Aaron Stanford makes his debut as Oscar Grubman, a fifteen year old intellect with an obsession for Voltaire who returns home to New York to visit his family. He has a bad crush on his stepmother Eve (Sigourney Weaver) unbeknownst to his inept father Stanley (John Ritter) but accidentally gets entangled in an affair with her flirtatious friend Diane (Bebe Neuwrith) who becomes infatuated with Oscar’s intelligent personality and begins to play mind games with him as he desperately tries to conceal the affair from his stepmother. Aaron Stanford skillfully portrays this kid who’s always one step ahead of everyone… or at least he thinks he is.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Lovely & Amazing (2001)
I was pleasantly surprised at how “Lovely & Amazing” exceeded all my expectations. We get a truly incredible heart-wrenching story about these women that face what everyday struggles involving body image. Director Nicole Holofcener also explores how petty these issues about image can be to a woman, and how it so ironically affects their lives inadvertently. “Lovely & Amazing” tells the tale intense tale of four women facing life and its many challenges. We meet Michelle (Katherine Keener) a woman in the crossroads of her life as she faces a dead-end marriage. She is an aging woman who is a struggling artist with a husband who shows basically no interest in her sexually.
Hulk (2003)
Based on one of the most popular and beloved characters in Marvel Comics, we meet Bruce Banner, a timid and shy scientist who performs experiments on animals using Gamma radiation. An accident in his lab causes the gamma radiation to explode and exposes Bruce to a lethal dose. To the surprise of his girlfriend Betty Ross, he is fine but soon discovers that his suppressed rage, when released, unleashes an incredible large green beast known to him as “The Hulk”. An evil military scientist named Talbot wants the hulk to extract his DNA and create a race of super soldiers. All the while general Ross wants him dead at all costs. Now, Banner must confront his horrible past and come to grips with his curse all the while clashing with his psychotic father David who wants to use the hulk for his own benefit.
City by the Sea (2002)
For a film that’s identified as a bonafide thriller, the concept and entire plot is completely downplayed and low-key. I was never sure which direction it wanted go but it definitely does not become a thriller. It segues into all directions of plots never sure where it’s headed. The film is a story about relationships; the relationship Lemarca has with his ex-wife represents his past, the relationship with his new girlfriend represents his current life, and his son represents the past he abandoned. This could have been some amazing metaphors to mesh into the film, but it’s ultimately ruined.
Cube²: Hypercube (2002)
Taking off from the original fan fave, we meet eight people who wake up in a giant cube full of deadly puzzles, obstacles, and rooms that never end. Do they make it out alive? Do they ever make it out? I did not like the first one, so I was curious to see if the second one would be better, and this is basically the same deal. We have a bunch of people, each with unique characters, figuring their way through the constant white rooms and puzzles.
Rollerball (2002)
Now, granted, I’ve never seen the original “Rollerball” starring the great James Caan, but I think I can assure you, that it might have been better than this fiasco. The movie force-feeds us predictable and uninspired action scenes of people rolling around on their amped up blades and motorcycles as different growling and hooting players wearing ridiculous costumes and helmets bash each others skulls in etching to grab a hold of the rollerball attempting to score a point for a specific country as different announcers from the countries broadcasting the games holler at us through the screen play-by-play.
The Tuxedo (2002)
Jackie Chan seems often bored and detached from this film, never giving the charisma he displays in his movies. It dawned upon me that he might be aging or running out of ideas as he starts using wires to help with most of his stunts. We open with him attempting to ask a sexy art dealer on a date and ultimately screw it up. I found it hard to believe that an art dealer would go out with a creepy stuttering taxi driver, so I wasn’t surprised when she rejected him like a bad habit.