Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2004)

★★★½
With a title like Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, one might assume this is a downer of a movie, but in reality, it's engaging and challenging. This is a film that you shouldn't accept at face value. Doing so would result in disillusionment. Think hard about why Wilbur and Alice do what they do, and you'll see the redeeming factor in the movie's narrative.

Radio (2003)

★★
Before I discuss the plot of Radio, before I say anything about the acting or credibility, I want to talk about the score, which is among the most annoying and self-important I've ever heard. James Horner is a fine musician, but here, he employs a sickening soundtrack with female vocal overtones to highlight the noble simplicity of the movie's main character. He used music with better results in his vastly superior Titanic score.

Jurassic Park (1993)

★★★
In the summer of 1993, it was Jurassic Park vs. Last Action Hero, with the former soundly defeating the latter in a battle of big-budget motion pictures. Audiences flocked to see Steven Spielberg's dazzling showcase of jaw-dropping special effects while many avoided Arnold Schwarzenegger's underrated action film parody. Jurassic Park suffers a little because it freely omits many intriguing elements of the book in order to concentrate on the action aspect. I read the book in 1994 as part of an English 101 class that I took, yet the sense of wonder generated by its detailed scientific elements still remains. Michael Crichton's novel was loaded with scientific information. He presented his material in such a way that the book often read like a graduate student's thesis on bioengineering. Though the very idea of a prehistoric theme park is outlandish, Crichton found a way to weave all his information into a convincing story. Jules Verne accomplished the same thing with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That story, about a self-sustaining submarine, would have appeared far-fetched when it was written in the 1800s, yet the scientific detail is enthralling.

Uptown Girls (2003)

★★½
Who would have thought that the ugly duckling of Clueless would eventually outshine the star of that film? Brittany Murphy was the socially inept high school student, and Alicia Silverstone was the popular girl who gave her a makeover. Now, Silverstone has taken a backseat to Murphy in popularity. No wonder too, since Murphy has a sweet demeanor that makes her irresistible. In Uptown Girls, she stars as a pampered rich girl named Molly, who gets thrown out of her apartment when her source of funds leaves town.

The Avengers (1998)

zero stars
This review is for the 1998 film based on the British T.V. show and not for the Marvel series.

If I were to come up with a new way to market The Avengers, I'd say put copies of the movie in the pharmacy next to the sleeping pills. This disastrous film would probably make more money that way than it did in the theaters. I woke up on a Friday morning after a good night's sleep, and a trip to the movies sounded like a great idea. After halfway through The Avengers, I was ready for a nap.