This is a movie about how the guy who wrote Peter Pan was inspired for the story, starring Johnny Depp as J.M. Barrie. Johnny Depp is going to have to stop being in good movies, or I won't be able to continue to not like him. I think Pirates of the Caribbean redeemed him from Edward Scissorhands, and now I think his performance in Finding Neverland negates his 21 Jump Street career.

This film does a good job of following Barrie's development of Peter Pan. The movie remains entertaining, at the expense of staying faithful to the original events. The imagination sequences in the film are somewhat cheesy, but it works, considering it is in his imagination, and they are fairly brief. Not just Johnny Depp's performance was good either, Kate Winslet was good, and the young boy who played Peter, Freddie Highmore, was excellent.

I saw this movie in an advance screening, with Marc Forster, the director, there afterwards for a Q&A. A few interesting thing happened while filming, such as Dustin Hoffman losing part of his finger, and the only living relative of the Davies family appeared towards the end of the film (saying "It's the real Peter Pan" after the play). Also, Eileen Essel who played Mrs. Snow had an interesting career in acting, as well, returning in several movies and plays in her late 70s and early 80s after a 50 year break.

-Wheel

5/11/2004 - Troy

Well, I guess I had very poor expectations for this one. I mean big names, big production, good director... that is a formula for failure. I can say, it wasn't as bad as I thought. And, man, was it long.

The battle scenes seemed a bit lacking, I expected more. The smaller scale fighting was good, but when the armies were rushing into each other, it seemed drawn out, and hard to watch (but I guess it got the point across). The LOTR-style music during the dramatic fighting scenes did not work though, I didn't like that (where there is some chanty-type vocals overpowering the rest of the sound). I think they could have found a better Helen, she was okay, but not beautiful enough to launch a thousand ships about. We did get to see Bloom wield a bow. The movie took on a big story, and I think it did an adequate (not spectacular) job of presenting it, I give it a B-.

-Wheel

8/13/2003 - Swimming Pool

I came out of this movie wondering what had just happened. The first half of the movie was pretty uneventful, except for the daughter (Julie) running around topless. Then it smacks you with a dose of excitment and then it ends, leaving you disoriented. I can't really say much else, other than, it was an interesting and engaging movie. I could have done without seeing Julie's "boyfriends"...

-Wheel

8/8/2003 - Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life

Well, I guess I shouldn't expect much, considering it is a sequel to the other Tomb Raider movie, which is based off a video game (that's three strikes right there). But, come on, in the opening sequence Lara (played by that actress with balloon lips... Angelina Jolie) rides a shark! This was about the high point, it went downhill from there. At the end they encountered these shadow monsters, however, and those things were pretty freaky. It is by no means worth seeing the rest of the movie to get to the shadow monsters though.

-Wheel

I saw Angelina Jolie in a tight wetsuit (insert your own imagery here) ride a shark. Then I saw all my friends getting up, saying, "Did you enjoy your eight dollar nap?" Go figure.

-Ozone

Johnny English

This movie is a lot of fun. I never liked Mr. Bean at all, but Rowan Atkinson was quite entertaining in this movie, he even talks. One ridiculous thing after another happens to Johnny, but it is all amusing. The plot is just as good as any James Bond movie, however, Johnny isn't as good with the ladies. Natalie Imbruglia was good in the movie as well. Also, the movie had one of the funniest car chases I've seen.

-Wheel

Darkness Falls

I saw this movie in the rental store, and the box said it was the scariest movie ever, or something. I figured if that were true, it would be worth seeing, so I netflixed it. I watched it, and all I have to say is, if you ever have the chance to see this movie.... RUN AWAY! The only redeeming factor is that it wasn't that long.

-Wheel

Ghost Ship

We wanted to watch a movie, so we decided to try out the Time Warner PPV/On-Demand thing. We were confronted by a list of movies that were real winners... the best two we had to choose from were Femme Fatale and Ghost Ship. Needless to say, we ordered Ghost Ship. What a mistake. This was another movie that was supposed to be scary, with the ghost and everything. It was actually another one of those really cheesy scary movies, reminiscent of Friday the 13th. I guess we should have chosen to watch Rebecca Romijn-Stamos in her underwear. My same advice that I gave for Darkness Falls holds for this one...

-Wheel

05/14/2003 - The Matrix Reloaded

It is a good thing that the next movie is not far away, because this one is really half a movie. It raises a bunch of questions, and then it just ends. The movie itself is a huge orgy of effects and action. Most of the effects seem much the same as the first movie, just more of them. It fits into the Matrix story, so it is definitly worth seeing, but there is no way it lives up to the first movie, the new storyline in this one is not nearly as awe inspiring as the first.

About three quarters of the way through the movie, there were two loud noises that shook the floor, and sounded as if the theatre was about to collapse. It sounded like an explosion happened somewhere in the mall containing the theatre. This pretty much ruined the movie experience. The staff came in and said, in a very non-authoritative voice, "please leave the auditorium, slowly", and the lights came on. The movie continued to play, however, so we figured it was safe to stay. By the end, there were only about two dozen people, out of the entire packed theatre, remaining. We got passes to go back and see it, hopefully undisturbed, again.

Some of the stuff that is hidden in the movie is really cool, like the [ssh root hack].

-Wheel

[The Matrix Explained]

02/14/2003 - DareDevil

many reviewers seemed to have some heavy disdain for this movie. many of their complaints concerned insufficient character development, lack of engaging plot development, and awkwardness of the comedy. i think the internal struggle of matt, or the daredevil (affleck), could have been explored more; spiderman's struggles are somehow a little more serious to me than the daredevil's. also, i found that i wished i could have known more about elektra (garner) as well. the humor may have been a little harsh at times, but it didn't bother me. i think the reviewers' complaints were the result of one faulty assumption, that this was supposed to be a totally, super serious movie. it's a comic with real people. that's it. granted, it lacked some of these things, at least a little, and lacked them to the point that Spiderman was probably a bit of a better movie all around, though i really hate to say it.

this movie did a great deal of things right; the reviewers were just way too harsh. one thing Spiderman lacked was the dark, mysterious nature that DareDevil did well. though it could have done more with deeper character development, i really liked the religious nuance; i think it added a bit more mystery to the movie and some more depth with the daredevil character. the chemistry between elektra and matt was good, more so at the beginning. the "flirt fight" scene between the two of them was just plain hot. probably the best thing i found with this movie was the description and "simulation" of how matt "sees" with his radar hearing. the graphics/visualization used to convey to the audience visually what matt saw "audibly" really turned out well. something like that was what i always wished to see (but never did) to understand how geordie laforge (levar burton) on Star Trek: The Next Generation saw with his visor. it helped me understand the aural noise he had to deal with and filter out to "see" (or rather, hear) his surroundings clearly. even the sound effects were more directional than other movies i've seen (and heard) in the theater, which were certainly appropriate and really added to the experience. lastly, the plot was very much like a comic but with an added "real" human element, which i both expected and enjoyed. i'm hoping a sequel does more with both character development and a bit more engaging, twisted plot. it seems likely that there will be a sequel; the door was left wide open for one in the end.

i could go on with how much i really liked this movie, but i'll just let you go out and see it. if you have the cash, see it in the theater, and then when the dvd arrives at a store near you, buy it. ;)

-Ozone

01/31/2003 - The Recruit

i find very few movies like this. when i see a movie, i don't want to know the whole story before it happens. while watching The Recruit, i certainly didn't. this movie held my attention in every scene, making me second guess what i thought was happening. it kept me thinking. few movies pull me along with what the characters are experiencing. The Recruit was one of them.

the only thing that bothered me about this movie was a "pseudo-technical description" of a "virus." it was totally ridiculous. to anyone with the technical abilities of the main character, as we are made to believe he posseses, this "description" would have sounded ludicrous. (of course, maybe we are meant to believe he has been deceived to the point that he'll believe anything.) regardless, i think the movie could stand to lose the description's unbelievable details. the details merely distracted me.

all in all, it's absolutely a keeper. i'd say it was worth my $7. it'll be worth the money to buy the dvd as well.

-Ozone

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Despite being an excellent movie, and possibly the funniest in the Austin Powers series, I just got the DVD of the movie, and it sucks! It has this [infinifilm] feature, which in theory is possibly kinda cool, but in reality, it makes it so you can't pause, rewind or fast forward throughtout the movie. I bought the DVD so I can watch it how I want, and this does not let me. I sent this letter to [New Line]:

Dear New Line Home Entertainment,

I recently purchased a copy of the latest and greatest Austin Powers movie
on DVD.  This DVD has an infinifilm feature which you claim to be a new
way to "experience" movies.  Well, I don't like the experience.  I found
that watching the "normal" version of the movie prevented me from pausing,
fast forwarding and rewinding during the entire feature.  This is not how
I enjoy watching movies at my house.

My home player is a Panasonic DVD-RP62K.  I also tried to play it with
PowerDVD on Windows 2000 and that didn't work either.  I had to install
the player off the DVD, only then was I able to play the movie, and pause
it.

I tried to return the disc to the store I purchased it from (Best Buy in
Maple Grove, MN), and they said they will not take it back, they can only
exchange it, if it has been opened.  To get my money back, I need to
contact you, the manufacturer.  Can you tell me who to contact about

returning this movie?

Thanks for your time

-Wheel

this is quite possibly the second funniest movie i have ever seen. i laugh a great deal every time i see it. it's definitely the best of the Austin Powers series. -Ozone

11/29/2002 - Solaris

When we woke up to the sounds of our neighbor's loud snoring through the movie, we realized this was a pile of crap. Never see this pile of crap, because it is crap. Please donate your $7-$10 to the knight-rider.org website. Thank you.

The idea was already done much better as Star Trek Generations, which is saying a lot, since that was a pile of crap, too. Come to think of it, even The Transporter was better.

-All of us

10/11/2002 - The Transporter

Do you like a good car chase? I do, and The Transporter has got a damn good one. They start throwing a BMW 735 around the streets of a small French town from the get go. It does get a little over the top(er) at the end of the chase when they jump the car from a bridge onto the top of a car transportation truck. That just puts a bit a tarnish on shining chase scene.

Do you like Kung Fu movies? I do. The Transporter has that too. It does take a bit of time to get used to seeing a white guy doing all the crazy fighting.

Do you like plot? I do. But I didn't see any in The Transporter. I was really surprised at that. Luc Besson has made some really great films; The Fifth Element (a k-r favorite), Leon, Nikita. But maybe he used up all the good on those movies, The Transporter didn't even try.

If you let go and just think of The Transporter as an off the wall Kung Fu film you will have a pretty good time. I think I liked the movie the best out of the 7 people I saw it with, but I'm never wrong.

Matinee it. -Skrymir

I think Luc Besson ran out of good back at "The Messenger", the Joan of Arc movie. E! Online was exactly right when they said: "...so much hot Hong Kong-style action, you'll be halfway into the film before you realize that there's hardly any plot.". -Wheel

officially, i saw this movie for the car chase. :P -Ozone

10/4/2002 - Red Dragon

I liked Red Dragon. It wasn't as good as Silence of the Lambs, but much better then Hannibal. -Skrymir

I didn't see Hannibal, but it was definitely no Silence. Still quite decent, however. -Wheel

i had the pleasure of seeing this movie before seeing Silence. when i first saw this movie, i said to myself, "where have all the movies like this been hiding?" this is an amazing movie. it was twisted, weird, and intense, in every aspect. after it was over, i just had to sit there a little bit in my comfy reclining seat at the theater while i absorbed the whole thing, at which point, i said, "i really need to see Silence now." a week or so later, i rented Silence, which was even better. woah. -Ozone

The Ring

Here is another movie that sells itself as being scary. This made me less than enthusiastic to see it, since usually they are never scary. Then, it was a remake, which was another turn off, since they never are as good as the original. Then, I mean, come on, a video tape, that kills people? That is the dumbest story I have ever heard.

Needless to say, I didn't expect much, going in. I actually enjoyed this movie, however. I never saw the original, so I can't compare, but ignoring the stupid story, it was actually scary for most of the movie. I guess, not to dissappoint me, the ending was a bit drawn out. There was perfect closure after the well incident, and then, it kept going. -Wheel

the one thing i really enjoyed about this movie was the search for answers to the mystery of this strange video tape. it was definitely an intense search, going from clue to clue, putting the piece of the puzzle together. every clue raised another question, and i really got into it. -Ozone

08/02/2002 - Signs

when i first saw this movie, the ending let me down. i really felt like it said too much, and that overpowered anything else i felt or thought about the movie. however, after thinking about it some more, and after seeing it at home, i realized that the ending it has is really the only one that fits. also, the movie is that much scarier watching it at home, alone, late at night. the fact that so much of it takes place in a house makes it much more fun to watch at home. so, rent or buy the dvd, invite a friend over to your house or apartment with whom to watch it (or even with whom to cuddle while watching it for that matter, hehe), and enjoy. -Ozone

Reign of Fire

This movie was very promising: a decent cast, dragons, a director that has done good work, dragons, a cool story, fancy special effects, and did I mention dragons? Somehow, put this all together, and it falls apart. Absolutely nothing in this movie was exciting in anyway. The characters were boring, the story could very well have been made cool, but it ended up being only mediocre. All together, it turned out pretty lousy, I cannot recommend this movie to anyone. -Wheel

ugh. -Ozone

This is a poopy movie -Skrymir

House on Haunted Hill

Most movies that try to be scary fail miserably. However, this movie succeeded. It was scary, exciting, mysterious. That was the first half. Then, I guess they didn't want to end it being good, so they put on the second half, where everything fell apart. They attempted to explain everything, which was much scarier unsaid. If you watch this movie, stop about half way through, then you will enjoy this movie. -Wheel

I wonder if I could pay half price for the DVD if I promise only to watch the good half. -Skrymir

Enemy at the Gate

Great Movie. I have seen this movie a few times on the movie channels. I enjoy it each time I see it. I mean the movie is about snipers how can you not like that. (Well that sniper that is going around shooting innocent people in VA is a fucking loser. I don't like him.) But the movie has a pretty good story too. Hero versus hero, each trying to bring the other out into the open. Good stuff. Watch it, I say. -Skrymir