Gary's Movie Reviews and Ratings
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Movie Archive by Letter - B
Year	Movie	Gary's Rating	Michelle's Rating	In Brief....
2002	About a Boy	46	72	Vastly over-rated twaddle about annoying kid who decides to hang out with Hugh Grant.
2003	About Schmidt	79	73	In this bitter-sweet film, a wonderful Jack Nicholson ponders one of the deepest of human fears: has my whole life been a complete waste of time?
2003	Adaptation	78	51	Outrageously self conscious and refreshingly quirky look at how the screenplay for this movie was developed. From the people who brought you Being John Malkovich.
1999	Affliction	60	5	Gritty "like father, like son" drama set in one of those desolate middle-of-nowhere American towns where something bad always happens.
2001	A.I.	64	52	Haley Joel Osment is brilliant, but Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Kubrick's 'Pinocchio' project sometimes errs too far into the realms of soppiness.
1997	Air Force One	71	50	Formulaic but effective thriller with Harrison Ford as the US President being tough under fire.
2002	Ali	64	52	Will Smith's long awaited Muhammed Ali biopic is powerful but probably too confusing unless you already know the story.
2003	Alien: The Director's Cut	75	-	Ridley Scott, gives his sci-fi horror classic a few extra touches and while pretty good as far as it goes, it is more important for its iconic influences than for its qualities as a great film.
1999	All About My Mother	65	-	Another over-rated Pedro Almodavor number with the usual cast of 'strong women' placed in infeasibly odd situations.
2001	Almost Famous	72	74	Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical road trip is worth seeing for the 'Tiny Dancer' bus scene alone. Philip Seyour Hoffman is great as well.
2004	Along Came Polly	61	-	Mostly lightweight and forgettable romantic comedy fare but Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston are charming enough and there are one or two hilarious gags.
2002	Amelie	83	91	Infectiously happy and refreshingly unique story of the crazy life that is lead by one fantastically shy woman.
1999	American Beauty	87	86	Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening revel in the dark humour of Sam Mendes's directorial debut.
1999	American Pie	59	69	Very run-of-the-mill teen comedy turned into a classic purely on the strength of two or three shock-value, gross-out scenes (and the genius of Eugene Levy).
2003	American Pie: The Wedding	61	-	Ah, there's nothing like a good wedding. Of course, this juvenile nonsense IS nothing like a good wedding, but Eugene Levy and Seann William Scott provide enough laughs to keep you going until the buffet opens.
2001	America's Sweethearts	69	57	You can't beat a John Cusack film, even if it is just a standard "glamour vs personality" romantic comedy.
1999	Analyze This	72	60	Robert de Niro reveals his comedic talents (and wheels out all the old gangster cliches) with Billy Crystal as the straight man.
2000	Angela's Ashes	71	67	More than acceptable rendering of Frank McCourt's brilliant novel of childish hope overcoming desperate poverty.
2003	Anger Management	55	-	Patchy odd-couple comedy with Adam Sandler's mild mannered businessman assigned to Jack Nicholson's eccentric self-help guru. Most of the best bits involve Luis Guzman.
1999	Anna and the King	50	-	Surprisingly wooden re-telling of the classic story with Chow Yun Fat's king meeting his match in the form of Jodie Foster's strong willed school teacher.
1998	Antz	79	50	Subtle, but witty, animated film from Woody Allen that was overshadowed by the glitz of A Bug's Life.
2000	Any Given Sunday	70	-	Lots of shouting on and off the field in one of the better (of many) films about the world of American Football.
1999	Anywhere But Here	72	-	Middling mother-daughter story made watchable by dependable performances from Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon.
1960	Apartment, The	75	72	Classic Billy Wilder comedy with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine at the peak of their powers.
2000	Apocalypse Now: Redux	68	61	Powerful stuff, but long and often incomprehensible. Clearly a classic but for full impact requires multiple viewings that are just too hard to undertake.
1999	Arlington Road	79	63	Clever thriller that keeps you guessing right until the end. Great work from all the lead keeps up the required level of suspense.
1999	Astronaut's Wife, The	46	-	Lifeless rehash of the old 'Rosemary's Baby' theme with aliens replacing the occult.
1998	Armageddon	72	70	Gung ho Americans save the world yet again (this time from an asteroid the size of Texas, appropriately) in what is surely the loudest movie of all time.
1998	As Good as it Gets	66	55	Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt are great but the story is so ridiculous and boring that the movie does not work. Yet another inexplicable Oscar winner.
2002	Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode II	88	86	Who cares if the dialogue gets a bit clunky at times? It's got light-sabres, The Force, and loads of Jedis. That's all you need to know. Yoda rules.
1999	Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me	81	72	The inimitable Mike Myers returns with the dandiest secret agent of them all, this time accompanied by Heather Graham in hot pants. Oh, behave!
2002	Austin Powers in Goldmember	60	48	The gaps between jokes seem a bit longer in this third appearance of the many faces of Mike Myers. Probably enough classic moments to ensure a fourth movie is on drawing board.
1998	Avengers, The	59	45	Disappointingly dull version of the '60s TV classic. Not surprising, actually, as it stars Mr Ralph Fiennes who has yet to appear in a movie that I have liked.
Last Updated 29 February 2004