The Last Samurai (10/10)
If the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had not come out last year, the Last Samurai would have taken home the Oscar for Best Picture - at least in my book. What a great movie. Very strong, epic story and really great acting by everyone. I think Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe both deserved nominations, even though only Ken received one. I also thought the woman that played Taka, the wife of the samurai that Cruise’s character killed, did a very good job as well. Kudos to Edward Zwick for making this movie!
Add comment May 31st, 2004
Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, was a typical family movie with the exception of the size of the family. It had the basic formula of introduce family, family has problem, family rises above adversity to solve problem. There were some pretty good performances by most of the kids and even by Tom Welling (Smallville’s Clark Kent), but Hillary Duff just sucked. Her lines seemed so rehearsed it wasn’t even funny. I’ve seen her on Lizie McGuire and I never thought that was a problem. Maybe it was because it was her first big movie, I don’t know. The other kid actor that stood out was the kid that played Mark, Forrest Landis. So, overall, it was a typical, but good and clean movie that the whole family can see and enjoy.
I really liked Intolerable Cruely. It was a smart comedy though a little predictable. I thought George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones had very good chemistry as well. A very original story, which is about a rich divorce lawyer falling in love with a woman who’s career is divorcing rich men.