Film & TV
Recommendations
Explore
Resources

thedvdfairy

thedvdfairy
Member Since
09 Jan 2012
N/A
TCI
See all TCIs
33
ratings
33
Films
See all ratings
0
collections
0
Recent ratings
33
Minireviews
7
Starred reviews
See all TCIs
33
Films
See all ratings
0
Recent ratings
33
Minireviews
7
Starred reviews
Bio: I teach argument to college freshmen and collect and critique movies as a hobby. I enjoy something from almost every genre, and I'm of the view that even bad movies can be enjoyable -- most of the time.
Recent Ratings
75 13%
Planet of the Apes (2001) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Oh good lord, this movie was such a glorious trainwreck, but still interesting to watch. Don't watch it if you're looking for similarities to the original, but do watch for the special effects and makeup, which if nothing else were very cool to see fully realized.
92 86%
The Incredibles (2004) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
This is a very grown up family film, and the story was sophisticated enough that if special effects were up to speed it would have made just as good a live action film. The story doesn't talk down to its audience, and all the conflicts wrapped up in the narrative are real conflicts, handled by characters that are very true to life. Yes, it's a superhero movie, but it's also so much more than that.
90 75%
Shrek (2001) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Silly, with a few overdone jokes (I'm looking at you, obligatory Matrix reference), but overall a very witty and heartfelt movie with welcome, less-than-conventional characters in the starring roles.
85 40%
Batman Returns (1992) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Dark like the first Tim Burton Batman, but also a smidgeon more cartoony (somehow). It's the same Batman, the same Batmobile, it references the Joker and Vicky Vale, but at times you strain your eyes to believe it's the same world, and not simply a Vaudeville backdrop representation of the world we first saw in Batman, amped up to open the way for all the toys and action figures it would inevitably sell.
90 75%
As Good As It Gets (1997) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Jack Nicholson plays not so much himself, but a man who after years of lapsing into Nicholson-level smartassery as a means to cover up his mental disorder now really can't be differentiated from Jack Nicholson or somebody who looks like him, with serious mental issues. If it sounds confusing, just watch the film. You have a guy who's put on a front for so long to hide his OCD that being a jerk has become a compulsive part of his daily routine. It gets in the way of friendships and romance.
85 40%
Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Proof that it takes a little swearing and Colin Firth and Hugh Grant having the most undignified (and realistic) manfight ever to make a Jane Austen story interesting.
84 28%
Shrek 2 (2004) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Worthy continuation of the original which shows off what Dreamworks' CGI team has learned since the first film. It keeps a similar tone to the original, but as sequels demand, it's "turned up" a little and drops some of the subtle charm in the original while still maintaining the same level of heart that made me appreciate its predecessor.
87 59%
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
A worthy adaptation of the Anne Rice novel by the same name, and while some casting choices made little sense (Banderas as Armand -- a character who was 16 at the time he was made a vampire, not pushing forty), most of the others absolutely do and are worth the watch. Tom Cruise has never played so perfect a role as the Vampire Lestat and captures his brattish qualities perfectly, but the performance to watch above all others is that of a tiny Kirsten Dunst as Claudia.
82 25%
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
The thing that makes this film interesting is the courtroom drama aspect of it, and that it is very much a secular film on exorcisms, giving you both the perspective of the religious persons who believe Emily Rose's struggle to have been one with demons in a biblical sense, as well as that of the realists, who believe the demons might have been a creation of her own mind, but no less real in the toll they took on her.
90 75%
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - Rated 09 Jan 2012
Very rarely is a film so beautifully crafted. It left me thirsty for more of the fantasy world the main character enters, but I am transfixed by the machinations of her stepfather, Captain Vidal, the true monster in this film. I'll admit it scared me in places, and the fantasy creatures didn't take all the credit for it. Violence here is swift, sudden, and calculatingly brutal, and Vidal is a perfect representation of the evils of Spanish Fascism. No one blames the child for wanting to escape.