One of the first wave of this genre. It was good only because it came out at a time when this idea was fresh. Now, it’s been done a thousand times. It’s easy to dismiss this movie in retrospect.
Category Archives: Reviews
Hackers
Hollywood knows nothing about computers, and they assume that ‘we the people’ don’t either. This was supposed to be some slick cyberpunk production about kids breaking into computers. I thought it was more like MTV’s cast of “the real world” gets computers. Oh my gaaaood!!!
Grumpy Old Men
This could have been a good movie, but instead it was barely average. They could have thought of some other “crises” than “a beautiful woman moves in next door”.
Groundhog Day
Excellent. What would you do if this happened to you? Stuck in the same day over and over for an eternity? You’d go a little bananas… Who’s better at going bananas than Bill Murray? It’s interesting how this movie has transformed the meaning of the term “Groundhog Day” to mean a situation like this movie… and less the actual holiday.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – 2000
The thing which made the original Grinch so appealing was that everything was in verse. This movie threw all that out the window, and the result was something just completely stupid and unwatchable. Earth to hollywood – if you’re going to do a movie adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book – make everything rhyme. It’s not that hard… Yes, it will take a little bit of effort, but that’s why we’re paying you millions of dollars.
Grey Gardens
Did this really happen? An unbelievable believable slice of life. Ever wonder what would happen to someone completely removed from reality, and left to live in a world of their own making? Ever wonder what’s happening in that creaky old mansion up the road with the overgrown hedge?
Gray Lady Down
Action movies have come a long way.
Gremlins
Hey, I just had a great marketing idea – evil furbies! Who says they have to be cute? (wait a second… maybe they already ARE evil…)
The Green Mile
A decent movie that had a hard time going somewhere. They did an excellent job creating a mood and building characters, but then it was almost like they didn’t know what to do next…. Ummm, let’s make the guy a magical, mystical being that can cure diseases! I think it would have been a better movie if the Tom Hanks character just discovered that the big guy was innocent, and struggled with “what to do”. Instead, they turned a really good movie into an OK one.
Greedy
I really wanted to punch that old rich guy, what a frickin jerk. I also wanted to punch all those pathetic fools trying to get his money. I also wanted to punch Michael J Fox. In fact, the only person I didn’t feel like punching was Olivia D’Abo.
The Great Outdoors
Suburbanites in the woods… la di da…
Great Balls of Fire
Yes, he sure did have great balls of fire. I guess the world just wasn’t ready for hillbilly romance back then. If this happened today, he’d just sell even more records.
Grease
See this movie only once. Additional viewings will cause serious irreparable harm. You’ll find yourself endlessly humming “Better Shape Up…” to the other inmates in the asylum. Serious drugs will be required to clear your head, and before long, you’ll become a grinning, drooling mess. Consider yourself warned.
Gosford Park
It’s just fascinating to watch snobs and their servants. This movie makes you feel like a peeping tom – relegated to inadequate glimpses of the central activity. I liked the way there were few “plot bits” in the movie – (e.g. action or dialog that exists only to move the plot along). For the first hour of the movie, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, or who was who – nothing is explained to the audience. That makes the movie a real puzzle – not only are you curious to know who did the murder, but simply “who is who”… A good deal of credit goes to Robert Altman for paying attention to the detail in the movie – it didn’t feel like a movie at all, rather a window to a lost world – the directing, acting, and general style were that good.
The Goonies
I have to wonder – how long does it take to reset that door-opening mechanism? Talk about completely impractical.
Good Will Hunting
I think my favorite scene in this movie was the first time that the Robin William’s character ‘gives it’ to Will. I’ve never heard the “you don’t know everything kid” speech done so well… I guess that’s cause the kid does “know everything”… except what can’t be learned in books. I think this movie really says that we all have something to learn. Just think, if you ever reached that point where you did know everything there was to know, what would be the point anymore? What would you do? I think the actual character of Will wasn’t important, it was the development of that character which was most interesting. I could take the more cynical approach and just mark this one off as another “abused kid overcomes his problems”, but I think this movie is better than that. (I would like to know if the actual math problems were real though)
Good Morning Vietnam
There are some good and funny bits in this, but the whole anti-war message was eye-rolling… I mean, he’s a DJ for god sakes… does every Vietnam movie have to make the same point?
Goodfellas
Do you think I’m a funny guy?
Goldfinger
James bond kills a megalomaniac.
The Golden Compass
Movies based on books like this often have the same problem. They’re trying to bring an imaginary world to life… and since the book is both much richer and more vague than the screen, it’s just hard to get right. Half the movie is taken up by trying to explain the characters, and the other half is gadgetry without context. Really the only way to do a movie like this right is like they did with Lord of the Rings – just go completely over-the-top, and make it super long. But, you need a real epic text for that to work. Anyway, this movie was fun to watch for the effects and such, but I really had the feeling that I was being shortchanged somehow.
Godzilla – 1998
Yes, I actually paid to see this. it’s about what I expected: monster destroys city, people kill monster. it has a good mix of all the usual Hollywood movie crap – a love angle, an annoying politician, a smart character that nobody will listen to, etc. there is nothing original about any part of this movie (even the camera angles were borrowed from somewhere). I’m getting a little sick of computer animated creatures too. even though the special effects were good, they didn’t break any new ground. the whole movie could have been a lot better… but I was expecting it to be pretty dumb, so I wasn’t disappointed. I just didn’t have anything better to do that day.
God Grew Tired of Us
Everyone should see this movie. It is raw inspiration. Don’t just appreciate what you have, use it to the fullest.
The Gods Must Be Crazy
What a delightful movie. I especially loved the sped-up sequences and physical humor. It’s so rare to see that in the movies. Life can get pretty crazy, sometimes we need to step back and figure out what’s really important. How did we get like this?
Glory
It’s hard to take a “story within a story” and make it a compelling drama. Glory did a decent job though. The big story was the Civil War, the story within was about the first all-black regiment to kick butt. Or… get their butt kicked… That raises an interesting question, are they “heroes” because they were slaughtered? or are they just poor discarded souls?
Gladiator
Based on the one-line reviews I’d read and the previews I’d seen, I thought this would be your typical hack & slash, overblown, poorly acted thriller. It was much better than I expected. The plot was intelligently thought-out and executed. In the end it was much like “Bravehart goes to Rome”. That’s not a bad thing though – if you liked Bravehart, you’ll probably like this movie.