Buzz-82

Nobody really remembers this animated Superman series because it only lasted for about 2 months. It was a twenty minute episode followed by a five minute "Smallville Journal" that told something about Superman's youth. This was the only time any series has even remotely attempted to remain close to the comic book.

One of the ten best movies of 1999 (and that was one good year, mind you)Topsy Turvy tells the story of Gilbert and Sullivan's writing of the operetta "The Mikado." It is also one of the wittiest movies I have ever seen.

What makes this movie great is not only the biting wit that resonates throughout the movie, but also the fabulous art direction. It is simply one of the best looking movies ever made.

The movie contains many songs from various Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, each masterfully staged in a way that just isn't done anymore.

But I think the best part of this movie is the insults delivered by the main character. Not that the insult itself is so great, but it is always preceded with a compliment (i.e., I love your work, but . ..).

This is one fabulous movie and I would recommend it to anyone who likes good movies.

Boys Don't Cry was not a BAD movie, per se, but the way it was presented by director Kimberly Peirce turned a good movie into a mediocre one.

Yes, Hilary Swank was very good in her portrayal of young (Teena) Brandon (Teena?), but she was surely not better than Annette Bening in American Beauty (who she beat for the Oscar). Granted, there were a few scenes in which she was very good, but Swank was rewarded more for her character than her performance.

No, the movie was not quite historically accurate, but I don't expect that from a movie. My problem with the film was not the historical inaccuracies, including a lack of several key people involved in Brandon's life, and the presence of Chloe Sevigny's character in Brandon's death scene. Facts of true life stories have to be changed in order to keep a tight plot and keep the viewer interested, so I can forgive the inaccuracies.

What I have a hard time forgetting is the forced "hipness" throughout the movie. The speeding lights flying across the highway at the beginning of the film, and the lights flying more quickly than normal across Chloe Sevigny's face at the end of the film, seemed out of place in a traditionally styled character study.

And the characters in this film felt forcedly developed. John especially felt like a forced revelation throughout the film, as if his character was developed simply for the fact that it was developed. It reminded me of the CN tower in Toronto, which is the tallest building in the world for no reason other than to be the tallest building in the world.

So, Boys Don't Cry was a mediocre movie. It was not bad, by any means, but it also was not very good. It was wrecked by the indie film aspect of it, an aspect which felt forced.