead.

The Silence of the Lambs: Hey, they're making a sequel to this.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it should be interesting.  It's really hard to make a movie about a serial killer that doesn't just turn into a silly slasher flick in the end.  This is one of the few films which has managed to do it.

A Simple Plan: Nothing's ever that simple.  Billy Bob Thorton does a great "dimwit".  I loved the "what do I get?" scene. I didn't understand why the main character didn't just move to a better, bigger town though.  He could probably get a pretty decent job somewhere and do just fine.  It's not like he didn't want to move in the first place, that was even part of his "simple" plan.

Singing in the Rain: Gosh, that Debbie Reynolds was just cute as a button wasn't she?  This movie is definitely worth a view just for the title song/dance sequence.

Singles: If only dating were this easy... and they try to make it look so difficult... HA!  They should make a movie about all the single people I know, now THAT would be depressing!

Six String Samurai: I was trying to think of a word that best describes this move.  I think that word is 'silly'.  The plot?  After WWIII happens in 1957, Elvis becomes king.  Well, the king is now dead, and dozens of musician/tough-guys are on their way to Lost Vegas to claim the crown.  The main character is an invincible-semi-alcoholic-swashbuckling-martial-arts-expert-guitar-player.  Throughout the movie he manages to kill hundreds of people who get in his way... He's chased by some death metal guy, and is forced to be a father figure to a little kid who is tagging along.  This movie steals scenes and ideas from all kinds of movies & other stuff: Wizard of Oz, Conan the barbarian, Buddy Holly, countless westerns & Kung-Fu movies, Star Wars, Road Warrior, Buckaroo Banzai, 60's TV shows, and probably a dozen other movies I've never seen.  I'm not sure if that was its greatest strength or greatest weakness... It was done very blatantly... and in a comical way.  It was like a warped reflection of popular culture over the last 40 years.  I was a little 'bugged' by the filming of many of the action scenes - you couldn't always see just what was going on.  I think that had a lot to do with the low budget of the movie though.  Anyway, if you want to see a silly movie, this one will do just fine.  If you want to see 'high art', go see something else. (I think my favorite 'stolen scene' was in the very beginning... They totally duplicated the scene where Conan's mother gets her head chopped off - I was laughing out loud.)

Sixteen Candles: I thought I already wrote something about this.  Hmmm.  maybe that was some other John Hughes movie.  They're all pretty much the same actually.  Something about cannibals in the southeast asian jungles interacting with missionaries and astronauts. You've seen one, you've seen 'em all.

The Sixth Day: Oh Boy! Another Ahnold Swartzenzzeggegzeer action flick! Yup, it was dumb. The only neat things about this movie were the futuristic gadgets, and those weren't even that cool. Ok, I guess the cloning thing was interesting... but the action was ridiculous. I don't understand why A.S. is such an action movie guy... He just has muscles and attitude - the only good movies he's done are movies in which that's all that matters (see Conan and Terminator). I wish he'd do more movies in which he has no speaking parts.

The Sixth Sense: A good flick, worth the wait for the "Ooooohhhh, I get it..." moment. For me, that came when the little kid spoke his famous line, "I see dead people".

Sky High: I saw this on the train and didn't have earphones, so I didn't hear the sound. Still, I was able to follow the plot pretty darn well. Sure, it was predictable, sappy, cheesy, etc. But, it was also entertaining, I've seen much worse. I can't think of any major plot line complaints.

Skeleton Key: I felt a bit cheated by this one. It's really easy to have a surprise ending when you rely on the supernatural - anything goes. I did like the ending, and I did like the way the movie keeps you guessing all throughout. It's just that the rest of the movie didn't make me believe in the hoodoo witchcraft thing - so when it turned out to be real, I felt a bit cheated. Oops, I guess I gave away the ending. Sort of.

Slacker: Hey.  Ok, sure, like whatever man. It's all right. Just some people passing the camera around, and uh, a movie.  It was pretty good, ya know? I dunno.. huh.

Slapshot: I feel like I should really like this movie, but I only kind of like it. Hockey players fighting? big news.  Of course, the Hanson bros. are amazing characters - the most unlikely tough-guys ever.

Sleeper: One of my favorite woody allen movies.  I have a real hard time telling them apart... in fact, I really don't understand how he keeps making them... and making them good.  This one is a bit different, Woody takes his shtick to the future, or outer space or some crazy thing like that.

Sleepless in Seattle: Another chance for Meg Ryan to be cute, although she almost meets her match with Tom Hanks (playing with his boy at the park?).  Hey, wait a second, it's pretty darn late, I'm not sleeping... I'm really close to Seattle (Kirkland anyway), so why isn't any beautiful woman spying on me?  Dammit.

Sleepy Hollow: Really stylish.  I liked the one-dimensional Hessian bad guy.  He doesn't dick around, just "off with their heads" and that's about it.  As for the "whodunnit" plot...?  It was good enough, but not spectacular or anything.

Sling Blade: I reckon this was one of the coolest movies I've seen in a while, u-huh.  I remember thinking that it couldn't live up to its hype, but it did.  Whoever played the bad guy in this movie did an excellent job, and of course, BBT did a good little number himself.

Slums of Beverly Hills:  Disturbing and refreshing all at once.  It's about a family (father and 3 kids) who jump from apartment to apartment in the outskirts of Beverly Hills (so the kids can go to good schools).  The father is all washed-up, and only has the kids to keep him going.  The main character (the daughter) is trying to figure out how to be a woman in the company of 3 men.  Her only female role-model is her happy-go-lucky, hippy cousin who comes to live with them for a little while.  Despite all their problems, this family somehow scrapes by and maintains a bizarre sort of dignity in the process.  I was especially impressed by the "made up language"... that the two women used.  I couldn't figure it out at all.  This movie is based on someone's actual life.  Some people manage to grow up no matter how screwed up their lives are.

Small Soldiers: Entertaining, but not really entertaining.  It was better than I had expected, so I guess that makes it at least mediocre.

Sneakers: Robert Redford does few movies... so why did he pick this one?  Seen one superspy movie, seen 'em all.

So I married an Ax murderer: F'k UUUU!

Soldier: Kurt Russell kills people.  Hey, give him a break, that's all he knows.  This was a really dumb movie.  It wasn't that stupid or anything, just boring and unoriginal.  I was expecting more from the man who WAS Captain Ron!

Someone like you: A woman comes up with a completely lame & tired theory about men. God, this movie is pathetic. It's ok if you just want to see Ashley Judd jump around in her underwear. There isn't one non-beautiful person in the entire cast... Watch it with the volume off & you won't miss anything.

Sound of Music: Man has an affair with his kids nanny... who's a nun in training! What a perverted movie.

South Park (the movie): @#$@#!!!  #$%^##$%&*     (??>{}+@%    () @#$%!!#   %! !#$! !   $#^ $%&$$^   $^&%^   @!#$!!!!!!

Spaceballs: I know a lot of people thought this was funny, and I do "get it".  It just didn't "get me".  Sure, there were a few funny things, but there wasn't enough to support an entire movie.  I mean, Star Wars is SO easy to parody, they could've done a better job.

Spanking the Monkey: This just might be one of the most twisted movies out there.  I've seen lots of crazy shit, but this one is done with such authenticy that its just creepy.  In case you were wondering, it's about incest.  Freaky? warped? wacked? all of the above.

Spawn: I saw an interview with the creator of "Spawn".  He was talking about an entire "Spawn empire": books, TV series, movie-rama, video games, etc, etc, etc.  what a small-minded, arrogant dork.

Species: This was a neat movie.  I really liked the way they portrayed the alien life form.  Sure, the whole "she has to mate" thing was a little silly, but in general it was all well done.  I especially liked the brief scene where they create a "pure" alien - it was completely wild and out-of-control, just like you might not expect.

Species II: Cashing in on the original. Kind of stupid... no, really stupid.  Although, I have to say that I've seen worse examples of "pathetic sequels".

Speed: It was done well, but in the end it was just another "hero saves the day" movie.  I've seen it before a dozen times.

Spellbound: An ephoglidious documenteama about kids who attempt to directricate filligatious words. It was a suplimious in its advertigineatity of the diversificatiousness of the esculiantinate. (Hey, somebody has to make up new words to spell... why not me?)

Sphere: I was hoping this movie would be one of those hidden gems that everyone dismissed for the wrong reasons.  It wasn't.  It was indeed pretty dumb.  It did have a few good moments (the fact that the report was just 'made up'), but it had way too many stupid moments (sea snakes at 1000ft? that was just silly).  It also bothered me how unaffected the characters were about their fellow crewmates' problems.  In the end though, the premise allowed anything to be believable.  I would be hard-pressed to recommend Sphere to anyone.  It's a good movie to watch while you're busy doing something else... like playing cards or painting your didgeridoo.

Spider-man: I was expecting this to be your regular churn-em-out hollywood blockbuster. I suppose it was, but it was a lot better than most. Even though the plot was somewhat predictable (we all know what's going to happen), it was kept interesting by good writing and good acting. Also, the villian in this movie was done really well - his character actually made sense, he wasn't just "evil for the sake of being evil". I also liked less-than-straightforward love story. As for criticism? Peter Parker is way too excited and not a bit freaked-out by his transformation. He reacts like it's something that happens every day. Ho-hum, so I'm shooting webs from my wrists... big deal... Also, the special effects could have been more gravity-realistic, there are a couple scenes where spidey's moves just don't look "correct". (And exactly where did he get that suit?)

Spider-man 2: I was really quite glad to see they weren't afraid to break the taboo of letting people in on spidey's identity secret. I'm not sure that it was better than the first one - I actually liked the villan in the first movie better - I thought he was more complex... the villan in 2 was just a ripoff of the first one. But, for all the other stuff, I guess it was a bit better than 1.

Spies Like Us: If I was a professional movie reviewer (like I'm not?), I'd give this one a solid 2 stars.  I know a lot of people found this funny, but I just didn't. There were a few funny jokes, but not enough for a whole movie.  This seems to be a common affliction among mediocre comedies.

Spitfire Grill: Girl with a secret past goes to a small town, redeems the townspeople... you know, the kind of story you hope is really happening everyday.

Splash: I guess I kind of liked it.  It was fresh anyway, I guess now the "mermaid in NY" movie has been done, so we can all die happy.

Stargate: This movie was a lot more significant than most people realize.  It was the first of a new breed of "special effects-driven" sci-fi movies.  Computers have brought down the cost of special effects to a point where the plot no longer needs to be "incredible", it can just be "adequate".  Actually, this movie was above "adequate", but it left the door open for a bunch of adequate movies to follow.

Starship Troopers: after my scathing review of independence day, you probably think I hate this movie too... not true!  it was damn fun.  this movie never really takes itself seriously (even in the "serious" parts).  it's like a 90's version of a cheap 50's sci-fi drive-in movie.  i imagine that there are 12-year-old boys all over the USA worshiping this movie since it has: 1- naked chicks, 2-lots of stuff getting blown up, 3-cool futuristic guns, 4-people losing their heads (and getting killed in other nasty ways), 5-more naked chicks, and 6-really cool special effects. the 'anti-war' message was pretty stupid though (of course war sucks... duh!).

Starsky and Hutch: What's next? Hawaii Five-0? The Rockford Files? Charlie's Angels? (Oh, I guess they did that one...). Did anyone ever actually watch Starsky and Hutch the TV series? Well, I guess somebody did. But why?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: I saw this in the theater when it came out.  I was too young to really understand the whole "trek thing".  As a result, I was pretty much confused.  In retrospective, this was a pretty decent film.  It was just a lot different than the TV show - the whole look and feel was altered.  This was the first trek "anything" to come out after the original show.  The trek invasion was only beginning.

Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan: This would be a much better movie if you've seen the original episode with Ricardo Monteblan (sp?).  Still, it works on its own.  A decent film, but nothing spectacular.

Star Trek III: Search for Spock: They could never kill off Spock, that would totally throw the whole trek phenomena off kilter.  Spock is trek.  So, they almost had to make this movie - Spock lives once again.  Kirk's kid dies instead.

Star Trek IV: The one with the Whales: This one blew the cover of the Star Trek secret society.  Suddenly, being a trek fan was OK.  The overall plot was a little silly, but I'll have to admit it was a fun movie.  It had a  great fish-out-of-water / culture clash thing going on.

Star Trek V: I can't remember just what this movie was about, but I know I saw it.  Of course they had to make #5 after #4 did so well.  I think it was about on par with #3... one of these movies had the gang going to some snow planet or something... that's about all I can remember about #5 and #6.

Star Trek VI: Was there a ST6? I think so... I'm sure I saw it too. it was probably OK.

Star Trek VII: Wait a second... I think they stopped at six...

Star Trek "Generations": Handing off the Star Trek torch to the next wave... It was almost like the studio was worried that the new cast just couldn't "draw 'em in" like the old cast.  It was a marginally decent movie.  I didn't really like the portrayal of Kirk in this episode though, it just didn't seem like the same character.

Star Trek "First Contact": One of the best of these movies.  It was well directed, well written, had a "bigger than a single episode" plot, and contributed to the "trek history" (to keep the fanatics happy).

Star Trek "prime directive" (or something like that...) This was like watching a long episode of the TV show. It was decent, but nothing special.

Star Trek: Nemesis: If this is the end, it's time.

Star Wars I, The Phantom Menace: I really liked this movie.  It was entertaining, fun, and visually spectacular.  It did a good job of transporting me to "another place".  The jar-jar binks character didn't even really bother me too much (although I think it would have been a much better movie without him, or if he was done differently).  As my friend said, the pod race and the light-saber fight at the end were worth the admission price all on their own. (I still can't believe that I got into an argument with someone who sincerely believed that Darth Vader was NOT Luke's father, Annakin.  He went away thinking I was an idiot... all I could do was shake my head... what is WRONG with people?)

Star Wars II, Attack of the Clones: First, I should say that no matter how critical I might sound in the coming sentences, I enjoyed this movie & felt I got my money's worth. (Now for the criticism) Clones could have been so much better. The movie had a very "rushed" feel to it. Even the slow parts were cut way too fast. There wasn't any time for the viewer to feel the emotions of the characters (or try to figure out the complicated plot - who's bad & who's good?). This "rushed feel" messed up what could have been some really good scenes too. The "Annakin & his Mom scene" happened way too quickly with an inadequete setup, and that was supposed to be a pivitol character-changing scene. Another scene which bugged me was near the beginning, when Annakin goes from praising Obi-Wan to cursing him way too quickly. It would have been better if he'd said nice things but been muted about it, like he didn't really mean any of it. The love story fares a little better, but even it is rushed. Also, there are few "mood setting" scenes - like in the original, remember the shot of Luke & the twin sunset with some forlorn music? - that scene said a lot even though there weren't any words. Many things in clones are over-spoken, when they could have been better said with images. Instead, the images are just eye-candy (very good eye-candy, but candy nonetheless). Also, the score seemed to be completely absent during the action sequences - compare the flying-through-the-asteroid-field sequence in "Clones" with the similar sequence in "Empire". Still, like I said earlier, the movie did look neat & I plan to view it again in order to see what I missed - there was so much happening on the screen that I couldn't process it all in one sitting.

Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith: It all makes sense now. All is right with everything. Am I a moron because I actually got choked-up at the end of this movie? Or, was it really that good? or was I just sorry to see the franchise come to a close? This movie was so well-done, it made the two other prequels better... it made the whole series better, and actually complete. Despite all that, I still think it could have been better... the directing could have been better, and the whole action scene at the start was a chaotic mess. Plus, I wish they'd spent even more time with the Emporer convincing Annakin the dark side wasn't evil, just misunderstood... and that good and evil just depended on what side you were on. I also wish when Annakin figured out the emporer was the Sith lord, that the emporer would have asked Annakin, "So, what crime have I committed for which you'll turn me in? Is it a crime to follow one's calling?". Anyway, it was a good movie.

Star Wars IV, A New Hope: What can I say? The ultimate classic movie.  I was 7 when it came out - the perfect age.  This movie probably changed my life, it told me that dreaming and imagining were not only OK, but wonderful.

Star Wars V, The Empire Strikes Back: My 10-year-old mind could barely keep up with this movie.  I just remember standing in line at Woodfield mall in Schaumburg, IL to go see it when it first came out.  The line wrapped all the way around the theater.  The movie itself was just like a blur - candy for my overactive imagination.

Star Wars VI, Return of the Jedi: By the time this came out, I was 13 and much more "aware" so to speak.  It still totally blew me away.  Thanks George!

State of Mind: A peek into the bizarro-world that is North Korea. I can't believe that "The General" as he's called blew-off the big event because he had more important thigs to do. Like what? Geez, what a jerk.

The Station Agent: On the outside? A dwarf "trainspotter" goes to live in a small New Jersey town. There, he's befriended by a hot dog salesman and a woman who's lost her child. On the inside? I'm still not entirely sure what this movie was about, but it was very watchable.

Steep:Dude.

Step into Liquid:Dude.

The Sting: I saw this when the Town & country theaters opened up a few blocks from my house.  I think I was about 12 years old then.  They had free movies for about a month to draw people in.  I didn't really get the whole plot... I remember being confused... but I do remember that I liked it.  Robert Redford can say a lot with his eyes (no I'm not attracted to him!)

Strange Brew: Great movie, eh?  If you see this movie and don't laugh your ass off, you are indeed dull..

Strange Days: I thought this was a really cool movie.  Of course, I like most movies with Juliette Lewis in them.  I'm not sure why that is, maybe she just picks interesting scripts?  Maybe I think she's a babe?  In any case, I was always sad that this movie didn't "do" as well as it should have.  I can't really pick out any single thing that impressed me with the movie.  Maybe they just did a good job showing how the "invention" integrated itself into society, and how it became a problem for the obsessed.

Stripes: Another funny movie with Bill Murray.  I don't remember what exactly was so funny about it...  just go see it and laugh a few times.

Stir of Echoes: Few movies creep me out.  This one almost did, and I think that was due to the directing more than anything.  Some of the scenes were quite well filmed.  As for the plot?  It was your typical "everyday man becomes obsessed with something he can't understand".  It reminded me of 'Close Encounters...." actually.  I wish they had alluded to the climax of the movie a little more.  I guessed the ending anyway, but I think it would have been better if Kevin Bacon's friends had more of a dark side & if we got subtle glimpses into that side of their characters.  After all, those characters were crucial to the outcome of the movie, and we barely got to know them.

The Story of the Weeping Camel: I'm not sure how you would categorize this movie... perhaps docu-drama? A camel refuses to suckle her newborn calf, and after trying all kinds of things the camel ranchers decide to perform a musical "love your calf" ceremony. It's happy, it's sad, and it's almost unbelievable, but yet, so true you have to believe it.  With characters like "Dude" the boy and "Botok" the camel, how can you go wrong? Oh, did I mention that it all takes place in Mongolia? I'm not sure if it's inner or outer Mongolia, or if that even matters... but it is an interesting look into a not-so-idealized portrayal of life in the Gobi desert. I was thinking, these people could just as well be living in eastern Oregon. People are the same everywhere.

Summer Catch: I only saw the last third of this, while exercising at the gym... It was so bad it was shocking! Can cardboard act? nope.

Summer Rental: This was just a fun, silly movie.  I guess it's worth seeing once.  It's hardly high art, but what can I say?   What ever happened to Kerri Green?

Summer School: Your average "high-school misfits find a cause and a sense of identity with a misfit teacher" movie.  Why wasn't my high school this much fun?  I guess I should have slacked-off more.

Superman: Just darn good clean fun. Gee whiz!

Superman II: More fun.  The superman part wasn't quite as good as in the original, but the villains were first-rate.

Superman III: The series went downhill quick.  Richard Pryor just didn't fit the bill as a "computer genius".  After seeing this, I asked myself "why?" I never received an answer.

Superman IV: This will surely go down as one of the all-time worst movies ever made.  It looks like it was made by a couple high-school flunkies for show on public access cable or something.  If you actually saw this, I'm sorry.

Superman Returns: But from where? This was like half a movie searching for a plot. It was fun to watch at times, but it didn't really seem that the characters believed in the idea. Also, once again, a character does something really stupid (bringing your son along on a tresspass?) to move the plot along.

Super Size Me: Surpisingly well crafted and executed. I'll never eat at a McDonalds again - I just can't.

The Sure Thing: You know what?  I just realized that I confused this movie with "say anything", go read that review, because that's the movie I was thinking of.  Now I can't remember what the hell Say Anything was about.  Oh well, I guess I'll just leave the review as it is... it's generic enough.

Swamp Thing: The best of the "Tramauville" (sp?) movies.  Gore! Guts! and Plantlife!

Sweeney Todd:Blood. So much blood, it's not even blood. So much anger, it's not even anger. So much revenge it's not even revenge. Tim Burton can tend to hit or miss. He really hit with this one - everything came together perfectly.

Sweet and Low Down: Thoroughly entertaining.  This is the story of Emmit Ray (not sure of spelling), a jazz guitar virtuoso from the early part of the 1900's.  To be honest, I don't even know if there actually was an actual person, or whether it was all an elaborate "made-up documentary" by Woody Allen (I'd find that amusing if true).  Well, I suppose I could figure it out with a little investigation next time I go on-line.  Anyway, it's a good fun character-study movie, Sean Penn did a great job. Anyone wanna go shoot rats at the dump and look at trains?

Switchback: Seriously stupid.  I saw this in a hotel at Cajon pass.  The only channel they had was HBO - nothing else. This movie's plot just didn't make logical sense.  They never really had a reason that the bad guy was bad, or the good guy was good, they just were.  If you liked this movie, you have no brain... at least no analytical part of a brain.

Sybil: One of those movies I saw years ago when I was young. I don't remember much of it except that it was a bit freaky. This does raise the question... does anything we do when we're too young to remember it count?

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