Quick Thoughts - Urban Legend (1998)

12/18/13: I was eleven years-old in 1998, young enough for my dad to tell me Urban Legend would probably be too scary for me to see. He was wrong, for it lacks the modicum of quality necessary to engage viewers enough to potentially scare them. Scream fooled filmmakers and audiences alike into thinking that asinine premises involving douchy teenagers could be interesting again, and so set off a horde of imitators like this, which took this set-up seriously rather than poke fun at it, resulting in a witless bore of a film. 1/2*

Quick Thoughts - Jack Frost (1998)

12/12/13: Jack Frost is the kind of cheeseball family film that benefits immensely from its Christmas theme, ensuring that people will only watch it around Christmas, a time when they are in the precise mood for cheeseball family films. The key to its success is its overlong first act, in which we see Michael Keaton bonding with his pre-pubescent son. The characters are likable and their love feels genuine, lending these scenes a heartwarming quality that, is hard to resist, no matter how great the urge to poke fun at its hokiness may be. all of this despite the fact that these scenes are drawn out and almost redundant, which renders them nearly pointless until Keaton dies and is re-incarnated as a snowman next year, and we realize these scenes are there to build up good will with the audience. Yes, Jack Frost crashes and burns, but the flames are fun to watch, and we're treated to a host of dated CGI effects. **