In this original animated adventure, we meet Spirit (Voice of Matt Damon), a noble and protective stallion that leads his group of horses along the mid-west. One night, curiosity takes over and he snoops around a confederate army camp. He gets too close for comfort and mistakenly gets caught by soldiers. Now Spirit will go on the journey of a lifetime, discovering the meaning of friendship, loyalty, courage and love. I was really hesitant to watch this movie, because animated movies in the theaters have been in a large slump, especially since watching “Lilo and Stitch” and “The Road to El Dorado”. But all my disillusionment was taken away when I laid my eyes on this. Boy, was I in for something spectacular.
Below (2002)
“Below” has the potential to become a truly incredible and claustrophobic horror flick, but never follows through with one genre focus. Despite being inaccurately profiled as an underwater monster flick, this is not. This is a horror film that has a story and uses it throughout the film most of the time. We get the sense that Twohy wants to push this movie to the limits but eases up in the last minutes and tends to resort to old horror clichés like the complete silence and trash that falls out of a closet, scaring the audience, and the inevitable fright pop-up of a character with a sharp booming soundtrack in the background. Director David Twohy takes this cast of characters and stores them in this small submarine letting them fend for themselves.
The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)
Based on the hit animated action cartoon from The Cartoon Network in America, Professor Utonium is the focus of this feature as we delve into his life and learn how he created the disc-eyed crime-fighting tots Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Along with their origin finally being told, we also learn how they accepted their superpowers and learned how to use them for good. Alongside the Girls, an evil is looming in the darkness, an evil mastermind genius chimp named Mojo Jojo, who uses the girls’ naiveté for his evil master plan.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Michael J. Fox voices the character of Milo Thatch, an archaeologist who in his field is considered to be eccentric by his colleagues. Milo believes that the lost city of Atlantis is under water and he wants to retrieve the Shepard’s Journal, a book that proves to be a map to finding Atlantis. No one wants to provide the funding for his proposed expedition, until one night he’s taken to an eccentric old millionaire who wants to help him. He gives Milo the Shepard’s journal and tells him that his grandfather once wanted to explore Atlantis. So, Milo is then taken to a shipyard where he meets a team of explorers who are going along with him. All seems well, but after a while, Milo begins to suspect they have ulterior motives.
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
I have never heard of this book before and I was rather hesitant to watch this due to the fact that it was left basically unnoticed and pushed to the side in the midst of all the big budget trash in the theaters. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this story. Alexis Bledel gives a really good performance as the main character Winnie and really helps drives this movie. She’s a really gifted actress and is able to pull off the early century lingo without fault of flaw. She reminds me of a young Brooke Shields giving both hard gritted strength and warm vulnerability all at the same time. I really became interested in her character and really wanted to know how she would end up by the end of the movie.
Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
Victor Salva proves he can direct and gives this film a much darker and grim tone as the first film. He manages to put the audience in the seats and minds of these characters and make them feel as if they’re being hunted by the creeper. Placing this group of people in a cramped broken down bus and throwing them at this intelligent and violent creature is brilliant and after a while you start to get nervous and anxious. Salva lets us in some of the origin of the creature but never spills the beans.
Underworld: Original Soundtrack (CD)
Tracks:
1. THE DAMNING WELL – Awakening featuring Wes Borland, Richard Patrick, Josh Freese, and Donnie Lohner 2. PUSCIFER – RCV 22:20 featuring Maynard James Keenan, Danny Lohner 3. PAGE HAMILTON – Throwing Punches 4. MILLA – Rocket Collecting 5. REINHOLDER – Now I know 6. DAVID BOWIE – Bring me the disco king (Loner Mix) featuring Maynard James Keenan, and John Frusciante 7. SKINNY PUPPY – Optimissed 8. REINHOLDER – Down in the Lab 9. A PERFECT CIRCLE – Judith (Reinholder Mix)
10. JOHENETTE NAPOLITANO – Suicide Note 11. DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN – Baby’s first coffin 12. TRUST COMPANY – Hover (Quiet Mix) 13. REINHOLDER – Falling through the sky 14. A PERFECT CIRCLE – Weak and Powerless (Tilling my grave Mix) 15. FINCH – Worms of the Earth 16. LISA GERMANO – From a Shell 17. REINHOLDER – Death dealer’s descent 18. THE ICARUS LINE – On the Lash 19. SARAH BETTENS – All of this past