Mulan (1998) - ★★★★★

Director: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook
Voices: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, Lea Salonga, Harvey Fierstein, Donny Osmond, June Foray, James Hong, Miriam Margolyes, Pat Morita, George Takei

Mulan has been my undisputed favourite Disney movie since I was a child. It's an absolutely phenomenal film that brings so much more than any Disney princess movie before it. Its soundtrack is one of the greatest I've ever heard, the animation is stunningly beautiful, the character's are hilarious and interesting, and the story is just so grand in scale. There are two things in this movie that make it stand as one of the all time greats of animation. One is its leading character Mulan, who goes through what I consider the greatest challenge any female Disney character has ever had to face. The other is her mentor and friend, Mushu, who is by far the funniest Disney character I've ever seen. This exquisitely crafted film deserves to be praised as one of the all time greats of animation.

Sliding Doors (1998) - ★★★½

Director: Peter Howitt
Writer: Peter Howitt
Stars: Gwyneth Paltrow, John Hannah, John Lynch, Jeanne Tripplehorn

This is a really good  movie that could have been a masterpiece. The concept was absolutely brilliant, being as interesting as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). Unfortunately, the difference is that it wasn't executed to its full potential. The two things that let it down most was its characters and screenplay. I like Gwyneth Paltrow, but I feel Sliding Doors could have benefited from having an 'every woman' as its lead, not a bombshell movie star.

Gods and Monsters (1998) - ★★★★

Director: Bill Condon
Writers: Christopher Bram (Novel), Bill Condon (Screenplay)
Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Jack Plotnick

There's something about this movie that's just so sweet and tender. It deals with the subjects of loneliness, regret, disappointment and despair in a most beautifully touching way. It's not all butterflies and rainbows, there's quite a bit of raunchiness to this movie. All I know is that Ian McKellen played James Whale (Director of Frankenstein) with real love and understanding. It's one of the finest performances I've ever seen.

Bride of Chucky (1998) - ★½

Director: Ronny Yu
Writer: Don Mancini
Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Brad Dourif, Katherine Heigl, Nick Stabile, Gordon Michael Woolvett, John Ritter

I don't mind horror movies that transition to comedies, at least that's what I think director Ronny Yu has tried to do with the Childsplay franchise. Bride of Chucky just isn't very funny or scary. It tried to be a modern Bride of Frankenstein and it could have worked well. I'm guessing they had a small budget, because they certainly didn't cast the film very well. The one redeemable quality of the movie was Jennifer Tilly. She was pretty funny and I loved her voice.

Fallen (1998) - ★★★

Director: Gregory Hoblit
Writers: Nicholas Kazan
Stars: Denzel Washington, John Goodman, Donald Sutherland, Embeth Davidtz, James Gandolfini, Elias Koteas

Fallen is a decent thriller with a good story and great actors. It could have been a great movie, considering the material there was to work with. Unfortunately, it comes across a little too corny and not urgent enough, which made me lose interest in the characters and their outcome. However, there were great parts in the movie and I enjoyed myself some of the time. It gets a solid 3 Stars from me.

Life Is Beautiful or La Vita è Bella (1997) - ★★★★★

Director: Roberto Benigni
Writers: Vincenzo Cerami, Roberto Benigni
Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini

Life is Beautiful happens to be one of the most beautiful films ever made. It's one of the most unorthodox war films in the way that it is a comedy for a large portion, a romance for another, and a drama for the rest. Its genius lies in the way it makes a person love the characters, as well as the story. It sucks you in from start to finish, and leaves you in awe of the ending. It is just brilliant.

Set in 1930s Italy, the film begins with Italian-Jew Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni) and his funny antics. He then meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), who he falls in love with instantaneously and courts her until they are married. Together they have a son Giosué (Giorgio Cantarini), and live happily together keeping a bookstore until the occupation of Italy by German forces. This is a film about a father trying to hold his family together and help his son survive the horros of a Jewish Concentration Camp. He protects his son by telling him that it is a game where you win points by hiding, being quiet and making sure you don't get caught, and if he gets to one thousand points, he will win a real army tank and they can go home.

The characters appear to love each other more than life itself, which is why this film affects me so much. Roberto Benigni gave the best performance of the year and won an oscar for it, which is no surprise to me. He was the heart and soul of the film, and played such a lovable and respectable man. His character would have to be one of the most noble I've ever seen, and definitely one of the best fathers in movie history. He moved heaven and earth to protect his son using extremely clever methods, even when hope seemed lost.

Nicoletta Braschi was also extremely good as Nora, who was not a Jew but elected to go to the concentration camp with them, because she could not face life without them. She would have moved heaven and earth to protect them as well. There was one scene where she could hear music from an opera she saw with Guido. In this scene she produced so much silent emotion, that she could have won an oscar for it. Giorgio Cantarini plays one of the cutest, most innocently brilliant children I've ever seen in a movie. I loved this character to death.

As you can see, this film is so effective in the way it makes a person love the characters. The music by Nicola Piovani fits the story so well, and is one of the greatest movie themes of all time. I found the dialogue to be witty and the events unpredictable, making this film all the more enjoyable and interesting. One of the best things about this film is that it highlights the way regular, good people like Guido were sent to concentration camps even though they had done nothing except be Jewish.


Life is Beautiful is a film about the struggle of a man to hold his family together in the most dire situation imaginable. It has the power to make a person feel overjoyed, and overwhelmed with despair. Some say it's insensitive, and too happy to be set in such a horrific time and place. All I see is a beautiful story, an unforgettable story... one that was executed perfectly.

Urban Legend (1998) - ★★½

Director: Jamie Banks
Writer: Silvio Horta
Stars: Alicia Witt, Jared Leto, Rebecca Gayheart, Loretta Devine, Tara Reid

Urban Legend is in many aspects just another 90's horror movie where teens are killed one by one by a surprising killer. What sets this movie apart from others though is the unbelievable yet entertaining plot of a serial killer that murders students at Templeton College using Urban Legends as their method. This movie is thrilling and entertaining but unfortunately the combination of bad acting and terrible dialogue make this movie just as ridiculous as it is scary.

In a memorable scene at the beginning of the movie, we see a young woman driving in the rain singing (badly) to 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler. She notices that her gas tank is empty, so she pulls over to an eerie gas station and meets a deformed and suspicious gas station attendant that tells her that her card has been declined. Little did she know, he got her out of the car because he saw someone in the back of her car. She thought he was trying to kidnap her so she got back into her car and drove away with the axe wielding murderer, which ended in a suspenseful and brilliant start to the movie.

Other highlights to the movie was the cop that tries her best to be like Foxy Brown, played by Loretta Devine, and Rebecca Gayheart's brilliant performance as Brenda. Jared Leto and Tara Reid also star in this movie and surprisingly Tara does a great job at being a semi-intelligent outspoken coed. What took away from this movie most was whenever the main character Natalie tried to emote how scared or upset she was, she just came across as an actor trying to act. The good thing about this movie is that most scary scenes were executed well however it just wasn't enough to save it from everything else.