Reviews

We're supposed to buy into the love between the main character, Sam, and his girl. It's the thing that should make us care about what happens to Sam. Yet there's about much love between then as between a door knob and a lamp post. I fear the producers sacrificed love for diversity. I'm glad all the cast got jobs and made money, but come on, man, chemistry between the main characters (all the characters) should be the soul of any movie. Quantum Leap has very little which gives it a lot of fluffy action and little substance. In addition I found the plot somewhat interesting, jumping between time periods, Sam losing his memory, etc. But I also found it confusing, which I suppose is to be expected in any time travel movie. But in Quantum Leap it seemed the confusion mostly came from a script that was trying to force action for, again, lack of chemistry.

I'm wondering if mostly geeks gave this movie a low score. This movie isn't about Si Fi gadgets, or boring science, it's about life and the human condition. I was captivated the entire movie, wondering what was happening, but more importantly what was going to happen. The ending was a surprise that moved me and tied up the movie perfectly. There were slow moments, but to me it didn't matter. The whole of an intellectually-stimulating, emotion-generating story was achieved.

It's nice to watch a movie that gets you to think. Meaningful questions about life and death posed. Wonderful performance by Hawke. Be prepared to be fed much false information about global warming. Although, the movie works hard not to come off preachy, it still spews the same cliche untruths about global warming that anyone can find with a casual search online. Nevertheless, it was a well made movie and I really appreciate the director letting the actors tell the story rather than using special effects or endless camera moves that so many movies do nowadays. Critics love this move I would guess mostly because it's 100% left wing. It attacks church, big oil and climate change deniers. I suspect that's why the director made it. If that's okay with you, then you'll like it too.

It's movies like this that give movies a good name. At least in my book. Before saying what I like about it I will venture to say why some people didn't like Green Book. Such people are either too jaded or numb to appreciate feel- good art. Or they went to film school and they can't get the formulas out of their heads long enough to view something with fresh eyes.

The biggest compliment I can give Green Book is I didn't want it to end. . Forget the race stuff. Forget the politically correct BS. This movie consisted of great actors doing a great job with a superlative script and spot-on direction. The story tugged at the heart strings in ways that celebrated humanity, not black or white humanity. Just humanity.

So often critics clamor for "art" in film. Yet, when it arrives as in Another Earth, many critics don't "get it." Another Earth is a touching film about wanting to make right something you did wrong. If you've lived at all you can relate to this concept. It's a philosophical film that carries a message. It's not a Sci Fi film. The "other Earth" is put there, as a symbolic jester, not to be taken literally. The genre is more fantasy than Sci Fi. Imagines of the film stayed with me long after it ended. Some of the life lessons also did, especially the one about the cosmonaut. .If you're looking for another "Close Encounters" this isn't it. If you're open to a unique film that conveys "life lessons" in a highly entertaining and artful way, I think you will enjoy Another Earth.

Watching Adam was frustrating for me. It was a "love story" without love. Because Adam had Aspergers syndrome he really couldn't be close to anyone. So you had the odd circumstance of his neighbor, Beth, falling for Adam but Adam not really being able to respond back in a... well... a normal loving way. It was kinda of like watching someone fall in love with an animal. You think the animal loves them back but in the end you find out the thing just isn't capable of doing so. I was left wanting something that couldn't be.

On the positive side the performances were fine all the way around. But for me fine performances don't totality make up for a film that I cannot relate to. I couldn't relate because Adam couldn't relate to people around him.

If one is looking for reasons not to like Super 8 there's plenty available. Most notably, at different times of the movie you really have to be willing to suspend disbelief to keep your head in it. For example, a car runs head on with a train. The crash causes the best train wreak that anyone has ever created on film. The train is derailed and its cars fly in every direction banging and bouncing and...it's quite dramatic. But then the guy in the car that hit the train is not only still in one piece in his car, he's alive and able to talk. Sorry, but in real life that guy would have eaten the steering wheel and the engine. There's also plenty of other parts that are tough to swallow. But the truth is the movie is so enjoyable that I, for one, was completely willing and wanting to suspend disbelief. The kids that starred in it were perfectly cast and did a superb job. It is a perfect Summer kick off movie, reminiscent of ET, Back to the Future, and The Goonies.Popcorn eating fun at its best.

I categorize Swordfish as a "comic book" movie. It's action packed, it's clever, it's unrealistic and it's over the top.

Every scene is designed to exceedingly stun, surprise, excite, frighten, or whatever...as if the director didn't want want a second of footage that resembled real life. Even Huge Jackman's "daughter," a young girl kidnapped by the bad guys, was over the top in appearance and attitude. In the end, I didn't care much whether or not he got her back.

Yet, despite all this I was entertained by Swordfish. I thought the acting by Travolta, Jackman, and Holly Berry was superb. Hell, to see Holly breasts alone was worth the price of the ticket. I just wish the director would have given up the comic book mentality once in a while and had given us something to genuinely like or care about the characters. I've seen too many movies like this in the last decade -- heavy on suspense, lite on substance. That's not to say that the movie didn't put forth a deeply important message, it did. The problem was the message was buried under so much hype and fluff that it got lost, for me.

Even though it got five Oscar nominations and good reviews I f figured this would be another in the long list of independent movies that critics loved, not because it was great, but simply because it was "un-Hollywood" and different. I was right on both accounts, it was not standard Hollywood and it was different. But it was also great. How refreshing to watch a movie that didn't depend on sex scenes, special effects, or "over the top" violence to entertain. The acting was superb, the script was well crafted and the direction offered a lot of "eye candy" so you didn't want to look away.

I especially like the dialogue. The writer left a lot of holes for the viewer to fill in the blanks, so you felt like you were contributing to the story yourself. I was a wonderful movie.

After all these years. I found Love Story DVD in the bargain bin at the store and bought it. I actually remember when it was first released in theaters, what a stir it caused. I was shocked to finally watch it. To me the entire script sounded like a bunch of one-liners strung together. The acting seemed old fashioned and cliché...like something out of a bad stage production from the 1940s. The characters were instantly in love at the beginning of the movie, but it made no sense because there was nothing lovable about either one of them. If it was released today it would fall on its face with a resounding thud. This movie was not good.