Adam on my misses


I'll help you out on the ones you haven't seen.

Art of War - Better than average Michael Biehn film. Do you need more of an
excuse to see a film other than Michael Biehn?
The Cell - A new genre: Imaginexpoitation film. Shit.
Godzilla 2000 - A MUST SEE!
Cecil B. Demented - Another John Waters film made only for him. He makes
really bad films, it's just a few of the early ones were absolutely
brilliant.

Dayve's first real buzz-in from Oklahoma!

Man, Paul, I'll take your "straight at ya" reviews any day, and over Shalit, Lyons and Ebert, too. You really serve up the goods. A hearty "yessuh!" to 95 % of your reads.

I've been all over the Olympics myself lately, so not much has been seen since we last spoke. But Almost Famous looks absolutely charming. THAT I'll see.

Are you kidding about Neil LaBute? I'd watched Friends and Neighbors, and felt so shitty and unclean for days afterwards. Then, in true S & M style, I subjected myself to In the Company of Men, with a forgiving spirit. Oh Jesus, that hurt twice as bad. Neil is only valuable to the film world as a horrific sort of mortician, performing his autopsies on the most base and depraved of human characters, and his results ain't pretty....

Thanks for the heads up on Virtual PC...I'm comparison shopping as we speak on the Net. And the subwoofer package? All's I can say is, "Shut up already....DAMN! <housequake!>" I'll DEFINITELY hafta get that.

I dunno about any DVD titles included: I give it to Anne tomorrow, on her lovely 28th B-day. But I'm just as psyched to steal away some time with it, myself...And I'll no doubt get that Dummies book. If I find a DVD heavy discount e-tailer (<- ewww) out there, I'll letchya know.

Till the crust falls from Fievish Finkel's underpants....

Dayve


Anita from MN "pipes" up...funny


Hi Honeys,

I haven't been much into the releases this year, either. But I don't
consider myself the efficionado you are, either! But I did want to pipe up
for Saving Grace. It's not so much about the drug scene, despite all the
marijuana running rampant - it's just part of the plan to save Grace. But
it is worth seeing. Craig ???, (Mr. Wick on Drew Carey) proves rather
refreshing, compared to his usual small screen appearances. It actually
took me a scene or two to recognize him. Mild suspension of belief required
for some points, but it's so freakin' charming, y'just don't mind. And of
course, the end is one of those typical British offerings tying up all the
loose ends very neatly. Complete with appropriate triumphs.

....I think Karen would dig it.

Anita.

Mark with the usual brimstone


Paul & Karen,

Enjoyed a lot of your comments regarding the films you WON'T be seeing this
year (especially the Duets one, I can't imagine the pitch session for THAT one
- who the hell gave that the green light?)

While we've skipped a few of the films you did see due to mostly mixed or
otherwise worse reviews (Nutty Prof, Original Kings) we have seen a few of the
others you reviewed. We both enjoyed Space Cowboys a lot. I didn't think it
was long either; however, I felt that they spent a lot of time preparing to get
to space, but not a lot of time there once they arrived. The last half of the
film seemed a bit rushed to me, and could have used better editing in my
opinion. They story was entertaining if not somewhat implausable. I did enjoy
them throwing the younger astronauts out of the shuttle on their final approach
before managing to land it anyway, although why must every space movie to come
now have to have someone committing an act of self-sacrifice (Armeggedon,
Mission to Mars, Deep Impact, etc.)?

Of the other films you mentioned not bothering to see, we've only seen two:
Hollowman and The Cell.

Hollowman we saw on a rainy afternoon at Universal for a discount. It started
raining hard once we got to the parks, so we decided to catch a movie for a bit
'til it stopped. The only one beginning soon that we hadn't seen was this.
Typical Verhoven fare in the sense that you got to see all kinds of gross
effects and stuff, and it started out with some promise, but perhaps it
borrowed too liberally from the H.G. Wells story that inspired it in that it
became, as you said, your basic slasher flick by the end. Started off kind of
cool - deteriorated from there.

The Cell we did enjoy. A kind of cross between Silence of the Lambs (but not
as good) and that old Dennis Quaid/Kate Capshaw flick Dreamscape, although
others have given this comparison to the Matrix, but I just don't see it. Lots
of neat imagery - some of it really haunting stuff. This would have terrorized
me as a kid I think. I also liked the fact that it didn't explain it all out
for you like you were some little kid. It really allowed you to draw your own
comparisons and piece together the killer's psyche on your own. A neat twist
on a serial killer genre in that they didn't spend the whole movie searching
for the killer, but rather the killer's next victim. This would be the only
one I might recommend you see; however, most people I've spoken to have either
really loved it or really hated it, and that's exactly what Jenn and I figured
would be the case.

Gotta go to work!

Talk to you soon,
Tooch


Erika on another flick I missed


i got to see Bring It On on a freebie after seeing Space Cowboys. . .
i laughed and was thoroughly entertained. it was smart, and probably written by someone who know's something about the competitive cheerleading world. it had hte right balance of making fun of and enjoying that world. hey, i hated the cheerleaders in my high school, and my mom cheered all throught high school on to the first san diego chargers squad, and we both enjoyed it. i recommend it, and if you can't stand to spend the money (it's at least worth a matinee), wait till video, and have a bring it on/drop dead gorgeous fest one night.

ps - i went into this movie wanting to and waiting to hate it! also looking forward to Meet The Parents (woo hoo).

erika


Mike from Long Island


Paul,

I would have to agree that there really hasnt' been much to see of late. I realized last weekend that the last thing I had seen was X-Men. For a minute I thought that I had been seriously slacking and had lost interest in movies. It was then that I had realized that the summer movies have sucked and that there really wasn't anything worth seeing. That is, of course, till I had the chance to catch a preview showing of Almost Famous. A very likeable film, and I found myself wanting to like it simply because of Cameron Crowe. His films have the innate abilty to peneatrate the human condition and unconsciously provoke empathy for his characters. His characters ultimately feel and sound real.
Almost Famous is a good film, with a good ensemble class. This was probably a more difficult film for him to write rather than easier because of his proximity to the story. I believe he does a fine job with the film with an incredible musical selection that has his uncanny sense of timing.
I'll probably see the film again within the next few weeks and will more than likely, appreciate it more. Right now, though, I don't know. I'm still working it out.

Later.

Michael

Steve goes to the art house


The ONLY one of those I have seen is Space Cowboys. Which was pretty
decent. I am in movie angst right now as there are NO movies I want to go
see at all.

So, here are my picks for the summer that I have seen that make moviegoing
still worthwhile:

BUTTERFLY: ***1/2 An amazing Spanish film about a young boy and his
teacher. The metaphors are not too heavy and the end will rip out your
throat!! No really this film is beautiful yet simple, etc etc GO SEE IT!!

JESUS' SON: *** One heck of an interesting take on a bizarrly spiritual
yet earthy film. I am a Christian and I loved it. If Christ spent his tiem
amongst tax collector's and thieves, then where might his son look to spend
his time in our century?? It's weird, but Crudup and Samantha Morton are
worth it, so is the bizarre way it unsettles you.

CROUPIER: *** An awesome Foreign film about a croupier (dealer in a
casino) Although the entire plot twist, interesting story "thing" at the
end is still completely non-understandable to me, the rest of the film is
great. Story, filming all great!!!

Now, those are the only worthwhile films I have seen in the past 4
months!!!!

Steve Matuszak


Beth drops a bomb from NYC


Thanks for the movie rant. I loved it. What a cool thing to do. I just saw
Nurse Betty this weekend and I thought it was boring. Chris Rock and Morgan
Freeman were highly disapointing. I don't blame them, I blame the writing.
If you haven't see Almost Famous yet, go. Both Michael and I thought it was
great!
Take care out there in sunny CA.
Bethany.


Paula gots sumpin ta say

Paul dear, I must concur with almost all of your
views. What a horrible summer it's been for movies!
And the current crop is lamentably LAME.

Space Cowboys - I dug that too. Not a perfect movie,
but ENTERTAINING, anyway.

Nurse Betty - The script was hit and miss. I happen to
like Chris Rock (as a comedian, not an actor) he made
me laugh. All the actors were teriffic, I thought (I
too ADORE Morgan Freeman and will see him in
ANYTHING...he even made his character's arc believable
when it was so poorly conceived!). It has some really
great moments, but overall - just a weird movie.

Duets - Just don't DUET. Kudos to the actors, with the
exception of Maria Bello who I wanted to physically
remove from the screen, but they deserve better
scripts/direction.

Almost Famous - I really liked this, but I must say I
expected more. It didn't MOVE me the way I thought it
would. Excellent acting all around, but like I
said...it was just missing something for me. I would
still recommend it to people for the terrific
performances, and for a funny and sweet story.

Gotta go for now. Hope you're doing well!
Love ya,
Paula


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