Week In Review: 12/22/00

April 1st, 2004

Week In Review, Upcoming Movies, and DVD Reviews.

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The Week In Review: 12/22/00

(More information for all of the films and projects discussed below can be obtained on our site by doing a search or reviewing our news section.)

Merry Christmas!

At the Box Office!

1.	WHAT WOMEN WANT Should be re-titled, What Mel Gibson wants: Mo money! Proving yet again that he is still king of the Box Office. I never would have thought that so many husbands and boyfriends would have been dragged out to this one! Here's what some of the reviewers had to say: Jeff Vice said that, "...Gibson single-handedly saves the film from itself," while E! Online thought, "...almost too much fine and polished buffoonery..."
2.	Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas Still alive and kicking. Proving that children stories still hold a special place in even adult's hearts as they drag their kids back to see it for a second and third time.
3.	The Emperor's New Groove Another Disney movie that even adults will enjoy. Puddy from SEINFELD is the voice for one of the characters, and he is completely off the wall at times.
4.	Dude, Where's My Car? Dude, like when will these types of movies cease to exist? Actually, the reviews for it haven't been that bad. But I'm more inclined to go along with Entertainment Weekly who said, "The definition of aiming low is when the John Hughes film you're ripping off is 'Weird Science'..."
5.	Vertical Limit The second act of this one is worth the price of admission, if only you could make it through the first hour.
6.	Proof of Life Unfortunately this film has proved to have little life. Maybe they should have forgotten the script and just had Russell and Meg on screen playing house.
7.	Unbreakable Falling fast enough to prove it is breakable. So much for Shyamalan's proclamation that he knows what movie-goers want!
8.	102 Dalmatians Ugh, only for the kiddies.
9.	Rugrats In Paris: The Movie Fun for the whole family!
10.	Dungeons & Dragons They should have locked this thing up in a dungeon and never let it out.

DVD Reviews

SEVEN - (New Line Platinum Series)

One of the most viscerally frightening and disturbing serial killer movies you'll ever see. The story's premise is both gruesome and ingenious as the killer chooses victims who are in his eyes guilty of the seven deadly sins. What is so unique about this presentation is the mystery and intrigue element. We never see the killer at work. We don't even meet the killer until almost 2/3's of the way through the film.

From the spooky opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in his vision of a dark urban city where everything is foul. As a viewer you become apart of the story as it unfold through the eyes of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, who play detectives Summerset and Mills -- all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pitt's wife, and Kevin Spacey plays "John Doe."

But most importantly, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, set the tone for the movie with a screenplay this is simply fantastic.

Rating: Excellent

DVD

The sound is kick-ass with DTS and Dolby 5.1. The picture is outstanding, the murky atmosphere of the film is nicely captured on the DVD. This 2 disk collection series "Platinum" has to rank as one of the most outstanding ones to date. Disk two includes such goodies as: Deleted scenes and extended takes, which I found to be not bad, I would have liked more; Alternate endings, very cool, if you have read Walker's 1992 draft of the script compared to the shooting script, you'll see a major transformation with the ending; Exploration of the Opening Title Sequence, you can choose from 3 different video angles and 6 audio tracks, and commentaries, several to be exact. The best one for me was commentary by professor of Film Studies/ author Richard Dyer, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, Editor Richard Francis-Bruce, New Line Cinema's President of Production Michael De Luca and David Fincher.

Rating: Excellent

THE CELL

Ugh. As good as SEVEN is, THE CELL is its equal in futility. A complete bore of a film. A SEVEN wanna-be. If you like Jennifer Lopez, and frankly who doesn't, then you'll like some parts of this film. But I am still convinced she is a poor actress.

"Schizoid serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) has been captured at last, but a neurological seizure has rendered him comatose, and FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughan) has no way to determine the location of Stargher's latest and still-living victim. To probe the secrets contained in Stargher's traumatized psyche, the FBI recruits psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), who has mastered a new technology that allows her to enter the mind of another person. What she finds in Stargher's head is a theater of the grotesque, which, as envisioned by first-time director Tarsem Singh, is a smorgasbord of the surreal that borrows liberally from the Brothers Quay, Czech animator Jan Svankmajer, Hieronymous Bosch, Salvador Dali, and a surplus of other cannibalized sources."

Rating: Abysmal

DVD

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 picture was great as ti be expected. The sound, only Dolby Digital 5.1 was offered, no DTS! The extras included deleted scenes and commentaries, including director Tarsem Singh.

Rating: Good