Tag: 2001

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – 00s Movies – H – The Hole (2001) Movie Review

The Hole – Overly Complicated View on the Upper Class

Director: Nick Hamm

Writer: Ben Court, Caroline Ip (Screenplay) Guy Burt (Novel)

Starring: Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brocklebank, Laurence Fox, Kiera Knightley, Embeth Davidtz

Plot: Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.


Tagline – An exclusive invitation. An excuse to party. But deep in the darkness lie their worst fears. The truth will be buried unless they survive…the hole.

Runtime: 1 Hour 42 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Hole starts when Liz (Birch) has escaped after being missing with three other boarding school friends Mike (Harrington), Geoff (Fox) and Frankie (Knightley). Liz is recounting the events to Dr Philippa Horwood (Davidtz), as we learn she is the outsider at the school, who has a crush on Mike, with her best friend Martin (Brocklebank) arranging for the four to skip a field trip to have a weekend in a bunker on the school grounds.

When nobody returns after the three day arrangement, the four friends are left to try and figure out how to escape, showing the darker side of the natures, while Martin has his own story of the events, leaving everything caught up in the middle of not knowing the truth.

Thoughts on The Hole

Characters & Performances – Liz looks like the lone survivor of a secret three day trip away from the boarding school, she is traumatised about what happened, with her calculated story putting everything on Martin, as her plan was to get closer to her crush Mike, even if she is the outsider of the school in her own eyes, turning to the popular Frankie for help, outside of her story, she is seen as the popular one that planned the whole event, which will keep us guessing to which version of her is the real one. Thora Birch does make this character feel more complex with her performance. Mike is the son of a rock star, which makes him the heartthrob of the school, most of the girls have changed their image for a chance with him, with Liz setting her sights on him. Desmond Harrington does play into the bad boy image this character requires well through the film. Frankie is the popular girl at the school, she clicks her fingers and makes things happen, she is mixed in her position through different stories, one showing her the all powerful user, the other showing her to be the best friend. Keira Knightley does everything well in this role, even if she was too young to be doing some of the things her character goes through.

Story – The Hole follows four friends that look to have a party away from the boarding school, which ends up going terribly wrong when only one survivor the events of extended time in the bunker. This is a story that jumps between stories, without making any as clear as they need to, we have the victim story, the set-up story, the twisted truth and the reality of the events, each one changes our perspectives of the characters involved through the film. This is the design I get, but seeing these what are meant to be around 15-year-olds acting like this, doesn’t come off as believable as it wants too and shows us just how terrible the upper class can be.

Themes – The Hole uses the idea of extended isolation to turn the story on its head, showing us just how far someone will go to get what they want, showing us just how desperate to fit in and standout some can get. We know from the opening one survives, which only leads to us going through different stories, to pick up little hints of what really happened, nobody seems to be lying, just spinning the truth. The singular location does make things very interesting to se unfold through the film too, though we could have had a little bit more exploring, as it is heavily hinted this is just an escape hatch, not the only entrance.

Final Thoughts – The Hole is a thriller that does seem to have become dated, with an overly complicated story going on through it.



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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nominations – T – Amelie (2001) Movie Review

This is under T because of Audrey Tautou in the leading role.

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Writer: Guillaume Laurant, Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Screenplay)

Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin, Jamel Bebbouze

Plot: Amélie is an innocent and naive girl in Paris with her own sense of justice. She decides to help those around her and, along the way, discovers love.


Tagline – One person can change your life forever.

Runtime: 2 Hours 2 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Amelie starts as we meet the naïve and innocent Amelie (Tautou) who has her own way to do things, noticing the small quirks everyone around her has, as she looks to always do the right thing for the people around her life.

After Amelie discovers a mystery toybox, she looks to discover who it belonged to, continuing her plan to do the right thing for people, as it will bring her a new happiness in life, one that has seen her feeling lonely for most of her life.

Thoughts on Amelie

Thoughts – Amelie is a delightful movie about finding yourself in life, by wanting to help people around your life to make everyone happy in life, by doing the right thing. Amelie is told in a way that is filled with odd ball moments, while giving us plenty of moments that will give us plenty to enjoy. The search for love is very real, which will be the main draw for Amelie as she is searching for it, never knowing where to search, finding the idea that helping people finding their missing parts in love. Audrey Tautou is brilliant in the leading role, drawing us into watching her ever movement in life. The comedy is quick fire, with the odd moments getting the laughs needed through the film.

Final Thoughts – Amelie is a delightful film.

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Movie Review

Valentine (2001) Movie Review

Director: Jamie Blanks

Writer: Donna Powers, Wayne Powers, Gretchen J Berg, Aaron Harberts (Screenplay) Tom Savage (Novel)

Starring: Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw, Jessica Cauffiel, Katherine Heigl, Hedy Burress

Plot: Five women are stalked by an unknown assailant while preparing for Valentine’s Day.


Tagline – Revenge is sweeter than candy.

Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Slasher 101

Story: Valentine starts as we see a high school kid getting rejected and embarrassed at a school dance, after he asks for a dance, move forward to college time, Shelley (Heigl) a medical student is murdered. The four remaining friends Paige (Richards), Kate (Shelton), Dorothy (Capshaw) and Lily (Cauffiel) reunite because of the funeral, seeing the old friends getting twisted valentine’s day cards.

When the women start getting stalked they realize they might be getting attacked by the former high school student, but nobody knows where he is now, leading to a host of boyfriends or ex-lovers become the suspects.

Thoughts on Valentine

Characters – Kate is the nice one of the girls, she was the only one that didn’t reject Jeremy at the dance, she is in a struggling relationship with her best friend trying to help her move on, she hasn’t given up on her partner yet. Paige is the flirty one of the group, known for sleeping around but confident about what she does, she will shoot down any unwanted advances and be the one that sticks up for the girls. Dorothy is another one of the girls from a rich family that has grown up to improve herself always self-conscious of her image. Lily is leaving for LA and is like Paige only just not as successful, willing to give artists a chance. Adam is Kate’s boyfriend, he has a drinking problem and to keep her, he needs to improve his act, which he is trying to do. The sad thing about the women characters in this film, is that they only seem to care about whether they have a boyfriends or not, nothing else is made out to be important in any means.

Performances – We have a cast here which does everything they need to, Marley does make us feel like the girl next door, Denise Richards is a flirty seductive character works well and David Boreanaz as the boyfriend with problems does work too, the two Jessicas does well too, with Capshaw showing the insecurities she is feeling and Cauffiel being the confident bubbly one.

Story – The story here follows five friends that are getting stalked on valentine’s day with them believing it is a high school kid that once embarrassed at a high school dance years before. Let’s start by making sure we know this is a slasher film, with the story that doesn’t need to be that deep in how everything unfolds. The characters are never going to be that deep with most of these being horrendously written to be unrealistic, we have women who are only interested in whether they have boyfriends and who are only interested in men that let them down in different ways. The only thing this does is introduce us to a string of different potential suspects who could be the grown up former student. The smartest part of the film comes from the kills on the main group, while another weakness would come from the random deaths, which just don’t make sense to what the calculated plan is.

Horror/Mystery – This is one of the horror films that grabbed the slasher era of late 90’s early 2000’s well, it is pure slasher material and an ease to watch. The mystery here comes from just who the killer could be, we do get plenty of suspects, though the killer does seem to kill the suspects that would make the most sense.

Settings – The film here is set in a big city, one that people do want to get out off and the one the girls grew up in, they have their own lives, which see them being targeted by the killer.

Special Effects – The effects are used for the injuries which work, without needing to be anything more or going for fancy over the top kills.


Scene of the Movie – Hot tub time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Certain side kills are just too random to the plan.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun slasher that while it does have flaws, you could easily watch with a drink or two and enjoy the events of the genre done correctly.

Overall: Pure Slasher Horror Fun.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Favourites – P – The Pledge (2001) Movie Review

Director: Sean Penn

Writer: Jerzy Kromolowski, Mary Olson-Kromolowski (Screenplay) Friedrich Durrenmatt (Book)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Patricia Clarkson, Benicio Del Toro, Aaron Eckhart, Beau Daniels, Helen Mirren, Robin Wright, Vanessa Redgrave, Mickey Rourke

Plot: A retiring police detective pledges to catch the killer of a young child.


Tagline – He may have retired, but he’s still catching the killer

Runtime: 2 Hours 4 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Intense Thriller

Story: The Pledge starts as the body of a young girl who has been brutally raped and murdered is discovered, retiring detective Jerry Black (Nicholson) wants to help investigate under Stan Krolak (Eckhart), which includes breaking the news to the parents Margaret (Clarkson) and Duane (O’Keefe), making a promise to get the monster behind this crime.

What looks like a cut and dry case, mentally handicapped Toby Wadenah (Del Toro) admits to the crime, dying in police custody. Jerry continues on into retirement, only after another murder that looks similar, he starts to look into the case again, learning that the real killer might still be out there and wanting to solve the case, even without the help of his former colleagues.

Thoughts on The Pledge

Characters – Jerry Black is a detective on the verge of retirement, when the murder happens, he wants to help and after the solving of the case goes smoothly, he heads of into retirement sunset, until he learns about another murder, he wants to reopen the case to solve the a potential serial killer, putting him in the position where he thinks he will cross paths with the killer. When it comes to the rest of the characters, we have a string of police officers at different levels, a couple of parents, some who have seen their children killed, one suffering abuse, but most of this film is focusing on how Jerry is dealing with retirement.

Performances – Jack Nicholson is fantastic in this leading role, he brings us a veteran cop that has always been able to solve a case, and shows how retirement will leave a void in his life. We do have a very good supporting cast of actors here including Helen Mirren, Patricia Clarkson, Aaron Eckhart, Vanessa Redgrave, Benicio Del Toro, Robin Wright and Sam Shepard who all do well with their roles in the film.

Story – The story here follows a retiring detective that gets involved in one last case, only for him to see it closed easily, but not being convinced the suspect was really the person, trying to continue solving the crime, which he believes is bigger. This is a very interesting story, it does show how crimes could easily be connected and how it could only be one that starts trying to solve the issues he has with the case, while deeper down it shows how one detective could be struggling with his retirement, not wanting to accept that he won’t have cases to solve. Having both of these ideas playing hand in hand is very interesting, which leads to us wondering which is true.

Crime/Mystery – The crime side of the film does see a horrible murder being solved, with the mystery about whether it was really the person that was caught or not.

Settings – The film uses the settings to show how Jerry is trying to solve a murder, which could end up being a bigger crime going on, with him looking at potential locations.


Scene of the Movie – The parade.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It is left too much to our own to decide the truth.

Final Thoughts – This is an interesting thriller that does follow a detective who believes that a crime could still need solving, or he could just be making it up to keep him busy, this is interesting to see unfold with Jack Nicholson shining.

Overall: Brilliant Thriller.

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Movie Review

Jack Black Weekend – Shallow Hall (2001) Movie Review

Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly

Writer: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Sean Moynihan (Screenplay)

Starring: Gwyenth Paltrow, Jack Black, Jason Alexander, Joe Viterelli, Rene Kirby, Bruce McGill, Anthony Robbins

Plot: A shallow man falls in love with a 300-pound woman because of her inner beauty.


Tagline – True Love Is Worth The Weight!

Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Sweet Little Comedy

Story: Shallow Hal starts as we meet Hal (Black) who was given advice from his father to never settle always shot for the stars when trying to meet women. Now in adult life he is a nice guy but he only targets models, always striking out, even if his friends try to convince him to learn about the women first.

After getting trapped in an elevator with Anthony Robbins a television hypnotist, he pulls a trick on him to see women for their inner beauty, which sees him meeting Rosemary (Paltrow) seeing her as a beautiful women, when she is really a bigger women, somebody Hal would never give a second glance to, Hal’s best friend Mauricio (Alexander) is getting worried his friend has changed.

Thoughts on Shallow Hal

Characters – Hal saw his father die young giving him one piece of advice, never settle when it comes to the ladies. Keeping that in his mind he has only ever tried to date models, without much success. He gets hypnotised into seeing the inner beauty only which to meet Rosemary a bigger woman he only sees as a beautiful woman, which sees him learn the lesson in life that people are not just what the outside shows. Rosemary is the woman Hal sees as a beautiful model, but she is a bigger girl with a heart of gold, which under the spell that Hal is under he doesn’t see, she is reluctant to let Hal into her life, but eventually believes him to be good. Mauricio is the shallow best friend of Hal’s, they have both only tried to date the beautiful women, he sees something wrong with his friend and tries to fix it. Steve Shanahan is Rosemary’s father and Hal’s boss who sees the positives in Hal, but will protect his daughter at any cost.

Performances – Jack Black in the lead of a comedy like this works wonders, he can play both sides with ease being the charmer that isn’t afraid whether he strikes out or not. Gwyneth Paltrow is great too showing she can handle comedy without needing to be the one running with the jokes. Jason Alexander provides fun supporting role that shows his skills in comedy.

Story – The story here follows a man Hal that believes he can only date models after being raised to never settle for less, when he gets hypnotised he learns to admire the inner beauty in women never seeing any of their outside flaws like the rest of the world, we are left to see if he can learn to just ignore everything once the spell wears off. This is an interesting look at romance, it shows us just how important trying to find love can be and getting to know a person is more important than anything else. This aside we do seem to have one flaw in the story and that is only some of the people change, while others remain completely the same, which does seem strange and it also only seems to show people that volunteer being less attractive, while the career driven women more than men are seen to be ugly inside. That aside we are focusing more on the struggles that Hal’s friend is facing with his change, more than Hal needing to learn about his changes.

Comedy/Romance – The comedy largely comes from Jack Black, while some of the lines seem awkward when we know the difference between the two Rosemary’s he delivers his comedy in such a confident way it shines through, with the romance being about how falling in love can happen with the person you least expect at times.

Settings – The film is set in the big city and shows how people can be ignored at times, while other times they could be right there in your life.


Scene of the Movie – Leaving Party.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We do seem to imply that women who volunteer are beautiful on the inside, not career women.

Final Thoughts – This is a comedy that hits most of its marks, it plays into Jack Black’s strengths proving that giving him the right material he can improve any movie.

Overall: Funny for the Most Part.

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Movie Review

Don’t Say A Word (2001)

Don’t Say a Word: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, and More

Don't Say a Word: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, and More

Director: Gary Fleder
Starring: Michael Douglas, Sean Bean, Brittany Murphy, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Guy Torry, Jennifer Esposito, Shawn Doyle, Victor Argo, Conrad Goode, Paul Schulze, Lance Reddick, Famke Janssen, Oliver Platt

Starting off with a robbery of a rare gem by Patrick Koster (Sean Bean) and his group of thieves Dolen (Guy Torry), Max (Conrad Goode) and Russel Maddox (Shawn Doyle). Only for for Patrick to be double crossed by one of his crew. Ten years later Patrick wants his gem back and he sets out his plan to get it.

Prominent Psychiatrist Nathan Conrad (Michael Douglas) gets a call from his friend Dr Louis Sache (Oliver Platt) asking for him to see a young patient Elisabeth Burrows (Brittany Murphy). Finding out Elisabeth is a very disturbed woman who keeps talking about ‘They wanting something’. giving Louis is opinion on Elisabeth he leaves and returns to his family.

Returning home to his daughter Jessie Conrad (Skye McCole Bartusiak) and wife Aggie Conrad (Famke Janssen) who is stuck in bed with a broken leg. Looking forward to the Thanksgiving Parade the next day they think they are safe in their home and head to sleep. The morning comes and Nathan starts looking for his daughter only to find out she is missing. Upon trying to the police Patrick is on the end of the line forcing Nathan to get a number out of Elisabeth by the end of the day or they will kill his daughter.

Having Detective Sandra Cassidy (Jennifer Esposito) on the tails of Patrick and his crew the race hots up. Can Nathan get the number before time runs out?

This is a good action thriller filled with twists in the story keeping audience on the edge of their seats from the moment the call is made to the very tense climax. Giving that Nathan is pushed to a time limit he manages to keep calm for most of the story knowing that panicking would only get his daughter killed. Sean Bean does work to his strength as a villain who will do anything for his prize. This would be worth a watch for most action fans.

My rating is 76%

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Movie Review

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Dwayne Johnson, Freddie Boath, Patricia Velasquez, Alun Armstrong, Adewale Akinnuoye-Adbaje, Shaun Parkes

This time we start even further back in ancient Egypt with the Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson) as a warrior who is about to loses a war and is exiled to the desert, on the brink off death he make a deal with Anubis to defeat all his foes, Anubis accepts and sends an unbeatable army who conquer all. After this the Scorpion King is taken in to a bracelet where he must wait to be awaken when someone puts on his bracelet.

Almost forgotten from history Evy (Rachel Weisz) Rick (Brendan Fraser) and their son Alex (Freddie Boath) locate the Scorpion King’s bracelet better known as Bracelet of Anubis are return to the rather posh mansion where they meet Jonathan (John Hannah) pretend to be Rick to impress a woman. Back in another part of Egypt an expedition to Hamanutra to recover the remains of Imhetop (Aronld Vosloo) lead by Baltus Hafez (Alun Armstrong) a curator at the London museum and Meela Nais (Patricia Velasquez) who seems to know too much information. After locating the body and the book of the dead they head back to London to steal the bracelet of Anubis from the O’Connell’s.

Alex trying to hide that he opened the case with the bracelet put its on and is shown a location. Lock-Nah (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and his men kidnap Evy and steal the case of the bracelet of Anubis leaving Rick, John, Alex and Ardeth Bay (Oded Fehr) to go and save her. As we learn some of the consequences of Alex putting on the bracelet just the apocalypse this time.

After Baltus Hafez, Meela Nais and Lock-Nah bring Imhotep back to life and he in return brings some mummies back to life to kill Rick and Ardeth Bay for saving Evy, we have a great chase through London in double Decker bus fighting these mummies before Lock-Nah kidnaps Alex after figuring out he has the bracelet and they head off back to Egypt. Rock. Evy and Arbeth bay follow and with the help of an old buddy of Rick’s Izzy (Shaun Parkes) they race across Egypt to find their son and save the world again by stopping the Scorpion King and his army rising from the dead.

We get a lot more reincarnation back story learning how some characters are more important to each other than the original lead us to believe. With some stunning landscapes this is one sequel that could actually be considered better than the original. Also having back story between Lock-Nah and Ardeth Bay gives scenes with the two of them have a nice added tension.

As an action adventure fan i would consider this one of my favourites knowing nearly all the lines shows how many times i have watched this movie with incredible re watch value. Strong story line gives all watching something to keep them interested but you may need to check out The Mummy (1999) to understand all relationships fully.

My overall rating is 95%

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Movie Review

A.I Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, William Hurt and Frances O’Connor

The movie follows the tall of a young boy David looking to become a real boy, David taken in by a family who have lost their own child in a coma becomes part of the family. But when the child awakens from his coma is simple cast a side. So David and teddy go of in search of the blue fairy hoping she can make him a real boy. David and Joe go to a future New York one that is underwater to search for the answers.
Language 1 out of 10 very clean for all ages
Violence    4 out of 10 most future robot destruction but with a human face looks worse

Story 8 out of 10 very good story like Pinocchio of the future generation

Special effects 10 out of 10 very impressive all round

Acting 9 out of 10 top draw very believable all characters

Stand out Perfromance Haley Joel Osment one of his best performances

Overall Movie Rating 8 out of 10 very well made movie keeps you interested from start to finish and good performances all round a must watch for all sci-fi fans and fairy tale believers out there