Brief review: The Butterfly Effect was as BAD as The Notebook was good.

There were two themes to Butterfly that were reminiscent of It's a Wonderful Life. The first theme resonated with the profound effect each one of us has on the lives around us. The second theme was, in some cases, it appears that it would be better if this or that person had never been born!

The Notebook will appeal to lovers, young and old, especially those who came of age in the forties and who are struggling with aging issues in later life, like dementia and alzheimers. GO SEE IT! 5 JB Stars

Thanks for the recommendations. I've recently been told that "The Negotiator", which I believe is an older movie available for rental, is a good one. I'm now in the middle of watching "How to Lose a Man in 10 Days" and, so far at least, it should be called "How to Lose Your Attention Span in 10 Minutes". But that's just me.

Someone who's opinion I trust on such matters said that The Butterfly Effect was pretty decent. Still, I'm going to wait until I'm VERY bored before renting that one.

On the Stephen King front, I think it's official: He's jumped the shark...at least going by the movie "Secret Window" which is based on one of his books. Unless this is just one big in-group cliche-fest and I'm unaware of it. Come to think of it, this isn't HUGELY different from his other stuff.

Brief review: The Butterfly Effect was as BAD as The Notebook was good.

There were two themes to Butterfly that were reminiscent of It's a Wonderful Life. The first theme resonated with the profound effect each one of us has on the lives around us. The second theme was, in some cases, it appears that it would be better if this or that person had never been born!

First off, I think The Butterfly Effect was, overall, a well done sci-fi movie. It was chilling. It was spooky. But most of all it was disturbing. This isn't a feel-good picture (sci-fi rarely is). The main thing that bothered me about this movie (I viewed the "director's cut" version) is that, unless I missed something (always a possibility), they didn't explain the mechanism for the time shifts. They didn't hint at devils. They didn't hint at angels. They never even wheeled out an H.G. Wellsian mechanical time machine. Maybe he used magic ink.

But the movie does present an intriguing possibility; going back in time and changing major events in order to affect the future positively. And it also shows just how unmanageable this could be in, errr, reality. But I sort of think that the stereotypical "big" events that are always shown as being the pivotal moments in need of changing might not just be movie clich�s. If one really could affect such changes you might just as readily find that having Corn Flakes instead of Wheaties one morning could be the key to putting dozens of lives in order � or the cause of WWIII.

JB, I take it that you didn't care for it. I found that it kept me interested. The dialog, cinematography, acting -- the usual stuff that can scream "rank amateur" if not done right -- were all fine. I kept waiting for Ashton Kutcher to say "Jackie! Stop that!" or something to that effect. But really, I think he did a fine job.

In a dark recess of my bookcase, I discovered my copy of H.G. Wells' Outline of History, which I intend to read someday. His grandson directed the new version of The Time Machine, which was an imaginative and politacally correct version of the original, which I still prefer.
That War of the Worlds radio broadcast, he really had 'em going in 1939, little green men from Mars and all. He was the Michael Moore of his day
caritas, mm <*)))))><

He was the Michael Moore of his day

Hmmm...I'm can't think of any equivalent for Michael Moore other than perhaps Tokyo Rose.

His grandson directed the new version of The Time Machine, which was an imaginative and politacally correct version of the original, which I still prefer.

I saw that version. It's not fresh in my mind but I remember enjoying it (except for the extremely botched ending). I don't remember the political correctness but I do remember that the Morlocks were amazingly rendered.