Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: A spoof of 300, with plenty of modern pop-culture references.
Directed by: Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
Stars: Sean Maguire, Carmen Electra, Kevin Sorbo, Ken Davitian, Diedrich Bader
Review: Horrible. Not even a good parody along the lines of Not Another Teen Movie. Every once in a while the spoof can rise above the crap that is thrown into it, becoming something better. This is definitely not one of those times. Gags are over-used, parodies of real-life situations are ill-used; the film is simply not funny. Even if you cut out the majority of the scenes, leaving only those with Carmen Electra, and then watching it on mute, it still wouldn't be worth watching.
Avoid this movie at all costs if you want to keep your sanity.
Overall: Bad
Sunday, June 29, 2008
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Dramatization of the real-life struggle between sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn and their love affairs with King Henry VIII of England.
Directed by: Justin Chadwick
Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlet Johansson, Eric Bana
Review: Lush costuming but seems akin to watching a power-point presentation of the actual history. Portman has not really grown as an actress, and doesn't really possess the vampish qualities that the historical Anne Boleyn had. Johansson does well as sister Mary, but beyond pouting and tremulous lips, her role is very understated. Bana does well as Henry VIII, but has little to work with and the chemistry between all three actors is sorely lacking.
On the other hand, the supporting cast, from the Boleyn family to Catherine of Aragon, are all ably portrayed. I'm not sure if Portman and Johansson were miscast, or if the chopping of history by the screenplay doesn't give them enough to work with. Regardless of the reason, the film looks good, but is not filling, like a snack cake eaten for lunch.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: Dramatization of the real-life struggle between sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn and their love affairs with King Henry VIII of England.
Directed by: Justin Chadwick
Stars: Natalie Portman, Scarlet Johansson, Eric Bana
Review: Lush costuming but seems akin to watching a power-point presentation of the actual history. Portman has not really grown as an actress, and doesn't really possess the vampish qualities that the historical Anne Boleyn had. Johansson does well as sister Mary, but beyond pouting and tremulous lips, her role is very understated. Bana does well as Henry VIII, but has little to work with and the chemistry between all three actors is sorely lacking.
On the other hand, the supporting cast, from the Boleyn family to Catherine of Aragon, are all ably portrayed. I'm not sure if Portman and Johansson were miscast, or if the chopping of history by the screenplay doesn't give them enough to work with. Regardless of the reason, the film looks good, but is not filling, like a snack cake eaten for lunch.
Overall: Mediocre
The Band Wagon (1953)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Song-and-dance man on his way down the ladder of fortune and fame is recruited by an old pair of partners to participate in a new show.
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse
Review: Not the best musical in the world, or from that era (RENT, The Music Man, My Fair Lady come to mind). But Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are beautiful dancers. The park scene alone is worth watching twice (which I did), while "Shine on Your Shoes," "Louisiana Hayride" and other numbers are great.
There's honestly not much beyond the song and dance numbers, and the acting is not that great. These movies were made as showcases for those spots, strung along with a flimsy plot that one can easily dismiss.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: Song-and-dance man on his way down the ladder of fortune and fame is recruited by an old pair of partners to participate in a new show.
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli
Stars: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse
Review: Not the best musical in the world, or from that era (RENT, The Music Man, My Fair Lady come to mind). But Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse are beautiful dancers. The park scene alone is worth watching twice (which I did), while "Shine on Your Shoes," "Louisiana Hayride" and other numbers are great.
There's honestly not much beyond the song and dance numbers, and the acting is not that great. These movies were made as showcases for those spots, strung along with a flimsy plot that one can easily dismiss.
Overall: Mediocre
Get Smart (2008)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: A spy comedy where an analyst gets his dream of being a field agent.
Directed by: Peter Segal
Stars: Steve Carell, Anne Hathway, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alan Arkin, Masi Oka, James Caan, Terence Stamp, Terry Crews
Review: In a theatrical conversion of the 1960s/70s camp series, Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart, a brilliant CONTROL analyst (whose thoroughness is played to comedic effect) who aspires to be a field agent. Needless to say, he gets called up when it is discovered that the evil organization CHAOS has learned of the identities of all CONTROL agents. Paired up with Agent 99 (Hathaway) who has recently undergone plastic surgery, Smart must learn what CHAOS is up to when a weapons facility in Chechnya is attacked.
Carell again basically plays Carell, a 40-something basically playing just beyond his capability - forcing him to step up. He's done this in the 40-Year Old Virgin, The Office, Evan Almighty, Dan in Real Life and others. You never get the sense that Carell is trying to reach as an actor, but he's really enjoyable in this role. Hathaway and the others are great foils for his act, and often provide quite humourous moments themselves - Arkin throwing himself at the Vice-President, the interplay between the agents and the analysts among others.
It's not a straight spoof in the sense of Top Secret! or even the original series, but is more of an Our Man Flint-type movie, where actual spying and adventure take place with lots of humour. Some of the famous lines from the series are used, but appear often misplaced and do not elicit the intended laughs, whereas some low-brow moments and quips generate genuine guffaws.
Overall: Good
Premise: A spy comedy where an analyst gets his dream of being a field agent.
Directed by: Peter Segal
Stars: Steve Carell, Anne Hathway, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alan Arkin, Masi Oka, James Caan, Terence Stamp, Terry Crews
Review: In a theatrical conversion of the 1960s/70s camp series, Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart, a brilliant CONTROL analyst (whose thoroughness is played to comedic effect) who aspires to be a field agent. Needless to say, he gets called up when it is discovered that the evil organization CHAOS has learned of the identities of all CONTROL agents. Paired up with Agent 99 (Hathaway) who has recently undergone plastic surgery, Smart must learn what CHAOS is up to when a weapons facility in Chechnya is attacked.
Carell again basically plays Carell, a 40-something basically playing just beyond his capability - forcing him to step up. He's done this in the 40-Year Old Virgin, The Office, Evan Almighty, Dan in Real Life and others. You never get the sense that Carell is trying to reach as an actor, but he's really enjoyable in this role. Hathaway and the others are great foils for his act, and often provide quite humourous moments themselves - Arkin throwing himself at the Vice-President, the interplay between the agents and the analysts among others.
It's not a straight spoof in the sense of Top Secret! or even the original series, but is more of an Our Man Flint-type movie, where actual spying and adventure take place with lots of humour. Some of the famous lines from the series are used, but appear often misplaced and do not elicit the intended laughs, whereas some low-brow moments and quips generate genuine guffaws.
Overall: Good
Wanted
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Young nobody discovers he has the superpowers and wherewithal to be a super-spy but must discover the truth about his origins and those who train him.
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp
Review: A hyper-kinetic action movie, by the director of the Russian action films Day Watch and Night Watch. The film starts out with a bang, as one super assassin takes on another, then moves into the focus of the film wherein mild-mannered accountant Wesley is drawn into the same world where these killers dwell. The film establishes a mythos about a secret society of assassins that is millenia-old, draws in the young protagonist (McAvoy) in a Fight Club-style destruction of the humdrum everyday existence he previously had, and throws typical plot twists seen in other adventure movies.
The action is beyond believable - with bullets that curve in arcs, flying teeth, heavy "bullet time" usage and slow motion camera work - but definitely draws you in. It's pure escapism, with the fantasies of many young men driving it. Bekmambetov likes to use rats and sets that give his films a sense of grounded reality, and the film is heavy with scenes of both hyper- and gritty reality. Rare moments cause you to cheer with Wesley as he learns to step up and "be a man", with displays of martial skills that grab your attention and don't let go. (Especially one scene at the end that plays similar to Crank and Shoot 'Em Up where our hero uses gun after gun and gets them in the most inventive ways - all on the run.)
Overall: Good
Premise: Young nobody discovers he has the superpowers and wherewithal to be a super-spy but must discover the truth about his origins and those who train him.
Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp
Review: A hyper-kinetic action movie, by the director of the Russian action films Day Watch and Night Watch. The film starts out with a bang, as one super assassin takes on another, then moves into the focus of the film wherein mild-mannered accountant Wesley is drawn into the same world where these killers dwell. The film establishes a mythos about a secret society of assassins that is millenia-old, draws in the young protagonist (McAvoy) in a Fight Club-style destruction of the humdrum everyday existence he previously had, and throws typical plot twists seen in other adventure movies.
The action is beyond believable - with bullets that curve in arcs, flying teeth, heavy "bullet time" usage and slow motion camera work - but definitely draws you in. It's pure escapism, with the fantasies of many young men driving it. Bekmambetov likes to use rats and sets that give his films a sense of grounded reality, and the film is heavy with scenes of both hyper- and gritty reality. Rare moments cause you to cheer with Wesley as he learns to step up and "be a man", with displays of martial skills that grab your attention and don't let go. (Especially one scene at the end that plays similar to Crank and Shoot 'Em Up where our hero uses gun after gun and gets them in the most inventive ways - all on the run.)
Overall: Good
WALL-E (2008)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: A lonely robot falls in love and saves the world.
Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Stars: Ben Burtt, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Fred Willard
Review: Amazing. The film depicts a lonely robot, the last living thing on an abandoned and polluted Earth. Humanity abandoned the planet to its toxic nature, with the intention of returning once it has been reclaimed.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) has evolved over that time to show care and compassion - he has a pet cockroach that he takes care of, he keeps small treasures that spark his curiousity, and he watches an old Hollywood musical, Hello Dolly. He still toils at cleaning mountains of trash, occasionally repairing himself from his long-deceased fellow units. While performing his duty one day, a ship lands and discharges a probe named EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) who is like nothing WALL-E has ever seen; he is instantly smitten with the fellow robot and sets out to introduce himself - albeit cautiously as she has a strong sense of self-preservation and nearly kills him.
WALL-E introduces EVE to his home and treasures, and when he shows her a plant that he found in an old refrigerator, her automatic programming takes over - she seizes the plant and calls her ship for recovery. WALL-E, distraught over possibly losing the only other living being he's met, follows her and hitches a ride on the ship. The pair return to a large spaceship which houses thousands of people and their caretaker robots. Humanity has evolved to have little bone mass, giant baby-shaped bodies, and have all their needs met by robots and little viewscreens through which they talk to each other - even when side-by-side. As WALL-E follows EVE, he encounters a couple of individuals, sparking their awareness of their surroundings.
While on board the starship - the Axiom - WALL-E encounters fellow robots, including M-O, a little cleaner droid, larger versions of himself called WALL-As (Axiom-class trash compactors), and other little droids that have malfunctioned. He also encounters an AI named AUTO that is the ship's autopilot and a little robot named GO-4 which serves him - these two serve as the primary antagonists in the third act of the movie. These encounters serve to highlight the plot, which moves from WALL-E proving his love to EVE serving her function as proving that Earth's biosphere has begun to move beyond the toxic levels that have dominated the past 700 years. AUTO and GO-4 work to prevent the Captain from returning to Earth, and nearly succeed, except for WALL-E's love and EVE's dawning awareness.
Many reviewers focus on the excellent first half of the movie, in which the only words spoken are electronic or from a viewscreen hundreds of years old. The robots do not talk, act, or look human - their actions show their personalities, from task-oriented to comical. The menace from AUTO and GO-4 are not overblown sinister like Maximilian from The Black Hole, nor are they humans in a shell like C-3PO from Star Wars. The move is to create a very sublime picture, with cute overtones and an arresting beauty.
The second half, occurring as it does on the Axiom, where humans are present and robots are everywhere, is manic and reminiscent of the quick-moving portions of other Pixar films (Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2 come to mind). Humans begin to be aware of their surroundings and each other, the love between EVE and WALL-E is expressed in a beautiful dance between the two, and the struggle over the future of humanity takes place.
The animation is nearly picture-perfect, the presentation is amazing, the story of WALL-E and his fight for love is great. The film wears its heart on its sleeve, from the first moment WALL-E notices the stars beyond the clouds to when EVE desperately tries to save him.
It's kid-friendly but the writing and art will clearly appeal to adults as well.
My only issue: Given that humans have apparently evolved to have lower bone density by living in outer space, how can they stand up in Earth's gravity?
Overall: Good
Premise: A lonely robot falls in love and saves the world.
Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Stars: Ben Burtt, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Fred Willard
Review: Amazing. The film depicts a lonely robot, the last living thing on an abandoned and polluted Earth. Humanity abandoned the planet to its toxic nature, with the intention of returning once it has been reclaimed.
WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-class) has evolved over that time to show care and compassion - he has a pet cockroach that he takes care of, he keeps small treasures that spark his curiousity, and he watches an old Hollywood musical, Hello Dolly. He still toils at cleaning mountains of trash, occasionally repairing himself from his long-deceased fellow units. While performing his duty one day, a ship lands and discharges a probe named EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) who is like nothing WALL-E has ever seen; he is instantly smitten with the fellow robot and sets out to introduce himself - albeit cautiously as she has a strong sense of self-preservation and nearly kills him.
WALL-E introduces EVE to his home and treasures, and when he shows her a plant that he found in an old refrigerator, her automatic programming takes over - she seizes the plant and calls her ship for recovery. WALL-E, distraught over possibly losing the only other living being he's met, follows her and hitches a ride on the ship. The pair return to a large spaceship which houses thousands of people and their caretaker robots. Humanity has evolved to have little bone mass, giant baby-shaped bodies, and have all their needs met by robots and little viewscreens through which they talk to each other - even when side-by-side. As WALL-E follows EVE, he encounters a couple of individuals, sparking their awareness of their surroundings.
While on board the starship - the Axiom - WALL-E encounters fellow robots, including M-O, a little cleaner droid, larger versions of himself called WALL-As (Axiom-class trash compactors), and other little droids that have malfunctioned. He also encounters an AI named AUTO that is the ship's autopilot and a little robot named GO-4 which serves him - these two serve as the primary antagonists in the third act of the movie. These encounters serve to highlight the plot, which moves from WALL-E proving his love to EVE serving her function as proving that Earth's biosphere has begun to move beyond the toxic levels that have dominated the past 700 years. AUTO and GO-4 work to prevent the Captain from returning to Earth, and nearly succeed, except for WALL-E's love and EVE's dawning awareness.
Many reviewers focus on the excellent first half of the movie, in which the only words spoken are electronic or from a viewscreen hundreds of years old. The robots do not talk, act, or look human - their actions show their personalities, from task-oriented to comical. The menace from AUTO and GO-4 are not overblown sinister like Maximilian from The Black Hole, nor are they humans in a shell like C-3PO from Star Wars. The move is to create a very sublime picture, with cute overtones and an arresting beauty.
The second half, occurring as it does on the Axiom, where humans are present and robots are everywhere, is manic and reminiscent of the quick-moving portions of other Pixar films (Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 2 come to mind). Humans begin to be aware of their surroundings and each other, the love between EVE and WALL-E is expressed in a beautiful dance between the two, and the struggle over the future of humanity takes place.
The animation is nearly picture-perfect, the presentation is amazing, the story of WALL-E and his fight for love is great. The film wears its heart on its sleeve, from the first moment WALL-E notices the stars beyond the clouds to when EVE desperately tries to save him.
It's kid-friendly but the writing and art will clearly appeal to adults as well.
My only issue: Given that humans have apparently evolved to have lower bone density by living in outer space, how can they stand up in Earth's gravity?
Overall: Good
Friday, June 27, 2008
Bella (2006)
Resources: IMDB * Wikipedia
Stars: Eduardo Verastegui, Tammy Blanchard
Premise: Up-and-coming soccer star and down-on-her-luck waitress experience tragedy and unfortunate circumstances, only to bond and rediscover joy in life over the course of one unforgettable day.
Review: A cute little drama. Jose (Verastegui) is a cook working for his brother, Manny, and has little spark in his life following a tragic experience years earlier. Nina (Blanchard) is a waitress who has become a burden in the restaurant due to circumstances beyond her control. After she gets fired by Manny, Jose experiences sympathy for her and decides to look into what's going on in her life. As they share their life stories and experience a wonderful day together, they bond and both open up. The name of the movie, Bella, takes on a multi-faceted meaning throughout the film. Portions of the movie are in Spanish, reflecting Jose's family and background.
Quite enjoyable.
Overall: Good.
Stars: Eduardo Verastegui, Tammy Blanchard
Premise: Up-and-coming soccer star and down-on-her-luck waitress experience tragedy and unfortunate circumstances, only to bond and rediscover joy in life over the course of one unforgettable day.
Review: A cute little drama. Jose (Verastegui) is a cook working for his brother, Manny, and has little spark in his life following a tragic experience years earlier. Nina (Blanchard) is a waitress who has become a burden in the restaurant due to circumstances beyond her control. After she gets fired by Manny, Jose experiences sympathy for her and decides to look into what's going on in her life. As they share their life stories and experience a wonderful day together, they bond and both open up. The name of the movie, Bella, takes on a multi-faceted meaning throughout the film. Portions of the movie are in Spanish, reflecting Jose's family and background.
Quite enjoyable.
Overall: Good.
The Happening (2008)
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Mysterious event killing humans. How will Marky Mark survive?
Directed by: M Night Shyamalan
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo
Review: It's an M. Night Shyamalan film. Stylized heavily, it has his typical leaden atmosphere, and almost wooden performances from his actors. Wahlberg, who is great in unpretentious B-style movies like The Italian Job and Shooter, and Deschanel - ordinarily funny and invitingly cute and delightful in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Elf, seem to be wasted here. Leguizamo has a throwaway paycheck-style performance.
The plot itself centers on a neurotoxin emitted by plants that begins in the parks of major cities on the East Coast - which really makes very little sense considering the most threatened plants are in the rain forests, old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest and other invasive industrialized regions. Not only that, the neurotoxin makes people kill themselves, but for some reason makes them walk backwards prior to doing so. While it builds a little foreboding, it makes no sense considering this is supposed to be at least a pseudo-scientific film, given the science and news that drive the end of the piece. People escape the cities, only to be dropped off in the middle of small towns where more plants surround them. The wind - ordinarily driven by movement of air pushed by pressure centers and other atmospheric phenomena, not shuffling grass or branches - which carries the toxin seemingly tracks populations of people.
Miraculously, this "sudden evolution" or "defense mechanism" peters out when moving beyond the range dictated by Shyamalan's focus. So that too, makes no sense.
I understand the psychological effect the film was going for. I get the "live while you are alive and love one another" mechanism. But someone really needs to start editing Shyalaman and paying attention to whether his films are actually going to be more than a 2000's attempt to bring back director-driven psychodramas. He's not Hitchcock, even though he's trying desperately to be.
Overall: Bad
Premise: Mysterious event killing humans. How will Marky Mark survive?
Directed by: M Night Shyamalan
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo
Review: It's an M. Night Shyamalan film. Stylized heavily, it has his typical leaden atmosphere, and almost wooden performances from his actors. Wahlberg, who is great in unpretentious B-style movies like The Italian Job and Shooter, and Deschanel - ordinarily funny and invitingly cute and delightful in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Elf, seem to be wasted here. Leguizamo has a throwaway paycheck-style performance.
The plot itself centers on a neurotoxin emitted by plants that begins in the parks of major cities on the East Coast - which really makes very little sense considering the most threatened plants are in the rain forests, old growth forests of the Pacific Northwest and other invasive industrialized regions. Not only that, the neurotoxin makes people kill themselves, but for some reason makes them walk backwards prior to doing so. While it builds a little foreboding, it makes no sense considering this is supposed to be at least a pseudo-scientific film, given the science and news that drive the end of the piece. People escape the cities, only to be dropped off in the middle of small towns where more plants surround them. The wind - ordinarily driven by movement of air pushed by pressure centers and other atmospheric phenomena, not shuffling grass or branches - which carries the toxin seemingly tracks populations of people.
Miraculously, this "sudden evolution" or "defense mechanism" peters out when moving beyond the range dictated by Shyamalan's focus. So that too, makes no sense.
I understand the psychological effect the film was going for. I get the "live while you are alive and love one another" mechanism. But someone really needs to start editing Shyalaman and paying attention to whether his films are actually going to be more than a 2000's attempt to bring back director-driven psychodramas. He's not Hitchcock, even though he's trying desperately to be.
Overall: Bad
The Incredible Hulk
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: Scientist experiments on self, creates monster. Monster becomes a superhero.
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth
Review: A typical comic book adaptation, the movie does not pretend to be much more. Driven by CGI monsters, pseudo-military adventure, the characters play second fiddle to the spectacle. Enjoyable for popcorn-movie lovers, but don't expect much more than that. Norton, Roth and Hurt, all strong character actors when given meatier roles, are all drawing paychecks here. I never expect much from Steven Tyler's daughter, so it's not a letdown here.
The Hulk, the Abomination, and the explosions are what people will go to the theater to see in this movie, and they won't be let down.
Overall: Mediocre
Premise: Scientist experiments on self, creates monster. Monster becomes a superhero.
Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth
Review: A typical comic book adaptation, the movie does not pretend to be much more. Driven by CGI monsters, pseudo-military adventure, the characters play second fiddle to the spectacle. Enjoyable for popcorn-movie lovers, but don't expect much more than that. Norton, Roth and Hurt, all strong character actors when given meatier roles, are all drawing paychecks here. I never expect much from Steven Tyler's daughter, so it's not a letdown here.
The Hulk, the Abomination, and the explosions are what people will go to the theater to see in this movie, and they won't be let down.
Overall: Mediocre
Better Off Dead
Resources: IMDb * Wikipedia
Premise: High school skier loses girlfriend to jock, decides to do something drastic to get her back, and learns more about living and life along the way
Stars: John Cusack, Curtis Armstrong, Diane Franklin, David Ogden Stiers, Amanda Wyss
Review: One of Cusack's seminal teen heartthrob roles sees him as Lane Myer, local ski enthusiast. He's obsessively in love with his girlfriend, but loses the opportunistic wench to a local self-absorbed "King of the Mountain" type jock. He keeps thinking of ways to kill himself, always deciding to not follow through at the last minute. He has friends in Curtis "Booger" Armstrong, and meets the foreign exchange student next door.
It's a typical 80s teen movie (this and One Crazy Summer are nearly the same film, albeit with a different cast and plot), but Cusack makes you love the film regardless. It's filled with memorable vignettes, including an obsessive (see the familiar theme?) paperboy, a stop-motion sequence with a hamburger set to Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some", a cameo from Porky himself (the bad guy from the Porky's film series, not Porky Pig), and downhill skiing.
Rating: Good
Premise: High school skier loses girlfriend to jock, decides to do something drastic to get her back, and learns more about living and life along the way
Stars: John Cusack, Curtis Armstrong, Diane Franklin, David Ogden Stiers, Amanda Wyss
Review: One of Cusack's seminal teen heartthrob roles sees him as Lane Myer, local ski enthusiast. He's obsessively in love with his girlfriend, but loses the opportunistic wench to a local self-absorbed "King of the Mountain" type jock. He keeps thinking of ways to kill himself, always deciding to not follow through at the last minute. He has friends in Curtis "Booger" Armstrong, and meets the foreign exchange student next door.
It's a typical 80s teen movie (this and One Crazy Summer are nearly the same film, albeit with a different cast and plot), but Cusack makes you love the film regardless. It's filled with memorable vignettes, including an obsessive (see the familiar theme?) paperboy, a stop-motion sequence with a hamburger set to Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some", a cameo from Porky himself (the bad guy from the Porky's film series, not Porky Pig), and downhill skiing.
Rating: Good
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Batman Begins
Resources: IMDB * Wikipedia
The premise: Revenge fantasy of a billionaire child.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman
Review: Admirable. Much better than the last two, and to be honest, I feel it is on par if not better than the 1989 version and its immediate sequel. The origin story, the training, the confrontation between Scarecrow and Batman, all are good. Then in the last portion of the movie, it breaks down. In order to have Batman come full circle, it is revealed that Ra's al-Ghul is still alive, and threatens to destroy Gotham; that the League of Assassins (Shadows in the movie) serves to destroy old, decrepit cities and was thwarted in an earlier attempt to destroy Gotham.
Even this would be an acceptable showdown if it wasn't framed in the concept of multi-layered trains heading into a central hub. This megalomaniacal, James Bond-esque (of the 70s/early 80s films) plot device is foreshadowed in the film, so it's not made out of whole cloth, seemingly from nowhere. But instead of the character-driven, intense film of earlier, it escapes that and leaps into straight-out-of-comic-book fantasy. Whereas the film could've been great, and still doesn't leave one feeling unsatisfied like some comic book adaptations, it remains merely good.
Score: Good
The premise: Revenge fantasy of a billionaire child.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman
Review: Admirable. Much better than the last two, and to be honest, I feel it is on par if not better than the 1989 version and its immediate sequel. The origin story, the training, the confrontation between Scarecrow and Batman, all are good. Then in the last portion of the movie, it breaks down. In order to have Batman come full circle, it is revealed that Ra's al-Ghul is still alive, and threatens to destroy Gotham; that the League of Assassins (Shadows in the movie) serves to destroy old, decrepit cities and was thwarted in an earlier attempt to destroy Gotham.
Even this would be an acceptable showdown if it wasn't framed in the concept of multi-layered trains heading into a central hub. This megalomaniacal, James Bond-esque (of the 70s/early 80s films) plot device is foreshadowed in the film, so it's not made out of whole cloth, seemingly from nowhere. But instead of the character-driven, intense film of earlier, it escapes that and leaps into straight-out-of-comic-book fantasy. Whereas the film could've been great, and still doesn't leave one feeling unsatisfied like some comic book adaptations, it remains merely good.
Score: Good
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Awake
Ressources: IMDb * Wikipedia
The premise: Guy under anesthetic is not fully under. While under surgery he finds out someone wants to kill him.
Directed by: Joby Harold
Actors: Terrence Howard, Jessica Alba, Lena Olin, Hayden Christensen, Fisher Stevens, Christopher McDonald, others
Review: Aside from a few jittery moments when the surgery is being performed, there's not a whole lot of energy. Christensen has always been wooden, with the one exception being his film with Kevin Kline, Life as a House. Jessica Alba is merely a pretty face, and cannot convey the malice inherent in her character. I've always liked Lena Olin. Terrence Howard is his usual "guy in a hard place but trying to be decent" self, similar to other roles.
While there's an opening factoid about anesthesia awareness, and the device is interestingly performed, there is very little suspense in the movie. Unless you weren't aware of the trailer, or the poster's dramatic dark tone, you'd expect something bad to be coming. In many movies, it's a buddy, or a girlfriend, or a seemingly throwaway character introduced early on but then brought back with a "strange revelatory twist". In this case, it's seemingly all three. But instead of going for the cliche'd "out to get his money", they're in the "out to get his organs" business.
Final analysis: Dry. Not suspenseful. See-through from about 10 minutes in. And we don't need to see close-ups of the pores on Christensen's face again.
Score: Bad
The premise: Guy under anesthetic is not fully under. While under surgery he finds out someone wants to kill him.
Directed by: Joby Harold
Actors: Terrence Howard, Jessica Alba, Lena Olin, Hayden Christensen, Fisher Stevens, Christopher McDonald, others
Review: Aside from a few jittery moments when the surgery is being performed, there's not a whole lot of energy. Christensen has always been wooden, with the one exception being his film with Kevin Kline, Life as a House. Jessica Alba is merely a pretty face, and cannot convey the malice inherent in her character. I've always liked Lena Olin. Terrence Howard is his usual "guy in a hard place but trying to be decent" self, similar to other roles.
While there's an opening factoid about anesthesia awareness, and the device is interestingly performed, there is very little suspense in the movie. Unless you weren't aware of the trailer, or the poster's dramatic dark tone, you'd expect something bad to be coming. In many movies, it's a buddy, or a girlfriend, or a seemingly throwaway character introduced early on but then brought back with a "strange revelatory twist". In this case, it's seemingly all three. But instead of going for the cliche'd "out to get his money", they're in the "out to get his organs" business.
Final analysis: Dry. Not suspenseful. See-through from about 10 minutes in. And we don't need to see close-ups of the pores on Christensen's face again.
Score: Bad
300
From 2007---
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/
The premise: Small band of warriors fight to defend the homeland from millions of CGI enemies.
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Stars: Gerard Butler, Dominic West, Lena Headey, David Wenham
Review: Pretty damn nice flick... Bombastic, pompous, aggressive (even if a bit slow in the beginning)... you could tell they spent the money on what you saw on film instead of some asshole actor's $20 mil / airplane / personal island paycheck... The story plays with history a bit, but as with modern myth-making, or reinterpreting legends, that is to be expected...
Honestly, think about... the Greek gods were myths that developed from legends and reality... the American pantheon itself.. Washington has his myths and legends... Franklin and Jefferson as well... even though they're closer to our modern times... So is it that hard to expect that we take our stories that we grow up with and develop them with little regard to history? After all that is what movies do, create legends or myths out of facts (or the closest we can get to the facts)... So I'm not worred about the history being played with in 300, as it tells a pretty good story...
Of course there was the nudity... half the crowd snickered when they saw Gerard Butler's naked body in silhouette or when Lena Headey proved that women without implants can be attractive topless... The Oracle's dance was quite, revealing as well...
Score: Good
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/
The premise: Small band of warriors fight to defend the homeland from millions of CGI enemies.
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Stars: Gerard Butler, Dominic West, Lena Headey, David Wenham
Review: Pretty damn nice flick... Bombastic, pompous, aggressive (even if a bit slow in the beginning)... you could tell they spent the money on what you saw on film instead of some asshole actor's $20 mil / airplane / personal island paycheck... The story plays with history a bit, but as with modern myth-making, or reinterpreting legends, that is to be expected...
Honestly, think about... the Greek gods were myths that developed from legends and reality... the American pantheon itself.. Washington has his myths and legends... Franklin and Jefferson as well... even though they're closer to our modern times... So is it that hard to expect that we take our stories that we grow up with and develop them with little regard to history? After all that is what movies do, create legends or myths out of facts (or the closest we can get to the facts)... So I'm not worred about the history being played with in 300, as it tells a pretty good story...
Of course there was the nudity... half the crowd snickered when they saw Gerard Butler's naked body in silhouette or when Lena Headey proved that women without implants can be attractive topless... The Oracle's dance was quite, revealing as well...
Score: Good
Ghost Rider
From 2007--
Watched Ghost Rider with Cameron and Doug Friday night... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259324/...
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes, Donal Logue
Review: The movie was OK, but seriously Cage should not have played Danny Ketch, er Johnny Blaze (the name was Johnny, the appearance and everything else was Ketch).. Honestly, the man is like ten years older than Eva Mendes, and he looks it... they're supposed to be the same age, right? And what's with the Elvis pose with the finger pointing?
Ghost Rider himself was pretty cool, but the movie was like a video game... Level 1, defeat the earth guy.. Level 2, defeat the air guy... Level 3, defeat the water guy... By the way, wtf is a swamp doing in the middle of the desert in Texas? It was like a goddamn bayou right next to a desert town... Btw, when you looked down the hill from where Sam Elliot was, THERE WAS NO DAMN SWAMP.... And level 5, defeat Blackheart... Speaking of Sam Elliot, yeah was pretty sweet having the character of Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider) appear, but just to turn into a Ghost Rider form and then ride off into mist? What the hell?!?
And Peter Fonda did his best Gary Oldman as Dracula imitation... That was lame....
Plot hole... the cops arrest Johnny Blaze as he was a suspect? Wouldn't he have been a 'person of interest' who would only be taken in for questioning and released? Then he turns into GR IN JAIL and walks out? And only one cop tries to stop him, yet the entire police force shows up minutes later chasing him in the cars that were parked outside the police station? Jeebus... piss poor writing...
Still, the f/x were nice...
Score: Bad
Watched Ghost Rider with Cameron and Doug Friday night... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259324/...
Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda, Eva Mendes, Donal Logue
Review: The movie was OK, but seriously Cage should not have played Danny Ketch, er Johnny Blaze (the name was Johnny, the appearance and everything else was Ketch).. Honestly, the man is like ten years older than Eva Mendes, and he looks it... they're supposed to be the same age, right? And what's with the Elvis pose with the finger pointing?
Ghost Rider himself was pretty cool, but the movie was like a video game... Level 1, defeat the earth guy.. Level 2, defeat the air guy... Level 3, defeat the water guy... By the way, wtf is a swamp doing in the middle of the desert in Texas? It was like a goddamn bayou right next to a desert town... Btw, when you looked down the hill from where Sam Elliot was, THERE WAS NO DAMN SWAMP.... And level 5, defeat Blackheart... Speaking of Sam Elliot, yeah was pretty sweet having the character of Carter Slade (the original Ghost Rider) appear, but just to turn into a Ghost Rider form and then ride off into mist? What the hell?!?
And Peter Fonda did his best Gary Oldman as Dracula imitation... That was lame....
Plot hole... the cops arrest Johnny Blaze as he was a suspect? Wouldn't he have been a 'person of interest' who would only be taken in for questioning and released? Then he turns into GR IN JAIL and walks out? And only one cop tries to stop him, yet the entire police force shows up minutes later chasing him in the cars that were parked outside the police station? Jeebus... piss poor writing...
Still, the f/x were nice...
Score: Bad
First post...
I did something similar to this way back in the days of Geocities... I would review all of the movies I had on tape as well as the films I'd watch while doing so. I'm getting back into it as I love watching them.
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