LARSEN RATING SYSTEM

$1.00-$10.00

Based on the hard earned dollars you have to spend to see this film.

John Larsen
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While taping ambient sound for a horror film, sound technician Jack Terri (John Travolta) captures the sound of an automobile tire blow out. He looks up just in time to see the automobile careen off the road and crash into a pond. Without thinking, Jack jumps into the pond to save the occupants. he should have taken the first bus out of town instead. Read the rest of this entry »

When director Brian De Palma is on the money, he’s one of our greatest directors. Whether he’s pumping out pseudo-Hitchcock like “Dressed to Kill” and “Obsession” or popular popcorn fare like “The Untouchables” and ‘Mission: Impossible,” De Palma knows how to tell a story. Writer David Koepp is one of Hollywood’s hottest players, churning out such hits as “The Lost World: Read the rest of this entry »

Released the same year as Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H,” Mike Nichols’ production of Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” shared the same sensibilities and anti-war sentiment. Both films found their way into the cinema mainstream as the Vietnam War was at its height. Anti-war protestors were joined by others who had become disillusioned over our involvement. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh no, there’s trouble in Gotham, I mean, New York City, again. A war between good and evil mutants is raging on, and only one person can stop them. No, not Hillary Clinton. Professor Charles Xavier, a good mutant who just wants what everybody else wants: he wants to be loved. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a young boy, everyday seemed like an eternity. My mother always used to tell me to enjoy it, because when you’re older everything goes by so fast. How true. The older I get, the more nostalgic I become over my youth. Read the rest of this entry »

2001: A SPACE TRAVESTY (R)

The cinematic equivalent of a bad case of hemorrhoids. Leslie Nielsen wears out his welcome as the king of slapstick, obvious comedy in this horrible Canadian-American production that takes a bad idea and makes it worse. Read the rest of this entry »

While watching “A Bug’s Life,” I kept marveling at how far computer animation has come since “Toy Story.” I remember being impressed by the 64-bit graphics on my computer games, wondering how they could ever improve on the technology. Now computers are capable of creating believable dinosaurs, awesome acts of nature, not to mention whole movies like “Toy Story” and “Antz.” What really struck me about “A Bug’s Life” was the film’s ability to draw me into it’s microscopic world without one iota of hesitation. Read the rest of this entry »

Loud, clumsy, and laborious, “The 13th Warrior” is a film that asks too much and delivers too little. It arrives at the end of summer, a time Hollywood uses as a dumping ground for their leftovers and dogs. They don’t call this period the “dogs days of summer” for nothing. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve always been weary of those “One Hour Photo” booths and the people who work there. Because they have to quality check each print, the clerks have access to your life. I don’t mind sharing vacation photos with them, but I would never drop of a roll of family snapshots. That would be the same as inviting complete strangers into your home. Read the rest of this entry »