THE MUSKETEER (2001) – My Rating 9/10

Swashbuckling at it’s Technical Best!
Very nicely done. The special effects were somewhere in the vicinity of a Jackie Chan movie with a little Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon added. There were a couple of scenes that seemed a little too modern, i.e., the way the characters carried themselves and quite frankly, I can’t imagine folks in the 17th century being able to accept a sword fighting, never lose his confidence, go getter like Justin Chambers. His appearance was a little ahead of his time. The movie was great anyway!

PLANET OF THE APES (2001) – My rating: 6.5/10

Nice Try!
The new Planet of the Apes doesn’t remake into a very good story. The Apes are more ape like but the story is a little hard to swallow. Although the action was ongoing, the surprise ending left me feeling hopeless. All resources as well as any options of survival were completely eliminated.  The best part of this film was Mark Wahlberg.

Despite Planet of the Ape’s violence, destruction and hopelessness, it’s still worth seeing.  Maybe you can come up with your own tagline, like see this on planet DVD!

SECRET WINDOW (2004) – My rating: 9/10

Been There, Done That, NOT!!
At last, an unpredictable movie. Every week I go to the movies and every week I guess the ending 20 minutes into the movie. Johnny Depp, as usual, was awesome. His unique movements are prevalent in this movie as was in “The Pirates of the Caribbean”. In no time, I got past who was acting and became lost in the mystery and intensiveness of the story. I admit I am a hopeless Johnny Depp fan and while I’m not a fan of Stephen King, good is good and Johnny is good. He gave his character all the depth, wit and charisma it deserved. Turturro was also excellent as the cheated author of a book he claimed Johnny took credit for.

Like it or not, Johnny Depp is a major actor with a unique style and is showing us how he portrays characters from all walks of life. I haven’t yet figured out why this movie is called “Secret Window” as I would have called it “Shooter”.

I enjoyed the movie, the acting and the plot — I highly recommend it as a nice change from the same old story lines we’ve become so comfortable with.

STAR TREK: NEMESIS (2002) – My Rating: 8/10

Could this be the End?
I was surprised how much the Next Generation cast matured over the years. Such a large gap between Star Trek movies is not a good idea. I couldn’t help but feel I was watching the TV version. The presentation was not spectacular enough and the special effects were the same old thing. The movie was dark, drawn out and somewhat slow with minimal action. This was not one of their best, something seems to be missing. The plot was interesting but put too much emphasis on one character. Despite the few surprises and cameos, Nemesis was not their best. The ending left me feeling like this would be the last Star Trek Next Generation movie.

The acting was superb, as usual. Despite the slowness, it’s still worth seeing. Draw you own conclusions as to the future of Next Generation. I hope they stay around for at least another 6 years or so.

VANILLA SKY (2001) – My Rating: 5/10

Eyes Wide Shut?
I felt very much like I was watching “Eyes Wide Shut”. A never ending, meaningless and confusing mystery with no moral to the story. Vanilla Sky showed its best sequence in the trailers, which I enjoyed enough to go see the movie with great expectations. Some parts were somewhat entertaining but like “Eyes Wide Shut”, it left you feeling like you should have skipped this one, it really is not worth the $9 bucks or 2+ hours of your time.

WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (1996) – My Rating: 4/10

And the Point is?
I found this movie to be extremely irritating. I can’t believe the 7.6 rating this movie received from IMDB voters. There was no point to it. 90 minutes + of annoying dialog, going nowhere. The few laughs, actually I can only think of a couple, were not worth an entire movie of mediocre characters trying to put on a 150 year anniversary show about the history of a little town called Blaine, Missouri. Somewhere in this movie, I heard folks of Blaine refer to a UFO abduction several years ago. The incident went unnoticed by the outside world, thereby making it an unproven tale. The UFO story was the most interesting thing about Blaine — the director and all the characters were extremely eccentric, which was the premise for the movie.

I just don’t see 7.6 or even 5.6 — after the movie, I kept wondering, what was the point? I was neither entertained nor mentally stimulated.

GAME OF THRONES – My Rating: 10/10

One of the best shows on cable.  The buzz all around seems to be positive feedback.  I originally watched Game of Thrones “On Demand”.  I ended up staying up all night trying to get through all the episodes.  I was pleasantly surprised by how captivating this series was.

5 kings, 1 throne.  All is represented in this series of power hungry, wicket, good, bad, and down right evil men and women clawing and scratching their way to the ultimate goal of ruler of the kingdom.  These people will stop at nothing to get what they want.  This is the universe at it’s most wicket.  Yet, you can’t help but favor one to fill the position.   This series has action, mayhem, violence, surprises, happiness, sadness, devastation, love, mystery, horror, deception, humor, war and a truck load of sin!

If you like period pieces, an excellent story and plot, this is the series for you.  I found it better than Spartacus, The Borgias and Rome.  Obviously, I highly recommend Game of Thrones, it’s  winner!

BTW:  There is a pint size surprise that might be deemed at the on-set of this series, as unlikely to be of any real significance.  But I guarantee he will be your favorite character before it’s all over.  He is one of the biggest attributes to the show.  I won’t mention who he is although there’s a pint-size clue in this critique.  Happy Viewing!