Short Takes
Armageddon
Yes. Think Road Runner and popcorn.
Last Days of Disco
No! Boring dialogue.
Secondhand review.
Six Days, Seven Nights
Yes. Romantic comedy, good
date movie. Secondhand review.
The X-Files: Fight the Future
Maybe. X-philes only.
Real people reviewers Betsy Relish (40-something female computer geek with eclectic
tastes--even likes musicals! The "I" in these pages);
Andre (40-something male in mental health, into philosophy, ecology, and deep
meaning, provides foreign film report);
Gameboy (12-year-old male, into Nintendo and basketball);
JR (30-something male mortgage officer living in Nashville, into rock music,
sports, country western dancing).
|
From the week of July 4, 1998
Armageddon
A classic summer movie--it's long, buy popcorn. It's also loud, but then all movies
seem loud to me these days. Most of the characters are stereotypes, but entertaining ones.
There's the old hero, the young hero, the fat guy, the hulk-physiqued
but tender-hearted black guy, the psycho genius, the loser looking for a second chance, and
the (forgetable) free spirit. Guess which ones survive to the end. The scenery is striking (literally).
There are moments of humor, suspense, and drama, with minimal gore and only implied
nudity. The plot
is simple--a bunch of oil rig roughnecks go into space to save the world from a
"global killer" asteroid. Sure they defy logic and physics here and there, but so what?
Lighten up--it's just a movie! Think of it as a RoadRunner cartoon
with live action.
The X-Files: Fight the Future
Do you watch the X-files? Then of course you'll go.
If you've never been interested enough in the paranormal to watch the
show, then you probably wouldn't enjoy the movie. While you don't have to know the tv
show plot to understand the movie, a lot of the enjoyment comes from the inside jokes and
cameos (like the Lone Gunmen). There are rather more suspensions of natural laws and logic than the tv show,
but do you really care? Think of it as a multipart episode, only you don't have to wait till next week
for the conclusion. One note: the Martin Landau character
was jarring to me--I just couldn't get past the "Space 1999"/Bela Lugosi (from "Ed Wood")
image.
|