M-N Movies
Match Point (2005)
Who’s in it
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Cox
Should you see this movie?
No, skip it. I don’t know too much about Woody Allen as a director, and I shouldn’t have expected any less of this movie from the previews, but this movie is depressing, you hate the main character, and the story spirals out of control to the worst end possible. Meyers is this creepy, charming, driven young man who takes it all from the rich lifestyle, but has an affair with his brother in law’s ex fiancee. After she gets pregnant a chilling set of events happen that he miraculous survives, but has to live with the guilt. I watched the clock the whole time during this movie, and although Scarlett is good in the movie, attractive, the previews make it looks a little different. The subject matter isn’t something I would recommend to most, but you insist on seeing it for Scarlett, she is the only redeeming qualilty of the movie, unless you like twisted stories about affairs.
Minority Report (2002)
Who’s in it
Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow, Steve McDonough
Should you see this movie?
Hell yeah! I loved this movie for the staples, innovative ideas for what the future may be like, technology, action, a troubled Tom Cruise character that does a lot of shouting and running, and a twist. I remember being pleasantly surprised when I first saw this movie in the theaters back in the day, and it is a really entertaining movie for me now. Cruise is believable as a troubled man, but not as a former dad. He pulls off the emotional scenes well, and Farrell is ok in a role just when he was starting to get huge. My favorite parts are definitely with the spiders, and the reverb guns. You have to check it out, total guy movie, but it has the cute girl from Cold Case before you knew her.
Mission Impossible 3 (2006)
Who’s in it
Tom Cruise, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Kerri Russell
Should you see this movie?
Yes, this is the best one. J.J. Abrams directed this one, the creator of LOST, but that didn’t affect my decision in any way. In this movie Cruise had moved on, which is a typical storyline, but is pulled back in and crosses the wrong guy. His new wife is threatened and he has to do a job for the bad guy, he has to get “The Rabbit’s Foot”. The difference, even though the story isn’t new, is that it is gritty, it hits close to home, and Hoffman is one of the scariest men alive in this movie. The stunts are awesome, the effects are great, it all supports the story so well, engaging, entertaining on the edge of your seat excitement, if they keep making them at this calibur I will see them forever and ever.
Moonlight Mile (2002)
Who’s in it
Jake Gyllenhaal, Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman, Ellen Pompeo
Should you see this movie?
I would say no. “As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.” (From IMDB) This tells you what the movie is about, and from there on out it wanders in self exploration that I struggled to try to feel some empathy for. Pompeo is the cute girl in the small town that is intoxicating, I always fall for them. There were some interesting commentary on how people feel at funerals and their reactions to condolences, but that is about it for insight, and this was just about as drab and boring as this writeup.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail(1975)
Who’s in it
John Cleese, Terry Gillam, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
What was good
From the swallow and the coconut, to the black knight, down to the well educated peasants and the horny nuns, this movie is perfect in every sense, and is the perfect movie for any respectable parent to hate. Random song numbers, crude and silly animations, this movie is a classic and surpasses generational appreciation.
What sucked
Nothing. The cheesy special effects add to the movie like the flying cows, and the gushing blood from armored wounds, everything is in character with the outrageous british humor. The plot is a farce, and never completes, but we don’t care, we spend the whole movie wondering was bizarre thing will happen next.
Who should go see this
If you like Monty Python of course. This is their best movie, the most concise, the broadest appeal, and in my humble opinion the best jokes. I wouldn’t recommend this to parents of course, but most of my friends should see this, and love it. If you don’t, you just don’t know funny.
Mean Girls (2004)
Starring Lindsay Lohan, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, Rachel McAdams, Lacy Chabert, and a handful of other SNL alum, this movie kept popping up on my radar. Written by Fey, this movie gives us a parody of harsh young female interaction can be at the high school level.
Lohan is a new student who is just trying to fit in, when she is noticed by “The Plastics”, and elite group of three girls who are highly exclusive. Lohan’s friends want her to feign interest to get close to them and then somehow ruin them because of how mean the three of them are. But soon Lohan gets drunk on the power and attention herself, becoming what she hates.
This isn’t a particularly funny movie, the girls are all really pretty to look at, but is focused more on the caddy self centered attitude of these clickish girls. A pretty interesting look, and Fey is really funny in the movie just like she is on SNL which she writes for as well as is the anchor for “Weekend Update”.
The reasons to see this movie? If you have a girl that is just starting her teens, she would like this, or if you have a crush on Lohan (Before she was anorexic) or Rachel McAdams. An exaggerated view on everything, it could be a fun Friday night movie, just don’t expect to laugh as hard as I did.
Mask of Zorro (1998)
The original, starring Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta Jones and Matt Letscher this is a great movie, highly entertaining and even a great family movie that you can watch over and over again. I thought so anyway, and I own it.
This is the story of the old Zorro (Hopkins) and his last ride to stop Don Alejandro and to help the people. Don Alejandro has done his homework and finds out the identity of Zorro. Soon after Zorro returns Alejandro is there, waiting to take him into captivity. Zorro won’t have it, puts up a fight, and in the flurry his wife is shot dead. Alejandro locks Zorro up and takes his only child and destroys his house and in doing so all of his life.
Fast forward twenty years. A new Zorro is in the making, a drunken swindler and his brother go from town to town, tricking people out of their money. They get caught by the law, and his brother is brutally killed, beheaded. With some luck, and past fortune, the old Zorro and this man meet up and start training, and the rest is just a fun action packed movie with a light heart to it.
Banderas is comical and cocky, and the stunt and swordfight scenes are in depth and amazing. I had never scene the old Zorro, but this was a perfect introduction point for me, a great movie to get me acquainted with the character and his mythos.
I can’t think of many people that wouldn’t like this movie, unless you are really hardcore into the violence and don’t prefer movies that are a little less serious about themselves. Rent this today, and enjoy it, and stay away from the sequel because you will be highly disappointed.
