Movie Madness! ...DVD reviews

Well, there it is! The special Blockbuster DVD rental plan has ended. While most of the movies listed above were played from DVDs, some of the older films were VHS taped, and several were viewed in the theater.

Many of our film selections were based upon reviews found on the web. The rest were from the recommendations of friends, video store consults, or just a read of the rental box cover itself. (The box ads, by definition, were the least reliable.)

There were some lessons learned from this exercise. Picture and sound quality are generally excellent on DVD, but you'll most likely have to upgrade your audio system to take advantage of the newer forms of audio encoding. Regarding the movie content itself, the entertainment industry, unfortunately, doesn't make very many family films anymore. They also seem to have forgotten how to make a decent comedy, usually substituting crude, crass language, and similar activity under the guise of humor.

Sadly, there are far too many movies offered today which could never be shown in my house to my extended family. This fact notwithstanding, there were some films which were enjoyable at an adult level, as can be seen in our reviews.

Movie Title	Genre	AD Rating	DD Rating	AD's Cryptic Comments
15 Minutes	Action-Drama	+	+	I liked it, but too much graphic violence.
1941	Comedy	-	-	Surely have to be in the mood.
A Civil Action	Drama	o	o	So-so.
A Knight's Tale	Adventure/Comedy	-	o	Not for my age group...
A Few Good Men	Drama	+	+	This is a good one!
Air Force One	Action-Drama	+	+	Good drama, but implausible.
Along Came a Spider	Suspense-Drama	o	o	Entertaining; many holes in the web however.
American Beauty	Make one up..	-	-	Not my America!
Apocalypse Now	Action-Military	+	-	A Vietnam classic.
Apollo 13	Drama	+	+	Dramatic! Some poetic license involved.
Armageddon	Action Space	-	-	You could surely skip this one!
Batman (1989)	Action	+	-	One of my favorites. Nicholson, Keaton, Basinger.
Best in Show	Comedy	o	-	Maybe if I had been in a different mood??
Big	Comedy	o	o	Early Hanks. Not really a comedy.
Blackhawk Down	Action-Military	+	nr	Very intense... a politician's war :(
Bless the Child	Drama	-	o	Not an enjoyable flic.
Boiler Room	Drama	o	-	Rough language, but informative.
Cast Away	Adventure	o	+	Different - starts to drag.
Chicken Run	Comedy	+	o	But have to be in the mood...
Clear and Present Danger	Action-Drama	+	+	A Clancy winner!
Close Encounters of the Third Kind	SciFi	+	o	Old classic.
Coogans Bluff	Action	-	nr	Skip this one.
Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon	Adventure	+	+	Good action, special effects. Story??
Das Boot	Action-Military	+	o	Classic submarine flick.
Die Hard with a Vengeance	Action	+	o	Weaker than Die Hard, but OK.
Diplomatic Siege	Action-Drama	o	o	Improbable.
Dirty Harry	Action	+	-	A must for this genre.
Double Jeopardy	Suspense-Thriller	o	o	You must first suspend all disbelief, then enjoy.
Driven	Action	-	-	Poorly done; a Stallone turkey.
End of Days	Supernatural	-	-	The end couldn't come soon enough!
Enemy at the Gates	Action-Military	+	o	War is truly Hell. Good flick for a >50 y o male.
Erin Brockovich	Drama	o	+	Did it happen that way?? OK flick.
Event Horizon	SciFi	-	-	Avoid Horizon... a big ugh!
Fargo	Murder Mystery	+	-	I liked it, but graphic violence.
Forest Gump	Drama	+	+	One of Hanks' best. Great film!
Frequency	Action-Drama	+	+	Good flick.
Gladiator	Action-Drama	o	+	OK, but tends to drag on, and on...
Good Morning, Vietnam	Drama	+	+	See Vietnam era with Robin Williams.
Good Will Hunting	Drama	+	o	Good flick.
Grand Prix	Action-Drama	+	o	Classic F1 racing flic; good cameos.
Hannibal	Thriller	o	-	Not a Silence of the Lambs! Gory.
High Plains Drifter	Western	+	o	Mostly for Eastwood fans.
Iron Giant	Children-Animated	+	o	Good family flick.
Kiss the Girls	Thriller	-	-	Not an enjoyable film.
LeMans	Action-Drama	+	o	McQueen in the Porsche long tail.
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels	Comedy	-	-	Pathetic, no matter what the critics say.
Magnolia	Drama	-	-	Rough, disjointed flick... 3 hrs worth!
Manhunter	Thriller	o	-	The original from the novel Red Dragon. A pass.
Meet the Parents	Comedy	-	-	Forget the parents!!
Memento	Murder Mystery	+	o	Interesting due to reverse timeline.
Men of Honor	Drama	o	o	Differed from my mil. experience.
Mercury Rising	Action-Drama	+	+	Well, I liked it! :)
Mercy Streets	Action-Drama	-	-	Good intentions didn't get to the screen.
Miss Congeniality	Comedy	-	+	Don't bother.
Net Force	Action	-	+	You can miss this one also.
No Way Out	Action-Drama	+	+	Good genre flick.
O Brother Where Art Thou	Comedy	+	+	An enjoyable movie! Catchy bluegrass songs.
October Sky	Drama	+	+	Excellent! Don't miss this.
Once Upon a Time in the West	Western	+	nr	My all-time Western favorite.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest	Drama	+	nr	A Nicholson classic.
Out of Sight	Action-Drama	-	nr	Language, violence - not enjoyable.
Patch Adams	Drama	+	+	Enjoyed this "based on true story" flick.
Patton	Action-Military	+	o	On my all-time "best" list!
Pay It Forward	Drama	o	-	Good idea, but not in vogue.
Pulp Fiction	Drama	-	-	Not my kind of film.
Raising Arizona	Comedy	o	o	Ummm... it's the Coen Bros. in a trailer park.
Rules of Engagement	Military Drama	+	+	It was... well... engaging!
Saving Pvt Ryan	Action-Military	+	+	War is truly Hell! A must see.
Silence of the Lambs	Thriller	+	o	No.1 in genre. A "must see"!
Silverado	Western	+	nr	If you like Westerns - don't miss this.
Sleepy Hollow	Horror	o	-	"Don't lose your head over this one!" - MJZ :-)
Space Cowboys	Action Space	o	o	Nothing much here.
Stir of Echoes	Horror-Suspense	-	-	Sixth Sense Wannabe
Super Speedway	Action	+	o	IMAX niche race car documentary. (CART)
Talented Mr. Ripley	Thriller?	-	-	The assemblage is good; story line loses it.
The Abyss	Action-Drama	o	-	Have to be in the mood.
The Body	Adventure	+	+	We beat the critics! :)
The Burbs	Comedy	+	o	My street! View with a beer on Fri nite.
The Cell	Thriller	-	-	An "out-of-your-mind" experience. Forget it.
The Contender	Drama	-	o	Left wing ideology : pro-abortion, anti-gun. anti-religion.
The Crew	Comedy	+	+	Only if you're over 55. (I can relate!)
The Devils Own	Action-Drama	+	+	A fairly well-made suspense film.
The Dish	Drama	o	o	An entire film about a dish!! A Sun nite flick :)
The Eiger Sanction	Adventure	-	nr	So-so. Can be missed.
The English Patient	Romance-drama	o	o	An epic in the older Hollywood manner.
The Family Man	Drama	o	-	Class disparity in a dream; long; so-so.
The Fast and the Furious	Action	-	nr	Don't know what to say...
The Fugitive	Action-drama	+	o	The progenitor of felonious fleeing flicks!! :)
The General's Daughter	Murder Mystery	+	-	Strong Travolta role.
The Gift	Thriller	+	+	Blanchett "makes" this movie.
The Green Mile	Drama	+	+	Lots of emotions here.
The Haunting	Supernatural	o	o	OK, but barely.
The Insider	Sci-Fi	-	-	Earns my Hollywood "UGH!".
The Jackal	Thriller	+	o	Great for engineers!
The Madness of King George	Drama	+	+	Well done!
The Matrix	SciFi	+	o	Weird! Did I say weird??!
The Mummy	SciFi	o	-	You can miss this one..
The Omega Code	Drama	-	-	Started fine; got lost along the way.
The Patriot	Action-Drama	o	o	Heroes vs. zeros - good guys win!
The Pledge	Murder Mystery	o	o	So-so; drags.
The Siege	Action-Drama	+	+	Unnerving - NYC terrorism predictor- made in 1998!
The Sixth Sense	Supernatural	+	+	Great story; surprise ending.
The Whole Nine Yards	Comedy	o	o	Casual viewing - OK.
Thirteen Days	Drama	+	o	Good flick, but too much Costner.
Toy Story 2	Children-Animated	+	o	Well done animation!
Traffic	Action	o	o	OK flick, but no joy.
Truman	Drama	+	o	Life before TV and the net...
U-571	Action-Military	o	+	Improbable, but go along for the ride.
Unbreakable	Supernatural	o	o	Ummmm, rent it only
Vertical Limit	Action-Drama	-	-	Monotonous. Maybe better on a large screen.
Waiting for Guffman	Comedy	o	o	Dèjá vu.
Waking Ned Devine	Comedy	+	-	Go with the flow.
What Dreams May Come	Supernatural	o	o	Smothering, as in when will it end.
What Lies Beneath	Thriller	+	-	Depends on your mood.
What Women Want	Comedy	-	-	Bad as a "dumb blonde" joke.