What Dreams May Come (1998)

What Dreams May Come (1998)
Director: Vincent Ward
Writers: Richard Matheson (novel), Ronald Bass (screenplay)
Stars: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Annabella Sciorra

Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. 

My Rating: 2 of 5 "It Was Okay"

Well, if you're in the mood for something depressing, this is the movie for you. My initial interest in this movie was the art side as opposed to the story (though the story was really good.) There's several scenes in this movie that take place inside a painting, so it's fun to see how they visualized the characters' interaction with a slippery, colorful world.

I feel like so much was crammed in this movie, that it would have been better if, maybe, it was a television series. I haven't read the novel, so I don't know how much was changed, but I imagine the novel delves much deeper into the different aspects of Chris's worlds and the characters within.

I dunno if I would have chosen Robin Williams as the actor for this movie. I'd have to think pretty hard on who I would cast in his place, but in general I find it hard to take Robin Williams serious. He's just so good at being funny and smart that when I see him in an epic role, I feel distracted. Anyone else like that- perhaps even with different stars?

Black Oil, Red Blood by Diane Castle

Black Oil, Red Blood
By Diane Castle

The thing about cancer is it’s hard to prove somebody gave it to you on purpose—but Chloe Taylor can prove it. In fact, she proves it for a living. She sues oil refineries that would rather save a buck than comply with safety regulations designed to do important things like, you know, keep people alive. 

Rating: 2 of 5 "It Was Okay"

I'm sorry to say that I struggled to get through this book. I'm going to give it two stars for "it was okay" because really that's what I'd have to say about it. It was okay.

The characters were overwhelmingly cardboard (with the exception of Nash, who actually seemed to have some complexity) and the plot was so-so. I feel like the story was an excuse for the author to lecture me about Big Oil. Characters randomly broke out into long-winded speeches and rattled off statistics as if they were reading it right off of wikipedia. The dialogue throughout these long stretches of texture-less expository chunks was brittle and constructed at best.

The action scenes were pretty okay, until the point that they inevitably reached a level of absurdity even I was taken out of the book. I'm all for camp, really, but if the main character noticed Nash's "chiseled torso" one more time at the very wrong time I was going to flip my desk. That, and the results of said action scenes were unsatisfactory. Chloe spent too much time being tossed from one action wave to the next without discovering any information on her own. She might as well not have been the main character of this book.

At any rate, there were several redeeming qualities that kept me going throughout. Miles, Chloe's gay paralegal, was entertaining comedic relief (even though the obviousness of his role in the story did irritate me by the time I hit the half-way point.) And normally I don't like the use of pets in books but I found myself oddly pleased by Lucy's simple pleasure in car rides and usefulness as a midnight look-out.

My roommate read this book at the same time I did, and she found much more enjoyment in it than I did. However, she didn't read the whole book, just popped in and out and read over my shoulder for the scenes that made me laugh. I'm not sure what that says for the book beyond saying it has potential that wasn't properly exploited.

Then again, maybe this isn't my kind of story? Unsure. I'll go compare notes with other readers and see if I'm just the odd-man out on this one.

Following (1998)

Following (1998)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw and Lucy Russell

An older man listens to Bill's story about being a callow writer who likes to follow strangers around around London, observing them. One day, a glib and self-confident man whom Bill has been following confronts him. He's Cobb, a burglar who takes Bill under his wing and shows him how to break and enter. They burgle a woman's flat; Bill gets intrigued with her (photographs are everywhere in her flat). He follows her and chats her up at a bar owned by her ex-boyfriend, a nasty piece of work who killed someone in her living room with a hammer. Soon Bill is volunteering to do her a favor, which involves a break-in. What does the older man know that Bill doesn't?

My Rating: 2 of 5 "It Was Okay"

I might have the unpopular opinion on this. I wasn't interested in the characters, so I wasn't interested in paying attention to their problems. I thought the concept for the movie was pretty cool, but I didn't get enough information at the right times to keep my curiosity peaked throughout.

Honestly, I got bored with it and walked away to do something else, only to come back literally two minutes later and discover the credits were rolling. Christopher Nolan ("Memento") is known for having his movies come together in the last frickin' thirty seconds, so I had to restart the last five minutes to catch the punchline. The punchline, as can be expected, was really good, but if I'm bored with the freakin' movie after seventy minutes of being jerked around, then I'm not even gonna watch the punchline.

So, it was alright. Probably won't watch it again.

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)

I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Writers: John Requa, Glenn Ficarra
Stars: Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor and Leslie Mann
Rated: R
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Steven Russell is happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force when a car accident provokes a dramatic reassessment of his life. Steven becomes open about his homosexuality and decides to live life to the fullest - even if it means breaking the law. Steven's new, extravagant lifestyle involves cons and fraud and, eventually, a stay in the State Penitentiary where he meets sensitive, soft-spoken Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts Steven to attempt and often succeed at one impossible con after another.

My Rating: 2 of 5 "It was okay"

This movie suffers from Jim Carrey. Sorry, I'm not a Jim Carrey fan, and I'm pretty much certain that this film would have been twenty times better without him (though that's my opinion on all Jim Carrey films.) I thought the movie was interesting to a point, but I probably wouldn't have bothered with it if I wasn't watching it with friends.