From Dusk Till Dawn

From Dusk Till Dawn  is fine for what it is, a grindhouse movie. I think I'm starting to be over Tarantino's schtick. It reminded me of Feast, only Feast was way better, so I recommend watching that instead.

I thought I had From Dusk Till Dawn on the list of movies I had seen, but I don't. I'm not sure why I hadn't ever watched it. I tend to like Robert Rodriguez's movies, in general.

It's definitely a grindhouse movie. I don't know if that's really my thing these days. It reminded me of Feast.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins are great, and Dracula's character design is cool, but the movie is still way too cheesy.

I liked Bram Stoker’s Dracula slightly more the first time I saw it. Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins are still good, and the costumes are cool. But the rest is a little weird. It's way too cheesy and over the top.

Johnny Mnemonic

I'm too much of a William Gibson fan to not like Johnny Mnemonic, even if most of the acting is horrific. There are so many cool ideas, costumes, and characters, you just have to look past the line delivery.

I loved William Gibson's books in high school, although I don't actually remember them anymore. This was the second time I've seen Johnny Mnemonic. I did remember the book the first time I saw it, 11 years ago. I gave it a 3/5 then. I don't think I recognized how terrible *all* the acting was. I knew Keanu was bad, but this time I saw that everyone else was, too.

I still like the atmosphere and idea of it, the characters, and the costumes. They should do a remake with good actors. Keanu and Henry are atrocious. Everyone else is just flat. And some of the CG is really cheesy.

It definitely works a lot better if you've read the book. I still think all the stuff about implants and enhancements is cool, and the idea of the low-tech underground counterculture, and the whole "ghost in the machine" digital consciousness concept.

Wind

Wind is a sailboat-racing movie from 1992. The interpersonal stuff in it doesn't really work, and some of the sailing parts go on for a bit too long, but I guess it fits the bill if all you're looking for is a movie about boating.

I hadn't ever heard of Wind. I don't remember seeing any of the actors in anything else. It's kind of a weird movie. It's mostly about sailing, so I guess it's a good movie if you're into that.

Matthew Modine had a weird vibe going on. He was super charismatic, but also kind of creepy.

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects was alright. It was interesting seeing how things played out, and I liked the ending, even if it was a little confusing.

The Usual Suspects came out 20 years ago, but somehow I never saw it. Now it's weird because of Kevin Spacey. It makes you look at things in a different light. His character comes off as pretty weird/creepy, and it turns out that he actually is creepy.

They wore really oversized suits in the 90s. The musical cues were super oldschool and distracting. They really liked doing shots of two characters in profile. Benicio del Toro was practically unrecognizable. I liked Stephen Baldwin's performance, for some reason. I don't think I've ever actually seen him in anything.

Dark City

Dark City is super weird and unique, but in a way that still holds together and makes sense. You don't hear much about it, but it feels like a classic that everyone should see.

I had a hard time finding the theatrical release of Dark City. I own the DVD, but for some reason I only know where the case is, and not the disc. You can only torrent the director's cut. The library catalog lists only the theatrical release, but when you get it, it turns out to be the director's cut.

I thought it would be easy to rent it from YouTube, but it took me an hour to get it to work on my Apple TV, only to find out that that's the director's cut, too. So I rented the theatrical version from iTunes, and spent another hour getting *that* to play. And then realized after I saw the movie that I should have kept the library version so I could a. see the differences in the director's cut and b. hear the commentary. But I don't have it in me to request it again and wait another six months for it to come in.

You don't hear a lot about Dark City. I really only knew about it because I had a friend that liked it. The movie is super weird. I feel like everybody should see it just to have the experience.

Strange Days

This was either my third or fourth time watching Strange Days. It might just be because I first saw it when I was young and unjaded, or because I love William Gibson’s stuff and it’s cool seeing it come to life, but it’s still one of my favorite movies. The dystopian cyberpunk atmosphere is great; there’s romance and action; all of the characters are compelling; and Ralph Fiennes’ performance totally steals the show.

This was either my third or fourth time seeing Strange Days, and I still love it, even if it does look dated as hell these days. I wonder if someone who hadn’t read William Gibson’s stuff would have the same affinity for it, though. There’s just something cool about seeing something you read about being brought to life. The whole cyberpunk dystopian atmosphere is great.

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke wasn't exactly the epic I was expecting. The theme is pretty simple, but the animation is solid, and it held my attention for the entire movie.

I like Miyazaki's work, so Princess Mononoke has been on my "to watch" list for a while. Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle were better, but at least this wasn't as bad as Ponyo. The animation was good, and it held my interest for the entire time. Maybe it's one of those movies that's better for its iconicity than it is for watching for the first time. I liked San's general look/outfit, but other than that there wasn't anything really striking about it, visually or thematically.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

A Walk Among the Tombstones is interesting for the atmosphere. Liam Neeson gives a great performance, most of the side characters are done well, and the setting ties everything together nicely.

I wasn't that into A Walk Among the Tombstones from the trailer, but Roeper kind of got me interested in it. The title's a little clunky, and I'm still not really sure how it relates to the movie. The movie itself is pretty straightforward, but it's interesting. Liam Neeson gives a solid performance.

What Dreams May Come

What Dreams May Come was a little heavy-handed, and I don't agree with all the things they changed from the book, but I did like seeing where they were going with it and how they represented things.

What Dreams May Come was on my "to see" list for a while, but then I kind of lost interest in it. My boyfriend had a copy of the book on the bookshelf, so I decided to check it out. It was an interesting book, and that renewed my interest in seeing the movie. I would say about 75% of the stuff in the movie wasn't in the book, and a lot of what was in the book probably got lost in translation if you only saw the movie. I think a lot of the themes were probably only hinted at in the movie; they came through for me since I had read the book, but if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have seen them so clearly.

Stargate

Decent 90s sci-fi nostalgia for those of us who are partial to such things.

Naked Lunch

The Crow

It's really a bummer that Brandon Lee died making this movie.

The 13th Warrior

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

Mortal Kombat

Action, plot, CGI..it was simple all around.

Gohatto

So incredibly boring.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Secret of the Ooze

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie