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Movie
Musings
This page is no longer updated. Why? Because life's been
way too busy for movies for quite some time! Besides, there just
haven't been that many great movies in awhile! 09/05/01 --Mike--
A SIMPLE LITTLE PLAN Did
you like Fargo? If so, then you'll love this quirky movie about
three guys who discover $4,000,000 in a crashed plane, and how it causes
their lives to unravel.
THE PHANTOM MENACE! Is
this a great movie or what? Well, to tell you the truth, it's a bit
more of the "or what." A fun movie, you bet. Worth
the money? Yes. Worth the wait in line? Not an
issue...you can generally walk right in.
The Phantom Menace is frequently like watching a full-screen video
game...very exciting at times, lots of fun but two-dimensional. The
characters never get fully developed, and you're spoiled by the
completeness of the original Trilogy (Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi). This isn't really fair, since in retrospect
we're allowing ourselves to fill in the holes in the original Star Wars
with bits and pieces from the later movies.
As for the acting, Liam Neeson does a great job as the present-day Jedi
hero...forget what you may have read about his acting being
uninspired...they're wrong! The casting in general is pretty good,
with the possible annoying exception of the young Annikan Skywalker (who
is to become Darth Vader). There's nothing wrong with the acting,
but it's somehow unconvincing that this innocent little kid, so full life
and fun, harbors an evil dark side...nothing in the movie supports this,
aside from the Jedi Council that somehow sees danger
written all over the poor kid. At this point, it's hard to view
Annikan as anything but a terrible victim of the future!
And even worse, in the tradition of Star Trek making invincible foes
beatable (The Borg), the main villain, Darth Maul, seems incredibly mortal
compared to the evil Dark Sith we know so well (Darth Vader). He
just seems like yet another tough bad guy, and maybe that's just it...he's
bad, but there's not enough background to consider him evil incarnate.
And JarJar...supposedly the most annoying inhabitant of a movie since
Rodney Dangerfield... well, I kinda liked him!
But despite all this it is a very fun movie, and definitely something
both adults and kids will enjoy. One thing to know before you go...stay
all the way through the credits! There's a special treat
waiting at the very, very end, and it's surprising how many people miss
it.
X-FILES "FULL DISCLOSURE"- [Preamble...I
was discussing the ridiculousness of the X-Files and why we watch it with
Bruno in our Redwood City store when the radio started playing the song
"I don't know why I love you, but I do!" Seemed incredibly
appropriate.] 2/7 & 2/14 X-Files "Full Disclosure"
episodes were an awful lot to digest! Chris Carter promised all sorts of
answers, and basically, he delivered. Were they incredible
revelations? No. More like confirmation of possibilities you'd
already considered likely. The Syndicate...who are they? A
bunch of guys looking out for their own sorry butts at the expense of
every other man, woman & child on the planet. CSM (Cigarette
Smoking Man) is, in fact, Agent Spender's father. And most likely
not Mulder's (since several times he referred to Bill Mulder as Fox
Mulder's father). And yes, there are definitely two groups of
aliens, one of whom is intent on colonization (which will either result in
annihilation of all humanity or the creation of a slave race, or
both...still don't know which!) and the other, the "faceless"
rebels, who want to put a stop to it. What we can't yet figure out
is if the rebels are actually on our side, and, if so, why the heck aren't
we allied with them?
Fox Mulder at one point comes across as a complete moron, as he completely
ignores Scully and the Lone Gunmen's information about the evil Diana
Fowley (played by Mimi Rogers, who is not aging well, by the way!),
saying that it's circumstantial etc. The same quality of evidence
that Mulder has built his entire conspiracy theories on! And then,
that scene where Fowley kisses Fox in her apartment...how many people
threw up on their TVs at that moment?
But getting back to the revelations...the Bees are, in fact, the delivery
vehicle for the alien virus (which used to be called the black oil,
but is now referred to as "purity"). And Tunisia comes up
as a place that Diana has been visiting...and that's also the location of
the final scenes in the movie (Fight The Future)...indicating just how
involved Diana is on the side of evil. At this point, neither Mulder
nor Scully know anything about the Tunisian connection.
Getting back to The Syndicate...those evil men who meet in a dark room,
with CSM always present...nearly every single one of them has now been
burned to death by the Faceless Rebels in an apparent ambush as they wait
(or thought they were waiting) for the arrival of the evil aliens with
whom they had been working for 25 years and worked out an agreement that
would allow them and their families to live.
All but Krychek, CSM and Diana Fowley, that is. And possibly
Strugold, the German scientist who figured so prominently in the movie.
Confused? If you weren't, it wouldn't be the X-Files, would it?
But most confusing of all will be next-week's episode, moving away from
the incredible revelations of the series mythology and jumping into a
stand-alone "thriller"...as if Scully and Mulder could possibly
put aside the incredible details of the future Armageddon and work on
anything else!
BEST SUPER-BOWL AD? Had
to be the Budweiser commercial where the two guys were trying to buy Bud
and toilet paper, but their credit card was no good. So they came up
with some cash, but not enough for both. So which to buy??? After a
bit of agony, they went for the Bud. When the clerk asked
"Paper or plastic?" you can imagine what they simultaneously
yelled out. And the gusto with which they grabbed their small paper
receipt...
A CIVIL ACTION. This
is not your typical Hollywood formula movie, and, in fact, the ending may
leave you a bit disappointed...but that's largely because this is not
based on a fictional event but rather a real live drama that was played
out over more than 20 years. The story involves a town whose water supply
was probably polluted by two large factories, causing a rash of cancers
and deaths amongst the town's children. Clearly, the bad guys are
those who improperly disposed of severely-toxic chemicals. But what
I wasn't prepared for was the relatively sympathetic treatment of all
lawyers, regardless of whose side they were on, or how they were trying to
either obscure or omit facts to better their case.
Apparently, that's somebody's idea of the perfect world, because a peek at
the movie's website (acivilaction.com) brings you to photos and stories
about the real lawyers involved, and it appears that they're all just one
big happy family. They're all good friends with interesting stories
to tell. And that's what I find so unsettling about this movie...the
process appears to be more important than the facts.
Both the movie and the best-selling book that it's derived from are
exceptionally compelling and, unlike John Grisham's
novels-turned-into-movies, don't have a neat & tidy ending. But
that's real life, and if it bothers you and causes you to want to learn
more about how all this could have possibly happened...that's probably a
good thing.
STAR TREK: INSURRECTION. The
9th movie in the series (really!), the 3rd with the Next Generation cast,
and the first in a very long time where it doesn't even seem like the
characters are acting, but rather playing, almost being the roles as
they played them best in the series. A great amount of playful banter
amongst the cast does, in fact, give you that "warm and fuzzy"
feeling that some reviews have talked about. The villains...well,
no, they really aren't all that scary, they're just a bunch of mean &
nasty ordinary people, and, in the best tradition of the Next Generation
series, you could even say they're misunderstood. Only now, instead of
Counselor Troi getting to the bottom of their feelings, it's the wise old
sage Picard coming to the rescue...the thinking-man's captain.
This movie could have been a simple two-dimensional story about good and
evil, but an intriguing plot twist may cause you to ask some important
questions at the very end of the film. Are the Ba'ku truly blameless
victims in what has transpired? This is my only real
disappointment with the film as they spring such a major development far
too late in the film to play it out in the way it deserves...just a bit
too tidy an ending to a story that's akin in some ways to a Shakespearean
tragedy.
This is finally a Star Trek movie that can hold its own
against the work of the original series cast in Star Trek IV, The Voyage
Home (otherwise known as Save The Whales). Let's hope that it's not
followed by something as bad as Star Trek V (where Kirk meets God and
surprisingly it's not his own reflection in the mirror).
One final thing that just came to mind, and it's surprisingly negative. In
contrasting this movie with the TV series, I suddenly came to an
interesting realization. Unlike the X-Files movie, there really
wasn't anything that was, as they say, "Larger than life" that
required big-screen treatment. This could have just as easily been
an excellent two-part TV episode, with the only thing really setting it
apart was the obvious comfort and almost ad-lib quality of the acting. In
fact, the scenes that depended upon actors outside of the regular cast
were those that fell flat! In contrast, the exceptional two-part
Borg cliffhanger/season opener from the TV series (titled "The
Best of Both Worlds") transcended the small screen and would have
been worthy of all that 70mm film and huge budgets have to offer.
But overall this movie is great fun and anyone familiar with the Next
Generation cast is going to have a great time...it would be virtually
impossible for a fan of the series to be disappointed. As for those
not real Star Trek (The Next Generation) believers...more later. We
attended the movie with at least two such people, Steve (who runs our Los
Altos operation and just happens to be my brother besides) and his
10-year-old son Eddie. I know Eddie definitely enjoyed it...there's
enough action to keep things interesting (the usual phasers, explosions,
space battles etc.). My almost-11 daughter Becky definitely enjoyed
it, but she's a confirmed Trekkie!
PLEASANTVILLE.
This is an exceptional movie, possibly a truly great movie,
and definitely the movie that The Truman Show should have been, but
wasn't. The characters are real people facing real problems in an
imaginary world that somehow magnifies reality. No, that doesn't
make a whole lot of sense, but the basic premise seems to be that the
grass really isn't greener on the other side of the hill...and that
there's an inner beauty that can be brought out in all of us that's far
more important than those comfortable things we take for granted (like a
"perfect" home and a life that seems to have no outward
problems).
If you haven't yet seen it, I suggest one thing to look for (that won't
spoil the plot). Try to figure out just what it will take for each
person to find the "color" in their own life (before it
happens). You think you have a handle on this early on, and
discover, thankfully, that this movie is about far more than a contrast
between two-dimensional perfect characters vs an outsider bringing sex
into their world. My wife cried three times (although I doubt she'll
admit to it now!), which might imply a manipulative style a la Terms of
Endearment, but it's not that way at all. It's the ultimate
"coming of age" movie, only it applies to teenagers as much as
those enduring a mid-life crisis.
Highly recommended.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Don't see this movie really late at night. It's very disturbing and
will keep you from sleeping until you get a chance to talk it out a bit. It's an odd
movie in many ways...it has a built-in appeal to women with Tom Hanks in a leading role,
but this is not the type of role you'd expect to find him in, and the contradiction is
staggering. In fact, Tom Hanks is perfectly cast as the guy who gets the dirty jobs
done, because one of the main points of the movie is that normal people are doing
extraordinarily abnormal things.
Is it a great movie? Hard to say. I'd be more willing to say so if it
didn't spend so much time on a few of its gorier scenes...watching field doctors
hopelessly deal with human hamburger gets a bit old after awhile...and I think there's
more to this movie than just how gory war really is. In an interview I saw with the
director (Spielberg), he said that it was about the heroes that won our freedom in the
war...people who might have lived across the street from you. Thinking about that
helps...but curiously, he (Spielberg) doesn't do a lot to reinforce that idea in the
movie. It's also fascinating to watch a movie in which you're convinced that we're
on the right side...we've had quite a string of Vietnam movies telling us exactly the
opposite.
FIGHT THE FUTURE (the X-Files movie). Chris
Carter & Company pulled it off. This is one solid movie, although I'm not so
sure it's going to hold up all that well for those who haven't watched the show.
Look for an awesome entrance by the Cigarette Smoking Man, a hilarious one-scene cameo by
the Lone Gunmen, and, most of all, the "single bee" scene.
I have to disagree strongly with the San Jose Mercury News review
that trashed the movie because it didn't answer all the questions. Did this same guy
trash "The Empire Strikes Back" because it not only didn't finish the job that
Star Wars started, but created all sorts of questions that wouldn't be answered for
another 3 and a half years (like whether Darth Vader was Luke's father)??? This
movie answers just enough of the big questions to keep you from getting frustrated while
leaving a lot left still unexplained so the series can continue. If you're looking
for a sense of closure, you won't get it...but that's not a fault of the movie but rather
a testament to how well they pulled off a variety of seemingly-contradictory needs.
$60 million dollars is obviously a lot more than they spend on the
TV show, and one of the amazing things is how well they've moved it to the big screen
without either cheapening the movie's look or making the TV show look lame. That's
quite an accomplishment.
But I'm focusing too much on the technical aspects of it and the
truth is, we've got a darn good story line, better-than-adequate acting and a feeling
among most of those attending (we took our entire Redwood City staff to opening night!)
that they wanted the movie to go on longer!!! It's paced great, fun to watch and the
Mulder-Scully chemistry is perfect.
And yes, it does have several scary moments...I probably jumped
maybe four times, and only felt really stupid about it once. This is the type of
movie where its effect is going to be greatly intensified if you enter the movie while
it's daylight and leave in the dark, by the way.
Highly recommended to anyone who's watched the X-Files, and probably
even fun for those who haven't but are curious as to what all the fuss is about.
X-Files 1999 TV season. No, it's not a movie, so it really
doesn't belong here, but...how can we talk about the X-Files movie and
ignore some of the major developments in the show this year? You may
have noticed that several episodes have found other characters exploring the
nature of Mulder & Scully's relationship...the strange
Halloween/Christmas episode (with Lily Tomlin and Ed Asner) did so, and in
the Rainmaker episode, you not only had them mistaken for being married, but
also an interesting speech from Scully to another woman about how a long
friendship can suddenly change into something where one day you realize that
you want to spend the rest of your life with that person. It should
also be pointed out that the "quirky" episodes have been much
better done than those of the past.
Good Will Hunting. Got to see it on a plane
trip to the midwest- I really liked it! It's that type of movie that can fit into
both the chick-flick category as well as something for the guys. Robin Williams
proves once again that he is, in fact, a very fine dramatic actor (but never too far from
his comedic roots) and helps to suck you into what really should be a pretty implausible
storyline.
I should also add that seeing this movie on a 777 was an
unexpected pleasure. Normally in-flight movies serve primarily to distract (or try
to distract) you from the discomfort of having your knees up in your chin while trying to
eat on a tray that's pushed up against your chest and not being able to move your fork
more than two inches vertically because the seat in front of you is fully reclined. But
the 777 seems to have just a bit more legroom than most, and, at least on the United
flight to Chicago I took, there's a movie screen on the back of each seat! Hey,
we're not talking DVD quality here, but it's quite watchable, and much preferable to
straining upwards into the ceiling where the dinky little monitors are located.
Titanic. An
appropriate title for a movie made on such a grand scale that it's hard to believe it
could succeed...but it does. You go in almost dreading what a 3+ hour movie might
be like, even planning ahead to the extent that you try not to drink anything before or
during the movie (for obvious reasons, since there's no intermission).
But James Cameron seems to know what he's doing. $200 million to
make a movie, and it just might make money. It's not that the movie rocks...but it
does hold your attention. It's actually two different movies, with the first half
centering almost entirely around a love story (what else?) between a lower-class but
wise-beyond-his-years guy (who looks 16 but talks 25) and a beautiful young lady who's the
object of an arranged marriage-to-be with a total jerk...but if she doesn't marry this
guy, her family will fall into financial ruin.
The second half deals with the actual sinking of the Titanic itself.
It's all there...the Iceberg, the reckless pursuit of publicity that created the
danger (just plain going too fast!), the lack of lifeboats, the drama of the sea taking
over the ship piece by piece by piece. And throughout it all the undercurrent of the
real story...the relationship of people. What one leaves with are images not just of
a great ship meeting its fate, but even more the loss of...not people, but rather the
dreams and futures of those people that were cut short.
If I had to compare the movie's impact to something, it would probably
be the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding. Sounds a bit strange, and at first you
might think that I'm trivializing the Challenger disaster, comparing it to the Titanic.
But that's just it...the movie's good enough that it feels like you're getting to
know the ship, the events, the people...and not a movie. Watch the movie and see if
this makes sense.
Tomorrow Never Dies. Guess what? It's not so
bad! After having to live through a whole bunch of "Bond" movies just
going through their paces, this one's a welcome change. A real villain, for
example! Of course you may never look at a Lexus car the same way again...you'll
understand when you see who plays the bad guy, who's a combination of all of the worst of
Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch and is definitely fun to watch. And Michelle
Yeoh...at last a woman in a Bond film who's equal to the man himself! And after
watching the real thing, rent Austin Powers, probably the best spoof of Bond films ever.
OK, not a movie, but how about the X-Files? This is a show that,
when it's good, can be the best TV has to offer...and when it's bad... fortunately,
we've had a few great episodes lately. The March 1st episode gets back to what makes
the show really interesting, but with a twist... instead of Scully doubting Mulder's
conspiracy theories, things seem to have completely turned around! Can't wait to see
where it's all heading. And how about the Feb 15ths episode? If you don't
recall, it was the one that featured the computer program that had become "self
aware" and was tracking people down with department-of-defense layers and zapping
them dead if they tried to disarm it. Shades of the Terminator movies (remember
Skynet, which became "self aware" and decided to do away with mankind?).
If you saw the Dec 7th & 14th episodes, did you notice just how vulnerable Scully's
getting, and how protective Mulder now is? And their relationship is becoming
something much more personal, along the lines of a very close brother and sister.
And finally, how come Mulder keeps getting fooled by the shape-shifters?
Starship Troopers. I dunno, was it really gory enough? I mean,
did the bugs really get nasty enough? What about Doogie Howser in the role of Nazi
Storm Trooper? And citizenship...what does it really buy you? Rico's parents
weren't citizens, yet seemed very well off. And a one-line reference to the
possibility that the bugs attacked earth due to encroachment on their territory by human
extraterrestrial settlements. Lots and lots and lots of questions. Guess I
gotta go read the book (Robert Heinlein) from which it came. But overall, 2 hours
and 20 minutes of pretty enjoyable film, tons of blood and dismemberment, obligatory (but
was it needed?) co-ed shower scene, and absolutely spectacular footage of battles in space
that somehow seemed either a bit out of place or wasted. Definitely a guy's movie.
Saw Men In Black a while ago.
Definitely rent it if you haven't seen it. Not an important movie, but lots of action, and
isn't so long that you'll catch yourself looking at your watch. And the Will Smith/Tommy
Lee Jones combo works great! OK, so the premise is stupid, but as long as nobody tells you
otherwise, you'll have a good time.
Hey, we work closely every single day with some great people in the Midwest who work
with TREK (and their affiliated companies), and never thought much about it. But after
finally seeing the movie Fargo...well, let's
just say it puts things in a slightly different perspective! Great movie, by the way.
 Looking for a fun movie?
Check out Star Trek: First Contact.
Possibly the best in the series so far, and while not a "great" movie,
definitely very good. OK, it's a week later now, and I've decided that it may,
in fact, border on being a "great" movie! OK, now it's a month and
a half later, and finally took my wife to it, and even she enjoyed it (and not just
because she saw the Borg Queen as something to aspire to...). OK, it's now much
later and it's available on Video! (Also recently
[yeah, this is kinda dated now...] saw the new, improved Star Wars, but won't say much
about it because there are at least five people in the world who have never seen it, and I
don't want to blow it for them!)
And in the hard-to-believe-but-true category, it turns out that many of our employees have
not seen such classics as Vanishing Point, Repo Man and Buckaroo Banzai.
So I checked with an attorney and found out that yes, it would be legal to ask
about favorite movies on employment apps. (Yes, seriously, I did ask an attorney
about this!).
[Why is this section here? I really have no idea. It just sorta happened
one night, just like a lot of things at this web site...]
Last updated
10/02/05
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