polsci/sentiment-polarity-dataset-v2.0 huggingface dataset:
this remake of " la cage aux folles " features a gay couple pretending to be straight in order to pull the wool over the eyes of their son's future in-laws . 
the couple ( robin williams and nathan lane ) are about as archetypal , or as the less kind might put it ? stereotypical , gays possible . 
williams owns a nightclub featuring drag queens where his partner performs as the featured star . 
they live above the club in what could not possibly be mistaken as a heterosexual abode . 
williams is excellent as should be no surprise . 
gene hackman as right-wing potential father-in-law is refreshing in one of his few comedic roles . 
the real star is lane . 
his attempted transformation from one of the most obviously gay men in the world to the straight-shooting uncle is hilarious . 
perhaps it is a personal failing on my part , but the crying and screaming drag queen faux high drama just grates on my nerves and the first few minutes of this film are filled with it . 
luckily ( for me at least ) , it doesn't last long and the rest of the story focuses on the relationship between the men , their son and the deception . 
the question of stereotypes is a touchy one . 
these guys personify the homophobic gay image . 
you can almost hear the swishing . 
if you think that they are supposed to be representative of every gay man in the world , you'll be outraged . 
but if you can accept the view is that this is a movie about gay individuals , you'll love it . 
your choice .
the long and illustrious career of robin williams , which has included both forgettable turns like mrs . 
doubtfire and flubber , was punctuated with the actor's first academy award in 1998 for his role in good will hunting . 
it was his first truly dramatic role since 1989's dead poets society , and critical remarks were unanimously positive . 
his next role , that of a deceased pediatrician in what dreams may come , was unfortunately lackluster . 
and so , after a six-year stint as a comedic actor , the proof on whether or not williams can cut it in the dramatic league has come down to patch adams . 
williams is the title character , hunter " patch " adams , sporting scruffy facial hair that falls between the clean-shavenness of dreams and the grotesque hairiness of will hunting . 
we're introduced to patch as he commits himself to a mental institution because of his suicidal tendancies . 
it's at the institution , however , that he discovers a latent talent for relating to people . 
he removes himself from the institution and enrolls at the university of virginia's medical college , where he finds that medical doctrine is a calculating , impersonal trade . 
his attempts to inject humanity into the profession result in several bouts with expulsion , and the movie climaxes with patch's appearance before the state medical board . 
the characters are well-defined in an oscar-worthy sense . 
although the script does not perform well as a narrative -- there's little story to be told outside of patch's skit-length experiences -- the script does go a long way toward building the relationships of characters . 
at medical school , patch meets up with truman schiff ( daniel london ) , an outsider like himself who relishes patch's zest for humanity . 
the two instantly become the best of friends , and it's easy to see why . 
monica potter plays patch's love interest , a young woman who personifies the things that patch hates about medical school . 
for some reason he's attracted to her , and although it never gets said , the audience understands from an intrinsic point of view . 
the script -- based on hunter adams' own story -- works well this way . 
the rest of the cast , bob gunton as the villain professor in particular , is solid . 
director tom shadyac ( liar liar ) leads us in and out of patch's life in a sound , intentional manner ; combined with williams' presence on screen , the movie rarely becomes boring . 
patch adams' lack of purpose is its major shortcoming , and for the first ninety minutes out of two hours , there's little feeling of continuity or the passage of time . 
nevertheless , it's an emotionally moving picture , and patch adams looks to be one of the more memorable of the holiday season . 
it succeeds at everything it tries , and only fails at the stuff it doesn't try in the first place . 
by and large there may be another oscar nomination herein for williams , but more importantly , it's entertainment for the entire family .
in recent years , harrison ford has been such a grave screen presence , scowling through the likes of tom clancy's jack ryan series , _the_fugitive_ , and last year's smash _air_force_one_ , that one wonders if the rogue charm that made him such a superstar had been completely drained from his system . 
apparently , it was just lying dormant . 
with ivan reitman's enjoyable romantic comedy/adventure _six_days , _seven_nights_ , the lovable scoundrel is back , giving audiences a fresh reminder of why ford is one of the most enduring and popular modern screen icons . 
ford plays quinn harris , a carefree and slightly slobby ( endearingly so ) pilot in the tropics whose broken-down plane crashes in a storm , stranding him and his charter , new york magazine editor robin monroe ( anne heche ) , on a deserted island . 
of course , the sophisticated robin and the salt-of-the-earth quinn are at odds long before the plane goes down , and all manner of hostile repartee is exchanged between the two from their first meeting . 
while some of the lines fall flat , the formulaic motions work because of the unexpectedly electric chemistry between ford and heche . 
both actors , who have largely done serious works as of late , seem liberated by the lack of dramatic weight on their shoulders , and they deliver their zingers , as weak as they sometimes are , with beguiling abandon . 
naturally , there's nothing like a life-threatening crisis to bring two people together , and quinn and robin's warmup to each other is sped up even further by the arrival of some bloodthirsty pirates . 
granted , some conflict needed to be introduced on the island , but this tacked-on development from writer michael browning is a bit too obviously thrown in for the purpose of adding gratuitous action scenes . 
but the point is to get the two together , and their newfound affection causes complications for both , but mostly robin , who came to the islands on a vacation with her fiance frank ( david schwimmer ) , who frantically awaits her return on the home island . 
reitman , and old , reliable hand at breezy comedies , keeps the pace brisk and capably handles the more action-oriented sequences . 
his big accomplishment , however , is bringing the old , smiling ford back . 
as appealing and charismatic as he always is , ford hasn't been quite this charming and affable in years ; he's obviously having a blast , and the audience cannot help but have one along with him . 
holding her own is heche , whose scrappy character never becomes the screaming ninny she initially promises to be ( as the plane goes down , she frantically pops stress pills ) . 
she can take her lumps , physical and otherwise , just as well as quinn , making her a formidable foil and ideal match . 
formulaic and light as a feather , _six_days , _seven_nights_ could be cited as a classic example of the summer " popcorn " movie season's lack of substance . 
it's certainly fluff , but it's unpretentious , undemanding , and--most importantly--fun fluff that goes down as easily as a frothy pina colada on a balmy tropical beach . 
pass the popcorn .
capsule : a rock and roll fable , indeed . 
like a hubert selby , jr . novel filtered through equal parts damon runyan and bruce springsteen , and a ton of fun . 
streets of fire bills itself as " a rock and roll fable " , and the description is perfect . 
this is a stylish , great-looking , and breezily enjoyable movie that feels like a hubert selby , jr . , novel with a damon runyan rewrite , irected by bruce springsteen . 
noir is one of the few truly american movie genres , aside from the hollywood musical and the western . 
this is post-wwii brooklyn noir , for lack of a better label , with a generous injection of rock 'n roll and an all-around confrontational attitude . 
it all works . 
the plot is simplicity itself : rocker ellen aim ( diane lane ) is kidnapped by a vicious street gang , led by a bloodthirsty fellow named raven ( willem dafoe , very nasty ) . 
her old soldier flame ( played by michael pare ) comes back into town to save her , but doesn't count on a whole bunch of things going askew . 
that's about the entire plot , save for the spats with ellen's manager ( a hilarious rick moranis ) , an encounter with a doo-wop group that winds up becoming ellen's supporting act , and a whole gang of other fun little touches . 
but in movies like this , when is the plot important ? 
the movie is all style , all visuals and attitudes , quotable lines and posturing -- and it delivers all those things consistently and with great brio and pacing . 
no surprise that it was directed by walter hill ( 48 hrs . ) , who understands this kind of macho romanticism perfectly , and has put together a movie that's a mixture of times and sensibilities , but perfectly unified in tone . 
when was the last time you could say something like that about a movie , especially a movie where it seems like someone gets decked on the jaw ( * and * passes out ) every 2 . 63 minutes on cue ? 
streets of fire isn't the greatest movie ever made , but it occupies a totally unique little niche , and enjoys the position it has . 
anyone with a weakness for doo-wop , neon , motorcycles , rainy streets , the el , studebakers , gang pictures , lonely heroes , and a great-looking gal giving the microphone both lungs will eat this movie up . 
i did .
with storytelling this compelling , who needs books ? 
based on the book by author james ellroy , l . a . confidential is probably one of the best piece of work produced by hollywood in recent years . 
together with director curtis hanson ( the hand that rocks the cradle , the river wild ) whom ellroy corroborated closely throughout the shooting of the film , resulted in a movie with a plot and and script so tight , an atom would have to squeeze itself through . 
set in the 50s , the story revolves around 3 policemen of vivid personalities . 
jack vincennes ( spacey ) is the cop who is more concerned on busting with fame and stardom ala hollywood style , concentrating heavily on work which will attract him media attention . 
there is also the young hot-shot rookie , ed exley ( pearce ) , fresh out of the academy and all-out to carve a name for himself in the footsteps of his legendary cop father . 
the tough and unnerving bud white ( crowe ) , a cop who believes in justice , the swift and violent way . 
3 policemen , distinct in their characters and paths but all of them working in a place where there is no real distinction between good and evil . 
when his partner is murdered on the day of his resignation , bud sets out to find the people responsible but unwittingly delved himself into something more than just a simple robbery murder . 
even after exley receives a promotion for his work on the murder case , happenings began to link itself to the murder . 
the 3 eventually reach a point of convergence when what actually began as a personal investigation turns out to be an uncovering of a complex web of organised-crime in hollywood . 
the last time i remember a film so clever and compelling was when i watched the usual suspects . 
in l . a . confidential , you do not get the shock and cleverness as the former but it has a lot more of `story' going for it . 
there is not a single moment in the film in which i felt was slow at all . 
surprisingly , though spacey did a very convincing job as the street-wise vincennes , the movie was carried mostly by the two rather `unknowns' , pearce and crowe . 
pearce's exley is cool and calculative in his actions and there is a slight hint of val kilmer in his appearance . 
crowe's bud white is the most impressive of all ; head-strong and temperamental , he should obtain some sort of recognition for his work here . 
superb acting . , wonderful storytelling and one of the best climaxing gunfights ever . 
easily the best hollywood piece for 1997 .
synopsis : committed to an asylum , the marquis de sade ( rush ) continues to publish pornographic literature , aided by young maid madeleine ( winslet ) . 
abbe coulmier ( phoenix ) , who runs the hospital , disapproves of the stories , but humours him in the hope of achieving a cure . 
de sade's craft and life are threatened when the emperor dispatches dr royer-collard ( michael caine ) to stop the marquis' work , permanently . 
review : " quills " is an exploration of the marquis de sade : his madness , his cruelty and his perversion , his obsession with sex in any form , no matter how obscene . 
but " quills " also details the marquis' determination : to write in spite of the obstacles put in his path , and to propagate his words to the masses . 
the extent to which de sade is willing to go to practise his trade is amongst the movie's most intriguing elements , as when de sade scribes a story in his own blood , or narrates a tale via of a chain of fellow inmates , cell to cell . 
to provide a contrast with the marquis , wright involves him with two very different characters . 
one is the abbe , a handsome , charming and kindly man whose desires are stymied by his oath to god . 
the abbe lusts for madeleine , but it is the wizened marquis who is able to have her . 
and then there is royer-collard , a hypocrite who in truth is as sadistic as any of the marquis' motley creations . 
rush is splendid as de sade , utterly inhabiting the character . 
kaufman's direction is fine , and he is able to bring a sense of bizarre humour to the grim proceedings . 
the plot itself is rather mundane and plays out unsurprisingly , but this is virtually unimportant . 
for two hours , " quills " acquaints us with the marquis de sade -- and , more frightening still , allows us brief insight into his scatological soul .
synopsis : in this cultural exploration , a chinese american computer engineer named fang ( peter wang ) decides to take a month-long vacation to visit his sister mrs . chao ( shen guanglan ) , her husband mr . chao ( hy xiaoguang ) , and their teenage daughter lili ( li qinqin ) in beijing after 30 years of separation . 
fang brings his asian american wife grace ( sharon iwai ) and his college-aged son paul ( kelvin han yee ) along , both of whom don't speak chinese . 
the encounter between the two families allows the audience to compare the eastern and western cultures as well as the ambitions of individual characters . 
opinion : sometimes a film is plot driven . 
sometimes it's a character sketch . 
a great wall ( 1986 ) can be called a culture sketch , as opposed to a character sketch because it gently compares a chinese american family to a beijing family . 
fang's family is thoroughly americanized . 
fang is an upper middle class professional who enjoys jogging and argues with his boss . 
his wife can't cook chinese . 
his son has a white girlfriend and complains of racism when fang encourages him to befriend an asian girl . 
meanwhile fang's beijing sister advocates absolute loyalty to the 'work unit . ' 
her husband is a retired official who has heard rumors of american depravity ( homosexuals running the streets ) , and her daughter lili longs for american freedoms in a youth culture where studying for college entrance exams is the most important thing in life . 
the two families spend a month slowly learning about each other . 
there is no ultimate 'answer' or final comprehensive understanding after the month-long vacation . 
the film is neither here nor there ; it's a neutral , meandering , gentle , portrait of life on both sides .
larry flynt is a self proclaimed smut pedlar and the owner/publisher of the multi-million dollar hustler publications company . 
the people vs . larry flynt is the story of larry flynt's fight for the freedom to circulate and sell his pornographic magazine , hustler . 
based on a true story , the film is almost a documentary in that it's a very vivid and detailed look at larry flynt's life . 
woody harrelson gives an excellent performance . 
he conveys flynt's peculiarities and his character with depth and focus . 
by the end of the film the audience actually finds themselves , somewhat grudgingly , liking larry flynt . 
this is some feat given flynt's apparent lack of any morals or ethics and his extremely smutty and childish behaviour in court . 
however , flynt has a number of things going for him , he's rich , he's funny , and most importantly , he says exactly what he means . 
larry flynt's wife , althea leasure is played by courtney love . 
larry meets althea at one of his clubs , and they fall in love ( a very sexual and open love ) . 
both of them indulge in a world of too much sex , and eventually too much drugs . 
flynt had been taking an excessive amount of pain killers after being paralysed from the waist down ( which was especially upsetting for him ) by an assassin . 
althea had joined him in taking the drugs . 
following an operation flynt decides to stop taking drugs , althea does not have any such plans , nor the determination to follow them . 
as the film progresses we see her become increasingly frail and sick . 
courtney love obviously has a great understanding for althea's situation , as she is brilliant in portraying althea in every respect . 
it's extremely sad to watch althea literally wither away . 
edward norton plays flynt's lawyer , alan isaacman . 
again , this is a solid performance . 
the audience finds it easy to sympathise with isaacman who somehow puts up with flynt's courtroom antics . 
flynt is not only childish in the courtroom , but downright rude to the judges , and lands himself in a lot of trouble ( and even in a mental institution ) because of it . 
isaacman is very easy to like , and great at proving ( in quite clever ways ) his points to the court . 
milos forman has done a great job in directing the people vs . larry flynt . 
it is not really an exciting or thrilling film , but instead a highly interesting portrayal of a true story . 
due to larry's character it is also , at times , a very funny film . 
however , it is much more than that . 
it is about the fight for freedom of speech , anti-censorship , and the right to be able choose for oneself what to see and buy . 
an excellent look at flynt , his life , and his story . 
keep a look out for the real larry flynt who makes a cameo as judge morrissey .
i don't know what movie the critics saw , but it wasn't this one . 
the popular consensus among newspaper critics was that this movie is unfunny and dreadfully boring . 
in my personal opinion , they couldn't be more wrong . 
if you were expecting airplane ! -like 
laughs and agatha christie-intense mystery , then yes , this movie would be a disappointment . 
however , if you're just looking for an enjoyable movie and a good time , this is one to see . 
honest , it is . 
this story is about a 4th network , wbn , taking to america's airwaves in 1939 . 
penny henderson ( mary stuart masterson ) , the station owner's secretary , must deal with her overbearing boss , an unimpressed sponsor and writers ready to quite on a moment's notice , partly due to the fact that they haven't been paid in weeks . 
among the mayhem , she must also deal with her soon-to-be ex-husband , roger ( brian benben ) who desperately wants her back . 
unfortunately , her problems only get worse as the night goes on and the body count rises without explanation . 
while trying to woo penny back , roger must deal with the police and try to find the killer that lurks at wbn . 
mary stuart masterson does well in her role as penny ( i'm trying to be unbiased so i won't tell you how amazing she looked ) , although brian benben gets most of the screen time . 
along with the two leads , are several recognizable faces , including corbin bernsen ( l . a . 
law ) , michael mckean ( laverne & shirley ) and bobcat goldthwait . 
the special effects are amazing , and fooled me ( which some may argue isn't very difficult to do ) in many scenes . 
although the movie sometimes goes overboard with the physical comedy , it more than makes up for those mistakes throughout the movie . 
overall , i gave it , or an , depending on what system you use . 
some comments collected from friends :
with stars like sigourney weaver ( " alien " trilogy ) and academy award winner holly hunter ( the piano , raising arizona , etc . ) together in a single hollywood production , one would immediately identify the film as a potential academy award hot shot . 
sadly for copycat , though tightly scripted and nicely plot , is still at heart , a typical hollywood thriller . 
helen ( weaver ) , after a traumatic near death encounter with a serial killer , darryl ( harry connick jr . ) , has developed a phobia for being outdoors , so to speak . 
incidentally , helen is also an expert on the subject of serial killers , which make her a juicy target for serial killer wannabes . 
a year has passed and strange deaths begin to terrorise the city of san francisco . 
detective monahan ( hunter ) and getz ( mulroney ) , baffled by the unorthodox methods of killing used by the killer , seeks the professional help of helen , who , as expected was reluctant at first . 
copycat " borrows " a lot from silence of the lambs and in most cases , it did work . 
but copycat tries to be a little bit more by immersing the audience into the lives of its main characters to give them more believability , this was rather unnecessary as the scenes seem to disrupt the mood of the entire film and also . . . 
much of the time wasted could've been used to build up the suspense and injected with drama . 
even so , weaver and hunter act very well in their own departments . . . 
weaver being the vulnerable yet strong-within character ( as in aliens ) and hunter being the short , tough , texan speaking cop ( as in raising arizona ) . 
harry connick jr . , a very good jazz singer , shines as the imprisoned serial killer a la hannibal lecter . 
which comes to the moment of judgement ( drum roll please . . . ) . 
copycat is a good thriller . 
although the plot is highly predictable and one can actually predict the rest of the movie after about 45 minutes into the show , copycat survives from the moments of anticipation where the audience are held on to their seats , in anticipation of the killers next immediate move . 
this worked pretty well and will offer audiences a couple of unexpected jolts . 
nice movie to bring your girlfriend to . . . .
capsule : earthy , experimental , difficult , shockingly frank ( even for 1997 ! ) , and ultimately refreshing story of a black man on the run from the cops . 
the first few minutes of sweet sweetback's baad asssss song ( yes , i checked -- that's the correct number of ss ) are without dialogue , just eerie montages of sounds . 
a young boy , obviously malnourished , is taken in and fed up by several loving mother-surrogate figures . 
then one of them takes the boy to bed for a sexual initation ( underneath the title credits ) that's far more confrontatory and shocking than any ten basic instincts -- probably because it has the directness and clumsiness of real life , something we're not used to seeing on screen . 
this is one tough movie to swallow , no matter who you are , but that probably reflects more on how pallid and unchallenging movies have gotten lately . 
 ( i suspect the sex scenes in movies like el topo and salo would probably melt the synapses of most modern audiences . ) 
the plot is simple but not simpleminded . 
sweetback , hassled by two white cops who are apparently just looking for an excuse to beat up on a black man , breaks his bonds and runs like hell . 
along the way he moves through a good many of the kinds of environments that we are only just now being seen in a more serious light in the movies -- or at all , for that matter : the slums , the missions , the ghetto . 
in other , lesser , movies , sweetback would be machine-gunning everything in sight and the end credits would roll over a pile of bodies ; in this one , we get taken on a kind of a tour of the depressing and anarchic world that sweetback takes for granted . 
ssbas first appeared in 1971 and was promptly rated x ( " by an all-white jury " , as director melvin van peebles crowed in his legendary ad campaigns ) , and it's hardly surprising why . 
there's a good deal of sex in the movie , but it's handled in a way that's unsettlingly frank -- a frankness that spills over into the rest of the movie . 
in one scene , sweetback visits a friend's house in the hope of getting sanctuary there , and the other man chats him up while on the toilet . 
we're not used to coming this close to people in real life , let alone in the movies -- especially not people who are not made out to be glamorous . 
the movie is also full of experimental stylistics that are relatively unused today , but probably because of that seem curiously fresh and new in van peebles' hands . 
one scene , in which a man is interrogated by the cops , is loaded full of menacing energy as they fire off a gun inches from his ears , and suggest his deafness through a cleverly edited soundtrack . 
another note : ssbas is not so much anti-white ( that would be too easy ) as anti-authority , and as the movie goes on to demonstrate , authority exists in many forms -- governments , churches , and even the paranoid inside of one's own mind . 
ssbas is ultimately about thirsting for freedom -- and it looks like we could use a little more of that in our movie diet , god knows .
a fully loaded entertainment review - website coming in july ! 
i didn't really expect very much when i rented stuart saves his family . 
the movie bombed at the box office , and i had never really liked the saturday night live sketch on which the movie was based . 
my real concern , though , was the general reputation of snl-related movies translating to the big screen with less-than-stellar results ( half-baked , anyone ? ) 
i was surprised to discover a truly entertaining , often hilarious yet also touching little film . 
it is an al franken production through-and-through , who not only created the title character but also wrote and starred in the picture . 
for those of you who don't know , al franken plays a guy named stuart smalley , who has a really annoying show on a public-access station about increasing your self-esteem , etc . although not a licensed therapist , stuart smalley is , as the program proudly boasts , " a graduate of several 12-step programs . " 
stuart is doing well enough with his tv show , but he keeps getting distracted by family troubles . 
stuart's relatives are a mess : his dad and brother ( harris yulin and vincent d'onofrio , respectively ) are alcoholics , his sister is overweight and getting over another divorce , and his mom is in constant self-denial and solves all perceived problems by baking . 
then , disaster strikes . 
stuart accidentally insults the manager of the station and gets his show revoked . 
he is forced to move back in with his family after he can no longer support himself , and there the comedy truly picks up . 
franken wrote all of the characters not just as cliches or stereotypes , but as sharply-drawn , real people . 
although smalley's dad has always imbibed too much , stuart can still recall times when his father seemed like an okay guy . 
also , after an accident towards the end of the movie , both stuart and the audience learn that there is more to his mother than previously thought . 
although filled with small , very funny scenes , stuart saves his family also has its share of dramatic moments , especially towards the conclusion . 
for a lightweight comedy , it handles these scenes especially well , often better than many so-called " serious dramas " of today . 
all the more amazing is that such a movie comes from a saturday night live sketch that is essentially a one-joke bit . 
if you feel like renting a comedy , and you haven't seen this film , i definitely recommend you try this one out . 
you'll laugh . . . you'll 
cry . . . . it's 
all there .
no filmmaker deconstructs a story as well as atom egoyan . 
i'm referring , specifically , to the narrative form . 
in the sweet hereafter , egoyan tells his story in a similar framework to his exotica or the adjuster . 
said story , of a fatal school bus accident in the small town of sam dent , british columbia , that shatters the morale of the locals , is told in a most unstraightforward manner . 
when the film opens , the accident has already happened , and stephens ( the wonderful holm ) , a polite ambulance-chaser , has arrived with the promise of a lawsuit that will eek out the truth of what really occurred that fateful morning . 
throughout , we get to meet the parents of the dead , broken souls who follow stephens like " the pied piper " ( passages of which are read during the film ) . 
but there is one living passenger , the paralyzed nicole ( polley ) , whose dark secrets of a life before the accident may affect her decision to testify . 
we finally do see the accident , about three quarters into the film , which is a stunning visual effect . 
a horrific long take that shows the bus sliding , then stopping , then collapsing into a frozen lake , is the best digital trickery in any movie this year and , perhaps , ever , in a motion picture . 
the fractured narrative also intercuts a preoccupied stephens on an airplane , traveling to meet his hiv-positive runaway daughter , as well as glimpses of the artificially happy lives these people led pre-accident . 
i have a problem not with the story or story structure , but with egoyan's heavy- handedness behind the camera . 
for the first hour or so , i can quite honestly say i was on the verge of tears ; these are miserable , miserable people . 
but that's just the problem : so anguished are these folk that sympathy wanes after a while , when a lot of sadness becomes too much . 
also , a subplot involving incest rings untrue . 
perhaps it wouldn't feel so contrived if it weren't shot in such a tasteful manner . 
there are two characters who are father and daughter ; when they first appeared i thought they were lovers . 
i was half-right . 
nevertheless it's worth-seeing . 
the delightful critic geoff pevere recently wrote that " american films are about action , canadian films are about consequences , " hence a recent wave of films about the effects of shock and death from toronto directors , including crash and kissed . 
the sweet hereafter is much better than either of these two films , simply because it's not boring or , in the case of kissed , afraid of its own material ( necrophilia ) . 
egoyan is a fine , fine , postmodern storyteller , whose work is entertaining , edgy and smart , if a bit too intellectual at times . 
though i harped on the weightiness of the material , i was always absorbed , engrossed , and surprised by the sweet hereafter .
i know what i would do with $4 . 4 million if i found it in a previously undiscovered airplane crash site , especially if i were with jacob and lou . 
 ( huh ? ) 
well , in any event , that is the situation hank ( paxton ) finds himself in . 
he and his dim-witted brother jacob ( thorton ) and tubby friend lou ( brent briscoe ) come upon a large bag of cash inside a plane wreck . 
against his better judgement , hank decides to go along with the idea of keeping it rather than going to the authorities . 
the rest of the film is a question of who is going to die to keep this a secret , and is it worth it ? 
a simple wish lies along the lines of very bad things , clay pigeons and even fargo , and is kind of wrapped all into one little dark bundle . 
oh , and its much better than any of those . 
sam raimi took a departure from his normal freak-show horror-monkey films and made this stylish and intriguing picture . 
he really lets the audience sit back and watch the events unfold rather than force them down our throats as many directors prefer to do . 
i think raimi knew he had a winner on his hands and decided to direct the picture on a natural flowing course . 
one of the film's components can be linked to a recurring theme in terrence malick's the thin red line . 
in malick's three hour bore-a-thon , he makes an interesting attempt to link mother earth to his war story . 
it seemed nothing more than an occasional pretty cut to a field of flowing grass , a small bird , or a flowing body of water . 
sure , there were obvious metaphorical connections , but there was no subtlty to his efforts . 
raimi does a fine job of tying in a fox in a chicken coop and birds of prey to signify the future of the characters . 
i think most viewers may miss the comparison , but it is a very intriguing ingredient in the film . 
and then there's billy bob thorton , who is proof that the independent film industry is vital to the life blood of hollywood . 
if it can continute to produce people like thorton , hollywood will be ok . 
he gives a fantastic and devastatingly deep performance here . 
it is not as engrossing as his carl childers character in slingblade , but is is just as complex , if not more so . 
jacob is slow and simple , and yet we so often see him deep in thought . 
i wondered if he was thinking about things that he would never say ( or didn't know how to say ) or if he was just taking a long time to think about the thing he just said . 
here he really proves his worth as one of the best character actors in the industry . 
though the plot is somewhat unoriginal , it has a very appealing new twist in its characters . 
paxton gives one of the better performances of his career as the straight and serious leader of the group ( a far cry from chet in wierd science ) . 
perhaps bridget fonda is miscast as his advice-giving wife , but she certainly doesn't do anything ruin the picture . 
a simple plan can be included in the group of recent small hollywood films that is just dark and pretty un-redeeming . 
but at least this one has an important message , unlike so many of its counterparts .
i tried hard not like this movie without succeeding . 
it contains parts of bringing up baby , any hepburn/tracy film , part of the plot of war games , cary grant and rosalind russell in his girl friday , elevator shaft action , train action , and murder . 
it is cute , funny , suspenseful ( a little bit ) , sexy ( a little bit ) . 
one of the bad guys was a surprise . 
the pace is fast enough , there are some " action " scenes . 
i think that this is a reasonable family summer movie for families with older kids who have already seen maverick . 
julia roberts and nick nolte are fine separately and together . 
i really identified with the julia roberts character ( wishful thinking , i know ! ) , but i do have better hair ! 
her hair , a very dull dark brown , has no color . 
she could use some highlights . 
they both do fine with their roles : he's a bored columnist with the chicago chronicle and she's a hotshot " cub " reporter with the chicago globe . 
they have great fun trying to out scoop each other to solve one case throughout this movie . 
i like the one story focus . 
other actors include charles martin smith as roberts' boss , olympia dukakis as nolte's coworker , nora dunn also with the chronicle , and marsha mason as a congresswoman . 
basically this movie is reasonably fun . 
there is a serious mystery to solve , and i enjoyed following a fun couple solving the mystery . 
it is a pleasant change of pace from movies that take themselves seriously . 
i do give successful comedy high marks .
synopsis : it's 1977 in a small italian american neighborhood in new york . 
disco music is popular , and the sexual revolution is on , but the people of new york are not happy . 
in fact , they're terrified . 
as in spike lee's do the right thing a heat wave has the city in its grip , and peoples' tempers are flaring . 
the cool of night offers no respite : the neighborhood is being terrorized by a nocturnal psychotic killer who calls himself the son of sam . 
no one knows who the son of sam is , and no one is safe . 
all around new york people are different . 
aside from cultural groupings and ethnic neighborhoods there are differences between individuals . 
in the italian american section of town a philandering husband named vinny ( john leguizamo ) tries to hide his trysts and sexual behavior from his long suffering newlywed wife dionna ( mira sorvino ) . 
vinny's friend ritchie ( adrien brody ) hates disco , works at a gay strip club and doesn't want any of the neighborhood folks to know . 
ritchie's girl ruby ( jennifer esposito ) is trying to escape a reputation as a slut . 
everyone's different , but nobody in the film wants to be framed as " alien " to the community . 
unfortunately , the killings help create a climate of suspicion pits neighbor against neighbor . 
opinion : director spike lee's summer of sam is not about a psycho killer . 
nor is it about cops trying to apprehend him . 
it's about differences and how , given the right conditions , even close neighbors can fan the hostile flames of irrational suspicion . 
one thing i found interesting in summer of sam was the use of sex . 
in other movies sex is glamorized . 
for example , james bond gets a sexual reward for winning . 
or boring made-for-video " suspense " movies are spiked with gratuitous lingerie scenes just to keep the audience awake . 
and every movie or soap opera character in these flicks seems to have expert sexual prowess . 
not so with summer of sam . 
in a very gutsy move director spike lee shows sex without fantasy . 
sex is there , but it isn't gratuitous or titillating . 
in fact , some of the main characters are downright lousy in bed . 
sex is in the film because ( sexual ) deviance is part of the film's major theme of " difference " breeding hostility . 
in my opinion this kind of movie sex is cutting edge for 1999 , as rare and thought-provoking in american cinema as showing a spanking .
i must admit i'm going to be a bit biased in my review of the new romantic comedy serendipity , because that also defines how i met my current girlfriend . 
the magic and mystery of our fated encounter is also embodied in the quirkiness and freshness of the very funny and very romantic serendipity . 
i am not a big fan of the romantic comedy genre , but something drew me to this film . 
maybe it was the casting of the underrated jeremy piven in a supporting role , and the hilarious eugene levy . 
maybe it was my hope that john cusack would get the redemption he justly deserves after such crap as high fidelity , con air , and pushing tin . 
but maybe it was because i feel as giddy as a school kid right now with this whole romantic thing currently in my life . 
the story of serendipity is simple . 
two people , john trager ( john cusack ) and sara thomas ( kate beckinsale , looking ever so hot ) , have a chance encounter over a pair of gloves -- with buck henry smack dab in the middle . 
charmed beyond repair , these two knuckleheads grab a sundae together at a caf ? called serendipity , talk about that irresponsible thing called fate and the avenues it leads people down , and spend a few hours at the local ice skating rink . 
but with each of them already involved with other parties , sara has john write his name and number on a $5 bill and she writes her name and number on a copy of love in the time of cholera . 
sara declares that if this " thing " -- let's just call it love -- is destined to happen , fate will bring them together in the future . 
years later and on opposite coasts of america , john and sara -- both engaged but still unsure whether they have found their soul mates -- decide to seek each other out to rest their doubts . 
what happens then is an enjoyable and often hilarious cat-and-mouse game with the fates - involving such items as mistaken identity , a graduate homage , john corbett as a freaky new age musician , and eugene levy as an irate and crazed salesman -- to find out if that " thing " was right after all . 
fortunately , first-time screenwriter marc klein has sketched strong , well-rounded , characters to propel a predictable and corny narrative . 
coupled with deft directing by michael chelsom ( director of the very unfunny town and country and the very funny funny bones ) and the use of time-lapse camera work to illustrate the passage of years -- the film comes off with genuine believability and sincerity . 
both piven and molly shannon make nice sidekick characters 
on the flipside , films such as you've got mail , made in heaven , and even high fidelity are the quiet inspirations for the film's main journey at hand . 
but it's what happens to the unexpecting characters left behind in the romantic wake after john and sara find happiness this is the most unsettling part of the picture .
in some regards , making a movie is like trying to stretch a rubber band as far as you can without breaking it . 
try too hard , and it snaps ; but too much reservation means someone else will come along and pull it farther . 
in simon birch , director mark steven johnson shows us just how to master the technique : he takes advantage of caution and poise , but also risks his movie with a few bold steps . 
in the end , he's not only holding an unbroken band , but he makes the audience appreciate the lengths he went to direct such a fine feature . 
there's no doubt about it : the film that johnson has crafted is rich . 
he chooses for his setting the quaint town of gravestown , maine - leaves turn bright orange in the fall , the grass is a lush green , pure white snow falls in the winter , and the sky goes on forever . 
the characters continue that turn : our two leads are simon birch ( ian michael smith ) and joe wenteworth ( joseph mazzello ) . 
simon is the smallest baby ever born within the records of the local hospital , and by age twelve he's only two feet tall . 
joe is the bastard son of rebecca ( ashley judd ) , and by age twelve he's ready to know who is father is . 
naturally , the two outcasts become good friends and share many adventures together , from disrupting sunday school to doing community service to playing little league baseball . 
in a wonderfully executed performance by ian michael smith , simon birch is convinced that he's god's instrument , and there must be a reason he's so small . 
joe doesn't quite buy it , but he sticks by simon ; the two tough it out through the worst of times and are each other's only true friends . 
early on , the two meet up with ben goodrich ( oliver platt ) , rebecca's new boyfriend , and although the bond isn't immediate , ben and the two boys develop a liking for each other . 
both platt and judd give solid performances that lend their characters a deep likeability . 
the audience cares about them as much as they do about joe and simon , a testament to the acting jobs of both . 
finally , jim carrey gives a cameo as the adult joe in the present day , and his few minutes here are relatively more impressive than his entire performance in the truman show . 
mark steven johnson's sense of drama and writing is fantastic . 
the script is loosely based on john irving's novel , a prayer for owen meany , but it's so far off the source material that irving actually requested the credits be changed from 'based on' to 'suggested by . ' 
along those same lines , it's almost unfitting to compare the two ; johnson uses tension , humor , atmosphere , and suspense to create an original drama of forrest gumpian proportions . 
by no means has he developed a project of similar popularity - gump made over 300 million dollars while birch ought to pass out of sight in a few weeks - but the winning idea remains the same . 
simon birch is a different look at a different life , and one that will most likely be studied in film school classes in decades to come . 
in the present , however , it's an enjoyable little picture that everyone ought to take a look at .
on the basis of this film alone , i never would have predicted that , in two years , quentin tarantino would become the country's biggest hotshot director . 
reservoir dogs has hints of the tarantino brilliance that emerged in pulp fiction , but is a much less substantive , more conventional crime story than the big pf . 
here's what the two movies do have in common . . . 
--scenes of intelligent , amusing dialogue with no relevance to the plot --a story that jumps back and forth in time rather than going in a logical , chronological sequence --graphic yet necessary violence --an engaging crime story --dialogue liberally spiced with swear words and racial/gender slurs --three of the same actors ( harvey keitel , tim roth and steve buscemi ) --a mexican standoff ending , although this one is considerably less optimistic than pf 
reservoir dogs is an entire hour shorter than pulp fiction because it's only got one story to tell rather than three . 
crime lord joe cabot ( veteran actor lawrence tierney ) has assembled five criminals who have never even met each other to pull a diamond store heist . 
the five are instructed not to reveal their real names or personal details or anything the cops could use if one of them was captured and interrogated . 
instead , they are all given code names off the color chart -- mr . white ( keitel ) , mr . pink ( buscemi ) , mr . orange ( roth ) , mr . blonde ( michael madsen ) , mr . brown ( tarantino ) and mr . peach ( tarantino's chin ) . 
most of the movie's running time is spent with mr . white and pink waiting at a warehouse for the others to arrive . 
mr . orange , meanwhile , is on the floor , dying from a gunshot wound . 
the police had arrived at the scene of the crime way too soon , leading white to believe one of the five was an informant . 
the story's background unfolds through a series of flashbacks , of the crime itself and the meetings between joe and the criminals prior to the crime . 
eventually , blonde arrives with a police officer hostage , and what follows is a truly brutal , uncomfortable torture scene . 
let's just say picasso would be inspired by what blonde does to the cop's ear . 
a lot of the time , reservoir dogs seems like your typical gangster heist-gone-wrong movie , but there are a few sequences that are uniquely tarantino . 
the opening scene in the coffee shop starts the movie off on a high note the rest of it doesn't live up to , as the criminals plus joe have a conversation on , among other things , tipping philosophies and their interpretations of madonna's " like a virgin . " 
another scene involves roth's lengthy manufactured story about running into a group of cops and a police dog in a bus station bathroom while carrying a giant bag of marijuana . 
neither of these have much plot relevance but are given ample time to develop , like the captain koons gold watch speech in pulp fiction , only here these sequences are more enjoyable than the rest of the movie . 
reservoir dogs is good but it's no pulp fiction .