90s Movie Review - That Thing You Do!

Director: Tom Hanks
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Liv Tyler, Jonathan Schaech, Ethan Embry, Steve Zahn, Tom Hanks, Charlize Theron, Giovanni Ribisi, Bill Cobbs, Kevin Pollack, Rita Wilson, Chris Isaak

Description: A local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager (Tom Hanks)

Review: “That Thing You Do” follows a young, ambitious group of young men, in the 1960s, that love music. They start a band. When their drummer breaks his arm, right before an important show, they hire Guy Patterson. He has a different view on music and tries something more up-tempo. This works well and it turns their band, “The Wonders”, into a rock ‘n roll sensation.

It’s the directorial debut of star actor Tom Hanks, who also wrote the script. Hanks also has a role as the manager, but wanted young actors to steal the show. Jonathan Schaech plays lead singer Jimmy, who is very ambitious and talented, but the stardom changes him. Steve Zahn is always excellent at playing the funny supporting characters and does that very well in this movie. Liv Tyler, as Jimmy’s very supportive girlfriend Faye, is lovely as ever. But the real star is Tom Everett Scott, as Guy Patterson. This was his first movie he starred in. Tom Hanks first didn’t want him to star, because he resembles a young Hanks. His wife Rita Wilson, who also has a small role in the movie, finally convinced him. And it was the right choice, because Tom Everett Scott steals every scene he is in.

“That Thing You Do” is one of those fun comedies you can watch over and over again, and you never get tired of it. Even when the song, titled ‘That Thing You Do’, is played so many times. Because you hear it a lot! It’s the perfect movie for a night you don’t want to think too much and just enjoy a fun film.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Strangers

Director: Bryan Bertino
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2008
Starring: Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis, Alex Fisher, Peter Clayton-Luce, Glenn Howerton

Description: A young couple (Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman) staying in an isolated vacation home are terrorized by three unknown assailants.

Review: Home is your safe haven. There you don’t want to be confronted with worldly problems and certainly not with strangers. Always lock your doors at night to keep unwelcome callers outside. But in “The Strangers” it doesn’t keep them out. Director Bryan Bertino’s exciting and sometimes terrifying horror debut makes domestic terror frighteningly plausible.
The young couple James and Kristen are about to have a wonderful night: in a cozy cottage they will spend a romantic evening together. It all turns out differently. Kristen is very upset about something that happened earlier that night and they are repeatedly harassed by a strange girl who’s knocking on their door. The night progresses, but suddenly there is deafening banging on the door. This heralds the beginning of a horrifying nightmare three masked strangers are targeting the couple and a bloody game of cat-and-mouse ensues. Why? Because they were home.
It's a great move by Bertino to leave much of the story in limbo. Little to nothing is known about James and Kristen’s relationship, but that they have problems is very clear. An ominous opening act transitions into a chilling guessing game after fifteen minutes, when the presence of evil is subtly made palpable. “The Strangers” is at its scariest at these moments: the threat is intangible, it does not yet have a face. Scary is actyally too mils a word: the fearful sweat repeatedly breaks out. The fact that the help of hard violin strokes I called in is not a problem. Few horror films can survive with images alone and in “The Strangers” the right balance has been found between sweat and scary moments.
Bertino’s cinematic approach is correct, as well as the emphasis on anonymous violence, but in the moments when you catch your breath, the clichés become very obvious. “The Strangers” also invites frustrated cries at the protagonists.
In summary, “The Strangers” delivers a fantastic horror experience, but a little too often reverts to the check-off list of horror conventions.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 201 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham, Ian Holm, John Noble

Description: Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

Review: People said the books were impossible to turn into film. Well, they were wrong. Director Peter Jackson managed to translate Tolkien’s work to film, in what is probably the most ambitious and bravest film project in movie history.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” starts with a prologue, where we see how Smeagol became Gollum. How the ring changed him. The Fellowship is still broken. Frodo and Sam are lead to Mordor by Gollum, while Gandalf hurries to Minas Tirith with Pippin. Merry stays behind with King Theodon and Eowyn. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli take the Path of Death, to recruit an unearthly army. We follow all those different storylines, before the final battle for Middle Earth starts.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is a dark film, filled with war and misery. You finally understand the immense power the ring has and then there is also the threat of Sauron.
Peter Jackson made Middle Earth look as impressive as it is. It amazes me how much work and love had to be put into this project. The Orcs, the elephant like creatures, spider Shelob, it all looks scary and fantastic.
The love triangle between Aragorn, Arwen and Eowyn doesn’t manage to convince. The scenes feel forced and take away the attention from the actual events. Thankfully there are only a few scenes, so it doesn’t bother me that much.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is a fantastic film, a great end to an amazing trilogy.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 179 minutes
Year: 2002
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, David Wenham

Description: While Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) adge closer to Mordor with the help of the shifty Gollum (Andy Serkis), the divided fellowship makes a stand against Sauron’s new ally, Saruman (Christopher Lee), and his hordes of Isengard.

Review: In “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” we saw how the fellowship was split in groups. In “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” we see all those separate groups on their journey. There is Frodo and Sam. By foot they have to bring the ring to Mordor. Frodo feels the power of the ring more and more, but het gets help from Sam and the shifty creature Gollum. Gollum knows he has to help the Hobbits, else the ring will fall into the hands of Sauron.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli can’t help Frodo and Sam anymore, so they decide to go on a rescue mission for the other two Hobbits Merry and Pippin. They have been taken by the Uruk-Hai.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” is again an amazing adventure. And close to being a masterpiece. The film doesn’t have the buildup like the first film. This is of course because it’s the middle part of the series. But it does have some great fight scenes, like the battle of Helm’s Deep. It looks spectacular and is exciting. I didn’t like the romance part of the film, the scenes between Arwen and Aragorn feel a bit unnecessary.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” is a good film, although probably my least favorite of the franchise.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Director: Peter Jackson
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 178 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson, Orlando Bloom, Sean Bean, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monoghan, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies

Description: A meek Hobbit (Elijah Wood) from the Shire and eight companions set out on a journey to destroy the powerful One Ring and save Middle-Earth from the Dark Lord Sauron.

Review: “The Lord of the Rings” is an adaptation from the world wide popular fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Director Peter Jackson took on the challenge to direct this series, starting with “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”.
In a prologue we are introduced to The Ring, who Saurn was and how that ring eventually got into the hands of a Hobbit in The Shire. That’s also the place where the story starts off, in The Shire.
The reason why people like this franchise so much is of course the fantasy genre, but also the relatable characters and their emotions. The characters are three-dimensional, have depth and you feel connected with them. Look at Gandalf, a man that laughs sometimes, is grumpy at times, is hard to understand and also makes mistakes. Perfectly portrayed by Ian McKellen.
The actors and makers of the film handle the source material as if it was our actual history. That’s how Tolkien did it, that’s how they did it. And everything looks perfect, up to the smallest details. It’s all authentic.
It’s hard not to get sucked into this fantastical world that Tolkien once created and Jackson brought to life. The Orcs are really scary, the eater monster with tentacles though only in it for a brief moment gives you the chills and Balrog looks fantastic. It’s visible that Peter Jackson has a love for movie monsters.
The action is phenomenal. The film starts off quiet and peaceful, but there are a lot of nail biting battles ahead. And they are all filmed brilliantly.
The drama and the emotions really grab you. You would think that fairytale like creatures like wizards and Hobbits wouldn’t do that, but they all become unforgettable characters that you care about.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was the start of the entire adventure and it had to convince the fans. It definitely did that!

Rating: 5/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2017 - # 31: Empire Records

Director: Allan Moyle
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 1995
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler, Renee Zellweger, Robin Tunney, Ethan Embry, Debi Mazar

Description: The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try anything to stop the store being absorbed by a large chain.

Review: I was really looking forward to seeing this. A group of teens working in a record store, trying to save the store before it’s been taken over by a big company. Well, it wasn’t all that great.
For a store that is suffering from financial problems, they sure have a lot of employees working at the same time. And they aren’t actually working. It’s just a bunch of self-absorbed caricatures with no character development. It all happens in one day and things happen really fast. Moods, situations, relationships, feelings. So fast, it’s no longer believable.
While watching “Empire Records”, I really didn’t know how serious I had to take this film. There is really no character that I really like and some things that happen are so ridiculous. I don’t know, but I really didn’t like this film very much. I did enjoy the soundtrack, some good music is in this film.
“Empire Records” is not as fun as I hoped.

Rating: 2/ 5