Simultaneity

January 15, 2007

A few Sequels

It seems like this year, more than most, will be the year of the sequel:

• Spiderman 3 - May 4
• Shrek the Third - May 18
• Pirates of the Caribbean:World's End (Pirates of the Caribbean 3) - May 26
• Knocked Up (40 year old virgin follow up) - June 1
• Ocean's 13 (Ocean's 11 3) - June 8
• Evan Almighty (Bruce Almighty 2) - June 22
• Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4) - June 29
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5?) - July 13
• The Bourne Ultimatum (Bourne Identity 3) - August 3

Not all of these grab my interest, but I'll see a few when they come on DVD.

Posted by Jesse at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2006

Another Trek

Since it's already in main stream news, I would imagine all my Trek friends are already aware that a new Star Trek movie is being planed for 2008. It'll be helmed by the director of Mission: Impossible III.

The current talk is that it will center on the early days, looking back to when Kirk and Spock first meet. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the theme of the movie, it's been talked about forever.

Posted by Jesse at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2005

Time to light the lights

The last couple of movies from Kevin's Netflix cue were Muppet movies. One, the Best of the Muppet Show: Peter Sellers, was a let down. I have find memories of watching the shows - but after seeing this, I'm not sure what I saw....time changes things I suppose.

The other was The Muppet Movie. Enjoyable. Kevin, of course, enjoyed both of them greatly.

Posted by Jesse at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)

Kranks

Christmas evening we watch Christmas with the Kranks. Pretty standard Christmas movie, but not one of the best ones. Good movie to watch with the family though.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

December 8, 2005

The Force and Tarzan

Ove the past week or so, we've watched 2 movies. Actually, I watched one and was in the room during the other one.

The first was Star Wars: Episode III. Wow, George Lucas has really jumped the shark. While I had heard that this is the best of the new ones, and it is, it wasn't until I watched it that I realized that wasn't very much of a complement....it's like saying "The most recent movie of the year!"

The story itself was certainly the best of the recent three and possibly among the best of all of them, but the actual movie was a sad rendition of the story being told. The characters were not believable, the script was forced and the pace of the movie was choppy. There were a few scenes that were well done (with Palpentine sans Anakin), but certainly not enough to save the film.

On the other hand, Tarzan was a decent cartoon rendition of the the character. I've seen many different versions of Tarzan and I am pretty sure that I have seen this one before. This was Kevin's first viewing and after watching the opening violence of the movie, Teri and I both wondered about continuing. We figured that letting him see that everything turns out alright would be better than having his imagination complete the movie for him.

When the movie ended, he hopped up to eject the movie and said, "That was a good one. That was a good movie."

Star Wars III: 1.5 stars out of 5
Tarzan: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2005

Come again?

Finished watching The Interpreter today. Not exactly a blcokbuster, but worth seeing via Netflix. The ending was decent and I was glad that it wasn't wrapped up in a perfect little ball but rather had some semblance to real life. The climax was rather 1st door though....but I didn't expect the bombing early on in the movie.

Rating: 3 stars

Posted by Jesse at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2005

The Perfect Spouse

We watched The Stepford Wives yesterday. It was a rather mediocre movie with really nothing worth commenting on other than to say that we saw it. I didn't see the original so I've no idea how this one matched up other than to think that since "Stepford Wife" has such a widely known meaning that the original must have been better.

Rating 2 stars

Posted by Jesse at 4:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2005

A moment of your time

Just finished Momento and to say that it was pointless would be an exaggeration. The movie started with the main character killing someone, then backtracked to see why. They did it well, but went overboard. You get to see the story backwards in about 15 minute or less intervals, which gets to be old when you've backed up about 5 times and you're not even half way done.

I expected that by the time we got to the beginning, there would be something of substance, but it was a rather dumb way to end the movie and made the whole pointlessness the whole point of the movie.

Rating 1.5 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 6:25 PM | Comments (0)

HHGTTG

We took some time this weekend to watch one of the movies we have from Netflix, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It held fairly true to the books, which was nice, but it did have alot missing - they never mentioned the definition of Earth.

It wasn't exactly a "keep your interest" movie, I fell asleep during the middle of it. I'm not surprised it didn't do to well at the box office.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 6:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2005

Final Destination 2

We watched Final Destination 2 and while I enjoyed it, it really isn't any different than the first one. The same plot - someone has a premonition so they don't do something and a bunch of people avoid dying...so death comes after them one at a time and they die in some weird way.

There are some small difference - you get to see the people killed the first time in a huge accident instead of just the plane blowing up...they also tie into the first movie...and not everyone dies.

The next day I realized that there are spiritual implications in the movie, other than the whole death thing. They talk about the small signs that you see all around you that clue you in to what is about to happen and if you read them right, you can avoid the accidents. I don't quite buy that, but God does use circumstance and signs that we often overlook in order to guide us. Answers to prayers often come in things that we never realize because we too preoccupied looking for the 'big' sign that we miss all the little signs.

Yeah, it's a stretch, but it did make me think about that.

Rating 3 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 2:35 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2005

Trojan Horse

Troy was pretty much a Trojan horse - an average movie wrapped in hype and disguised as a blockbuster. I did enjoy seeing the story that just about everyone knows, but it was really nothing special.

My main problem with Troy is that it seems to be a guy movie, filled with battles, and not much of a chic-flic other than the occasional glimpse of Brad Pitt. Normally this isn't a problem, but if it's supposed to be a guy movie it's waaaay to long, 2 hours 43 minutes. And, if it's supposed to be a chic-flick, well, there's nothing there. Of course, all movies don't have to fit into typical guy or girl movie and some do a good job at being something for everyone, Troy doesn't.

Then, add to it that you have to rid the remote in order to be able to hear what people are saying and not have your ears blown out during battles. That's always a drawback.

On the whole, I enjoyed the movie, but it's not something I would say is a must see...unless you have 3 hours to kill.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)

Hidden Treasure

We watched National Treasure last week. I thought it would be one of those movies that I paid minimal attention to and would be rather mediocre. I was pleasantly surprised. It's not an oscar winner or something that will be talked about for decades to come, but it was a well done and enjoyable flick.

With the addition of MythBusters, I enjoy seeing different 'legends' played out and National Treasure did a good job of sharing their story.

Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 5:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 3, 2005

Lilo & Stitch

We went to Best Buy last night with Kevin to pick up the new Stitch movies, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch. Of course, he was going to want to see it when we got home, so we picked up dinner at Friday's and came home to watch it.

Nothing out of the ordinary.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 6:35 PM | Comments (0)

See Saw

We watched Saw today and despite the title of the post, I'll leave it up to you, it's nothing all that special. It has an interesting plot and given that it's a low budget movie, it's pretty good. It takes place in basically one room so I wasn't surprised to learn that it was shot in 6 days..and with the second door I'm also not surprised that there'll be a sequel.

It's a horror movie - not a slasher film, but more of a wouldn't you freak out if something like this happened to you.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 6:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

Basketball

I watched Coach Carter last week and thought that it was going to be a basketball based "The Principal" and while it was a bit, it wasn't as bad as I expected. I enjoyed the ending, especially in that it was unexpected.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 6:21 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2005

Will Smith-A-Thon

Friday night after coming home from 'fuge we watched Shark Tale with Kevin. He enjoyed the "fish movie" and watched it again on Saturday. I thought it was ok, but not a must see. The Godfather clone of DeNiro was cute, but Nemo was a better and more entertaining movie.

Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars

On Saturday night we watched Hitch. I was playing CoH during the movie so I didn't catch everything but again, this was just an Ok movie, not a must see. It had it's entertaining movie, but nothing 2nd door, everything was as expected.

Rating 2.5 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2005

For your viewing pleasure

The month of June brought the viewing of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Ladder 49. It took this long to see Episode II because Episode I was so awful I believed I was done with the Star Wars franchise. However, glimpses of Episode III garnered my interest and I knew I should see II before III. I'll admit it was better than I thought it would be and I enjoyed it.

Rating 3 out of 5

Ladder 49 was VERY predictable and totally first door. The only surprise was that they didn't include the cliche of the family having a dog. Not a bad movie, but I prefer movies that are not so plain.

Rating 2 out of 4 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 6:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2005

Movies, Movies, Movies

One of the things that has gotten neglected is posting recent movies and books...

Mr. 3000

Not a bad flick. We saw it the first week of April so I don't remember if I had anything to comment on. I like Bernie Mac but I think his show if much funnier than any of his movies.
4 out of five stars.

Ocean's Twelve

This was a pointless movie. It's not often that a sequel is better than the original and this is not one of those times. Ocean's Eleven wasn't that good, this one is worse.
1 out of five stars

Napoleon Dynamite

If anyone tells you that you should see this movie, do yourself a favor and punch them in the face. This movie is so stupid it's more than just a waste of your time. I have to admit that maybe I just don't get it. Alot of people seemed to like it, but it rates as one of the worst movies I've seen - but not on the scale of Phantom Menace.
.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 8:43 PM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2005

That's Incredible

Last night we took in "The Incredibles" and I was quite impressed. I thought it was a great movie - plot, art, and sound. The only thing I would change - and I probably really wouldn't - is that I liked Mr. Incredible's original suit rather than the family one.

If you like cartoons or not, I would suggest giving this movie a chance. Quite enjoyable.

Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

March 31, 2005

Bourne Again

I finished up watching The Bourne Supremacy and quite enjoyed it. I don't think that it is better than the first, after all, it is a sequel. Definatly a high energy movie - I enjoyed the fact that it was a very "clean" movie as well. There was minimal bloodshed and little foul language, just great car chases and a decent plot...but it was also a repeat.

It's was good enough that I wonder if they will make another. I know there's another Bourne book, so we'll see.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)

Catwoman

Teri and I watched this movie the other night after having it from Netflix for over a month. I didn't think that it was something I wanted to see and could have lived without seeing it, but it wasn't awful. The plot was thin and the story was tired and about the best thing I can say about it was it wasn't awful. It really wasn't bad - just not good...one of those movies that just eats up film.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2005

Dodging the Anchor

I noticed that since I've been playing "Heroes" that I have neglected to review the last 2 movies that we watched, Anchorman and Dodgeball.

Anchorman is a huge waste of time...I figured it could either be like Elf, a waste but funny, or like Night at the Roxbury - a complete waste of brain function. Unfortunately it was worse than Roxbury - avoid this movie. Rating .5 stars out of 5.

Dodgeball on the other hand was quite amusing. I'll admit there was little plot and no character depth, but it was supposed to be a stupid movie and it is one of Stiller's better movies. I particularly liked Justin Long. I liked him in Ed, he plays a gauky kid quite well. His writhing on the floor after getting hit with the wrench had me almost falling off the couch with laughter.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2005

Swinging in the New Year

Our annual tradition is to ring in the new year with a movie and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. This year was to be a bit different since we were going to be spending it with friends but that didn't work out as planned so we fell back on tradition.

This year's movie was Spider-Man 2 (we didn't make it to the second movie). We allowed Kevin to sit with us for the beginning thinking that he would fall asleep shortly after the snacks, especially since he had to lay down and be still. He did switch couches for a while and almost fell asleep near the end, but stayed still for the whole thing and was quite interested in "man" and why he was falling.

That about sums up the movie for me as well. I thought it was interesting enough, but the whole "losing powers" thing seemed just un-natural. There was no real reason other than mental and that just didn't really seem to work. I thought it was also out of lore for so many people to see who he really was, especially the person it seems will be the next super-villain. Having the enemy know the alter-ego is just wrong.

On the other hand, I did enjoy seeing some of the day to day events, such as washing his costume, interacting with people (like in the elevator) and delivering the pizza. I'll admit that's out of the norm for "hero" movies, but I thought it worked well and added to the movie.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 3:37 PM | Comments (1)

December 28, 2004

New and Improved

Last night we watched the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate with Denzel Washington. Compared to the original I found it about equal. Neither movie was that good and tended to be unclear in certain points in the plot. The 2004 version ended a bit better than the original, but failed to explain the candidates love interest where as the original never explained the main characters love interest.

Denzel is starting to get a bit typecast as the lunatic military officer. He's also been in some real dogs recently and is starting to slip from his position as my favorite actor - to the point where I'm not sure his movies are must sees and are definitely not must own movies.

Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 4:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

Thursday was a good day

Last night we watched I, Robot and I thought it was among the best movies I've seen this year. It kept my interest throughout, had plenty of action, and a good ending. There was just a bit of unpredictability near the end, which was good.

I never read the novel so I have no idea how it compares. I have a feeling that it doesn't since there was a lot of bad reviews when the movie was in theaters. However, as a stand alone, it was quite good. And, as Teri pointed out, there are quite a few HHGTTG references within.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 1:51 PM | Comments (1)

December 18, 2004

It's Terminal

Just finished watching The Terminal. There's not really much to say about it - I thought it was cute and a good story worth watching, but not one worth adding to the collection.

Tom Hanks, as usual did a good job - this time with a Slavic accent. He plays Viktor Navorski, who comes to America to fulfill a goal. Unfortunately, while he is on his way, there is a coup in his country and travel is halted - He can't get into the U.S. and he can't go home, or without a passport anywhere else.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

December 4, 2004

Deep Sea Fishing

This afternoon Teri and I watched Swordfish. It starts near the end of the movie, then after a very impressive filming of an explosion flashes back 4 days and proceeds through the explosion to the end of the movie. There were a few twists in the movie that I found interesting and one that I fell for, which always adds to my enjoyment of a film.

There wasn't a whole lot on substance, this is one of those movies you watch when you have time to kill, not one that you expect to get something out of, or want to see again and again. All in all, it was an interesting movie , although I can't stand movies that I have such a wide range of volume. I felt like I spent way too much time with the remote - whispering to explosions.

Posted by Jesse at 7:41 PM

November 26, 2004

A Christmas Tale

Elf is a story about a human child that accidentally grew up in Santa's workshop, believing he was an elf. After finding out he wasn't really an elf, he went to New York, looking for his father.

From the previews, I thought that this Will Ferrell, would be much like his others, funny - but trying too hard to be funny and as a result being fairly blah. Thankfully, I was wrong. There was a good mix of Christmas, humor, and tugging at the heart. I laughed out loud at least once and was quite amused at some other parts. It was also a very warming film, something to get the Christmas spirit warmed up.

If you missed this last year, I definitely suggest that you see it this year on DVD.

Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 9:50 PM | Comments (1)

November 22, 2004

Shrek 2

This afternoon Teri and I took some time to watch Shrek 2. Not a bad flick, but I don't think it was as good as the first. Most of the comedy was expected (from seeing the first one) although all the references to other movies was entertaining. The story was nothing out of the ordinary - in fact, it was much like the first one, just without any drama.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 11:01 PM

November 12, 2004

Man on Fire

A friend of ours saw Man on Fire at the theaters and thought that it was a bad movie. We just finished watching it and I have to disagree. I'm not quiet about the fact that I'm a Denzel fan and while this is not a super-star role for him, it was a role that worked very well for him. One of the things that I enjoy about Denzel is that he is not type-cast and can play a variety of roles - this is yet another role that he fit into.

However, it is a pretty violent film - on the order of Bronson's Death Wish. And some of it is a bit far fetched, but not so much that you even notice during the movie. I've not seen the original and won't, not that it's a bad movie, it isn't, but once you've seen it, you know everything that happens.

As a warning, if you are prone to seizures, especially from flashing lights, do not watch this movie.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

September 7, 2004

Mr. Smith watches a movie

Last night we watched Mr. Smith goes to Washington. There were several times when I though, "If this were a modern movie..." Like when the Senator and Jeff's mom said hello, I thought - yep, if this were being shot today, it'd turn out that Jeff was actually his son.

Anyhow, it's definitely worth watching and it was good to see Jimmy Stewart in an early role. However, having watched a few of the pre-TV movies recently, I can see why we now have the credits at the end. In today's I want it now mindset it was hard to not fast forward to the movie.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:19 PM

August 29, 2004

Braveheart: A New Look

What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?
Matthew 16:26

This article takes a look at who is the real main character of Braveheart and why it is not William Wallace. Interesting read.

Posted by Jesse at 10:29 PM

August 26, 2004

A Piece of History

Tonight Teri and I watched Miracle. It's about the 1980 USA hockey team - well, actually, it's about the coach that lead them. Interesting movie and they did a good job of adding just the right amount of drama. I loved the coach, he had a great attitude toward what he was hired to do and didn't let anyone stand in his way.

Quote that sums up the movie: "I'm not looking for the best players, I'm looking for the right players."
Well worth the watch...<spoiler>USA Wins</spoiler>

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 11:35 PM | Comments (1)

August 23, 2004

Polly want a cracker?

I watched "Along came Polly" today, which Teri had watched this weekend. She enjoys Ben Stiller and found this movie interesting. We didn't watch it together because our taste in movies is slightly different when it comes to humor and I wasn't sure that I would like this movie.

However, I do think that it was a pretty good movie. The story held me and I even chuckled a few times. I also think I have discovered why I hesitate at Ben Stiller movies. I don't find him as funny as he thinks he is. In movies where he's the innocent (or straight man) like this one and Meet the Parents I enjoy him as the main character and as a result like the movie. On the flip side, when he's attempting to be the comic, as in Zoolander or similar movies I don't enjoy any of the movie.

Based on this, I think I will not like Dodge Ball, but I'm going to see it eventually anyhow.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 3:59 PM | Comments (1)

August 22, 2004

Bad Movie

Thursday night Teri and I sat down to enjoy a movie. Rather than watch one in our collection, we decided to watch Bad Santa so we could send it back to NetFlix.

Not a good movie. It had more foul language than Bad Boys and Any Given Sunday combined so much so that it is impossible to get pass the language barrier in order to enjoy the movie - which had a weak and predictable plot anyhow.

Rating: 0 stars out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 10:50 PM

August 18, 2004

Bunnies in the movies

If you liked "The Exorcist in 30 Seconds," then you're sure to enjoy Angry Alien's latest "Jaws in 30 seconds."

I used to hate the water...

Posted by Jesse at 10:43 PM

Was it a Godsend?

Not so much.
Last night, we watched Godsend, a tale about a family that loses their son and decides to have him cloned. I thought it would be close to something like Pet Sematary, and in a way, it was, just not scary and not as good. There is a twist in the movie and there over all it is a decent flick, but the ending is very blah and non-committal. The movie could have ended in the shed or with the father/closet scene, but I won't give anything away by discussing better endings here.

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:10 AM

August 17, 2004

Drycleaning of the Mind

Last night we watched the original version of The Manchurian Candidate from 1962. I hope that the remake is more entertaining. It's not that the original is bad, it's just got some very slow points and some gaps in the movie that just don't tie well together.

I didn't mind the black and white, and it was enjoyable that there was not coarse language in any of the movie - but it's slow...

Rating 3 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 9:14 PM

August 9, 2004

A matter of time...

Sometimes you sit down to watch a movie that has some well known actors in it and you actually get a good movie. Tonight, Teri and I watched Mystic River. It description seemed interesting enough and it started out well....but then it just went on and on and really went no where out of the ordinary. It was supposed to be a crime drama, but you knew from about the 5 minute mark what would happen and how things turned out. Really no mystery at all, no suspense, no thrill, no action, and very little drama.

If you have nothing better to do, I'd suggest reading a book.

Rating 1 star out of 5.

Posted by Jesse at 10:55 PM

August 7, 2004

I'm Batman

"Batman Begins" is slated for summer of 2005. I like batman and really enjoyed Michael Keaton. Unfortunately, once he unsuited the movies went downhill quickly. I'm not familiar with the new Batman, Christian Bale but the movie seems like it might be worth a look - at least more than the last few.

When I first saw the Batmobile I thought the web site was joking, it looks like a modified tank. However, after watching a video that appears to be from an on-location shoot, I think it may just work..

Posted by Jesse at 10:07 PM | Comments (1)

August 6, 2004

I never did get the hang of Thursdays....

The teaser for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy has made it to the net. It's not a trailer as there isn't any of the movie, it's simply a teaser but it is really well done - enough to have me looking forward to the movie.

The movies official site has some news, but is devoid of the trailer/teaser. They do, however, have a blog, unfortunately sans syndication.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Posted by Jesse at 11:08 PM

How much is it worth?

Just finished watching "Paycheck" and I have to give a thumbs up to the creator. I'm not sure it's a hugely original idea, but the story was a refreshing change. It kept me interested throughout (even enough to put the laptop away for the duration) and had plausible characters.

Kind of a Bourn Identity meets sci-fi.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 10:50 PM

August 1, 2004

The following motion picture...

Teri posted a list of which of the top 100 grossing (world-wide) she's seen and encouraged others to do the same, so here goes... (one's I've watched are bold)

1. Titanic (1997)
2. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
4. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002)
6. Jurassic Park (1993)
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
8. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001)
9. Finding Nemo (2003)
10. Independence Day (1996)
11. Spider-Man (2002)
12. Star Wars (1977)
13. Lion King, The (1994)
14. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
15. Matrix Reloaded, The (2003)
16. Shrek 2 (2004)
17. Forrest Gump (1994)
18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
19. Sixth Sense, The (1999)
20. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

21. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
22. Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997)
23. Passion of the Christ, The (2004)
24. Men in Black (1997)
25. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
26. Armageddon (1998)
27. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
28. Home Alone (1990)
29. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
30. Monsters, Inc. (2001)
31. Day After Tomorrow, The (2004)
32. Ghost (1990)
33. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
34. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
35. Aladdin (1992)
36. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
37. Twister (1996)
38. Toy Story 2 (1999)
39. Troy (2004)
40. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
41. Jaws (1975)
42. Pretty Woman (1990)
43. Bruce Almighty (2003)
44. Matrix, The (1999)
45. Gladiator (2000)
46. Shrek (2001)
47. Mission: Impossible (1996)
48. Pearl Harbor (2001)
49. Ocean's Eleven (2001)
50. Last Samurai, The (2003)
51. Tarzan (1999)
52. Men in Black II (2002)
53. Die Another Day (2002)
54. Dances with Wolves (1990)
55. Matrix Revolutions, The (2003)
56. Cast Away (2000)
57. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
58. Mummy Returns, The (2001)
59. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
60. Mummy, The (1999)
61. Batman (1989)
62. Rain Man (1988)
63. Bodyguard, The (1992)
64. Signs (2002)
65. X2 (2003)
66. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
67. Gone with the Wind (1939)
68. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
69. Grease (1978)
70. Ice Age (2002)
71. Beauty and the Beast (1991)
72. Godzilla (1998)
73. What Women Want (2000)
74. Fugitive, The (1993)
75. True Lies (1994)
76. Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
77. Notting Hill (1999)
78. Jurassic Park III (2001)
79. There's Something About Mary (1998)
80. Planet of the Apes (2001)
81. Flintstones, The (1994)
82. Toy Story (1995)
83. Minority Report (2002)
84. Bug's Life, A (1998)
85. Exorcist, The (1973)
86. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
87. Basic Instinct (1992)
88. World Is Not Enough, The (1999)
89. GoldenEye (1995)
90. Back to the Future (1985)
91. Se7en (1995)
92. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
93. Hannibal (2001)
94. Deep Impact (1998)
95. Dinosaur (2000)
96. Pocahontas (1995)
97. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
98. Top Gun (1986)
99. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
100. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Some are on my to see list and I own 4 of the ones that I haven't seen yet, so the list of 79 seen will grow.

Posted by Jesse at 10:24 PM

Looking for a Fish

We finally saw Finding Nemo. I'd seen parts of it, and felt like I saw the whole thing so it wasn't something I was pressed to see. Then, it was time for Pizza and a movie and we didn't have anything suitable for Kevin to watch - so...

Like I said, not all that bad.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:22 PM

July 25, 2004

Bubba Ho-Tep

Ho-Tep: n. Relative or decendant of the 17 Egyptian Dynasties, 3100-1550 B.C.
Bubba: n. Male for the Southern U.S., Good ole boy, red neck.

This isn't an awful movie, but it is a bad movie - rather silly...
This line pretty much sums up the movie:
"It ain't much of a home, but it's all I got. GD it, I'll be damned if I let some foreign, graffiti-writtin', soul suckin', son of a ___ in an over-sized cowboy hat and boots take my friends souls and sh-- 'em down the visitors toilet."

A mummy is terrorizing a nursing home and two of the patients, Elvis and JFK, fight back. Both of the main characters have a rather interesting tale of how they wound up at the rest home, which makes the movie tolerable.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:14 PM

June 24, 2004

Burning Metallic Smell

Last up on our marathon was Scorched. It was about a bank that is robbed by it's employees. Kinda interesting, kinda amusing, kinda boring. It's not a bad movie, just not a good movie. The only notable is Alicia Silverstone and she does a good job in the part that she's playing (which is not a bimbo).

There's really not that much to say about this movie other than it's not a complete waste of time.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 10:56 PM

Toooons

We started watching The Teacher's Pet and discovered that is was a continuation of Disney network show and is a cartoon for kids, not for grown-ups. It took all of about 5 minutes to see that it wouldn't be even remotely interesting - popped it out and sent it back.

Rating: Not interested

Posted by Jesse at 10:53 PM

Yeshua

I'm a little behind in the review of movies....Teri and I knocked out 3 DVDs this week and I've yet to comment on any, so without further ado...

Joshua is a G rated Christian film based on the novel by the same name. Usually, I expect the same 3 Christian actors and rather lame acting and sets but this movie was different. It is by no means an emmy award winning and stunningly visual film, but it is good. In fact, if I hadn't known, I would not have guessed that this was not from a major studio.

The story is a "Christ amoung us film" about a man (Joshua) that comes to a small town and builds a community. Of course, some of the established churches think that what he is doing is blasphemy and look to run him out of town. The story also shows various ways of "doing church" and never espouses one way as the right way, which is a definite plus.

The main message, which goes against what one of the priests is preaching is: God is about love, not about punishment.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:45 PM

June 14, 2004

The Last Samurai

I have no idea how close the movie is to reality, or even if it has any reality to it.

That being said, I think it may be the best Tom Cruise movie I have seen and by far the best movie that I have seen this year. I was captured by the story early on, which is the only way I would be able to make it through a 2.5 hour movie. The character interactions were great and the fight scenes were well done.

I'm sure that there are history buffs out there that didn't like the movie, but watching it for what it was, I have to say Bravo.

Rating 5 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 10:24 PM

June 8, 2004

Uptown Girls

We watched this movie a few nights ago and it is so unremarkable that I almost forgot to post my review. It's a chick flick through and through, but it's not even a really decent one at that. The movie is extremely predictable, so much so that I really didn't even watch most of it and was able to stay in touch with what was happening and what was going to happen.

Rating: A generous 1 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Jesse at 3:43 PM | Comments (1)

May 31, 2004

Fighting Temptations

On Saturday, Teri and I watched Fighting Temptations. In the movie, Cuba Goodign JR, a NY advertising "executive" travels to a small town in the south for the reading of a will. In order to collect the inheritance he finds he has to create and lead a gospel choir.

All in all it was a pretty good movie. It had both comedy and drama and was entertaining. I don't usually like movies that are extended lengths because of a large number of musical numbers in them, but Fighting Temptations was able to pull it off without being irritating. It was by no means a musical, but did have more singing than I normally prefer. The DVD has each of the musical numbers as a bonus feature so you can listen to them again. I actually thought about getting the soundtrack, and that's a rarity.

I'd give this 3.5 out of 5 stars and would consider buying it for our DVD collection if the price was right.

Posted by Jesse at 7:02 PM

May 3, 2004

Cheaper by the Dozen

Before I left for Atlanta, we watched this movie. It's taken me this long to post about it because the movie just wasn't that inspiring. Some movies you hate, some movies you love. This one, simply is there. It's not bad, but it's not really that good.

It seems like it didn't know what it wanted to be. It has Steve Martin and a family with 12 kids - it gave the impression it was a comedy. However, it's a story about a real family, giving the impression it's drama/real life. It succeeds at being neither.

Rating 2 out of 5 stars

Posted by Jesse at 9:11 AM | Comments (1)

April 19, 2004

Censors in your DVD player

I'm an avid movie fan, and I've put up with a lot of crap in movies that simply doesn't need to be there. There have been a few times (Bad Boys & Any Given Sunday) where the movies been so full of foul language or excessive sexual content that I've stopped viewing. While I understand that foul language and sexual scenes are a part of life and are 'needed' to maek the movies more realistic, I think some movies go to far.

I'm not alone. TV Guardian and other filtering products are selling quite well. So, why is it that the majority of movies that are produced are R rated? Many of the interviews and articles that I've read say that Hollywood is catering to what the public wants, but if that is true, why the uproar against ClearPay?

DVDs were made with the idea that they could contain extra data and alternate scenes, but they rarely have more than commentary because it's expensive to add extra stuff and most of us don't buy a DVD for the extras, we buy for the movie. Anyhow, a group has developed a DVD player that will examine 14 levels of violence, sex nudity and profanity and allow the view to pick any filters they want to activate.

Sounds like a solution to me, but not so to major directors:

DVD player to edit movies / Technology allows viewer to bypass offensive content
"I think the American public is concerned and is looking for a solution, '' said Bill Aho, chief executive officer of ClearPlay Inc., the Salt Lake City firm that is one of several companies battling a lawsuit filed by the biggest movie studios and major directors like Steven Soderbergh, John Landis and Steven Spielberg. The suit claims that filtering technology such as ClearPlay's produces an unauthorized and illegal version of their artistic work.

So, which is it, are you catering to what society wants, or are you producing an artistic vision and not worried about what the public wants? You can't say your doing one while fighting for the other.

Posted by Jesse at 5:57 PM | Comments (1)

April 10, 2004

Matchstick Men

Two nights, two movies.

Tonight we watched Matchstick Men. When it started off, I thought it could be a little slow and dull, but it was entertaining. Near the end, I was thinking that I knew the outcome and it wouldn't be good for the main charecter, but there were several twists and an ending that I didn't expect. Extra points for the ending.

3 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 10:19 PM

April 9, 2004

Out of Time

We just finished watching out of time and I have to say that I am very disappointed in Denzel.

I'm a big fan of his and usually buy his movies before watching them, but I'm glad I didn't do that this time. Out of Time is VERY predictable, not really exciting - in fact, it was a little on the boring side.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 11:08 PM | Comments (1)

February 29, 2004

Under the sea

Last night we watched "Atlantis: The Lost Empire." Not an entirely inspiring tale. I usually like Disney films but this one was a bit flat and it was also very predictable.

Unless you have 94 min to blow, don't bother.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 9:41 PM | Comments (1)

February 27, 2004

A "Passion"ate review

In an entry a few weeks ago I talked about "The Passion of the Christ" and who really killed Jesus, tonight I saw the movie.

Our church had bought out a showing at a local theater (that's another story - one that may not get blogged) and sold out all 393 seats. The theater was packed and a bit warm, but once the movie started all of that seemed to fade away.

I don't believe that I have ever been to a movie where the theater (audience) was so quiet. Throughout the movie there was only a few coughs, some chair creeks, and a grown here and there. For over two hours, the audience sat in silence.

The movie started strong, but I thought it really had some flat points and was not as brutal as I expected it to be. While there were some scenes that were a bit graphic and I think that parents need to see it first before taking their kids, I wouldn't put a "no one over age X" label on it. Kid see much worse in video games and other movies.

The suffering on the cross is nowhere near as important as the resurrection, but this movie was about the suffering, the Passion and I think it fell a little short in passing on the message of how much pain bearing the sins of the world were. While the beatings were shown, there seemed to be little agony over the fact that The Father, who had been with Jesus His entire life had turned His back on Him.

While I thought that some of the Satan scenes enhanced the movie, some were distracting. The presence of "mini-me" during the beating and the Satan crying out during the death scene seemed awkward and without purpose.

In addition, some of the flashback scenes were well placed, but others were so short they would not make sense to many people.

I'll have to check, but it also seemed that part of the story was out of sequence and that Jesus was given an extra line. Could be the difference in protestant vs. Catholic, but I think it was a "dramatic element" that really took away from the movie.

As far as anti-semitism, I didn't come away feeling that the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus. It was more along the feeling that the high priest was an ass and the Jewish people followed him.

Jesus eyes were also distracting. I know that Jim Cavizal has blue eyes and that the need to be colored, but they did a bad job. His eyes did not look naturally brown, they were far to bright.

While I was not overly impressed by the film, I was a little moved and I do think that it is the best Christian movie that I have seen. The cinematography was great, the acting was okay (though the soldiers seemed more like they were from Mad Max) and the subtitles did help to draw me into the movie. Unfortunately the languages were a bit distracting since I knew some of the words and I found myself trying to interpret rather than read. (I was a linguist for five years so it's a hard habit to break).

Lastly, and sorry if this is disjointed, I keep adding things as I remember them the scene of Jesus dying was not well done. When he commended His spirit into his fathers hands and died, his pupils widened and with his head titled back, He breathed his last. I was impressed that they took enough care to see that His pupils widened like they do at death, but that didn't last long. After dying, his eyes closed and his head dropped forward...umm, He was dead.

I found this on someone's blog and I think it sums up some of my feelings (this portion, not all that the blog says):

I wouldn't go so far as to say that there was errors in every scene, but there did seem to be a few.

These errors make the movie a double edged sword. I think the film is a great chance to show the story of the cross to those who don't believe and give them an opportunity to discuss those events with you. However, the problem is that many Christians will see the movie and think they know the story, without reading the Bible. The errors will be passed on as fact and their message will be distorted. That's not the fault of Mel Gibson or the movie but of lazy Christians.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 12:14 AM | Comments (6)

February 17, 2004

Hukuna Matata

I forgot to mention that we watched Lion King 1 1/2 on Valentine's morning. Until I read Teri's blog I didn't know that it had recieved some negative press. I can see why people would think it was a money grab, but aren't all movies, especially kid's movies released stright to video?

Although I was sleepy and didn't pay close attention, I really enjoyed this movie. The way they tied into the original to show that Pumba and Timone were not only there, but caused some of the problems was really funny.

With or without kids, I'd recommend catching this when you need a pick me up, but only if you liked the original Lion King.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Posted by Jesse at 11:20 PM

February 16, 2004

Road to Perdition

Spent the afternoon watching Tom Hank's latest and wasn't that impressed. It was hard to care about the characters and that made it all but impossible to care about the movie.

Rating: Two stars out of five

Posted by Jesse at 8:56 PM

February 9, 2004

Mr. McGee, you wouldn't like me...

I've pondered adding a category for movies and I'm still not sure if I want to go there. I watch movies alot, it's what I do for entertainment and I've considered putting my thoughts about them here but haven't until now...

If you haven't seen the 2003 version of "The Hulk," don't. I'm still watching it, but I'm not sure why, it's stupid. There are some mildly interesting parts, which is why I guess it's still playing, but on the whole, this movie is making me a little green.

I do like some of the camera work. I'm not a big fan of comic books, but the split screen camerawork did make part of the movie seem like you were actually watching a comic book.

I know that some will say that I don't like the movie because I was a fan of the TV version of the Hulk, but the honest to goodness truth is, I could live with a comic book adaptation if it was decent, but this is just plain dumb.

Lastly, someone needed to level the sound....I've spent most of the movie turning the sound up to hear the speaking and down to be able to have hearing when the destruction scenes ensued.

Posted by Jesse at 9:27 PM