katekingswood Reviews

Friday the 13th (1980)

One Horror Of A Movie....

[23 July 2002]

Right, first thing's first: I saw this movie once when I was 13 with a cushion clutched to my chest and my Mother's hand held firmly in mine.

I am now 17 - guess what happened this time! I had a pillow clutched to my chest and I was holding my Mother's hand, AGAIN!

It doesn't matter how old or how low budget or how many times you watch it, you still get the same shock and fear over and over again.

It's obvious that the blood is fake and that Kevin Bacon didn't really have a spike pierced straight through him, but you still jump.

This is one movie that has and will continue to stand the test of time, and scare you time and time again.

This is one to watch!

Homer and Eddie (1989)

A delightful and touching drama!

[4 June 2002]

OK, first thing: this movie is NOT a comedy, not by a long shot. It has funny parts, but it is not a comedy.

This is the best piece of acting you'll ever see from James Belushi and also one of Whoopi Goldberg's finest, unarguably.

The movie is touching, funny, sad, violent and breathtaking. So for anyone who hasn't seen it, see it!

Corrina, Corrina (1994)

One hell of a movie!!

[20 February 2002]

This movie is beautiful from start to finish.

Whoopi Goldberg is perfectly casted as Corrina, a black (well, duh) nanny who is employed by a white Jew (very well played by Ray Liotta), to take care of his daughter Molly (again excellently played by Tina Majorino).

The plot. Manny Singer's (Ray) wife has just died leaving him and his 7 year old daughter (Tina) behind. Molly is a little lost after this and she doesn't speak a word to her father or anyone else. After employing a plethora of disastrous nannys Manny finally comes to Corrina, who is perfect. One problem: She's black, he's white, and this is 1959 segregated America.

After a little while Molly begins to talk again and is generally uplifted by Corrina, who seems to have this miraculous way of bringing people back to their feet, including Manny. Corrina and Manny fall in love against all odds, and what you get is a beautiful interracial romance that at that time is classed as wrong, even abnormal. No one approves apart from Molly and her Grandfather (Don Ameche).

One down side to this film, and I will add that it is the only down side, is the ending - you don't really know what happens. If I hadn't done a little research then I wouldn't have known that director Jessie Nelson had based this film on her true life story. She's black and her now husband of 40 odd years was white. This story is her story. They got married and lived happily ever after - but we have to guess. So the ending could have used a little bit more work. But that's it!! The movie is just wonderful. It's uplifting, heartbreaking, humorous and romantic.

My score: 10/10

Rat Race (2001)

This movie is da bomb!!

[14 February 2002]

What most movies today are lacking is style! We either get graphic violence, explicit sex scenes or blood, guts and gore. Slapstick comedy seems to have disappeared since the early 1990's.

It was a refreshing change to go into a movie theatre and see pure slapstick on screen.

Rat Race stars John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green, Kathy Najimy and John Lovitz.

This film had me in fits of laughter from start to finish. It was hysterical. From the cow hanging off the hot air balloon to Whoopi's character and her daughter riding in the rocket car. From John Cleese telling all the racers that there was a meteor about to hit earth to Rowan Atkinson's character falling asleep in the middle of a road.

It's non stop madness!! 10/10.

Bogus (1996)

A beautiful movie...

[12 July 2001]

"Bogus" is a touching and heart warming example of Albert Einsteins famous quote: "Reality is our worst enemy and imagination is our best friend."

A seven year old boy Albert (Haley Joel Osment), has a very happy life,living in Las Vegas with his circus entertainer mother,Lorraine (Nancy Travis).

This almost perfect life is tragically torn away from Albert when Lorraine is killed in car crash. After squabbling over who Albert should stay with,Lorraine's colleagues find that in her will,Lorraine had stated that she wished for Albert to be put in the care of her foster sister Harriet Franklin (Whoopi Goldberg).

When Harriet learns of this, she is not to happy. She has always lived alone and doesn't like the idea of being suddenly responsible for this little boy. But Harriet realizes that it's what Lorraine wanted and through thick and thin, Lorraine was always there for her.

So Albert goes to live with Harriet in the less glamorous city of Newark, New Jersey.

But he has not come alone!!

With him,Albert has bought a friend. A gentle giant called Bogus (Gerard Depardieu) who has been his only friend since the death of his mother.

Bogus is out to bring Harriet and Albert together as a family and to remind Harriet that imagination brings happiness.

Whoopi, Gerard and Haley make a fantastic team and are perfectly cast in this beautiful movie! 10 out of 10!!

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)

An equally charming sequel to the original!!

[8 July 2001]

For a sequel "Sister Act 2...." scores top marks!!! Just as entertaining as the original movie with fantastic music,a brilliant cast and an incredibly entertaining plot!!

This time around Deloris(Whoopi Goldberg) joins the Sisters (Maggie Smith, Kathy Najimy and Wendy Makkena) teaching staff at st Francis High School and turns a group of unruly, rowdy "students from hell" (Lauryn Hill, Ryan Toby and Jenifer Love Hewitt are included) into a hip - hop, gospel choir from heaven.

Leading them in song and a phrase "If you wanna be somebody. If you wanna go somewhere. You better wake up and pay attention" Deloris manages to steer the high school away from the possibility of being closed down by the Arch Diasus,led by the greedy,money hungry Mr Crisp who is more bothered about his retirement than the progress of the school itself.

A fantastic movie. One of the few sequels that have impressed me and anyone else I know. Thumbs up!!!

Made in America (1993)

Made In America ain't no trash!!!

[10/10 · 8 July 2001]

Despite mixed reviews and obnoxious comments about this film from several aquaintences this movie proved to be funny,heartwarming and entertaining.

Whoopi Goldberg plays Sarah Matthews,the mother of a seventeen year old - Zora (Nia Long). Their seemingly perfect life is changed dramatically when Zora finds that her father was not Mr Matthews - her apparently deceased father.

Zora finds that she is in fact the product of an artificial insemination and that her father is unknown by her mother.

Upset and curious about the whereabouts of her real father, Zora searches through the computer files for her Mother and finds that her father is in fact Hal Jackson (Ted Danson), a dumb used car dealer who is famous for his crass and stupid commercial on the local TV station.

The traumas and dramas of the whole situation begin to simmer down and so do the hard feelings between Hal and Sarah. They fall in love and as you've probably already guessed, there is a very happy ending!! Awwwwww.