Hi everyone! Here is my new movie review scale for 2000:
4 stars - WOW, don't miss this movie
3 stars - Good movie, you'll have a good time
2 stars - Ok, but wait to see on video
1 star - Forget it, don't waste your time
Hope this new scale gives you a better idea about the movies, along with
my reviews. Allison James
Cast Away - Rated PG-13 3 1/2 stars
Dr Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas - 3 stars
Proof of Life - Rated R 2 1/2 stars
Miss Congeniality - Rated PG-13 3 stars
What Women Want - Rated PG-13 2 3/4 stars
Red Planet - Rated PG-13 - 2 stars
The Patriot - Rated R - 4 stars
The Perfect Storm - Rated PG-13 - 2 1/2 stars
The X-Men - Rated PG-13 - 3 stars
Hollowman - Rated R - 2 stars
Autumn In New York - Rated PG-13 - 2 1/2 stars
The Art of War - Rated R - 2 stars
Space Cowboys - Rated PG-13 - 3 stars
Gladiator - Rated R 3 of 4 stars
Mission Impossible 2 - Rated PG-13 3 of 4 stars
Erin Brockovich - Rated R - 3 stars
Frequency - Rated PG-13 - 3 stars
Hi everyone....sorry for not doing many reviews the last couple months, but with the holidays being sick all of December, I am just getting back into the swing of this again.
Here are just a few quick notes on a few end of the year movies I've seen. I promise to have more out in the next few weeks, before the Oscars come out.
GO see some movies!!!!!
A enthralling movie that wraps you around its finger as you watch one man on an island for hour!! Tom Hanks does his usual wonderful job, but I was let down with the ending a bit. I was hoping for closure, but left with only wonderment.
An old tale told once again in a more 'grown-up' story, but still very true to the original book movie. If you want to just kick back and have a good laugh, this is the movie. A movie the family can enjoy together.
There is not much to say about this movie. Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan did a good job, but didn't seem to have that much chemistry on screen. The plot easy...husband kidnapped, hire guy get back he comes back everything goes back to the way it was before. This is one you definitely leave to seeing on tape or cable.
I went to this movie not expecting much but a good laugh. I left getting the laugh, but a good too. Probably one of Sandra Bullocks better movies in a while, the role as a dumpy FBI becoming beauty queen was played with enough style and class to make her character believable.
If you want just a good movie and some laughs..this one would be good to go to.
Ok, so why did I go to movie...honestly??? To see Mel Gibson of course, but it had been getting some good reviews too. A pretty basic story of a macho male finding his feminine side and realizing what life and women are really about. Not a movie that you need to go running out to but an enjoyable time, if not just for the good Frank Sinatra music!!!
There is not a lot to tell you about this movie, other then after it was over I was saying "Oh, ok, its over." It had a very basic plot of us going to Mars, due to Earth is dieing and we have to find somewhere else to live scenario. Val Kilmer and Carrie-Anne Moss are the lead characters and they do a good job with what little screenplay they have to work with. The special effects and the usage of images and materials from real Mars landings is kind of cool to see, since we now have a better picture of what it does look like there. Not a movie you need to go rushing out to see at the theater nor do you need to hurry to see on video.
I give this movie...... 2 Stars.....
This was probably one of the best movies of the year with a mixture of
patriotism, fatherhood, and family unity. I will be honest to say there
are some bloody and gory scenes, but the movie is definitely worth
seeing. We will be seeing more of it at the Oscars next year. Stars Mel
Gibson....
A little bit of a disappoint, but what do you expect when you know what
the ending is going to be like. I didn't read the book , so I can't
compare the two, but there was just too much water in this movie and not
enough strong story line to hold my attention to well. It is one that
you can easily wait to see on video/dvd. Starring George Clooney, Mark
Walberg and Diane Lane.
The movie stood up to its previews and the special effects were
wonderful. In the past, some comic books brought to the movie screen
have been good and others should have been left in the comic books.
X-men worked very well on the big screen. The only flaw being that they
were trying to let you know more about the characters, then worry about
the plot development which was left a little weak. Hopefully though,
this can be fixed when they make the next X-Men movie, which I do look
forward to as a nice evening of fun.
Starred Patrick Stewart, Hallie Berry and many more....
I went to see this movie with high expectations of seeing a good movie.
I left seeing very good special effects, but they forgot to make much of
a plot. Kevin Bacon stars as a scientist that really 'gets into ' his
experiment and becomes an invisible man. Character development of his
fellow colleagues was nonexistent and we watched as each slowly gets
killed off. Just to let you know how slowly, I was looking at my watch
half way through the movie...not a good sign. Also stars, Elizabeth Shue
and Josh Brolin.
Ok, so I am a romantic at heart and anything with Richard Gere will get
at least 2 stars from me. The thing I liked most about the movie was how
they had Richard's character realize how much he cared for the dying
girl ( Winona Ryder ) no matter how far he tried to push her away. The
story line and ending were predictable, but the gorgeous fall scenery
almost made up for it, at least for me. Richard Gere and Winina Ryder's
acting and pairing up worked very well I thought, despite the age
difference. You will need to bring some tissue too.
A action packed movie that keeps you on your toes, but that is about
all. Wesley Snipes plays a 'very undercover' spy for the U.N., who finds
himself as the one being watched and tracked. There are a lot of fight
scenes in the movie that make it worth watching, but the plot is very
slow and it is very easy to figure out the twist in the movie half way
through. Another one that I would wait until the video comes out to see.
Space Cowboys - Rated PG-13 - 3 stars...
If you want to go to a movie and have a good laugh, this is the movie to
see. A wonderful cast of characters that keep the pace of the movie
going and your eyes tearing from laughing so much. The plot is very
simple and a few inaccuracies of true life events, can easily be
overlooked in this enjoyable movie. Four past air force pilots are asked
to go up in a shuttle to help fix a satellite that one of them helped
develop. Starring Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Donald Sutherland, and
Tommy Lee Jones are all just splendid in this movie.
GLADIATOR - Rated R 3 of 4 stars
This is a sweeping movie epic from the beginning battle scenes to the
ending duel of good and evil. Russell Crowe, who plays the title
character Maximus, does a wonderful job of acting as a man who is thrown
from being a warrior to a slave gladiator and seeking revenge of the
death of his wife and son. The cast includes Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver
Reed and Richard Harris, who all did a wonderful job in this Roman
Empire epic. There are many gladiator fight scenes that look just
spectacular on the big screen, so I would not wait to see it on video if
you can. It had a few slow moments, but I never looked at my watch,
which is always a good sign.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 - Rated PG-13 3 of 4 stars
Tom Cruise is back in the type of movie that everyone loves to see him
in. Again he plays agent Ethan Hunt, going after an ex-agent , Dougray
Scott, that has gotten his hands on a very nasty virus that he plans to
let loose. The catch is that only he has the cure and he plans to make a
lot of money off of it, just like any good villain would.
Cruise's character this time must enlist a beautiful woman, who he has
fallen for, to infiltrate the lair of the bad guy and get him the
information he needs. Ving Rhayme again is cast as the computer wiz who
helps Cruise accomplish some wonderful stunts. This movie has
spectacular scenes that will amaze you, like hanging from cliffs, car
chases, motorcycle dueling, and bungee jumping from a helicopter down an
air shaft. These are all accomplished by the wonderful direction of John
Woo, who directed Face/Off too. This was very well written movie and I
hope more sequels are to come.
Julia Roberts plays the title character, Erin, who is a single mother
with a sassy attitude that helps her survive the life she leads. After
being hard headed enough to talk herself into a job at a law office, she
finds herself stumbling upon a cover-up that has caused a whole town to
be effected by an epidemic. You will find yourself pulling for her every
inch of the way as she struggles to prove herself good enough to take on
the big corporations of the world. Albert Finney does a wonderful job as
her lawyer boss, a guy that is hard crested on the outside, but soft on
the inside. I would say this is one of Julia Robert's best performances.
This movie will have you laughing and crying through out it!
Allison James
The best way for me to describe this movie is that it was a feel good
movie for men, but with a little bit of thriller put in to it. It has
male dominate jobs, firemen and policemen. It uses the all american
pastime, baseball, as the center point of the movie to show that the
main character is telling the truth. Dennis Quaid plays the fireman
father character with a lot of love and passion for his son. The
policeman son, Jim Caviezel, is somehow able to contact his father 30
years earlier by ham radio by some freak weather condition. By the son
telling the father how to save his own life from being cut short, this
one event triggers other changes for the future. I really liked this
movies pace and how it was able to keep my attention the whole time. If
you want to leave with a good feeling, this is a movie to see!!
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Page last updated January 28, 2001. Address comments to William L. Smith, Web Page Manager for Bill's Book Barn.