A DVD review from The Movie Snob:

Sabrina (1954) (B). I've never seen the 90's remake with Harrison Ford and Julie Ormond, so I went into the original without any preconceptions. It was an enjoyable little movie. The Larrabees have more money than God, and they own a huge estate complete with servants, swimming pools, tennis courts, etc. Old Mr. Larrabee has pretty well turned the operation of his companies over to his very serious and successful older son, played by Humphrey Bogart. Meanwhile, his younger son, played by William Holden, is a good-for-nothing playboy. Sabrina, played by Audrey Hepburn, is the chauffeur's daughter, and we learn quickly that she has been in love with the younger son her whole life, but he doesn't know she's alive. Then she goes away to Paris for two years, comes back a beautiful and sophisticated young woman, and young Larrabee is suddenly smitten with Sabrina -- even though he's only days from marrying a woman who comes from a very wealthy family of her own. What will happen? Nothing that will make modern feminists very happy, to be sure. Now I am very curious to see the remake, to see if and how they changed the less progressive elements of the story....

And a book review:

Alisdair MacIntyre, A Short History of Ethics: A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the Twentieth Century. At only 269 pages, the book delivers on the title's promise. As a result, of course, it is hugely condensed, and it omits non-Western philosophy entirely. Although I enjoyed the writing, I have to say that a good portion of this book was over my head. Grappling with these issues will have to await a day when I have more leisure time and less golf to play.

From The Movie Snob:

Napoleon Dynamite (B?). I saw this independent flick with my new best friend, and it was a record-setter -- I spent more time gaping in amazement during this movie than any other I can recall offhand. (The bizarre Pumpkin, with Christina Ricci, may be a close second.) Set in a small town in Idaho, the title character and (anti-)hero is a high-school kid who is so weird that even nerds would shun him. He's tall but unathletic, has hideous curly red hair, wears gigantic glasses, is perpetually exasperated with everything and everyone, and never seems to close his fish-like mouth. He also lacks the usual nerd virtues of intelligence and techological savvy, so he is pretty much doomed to wander dumbly from disaster to disaster. He has a few friends and family members around, but for the most part they are as socially inept as he is (or worse). I laughed a few times, but I felt vaguely bad about it because the humor comes pretty much solely from watching dim and unattractive people go about their business and helplessly suffer the indignities that the universe has in store for them. It's tough to give this movie a grade -- it's like an 86-minute-long train wreck that you just can't turn away from. See it if you dare.

A View From Mars:

Fahrenheit 9/11 (B) With a new baby in tow, the little time I get to join the outside world, I decided to take in Michael Moore's new film. I think everybody knows what this documentary is about, so I'll spare the press kit summary and go ahead and declare this more of a propaganda piece on the Bush administration than just sheer simple movie fun. Michael Moore is a hot or cold subject in that I know some friends that simply didn't see Bowling for Columbine because they can't stand the guy. That being said, it's a tough sell when there is already a predetermined bias against the guy. I can say that I like Michael Moore enough but don't always agree with everything he says. Despite all the compelling footage, you still have to realize that this was cut and edited to lean a certain way and it's no secret that Moore would love to see Bush out of office. I wouldn't doubt that the DVD release of this movie comes out around September, just in time for the election. It would be sad to evaluate one's vote against a man solely on what is contained in this documentary even though "W" has done a good job on his own convincing America of this very thing. Without dipping too far into the political intricacies which are sure to appear in other reviews elsewhere, I recommend this flick for its overall "one man's message" and it's importance in topic.

From The Movie Snob:

The Terminal (C+). For some reason I just couldn't embrace this light summer movie. Maybe I'm getting too old and cynical, I don't know. The premise sounded promising enough: Tom Hanks plays a fellow from an Eastern European nation that falls into civil war while he is on a flight to New York. Consequently, his passport is invalid when he lands, and he is consigned to a legal limbo--unable to enter the U.S. and equally unable to return to his war-torn homeland. So he has to live in international lounge area of the airport indefinitely, until the situation in his home country settles down enough to give him a normal national status again. Hanks's performance is fine, but too much of the rest of the movie didn't work for me. The bureacrat-in-charge at the airport, played by Stanley Tucci, is too consistently and inexplicably mean to the hapless Hanks to be believable. Hanks's delicate relationship with a gorgeous flight attendant (the gorgeous Catherine Zeta-Jones) is nice enough, but it suffers from some unbelievable moments along the way too. There's some other unbelievable and sappy stuff too. By the end, I was more than ready to get out of that danged airport.

A book review from The Movie Snob:

Little Children, by Tom Perrota (St. Martin’s Press 2004). The Movie Snob does not read much fiction, but he decided to give this one a try after seeing a good review in a magazine and learning that author Perrota also wrote the novel on which the wickedly dark movie Election was based. It didn’t hurt that most of the main characters are people that the Snob can relate to: in their early 30’s, college-educated, feeling some Gen-X dissatisfaction with their suburban lives, and perhaps a little confused about how they have ended up where they are. The main action of the story involves an adulterous affair between two stay-at-home parents, Sarah and Todd, who meet at a playground while they are watching their very small children play. Todd is an affable cad who has failed the Massachusetts bar exam a couple of times, while Sarah is an equally directionless grad school dropout. The story generates some real suspense by the end, partially because of a subplot involving a convicted sex offender who has moved into the neighborhood, and partially because you just want to know how the affair is going to turn out. All in all, I liked this novel quite a bit for its realistic characters, believable dialogue, and consistently good writing throughout.

From That Guy Named David:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (B)
In June of 2001, in afternoons after enduring BarBri while studying for the Bar, I decided to set aside the bar materials and read the four Harry Potter books that were out at that time. Out of the four, I thought the Prisoner of Azkaban was one of the best. However, I just was not overly impressed with its adaption onto the big screen. Maybe I'm just a bit freaked out because the (supposed) 12-year old Harry looks like a high school senior to me. And the rest of the "kids" are all getting too big to believe that they are school children. That being said, I think my main problem with this movie was expectations. I had read review after review lauding this movie as something really good and was expecting an impressive movie. Instead, I saw nothing too different than the first two Harry Potters; however, as was pointed out to me after the movie, "what the hell were you expecting? For Christ's sake, it's Harry Potter."

Movie Man Mike weighs in . . .

Super Size Me. (B) Like Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle, this film documents dietary abuses within the fast-food industry. In places it's a little brutally graphic. In the name of science, Morton Spurlock turns himself into a human guinea pig to determine the health impact of fast food on the human body. Fortunately the film was not focused exclusively on Mr. Spurlock and his diet. Interspersed in the film are various factoids, surveys, visits to nutritionists, and visits with representatives of the fast-food industry. Although the film is intended as a serious treatment of the subject-matter, it is laced with a healthy dose of humor, which made it all the more enjoyable. At the conclusion of the film I found myself questioning my own eating habits in general and certainly my somewhat-rare fast-food experiences. I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary film, and I recommend it--particularly to those who eat fast food once a week or more.

From guest reviewer Jeff N.:

Supersize Me

Wow. This movie made me laugh, cry, and close my eyes. I will describe it as follows: it is 60 Minutes meets MTV, it is Dateline on Crack, it is news made interesting, it is McDonald's worst nightmare. Let me summarize the movie in one short sentence: "McDonald's makes us all fat - McDonald's is the Devil." While I question some of the ... if A, then B, then C, then D logic of the director/writer/actor/autobiographer/documentarian ... I do not question the time, energy, and creativity that went into this project. This is worth going to see. I give it an "A."

House of a 1000 Corpses

I watched this movie last night because I could not sleep. This begs the question of why do you watch a horror movie if you can't sleep, the horror movie only makes it harder for you to sleep. The movie is made more disturbing by the fact that I kept the volume very low so as not to disturb my sleeping wife. In short, Rob Zombie was better off making music. His hollow attempt to bring back the slash and bash gore of 70s horror movies ... did well, just that. It brought back the slash and bash gore of 70s horror movies. Really, wouldn't his time have been better spent bring back some of the other great movie types from the 70s, e.g. Gary Coleman movies, Hot Stuff, Stripes, Smokey and the Bandit, Canonball Run, and all those beach bunny movies. Still this movie made me very uncomfortable, which means it did what Mr. Zombie wanted it to. If the thought of a remake of animator, night of the living dead, and texas chainsaw massacre excite you and you like watching very sick, demented television, then I recommend this movie. I give it a "C."

From The Movie Snob:

The Stepford Wives (D). Faithful readers of the Movie Court are well aware that the Movie Snob is a big fan of Nicole Kidman. Let it be said, not everything she touches turns to gold. This movie was B-O-R-I-N-G! If it was supposed to be a comedy, it was terribly unfunny. If it was supposed to be a thriller, it was terribly unsuspenseful. If it was supposed to be a trenchant piece of social commentary, it was just terrible. You know the story -- a family moves to the picture-perfect town of Stepford, Connecticut, where all the women of the town are perfect: they're beautiful, they're avid housekeepers, and they adore their husbands to a sickening degree. What is the secret? Is it something in the water? If you're curious now, you won't be by the time the secret is revealed in this dog.

Coral Reef Adventure (B-). A nice IMAX movie about the coral reefs of the South Pacific. Nice underwater photography, nice message about how fragile the coral ecosystems are, just a nice movie. Hopefully somebody has done something about the one coral reef that was dead or dying in the movie.

Shrek 2 (B-). The Movie Snob can't add much to the ink that's already been spilled about this movie. It had some humorous moments, but I didn't think it was as good as the first one.

From That Guy Named David:

Paycheck (C)
On weekends in which the girlfriend is not in town, I tend to rent movies which have zero chance of being shown should she be around. And for the most part, they consist of mindless, shoot 'em ups that add nothing to my daily existence but manage to mildly entertain me for a couple of hours. Paycheck is no exception. The plot of this movie has more than a few holes in it, but it's an interesting enough premise to keep you somewhat entertained. As for the acting, well… I'll admit that having Uma in it did make me more attracted to this movie; however, after watching it, I have no idea what she was thinking. For example, when you are riding on the back of a motorcycle being chased by a half dozen or so cars full of bad guys, I'm not sure it's realistic that you would be making corny jokes. As for the other lead, Ben Affleck (of Bennifer fame), let's just say that I think he is possibly one of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood (he's nipping at Keanu's heals right now). He is simply horrible in this movie. All in all, though, between 5 and 7 on Sunday when the options were (1) work, (2) Playstation, (3) Pepsi Smash on the WB, and (4) this movie, I was okay with the decision to watch this one.

A View From Mars:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (B+) As a slightly reluctant but always overly satiated viewer of these films, the third in the series was no different. This latest installment came off a little darker than the cheery and jocund previous two. Empire Strikes Back-ish or Temple of Doom, if you will. The story basically centers on Harry Potter and crew's upcoming third year at Hogwarts just in the aftermath of the first prisoner ever to escape from Azkaban prison, which is kind of an Alcatraz for wizards. Needless to say, this prisoner, Syrius Black (Gary Oldman), is after Harry Potter for reasons which were established prior to the first book. The adventures ensue and along the way we meet up with a few familiar faces and a couple of new ones. There's Emma Thompson as a divinity professor, David Thewlis as the new defender of dark arts professor, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon as the new Dumbledore, etc, etc.... A better name for this one probably could have been Harry Potter and the British Character Actors. Also new behind the camera is Alfonso Cuaron, who brought you Y Tu Mama Tambien. You may think of this as an odd choice for director of a kid's series, but he also did A Little Princess, which J.K. Rowling has noted as being one of her favorite family kid movies. Also, one can note that although the primary target for this movie is kids, there are some sub-plot lines and scenes that can be taken as adult-oriented. For me particularly, the extended climatic scene could possibly go over the heads of the younger crowds, but it is because of this that definitely made the movie for me. This was a great summer ride that was judged as movie alone. I have not read any of the Potter books, but was told that this was a fairly accurate adaptation that will please the book fans as well those that have not touched the books. I don't doubt that this movie will make loads of cash and it's definitely worth it to contribute, if not for the movie experience but because you can appreciate it as the kids we once were.

From guest reviewer Jeff N:

The Day After Tomorrow ...

Ordinarily, I love all "end of the world" type movies (you know like Omega Man, Armageddon, Waterworld, The Sound of Music, etc ... ) However, this movie I did not love. I only wanted to be friends with this movie. I blame it on myself. I was so excited about seeing this movie that I raised the bar too high and despite having some cool special effects, Sela Ward, and that somewhat creepy guy from Donnie Darko and The Good Girl this movie could not meet my expectations. Still, I only paid an early bird admission, which in my humble opinion was worth the price of admission.

I did learn several important lessons during this movie. First, gasoline freezes at -500 degrees celsius. Second, book burning is not always bad. Third, the Republicans have badly misused our environment and unless we stop them now we might have another ice age. Fourth, Dennis Quaid has not made a good movie since Breaking Away and Innerspace. Fifth, dialogue is unimportant. Sixth, if you walk from Pennsylvania to Manhattan you apparently pass the Statue of Liberty first. As far as summer movies go ... this one wasn't half bad. It would have been better, like all movies, if Charlton Heston has been in it.