Studio Ghibli Fest: Princess Mononoke (1997)

  

 

Movie Name/Year: Princess Mononoke (1997)

Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Animation

Length:  2h 14min

Rating: PG-13

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Writers: Hayao Miyazaki, Neil Gaiman (adapted by: English version)

Actors:

• Japanese Language Cast: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijô, Sumi Shimamoto, Tetsu Watanabe, Mitsuru Satô, Akira Nagoya, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, Hisaya Morishige
• English Language Cast: Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, John DiMaggio, Claire Danes, John DeMita, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gillian Anderson, Keith David, Tara Strong, Debi Derryberry

 

IMDb Blurb: On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's [mythological Japanese demon] curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime [spirit princess].

 

 

 

Cat’s Point of View:

Whenever cinematic anime is mentioned, more often than not someone is likely talking about a Studio Ghibli movie. Hayao Miyazaki (Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle) is a master of his craft and his body of work has become not only fairly synonymous with the anime genre itself but also legendary in its own right. I have generally adored most of the productions I’ve seen from the Ghibli Library. Some are an acquired taste and are a little odd, but most are breathtakingly beautiful and achingly well-written.

There’s even a whole cinematic “festival” every year to celebrate these wonderful films. It stretches out over a series of months, which is something I really appreciate. It’s easier on the wallet to view one movie a month in theaters rather than several in a week or so. As we approach mid-August of 2023, this year’s Ghibli Fest is well underway, having started in March, and will wrap up in early November. 

This summer, I attended the showing for Princess Mononoke, and fell in love with this movie all over again. 

Princess Mononoke was actually the first Studio Ghibli movie I ever watched and sparked my love of most things Ghibli. I’ve watched at least half of the studio’s productions and plan to expand that list in time. The story of this epic tale of forest spirits and the environmental ravages of men has not lost its impact over time, and is probably more relevant today than at the time of its release given the dramatic climate shifts occurring everywhere. 

The length of Princess Mononoke might seem on the long side for an animated feature, but I assure you that it is action-packed enough that I’ve never even really felt the passage of time while watching. I haven’t fallen prey to ADHD attention span issues, either. 

 

The visuals that accompany this narrative also pull no punches. Princess Mononoke is well deserving of its PG-13 rating. This is yet another example of a film not being appropriate for small children in spite of being an animation. There are graphic depictions of war, including people losing limbs and even being decapitated. Some of the spirit creatures might appear terrifying to the very young, as well. Let’s remember the lesson my generation and our parents learned the hard way with Watership Down (1978). Just because it’s an excellent animated movie about bunnies doesn’t mean that it’s suitable for kids and won’t give them nightmares and trauma. I digress…

For the audiophiles out there, Princess Mononoke's soundtrack perfectly fits this sweeping epic tale. It soars and counterpoints the story on screen well. I felt a familiar rush when I heard the first notes at the beginning of the movie. This is the sort of story that lingers with you long after the credits have run. 

 

Another thing I greatly appreciate with most of the Ghibli movies I’ve seen is that when love is portrayed in these films, it’s not the smarmy and cliched romantic mush that appears in most tales involving romance. There’s a time and place for things like that, and it was wisely approached from a different angle here. 

There’s a reason that both audience and critic scores for Princess Mononoke are so high - it’s just that good, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t experienced Studio Ghibli before. If you're already a Ghibli fan, let us know in the comments below which movie is your favorite. (Personally, I'm torn between My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004).)

If you’d like to see the Ghibli Fest 2023 schedule or want to know where to look for it when next year rolls around, you can find it easily through the Fathom Events site. 

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 93%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –94%

Metascore – 76%

Metacritic User Score – 8.7/10

IMDB Score – 8.3/10

 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 5/5

P.S. - Just as an extra piece of trivia in clearing up a common misconception stemming from a few of the DVD and blu-ray release editions of some of the Studio Ghibli movies - Disney does not, and has never owned Studio Ghibli. They only had a limited distribution deal with Studio Ghibli, and that expired in 2017 when GKIDS took over the distribution rights.

 

Movie Trailer:

The Cube Trilogy

I’ve always been curious about the movie Cube (1997). My RP group designed some events around it, it’s noted as being an impressive B cult film, and pretty much everyone I know that’s seen it has enjoyed it.

As with most cinematic black holes, though, once you go a certain amount of time without watching something it gets more difficult to find the time. New movies come out, work takes over, family life expands, and movies that people swear you should have seen forever ago just slip through the cracks.

The other day, my little one decided she was going to have a sleepy day and I decided it gave me enough time to watch the entire Cube trilogy. So, I did. I watched all three movies, back-to-back. First Cube, then Cube²: Hypercube (2002), and finally, Cubeº: Cube Zero (2004).

Let me start with the series as a whole.

A lot of questions don’t really get answered. In a trilogy like this, I would expect the final film – since it’s a prequel – to offer some kind of closure on why things are happening. You get a non-committal ‘who’ but no real ‘why’. That disappointed me. They did manage to bring things around so that the story made some manner of sense, but the fact that I got no real closure, kind of bothered me.

As for the individual movies, that was a bit more complicated.

I think Cube (the first one), is a brilliant example of a film that ‘doesn’t hold up’. You hear people use that saying a lot, but you really only see examples of it here and there.

For the most part, if you don’t mind ignoring technological changes, there are very few reasons for a movie to not hold up. Not taking CGI, or cinematography in general, into account, I believe the story itself doesn’t hold up. It’s a little boring and shallow – just a basic torture porn, only it doesn’t go as far as a lot of the other movies out there.

The thing is, I would put money on the belief that I would have loved Cube if I saw it when it first came out. It was B quality, but in a good way. It also would have been the first I’d seen of that kind of story and I would have been enthralled. Instead, the first film I saw with that same basic story was Saw (2004). I believe I still would have liked Saw if I’d seen Cube first… but going the other way around makes it feel like I have to compare the two, and I just prefer Saw.

The second movie, Cube²: Hypercube had a different problem. It took all the CGI it could and utilized it to make something ridiculously over worked that cheapened the plot. I was so distracted by the quantum bullshit that I forgot to care about the characters at all.

I didn’t mind the first movie, but the second one pushed my buttons and kind of annoyed me. The ending made it worth a watch, but just barely.

The third film was, by far, my favorite of the three. Cubeº: Cube Zero made me think back to Cabin in the Woods (2012) and I had to admit that I saw how the entire Cube series could very well have influenced the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard creation. Instantly that endeared the third film to me because I LOVED Cabin in the Woods.

What the third film did right was to make me empathize with the antagonist – or at least a sub-set of the antagonists. It also brought more of the Cube world into focus by stepping slightly outside the cube.

With the way the third film circled around to set up the first, I found myself greatly appreciating that they’d made it a prequel. However, I think they could have gone further and explained more to the audience.

If I wasn’t left wanting, I’d be more likely to consider myself a member of the Cube cult. Unfortunately, watching the trilogy didn’t quite scratch the itch it caused.

It’s not a bad series, but not one I’m likely to be foaming at the mouth to watch again.

Hercules (1997)

Number Rolled: 14

Movie Name/Year: Hercules (1997)

Genre: Children & Family

Length: 92 minutes

Rating: G

Director: Ron Clements, John Musker

Writer: Ron Clements, John Musker, Don McEnery, Bob Shaw, Irene Mecchi, Kaan Kalyon, Kelly Wightman, Randy Cartwright, John Ramirez, Jeff Snow, Vance Gerry, Kirk Hanson, Tamara Lusher, Francis Glebas, Mark Kennedy, Bruce Morris, Don Dougherty, Thom Enriquez

Actors: Tate Donovan, Josh Keaton, Roger Bart, Danny DeVito, James Woods, Susan Egan, Bobcat Goldthwait, Matt Frewer, Rip Torn, Samantha Eggar, Barbara Berrie, Hal Holbrook, Paul Shaffer, Amanda Plummer, Carole Shelley, Paddi Edwards, Charlton Heston, Patrick Pinney, Lillias White, Vaneese Y. Thomas, Cheryl Freeman, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Corey Burton, Keith David, Jim Cummings

Hercules is born to Zeus and Hera, as a full-blood god upon Mount Olympus. After learning from the fates that the new born was on track to destroy a plan set to hatch eighteen years into the future, Hades has the boy kidnapped and turned into a human, then killed. His peons get something wrong though, and manage to turn him human, but not strip him of all his powers. Because of that error, Hercules survives in the care of his adopted family.

I’m in love with mythology. Greek, Roman, Celtic; the origin of said mythology doesn’t matter. Since I was in elementary school I would pick up any book I came across with any myth, any legend, any fable. I recently finished reading all the available books in the Percy Jackson series (the next one comes out in the fall and I’m twitching for it). There was a lot I didn’t like about the mythology of those books, but I think they mostly got it right. With Disney’s “Hercules” I know I should hold a lot less against it. After all, the old Greek myths were not G rated. This movie is for kids, so a lot of the story had to be watered down; which I expected and I prepared for and I still was unhappy with.

The origin they went with was just horrible. I couldn’t really get past it, especially since they based the entire rest of the storyline on it. In the end they made it fit, but I still cringe. The creation of Pegasus, however, was just adorable.

The animation was alright. I could have guessed Zeus and Hercules from their concept art. On the other hand if someone would have stuck a picture of Hera from this movie in front of me, there would have been several goddesses I would have guessed and not one of them would be her.

With those issues in mind, the movie wasn’t bad. I just expect more out of Disney originals. When you put this up against other 90’s originals (like Pocahontas, The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, etc.) it just comes up short. The music was good, but not exceptional. The story wasn’t as memorable when compared to the other instant classics Disney was putting out at that time. None of this means it was bad.

Disney is still a powerhouse company, putting out more movies per year than audiences can even digest, but back in the 90’s they were just starting to become what they are now. Every movie they put out was original, unforgettable and pretty much genius. Hercules is a really good movie that kind of loses itself among the rest of those amazing films.

I loved the Meg character though. There’s no secret that I love that sass.

Overall Opinion – 4/5

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Number Rolled: 5

Movie Name/Year: Good Will Hunting (1997)

Genre: Drama

Length: 126 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Gus Van Sant

Writer: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck

Actors: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgard, Minnie Driver, Casey Affleck, Cole Hauser, John Mighton, Rachel Majorowski, Colleen McCauley

Will Hunting is a 20 year old, janitor, genius. Spending his free time with his buddies drinking, picking up girls and getting into fights, he seems like the average “wrong side of the tracks” young adult. That is, until an MIT professor (where he works) puts a seemingly unsolvable problem on a chalkboard outside the classroom. In almost no time at all, Will has snuck the correct equation onto the board and the professor goes on the search to find him.

“Good Will Hunting” is one of my favorite movies. Even if I were to strip away the main storyline, it would still hold my favorite love story along with my favorite movie quote (which you’re just going to have to guess at since I don’t like to reveal spoilers).

I don’t know where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck came up with this, but it just plain works. Everything about it feels real and believable. The banter is witty and fits the psychological standpoint taken with the characters. The back stories are interesting and each and every character comes with a wealth of depth that’s very rare outside of books.

I love the entertainment value of “Good Will Hunting,” but I also love the meaning behind it. I get a lot of enjoyment from movies that explore the good points of a rough background. Maybe it’s just where I’m from, but I can’t see anyone being unscarred by the time they’re twenty. If I were to go through the histories of me and my closest friends I’d come up with only about two fathers still in the picture and so many traumatic experiences, we could fill a psych textbook easy. So, when I come across a movie like this that acknowledges a person can be screwed up by their past but still have something amazing to offer, it feels more real to me than any other kind of movie.

Robin William’s character struck me as an interesting piece of the puzzle. Most people think of therapists as the stereotypical “…and how does that make you feel” kind of people who don’t really say much and just sit there like a life-support system for a pair of ears. I spent most of my life in therapy. From six years old until I was twenty-six, I went through them like you wouldn’t believe. I had a lot of the stereotypical ones, and for each and every one of them, I had a Will Hunting attitude. There was one woman I saw when I was thirteen or so, my mom was ecstatic because she was world famous or some shit, meanwhile I would go to her office, take an hour nap and go home. This lasted about six months before people finally got that I didn’t trust her enough to let her make me a sandwich – let alone let her into my mind. Meanwhile, the best therapist I ever had never wrote a book. She wasn’t world-famous; in fact, I was her very first patient. I will never forget Denise, the therapist that helped me finally move on in my life. She understood that I wasn’t going to trust her until she gave me a reason to. She WAS Robin William’s character, and this movie serves to remind me of her and the good she did for me.

The only problem I had that keeps it from being a 5, is Ben Affleck. Look, Affleck is a MUCH better actor than people give him credit for. I mean, when he’s bad, he’s ridiculously bad (Daredevil). However, when he’s good, he’s ridiculously good. In this movie he was good… he just sucks so much with accents. It’s like my ears TRY not to hear him when he puts one on. It’s a really small issue, but he talks so much in the movie that it seems bigger.

Fantastic movie. Everyone should see it.

Overall Opinion – 4.5/5

P.S. Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier were co-executive producers of this movie.

Anaconda (1997)

Number Rolled: 77

Movie Name/Year: Anaconda (1997)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Length: 89 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Luis Llosa

Writer: Hans Bauer, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr.

Actors: Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Kari Wuhrer, Vincent Castellanos, Danny Trejo, Frank Welker

Terri is a documentary director hired by an anthropologist named Dr. Cale to travel the rainforest in search of a lost tribe. Along the way, they happen upon a shipwrecked man and take him aboard. It isn’t long before the crew of filmmakers realizes that their guest is a bit shady. It isn’t until one of them goes missing that they are introduced to the theory of a man-eating snake.

Anaconda is one of those movies I can watch pretty often without getting sick of it. Don’t take that to mean it’s good; it’s actually closer to a really bad movie that has a lot of good cheese to offer.

Let’s be fair, the actors were mostly good. Jon Voight plays insane psychotic better than most in the game and Ice Cube fit his part like a glove. I hate Owen Wilson in general, so I’ll refrain from offering my bias opinion on his job, but Jennifer Lopez was pretty believable despite my general dislike for her. The script itself also wasn’t too bad. The story, however, pretty much belonged to Jaws or any other water-based creature feature that came after it.

Everything that had a good side in this movie also had a bad side. The snake looked really good, but it screamed. I had friends, growing up, that were snake breeders. I have to admit, I’ve never heard a snake scream. Deep down I know they added it for extra horrific value, but I think it took away believability. In a cheese movie that’s normally fine, but this movie was trying to be serious. Aside from that they did great with the sounds from the jungle, but the few times they had animals other than the snake involved, they looked like bad puppets.

When you take into account the good and the bad pushing against each other in “Anaconda,” you’re left with nothing more than a mediocre film. I know this, and yet, it’s still a guilty pleasure of mine. I rarely change the channel when it’s on. For the life me, I couldn’t tell you why. If you figure it out, let me know.

Overall Opinion – 2.5/5

Liar Liar (1997)

Number Rolled: 53

Movie Name/Year: Liar Liar (1997)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 86 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Tom Shadyac

Writer: Paul Guay, Stephen Mazur

Actors: Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Justin Cooper, Cary Elwes, Anne Haney, Jennifer Tilly, Amanda Donohoe, Jason Bernard, Swoosie Kurtz, Mitch Ryan, Christopher Mayer, Eric Pierpoint

Fletcher Reede is a great lawyer, but he’s one missed meeting away from being a deadbeat dad. That missed meeting comes on his son, Max’s, fifth birthday. The boy is depressed when the candles of his birthday cake are lit, but his mother eventually gets him to blow them out. That’s when he makes a wish. At 8:15pm Fletcher Reede becomes unable to tell another lie for 24 hours.

Concept-wise, this movie was brilliant. It wasn’t exactly something I’d seen before, came from completely out of the box. There’s one simple problem. I didn’t like it.

It’s true that Jim Carrey comedies are almost a genre all their own. Either you love his style or you hate it. I have yet to meet anyone who is on the fence about the great Jim Carrey. Purposely overacting in order to create the great caricature of whatever character he’s playing. It’s something that can’t be judged fairly by someone who doesn’t like that style. However, I happen to enjoy it. I remember watching Ace Ventura about a hundred times when I was a little girl, and I’m definitely looking forward to what Jim Carrey is going to do in Kick-Ass 2.

That being said, I just couldn’t get into this. The ending was as cute as a basket of puppies cuddling with about twenty baby rabbits, a tiny red panda and a newborn kitten. The rest of the movie was a babbling mess. It had its funny moments, but they were trapped between severely exhausting overdone shtick. It could have been funny, but at least 75% of move was unintelligible semi-yodeling.

In all honesty, this movie got killer ratings from a great deal of people – both audience members and critics. I don’t understand that, but I urge you to judge for yourself.

Overall Opinion – 2/5

P.S. Stay for the beginning of the credits. You have to love a blooper reel.

Cupid (1997)

Number Rolled: 5

Movie Name/Year: Cupid (1997)

Genre: Thriller

Length: 95 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Doug Campbell

Writer: David Benullo

Actors: Zach Galligan, Ashley Laurence, Mary Crosby, Joseph Kell, Annie Fitzgerald, Henry Brown, Margaret Blye, Michael Bowen, Alina Thompson, Michael Fairman, Christopher Kriesa, Arabella Holzbog

This movie was not described well in Netflix’s one sentence blurb. What Netflix had goes as follows: “A woman develops a huge crush on her handsome co-worker, but he turns out to be a murderous psycho who ruthlessly calculates her compatibility.” Let me deconstruct this for you. The ‘psycho’ was actually a Greek/Roman mythology fanatic that believed down to the depths of his soul in the myth of Cupid and Psyche. The delusional male was not the woman’s co-worker. In fact, he was independently wealthy and worked only as an independent writer. Lastly, he didn’t do much calculating of their compatibility, he took one look at her and knew their compatibility.

So, I’m going to rewrite that one sentence blurb here so that it’s actually for this movie, and not whatever movie that thought it was supposed to be for. “A woman moves to L.A. where she finds herself dating a delusional man who believes that she is Psyche and he is Cupid.” That is my one sentence that actually depicts the correct plot.

I had my issues with this movie. The soundtrack made me want to throw my popcorn at the screen; in fact, it often overshadowed the dialog so much, that I couldn’t hear everything without turning the volume up to the most ridiculous level. Then there was the variation of the Psyche/Cupid myth used in the script was so deviant from the actual, that it might as well have been something entirely different. Lastly, the ending was horrible. It was just a train-wreck. Like the writer got bored and just threw together whatever clichés he could think of.

However, aside from those issues, it was ok. The thing I’ll remember most about this movie is how annoyed I am at the perversion of the Cupid/Psyche myth, which I’m actually quite fond of in its pure state.

Overall Opinion – 2.5/5

If you are interested in the actual myth of Cupid and Psyche, you can find a decent version here: http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/cupid.html

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Number Rolled: 64

Movie Name/Year: My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)

Genre: Romance

Length: 104 mintues

Rating: PG-13

Director: P.J. Hogan

Writer: Ronald Bass

Actors: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M. Emmet Walsh, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie Preston, Susan Sullivan, Christopher Masterson, Raci Alexander, Jennifer Garrett, Kelleia Sheerin, Bree Turner

I feel the need to remind everyone that this blog represents only my own opinion of the movies I review. I feel that need because I know that I’m unjustly bias against this movie and most movies like it. It has nothing to do with the actors or the director; it has to do with the story line in general. So, in these cases, I guess I blame the writer.

I hate movies that make it seem like men and women must be in love if they’re best friends. Either in love or one party is gay. It makes me want to literally throw tomatoes at the screen. My very best friend is a male. We are both fans of the opposite sex; we just don’t see each other in that way. Before you go ahead and assume I friend-zoned him, I should tell you, we started out as more than friends. We were even engaged at one point. Our break up was the healthiest thing ever and we have been friends since with no interest in relapsing to that romantic point. We have simply always worked better in the platonic sense.

Movies like this plant into people’s minds that it is not ok to befriend someone of the opposite sex unless you are looking for romance. Which would really suck for me, if that was true, because I think I have four female friends in total. I simply prefer the company of male friends, I tend to have more interests in common with them.

For the actual review I’m going to try to put my personal view aside, but I’m finding that very, very, difficult.

This movie is about a woman who learns that her best friend is about to get married and suddenly realized that she’s in love with him, so she goes down to attend the wedding and break up his relationship. Quite frankly, the movie is only worth it if you’re interested in getting to the ending that you can probably already figure out. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys the trip as much as the destination, this might work for you. If you prefer to be surprised, move it along.

The movie opens up with a musical number that doesn’t include any of the characters from the actual movie. Which is stupid, in my opinion. A beginning musical (song and dance) sequence is only excusable in a movie from a musical genre or a movie in which the main character starting the story is a producer/director/actress/etc.; neither is true in this case.

The actors/actresses, however, did a lovely job in making me care. I think Cameron Diaz was a little too over the top, but I’ve known actual people like that so I can’t really say it was unrealistic. The ending was a joke, but there were some amusing moments throughout the rest of the movie otherwise.

If I ignore my glaring personal issue with the movie, it was fantastically average.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

Chasing Amy (1997)

Number Rolled: 32

Movie Name/Year: Chasing Amy (1997)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 113 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Kevin Smith

Writer: Kevin Smith

Actors: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith

I can’t even describe how happy I was to roll Kevin Smith. I don’t roll him enough. He doesn’t have enough movies made for me to feel I roll him enough. Of all the movies of his I COULD have rolled, I’m glad it was this one though, because I have something to say.

A great deal of my friends are Kevin Smith fans. When I was in high school a group of us would sit in a basement drunk off 40s and watch movies; Clerks, Mallrats, etc. I felt a little less invisible when I was watching those movies. Chasing Amy was eventually among them, though I don’t remember if it was during those basement years or later.

The majority of the people I spoke to about the movie had basically the same thing to say about it, “meh, it’s ok. Not as good as his other stuff.” Granted, I think Clerks is the best fucking movie ever made, but Chasing Amy is possibly my third favorite by him (directly after his newest one, Red State).

I think the actors did a phenomenal job. At one point in the movie there’s a crying scene that Joey Lauren Adams has to act out and I think she executed it perfectly. For one, it wasn’t pretty. I watch some of these dramas and romance movies out now and the actresses cry without messing up their make-up or raising their voice. I sit there thinking…. “wow. Is that what I’m supposed to look like when I cry cause… fuck… I don’t look like that when I’m happy!” Joey takes it to another level. It’s realistic. I like that. I’m not the biggest fan of Ben Affleck, but he did well and Jason Lee… well… let’s just say – he’s on my “list.”

The subject itself is what snags me and really raises this movie to unbelievable levels in my eyes. The first thing I enjoyed was the bisexual struggle within Alyssa Jones. A lot of times, when someone initially finds out I’m bisexual I get the whole “that’s pretty cool, so just about everyone accepts you hm?” and that’s bullshit. People don’t realize how bullshit that is. I’ve had straight people tell me that I will just need to choose eventually and gay people tell me that it’s just a phase. That’s just not the way it works. There’s a chart, I believe it’s called the Klein Chart, that depicts 10% of the population as totally straight and 10% of the population as totally gay with everyone else falling at different levels in between. But instead of acknowledging that bisexuality exists, a lot of people call it a “phase” or call bisexuals “greedy” or “confused.” Maybe I was confused in my teenage years, but I know who I am now – and that I define myself as bisexual hasn’t changed.

The second subject that I love didn’t really hit me until a couple of years ago. It’s an underlying subject in the film that shows you shouldn’t judge someone by their past. I have an amazing boyfriend who knows everything about my past. Even the stuff I’m so embarrassed about that I don’t even want to think about. And boy, do I have a lot of that. His response is that it doesn’t matter because who I am now is not who I was then. He accepts me for who I am and accepts my choices – for better or worse. As simple as that seems it’s very rare. I’ve had significant others snipe for days after finding out something from my past that happened years ago. I’ve had people completely stop talking to me for stuff they’ve found out. And there are some people, I’d never even attempt to tell about my past because I’m not stupid and I know how they’d react. This movie shows that you have to put an individual ahead of their actions. Judge a person by who they are now, because they wouldn’t be that person without having learned from the past.

As funny and raunchy as this movie is, it’s got a deeper meaning. One that can’t be overlooked. It just makes that lesson fun to learn and helps it go down with a couple spoonfuls of sugar.

So yes, I hear people who say it’s not one of his best movies. To them I say, in the immortal words of the late great George Carlin, “fuck you and fuck everybody who looks like you.”

Overall Opinion – 5/5

Starship Troopers (1997)

Number Rolled: 46

Movie Name/Year: Starship Troopers (1997)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Length: 130 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Writer: Edward Neumeier, Robert A. Heinlein

Actors: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, Seth Gilliam, Rue McClanahan

There’s not much I can really say about this movie. I am a big fan of it, but it’s not really for everyone. It starts out with a group of high school friends deciding to join the military in order to become citizens or follow their crushes around… either way they wind up in the military fighting the forces of bugs that are threatening their way of life. It sounds a lot more stupid than it actually is.

My favorite part of the movie is the beginning, where they’re catching you up to speed through website new reels. They explain the threat and the war without making you feel like the writer thinks you’re stupid and you can’t figure things out.

It’s a campy kind of movie, but it’s cute. I hear the sequels leave much to be desired… but we’ll see.

Overall Opinion – 4.5/5

The Fifth Element (1997)

Number Rolled: 24

Movie Name/Year: The Fifth Element (1997)

Genre: Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Length: 126 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Luc Besson

Writer: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Actors: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry, Brion James, Lee Evans, Tricky, John Neville, John Bluthal, Mathieu Kassovitz, Christopher Fairbank

You know what? The first thing I have to say here is that whomever wrote Netflix’s little blurb about what the movie was about was obviously daydreaming instead of watching the movie. Where the hell do street gangs come in? Granted you’ve got this weird little hate triangle going on, but it has nothing to do with street gangs. You’ve got a corrupt business man, mercenaries and the good guys. This is not some weird futuristic version of “Gangs of New York” like the description might have you believe. Damn Netflix, shape the hell up.

As for the movie itself, I love it. I have loved it every other time I’ve seen it and I continue loving it now. I recognize that it has its flaws though. Although Chris Tucker acted incredibly well, his character is one of the single most annoying thoughts every brought to life by art. He makes me want to drill a spork into my brain. The character is there for comedic effect, and it works to a point, but I often wonder if they could have obtained the same final product using a different type of character.

This was the first movie I had seen Milla Jovovich in and it made me love her acting. I believed that she was Leeloo. And some of those lines that she delivered are classics that wind up being quoted on a day to day basis around here. Sure, she didn’t write the script, but had she delivered them differently they may not be quoted as much today.

This also happens to be one of those movies you need to watch if you’re involved in the geek community at all. Not as up there as Star Wars, but still a must see.

Overall Opinion – 4/5