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Gary's
Movie Reviews and Ratings
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| Movie Archive by Letter - S | ||||||
| Year | Movie |
Gary's Rating
|
Michelle's Rating
|
In Brief.... | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Santa Clause 2, The | 64 | - | It's utter nonsense, of course, but it's fun, festive, feelgood nonsense and Tim Allen is as entertaining as ever. | ||
| 1999 | Savage Honeymoon | 76 | - | Enjoyable for seeing a slice of NZ life at the London Film Festival | ||
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | 85 | 65 | Not just that spectacular opening sequence but a powerful told story of the changes that war forces upon men. | ||
| 2000 | Scary Movie | 45 | 44 | Could have been brilliant, but is instead a lazy mish mash of easy gags. | ||
| 2004 | Scary Movie 3 | 38 | - | Occasionally funny, but mostly excrutiatingly cheap and nasty spoof of several recent horror movies. Having David 'Airplane' Zucker on board as director as done nothing to improve the wit of this franchise. | ||
| 2003 | School of Rock | 78 | 81 | Infectious silliness as Jack Black's wannabe rock star slacker somehow ends up training a class of posh school kids for a 'Battle of the Bands'. The story is predictable but Black's zany antics are just hilarious. Dust off that air guitar and rock out, man! | ||
| 2002 | Scooby Doo | 58 | 52 | Mostly juvenile but Lillard's Shaggy is scarily spot on. | ||
| 2001 | Score, The | 66 | 60 | Formulaic but entertaining nonetheless. | ||
| 2002 | Scorpion King, The | 61 | - | "The Rock" wields his wrestling muscle in ancient Egypt. | ||
| 1997 | Scream | 63 | 40 | The movie that breathed new life into the usually awful teen slasher genre. | ||
| 1951 | Scrooge | 70 | - | Perhaps the best rendition of Dicken's oft-retold Christmas fable. | ||
| 2003 | Seabiscuit | 69 | 77 | Unashamedly feel-good movie of how a down and out jockey, a loony horse whisperer, and a car salesman turn a lazy nag into a superstar. A must-see for equestrian fans, think 'Chariots of Fire' but with horses. | ||
| 2003 | Secretary | 56 | 68 | Quite bizarre movie chronicling the unorthodox relationship between a smalltown lawyer and his decidedly odd personal assistant. | ||
| 1998 | Seige, The | 52 | 43 | Surprising dull 'thriller' considering the star power on display. | ||
| 2002 | Serendipity | 63 | 72 | Harmless fluff featuring the mighty John Cusack and the lovely Kate Beckinsale. | ||
| 2000 | Shaft | 59 | 62 | Disappointingly ordinary resurrection of the 'Man' who was not as legendary as everyone thinks they remember. Jackson is all style but that's about all. | ||
| 1999 | Shakespeare in Love | 68 | 76 | Above average film, lifted to undeserved glory by its sweep of the Oscars. | ||
| 2002 | Shallow Hal | 51 | 52 | Predictably low brow affair that is only saved by Jack Black's one liners and seeing Gwynneth in the fat suit. | ||
| 2003 | Shanghai Knights | 77 | 70 | Brainless hi-jinks as the Shanghai Noon boys head to old London town. But Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan make sure it is hilarious fun from start to finish. | ||
| 2000 | Shanghai Noon | 76 | 75 | The always dynamic Jackie Chan teams up with the always funny Owen Wilson in this Wild West action comedy. | ||
| 1999 | She's All That | 84 | 64 | Easily the best thing ever to feature either Freddie Prinze jr or Rachael Leigh Cook, this rehash of the My Fair Lady story gets everything just about right. | ||
| 2002 | Shipping News, The | 60 | 55 | A classic example of a movie that knows that the book must have been much better. | ||
| 2001 | Shrek | 70 | 70 | Plenty of great scenes and great animation but the too patchy to rate higher. | ||
| 2002 | Signs | 69 | - | Another smart thriller from the inventive M. Night Shyamalan. | ||
| 1999 | Simple Plan, A | 60 | 56 | Brotherly disputes in the dreary snow. | ||
| 1999 | Simply Irresistible | 26 | - | Sarah Michelle Gellar finds a magic crab and becomes a great chef. Simply terrible - has to be seen to be believed. | ||
| 1999 | Sixth Sense, The | 82 | 75 | One of the best directorial debuts of all time - will it survive the test of time to become a classic? | ||
| 1998 | Sliding Doors | 76 | 90 | Clever concept with Paltrow and Hannah in understated good form. | ||
| 1999 | Sleepy Hollow | 61 | 72 | Atmospheric enough, but the acting is a bit too wooden to carry it off. | ||
| 2000 | Snatch | 68 | 56 | Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrells Part II - nothing more, nothing less. | ||
| 1997 | Snowriders | 60 | 60 | Stunning scenery and snowboarding stunts. | ||
| 2003 | Solaris | 57 | 62 | Soderbergh and Clooney remake old Russian sci-fi sleeper. Thought provoking but strangely lacking in emotion. | ||
| 1950 | Some Like It Hot | 52 | - | Vastly overrated comedy classic, which in my humble opinion, has aged terribly. | ||
| 1999 | South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut | 61 | 59 | Funny stuff, but feels 'stretched'. Stick to the TV. | ||
| 2000 | Space Cowboys | 68 | 63 | Venerable old actors poke fun at themselves (and the space program). | ||
| 1998 | Spiceworld | 51 | - | Not as bad as it should have been (which isn't saying much). | ||
| 2002 | Spiderman | 68 | 62 | Spectacular stuff and cool ending - but how on earth did it make so much money? | ||
| 2003 | Spirited Away | 69 | 64 | Little girl defies overwhelming odds to triumph over adversity in weird fantasy world. Think Alice in Wonderland meets The Wizard of Oz. Charming and clever but a tad over-rated. Maybe something was lost in the translation from Japanese to English. | ||
| 2003 | Spy Kids 3D: Game Over | 65 | - | The storyline is incomprehensible (something like Tron meets The Matrix) and the 3D glasses are hard work, but otherwise this is all sly jokes, crazy cameos, and loopy childish fun. | ||
| 1996 | Star Trek: First Contact | 88 | - | My all time favourite Star Trek movie. Resistance is futile. | ||
| 2003 | Star Trek: Nemesis | 70 | 64 | Not the event that Trek movies used to be, but stil enjoyable sci-fi fun. | ||
| 1998 | Star Trek: Insurrection | 60 | - | Number Nine fulfills the standard that the odd numbered Star Trek movies are weaker than the others. | ||
| 1979 | Star Trek: The Motion Picture | 73 | - | The original Star Trek movie brings back all the magic of the TV series (before the actors all got too old). A classic story where the 'search for new life' turns up a surprising twist. | ||
| 1977 | Star Wars | 97 | - | One day, I'll write the full review, but in the meantime, this continues to reign supreme as the ultimate science fiction epic classic. | ||
| 1998 | Starship Troopers | 62 | 57 | Surprisingly not terrible, mainly as it makes sure not to take itself too seriously. | ||
| 2004 | Starsky & Hutch | 72 | - | Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller resurrect the classic 1970s crimefighters on the big screen. This film takes itself much less seriously than the original but these two are the among funniest guys around at the moment, so the laughs come thick and fast. | ||
| 2001 | State and Main | 83 | 69 | Brilliant satire of the movie industry with yet another fabulous character performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman. | ||
| 1998 | Stepmom | 68 | 65 | Soppy as hell, but it's tough not to be moved by Roberts and Sarandon in this tear jerker. | ||
| 2001 | Stickmen | 81 | 78 | Classic Kiwi comedy as a bunch of likely lads meet their match in the pool hall. | ||
| 2000 | Stir of Echoes | 63 | 65 | OK supernatural thriller that suffered from inevitable comparison with The Sixth Sense. | ||
| 1999 | Straight Story, The | 80 | - | Fantastically sentimental true story of old guy riding lawnmower halfway across the USA. More poignant given subsequent death of star Richard Farnsworth. | ||
| 2000 | Stuart Little | 61 | 60 | Hard to dislike this kiddie flick given great effects and comic timing of Michael J. Fox. | ||
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | 64 | 70 | Depressing but powerful story of real-life serial killer rampage. | ||
| 2002 | Sum of All Fears, The | 71 | 58 | Despite the horrendous inconsistencies with the other Jack Ryan movies, this is a suitably effective action outing. | ||
| 2003 | S.W.A.T. | 62 | 61 | Standard-issue non stop action thriller with LAPD special team on the trail of a not overly resourceful foreign villain. The ever present Colin Farrell and Samuel L. Jackson provide the star-power | ||
| 2002 | Sweet Home Alabama | 58 | 78 | Only another sparkling turn by the reliable Reese Witherspoon saves this inconsequential rom-com from bottom shelf mediocrity. | ||
| 2002 | Sweetest Thing, The | 41 | 68 | The stinkest thing. | ||
| 2001 | Swordfish | 60 | 65 | Hacker thriller that will be remembered mainly for Halle Berry sunbathing and 'that' hacking scene. | ||
| Last Updated 29 October 2004 | ||||||