Pete's Log: recent viewings

Entry #1236, (Movies)
(posted when I was 23 years old.)

I think it's time to summarize some of the movies I've seen during the past couple weeks.

Wag The Dog, 1997, Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman. This movie had an interesting premise: fabricate a war to divert the media's attention from a scandal right before election. The actual plot was a bit slow and a bit annoying at times, but funny enough. It had a somewhat surreal feel to it, which I suppose is to be expected. The acting was pretty good, though.

The Emperor's New Groove, 2000, with David Spade and John Goodman. I figured I should try and keep up with the evil Disney empire. This film started out somewhat annoying, but quickly became very funny. David Spade does a terrific job as Emperor Kuzco. The film manages to make fun of itself and of the genre in general. I watched it four times before I had to return the DVD.

Taxi Driver, 1976, with Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster. Directed by Martin Scorsese. This film was initially recommended to me back when I had a mohawk. As it turns out, it has more to offer than just De Niro sporting a mohawk. It's a very intense film, though a bit slow. De Niro stars as an insomniac vietnam veteran working as a night shift taxi driver. I was impressed. This movie is ranked #29 on imdb's top 250.

The Arena, starring a couple playboy playmates. A remarkably unimpressive film.

The Time Machine, 2002, Guy Pearce, Jeremy Irons. A new adaptation of H.G. Wells' science fiction classic. I was really excited to see this movie, but it turned out to be, in my opinion, depressingly stupid. It had a lot of potential, and it had plenty of good moments, but the story lacked any final redeeming value. The story was altered enough such that it didn't capture the strong social message I felt was present in the book. Instead, all I came away from this movie with was "don't wear the same style of hat that everyone else is." There were many things in this movie that I felt were too unbelievable, and the plot was not strong enough for me to be willing to suspend disbelief to that degree. It wasn't horrible, though. It had some fun effects and its share of entertaining moments. It just didn't live up to my expectations. I do think this version is better than the 1960 one, but that' not saying much ...

Druids, 2001. Made somewhere in eastern Europe, I think, for French Canadian TV. Maybe. The classic story of Vercingetorix. Except really poorly done. This movie lacked much in the way of a plot, was goofy, and had really awful music. And I don't have a clue why it is called "Druids." If you're interested in gallic history, I'd recommend reading Asterix instead.

Hackers, 1995, Jonny Lee Miller, Angelina Jolie. A classic. I've had a perverse desire to watch this movie again for several weeks now. So I finally did. It cracks me up, it's so bad.

American Pie 2, 2001. Yup, a stupid sequel to a stupid movie. I enjoyed it. It wasn't quite as funny as the original, but I laughed plenty at the stupid humor.

Empire Records, 1995. Another movie I've wanted to watch again for a while. So I did! I like it enough.

That's all I can think of.