1998

I've frequently wondered what my life would look like as a movie or television show. Every so often I get the feeling that a camera somewhere might be giving me my closeup, so I exaggerate my actions a little bit - give that movie star grin - and put an "I-mean-business" spring in my step. But it's all just fooling around. No one would ever really believe that their entire existence - everything they know - is in fact an elaborate fabrication, not in order to enslave the human race or some other high science fiction concept, but rather that they are being broadcast 24 hours a day as a reality television phenomenon. All your friends are actors, even your wife, and the major events of your life are influenced so as to get the best ratings. Now that's scary! And it's exactly what Truman Burbank is experiencing in the Truman Show, a fresh, original movie that asks a lot of tough questions and illuminates some pleasant (and extremely unpleasant) qualities of humanity. We pick up observing Truman (along with several different people all over the world who are addicted to the show) just a little before he begins to wonder about some things. He's getting itchy feet and wants to leave his town, but the coincidences preventing his departure become odder and odder until Truman slowly begins to suspect an overarching conspiracy. Ultimately, it will be a test of intelligence, courage, and spirit for Truman to either break free from his doll-house world or remain enslaved for the entertainment of everyone else. Functioning as a drama, a comedy, and a frighteningly astute satire of our society, The Truman Show is provides countless topics for discussion and introduces some weighty concepts within its neat, colorful tale. I suspect that it may actually become more interesting on subsequent viewings. Performances are strong all around. This is something everyone should probably see at least once.

Whoosh!

Woooo you know he dead.

More sound and fury (or I suppose the first installment) from director Guy Ritchie who gives us more likable characters than in his follow-up, Snatch, but whose story is every bit as contrived and ridiculous and whose characters are every bit as forgettable. Heck, I've forgotten most of them already and I just finished the film. The dialog is funny (though everyone speaks as if they are alternate personalities of the same character) and the violence is mostly implied rather than shown. Oh and another thing. This movie is not in English.

I could have liked this a lot more if the main character wasn't such a jerk. I laughed quite a bit ("With friends like you, who needs friends?" being probably the best such moment) but also felt the whole thing was kind of pointless and wildly unrealistic. There were drastic jabs of darkness introduced without breaking the comic tone which led to conflicting emotions. So I guess I don't really know how to feel about this yet.

Don't know if I ever saw the whole thing.

*sigh* I miss real Godzilla.

I'm sure I've seen this, but I can tell you it is not memorable, fresh or original.

Tepid. This movie is one big anachronism. It's not funny enough to be a full-blown comedy, but doesn't have the chops to be a serious drama or period piece. I guess it's just romantic fluff - completely predictable, sentimental, and poorly acted.