disappointing geeky movies

I found this article called "10 Geeky Movies That Should Have Been Great, but Weren't". It was an interesting read, though obviously, it's subjective from the point of view of the writer. Here are my comments on the choices.

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (aka Mummy 3) - I'm glad I'm not the only one who was disappointed in the film. I still don't get how Roger Ebert is apparently saying (according to the ads) that this is the best Mummy yet. What the hell is wrong with him?

"A.I." - This is a film that a friend and I seriously disagree about, but I won't rehash the argument here, other than to direct any interested parties to the review of the movie that I wrote here. To reiterate a point I made in the review, I highly recommend reading the original short stories upon which the movie was based. Those were awesome.

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" - I seriously disagree with this inclusion because I thought they did a good job with re-doing the film. Sure, Johnny Depp was no Gene Wilder - but then, he wasn't trying to be. His Willy Wonka is a slightly different character than Wilder's. I enjoyed the film.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" - I've had a difficult time really forming an opinion on the film because I still know the books so well. In general, I thought they did a good job, and I enjoyed seeing the film. I didn't particularly care for the new bit with John Malkovich, but I think that was my only objection.

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" - I don't remember that much about the film, and while I didn't regret having seen it, I remember that it didn't quite hit me the way I thought it would. I do remember that Sean Connery was fun to watch in this film though.

"Matrix 2/3" - I saw the first film and enjoyed it, but I wasn't into it enough to watch either of the sequels. I've heard a lot of people express disappointment in the second film, though I think the third film was better received.

"Waterworld" - There was almost nothing about this film that was really worth mentioning. About the only useful thing was that I was able to refer to Kevin Costner's subsequent film "The Postman" (which I didn't see) as "Dirtworld" based on the trailers I saw. And I also disagree about the Universal Studios stunt show - the "Miami Vice" version was so much cooler.

I haven't seen the other films on the list so am refraining from commenting.

But I will add one more: "Total Recall" - I'd read the original short story called "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick and loved it, so I had been interested in the film, but I was really disappointed with where they chose to go with the story. I highly recommend reading the source material.