Category Archives: Reviews

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

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Ok,I actually 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 think people are generally wanting too much from these movies – comparing them to the first couple. That’s not really fair… they need to stand 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 Trek: The Motion Picture

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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.

 

Starship Troopers

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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!).

 

Stargate

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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.

Also, the whole Stargate empire that followed – the sequels and the TV show… I could do without.

 

Spider-man 2

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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.

 

Spider-man

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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?)

 

Sphere

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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.

 

Spellbound

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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?)

 

Species

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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.