Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

4/10

Mediocre film that's not very thoughtful

Plot: Two seemingly dumb teens struggle to prepare a historical presentation with the help of a time machine.

When I started this film, I expected a ton of time travel that would make you think. What I received was a very linear storyline about two dumb and extremely dull teens who are caught up travelling through time in an attempt to finish a history report. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is just a bunch of different famous people from history thrown together in a phone booth....that's it.

Pros: The graphics and special effects for the late 80s is quite well done for this film. The different time period costumes are well done and detailed. The backdrop for each history time frame is believable

Cons: The time travelling aspect lacked in element and though. The story focused all of it's energy in introducing the viewer to the varies history time periods/personalities and spent no time on the effects of time travel has on the present/future. The dialogue was dull and the two main characters didn't appeal to me at all.

If you want GOOD time travel movie, DON'T bother with this one..you're way off base. I recommend you check out Back to The Future trilogy and Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel.

Glorious 39 (2009)

4/10

such dramatic build up that resulted in nothing.

Plot: A mysterious tale set around a traditional British family on the eve of World War Two. eldest sibling Anne is a budding young actress who is in love with Foreign Office official Lawrence, but her seemingly perfect life begins to dramatically unravel when she stumbles across secret recordings of the pro-appeasement movement.

what the heck? Were the first words I said at the end of the film. Glorious 39's synopsis built itself up to be this huge espionage war movie that is thrilling and (mistakenly thought by me) full of twists. Throughout the film my mind was racing to figure out what the twist could be and who was behind it all. When the final conclusion unfolded, I realized my attempts at guessing the ending and holding my breath was all for naught.

Glorious 39 seems to be too sedated to be a thriller/mystery. The pace is slow with mostly static shots. The use of children in this film is very odd making the film feel more scary, like the Grudge, than thrilling. I was really thrown off by the children, I didn't feel the connection between the children and the 'big secret'. Bill Nighy and Romola Garai are great, but their acting couldn't save the poor script.

This film is better labeled just drama because the thriller bit is disappointing. I was not thrilled with the ending.

If you want to watch a world war II-thriller-espionge-spy film DON'T watch this.This will just leave you feeling confused and sleepy. INSTEAD watch Black Book,its rated R for some very graphic scenes, not suitable for everyone but it is really thrilling.

Slipstream (2005)

4/10

I would highly recommend you to NOT watch this film unless you have a time machine to undo watching it after you've watched it.

Plot: A scientist plots a bank robbery based around his newest invention -- a time travel gadget that will send its user 10 minutes into the past.

I liked the concept during the first 10 minutes in the bank but the film seems to have lost its focus from there and frantically attempted to reel in again at the end.

Slipstream started off strong but tried way too hard to want to capture Requiem for a Dream artsy effect. This film used too much artsy elements, cliche dialogue, overdramaic acting and rewinding of itself that it became annoying. I was so fed up with this film that I was skipping through it to just get the gist of the story.

Unlike Requiem for a Dream, Slipstream uses artsy footages for the sake of being artsy. Whereas in Requiem For a Dream the artsy elements were use to allude the audience into the mind set of the characters during their moments of getting high. Slipstream could have been so much better if it stayed off the artsy throttle and focused more on time travel...then again maybe a different writer/director might have been helpful too.  I know I am being very harsh towards this film but Slipstream just lacked in everything (and too much of some things).

The Ultimate Gift (2006)

4/10

touching concept but not well put together

The Ultimate Gift is about Jason, who was about to receive his inheritance with money and lots of it. Was he ever in for a big surprise...(imdb)

I like the concept of how a rich kid is made to realize the importance of life, friends and love over money. However, this movie is not well put together. It feels like each segment was roughly thrown into the plot line just to make it all work. For example, like how Jason and Emily met is bit odd and farfetched. The way everything seems to work after Emily met Jason just doesn't make sense.

This movie is lingered with messages and lessons, which makes this film sweet. But the plot doesn't seem to flow very well. The bit where Jason ended up in the jungles, was quite random and seem to have been put into the film just to add excitement.

Abigail Breslin is amazing as always. Her performance in Little Miss Sunshine and Zombieland are both great! She never failed to give a believable and excellent performance.

This film is predictable, which doesn't seem to surprise me as it isn't a thriller/mystery. The ending is pretty much laid out for us from the beginning, with the main emphasis on the journey of the film.

Overall not epic but not bad either. The Ultimate Gift lacked in a solid heartfelt storyline and is not very well pieced together. However, this film did deliver a very touching message that it set out to create, which makes this film a worth while.

Secret Window (2004)

4/10

Tepid.

Secret Window, starring Johnny Depp, is about an author being accused of plagiarism by an odd man and must deal with the accusation/threats.

The film has an interesting premise, good acting and somewhat mysterious but it is much too predictable. Maybe it's because I've seen too many of this type of movie so the ending became obvious half way through the film. I felt there was really little mystery in the storyline.

Johnny Depp's performance is one one aspect of Secret Window that saves the film. I enjoyed the film mostly because Depp is so engaging in his role. He uses simple gestures and facial expressions to make his character Mort come alive. Depp is quite entertaining that I found myself chuckling at one point.

Secret Window revolves around writing, writers and story telling. At one point Mort (Depp) actually says "Ending is the most important part..." referencing to both the movie itself and stories in general. This reference is quite clever but Secret Window's ending did not succeed in surprising me. The film in entirety could have benefited from more twists and turns because even the thrilling moments lacked thrill. Maybe Stephen Kings story is quite exciting as a short, but in film form it falls flat.

If you want to watch a somewhat thrilling movie that has a rating of PG-13, then Secret Window will do. It is mediocre film is made interesting by Johnny Depp's performance, but not at all memorable.