| In response to Dan's "Eminem and the First Amendment" essay 02/23/01 Because your guest book automatically truncates messages, I guess I have to write an email. The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences certainly did not "censor" Eminem by not awarding him with Album of the Year. I do agree the award was given to the wrong band, but for different reasons. You said yourself that the award should be given to music that is cutting-edge and innovative. Beck was certainly innovative with "Midnite Vultures." Radiohead, who in my opinion should have won, most definitely broke new ground with "Kid A." But was Eminem really innovative? He samples music from others, just like every other rapper. He uses the tried-and-true four bar patterns, just like any other rapper. Hardly any of his instruments are live, just like any other rapper. Sure, his subject matter is new. But, it's hardly innovative because he's talking about society's dirty little secrets. Papa Roach sings about the same things, and their "music" certainly doesn't deserve to be rewarded. I have listened to "The Marshall Mathers LP" all the way through, and it certainly did not come close to breaking the ground that some other albums did. Except for Steely Dan, who are just rehashing the music they made in the 70's. Just because Eminem's subject matter is different doesn't make it poetry. And it certainly doesn't mean that we should reward it with a Grammy. The last shot we saw of Eminem was him flipping everyone the bird after he had just clasped hands with Elton John. How are we supposed to dignify and respect that? "He's so brilliant because he gave us the finger." -John |
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| Somebody must have known Dan needed a pick-me-up. Thank you, Tom. 03/18/01 Whew !!! Your movie review web-site is wonderful.You put a ton of work into it and it shows. It is definitely in the big leagues that's for sure. It looks gorgeous and navigates beautifully. I will put it in my favorites and read it often. I have a movie review web-site on geocities as well. I would love it if you took a look at it and let me what you think of it. Your opinion is one I definitely respect after visiting your awe inspiring site. Keep up the phenomenal work. My URL is below. Warmest Regards, Tom Kaszuba P.S. Boogie Nights is one of my all-time favorites. http://www.oocities.org/i_wanna_retire_2000 |
| Some more friendly encouragement. We greatly appreciate your patronage. 03/26/01 I visited your site and greatly enjoyed reading the reviews. (The Oscar section is phenomenal!) I have a question. Having my own website devoted to reviewing films, (http://www.criticallyill.net) I was wondering if you'd be interested in linking between our sites. If you'd like to put a link to my site on your links page, I'd be honored to have a link to your site on my links page. Even if you're not interested, I have bookmarked your website and will continue to enjoy reading your reviews. Let me know what you think. Sincerely, Michael Brendan McLarney http://www.criticallyill.net |
| Everybody loves Snatch including reader Eric Ahlport 08/13/01 Dan- I agree with you that Snatch was far superior to Lock Stock. In my opinion Snatch had better characters, a better plot, and much better humor. I find myself to be quoting Snatch on a daily basis. Thanks for the great reviews and a great site. I also agree with your Almost Famous review. It might sound a little hard to believe, but after I saw the film more than a few times, it shot right up to my number one favorite movie. Heres my top ten list: 1. Almost Famous 2. Taxi Driver 3. Full Metal Jacket 4. Patton 5. The Usual Suspects 6. Pulp Fiction 7. Snatch 8. Das Boot 9. The Graduate 10. Apocalypse Now Keep up the great work! -ERIC AHLPORT |
| Dissenting opinions from our friend Josie Hemmingsen concerning Shrek 05/23/01 Sorry, Dan, I'm going to have to disagree with you about Shrek. I personally thought it was a really good movie. Certainly there are double entrendres abounding in it, and it's not really made for the under eight set, but it's incredibly funny. And personally, I believe the animation is incredible. The way light was captured and things like the grass in the field bending stem by stem and the fire in the dragon sequence were incredible and a definite cut above other computer animated movies like A Bug's Life and Toy Story. I think the greatest thing about Shrek is that it works well for children and adults. Most of the sexual/"dirty" jokes went right over the heads of many of the kids in the theater that I saw it in...but maybe those East Coast kids grow up a little faster then us simple Midwesterners. I, for one, think Shrek is a fun summer movie that is technologically really advanced. Compare it to the Atlantis preview: in comparison, the traditional Disney animation looked kind of cheap...like those direct to video animated sequels. -Josie |
| A wise review from an avid reader/frequent visitor 04/06/01 Words of wisdom...don't ever go see the movie Freddie Got Fingered. I will lose mad respect for anyone who sees that who wasn't dragged to it by a date. I'd say you could probably write a review on it now before it comes out... "Tom Green was terrible and must be from another planet because no human being is that stupid without having some sort of lobotomy performed on them." -Ryan Cooper |
| Josie H. yearning for the good old days in Jurassic Park 07/21/01 After a disappointing round with Jurassic Park 3, I decided to give the original another try. That movie still scares the shit out of me. That, in my book, makes it amazing. My favorite part is when Samuel L. Jackson's arm, minus the rest of Samuel L. Jackson, lands on Laura Dern. In an interview once, he said something to the effect of, "You know, you never saw me die. As far as anyone knows, I'm still running around that island, a bad-ass one-armed motherfucker." And yes, it is a special effects bonanza, but it is the granddaddy of special effects bonanzas. And it has a story, unlike, oh, say, The Lost World, or Jurassic Park 3, or almost any movie with a flying car chase. Eight years and lightyears in special effects advancement later, the dinosaurs are still the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Watch it. You'll love it. Josie Clarification (also by Josie): my glowing review was for the original Jurassic Park. None of this "Lost World" or "Jurassic Park 3" bullshit. Oh no. For me it will always be the original. So, on your dollar rating system, "Jurassic Park 3" recieves $3.50/$10. The original gets $9.50/$10. I highly recommend another viewing of the original Jurassic Park. The dinosaurs still look more real than anything I've ever seen as far as movie special effects go, and it still scares the bejesus out of me. |
| We always welcome impassioned mail from readers like Britney 09/18/01 listen i aint gonna hate because i understand your point and ur entitled to it but if u dont like the music dont listen to it and dont let ur kids listen to it.It's not Eminems job to censor his music which isn't meant for kids in the first place. But im a teenager and I believe what he says is like a journal or whatever u want to call it, and hes writing it down instead of actin out his anger. and a lot of what he's sayin ain't meant to be takin all that seariously I mean come on he runs around with a big padded superman suit. thanx for lettin me expreess my opinion, Britney |