Movie Reviews

Title= Santa Claus - the movie (1985) Score= 5 Summary= This 1985 big Christmas production is a blast from the past. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc stars Dudley Moore as an elf who goes to NYC in order to impress his boss Santa. In NY he gets mixed up with an evil toy manufacturer played by John Lithgow. Lithgow want to put Santa out of business and Moore must fight to keep it alive. A great movie for the family and a retrospective of cutting edge movie effects in 1985. A forgotten about movie which makes a great conversation piece for your DVD collection.

Title= Elf (2003) Score= 6 Summary= Jon Favreau directs the cast of Will Ferrell, James Caan, Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel in this silly fish out of water Christmas tale. Buddy the elf finds out he is a human and heads to NYC to find his father. There he must learn the ways of the city and earn the love of his new family and friends. Buddy finds himself in a number of situations which lead to falling in love, having a new family and of course saving Christmas. A fun movie with a good cast and filled with physical comedy. A nice light hearted film for the Holidays.

Title= Badder Santa (2004) Score= 8 Summary= Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, John Ritter and Bernie Mac star in this raw adult sure to be Christmas classic. Big laughs from start to finish. The rough and grizzled Billy Bob has numerous unforgettable laugh out load scenes with the young Brett Kelly. John Ritter gives us a winning performance for his last as the mall manager Bob Chipeska. Ritter plays a character like never before, simple shy and uncomfortable - funny, funny and once again funny. You will shoot egg nog from your nose and feel some Christmas spirit by the end.

Title= Scrooged (1988) Score= 7 Summary= Directed by Richard Donner and stars Bill Murray, Karen Allen, Bobcat Goldthwait, David Johansen, Carol Kane, Brian Doyle-Murray and John Murray. This remake or modern day interpretation of A Christmas Carol is both funny and moving. As Frank Cross (Murray) is visited by the ghost of Christmas, he slowly but surly learns the true meaning and begins to embrace not only the Holiday spirit but love and kindness to all. A great Holiday movie for teens and adults and it makes a great addition to your collection.

Title=Night Watch (Nochnoy Dozor) Score=8 Summary=A surprisingly good movie with an epic and well written storyline, great effects, good acting, and a very engaging style all of its own. There are a few flaws, but overall it's lining up to be the great start to a trilogy set to rival Hollywood. Highly recommended.

Title=Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Score=6 Summary=Darker and scarier than the rest with great effects but harshly edited and too fast paced with no time to keep up. Grint is the best young actor in the cast with the others struggling with overacting. The ending hurts the movie somewhat with it's "get out clause" which appears from nowhere and seems contrived. Not the best in the series, but so far the second strongest.

Title=Transporter 2 Score=4 Summary=Statham is excellent in this under performing action film. He acts well and does some amazing stunts, and this is where the movie falls down with preposterous moments in some six or seven sequences in the movie. They are so bad that you'll groan out loud. Still, Statham is great, as is Valletta. With such a great idea as the Transporter it escapes me how they can mess it up so well. Worth catching for some of the better stunts, but as a movie, not that great.

Title=Flightplan Score=7 Summary=Surprisingly strong and emotive script with a good few twists and a superb performance from Foster. Bean provides good support, as does Sarsgaard but nothing too memorable. Despite too much Hollywood feel near the end, it is still a good thriller which keeps the pace going and the audience on the edge of their seat. However there are a couple of embarassing and very poorly written moments.

Title=The Book of Cool - Part One Score=9 Summary=An ingenious idea with bags of style, nine hours of content, hundreds of tricks to learn, and many experts from around the World. Great entertainment. Not only will you sit and watch this again and again, but you'll get out off your arse and practice, flicking through the book for pointers. A great present for someone who has everything...like me, and I'm loving it. The ultimate little black book...except bigger...and with three DVD's!

Title=Ong Bak (Uncut, Original Ending VCD) Score=6 Summary=Visually amazing stunts from Tony Jaa, stunt sequences are well put together and wonderful to watch, but the story gets left behind and is just a vehicle to get to these moments. This VCD version is the uncut version and features a different ending. Good, but would look better on DVD.

Title=The Chumscrubber Score=8 Summary=Great casting and performances in this movie, with the surprise strength coming from the teenagers. A slightly off kilter and exaggerated world is created here, with only the teenagers being the ones in control and in reality. The story is strong, as the plot line for the teenagers slowly grows to an uneasy climax, all the while the parents oblivious until the cracks begin to appear and their insular lives fall apart.

Title= Bret "Hitman" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be (2005) Score= 7 Summary= A fun watch. A very detailed documentary of the mans life, touching on the losses he has faced both personally and professionally, a great depiction of behind the scenes of not only this mans life but the business it self. Includes each match The Hitman faced in both the WWF and WCW. A must own for any fan.