niryuu/sni-each-converted huggingface dataset:
tommy lee jones chases an innocent victim around america who is trying to prove that she did not kill her spouse .
the fugitive ?
not quite ?
this is the plot for double jeopardy , another fugitive copycat without the action , excitement , and good acting that the original had .
there are other slight differences besides one movie being bad and the other good ; this time tommy lee jones plays a parole officer not a us marshall , clever
huh ?
oh and the fugitive ashley judd was framed by her own husband ( bruce greenwood ) who needed to collect two million dollars in life insurance money not a one armed man .
both movies are on video .
make the wise choice and pick the fugitive .
there are so many flaws in double jeopardy , it is laughable .
while serving time in prison , libby parsons ( judd ) discovers that she can never be charged for committing the same crime twice .
learning that her husband is still alive , she decides to serve her time in prison , find him , retrieve her son , and kill her husband if necessary .
when the strict parole officer travis lehman ( jones ) stands in her way , libby decides to break the rules ( who knows why ? ) and continue her plan , despite the fact that if she gets caught , she 's going back to jail .
director bruce beresford spends way too much time trying to convince the audience that libby misses her son .
every other scene , we are given a shot of libby staring and crying at his picture .
in an action movie like this , valuable time wasted on these shots takes away more opportunities for libby to get up and do something .
all that is needed in this type of movie is a short scene in which libby tells herself or a friend " i miss my son .
" nothing more , nothing less .
dr .
kimble of the fugitive did n't look at one picture of his dead wife , his primary concern was to save himself .
libby at times shows this same determination but not nearly enough .
ashley judd and bruce greenwood both are excellent actors
but if they continue to do movies like this , they will be typecast for the rest of their careers , kind of like their doomed co - star tommy lee jones .
winning an oscar for the fugitive must have convinced jones that audiences will never get tired of his i - do - my - job - whether - they - are - innocent - or - guilty roles .
people still pay to see his movies and he makes plenty of money
so i guess he was right .
though i do n't think he will win another oscar again .
the ultimate mistake in the script is what eventually becomes of libby parsons .
even if she was excused for disobeying her parole officer , the number of other crimes she commits while on the run are too numerous to count .
burglary , assault , grand theft auto are some of libby 's slipups .
the message of the movie is you can break all of the small laws as long as you 're innocent of the major crime .
hopefully criminals wo n't use double jeopardy as a reference in court for why they are innocent .
that would just be plain stupid .
Output: N
while i am not fond of any writer 's use of cheap , easy puns , i am not completely above using them myself when the situation merits it ( witness my review of _ pecker _ from a couple of issues ago ) .
so here goes
: the juvenile , college - set black comedy
_ dead_man_on_campus
_ is dead on arrival .
strait - laced med student josh ( tom everett scott , who manages to remain somewhat likable throughout )
's
blemish - free academic record breaks out into fs , thanks to the influence of his ever - partying roommate , cooper ( mark - paul gosselaar ) , who introduces josh to the sex- and booze - filled nights that come with university life .
with the threat of losing an academic scholarship ( josh ) and a life cleaning toilets for his dad looming ( cooper ) , what are two good - hearted slackers to do ?
easy -- look for a loophole , which they find in the form of an unbelievable rule in the school charter that states that if a student 's ( or students ' ) roommate commits suicide , the surviving student ( s ) shall receive straight as .
so instead of studying , josh and cooper attempt to seek out the most depressed student out there , move him into their dorm room , and drive him to suicide before the semester ends .
director alan cohn and screenwriters michael traeger and mike white ( working from a story by anthony abrams and adam larson broder ) take their sweet time to build the head of steam that comes with josh and cooper 's diabolical plot . until then , the usual boring cliches of college life
( booze , sex , more booze ) fill the time , which is made to feel longer by _
saved_by_the_bell _
alumnus gosselaar 's sitcom - bred mugging .
that said , once cohn and company do build some comic momentum , they mishandle it .
the introduction of the manic , psychotic cliff ( lochlyn munro ) , a potential roommate for josh and cooper , brings some demented life to the uninspired proceedings before being hastily written out in favor of two less interesting candidates : paranoid nerd buckley ( randy pearlstein ) and british death rocker matt ( corey page ) .
one wishes that cliff would reappear , but , as they say , be careful what you wish for .
not surprisingly , he does resurface , and it then becomes clear that this is a character that is best taken in a small dose ; almost immediately , his extended boorish and sociopathic antics loses its novelty .
the same can be said about all of _ dead_man_on_campus_.
whatever morbid appeal the far - fetched premise has quickly evaporates , and the self - absorbed characters , especially cooper , pretty much grate from the get - go .
_
dead_man _ does n't grow tiresome ; it already _ is _
once the clever opening titles are through .
as it slogs along to a cheesy , happy - for - all - parties conclusion , _ dead_man
_ lives up to its title and
then some -- not only does the movie grow even more tired and die , it still insists on going on .
.. like a zombie .
Output: N
in a typical cinematic high school , the football jocks have sex with the girls and then dump them , but
not before the boys ' scores are dutifully recorded in their little black books .
as the sexual acts take place , the other guys hang out nearby , guzzling beer and grunting like pigs .
in the rage : carrie 2 , robert mandel 's terminally bland sequel to carrie , there is n't a single original moment .
only amy irving returns from carrie , and the talent of the rest of the sequel 's cast is impossible to determine given the stupefying mediocrity of rafael moreu 's script .
as rachel , the horror story 's lead , emily bergl gives one of the least scary performances in recent memory , but it is n't exactly her fault .
the director asks for little from his actors , which is precisely what he gets .
sporadically in this lame and lifeless movie , rachel will cause school lockers and windows to fly open , but generally she just mopes around looking like a victim .
her fellow students delight in tormenting her . of course
, she will get her revenge in the obligatory ending bloodbath in which she will decapitate and castrate the boys and crush the girls with burning timbers .
as the movie marks time until its big finale , it throws in some repugnant scenes , hoping to turn audience 's stomachs .
rachel 's girlfriend commits a horrible and realistic suicide after the boy who made " love " to her the night before spurns her .
( he gets major points in his black book for this , but his buddies say he would have gotten more if he had had sex with her after her death . )
even a helpless puppy is run over , and we see his poor , little body flipping over and over under a truck .
the teenagers in the movie are completely blas ?
about it all .
" does n't it offend you that some girl offed herself yesterday , " asks one of the few kids with a conscience .
" why ? " responds his nonplussed girlfriend .
"
she was n't anybody . " remarkably devoid of any energy , especially for a horror flick
, the movie makes one yearn for a fast forward button on the theater 's armrest .
with material this bad , the film 's only hope is to go for parody , but it is n't smart enough to realize it .
even the mandatory epilogue is as pointless and predictable as the rest of the movie .
the rage : carrie 2 runs 1 : 45 .
it is rated r for graphic violence , teen alcohol abuse , sex , nudity and profanity and would be acceptable only for older teenagers .
Output: N
man , this was one wierd movie .
similar to conspiracy theory in that it could n't decide which genre it is .
the first hour is
your standard stock aliens clone , which nicely created an eerie atmosphere about the ship .
the last half hour ?
this was when the makers blew the script out the airlock and just decided - " screw it , let 's just kill everybody " .
from then on - forget sci - fi .
.. this movie becomes 100 % horror .
what really dissappointed me about this movie was that it tried to scare you in entirely the wrong way .
instead of using clever tricks or trying to build up to a scare
- this movie just uses loud noises , sudden camera shifts and short quick bursts of gore .
.. .. yawn .
.. .
everyone 's seen it all before and knows when to expect it .
the one thing that was done well was the lead up to finding out about what happened to the previous crew .
there are skeletons lying around mangled and mashed , but what did this ?
then finally after being painfully restored - the new crew views the video .
the acting is n't too bad at all .
..
.. considering what the actors had to work with anyway , as there is no complex or interesting dialogue to speak of .
there was some very nice camerawork in certain sequences though , like when the hull near the bridge of the event horizon is breached and the camera pans back to follow specific objects as they bounce across the deck and are sucked out into space .
this movie could have been so much better .
it had a good experienced cast who deserved more to work with .
there was just nothing new here that any of us have n't seen before in aliens or hellraiser .
Output: N
salaries of hollywood top actors are getting obscenely large these days and many find this to be the main reason for skyrocketing movie budgets .
actors who demand such salaries might be greedy , but in some instances they are quite justified , because many films would never be watched or even made without their participation .
proof for that can be found even in the realm of low - budget movies , and one fine example is breakaway , 1995 thriller directed by sean dash and starring ( in ) famous figure skater tonya harding .
face of tonya harding is most prominently featured on movie 's poster , but the main star of the film is terri thompson who plays myra , attractive woman who works as a courier for gangster .
one day she decides to retire , but her employers are anything but enthusiastic about that .
realising that her life suddenly became worthless , myra starts running for her life , followed by professional assassins .
terri thompson being the actual star of the film instead of tonya harding becomes quite understandable after the scenes that feature former figure skater .
although tonya harding displays convincing martial arts abilities , her acting leaves much to be desired .
on the other hand , her disappointing efforts are hardly out of place in the film that lacks originality , believable characters and situations and actually represents anything that gave b - films a bad name .
martin sheen 's brother joe estevez , whose character looks like he had entered from another movies ' set
, is the only bright spot of breakaway .
unfortunately , he appears in this film too little too late to prevent viewers from realising why tonya harding 's silver screen debut proved to be her last film .
Output: N
the kids in the hall are an acquired taste .
it took at least a season of watching their show on hbo before i became a believer .
maybe after watching a half dozen kids in the hall movies , they would grow into the big screen .
my recommendation is that , unless you are a big fan of the kids , skip the film .
as it is , their first -- and most likely only -- attempt at a full length film lacks the qualities that made their comedy work on tv .
a big - budget and glossy production can not make up for a lack of spontaneity that permeates their tv show .
the kids go through the motions ,
but you get the feeling that they are nt really having fun doing so .
and this makes it more difficult for the audience to enjoy their antics .
brain candy is a bunch of skits tied together by the story of a pharmaceutical company that develops a new drug to cure depression .
in typical sketch - comedy tradition , each actor plays several roles .
doctor cooper ( kevin mcdonald ) and his team create the drug .
then , under pressure from don roritor ( mark mckinney ) , founder and president of roritor pharmaceuticals , dr .
cooper releases the drug into the marketplace .
the ensuing distribution of the new happy pill throughout the populace drives the rest of the film .
at about 90 minutes , brain candy still seems long .
the best thing about sketch comedy -- and the kids are no exception -- is the ability to quickly deliver the laughs , then go on to another quick skit .
but with the additional set - up necessary in telling a longer , coherent story , the laughs just do nt come fast enough . strangely , the show is even more tame than
it was when on cable tv .
the movie makes several attempts at risqueness -- mostly by pointing up the gayness of one of scott thompsons characters -- but they seem almost forced ; as if they have to live up to a pg rating .
one of the best bits , though , does make use of thompsons naked buttocks ; we see him charging into battle -- going to have sex with some guys taking a shower .
in the classic of this genre
, monty python pulled off this delicate balancing act between plot advancement and punchline delivery for most of the holy grail .
the kids , unfortunately , are not up to the task .
there are some amusing moments , to be sure , but not enough to make the experience an enjoyable one .
Output: N
there was a time when john carpenter was a great horror director .
of course , his best film was 1978 's masterpiece , " halloween , " but he also made 1980 's " the fog , " and 1987 's underrated , " prince of darkness .
"
heck , he even made a good film in 1995 , with " in the mouth of madness .
" but something terribly wrong happened to him in 1992 , with the terrible comedy , " memoirs of an invisible man .
"
somehow , carpenter has lost his touch , with junk like his failed 1995 remake of , " village of the damned , " to his uninspired 1996 sequel , " escape from l. a.
"
those movies , however , look like cinematic works of art compared to his latest film ,
" john carpenter 's vampires .
"
if i was him , i definately would n't want to put my own name in the title .
it is a sad state of affairs when carpenter can make something as misguided and flatly written and filmed as , " vampires . " the story is simple .
jack crow ( james woods ) is a vampire hunter who , along with one of his partners , montoya ( daniel baldwin ) , and a prostitute , katrina ( sheryl lee ) , survives an attack from the master vampire , valek ( thomas ian griffith ) .
since katrina was previously bitten by him , crow takes her along because anyone who is bitten by valek becomes telepathically linked to him until they themselves turn into vampires a couple days later , and crow is hoping to find him with the help of her .
it seems valek 's mission is to steal a black , wooden cross from a roman catholic church that will enable him to become so powerful that sunlight will not destroy him .
my question is : how many time have we seen this same story played out ?
well , the answer is just about as many times as a better version of the story has been made .
" john carpenter 's vampires , " sadly enough , is one of the most unscary horror films i 've ever seen .
in fact , there is n't even one suspenseful moment in the whole 105-minute running time .
the non - stop vampire attack sequences are stylelessly filmed , without any interesting camera work , which is usually a trademark of carpenter 's .
and then we come to the screenplay , which , as far as i can tell , is nearly non - existent .
there is no story development , and there is n't even an attempt to flesh out the characters .
james woods can be a good actor , but he has nothing to do here but to say a couple of " pseudo " -clever
lines of dialogue .
daniel baldwin has some potential , but his character comes off as being very dense . and sheryl lee ( faring much better as laura palmer in " twin peaks " ) , like all of the female characters , plays an offensive stereotypical whore .
there is not an ounce of intelligence , or excitement in , " john carpenter 's vamires , " which is very disheartening coming from an ex - fan of carpenter 's .
he has said that he turned down directing , " halloween : h20 , " because he could n't work up any excitement for it .
and yet , when asked about a " vampires " sequel , he said he would be happy to do it .
i think that 's a definite sign
that carpenter has finally lost any trace of his lasting talent , not to mention a significant number of iq points .
Output: N
you 've got mail works alot better than it deserves to .
in order to make the film a success , all they had to do was cast two extremely popular and attractive stars , have them share the screen for about two hours and then collect the profits .
no real acting was involved and there is not an original or inventive bone in it 's body ( it 's basically a complete re - shoot of the shop around the corner , only adding a few modern twists ) .
essentially , it goes against and defies all concepts of good contemporary filmmaking .
it 's overly sentimental and at times terribly mushy , not to mention very manipulative .
but oh , how enjoyable that manipulation is .
but there must be something other than the casting and manipulation that makes the movie work as well as it does , because i absolutely hated the previous ryan / hanks teaming , sleepless in seattle .
it could n't have been the directing , because both films were helmed by the same woman .
i have n't quite yet figured out what i liked so much about you 've got mail , but then again , is that really important ? if you like something so much , why even question it ?
again , the storyline is as cliched as they come .
tom hanks plays joe fox , the insanely likeable owner of a discount book chain and
meg ryan plays kathleen kelley , the even more insanely likeable proprietor of a family - run children 's book shop called , in a nice homage , the shop around the corner .
fox and kelley soon become bitter rivals because the new fox books store is opening up right across the block from the small business .
little do they know , they are already in love with each other over the internet , only neither party knows the other person 's true identity .
the rest of the story is n't important because all it does is serve as a mere backdrop for the two stars to share the screen .
sure , there are some mildly interesting subplots , but they all fail in comparison to the utter cuteness of the main relationship .
all of this , of course , leads up to the predictable climax .
but as foreseeable as the ending is , it 's so damn cute and well - done
that i doubt any movie in the entire year contains a scene the evokes as much pure joy as this part does .
when ryan discovers the true identity of her online love , i was filled with such , for lack of a better word , happiness that for the first time all year , i actually left the theater smiling .
Output: P
after bloody clashes and independence won , lumumba refused to pander to the belgians , who continued a condescending and paternalistic relationship with the congo .
their officers , particularly general janssens ( rudi delhem ) in the force publique , the congo 's army , caused rebellions , undermining lumumba , who was outraged at the rape and murder of belgian nationals .
with unrest building , moise tshombe ( pascal nzonzi ) and the province of katanga , which contained 70 percent of the country 's resources , proclaimed secession .
lumumba replaced janssens , making mobutu a colonel , and went on a pacification tour with congolese president joseph kasa vubu ( maka kotto ) , but it was too late . ' when you want to drown a dog , you say it has rabies , ' prophesies lumumba of his own fate .
peck and bonitzer do an exemplary job telling a complicated tale with a myriad of players , although they frequently succumb to cliche , particularly regarding lumumba 's private life .
peck 's script illuminates bantu sayings like ' the hand that gives , rules ' when lumumba uses it with the american ambassador .
peck 's direction is less assured , with many scenes unfortunately playing like standard television fare .
he 's served well , though , by his casting of ebouaney in the title role .
ebouaney is dynamic , radiating his character 's fierce passion for his people and his country .
lumumba 's intelligence and ability to strategize , even as he 's cornered by insurmountable odds , are given life by ebouaney .
peck 's subject and lead actor elevate his film above its mediocre production .
" lumumba " is a story that deserves to be told and ebouaney 's performance makes the tragedy personally felt .
Output: P
the american action film has been slowly drowning to death in a sea of asian wire - fu copycats .
it 's not a pretty death , and it 's leaving the likes of schwartznager , stallone , and van damme wearing cement galoshes at the bottom of a kung fu sea .
sometimes , the mix results in a mind - blowing spectacle unlike any other .
quality action with amazing and exciting stunt work , as in 1999 's the matrix , can be a real gem .
but too often hollywood gets it wrong , even when they pay off chinese directors .
flying ninjas and floating karate masters have been replaced by soaring bronx detectives and slow motion kicking scientists .
mostly it 's laughable .
in hollywood 's rush to emulate the success of the matrix , trademark asian stunt choreography has become more of a joke than an art form .
but iron monkey , the latest asian import , shows us how to get it right .
iron monkey ( actually a reissue of a 1993 film ) is the story of a 19th chinese vigilante ( rongguang yu ) , fighting with his own unique style of shaolin kung fu for the rights of the oppressed and the bellies of the hungry .
but it is also a piece of the narrative of legendary chinese film hero
wong fei - hong , most recently seen in one of the most overlooked , and possibly best films of 2000 , drunken master 2 ( released in the u . s . as the legend of drunken master ) .
unlike drunken master 2 , which stars jackie chan as an adult fei - hong , iron monkey finds a much younger fei - hong ( sze - man tsang ) and his father wong kei - ying ( yen chi dan ) thrust into the middle of iron monkey 's fight against oppression .
iron monkey succeeds as no kung fu film since drunken master 2 . at times , fighting styles , especially that of monkey himself , do devolve into the ridiculous twinkle - toed floating of films like crouching tiger , hidden dragon , director yuen wo ping eventually remembers to bring his action scenes back to earth .
iron monkey is at its heart a hardcore , kung fu action film rather than any kind of drama a la crouching tiger .
however , there are brief moments of profoundness shared between characters , such as those that pass between our outlaw hero and his good - hearted but misguided enemy , chief fox .
in those moments , and in others , iron monkey manages to transcend its mindless kung fu nature to touch the hearts and minds of its audience .
while in no way the equal of a masterpiece like drunken master 2 , iron monkey dances quite nicely to the invading kung fu tune .
aka siunin wong fei - hung tsi titmalau .
Output: P
synopsis : bobby garfield ( yelchin ) lives in a small town with his mirthless widowed mother ( hope davis ) .
bobby 's world revolves around his friends , especially the spritely carol ( boorem ) .
then one day , a new boarder arrives at bobby 's house .
ted brautigan ( hopkins ) is an enigmatic man to whom bobby takes an immediate liking .
as the bond between bobby and ted deepens , bobby becomes privy to ted 's great secret , an event which will change both of their lives forever .
review : a small but enchanting movie , " hearts in atlantis " easily recalls another king - inspired coming - of - age film , " stand by me " , both in terms of its setting and the sentiment it conveys .
" hearts " is a tribute to the magic of childhood , to those summers when the days seem neverending , and nothing means more than your closest friends .
unlike " stand by me " , there is a supernatural element to " hearts " , but although it is key to the plot , it is not prominent .
like " stand by me " , this is a mostly character - driven film , and as such it benefits greatly from superb casting .
yelchin is very good
as bobby , finding a good mix of innocence and resignation .
more splendid still is boorem , whom i praised highly for her work in " along came a spider " and who is simply radiant here as carol .
and then there is hopkins , who despite playing such a quiet , introspective character as ted , nonetheless commands our attention every time he is onscreen .
less successful is davis , whose strident elizabeth comes across as overly cartoonish .
i also found it odd that bobby and carol 's other friend , sully ( whose death as an adult sets up the movie 's flashback framing device ) , is paid virtually no attention .
but hicks ' direction is lovely without being cloying , and despite the movie 's general lack of incident , it never ceases to weave its spell over the audience .
Output: P
synopsis : in this movie , steven spielberg , one of today 's finest directors , attempts to spice up the 1800s story of a long courtroom battle over the fate of prisoner cinque ( djimon hounsou ) - - a young angry man from sierra leone who was kidnapped into slavery - - and his fellow prisoners .
cinque and friends have landed a ship on the shores of america after escaping spanish slave traders , but since the americans do n't speak cinque 's language , the black men are hauled into court to determine whether or not they are legally slaves .
technically , since the international slave trade was outlawed at that time , people like cinque could n't be kidnapped into slavery ; one had to be born a slave to be legally considered a slave .
lawyers baldwin and adams ( matthew
mcconaughey and anthony hopkins ) must prove cinque and the others were captured into slavery , rather than born slaves , in order to get them out of prison as free men .
three lengthy court cases are portrayed with spielberg 's trademark panache - - flashy beginning , lots of facial close - ups , big music , and dramatic imagery .
a final speech by adams is followed by an anticlimax where subtitles show what eventually happened to the various characters .
opinion : making a fictional movie is easier than making one about real life .
in fiction , one invents purposeful , clear - cut good guys and bad guys , puts the fictional characters in conflict , and takes the tale to its exciting conclusion .
real life , however , consists of long stretches of boredom with a few dramatic moments and characters who stand around , think thoughts and do nothing , or come and go before events are resolved .
spielberg gives us a visually spicy and historically accurate real life story .
djimon hounsou and anthony hopkins turn in excellent performances .
Output: P
carry on matron is the last great carry - on film in my opinion .
made in 1972 , it still features most of the regulars of this genre .
sid james plays the head of a gang of crooks intent on stealing contraceptive pills from the local maternity hospital and selling them off to make a profit , kenneth williams is sir bernard cutting , head of the hospital but also a hypochondriac , hattie jacques re - takes her role as matron , and charles hawtrey is the psychiatrist dr .
goode .
the jokes come in fast and so do the laughs , with humorous antics between the matron and sir bernard .
this time , williams is after matron ( jacques ) when he needs to prove himself that he is a man after visiting dr .
goode .
the doctor ( hawtrey ) is sworn to secrecy : - " i assure you , that anything you say to me today will go in one ear and straight out of the other !
" bernard thinks he is having a sex change and needs to prove himself .
there are great cameos from joan sims , an expectant mother who is many weeks overdue and is eating constantly in every scene , and from kenneth connor as the expectant father who still thinks he 's at work ( at the railway station ) .
sid james ' gang including cyril his son ( kenneth cope ) try to find out where the pills are by getting cyril to dress up as a nurse and live in at the nurses home .
he has to share a room with nurse ball ( barbara windsor ) and she soon sees through him !
the film ends with the attempted robbery of the hospital 's pills with panic ensuing .
there are good performances by hattie jacques as the matron , however her character seems a little more subdued and quieter than her previous ' matron 's ' .
williams is , as usual , on top form , but sid james is n't given a very good part in this movie and i would forgive anyone to forget that he was in the movie at all .
the same does not go for charles hawtrey , for although he only first appears in the movie after 30 minutes gone and has scarce screen time ,
he seems to steal every scene he is in . by not making use of sid james and barbara windsor 's talent to full effect , the film seems to flounder , but it certainly makes up for it with it 's good storyline
and it 's other appealing characters .
this film is genuinely funny and i could watch it again and again and not get bored !
Output: P
having not seen , " who framed roger rabbit " in over 10 years , and not remembering much besides that i liked it then , i decided to rent it recently .
watching it i was struck by just how brilliant a film it is . aside from the fact that it 's a milestone in animation in movies ( it 's the first film to combine real actors and cartoon characters ,
have them interact , and make it convincingly real ) and a great entertainment
it 's also quite an effective comedy / mystery .
while the plot may be somewhat familiar the characters are original , especially baby herman , and watching them together is a lot of fun .
the story begins in hollywood in 1947 .
cartoon star roger rabbit is blowing takes and having trouble keeping his mind on work , so hard - boiled private detective eddie valiant ( bob hoskins ) is called in by studio head r .
k .
maroon ( alan tilvern ) to try to help get roger 's mind back on work .
maroon thinks that roger 's wife , jessica 's , possible unfaithfulness to him might be the cause of distraction and tells eddie to get some photos of her in the act before it costs him any more money in reshoots .
valiant takes some photos of jessica playing , ` patty cake ' with marvin acme ( stubby kaye ) , the owner of toontown ( where all of the cartoon characters live ) and takes them to maroon . upon seeing them , roger is emotionally destroyed and soon after acme is found dead and roger rabbit is the prime suspect .
the rest of the movie follows valiant and roger as they run around town ( and eventually toontown ) trying to clear roger 's good name .
along the way they meet judge doom ( christopher lloyd )
a judge - jury - and executioner type who 's out to get roger and has discovered the one and only way to kill a ` toon . '
` who framed roger rabbit ' won 4 academy awards including a special achievement award for richard williams for animation direction and creation of the cartoon characters ( williams and his teams went through the film frame by frame and hand drew the cartoon characters in ) .
director robert zemekis must be given an equal amount of praise for overseeing the entire production , which included hundreds of animators .
also bob
hoskins ' performance should be credited .
he , in addition to the rest of the human cast , finds the right note to play
in all of the scenes with his cartoon co - stars .
according to the internet movie database , hoskins studied his young daughter to learn how to act with imaginary characters and i guess his hard work paid off .
` who framed roger rabbit ' is a rare film .
one that not only presented a great challenge to the filmmakers but one that can be enjoyed by the whole family
( although some very young viewers may be a little scared by judge doom ) . do yourself a favor and rent it , ` p - p - p - p - please . "
Output: P
by phil curtolo mel gibson ( braveheart ) gave a gripping performance as the father of a young kidnapped boy in ron howard 's ransom .
gibson plays tom mullen , a wealthy business tycoon whose past actions are coming back to haunt him as a deranged psychopath , played by gary sinise ( forrest gump ) , and his band of low - life thugs kidnap his only son for $ 2 million .
tom and his wife , kate , played by rene russo ( tin cup ) were instructed not to inform the police , but they contacted the fbi .
minutes later , an elite team of agents led by delroy lindo ( broken arrow ) are in tom 's house and wiring every phone .
the plot sounds average , just like most other kidnap movies that you 've already seen , and it was nothing more than that .
that is until about half - way through the movie .
suddenly , tom goes to the fox 5 news room and makes a live broadcast saying , " this is your ransom .
but this is as close as you will ever get to it .
instead , i am offering this money as a reward on your head , dead or alive .
" at this point , the plot thickened , and the unusually slow start of the film turned into a suspense - filled action film with great stunts .
the last half of the film is very well done .
another thing that carries this film are the superb performances by gibson and sinise , as they collide in a game of wits over their cellular phones for most of the movie .
owen gleiberman of entertainment weekly commented on the subject : " it makes you wonder what kidnappers did before cell phones .
" before this movie , sinise played mostly " good guys , " first in of mice & men , then in forrest gump , and most recently , in apollo 13 . but he was surprisingly devilish and cold in his portrayal of a cop - gone - bad .
gibson , of course , was just being gibson , in an oscar - worthy performance .
although most of the scenes were quite predictable , ransom is a very entertaining and suspenseful film . ,
Output: P
a fully loaded entertainment review - website coming in july !
>
from ace ventura to truman burbank , jim carrey has run the whole gamut of comic , yet sympathetic , characters .
1996 's the cable guy was supposed to be his big " breakthrough " role from zany humor into darker , more dramatic acting .
as most everyone knows , the results were , well , less - than - stellar .
not only did the film not do so hot at the box office , but it was also panned by critics . as far as i know , gene siskel
and i are the only ones willing to admit that we dug it .
the first time i saw the cable guy , in theatres , i was in super critic - mode , and did n't really like it .
however , due to the fact that hbo shows the movie every single day , i 've had time to lean back , relax , and take in the film .
and to my surprise , it grew on me .
the plot is rather simple : broderick plays a guy named steven who befriends his cable guy , played by carrey , then is stalked by him when steven tries to break off the relationship .
see , steven 's been having some problems with his girlfriend , robin ( leslie mann ) , and he does n't think he has any more room in his life for a new friend .
also , some of the cable guy 's antics have been creeping him out .
carrey , as the cable guy , gives steven various aliases , which later we find out are all tv characters :
larry tate , chip douglas , ricky ricardo , etc .
he apparently lives in his cable van , and while many critics did n't enjoy this newer , darker , less - manic performance from carrey ,
i thought it was interesting and rather well - done
.
for me , its not the movie as a whole that 's enjoyable , but rather several individual scenes :
a karaoke jam at steven 's apartment , a medieval fight at a theme restaurant , and a bathroom beating ( a la liar , liar ) , just to name a few .
perhaps the fact that more of carrey 's humorous side comes out during these scenes is what makes them so funny .
and if you really want to see something , you 've got to hear his version of jefferson airplane 's " somebody to love " , sung at the aformentioned karaoke jam .
the cable guy has its bad spots , like most any movie .
i did n't particularly like steven 's girlfriend , and i felt that more focus should have been used on the relationship between steven and his best friend .
also , the ending , while having you fooled for a moment , is rather contrived , and somewhat dissapointing .
still , i found the cable guy to be a worthwhile venture ; if you 're at the video store and ca n't think of anything to rent , i suggest you try it out .
or if you have hbo , just wait till it comes on
( you wo n't have to wait long . )
hell , that 's what i do every day .
Output: P
hilarious , ultra - low budget comedy from film school dropout kevin smith chronicles a day in the life of two convenience store slackers ( brian o'halloran and jeff anderson ) .
they spend most of their day ignoring customers while discussing everything from fellatio to self - fulfillment .
the premise is strictly sitcom and the photography is grainy as all get - out , but you could spend ten times the film 's budget ( a reported $ 27 , 000 ) and still not get dialogue
half as good as this .
originally rated nc-17 for language . not recommended for viewers with sensitive ears .
Output: P
for those of us who were n't yet born when the 1960 's rock ' n ' rolled around , monterey pop affords an affectionate glimpse of the music that influenced our parents to be hippies .
from otis redding to jimi hendrix , janis joplin to the mamas and the papas , and jefferson airplane to the who , this documentary is jam - packed with contagious energy .
but i give fair warning that i will reveal the ending , which does not do the rest of the film the justice it deserves .
shot in 1969 at an outdoor concert that precluded woodstock , the film defies the stereotype of the general population at the time .
sure , some have painted their faces and smoke joints , but d .
a .
pennebaker ( the war room , moon over broadway ) surprisingly chooses to show a broad spectrum of the audience .
no matter who is watching , it all comes back to the talented musicians that stir your soul .
the excitement starts before the music even begins .
a young girl is cleaning thousands of seats and when asked why by an interviewer , she replies that she feels lucky to do so .
there are moments of organized craziness as john phillips , leader of the mamas and the papas and one of the concert organizers , tries to get in touch with dionne warwick .
and when one band is tuning up , a member remarks , " finally , a decent sound system !
"
you can tell just by watching these first few moments that this show is n't about vanity , it 's about playing the music you love to those who have an appreciation for it , a two - way street .
this interaction between audience and performer continues throughout the film and becomes infectious to the audience .
it 's impossible to tear your eyes away from janis joplin as she belts out her ballad about love being a ball and chain .
and while the lyrics to " wild thing " may not be all that complicated , watching jimi hendrix mime having sex with his guitar is as captivating as otis redding singing about love .
even if you do n't recognize every band you see on stage , you can imagine being as enthralled by their work as the public sitting in those seats .
the only drawback to the film is the ending , which unfortunately i must reveal .
all the other bands , big names then and still today , got approximately 7 to 10 minutes of screen time .
in contrast , the last band on camera , a wholly forgettable one , gets an entire 18 minutes of screen time .
for a film that 's only 78 minutes long , that 's too large of a chunk , especially when previous acts are much more stimulating .
all in all , monterey pop is
a precious , rare look at a time period that still holds sway over us .
the variety of music , as well as the beautifully shot performances , are easy to become immersed in .
if there was ever any question as to why most of these bands were so popular , this is quickly dispelled .
it 's almost depressing to think that music this moving does n't get made much anymore .
instead we 're stuck with * nsync , the backstreet boys , and jennifer lopez , all of whom should have stuck with modeling .
Output: P
unzipped is a cinematic portrait of isaac mizrahi , an artist whose palette is fabric .
ostensibly , the film is a documentary , but use of that term requires stretching its meaning .
many scenes appear staged , and a great deal of cutting - and - pasting has been done in the editing room .
the cinema verite effect is a conceit -- genuine spontaneity is at a premium , and everyone is aware of and playing to the camera ( especially would - be actresses like cindy crawford ) .
director douglas keeve ( who was mizrahi 's lover at the time ) freely admits that he " could n't care less about the truth " but was more interested in capturing " the spirit and love in isaac and in fashion . " despite violating nearly every rule of " legitimate " documentary film making , however , unzipped is a remarkably enjoyable piece of entertainment .
while it sheds only a little light on the behind - the - scenes world of the fashion industry , it presents a fascinating , if incomplete , picture of designer mizrahi .
this man is the perfect subject for this kind of study -- he 's funny , energetic , and eminently quotable .
he has unusual views on just about everything , from fashion ( " it 's about women not wanting to look like cows " ) to mary tyler moore ( " between her and jackie kennedy , they shaped this country " ) to style ( " it 's almost impossible to have style nowadays without the right dogs " ) .
unzipped also gives a glimpse into the creative process by which mizrahi turns an idea into a dress .
it 's almost certainly different that anyone would imagine .
the designer draws on a variety of sources for his look , including nanook of the north and old bette davis movies , then enlists the aid of a ouija board to help form the collection .
in particular , unzipped traces mizrahi 's development of his fall 1994 line from its inception in the spring to the final fashion show , which highlights a number of prominent models , including cindy crawford , naomi campbell , kate bush , and linda evangelista .
on the technical side , a number of interesting choices were made in filming unzipped .
a variety of film stocks were used : super 8 , 16 mm black - and - white , and 35 mm color .
there is a purpose to this beyond simple artiness -- the stock often serves as an emotional key to the movie , and , during the climactic fashion show , color is used to show the audience 's perspective , while black - and - white is for the behind - the- scenes sequences .
nevertheless , some viewers will be put off by this treatment .
while unzipped is n't an expose on the fashion industry per se , keeve has enough clips of petulant models to make the viewer realize how tame robert altman was with ready to wear .
overall , however , this movie is far more about mizrahi than anything else , and only when viewed from that perspective does unzipped succeed .
when the designer declares that " everything is frustrating except designing clothes --
that 's beautiful and liberating , " it fits perfectly with the image of him that unzipped has constructed .
Output: P
dora ( fernanda montenegro ) sits behind a make - shift desk at rio+s major train station .
she , in her colorful demeanor , offers a service that is unheard of in the states .
she writes letters for the illiterate , who pass through , to try to find lost relatives , find love , or search after lost debts .
she+s
quirky , she+s elderly , she+s caring .
totally trustworthy , right ? not a chance .
once home , she never sends these letters , saving money on postage , and relishing in the drama contained therein with her neighbor irene ( mar ?
lia
p ? ra ) .
one of the letters is sent by a young mother with her nine - year old son , looking for their father .
shortly thereafter , she gets hit by a bus , and the son is orphaned .
days go by , and the boy , named josu ?
, roams around the station , hungry , desperate , and somewhat clueless to his predictament .
through a series of circumstances too precious to elaborate upon , dora somehow takes a responsibility in trying to find josu ?
+ s father .
this means leaving the security of rio , traveling to the outskirts of brazil , where unpaved roads , religious devotees and the poverty - stricken become commonplace .
films like this remind me as to what i enjoy about some foreign films .
it is an opportunity for me to get a fresh breath in another part of the world , so distant from my own .
it does so entertainingly , and so heart - wrenchingly
.
and yet , it+s backdrop is merely that .
the focus is on the minute transformation of dora , of how she learns to love this little kid , without being cloying or sentimental .
the most interesting backdrop is the amount of religious dedication is in the film .
dora being an amoral scam - artist , could care less about the amount of bickering between the candle - lighting of the catholics versus the bumper - sticker mentality of the evangelicals .
but neither side is trivialized .
she even begins to develop an affection for a non - drinking evangelical , who sees the problems with dora , if not initially .
fernanda montenegro surprisingly got an oscar nomination for this very delicate performance , but the true marvel is that of vinicius de oliveira , who plays josu ? .
he , like the discoveries of j ?
r ?
mie renier
( _ la promesse _ ) and giorgio cantarini
( _ life is beautiful _ ) , prove that the true acting discoveries may be outside of the united states .
he is a natural , and never once grating .
send a memo to jonathan taylor thomas .
Output: P
sometimes a movie comes along that falls somewhat askew of the rest .
some people call it " original " or " artsy " or " abstract " .
some people simply call it " trash " .
a life less ordinary is sure to bring about mixed feelings .
definitely a generation - x aimed movie , a life less ordinary has everything from claymation to profane angels to a karaoke - based musical dream sequence .
whew !
anyone in their 30 's or above is probably not going to grasp what can be enjoyed about this film .
it 's somewhat silly
, it 's somewhat outrageous , and it 's definitely not your typical romance story , but for the right audience ,
it works .
a lot of hype has been surrounding this film due to the fact that it comes to us from the same team that brought us trainspotting .
well sorry folks , but i have n't seen trainspotting
so i ca n't really compare .
whether that works in this film 's favor or not is beyond me .
but i do know this : ewan mcgregor , whom i had never had the pleasure of watching , definitely charmed me .
he was great !
cameron diaz 's character was uneven and a bit hard to grasp .
the audience may find it difficult to care about her , thus discouraging the hopes of seeing her unite with mcgregor after we are immediately sucked into caring about and identifying with him .
misguided ?
you bet .
loveable ?
you bet .
a life less ordinary was a delight and even had a bonus for me
when i realized it was filmed in my hometown of salt lake city , utah .
this was just one more thing i did n't know about this movie when i sat down with a five dollar order of nachos and a three dollar coke .
maybe not knowing the premise behind this film made for a pleasant surprise ,
but i think even if i had known , i would have been just as happy .
a life less ordinary is quirky , eccentric , and downright charming !
not for everyone , but a definite change of pace for your typical night at the movies .
Output: P