Chris Miller's Movie Reviews

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2001

Joe Somebody

December 31, 2001

USA  •  Pasquin  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

mostly awful.

down

Terminator

December 28, 2001

USA  •  Cameron  •  1984

still good.

up

Dark Days

December 27, 2001

USA  •  Singer  •  2000

amazing film which won’t allow you to look at homeless people the same ever again. documentaries are great.

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Killer’s Kiss

December 26, 2001

USA  •  Kubrick  •  1955

not the best film kubrick has done, but worth watching because it’s considered his first.

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Ali

December 26, 2001

USA  •  Mann  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

missed some things it shouldn’t have, dwelled on others too long. not a great ending. will smith did a good job overall, but not great…could have used a boxing coach. it also looked like they hired actors to portray boxers rather than hiring boxers and hoping they could act. if you’ve ever watched boxing you’ll probably notice that. watch ‘when we were kings’ instead .

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A Christmas Story

December 24, 2001

USA  •  Clark  •  1983

simply one of the greatest films of all time.

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Leolo

December 22, 2001

France  •  Lauzon  •  1992

pretty good movie overall. well done and very well acted. had some comic moments which were a nice relief from the rest of the story. the poignant moments weren’t contrived at all….they were well done and felt real….that’s the kind of thing that comes from decent character development; duh. not for those who are easily upset.

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Not Another Teen Movie

December 18, 2001

USA  •  Gallen  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

if you liked scary movie or naked gun then you’ll like this.

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Vanilla Sky

December 17, 2001

USA  •  Crowe  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

a remake of some movie i’ve never heard of, but that aside it still felt like it ripped off total recall and discreet charm of the bourgeoisie; all the while it had an a.i. feel to it (especially the sad excuse for an ending). if i were to discount all that i’d still find that it completely lacked anything approaching entertainment or intellectual stimulus. it had some comic relief (jason leigh saved it from complete lameness), it was uninteresting and seemed to be a mindfuck just for the sake of being one. it was like a horror movie that used the same cat-jumping-out-from-around-the-corner gag over and over and over again. it got old, it got tedious, it wasn’t well done, it got sappy, it dragged its feet, it was just poor. p.s. cameron crowe sucks my scrotum.

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When We Were Kings

December 15, 2001

USA  •  Gast  •  1996

ali is the greatest athelete, mentally, who ever lived. mj would be a close second. above and beyond his atheletic dominance, though, is what kind of person he was/is…this movie shows very clearly the charismatic and affable person that ali was and is.

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Ocean’s Eleven

December 11, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2001

super funny, super slick, super soundtrack.

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Coyote Ugly

December 11, 2001

USA  •  McNally  •  2000

so bad it’s funny. (if watching with others) (if watching by yourself)

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Erin Brockovich

December 10, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2000

very good film.

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Ocean’s Eleven

December 6, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

very good movie, not a great film. lots of fun, but didn’t have the impact that traffic had. funny and a good time overall.

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Shallow Hal

December 3, 2001

USA  •  Farrelly  •  2001

pretty good, but not as funny some of the other farrelly brothers stuff. more funny the first time i saw it.

neutral

Traffic

November 26, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2000

a great film.

up

Princess Bride

November 25, 2001

USA  •  Reiner  •  1987

fred savage has aged, but this movie hasn’t. fantastic.

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Black Knight

November 24, 2001

USA  •  Junger  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

really funny movie. i’ve grown to like martin lawrence lately. did a good job of working in black culture (from MLK to sly and the family stone). classic fish out of water movie, but done well.

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Domestic Disturbance

November 18, 2001

USA  •  Becker  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

started out rather poorly…run of the mill thriller movie with john travolta as the good guy, but it somehow redeemed itself by the end. it wasn’t a good movie, but it was a decent way to spend 100 minutes..

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Heist

November 17, 2001

USA  •  Voss  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

had some witty one-liners, but they got contrived and old kinda quick. it seems as though david mamet writes well, but tries to show it off too much. a pretty decent movie overall, but the script tried to be too smart and there were too many twists at the end so it just didn’t seem believable. watch the score instead.

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Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone

November 15, 2001

UK  •  Columbus  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

cute at times, tedious at others, mostly just long and formulaic…a lot like episode one (star wars).

neutral

One

November 13, 2001

USA  •  Wong  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

some good action sequences, but didn’t measure up to “kiss of the dragon.” the highlight was seeing mark borchardt at one point in the movie….i didn’t know he had a cameo so it was a pleasant surprise.

neutral

Office Space

November 11, 2001

USA  •  Judge  •  1999

(DVD)- definitely a sleeper…it seems like people didn’t really hear about this one until after it had gone to video, but i’ve never heard of anyone who hasn’t liked it.

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K-Pax

November 5, 2001

USA  •  Softley  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

kinda funny, kinda not, kinda good, kinda not.

neutral

Happiness

October 27, 2001

USA  •  Solondz  •  1998

man this movie is fucked up, but very good.

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Memento

October 25, 2001

USA  •  Nolan  •  2000

at one point i thought i was going to like this movie, but by the end it had accumulated far too much corny dialogue, bad acting, stupid twists and predictable turns to make for a thumbs up. parts of it were disturbing, and thus effecacious, but overall it was dumb.

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Riding In Cars With Boys

October 25, 2001

USA  •  Marshall  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

actually a decent movie. barrymore sometimes lapsed as an actress, but overall had a solid performance. the lead character was pretty much just a teenage girl who thought about herself too much and took a while to learn some of life’s most basic leasons so i didn’t really empathize with her, but i did recognize her struggle. i empathized far more with her son who lost his father and had a mother who was wrought with all sorts of issues. overall a good movie; you’ll especially like this if you are female. i won’t watch it again, but it was a good movie for most people.

neutral

13 Ghosts

October 25, 2001

USA  •  Beck  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

(DVD) – fantastic film about a lot of things on a lot of different levels. philosophically dense, well acted, written, and directed. “i can’t remember to forget her” was one of the great lines in the movie. i think that a lot of times we can’t remember to forget things like a) not everything in life has an answer b) the world doesn’t revolve around us (something drew barrymore’s character in Riding In Cars With Boys never learned). this is the kind of movie you could form a philosophy course around.

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Last Castle

October 24, 2001

USA  •  Lurie  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

really corny movie. kind of a crosss between shawshank redemption and cool hand luke, only not nearly as good as either. bad writing and acting couldn’t save it. the final action scene was good, but it was followed by the same old stuff. another formula film.

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Don’t Say A Word

October 21, 2001

USA  •  Fleder  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

the first third was pretty decent, but after that it turned into a complete hollywood formula film..

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Trading Places

October 21, 2001

USA  •  Landis  •  1983

eddie murphy is funny.

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Bowfinger

October 19, 2001

USA  •  Oz  •  1999

really funny. steve martin and his hollywood mocking ways be refreshing.

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From Hell

October 18, 2001

USA  •  Hughes  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

nothing all that special. a dark film, but didn’t really disturb me that much. if you want disturbing then rent “henry: portrait of a serial killer”

UNRATED

Bandits

October 16, 2001

USA  •  Levinson  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

funny and entertaining despite the love story which slows down the middle of the film. good ending and overall worth watching to have some fun.

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Corky Romano

October 15, 2001

USA  •  Pritts  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

pretty dumb overall. had some funny moments, but mostly not worth it.

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Iron Monkey

October 15, 2001

Hong Kong  •  Yuen  •  1993  •  Watched in theater

better than crouching tiger, hidden dragon in every respect except cinematography. just plain fun. made before (1993) crouching tiger, the matrix, and the rest of the popular martial arts movies of late.

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Meet The Parents

October 14, 2001

USA  •  Roach  •  2000

really really funny movie.

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Higher Learning

October 12, 2001

USA  •  Singleton  •  1995

contrived and bad.

down

Hearts In Atlantis

October 11, 2001

USA  •  Hicks  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

not so great. kind of a cross between the body (stand by me) and the shining. green mile was better.

neutral

Terminator

October 10, 2001

USA  •  Cameron  •  1984

(DVD)- more things were used in terminator 2 from this one than i remembered. obviously a classic, obviously thumbs .

up

A Hard Day’s Night

October 8, 2001

UK  •  Lester  •  1964

quirky, weird, and funny.

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Training Day

October 8, 2001

USA  •  Fuqua  •  2001

really well made and acted, didn’t agree with the direction of denzel’s character.

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Joy Ride

October 6, 2001

USA  •  Dahl  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

funny at times, scary at others, but also pretty dumb. nothing great, but it kills time.

neutral

Gone In 60 Seconds

October 6, 2001

USA  •  Sena  •  2000

dumb movie.

down

Training Day

October 4, 2001

USA  •  Fuqua  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

don’t read this if you haven’t seen it… really good movie. starts out really really well and then seems to lose some of the guts it had – turns denzel into a completely bad guy and then kills him. i thought that it would have been better if his character had stayed in the gray area. has a good feel to it and despite the one mistake i really liked it.

up

Nick Of Time

October 1, 2001

USA  •  Badham  •  1995

good movie with a pretty original idea. the usual ending.

up

Zoolander

September 28, 2001

USA  •  Stiller  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

really funny.

up

Benny And Joon

September 28, 2001

USA  •  Chechik  •  1993

a cross between the other sister, what’s eating gilbert grape and a buster keaton movie. pretty decent overall, but not really my kind of movie.

neutral

Hunt For Red October

September 27, 2001

USA  •  McTiernan  •  1990

great film. up there with das boot in terms of submarine flicks.

up

Arlington Road

September 26, 2001

USA  •  Pellington  •  1999

. – really good movie about terrorism and stuff.

up

Deep End

September 25, 2001

USA  •  Siegel  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

contrived hysteria. it was a good movie, but not one i really liked.

neutral

L.A. Story

September 24, 2001

USA  •  Jackson  •  1991

(DVD) – really funny exageration of love in LA.

up

Pulp Fiction

September 23, 2001

USA  •  Tarantino  •  1994

fantastic. whenever john travolta goes to the bathroom something bad happens.

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Frantic

September 22, 2001

USA  •  Polanski  •  1988

(DVD) – eh. makes fun of art and that’s funny, but it doesn’t do much more.

neutral

Pecker

September 22, 2001

USA  •  Waters  •  1998

(DVD) – starts off good, but then kinda fades.

neutral

Magnolia

September 21, 2001

USA  •  Anderson  •  1999

(DVD) – great. really good score….excellent first few minutes – introduces all the characters, grabs audience, but doesn’t overwhelm.

up

Fargo

September 21, 2001

USA  •  Coen  •  1996

(DVD) – great.

up

American Movie: The Making Of Northwestern

September 19, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  1999

(DVD) – fantastic.

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Big One

September 17, 2001

USA  •  Moore  •  1997

michael moore is really cool. smart, funny, political and it all shows here. both serious and funny.

up

10 Things I Hate About You

September 16, 2001

USA  •  Junger  •  1999

funny in a messed up way. i feel bad when i laugh at the jokes.

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In The Company Of Men

September 16, 2001

USA  •  LaBute  •  1997

based on taming of the shrew. has some slow scenes, some mildly funny scenes and some really funny scenes. not going to win any academy awards, but it did it for me.

up

Bottle Rocket

September 15, 2001

USA  •  Anderson  •  1996

funny, but loses momentum at times.

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Croupier

September 14, 2001

UK  •  Hodges  •  1998

probably a book to film deal, but well done. well written and good to the last drop. the english doctor on ER gets naked.

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Our Lady Of The Assassins

September 13, 2001

Columbia  •  Schroeder  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

really good columbian film about a gay guy and his boy lover who has a penchant for killing. funny and just plain good.

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Kimberly

September 6, 2001

USA  •  Golchan  •  1999

dumb movie about four friends who think they’ve impregnated the same hot european girl. blah blah blah.

down

Election

September 5, 2001

USA  •  Payne  •  1999

not as funny as the first few times i watched it, but it’s still very good.

up

Jeepers Creepers

September 2, 2001

USA  •  Salva  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

smart and funny movie. woody allen’s character is partially based upon the insurance investigator in double indemnity. good movie.

up

Curse Of The Jade Scorpion

September 2, 2001

USA  •  Allen  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

Clive Barker says it’s the most original and scary movie he’s seen in a while. i think i agree. the title is dumb and the trailer makes it look lame, but it’s a solid movie. not a hollywood cheap thriller, but a pretty solid horror film.

up

High School

August 28, 2001

USA  •  Wiseman  •  1969

very good look at a 60s high school.

up

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back

August 27, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

very funny. makes fun of itself, movies, actors, hollywood, etc.

up

Ghost Of Mars

August 27, 2001

USA  •  Carpenter  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

bad script. okay concept.

down

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

August 22, 2001

USA  •  Burton  •  1985

classic.

up

Fear

August 21, 2001

USA  •  Foley  •  1996

don’t watch this movie on the usa network. mark and reese do a really good job. entertaining enough for my taste.

up

Dumb And Dumber

August 19, 2001

USA  •  Farrelly  •  1994

har har har. funny.

up

American Outlaws

August 18, 2001

USA  •  Mayfield  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

more funny and more entertaining than expected. not too bad, all things considered.

up

Pearl Harbor

August 18, 2001

USA  •  Bay  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

had some good moments, but could have done without all the flag waving and the excessive love story stuff.

neutral

Judge Dredd

August 16, 2001

USA  •  Cannon  •  1995

pretty lame overall. schneider saved it from complete failure. funny to laugh at.

down

American Pie 2

August 12, 2001

USA  •  Rogers  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

college humor mostly. might take some getting used to, or you might not get used to it at all and hate it, but it works for me despite my hating the typical college shenanigans…then again we all love animal house despite its similar humor.

up

Osmosis Jones

August 12, 2001

USA  •  Farrelly  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

a new type of movie…some scenes are animated and others are live action. it goes inside bill murray’s body and shows the cells involved in making his body work. an interesting idea. well executed and has a clever script. plus it’s by the farrelly brothers.

up

Rat Race

August 11, 2001

USA  •  Zucker  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

much more funny than i had anticipated. solidily done movie, recomendable.

up

Others

August 11, 2001

Spain  •  Amenabar  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

didn’t want to watch this movie at all, but i did since it ended up being free. also ended up being a pretty good movie. not one of the greatest movies currently playing.

neutral

Game

August 9, 2001

USA  •  Fincher  •  1997

well done all around. a rollercoaster ride.

up

Falling Down

August 9, 2001

USA  •  Schumacher  •  1993

just well done.

up

Kiss Of The Dragon

August 8, 2001

USA  •  Nahon  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

really really good movie. great action sequences, well directed, good screenplay. an action film that does it right.

up

Rush Hour 2

August 7, 2001

USA  •  Ratner  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

funny. jackie chan is constantly coming up with new ways to kill people, escape certain death, and overall impress the audience.

up

Jurassic Park 3

August 7, 2001

USA  •  Johnston  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

the best thing about this movie is that it’s so bad it’ll make sure there isn’t another sequel.

down

Final Fantasy

August 2, 2001

USA  •  Sakaguchi  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

great animation. good story. if you like anime you’ll like this.

up

What’s The Worst That Could Happen?

July 29, 2001

USA  •  Weisman  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

very funny.

up

Cats And Dogs

July 27, 2001

USA  •  Guterman  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

good movie overall. sometimes lacked in execution (a surprise considering tim burton directed it). i liked the social commentary. makeup and sfx were good.

neutral

Planet Of The Apes

July 27, 2001

USA  •  Burton  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

not my first choice of movies, but when you’re getting a 2 for 1 you have to take what is playing when you get out. it had some truly cute and funny moments, but it was mostly just dumb kid stuff.

down

Legally Blonde

July 23, 2001

USA  •  Luketic  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

like clueless, only not. it was actually quite funny because it played on all sorts of stereotypes and didn’t take itself seriously. fun, but short.

up

Moulin Rouge

July 23, 2001

Australia  •  Luhrmann  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

hmmmm. if you thought that this film was taking itself seriously (which i did) and you’re not a total sucker for love stories then you’ll dislike this film. if you thought it didn’t take itself seriously and was pushing the boundaries of love movies, musicals, intellectual property, etc. then you might enjoy this film. luhrmann shows that he obviously knows his craft very well and i give props to that, but in the first instance this film didn’t make me want to analyze it, laugh with it, or feel for it. thus…

down

Score

July 22, 2001

USA  •  Oz  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

well crafted heist movie. good action and comic relief. the end, though somewhat predictable, gets your heart pumping.

up

Fast And The Furious

July 8, 2001

USA  •  Cohen  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

ha ha ha. this is a dumb, poorly scripted, poorly acted, but not badly directed movie. it’s fun to watch and laugh at and just take the action scenes for one-dimensional testosterone that they are. worth the 2.50 i paid to see it so since it got my mind off of monetary problems…

up

Shrek

July 8, 2001

USA  •  Adamson  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

probably eddie murphy’s greatest performance in his long and storied career. a very very good and funny movie. this is an example of a well done fairy tale, see 7/04/01 for an example of an unoriginal and lame fairy tale.

up

Clue

July 8, 2001

USA  •  Lynn  •  1985

i guess this one is a classic, at least that’s what i’m told. regardless, it’s a fun movie which doesn’t take itself seriously and is entertaining.

up

Scary Movie 2

July 7, 2001

USA  •  Wayans  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

good fun. toilet humor o plenty.

up

Blue Chips

July 6, 2001

USA  •  Friedkin  •  1994

good movie about college basketball…not as great as the documentary hoop dreams or the spike lee film he got game, but still definitely worth checking out.

up

Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom

July 6, 2001

USA  •  Spielberg  •  1984

a classic.

up

A.I.

July 4, 2001

USA  •  Spielberg  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

not a kubrick film. a fairy tale, and a bad one at that. watch Pearl Harbor instead.

down

Romancing The Stone

June 23, 2001

USA  •  Zemeckis  •  1984

the best of the lot…well directed and acted.

up

Batman

June 23, 2001

USA  •  Burton  •  1989

a classic.

up

Amores Perros

June 22, 2001

Mexico  •  Inarritu  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

very good movie. owes a lot to the killing and pulp fiction, but still manages to be original, entertaining and engaging.

up

Orgazmo

June 19, 2001

USA  •  Parker  •  1997

funny, but didn’t make me laugh. had some good moments, but was mostly just a sophomoric attempt at comedy. parker and stone are capable of much better.

down

Animal House

June 14, 2001

USA  •  Landis  •  1978

just classic and great fun.

up

Cinema Paridiso

June 14, 2001

Italy  •  Tornatore  •  1988

touching characters, good story. the old man is great. it’s too bad the little kid had to grow up because he was a much better actor than those who played him as he grew up.

up

Go

June 12, 2001

USA  •  Liman  •  1999

the first thirty minutes is intirely umimaginative and seems written and directed by a 20 year old without any good ideas whatsoever. amazingly, the rest of the film is good and makes up for the first portion of the film. it turns funny and even suspenseful. acting is pretty bad in places. overall the film didn’t suck and if you took away the first part of the movie it’d be geniunely worth watching. as it stands it’s borderline recommendable.

neutral

Lifeboat

June 11, 2001

USA  •  Hitchcock  •  1944

presents a really interesting situation and is well made. good idea, well executed. fun to watch.

up

Dead Poets Society

June 10, 2001

USA  •  Weir  •  1989

good well rounded movie which gets a bit slowish two-thirds through. acting is good and the storyline is great. hitchcock knows how to choose em.

up

Rebecca

June 10, 2001

USA  •  Hitchcock  •  1940

really well done…shows both sides of revolutionary teaching. well-acted. mostly accurate, but gets a little over the top in places. solid drama.

up

Weekend At Bernie’s

June 9, 2001

USA  •  Kotcheff  •  1989

funny and very 80s. good enough to waste 100 minutes on.

up

La Promesse

June 7, 2001

Belgium  •  Dardenne  •  1996

good film of the same type as central station and lamerica, though not as good.

up

He Got Game

June 6, 2001

USA  •  Lee  •  1998

spike lee is great. very well crafted film. powerful, great, just very very well done.

up

Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

June 5, 2001

Canada  •  Girard  •  1993

surprisingly good film about the eccentric american pianist. well done .

up

Dangerous Minds

June 2, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  1995

has it right in places and really wrong in others. overall it’s worth a couple hours.

up

American Pimp

June 1, 2001

USA  •  Hughes  •  1999

interesting and real look at a segment of society which is often spoken about, but seldom very realistically. good movie, but very offensive.

up

Galaxy Quest

May 31, 2001

USA  •  Parisot  •  1999

good fun.

up

House Of Yes

May 30, 2001

USA  •  Waters  •  1997

good indictment of upper middle class retards. sadly all the characters are one-dimensional, base, and overall stupid and not very interesting. eh.

neutral

Shining

May 27, 2001

UK  •  Kubrick  •  1980

really good movie. scarier than i remembered. quality film making.

up

Evil Dead

May 26, 2001

USA  •  Raimi  •  1981

watch it with friends and laugh. well done.

up

Casino

May 22, 2001

USA  •  Scorsese  •  1995

very well done.

up

Koyaanisqatsi

May 20, 2001

USA  •  Reggio  •  1982

puts things in perspective.

up

There’s Something About Mary

May 18, 2001

USA  •  Farrelly  •  1998

one of the most funny movies of the 90s.

up

Breakfast At Tiffany’s

May 18, 2001

USA  •  Edwards  •  1961

truman capote did this? hmmm. kathern hepburn owns audrey. audrey is just an annoying snobbish ignoramus in this film. i’ve known people who have said this is their favorite film…it’s no wonder i don’t know them anymore.

neutral

Jungle Fever

May 17, 2001

USA  •  Lee  •  1991

really good spike lee film (mostly) about race relations. does a good job of bringing up lots of issues.

up

Happiness

May 16, 2001

USA  •  Solondz  •  1998

strange movie by the same guy who did ‘welcome to the dollhouse.’ funny, disturbing, but good.

up

Damn Yankees

May 14, 2001

USA  •  Donen  •  1958

i’m turning gay or this is a good, fun, entertaining movie.

up

Caught

May 13, 2001

USA  •  Ophuls  •  1949

mediocre 1949 film noir about a chick and a rich guy. good cinematography, but overall could have been better.

neutral

Hoop Dreams

May 13, 2001

USA  •  James  •  1994

an extremely touching documentary about two young men from detroit (edit 01/11/07: actually they’re from chicago) who have dreams of going to the nba. touches on all sorts of subjects. very well put together.

up

Do The Right Thing

May 10, 2001

USA  •  Lee  •  1989

really really good story about more than just a hot summer day in NYC.

up

Memento

May 4, 2001

USA  •  Nolan  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

definitely worth watching. very very post-modern. well made, well told story which lends itself very well to philosophical discussion. it’s also very entertaining so it works well on both levels. good story and comic relief make it a movie which should please anyone. reminded me of fight club.

up

Music Man

May 3, 2001

USA  •  Da Costa  •  1962

very good as far as musicals go. great music.

up

Sting

May 1, 2001

USA  •  Hill  •  1973

very good movie. led the way for others like it.

up

South Park: Bigger, Longer, And Uncut

April 29, 2001

USA  •  Parker  •  1999

very funny if offensive.

up

Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

April 27, 2001

Italy  •  Leone  •  1966

excellent. soundtrack is amazing. acting is great. to say it’s well-directed would be obvious.

up

Powaqqatsi

April 26, 2001

USA  •  Reggio  •  1988

good, but not as good as Koyaanisqatsi. the soundtrack was still good, but, again, not as good as that of Koyaanisqatsi.

up

Fargo

April 24, 2001

USA  •  Coen  •  1996

excellent. film noir in a lot of ways. very good script, cinematography, score, and acting.

up

Killing

April 21, 2001

USA  •  Kubrick  •  1956

very well made film. great script. watch it.

up

Die Hard

April 19, 2001

USA  •  McTiernan  •  1988

probably the best action film ever.

up

American Movie: The Making Of Northwestern

April 18, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  1999

great. the first 54 seconds always strike me as pretty great.

up

Lolita

April 18, 2001

UK  •  Kubrick  •  1962

i haven’t seen barry lyndon, but i’ll go out on a limb and say this is kubrick’s worst film. it’s good technically, tells a good story, well acted, but it’s not really fun to watch.

neutral

Once Upon A Time In The West

April 15, 2001

Italy  •  Leone  •  1968

good, but slow. good characters, well directed and that’s about as much as one can expect from a western.

up

My Fair Lady

April 14, 2001

USA  •  Cukor  •  1964

a classic film. about as good as musicals get. music man is better.

up

Koyaanisqatsi

April 14, 2001

USA  •  Reggio  •  1982

not as good as i expected, but i expected a lot. the soundtrack is definitely the high point of this movie. could be renamed to “an introduction to chris’s thoughts.” .

up

Bulworth

April 14, 2001

USA  •  Beatty  •  1998

good movie. funny. warren beaty was good. liked the concept overall. corny at times.

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Deliverance

April 13, 2001

USA  •  Boorman  •  1972

a classic car chase film that really gets me on several levels. pure adrenaline at first and later it gets you on the whole freedom/last individual motif. good stuff all around.

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Player

April 13, 2001

USA  •  Altman  •  1992

funny at times. good to see that hollywood can sometimes be self-mocking or self-critical. that was the strong point of the film – not the plot or the characters.

neutral

Vanishing Point

April 13, 2001

USA  •  Sarafian  •  1971

good film overall. makes you fear small town people.

up

Blow

April 12, 2001

USA  •  Demme  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

good movie.

up

Full Metal Jacket

April 11, 2001

UK  •  Kubrick  •  1987

kubrick is more of a horror director than i ever realized. just think about his films in that context and you’ll see what i mean. the more you think about it while you’re watching his movies the more obvious it becomes. funny how i’ve never heard anyone comment on this ability of his. at any rate, this film is superb. within his top three, in my opinion.

up

American Job

April 10, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  1995

chris smith (american movie) directs this very good dead pan film about joe average who goes from one job to another. you can read a lot into it and think it’s great or take it too literally and not like it very much, it’s up to you.

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2001: A Space Odyssey

April 9, 2001

USA  •  Kubrick  •  1968

great movie. lots to say about it. i’ve only seen it twice in its entirety…i think it’s open for interpretation in so many ways purposely. i don’t think that arthur c. clarke or kubrick are really trying to make one claim about outer space or spirituality, rather they are trying to tickle your imagination and get you thinking. in fact arthur c. clarke said that in the four years he worked with kubrick on this film they worked very well together and that their main goal was to make people realize a few things about the vastness and potential of space. this film has some of the best cinematography and use of sets and music that you’ll ever see. also has some of the most horrifying moments i can remember in film. kubrick is great at creating that – think “the shining,” and in a different way “dr. strangelove” and “a clockwork orange” or even the end of “the killing.” kubrick is underrated when it comes to creating horrific atmosphere or horrific situations. watch it twice and then make a judgement.

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Raging Bull

April 8, 2001

USA  •  Scorsese  •  1980

obviously good. let’s just say that jake was beaten as a child. the final sequence was obviously an influence on the last boogie nights sequence. this movie is better the second time you watch it (just as taxi driver is).

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Song Remains The Same

April 7, 2001

UK  •  Clifton  •  1976

makes you realize how great led zeppelin really were…especially bonham and page.

up

Demons

April 5, 2001

Italy  •  Bava  •  1985

good concept, good touches here and there, but not very well excuted.

neutral

Written On The Wind

April 4, 2001

USA  •  Sirk  •  1956

a very good look at americana, family, the rich…does a good job of showing more and more fucked up shit throughout the film. good narrative.

up

Bride Of The Monster

April 3, 2001

USA  •  Wood  •  1956

not as bad as they’d have you believe, sadly. it’s not so bad that you can laugh at it the whole time, but it’s not nearly good enough to be really entertaining. oh well. ed wood wasn’t a horrible director, but he shouldn’t have ever written a script.

down

Chocolat

March 30, 2001

USA  •  Hallstrom  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

cutesy film with good acting. binoche has a good face for the part.

up

Whiteboyz

March 25, 2001

USA  •  Levin  •  1999

pretty bad film which shows middle america at its finest. watch this with some friends and laugh at it.

neutral

Pollock

March 24, 2001

USA  •  Harris  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

same director as enemy at the gates and seven years in tibet. a pretty interesting way of looking at humanity. makes you think about a few things which you should have already thought about. good film.

up

Quest For Fire

March 24, 2001

France  •  Annaud  •  1981

sometimes the script wasn’t so hot, but the acting was really good and it told a good (and true) story. worth watching.

up

Celebration

March 15, 2001

Denmark  •  Vinterberg  •  1998

(aka  Dogme 1 – Festen) – just wow. an amazingly good film. simply a must-see. don’t look up the summary information or read reviews on it, just rent it and watch it.

up

Ed Wood

March 14, 2001

USA  •  Burton  •  1994

funny film about an even more funny character. truth is stranger than fiction.

up

Spanking The Monkey

March 14, 2001

USA  •  Russell  •  1994

not what i expected, at all. good, but be prepared.

up

Lamerica

March 13, 2001

Italy  •  Amelio  •  1994

a good, but slow film. more educational than entertaining. overall worth the time.

up

El Mariachi

March 13, 2001

Mexico  •  Rodriguez  •  1992

could have made 1000 (literally) of these for the same cost as making titantic, what a shame. a very good film with a distinctive style. good acting from non-actors. very worthwhile. it’s funny because i just looked at the imdb review of the film and the guy made the same point that i did – namely that this film was made extremely cheaply, yet kicks hardcore ass compared to something like titantic. note: at first i had the figure above at a modest 1000, but after going to the imdb site i saw that the fellow who had reviewed it had more detailed information on the film’s funding…it turns out that one actually “could have shot approximately 28571 (!) Mariachi-kind-of films for that amount of cash.” that’s even more insane than i had remembered. i always remember films like this and night of the living dead being made for dirt cheap (both employed townspeople and friends as actors), but i didn’t know that el mariachi was made for only $7,000.

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Night Of The Living Dead

March 11, 2001

USA  •  Romero  •  1968

just an amazing film. shoe string budget, but fantastic. great use of lighting, the actors were obviously well-directed despite a lack of talent, good atmosphere, just straight ahead horror. very good soundtrack. the king of modern horror.

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Suspiria

March 11, 2001

Italy  •  Argento  •  1977

argento is one of the kings of horror, this is no exception. good use of colors – red is just about everywhere in this film. the end does get a little weird, even corny, but doesn’t ruin the film. a truly scary flick which has a good soundtrack and is just damn well directed.

up

Dawn Of The Dead

March 11, 2001

USA  •  Romero  •  1978

not only an excellent horror film, but a great film in general. witty, comedic when appropriate, slightly touching at points, gruesome in others, good social commentary, just really really well made. sucks you in from the very beginning. highly recommend. dario argento actually worked on the script and the soundtrack for this one, pretty neat. tom savini is great in the sfx department, as usual.

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Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown

March 10, 2001

Spain  •  Almodovar  •  1988

  – only 90 minutes long and seemed less than that. takes a while to pick up, but is funny once it does. lots of situational comedy. a good movie overall.

up

Naked

March 6, 2001

USA  •  Leigh  •  1993

very good verbal humor. well made and acted. good philosophical discussions, but the subject matter put me off too much to enjoy all that.

neutral

Central Station

March 5, 2001

Brazil  •  Salles  •  1998

a good brazilian film. sentimental, but not contrived. i liked it and think you will too. the soundtrack was really good.

up

City Lights

March 1, 2001

USA  •  Chaplin  •  1931

modern times is better, but this is a very good chaplin flick. the boxing sequence was very funny. the music while chaplin is in the gym is great great great. good love story, funny, chaplin is good.

up

Reservior Dogs

February 27, 2001

USA  •  Tarantino  •  1992

excellent.

up

Phenomenon

February 24, 2001

USA  •  Turteltaub  •  1996

a really really good movie to laugh at and make fun of.

down

Unforgiven

February 23, 2001

USA  •  Eastwood  •  1992

probably my favorite western. very different from most westerns, but really has it all. clint eastwood is just the shit.

up

Rope

February 22, 2001

USA  •  Hitchcock  •  1948

if you haven’t read nietzsche then you are seriously robbing yourself of the potential this movie has. that’s not to say that this film can’t be appreciated without nietzsche, but with nietzsche you’ll understand and have a framework for the philosophy behind this. of course when one of the characters mentions nietzsche he misunderstands him in the worst way possible, just as hitler did, but such is the nature of philosophy… a great film which is sadly known only for the fact that it’s a four reel film and only cuts four times (although it really cuts more like 8 times). great story, acting, and directing. hitchcock’s second most entertaining and third best film.

up

Cocoanuts

February 19, 2001

USA  •  Florey  •  1929

a good marx brothers film, but too much song and dance.

up

Apartment

February 17, 2001

USA  •  Wilder  •  1960

let me first say that looking at shirley maclaine fourty years ago you would never have known she would end up the ugly pseudo-red head that she is now. that aside….this is a great film. billy wilder (double indemnity, sunset blvd…) wrote and directed this great piece of work. as a story it’s great, but as a film it’s even better. at times it was really really ahead of its time – in terms of social commentary – the things which aren’t talked about in the open, as it were. but i guess that’s not a problem for ole billy wilder – i hear that the seven year itch had some trouble along the lines of sexual innuendo and politics…at any rate, this was a good film, especially for the hopeless romantics out there.

up

Matador

February 12, 2001

Spain  •  Almodovar  •  1986

an interesting film. i’m sure one could extrapolate all sorts of deep meaning from this film, but it didn’t really inspire me to try.

down

Pushing Tin

February 11, 2001

USA  •  Newell  •  1999

a fairly entertaining film, but doesn’t really do anything. kind of strange. what’s her face is overrated in all respects.

down

Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai

February 10, 2001

USA  •  Jarmusch  •  1999

a very good movie all around. a lot of the intertitles were very nietzschean in their thrust, others were completely the opposite of nietzsche.

up

Hard Boiled

February 7, 2001

Hong Kong  •  Woo  •  1992

dubbing movies was a bad idea. john woo is great. the last 40 minutes of this film is really awesome, the body count throughout is ludicrous. i guarantee you john woo watched die hard before he made this film.

up

Duck Soup

February 6, 2001

USA  •  McCarey  •  1933

very funny. verbal comedy at its finest. marx brothers are the shit. some great gags in this one.

up

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

February 5, 2001

UK  •  Kubrick  •  1964

just amazing. a must see.

up

Yojimbo

February 4, 2001

Japan  •  Kurosawa  •  1961

kurosawa is the man. this movie is so good in so many different ways. the conflicts, both on the literal and allegorical levels, the characters, the direction of the film, the script, the acting, the soundtrack…everything is just really really good. this is a good example of a  film that is entertaining, artisitic, and good after every viewing.

up

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

February 3, 2001

USA  •  Lee  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

very mixed on this one. the action scenes were really good and so was the soundtrack, but it tried too hard to be more than just an action flick. a) there’s nothing wrong with being just an action flick b) having two love stories (one which comes out of nowhere in the middle of the movie) isn’t the way to be more than just an action flick. good camera movement and fight choreography.

neutral

Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie

January 30, 2001

France  •  Bunuel  •  1972

luis bunuel is the shit. this movie is just a rollercoaster ride, but does it well and comedically.

up

Saving Private Ryan

January 24, 2001

USA  •  Spielberg  •  1998

excellent WWII flick. whoever did the sound deserves big time props.

up

Vertigo

January 22, 2001

USA  •  Hitchcock  •  1958

obviously a very good film, but not as entertaining as strangers on a train.

up

American Movie: The Making Of Northwestern

January 21, 2001

USA  •  Smith  •  1999

just amazing. real. funny. sad. poignant and profound.

up

Coven

January 21, 2001

USA  •  Borchardt  •  1997  •  Short

very good visually, the script needed some work. keep up the good work mark borchardt.

up

Erin Brockovich

January 21, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2000

a good film. julia roberts does a good and convincing job. wasn’t contrived or cliche, which is what i kind of expected. even funny at times. steven soderburgh is a genuine film maker.

up

Paths Of Glory

January 20, 2001

USA  •  Kubrick  •  1957

leaves me thinking and feeling the same as at the end of grapes of wrath. one of a kind.

up

A Life Less Ordinary

January 20, 2001

UK  •  Boyle  •  1997

fun and funny movie. worth watching.

up

High Fidelity

January 20, 2001

USA  •  Frears  •  2000

hyped up more than it should be, but still a good movie. one moment was just great. made fun of music elitists, which is great. i might have enjoyed it more if i was single. yea! .

up

Snatch

January 19, 2001

UK  •  Ritchie  •  2001  •  Watched in theater

you’ll probably like it.

neutral

Boogie Nights

January 17, 2001

USA  •  Anderson  •  1997

(DVD) – gets better every time you watch it.

up

Sex, Lies And Videotape

January 15, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  1989

infidelity sucks. lust will fuck you like nothing else, no pun intended.

up

Almost Famous

January 12, 2001

USA  •  Crowe  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

i bet cameron crowe just gooed himself after he wrote the screenplay for this piece. within the first five minutes three vws make a cameo – bus, bug, and the ghia. this was the hightlight of the film. the two best characters were seen the least – the mother and the daughter. the mother (franced mcdormand) was great and real and believable, unlike most of the other characters. kate hudson was good for the part, but the part was retarded. what seemed to be the apex of the comedy in this film was when three groupies tried to rape the 15 year old lead character. ha ha ha. some performances stood out – philip seymore hoffman was, as always, very good. jimmy fallon was good. the movie, overall, just seemed very contrived. i could picture the studio execs the whole time in the boardroom laughing their heads off about how they were cashing in on jerry maguire’s success. best thing about the movie – the soundtrack. played four led zeppelin songs – rain song, misty mountain hop, that’s the way, and tangerine.

down

Los Olvidados

January 9, 2001

Mexico  •  Bunuel  •  1950

very good film along the lines of an oliver twist story. bunch of boys who run the streets robbing and the like. but that’s not the real focus of the story. a good look at the underbelly of a society in trouble (on several levels). the intro basically says it’s the story of no one city, but all cities. pulls it off well.

up

Out Of The Past

January 8, 2001

USA  •  Tourneur  •  1947

robert mitchum and kirk douglas. good film noir, but shot mostly outdoors, so it was unique in that sense. good script and acting. didn’t grab me like double indemnity or some of the other greats, but still good. watch it if you like the genre.

neutral

Boogie Nights

January 6, 2001

USA  •  Anderson  •  1997

(DVD) – just great. not as perfect as pulp fiction, but also tries to do more. very rich and dense, but easily accessible as well. those are the movies that i enjoy the most, and for the longest.

up

Traffic

January 5, 2001

USA  •  Soderbergh  •  2000  •  Watched in theater

very very good film. despite the unique and fitting style, the story itself is excellent. acting was up to the job. good comic relief, something which could have easily been overlooked. don cheadle is the shit and so is benicio del toro. better than the limey or out of sight. need to see sex lies and videotape soon.

up

Money Train

January 4, 2001

USA  •  Ruben  •  1995

has the worst .5 sec. of film, ever.

down

Radio Days

January 2, 2001

USA  •  Allen  •  1987

used to think that i didn’t like woody allen, not sure why. this is a funny movie.

up

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