Reviews and More

When I purchased my iPod Nano last summer, I figured the 4GB would be more than enough for my purposes. I’m not really the kind of person to spend $10 or $20 a week on iTunes or anything like that. Nevertheless, here I am with no more storage left on my iPod. I’m not going to delete any of these songs or audiobooks, so I guess that means it’s time to go shopping for MP3 players.

I’ve never owned anything other than iPods (I’ve had three of them so far), but I’m open to trying something different this time. The problem is, I don’t know anything about any of the other brands out there, which means I’m going to have to do some research before making a purchase. I’d like to read in-depth reviews and test reports (as well as actual consumer feedback) so I don’t get stuck with a subpar device that I’m going to want to return right away.

The Microsoft Zune, iRiver Clix, Toshiba Gigabeat, and SanDisk Sansa e280 are the MP3 players I’m most interested in checking out, so off I go!

Once the original Basic Instinct movie broke the $100,000,000 barrier in 1992, you just knew there would be a sequel in the works — especially, since the first film left us with a rather ambiguous ending. No one could have guessed, however, that the sequel would take a full 14 years to make it to the big screen, but that’s precisely what happened.

From what I’ve read, there was just one problem after another with the script, Sharon Stone, directors, and the budget. After everything was finally worked out, the producers ended up with a $70,000,000 movie that no one wanted to see anymore (as evidenced by the paltry $5.8 million it drew at the box office). Couple that embarrassingly low figure with the terrible reviews the movie received, and you can understand why I was expecting to witness a total train wreck when I sat down to watch it last weekend. Surprisingly, I thought Basic Instinct 2 wasn’t half as bad as I had been led to believe.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Sharon Stone is the only actor from the original movie to come back for round two. Here she reprises her role as seductive writer/murderess Catherine Trammel, and has taken her act to London for her latest spree. Ostensibly, Trammel is there to do research for her latest novel, but as usual, several people that she has ties to end up murdered. The first was her then-boyfriend Kevin Franks (played by Stan Collymore) who drowns in a suspicious car accident while Catherine was driving.

The subsequent investigation shows that Franks had a substance called DTC in his blood, and that Catherine had DTC (plus syringes) in her home, thereby making the death look like foul play and making Catherine the prime suspect. She’s arrested, evaluated by a psychiatrist named Michael Glass (David Morrissey), and put on trial — only to be released on a legal technicality.

Catherine then goes back to Dr. Glass and gets him to take her on as a private patient. Even though Glass knows he shouldn’t agree, he’s already fascinated by Catherine and can’t resist. This provides the beginnings of Catherine’s latest psychological games in which she starts infiltrating Michael’s life. She gets to know the same people he does and shows up at parties she knows he’ll also be at, all the while acting like everything is a big coincidence.

Then the murders start in earnest. First, as gossip journalist who was allegedly going to reveal professional misconduct on Michael’s part ends up brutally murdered in his bed. This guy just happened to be dating Michael’s ex-wife and Catherine at the same time. Next, a tattoo artist that Catherine had casual sex with is also found murdered. Then, Michael’s ex-wife becomes a victim.

All the while, the murders are being investigated by a cop named Roy Washburn (David Thewlis) who may or may not have ulterior motives of his own. The whole plot is further complicated when Michael and Catherine start sleeping together and he finds more circumstantial evidence that could link her to the killings.

As with the earlier Basic Instinct film, this one doesn’t come right out and say that Catherine is the murderer. In fact, three separate possibilities for the crime spree are presented, and all are at least somewhat plausible. The ending leaves the question completely up in the air.

My Reaction: As I said above, I was expecting this movie to totally suck, but have to admit that it wasn’t all that bad. Sure, Sharon Stone went way over the top in her portrayal of Catherine Trammel, but I don’t see how it’s possible to play that particular character any other way. Trammel is barely believable on paper, so I don’t fault Stone for not being able to make the character any better in the flesh.

I thought the plot was decent in that it kept moving along. There were very few extraneous scenes (a rarity in this day and age when every movie seems so damn bloated), so I didn’t have time to get board. I was caught up in the story and was trying to guess what would happen next or how the film would end. In other words, I was actually engaged with this movie, which is something that doesn’t happen very often anymore.

So yes, even though the only awards Basic Instinct 2 will ever win are Razzies, I didn’t think the movie was godawful. If you’ve been avoiding it because of all the terrible reviews it received, you might want to check it out after all. I thought the film was slightly better than average, which is why I’m giving it 5.5 stars out of 10.

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