Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

recent product reviews

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)

Reviewed on Dec 16, 2005

A magical cross between The Wizard of Oz, Lion King, and Dungeons and Dragons. I don’t normally enjoy fantasy movies, but this might be one of the best fantasies I have ever seen. Not sure exactly what made this one different, but perhaps Ebert might have been able to pin…

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Destiny in Space (1994)

Reviewed on Dec 15, 2005

One of the better IMAX space movies. Lots of gorgeous footage, including a pretty good shuttle launch. Nimoy’s voice adds the right kind of mystique.

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9/11 (2002)

Reviewed on Dec 15, 2005

These guys were just at the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. They are the modern day Zapruders. A bit shaky and nauseating to watch, but I guess the footage is good under the circumstances. Some moments of magic, but the whole thing is way too…

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Finding Nemo (2003)

Reviewed on Dec 10, 2005

The guys at Pixar really know what they’re doing… Good story, great characters, and perfect animation.

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Hail Columbia! (1982)

Reviewed on Dec 10, 2005

An OK, superficial look at the early shuttle program. Being one ofthe earlier IMAX films, the music is dated, and most of the photography is unimpressively small, presumably because IMAX-quality footage was not available. Tricks to make the visuals more impressive (frame-splitting and montages) don’t really work. The first launch,…

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Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)

Reviewed on Dec 4, 2005

Faithful to the novel, maybe, but not terribly fun to watch. While the development of his character with the apes is there, we hardly see any of his adjustment to western life. That would have been the most interesting aspect of his character and the most engaging part of the…

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)

Reviewed on Dec 2, 2005

Better than I thought it would be. Pitt and Jolie don’t compete too much as stars. They actually seem to bounce off each other pretty well. Pretty good action, too. Would have worked well as a sequel to True Lies.

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Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Reviewed on Nov 28, 2005

Thought it would better than Anaconda, but it really wasn’t. Cheesy, low-brow action. Anyone who has seen the Jaws movies will be offended. There’s a fine line between homage and rip-off. Thomas Jane is pretty cool but he can’t carry a movie. There’s just not enough to him.

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Sahara (2005)

Reviewed on Nov 26, 2005

Very polished, but the story’s not really engaging. Lots of fun music. McConaughey’s the second coming of Errol Flynn. He’s got the look, but if he would just be a bit more unassuming (like Indy), he could be a really fun hero instead of a jack-ass. Zahn is always great.

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King Kong (1933)

Reviewed on Nov 24, 2005

The mix of live action, stop-motion animation, and puppetry is far from perfect, but the action is pretty good, especially considering when it was made. Kong displays some pretty cool moves in some pretty gory fights. But why would plant-eating dinosaurs attack people? Predictably stale performances from the men. They…

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