For years, I’ve been writing in a
journal, and I like to write about all types of different things, from the
serious to the trivial. I write about
what happens with the family every month, and at work, in church, in the news,
as well as the music I’m listening to, the books I’m reading, the shows I’m
watching, who I’m admiring, and the movies I either loved or hated. In fact, since 1999, I’ve been keeping track
of all the movies I’ve been watching and keeping a running tally of the ones I
like and the ones I didn’t like, be they old or new, or something I’ve never
seen or seen perhaps one too many times.
But I’ve been picking my monthly favorites and stinkers in this way for
years. These are the first ten I picked
when I started this monthly journal way back in 1999 and that I loved enough to
pick as favorites.
I don’t always write a ton, and
in fact, often it is just a blip as I say what I liked or didn’t like about
it. Blade, starring Wesley Snipes, I described as a
“hip…stylish…guilty pleasure…with superb style, FX, stunt work and
editing.” Of Evita, I wrote, “Who cares if
Madonna can’t act; she doesn’t have to do a lot of that here. But the music is superb.” I thought the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona
“has such a pleasing, southern quirkiness to it” and it “delights and tickles
the funny-bone” and “moved me to laughter.” I found The Mask of Zorro to be “a breath of fresh air… an
old fashioned and lighthearted romp with lots of swordplay, good actors playing
interesting characters,” and said it “was well put together, and most
importantly, was well written. In fact,
I was surprised by the level of the writing!” I wrote that “the story and special effects” in
Mighty Joe Young
“are first rate, and can stand up to any other live action family film Disney
has ever made, and I’ve always liked Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton.” I gave “kudos to director Stephen Summers and
the gang…for finally dusting off that old Universal horror film icon” The Mummy
“and giving him his own big budget remake, just like they did recently for
Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf Man with the modern films Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Wolf.
They did a good job with this new and modern mummy movie” with “lots of
adventure in this humorous swashbuckler that is more thrilling than scary.” I even “applauded two made for TV miniseries
that were a little better than the norm,” though I preferred Leelee Sobieski as
Joan of Arc to Leonor Varela as Cleopatra, and wrote that “both of these May
Sweeps Events were very well done, and both outdid other versions of these
stories, with Joan of Arc being
better than the recent theatrical release Messenger:
The Story of Joan of Arc, and Cleopatra
was more interesting and engaging than the infamous Elizabeth Taylor version
from the sixties.” It was actually through
films like this that I became a fan of Peter O’Toole. Here’s a few other films in which I said just a
little bit more:
Interview with the Vampire
I know, I know! First Blade,
and now this five year old movie! What,
am I obsessed with vampires now? Well,
maybe. In fact, there have been some
very good vampire movies made in the last couple of decades, including Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Vamp, Near
Dark, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and I might even include a few problematic
vampire films that still had some promise, like John Landis’ Innocent Blood and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn.
Then
again, I also rented and watched John
Carpenter’s Vampires, which I listed as the worst I saw all month.
There
were several things that made Interview
with the Vampire stand out for me.
The actors all did wonderful work embodying these characters, in
particular Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst. Anne Rice’s source novel was, as much as I
might hate to admit it, very well written and rich with intricate emotions and
powerful themes. The adapted screenplay
borrowed just the right amount from the book, giving the actors scenes they
could really sink their teeth into. The
costumes, make-up, and art direction were of very high caliber, particularly
for a vampire film, following honorably in the footsteps of the numerous
academy awards Bram Stoker’s Dracula
won for these same categories. The
overall directing and editing of the film created just the right mood. Lastly, I myself can identify somewhat with
the character of Brad Pitt’s tortured Louis, because sometimes I find myself
crying over the hatred of the world like he does here (Louis and Dr. Zhivago
have a lot in common, starting with their artful, compassionate souls), and the
part of the movie where he finally loses Claudia stirs my emotions.
Bride of Chucky
Well, with Blade and Interview with the
Vampire as favorites, and now
this fourth Child’s Play film about
the murderous killer doll Chucky, I guess you can tell I like horror
films! I chose this one mainly due to
surprise. This could have been awful
dreck, and as it was, it wasn’t really Academy Award material (being the fourth
Chucky movie, there’s no way it could be!). Yet it actually turned out to be pretty good,
with lots of humor this time around, and without skimping on the scares. The story’s pretty average, but they do well
with it, and Jennifer Tilly adds a lot as Chucky’s former girl Tiffany who
winds up in a doll herself, heading across the country with her
stitched-together, demon-doll lover and causing mayhem in their quest to use
two stupid teenagers as receptacles for their demented, evil souls. After the dreary Child’s Play 3, I wasn’t expecting much from this sequel, and when
it started out focusing on some characters who were sexually immoral, including
trampy Tiffany, my first thought was that it was going to be nothing but
exploitative trash. But then I
discovered something: the filmmakers
weren’t just churning out yet another Child’s
Play movie to rake in the dough from dumb kids who didn’t know any better. The makers of this movie actually like this
genre in general and the Child’s Play
movies in particular (at least the first two), and just had fun with it. There’s lots of humor too, from Tiffany using
a book called Voodoo for Dummies to
bring Chucky back from beyond, to the scene where the two dolls make love, and
Tiffany asks Chucky if he’s got a rubber.
“Tiff,” he replies, “I’m all rubber!”
The
film doesn’t mind making fun of itself on occasion, such as when the hero finds out the dolls are alive, and asks, “So how did you end up like this?”
“It’s
a long story,” Chucky replies.
“It
sure is,” Tiffany chimes in.
“In
fact,” Chucky says, “if it were a movie, it would take three or four sequels
just to do it justice!”
Along
with lots of blood and gore, some rather goofy plot turns and deaths, and some
classic homages for everything from Friday
the Thirteenth to The Bride of
Frankenstein, this was just a fun, popcorn horror comedy all the way
through.
Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Drew Barrymore was an endearingly
cute child actress in such movies as E.T.
– The Extra Terrestrial, Firestarter, and Irreconcilable Differences.
The only problem was that she was too aware of her own charm, and
usually spoke her lines with a knowing smile, as if to say, “I’m so
lovable!” As she grew older, it became
more and more obvious that she couldn’t act, and that her career rested on her
toddler appeal and adorable lisp. After
her troubled “former-child-star” teen years full of wild parties, drugs, and alcohol,
she emerged in the racy thriller Poison
Ivy, which I never saw, and seemed destine to travel the same path as the
likes of Shannon Doherty and the infamous Corey’s, Feldman and Haim. But instead, she was determined, and tapped
into a persona that was box office gold in some cute romantic comedies like The Wedding Singer and this one, Ever After, a live action retelling of
the Cinderella story that adds lots of charm and magic, and pulls off the
almost impossible task of comparing favorably to Disney’s classic, animated
1950 version. With costars such as the
valiant and handsome prince played by Dougray Scott and the evil step-mother
played by Angelica Houston at her wickedly delicious best, this movie actually
rivals Edward Scissorhands as one of the
best modern fairy tales put on film.
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