The New World

This is one of those epic films that everyone had high hopes for, it had the right stars in it to drive the audience to see it. But unfortunately this film is lacking the most important piece to that puzzle, a story that wont put you to sleep. This movie has a total running time of two hours and fifteen minutes and that's about an hour to long. The scenery is so breathtaking that its hard to believe that this wasn't done with computers just to save the money on traveling around the globe to get the shots. The story of Captain John Smith and Pocahontas is retold again but this time all the little relationship problems are drawn out to help slow the movie down. During the first hour of the movie your fighting to stay awake but as soon as the colonists and the Indians have their first battle then the movie takes off, the next hour and fifteen minutes go by pretty quick.
You'd think a movie with Colin Farrell and Christian Bale would be some that would be enjoyable to watch but it wasn't. A movie that spends to much time and money making sure that every little deal is exactly right and not spending any on enhancing the story is bound to fall into the Heaven's Gate syndrome. If you like either of these actors you may like the film but if your looking for a historical action film this isn't it.

Half-Baked

Watching this movie just about gives you the munchies, my mind kept wandering and the only thing that kept me watching was the fact that Dave Chappelle keeps the movie rolling. You must have to be high to enjoy this film because as straight as I was it just wasn't there. I was hoping for a more modern version of Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke, but this isn't it.
Four young men who have grown up smoking weed together have to move from smoking to dealing to save one of their troop from a prison sentence. That's the whole movie in a nutshell, they do have some fun with different situations but over all its boring. Cameos by Snoop Dogg Jon Stewart, Willie Nelson, Steven Wright and a straight Tommy Chong isn't enough to save this film from my pit of rejects.
Maybe if I was high when I watched this I could have enjoyed it more, but I doubt it. Dave Chappelle is a comic genius and I've seen him do much better work than this. I just hope this one will slip into the far reaches of video Hell and never be resurrected.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

I heard about this movie while they were talking about it on the Howard Stern show, and I figured that if they thought it was funny I'd give it a shot. I'm sorry I did, I may have been looking for a different kind of comedy but this just didn't hit the mark. I didn't have a very good experience in junior high school so that may have been the problem here but no matter what, it just wasn't enjoyable.
The trials, tribulations, and horrors of the life of a junior high school student who is mercilessly taunted and ridiculed are examined and put on display. There is no safe place for this child, she gets the abuse from school, home and every adult there is in the movie. The story is pretty straight forward from the beginning to the end, and some of the situations were so predictable they played like bad memories. By the time that the movie was over I was thankful that I didn't commit suicide.
I am always open to new experiences and I will always try films that I've never seen before and that are suggested to me. To me this is the only way for me to expand my horizons and explore new avenues of imagination and storytelling. But as I continually see these films that are suppose to be so great and turn out to be duds I start to loose my faith in people knowing what is good and what is crap.

Buffalo Girls

This movie was suggested to me by a family member that knew I was interested in American western films. This was a made for TV mini series put out by Hallmark Entertainment in 2004. The series is based on the Larry McMurtry novel of the same name. I'm usually not to interested in made for TV movies but I thought I'd give it a try. It's not the best western ever made but it's interesting to see the female take on the way things were back then.The life and times of Calamity Jane and the colorful characters that roamed the wild west with her at the time are examined from her involvement with Custer's 7^th Calvary on their way to his meeting with Sitting Bull to her dealings with Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. The scenes of the west are breathtaking and its hard to believe that there is still parts of the country that look like this. The stars that they got to play these characters is nothing short of flawless, Angelica Huston, Melanie Griffith, Sam Elliott, and Jack Palance to just name a few.
Watching this film just wetted my appetite for more western films to be made but as Hollywood keeps saying there's no money in westerns. Hence the reasoning for cable channels to continue to make what the audience truly wants to watch, and make them so well that look and feel like big screen westerns. I would say that if you haven't seen this before and you enjoy a good western, you might like to see one with a little bit of a twist.

Cabin Fever

Most of the time we as a viewing audience don't see the coming of a cult classic, but here is a chance to see history in the making. The makings of becoming a cult classic down the road are all here but for right now we have to live with the fact it has the feel of a low budget horror film. This movie has the feel of an Evil Dead/Night of the Living Dead plague film and it is a ride you wont be disappointed with.When a group of college friends rent a cabin during the summer break and contract a deadly flesh eating disease the fun is just beginning. From the makeup to the acting this is totally enjoyable. Watching these actors play off of each other is great; they're very believable right up to the moment of their deaths. The reasoning for the disease is not completely explained and that is the only drawback to the film.
I wasn't in a rush to see this film but now that I have, I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. This is definitely one of the best blood baths I've taken in a long time and I can't wait to see something else from Eli Roth, the director. As I've said this will become a classic in the future so if you get the chance see it.

World Trade Center

On this somber day I decided to sit down and watch this film, along with United 93, I don't know if there was truly a reason for waiting so long but after all this time it still hurts to watch these events unfold. The detail that Oliver Stone drew out on film is amazing; throughout the whole film it feels as if you are right there beside the first responders to the disaster. With Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena playing the lead characters, we are shown how truly talented these two men are. From the moment they wake up on that fateful day to the rescue that saved their lives we are given a glimpse into the lives of these two men that drive them to survive. There is so much emotionally charged scenes its hard to point out just a few, but with the way that the actors portrayed these real life heroes grabs a hold of your heart and never lets go.On September 11^th two Port Authority Policemen are trapped in the World Trade Center after the towers collapse, and fight to survive till a rescue team can reach them. There are a few aspects to this film, which helps it, stand out from other dramas of its kind, the first ten minutes of the film shows just how mundane and ordinary the day started out for these people, before they became a part of the historic events that took place. The other viewpoint is that of the family's perspective during the crisis, this adds to the emotional level of the film and just pushes it over the edge. With the use of news footage from that day Stone anchors the audience into the moment since most of us have seen that footage at one time or another, but he doesn't overpower you with it the way the news services did that day.
This is a nice accompanying piece to United 93, which came out earlier the same year, together they give us a small insight into what happened that day that we all lived through. The events of 9/11 touched so many in so many ways its impossible to measure, sure there are the cold numbers and facts, but with stories like these about the bravery and heroism that took place that day we can all stand proud and remember that some of our greatest heroes are those that stand beside us each and every day. So if you haven't seen this film it's a must see movie, and see it with the family it will draw you together in ways that you may never have thought possible.

United 93

I sat down today and watched United 93 as a small way to remember the events of 9/11. I wanted to see this movie in the theater but thought the emotions would be running a little to high for public display, so I waited for it to come out on DVD. Watching it you can see how in some ways that every day life has changed and how complacent we were. You have the feeling of hopelessness that you can't yell out to the actors on the screen and tell them what is happening and to hurry up. The futility of the situations that the air traffic controllers and the military personnel are in is so evident that at times it is hard to watch. The passengers on the plane are the bright light of hope that is the driving force in this tragic drama. The planning and the execution of the retaking of the plane are so well portrayed that when I think of this tragedy I will forever see this movie play in my head. There are powerful moments through out the movie but none are as powerful as the end. When the plane crashes and the screen goes black, I realized that I had to catch my breath because I don't know how long I had been holding it.
Anyone who did not want to see this movie, for whatever reasons, should give it a try, it may help with closure. After watching this I really can't wait for World Trade Center, which is next for today, it gives me hope that through these two films the true nature of the American spirit will be seen.