Epinions Recent Reviews for mark_dujsik

Reloaded but not Refreshed

Thu, 15 May 2003 09:09:59 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - If there's one thing The Matrix Reloaded fortifies, it's that the Wachowski brothers are born filmmakers through and through. Four years after The Matrix, Andy and Larry have returned to their comic book fantasy world and pumped it up on...

A Spirited Triumph

Thu, 3 Apr 2003 02:52:13 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - I hate to gush in the first sentence of a review, but I absolutely love this film. Now that it's out of the way, you can expect similar sentiments to follow. Spirited Away plays out like the greatest children's novel never written. I feel...

Max Meets Hitler

Thu, 26 Dec 2002 20:49:28 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - They are the flip sides of a coin, Max Rothman (John Cusack) and Adolf Hitler (Noah Taylor). Both are German born and raised. Both fought in the Great War. Both are angered by the way the German government has appeased the world by agreeing the...

The Untold History of New York

Sun, 22 Dec 2002 20:47:54 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York is quite possibly the most ambitious Hollywood film I’ve seen this year. It’s an epic about gang wars in mid-1800s New York City which features only two major battles, and one of them is interrupted...

Towers Stands Tall

Wed, 18 Dec 2002 09:41:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - There are two mindsets at battle when considering the success of The Two Towers, the second installment of the filmed adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, which I am now fairly convinced that when seen as a whole will...

Roger Dodger: A Night out with Roger

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 00:29:01 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Roger Dodger leaves all possible pretense of the softer nature of its main character behind in the opening scene, and it only falters slightly near the end when it attempts to reconcile him with the past. In the scene, Roger Swanson (Campbell...

Analyze These

Wed, 11 Dec 2002 04:44:18 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Yet another entry in the pointless and unsuccessful sequel to a movie that was fine on its own category, Analyze That really has nothing going for it except the memory and basic premise of the original. It reminds me of Men in Black II,...

A Too-short Trip to Solaris

Sun, 1 Dec 2002 19:15:15 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 film Solaris plays like a condensed version of something highly complex. Even people who haven’t seen the original (like myself, although that will change very soon) should be able...

A Solid Bond Movie Will Be Made Another Day

Tue, 26 Nov 2002 20:38:15 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - No matter what anyone says, I’ve liked the three previous James Bond movies with Pierce Brosnan taking on one of the most famous characters in film history. GoldenEye put a modern twist on some of Bond’s hedonistic behavior and had the...

Chamber Opens the Series to Success

Sun, 17 Nov 2002 01:00:23 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Now that’s more like it. I felt as much excitement and surprise watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as I felt disappointment watching its predecessor Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Chamber of Secrets is...

Signs of a Great Filmmaker

Thu, 8 Aug 2002 20:33:12 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - M. Night Shyamalan may have burst onto the scene as a strong, rising talent three years ago when he wrote and directed the wildly popular and highly celebrated ghost story The Sixth Sense and immensely improved his storytelling skills in his...

Identity Crisis

Thu, 13 Jun 2002 17:21:17 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - The Bourne Identity is a European travelogue spy movie through and through. The main character travels from scenic locale A to scenic locale B and perhaps along the way is delayed for a few minutes to participate in a fight or a car chase. An...

Fears Become Reality

Mon, 3 Jun 2002 19:07:12 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - The fiction of Tom Clancy is set in the modern world, but it only has the guise of reality. His world is not run by major political leaders and treaties but instead by CIA operatives and backdoor conversations, and all dealings are dictated and overrun...

This Wars Is No Clone

Thu, 16 May 2002 14:51:25 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - All doubts of George Lucas’ capabilities of weaving the tale before the tales that made him famous are put to rest with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. A visually stunning confection of giddy science-fiction fun and a dead-serious...

It's Time to Panic

Sat, 20 Apr 2002 16:24:50 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - There are only two scenes in Panic Room that place its main characters in open air. The first is the right at the beginning, and the second is the very final shot. In every scene between, director David Fincher creates a sense of claustrophobia,...

Surviving Resident Evil

Wed, 27 Mar 2002 16:40:40 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Mark’s Unofficial FAQ/Strategy Guide to the Movie Resident Evil

Question: What genre would you place Resident Evil under?

Hint: It has zombies in it.

Answer: Resident Evil is a zombie...

Good Lord!

Fri, 22 Feb 2002 04:06:32 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is the most influential piece of fantasy literature of the past century, and I can see that now. Its influence is apparent in just about every piece of fantasy to come along since, from the Star...

I Do Not Like I Am Sam

Tue, 19 Feb 2002 19:09:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - The tearjerker genre relies on predictable, formulaic melodrama. I am not a big fan of such endeavors. Fortunately, they are occasionally occupied by actors with far more talent than the material deserves. I Am Sam is exactly that kind of movie...

Count on a Solid Period Throwback

Thu, 14 Feb 2002 17:05:41 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - The works of Alexandre Dumas have not fared well in recent film adaptations. The two most recent that come to mind are the uninteresting The Man in the Iron Mask and last year’s debacle The Musketeer. This adaptation of The Count of...

A Royal Reunion

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 02:38:42 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - If Bottle Rocket was a stylish name-maker for director Wes Anderson and Rushmore was a complete proof of his talents, then The Royal Tenenbaums simply reinforces Anderson’s role as a cutting-edge young director. With...

Clear Sky

Sat, 15 Dec 2001 08:24:44 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Watching Vanilla Sky, I felt that something darker behind what’s on the screen is just yearning to crawl out, grab the proceedings, and bring them somewhere into the essential fears of the human psyche. There are glimpses and small segments of the...

Soderbergh Goes Hollywood with Ocean's Eleven

Sun, 9 Dec 2001 16:01:19 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - With Ocean’s Eleven, director Steven Soderbergh has broken into mainstream Hollywood, and it’s about time Hollywood can claim a director who actually takes time with his films--lets the characters grow on us, lets the dialogue crackle at the right...

A Pretty Fun Game

Fri, 7 Dec 2001 19:02:19 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Movies have become far too average recently. They don’t try anything new, and if they do, they play it safe. Spy Game falls into both of these categories in different ways. On one level, it’s a completely average thriller, but on the other hand,...

Monsters in the Multiplex

Wed, 5 Dec 2001 19:11:43 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - Pixar Animation Studios proved themselves pioneers of computer animation (and animation in general) and the art of film when they made Toy Story, the first full-length, fully computer-generated film. That film proved that Pixar was aware that...

War Is Hell?

Tue, 4 Dec 2001 18:45:34 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author mark_dujsik - The bombing of Pearl Harbor was quick, precise, and strategic. Pearl Harbor is a mindless action movie passing as a serious war epic that is dragged out, unsure, and quite random. It places one of the most uninteresting love stories I’ve seen...