GregRG

Twister is one of the most successful hollywood movies in recent years, and that is probably a good thing for hollywood, but it is a very very bad thing for any movie fan with an appreciation of movies beyond seeing neat things blow up. This is a stupid, preposterous and cliched tale that has implausibly sent the hollywood disaster movie back to even before the unfortunate Earthquake. And how many awful rip offs did this three-second attention-span, brain-dead farce spawn? Well, given the creative genius in hollywood, your guess of far too many is an unfortunately low estimate.

Why did this movie suck so bad, when so many people went to see it and apparently loved it? Well, I have no desire to insult the American viewing public's intelligence (Twister did that enough for many, many reviews), but I will delight in telling you the myriad of ways that this movie insulted my intelligence, not to mention my $8 that I could have used to eat two artery closing servings of mozzarella sticks!

Well, first of all, Cary Elwes turn was a "bad" storm chaser was so one demensional and unneccesary that it was hard to remember why we even liked him in "The Princess Bride." Also, the "good" storm chasers were so unique and colorful that they made me want to throw up. There were many talented actors who were forced to say lines of dialogue so lame that they were dated twenty years ago. And if I hear that term "Thumb of God" again...

OK, I'm working myself up. I mean, this is only a stupid action picture, right? I guess it is, but when stupid action pictures make $200 million, we get Volcano and Dante's Peak instead of fare that may actually require someone to, dare I say, THINK. Clearly, no one on either side of the camera was asked to do much thinking with this film.

But how about the Special Effects? Weren't they great? Well, yes, I guess they were, but with cartoonish characters and plum awful dialogue, do we really care how realistic a cow flying is? God, I hope not, but maybe I'm alone in this opinion. Still, though, to think that 20 John Sayles pictures could have been funded by the amount they spent on this thoughtless drivel makes this movie going experience all the more frustrating.

Is Twister the worst movie I have ever seen? I would have to say no. But while Police Academy 5: Mission to Moscow probably influenced no other movies other than, god help us, Police Academy 6, Twister has influenced Hollywood, negatively, for the past five years. I could have been happy without the legacy that has spawned Independence Day, Armageddon, Volcano, Dante's Peak, and might have for all we know inexplicably prolonged the career of Jean Claude Van Damme (Hey, we have to blame that on somebody). So, there we have it. Twister. To quote the genius of H.L. Mencken, who describes the success of this movie forty five years before it's unfortunate arrival "No one has ever lost money underestimating the intellect of the American Public." No, H.L., they haven't, and some have even made $200M.

In one of the great stories of this century, we meet George Bailey, who in a desperate moment is shown how his life touches so many others. It is a story of a man who has given up money, adventure, and excitement in favor of integrity, loyalty, and sacrifice. It is a loving tribute to everyone who knows the value of making a house a home, and making a place a community. Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, is able to effortlessly give us such a man, but he is also able to give us a flawed hero who is at the end of his rope. It is when he sees what life would be like without him that he truly appreciates his "wonderful life." While this film was billed as a romance, and Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart do not disappoint on that end, director Frank Capra is going for something deeper than romance. What he is aiming at, and succeeds like few have done before or since, is to demonstrate the value in placing people above money, integrity over opportunity, and sacrifice over adventure. While these values have been demonstrated in movies before, none have done so with Capra's poetry.

Dazed and Confused simply and delightfully tells the story of the last day of school in a Texas town in 1976. It has no plot, but that isn't the point. Its point is to create a time and place that is chock full of memories, and a lot of fun. It gets every detail right. It gets the bicentennial celebration, the gas prices, the iron-on shirts, and even the hero's nickname right. It also get the hierarchy of the school correct as well. Nerds do not have pocket protectors, not all football players are ass holes, and not everybody wants to have sex. What we get is a funny, enjoyable, richly observed day in the life of Texas high school teens. The performances are great (many of the young actors have become famous since the movie's release), the dialogue is fully realized, and the soundtrack could put a grin on even the dourest member of that generation. What makes this film wonderful is the appreciation of the moment that writer/director Richard Linklater shows us. We feel like we are watching life as it actually happens, full of spontaneity, as opposed to the manufactured, plot-driven events and dialogue that most movies give us. That means we care about these characters, and as importantly, we are there with them, experiencing life on a hazy day in May where there might or might not be a kegger.