BIRTH (2004) – My rating: 6/10

A Deceitful Movie!
Why oh why did anyone make this movie? It was slow, dull and down right deceitful. The trailers would have you believe you’re in for a mysterious ride but in fact, you’re in for another unresolved, waste of time, money sucking, open-ended flick.  Birth’s concept was done before in a 1989 release of “Chances Are”, which was in good taste, with a good story and a good follow-up. The ending tied up all the loose ends, unlike “Birth” which left us hanging.

I truly want my money back — everyone in the theater agreed that “Birth” sucked. Not even Nicole Kidman could save this one.

Wait for cable!

CATWOMAN (2004) – My rating: 10/10

Catwoman is a Comic Book Story!
I can’t believe 206 people gave Catwoman a rating of 1. What are they looking for in a fantasy? A smart, talented woman, who is taken for granted by the company she works for, dies and comes back as a cat. Now she can add sexy and confident to her former persona.  She’s also skilled in marshal arts and capable of taking care of herself as well as do battle with the evil forces of this world. This is the comic book formula that has been successful since they first thought up this character.

I came away believing that this female, super heroine will develop her newly found role to be more mature and conservative in the future.  I was well entertained and absolutely loved the movie.  I gave it a 10 for acting, costume, authenticity, casting and the plot.  Halle Berry is synonymous with sexy — Catwoman has always been sexy — read the comic book!

CHASING SLEEP (2000) – My rating: 7/10

Chasing What? — ***slight spoiler***
This was definitely a weird movie. It leaves too much to the imagination. A college professor played by Jeff Daniels (an excellent actor) comes home to find his cheating wife missing. Somewhere in this flick, I began to think the professor may have killed his wife because of all the finger business, which was unrealistic. I wasn’t sure if his pill popping, grief or obsession with his wife was causing hallucinations, or if his sleep deprivation was causing him to imagine things, or are we supposed to believe that fingers walk around without a body attached?

Whatever the case, this movie left many questions unanswered.  Since the film is called “Chasing Sleep”, maybe we are not suppose to know who killed his wife or if she is really dead. Maybe it’s about what can happen to the mind without sleep.

The movie was well cast, well directed and I was not bored.  I was, however waiting for answers that never came. I’d call this an unsolved mystery.

THE CORE (2003) – My rating: 8/10

High Marks for Imagination – *** This may contain spoilers ***
Is science really that good? First we have to recognize there is a problem. Next, we have to figure out what the problem is. Then we have to determine if the problem can be resolved and if it can, how? Who is so good as to determine the earth’s core has stopped spinning because of an unexplained electrical storm in California and an attack of birds gone wild in Rome. Who would just happen to have a vessel, named Vergil, that can actually surf through the earth’s core of over 9000 degrees without disintegrating. What team of the worlds far most scientific, master minds would volunteer to journey to the center of the earth to jump start the core and what computer geek could stop a top military project dead in it’s tracks within minutes of a request? Someone has an overactive imagination and was able to put it in writing and tastefully present it on the big screen.

I must say, Jon Amiel did an excellent job of directing this movie into a suspenseful, action packed, science fiction thriller. I was entertained every step of this fantasy of a movie. A lot of research went into this story – it’s almost believable as numbers are calculated, meetings are held by top brass, and billions are spent to turn a 10 year project into a 3 month project. Their plan to restart the earth’s core even has a contingency plan called Destiny, which could turn out to be the death of the planet or our hero.

The success of The core depends more on God than on science as we don’t have the know how, equipment or power to deliver the resolution outlined in this movie. The special effects were excellent and the acting superb. The Core turned out to be a better movie than I thought it would be. 2 thumbs up for imagination and direction. 2 thumbs down if they think we bought it!

DREAMCATCHER (2003) – My rating: 8/10

A Hard Tale to Tell! ****Warning! A few spoilers in this review****
If you’ve never read the book, you’ll have to rely totally on the movie, which seems to do a pretty good job of sticking to the original story.

Director Lawrence Kasdan keeps us in suspense until we can’t wait a minute longer for Dreamcatchers to straighten us out and supply some answers. Questions like, who is this Duddits 4 childhood friends Henry, Beaver, Pete, and Jonesy keep referring to and what are these 4 friends who seem to have alien powers? Where did these powers come from and who is the real alien anyway?

To make things even more mysterious, the military gets involved and brings in a veteran alien fighter named Colonel Abraham Kurtz, played by Morgan Freeman. The answers come while the 4 are on their annual hunting trip. This story, confusing as it is, comes together by the end and holds your attention while doing so. There’s one big twist, regarding Duddits, that’s left unsettled or maybe it was settled. You’ll have to see it to determine that for yourself.

Overall, Dreamcatchers was entertaining, suspenseful, and action packed. What more can you ask for in a movie? Since it’s futuristic, just about anything goes, right? Give Lawrence Kasdan a hand for even attempting to direct such a difficult story in the first place.

EXIT WOUNDS (2001) – My rating: 6.5/10

I Had Hoped for More!
Stephen Seagal is getting better but he’s not there yet. His image can still use massive tweaking.  His clothing was tolerable and the cropping off of his pony tail helped too. Parts of the movie served as a humbling experience for Seagal, toning down his bad boy/God like image a bit. Teaming up with DMX gave a little boost to his popularity, but not much else! Alas, it’s not all gloom and doom  if you can get past the ridiculous story line, you might be slightly entertained.  Wait for the DVD.

GHOST SHIP (2002) – My rating: 7/10

Potential Out to Sea          *** This comment may contain spoilers ***
Oh well! Another good idea gone astray. Ghost Ship started out pretty good. It was suspenseful, well acted, funny, and down right interesting. As the story unfolded, I began to suspect it wasn’t going to end well. How right I was. I figured out the villain much too early but I still held out hope for a descent resolution to the movie.

The acting was good, the plot was good, the tension mounted at a normal to fast pace. The only thing that screwed this movie was the lousy ending. I don’t want to give the movie away but I will say, wait for cable. Julianna Margulies should have stayed with ER.

HART’S WAR (2002) – My Rating: 9/10

More Than A War Story!
This movie is slightly over 2 hours and a little drawn out in spots. None-the-less, it’s message was loud and clear. Hollywood is beginning to expose, in depth, the plight of the black man — perhaps offering additional perspective into the problems between blacks and whites today. Bruce Willis gives an outstanding performance as does Terrence Dashon Howard as the black lieutenant who was framed and Colin Farrel as the Lieutenant who defended him. I classify this movie as HEAVY and worth seeing. There is much to be learned from Hart’s War.

THE ITALIAN JOB (2003) – My Rating: 8.5/10

Everyone Wants to be a Critic               *** SOME SPOILERS ***
Being a critic doesn’t mean you have to bash every movie you see. This movie received lots of bad reviews from the critics.  It seems they don’t like drama, action or comedy.  I found The Italian Job to be quite entertaining and I think that’s what counts! Ed Norton played an excellent villain who said in the movie, “right or wrong, I don’t care, it’s about what I want”.  His character had no morals which explained why he was able to turn on his follow thieves. The director left no stone unturned. Every word and action was accounted for and in my opinion, that’s a huge contribution to what makes a good flick. While nothing new was introduced, the movie had some of the best car chases I’ve seen in a while. The plot was good and the actors were excellent. I thought The Italian job was well cast and the story was well acted and well told.

The action was endless and I had such satisfaction because the ending was soooo… sweet. It’s okay to just sit back and be entertained by a movie. You don’t have to pick it apart for every little thing. The Italian Job has good intellect and good special effects. I guarantee anyone who sees this movie will walk away satisfied.

LOVE STINKS (1999) – My Rating: 8/10

Here’s a Comment That Makes Sense

*** VERY LIGHT SPOILERS  ***
Love Stinks is a funny movie that explores control between a man and a women. Controlling a man comes natural to many women, mostly because we’ve been in control of our lives all of our adult life. Suddenly, along comes a candidate ripe for marriage. According to the Bible, a women’s role is to be supportive and submissive allowing the man to take the lead — if you are not into what the Bible says, you’ll keep control or at least try.

I believe, in this hilarious movie, French Stewart’s character Seth knew, on some level, that this was not the right women for him. She looked magnificent, she was a heavy hitter in the sack and she was smart and loyal. So what more could a man ask for? I think in this case, he just wanted to be a man and he wanted the respect that comes along with being a man. If Bridgette Wilson’s character, Chelsea was the submissive type of women, we would have missed out on this very funny, dark comedy. Seth would have been willing to marry a soft, kind, non-controlling women in a minute. Bridgette showed her true colors by changing one of his rooms into a nursery — that should have been his first clue. Sometimes you have to ask, why is this good looking person available when picking a mate. There’s always a reason they are unattached.

I thought French Stewart did a fantastic job portraying the character Seth — demonstrating that he is an excellent actor. The ending was unpredictable and I was quite pleased with the results.

In conclusion, I think no one can really speak for how someone else will perceive a movie — I can only say, I loved “Love Stinks” and highly recommend it, especially to the ladies who have too much balls and the men who don’t have enough!