| # |
Film Title |
Date |
Rating |
Frogs |
One Word |
 |
| 1 |
Accelerator |
5 January 2001 |
75% |
 |
Joy-riding |
Buy! |
| A film about young car thief/joy riders, from both North
(Northern Ireland) and South (The Republic of Ireland) of the border
who get involved in a crazy race from Belfast to Dublin. I went to this
movie, along with a friend, because we hadn't booked tickets ahead,
Unbreakable was sold out, and
Bless the Child was also sold out. I hadn't
had much of a clue about it going in, and it was really rather better
than I'd had reason to expect. Not outstanding, but rather good. Less
action in some ways than one might expect from a film billed by some as
"the first Irish action film", and the car chases not quite up to
Hollywood, but well done considering. It also, perhaps, has a message:
nicking cars and joy-riding are bad, and even if you don't give a toss
about the morals of it all, you'll get yourself into a mess or killed.
Perhaps this message will not get through to those who need to get it,
but maybe appealing to their self-interest will be more successful
than appealing to their better nature (to paraphrase Robert A.
Heinlein). Not heavy on the message though. Enjoyable, with amusing
characters and a bit of action. The more I write, the more I feel I
liked this movie, actually. |
| 2 |
Unbreakable |
7 January 2001 |
90% |
 |
Hero |
Buy! |
| For some reason, I've heard several people say things
like, "It was pretty good, but it wasn't
The Sixth Sense..." or "It was
a bit disappointing. I went in with really high expectations." I went in
not being sure what to expect, but feeling it would probably be rather
good. Having seen it, I can't understand the things people had said to
me. Apart from anything, saying it's no Sixth Sense, to me, is completely
non-sensical. If I wanted to see The Sixth Sense, I'd've rented it or
bought it on DVD. I didn't, therefore it's safe to assume that I wanted
to see Unbreakable, not The Sixth Sense. I thought it was a clever and
original plot, done in an intriguing and quite distinctive way, and it
had the requisite twist at the end! I loved it. I think perhaps there
was more going on than some of the people who said these things realised.
The person I went to the movie with agreed with my appraisal on basically
every count. Acting from Willis, Osment and Jackson was of course very
good, as can be expected. I think perhaps it was also a bit slow-moving
for some, and maybe some people were miffed at not seeing a massive
CGI-fest train wreck in progress scene. Overall excellent movie! |
|
Some reviews are missing from here. Number is unknown. Perhaps 6-8?
Data currently lost.
|
| 10 |
Sweet November |
11 March 2001 |
85% |
 |
Touching |
Buy! |
| A beautiful, touching, poignant yet joyful romantic drama,
skillfully crafted. Definitely worth seeing. |
| 11 |
Moulin Rouge |
2 June 2001 |
90% |
|
Boisterous! |
Buy! |
| Moulin Rouge is a wonderfully vivid musical
romance/drama/comedy with outstanding music, wonderful singing,
excellent choreography, hillarious moments, and a clever plot. |
| 12 |
Shrek |
8 June 2001 |
85% |
|
Funny! |
Buy! |
| Roaringly funny with plenty to offer to both children and
adults. Great voice actors. Catchy music. Fun plot. |
| 13 |
A.I. |
12 June 2001 |
80% |
|
Real? |
Buy! |
| A.I. (Articifial Intelligence) is an enchanting movie with
a moving, thought-provoking story and engaging characters. It is more than
just a kids' movie. It has a lot to say if you listen. |
| 14 |
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider |
15 June 2001 |
70% |
|
Croft |
Buy! |
| Considering that it's a movie based on a computer game
(I think the other way around doesn't usually work very well, and I
certainly wouldn't expect this way to work), it was really rather good!
The plot's thin enough but not too bad, the acting's... well... it's ok.
The action and effects are pretty cool. It's fairly mindless stuff, but it's
really rather fun. |
| 15 |
Cats and Dogs |
20 July 2001 |
65% |
 |
Silly |
Buy! |
| Silly but fairly funny, Cats and Dogs is not a bad way to
spend 87 minutes if you've nothing better to do. It's got some pretty funny
jokes in places, and a lot of corny dialogue ... but what do you really
expect? Shakespeare? That is isn't, but it's enjoyable. |
| 16 |
Planet of the Apes |
27 July 2001 |
80% |
|
Coexistence |
Buy! |
| Planet of the Apes is really not a bad remake....-ish.
It's not really quite a remake, actually. It takes the Planet of the
Apes concept from the original 6 or 7 movies and makes a new movie
from that. It didn't have the cheesy B-movie charm of the original
movie series, but it did substitute excellent ape characters and sets
which don't look like something from the original series of Star Trek.
All-in-all, the original movies had a little more bite to them, but
this is still worth seeing. It's a little sad, though, in a way, to
think that a lot of people will probably see this movie and never see
the originals. They're missing out. |
| 17 |
America's Sweethearts |
3 August 2001 |
75% |
|
Stardom |
Buy! |
| Eddie (the inimitable John Cusack) and Gwen (Catherine
Zeta-Jones) are a high-profile, popular movie star married couple;
America's Sweethearts of the film's title. All is not well, however,
on the home front, and they have broken up. Gwen has fallen for
another actor, and Eddie is having a nervous breakdown... but they
have a movie to promote and the company doesn't want word to get out
that there's trouble in paradise. Chaos ensues. This movie is really
quite charming and romantic and very funny. Cusack is brilliant as
always. Julia Roberts, who plays Gwen's former assistant and
who plays a pivotal rôle in the havok, is really very good
indeed. The last few movies I've seen her in have changed my opinion
of her acting skill greatly. This is a fun, worthwhile movie. |
| 18 |
The Others |
17 August 2001 |
80% |
|
Chilling |
Buy! |
| A very clever thriller, starring Nicole Kidman, with an
exceedingly nice twist. Definitely worth seeing. |
| 19 |
Rush Hour 2 |
27 August 2001 |
70% |
|
Cross-cultural? |
Buy! |
| Pretty much the same idea as the first one, but again
really quite funny. There's some repetition in terms of situational
humour, but it's really quite a nice sequel. Enjoyable and relaxing
for the mind. |
| 20 |
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back |
28 September 2001 |
80% |
|
Smith! |
Buy! |
| Kevin Smith hits the target once again with a hillariously
funny movie starring the popular duo (from his earlier films): Jay and
Silent Bob (played by Smith himself). Absolutely rife with an
ecclectic array of movie and TV references, this movie makes fun of
Hollywood very amusingly. It even has a two-way cross-over with
another not entirely serious blockbuster movie. |
| 21 |
Rat Race |
29 September 2001 |
70% |
|
Cleese |
Buy! |
| Cleese plays a highly eccentric Las Vegas casino owner who,
for lack of anything better to do, amuses himself by pitching a randomly
selected group of individuals against each other in a chaotic race to
find a large stash of cash. Rat Race is full of visual humour (occasionally
painful) and funny situations. It's very funny in places, but in others its
a little iffy. |
| 22 |
Serendipity |
5 October 2001 |
90% |
|
Romantic |
Buy! |
| A story about fate, romance, faith and destiny. Whether
you believe in that sort of stuff or not, it's a charming movie with
two wonderful stars in the leading rôles. A must-see! |
| 23 |
Riding in Cars with Boys |
19 October 2001 |
80% |
|
Struggles |
Buy! |
| An intelligent, promising young girl's plans and dreams are
ruined when she gets pregnant and has a son. Drew Barrymore is wonderful
as the young mother, as are the rest of the cast of this touching drama,
including James Woods as her father. It is serious as often as it is funny,
often being deadly serious underneath while on the surface being humourous.
It is well worth seeing. |
| 24 |
Don't Say a Word |
22 October 2001 |
70% |
|
Pressure |
Buy! |
| When the daughter of a psychiatrist, Nathan Conrad (Michael
Douglas), is kidnapped, the kidnappers make a very unusual demand. In order
to secure her release, he must retrieve for them a secret number from the
mind of a psychologically disturbed girl in a high-security hospital.
Brittany Murphy is quite convincing as Elisabeth Burrows, the patient from
whom Douglas, who is also wonderfully suited to his part, must procure the
high-stakes secret code. |
| 25 |
Thirteen Ghosts (Thir13en Ghosts) |
26 October 2001 |
80% |
|
Terrifying |
Buy! |
| I'm not really a big fan of scary movies and horror, but
this is one of the most chilling movies I have ever seen. It was not camp
and stupid like most horror movies. It was disturbing and terrifying and
super-realistic. I bought the DVD. I don't quite know why since I'm not
sure I'll ever actually want to watch it again. It is truly a good movie
though in that it achieves exactly what it sets out to achieve. It creates
fear more (although not only) through suspense than action. All but the
most jaded will jump at least a little and will be at least slightly
uncomfortable. |
| 26 |
K-Pax |
27 October 2001 |
90% |
|
Charming |
Buy! |
| Prot (Kevin Spacey) is an alien visiting earth. He is open
about this, and so is put in a mental institution. He challenges people's
realities, changes people's lives, and brings joy to the people around
him. He has the wonderment of a child at everyday things. He teaches
people around him to share his wonderment. This is an intriguing, beautiful
and very different science fiction movie. |
| 27 |
Monsters, Inc. |
12 November 2001 |
90% |
|
Hillarious |
Buy! |
| Another absolutely side-splittingly funny and exceedingly
cute movie from the gods of computer animation: Pixar. They just cannot
do anything wrong! This movie is utterly hillarious. What do kids fear?
Monsters. What do monsters have an abject fear of? Kids! The monsters
at Monsters, Inc. are brave souls who face their most terrifying nightmares
to go to the bedrooms of little kids at night and scare them so that the
machinery at HQ can harness the energy of their screams to power their
world. Our heroes, two monsters -- James 'Sulley and Michael 'Mike'
Wazowski (yes, really) -- with the help of wide-eyed little kid, "Boo",
accidentally trapped in the monster dimension, and who immediately latches
onto 'Sulley as "KITTY!", discover that all is not as it seems. There is a
conspiracy, and they must solve it. |
| 28 |
Shallow Hal |
18 November 2001 |
70% |
|
Perspective |
Buy! |
| Hal Larson (Jack Black) is an incredibly shallow man who is
interested in women only for their looks. He has no luck in love because
he is never interested in anyone who is not disgusted by his attentions.
One day, his perspective is changed, rather more literally than usual, and
all he can, thenceforth, see is the inner beauty of the women around him.
This causes him to fall for Rosemary 'Rosie' Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow)
who he sees as a stunning beauty but who in reality is 300lbs. This movie
is kind of surprisingly subtle; amazingly so for the Farrelly brothers.
It's really rather a nice movie. |
| 29 |
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
19 November 2001 |
80% |
|
Magic |
Buy! |
| As one of the few people on the face of this planet who has
never read any of the books, I went in to see this movie with perhaps fewer
preconceptions than most. It was really rather entertaining, and I'm sure
it inspired wonderment and awe in many a child. For an adult such as myself,
it also held interest. While being distinctly accessible to any child, it
was also really quite an engaging tale, well told and well rendered into
movie form. I have since acquired the UK paperback editions of the (first)
four books, however have not had time to read them at the time of this
review. From what I hear I have a treat in store once I actually get time
to get started on them. The movie appeared to appeal greatly also to people
who had read the books, which is a fine recommendation for it. |
| 30 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring |
19 December 2001 |
85% |
|
Epic |
Buy! |
| An epic novel deserves an epic movie, if it is to be made
into one at all, and the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring does not
fall short of expectations. On the contrary, I was astonished at how true
to the book this movie was. While it's obviously impossible to turn a
long and complex book into a 3 hour movie without losing some detail,
it is amazing how well they managed to retain the escence of the book
and truly astonishing how they managed to include all the most important
bits. Nothing was too blatantly missing, nothing stupid was made up or
changed, and the movie is just mind-blowingly visually powerful. This is
a worthy movie. |
|
