REVIEWS

Review Standards: A+: Modern Classic
to:
F: Who the hell thought this crap up?

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Tobey Maguire as the webbed hero

Spiderman
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco
Directed By: Sam Raimi

This is quite possibly the best comic book movie made in over ten years, possibly of all time. In terms of shear fun, it doesn't get much better than this film. You've got your typical summer movie, with humor, action, and great special effects. When I first saw the preview months ago, I thought that it just looked so fake, but I find now that it all fits in perfectly. The casting works perfectly, especially in the case of Tobey Maguire, who plays it totally against type and succeeds. He looks ripped and perfectly fits in as the nerd who overcomes the odds to be the guy who gets the girl. Willem Dafoe truly seems to be enjoying playing the villain, snarling and all throughout. Kirsten Dunst is alright as Mary Jane Watson, but really isn't given much to work with, but who cares, she's the eye candy of the movie. The action scenes are just perfectly placed, especially as you watch Peter accept his fate. A great scene with Randy "Macho-Man" Savage and a scene in which Peter fights a bully showcases some brilliant effects. All in all, it's the first great movie of the summer. A



Changing Lanes
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack, Amanda Peet
Directed By: Roger Michell

Take a case of road rage and multiply it by about fifty times and you'll get the situation that Doyle Gibson (Jackson) and Gavin Banek (Affleck) find themselves in. After an accident Doyle and Gavin both lose something respectively - Doyle, his family is leaving him, and Gavin, he loses an important file that could get him in a lot of trouble. They both though have the power to help each other, but instead go on a vicious revenge scheme that both of them will regret. Set over roughly 24 hours, the film has an alarmingly fast pace, which is good, it keeps the tension tight, and the characters interesting. When the camera goes handheld it tends to give the film a realism that really helps accomplish what the director seemed to be going for. Sam Jackson's Doyle though is the only character that is really fleshed out, his rage bursts seem to make little sense beyond him not being able to handle the situation he is in. Ben Affleck's Gavin is a little underdevolped, but that is not his fault. I actually found Affleck enjoyable for the first time in a long, long time. What keeps Changing Lanes working though is it's grounded in reality. It has the feeling that this could happen to you - if you let it. All in all, it gets what it deserves in a solid B.

Panic Room
Starring: Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Jared Leto, Dwight Yoakam, Kristen Stewart
Directed By: David Fincher

You could argue that David Fincher has the best visual sense of any director in Hollywood and win. The director of Fight Club, Seven and The Game newest film explores all the themes he tried in those earlier films. Panic Room seems like an experiment, where Fincher plays with all the themes he had in his previous films and bottles them into one film. It carries the mood of Seven, the neat camera tricks and special effects of Fight Club, and the intensity and paranoia of The Game. What comes out of this is a wildly entertaining film, that has some memorable characters and an undeniable sense of excitement. Foster plays a separated mom who lives with her daughter (Stewart). On their first night in their house three thugs break in, which leads mother and daughter into the Panic Room. A solid steel room, that is used specifically for instances like this. The thieves want what is in that room. Jared Leto plays one of the thieves and brings a real sense of life to the role along with Forest Whitaker who you really begin to sympathize with. What Panic Room is really about though is a filmmaker coming into his own and it is undeniable that Fincher is the most visually amazing director working in Hollywood today. B+


Blade battles with the Reapers


Blade 2
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman
Directed By: Guillermo Del Toro

The original Blade seemed to lack any real power after it’s admittedly awesome opening scene. Well, in this sequel the opening is not quite as cool as the other, but still packs a powerful punch that continues throughout. In this adventure Blade (Snipes) is recruited by a group of vampires who are being exterminated by a new breed of vampire called Reapers. Reapers are much better villains than vampires and prove to be quite cool. This movie has more action, better effects, and a stronger cast, in particular Perlman as a crazy vampire. It’s story is kind of one note, but you don’t go into a film like this expecting a modern art masterpiece, you go in expecting entertainment, which is exactly what you get. Blade 2 also benefits from a heightened sense of mood, which you can thank director Guillermo Del Toro to thank for, with his amazing vision. Check out his The Devil’s Backbone, a little seen, but excellent Mexican horror film. Snipes also proves to be much more likable this time around, but you realize that his career isn’t going to do much besides playing Blade, which he is quite good at. Blade 2 is an awesome and entertaining sequel and all around good flick. It’s better than the first. B+

Resident Evil
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius
Directed By: Paul W.S. Anderson

Movies based on video games tend to suck, think Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon or the more recently horrendous Tomb Raider. But is there an exception to that rule? Resident Evil has all the fittings to be an awesome film because the video game was primed to become an awesome movie. Pretty much what happens is a corporation locks in it’s workers, killing them with a virus, the system goes on lockdown and a group of commandos is sent in as a rescue operation. What results is a horror film filled with zombies, monsters, and an occasional scare. It’s more of a Matrix like horror movie, that is sometimes really entertaining and other times more tiresome. The cast does the best they can with sometimes laughable dialogue, and it’s obvious the intent was the most amount of gore as possible. Unfortunately for the filmmakers gore isn’t scary, mood is, and there really isn’t that much mood in this film. C Monster’s Ball Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger, Sean Combs
Directed By:

Can a relationship come out of the ashes of loss and despair? This is the topic explored by Monster’s Ball, an emotionally charged film that is supported by amazing performances from the leads. Thornton plays a prison guard coping with loss who falls into a relationship with Halle Berry’s poor mother who has nothing left to live for. The film’s performances are brutally real and amazing at the same time. Thornton’s character of a Southern fried hillbilly is dead on (some may say he wasn’t acting, but he was) and his subtle performance was unjustly ignored by the Academy this year. Berry’s subtle performance as the mother was not overlooked and awarded, she simmers beneath sweat and rises out of the ashes of the garbage she has been in lately. Even the acting of the undercard is great, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs actually acts, and does it well. Maybe he realized that the best thing for him is a great script to polish his skill, and he does seem to have some. The film in general is an amazing piece of acting and screenwriting, with solid performances that makes it well worth while. B+




Crowe and Connelly


A Beautiful Mind
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer
Directed By: Ron Howard

Making a movie about math is a tough concept. No one wants to come to the theater to see a movie about formulas. So the concept of a movie about brilliant mathmatician John Forbes Nash is something that must have some sort of twist to it. That twist of course is that he had schizophrenia all the while alienating everyone in his life. He doesn't like people, and that is the one thing that he says even in the very beginning. He is a loner. Played by Russell Crowe, Nash becomes a fury, a real person, that although he would seem unlikable, you find yourself feeling for him. He finds comfort in the numbers that will ultimately drive him mad. To say Crowe's performance is amazing is an understatement. He truly becomes John Nash and is ultimately very convincing. Great performances have come to be expected from Crowe though, so it's really no surprise. Jennifer Connelly, who plays Nash's long suffering wife Alicia, is fantastic in her role as well, she has truly made the one mainstream Hollywood movie that will make her popular. One person that I really wanted to see more of though was Ed Harris, who plays CIA agent William Parcher. Harris is one of this generation's greatest character actors, and you really want more of him. Whenever he is in a movie, he lights up the screen without doing anything. His work in Enemy at the Gates, is what really made that an enjoyable picture, and if you haven't seen his brilliant work in Pollock, go rent that. Kind of ironic that Crowe should have won his Oscar in 1999 for The Insider, instead of being given the mercy award for Gladiator, a year which should have had Harris pick up his Oscar for Pollock. Anyway, this is an incredibly moving picture, that will no doubt be bringing in awards. A


The fellowship of nine


Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Starring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortenson, Ian Holm
Directed By: Peter Jackson

Say goodbye to Star Wars and hello to The Lord of the Rings, which in my opinion has become the fantasy film to beat. It is an incredible experience to see and creates it’s own world. The story is of a young hobbit, Frodo, who has been chosen to take the One Ring, which could destroy the world and cast it back into the fire of Mount Dune, and destroy it forever. He and a fellowship of eight others set out to complete their task. It’s an amazing thrill ride of a movie, that you won’t soon forget. It has some of the most visually stunning scenes in film history and is going to be considered an instant classic among many. The film does so well what most others can’t, it lets you know all the important factors without having to read the book. It is an amazing adaption of the novels. The ensemble cast is great, because it is comprised of mainly little known people. Two standouts from the cast are Viggo Mortenson, who plays Aragorn, the chosen protector of the hobbits, who has just an amazing screen presence. Ian McKellan is also great as the wise wizard Gandalf. This is truly one of those movies that will live on in history as a classic. A+





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