Latest Micro-Reviews - Edition 13

It was a very video-filled weekend. I was a single dad for the weekend, so Leah and I watched a couple of musicals one night, and then I watched a whole lot of other stuff as it rained and snowed and sleeted and drizzled and rained some more.

I include "reviews" of a couple of non-films, since I watched them. And since I enjoyed them more than I enjoyed at least one of the films I saw.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth (Saw this with Sherry before the weekend)	77	Wonderful to see the gang again, and to wrap up the unfinished storyline. Every major character got to do something important, and the effects were wonderful. Nothing was quite as “Oh Cool!” as in the best episodes, but if I can’t have the series, give me more movies like this.
Rent	78 84	This has grown on me more as I’ve seen it more. The sticking points below have faded. Here’s what I wrote initially: Loved the story. Loved the characters. Loved the primary songs. So what was wrong? Well, if you’re going to do a rock opera, there should be no un-sung dialog. However, this was NOT a rock opera, and I agree with that choice. So why was there so much singing of dialog? Most of the Mimi/Roger relationship was sung, but most of it was not a song – just sung dialog. Considering that a main plot point was that Roger could not write a song, it seemed incongruous. Still, “525,600 Minutes” is excellent, and I had never heard “La Vie Boheme” and it was fantastic. Mark, Angel, and Maureen are the best characters I'm liking Mimi/Roger much more now, and the rest of the songs are great.
Chicago	91	Fantastic music. Hard to believe these actors were not singers before being cast (except for Queen Latifa, of course.)
Resident Evil	67	For what it was – a zombie movie – it was quite good. I blogged about it as I watched it. Not great, but fun.
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Disk 1		Lots of wonderful Bugs Bunny cartoons. “Rabbit Seasoning” with Elmer and Daffy. “Long-Haired Hare” and “Rabbit of Seville” for classical music fun. And “Of course you know, this means war.”
Amy Grant: Greatest Videos 1986-2004		Love the music. Visuals are beautiful and romantic and mood setting. On which CD did she ever sing “The Things We Do For Love” and “Simple Things”?
Starship Troopers	28	The first two thirds of this movie was drek,, awful, stupid. Once they finally engaged the bugs in battle, there was finally something worth watching. Most of the effects were good – especially the bugs. But, oh, the dialog was bad, the acting was wooden, the set was weak, the costumes unimaginative. The book was probably good, but this movie is bad.
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Disk 2 – Best of Daffy & Porky		Daffy and Porky shorts. I don’t know why, but when I was growing up, I never noticed how frequently the two were paired. The majority of the cartoons on this disk had both, from general comedy like “Duck Amuck” to famous pairings such as “Duck Dodgers in the 24½ Century.”