Great Movie Re-Watch

Jumanji (1995)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Jumanji (1995)

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers:

Jonathan Hensleigh

Greg Taylor

Jim Strain

Starring:

Robin Williams

Bonnie Hunt

Kirsten Dunst

Bradley Pierce

David Alan Grier

Blurb:

When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped in it for decades – and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.

Thoughts:

A lot of people remember where they were when they found out that Robin Williams died. I don’t. However, I feel a deep sense of sadness when I see him in a movie. He was such an incredible man. Even with that sadness, he can still make me laugh.

Having read the Jumanji book the writers of this movie took a lot of creative liberties and it worked out wonderfully. I love the concept of getting stuck playing a scary game. Something that the newer version doesn’t have is the effect that these things have on the real world. Seeing how others who had no idea what was going on reacted was great, but even better was seeing how the world was changed by the disappearance of Alan. I loved that and wish there was more of that in the remakes.

Jumanji is another movie that I watched a fair amount when I was growing up. I still can’t watch when the spiders are on the screen, but it’s still one of my favorites.

Alan is such a whiny ass that getting sucked into the game was probably good for him. As much as that sucked for him.

The special effects still look good and I think that’s because so much of it wasn’t CGI. I wish there was less CGI in films nowadays. I’m getting old lol

Pulp Fiction(1994)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Pulp Fiction(1994)

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writers:

Quinten Tarantino

Starring:]

John Travolta

Samuel L. Jackson

Uma Thurman

Bruce Willis

Ving Rhames

Tim Roth

Amanda Plummer

Blurb:

The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Thoughts:

I have to be in a certain mood to watch a Quinten Tarantino movie and that mood rarely strikes. He loves to see people say the words he’s written and they’re often too much for me. I like a lot of them, but again, I have to be in the right mood. I wasn’t in the mood for Pulp Fiction. I kept putting off watching this and it was only my husband wanting to watch it that got me to sit down. It’s a fine movie, but definitely not one of my favorites.

Vince is a dick and I’m glad he gets what’s coming to him. Jules’s storyline is the one I like the most. Mia and Vince’s whole story is downright boring until the end. I just don’t like Butch’s story, but I couldn’t tell you why.

I think what bothers me the most is there really isn’t a single likable person in the movie and I need that to enjoy a film. I am definitely not a film snob lol. I can appreciate that it’s a well-told story and Tarantino has a clearly identifiable way of directing. This movie was just not for me and that’s okay.

Timecop (1994)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Timecop (1994)

Director:

Peter Hyams

Writers:

Mark Verheiden

Starring:

Jean-Claude Vann Damme

Mia Sara

Ron Silver

Bruce McGill

Gloria Reuben

Blurb:

Max Walker, an officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a shady politician who’s intent on changing the past to control the future.

Thoughts:

Timecop is an amazing title and one I use whenever I’m making books in The Sims. It’s one I’d love to use to write my own pulp fiction novels. Alas, time is not on my side with that (my hobbies totally have nothing to do with that lol). This movie gives you everything you would expect from that title starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The plot makes no sense and is filled with so many holes it barely stands up. There are massive explosions. An ass shot, that I sadly missed, however, I did not miss the boobs. There was also, of course, a splits shot. What more could you ask for?

All that aside, this is not one of my favorites. It never lives up to the image in my head that the title creates. It’s such a cool concept, but it comes off as a by-the-numbers story. It’s directed fine, but it suffers because of the story. Yes, yes, I know it’s an action movie, the story shouldn’t matter. In this case, though, I can’t move past it.

Timecop came in a Bluray case paired with Bloodsport so I won’t be getting rid of it, but it’s definitely not one I plan on re-watching. At least not anytime soon.

Star Trek Generations (1994)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

Star Trek Generations (1994)

Director:

David Carson

Writers:

Ronald D. Moore

Brannon Braga

Starring:

Patrick Stewart

Jonathan Frakes

Brent Spiner

LeVar Burton

Michael Dorn

Gates McFadden

Marina Sirtis

Malcolm McDowell

William Shatner

Whoopi Goldberg

Blurb:

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Thoughts:

Generations is my first Star Trek movie during my re-watch. When I was growing up it was my favorite. Data finally having emotions was so funny. Add to that he actually cursed and how could a child not love it? As an adult, I realize that Data just seems wrong in this film.

The Next Generation tv show ended before this movie came out and it seems to be a hand-off from one generation of movie actors to the next. You get to see the chaotic good Captain Kirk and the lawful good Captain Picard work together. They make a good contrast, though, I will always prefer Picard.

As I mentioned Data has emotions in Generations. After years he decided that the emotion chip that could potentially destroy him might be a good idea. All because of a joke he failed to execute. As a viewer, I thought his joke was hilarious, but the rest of the crew was not amused. If this was a TV episode I could easily see that one part of the story taking up two episodes. In this case, though, it was just a side plot.

This is the movie that created my love for Klingon women. I’m not going to go into it.

All in all, I thought Picard’s character was nailed. It was a bit disappointing not to see more of the crew interacting, but you can’t have everything.

The Lion King (1994)

The Great Movie Re-Watch

The Lion King (1994)

Director:

Roger Allers

Rob Minkoff

Writers:

Irene Mecchi

Jonathan Roberts

Linda Woolverton

Starring:

Rowan Atkinson

Matthew Broderick

Niketa Calame-Harris

Jim Cummings

Whoopi Goldberg

Robert Guillaume

Jeremy Irons

James Earl Jones

Moria Kelly

Nathan Lane

Ernie Sabella

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Blurb:

Lion Prince Simba and his father are targeted by his bitter uncle, who wants to ascend the throne himself.

Thoughts:

This is definitely the golden age of Disney. The songs and animation are top-tier. I wish they made 2D animated movies like this still. I actually have a little card of Mufasa roaring that I got from McDonald’s when the movie first came out. I can not tell you why I kept it all this time, except that I was unable to suppress my hoarding tendencies when it came to it.

Anyway, I started watching the movie on Disney+ because I’m lazy but because of my connection the sound kept getting out of sync. So I switched to my blu-ray. The quality was incredibly noticeable and I started comparing it to The Beauty and the Beast. I highly recommend watching this in physical format if you have the option. The movie is beautiful.

Elton John did the songs and Hans Zimmer did the score, I’m not sure if you could get a better combo than that. To this day I will randomly start singing these songs. I used to play Can You Feel the Love Tonight on my recorder. It’s my mom’s own damn fault for buying me the Disney recorder and music set.

I chose to watch this movie with my kids because I felt that Mufasa’s death was a good next step in the trauma of kid’s movies. There were tears and screaming. Lots of questions about why I would subject them to this, but hey, at least it wasn’t My Girl.