MOVIE REVIEW - Born On The Fourth Of July (1989)

I'm not a fan of war movies in general, but this was especially unpleasant. I never liked Tom Cruise's character - not even as a young cool high school jock with emotional issues. This movie is more about bitterness and disenchantment than it is about war, and other movies do it better by creating empathy for the paralyzed veteran. In the "Making Of" on the DVD, Oliver Stone said it wasn't political or preachy, just telling a story. Uh, I think he didn't watch his own movie, because it's blatantly political and extremely preachy. And unpleasant.

MOVIE REVIEW - Diary Of A Mad Black Woman (2005)

This was way more serious than I expected. Funny, yes, at times. And impressive writing/producing/3-role-acting by Tyler Perry. I thought it was going to be a raunchy black community comedy, but really, it's a rather deep statement about forgiveness, love, and community. Not quite as entertaining as I expected, but a good message with splashes of humor.

MOVIE REVIEW - Brothers Grimm, The (2005)

Good concept, but I was bored through a large chunk of this action/fantasy film. Matt and Heath did fine, the women were great, but overall, it just didn't shine like it could've.

MOVIE REVIEW - Field Of Dreams (1989)

While this Costner "classic" has some touching moments, the movie overall is overly sentimental, heavy handed pseudo-spiritual voodoo, liberal hogwash. I thought this was primarily a baseball movie. While the character does love baseball, he loves his hokey dreams and unrealistic sentimentality more. I'm surprised this movie gets any acclaim at all. Thankfully, Premiere Magazine agrees with me, and just named it one of the 20 most overrated movies of all time.

MOVIE REVIEW - Traveller (1997)

Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlburg as two gypsy/grifters in a family of grifters. You never quite care for the characters, and the story gets a little dull.

MOVIE REVIEW - Hot Pursuit (1987)

I was catching up on my old John Cusack movies. This showed me that I no longer need to see all old John Cusack movies.

MOVIE REVIEW - Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You For The Last Time (1999)

Jerry retires his standup acts, right after the show is over. Many of the bits are familiar from the show. The intro was pretty cool - he had MANY comics (Gary Shandling, Leno, etc.) standing around a gravesite while they bury his bits - it was quite funny and the best part of the show. The rest is good, but you could tell he was ready to stop telling these jokes.

MOVIE REVIEW - Serpico (1973)

This police drama starring Pacino holds up to this day - an excellent story of police corruption and a lowly cop who wants to do right. Sort of A Man For All Seasons in the cop world. Pacino was terrific, the story was gritty without being harsh or crass. You see Serpico as flawed but noble. Great film.

MOVIE REVIEW - Santa Fe (1997)

Gary Cole, Lolita Davidovich in a stupid movie about cults. Gary is a seeker, continually needing the next spiritual thing, continually getting swept into cult philosophies. He sees himself as an addict, and he tries to stay away and keep his family away, too. While the theme has some merit, the story is told badly in a series of flashbacks and with an underlying mistrust of all characters.

MOVIE REVIEW - Outsiders, The (1983)

This interesting story is made a disaster in the surprisingly incapable hands of Francis Ford Coppola. It stars most all of the teen heartthrobs of the day, most of whom grew into huge movie stars. Which is shocking, given how horrible actors they were at the time. The worst - Tom Cruise as a one-note arrogant thug. C. Thomas Howell was the lead, and he was consistently mopey and drab throughout. Ralph Macchio was embarrassingly bad as the loner sidekick to C. Thomas' Soda Pop. Matt Dillon - wow, he was horrible as the renegade Dallas. Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Emilio gave decent performances. The only bright spot was seeing Diane Lane - who hasn't changed At All - and she could act back then, too.

MOVIE REVIEW - Around The Bend (2004)

Small, slow movie about a split, dysfunctional family reuniting at the death of the eldest patriarch. Good story, well-acted, emotionally poignant. It pulls a little too tight on the heartstrings, and the direction was a little too slow throughout. But the story is worth seeing. Starring Josh Lucas, Christopher Walken, and Michael Caine as the eldest.