Movie Reviews - D
Dances with Wolves: Kevin Costner makes hit or miss movies... this one hit. There was a lot to like about this movie - the characters, the cinematography, the story... I'm sure that daily Indian life wasn't as pleasant as portrayed in the movie, but that didn't bother me so much. I liked the way that KC slowly transformed himself from civil war hero to "indian brave". Totanka!!!
Dangerous Liaisons: A movie about people who think they're more significant than they are.
Dannny Deckchair: Gosh, just a feel-good mush-fest to the maximum degree. I guess the world needs movies like this though, it helps offset all the Vin Diesel movies, and keeps the universe in balance. It's an aussie love story plot includes: An underappreciated man, a beautiful single woman, small town hijinx, and a big bunch of yellow helium balloons. One thing though, the box promised the DVD "extras" included a visit with the "real" Danny Deckchair, but that was nowhere to be found. I feel ripped off!
Dante's Peak: A really stupid volcano movie. (has there ever been a good volcano movie?)
Dark Crystal: Was this actually a movie, or did I just have a really weird dream?
Das Boot: Yes, war sucks. I've never seen tension portrayed this well. And the ending... how utterly perfect was that?
Dave: I don't like Hollywood political movies... they're creepy - like some hollywood writer knows how best to run the country.
Da Vinci Code: I was certain I would find this really dumb, but I actually liked it. Maybe it was just the effect of low expectations? I cared about the characters, and enjoyed the performances. Even though the general ending was fairly obvious about half-way through, there were still enough surprises along the way to keep one's interest. Of course, the general premise... with the giant conspiracy, and all the puzzles, etc. is just well... kind of stupid. But, you just have to put that aside for a couple hours.
The Day After Tomorrow: Yes, it was completely unrealistic, and I could go on and on about the completely impossible sequences and coincidences. But, for some reason I liked it... You know what I think it was? That snobby rich kid turned out to be all-right in the end - they didn't resort to the usual cliche. That alone was enough for me to give this one a little credit. If you see this, just go in knowing it's completely ridiculous, and try to suspend your disbelief... Yes, it's a good test of ones patience.
Days of Thunder: Fast cars and sex... This one should be a big hit in the red states.
Dazed and Confused: Wha?
Dead Poets Society: I have trouble remembering exactly what transpired in the movie... it's been a while since I've seen it. I think it was an emotional Robin Williams movie where he's teaches troubled youths how to feel & live. Hmmm.... sounds like a lot of other movies. I do remember that it was fun to watch though. I think I did like it...
Deal of the Century: I don't know why, but I liked this movie. It was really pretty dumb, but something about it seemed to make sense. It was original anyway... how many other arms dealer comedies are there? "State of the art? my ass!"
Death at a Funeral:Your typical British multi-plotline, things get crazier and crazier farcical whimical silliness.
Death Race 2000: Another example of the real future not living up to the Hollywood future. Damn, our society is so boring.
Death Wish: I never really understood why Charles Bronson was a "tough guy".
Deep Impact: This was much better than Armageddon, but it wasn't "great". The characters in this movie were a lot more real - they actually took the time to develop some of the characters. The story was a little more believable (although it wasn't much more "real", they did a better job of selling it.) Plus, this movie tried to tackle the huge human questions that would be posed by such a disaster: how would people react? what would the government do?, etc. I actually liked the special effects of this movie better than those of Armageddon, but they were "lower budget" (I'd rather see New York get smothered by a tidal wave than smashed by a bunch of asteroids) Plus, the end of this movie was somewhat sad, but then again reassuring - even when confronted with disaster, life goes on and people rebuild. (It's so rare for major hollywood movies to kill off their main characters unless they come back to life as angels or some crap - this movie actually killed them). So, if you must see one of last year's "outer space object heading for earth" movies, see Deep Impact.
Defending Your Life: This is the way it should be. Why can't Albert Brooks be god? Hmmm... maybe he is. Wouldn't that be a trip? Gotta love this one.
Deliverance: Yes, the ~30 year-old movie with Burt Reynolds. I never saw it when it came out (obviously). I think the most interesting thing about this movie is it shows how movie direction has changed over the years. If this was made today, there'd be all kinds of super-close-ups, the river would be twice as powerful, the action scenes would be played out to their fullest extent, and there'd be explosions somewhere. This movie proves that all of that stuff is just crap. We don't need it. I loved the portrayals of the hillbillies in this movie - are they screwed-up or what? I liked the way the movie ended too... they pretty much got away with it. Although they really didn't do anything that was too wrong. They just screwed up a bit. I did often wonder though... didn't they bother to check if there were unappeasable rapids on the river before they went out? That's just stupidity.
Dick Tracy: The world could have done without this movie.
Dirty Dancing: I'm not crazy about dancing, but I liked this movie... so it must have been good. Although, if I ever hear "that song" again, I'm going to go on a bloody rampage.
Dirty Filthy Love: This started off really lame, but got better and better as it went & the characters grew and took shape. By the end, it almost seemed like a different movie. Just have patience with this one if you see it. It’s about obsessive compulsive disorder by the way, and just when you think it’s fluffy and light-hearted drivel, it takes a more serious turn in tone.
The Dish: One of those "aw shucks" movies. Not really too much drama, but then, life isn't all about drama. It's about a little Australian outpost that helps with the communication during the first moon walk.
Disturbia: Quite possibly one of the stupidist things ever filmed. The fact that some young people actually like this movie is disturbing indeed. This was without a doubt one of most predictable, boring, uninspired movies I've ever witnessed.
D.O.A.: Another movie with a great ending - nothing mattered, it was all a simple case of petty greed. is it better to have 48 hours of excitement or a lifetime of drunken inebriation? I suppose if you only have 48 hours to live, you might as well spend it handcuffed to Meg Ryan.
Doctor Detroit: Very entertaining, one of Dan Asteroid's finest moments on screen.
Dodgeball:Well, it was fun, and a bit funny I suppose, but aren't there better ways to spend 2 hours of your precious life than watching something like this?
Dr. No: James bond foils the efforts of an evil meglomaniac.
Dr. Strangelove (or how I stopped worrying...): Wonderful. It contains one of the most classic scenes ever - Slim Pickens riding the bomb down to ground zero. Another movie showing how stupid war is... in this case, the cold war. I wonder what the leaders of the world thought of this movie...?
Dogma: Sure it wasn't an awesome movie or anything, but it was fun... and funny. Message? why does organized religion think it has a monopoly on god? I have no idea why the Catholic League protested this movie, if anything it was pro-religon. They just helped promote it... (Hmm... maybe they were using sophisticated reverse psychology? Naw.)
Dog Town and Z-Boys: Documentary about the birth of modern skateboarding. This was really intriguing. I don't think skateboarding has changed the world like some of these people think it has, but it's certainly a big deal, and worthy of the treatment it gets here. It's really fascinating how many of the people are alive today, and how well everything was documented as it happened. It's also quite interesting to see how each person involved has been affected by the choices they've made in life. This is the kind of movie that kids should see... sure there are bad words and adult themes and such, but the lessons of real consequences to one's actions are really brought home be people who've lived it.
Donnie Brasco: Poor sod.
Donnie Darko: Repo Man meets Heathers. Your typical teen-sci-fi-romance-time-travel-adventure-halloween-bunny movie.
The Doors: Val Kilmer can be a good actor when given the chance... Wow, he even sung the Door's songs in this movie. A darn good job. What happened to good clean fun anyway? I wanna go eat peyote in the desert!
Dracula (Bram Stokers...): Comments coming!
Dracula 2000: Oh boy... why do I go see these movies? I had nothing else to do that night. I suppose it was better than watching an ant farm for 2 hours, but not much. The plot? Dracula is really Jusdas Iscariot... they kill him.
Dragonslayer: Comments coming!
Dreamscape: What if Freddy Kruger wasn't quite as evil, and worked for some secret government agency? "Dreamscape".
The Dream Team: uh... it was entertaining... not the kind of movie you'd go out of your way to see... A bunch of dysfunctional mental cases all take advantage of eachother's strengths to do... whatever the plot of the movie is.
Drowning by Numbers: The game drowning by numbers is played by a contestant who remains in a seated position, so that he can view the scenes. The scenes are played in a sequential order such that the plot is developed chronologically. Sequential numbers may be shown in some scenes so that the viewer can more easily follow along. Any contestant who views all the scenes is proclaimed a winner.
Duece Bigalow - Male Gigalow: At least this movie was fun to laugh "at", (instead of "with"). What else can I say? it's as dumb as the title suggests.
Dumb and Dumber: Even more stupid than the title indicates. I know the movie is intentionally stupid & that's supposed to be the appeal... but a movie needs something to make it watchable! OK, there were a few good scenes, but all in all it was just dumb on every level. (snowy owls aren't endangered either, they're just rare)
Dumbo: A really cool movie. I have to wonder what the animators were thinking when they came up with the "pink elephants" scene - my favorite. I wonder what the public reaction to the crows would be if this movie came out today - YOU RACIST SCUM!!!! give me a break!
Dune: Visually stunning. Hey, David Lynch did this one. I never read the book Dune, but I think this movie suffered from trying to be too "true" to the book. My guess is that it was a really complicated story. I think it would have taken a 10-hour film to do this correctly... but who would watch that, much less make it? Still, it was pretty darn cool. Although, I have to wonder, how hard could it really be to stop giant worms given futuristic technology? Ever heard of a nuclear bomb?
Dungeons and Dragons: Sad that this movie is what they came up with. But, it was aimed at kids, so what can you expect. What they should have done was made it R-rated and aimed it at 20-something geeks. There could have been blood, guts, etc. Also, they tried to make this true to the game by inserting all kinds of "lingo" here and there, but it was totally lame - the thing which makes D&D special to people is the "feel" of it, not the lingo. This movie had no feel, it was just a bunch of poorly written, overacted nonsense.