Ms. Judy's Movie House Reviews

Visit Ms. Judy's House

2006-02-23T23:20:00.000-02:00

Check out my PERSONAL BLOG by going to this LINK.

Below, you will find my take on the movies we watch. Most are rentals and some on "fuzzy tv" which is what we get with our broken down tv antenna. I don't remember the last time I was actually in a movie house.

2006-02-22T13:00:00.000-02:00

Check out my PERSONAL BLOG by going to this LINK.

Wooly Boys

2005-05-22T12:58:00.000-02:00

MOVIE LINK
(2001) Peter Fonda, Easy Rider on a Greyhound, goes to visit daughter in the big Twin Cities. Leaves behind sidekick, Shuck (Kris Kristofferson) and Dakota, a sheepherding horse. Daughter tricks dying Stoney into the hospital, Shuck breaks him out and they head back to the North Dakota sheep ranch with grandson in tow, hijacking a hearst to get there. A heartstring tugging family movie with lovable grizzled actors. Sounds schmucky, I know, but it's worth a look.

2005-05-02T23:44:00.000-02:00

Volcano
(1997) Tommy Lee Jones stars in this contrivo-drama. There were some great action scences but the plot was forced and reminded me of Samantha and Friends and all those scintillating action-packed, haunted-house exploring, Scoobie style adventure stories we all wrote in the seventh grade -- except with a volcano.

2005-04-24T09:30:00.000-02:00

The Notebook
Movie LINK
(2004) Yes, I cried. A very sweet, but too long, chick flick. Gene was a good sport and suffered through it, though.

Ghost Story
Movie LINK
(1981) Not a great plot but has old-time actors Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr, and John Houseman starring. Also, Gene claims getting to see Alice Krige’s boobs is a good reason to watch this old movie. haha

2005-04-12T21:56:00.000-02:00

The Final Cut
(2004) Gene says I only like Robin Williams when he's not being over the top. Guess that's why I like him in this one.

The story is about William's character and his efforts to create (cut/edit) for his clients an oh-so-pleasant vignette from their deceased loved one's memory chip and his angst when he discovers why he can't be a "cutter" anymore.

At first I was disappointed by the abrupt ending. But abrupt endings are about making you think. And there's plenty here to go back and think about. There is an important message in the movie but it's too subtle and lots of people won't even recognize it. Slippery slope, folks. Slippery slope.

2005-04-09T12:42:00.000-02:00

The Day the Earth Stood Still
(1951) Klaatu barada nikto! Well, now I understand -- not what it means, but what it's from at least. I can see why this is a classic of the sci-fi genre. It has great effects for back then, the music is simple and eerie and spares us from the overbearing music of many contemporary movies, the light/shadow and other patterns are hypnotic, plus there are a couple of closeups that are hyper-clear. Thinking back about the story, I'm not getting too much. But rest assured this movie is a visual treat in a myriad of ways. A must see in your movie history if you're a sci-fi fan.

2005-04-05T21:32:00.000-02:00

The Flight of the Phoenix
(1965) Gene brought home a copy the original, and he remembered correctly, it is a better movie than last year's remake. Why do they keep remaking movies that are just fine already? James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, and Hardy Krüger own the characters, with George Kennedy and Ernest Borgnine in lesser roles. I liked the 2004 remake when I saw it last month (and the original was a faint memory.) But now that the 1965 version is fresh in my mind, I'd have to say that I like it better. The original is a grittier telling of the same story. The Dennis Quaid version has DQ and the guys looking buff, is updated to contemporary times, plus lots of Hollywood gloss added. But, hey, the original has a monkey!

2005-04-03T23:12:00.000-02:00

Earthsea
(2004) Mystical islands, wizards, dragons, etc. Very enjoyable if you like this sort of thing (which we do). The hero is played by Shawn Ashmore (Iceman in the second X-Men). Also has Danny Glover and Isabella Rossellini

2005-04-03T02:05:00.000-02:00

After the Sunset
(2004) A movie about one last diamond heist. I enjoyed it. I like to watch Pierce Brosnan, though. Lots of pretty tropical scenery and architecture, too. Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, and Don Cheadle also starred.

2005-04-02T02:05:00.000-02:00

The Incredibles
(2004) Cute movie. Lots to like! Good cast of super heroes, but I enjoyed supporting character Kari, the babysitter, and loved Edna 'E' Mode, but then I've always been partial to Edith Head and like most any character modeled after her.

2005-03-20T23:26:00.000-02:00

Taxi
(2004) Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon star in a buddy movie. Not to be taken seriously, please, and if you do you'll miss some fun. After his years driving, Gene automatically likes any movie about taxis and what's not to like about a taxi so tricked-out it would be at home on any Nascar track. Fast paced and silly, Queen Latifah balances out Fallon's over-the-topness. And I really enjoyed Ann Margaret's performance as the mother. Yep, it was entertaining! Silly but fun.

2005-03-20T12:19:00.000-02:00

Flight of the Phoenix
(2004) Okay, let's overlook some logistical flaws here and there and just enjoy this "disparate group band together and overcome all odds" adventure movie. Looks like the $250,000 model was worth it for an amazing plane crash to get the story started! And by the way, Dennis Quaid is lookin' buff here.

Eulogy
(2004) Zooey Deschanel plays Kate who is to give the Eulogy at her grandfather's funeral. Not knowing what to say, she finds no assistance from the wacky and feckless adults in her life. Hank Azaria, Glenne Headly, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Kelly Preston, Ray Romano, and Rip Torn all do a fantastic job.

By the way, everyone does not love Ray this time around. Ray Ramano is at his most believable as smarmy Uncle Skip. His twin boys are real potty mouths and generally offensive. At first, their mere existence seems only a vehicle for lewd one-liners. But they serve to make Uncle Skip even more smarmy. Not only does he allow their wanton behavior, Skipper even joins them in the closet to spy on his sister and her lesbian lover.

One smarmy sibling is plenty and the rest are just wacky. Even with great portrayals by seasoned actors, I found myself wanting a more developed story. Still worth a watch just to be entertained, though.

The Big Fix
(1978) Richard Dreyfuss is private investigator Moses Wine. I guess I saw this at the cinema when it came out in 1978, but I always remembered it as being a great movie. And I was right! The advice he gives his sons about remaining inconspicuous when tailing someone always stuck with me. Actually, I remembered enough of this movie to fill in all the missing subtleties while watching it on fuzzy tv tonight.

And if I can remember that much of a movie, it must have made an impression on me! Just ask Gene. haha. That's one of the reasons I started recording what I watch in a movie blog. I just can't remember which movies I've seen!

Finally Saw a Couple Movies

2005-03-13T22:57:00.000-02:00

Into the Sun
(2005) A typical Steven Seagal vehicle. There were some things to like even though the plot wasn't one of them. Beautiful gardens, furniture, interesting Japanese actors. And when Seagal opens that can of whup-ass, it's always fun to watch him in action. I probably wouldn't watch it again, but it helped pass the time.

I Heart Huckabees
(2004) A movie that begs to answer the question, "How am I not myself?" Billed as an existential comedy, it stars Lily Tomlin, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. (Gene spotted a young Jake Hoffman as a parking valet.) Existential detectives, absurdist humor, meaningful or meaningless, you'd have to agree it was a well done movie whether you like it or not.

2005-02-21T01:02:00.000-02:00

Saw
(2004) This movie stars Cary Elwes. Didn’t you love his “as you wish” in Princess Bride?

But first, let me tell you about the day my grandmother walked into my dad’s workshop many years ago. I think it was the first time she'd been it. She looked at the saws on the wall and then said “SAW” loudly to my dad and kind of laughed. I didn’t have a clue. She explained to me that back in the day, when you milked a cow and it was moving around too much, you would yell “SAW” and that meant for the cow to be still.

I told you this little bit of folk lore because it is much more interesting than this movie.

Movies Through Feb 13, 2005

2005-02-14T17:56:00.000-02:00

Feb 13
Cellular. Exciting! I really liked it!
Shall We Dance. Fun. I enjoyed it.
The Grudge. Non-linear and sometimes creepy.

Feb 6
Almost Heroes (1998) stars Matthew Perry and Chris Farley in a silly race against rivals Lewis and Clark. I'd forgotten how funny this movie was. Guy (that's GEE, hard "g") Fontenot is probably my all-time favorite Eugene Levy character. hehe Makes me laugh just thinking about it.

Potluck (2002) I didn't know what to expect on this one and was pleasantly surprised. It is not a drug movie even though it was put out by High Times and one of the main characters is a suitcase of contraband. Weaving throughout the film-- the suitcase is bought and sold, then stolen and restolen by an unlikely cast of gangsters, artists, drag queens and activists. The other main character is Frank, the loyal mob soldier. He goes through quite a few changes when he becomes involved with the lead singer in an all-girl punk band. Check it out, you just might like it!

The Wind Take my advice. Let it blow on by.

Pauly Shore Is Dead Here's another one that I had reservations about considering the bad reviews. But if you like Pauly Shore, you'll like this. He fakes his own death to become a "comedic genius who died before his time" at the mistaken urging of his gaurdian angel, Sam Kinnison, appearing to him several times in the movie. Todd Bridges, who he meets in county lock-up after being found out, does a great job. This movie has TONS of celebrities portraying themselves, seemingly not always willingly. I think Gene enjoyed it more than me, but it still had some good hah-yucks. (Did you know Pauly Shore's mom owns The Comedy Store? Sam Kinnison was one of his baby-sitters.)

Here are some others we saw a few weeks ago:

Employee of the Month I wanted to check this out because it has two actors I like. I first noticed Steve Zahn when he played Wayne Wayne Wayne Jr in Happy, Texas (escaped convicts disguised as beauty pageant experts; here's a LINK to a photo of Wayne Wayne.) You might remember him as Hank Rafferty in National Security with Martin Lawrence, or Marvin in Daddy Day Care. The other is Christina Applegate. I liked it for the most part. Lots of twists and turns and my requisite quirky characters. You have to watch through the credits to see the actual end of the movie though.

The Village Opie Taylor's little girl, Bryce Dallas Howard, does a fine job as Ivy.
Wicker Park I have to confess I fast forwarded through a lot of it. Maybe the muzak was worth watching those long non-action parts? Would have been better as a thirty minute movie. Mostly leaves you feeling sad for all that wasted time. The main couple's wasted time, I mean.
The Forgotten Ooops, I forgot to mention it before.
Cold Mountain. The part of Ada Monroe was miscast. Plenty of others could have played the part and been more convincing. Why did it have to be N. Kidman? And Jude Law almost missed the mark, too, but he did do dark and brooding well with those piercing baby blues. Still haven't put my finger on it, but something was off with Kathy Baker as Sally Swanger. Everyone else was convincing to me. Lots of pretty visuals and the story sucked me in.

Jan 21
Remember the little Amish boy in the Harrison Ford movie, Witness?
Remember Darlene's boyfriend in Roseanne?
How about Terminator 3's John Connor?
They're all grown up in Bookies. Three college guys start their own bookie operation. Don't worry if you don't know the lingo. There are subtitles, sometimes amusing, to explain it all. Loved the way they went ahead and fast forwarded through those long, repetitive, or boring setup scenes for you and got back to the story. I enjoyed it.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Okay, I enjoyed this. Found myself chuckling about it a lot during the following days. If you like the Dazed and Confused kind of movies, you'll enjoy this one. Lots of yucks!

Another comedic look at a dysfunctional family, American Girl was pretty fair. Basic premise being a girl wanting her mom to take her, her brother and step-sister to make the trip and visit her dad for "family day" at prison. It had it's moments.

I wanted Code 46 to be good. I really did. It's set in the future and stars Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton (remember her from In America?). It's been done better.
Open Water. I think the accompanying documentary on the filmmakers was probably more interesting than the actual movie. Just goes to show what someone with imagination, skill, and determination can do on a budget.

Angels in the Endzone. Okay, I didn't really watch this one, but it was on fuzzy tv (which is how I think of those stations that have bad reception). But Gene was watching it on and off. From what I could see/hear of it, looked pretty dumBah.

Jan 8
I got back from visiting Dad just about dark. Picked up a movie and a pizza. Gene and I watched King Arthur with Clive Owen and Keira Knightley. Now, finishing up The Whole Ten Yards that we started the other night but didn't get to finish. Big time in the ol' town tonight, yeah boy!

Jan 6
Can't believe my "new" car has 5,000 miles on it already (since 10/29/04). Time for it's first maintenance check. Conveniently, I can get an oil change when I drive over to see Dad tomorrow and combine the two. It's at least 60 miles to the nearest Toyota dealer anyway. It's going to be a trip either place I go, so thank goodness that little town has a dealership and I can get it done there.

The movie for today? Troy ... two words: Brad Pitt. Yeeeow!

Jan 5
Evolution with David Duchovny. Julianne Moore, Orlando Jones and Seann William Scott. Still funny. One of the videos that we added to our collection for Christmas.

Jan 4
Danny Deckchair I liked it! Starts out quirky and ended up a romantic comedy. Check it out.

Jan 1, 2005
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Good of video game to movie genre. Not thick on plot, but good effects. Milla Jovovich stars.
Shaun of the Dead
Romantic comedy with zombies and was quite entertaining. We liked it. (Gore content: moderately high)
Dead End
Spooky movie with a family on an isolated road that goes on and on forever. Kind of like this movie. (Minimal gore)
Hero
A visual treat. Lots of movie martial art action. Definetly worth a look.
Hot Shots: Part Deaux
I love this parody! One of my favorites.
Cops and Robersons
Jack Palance is a hoot. Chevy Chase is one of the best at adept ineptness. A fun movie.

Dec 26
I Robot
One of those "the book was better" kind of films, but Will Smith is always great. An entertaining film with all its special effects.
The Clearing
Robert Redford, Helen Merrin, Willem Defoe. Was okay so far. We started watching it late and I fell asleep and haven't finished watching it.
Hope Springs
Another one of those, "was okay so far, but I fell asleep and haven't finished watching it" movies.
Jawbreaker
Tssk. Tssk. Those mean girls!
Malibu’s Most Wanted
Had it's funny parts.
Collateral
Mostly, I just had a hard time getting past Tom Cruise with the salt-n-peppah hair.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Just saw the last half. Not too bad seeing it that way. I always thought the first half is such a snooze and had trouble getting past it. But tuning in at the middle is the way to go!

Dec 21
Watched Bourne Supremacy this morning, Or at least, finished watching it. If you enjoyed Bourne Identity, you’ll like this one. Kind of short on plot, but long on action.

The evening movie was Ghostwatcher. I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you are one of those folks that gets a kick out of B Horror movies. In that case, it’s probably worth a look.

Dec 9
Tonight is our work Christmas Party. It's always interesting to see what they come up with each year. One year it was a Talent Show, another ... Game Night. Whatever it is, it is of course combined with good food. This year, they chose to watch Goonies. Not sure how that came about, but I'm for it! I rented the video last night and brought my contribution of pudding cups to work the other day. I'm set. Could this fun work activity possibly eclipse Halloween's Spycology Day? We'll see.

Dec 7
Tonight's Christmas viewing was A Charlie Brown Christmas. Still funny after all these years.

Dec 6, 2004

Just happened to catch a Christmas movie tonight that I haven't seen before. Probably wouldn't see it again, but it was worth seeing once. Keep an eye on the Martian children to see Pia Zadora starring as Girmar. There is an entertaining review of

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians HERE.

Starsky & Hutch with Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller and Snoop Dogg. It had some funny moments. Okay for a rental.

2005-02-14T04:58:00.000-02:00

"Normal" ....
fast forward thru any "driving/walking to or from"
scenes unless they're moving their mouths.... it is a
LONG movie and skipping those parts sure does help.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" is good.
(Johnny Dep is FABULOUS in this. By the way, Johnny Dep is HOT in "Chocolat")

DRAMA:
"Seabiscuit" is an against all odds feel good movie.
"Windtalkers" Navjaho code talkers in WWII.

CULTURES:

"Whale Rider" was interesting if you like movies that explore a different culture. We enjoyed it. (eastern coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people ...the young actress is nominated for an Emmy.)

"Monsoon Wedding" .... contemporary arranged marriage in India story

FANTANSY:
"Lord of the Rings" ... they are great.
The "Harry Potters" series are good, too.

SKEERY:
"Wrong Turn" & "Devil's Pond" are pretty good scarey movies in a thriller sort of way.
"Cabin Fever" is a pretty fun scarey movie in a blood and gore kind of way ... a flesh eating bacteria is on the loose!
"Dreamcatcher" is a pretty good one too... if you like Stephen King ... you'll never look at having gas the same again! haha
Oh yeah... "28 Days Later" is a good "end of civilization as we know it" movie. (I bought this movie.)

ACTION:
"S.W.A.T." was a pretty good action film.
"Bad Boys I & II" are better.
"Rush Hour" I & II are great with Jackie Chan.

SUSPENSE:
"Panic Room" with Jodie Foster

COMEDIES:
If you haven't seen any of the "American Pie""American Wedding" ones.... they are hilarious but start with the first one. And work your way thru.
"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is good.( Kate Hudson, Matthew MCConaughey)
"Barber Shop" is funny.
"The Banger Sisters" (Susan Sarandon, Goldie Hawn, Geoffrey Rush) is kinda fun.
"Legally Blonde" the first one is cute.
"Sweet Home Alabama" is too.

"Ms. Judy's Movie House" Reviews

2005-02-13T10:21:00.000-02:00

So simple, but took a while to think of it. I'll be including my movie reviews here. Now you won't have to wade thru everything else just to see what movies I've seen. Does anyone even care? Maybe not? Maybe?

I'm curious to see how this page evolves. Some of my plans are to include catergories such as Quirky, Action, Comedy, Chick Flick, Spooky, etc.

Favorites will also be included. Or maybe even a "My Favorite Part of This Movie Was..." or "I Just Love This Part." One of those that just popped into my head was in "Overboard" when Goldie Hawn's amnesiac character realizes she can speak French. That cracks me up everytime I think about it!

At the least, I'd be able to check what I've already seen when I'm headed to Movie Gallery to rent something for the weekend. Not a happy moment when I bring home a dumb movie that we've already watched. Can you say "DUH?"

Ms. Judy's Movie House Reviews

Visit Ms. Judy's House

Recently Viewed Movies

Wooly Boys

Finally Saw a Couple Movies

Movies Through Feb 13, 2005

"Ms. Judy's Movie House" Reviews