Randy Reviews

+=Rules of Attraction-- Weird, Gimmicky and poorly adapted. Disappointing. Kate Bosworth was a delight.
+=White Oleander-- Disturbing melodramatic chick flick. Many good performances.
*Knockaround Guys -- Good Gangster flick. Why did they shelve it?
*Moonlight Mile-- Trite yet original, slow yet interesting. Parts of it bugged me only to be redeemed later.
!*!Secretary -- Excellent. Funny in a dark and disturbing way with an underlying sadness. Amazing performances.
+='Skins-- Clearly the director has important messages to get across, but this wasn't that great a film.
**Igby goes Down-- Fantastic! Great cast. Runs the gamut of emotions. Kieran redeemed the Culkin name.
+=The Four Feathers-- Sweeping epic that just isn't that entertaining. It's hard to identify with the main character.
**Sex and Lucia-- Very heavy Spanish film with lots of layers. See it!
*Monsoon Wedding-- Interesting and surprising Indian film. It delighted then puzzled me.
*Amelie--Quirky, fun movie. Check it out.
*Notorius C.H.O.--Very funny and very dirty. Video should be fine.
*Blood Work--Mildly interesting Caper with lots of comic relief, some of which is unintentional.
**Tadpole-- Really great. Fun with a great cast. See it!
**Pumpkin--Very funny in dark and disturbing way. Christina Ricci is great. It is however uneven in its mood and themes.
+=Brotherhood of the Wolf-- It had a lot of Potential. Good action and interesting concept but it went on way too long.
+=Scooby Doo - Half of the cast was good the other half was just wrong. It was also too self-aware, over the top, and non-committal on its audience.
+=Enigma - Very slow caper set amongst code-breakers in WWII. Only mildly interesting.
*Mr. Deeds- Pretty funny. Simple plot but great jokes gags and supporting cast.
**Star Wars Episode 2- Good Story and great action. Filled in gaps and answered questions. Delivered on Jedi action. Reminiscent of "Triumph of the Will." However the love story failed.
**Insomnia- Very good. Great story and performances. Great themes but the title theme was a little underplayed.
*Spiderman- Great comic book film. It did what it was supposed to do, plus a few more mature themes.
* Hollywood Ending- Woody Allen made another funny movie. Tea Leoni was great.
+=Life or Something Like It - This was just some corny fluff. Ed Burns should know better. Look for cameos by KOMO staff.
+=The Cat's Meow - This movie had a good cast and an intersting premise, but I just kept waiting for it to start. It never drew me in.
*New Best Friend- It was a nice little mystery with some great bad girls. But it was only TV quality. It's worth renting.
**The Other Side of Heaven - Interesting and entertaining true story of missionary in South Pacific. Don't worry, not heavy on Mormanism.
* Frailty- Disturbing and compelling. I enjoyed it despite a few flaws.
** The Sweetest Thing- Very Funny Bad Taste Comedy. Constant fun. Cameron was lackluster but Applegate shined.
* Y Tu Mama Tambien - Funny and dirty Mexican coming of age film with other themes that went over my head.
+=Big Trouble - Great cast but poorly done. Dave Barry wrote but the whole thing was just too corny.
+=Big Bad Love - Weird, arty film set in a small town. Hard to follow but strangely mesmerizing.
!*!Kissing Jessica Stein - Very Funny. Intellectual J.A.P. experiments with her sexuality and concept of happiness.
+=Blade 2 -Just too much action. The story that was there just wasn't interesting.
+=Harrison's Flowers - I wanted to like it but it just didn't make it. It just misses. Although its protrayal of the Balkans war is a haunting back-drop.
*Black Hawk Down - It was good but a little to tactical for my tastes. It was hard to connect with what was going on. Although that was intentional.
*Cross Roads - Britney was Great. She was hot and semi-believable. It was good for a corny teeny-bopper movie but not for young kids.
!*!We Were Soldiers - This is the best war movie I can remember. Great balance of action, history, emotion and message. See it!!
*Gosford Park - Altman alternates good and bad with his movies. This was a good one. It took a while but it got funny. Also showed an interesting side of English culture.
*Spy Game - It is a pretty good spy movie. Check it out if you like to see experience outwit the stuffed shirts.
**Slackers-- Very funny. It kept pushing the envelope. Great performances and dialogue. James King (a woman) is hot. Also great cameos. (A must see if you like screwball bad taste comedy)
* Lord of the Rings-- It was good but not great. Many long stretches. Good character interaction
**Count of Monte Cristo -- Very good. Highly entertaining. It's been a while since I read the book. See it.
*Charlotte Gray--Very Good. Interesting story and great cinematography. Vivid colors. Cate Blanchett was great.
+=Orange County-- Mediocre even for it's genre. The jokes just kept missing, and the timing was off. Lots of the funny stuff from the trailers was missing. Jack Black couldn't save it.
==Waking Life--Horrible! I left. The animation was good at times but dizzying at other times. Just a bunch of jerks spouting philosophy incoherently.
*Life as a House-- Actually very good. Inspirational but not in that really annoying way.
*The Shipping News-- Good performances and interesting setting. Julianne and Cate were good, Scacey was good too.
*The Royal Tenenbaums-- Very Funny characters and interaction. What it lacks in story it makes up for in quirkyness and dysfunction.
**No Man's Land-- Very funny and also poingient. Paradox of the comedies and horrors of war. See it!
*Novocaine-- Entertaining caper. Steve Martin is serious again. Helena Bonham-Carter is good too.
==Vanilla Sky -- Awful! It started out with so much promise and then spiraled into twisted boredom only to reveal it's true stupidity. Cameron was hot though. Please don't waste your time.
+= Behind Enemy Lines-- The setting was interesting but it was just too Hollywood. There were moments that really worked mixed with standard action faire. Still watchable though.
*Ocean's 11-- It was good. It is definately a movie about an ensemble cast, but is fun and entertaining.
* The Closet-- French comedy about gender prefernce issues with Subtitles. Definitely amusing.
*Out Cold-- It was exactly what it looked like. A teenage screwball comedy at a ski resort. But it was a funny one.
*Sidewalks of New York -- Pretty good. Good ensemble. Dennis Farina was hilarious. Heather Graham was kind of wooden though.
*Focus-- Pretty interesting. A little dated but still well written by Arthur Miller. Good historical perspective.
+=K-Pax-- Fluffy attempt at inspirational film. Not egregious but also not worth it. Spacey should do something challenging.
*Shallow Hal-- Pretty Funny. Good jokes and good performances. Great cameos too including Laura Kightlinger and Manon Von Gerkan.
**The Heist -- Very, Very Good film. Great cast and great dialogue. See it!
**Training Day-- Very good action and Entertaining characters. Only a few transparent moments. Check it out.
*My First Mister -- Pretty good. Not a comedy despite Brooks. Leelee is actually good as a cute little Goth girl. Similar to Ghost World in a broad way.
**Bandits-- Very Funny with good action. Great cast as well. Billy Bob makes me roll
*Serendipity-- I really liked it I thought it was funny. And Beckinsale brang the heat much as I predicted after Last Days of Disco.
*L.I.E. --- Very good coming of age film. I agree with those that wonder how it got an NC-17 rating. Not for everyone though.
**Hearts In Atlantis-- Very good. I was totally sucked in. Great story, great cast. Check it out.
+=Moulon Rouge -- A Frenetic musical melodrama with a few good moments. The use of modern pop songs was both comforting and annoying. I've never seen anything like it.
*Bridget Jones' Diary-- A Fun little movie to fill your time with. Rene Zellweger fit the role well.
**Ghost World -- Great performances, good story and cool styling choices. Take a chance and see it.
*Curse of the Jade Scorpion--Woody was very funny. Helen and Charlize were great. Check it out.
*Legally Blonde - Cute and Funny.
*American Pie 2 - Funny continuation. More gags, same great characters.
*Made -- The pair from Swingers try being gangsters. It's good. Vince Vaughn has obnoxious down.
**Planet of the Apes(2001)- Visually stunning. Very cool. Same premise but different story from original. Roth and Carter were both really good.
**The Score--Very Good. Every one is good. And the plot works. Formulaic but still cool. Check it out.
*The Anniversary Party - Pretty funny indie. Cumming and J.J. Leigh wrote produced and directed. They got a great cast of together too. Kline, Cates, Posey, Beals, Paltrow...etc. Check it out.
+=Shrek---Not bad but I wonder why everyone is recommending it. It definitely takes stabs at Disney (which I appreciate), but it's relative goodness only works if you like that genre. I'd rather see Cameron than hear her.
==A.I.---It started out good but just went downhill. And then it kept on going into layers that just didn't work. Very uneven mix of Kubrick and Spielberg.
*Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - Very Good. I liked the scenery. But certain aspects were over played.
==Lara Croft, Tomb Raider---Awful! It started out ok, Angelina was hot. But the plot was horrible and unoriginal. And the action was too reminiscent of Video game repetition. Almost as bad as the Avengers
+=One Night At McCool's OK farce. Just really fluffy.
*Josie and the Pussycats--I liked it. It was funny and self-effacing in a tongue in cheek way. Parker was great as usual.
*Blow--Well shot and fun. Great Music and performances. But long and heavy handed at the end.
!*!Memento--Very interesting. Very indie. I found my self disoriented, which proved that the film worked.
*Enemy at the Gates--Very good. Good action, story. Lots of references only a little too Hollywood.
*Hannibal--Great Story, and performances. Moore was terrific. But "the scene" was corny.
+=You Can Count on Me--It was slow but intelligent. Great performances but very indie. I winced at the emotional chaos they created.
*O, Brother Where Art Thou?--It was Pretty Good. Very cool visually
*Meet the Parents--Very Funny. I was Cracking up. I went in some new directions comically.
*Snatch--Very tightly written. Fun and exciting. Check it out.
**State and Main--Very funny. Great cast and performances and writing. Check it out.
**Chocolat--Really good. Sweet and all that. Great performances. Binoche still brings the heat. Check it out.
**Traffic--You just know that you are watching a great poignant film. Stars kept popping up. See it!
+=All the Pretty Horses--Pretty good little western flick.
*Family Man--It was actually really good. I enjoyed Tea Leoni dancing to my favorite song...
+=Bamboozled--Cutting Satire at times, with some self-aware moments. Great performances, but plot slows and...
+=Vertical Limit--Kind of corny and fake. But mildly interesting. Paxon was worse than ever.
*Unbreakable - Very good. Builds slowly. Don't go in with too many expectations.
** Almost Famous--Really fun and interesting. Well made at all levels. Check it out.
*Charlie's Angels--Tongue in cheek but fun. Over the top but Cameron was the bomb. The other two weren't two bad either.
**Pay it Forward--Very Good. Needless to say, good cast. See it!
*Bedazzled--Surprisingly enjoyable, Good effects and lots of fun. Good message at end.
!*! Best in Show --Very funny. Cast of "Waiting for Guffman" set at a dog show. Constant level of laughing.
+=Duets-- Not very good but Gwyneth can sing. Don't bother.
*Tao of Steve--Funny movie. Very cool and thoughtful.
*Nurse Betty---Funny with great performances. Neil LaBute took a different road on this one.
*The Womanchaser--Funny in a dry way. Patrick Warburton was perfect for the lead
+=Coyote Ugly--It was OK. Mildly sexy. Plot was kind of corny.
*High Fidelity--Good movie that had some points to make. Tough sell though. Very Cusack intensive.
**X-men--Great, well made and true to the comic. See it.
*Me, Myself and Irene--It was funny. Some of the stuff made me roll. Good cast too.
+=Perfect Storm--It was way melodramatic. There were just corny moments that made everyone crack up. A lot of thrashing around. But it wasn't totally unwatchable.

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