Many of the responses you get to your SUV rant pretty much prove what you and I already know: That SUV drivers are selfish jerks who drive their vehicles recklessly because they believe they'll walk away from any accident they cause. Kudos!

Dan

One thing I should stress is that I haven't been selectively choosing which SUV e-mails to post. I've posted every e-mail I've received, and completely unedited.

Having said that, I admit that some of them prove my point better than I ever could.

Now what's this about a "rant"?

-- N-M

Net Monster,

You were way too kind to Lara Croft. While the computer generated stuff was good, the set up was way too predictable to be exciting in any way, plus, you're right--none of the characters seemed scared, so why should we? Besides, we knew Lara would never get killed, so how could we get emotionally invested in the sequence?

The plot was so flat that it never became involving. They failed to use secondary characters to any degree--why did her computer guru need to go with her on the last leg of her adventure? He did nothing. The butler, Chris Barrie (of Red Dwarf fame), is a talented comic actor who went to waste. There were no humorous moments worth mentioning. I agree the main character's motives were very confusing, as was the lame attempt at a storyline. This was totally uninvolving and the audience sat there like they were statues--perhaps the best comment on this entombed film. I think it deserves a c or a c+, but you're the Net Monster...

Oops, was that a tirade?

I think I'm way too kind to all the movies I review. One of these days, I'm gonna start writing what I really think of them.

Yes, we knew that Lara would never get killed. But that's true for just about any hero or heroine in the movies, from James Bond to Indiana Jones.

As for the secondary characters not serving any purpose, I concur with you. This is actually a pet peeve of mine with the majority of Hollywood movies - scenes and characters are included to pad out the running time, with little attempt to integrate them into the story. It's a sign of lazy scriptwriting.

-- N-M

Could not agree more with your review of that pitiful bomb A.I. [Artificial Intelligence]. Good work.

I never read reviews before I've seen the movie and written my own. But if it's a movie I thought was especially good or especially awful, I'll occasionally read other critics' opinions afterward. The fact that most of them claim to like A. I. has me scratching my head. Personally, I think it's another example of the phenomenon I tried to describe in an earlier Blather column.

-- N-M

Dear Net-Monster,

Thanks for your objective review of Cider House Rules. I especially liked your conclusion. Being a person who loves to watch some of the old movies I was a little disappointed that your file on them was rather slim. One of my recent favorites is Miracle of Morgan's Creek, 1944. I checked it out at the library and showed it to the whole family -six kids and all. Even though it was my second time viewing it, I (and everyone else in the room) laughed so hard at Eddie Bracken that I (and we) couldn't breathe. Funny, both movies were somewhat about unwanted pregnancy and about that period in history. I personally know a woman who sought a Wilber Larch when she got out of the army after World War Two, and so I know such things happened, and yet Miracle of Morgan's Creek, zany is it is, reflects a much better solution. Check it out. Oh, and the only two movies on your new movie list that I have seen are Stuart Little and The Sixth Sense. Yeah, the latter was definitely an A. Good call. Since I often watch movies years after they come out I had no idea the twist ending was coming.

Earthtrekker

Yeah, I know I've got work to do on the Classic Films section.

Regarding The Cider House Rules, I'll repeat that Lasse Hallstrom is a very talented director. I just had reservations about the blatant politics in the film (which was based on a novel). I found it interesting that most movie critics and the media at large accepted the film's bias without batting an eyelash. Can you imagine what would happen if a major film was released with a definite pro-life slant? My guess is it would be automatically condemned as propaganda and deemed unworthy of serious consideration.

-- N-M

Read the book [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone] to clear up all your problems with the movie.

With love,
Kate

Mmmm, maybe. More likely, it would just show many of the weaknesses in the film were present in the source material.

-- N-M