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SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS (1941) (***)
(First Reviewed 9/18/01)
Considered by many as a comedy classic, I found it a bit dated. Film buffs might just want to check it out because of its place in history and others might just want to watch it for Veronica Lake. This slapstick film follows a movie director who is tired of making comedies and wants to make a social message film (which were very popular in the 1930s when this film was made). Due to his privileged life, he decides to head out into the world with 10 cents in his pocket to find trouble. However, the studio determines he’s too valuable and sends a busload of people out after him to make sure that he doesn’t get himself killed. His adventures often lead back to Hollywood and at the moment when he decides to give up is when he really learns about hardship. It is considered the film that justifies the existence of slapstick in general; making the point that laughter is all that some people have. If you like films with witty banter and people falling down a lot then this is a film for you.
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SCREAM 2 (**1/2)
(First Reviewed: 6/15/04)
Like the original SCREAM film, the characters know the rules of horror flicks — even the rules of horror sequels. Higher body count and more gore. This “rule” typically ruins other horror sequels and succeeds in doing the same with SCREAM 2…

You might be able to guess the killer(s), but you’ll never guess why. The film does have some intelligence. I liked the classroom debate about films influencing behavior, the talk about sequel clichés and the identity of the killer was pretty ingenious, especially the killers’ line explaining their motivation.

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HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE (***1/2)
(First Reviewed: 11/26/01)
One of the most important things about making a great fantasy/sci-fi film is the creation of the world. That’s why HARRY POTTER is so great… The characters are rich and not cliché, which is the most surprising thing about the film. J.K. Rowling knows kids and developed all of them with different strokes… I could spend pages writing about the wonder of various scenes… I can’t wait to re-visit this world and these characters in subsequent adventures.
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HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS (***1/2)
(First Reviewed: 12/23/01)
I liked CHAMBER OF SECRETS quite a bit, even though it didn’t blow me away like the first one did. This may be due to the fact that the plot structure is basically the same… The real delight of the film is the added details that have expanded the wonderfully immense world that was created in the first installment. I loved the plot element about mud-bloods… Another highlight is the new characters…
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