Sites Movie Reviews

As a full figured woman myself, I badly wanted to like this indie film. But it's shallow and full of cliches and very underwritten, with many unrealistic events and situations that seem artificial.

America Ferrara plays the heroine Ana, who is only slightly overweight by normal people standards but of course HUGELY FAT by the standards of Hollywood and the media. In most parts of the world and throughout most of human history (until the last 40 years or so), she would have been considered a beautiful, sexy, curvaceous fertility symbol. Now, sadly, any young woman who looks like Ana is considered obese. It is very hard to believe that Ana is really as confident as she comes on -- considering her weight a kinda of "f__k you" to the larger society -- without a drop of insecurity or pain. The movie does not explore this duality of liking yourself and still feeling bad that your physical appearance is scorned.

Oddly enough, Hispanic culture is one where fuller figured women are traditionally more accepted than in mainstream Anglo culture. So the filmakers choose an odd cultural setting for their story. Also, Ana gets the most flack from her overweight mom....she is totally accepted by her skinny white boyfriend from Beverly Hills. Huh? This doesn't seem real to me in the slightest. Not that mom's don't nag you about your weight, but in the long run, a mom -- especially one struggling with her own weight -- is more likely to be sympathetic to your problem. And the harsh reality is that boys, especially teenagers from a wealthy enclave, are likely to be the cruelest critics of all. We are never shown any problems Ana has encounted going to high school in Beverly Hills, surrounded by rich super-skinny Anglo chicks. Isn't she teased and made fun of there? We aren't given a hint.

By the way, is it policy in L.A. for high achieving students from inner city neighborhoods to be pulled from their local schools and sent to snotty Beverly Hills? I don't live there so I don't know. All I can say is they don't do it in my community, and with good reason -- why would you deprive local schools of their ONLY good students? and leave them with only underachievers, thus pulling down their overall standards and demoralizing the remaining students.

Another shortfall in the movie is Ana's job in her sister's dressmaking business. It's set up kinda like it's a sweatshop, but it's not really -- she works for her kind, lovable sister alongside her mom and some other women. There is no exploitative "overboss" and when a couple women quit, there is seeming no one to replace them. Huh? No lines of unemployed immigrants waiting for low paying jobs? This is a sweatshop fantasy conjured by filmakers who have never been inside a real sweatshop. Also, I couldn't help but think since they are making $600 dress for $18, why don't they just go into business for themselves with a custom dressmaking business? Maybe making dresses for full figured gals? (They are only sewing teeny tiny dresses for rich women.)

There are other gaffs -- Ana only starts thinking about college (and getting pushed by her teacher -- AFTER graduation. Doesn't anyone who ever went to college know that students start apply spring semester of senior year (or earlier!)? You don't typically get a full scholarship in late August, just a week or so before school starts. And why Colombia in New York, so far from her closeknit family? California has one of the finest and most affordable public university systems in the country, plus many excellent private colleges, some right in L.A. Ana doesn't seem to even explore the many choices available to her, including part-time schooling, community college etc. The Colombia scholarship just falls out of the sky, like a duex ex machina.

Another real credibility stretcher is the idea that Ana has waited until after high school graduation to even experiment with dating or sex. Come on people, what century is this? (...) There is nothing to suggest that Ana is sheltered or even very religious.

America Ferrera is a charming young actress. But sadly, unless she loses about 65 pounds, her career will be very limited, maybe a few chubby girlfriend parts at most. There is almost no place on the silver screen for a full figured woman.

"Real Women" is a disappointment from every angle. I truly wish this could have been better. This is a real and serious issue for young (and old) women. It deserves a serious, believable treatment, not ABC Afterschool Special fluff that ends happily and uncomplicatedly.

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES continues the recent spate of cute generation gap films that began with MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, then continued with MONSOON WEDDING, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM, and WHALE RIDER. In all cases, we are presented with a female protagonist endeavoring to break traditional cultural bonds being imposed by an older generation - father, mother, or grandparent.

In REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES, Ana (America Ferrera) has just graduated from a Beverly Hills high school, to which she buses every day from her family's home in east central Los Angeles. Not only is Ana a gifted student, but she's won a scholarship to Columbia University. However, her Latino parents, and especially her mother Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros), expect her not to abandon the nest, but rather work in her older sister Estela's (Ingrid Oliu) small clothing factory that creates fancy dresses for high-end retailers. Because Estela chronically operates short of employees and money and perilously close to production deadlines, her establishment is a figurative and literal sweatshop, especially since the fans can't be turned on as they would blow dirt onto the finished goods. Needless to say, Ana loathes working for her sister.

Ana is also overweight. It doesn't help her self-image that Mom, who fears for her younger daughter's marriage prospects, habitually addresses Ana as "Fatty". The two have a tense relationship.

Because the creators of this film apparently endeavored to keep the storyline true to life, it also perhaps lacks entertainment value in comparison to the other movies mentioned. The finale of MONSOON WEDDING dazzled the viewer with a vibrantly colorful and joyous Indian marriage ceremony. BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM had a sports theme and included the Big Game. MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING was overtly comedic as a vegetarian WASP incorporates himself, via marriage, into an extended Greek family - emphatically neither vegetarian or WASP. WHALE RIDER included everybody's warm and fuzzy animal - whales. REAL WOMAN HAVE CURVES offers little more than a teenage girl with an understandably Bad Attitude.

I'll not say that this film is totally without merit. The best sequence involves Estela's employees, all zaftig, and including Ana, comparing stretch marks and cellulite, much to Carmen's horror. And the film's very last scene leaves the viewer feeling good about Ana's prospects in life. However, the movie as a whole isn't any more entertaining than watching the next door neighbor kid be normally rebellious. I wanted something more clever.

The name already hints about the content - which is not disappointing, especially when you see the curvy beauty of "Real Women..'s" heroine. Anna is an intelligent Hispanic girl, about to graduate from high school and encouraged by her professor to continue her studies in college. Anna's mother however has other plans for her: work at her sister's dress factory, loose weight and eventually find a husband. This mother has already given up on Anna's big sister, Estella, and now concentrates her efforts, manipulations and prayers on Anna. Anna herself, ambitious and proud of her body and brains has other plans for herself and she is not the one to be quiet about it.
The tale is not very unique, however truly enjoyable to watch, especially due to the major change - a "real woman" for the main character and not some skinny Hollywood girl. No...the women in this movie are curvy, fat and proud of their stretch marks..The fat-comparing scene, which is one of the movie's climax moments reminds me of Mel Gibson and Rene Russo comparing their scars in "Lethal weapon" and its as funny to watch.
Both Anna and her sister are lovely, real women characters, which immediately receive the viewer's sympathy. Their mother, however, is the one who evokes all possible emotions - ranging from hate to pity to compassion. I must confess I did not know that Hispanic mothers are a true rival to Jewish mothers in their ability to evoke drama and use all possible manipulations in order to make their child succumb to their wishes. This mother (which makes Anna and the viewer alike upset with her constant harassing and comments about Anna's fat) can be pitied and endearing at the same time and you end up understanding the way Anna feels.
Anna grows up to be an impressive young lady who shows in her character a lot of what she received from her parents and family. Maybe not exactly what they wanted or in the same way they hoped for, but no doubt someone a parent can be proud of.

Now I know why Ahnold ran for the governator. He's lost his ability to make good movies. This movie had no real plot. It was one, long, painful chase scene. And the chase scene wasn't that good. T2 was better than T1. This is trash and does not deserve the right to call itself a Terminator movie. Ahnold must have needed the money so that he could get into politics. They needed a new script and a new director. This makes Jaws3D look brilliant.

Picture seeing something so drastically terrifying that it constantly plays within the ring tones of your mind, terrorizing not only your waking thoughts but also your dreams. Now imagine that these were thoughts of a world where machines actually step past the point of being machines and not thinking, actually questioning their service to man, and where they decide that they aren't expendable anymore. Now picture knowing that this was not some form of fiction, having actually tasting the proof as it first tried to terminate you before you were born and then came for you again, when you were older, only in a different form. If you can grasp that straw, holding it in front of you and contemplating the way that would taste, then you can somewhat understand the life that John Conner has been living. Still, that's all in the past, right? After the Governator went back in time and saved us all from the horrors of Skynet and the machines taking over in T-2, everything was fine. Well, not quite.

I went into T-3 perhaps not expecting a lot, but I was hoping that my 174 million dollar budget would perhaps deliver a punch that would top the last two installments. It seemed possible considering the lineup, with Arnold at the helm and a creative special effects team backing it. And it did that, too. Unfortunately, the amount of effects and bringing Arnold back into the fray for another round were two of the problems the movie suffered from and that took away from throwing me over the top.

This isn't to say that the house wasn't brought down in parts with those effects, because some of those wonders were amazing to behold. Watching all the little pieces of destruction, the carnage upon carnage, was interesting - at first. I actually liked the amount of sheer destruction and cold-blooded killing that happened, some of those scenes MASSIVE entertaining, but then the storyline started trying to work me back to Skynet and I kept thinking that I've already been here and done that. In fact, I had watched it quite a few times and was assured that Skynet would be brought down. And then it started looking a lot like T-2 again, the thing chasing perhaps a LOT better looking but still an upgrade, and I kept noticing little flaws here and there. Yes, in some parts the effects were REALLY noticeable, not burying themselves smoothly enough. Some places actually looked blurred, with the size of the body being flung a little off or the digital blur not exactly human or machine enough, making you think of one word. Cheap. In a 172 million dollar film, I shouldn't ever think that. Still, some other stuff - the use of a crane and some of those lovely Terminator models coming to life - made up for that.

The second flaw was Arnold and his delivery. While nobody would say that he is expected to give a stellar job as the Terminator, I expect certain things. No emotions would be one, no yelling instead of taking his all-too-lovingly murderous time is another, and he did both of these a little herein. He didn't exactly seem motivated, like he knew his money was in the bag and that he didn't have to work for it, and that was somewhat annoying. The moves weren't done as well this time around, almost as if he was jogging through the motions and not putting his all into the film, and I found myself annoyed and looking to the back-up actors/actresses. A Terminator movie and I found myself drifting because of the Terminator! That honestly took a lot away from my experience and was a shame, too. Its a good thing the rest of the cast pulled it back from the edge.

I suppose it depends on what you want out of this film. If you want the redundant heartbeat recaptured for you, letting you experience T-2 with a darker ending, then this would be something you would like. If you can ignore some of Arnold in it, letting the little glitches in the persona get by you, then its all the better. As much as I complain about it and point out the negative aspects, I still see the result as something to watch a few times, noting the newer machines and the wholesale death being rained upon the stage. Honestly, its hard for me to tire of that effect.

Also, the Sgt. Candy scene, the only deleted piece besides the gag reel, did actually make me laugh and gave the T-1 models a little backstory. So, there was something here besides a lot of mayhem.

You wonder, why did they make a T3? Did Arnold really need the money?

Things could have been awful. You have a 58-year old man playing the exact same character he played nearly 20 years ago. The absence of James Cameron could have really destroyed this movie.

However, the cast is excellent. Arnold was in excellent shape for this movie, and he definitely was born to play the T-101. Nick Stahl does a fantastic job as the new John Connor, and Claire Danes is solid as usual. The T-X is perfect as well, played by Kristanna Lokken. The movie ends the only way it really could end, yet it is somewhat surprising. The special effects are spectacular, the sound mix is incredible, and the transfer is perfect. This is one of those DVD's you should use to show off your system.

I highly recommend T3.

Now I know why Ahnold ran for the governator. He's lost his ability to make good movies. This movie had no real plot. It was one, long, painful chase scene. And the chase scene wasn't that good. T2 was better than T1. This is trash and does not deserve the right to call itself a Terminator movie. Ahnold must have needed the money so that he could get into politics. They needed a new script and a new director. This makes Jaws3D look brilliant.

Picture seeing something so drastically terrifying that it constantly plays within the ring tones of your mind, terrorizing not only your waking thoughts but also your dreams. Now imagine that these were thoughts of a world where machines actually step past the point of being machines and not thinking, actually questioning their service to man, and where they decide that they aren't expendable anymore. Now picture knowing that this was not some form of fiction, having actually tasting the proof as it first tried to terminate you before you were born and then came for you again, when you were older, only in a different form. If you can grasp that straw, holding it in front of you and contemplating the way that would taste, then you can somewhat understand the life that John Conner has been living. Still, that's all in the past, right? After the Governator went back in time and saved us all from the horrors of Skynet and the machines taking over in T-2, everything was fine. Well, not quite.

I went into T-3 perhaps not expecting a lot, but I was hoping that my 174 million dollar budget would perhaps deliver a punch that would top the last two installments. It seemed possible considering the lineup, with Arnold at the helm and a creative special effects team backing it. And it did that, too. Unfortunately, the amount of effects and bringing Arnold back into the fray for another round were two of the problems the movie suffered from and that took away from throwing me over the top.

This isn't to say that the house wasn't brought down in parts with those effects, because some of those wonders were amazing to behold. Watching all the little pieces of destruction, the carnage upon carnage, was interesting - at first. I actually liked the amount of sheer destruction and cold-blooded killing that happened, some of those scenes MASSIVE entertaining, but then the storyline started trying to work me back to Skynet and I kept thinking that I've already been here and done that. In fact, I had watched it quite a few times and was assured that Skynet would be brought down. And then it started looking a lot like T-2 again, the thing chasing perhaps a LOT better looking but still an upgrade, and I kept noticing little flaws here and there. Yes, in some parts the effects were REALLY noticeable, not burying themselves smoothly enough. Some places actually looked blurred, with the size of the body being flung a little off or the digital blur not exactly human or machine enough, making you think of one word. Cheap. In a 172 million dollar film, I shouldn't ever think that. Still, some other stuff - the use of a crane and some of those lovely Terminator models coming to life - made up for that.

The second flaw was Arnold and his delivery. While nobody would say that he is expected to give a stellar job as the Terminator, I expect certain things. No emotions would be one, no yelling instead of taking his all-too-lovingly murderous time is another, and he did both of these a little herein. He didn't exactly seem motivated, like he knew his money was in the bag and that he didn't have to work for it, and that was somewhat annoying. The moves weren't done as well this time around, almost as if he was jogging through the motions and not putting his all into the film, and I found myself annoyed and looking to the back-up actors/actresses. A Terminator movie and I found myself drifting because of the Terminator! That honestly took a lot away from my experience and was a shame, too. Its a good thing the rest of the cast pulled it back from the edge.

I suppose it depends on what you want out of this film. If you want the redundant heartbeat recaptured for you, letting you experience T-2 with a darker ending, then this would be something you would like. If you can ignore some of Arnold in it, letting the little glitches in the persona get by you, then its all the better. As much as I complain about it and point out the negative aspects, I still see the result as something to watch a few times, noting the newer machines and the wholesale death being rained upon the stage. Honestly, its hard for me to tire of that effect.

Also, the Sgt. Candy scene, the only deleted piece besides the gag reel, did actually make me laugh and gave the T-1 models a little backstory. So, there was something here besides a lot of mayhem.

You wonder, why did they make a T3? Did Arnold really need the money?

Things could have been awful. You have a 58-year old man playing the exact same character he played nearly 20 years ago. The absence of James Cameron could have really destroyed this movie.

However, the cast is excellent. Arnold was in excellent shape for this movie, and he definitely was born to play the T-101. Nick Stahl does a fantastic job as the new John Connor, and Claire Danes is solid as usual. The T-X is perfect as well, played by Kristanna Lokken. The movie ends the only way it really could end, yet it is somewhat surprising. The special effects are spectacular, the sound mix is incredible, and the transfer is perfect. This is one of those DVD's you should use to show off your system.

I highly recommend T3.

Now I know why Ahnold ran for the governator. He's lost his ability to make good movies. This movie had no real plot. It was one, long, painful chase scene. And the chase scene wasn't that good. T2 was better than T1. This is trash and does not deserve the right to call itself a Terminator movie. Ahnold must have needed the money so that he could get into politics. They needed a new script and a new director. This makes Jaws3D look brilliant.

Picture seeing something so drastically terrifying that it constantly plays within the ring tones of your mind, terrorizing not only your waking thoughts but also your dreams. Now imagine that these were thoughts of a world where machines actually step past the point of being machines and not thinking, actually questioning their service to man, and where they decide that they aren't expendable anymore. Now picture knowing that this was not some form of fiction, having actually tasting the proof as it first tried to terminate you before you were born and then came for you again, when you were older, only in a different form. If you can grasp that straw, holding it in front of you and contemplating the way that would taste, then you can somewhat understand the life that John Conner has been living. Still, that's all in the past, right? After the Governator went back in time and saved us all from the horrors of Skynet and the machines taking over in T-2, everything was fine. Well, not quite.

I went into T-3 perhaps not expecting a lot, but I was hoping that my 174 million dollar budget would perhaps deliver a punch that would top the last two installments. It seemed possible considering the lineup, with Arnold at the helm and a creative special effects team backing it. And it did that, too. Unfortunately, the amount of effects and bringing Arnold back into the fray for another round were two of the problems the movie suffered from and that took away from throwing me over the top.

This isn't to say that the house wasn't brought down in parts with those effects, because some of those wonders were amazing to behold. Watching all the little pieces of destruction, the carnage upon carnage, was interesting - at first. I actually liked the amount of sheer destruction and cold-blooded killing that happened, some of those scenes MASSIVE entertaining, but then the storyline started trying to work me back to Skynet and I kept thinking that I've already been here and done that. In fact, I had watched it quite a few times and was assured that Skynet would be brought down. And then it started looking a lot like T-2 again, the thing chasing perhaps a LOT better looking but still an upgrade, and I kept noticing little flaws here and there. Yes, in some parts the effects were REALLY noticeable, not burying themselves smoothly enough. Some places actually looked blurred, with the size of the body being flung a little off or the digital blur not exactly human or machine enough, making you think of one word. Cheap. In a 172 million dollar film, I shouldn't ever think that. Still, some other stuff - the use of a crane and some of those lovely Terminator models coming to life - made up for that.

The second flaw was Arnold and his delivery. While nobody would say that he is expected to give a stellar job as the Terminator, I expect certain things. No emotions would be one, no yelling instead of taking his all-too-lovingly murderous time is another, and he did both of these a little herein. He didn't exactly seem motivated, like he knew his money was in the bag and that he didn't have to work for it, and that was somewhat annoying. The moves weren't done as well this time around, almost as if he was jogging through the motions and not putting his all into the film, and I found myself annoyed and looking to the back-up actors/actresses. A Terminator movie and I found myself drifting because of the Terminator! That honestly took a lot away from my experience and was a shame, too. Its a good thing the rest of the cast pulled it back from the edge.

I suppose it depends on what you want out of this film. If you want the redundant heartbeat recaptured for you, letting you experience T-2 with a darker ending, then this would be something you would like. If you can ignore some of Arnold in it, letting the little glitches in the persona get by you, then its all the better. As much as I complain about it and point out the negative aspects, I still see the result as something to watch a few times, noting the newer machines and the wholesale death being rained upon the stage. Honestly, its hard for me to tire of that effect.

Also, the Sgt. Candy scene, the only deleted piece besides the gag reel, did actually make me laugh and gave the T-1 models a little backstory. So, there was something here besides a lot of mayhem.

You wonder, why did they make a T3? Did Arnold really need the money?

Things could have been awful. You have a 58-year old man playing the exact same character he played nearly 20 years ago. The absence of James Cameron could have really destroyed this movie.

However, the cast is excellent. Arnold was in excellent shape for this movie, and he definitely was born to play the T-101. Nick Stahl does a fantastic job as the new John Connor, and Claire Danes is solid as usual. The T-X is perfect as well, played by Kristanna Lokken. The movie ends the only way it really could end, yet it is somewhat surprising. The special effects are spectacular, the sound mix is incredible, and the transfer is perfect. This is one of those DVD's you should use to show off your system.

I highly recommend T3.

My school always shows movies on the weekend for free so I thought "Why []not?" After all, I was pretty []curious why so many people out there, critics and movie-goers alike, consider this one to be the "worst film of all time," or certainly up there. I also thought it was amusing when people kept responding to my invitation to watch the film with "No way... that movie is supposed to be awful!" That's exactly the same reason why I WANTED to see it! After all, if this was a so-so recieved picture that "pleased" it's core-audience and got two-star reviews from the critics, you couldn't pay me anything to watch it.

So anyway, the film starts and it's pretty bad... Not completely and utterly worthless, but just pretty bad. See, there are two types of bad films really... the ones that are so bad that you can't help but laugh at how some people were actually serious when they made it... good for a few chuckles and, in rare occasions, it actually transcends it's own badness to actually be an entertaining guilty pleasure. Then you have the ones that are so bad that no entertainment value can be seen at all... it just sits there and the viewer loses interest, doesn't identify with the characters or the situation, and is thoroughly unentertained...

GIGLI is sort of both of those movies, and neither at the same time... There are times in GIGLI when I couldn't believe what the actors, director, or everyone invovled was thinking... and it was funny, in a bad sort of way. Then there are times in GIGLI when the whole thing just seems to slow down and become an exercise in tedium... many of the jokes fail and the attempts at sympathy and emotional-depth fall flat.

I say it's also neither because there are also parts of the movie where I'm ashamed to admit that I was entertained, at least for a short while... The two "big" examples are the cameos by Christopher Walken and Al Pacino. The first scene has Walken doing what he does best... making weird noises and walking around a room. The latter is probably the best scene in the movie has Al Pacino doeing what HE does best... yell at the top of his voice and act menacing. There are also a few other scattered moments in the film where I caught myself laughing at a random joke or two.

GIGLI is obviously a bad movie, nay, a terrible movie. It's hard to imagine how somebody who wrote and directed SCENT OF A WOMAN could be responsible for such a misfire. At the same time, it's definitely NOT as bad as some people claim it to be... a lot of the insults that were thrown at this film had a lot to do with people jumping the "let's bash Bennifer" bandwagon... In fact, I actually thought Ben Affleck was actually pretty good in a few scenes... this movie has definitely not changed my mind that he's underrated among movie buffs (Lopez is still terrible). However, his modest performance, Christopher Walken, and Al Pacino can't save the film. I'm glad I saw it, but I won't be seeing it any time soon...

A modest *1/2 from me, rounded up to two...

See the movie that had the papparazi speculating when these two kids are gonna get married. Watch as Ben plans the wedding and wont let J-Lo make a decision about anything. He picks out the cake, the wedding dress and even the church. I'm not one for wedding documentaries, but i was saying "J to the L-O, hello" by the end. Brilliantly brilliant.

Look, I'm so sick n' tired of tha peeps dissing this movie, especially my girl from da hood, Jenni! Woot, you go girl! People don't get this movie, 'cuz it just too MUCH for them, know wha' im sayin? Them can't handle this, it just way too in ya face, know ahmeen? My girl Jenni is SOOOOOOOO tite in this flick, and that Q-T Pie Ben ain't too shabby either. Now I know ya'll gonna forget who said this, but rite now, I be thinkin Osca' fo sho! Peace out!