Recently Seen Movies 2: The Adventure Continues

1. THE GREEN MILE. A successful blend of the prison movie and horror movie genres. Thanks in no small measure to Stephen King. A good story is at least 70% of the worth of a good movie. Comparisons with THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION are inevitable, and TGM is probably not quite as good a prison movie as TSR - but, as I said, it's not only a prison movie.

2. THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. Begins well, with some clever surprises at an amusement park. Then we get shut inside an ex-Asylum for the Criminally Insane with an assortment of characters, the most interesting of whom are a couple who are deeply in hate. The 'house' is pretend-haunted, the house is really haunted, characters are pretend-killed, characters are really killed. The house's Evil Presence is hidden, the house's Evil Presence is revealed, and it's pretty ugly - no, make that ugly ugly.

3. THE WHOLE NINE YARDS. Matthew Perry works hard to make this a moderately amusing sickish puppy of a comedy. Bruce Willis is well cast as a hitman who's not really such a bad guy: "It's not important how many people I've killed; what's important is how I get along with those who are alive." Oh, and that big black guy who's in THE GREEN MILE is in this one too, and he's pretty funny - yes, make that pretty.

4. STUART LITTLE. A charming little fantasy, if you're in the mood for it - or if you're a very young kid. Good performances from humans, animals, and animatals [that's a word I just invented, meaning animated animals].

5. THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY. Imagine a movie whose working title is something like "Birth of a Serial Murderer", then imagine it produced by a stylish production company like Merchant-Ivory. Okay, now you're pretty close to imagining what this movie is like. Good acting, especially from the guy who plays Mr Ripley's first victim [too lazy to look it up]. Based on a long-extant novel by a writer whose time has come, and what a charming time it is.

6. THE INSIDER. Worthy intent, very worthy, but this movie is way too long, and it unfortunately stars one of the most overrated actors of the age, Al Pacino. I was prepared to like it, really I was, despite Pacino's presence, but found myself nodding off after two hours.

7. MISSION TO MARS. I gave this one points for at least trying to be realistic, even though it features "The Face on Mars". Acceptable fx, but no really compelling or memorable scenes.

8. BICENTENNIAL MAN. An acceptable movification of Isaac Asimov's story. But is Robim Williams (whose work I like) really suited to playing a robot? That's what I call adventurous casting.

9. GUN SHY. Every review I've read of this comedy slams it, but I kinda liked it. Okay, some of it is unoriginal and some just doesn't work, but the scenes that do work, aspecially those with Oliver Platt, are laugh-out-loud. But if you object to toilet humour you should probably avoid it.

10. TOY STORY 2. Awesomely good animation (would have made Walt Disney's jaw not just drop but fall out on the floor). Clever and funny dialogue. Star voices. What more need I say? Awarded my highest recommendation. Oh, and don't miss the 'out-takes' at the end.

11. PITCH BLACK. Yet another example of Action/Suspense Plot Number One, and not a bad one. The group: survivors of a spaceship crash. The isolated location: a desolated planet that, due to its peculiar astronomical circumstances, is about to enter an extended period of darkness. The preying monsters: sort of flying hammerhead sharks that live in the dark and are photo-phobic. The emergent hero: a psychopathic killer who has had an operation in prison to enhance his night-vision. Recommended if, like me, you are addicted to this plot.

12. FINAL DESTINATION. A high-school class boards an airliner for a field trip to Paris, France (some field trip!) but one of the students suffers a vision of the plane crashing on takeoff (cool crash sequence). He gets thrown off the plane with several others, including a guy who hates him and a girl who loves him. Then, you guessed it, the plane crashes on takeoff. His new reputation as a seer gets complicated by the fact that the survivors start dying one by one. He figures out that they have cheated Death and now Death is out to get them. Ends better than you might imagine. No big stars, but it kept me and my ma and brother interested.

13. U571. Take my comments on MEMPHIS BELLE (on the first installment of this list), and substitute "WW2 submarine movie" for "WW2 bomber movie", and you've pretty much got my opinion of this.

14. DICK. Moderately funny send-up of...the Nixon Administration? Wait, surely that's been done before? Two feather-brained young ladies luck into a job walking Tricky Dick Nixon's dog, incidentally becoming significant players in the Watergate Scandal. Yes, you guess right: there are several jokes that allude to oral sex.

15. DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. Razor sharp satire of the American beauty pageant phenomenon. The title, to be more apt, should have a comma after "Dead". Recommended.

16. ME, MYSELF AND IRENE. In the second rank of Jim Carrey movies. Nowhere near as funny as, say, DUMB AND DUMBER. Still, it's a JC movie, and there's a side of us all that loves JC. Probably the funniest scene is one in which JC attempts the mercy-killing of a cow.

17. AMERICAN PSYCHO. I found myself seeing this as a dark comedy, and while watching it I laughed, but, on reflection, the perceived humour has faded and the bleak misanthropy remains. Christian Bale's performance is very good and makes this worth seeing (the last movie I remember seeing him in was EMPIRE OF THE SUN, when he was quite a lot younger).

18. HANNIBAL. Julianne Moore is just fine as a fast-approaching-middle-age Clarice Starling. Anthony Hopkins is perfect as the ageless Dr Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter. And if you were thrilled by THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS this is a must-see. However, if you love, or simply respect, Thomas Harris's novel, you should be prepared for a screenplay that, in the end, is largely a watering down of Harris's misanthropic masterpiece. Yes folks, Hollywood is still treating you like little children. Another gripe: an important character, Mason Verger's sister Margo, has been written out of the movie version, and her role as Verger's nemesis [nice pun, bertie!] given to a minor character, robbing Verger's death scene of almost all its dramatic effect.

19. CHICKEN RUN. I knew I was going to like this. I've very much liked Nick Park's "Wallace and Gromit" series (and if you too liked CR these are must sees). Keep your eyes and ears open for allusions to other movies. "Great Scott! What was that?"..."A cling-on, Captain!". Probably not quite as good as TOY STORY 2, but not many are.

20. DINOSAUR. Superb combination of live-action backgrounds and computer-animated characters provide wonderful visual entertainment. But the visuals are not all this one has going for it: the characters and story are also very good. If you wanted to be cynical, you could say that this is the story of Dinosaur Heaven. When the 65 000 000 BC Big Asteroid impacted, not all the dinos died - some went to Heaven.

21. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. If you appreciate films that are stylish, have fascinating visual and auditory qualities, are unpredictable and, above all, very well acted, see this one. This is by far the best thing Ashley Judd has ever appeared in (not that I've seen all her stuff, but I'd be surprised if she's done anything better). When was the last time you were so entranced by a film that you were unwilling to tear your eyes away, even for a moment? That's the effect EYE OF THE BEHOLDER had on me. The director: Stephan Elliot - I'll be looking for more of his work. I'd be very interested to read the opinions of other Listologists on this one.

22. THE FOURTH FLOOR. Could have been just another "female in distress" thriller, except for three things: One, very effective work by the director and editor maintains a strong mood of mystery and danger. Two, it stars hyper-hottie Juliette Lewis, who has the lewdest smile of any actress, ever. Three, an unusually subtle surprise ending - don't blink or you'll miss it.

23. THE MUMMY RETURNS. I saw this at the cinema with my mother on Mother's Day [straight face], and that's where you should see it. One of those rare sequels that is better than...the film what it's a sequel to [word? anyone?]. Spectacular sfx make up for it being not as funny as the first one, and for the story being a bit iffy, and for whatever other complaints you might have.