Epinions Recent Reviews for BrianKoller

Jurassic Park III: Jurassic Park meets The Parent Trap

Sun, 27 Oct 2002 17:49:02 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - From a commercial point of view, Jurassic Park III was quite successful. The U.S. box office was nearly $200 million, twice that of the budget, and a fourth film is now in the works.

From a critical point of view, Jurassic Park...

Me, Myself & Irene: I'm Happy I Live in a Split-Level Head

Sun, 27 Oct 2002 11:36:09 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Back in 1991 or so, little-known comic actor Jim Carrey found the career niche that would soon make him one of the highest paid entertainers in the world.

The show was "In Living Color," and token white guy Carrey generated enormous laughs as...

Scary Movie: Stop me before I make you laugh again

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 22:12:34 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - There are three camps of opinion on Scary Movie. Theater patrons, of course, have the most important voice, and they turned out in droves to see the film, in some cases over and over again. This led to an inevitable (although widely panned)...

Mummy Returns: Attack of the Phantom Menace Clones

Sun, 20 Oct 2002 22:25:57 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - The Mummy Returns at least lives up to its title. Like Freddy, Jason, and numerous soap opera characters, Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) comes back from the dead, this time to face the Scorpion King (The Rock) and use his undead army to rule the world...

Field of Dreams: Feel good Dreams

Wed, 16 Oct 2002 22:41:36 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - It has to be one of the most parodied lines in film history. "If you build it, he will come." The voice from the cornfields comes to Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), the everyman good guy farmer with a devoted leftist wife Anni (Amy Madigan) and a precious...

Gone in 60 Seconds: Gone in 117 Minutes

Sun, 13 Oct 2002 17:09:27 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - To a small extent, you have to admire Gone in Sixty Seconds for its honesty. It makes no attempt to be anything other than what it is: a formula action film complete with cops, cool thieves, funny thieves, dumb thieves, car chases, shootouts, and...

Back to the Future 2: It's Deja Vu all over again

Sun, 13 Oct 2002 07:22:28 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - As great a film as Back to the Future (1985) was, it made it all the more difficult for its sequel to surpass it. But Part II (1989) gamely picks up where the first film left off. High School student Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) travels to...

Independence Day/The Abyss 2-Pack: Ed Harris Saves the World

Sat, 12 Oct 2002 10:57:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - (Note: this review is only for The Abyss. epinions.com does not have this film listed as an individual title.)

After his commercial and critical successes with The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), director James...

Casino: The rise and fall and fall and fall...

Thu, 10 Oct 2002 21:27:38 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Two of director Martin Scorsese's best films feature both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas (1990) were nominated for Best Picture, and deservedly so. It seemed logical for Scorcese to attempt a third cinema...

Meet the Parents: Meet Psycho Dad

Sun, 6 Oct 2002 15:49:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Meet the Parents was a remake of the 1992 film with the same title. It is also similar to The In-Laws (1979). The story has Jewish male nurse Greg (Ben Stiller) trying to impress the father (Robert De Niro) of would-be fiancee Pam Byrnes...

Total Recall: Ah-nuld Goes to Mars

Sat, 5 Oct 2002 17:46:42 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - In three of his best known films, RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers, Danish director Paul Verhoeven combined futuristic science-fiction action with plenty of gore and abundant moments of black comedy. There's even a hint...

Moulin Rouge: Moolah Ruse

Mon, 30 Sep 2002 21:29:36 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - In 1953, Jose Ferrer received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for the film Moulin Rouge. It was set in Paris during the Gay 90's. He played Toulouse-Lautrec, a bitter and alcoholic but well-spoken man who was also a talented illustrator. It was his...

Planet of the Apes: Too much monkey business

Sun, 29 Sep 2002 19:51:26 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Planet of the Apes created a wide division between science fiction fans in the summer of 2001. The problem was the preposterous ending, which led to an intense search by proponents for an explanation. In any event, plot resolutions should be...

Patriot: Missing the Action, Part IV: The Interminable

Sun, 29 Sep 2002 02:26:55 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Since Steven Seagal isn't getting any younger, and in fact is now past 50. He's like Arnold Schwarzenegger, becoming less credible as an action hero. He realizes this, and with The Patriot, he attempts to expand his audience into the family genre...

Traffic: My daughter is an honor student and junkie at...

Sat, 28 Sep 2002 15:38:27 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - One of the most acclaimed films of the year 2000, Traffic nearly lives up to its hype due to its compelling characters. Well written and directed, with solid continuity, Traffic is fascinating despite a few dubious plot resolutions.
...

Stand by Me: Have gun will travel

Thu, 26 Sep 2002 22:05:43 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Stand by Me was a surprise summer hit movie in 1986. The 'coming of age' story had broad audience appeal, and was made with a surprising depth to the characters and their dialogue.

Although set in 1959, the nostalgia factor is less in...

Snatch: What hath Tarantino wrought?

Sun, 22 Sep 2002 17:35:43 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - You have to give Guy Ritchie credit. He knows how to promote a movie. He married Madonna on December 22, 2000, the same week that Snatch went into wide release in the U.S. And like his previous film, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: Ferris Bueller is Eddie Haskell

Sat, 21 Sep 2002 19:36:35 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - For a full decade, John Hughes was the King of Hollywood. The comedy writer and director first scored with Chevy Chase in Vacation (1983), and the good times continued through 1992 (Beethoven, Home Alone 2).

Hughes never...

Dances with Wolves: Dances with Wolves (1990)

Fri, 20 Sep 2002 22:30:55 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Kevin Costner put his own money on the line for the epic western Dances with Wolves. Except for the Young Guns films, westerns were long since out of cinematic fashion. The last true blockbuster was probably Blazing Saddles, (1974) a...

Almost Famous: The kid looks like Danny Partridge

Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:08:24 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Almost Famous was a personal project for writer, director, and producer Cameron Crowe. Like his alter ego in the film, Crowe actually was a rock journalist for Rolling Stone at the tender age of 15. Several years later, he wrote the novel...

Unbreakable: A comic a day if you play

Sun, 15 Sep 2002 13:06:56 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Unbreakable is an interesting film that explores the hidden potential that seemingly ordinary people possess. This potential can be used for good or evil, but it cannot be unleashed without the help of others.

While this appears to be a...

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Crouching Dog, Hidden Patty

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 23:25:07 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - I was a little disappointed with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Part of the letdown may have been due to raised expectations. I had seen two previous films by acclaimed director Ang Lee, and both (Sense and Sensibility, Eat Drink Man...

O Brother, Where Art Thou?: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Mon, 9 Sep 2002 17:19:00 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - For their first film of the new millennium, the Coen brothers enlisted an unusual collaborator: Homer, a pseudonym adopted by an unknown Greek poet who lived in the first millennium B.C.

But the film's actual connection with Homer's "The...

Fury: The Fury (1978)

Mon, 19 Aug 2002 22:42:11 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - Brian De Palma was already a veteran director when his career was transformed by the success of Carrie. The adaptation of the best-selling Stephen King novel was an enormous hit. The film featured a downtrodden heroine with telekinetic powers who...

How Green Was My Valley: How Green Was My Valley (1941)

Sun, 11 Aug 2002 18:42:23 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author BrianKoller - In our more openly cynical era, the 'flaws' of How Green Was My Valley are all too obvious. The story is sentimental and romanticized. Many of the supporting characters are stereotyped: the mine owner's son (Marten Lamont) is an insufferable fop,...