Cast: Freddie Highmore (Evan Taylor - 'August Rush'), Keri Russell (Lyla Novacek), Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Louis Connelly), Terrence Howard (Richard Jeffries), Robin Williams (Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace)
For complete info on this wonderful cast, see IMDb's August Rush page.
It took me a while to see this movie, partly because I didn't really know what it was about and even now that I've finally seen it, I don't remember seeing any promotional information on the movie. I really enjoyed August Rush. Anyone who loves music and isn't put off by a romantic movie should really enjoy this film. Of course, I added August Rush to my Netflix list because of the cast. Almost any of the main actors could get me to watch a movie on their own. Together, they're well worth taking the time to see any movie.
Initially, I wasn't happy with the way that the flashback format seemed to be working, but as the story progressed, I understood why the story was put together the way it was and I really enjoyed the way everything came together. I highly recommend adding August Rush to your Netflix list if you enjoy music, romance, or both.
The story of a child prodigy who is discovered while trying to find his real parents is moving and thoroughly enjoyable.
Grade: A-
Labels: 2007, drama, Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Keri Russell, movie, musical, Robin Williams, romance, Terrence Howard
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Gabriel Noone), Toni Collette (Donna D. Logand), Rory Culkin (Pete D. Logand), Sandra Oh (Anna), Bobby Cannavale (Jess)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Night Listener page.
The Night Listener was an interesting movie. Definitely not up there with the best of Robin Williams, Toni Collette, or Sandra Oh's movies, but it was worth recording. I like watching movies based on real stories and the ones where the mystery involved hasn't been solved are always more entertaining, though they're a bit frustrating.
I recommend renting The Night Listener if you haven't seen it yet or waiting for it to show up on one of the movie channels again.
Grade: C+
Labels: 2006, movie, Robin Williams, Rory Culkin, Sandra Oh, Toni Collette
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:00 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Williams
For complete info, see IMDb's Happy Feet page.
Not long into this movie, I found myself in shock that Happy Feet beat out Cars (a Pixar film I completely enjoyed) for the Best Animated Feature award. I'm still in disbelief. About 5 minutes into this movie, David left to do other things. Althhough I found myself saying that I couldn't believe Happy Feet won any awards, especially when it was up against Cars and David said he could't believe this movie had been highly rated, I watched the whole thing and David came back about half-way through.
I'm not sure why Happy Feet won Best Animated Feature. Perhaps it was because of the positive message about being good neighboors to wildlife, especially those in the ocean. Perhaps it was because of Robin Williams, who is hilarious as always. I can't understand it.
Happy Feet is a cute movie and worth the rental, but I wouldn't rush out to rent it right away. It's not even close to any of the Pixar movies in animation or story line, but it's cute.
Grade: B-
Labels: 2006, animated, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:28 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Bob Munro), Cheryl Hines (Jamie Munro), Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque (Cassie Munro), Josh Hutcherson (Carl Munro), Jeff Daniels (Travis Gornicke), Kristin Chenoweth (Mary Jo Gornicke)
For complete info, see IMDb's RV page.
I have to say that RV really surprised me. Although I'm a huge Robin Williams fan and love Kristin Chenoweth, this movie about a family trip in an RV frightened me from the commercials. It just seemed to stupid to even be stupid funny. I have to blame that on bad previews, honestly. I didn't expect to want to see any of the extras on the DVD we rented from Netflix, but we watched almost all of them. I am very surprised how much my husband and I enjoyed this fun movie.
RV is about a family reconnecting even though Bob lies to his family when he tells them the reasons for the change of plans (they were supposed to be going to Hawaii for their vacation). Robin Williams is hilarious, as always, and the rest of the cast is wonderful! I hadn't heard of Jo-Jo as a pop artist, but she makes a great actress. Having learned that she's a great singer, I'm even more impressed with her performance. I know how difficult it is to sing really badly when you know how to sing properly.
If you skipped this in theatres, as most people seem to have done, rent it and enjoy it at home. RV was grossly overrated in theatres. It's very funny!
Grade: B
Labels: 2006, adventure, comedy, family, Josh Hutcherson, movie, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 8:54 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Al Pacino (Detective Will Dormer), Robin Williams (Walter Finch), Martin Donovan (Detective Hap Eckhart)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's Insomnia page.
I love Robin Williams! I figured with him and Al Pacino, it was impossible to go wrong. I was really looking forward to seeing Robin Williams as the bad guy, since I'm not used to that. Insomnia never really started, in my opinion. I kept waiting for the story to start, but I never really got to that point (and we stayed for the entire movie).
In spite of the movie about two cops looking for a murderer where the sun doesn't set being very boring, I think the title of Insomnia is pretty funny. If you have insomnia, I recommend renting this movie to cure it. Otherwise, I see no reason to go through the pain of watching it in spite of the cast.
Grade: C-
Labels: 2002, Al Pacino, crime, drama, movie, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 5:10 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Hunter 'Patch' Adams), Daniel London (Truman Schiff), Monica Potter (Corinne Fisher), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Mitch Roman)
For complete info, see IMDb's Patch Adams page.
This story about a medical student who treats patients more with humor than medicine was sweet, but somehow lacking in substance. I think it's still definitely worth seeing, but it wasn't as good as I expected from the previews. Robin Williams is wonderful, though perhaps a bit too over the top for this particular role. No one could have done the scenes where he uses humor to make the patients laugh better. However, the fact that he's so good at comedy puts the focus on him more than might be warranted in this movie about cancer patients.
I still recommend renting it, though. It's a good movie.
Grade: B
Labels: 1998, comedy, drama, movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:15 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Chris Nielsen), Cuba Gooding Jr. (Albert Lewis), Annabella Sciorra (Annie Collins-Nielsen), Max von Sydow (The Tracker)
For complete cast info, see IMDb's What Dreams May Come page.
What an intense movie What Dreams May Come is... The idea of going to one afterlife (heaven), when your partner has gone to the other (hell) and dealing with that, is really mind-boggling. What Chris does because of his love of Annie is truly amazing.
This is definitely not a bright movie in many parts. The scenes in hell can be very disturbing. I wouldn't recommend it right before bed, since it might prompt really strange dreams, but it's a wonderful movie!
Grade: A-
Labels: 1998, Cuba Gooding Jr., drama, fantasy, movie, Robin Williams, romance
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:20 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: 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: Robin Williams (Jack Charles Powell), Diane Lane (Karen Powell), Brian Kerwin (Brian Powell), Jennifer Lopez (Miss Marquez), Bill Cosby (Lawrence Woodruff)
For complete info, see IMDb's Jack page.
Not the funniest movie, in spite of having Robin Williams in the lead role, but if you just go with the ridiculous story and buy into it, you can have fun watching it. A movie about a 10-year-old aging four times faster than normal (therefore looking like he's 40) is a good story. Just think of how cruel kids were when you were in school and think of what they would have done if you looked a LOT older than them. Plus, aging disorders do actually exist (I haven't heard of any this extreme, but you never know what will happen).
This is a good family comedy that requires no thought and allows you to just relax and enjoy.
Grade: B
Labels: 1996, comedy, Diane Lane, drama, movie, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 1:50 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Armand Goldman), Nathan Lane (Albert Goldman), Gene Hackman (Sen. Kevin Keeley), Dianne Wiest (Louise Keely), Dan Futterman (Val Goldman), Calista Flockhart (Barbara Keeley), Hank Azaria (Agador)
For complete info, see IMDb's The Birdcage page.
I know that many who saw the original movie (which I didn't) think this doesn't live up to it and I understand people being upset due to the extreme stereotypes portrayed in The Birdcage. That being said, I really enjoyed it. It's always great to see Nathan Lane and I'm a huge fan of Robin Williams, too. The rest of the cast is amazing, too. I think that the presentation of the story in this version was very well done.
Besides, how can you not love the scene where Armand is giving stage direction to Albert? I mean, this is wonderful! ".... Or Madonna, Madonna, Madonna!... but you keep it all inside." Hilarious stuff! And the struggle going on in their family as Val prepares to wed is not unlike one many families face when the children want the parents to fit in more (in any capacity).
Grade: B
Labels: 1996, comedy, Dan Futterman, drama, movie, musical, Nathan Lane, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams (Alan Parrish), Jonathan Hyde (Samuel Alan Parrish/Hunter Van Pelt), Kirsten Dunst (Judy Shepherd), Bradley Pierce (Peter Shepherd)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Jumanji page.
What an amazing cast! Far from the best Robin Williams movie or family movie out there, but the cast is great and the game the kids find in the house they move into is outrageous. Alan Parrish has been trapped in the game for over 30 years. After the kids free him, they end up releasing all sorts of terrors.
The special effects leave a lot to be desired, but if you can forget that and just enjoy the movie, it's pretty entertaining.
Grade: B
Labels: 1995, action, adventure, comedy, drama, family, fantasy, Kirsten Dunst, movie, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:40 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robin Williams, Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Brad Kane, Lea Salonga, Gilbert Gottfried
For complete info, see IMDb's Aladdin page.
Robin Williams is so hilarious and Disney really let him go crazy in Aladdin, which is part of what makes it so special. The story is nothing new, though they added some good things to it. The animation is very well done, the voice actors are great (and Gilbert Gottfried's Iago is fortunately not in it TOO much), the music (composed by Alan Menken) is wonderful! I highly recommend this Disney movie. It's great fun for the entire family. There are so many jokes the kids won't get right away, but there is plenty for them to enjoy, too!
Like most Disney movies, there's a good message hidden in the movie about being true to yourself, which I think is important and it's good that they slide it in there without beating you over the head with it. You'll enjoy the humor, the music, and the animation.
Grade: A-
Labels: 1992, animated, Disney, family, Lea Salonga, movie, musical, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 2:20 PM show | 0 screams
Cast: Robert De Niro (Leonard Lowe), Robin Williams (Dr. Malcolm Sayer), Julie Kavner (Eleanor Costello), Ruth Nelson (Mrs. Lowe), John Heard (Dr. Kaufman)
For complete cast, see IMDb's Awakenings page.
This wonderful movie, based on a true story about a doctor who makes a lot of progress fighting an illness that everyone else had given up on fighting, will move you. I can't imagine anyone not feeling for the patients in Awakenings. The fact that it is all based on a true story makes it that much more inspiring. I'm so glad that they managed to get this film made, since it's not the standard drama. This story is wonderful and the cast and director do a wonderful job getting the message across. I highly recommend Awakenings.
Grade: A-
Labels: drama, movie, Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams
Reviewed by Kat at the 7:40 PM show | 0 screams