Travis_S

Updated January 1st, 2002 (Swordfish, One Night at McCools, Ghosts of Mars, A Beautiful Mind, and Moulin Rouge)

Hannibal (Director-Ridley Scott) ***1/2
This sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" is not as good as the first but still quite intriging, another great performance by Anthony Hopkins makes this movie. There are a few boring parts in the middle of the film and the ending is quite anti-climactic.

Mummy Returns (Director-Stephen Sommers) **1/2
A lightweight summer movie that doesn't take a moment of rest but is a thrill ride from start to finish. Captures the tongue in cheek feeling of the first movie but is not as good as the original. The movie is not helped by some less than stellar CGI including the Scorpion King at the end.

Shrek (Directors-Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson) ***
Funny movie with excellent animation and good performances from its leads. Funny throughout and with a good ending. Finally a good animated movie from outside the house of mouse!

Pearl Harbor (Director-Michael Bay) **
What a mess. With such a important historical event like Pearl Harbor to play with, why do they end up making this movie? First off the love story is so corny and poorly written that it in no way can be taken seriously. Secondly, why focus on everything else? Did we need to see F.D.R. react to the event, or the Japanese planning the attack? No, and it all comes across as padding to make the movie longer. The only positive of this movie is the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Evolution (Director-Ivan Reitman) **1/2
Very entertaining if not a tad bit similar to "Ghostbuster", but when is copying a movie like that a bad thing? I liked the Duchovney-Jones team, I don't know why Sean William Scott needs to be in it though. Special Effects are very good and definitly a movie I would see again on DVD.

Laura Croft: Tomb Raider (Director- Simon West) **
This is a movie where you seem somewhat interested in it while you are watching it but when you think about it afterward it seems worse. Some scenes are good, but the plot is only there to string all these sequences together and they don't all fit. Angelina Jolie is very good in this movie and I hope if they make a sequel they get a person that can write a better movie around her.

The Fast and the Furious (Director - Rob Cohen) **1/2
Pretty fun and definitly better than I expected. Vin Disel is going to be a major star and is the best part of the movie. On the other hand, Paul Walker talks and acts the same as Keanu Reeves and the movie plays too much music. It gets annoying when every other scene has a song in it. There have been much worse movies this summer.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Director -Steven Spielberg) ****
The most fascinating movie of the year. Imaginative, disturbing and depressing. Haley Joel Osment proves that he isn't a fluke and is an actor with a bright future ahead of him. Jude Law steals the scenes he's in, too. The movies third act, while too explanatory, is fitting for the movie. It's not everyday you can go to the movies and see something that you are still thinking about days later.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Director - Hironobu Sakaguchi) **
A disappointment. A movie with this much money put into it should have had a better script. Once the initial "WOW" factor wears off, there's nothing to see besides a muddled story and a anticlimactic ending. Still the movie is worth seeing because of it's graphics, but it could have been much better.

Jurassic Park 3 (Director - Joe Johnston) ***
Jurassic Park 3 is a vast improvement over the disappointing "Lost World". It moves very fast and has excellent special effects. Highlights include the attack of Pteradons in a bird cage and a Spinosaur attack on a barge. Great summer entertaiment in a summer that has been lacking.

Planet of the Apes (Director - Tim Burton) ***
Whenever the apes are on screen the movie is really good, but the humans on the other hand are boring. Someone give me a reason why Kris Kristofferson is in this movie? It seems that there was a love triangle in this that was cut. An enjoyable movie, though. It has an ending that makes no sense but is fun in it's own right.

American Pie 2 (Director - J.B. Rogers) ***
After a year of miserable ripoff "sex comedies" finally a funny one comes out. It is a given that you have to see the original to understand this one. One of the few sequels that feels like an extension of the original concept. Everyone plays their part well, and it is very funny in parts.

The Others (Director - Alejandro Amenabar) ***1/2
Finally a scary movie not aimed at the teenage market. A scary movie that is actually scary. This is what the "Haunting" remake fom 99 should have been like. There doesn't need to be CGI to create scares as this movie has a tremendous atmosphere. A must see and one of the years best.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Director - Kevin Smith) ***
Really funny movie. It works best if you had seen the other Kevin Smith movies but it is not necessary. Now Smith can move on after giving these characters a proper sendoff.

Jeepers Creepers (Director - Victor Salva) ***
Starts off great but the characters turn into horror movie characters and do increasingly idiotic things, which had the audiences hoping for their deaths and laughing at them. I liked the monster and it's truck but the movie could have been better.

Memento (Director - Christopher Nolan) ****
Completely awesome story. Completely unlike anything else this year. The twists and turns of the story are even better in the context of the backwards motion of the story. Best movie of the year.

Zoolander (Director - Ben Stiller) ***
Funny in spots, but not as a whole. Some laughs hit while others missed.

Hearts in Atlantis (Director - Scott Hicks) ***
I liked this movie but I thought it should have been better than it is. No big complaints about it but we've seen it all before.

Training Day (Director - Anthony Fuqua) ***1/2
One of the best movies of the year. Denzel Washington gives a tremendous performance. Totally immersive and the two hours fly by. A little let-down near the end with some unbelievable things happening, but it doesn't take away much from the overall movie.

From Hell (Director - The Hughes Brothers) ***
Really good despite the fact that it seems to drag at times.

K-Pax (Director - Ian Softley) ***1/2
Really good movie. Only complaint is that the movie was too long, some scenes could be cut that don't slow things down.

Monsters, Inc (Director - Peter Docter, David Silverman) ***1/2
Very good with great characters and story. Pixar again proves that they are the best part of Disney.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Director - Chris Columbus) ***1/2
Magical and fun. The 2 and a half hours fly by and the movie remains faithful to the book.

Ocean's 11 (Director - Steven Soderbergh) ***1/2
One of the best movies of 2001, fun and fast-paced, and excellently shot. With a sense of style that makes it seem like it was made years ago. Only complaint is that it is a little slow near the beginning, but once the heist begins, it doesn't let up.

Vanilla Sky (Director - Cameron Crowe) ***1/2
(NOTE: I have not seen the original) I thought this was a great movie and well made with great performances from the leads. My problem is the length. I think the movie slowed down in the middle but it got better and better towards the end.

The Majestic (Director - Frank Darabont) ***1/2
Another really good movie. Technically well made and put together well. The problem is the length. I think the story could have been told just as well, and maybe better, with a shorter running time. On the other side, Jim Carrey and Martin Landau give tremendous performances and everyone else fits their roles nicely.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Director - Peter Jackson) ****
Wow. I don't really think I can adequatly express my feelings on this movie since I have just seen it. But my first impression is that it's amazing. It's anything I could have ever hoped for. I cannot wait to see this trilogy continue (and of course the director's cut on DVD).

Moulin Rouge (Director - Baz Luhrmann) ***1/2
Starts off really bizzare, so much so that I was getting ready to hate the rest of the film. But it slowed down and actually showed a great romance between McGregor and Kidman, and what else can be said about the songs? It gives the movie even more of a surreal atmosphere. The tango scene is one of the best sequences of the year.

A Beautiful Mind (Director - Ron Howard) ****
I figured that this would be hokey and overly sentimental, but thankfully it was not. It was actually excellend and it does a very good thing in showing the first part of the movie from Nash's point of view, instead of another person watching him. I can't think of a bad performance in this film. Russel Crowe and Jennifer Connely both deserve nominations for their roles in this.

Ghosts of Mars (Director - John Carpenter) **
What has happened to John Carpenter's career? He has gone from a great horror director to directing things like this. It's highly mediocre, but it has an interesting premise, and would definitly be better if it actually had characters in it. I couldn't remember anyone in this besides Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge.

One Night at McCool's (Director - Harald Zwart) **1/2
I am in the middle on this one. It is hilarious in some scenes, but in others it seems flat. In the end I gave it two and a half stars because of the YMCA shoot out at the end and the funny things scattered around (Paul Reiser's Character's ending).

Swordfish (Director - Dominic Sena) **
Even for a summer blockbuster, this seems flat. It isn't bad, but I don't think there's much here to make a movie from. It goes by so fast that I could never really find out what the point of the movie was. Travolta's character is interesting, but Jackman seems to be in another movie altogether.

Top Films by Rating
1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
2. Memento
3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
4. [b]A Beautiful Mind
5. Ocean's 11
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
7. Training Day
8. Moulin Rouge
9. The Majestic
10. Vanilla Sky
11. The Others
12. Monsters, Inc.
13. K-Pax
14. Hannibal
15. Hearts in Atlantis
16. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
17. American Pie 2
18. Jurassic Park 3
19. Zoolander
20. Jeepers Creepers
21. From Hell
22. Planet of the Apes
23. Shrek
24. Evolution
25. Mummy Returns
26. One Night at McCool's
27. Fast and the Furious
28. Swordfish
29. Ghosts of Mars
30. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
31. Laura Croft: Tomb Raider
32. Pearl Harbor