White Dolphin

As most movies The Witches fails to be better than the book on which it is based.

In second grade my teacher read my class Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach"- we all were charmed by it and like most of my class, I too went out to the nearest book stores and libraries to read the other books of Roald Dahl. The Witches is one of my favorites of his works, although I haven't read it for quite a while. As for the movie. The casting is so-so. Anjelica Huston, though is superb as the Grand High Witch. Not really as how I imagined the Grand High Witch when I first read the book, but nevertheless she pulls it off very well. The effects were brilliant. the mice were realistic, as were the transformations and the 'real' face of The Grand High Witch. The biggest disappointmant though was the ending. I felt that the books ending was much more fitting. The ending here was simply the "happily ever after" type ending, but then again keep in mind it's a children's movie. But like Roald Dahl said "there's no such thing as a good witch". The Witches is an enjoyable movie, though and parents won't mind watching it with their children, because let's face it: books like The BFG, The Witches and James and the Giant Peach may all say ages 8-12 on the back but they can be enjoyed by anyone of any age.

It's a real shame because "Private Benjamin" had good potential, and everyone involved meant well but...

Well, I did laugh- the scenes where Goldie is in basic training in the military are funny, amusing and fun but the moment basic training ends and Goldie goes to France, it becomes long and boring with not a single laugh to offer. The last half an hour or so were completely pointless. The writers should have crossed out this awful romance plot and just continued with the fun humor- the movie should have been about Goldie in the military and that would have been fun- what this movie should have been- pure fun. The ending just leaves a bad impression, which is a shame since Goldie (who also took the part of executive producer) meant very well. It seems this is only the first draft. At fault are the writers, who produced many fun moments and then just lost all ideas.

As I was flicking through channels one night I just caught the beginning of a film. It was probably the names of Swoozie Kurtz and Meat Loaf that made me go 'what the heck, I'll watch'. The acting is not superb, but the film doesn't demand great acting. The script isn't brilliant, but the film doesn't demand a great script. Taj Mahal (an interesting name) is the highlight as latenight radio host Dix Mayal. A few gory scenes but interesting to see how the night progresses.