Cast: Dustin Hoffman (Stanley Motss), Robert De Niro (Conrad Brean), Anne Heche (Winifred Ames), Denis Leary (Fad King), Willie Nelson (Johnny Dean), Andrea Martin (Liz Butsky), Kirsten Dunst (Tracy Lime)
For complete info, see IMDb's Wag the Dog page.
This movie about a war that's faked in order to cover up a presidential sex scandal is really good. Wag the Dog really explores the way the government can spin reality to appear however they want to the American public. Of course, like all situations where big lies are told, the "war" gets out of hand. Although Wag the Dog goes over the top at times, I think that's still realistic. In a situation where you're creating an entire war for the public to believe, things would probably get pretty out of hand from time to time.
I definitely recommend renting this movie and watching it again!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1997, comedy, Dustin Hoffman, Kirsten Dunst, movie, Robert DeNiro
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis (Danny Flynn), David McBlain (Sean), Emily Watson (Maggie)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Boxer page.
This movie seems to do a great job of depicting the grimness of life in Northern Ireland, but allows a bit of hope to shine through. The love conquering all theme certainly not a new one, but it is a very good theme. When Danny is released after 14 years of prison, he comes back to a life that's dark, but does have some hope. The cast is wonderful and the movie is very well done.
Grade: B+
Reviewed by Kat at the 5:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: David Arquette (Dwight 'Dewey' Riley), Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott), Courtney Cox (Gale Weathers), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Casey 'Cici' Cooper), Jamie Kennedy (Randy Meeks)), Liev Schreiber (Cotton Weary)
For complete info, see IMDb's Scream 2 page.
Clearly, there was no way that Scream 2 could live up to Scream. I still enjoyed it - especially since I didn't get to see the original in a movie theatre. I liked that in the first movie they concentrated on the rules of horror films and in Scream 2 they concentrate on the rules of sequels. Wes Craven really does a great job with the comedy/horror genre!
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, comedy, horror, Liev Schreiber, movie, mystery, Sarah Michelle Gellar, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Sean Maguire), Matt Damon (Will Hunting), Ben Affleck (Chuckie Sullivan), Stellan Skarsgard (Prof. Gerald Lambeau), Minnie Driver (Skylar)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Good Will Hunting page.
Good Will Hunting is an amazing movie. Probably one of my favorites of all time. This movie about a brilliant janitor who sneaks around MIT completing impossible mathematic equations was very touching and real.
Some people have said that they found the swearing beyond excessive and totally unnecessary. Yes, there's a lot of swearing in Good Will Hunting. Is it over the top? Yes. Is it unnecessary? I don't think so. If you've ever gone to any inner city and listened to the language spoken, you'll find that swearing is very prevalent in normal conversations. I think the swearing in Good Will Hunting added to the feeling that the movie was about characters that are very real and allowed the audience to see what their lives were truly like.
Although I'm sure Titanic will get the best picture Oscar award, Good Will Hunting has my vote for best film of 1997.
Grade: A+
Labels: 1997, Ben Affleck, drama, Matt Damon, Minnie Driver, movie, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Morgan Freeman (Theodore Joadson), Nigel Hawthorne (Martin Van Buren), Anthony Hopkins (John Quincy Adams), Djimon Hounsou (Cinque), Matthew McConaughey (Baldwin)
For complete info, see IMDb's Amistad page.
Amistad is an amazing historical drama about a mutiny aboard a slave ship traveling to America. A lot of Amistad takes place in the court room, following the trial of Cinque, the free-man who led the revolt (brilliantly portrayed by Djimon Hounsou. The cast, scenic design, lighting, and costumes are brilliant in Amistad. Steven Spielberg goes back to a more serious movie with this adventure and it's wonderfully done. I highly recommend Amistad! If you haven't seen it yet, you must rent it.
Grade: A-
Labels: 1997, Anthony Rapp, drama, history, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, movie, mystery
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Jonathan Pryce (Elliot Carver), Michelle Yeoh (Wai Lin), Teri Hatcher (Paris Carver), Judi Dench (M), Desmond Llewelyn (Q)
For complete info, see IMDb's Tomorrow Never Dies page.
Since this is only my second Bond movie, I don't have that much to compare Tomorrow Never Dies to... I really enjoyed the movie and will definitely see more 007 movies in the future. I'm a big fan of Jonathan Pryce, so it was great to see him in this one.
Tomorrow Never Dies has everything that (as I understand it) you've always been able to expect in a James Bond movie. It has lots of action, beautiful women, a few hot guys, and a great new bond car with fun toys. I definitely think that this one is worth watching!
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, action, adventure, Bond, Judi Dench, movie, Pierce Brosnan, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Nathan Lane (Ernest "Ernie" Smuntz), Lee Evans (Lars Smuntz), Vicki Lewis (April Smuntz)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's MouseHunt page.
Nathan Lane has been one of my favorite actors for years! I've loved him in so many musicals on Broadway (though I have yet to see him in one live - someday...). I was happy about being able to see him in another movie. The plot sounded a bit like Home Alone with a mouse instead of a child and no burglars, but I still thought it'd be funny with Nathan Lane and the rest of the cast.
Guess I was wrong. As much as I love Nathan Lane, he couldn't save this movie. The script was bad and there was just nothing that could be done about that.
Kids would probably enjoy this movie, since parts of it are very silly, but unless you have kids who might like this, stay away!
Grade: C
Labels: 1997, comedy, family, movie, Nathan Lane
Reviewed by Kat at the 11:55 AM show | 0 screams
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Jack Dawson), Kate Winslet (Rose DeWitt Bukater), Billy Zane (Caledon 'Cal' Hockley), Kathy Bates (Molly Brown)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Titanic page.
Although I don't think Titanic could ever live up to the hype, I thought this fictional account of what might have happened in the ship's last hours was very interesting and that most of the special effects were very well done.
I think Titanic is worth seeing for the special effects or the love story. When you combine the two, it really is a great movie. The idea of giving up everything for love is such a romantic notion, that it makes the movie very worth while.
Forget what really happened and remember this is a movie. A romanticized notion of the events is presented with fictional characters added in with the historical characters to create a combintion of fact and fiction.
Grade: A
Labels: 1997, Best Picture, drama, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Leonardo DiCaprio, movie, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Professor Philip Brainard), Marcia Gay Harden (Dr. Sara Jean Reynolds)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Flubber page.
The flubber is definitely the star of this remake of The Absent Minded Professor. Who would have thought that some green goop could upstage Robin Williams? Generally, Robin Williams is hilarious, so how could they possibly waste his talent so horribly? Such a shame to waste someone as wonderful as Robin Williams in the role of a side kick to something called flubber...
The flubber is cute, but not cute enough to make seeing Flubber worth the time. Kids will probably love this, though, so if you have kids, it's a great idea for a rental.
Grade: C+
Labels: 1997, comedy, Disney, family, movie, remake, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Christian Mena (Roger), Neil Patrick Harris (Mark), and many other wonderful performers.
It was sad to see the show with a new Angel. I really missed Wilson Cruz. Andy Senor just wasn't anywhere close to the same level of performance.
Other than that, the cast is basically the same as it was when I saw the show in La Jolla for the west coast premiere. I would see Rent again and again if I could. I tried to camp out for tickets in La Jolla, but though I got there more than 24 hours before they went on sale, that was not early enough. I guess I'm not enough of a Renthead to want to do that. Instead, we bought tickets for when it was in LA and had to settle with worse seats than we had the first time, but this time I got to see some of the things with the lighting and shadows that I missed the first time, since we were so close to the stage.
If you haven't seen Rent, GO SEE IT!
Grade: A
Labels: 1997, Best Musical, drama, musical, Rent, romance, tour
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Anastasia page.
I was so looking forward to this movie. They had a great cast (though I'm not a Meg Ryan fan), and the animation looked great. The animation was definitely better than any other non-Disney animated movie I've seen to date. However, that's the end of my praise for the movie.
The story was okay, but it could have been much better done. I'm not sure how they managed to get a G rating for a movie that had an animal being cut to pieces in it. I had been very excited about seeing Anastasia and saw it as soon as it reached our theaters. One of my friend's daughters was really looking forward to the movie, too. As soon as I saw it, I called my friend and told her to distract her daughter with thoughts of other movies and toys and to get her to forget the idea of Anastasia. Her little girl would not have liked this dark (and sometimes gruesome) animated interpretation of the story of Anastasia.
Anastasia had so much potential as an animated movie. I was very disappointed that they seemed to care more about making it dark and gross (and therefore separating it from Disney movies) than they did doing a good job with the story or making a movie that children (or their parents) could fully enjoy.
Grade: C
Labels: 1997, adventure, animated, Bernadette Peters, comedy, drama, family, John Cusack, Meg Ryan, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Bruce Willis (The Jackal), Richard Gere (Declan Joseph Mulqueen), Sidney Poitier (FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Jackal page.
Other than the sometimes ridiculous costumes Bruce Willis uses in being The Jackal, I thought this was an entertaining movie. Certainly not the best crime/adventure movie out there, but it was worth watching and I even enjoyed seeing it in the theatre. I'm not saying I'd recommend you rush out and see it, but it's a decent rental.
The whole changing faces back and forth thing got a little annoying at times, but other than that, the story wasn't too bad.
Grade: B-
Labels: 1997, action, adventure, Bruce Willis, movie, Richard Gere, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 12:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: John Cusack (John Kelso), Kevin Spacey (James 'Jim' Williams), Jack Thompson (Sonny Seiler), Irma P. Hall (Minerva)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil page.
I didn't read the book, so I can't compare the two. However, the movie as a stand alone piece is very good. The movie centers around the murder trial of a millionaire in a small town a visiting reporter had befriended. The cast is amazing, and they did a great job telling this story. This is an unusual murder mystery and I really liked that. It seems to take on the personality of the town (Savannah). Some of the quirky characters go a bit too far, or are concentrated on too much, but as a whole, I think this is a very good movie and one that's well worth seeing.
Just sit back and enjoy the town and all the inhabitants' excentricities. Don't expect a straight-forward plot-line and you'll enjoy yourself!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1997, crime, drama, John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, movie, mystery
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Richard Gere (Jack Moore), Ling Bai (Shen Yuelin), Bradley Whitford (Bob Ghery), Byron Mann (Lin Dan)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Red Corner page.
A US attorney on business in China ends up on trial for a murder he didn't commit and dependent on a female defense lawyer from China. I really found this movie interesting. The cast was wonderful and the movie was well done. I definitely don't think the bad reviews Red China got when it was released were warranted. It's certainly not the best crime drama out there, but it's worth renting.
Grade: B
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:45 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Morgan Freeman (Dr. Alex Cross), Ashley Judd (Dr. Kate McTiernan), Cary Elwes (Det. Nick Ruskin), Alex McArthur (Det. Davey Sikes)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Kiss the Girls page.
This story about a woman who escapes a serial killer and then works with the police to help find the killer is very well done. The music and sound effects are as wonderful as the cast. The suspense is really increased by the proper sound. The cast is wonderful and this movie is worth seeing. I thought so when I originally saw it and I still believe it when I watched it on HBO recently. It's not quite as suspenseful as it was the first time I saw it, but after seeing a movie a few times, that will happen. I still recommend renting this one to check it out.
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, Cary Elwes, crime, drama, Morgan Freeman, movie, mystery, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 4:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Jessica Lange (Ginny Cook Smith), Michelle Pfeiffer (Rose Cook Lewis), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Caroline Cook), Jason Robards (Larry Cook), Colin Firth (Jess Clark), Kevin Anderson (Peter Lewis)
For complete info, see IMDb's A Thousand Acres page.
I didn't read the book, but I have read King Lear. A Thousand Acres is basically King Lear set on a farm. I don't know if the book is as well done, but I thought the movie of A Thousand Acres was a very good re-telling of a classic. The performances of the cast are amazing and the movie is well worth watching.
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, Colin Firth, drama, Michelle Pfeiffer, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:25 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kevin Spacey (Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes), Russell Crowe (Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes), Guy Pearce (Det. Sgt. Jack Vincennes), James Cromwell (Capt. Dudley Liam Smith), Kim Basinger (Lynn Bracken)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's L. A. Confidential page.
What an amazing movie! The way L.A. Confidential addressed the issue of corruption and politics involved in police investigations was very interesting. This is one of the best period pieces I've ever seen. They did a great job with making you feel like you were watching a story unfold that was taking place in another time. Everything was very well assembled to create the story of a big murder investigation and the politics that surroud it.
Each officer has his own way of dealing with the situation. Some of them use the situation to their advantage, and they all learn the reality of dealing with corruption.
A wonderful period piece that will always be a great movie to watch!
Grade: A
Labels: 1997, crime, drama, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, movie, mystery, Russell Crowe, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Michael Douglas (Nicholas Van Orton), Sean Penn (Conrad Van Orton), Deborah Kara Unger (Christine)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Game
I'm not sure I've ever seen a movie that kept me guessing this long. I won't say too much about it, but the previews didn't give too much away - heck, the first hour didn't give too much away.
This is one of the most interesting movies I've ever seen. The cast is wonderful and the writing is amazing. Every twist and turn makes the story more and more interesting.
Of course, any time you get Michael Douglas and Sean Penn in a movie together, it's gotta be good.
If you haven't seen The Game and you like movies with suspense, you have to see it!
Grade: B+
Labels: 1997, action, adventure, drama, Michael Douglas, movie, mystery, Sean Penn, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:30 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: George Clooney (Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Julia Kelly), Marcel Iures (Susan Gavrich)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's The Peacemaker page.
A US army colonel and a civilian woman (the nuclear expert for the White house) track down stolen Russian nuclear weapons before they're used by terrorists. I know the plot sounds tired, but this is a very well done action movie. George Clooney and Nicole Kidman work very well together and the movie was well constructed.
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, action, George Clooney, movie, Nicole Kidman, thriller
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Kevin Kline (Howard Brackett), Joan Cusack (Emily Montgomery), Tom Sellek (Peter Malloy), Matt Dillon (Cameron Drake)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's In & Out page.
This movie about a high school teacher planning his wedding who is outted on national TV by a famous former student is funny and endearing. The movie is often ridiculous, but never goes too far, so it remains funny. The cast is amazing and the story is well done. The madness that ensues after the announcement is wonderfully entertaining. Nothing serious in this movie, just a light and fun movie if you want to have a good time.
Grade: B
Labels: 1997, comedy, Joan Cusack, Kevin Kline, movie
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:10 PM show | 0 screams