I See Dead People: My Top 10 Fave Movies of 1999

2518   7.5   8.2 

A frightening story of a boy who can see dead people that don't realize that they're dead yet.


God....
I sure hope to all hell that, right now, I ain't no ghost.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

247   7.7   8 

What do you get when you put a true tale of a man who unconventionally travels on a unconventional journey, with an unconventional director?
You get an unconventionally "conventional" yet moving film by David Lynch, in which he simply goes about telling you The Straight Story.



And just like the lead character, if I ever get so old that they take my license away, I also plan to drive myself around on my lawn-mower.
That is, if I get old.
God.....
I sure hope to all hell that I ain't no ghost.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1025   5.7   6.2 

First of all, I couldn't care less how over-hyped this movie was. Anyone's whose opinion of this movie was as an adverse effect from this, it's their fault for giving it any attention in the first place. No hype, no matter how well-founded, should ever be believed.
Secondly, as kid, sure, but as an adult, I really can't get scared from movies anymore. Especially, if there's a monster or a Jason/Freddy/Michael Myers involved. The minute I see any of these guys on the screen wearing some kind of fright-enhancing mask or wielding a sharp object with a screaming Abercrombie & Fitch-looking teenager's name all over it, I am instantly reminded that I'm watching a movie, & thereby negating any chance of suspending my belief enough to being frightened anymore. However, Blair Witch tried to bring the horror of cinema as close to the real world as any fright flick could since Night Of The Living Dead (IMO, that is), thus making it seem like this situation could actually happen in this frame of reality. Plus, a major part of the fear-factor for this story's premise is that the lead characters, or even the viewers themselves, never actually get to see the witch in question. And as it has been stated many times over centuries, "The unknown is one the greatest fears to the human mindset".



So while it still didn't scare me, TBWP probably came as close as it possibly can come to at this point in my life. As far as I can remember, I've never had any real inclination to go out on a camping trip of any sort.
But now, because of this film, sleeping under a tent overnight in the middle of the woods, is a situation that I can definitely say that I will never expect to try & initiate.
Ever.
And for me, The Blair Witch Project earns a couple of extra points just for that.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

404   7.1   7.9 

Just when I thought that my hairy pimp-ass had finally reached a point in life that was hardcore enough that even the idea that I could get misty over a movie-ending was, for me, about as far on the otherside of the street, that it was in anudder 'hood, dawg.
Then comes along the Iron Giant, & proves me wrong.
And it's not just that it's a movie,
but even worse, it's an animated movie.
A cartoon.



Whenever I watch the scene with the line " ....Superman.",
I always find it quite difficult to refrain from repeatingly dabbing at that "something in my eye" that starts to become annoyingly persistent.
Damn.
This movie makes life hard out here for a pimp.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

2280   7.7   8.6 

Personally, I think that this is a movie that tries to remind us that we have the ability to keep life in perspective, but usually don't. I think that what AB tries to say with it's message, especially at the end is much bigger than most of us realize. This is a film that I hope I can remember to watch every 4 or 5 yrs of my life, just as a reminder to "something" that I genuinely believe we all already know, but hardly ever allow it's awareness to surface during the course of our lives.
Or maybe I'm just looking at things bigger than what they really are in this movie.
Which could easily just be a side effect of the one-too-many times that I kept pressing the pause button during Thora Birch's naked breasts scene.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

411   7.3   8 

Russell Crowe is the insider trying to expose the truth of the mega-business of tabacco & Al Pacino is the outsider who finds himself involunteerily pitted against the corporate politicks of the media which both men were counting on to help in the cause. Watching both actors on screen is an example of the kind of movie chemistry that can result from the combination of solid acting abilities along with the directing & writing powess of Mr. Mann. And all this without the need of any special effects or CGI, & yet a film that still provides a level of entertainment on par with that of any big budget blockerbuster.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1943   7.3   7.5 

While I really like the style that Burton has to his movies, for my money, they usually seem to lack the substance to back up the strength of the uniqueness of their look. Sleepy Hollow is the exception. The idea of this movie wasn't one that had any real appeal for me, but in the end, I found it to have more in terms of story & character than I would've initially expected. I think Mr. Burton's work, though still considered somewhat as visually "avante garde" (I mean, y'know... as far as a mainstream director is concerned...), would be held in much higher regard if he could flesh out his stories, as well as he did for Sleepy Hollow.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

505   7.1   7.6 

.... when they're directed by a woman, they do. Especially if the boy is really a girl.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

3736   7.8   8.7 

Even though all the follow-ups, videos & merchandising would take the next cyber-evolutionary step in visuallly out-doing the one that started it all,
the story in this first chapter of Neo & Co. was still fresh & not yet over-wrought with complicated ideas & all walks of philosophical influences that tended to bog down what originally started as a really cool concept with monumental possibilities.
You are now entering the Matrix.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

363   6.2   6.9 

.... is a bitch. Especially when it's for $130,000.
Oh, wait....
I meant $70,000.
Getting those kind of numbers mixed up is liable to get someone killed.

The Mighty Celestial's rating: