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Other Topics => Entertainment - Movies / TV / Books => Topic started by: BWilli on March 28, 2004, 05:58:04 pm
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Hello all,
First off, I'd like to say that there is no need to reply to this thread. My idea here if for me to review films, old and new; be like the Ebert or Roeper of this board. I'll add a new movie review as often as I see movies.
The first film I'm going to review is "Taking Lives."
This is a spine tingling suspense flick, which may have some people guessing until the end. The film stars Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Olivier Martinez and Keifer Sutherland and is directed by D.J. Caruso. Jolie gives a great performance as Special Agent Illeana Scott, as she tracks down a murderer who assumes the lives of the people he kills. Although it's not the greatest psychological thriller, I'll add my thumbs up to this flick. (http://www.comicshopplus.com/Documentation/forum/smileys/smiley20.gif) If you like suspense you'll like this flick. If not...it's got a pretty hot sex scene in it. :mrgreen:
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My next review is for "The Ladykillers"
This is the Coen brothers in true fashion. I never thought I'd see a movie starring Tom Hanks and Marlon Wayans, but the result was great. Tom Hanks gives a great performance as Professor G.H. Dorr, a thief who puts together a team (Wayans, J.K. Simmons, Tzi Ma, and Ryan Hurst) to help him rob a casino. Irma P. Hall is excellent as the landlady of the house in which they are using to dig a tunnel to the casino.
One of the best lines in the film...."You brought your bitch to the Waffle Hut?" - Gawain MacSam (Wayans)
Although not the greatest Coen brothers film (and I have yet to see them all) I still give it a (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif). If you like the Coen bros., you'll like this flick.
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Before going to see The Ladykillers, I ran out and bought Gothika. Right after getting back from seeing The Ladykillers, I watch Gothika.
Definately a faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaareaky movie!
Halle Berry plays Dr. Miranda Grey, who wakes up one day in the asylum for the criminally insane where she works....however, she wakes up as an inmate. She finds that she is being charged with the murder of her husband, however with the help of a dead girl, she tries to prove her innosense. Roberty Downy Jr., Penelope Cruz, Charles Dutton, and John Carroll Lynch co-star in the thrilling, chilling flick. I gotta be honest....I jumped outta my seat a few times.
However a way different storyline, it's a tad similar to Stir of Echoes....but...I liked it.
I'm quite partial to "scary" type movies, so this one also gets a (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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Picked up "Honey" the other night and watched it yesterday.
Eh! Jessica Alba puts on an "okay" performance with an "okay" New York accent. She plays Honey Daniels, a hip-hop dance teacher who wants to make it big, as...well.....a hip-hop dancer, in music videos. She gets the opportunity from this hot-shot music video director, who in the end, wants only one thing in return....SEX! Kinna obvious though.
I wasn't much for the acting, but the dancing was pretty damn good. And actually, one of the best parts about this movie, although it was a small role, was Missy Elliot. She added some laughs to a mostly dramtic storyline. No thumbs up or down for this one. It was just...."okay." If you like hip-hop, you'll definately enjoy this flick.
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I didn't get a chance to catch any new movies this weekend, so I watched "Say Anything" which I bought over a month ago and put it off.....hooooooooooooooowever.....I'm glad I watched it.
To me, John Cusack is the most underrated actor there is today.....and this movie proves that once again.......
The first film directed by Cameron Crowe also stars Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Joan Cusack, Lili Taylor and Eric Stolz.
Cusack gives one of his best performaces in this filmas Lloyd, an aspiring kickboxer with no definite plans. Skye plays Diane, the valedictorian with intentions to further her education in Europe. Lloyd asks Diane out the day after graduation and she surprisingly accepts. As an extremely unlikely couple, the two find happiness when spending what little time they have left together until she flies off to Europe. Mahoney plays Diane's father who only wants the best for her, but runs into some trouble when he is accused of tax evasion.
I give it a (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
This is a must see for anyone who likes Cusack or 80s flicks.
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Fight Club....ahhh....what can I say about this movie....um gee, IT'S BRILLIANT....
I, like many people, have seen this movie lotso times, and I'll continue to see it, because it's just that damn good...
I'm, a huge Ed Norton fan, and think he should have won an Oscar for his role in American History X, but he just great in this movie as The Narrator. That's how he is credited...as The Narrator. Pitt is the man as the "imaginary friend" of The Narrator. Personally I loved it when Jared Leto (pretty boy that he is in this flick) gets the shiat kicked outta him by Norton.
If I had a billion thumbs, I'd stick em all up...
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Well...I've waited for a long time to see this flick, and I did on Saturday...THE PUNISHER
SPOILERS BELOW, DO NOT READ ON IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!!
I'm gonna say this loud and clear, for all to hear (I'm a poet and I didn't know it).....I HATE ALL CRITICS
They suck.....they give bad reviews to good movies, and this is one of them.
Personally, I hated when all the critics said the Thomas Jane was not a good choice to play Frank Castle, aka The Punisher. BUUUUUUUUUUULLSHIAT!!! He was perfect for the role...
John Travolta also put in one of his best performances as of late as Howard Saint, the "arch-enemy" of The Punisher.
In a nut shell, the movie starts with Castle undercover in an FBI sting. Howard Saint's oldest son is killed. He orders his men to kill Castle and his entire family, which they do, except for Castle who survives. Then begins the reven....no wait....the punishment.
One critic pissed me off by saying that Castle F'ed with the minds of Saint and his men, and there wasn't enough action. Well he's right, but I liked it. Castle basically turned Saint against everyone he knows, and it was great.
The fight scene between Castle and the Russian was the best.
This was Jonathan Hensleigh directorial debut, and he did a great job. The film also starred, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as Joan, Roy Scheider as Frank Castle, Sr., Laura Harring as Livia Saint, Ben Foster as Dave, and
Kevin Nash as The Russian.
The only thing I though could've have been different is that of Kevin Nash's role. He looked more like the comicbook character, Tombstone, who is also and enemy of Castle. However, another actor, Tom Nowicki, was cast as Lonnie Lincoln, which is Tombstones real name. Nowicki had a pretty small role, no lines at all, and looked nothing like Tombstone.
But I still give this flick two (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
EDITED ON 4/19
Just did a little research on the whole Nowicki casting. It turns out that his characters name was just Lincoln, not Lonnie Lincoln and therefore he was not Tombstone, which is cool. However, I still think Kevin Nash looked like Tombstone, except he had a tan...and Tombston was an albino...
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13 Going On 30
This was definately not number 1 on my must see list but I promised my girlfriend I'd take her to see it, and I did.
I actually enjoyed the movie. It was, of course, the typical "main character makes a wish, wish gets granted, is happy, then a whole bunch of realization happens, character is sad, then fixes the problem in the end", but it was still pretty funny.
Basically, Jen Garner is Jenna Rink, one day a 13 year old girl who makes a wish to be 30 years old, and next wakes up...as a 13 year old in a 30 year old body....Her life is completely different now, as she is an editor at her favorite magazine and best friends with the "popular girl" from school...and no longer best friends with her childhood neighbor Matt (Mark Ruffalo)...I wont spoil the story for anyone who hasn't seen the film yet, but I will tell you that Garner played the role perfectly, acting as a 13 year old would, walking, talking...reacting to seeing a guys "thingy" as she puts it....
It was definately not as good as "Big" was, but still worth seeing...it was funny and fun (especially the Thriller scene...)
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What's there to say about a film that kicks all major ass??
Kill Bill Volume 1.
I've had the DVD for about two weeks and finally got the chance to watch it. I haven't seen Volume 2 yet, but I plan on it.
Uma rules as The Bride, set on avenging the death of her fiance and near death of herself. The fight scenes were beyond amazing. Definately Quentin T. at his best. A tad over the top with the spraying of blood, but awesome never-the-less.
I like that he split the film into two volumes, and what a way to end the first half. I wont spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I sat up surprised when it ended how it did.
Can't wait to see Vol. 2.
Two thumbs up. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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The third annual Tribeca Film festival kicked off this weekend in NYC.
Last night I saw the world premier of "A Hole in One" starring Michelle Williams (of Dawson's Creek fame) and Meat Loaf Aday (Bob with the tits in Fight Club).
Before the movie started, the director, Richard Ledes (his first film) and the two star came out on stage. It was pretty cool to see the Loaf. Nice guy.
The film started and it was wonderful.
It's a comedy about Ana (Williams) who is intrigued by the whole mental health epic that is going on in 1953. People are getting labatomies performed on themselves in order to make them more "happy". Ana eventually decides that she wants one too, but her Mafia-type boyfirend (Loaf) doesn't want her to get it.
A lot of funny dialogue and scenes, with great acting by Williams and Loaf.
Fare warning if you do see this flick open at a theater near you and want to go see it, there is one pretty disturbing and nasty scene wear they show the labatomy being done. It was done in a very comical way, and I couldn't stop laughing, yet cringing at the site of it as well.
Great first film for Ledes. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
I'll be catching two more films at the festival next Saturday, "Jailbait" and "Stateside".
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I saw two more great movies this weekend at the Film Festival in NYC.
I'll start off with Jailbait, starring Michael Pitt, Stephen Adly-Guirgis, David Zayas and Layla Robins. That's it...four actors. This film is written and directed by Brett Leonard...his first feature film.
This claustrophobic prison drama reveals an unsettling emotional vulnerability at the core of a struggle for power in a place of powerlessness. The film is extremely dramatic, powerful, and at many points pretty disturbing.
It's not sure whether it will get a wide theatrical release, but if it does, I highly recommend seeing it.
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Next I saw "Stateside" at the festival.
This romantic drama/comedy follows a rebellios teenager played by Jonathan Tucker who is on leave from the Marines and falls in love with a female musician, played by Rachel Leigh Cook. The relationship is threatened when she develops a mental illness.
The film co-stars Joe Mantena, Ed Begley Jr., Carrie Fisher (yep, Princess Leia herself) and Val Kilmer, in a very small but very good role as the Marine Corp. drill instructor.
Cook gives a great performance as a Schizophrenic person...most likely her best role ever.
All in all, I saw three films at Tribeca, all of which I've reviewed, and I dont think I could have chosen any better films. Plus most of the other films I wanted to see were sold out, but these were extremely well acted and directed flicks. Check them out if they come to a theater near you soon.
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I watched "Stuck on You" this weekend as well.
Although not the best Farrelly brothers film, I did enjoy it. The film stars Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins (they're not Siamese...they're American), with Eva Mendes, Wen Yann Shih, and "I may look 30 but I'm really 150 years old" CHER...
One half of the twins, Walt (Kinnear) decides that he'd like to move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career and convinces his attached bro Bob (Damon) to come along for the ride in order to meet his internet girlfriend, May (Shih) who live out there. Just one problem, May has no idea that Bob has a brother...let alone that they are joined at the hip.
There are many many jokes about the two being joined at the hip, like the scene where Walt is showering and the phone rings. Bob answers it and Walt tell Bob to tell whoever it is that he's not there.
Mendes plays a really big ditz with really big tits. Not too bad of a performace. Cher is funny as a really big bitch, dating the Malcom in the Middle kid...
If you like the Farrelly bros. you should dig this film. If not and you wanna see something else, go with either Shallow Hal or There's Something About Mary.
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Van Helsing
I checked this one out Friday night, and I was satisfied.
I had been hearing a lot of bad reviews of this film, and I can see why, however I found it to be a very fun movie to watch.
C'mon people...Hot Vampire Chicks.....GOOD.....Kick-ass special effect....GOOD.....all three major monsters in one f'ing movie....GOOD.....Hot Vampire Chicks....GOOD
Here's the plot (thanks to JoBlo.com)
A monster hunter named Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) is appointed by the Vatican to hunt down the legendary figure of Dracula before he sets up greater shop around Transylvania. Helsing hooks up with an ass-kicking Transylvaniate (Kate Beckinsale) with a great rump but soon realizes that he's actually up against a variety of monsters including Dracula's three lovely ass-kicking wives (the man's apparently a Mormon), Dr. Frankenstein's pieced-together monster and a Wolfman. A monster-kicking adventure of epic proportions ensues...
A few bad things about the flick first...SPOILER ALERT...
The first scene in which Van Helsing appears, he's hunting down Mr. Hyde (yes....Mr. Hyde of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde). Mr Hyde was computer animated, and I don't think he needed to be. Basically they made him this huge fat disgusting dude, with a funny tone(and that has to be because Robbie Coltrane lended his voice...)...It looked a tad cheesy, although I'll admit, the action in the scenes was entertaining...
The very last scene of the movie was just too friggen chessy.....there must have been a better way to end it.....
The only other thing that bothered be about this film was a little old thing called OVER-ACTING....a little by Beckinsale, and a little by Richard Roxburgh who played Dracula. It was minor, and I got over it quickly.
Now the good stuff...
THAT ACTION WAS OFF THE FRIGGEN CHARTS. A lot of CGI was use to make most of the fight scenes, and they all looked great.
THE WOLFMAN: This was cool...in order to go from human to wolf, the dude RIPPED his skin off...way way way diffrent than how any human has turned into a wolf....I know I dont rip my skin off when I turn into a wolf....f'ing different and f'ing cool.........
David Wenham (Faramir in Lord of the Rings) plays Carl...Van Helsing's side-kick who adds most of the comic relief.....this guy was great....every movie needs some sort of comedy, and this was perfect....he was the typical side-kick, but extemely hilarious....
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Mean Girls...
Honestly I had no desire to see this, but I do have a girlfriend and since she always goes to see the action and horror flicks that I drag her too, I decided to see one of her chick flicks...
I actually think that Lindsey Lohan is a pretty good actress (great in Freaky Friday) and really good in this film.
She stars as Cady (pronounced Katie as we were reminded about a million times in the flick), a home-schooled giril who lived her childhood in Africa. Her and her family move to the states and she begins mainstream school, for the first time in her life. There she's forced to deal with the daily teen angst of cliques, gossip, backstabbing, boy crushes and oh yeah...homework.
SPOILERS are likely in the following review...
The good:
-Lohan's acting (I can also see why many people think she has implants, but thats another story)
-Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury, one of the teachers at the high-school. Perfect for this quirky role....kinna reminds me of the teacher in Varsity Blue, only Fey's character moonlights as a bartender, not a stripper....
-Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, the principal. I don't think I've ever seena principal actually grab a baseball bat and head into the hallway to face a rioting bunch of teenage girls...that was actually one of the coolest scenes in the flick...
-Daniel Franzese as Damien. Extremely funny as the gay guy of the movie. "Oh my God - Danny DeVito! I love your work!" was one of the funniest lines.
-Rachel McAdams as Regina George, the head "Plastic". Decent acting on her part. Oddly enough, she actually like 28 in real life, looks like she's about 12, and plays a 16 year old in the movie....funny how things work out like that.
Now the bad...(SPOILERS)
-First off...this pisses me off....I hate this line, and not sure in this movie...in all movies that this line is in...
Karen: I'm kinda psychic. I have a fifth sense.
Cady: Really?
Karen: It's like I have ESPN or something!
WHY WHY WHY MUST WRITER'S PUT THIS INTO THEIR SCREENPLAYS....IT'S JUST AWFULLY STUPID AND OVER USED....
- Ok...the few scenes where Cady refers to the high-school as reminding her of animals in the jungle, and then the students actually being shown acting as animal....that was really lame....
- Regina getting hit by the bus. It wasn't the fact that she got hit by the bus that was stupid.....okay wait....it was. There was no need for that. But okay it happened....so then what? Like 2 months later, she's still as pretty as she was before the accident, is up walking around (with a metal brace bolted to her head), and attending the school dance? COME ON....if you were it by a bus the way she was, there's is no friggen way you'd still look that f'ing good (DIDN'T YOU PEOPLE SEE FINAL DESTINATION...THAT CHICK F'ING DIED ON INPACT). And you sure as hell wouldn't be up walking around with a fractured back attending dances....you'd be laid up in a special hospital bed in your house for months (MORE THAN 2, THAT'S FOR SURE)....
When the bus hit her, I think I actually said, "That's stupid" a little too loud...
The film could have been so much better if Regina had not gotten hit by the bus.
I'm split on this one...it was half good and half bad..I'll give it one of each:(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsDown.gif)
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One of my most anticipated movies....TROY
Dont listen to that little voice on the other end of the phone when you call the theater and hear, "Troy...Rated R....Running time of three hours"....it was 2 1/2....so there....
Wolfgang Peterson is an amazing director and he displays it with this movie.....and the cast....phenomenal....
Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Brendon Gleeson, Brian Cox, Saffron Burrows, Sean Bean and the man...Peter O'Toole
Knowing how a movie ends before going to see it, makes it extremely hard to watch.....I swear...even knowing what happens, I didn't know who to root for....I'd say that there may be spoilers to follow here, but most people know the story....so........
In a nut shell, Paris (Bloom), one of the princes of Troy, falls in love with Helen(Diane Kruger), Queen of Sparta, Menelaus' (Gleeson) wife. He takes her back to Troy, and all hell breaks loose.
Menelaus goes to his brother, Agamemnon (Cox), who basically rules most of Greece, in order to take his extrememly large army and go after her.
Agamemnon agrees, but only because of his greed to take over Troy and rule all of Greece.
Agamemnon gets together 1000 ships, and 50,000 men, including Achilles (Pitt) and his men, and they sale to Troy for war.
Achilles is less than happy with Agamemnon, but agrees to fight for him.
Back in Troy, Helen is welcomed by King Priam (O'Toole) even though his other son Hector (Bana), also the best warrior in Troy, is extremely pissed about the whole thing...
Then....a whole lot of fighting....
The BAD (not much of it):
I wasn't too crazy about Bloom's performance in this flick....way better at Legolas....maybe it was just the character he plays...a pussy....
I don't remember how the fighting was describes in the original stories, but it was a little weird to see some fighting ensue, and then someone say, "Okay thats enough for today, soo you tomorrow." Okay, so that wasn't the exact line, but it was kinna weird....I mean, I guess it was okay..............SPOILER ALERT.....................
After Hector killed who he thought was Achilles, and it turned out to be Achilles' cousin, maybe he was just too upset to continue fighting....
Pitt seemed to lose the accent ever once in awhile....
thats it....now on to the good stuff
One of Pitt's best performances....maybe he wont be nominated for an Oscar, but a job well done as Achilles
I haven't seen all of Eric Bana's flicks, but this was his best acting that I've seen....it's hard to believe that he used to be a stand-up comic with his own comedy talk show in Australia.....
PETER FUCKING O'TOOL (sorry I cursed but this guy is a friggen legend). It was great to see him in this flick.....he is one of the greates actors to ever grace the screens....(see Lawrence of Arabia, my favorite film ever)...extremely great a Priam...
The fight scenes, in particular Achilles vs. Hector....this is the kinna shite I dream about directing some day.....AMAZING.....
Job well done by Wolfgang Peterson and the entire cast....
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Back from the three day weekend and I was able to watch a few flicks, mostly on DVD....
"The House of the Spirits"
This film was made back in 1993 with a great cast including Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder, Antonio Banderas, Vanessa Redgrave and Teri Polo.
The film takes place over many years in Chile before and after WWII. A poor Esteban (Irons) makes a vow to marry Rosa (Polo), the sister of a young Clara. Esteban works hard in the gold mines until he has enough money to buy a small farm in the country. He sends for Rosa. On the same day Rosa receives his letter, Clara predicts a death in the family. Unexpectedly, Rosa dies. Clara sees the death as being her fault and takes a vow of silence. Esteban is devastated and goes to live on his farm alone. He works hard and eventually becomes rich. While in town at his mother's funeral he sees a grown Clara (Streep) and proposes marriage. At this, Clara begins to speak again. They live at his farm and have a daughter, Blanca (Ryder). Blanca is sent to boarding school, but on her summers at home falls for a worker on her father's farm, Pedro (Banderas), who happens to be a revolutionary. She becomes pregnant by him and her father puts a reward on his head. Blanca and her mother move back into the city to get away from an angry Esteban. Blanca has her daughter, while Esteban becomes a senator. Eventually, Esteban visits Clara and Blanca and they make up. Surprisingly, the revolutionary party wins an election and Pedro can see Blanca and his daughter. Unfortunately, there is a coup by the conservatives and both Blanca and Pedro are hunted down in connection with the revolutionary party.
Great acting on all parts in this film, with a really good story. I recommend this film for everyone to see. I believe it's partly based on true events, so if you're a history buff, you should enjoy it.
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"Out of Time"
The film stars Denzel Washington, Eva Mendez, Dean Cain and Sanaa Lathan.
This is a pretty good action/thriller.
Synopsis: Matt Whitlock (Washington), a local small town sheriff is in the process of getting a divorce from his wife, Alex (Mendez), while messing around with a married woman (Lathan) on the side. When he finds out that his mistress is dying of cancer, he "borrows" some seized drug money from his station, in the hopes of helping her out. When she and her husband (Cain) turn up dead the next day, the chase is on and our local sheriff is up to his eyeballs in evidence pointing against him.
It felt a little slow to get up to the good stuff, but once it did, it was like a thrill-a-minute. Whitlock had to keep one step ahead of the other cops in order to find out where the money is and who killed is mistriss. Every time it looks like he's going to be "caught", he does something to get out of it. About 15 minutes in, I though I knew what was going to happen, and I turned out to be wrong....I like it that way...I hate when films are toooooooooo predictable.....
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"National Security"
Caught this one on HBO the other night. It stars Steve Zahn and Martin Lawrence.
Zahn was once a cop until he was sent to prison for 6 months for allededly beating Lawrence. When he gets out, he becomes a security guard and begins a search on his own for the men who killed his partner shortly before he was send to prison. When he finds the men robbing a warehouse, he runs into Lawrence, also a security guard. The two hate each other, but end up working together to catch these guys.
Very funny movie, but a lot of racial jokes. See this for some good laughs.
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"The 25th Hour"
Edward Norton has been among my favorite actor ever since Primal Fear (which he should have won the Oscar for back in 1996).
He puts in another stellar performance in this Spike Lee joint, as Monty Borgan, who in just 24 short hours, will be going to prison for seven year because of dealing drugs.
In his final day in the world, he meets up with his best friends (Played by Phillip Seymore-Hoffman and Barry Pepper) and girlfriend (played by Rosario Dawson), who may or may not have tipped off the DEA.
I haven't seen all of Spike Lee's movies, but of the one's I have...this is my favorite...
Great great movie...
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"The Day After Tomorrow"
AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME MOVIE!!!
The f/x in this flick were among the best I've seen in many movies.
It's a huge disaster flick, in which a storm unlike anything ever seen for the last 10,000 years hits the northerm hemisphere. Tornadoes whipe out LA as a new ice age begins to take over NYC and the rest of the nothern areas.
But that's not all, there is actually a story. Dennis Quaid plays a climatologist, who predicted this storm would eventually happen, but not as fast as it did, who must fight his way from Washington DC to NYC to get to his son, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.
The special effects take this cake in this film, but the acting was pretty good on all parts.
I love these types of movies...
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Man....slow movie week for me....I'm not a Harry Potter fan....
I'm pretty excited about this weeks release of "The Chronicals of Riddick", so I went out and bought the re-release of Pitch Black....
The movie that pretty much made Vin Diesel, is directed by David Twohy.
Basic plot (IMDB) - A transport ship containing 40 passengers heading to other worlds for, among other reasons, settling, New Mecca, and for one passenger, Riddick, another cell. The ship encounters a tiny meteor storm and crash lands on a barren planet with only 1/4 of its complement surviving. Survival is tough with Riddick on the loose and no water in sight. However, come nightfall, they have even more to fear...
Cole Hauser plays the Merc who caught Riddick...he eventually decides that Riddick would be more helpful if he wasn't tied-up....basically because he's got these cool f'ing eyes, in which he can see...in pitch black...
Radha Mitchell plays Carolyn Fry, who sorta becomes the new captain, when the captain of the ship dies during the meteor storm...(although don't call her the captain....apprarently she doesn't like it)...
Excellent acting by Diesel...I think he's one of the coolest actors today....and this is one of the coolest movies in the last few years....
I can't wait for this weekend so I can see the next installment....and if your expecting the new film to be about aliens....you're wrong.....totally different story.....thats for the best.....
Pitch Black gets (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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Shrek 2
I gotsta be honest here.....all the critics praised this film as being better than the first...and I don't know why.....
Don't get me wrong....I liked this a lot....it was really really good....but I enjoyed, and laughed more, with the first one.....
Señor Banderas stole the movie as the voice of Puss in Boot. What a fantastic addition to the movie....
Of course Eddie Murphy as Donkey was just as funny as the first flick...
Meyers as Shrek and Diaz as Fiona weren't too shabby as well....
I think most people are right....once you see it the second time around you catch more of the joke....
I did like the many references to some of the other big flicks, like Spider-Man etc.....well done with those....
as well as with Far Far Away....many of the shops and restaurants are modeled after real places like Starbucks and what-not....
Again....i think it was a great movie, just not as good as the first....
it still gets my two thumbs up though (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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The Stepford Wives (2004)
I don't get it. How could five wondeful actors agree to act in such a bad movie. It was terrible.
I've always like Christopher Walken (in fact I don't know anybody who doesn't like him), but damn man.....YOU WERE BETTER IN GIGLI.....
Nicole Kidman was okay....as well as Broderick....
I've never been a fan of Bette Midler, and this didn't help that at all....
Glenn Close was terrible.....what a quack......
I never saw the original (which I believe is NOT a comedy), and maybe I will.
I didn't find this movie funny.....they should have stuck more to the schi-fi side of things......
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damn....to busy of a weekend for me to actually get to the theater....HOWEVER....my free DVD "EDtv" arrived, so I watched it...for like the 3rd or so time.....
I had forgotten how funny this movie actually is....it stars Mathew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Martin Landau, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Reiner, Dennis Hopper, and Elizabeth Hurley.
Ed (McConoaughey) is chosen to have his life broadcasted live on TV. After the first week on air Eds fame grows and grows, but conflicts break open: His brother Ray (Harrelson) publishes a very negative book about Ed, who now dates Ray's ex Shari (Elfman); Ed's parent's partnership problematics are broadcasted nationwide and a very attractive and seducing model (Hurley) uses innocent Ed to raise her own fame.
Landau who playes Eds step-father is the best character in the movie and has some of the funniest lines in a movie i've ever heard.
"I'm gonna go take a piss. Wish me luck."
"She's in the kitchen. I'd yell for her but... I'd die."
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saw three movies over the long weekend....two on DVD, one in theaters....
I'll start with the DVDs
First....League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
This was a decent movie.
Basic plot: (from IMDB)
In this extraordinary adventure, the Fantom is trying to start a World War, and be at the head of it. The Fantom has highly superior weapons to the normal weapons of that day, and he also has extreme cunning, as we see by his tricking the countries into suspecting each other for war-mongering. A supposed loyalist to her Majesty's Empire is sent to fetch Allan Quartermain(Sean Connery) in an effort to track down the group who is trying to start the war. In a private and secret meeting, Quartermain meets who he is to be teaming up with on this mission. He is accompanied by Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), the vampiress/scientist Mina Harker (Peta Wilson), the Invisible Man Rodney Skinner (Tony Curran), the immortal Dorian Gray (Stuart Townsend), the American spy Tom Sawyer (Shane West), and Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde (Jason Flemyng). Soon into their adventure they discover that the Fantom is behind these attacks, but there is more to this war than battle and cunning.
Overall the action was great. The computer graphics were kind of obviouse many of the times, mostly when seeing the Nautilus. The acting however could have been better. I enjoyed most of the performances. I haven't been much a fan of Shane West, and his acting here didn't help that at all.
Shane West aside, I'll give this one (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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Second DVD I watched, "Cheaper by the Dozen"
From the moment I saw the trailer for this many moons ago, I knew it would make me laugh. And it did just that.
The film is a remake of a 1950 film of the same name. This time around, Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt star as the parents of 12 children. When Tom Baker (Martrin) is offered his dream job as head coach of the college football team he was once a part of.
His 12 kids are a little less than happy that they have to pick up and leave their country home to move closer to the big city. Tom is then left to deal with the 12 kids and his new job when his wife Kate (Hunt) is signed to go on a 2 week book tour. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose as the kids rebel.
Not much makes me laugh harder when I see some guy getting his nuts chewed out by a dog...especially when that guy is Ashton Kutcher....couldn't happen to a better guy :razz:.
Co-staring as the children are Superman himself Tom Welling, the bar dancer Piper Perabo, Lizzie McGuire (or is she passed that already) Hilary Duff, and a whole bunch of other child actors who I've never heard of.
Funny movie with a great cast. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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and finally, I saw the big one in theaters....number one movie over the long weekend...Spider-Man 2.
The best.....BEST.....comic book movie yet.
Awesome acting, awesome action, some pretty funny comedy in there as well.
This time around Pter Parker/Spider-man is overwhelmed with all of the responsabilities he has, school, work, Mary Jane (Dunst), Harry Osborn (Franco) who still blames Spidey for killing his father, and saving NYC from all the thugs.
Things are so bad, that he decides to give it all up, and lead a normal life....until a freak accident leaves Dr. Otto Octavius, a doc who Parker idolizes, with 4 testicles....I mean tenticles, welded to his body. He becomes the new villian, Dr. Octopus, or Doc Ock as they called him.
Harry enlists him to bring Spider-man to him alive. In return, Harry will give Doc Ock teh Tridium he needs to create the machine that f'ed him up in the first place.
Better acting this time around by Tobey McGuire and Kirsen Dunst. I wasn't to thrilled with James Franco's performance, but he's a decent actor, and got through this movie. And then there is Alfred Molina, Doc Ock. Brilliant performance (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif). I haven't seen him in any other big blockbuster films, so this was a slight change for him and he adapted perfectly. He stole this movie from everyone, and kicked some ass while doing it.
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Another film I had been waiting to see opened up yesterday on my b-day. So I went to see "King Arthur". I love big epic movies....Braveheart, Troy, Gladiator and now....King Arthur. What a great movie.
The film is different than any other movie about King Arthur I've ever seen. I loved the movie "Excalibur", but "King Arthur" was different, and it was better.
Although the legend of King Arthur has not been historically established as fact, this film will attempt to place King Arthur within his possible historic context, smack between the fall of the Roman Empire (just a few hundred years after Gladiator) and the long road through the Dark Ages (roughly set in the 5th or 6th centuries).
Arthur and the Knights of the Round table are done with their 15 years of service. All they want to do now, is go home. But first, the Bishop sends them on one final mission...to bring a Roman family out of harms way of the Saxons. Here, they rescue Guinevere from a dungeon under the families home. Arthur decides to save all the surfs owned by the Roman family. When the Saxons arrive, nobody is there, so they follow Arthur and the large group.
Okay...I don't want to spoil anything else....so I'll just say that a whole lot of kick-ass action ensues afterwards.
As for the acting....MAGNIFICENT. With the exception of Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, and Stellan Skarsgård, I haven't heard of the other actors, but I'll be sure to try and catch some of their other films.
Clive Owen as Arthur - (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif) Amazing performance. I hadn't seen him in many movies before, although he is pretty famous in the UK. He showed a lot of aggression in this part, and it worked. He showed Arthurs courage and leadership perfectly. I'd nominate him now for an Oscar if I could.
Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot - Another great performance. Another actor I haven't seen anything else from (but he's done a lot of stuff, including Horatio Hornblower). Wonderful portrayal of Lancelot.
Keira Knightley as Guinevere- She just keeps getting better and better each time I see her on screen. Ok...so I've only seen three of her films, but I've liked them all. She's a good actress and showed that again here. And she also showed that she can kick some ass and look pretty damn good while doing it.
Stellan Skarsgård as Cerdic (leader of the Saxons) - Man alive this guy blew me away. He plays one cool mean bad guy. He's played the bad guy in a few other films, but I can see this character, and his poratyal of him on the next AFI 100 Heroes and Villains as a top villain.
All in all, great movie, great acting, great directing by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day).
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bought a few DVDs with some b-day money...one of those is "Bad(der) Santa", the unrated version.
I had wanted to see this in theaters but never got the chance.
The film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Lauren Grahm, Bernie Mac, and the late John Ritter.
Thornton stars as an "eating, drinking, f*cking" miserable mall Santa, w/ Cox as the Elf. Each year they are hired but I different mall, and right before they're done with the term, they rip-off the mall.
While on the job in Phoenix, Thornton meets a truoble youngster who is constantly being picked on. All the kid seems to do is ask questions, in turn, annoying the hell out of Thornton, who no matter how pissed off he gets, can't seem to leave the kid.
Extremely funny movie, with a lot of use of the word fuck, and a terrific performance by Thornton. I'm not sure how many times "fuck" was actually said in this movie, but it's gotta be some sorta record.
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Watched "The 4th Floor" on DVD this weekend.
I had picked this up from WalMart for 5 bucks a while back....seemed interesting...and it was....
A young woman (Juliette Lewis) moves into a new apartment that she inherited from her aunt, who had died there in a bizarre accident. She is immediately confronted by totally bizarre neighbors and someone is obviously out to get her as mice and flies engulf her apartment. But with the array of weirdos around her, who might it be? Everyone warns her to stay away from her upstairs neighbor (Austin Pendleton), but he is the only one who shows any kindness. Supposedly the neighbor below her is an 80 year old woman, but she hammers the floor so hard when the young woman moves furniture that she breaks tiles. Another neighbor (Shelley Duvall) seems kind enough to begin with, but later seems more interfering and threatening. Also her weatherman boy friend (William Hurt) can't be ruled out. Contrary to his desire for her to move in with him, she moved into her aunt's apartment.
Overall it was a good movie that was hard to predict, however I was left wondering "why?" at the end. I wont ruin it for you incase you decide to check it out.
Juliette Lewis gives a good performance as does Austin Pendleton. I kind of expect a little better performance from Academy Award Winner William Hurt, but he did a decent job.
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Second movie I saw this weekend was Will Ferrell in Anchorman.
Ferrell plays the legendary news reporter Ron Burgundy, who is loved by nearly all of San Diego. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron is willing to play along at first-as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it's more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons... it's war.
Will Ferrell is hilarious as always, however I think Steve Carrell stole the movie as the weatherman Brick Tamland. (You may remember Carrell as playing a news reporter in Bruce Almighty)
I loved all the cameos by Tim Robbins, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black.
Very funny and very good. GO SEE IT!
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The Notebook
I had wanted to see this for a while and finally got the chance friday. I liked this movie a lot. I'm not much for sappy love stories, but this was a good one.
Plot: The movie focuses on an old man (James Garner) reading a story to an old woman (Gena Rowlands) in a nursing home. The story he reads follows two young lovers named Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling), who meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie's parents who dissaprove of Noah's unwealthy family, and move Allie away. After waiting for Noah to write her for several years, Allie meets and gets engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon (James Marsden). After seeing Noah's photo in a news paper for a house that he built (specifically for Allie), she goes back to the town to see him. It is evident that they still have feelings for each other, and Allie has to choose between her first love and the man her parents approve of.
Great story with a talented you cast.
Rachel McAdams was ten times better in The Notebook than Mean Girls. Of course they were two completely different parts, but still. I'm expecting big things from her in future films. She's a really actress, and has got the looks as well.
This was Ryan Gosling's best acting yet (although I haven't seen The Believer or The United States of Leland, which I've heard he was magnificent in *makes note to check out these two films*).
Fine job by James Garner, Gena Rowlands and James Marsden as well as Joan Allen and Sam Shepard.
Ladies...go see it.....Gentlemen.......take your ladies to see it.....
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Raising Cain...picked this one up for $5.50 at WalMart....
Jenny Nix (Lolita Davidovich), wife of eminent child psychologist Carter Nix (John Lithgow), becomes increasingly concerned about her husband's seemingly obsessive concern over the upbringing of their daughter. Her own adulterous affair with an old flame Jack (Steven Bauer), however, causes her to neglect her motherly duties until a spate of local kidnapings forces her to accept the possibility that Carter may be trying to recreate the twisted mind-control experiments of his discreditied psychologist father.
I love psychological thrillers.
John Lithgow (who I haven't seen in any recent movies other than his voice work in Shrek), proves here that he is a wonderful wonderful actor. He actually plays a few characters in this movie, and is amazing at each one.
Rent this...buy this...some how just see it... :D
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I saw a few movies this weekend....three on DVD and one in Theaters....
First DVD I watched was "Poltergeist."
Plot: While living an an average family house in a pleasant neighborhood, the youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke), seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the televison. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house's walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and amuse the family, but they take a nasty turn- they horrify the family to death with angry trees and murderous dolls, and finally abduct Carol Anne into her bedroom closet, which seems like the entrance to the other side.
Directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, the movie is really freaky, with some really good F/X for 1982. Except for the scene where the dude rips the skin from his own face...you could tell how fake that was....nasty....but fake :razz:
The acting was good. Craig T. Nelson as the father was good. You don't see much of him since that show "Coach" went off the air.
JoBeth Williams as the mother was good to. Again...don't see much of her around lately either.
The star of the movie though was the little girl, Heather O'Rourke. She was only 5 (or so) when the movie was made, but she was terrific in it. Tragically, she died during the filming of the third Poltergeist movie. Such a shame. She was a talented young actress and showed her ability in this film.
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The Village
Shyamalan has amazed me once again with his talent. This was a great movie, although not at all what I was expecting. It even took me a moment afterwards to realize the I did love it.
The Village depicts the thrilling tale of an isolated town confronting the astonishing truth that lies just outside its borders. At first glance, this village seems picture perfect, but this close-knit community lives with the frightening knowledge that creatures reside in the surrounding woods. The evil and foreboding force is so unnerving that none dare venture beyond the borders of the village and into the woods. But when curious, headstrong Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix) plans to step beyond the boundaries of the town and into the unknown, his bold move threatens to forever change the future of the village.
I like how Shyamalan doesn't focus too much on the creatures, but more on the people in the town. (He did the same in "Signs", not focusing so much on the aliens, but on the family).
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Williams Hurt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sigourney Weaver, Brendan Gleeson, Adrien Brody, Judy Greer and Michael Pitt.
Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron Howard's daughter) showed her acting skills. She did a great job, and I look forward to seeing her in more feature films.
Adrien Brody was amazing. His character is mentally slow, and he handled that really well. I think we all know he's an amazing actor...he has won an Oscar for his acting ability.
Phoenix was great as well. He plays kind of a quiet and shy character, but strong willed and very brave. Magnificent job. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets an Oscar someday....maybe not for this film, but he's filming "Walk the Line" right now, a biopic on Johnny Cash.
William Hurt (another Oscar winner) and Sigourney Weaver (an Oscar nominee) are also really good in this movie. They are classic actors, and continue to show why they are award winners.
I loved the movie.
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The Underneath...another $5.50 DVD from Walmart :D
The film was directed by Ocean's 11 director Steven Soderbergh and stars Peter Gallagher, Allison Elliot, William Fichtner, Joe Don Baker, and Elisabeth Shue.
Michael Chambers (Gallagher) returns home to celebrate his mother's marriage. He had been ousted from his home town due to his gambling indiscretions and had left his girlfriend, Rachel (Allison Elliot) to deal with the mess he created. He now must reassimulate back into the town, renew his relationships with his family and friends (and enemies) and, most-of-all, seek out his ex-girlfriend to woo her again. In the process, he obtains a job working with his mother's new husband (Joe Don Baker) as an armored car driver. He almost seems the perfect prodigal son as he finds his niche back in the community and his way back into his ex's heart. His troubles surmount when he and his Rachel are caught in the act by her hoodlum boyfriend/fiancée (Fichtner). To get out of this predicament, Michael must concoct a plan to heist of a payroll being carried by his armored car company.
A decent "who can you trust" flick. Well worth my $5.50 :D
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The Bourne Identity
I wanted to refresh my memory before I go and see Supremacy this weekend.
Damn what a cool movie.
Based Robert Ludlum's novel, the Bourne Identity is the story of a man whose wounded body is discovered by fisherman who nurse him back to health. He can remember nothing and begins to try to rebuild his memory based on clues such as the Swiss bank account, the number of which, is implanted in his hip. He soon realizes that he is being hunted and takes off with Marie (Franke Potenke) on a search to find out who he is and why he is being hunted.
Great fight scenes and really good acting make this movie great. Matt Damon is at his best as Jason Bourne, and Chris Cooper plays a pretty good asshole. I haden't heard of Franke Potenke before this film, but she is really good actress. I gotta see what else she's been in (other than Supremacy :razz: )
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The Bourne Supremacy
I loved this movie....more than the first one I think....but they were both really really good. I was a tad disappointed at one point towards the beginning, but I got over it quickly.
When a CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent--who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne (Matt Damon) and Marie (Franke Potente) have been living under assumed names--the pair collapse their lives and head out. Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive
Matt Damon continues to prove that he can be a great action star.
Brian Cox, who was also in the first film, has always been an amazing, intense actor. Brilliant acting in this film.
Joan Allen was added to the cast, and she was really good as well.
Excellent film with an awesome car chase seen.
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Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Ok...I rented this for my girlfriend.....once in awhile I have to satisfy her movie requests, just like with Mean Girls (which turned out to be an okay movie)
However, I didn't like this one as much and they weren't too far apart from basically being the same movie with Lindsey Lohan just plaing different characters.
Based on the teen novel of the same name, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen follows Lola, a newly displaced teen, whose family has relocated from the trendy life of New York City to the urban sprawl of Dellwood, New Jersey. Out of place in the surburban town, Lola sets her sights on the lead in the school play while fantasizing about her favorite rock group and how her life should be. When she learns that her favorite rock group is disbanding and is going to put on their final farewell concert in New York City, Lola pulls out all the stops to make it to the concert and meet the lead singer, Stu Wolff.
Decent acting on most parts. Lohan was "eh", better in Mean Girls. Adam Garcia was pretty funny as a drunken lead singer to her favorite band. And the rest of the cast was tolerable.
I'll give it one (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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Rented Eurotrip...
I love stupid humor....this movie was so funny....
The film stars mostly people I've never heard of...Scott Mechlowicz, Jacob Pitts, Travis Wester and Michelle Trachtenberg (the only name I recognize from the main cast)...plus some great cameos by, Vinnie Jones, Kristen Kruek, Lucy Lawless and Matt Damon "singing" the very catchy song, "Scotty Doesn't Know"
Okay...so what's it all about...When Scotty's German online pen pal suggests they meet, he initially freaks out. But then he discovers that she's gorgeous, and heads out with three friends after graduation to meet her. As they travel across Europe, the four friends have hysterical comical misadventures. The robot fighting scene, although really stupid...was so funny, I couldn't stop laughing.
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Tigerland
This is another DVD I've had for a long time and finally decided to watch it.
The film is directed by Joel Schumacher and stars Colin Farrel in one of his first leading roles.
In September 1971, a platoon of recruits arrives in Ft. Polk, LA, for infantry training before leaving for war. The final week takes place in Tigerland, a swamp similar to Vietnam. Jim Paxton (Matthew Davis) has enlisted; he wants to experience everything and write books later. He befriends Roland Bozz (Colin Farrel), a cool Texan with a gift for getting into trouble and for helping misfits get discharges. At least one sociopath in the platoon hates Bozz, even as the sergeants grudgingly recognize his leadership abilities. As the platoon heads into its week in Tigerland, Paxton's body gives out, Bozz makes plans to go AWOL, and the sociopath gets hold of live ammo.
The film also stars Tom Guiry, Clifton Collins Jr. and Cole Hauser.
EXCELLENT EXCELLENT FILM! Great acting, great directing and a great story. This is a must see film for EVERYONE. Go buy it. It's only $5.99 at Best Buy or $5.50 at WalMart.
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I saw Collateral last night....
Great movie directed by Michael Mann and starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Javier Bardem and a brief appearance by Jason Stathem.
Max (Foxx) has lived a mundane life as a cab driver for twelve years. The faces have come and gone from his rear-view mirror: people and places he's long since forgotten--until tonight. Vincent (Cruise) is a contract killer. When an off-shore narco-trafficking cartel learns that they're about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses. It is on this very night that Vincent has arrived--and five bodies are supposed to fall. Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max' taxicab, and Max becomes collateral--an expendable person who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through the night, Vincent forces Max to drive him to each assigned destination. And as the L.A.P.D. and F.B.I. race to intercept them, Max and Vincent's survival become dependent on each other, in ways neither would have imagined.
Excellent intense film, with a wee bit of humor in all the right places....it's one of those films where you can't tell whose side your on because you don't want either of them (Cruise or Foxx in this case) to get hurt....
It's nice to see Cruise in the anti-hero role for a change....it's not too often (if ever?) that he's taken this type of character.....I loved it.....awesome job....
and then there is Jamie Foxx, who I think is well on his way to mega stardom....excellent acting in this film (not to mention his possible Oscar-nomination role as Ray Charles in the film "Ray")....
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What's the max number of thumbs?
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Watched Kill Bill Vol. 2 last night.....
I gotta tell ya....I loved Vol. 1, but I loved the second half even more.
There were five on her list. Now it's three. O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green were the first to fall, now The Bride (Uma Thurman) is out to finish the job by killing Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Budd (Michael Madsen), and last of all, Bill (David Carradine). If the final three aren't afraid now, they better start, because she's coming for them. However, something has thrown off her plans a bit. Her daughter (whom she was pregnant with as she was getting married) is still alive. What affect this will have on her quest for vengeance is unclear, but the question is, will The Bride have actually succeeded in completing her ultimate goal, to kill Bill?
I was glad to see more of Budd and Bill in this film. Michael Madsen is a cool actor (go rent Reservoir Dogs if you haven't seen it) and was even cooler in Kill Bill Vol. 2.
I haven't seen much of David Carradine's stuff (except for maybe a few episodes of Kung Fu on TV, but that's about it). He was really really good in this. What an amazing actor. Brilliant (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif)
Of course Uma...excellent again as The Bride. I've never been a huge fan of hers (didn't care for Gattaca, didn't see Paycheck), but this role has pushed her pretty far. Her role in Pulp Fiction definatley put her on the map to stardom, but this will be the role she'll always be remembered for. (Nothing against Pulp Fiction though, it's one of the best movies ever made :D )
And Tarantino continues to show why he is so good at what he does. I can't wait to see what type of film he does next (although I hope it's not a Bond movie...I've heard he really wants to direct the next one....not his type of movie I feel)...
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Watched "Into the Fire". I friend of mine at work picked this one up at one of my favoritest places on earth right now....THE $5.50 BIN AT WALMART.
Wade (Lee Montgomery) is an out-of-work musician. He picks up and leaves his old life to start a new. While on the road, he stops at a diner and meets a waitress, Liette (Olivia d'Abo), who decides to help him get a job at a local lodge; not too mention decide to sleep with the guy as well.
Wade then meets Dirk Winfield (Art Hindle), half owner of the lodge. He hires Wade to do some work around the lodge, fixing things up. The first day at work, Wade meets Rosalind Winfield (Susan Anspach), Dirk's strange wife.
Things aren't as they seem as Wade finds out that Dirk isn't so nice to Rosalind. Wade ends up getting in the middle of things by trying to help. Rosalind then tries to enlist Wade to help her murder Dirk. A decision he is less than happy to have to make.
The movie is extremely short, only about 78 minutes. It takes a little while to get to the main plot, but once there I was interested to see where everything was going. Some things were predictable, and some surprising. There are some twists and turns which keep you wondering what'll happen though.
The acting was just okay. I don't know most of the actors, except d'Abo, who I've seen in a few other TV-type movies.
Not half bad. It's worth the $5.50. :D
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Watched "Hellboy" last night....
In the final days of World War II, the Nazis attempt to use black magic to aid their dying cause. The Allies raid the camp where the ceremony is taking place, but not before a demon - Hellboy - has already been conjured. Joining the Allied forces, Hellboy eventually grows to adulthood, serving the cause of good rather than evil, working for the
Ron Perlman plays Hellboy and does a really good job at it. We usually don't see Perlman in the lead role, but he carried this film well.
Selma Blair stars as Liz Sherman, a woman who has the ability to create fire, but isn't too happy about the fact that she has a problem controlling it. Good acting on her part.
David Hyde Pierce voices Abe Sapien, but is not physically the character. So we basically just hear his voice, but still...his voice made the character. So kudos to him for that.
This film is very entertaining and very fun. Lost of action and cool f/x. From time to time, the film gets a little corny, but all in all, I liked it.
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there is a movie I had wanted to see for a long time....it finally came out on DVD last week, so I HAD to buy it.....
Steven Spielberg's directorial debut......DUEL
The story follows David Mann (played by Dennis Weaver) as he drives across California for an important meeting. When he tries to pass a gas tanker, the driver somehow takes offence. At first the unseen driver just annoys David by continually passing him and slowing down. Then he starts playing mind games with David, tempting him to pass the tanker, only to prevent him when he tries. The story is seen from David's point of view, with commentary as he thinks to himself.
Weaver was excellent as a terrified driver. You can tell the character was supposed to be very weak and he protrayed it perfectly.
Spielberg did a wonderful job for his first feature film. This film really paved the way for him.
I did notice one major slip in the film where you can see the reflection of someone (possibly Spielberg) in the phone booth....clearly it the person should not have been standing there...but all major films have slips....so whatever... :D still a great great movie...
A must see for everyone....
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I saw "Exorcist: The Beginning" over the weekend.
Years before Father Merrin had rid the devil from little Regan MacNeil, he encountered the face of evil in Kenya. In the aftermath of World War II, Merrin finds himself in the remote Turkana region of Kenya. Haunted by memories of the war, he has taken a sabbatical from the priesthood and journeyed far from his native Holland. He has come to lead the archaeological excavation of a mysterious, Byzantine church, buried in pristine condition as if on the day it was completed. Directly underneath the church, Merrin discovers a much more ancient crypt -- and finds himself face-to-face with unspeakable Evil. Madness descends on the local villagers and the contingent of British soldiers sent to guard the excavation. Merrin watches helplessly as the atrocities of war are repeated against another innocent village -- atrocities he'd hoped to never see again. The blood of innocents flows freely on the East African plain, but the horror has only just begun....
Stellan Skarsgård stars as Father Merrin in this prequel, and just does an excellent job. I can see this guy wining an Oscar someday (maybe not for this movie, but for something else). He's a really great actor and the perfect choice to portray the young version of Max Von Sydow's (Merrin in the original Exorcist) Father Merrin. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif)
Izabella Scorupco (Vertical Limit, Reign of Fire) plays Sarah, the doctor in the Kenyan village. Very good acting on by her.
All in all, I really liked the movie. There were a lot of scares and freaky make-up jobs, along with some pretty distrubing scenes. The parts that Renny Harlin (the director) used CGI, where needed, but to easy to tell that it was CGI. There wasn't much they could do about it I guess, because where would they get trained hyenas. :razz:
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I'm not sure how many people know this, but Exorcist: The beginning was shot twice, with two different directors. Harlin was the second director. Paul Schrader was originally hired to film the movie, and he did. There were a few different actors, although I believe Stellan Skarsgård is in both. There were some creative differences and he was fired, I'm guessing during editing, that's why he finished the film. I would really like to see his version of the film too and see what the differences were between the two. I've heard that it will be released on DVD at the same time as Harlin's version. I say put both movies on one DVD. It'll save me an extra $20 bucks. :razz:
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I saw three movies (so far) over the long weekend...
I rented Cold Creek Manor, saw Mircale, which I own, and went to see Paparazzi...
First off...Cold Creek Manor.
The film stars, Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, and Juliette Lewis.
Quaid and Stone are a married couple with two kids who decide to move from NYC to a country home. Turning it into their dream house soon becomes a living nightmare when the previous owner (Dorff) shows up, and a series of terrifying incidents lead them on a spine-tingling search for clues to the estate's dark and lurid past...
The film was pretty good, with some jumpy suspense, but not what I was hoping for. I thought it was more horror, than thriller, but no horror, just some crazy dude who wants his house back.
I wasn't too pleased with the acting, with the exception of Dorff. There was a bit too much over acting, especially in the "snake" scene.
Decent movie, worth watching if you can catch it on cable.
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Second movie I watched, "Miracle"
The film stars Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks, a hockey coach, hired to coach the 1980 US Olympic team. Instead of going with professionals, he comprises the team of young and talented college students. The movie chronicles their trip, from training to the Olympic games.
Excellent movie with and excellent job by Russell. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif)
The rest of the cast was reletively young. The only face I recognized was Eddie Cahill (played Tag Jones on Friends for awhile) who played Jim Craig, the goaly. Better job in this film than on Friends. :D
The rest of the cast was amazing to watch as well. Terrific job by everyone.
I loved the movie and I highly recommend everyone to see it if they haven't, hockey fan or not.
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Thirdly, I went to see Paparazzi.
The film stars Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Daniel Baldwin, Tom Sizemore, Dennir Farina, with a brief appearance from Mel Gibson, Chris Rock, Vince Vaughn (who is everyone these days) and Matthew McConaughey.
Let me first start by saying it's great to see Cole Hauser take the lead role for once after being supporting actor is most other films he's done (Tears of the Sun, Pitch Black, Tigerland, etc).
Bo Laramie (Hauser) is a movie star who has finally achieved success. But success comes at a price, in the form of persistent photographers known as the paparazzi (Tom Sizemore, Daniel Baldwin, Tom Hollinder, and Kevin Gage). Using their dishonest methods of getting the money shot regardless of what it takes, they'll stop at nothing in exploiting Bo for every last penny. But when one of their ventures nearly costs Bo's life and that of his wife (Tunney) and child, he's reached his breaking point. In doing so, he will exact revenge on those who have enjoyed making his life a living hell with a focus on the paparazzi's ring leader, Rex Harper (Sizemore).
I liked the movie. I can't say that this is exactly how the paparazzi in Hollywood actually act, but what if they did...and what if the stars struck back. :D Some corny lines here and there, and a pretty funny reference to Alec Baldwin...only funny cause Daniel Baldwin is in the movie.
Hauser was great in this film and I've wanted to see him take the lead for awhile. Magnificent job. I hope he gets some more leading roles in the future.
Tom Sizemore, who I normally like (great in the film, Heat), wasn't so good in this film. I felt he over acted it a bit.
Baldwin was....well....he's a Baldwin...and did a decent job. :D
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After two weeks of being massively too busy to see movies, I finally got to see some good movies....
First off, I watched Kiss The Girls, which I've seen probably four or five times now, but it's a really good movie.
The film stars Morgan Freeman as Det. (and Dr.) Alex Cross, who is investigating a series of kidnappings, mainly because his neice is one of the women who was kidnapped....
The film also stars Ashely Judd as Dr. Kate McTiernan, the only kidnapped woman to escape the lair of "Cassanova", the kidnapper
Co-starring in the film is Cary Elwes, Tony Goldwyn and Brian Cox.
Morgan Freeman is a great actor...always has been and most likely always will be....
Ashley Judd is a hot actress....always has been...and will be until she gets old and wrinkly... :razz: ....but she also happens to be a great actress....(although alot of her stuff lately seems to be kinna redundant)...but this seems to be the best of her "Damsel in Distress" films (Double Jeopardy, High Crimes, and Twisted[which I have not seen] being the others)
All in all, great suspense film, with some great acting....
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Second film I saw this weekend was in theaters, "Garden State"
I had wanted to see this film for awhile, and no....not just because I live in the Garden State... :D
EXCELLENT MOVIE
Written by, Directed by, and starring Zach Braff (Scrubs) as well as another hottie Natalie Portman, old and wrinkly but great actor Ian Holm, and Peter Sarsgaard, who also just happens to be a terrific actor...
Andrew Largeman (Braff) shuffled through life in a lithium-induced coma until his mother's death inspired a vacation from the pills to see what might happen. A moderately successful TV actor living in Los Angeles, "Large" hasn't been home to the Garden State in nine years. But even with 3,000 miles between them, he's been unable to escape his domineering father Gideon (Holm) and the silencing effect he's had on his son from afar. Stunned to find himself in his hometown after such a long absence, Large finds old acquaintances around every corner living quite unique lives as gravediggers, fast food knights and the panderers of pyramid schemes. Meanwhile, at home, he does his best to avoid a long-simmering but inevitable confrontation with his father. By a twist of fate, Large meets Sam (Portman), a girl who is everything he isn't. A blast of color, hope and quirks, Sam becomes a sidekick who refuses to ride in the sidecar of his old motorcycle. Her warmth and fearlessness give Large the courage to open his heart to the joy and pain of the infinite abyss that is life.
This is why I love independent films....not only the actors, but the awesomly well written script and great great directing...
Braff, who I've only seen a few times on Scrubs, was magnificent in this film. I'd love to see him nominated for an Oscar (but I'm sure it won't happen...too much competition this past year). His directorial debut was perfect, and is pretty much how I'd want my directorial debut to go....
I've generally liked many of Portman's films (The Professional was amazing), but this was without a doubt her greatest performance in a film ever...it may even be hard for her to top this in future films....excellent portrayal of a pathological liar with epilepsy (although she never had a seizure on screen...so was she lying??? I don't think so...but anyway...)
Sarsgaard has always been a great supporting actor...I haven't seen anything he's been the lead in...and he once again proved that he can be...well....a great supporting actor....He plays Mark, one of Andrew's childhood friends who hasn't seen him in nine years....He turns out to be a true friend at the end of the film....god damn I'd love to have friends like him....sure he was smoking a bong for half the film....but still....
This film is definately one of my top 5 favorite films of this year....I highly recommend, even if you don't live the Garden State, to see this film....you'll love it....
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And the third film I saw was another DVD....Jersey Girl....
There is only one thing that was wrong with this film...and no it wasn't Ben or Jen....
It's that it came out after Gigli....if this film had been completed first, it would've done much better at the box office....
Ben Affleck stars as Oliver (Ollie) Trinke, a big time NYC publicist. It seems as if his life is perfect....perfect job, pefect girlfirend Gertrude, played by JLo( :roll: haha), who he marries and knocks up...life couldn't be better with a baby on the way....until the day of his daughter's birth...while giving birth a little baby girlf, JLo kicks the bucket....
Ollie becomes extremely depressed, but tries to forget everything by getting back to work, and having his father Bart (played by the always ALWAYS funny George Carlin), help take care of the baby, little Gertie....
Bart notices that Ollie is neglecting his fatherly duties and decides to leave early one day for work, leaving Ollie with the baby on a big work day where he is to have a press junkett(spelling?) for Will Smith....stressed out and depressed....Ollie says some not so nice things about Smith, who he felt at the time (1994) was not going to be anything big in the future...well this doesn't go over so well and he's fired from the firm....
His life changes forever.....fast forward and little Gertie in now seven years old, and Ollie works with his father for the town of Highlands, NJ...
While living in Jersey, Ollie eventually meets Maya (Liv Tyler)...you can pretty much guess what happens next...yeah yeah
Well a whole bunch of funny and dramatic things happen throughout the film, but I feel like I'm rambling a little with the plot here....so now...
Overall...the film was hilarious....I found myself laughing a lot more than I had expected I would....
Affleck was pretty damn good...better in this film that most of his previous work....
JLo dies in the film...so that's that...
Liv Tyler was pretty good too....a little slutty at first...but that's what her role called for....good job...
Carlin was just great....he always is....such a funny guy...cracks me up everytime he speaks....
but...Raquel Castro stole the movie....she played little Gertie....this was her first film, and she was great....not sure who is a better actress now...her or Dakota Fanning....they're in the same league I'd say....
Funny movie....I like it....Kevin Smith is an awesome director....
It's a shame it didn't do well in theaters, and you can blames Gigli (which I still don't think is the worst movie ever as some say)...
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I was a little bored last night as there was not much on television, so I popped in a DVD, "Sweet and Lowdown."
The film was a little different than what I was expecting, mainly because there was commentary from director Woody Allen and other filmmakers and historians.
The movie is a comedic biopic focused on the life of fictional jazz guitarist Emmett Ray (Sean Penn). Ray was an irresponsible, free-spending, arrogant, obnoxious, alcohol-abusing, miserable human being, who was also arguably the best guitarist in the world. Teh story follows Ray's life: bouts of getting drunk, his bizzare hobbies of shooting rats and watching passing trains, his dreams of fame and fortune, his strange obsession with the better-known guitarist Django Reinhardt, his relationship with a mute woman named Hattie (Samantha Morton), his relationship with another woman Blanche (Uma Thurman) and of course, playing his beautiful music.
There was some amazing music in this film. I'm not much of a jazz fan, but damn, I was blown away by the music. I'm not sure if Penn actually played the guitar himself, but it looked like he did.
Penn was nominated for a best Actor Oscar in 1999 for his role as Emmett Ray, and he atleast deserved that. Maybe he should've even won. Lately I've been having a lot of new repsect for different actors, and Penn is one of them. He's a terrific actor (and definately deserved all his nominations and awards he's won). Another excellent performance.
Samantha Morton was up for best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for her role as the mute Hattie. She had this cuteness to her in the film. No line, but she didn't need any. You saw her emotions in her eyes. Well done.
Uma Thurman was also good in the film. Personally I felt a wee bit of overacting. I don't know. It wasn't bad. Maybe I just didn't like her character all that much.
Ok...now on to Woody Allen....a man I have very little respect for after all that crap went down with Soon-Yi....anywho...I was never a fan of his movies, and didn't really want to see anything done by him.
In college I watched "Bananas", but only because I had to watch it for class. I didn't like it.
I didn't know that Woody Allen directed Sweet and Lowdown until I saw the opening credits. I rolled my eyes, but continued watching for the sole purpose that I am a Sean Penn fan.
I was pleased with the film. Other than the often annoying commentary, which made the film sort of a "mokumentary", I enjoyed everything about it. The story was really good and the music amazing, definately worthy of all of the Osacr nominations it got.
You guys should defiantely check this one out.
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Rented Godsend over the weekend...
The film stars Robert DeNiro, Rebecca Romijn, Greg Kinnear and the freaky looking Cameron Bright....
Following the death of their eight year old son on his birthday, Jessie (Romijn-Stamos) and Paul (Kinnear) are befriended by a doctor on the forefront of genetic research (DeNiro) at the height of their mourning. He leads the couple in a desperate attempt to reverse the rules of nature and clone their son. The experiment is successful and under Richard's watchful eye, Adam grows into a healthy and happy young boy, until his 8th birthday. As time goes by, the Duncan's gradually start to see small, subtle differences between the new Adam and the Adam they lost. At the time of the new Adam's eighth birthday, the changes in character are more pronounced. Adam grows distant and fearful as a palpable sense of menace settles within the young boy. This Adam begins to suffer from night terrors and frightening flashbacks as a sinister personality begins to emerge. Paul and Jessie cannot escape the fact that this Adam is different. Terror settles on the couple as they try to come to terms with just what they have done, or what has been done to them.
The main thing that I would have changed about this movie was the ending....
Other than that, I was generally pleased with storyline and the acting. The film did happen to drag on for awhile...I actually don't remember to running time....but it seemed that the kid, once cloned, kept having the same flashback over and over again....
There are some jumpy-type scares in the film, and the kid just way too freaky....
DeNiro is just a classic actor and was great as the wacko doc in this movie...
Romijn is hot...but she's also not such a bad actress....better in X-Men though....
I normally like Kinnear...he's a decent actor, but was kind of boring in the movie....
All in all, it wasn't a great movie, but it wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen (that honor still goes to House of a 1000 Corpses)....
I wouldn't go out of your way to watch the film...it's worth the rental fee, but there's always cable TV as well....
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I also went to see Ladder 49....
So far this year has been pretty good film-wise....and this film ranks in my top 5 favorite films of the year....
The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, John Travolta, Jacinda Barrett, Robert Patrick, Morris Chestnut, Billy Burke, Balthazar Getty, Tim Guinee, Kevin Chapman, Jay Hernandez
Under the watchful eye of his mentor Chief Mike Kennedy (Travolta), probationary firefighter Jack Morrison (Phoenix) matures into a seasoned veteran at a Baltimore fire station. Jack has reached a crossroads, however, as the sacrifices he's made have put him in harm's way innumerable times and significantly impacted his relationship with his wifeLinda (Barrett) and kids. Responding to the worst blaze in his career, he becomes trapped inside a 20-story building. And as he reflects on his life, Chief Kennedy frantically coordinates the effort to save him.
Backdraft is still in my top five favorite films of all time, but to compare it with Ladder 49 would be a huge mistake...they are two totally different films....
The firefighting scenes are just amazing intense scenes....keeps you on your toes....
A lot of times in films, transition between scenes are very cool, sometimes they suck....this film had many transitions between the present and past....but there is one key transition that I absolutely loved and I thought it was genius...
At one point, Morrison is trapped in the building and remember back...one scene he is remembering the birth of his son, the transition takes place while the baby is being baptized...you see the holy water being poured on the baby's forehead...the camera pans up the stream of water and back down, when it comes down, the scene changes and we see water dripping down on Morrison's forehead...amazing scene...
There is a lot of drama, action, and comedy in this film...each combined to make this one hell of a great film....
This is one of Travolta's best films in the past few years...it was a smaller role than what he's normally used to, but he did a great job.
Phoenix is really turning into a main attraction. He was amazing in this movie, and this is just the beginning of his leading roles (he's starring as Johnny Cash in Walk The Line due out sometime next year I think)...excellent performance...
The rest of the cast was solid and generally great....I noticed that Jay Hernandez is on the banner for this film...the dude is barely in the film...he takes part in one particularly funny moment of the film, and that's basically it for him....also, Tim Guinee's character kinda came out of nowhere...they didn't explain his entering the firehouse, but it wasn't all that important really....
EXCELLENT MOVIE, AND A MUST SEE FOR ALL!
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Watched a few DVDs this weekend.
First up, "In the Time of the Butterflies."
The film stars Salma Hayek, Edward James Olmos, and Marc Anthony.
The focus of In the Time of the Butterflies is on Minerva, played by Salma Hayek. Spirited and intent to become a lawyer in a country that forbids women to become lawyers, Minerva is noticed by Trujillo (Olmos) already as a child during a recital at her school. At a later time in her life, Trujillo invites Minerva’s family to a ball.
Minerva responds to his sexual advances by slapping the dictator before all the guests, an action that ends up getting her father arrested. Minerva goes to plead with Trujillo for her fathers’ release and they gamble for not just that but also permission for her to go to law school. She wins the game, but it will be the last victory for a while.
Her father dies after his release and Minerva learns upon graduation that Trujillo planned all along to allow her to get her degree but there was no talk of allowing her to practice afterwards. In law school, however, she met Manolo, a resistance fighter. They fall in love and get married and continue the fight for their country together. Minerva’s code name within the resistance is Butterfly. When her sisters join the resistance, they are known as the Butterflies (La Mariposas) and the name becomes synonymous with the movement.
I don't know how factual this film got, but what a story. Sometimes it's hard to believe to see some of the things people have gone through to be free.
This is one of Hayek's best performances. Excellent portrayal of someone who would not give up fighting for what she believed.
Olmos was very believable, and it became easy to dislike his character.
This film starts slowly, getting the audience to like and appreciate the family and then takes on a more sinister and violent take the farther it goes into its running time. For anybody uninitiated with the subject of La Mariposas, this is a great film to get the short version of their lives and struggles and probably will inspire to go on to at least the book by the same name, written by Julia Alvarez.
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Now on to a totally different type of film, but with the same intentions, fight for what you believe in.
Walking Tall stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough, and Kristen Wilson.
The film is a re-make of the 1973 film and 1981 TV series, which are based on the true story of Bufford Pusser.
Only in this film, The Rock stars as Chris Vaughn, a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces who returns to his small hometown in rural Washington State to revive his family's lumber mill business. He discovers that much has changed, as the normally tranquil town is now besieged by drugs, outbreaks of violence and a general feeling of malaise and terror, with many pointing a finger at the influence of a crooked casino, run by Jay Hamilton (McDonough). Seeking to wreak vengeance, with a four-foot-long 2-by-4 in his hand, and righteousness in his heart, the highly-trained soldier, now the county's sheriff, and his deputy (Knoxville), realizes it's time to bust some heads with a very hard piece of wood.
The film has got plenty of action, and the right amount of comedy thrown in the mix to make this a very entertaining film.
As a fan of wrestling, part of me hates not seeing The Rock's charisma in the ring anymore. However, he's carried that same charisma over into his films and he's becoming one hell of an action star. His bit part in The Mummy Returns was decent, his starring role in The Scorpion King was just okay, but his roles in The Rundown and here in Walking Tall were very good.
Johnny Knoxville as the lanky side-kick added most of the humor to this film, and it worked great. He wasn't stapling his nutsack to his leg (or was that Steve-O) in this film, but was genuinely funny.
If you're a fan of The Rock, Knoxville, or even the hot Kristen Wilson, then you'll like this film too.
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Well now I’m pissed. I typed up my entire review for this film, and clicked post, and it asked me to log in (which I already was) and I lost the review.
Oh well, life goes on…
All right:
As I’ve stated before in another thread (possible the thread for this film), I love football movies. Up until last night “Rudy” was my favorite. That may have changed after seeing “Friday Night Lights”. Directed by Peter Berg, the film stars Billy Bob Thornton, Tim McGraw, Lucas Black, Derek Luke, Jay Hernandez, Garrett Hedlund and Lee Thompson Young.
Based on a true story, which took place in 1988, this film follows the season of an ultra-competitive Texas-based high school football team, as they shoulder the entire town's hopes, dreams and indirect threats to win the state championship.
Thornton stars as Gary Gaines, the head coach for the Permian Panthers, the local high school team in Odessa, TX. Lucas Black is Mike Winchell, the quiet yet amazing quarterback for the team. Derek Luke is Boobie Miles ( :razz: boobie) who is the real star of the team. The town-folk believe he is the reason the team will go undefeated and win the state championship.
In the first game of the season, Boobie ( :razz: boobie) is kickin’ ass, scoring all of the 40+ points for the Panters. Gaines takes him out in the fourth quarter, and puts in the second string running back. This dude gets hurt, so he decides to put in the third stinger Chris Comer (Young), who can’t seem to find his helmet. Boobie ( :razz: boobie) goes back in and gets injured. They win the game, but the crowd’s excitement turns to concern for the star player. The season is now in jeopardy.
I’ll stop there as to not ruin any of the film. You’ll definitely have to check it out.
On to the acting:
Thornton gave us a great performance and showed the stress that Gaines was under from the people of Odessa. They wanted him to bring home the state championship and would except anything less than that. You could tell that he just wanted to belt out a “Go fuck yourself. If we win fucking win, we fucking win. If we lose, to fucking bad.” He yelled a lot, but when it came to cursing, all he got out was a “Gosh darn it” type of line. It was actually kind of funny to see Thornton like this. Mainly because the last film I saw him in was Bad Santa.
McGraw’s character was probably my favorite in the film. Sure, he played a drunken, washed-up, abusive, asshole father, but he did a great job at it. I kind of felt his anger, disappointment, and impatience with his son. All he wanted was for his son to be as good as he was.
I haven’t seen many of Lucas Black’s other films, but I’m gonna try to. The kid is a really good actor and played his role perfectly. Like Thornton, Black showed the stress that his character was under. Once Boobie got injured, Winchell had to try and carry his team to the championship. That, as well as his ill mother, was really tough on him, but he never gave up.
Derek Luke as the cocky Boobie ( 8O cocky boobie), really showed his talent as an actor. At first I didn’t like the character. I’m not big on people who gloat about how good they are. But Boobie knew he was the best football player in Odessa, and he wanted everyone else to know it too. The way Luke portrayed Boobie Miles, showed you how strong-willed Miles must have been. After the injury, he kept his head held high around the other players, not showing how crushed he was, but you could tell he was heart broken. All he wanted to do was play football. His greatest talent was taken away from him. Luke turned out to be another of my favorite actors in this film.
The film is very character driven and, I don’t know about the rest of the audience, but I felt for each one of the lead actors throughout this film.
There was only one thing I didn’t like about the film, and it dealt with the creative side of the movie. There was a lot of hand-held camera action, and it got a little distracting at first. Once the film gets going though, it didn’t become too much a big deal.
Football fan or not, I think you’ll like this movie.
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It was chick flick weekend. I went and saw "Shall We Dance?"
The films stars Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Jennifer Lopez, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Ann Walter and Nick Cannon.
John Clark (Gere) is a man with a wonderful job, a charming wife (Sarandon) and a loving family, who nevertheless feels that something is missing as he makes his way every day through the city. Each evening on his commute home, John sees a beautiful woman, Paulina (Lopez), staring with a lost expression through the window of a dance studio. Haunted by her gaze, John impulsively jumps off the train one night, and signs up for dance lessons, hoping to meet her. At first, it seems like a mistake. His teacher turns out not to be Paulina, but the older Miss Mitzi, and John proves just as clumsy as his equally clueless classmates on the dance-floor. Even worse, when he does meet Paulina, she icily tells John she hopes he has come to the studio to seriously study dance and not to look for a date. But, as his lessons continue, John falls in love with dancing. Keeping his new obsession fro his family and co-workers, John feverishly trains for Chicago's biggest dance competition. His friendship with Paulina blossoms, as his enthusiasm rekindles her own lost passion for dance. But the more time John spends away from home, the more his wife becomes suspicious. With his secret about to be revealed, John will have to do some fancy footwork to keep his dream going and realize what it is he really yearns for.
Romantic comedies are generally not my type of movies, but this was better than I had expected it to be.
The story was decent. Nothing most of us haven't seen before.
Stanley Tucci and Lisa Ann Walter made the film really funny. Their characters were great.
Seeing Richard Gere prance around for two hours was pretty funny.
JLo showed off her ASSets in a sort of smaller role than what we've seen her in lately.
Sarandon as the suspicious wife was just okay. She was kind of quirky in this one.
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After the chick-flick, I went home and watched the suspense thriller "Highwaymen" on DVD.
This one stars Jim Caviezel, Rhona Mitra, Frankie Faison, and Colm Feore.
Since the hit-and-run murder of his wife five years ago, Rennie Cray (Caviezel) has crisscrossed America in his souped-up, stripped-down '68 Plymouth Barracuda (awsome car), pursuing her killer. The man he seeks in a high-speed, high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse is James Fargo (Feore), a merciless, wheelchair-bound pyschopath. Through a series of mechanical innovations, Fargo has turned his rampaging '72 Cadillac Eldorado into a monstrous extension of his own twisted body and mind. Now, their deadly battle of wits and wills is about to move into overdrive. And caught in their headlights is a tormented beauty, Molly (Mitra), who unwittingly holds the key to their ultimate showdown.
This is definately my type of movie. Fast pasted action thriller with cool cars, a hot woman, and great acting. Excellent movie.
I've been a fan of Caviezel since I saw him in "Frequency". The guy is a great actor, and continued to prove that in this movie.
This was a step up for Mitra, who normally plays smaller roles. As the lead actress in distress, she did well.
Colm Feore plays the perfect bad guy. Kind of like John Malkovich and Gary Oldman. He's got that evil look. We don't really see much of him until the half-way point in the film, but I liked him as the psycho. It worked perfect.
I recommend it. Rent it, buy it, steal it..okay, don't steal it, but see it somehow.
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Went to see The Grudge on Friday.
It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Bill Pullman, Clean DuVall and Jason Behr and is directed by Takashi Shimizu (who also directed the original version).
Kare Davis (Gellar) is a woman residing in Japan with her boyfriend, who is studying abroad. Temporarily assigned to be caretaker for a woman with severe sleeping conditions, Kare goes to an unsuspecting house. But what she finds, is something she would never expect. The house is plagued by the presence of murderous ghosts, the result of a curse. The curse is born from someone dying in a powerful rage. Now, Kare finds herself being tormented by that curse, as it eventually starts claiming it's victims.
I went into this film hearing from others that, although scary, it really wasn't all that great of a film.
If you want to compare it to The Ring, Grudge was a hell of a lot more scary, but did not have as good a story as The Ring.
Actually, the stories were kind of similare as well. Someone dies, the sprit hangs around and starts killing people.
However, I thought this was a decent film overall. It's definately the scariest movie of the year, and one of the scariest I've seen in a while. I'd love to see the original to compare it with that.
I felt the acting could have been better.
Gellar was not stellar. Okay, but nothing special.
Pullman had a small role, but was extremely key to the story.
DuVall and Behr also had small roles. They didn't stand out, but didn't have to either. They were just in the film to make the body count higher? Maybe :D
Yuya Ozeki, who plays the little boy Toshio, was pretty friggen creepy.
I woud've enjoyed it better without the dozen or so 13 year old girls in the front row screaming every five minutes and running in and out of the theater, but it wasn't as bad as some people were claiming it to be.
I'll give this (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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I went to see "Birth" last night.
The films stars Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Lauren Bacall, Anne Heche, and a buncha other people I've never heard of.
Kidman stars as Anna, who ten years ago lost her husband. Now ten years later, she's engaged to Joseph (Danny Huston), when a ten year old boy (Bright) shows up claiming to be Sean, Anna's dead husband.
Young Sean does a great job convincing Anna that he is indeed her husband, knowing a lot of things, how she met Sean, how they got married, where they've had sex, and so on...Anna becomes so convinced that she begins to fall in love with the kid....
Weird and sick no doubt.
The movie is about an hour and forty minutes long...and I liked it up until the last 20 minutes.
I was extremely disappointed and unsatisfied in the end. And I wont spoil the ending for you, but I will warn you. It was not such a great film. I don't know what the hell is goin' on with Nicole Kidman, but she hasn't been picking some great projects as of late (although I heard Cold Mountain was good, and I do want to see it)
Although I enjoyed the film for the most part, the ending kind of ruined that enjoyment for me, so overall, I was not happy with the story whatsoever.
Some of the cinematography was good. There was one close up of Kidman that seemed to last for an hour, but was really only about 3 to 4 mins. That's a lot of time to focus on one person, but you see in her eyes her feelings toward the stuff that is going on. I thought that was pretty good shooting.
BUT...the best cinematography in the world could not help the story. There's just so much I would change about how the film ended.
If you want to see this film, you can, but I would give you the advice of saving the $9.50 and either rent it, or wait for HBO.
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I didn’t get out to the theater this weekend, but I watched two of my many DVDs.
First up, a film that I had only seen parts of on television, which sucks because they cut out all of the good stuff, “Dogma”.
Directed by the brilliant Kevin Smith, and starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Jason Lee, and George Carlin, this film was even better than I had ever expected. Of course I’ve only heard great things about the film since it came out in ‘99.
Bethany (Fiorentino), the last descendant of Christ is called upon by the Voice of God (Rickman) to stop two exiled angels, Loki (Damon) and Bartleby (Affleck) from entering a New Jersey church and thus negating all existence. She is aided by the little know thirteenth apostle named Rufus (Rock), a literal muse turned stripper (Hayek) and two bad-mouthed, mall-crawling, joint-smoking prophets: Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith). An ex-muse turned demon named Azrael (Lee) tries to keep the group from accomplishing their goal so he can have his revenge against God.
This film has probably sneaked into my top ten favorite movies of all time (at least I’ll have to re-evaluate the current top ten).
The film is really original, putting all of these biblical names into a modern setting, with an extremely funny script. I haven’t been a big fan of Smith’s, mainly because I haven’t seen many of his films, except for Jersey Girl. But I’m definitely going to check out Chasing Amy and Mallrats.
The entire cast was amazing. Jason Mewes was hilarious, but mainly because of his mad use of profanity in every scene he’s in. Smith as the not-so Silent Bob (he had like two or three lines) was funny too.
Linda Fiorentino was great as Jesus Christ's great great great great great grandniece. I’m not sure what other lead roles she’s had, but she was perfect in this role.
Chris Rock is always funny, so yeah, hilarious as the never-heard-of 13th apostle Rufus.
Affleck needs to do more films like this again. Maybe his career wouldn’t be in the shitter if he did.
Damon was cool as Loki. Damon has become a pretty cool star these days.
I liked Rickman as the Voice of God. He generally a great actor, and continued that trend in this film.
Jason Lee was pretty good. Nothing too stellar from him, however the holy bartender scene was really good. Get it…holy bartender…haha…classic. :lol:
Overall...an excellent hilarious religious film. And for those of you who don’t think that hilarious and religious should be linked, just remember…God has a sense of humor too. Just look at the Platypus. :razz:
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The second DVD I watched was “Swimming Pool”.
The film stars Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier.
Sarah Morton (Rampling) is a famous British mystery author. Tired of London and seeking inspiration for her new novel, she accepts an offer from her publisher, John, to stay at his home in Luberon, in the South of France. It is the off-season, and Sarah finds that the beautiful country locale and unhurried pace is just the tonic for her--until late one night, when John's indolent and insouciant French daughter Julie (Sagnier) unexpectedly arrives. Sarah's prim and steely English reserve is jarred by Julie's reckless, sexually charged lifestyle. Their interactions set off an increasingly unsettling series of events, as Sarah's creative process and a possible real-life murder begin to blend dangerously together.
This film is oddly confusing however intriguingly brilliant. In fact, I’m still a little confused and wondering what the hell happened, but the film is a great character study.
Sarah and Julie are two totally different people, however they end up forming a really strange bond. The two worked well together at the beginning when Sarah was really pissed off that she wouldn’t have the peace and quiet she had originally wanted, and they worked well together all the way up until the strange ending, when they weren’t feuding, so to speak.
The film starts off sorta slow, with various shot of Sarah going about her business, but once she gets to France, the pace picks up a tad, not much…but that’s when the real story begins.
The two actresses are just amazing. I haven’t heard of either Rampling or Sagnier up until this movie, but they are damn good actresses. Rampling really gives you a true sense of a completely pent-up British woman, while Sagnier brought the ideal blend of youth, sexuality and extraversion to her role, not to mention many shots of her breastage (I love creating weird and stupid words).
I think that main thing I love about this film is that I’ve been thinking about it since it ended, because I’m still not really sure what happened. It’s another one of those movies where if had ended just a few minutes earlier, I’d understand it with no problem. But this one has left me wondering. And I really kinda sorta like that.
Excellent movie. I’d like to know what people think about it, if they’ve seen it, so I’m creating a thread (unless there already is one) for the film.
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It was another DVD weekend for me. First, I watched The Amityville Horror.
The film stars James Brolin, Margot Kidder and Rod Steiger.
Brolin and Kidder star as newlyweds George and Kathy Lutz, who move into the empty home and are gradually affected by the legacy of a murder committed on the premises. Rod Steiger is a priest who can tell what's up. When the other priests don’t believe him and basically think he’s crazy, they tell him to take a vacation, and leave things the way they are.
I’ve read a lot of things about how cheesy the effect are, but they are would they could be for the time. You have to remember, the film was made in 1979. They didn’t have the same type of technology we have now.
I thought that Brolin was great in this film; almost (and this is a big almost) similar to Nicholson in The Shining. Slowly his character begins to go crazy. Excellent performance.
Steiger, may he rest in peace, was always a great actor, so he was perfect in his role as the priest.
Kidder was decent. Your basic scared shit-less wife. Nothing stellar, but she’s a pretty good actress overall.
All in all I’ll give this movie (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
As an avid horror film fan, I felt the film could’ve been a lot scarier. I can’t wait for the new version to be released next year so I can compare the two.
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Second DVD I watched, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 version)
The film stars Jack Nicholson, Jessica Lang, John Colicos, with brief appearances by Angelica Houston and Chritopher Lloyd.
Frank Chambers (Nicholson) drifts into a town where he meets Nick Papadakis, the owner of a small diner/gas station. Nick decides to give Frank a job as a mechanic and gas station attendant.
Nicholson plays Frank Chambers, a drifter who happens upon a roadside diner run by Cora Papadakis (Jessica Lange) and her Greek husband, Nick (John Colicos). Sparks fly, and about 20mins into the film, Cora and Frank are engaging in one of the raunchiest sex scenes I’ve ever seen on film (non-XXX that is). One thing leads to another and they conspire to murder Nick. All goes well until one little slip up.
The film is great. I’d love to see the original and compare the two.
Nicholson is at his best (wait…he always is) and Lange was just amazing (not too mention pretty damn hot back then).
Excellent movie and excellent acting. I loved it.
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Well...it's been a few weeks since I've had the chance to get to a theater, but this weekend I found the time.
I saw "The Incredibles".
The film stars (the voices of) Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jason Lee.
Mr. Incredible (Nelson) is a superhero; or he used to be, until a surge of lawsuits against superheroes submitted by the people they've saved forced the government to hide them in witness protection programs so they could lead normal, anonymous lives. Now known exclusively by his secret identity, Bob Parr, he lives with his wife Helen (Hunter), formerly Elastigirl, and their three children Violet, Dash, and Jack Jack. He works as an insurance claims specialist, and he's fed up with his pushy boss and his immoral profession, but his wife's worked too hard to build a normal life for her family to abide his nostalgia for heroism. When Mr. Incredible's offered the chance to play the role of hero again by a mysterious informant, he jumps at the opportunity, but when it turns out to be a trap set by an old nemesis, Buddy Pine/Syndrome (Lee), he had a hand in corrupting, the whole family must reveal themselves to save Mr. Incredible and countless innocents.
Anyone else feel like Violet, the daughter, looked like the dead chick from The Grudge? Freaky shit right there.
Anyway...I liked the movie. I had been hearing mixed reviews from a lot of people. Some liked it, some didn't. I found it very entertaining, as I have pretty much all of Pixar/Disney's computer animated films.
Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible was pretty cool. This guy hasn't done much in the past few years, so it was good to see (or hear) him work on a great movie.
Holly Hunter was great as well, voicing Elastigirl.
I didn't laugh as much as I was expecting to, but once the character of Edna (voiced by director Brad Bird), the superhero costume designer, showed up, I couldn't stop laughing. She was definitely the funniest character in the film.
Missing from the film, was Samuel L. Jackson, who voiced superhero Frozone, best friend of Mr. Incredible. Sure he was in the movie, but not as much as he should have been. Great character, just not enough screen time.
The film started rather slow, and ran for almost 2 hours (the theater said 2 hours 10 minutes, but we all know that they include the previews in that). All in all excellent film...probably the second best Pixar/Disney film (behind Nemo). If you haven't seen it, I think you should. You'll more than likely enjoy it.
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Went to see National Treasure last night.
The film stars Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger,Justin Bartha, Sean Bean,
Jon Voight, and Harvey Keitel.
Since childhood, Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) has known that he is decended from a long line of people whose job is to guard a treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers, who hid clues to its whereabouts in the country's currency and on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Now, he has learned that one of his partners, Ian (Bean) is plotting to steal the Declaration, and has only one option: steal it himself. Even if he pulls off this monumental task, keeping the treasure safe is still going to be incredibly hard, especially since the FBI has also gotten wind of the scheme.
This film is a whole lot of fun, and I loved it. I was entertained for the entire 2+ hour movie. It's got plenty of action, comedy, and even a teeny bit of romance.
Cage was great, probably the best he's been in a few years. I'm sure he wont be winning any awards (these types of films rarely ever do), but this is definatley his best role in a while.
Diane Kruger plays National Archivist Abigail Chase, who gets brought into this when Gates tries to inform her that someone is going to steal the Declaration. Naturally, she doesn't believe him...until he actually does it. Then she comes along for the rides. Kruger is a pretty good actress (I've only seen her in one other film, "Troy"), and was good in this role.
Justin Bartha plays the annoying but pretty funny side-kick of Gates, Riley. Nothing spectacular, but his character did deliver most of the funny lines.
Sean Bean always plays a great bad guy, and does so again here. It may be getting to a point where he is type-cast as "the bad guy"..even though in LOTR he was kinna swinging both ways...sorta...anyway...Bean is a cool actor and perfect for the role of Ian.
Jon Voight plays Patrick Gates, B.F. Gates father. Possibly my favorite character in the film, Voight was amazing. The guy is a classic actor, and he was quite funny in this film.
I didn't even know Harvey Keitel was in this film until he showed up on screen. He plays FBI Agent Sadusky. I can't remember the last major film I saw him in, so I was pleased that Keitel was in this. He's another great actor and played a good supporting role here.
I loved the movie, and I recommend it for anyone who like the Indiana Jones-type films. You'll definately be entertained. The films has also been said to be similar to "The DaVinci Code" story, which I haven't read, but plan on.
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I watched "21 Grams" starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro.
The lives of three people are drawn together when loving housewife Cristina Peck (Watts) is forced to suffer the loss of her husband Michael and their two daughters, killed in a hit-and-run by born-again ex-con Jack Jordan (Del Toro). Paul Rivers (Penn), a college professor dying of heart failure, becomes the recipient of Michael's transplanted heart and is drawn to Cristina out of the debt of life owed to her husband. Their connection affects irreparable change in the lives of all three, and through their experiences they will find hope, despair, and redemption.
I was a little confused when the film began because it kept jumping back and forth between different periods of time, but things eventually became crystal clear. This film was amazing and extremely powerful. Penn, Watts and Del Toro were at their bests.
Penn was amazing as the man who just wanted to get to know the wife of the man who saved his life. In turn he wanted to help her with her grief, and eventually falls in love with her.
Del Toro, if he had not been up again Tim Robbins last year, most likely would've won for Best Supporting Actor. However I don't feel his character was a supporting role. His character shared as much on-screen time at Penn and Watts, which was great. I'm glad his character was focused on so much. Amazing and powerful performance.
Even more powerful was Watts in her role as a grieving widow, who is going through something nobody would ever want to deal with, the loss of her husband and two daughters. Amazing job, and again, if she hadn't been up against Charlize Theron last year, she may have won Best Actress last year.
Amazing movie with an excellent script and the perfect actors. A must see for everyone.
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I watched two DVDs over the holiday weekend.
The first was “Fatal Attraction” starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer.
Douglas stars as Dan Gallagher, a New York lawyer, “happily” married to Beth (Archer), with a daughter. One weekend when Beth goes away with the kid, Dan ends up having an affair with Alex Forrest (Close). When his family returns though, Alex isn’t ready to let Dan go, and will do anything to keep him in her life, including non-stop phone calls, telling him she’s pregnant, boiling the family’s pet rabbit, and even “kidnapping” his kid for a day…freakin’ everyone out.
The film was up for 6 Academy Awards back in 1988, including Best Actress for Glenn Close. Before I even found out that she was a nut case, just seeing her in her first scene in the film she looked scary as all hell. She is one ugly chick in this film. However she plays a great psycho-bitch.
Douglas was not nominated, but could have been. He always seems to pick great roles, and this was one of them.
Anne Archer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and again, rightfully so. She perfectly played the
The story was great, and Adrian Lyne’s directing was amazing. He was up for Best Director at the Oscars.
I don’t promote cheating on your significant other, but if you ever think about it….WATCH THIS MOVIE FIRST. It would definitely change your mind. :razz:
…and if you’re not…watch the movie anyway…you can pick it up for $5.50 at WalMart. :D
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The second DVD I saw was “The Terminal”.
The film stars Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci and is directed by Steven Spielberg.
Hanks is Victor Navorski, a man who arrives at JFK airport in NYC from his home country of Krakozhia (fictional country). While on the flight, war breaks out in his country, voiding his passport b/c the US cannot recognize Krakozhia as a country until the was is sorted out. Because of this, Navorski is not allowed to enter the US, and must remain in the airport terminal. However, Frank Dixon (Tucci), who is the Security Manager for international flight, doesn’t want to deal with the problem and continues to get Navorski to walk out of the terminal and onto the NYC streets, which would ultimately get him arrested and off Dixon’s hands…but Navorski is too smart for that…and he just hangs around and becomes an annoyance to Dixon. While living in the terminal, Navorski befriends some of the employees, including Enrique Cruz (played by Diego Luna) who enlists Navorski to help him woo Officer Torres (played by Zoe Saldana). Navorski also meets Amelia Warren (Zeta-Jones) a flight attendant who he develops feelings for. She has her own relationship problem though, doing a married man and what-not. This is the film in a nut shell, without ruining too much of the film.
I found the film enjoyable and liked it a lot. It didn’t make a killing at the box office like some of Spielberg’s other films, but it was good. The story was told well, with some great acting for the most part.
I thought Hanks was really good in his role. He has taken mostly dramatic roles over the past few years, but this was a mix between dramatic and comedic. I liked seeing him in a “funnier” role again.
Zeta-Jones looked amazing in this film. Very beautiful…however, I wasn’t blown away by her acting in the film. It wasn’t terrible, but it could’ve been a lot better.
Stanley Tucci is one of those actors who is friggen great in every role he plays. He’s an amazing actor and I hope he wins an Oscar some day. He won’t be nominated for this film, which is understandable, but the guy is a great actor. Another great performance in this film. He started off cool, then turned into an asshole, but still…excellent.
The film is a good romantic comedy. I was impressed how the film ended…different than what I was expecting.
Spielberg is still the man in my book, no matter what the critics though of this film.
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Watched “Shaun Of The Dead” last night.
The film stars mostly people I’ve never heard of, but will definitely be checking out some of their other films; Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy (the only one I recognize because of Underworld and Love Actually).
Shaun (Pegg) is your below average thirty-something who it seems has no real goal in life; lacking any real ambition. He drives his long-suffering girlfriend Liz (Ashfield) around the bend. He seems to pay more attention to his fellow loser pals and housemates Ed (Frost) and Pete (Serafinowicz). Other than his basic faults, Shaun is otherwise a decent enough person. He soon realizes how much Liz means to him when with out warning, the undead begin to walk the earth (or to shorten it down, Crouch End in London). Now it's a race against time for Shaun to not only spring to the rescue of the girl he loves, but his dear sweet Mum as well.
From the moment I saw the first trailer I had heard great things about this film. There were quotes from Peter Jackson, George Romero, and Stephen King, saying that this film is amazing funny and scary. I wouldn’t say it was so much scary, but just really gory in a few scenes, especially when they rip that one dude apart and tare out his insides. However the film gets an A+ for its comedy. The scene in the bar, where Shaun, Liz and Ed are beatin’ on the zombie bartender to the beat of the Queen song was great.
There were a few “dramatic”-type scenes thrown into the film. The scene, also in the bar, with Shaun and his Mum reminded me of a scene in “From Dusk Till Dawn”…eh…then again…maybe it was supposed to… :-P
Simon Pegg was the key to the film’s comedy. He’s hilarious throughout the film. Nick Frost was the perfect goofy side-kick. The scene where he’s trying to cheer up Shaun, also in the bar (yes…a lot of this film takes place in a bar), was great.
Again…I didn’t think the film was all that scary, and I may have even liked it more if it was, but I enjoyed it. Had a lot of good laughs. It’s well worth adding to your DVD collections, or at least renting it…
Once you’ve watched the DVD, check out “Funky Pete” in the extras section. This is funking funny sheet! The filmmakers take a scene from the film that made excessive use of the expletive ‘fuck’ and replace it with ‘funk’. And it’s even funnier than it funkin’ sounds.
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I went out last night and saw “Meet the Fockers”, the sequel to what, I feel, was one of the funniest movies of 2000, “Meet the Parents”.
Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo and Owen Wilson (extra small part at the end) return with the addition of Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand.
This time around, Greg (Stiller) and Pam (Polo) bring her parents Jack (DeNiro) and Dina (Danner) to meet Greg’s loosey-goosey-type parents, Bernie (Hoffman) and Roz (Streisand) Focker.
I didn’t go into this film with really high expectations of seeing a good film. I haven’t heard many good reviews about it; most reviews saying that it’s basically the same of the first, only in a different setting. And most of those reviews were right………HOWEVER; I still felt the film was pretty funny. The addition of Hoffman and Streisand were brilliant. After seeing them take the role of the Focker’s, I don’t think any other actor or actress could’ve pulled it off better. There was also the addition of LJ, would stands for Little Jack, Pam’s nephew, and grandson to Jack and Dina. There are a lot of hilarious moments in the film with this baby.
Acting wise…Stiller is basically the same quirky male nurse as in the first. He was funny in the first, and he was funny in this one.
DeNiro, the same. Very paranoid character, doesn’t trust anyone, but is funny being that way.
I got most of the laughs out of Bernie Focker. Hoffman was hilarious. Everything about his character was great, especially his capoeira exercises.
Streisand and Greg’s sex-therapist mother was an excellent addition to the film too. She brought her jewishness to her character and it was excellent.
As in there first film, there might just have been WAY too many Gaylord and Focker jokes, but I still cracked a smile at each one of them.
I’d say if you liked Meet the Parents, then give this film a shot. You might like it.
I’ll atleast give it one (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) It wasn’t as good as the first, but I still found it funny and enjoyable.
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I saw five movies over this New Years weekend…some DVDs and some in theaters.
First, I watched “The United States of Leland.”
The film stars Ryan Gosling, Don Cheadle, Kevin Spacey, Jena Malone, Chris Klein, and Michelle Williams.
Soft-spoken 15-year old Leland Fitzgerald (Gosling) commits a seemingly senseless murder that shocks his community, affecting both his victim's family and his own. Arrested and imprisoned in a juvenile detention facility, Leland comes in contact with an aspiring writer and prison teacher, Pearl Madison (Cheadle). As Pearl delves into the mystery of Leland's crime, he also sees the chance for a career-making book as the boy's estranged father is the world-renowned author, Albert Fitzgerald (Spacey).
No doubt about it, this is a sad film. But it’s also a really good one. I have read nothing GOOD about this film, and it really pisses me off. All the critics are bashing the story, or the acting or the directing. I felt the story was great, not focusing too much on the victim, but pretty much everyone else.
Acting wise, I think this was one of Don Cheadle’s greatest performances ever. He’s a great actor, and proves it here.
Ryan Gosling, given a few more years, should be nominated for an Oscar. He’s becoming a really good actor, and he’s role as Leland P. Fitzgerald was his best so far.
Spacey is one of my favorite actors. He plays a smaller role here, as Leland’s father, but he was the perfect actor for the part.
Jena Malone was decent. She hasn’t really impressed me with any other roles (haven’t seen “Saved” yet, but I’m hoping she’s good in that).
Chris Klein didn’t seem to adapt to well to the genre change. Not used to seeing him in a dramatic role. He was just okay in this, but nothing spectacular.
Overall I loved the film. Gosling and Cheadle were great. The story was amazing. I recommend this film for everyone to see.
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The second film I saw this weekend was “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”.
The film stars Jim Carrey, Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Meryl Streep, Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly, and Cedric the Entertainer.
After the tragic death of their parents, Violet (Browning), Klaus (Aiken), and Sunny Baudelaire travel from guardian to guardian by a good friend of their parents, Mr. Poe (Spall). The orphans are first sent to live with distant relative Count Olaf (Carrey). After a few “unfortunate” events, Poe feels that Olaf wouldn’t be a suitable guardian, so the kids are then taken to stay with herpetologist Monty Montgomery (Connolly). After some more unfortunate events, caused by Olaf, the kids are sent to grammar-wise Josephine Anwhistle (Streep). Olaf doesn’t give up, and eventually, yep, after more unfortunate events, gets custody of the children. All the while that these events are happening there is the mystery of a spyglass that Klaus found. For those who have read the books, you may know what happens next, but I wont spoil much more of what happens.
I wasn’t exactly blown away by this film. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. From what I understand, this film spans the first three books in the series (and I think at the moment, there are 11 books total), so I smell sequels. At least I hope there will be.
I thought Jim Carrey was really creepily good. Hopefully he’ll stick around for the sequels…nothing is worse than keeping a character but replacing the actor. Seeming how Olaf is a main character in every single book…they must keep Carrey around to play the part in every movie.
Meryl Streep was pretty good as well. She’s normally a great actress, so I’m not surprised that she was good in this film.
I’ve never seen Emily Browning in any other films, but she’s a pretty good actress. With time, she’ll only get better.
Liam Aiken has been in a few other films (notably Stepmom and Road to Perdition). Another actor who’ll get better with time.
Again, the film was good, I was hoping for better. One thing I loved was the scenery. The sets were a visual masterpiece. If you’ve read the books and enjoyed them, you’ll love this film.
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The third film was “Open Water”.
The film stars Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis, a married couple who eventually find the time to get away from their busy lives and go on tropical vacation. They sign up for a scuba diving tour and are among 18 other people to do so. While out in the middle of the ocean, the dumb ASSistant miscounts once everyone re-boards the boat. The boat leaves, without anyone realizing the two people are missing. When the two resurface, the boat is long gone, and the reality begins to set in; these two are stuck out in the middle of the ocean…not necessarily alone.
The trailer for this film made it seem a lot scarier than I thought it was, however I was really impressed with it. First of, there were only two scary things about this film. One was a particular scene, when night falls and a storm is coming. The screen is black, only brightening with the lightening from the storm, and the two clinging to each other as sharks circle and nudge them around a bit. Pretty freaky scene. The second wasn’t a scene or anything, but just the fact that this film is based on true events. That two people were actually left behind in the middle of the ocean…and nobody knew about.
The film was shot extremely well on Digital Video, with a really low budget and small crew, not to mention real sharks. Very impressively made. Kudos to Chris Kentis…the writer, director and editor.
Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis were very good too. The two worked well with each other, almost as if they were a real married couple. Some very good acting here.
The film showed the real nature of sharks as well. This was nowhere near “Jaws” or “Deep Blue Sea”. The sharks didn’t rip people apart…they were merely curious at first, circling and bumping into the two.
If you pick up the DVD, check out some of the extras. There are some pretty interesting documentaries on the making of the film and about sharks too. Good stuff.
Bdub approved. :-P
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The fourth film I saw was “Ocean’s 12”.
The entire main cast from the first film, George Clooney, Brad Pit, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould and Eddie Jemison, all return with the addition of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vincent Cassel.
Three years after ripping off casino owner Terry Benedict in Las Vegas, Danny Ocean and his gang have settled down. Until the revenge-seeking Benedict contacts them all one-by-one with this: pay back what you stole from me, with interest, or else. They have two weeks to come up with $190 million dollars. In addition to the swiftly approaching deadline, they have to dodge tenacious Europol agent Isabel Lehiri and out-maneuver another thief known only as "The Night Fox."
For a sequel, this was a pretty good film…a little farfetched at some point, but it was pretty good. By farfetched I mean, consider a man in Amsterdam who has sealed himself and his treasures inside a house guarded with multiple alarm systems and never leaves home. Surveillance indicates there is a control pad on an inner wall, which might be manipulated to bypass the alarms. How to reach it? Their plan involves getting underneath the house, which is beside a canal and rests on underwater pylons, and using hydraulic lifts to raise the house a few inches, so that a difficult shot with an arrow becomes possible. Yeah…whatever.
Okay, other than that, the story this time around was enjoyable and entertaining. I found the first film (well…the remake that is) to be very good and very clever. This one was just as good and just clever.
Clooney and Pitt were really good, as in the first one. The rest of the cast kind of took a bit of a backseat to the two new characters, especially Zeta-Jones. She was good in this one, better than usual.
The two main cameos in the film, by Topher Grace and Bruce Willis were a perfectly funny addition to the film. Grace’s cameo seemed to have just been thrown right in to the beginning, but it was still funny. He makes a brief reference to his new film “In Good Company” which made me crack out laughing…the only one in the theater that actually laughed at the line. It was funny…everyone else just didn’t get it. So there. :-P
A decent sequel. If you liked Oceans 11, you’ll dig Oceans 12.
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The fifth and final film I caught this weekend was the horror flick “Darkness”.
I couldn’t have ended the weekend with a worse film. No…wait, I could’ve if I watched “House of 1000 Corpses.” But yeah…what crappy film Darkness turned out to be. I love me some horror. It’s probably my favorite genre, and there just aren’t enough good horror films that are released to often.
The film stars Anna Paquin, as Regina, who, with her father (Iain Glen), mother (Lena Olin) and younger brother (Stephen Enquist), moves into a house somewhere in Spain. Once they’re just about settle in, some shit begins to happen…lights flickering, dear old dad have some sort of attacks that cause him to get a wee bit angry, little brother showing signs that he’s getting the shit kicked outta him by someone, etc. All this because an old secret lurks in the darkness, haunting the family.
I just found out why I didn’t like the film though. It was rated PG-13. No horror film should be rated PG-13. This is what I didn’t like about “The Grudge.” Darkness was actually made back in 2002, and was shelved for quite awhile. It was originally shot as Rated R, however it was re-edited and released as this piece of crap. I might just have liked it more if there was some gore. Gee..who’d of thunk it. Put some fucking blood in a horror movie. And yelling “Open the freaking door?” Come on now…that’s not very aggressive. Hold nothing back…say what you mean. OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR. Not that hard. Be aggressive…B E AGGRESSIVE.
I like Anna Paquin. She’s cute…even with the gap in her teeth. And she’s a really good actress. In fact she might have been the only good thing about this film, and to be honest, she wasn’t top notch.
God I hope they release a Rated R version on DVD. Just so I can see if it would’ve been the slightest bit better.
Save your money.
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I watched “The Chronicles of Riddick” this weekend.
Vin Diesel reprises his “Pitch Black” character, Richard B. Riddick and Keith David as Imam. Colm Feore, Thandie Newton, Judi Dench, Karl Urban, and Alexa Davalos join the cast.
Five years after the events of “Pitch Black”, mercenaries hired by Imam (David) are out looking for Riddick. An evil religious group (or cult - so to speak) known as the Necromongers, lead by Lord Marshall (Feore), are hopping from planet to planet destroying worlds and converting their inhabitants to "necros." Imam's planet, Helion Prime, is next and he believes that Riddick is the man to help. So does Aereon (Dench). She comes to Riddick and tells him that he has a destiny to fulfill, whether he likes it or not. Before being able to save Helion Prime, Riddick is taken to Crematoria, a hellish volcanic planet that serves as a huge prison. There he finds Kyra (Davalos), formerly known as Jack (the boy who turned out to be a girl) from the first film. The two bust out of the prison and find that Lord Marshall has sent his number one man, Vaako (Urban) and a troop of Necromongers to find and kill Riddick. A whole lot of ass-kicking action ensues, as Riddick once again becomes an antihero.
There is a subplot as well involving Vaako’s loyalty issues to Lord Marshall. This is due to Vaako’s power hungry wife Dame Vaako (Newton) who wants Lord Marshall dead so that her husband can rule the Necromongers.
This film has some great sci-fi action going for it. Not to mention a decent plotline and, what I think, is a really good subplot involving Vaako and his wife. The film is completely different from “Pitch Black”. There are no aliens and no darkness. In fact, at one point our antihero(es), are actually running from the sunlight. Pretty cool scene and very well done.
Diesel brings back his same kick-ass cool attitude as Riddick. He’s as cool as they can get. He may not be the greatest actor in the world, but he owns cool. He has played mostly the “tough guy” in all of his movies, and its no different here. (However, he does have the sorta funny looking “The Pacifier” coming out soon) Any who, Riddick rules and Diesel owns the role.
Alexa Davalos replaces Rhiana Griffith as Jack, now Kyra. Although Davalos was pretty good in the role, one of the main things I dislike about sequels is keeping a character, and changing the actor/actress who plays it. Griffith, from what I heard, was set to star, but need to bulk up a bit…while she was off doing that, in walked Davalos and she got the role. She’s not such a bad actress though, and did a fare job. Oh…and she’s pretty hot too.
Colm Feore plays a pretty good bad guy, and he’s really evil in this one. I’d definitely cast this dude as the villain in any film (only if Gary Oldman turned it down first :razz: ) Good actor who does another good job.
Karl Urban (of LOTR and The Bourne Supremacy) does a good job of not knowing whether he wants to turn on Lord Marshall or stay loyal to him. Very convincing as a conflicted character.
If you have no idea who Riddick is, you must see “Pitch Black” first. Then watch “Dark Fury”, the 30 minute animated short film that explains what actually happened over the 5 years between the two features. I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard it answers a lot of questions you might have before seeing Chronicles.
I liked this film; not as much as the first, but a very good sci-fi action flick with some great sets and costume design as well.
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I watched “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle” last night.
The film stars John Cho as Harold and Kal Penn as Kumar, with appearances by Christopher Meloni, Ethan Embry, Fred Willard, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Ryan Reynolds, Anthony Anderson, Jamie Kennedy and Neil Patrick Harris as…Neil Patrick Harris.
Two friends, one of who is Asian, shy and unassertive at his workplace (Harold), the other who is Indian, a rebel and loves the Ganjah (Kumar), decide to drive over to their local White Castle burger joint in order to extinguish their après-weed bout of the "munchies". Unfortunately for them, their seemingly standard trek leads them through a variety of misadventures, many of which involve more of the Wacky-Tobaccy, sex and good ol' fashioned humor.
This was an extremely funny movie for the most part. There were a few scenes in which I didn’t laugh at all; the Jamie Kennedy scene for example. It was a very odd moment in the film, and I guess it worked to show the kinda of night the two guys were having, but it just wasn’t all that funny. Other than that, the movie is filled with many a funny moments. Neil Patrick Harris playing himself all high on ecstasy was really funny. A couple of Doogie Howser references add to the laughs. Unlucky for me, my pizza arrived just as the bathroom scene came on. Think of Finch in American Pie, only with two chicks playing Battle Shits.
Anthony Anderson had a pretty funny part as a disgruntled employee of the Burger Shack. I have always found Ryan Reynolds to be a funny dude, and it was no different here. Again, he had a small role as a male nurse, but a funny role indeed.
Chris Meloni as Freakshow was pretty damn disgusting. A different role than his parts on “Oz” or “Law & Order SVU”. The guy is funny though. I’d like to see him take on more comedy roles.
What made the movie though were it’s two stars. John Cho and Kal Penn haven’t really shined in any previous films they’ve been in. Both are usually supporting actors. Both are hilarious throughout the entire movie, dealing with all this shit that keeps happening to them.
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Dr. Woodruff: Do you actually believe that after the way you've just behaved that I would even consider recommending you for admission?
Kumar: No. I'm gonna be honest with you. The only reason I'm applying is so my dad will keep paying for my apartment. I don't have any desire to go to med school.
Dr. Woodruff: But you have perfect MCAT scores!
Kumar: Yeeeah, just cause you're hung like a moose doesn't mean you gotta do porn.
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I watched “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, Mark Ruffalo and Tom Wilkinson. The film is written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michael Gondry.
Joel (Carrey) is stunned to discover that his girlfriend Clementine (Winslet) has had her memories of their tumultuous relationship erased. Out of desperation, he contracts the inventor of the process, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Wilkinson), to have Clementine removed from his own memory. But as Joel's memories progressively disappear, he begins to rediscover their earlier passion. From deep within the recesses of his brain, Joel attempts to escape the procedure. As Dr. Mierzwiak and his crew (Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood) chase him through the maze of his memories, it's clear that Joel just doesn’t want to get her out of his head.
I had been hearing rave reviews for this film since it came out in early 2004, and now I know why. It’s definitely a little strange, but very original. Kaufman is an amazing writer, and I’d expect him to win some best screenplay awards for this film.
Without a doubt, this is Jim Carrey’s best performance ever, beating out his performance in “The Truman Show.” He’s up for a Golden Globe and most likely will be up for an Oscar. (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif)
Kate Winslet is amazing, and looks stunning…even with blue hair. She’s also up for a Golden Globe and I think she just might win it. She’s a great actress who gives one of her best performances of her career.
Kirsten Dunst also plays a great part in this film. She’s one of the pot-smoking assistants of Dr. Mierzwiak, who secretly has feelings for the doc.
Ruffalo is the other pot-smoking assistant, who’s fooling around with Dunst’s character, smokin’ pot and dancing around in their underwear as they scan Joel while he’s sleeping. Like I said, it’s a strange movie. He’s a good actor. This was a goofier role than what we’re used to seeing him play. Good job.
Elijah Wood is another assistant who falls in love with Clementine during her memory erasing procedure. Decent job for the small role he played.
Wilkinson as the head doc is good. I’m not sure if he’s ever taken up a bad role in a film. He’s another great actor who will probably win more awards in the future.
There isn’t much to hate about this film. It’s got everything. Great story, great directing superb acting, and the perfect ending. Great movie. I expect it to win a lot of awards at the Globes and Oscars.
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I saw three movies this weekend. Two in theaters, one on DVD.
Friday night I saw “In Good Company” starring Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Marge Helgenberger and David Paymer.
Dan Foreman (Quaid) is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Carter Duryea (Grace), is half his age--a business school prodigy who preaches corporate synergy. While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Carter cross-promotes the magazine with the cell phone division and Krispity Krunch, an indeterminate snack food under the same corporate umbrella. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters, Alex (Johansson), age 18, and Jana, age 16, and is shocked when his wife (Helgenberger) tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Carter, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Carter's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Carter falls for, and begins an affair with, Dan's daughter Alex.
This is definitely the first feel-good movie of 2005. The film had a lot more funny moments than I was expecting, with an even amount of drama. It takes a good look at corporate America that way it is (for the most part). I don’t know how many veteran employees are demoted for people half their age, but I guess it could happen.
Dennis Quaid was at his best with this role. I’ve always thought he was a good actor, but he was amazing…very funny and witty character and he played it perfectly.
Topher Grace had a break-through performance. His character has a lot of power in the office, but has a certain neediness outside of it. Great job, and I hope he’ll take on more roles like this one. There’s a movie called “P.S.” that was released to all sorts of festivals last year and I heard he was even better in that one.
Johansson’s character had a few corny lines, but other than that, she was pretty good. She’s also pretty damn hot. She’s a good actress; I’ve thought so since her brilliant job in “Lost in Translation”.
This was a great movie, with a great script for the most part. The film is acted perfectly by Quaid and Grace.
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Saturday night I went and saw Golden Globe nominated “Kinsey”. It was up for best Drama along with Best Actor nomination for Liam Neeson and Best Supporting Actress for Laura Linney. The film also stars Peter Saarsgard, Chris O’Donnell, Timothy Hutton, Tim Curry, Oliver Platt, and John Lithgow.
This is the life story of Alfred Kinsey (Neeson), a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the nation, and a journey into the mystery of human behavior. In 1948 Kinsey irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation with his book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male". Using the technique of his own famous sex interviews, story recounts the scientist's extraordinary journey from obscurity to global fame. Rebelling against the rigid piety of his home life, and drawn to the world of the senses, Kinsey becomes a Harvard-educated zoologist specializing in the study of gall wasps. After being hired to teach biology at Indiana University, Kinsey meets and marries a witty, freethinking female student, Clara McMillen (Linney). In the course of his teaching he discovers an astonishing dearth of scientific data on sexual behavior. When students seek him out for advice about sexual concerns and problems, he realizes that no one has done the clinical research that would yield reliable answers to their questions. Inspired to explore the emotionally charged subject of sex from a strictly scientific point of view, Kinsey recruits a team of researchers, including Clyde Martin (Saarsgard), Wardell Pomeroy (O’Donnell) and Paul Gebhard (Hutton). Over time they refine an interviewing technique, which helps people to break through shame, fear, and guilt and speak freely about their sexual histories. When Kinsey publishes his Male study in 1948, the press compares the impact to that of the atom bomb. But as the country enters the more paranoid Cold War era of the 1950s, Kinsey's follow-up study on women is seen as an attack on basic American values. The ensuing outrage and scorn causes Kinsey's benefactors to abandon him, just as his health begins to deteriorate. At the same time, the jealousies and acrimony caused by Kinsey's attempt to create a private sexual utopia threaten to tear apart the research team and expose them to unwelcome scrutiny. (IMDB plot summary…explained the best way)
Alfred Kinsey was probably the most controversial person of his time. Before Kinsey began his studies of human sexual behavior, sex was not talked about at all. He brought to light peoples pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, masturbation, and homosexual encounters in a time when people kept these secrets.
The film has been on a bunch of top ten lists for 2004, and it definitely belongs there. It was brilliantly written and directed by Bill Condon. “Kinsey” is really a dramatic story of the his life, but you’ll find yourself laughing at some very funny scenes. I can’t say that I agreed with some of his views, mainly one view he has on sex offenders, but the film does show what kind of pioneer Kinsey really was.
Liam Neeson as Kinsey was magnificent. He’s an excellent actor and probably would’ve won the Golden Globe if not for the tough competition in that category.
Laura Linney is another brilliant actress. In fact, she’s probably my favorite actress as of late. She was perfect in this film, and would’ve won only if Natalie Portman (who deserved the win) wasn’t in the same category.
Peter Saarsgard keeps getting better and better. He was really good in “The Salton Sea”, great “Garden State” and outstanding in “Kinsey.” Mark my words…Peter Saarsgard will win a major award someday. He won a few smaller awards for his role in “Shattered Glass” and was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award for his role here in “Kinsey”, but the guy should definitely win a Golden Globe and an Oscar.
Excellent movie, with a superb cast. A must see film.
Oh…and please don’t go see this film just for the T&A&P&D factor. If your some teenaged perv who loves nudity, you won’t appreciate this film for what it’s really worth.
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Thirdly, I watched “I, Robot” starring Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, and Alan Tudyk.
Set in the year 2035, in a world where robots are common assistants and workers for their human owners, Det. Spooner (Smith) is investigating the death of his friend, Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), who before his death, worked for and co-found U.S. Robotics. The main suspect, Sonny (Tudyk), is a robot. Susan Calvin (Moynahan), a psychologist who works for U.S. Robotics, raises the question of how it can be that a robot killed a human because all robots are programmed to follow the three laws:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
This was a pretty cool sci-fi action movie. I never read the book by Isaac Asimov, but I’ve heard the book is better, and the film doesn’t stay true to it. I found the story to be interesting enough.
Will Smith has a certain “cool” factor about him. He works well as the witty-type action hero, always spitting out these one-liners and kickin’ ass while doing it.
Moynahan is a decent actress. Nothing outstanding here, except her hotness.
If you like sci-fi action films, then you’ll like it. If you’re a fan of the book, give the film a try for the hell of it. You might enjoy it.
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Due to the foot or so of snow that fell in my area over the weekend, I didn’t really get out at all. I watched a few DVDs though.
First up, I watched “Jacob’s Ladder” starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Jason Alexander, Eriq La Salle, and Ving Rhames.
New York postal worker Jacob Singer (Robbins) is trying to keep his frayed life from unraveling. His days are increasingly being invaded by flashbacks to his first marriage, his now-dead son, and his tour of duty in Vietnam. Though his new girlfriend (Peña) tries to help Jacob keep his grip on sanity, the line between reality and delusion is steadily growing more and more uncertain.
This is one weird mind fuck of a movie, and I like that. Psychological thrillers always tend to make good movies. It’s definitely very confusing at many points. I couldn’t tell what was real and what was part of Singer’s hallucinations and dreams.
Tim Robbins is a great actor. Before this film, he didn’t have many leading roles, but he was perfect as the lead as Jacob. The character is very paranoid, and Robbins portrays it excellently.
Peña gives a great performance as well. She plays Jacob’s lover, Jezzie, who’s supportive of him, but also might not be quite what she appears to be. She’s a good actress, normally takes small roles though.
Aiello plays Louis, Jacob’s friend, chiropractor and spiritual advisor. I think of his character as a “voice of reason”. Aiello is cool in this movie. He’s only in about three scenes or so, but these scenes are very important to the movie. Great job on his part.
The film is excellently directed by Adrian Lyne (also directed Fatal Attraction) and masterfully written by Bruce Joel Rubin. The script is amazing and the directing was perfect. The film is kind of disturbing, and it has a few gory scenes, but it’s still an amazing picture.
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The second DVD I watched was “Dodgeball” starring Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Rip Torn Alan Tudyk, Justin Long, Joel Moore, Chris Williams and Stephen “I believe you have my stapler” Root.
Peter LaFleur (Vaughn) is a charismatic underachiever and proprietor of a rundown gym called Average Joe's. The facility's eclectic clientele of decidedly less-than-average “Joes” is comprised of: a self-styled pirate (Tudyk); a scrawny nerd (Long) who dreams of impressing an unattainable cheerleader; an obsessive aficionado of obscure sports (Root); a dim-witted young man (Moore); and a cocky know-it-all (Williams) who, of course, really knows nothing. Peter's humble gym catches the eye of White Goodman (Stiller), the power-mullet-sporting, Fu-Manchu-d, egomaniacal owner of Globo Gym, a gleaming monolith of fitness. White intends to take over Average Joe's, and Peter's non-existent bookkeeping is making it all too easy for him. A foreclosing bank has stationed attorney Kate Veatch (Taylor) inside Average Joe's to finalize Globo's takeover of the gym. In order to save his gym LaFleur and the group decide to join a dodgeball tournament. Of course, Goodman find out, and signs up a team of his own. Rip Torn plays Patches O'Houlihan, a former dodgeball champion. He decides to train the guys, as they seem to know nothing about the sport of dodgeball. Even Kate (who turns out to be a great dodgeballer) gets in on the action, joining LaFleur’s team, to help take down Globo Gym’s team.
This film is outright hilarious. From O'Houlihan’s cruel training techniques to some special appearance by Lance Armstrong and even David Hasselhoff as the German’s team coach. (Why? Because Germans love David Hasselhoff).
Vaughn is different in this film than in his others comedies (like “Old School”). He’s funny in a totally different way. He’s very mellow-like here, and I think it worked great. It was the complete opposite of Stiller’s obvious over-acting, which is brilliantly hilarious.
I never noticed how hot Christine Taylor is. Anyway, she’s a good actress as well and plays her role perfectly. She’s completely disgusted by Stiller’s character (ironic only because they’re married in real life). It was funny to watch her reactions to White Goodman.
I can just look at Stephen Root and laugh. He looks funny. He was a scene-stealer in “Office Space” and, although not as funny in “Dodeball”, he was funny enough.
We always see underdog movies. (I actually wrote a thesis in college focusing on Underdogs in Film…good paper….got an A on it too) Okay…so the concept of the “underdog” in not all that original, but writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber, took the idea and put it into a movie focusing on dodgeball, and I find that to be extremely original. How many dodgeball movies are there? Not many (if any).
Very funny film, with a great cast.
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The third film I watched over the snow-filled weekend was “The Hole” starring Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Keira Knightley, Daniel Brocklebank, Laurence Fox, and Embeth Davidtz.
When four teens decide to skip out on their school field trip and kick it for three day in an old underground bomb shelter, they never expected that someone would lock them in. Three days turn into 18 days. The film starts out with a dirty Elizabeth Dunn (Birch) walking down a street toward the school. Posted all over are signs for the four missing teens. She makes her way into the school, to a pay phone, dials 911 (or the equivalent in England, which is where the film takes place), and then screams into the phone. The rest of the film is Elizabeth explaining to Dr. Philippa Horwood (Davidtz) just what exactly happened to her, Frances (Knightley), Mike (Harrington), and Geoff (Fox).
Very strange movie. The audience finds out early on, after two different accounts (one from Dunn, and the other from her friend Martyn [Brocklebank]) why and how the teens were locked in “the hole”, but then we see what happens as fear turns to madness. Some crazy shit went on down in the hole.
I hadn’t seen the trailer for this film before watching the movie, and I went into it expecting to see a slasher flick. I wasn’t disappointed at all when I found out it had nothing to do with some sick-psycho-serial killer motherfucker. I was happy. The film focused on something scarier than a psycho or ghosts, it focuses on how evil the human heart can become.
The overall acting was decent. Birch pulls off a good British accent and has a strong performance throughout the film. Harrington pulls a solid performance as well, as the American love interest to Birch’s character. Knightley is becoming a better actress. This was before here excellent job in “Bend it Like Beckham” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” You can see the difference, even thought the films are only 2 years apart. She was good here though. Fox is an actor I’ve never heard of, and will easily forget about in the near future. Just an okay job for him.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with this film and I liked it. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I watched the trailer afterwards, and you definitely get a slasher feel from it, but it’s not. Weird movie indeed, but well worth a viewing.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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I watched “Casualties of War” on DVD over the weekend.
The film stars Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Ving Rhames and is directed by Brian De Palma.
A five-man patrol of American soldiers, led by Sgt. Meserve (Penn), in Vietnam kidnapped a young woman from her village, forced her to march with them, and then raped her and killed her. One of the five, Pfc. Erikkson (Fox) refused to participate in the rape and murder, and it was his testimony that eventually brought the others to a military court martial and prison sentences.
The movie is not so much about the event as about the atmosphere leading up to it - the dehumanizing reality of combat, the way it justifies brute force and penalizes those who would try to live by a higher standard.
This is an excellent movie. It is well directed by De Palma and well acted (for the most part).
Michael J. Fox gives his best performance in this film. Sure he was good in Back to the Future, but he was amazing in CoW. Very strong acting in this film.
Sean Penn has become one of my favorite actors, but he over did it here with his over-the-top New York accent. He acted well in the film, but I was hoping he’d shut up sometimes. The accent got kind of annoying after awhile.
John C. Reilly has become one of the best supporting actors. He’s never really taken a leading role. He was great in his supporting role here. He played the “follower” role perfectly. He was the guy who did things to fit in. Great actor, who has been nominated for an Oscar already, and I think will win one eventually.
Overall a great movie. If you haven’t seen it, it’s real cheap on DVD now. Pick it up for your collection.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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I watched “Dark Blue” this weekend. The film stars Kurt Russell, Ving Rhames and Scott Speedman.
Set in the Los Angeles Police Department in April 1992, Dark Blue is a dramatic thriller that takes place just days before the acquittal of four white officers in the beating Rodney King and the subsequent L.A. riots. In this racially-charged climate, the LAPD's elite Special Investigations Squad (SIS) is assigned a high-profile quadruple homicide. As they work the case, veteran detective Eldon Perry (Russell), known for his tough street tactics and fiery temper, tutors SIS rookie Bobby Keough (Speedman) in the grim realities of police intimidation and corruption. Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Holland (Rhames), the only man in the department willing to stand up to the SIS, threatens to end Perry's brand of single-handed "justice" on the Los Angeles streets. While navigating through the tumultuous neighborhoods of South Central L.A., Perry and Keough must track down cold-blooded killers and face their own demons, which prove to be more ruthless than the criminals they pursue.
This film does lack some originality in that it’s your basic corrupt cop and rookie cop in training (think Training Day [in fact both films are written by the same dude]), however slightly different as well.
I liked the film, especially because of Kurt Russell’s performance. He is at the top of his game as the corrupt cop, who is too busy hating criminals, that he can’t show love for his own wife and son.
Scott Speedman does a solid job as the rookie cop. I wasn’t blown away by his performance. Any other young actor could’ve played it, but still a good job.
Ving Rhames was under-used I feel. He’s a cool actor and played kind a central role, but was only in about 5 or 6 scenes. Good actor and plays the perfect good cop in this film.
Worth at least the rental fee, however it’s probably pretty cheap at Wal-Mart.
I’ll give this a (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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I went and saw “Hide and Seek” starring Robert DeNiro, Dakota Fanning, Elisabeth Shue, and Famke Janssen this weekend.
After the death of his wife, Dr. David Calloway (DeNiro) decides to pack up and move with his daughter Emily (Fanning) to the country (after all, that’s what they all do in horror/thriller movies). Once they’re all settled in, Emily becomes friends with Charlie, whom David thinks is her new imaginary friend. That thought begins to change when strange things and murders start to happen, Emily blames them on Charlie.
I liked the way this film was working throughout the first two acts. It kind of kept me guessing. I like films like that…the kind the messes with your head a little bit. But then, it fell apart a little bit…I ended up guessing the ending before it ended…and it didn’t end how I wished it would have. I think this may be in part of the TV trailer. After the film was released, they showed a different trailer that gives the film away little bit. I hate when they do that.
On the plus side, the acting was really good. DeNiro hasn’t taken the roles like he used to, but it doesn’t really matter because he’s such a great actor. He was very subtle and controlled in this film. Excellent stuff.
Fanning is definitely going win some awards some day. Sure, it wont be for this film, (or even War of the Worlds which comes out this summer), but some day, for some great role she chooses, she’ll win an award. She’s probably the best young actress of her age group, or even best actress under the age of 20. She played the perfect freaky looking kid, and worked very well with DeNiro.
I wouldn’t call this film “horror”. It was Rated R, but wasn’t as scary as something like The Grudge or The Ring. But it was also a different type of movie then those. Not quite sure why it was rated R…my guess if for the blood use though.
Anywho…the movie was decent, but a little disappointing as well.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif) for the acting.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) for the first two acts.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsDown.gif) for the final act.
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I finally watched “Ray” this weekend. The film stars Oscar Nominee Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. The film also stars Kerry Washington as Della Bea Robinson (Ray’s wife), Regina King as Margie (a back-up singer, and one of Ray’s lovers), Bokeem Woodbine as Fathead Newman, Curtis Armstrong as Ahmet Ertegun and Richard Schiff as Jerry Wexler.
Born in Georgia in 1930 (shortly after his family moved to Florida), Ray Charles went blind at around the age of 7. With the staunch support of his determined single mother, he developed the fierce resolve, wit and incredible talent that would eventually enable him to overcome not only Jim Crow Racism and the cruel prejudices against the blind, but also discover his own sound which revolutionized American popular music. Nonetheless, as Ray's unprecedented fame grew, so did his weakness for drugs and women, until they threatened to strip away the very things he held most dear. The movie follows Charles from his birth in 1930 until 1966, when he finally defeats his heroin addiction. This little known story of Ray Charles' meteoric rise from humble beginnings, his successful struggle to excel in a sighted world and his eventual defeat of his own personal demons make for an inspiring and unforgettable true story of human triumph.
Whether or not you like Ray Charles’ music, I recommend this movie for everyone to see. This is a great movie and definitely deserves its Oscar nomination.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/Clapping.gif) Bravo to Jaime Foxx for his perfect portrayal of Ray Charles. Here’s a guy that, before 2004 (with the exception of his role in “Ali”) we’d normally see in movies like “Booty Call” or some cheesy crap comedy like that, but he gave the performance of the year, and probably the performance of his career in this film. He’s my pick to win Best Actor at the end of this month at the Oscars and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t win it.
Kerry Washington and Regina King were both amazing. I would’ve liked to see both of them get an Oscar nomination, but there was just too much competition this year I guess.
The entire supporting cast was phenomenal. The music was just awesome. There was nothing bad about this film at all. It’s a long movie, about 2 ½ hours (closer to 3 hours if you watch the extended version, which I did), but well worth sitting through it.
A note about the Extended version: Throughout the movie, there is about a 3-4 second pause between the scenes that were cut it. It’s a little distracting, but it’s always nice to see the stuff that was cut out. Another scene seemed a little messed up, where the DVD actually plays an outtake instead of the film. Annoying, yes, but the film picks up right after that. If you don’t want to be distracted, watch the standard version. It’s just as good.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif) (http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-3/131188/ThumbsUp.gif)
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I watched “The Cell” on DVD. The film stars Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, and Vincent D’onofrio.
When serial killer Karl Stargher (D’onofrio) falls into a coma before his last victim can be found, child therapist Catherine Deane (Lopez) must use an experimental treatment to enter his mind and learn his secrets before the victim is killed. The visually haunting world she enters, threatens her own existence when she becomes trapped by the terror in Karl’s mind. FBI Agent Novak (Vaughn) believes the killer has a ritual he goes through--a ritual that means his latest victim has only hours to live before a clockwork mechanism brings about her death.
Visually, this is one of the coolest movies I’ve ever seen. The sets used by the director Tarsem Singh, are just unbelievable. The film starts off in the desert. I believe the scene was shot in a desert in Namibia. This was the beginning of the extraordinary visuals that followed throughout this film.
The story, written by Mark Protosevich, is really original. Not many psychological thrillers/sci-fi movies literally show us the inside of a serial killers head. A+ for the screenplay.
Lopez needs to come back to these types of films. She was not the best actress, but I’d rather see her in action/sci-fi genre, rather than the romantic comedy genre that’s she’s been doing the past few years. She had a strong performance in “The Cell”, probably her best film ever (in my opinion).
Vaughn, before he switched over to his brilliant hilariousness, was very good as well. He’s a good actor, and also works well in this type of genre. I hope he’ll come back to it from time to time, but still make movies like Old School and Dodgeball as well.
D’onofrio was excellent as the disturbed serial killer. Singh dressed him in some wicked costumes and make up for a lot of his scenes. He’s a great actor, although I haven’t seen him in many films lately, nor do I watch the “Lay & Order” show he’s on. Perfect choice to play the character of Karl.
Great movie, excellent story, and good acting. The movie has been around for 5 years now. If you haven’t seen it, take a look. It’s cool stuff.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Went and saw “Constantine” on Saturday. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Djimon Hounsou, Shia LaBeouf and Gavin Rossdale.
Based on the DC/Vertigo comic book “Hellblazer”, “Constantine” tells the story of irreverent supernatural detective John Constantine (Reeves), who has literally been to hell and back. When Constantine teams up with skeptical policewoman Angela Dodson (Weisz) to solve the mysterious suicide of her twin sister (also played by Weisz), their investigation takes them through the world of demons and angels that exists just beneath the landscape of contemporary Los Angeles. Caught in a catastrophic series of otherworldly events, the two become inextricably involved and seek to find their own peace at whatever cost.
I had never been the DC/Vertigo comic reader. I stuck more to Marvel Comics, so I didn’t really know the whole story behind Hellblazer when I went to see the movie.
I thought the story was pretty good. It’s a little different than the Spider-man, X-men, Batman etc. movies, it’s also a lot darker. The film is rated R, I’m guessing mainly for it’s theme of demon’s and hell. It was actually kind of a tame R rating I think. Not too much cursing, no sexual situations; but I guess the MPAA thought the violence was enough to give it a harsher rating. Regardless of that though, it’s nice seeing an R rating, seeming how most films have been getting the PG-13 push. Anyways…
Reeves was his cool normal self here, like his role in the Matrix trilogy. Good performance.
Weisz is extremely hot in this film. She looks great. She also gives a solid acting job.
Hounsou was probably the coolest character in the film. He’s a really good actor, and shows that in this film.
I wish Shia LaBeouf wasn’t in this film. His character was very annoying and only served the purpose of being Constantine’s sidekick. Not all protagonists need a sidekick.
Interesting to see Rossdale in a film. Pretty cool as one of the antagonists of the film.
I enjoyed this film. It was a lot of fun; not the best “based-on-a-comic book” film, but pretty damn good.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Watched “Saw” on DVD. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Leigh Whannel, and Monica Potter.
With a body lying between them, two men wake up in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw" by the police because of his unusual calling card. Adam (Whannel) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Elwes) soon learn that they have become the victims of the Jigsaw, a serial killer who devises intricate situations to get his victims to kill each other. Pitted against the clock and each other, the two must work to outwit their captor and save Gordon's family, who has been taken hostage.
EASILY THE BEST HORROR FILM OF 2004! It’s definitely a different type of horror movie than both “The Grudge” and “Darkness” (both of which were among my least favorite films of 2004). When I finished watching “Saw”, I at least knew the point of the movie. I found the film to be very intense, and that’s how horror/slasher movies need to be. I was pretty surprised at the end too. Great way to end the film. A+ in that department.
Leigh Whannel co-wrote the film with director James Wan. These two dudes must be a little disturbed. Some of the contraption that they make Jigsaw think up for his victims; dayam. Cool stuff though.
Whannel was perfect as Adam. He’s relatively new to the film biz, but he’ll fit right in. Good acting on his part.
Elwes is a great actor, under-rated if you ask me, but he over did it in a few scenes. I liked his character and his portrayal of Dr. Gordon though.
I read another reviewer, who wrote that Danny Glover stole the movie, and I began thinking back to his scenes, and I agree. Glover was excellent as the cop hell-bent on catching this sick mofo. Extremely great acting.
I’m sorry that I had missed this while it was in theaters. I love watching horror on the big screen. After reading so much about the film before it came out, it had become one of my most anticipated films from last year. I was excited to see it, and I can’t wait to watch it again.
Excellent movie. Look for Saw 2, hopefully coming out around this Halloween.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Watched “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” tonight. The film stars Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, with some appearances by Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Gary Busy, and Cameron Diaz. It’s directed by Terry Gilliam, and based on the novel of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson.
In 1971, journalist Raoul Duke, a.k.a Hunter S. Thompson (Depp), heads towards Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, accompanied by a trunk full of drugs and his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Del Toro). However, what is seemingly a cut-and-dried journalistic endeavor quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey and en excoriating dissection of the American way of life.
I’ve heard that people get high as a kite before watching this film; and I can understand why. The entire film is just one big acid trip, and it doesn’t stop until the film ends. There are some excellent visuals in some of the oddest scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Depp is a great actor. He didn’t win an Oscar last year, and he probably won’t win one this year either, but someday, the Academy will give this man the award he deserves. He was excellent in this film. I never read any of Hunter Thompson’s books, so I really don’t know too much about his journalistic adventure, but Depp played the part well.
Del Toro’s transformation into Dr. Gonzo was unreal. There were reports that he gain nearly 40 pounds for this part. For the first part of the movie, I found it hard to understand what the hell he was saying, but the guy was all hyped up on all sorts of drugs…so I guess that’s to be expected. Del Toro is an excellent actor, and keeps on showing that with every role he takes.
This is no doubt one of the strangest and trippiest movies ever made. Good movie.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
RIP Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005. Last weekend he committed suicide. I don’t think there was a note left, but I guess he just had personal demons that he felt were to hard to deal with.
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I went to see “Hitch” tonight, starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta.
A highly successful and secretive “date doctor” named Hitch (Smith) is hired by men from all levels of dating incompetence in the hopes of improving their chances of getting with women with whom they are in love. The doc’s latest project is an awkward fat man, Albert (James) in love with a multi-millionaire hottie Alegra (Valletta). At the same time, cupid himself is smitten by a tabloid news reporter, Sara (Mendes).
The movie is your basic romantic comedy with a tad bit of its own originality as well. It’s one of the better romantic comedies I’ve seen in a while. The story was really good and pretty damn funny. The chemistry between all of the characters was just great. Without spoiling anything, lemme just say that probably my favorite scene is when Hitch first meets Sara. That’s the best example of on-screen chemistry. Great scene. The great scenes continued throughout the entire film.
Smith was good in this role. He wasn’t over-the-top at all. He played it straightforward all the way through.
James is hilarious. I don’t watch his TV show “The King of Queens”, but I’ve heard it’s funny. After seeing how funny he can be, I think I’ll be checking the show out. He’s really funny in this film as the shy guy who’s in love with the rich hot chick.
Mendes was good in this comedy. The last comedy she did, I believe, was “Stuck on You” and I didn’t really like her role that one, however here she was flawless. Great job.
The film was written great. The film was funny in all the right places and dramatic in all the right places. Best date movie I’ve seen in awhile. Grab your loved-one and check this movie out.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I watched “Bubba Ho-Tep” today, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis.
Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominee short story by cult author Joe R. Lansdale, Bubba Ho-Tep tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley, with a tad bit of horror involved. We find Elvis (Campbell) as an elderly resident in an East Texas rest home, who switched identities with an Elvis impersonator years before his "death", then missed his chance to switch back. Elvis teams up with Jack (Ossie Davis), a fellow nursing home resident who thinks that he is actually President John F. Kennedy. The two valiant old codgers go forth to battle an evil Egyptian entity that has chosen their long-term care facility as his happy hunting grounds.
First off, the whole Elvis switching with an impersonator could be entirely brilliant film of its own. What a concept. The fact that it was used in a horror film is really quite odd, but so funny as well. The film is meant to be a horror comedy, and that it was. More comedy than horror though. The lines that these two characters spit out in this movie are really quite funny. The film was definitely well written. I liked the originality of this film. Sure we’ve had films about mummies before, but not ones involving Elvis and “JFK”.
Campbell was surprisingly great as Elvis. This was his best acting job since the cult classic “Evil Dead” trilogy. He always takes these kind of quirky, weird roles and he plays them perfectly.
The late Ossie Davis was also really good in this film. This movie is a little different than films I’ve seen of his in the past, although I haven’t seen much of his classic films. Other than the TV mini-series “The Stand” I’m not too sure of any other horror films he’s done. He was the perfect choice to play the role of Jack, a.k.a “JFK”. He was always a great actor in all of his films. It was sad to hear of his passing away a few weeks ago. Great actor, and very good in this film.
This film is definitely going to become a cult classic. The acting was great; the story was really good and original. It’s definitely worth at least the rental fee.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I watched “The Talented Mr. Ripley” starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
The 1950s. Manhattan lavatory attendant, Tom Ripley (Damon), borrows a Princeton jacket to play piano at a garden party. When the wealthy father of a recent Princeton grad chats Tom up, Tom pretends to know the son and is soon offered $1,000 to go to Italy to convince Dickie Greenleaf (Law) to return home. In Italy, Tom attaches himself to Dickie and to Marge (Paltrow), Dickie's cultured fiancée, pretending to love jazz and harboring homoerotic hopes as he soaks in luxury. Besides lying, Tom's talents include impressions and forgery, so when the handsome and confident Dickie tires of Tom, dismissing him as a bore, Tom goes to extreme lengths to make Greenleaf's privileges his own.
I first saw this film early morning Christmas Day when it was released in 1999. That had been the last time I saw it until this past weekend. I had forgotten how good of a film this is. It is based on a book of the same name and is also a remake of the original film entitled “Purple Noon” from back in the ‘60s. The screenplay was well written by Anthony Minghella, and brilliantly directed by him as well.
Damon gives his most chilling and outstanding performance in this film. I really think this is one of his best because he hasn’t played the “bad” guy all that much. Really incredible job by Damon.
Law is excellent as well. He was up for Best Supporting Actor at the 2000 Oscars. Very strong and solid job.
Paltrow is also good in her role and Blanchett shines in her small part as well.
All around great acting by everyone in this film, with great directing and perfect story.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Snowy afternoon so I left work early, came home and popped in a DVD.
I watched the thriller “Stigmata” starring Patricia Arquette and Gabrielle Byrne.
Frankie Paige (Arquette) has absolutely no faith in God. All of that changes when she suddenly begins to suffer the Stigmata – the living wounds of the crucified Christ. Frankie’s miraculous bleeding comes to the attention of the Vatican’s top investigator, Father Kiernan (Byrne). However, when Cardinal Houseman (Jonathan Pryce) discovers that Frankie is actually channeling an extraordinary and provocative message that could destroy the church, he’s convinced that she and the possessing force must be silenced forever. Determined to stop this deadly conspiracy, Kiernan risks his faith and his life to saver her and the message that will change the destiny of mankind forever.
This is kind a fun film to watch. Sure it not “true” in some senses. In the film, Frankie gets The Stigmata after receiving a rosary that belonged to a priest (who also suffered The Stigmata) before his death. It’s not just passed on like that. But you know what. It’s a movie…and it wasn’t a great one, but it sure as hell wasn’t a bad one either. The premise was definitely original, and that’s always a big plus when it comes to making a film.
I liked Arquette’s performance in this film. She isn’t the greatest actress, but she often gives us solid stuff, and this was one of them.
Byrne was really cool in this film. In fact, he’s pretty cool in most of his films. He can play good guys and bad guys and he always plays them perfectly. Great job.
So the film was decent. I wouldn’t consider it so much a “horror” film, but more a thriller. It’s decent enough for a rental.
:thumbsup:
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I went and saw “Cursed” tonight. The film stars Cristina Ricci, Jesse Eisenberg, Joshua Jackson, Judy Greer, Mya, Shannon Elizabeth and Scott Baio (the has-been) playing himself.
The best sorta-plot description I found for this film was over at Joblo.com. He put it perfect: A very cute girl (Ricci), with a giant forehead, and her nerdy brother (Eisenberg), with stutter in tow, get bit by an animal of sorts, and try to figure out what’s happening to them for the rest of the movie. Are they becoming werewolves? Who or what bit them? How does Chachi fit into all this? Why does this movie suck?
What the hell is happening to the horror genre? Especially the “monster” horror films They just don’t make them like they used to; The Lost Boys, An American Werewolf in London, and even the Monster Squad (a great cheesy monster flick from the ‘80s).
Wes Craven is seriously losing his touch. There really wasn’t much to the plot. There were a few cheap scares here and there with the animal coming right at the camera (basic horror “trick” there), but that’s about it. There was a whole lot of cheesy dialogue and scenes here, that just made me laugh and want to walk out. However, being the movie fanatic I am, I’ll give any movie a chance, so I hung in there. I’m kinna sorry that I did, but I can’t really change that now can I?
I was extremely disappointed with the film. It had potential, but nothing came out of it.
A short and sweet review here…wanna see a good werewolf movie? Rent “An American Werewolf in London”. It’s a classic, and shitload better than “Cursed”.
:thumbsdown: (hmm....we're not used to seeing this one are we :razz: )
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To make up for the crap film “Cursed” that I saw earlier in the day, I wanted to see something good. I had heard great things about “The Girl Next Door”, so I popped the DVD into the PS2, sat there, and tried to forget that I had seen “Cursed” just two hours before it.
The film stars Elisha Cuthbert, Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant, Chris Marquette, and Paul Dano.
Eighteen-year old Matthew Kidman (Hirsch) is a straight-laced overachiever who has never lived life. That is until he meets his new neighbor, Danielle (Cuthbert). Matt’s life, up to this point, has been preparing for his future of attending Georgetown University and eventually following his dream of becoming president. Although he is happy for being accepted to the school of his dreams, he feels unfulfilled and longs to do or achieve something outrageous as he sees his fellow students doing. Matt and Danielle click the second they meet, and pretty much fall in love instantly. When Matt discovers that Danielle is a former porn star, things begin to get out of hand just as quick as they fell in love.
This was a better movie than I was expecting. I was kind of thinking it would be too much like American Pie, and it wasn’t. It had it’s own originality to it. Gotta love that. Chemistry between characters can make or break a movie. Cuthbert and Hirsch were perfect on screen together. They meshed well and it just worked out great.
Cuthbert was great in what was pretty much her first leading role. She played the part flawlessly. Although her character is a former porn star, she doesn’t play some slutty chick who wants to sleep with every guy she comes across. She’s a smart girl, who wants to change her life, and Cuthbert shows that just major justice.
Hirsch was also very surprising in one of his first leading roles. He showed some great acting ability and, as I stated above, worked very well on screen with Cuthbert. A+ performance.
Olyphant was brilliantly and charismatically hilarious in his role as Kelly, Danielle's porn producer. He delivered a lot of funny moments in the film.
Many of the other comedic scenes belonged to Marquette (who played Eli) and Dano (who played Klitz), the two geeky friends of Matthew. Marquette was the sex crazed one, addicted to porn, while Dano was the true nerd, insecure of himself most of the way through the film. Both characters were basically the perfect friends, helping Matt out in every way possible.
I was generally surprised with the movie. There was your normal gratuitous T&A, but it was all in the right parts of the film. Everyone acted well, portraying this romantic, yet different love story.
Trust me on this...the juice is definately worth the squeeze.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Went and saw “Be Cool”, the sequel to the 1995 hit film “Get Shorty”. “Be Cool” has an all-star A-list cast of John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Christina Milian, Cedric The Entertainer, Andre 3000, Steven Tyler, James Woods and Robert Pastorelli (in his final role before his untimely death just about a year ago).
In “Get Shorty”, shylock Chili Palmer (Travolta) left the loan shark biz, for the movie biz. Ten years later, here in “Be Cool”, he’s thinking about returning to his old lifestyle.
While meeting with record exec Tommy Athens (Woods) and discussing the possibility of Palmer producing a movie based on Athens promoting the new music sensation Linda Moon (Milian), Athens is shot and killed by the Russian mafia. After this, Palmer decides to check out Moon for himself, and see how good she really is. After meeting her, he decides to become her manager and produce her record with Tommy Athens widow Edie (Thurman), who now runs the record label. This whole deal doesn’t bode well with her current manager Raji (Vaughn), the homosexual bodyguard Elliot (The Rock) and promoter Nick Carr (Keitel). When another record producer, Sin LaSalle (Cedric the Entertainer) finds out the Tommy was killed before he could pay off a $300,000 loan, he also goes after Chili and Edie for the money.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen “Get Shorty” but I remember liking it a lot (me thinks I’m gonna pick up the new Special Edition DVD soon), and I was hoping that “Be Cool’ would be just as good. I was let down a little. It wasn’t as good as, but it was pretty close. I still enjoyed the movie, but didn’t laugh as much as I thought I would. The story didn’t seem too close to the first film, so that was good. You could probably see this without seeing “Get Shorty”, although I’d recommend seeing Shorty first.
Travolta is definitely cool in this movie; of course that is what the part calls for. He picks up the role right where he left of in “Get Shorty”.
Thurman wasn’t at her best here. Kind of a dull performance, not too exciting.
Vaughn was funny and entertaining, but the whole “white guy acting black” thing should be over by now. It’s not original anymore. But he pulled it off, and added a lot of humor to the movie.
Keitel has always been a good actor. He was decent here. Not his best performance, but okay.
Milian was pretty good. With time, she can become a good actress.
Pastorelli had a small role in the film, playing the hitman hired by Nick Carr to kill Palmer. He was good in the small role, playing up the tough guy image. Sadly he didn’t get to see his own performance. A year ago tomorrow, Pastorelli died from an apparent overdose.
The Rock stole the movie, with out a doubt. He had a small role, but lit up the screen and made the audience burst out in laughter in all of his scenes. I’ve been a fan of his since wrestling, so it’s cool to see him breaking into Hollywood so easily. He brings a lot of charisma to this movie. So many funny scenes, especially the “monologue” one. Hilarious. It shows that he may not just be the “next big action star”, but can master comedy as well.
Cedric The Entertainer was very funny as well. I’m not a huge fan of him, and I’m a little angry about “The Honeymooner” movie that he’ll be starring in later this year, but he was perfect in this film.
Andre 3000 was a big surprise in this film, playing Dabu, one of Sin LaSalles’ gangstas. He, like The Rock, stole many of his scenes. Very funny guy and perfect in the film.
Overall, I was a tad disappointed here and there, but I still enjoyed the film. Without The Rock and Andre 3000 in this movie, I probably would’ve hated it. Like I said, it doesn’t rank up to the first film, but it comes close.
:thumbsup:
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I watched “Wrong Turn” on Friday night, starring Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Jeremy Sisto.
Chris (Harrington) is on he was to Raleigh through West Virginia when he runs into a traffic jam on the highway. Already running late he turns around and ends up taking a back road through the mountains and ends up crashing into a trained SUV on the side of the road. The SUV belongs to Jessie (Dushku) and her friends Carly (Chriqui), Scott (Sisto), Evan (Kevin Zegers) and Francine (Lindy Booth). Evan and Francine decided to stay at the accident site while the others go look for a gas station to find a phone. The four eventually reach a cabin. When nobody answers the door, they decide to go inside to look for a phone. They soon realize they should not be there after find body parts in a refrigerator and a body in the bathtub. Just as they’re about to leave, the three owners of the cabin return. Now, the four run for their lives to get away from these disfigured cannibalistic mountain men.
This film kind of a throwback to the 1970s horror films like “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre”. So the film is all that original then right? Right; it isn’t. But it’s still a really fun ride.
Dushku was kind of dull here, with some bad acting in a few scenes. Not her best performance. Eh…at least she’s pretty hot. :mrgreen:
Harrington was cool and played his part well. Not so surprising either, he’s done a great job in most of his films.
Chriqui was just okay here. I haven’t seen many of her films (I think “100 Girls” in the only other one actually), so I don’t have much to compare her with. Decent job, really kind of a cute character in this film.
Sisto provided some humor in his lines. I read one reviewer write “He made the bad lines sound good”. Well, he did. Cool actor who should do more horror films.
Stan Winston, the guy behind the special effects for some really good films, creates the three ugliest in-bred cannibals I’ve ever seen on film. The make-up is amazing (if you want to see how they did it, watch “Fresh Meat: The Wounds of 'Wrong Turn”, a special feature on the DVD…it’s actually pretty interesting).
I’ve said this a millions times now, and I’ll say it again. I LOVE HORROR MOVIES. All kinds…monster horror, psycho motherfucker horror, cannibalistic psycho motherfucker horror. As long as they’re done right, and “Wrong Turn” was done right. The acting could’ve been better, but I still enjoyed the film.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I watched “The Ring”, starring Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox, David Dorman, and Daveigh Chase, this weekend. I’ve seen it plenty of times, but wanted to prime up for going to see part 2 later this week. I’ll also review “Rings”, a short film that ties in the two films.
It begins as just another urban legend; the whispered tale of a nightmarish videotape that causes anyone who watches it to die seven days later. After four teens all meet with mysterious deaths exactly one week after viewing the tape, reporter Rachel Keller (Watts) tracks down the tape and watches. Now, as time grows short, Rachel, along with her ex-hubby (or ex-bf…whatever) Noah(Henderson) race to save their lives, and their son Aidan (Dorfman) from impending doom and discover what the tape has to do with a tragedy-stricken horse ranch and a very strange little girl named Samara (Chase).
The film is the American version of Japan’s “Ringu”. It’s one of the first of many Japanese remakes (The Grudge, The Eye, Infernal Affairs, etc.) I haven’t checked out “Ringu” yet, but I’d like to so I can see if the America version stays true to it’s original. I’ve seen the trailer for it, and it looks like it might. Which is a good thing.
I enjoyed “The Ring”. It’s got the unfortunate PG-13 rating (as many horror films have been getting), but it’s still good. I remember the first time I watched it, and thinking it had the perfect scare factor to it. Samara is absolutely freaky, in fact so is Aidan, which works perfectly. Creepy children in movies are scarier than the craziest psychos…in my opinion.
Watts does a very good job in the film. Henderson was okay, but nothing spectacular. Chase is definitely a scary child and was perfect for the role. Dorfman was creepy in his own right as well, and was pretty good in his part. Brian Cox is a classic actor with a small role here, but a great performance.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
“Rings” is a short film that was released as part of “The Ring” Special Edition DVD. The film stars Emily VanCamp, Ryan Merriman, and Kelly Stables as Samara.
This is an interesting film that ties in “The Ring” with “The Ring Two”. This tells the story of a circle of friends, who find out how to break the curse of the tape, and use it as kind of a game, to see how many days a person can go without having their “safety-net”, basically someone else, watch the video. After Jake (Merriman) wants out, the person who originally agreed to watch the tape, backs out, so Jake must now find someone else to watch it before the end of the 7th day.
Cool short film, with decent acting. VanCamp, Merriman, and Stables all return in “The Ring Two”.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Stay tuned for this weekend. I’ll be going to see part two and post my review shortly after.
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I saw “The Ring 2” Saturday night. The film stars Naomi Watts and David Dorfman reprising their roles from the first film and adds Simon Baker, Sissy Spacek, Elizabeth Perkins, Gary Cole and Kelly Stables as Samara. Daveigh Chase is also credited for playing Samara in the film, for being shown in some archived footage. Ryan Merriman and Emily VanCamp, who were in the short film I reviewed, are briefly in part two as well.
Rachel Keller (Watts) and her son Aidan (Dorfman) have relocated to the quaint mountain town of Astoria, Oregon, where Rachel has found a new job at the local Astoria newspaper, working alongside reporter Max Rourke (Baker). The discovery of a local teenage homicide whilst listening to a police scanner prompts Rachel to uncover the truth behind it. Before long, Rachel has linked the homicide to the mysterious videotape. When Rachel is within reach of uncovering the secret, she finds and then destroys the killer videotape. Soon after, Aidan is hospitalized; unconscious, perilously cold, and bruised. Rachel suspects this is the act of the vengeful ghost Samara Morgan, but the local physician, Dr Emma Temple (Perkins), suspects otherwise. Having being blamed for child abuse and looking guilty as sin, Rachel returns to Seattle to dig deeper into the past of the ghostly Samara whom is apparently trying to re-enter corporeal existence by using Aidan as a host.
“The Ring 2” was not nearly as scary as the first film. It had its moments, but they were few and far between. The story wasn’t all that bad, focusing less on the actual video tape, and more on Samara wanting to take over Aidan’s body.
I was disappointed that they didn’t come back to the Emily (VanCamp) character. The Jake/Emily sequence in the short film was great, but it seemed the only purpose of that was to lead into the first five minutes of this film. Then it never went back to that.
Watts was decent here, but not as good as in the first film. Dorfman was even creepier in the sequel and played the part well. Stables as Samara was okay. There were no real clear shots of an ugly face or anything, and she did a bit of justice in her few scenes.
For me, it was just an okay film. I wish it had been scarier (or at least as scary as) then first film. I wasn’t so impressed here, but it could’ve always been worse *cough*The Grudge*cough*.
:thumbsup:
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I went out on April 1st and saw my most anticipated movie of 2005, “SIN CITY”. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller co-direct, with special guest director Quentin Tarantino. The movie has an all star cast including Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl, Rosario Dawson, Michael Madsen, Michael Clarke Duncan, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Carla Gugino, Alexis Bledel, Devon Aoki, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Josh Hartnett, and Marley Shelton.
The film is based on three of Frank Miller’s graphic novels, “The Hard Good Bye”, “The Big Fat Kill”, and “That Yellow Bastard”, which all take place in the fictional Basin City. The first scene of the film, with Hartnett and Shelton, is from the Sin City short-story "The Customer is Always Right" from the "Babe Wore Red" collection.
“The Hard Goodbye” follows tough guy, Marv (Rourke), as he has been framed for the murder of Goldie (King), a woman he had just met, and already felt a great connection with. Running from the cops, Marv battles his way through everyone in order to find Goldie’s killer.
“The Big Fat Kill” revolves around Dwight (Owen), who is in love with Shelley (Murphy), but spends the night defending Gail (Dawson) and the other Old Town Girls (Aoki, Bledel, and others) from Jackie Boy (Del Toro).
“That Yellow Bastard” begins with Hartigan (Willis), a cop, trying to save little Nancy Callahan, from child molesting murderer Junior (Stahl). Eight years later, Nancy (Alba) is now a stripper at a shady Sin City club. Hartigan has just been released from prison, and Junior is back, oddly disfigured now, trying to finish what he had started eight years earlier.
I haven’t read any of the graphic novels, so I might not have been anticipating this film as long as some of the fans of the books, but since I heard the buzz about this during the San Diego Comic Convention last year, I just couldn’t wait. Now that I’ve seen it, I can say that it was definitely worth it. It’s been highly hyped by a lot of internet sites, and I think it definitely lived up to that hype.
I wasn’t familiar with the stories before seeing the film, so it was all new to me. I thought the stories were great and I loved how each intertwined. It was very Pulp Fiction-esque in that manner. “That Yellow Bastard” was probably my favorite of the three stories shown.
Visually, this is one of the best films I’ve ever seen. The entire movie was shot using “digital backlot”, where all of the acting was shot in front of a green screen, and the backgrounds added in during post-production. (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow also used this technique. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’d like to see how the visuals compare)
Mickey Rourke was amazing and at his best as Marv. It’s great to see him back in action and kicking ass again. He’s definitely unforgettable in this movie.
Bruce Willis has always been one of my favorite actors. He’s excellent in this film and played his part of John Hartigan perfectly.
Clive Owen as Dwight was great as well. I’ve been a fan of his since the very under-rated, in my opinion, “King Arthur”.
Jessica Alba did a good job as Nancy. A memorable role, her best yet. (Beats the shit out of “Honey”).
Benicio Del Toro was perfect as Jack “Jackie Boy” Rafferty. He provided some very good comic relief. Great stuff. He’s always been cool, and he’s cooler in Sin City than any other film he’s been in.
Nick Stahl was on the ball and brilliant as Junior/Yellow Bastard. He’s been a great actor in many films over the past few years, and he just keeps on rollin’.
Elijah Wood plays Kevin, and was very creepy in doing so. Actually, the character was pretty cool, and he did a good job.
Rosario Dawson walks around half naked throughout the film as Gail, and does it well. She does a pretty good job. At first she seemed a little over the top, but fell into the grove of the film quickly.
Brittany Murphy was the only one who I thought was completely over acting it a bit. She has kind of a small role, so she’s not around all that much. Just an okay performance.
I won’t ramble on about the rest of the performances, because there are so many, but the rest of the cast was amazing in all of the parts as well.
The dialogue at times may have seemed a little too comic-bookish, but it was ripped directly from the pages of Millers graphic novels, so I for one, liked it. I read a lot of other comic books growing up, so I’m kind of used to it. It worked perfectly on screen.
Director Robert Rodriguez, with the help of Miller and Tarantino, did an amazing job bring the graphic novels to the big screen. This film is not just an adaptation of the stories; it’s the complete stories, as written and drawn by Frank Miller, brought to movement. I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen the Spy Kids trilogy, and I probably never will. Those aren’t my types of movies, but I loved the Mariachi trilogy that he put together. I think he’s a great director, and has just given us his greatest piece of work yet. Brilliant man, FUCKING BRILLIANT!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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I watched “Closer” on DVD. Mike Nichols directed Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman in this dangerous, but very well done, love story.
Dan (Law), a British writer of obituaries, and Alice (Portman), a young American stripper, meet when a cab runs her down. A year later, Dan and Alice are now a couple, but he is suddenly smitten with Anna (Roberts), a beautiful American photographer. In an ironic twist of fate, Anna meets Larry (Owen), a British doctor, and they are soon a couple, despite Dan's continuing obsession. But the entanglements don't end there, and ultimately, someone is sure to get hurt.
I’m not surprised at how good this film really is. It looked great from the first time I saw the trailer. This is a powerful and witty story of love and seduction at its wildest. The dialogue is very strong and very, very, graphic in terms of sex. Once scene in particular when Larry is chatting on the net, is so disturbingly graphic, but very amusing at the same time. What the film doesn’t shown in the physical act of sex, it makes up the intense description of it.
These four actors and actresses give, what I feel, is the performances of their careers.
Portman was definitely deserving of her Golden Globe win, and probably got robbed at the Oscars (I say “probably” because I have not seen “The Aviator”…yet). This was her best and boldest performance yet, by far.
Clive Owen was brilliant; as he has been in the last few films I’ve seen him in (Sin City and King Arthur). He too deserved his Golden Globe win.
Sean Penn said at the Oscars this year that Jude Law is one of our finest actors. He was proved right by Law in “Closer”. Law has been great in many films, and he was flawless in this one.
Roberts is excellent as Anna. She is captivating in a role that is far from what she is used to playing.
Mike Nichols is a fantastic director, who does a wonderful job on this film. Very well done.
The only slightly negative thing I have to say about this film is that it jumps through time rather quickly, which can be a tad hard to follow. The lines of the film makes up for that, explaining the leap, but it just seemed a little weird for me. Other than that, this is a great piece of work.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Vanessa Carlton: Live in Nashville
Well...this is a little different than usual. I received my copy of Dustin's (zurielshimon) VCD the other day.
Vanessa sounded amazing, as always, playing Papa, San Francisco, Ordinary Day, Swindler, White Houses, Afterglow, Morning Sting, Private Radio, C'est La Vie, Wanted, She Floats, Rinse, Half a Week Before Winter, A Thousand Miles, and Twilight for the encore.
Dustin seemed to have great positioning, up close at the edge of the stage (it even looked as if he put the camera down on the stage at one point).
She sat at the piano the entire concert, only getting up to switch piano for C’est La Vie. The crowd seemed very into everything she had to say and sang along with her as well. They weren’t too rowdy at all.
The before and after show segments were cool too. We got to see her sign some autographs and chat with fans, and even got to see part of her sound check.
I’m sure it was even better live, but it was great to see the video. Good job Dustin.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I saw “The Amityville Horror” (2005) over the weekend. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Melissa George, and Philip Baker Hall.
George Lutz (Reynolds) and new wife Kathy (George) move into a house with their three children. Before the move, the two were told what had happened a year earlier in the house; a young man went a tad berserk and killed 6 members of him family. The man claims to have been possessed and was told to kill his family. Well, shortly after the Lutz family moves in, strange things begin to happen.
I think this film was not only better than the original 1979 version, but scarier as well. Finally someone decided to actually make a horror movie RATED R. This film was gorier than horror film I’ve seen lately, showing a lot of people getting blown away, fingers being shoved into bullet wounds, and even a torture sequence.
I liked how this film explained more about what happened on this property before the murder took place. The original film, if I remember correctly, didn’t explain much about Ketchem, which I think is key to understanding what is going on. Kudos for being a bit more explanatory.
Reynolds steals this movie, and does it brilliantly. This movie (along with Blade Trinity) is a step in a different direction for him. He’s usually in comedies (which is great because he’s a very funny guy), but he takes this change perfectly. He even looked a lot like James Brolin (who played the part in the original). He took this character to a whole new level that Brolin didn’t do in the original (then again, the writing of the script had a lot to do with that).
Melissa George was good in her part as well. I haven’t seen many of her other films, but she’s a good actress with a promising future in the business.
Hall isn’t in the film that much; about three scenes and that’s it. This is what’s different from the original. The priest played more of a role in the ’79 version than he did in this one.
Overall I was pleased with this film. Some good scares, I love the gore, and Reynolds kicked all sorts of ass here.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I watched “Hotel Rwanda” last weekend, starring Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte, and Joaquin Phoenix and is directed by Terry George.
In 1994 in Rwanda, a million members of the Tutsi tribe were killed by members of the Hutu tribe in a massacre that took place while the world looked away. "Hotel Rwanda" is not the story of that massacre. It is the story of a hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle) who saved the lives of 1,200 people by being, essentially, a very good hotel manager. Paul is kind of man who knows how things work in the real world, who uses his skills of bribery, flattery, apology and deception to save these lives who have come into his care. There is a United Nations "presence" in Rwanda, represented by Col. Oliver (Nolte). He sees what is going on, but when he asks for intervention, he is ignored. This is when Paul works his “magic” (so to speak), and gives a very powerful speech to the people, “There will be no rescue, no intervention for us. We can only save ourselves. Many of you know influential people abroad, you must call these people. You must tell them what will happen to us... say goodbye. But when you say goodbye, say it as if you are reaching through the phone and holding their hand. Let them know that if they let go of that hand, you will die. We must shame them into sending help.”
This is an excellent movie, which handled the subject matter perfectly. I really don’t know how true the movie stays to what actually happened in 1994. I did read one person, who says he/she was there at the time, go as far as saying that this movie is “Laughable”. I’d love to spit in that person’s face, because this movie is a fine piece of filmmaking, that is based on a very touchy subject. If it was a little off from what actually happened, I wouldn’t bash this movie at all.
Cheadle gives us his greatest performance yet. He was nominated for an Oscar and rightfully so. He probably could have won it if “Ray” didn’t come out the same year (in my opinion, Foxx deserved the win by a very small margin).
Okonedo was also up for an Oscar for her role as Paul’s wife. I still don’t know much about her as I haven’t seen her past films/TV shows, but she is a fine actress and does a wonderful job in this film.
Nolte was great in his part. He’s always been a great actor, which has kind of been over shadowed by his personal problems. This was probably one of his best acting jobs of the past few years.
Phoenix wasn’t in the film as much as I thought he was supposed to be. He was on the money with this part though. Another great performance.
Overall, “Hotel Rwanda” is a great movie with excellent acting and directing. When I was a senior in high school, they had us watch “Schindler’s List”, which most people know about. The subject matter, although slightly different, is very much the same as well. This is another movie I feel school’s should show their students.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I try to make it habit now over the years to see at least one film at the Tribeca Film Festival. Last year I saw three. This year I was able to catch the New York premiere of one, and it was a great one. The theater was sold out, and we even got to see a few stars in the house, Ed Burns with wife Christy Turlington, supermodel Claudia Schiffer and director Mathew Vaughn and lead star of the film Daniel Craig.
“Layer Cake” is the directorial debut of producer Vaughn (who will be directing X-Men 3, and has produced some great British films like “Snatch” and “Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels”). The film stars Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, George Harris, Kenneth Cranham, Sienna Miller, and a whole bunch of other British actors that I’ve never heard of.
"Layer Cake" is about a successful cocaine dealer (Craig) who has earned a respected place among England's Mafia elite and plans an early retirement from the business. However, big boss Jimmy Price (Cranham) hands down a tough assignment: find Charlotte Ryder, the missing rich princess daughter of Jimmy's old pal Edward, a powerful construction business player and gossip papers socialite. Complicating matters are two million pounds' worth of Grade A ecstasy, a brutal neo-Nazi sect and a whole series of double crossings. The title refers to the levels the dealer has to go through as he painstakingly plots his own escape. What is revealed is a modern underworld where the rules have changed. There are no 'codes', or 'families' and respect lasts as long as a line. Not knowing who he can trust, he has to use all his savvy and telling skills which make him one of the best, to escape his own. The ultimate last job, a love interest called Tammy (Miller) and an international drugs ring, threaten to draw him back into the 'cake mix'. But, time is running out and the penalty will endure a lifetime.
I’m glad this is the one film I was able to catch this year. It was the perfect choice. Vaughn is no stranger to these types of British gangster films. He did an excellent job directing this film, and not making it all about big explosions and cool special f/x. There is a cool foot chase scene in the film that didn’t need anything but great camera work to make it. There is a lot of witty comedy in this film as well. The audience ate it up and loved every second of this film.
Daniel Craig as the lead was amazing. He was very cool as the protagonist in the film. The few films I’ve seen him in (Road to Perdition, Tomb Raider) he played the role of the antagonist. He’s a really good actor, who’ll hopefully play more leading roles (can you say, Bond, James Bond).
Colm Meaney was also very good in his role, as was George Harris as Morty. Harris’ character was probably my second favorite after Craig’s.
Overall, excellent directing, brilliant acting, and a great story.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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I watched “Finding Neverland” starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Radha Mitchell and Freddie Highmore. The film is directed by Marc Forster.
Well known playwright J.M. Barrie (Depp) finds his career at a crossroads when his latest play flops and doubters question his future. Then by chances he meets Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Winslet), a widow, and her four adventurous boys. Together they form a friendship that ignites the imagination needed to produce Barrie’s greatest work, Peter Pan.
This is just an excellent movie all around. The story is amazing, the acting is beyond spectacular, and the directing is brilliant. The film is a compressed version of a play by Alan Knee. I haven’t seen the play so I don’t know all of the differences, but I can say that writer David Magee made one hell of a screenplay out of it.
Depp was up for his second Oscar nominated lead actor role for the second year in a row, and rightfully so. The man is amazing and has more amazing films coming up this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets nominated again next year (third times a charm maybe). The guy can play any role handed to him and play it better than anyone else.
Winslet has become one of my favorite actresses. She was nominated for leading actress at this years Oscars, but for Eternal Sunshine…I say she could’ve been up for both films. A great performance by Winslet, again. I honestly don’t think she has failed yet.
Christie was good as the cranky old mother of Winslet’s character. She’s plays the character well enough to hate her. If that makes sense.
Mitchell and Hoffman have small roles, but both due good jobs as well.
Freddie Highmore, who plays Peter Llewelyn Davies, is very talented. This is the first film I’ve seen him in, although he hasn’t really done much as he’s still quite young. In one particular scene, in which he is upset, he shows his talents. He owns that scene and many others. He’ll be starring again with Depp later this year in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as Charlie. He’s very talented and should have a bright future ahead of him.
This is definitely one of the best films that came out in 2004. Check it out if you haven’t.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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I also watched “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” after reading Joey’s (Jophess) review. He didn’t like it so much giving it a 1/10. I’ve been criticized by many when I told them that I hadn’t seen it. Criticize me no more damn it.
The film is directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones and stars Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Gilliam, and Jones.
The movie starts out with Arthur (Chapman), King of the Britons, looking for knights to sit with him at Camelot. He finds many knights including Sir Galahad the Pure (Palin), Sir Lancelot the Brave (Cleese), the quiet Sir Bedevere (Jones), and Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot (Idle). The knights are then summoned by God (voiced by Chapman), and sent on a quest to find the Holy Grail. The film then follows the knights individually and as group, as they encounter the Knights who say Ni, the killer rabbit, the extraordinarily rude Frenchman, the Bridge of Death over the Gorge of Eternal Peril, the Black Beast of Aarrgghh, the three-headed knight, as well as Arthur’s classic run in with the Black Knight (Cleese).
All of the main actors play more than one role. It doesn’t get confusing because at times, you can’t even realize it. The film is utter silliness. That’s all. There is really no clear point to the film, and if you’re looking for one, don’t bother watching it. If you like ridiculous comedy, then this is the perfect film.
All of the actors do good jobs in all roles. I probably didn’t laugh as much as I was expecting to, but there is still a lot of humor in this film. I guess I was a little disappointed though. I’ve heard such great things about Holy Grail, and it didn’t live up to my expectations. It was pretty good, just not great.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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Monday afternoon I went to see “Kung Fu Hustle”. The film is directed by and stars Stephen Chow, and also stars Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, Kwok Kuen Chan, and Siu Lung Leung.
Amid the chaos of pre-revolutionary China, small time thief, Sing (Chow), aspires to become a member of the sophisticated and ruthless Axe Gang whose underworld activities overshadow the city. Stumbling across a crowded apartment complex aptly known as “Pig Sty Alley”, run by Landlord (Wah Yuen) and Landlady (Qui Yuen), Sing attempts to extort money from one of the ordinary locals, but the neighbors are not what they appear. Sing’s comical attempts at intimidation inadvertently attract the Axe Gang into the fray, setting off a chain of events that brings the two disparate worlds face-to-face. As the inhabitants of the Pig Sty fight for their lives, the ensuing clash of kung fu titans unearths some legendary martial arts Masters. Sing, despite his futile attempts, lacks the soul of a killer, and must face his own mortality in order to discover the true nature of the kung fu master.
Not only is this one of the most action packed films of 2005, so far, it is the funniest film of the year so far. I went into this film expecting something spectacular and that’s what I got out of it. The CGI makes the action sequences what they are. A lot of people don’t like the use of CGI in films, but Chow uses it the right way, and makes one hell of a kick ass flick.
Chow is pretty good in this film acting-wise. I’m curious to check out his other stuff (namely Shaolin Soccer).
Qiu Yuen, an actress, who according to IMDB.com has only been in one other film, The Man with the Golden Gun back in 1974, was excellent. Probably my favorite character in the film. She was hilarious.
The rest of the cast was great as well. They all provided a lot of laughs and a lot of great action sequences.
Excellent film. Even if you don’t like reading subtitles (I used to hate it, and I know a lot of people who still can’t stand it), I’d recommend this film.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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I watched "XXX" starring Vin Diesel, Samuel L. Jackson, Asia Argento, and Marton Csokas.
Xander "XXX" Cage (Diesel), the notorious underground thrill seeker who until now has been deemed untouchable by the law, is tapped by NSA Agent Gibbons (Jackson) and forced to cooperate with the government to infiltrate an underground Russian crime ring, run by Yorgi (Csokas), in order to avoid prison. Betting XXX can succeed where other conventional spies have failed. Gibbons sends him to enter this world of crime,
undetected, using his natural athletic prowess and a whole lot of attitude. Enlisted for a dangerous covert mission, he must combat a clever, organized, and ruthless enemy far beyond the scope of his experience.
I first saw this film back in 2002 when it hit theaters and recently picked up the unrated/uncensored directors cut DVD. Although there were differences between the two, I honestly didn't recognize any of them. I do remember liking the film back in '02, and that didn't change at all with this newer version. Director Rob Cohen (also directed Diesel in "The Fast and the Furious") does an excellent job bringing us some excellent action sequences.
Diesel is the kind of actor that people either say, “he sucks” or “he’s fucking cool”. I think he’s one of the coolest fucking actors around today. Sure, I don’t think he’s the best actor in the world, but the guy is good at his job. I’d say he’s at his second coolest here (second to the excellent performance in “Pitch Black”).
Jackson is also one of those extra cool actors. He doesn’t even come close to his coolness in “Pulp Fiction”, but he does an all right job in this film.
Argento is hot. And she’s Italian. An Italian chick with a Russian accent? I don’t know…I didn’t buy it. However, she’s a decent actress and other than the off accent, she was good in the film.
Overall, this is a really good action packed movie, with a good cast, and good directing.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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I had a free ticket to see “XXX: State of the Union”, so I used it. The only two returning cast members from the first film are Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Roof, who has a bit of a larger role in this film. New to the cast are Ice Cube, Willem Dafoe, Scott Speedman, and Xzibit.
NSA Agent Augustus Gibbons (Jackson), fresh off the success of his last renegade recruitment, once again finds himself in need of an outsider. Gibbons and his new agent, Darius Stone (Cube), must track a dangerous military splinter group, led by Secretary of Defense George Deckert (Dafoe) that is conspiring to overthrow the U.S. Government in the nation's capital.
It’s a good thing that I didn’t have high hopes for this film. Although it’s not the worst film I’ve seen so far this year (that honor still belongs to “Cursed”), it’s not nearly at good as the first film. A lot of the action sequences were cool, but all of that couldn’t make up for most of the cheesy dialogue, and even the cheap title.
Jackson did his thing; just not as good as he usually does it.
I find Ice Cube to be a decent actor from time to time. He was just okay in this film. With better writing, he probably would have been really good. He was just fed all these crap lines.
Dafoe is one of those actors that plays the antagonist really well. Definitely not his greatest performance, but not his worst either.
On the back of my free ticket, it was written that the value of the ticket is 1/100th of a cent. I guess the film was worth a bit more than that, but I probably wouldn’t want to pay damn near $10 to see it again. Wait for rental, or even better, HBO.
:thumbsup: for the action :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: for the writing
A very generous 5/10.
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I saw “Kingdom of Heaven” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Orlando Bloom, Liam Neeson, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, Edward Norton, Marton Csokas, Ghassan Massoud, David Thewlis and Brendan Gleeson.
Balian (Bloom) is a blacksmith who has lost his family and nearly lost his faith. Destiny comes seeking him in the form of a great knight, Godfrey of Ibelin (Neeson), a Crusader briefly home to France from fighting in the East. Revealing himself as Balian’s father, Godfrey shows him the true meaning of knighthood and takes him on a journey across continents to the fabled Holy City. In Jerusalem at that moment -- between the Second and Third Crusades -- a fragile peace prevails, through the efforts of its enlightened Christian king, Baldwin IV (Norton), aided by his advisor Tiberias (Irons), and the military restraint of the legendary Muslim leader Saladin (Massoud). But Baldwin’s days are numbered, and strains of fanaticism, greed, and jealousy among the Crusaders threaten to shatter the truce. King Baldwin’s vision of peace -- a “kingdom of heaven” -- is shared by a handful of knights, including Godfrey of Ibelin, who swear to uphold it with their lives and honor. As Godfrey passes his sword to his son, he also passes on that sacred oath: to protect the helpless, safeguard the peace, and work toward harmony between religions and cultures, so that a kingdom of heaven can flourish on earth. Balian takes the sword and steps into history. The religious wars raging in the far-off Holy Land seemed remote to him, yet he is pulled into that immense drama. Amid the pageantry and intrigues of medieval Jerusalem he falls in love, grows into a leader, and ultimately uses all his courage and skill to defend the city against staggering odds.
I’ve always been a fan of big epic films, and that fanaticism will continue on as long as epics like this one keep getting made. Director Ridley Scott knows how to make a great epic, after all he gave us the excellent “Gladiator” a few years back, and he does a really great job with this one. The battle scenes are definitely something to look at. What’s even better than the action sequences is the plot and acting. I don’t remember seeing many films that take place during the crusades, but it’s definitely an interesting time period. The film depicts the battle between the Christians and Muslims over control of Jerusalem. It’s a great story, and Scott does an excellent job bringing it to the screen.
I wasn’t so sure about Bloom as the lead before seeing the film. And even still, I’m not so convinced that he’s ready to carry an entire film, however, I feel he gives one of his best performances yet as Balian. In time, I’m sure he’ll get better, but I was actually surprised and please with his acting in this film.
Liam Neeson is a great actor and is excellent in this film. I’d say he’s the best character of this film, but he’ll have to settle for second best.
Norton as King Baldwin IV, I feel, was the best character and actor. Norton is one of my favorite actors of all time. This was on odd role for him, unlike anything he’s ever done. He wears a mask throughout the entire film to hide his disfigured face, due to leprosy. I read another review comparing Norton’s voice and gestures in this film to that of the great Marlon Brando. I’d have to agree a little on that, and I liked it.
Eva Green, as Princess Sybilla the love interest, was decent in the film. She hasn’t done a lot of films, but she didn’t show any signs of inexperience whatsoever.
Jeremy Irons and David Thewlis are great in their roles as well. Brendan Gleeson seems to have played the same part here as he did in “Troy”, but he did it well. Ghassan Massoud as Saladin, the Muslim leader, was also really good. The only actor I had a problem with was Marton Csokas. He plays heir to the throne of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, Sybilla’s husband. He’s got the look of a good antagonist; I just don’t think he’s all that great of an actor.
With films like this, Scott has become one of my favorite directors. The visual style of this film is amazing, the story is wonderful, the acting for the most part excellent. This film is no “Gladiator”, but it’s still a great film.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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I watched the 1976 version of “Assault on Precinct 13”. The film is directed by John Carpenter and stars Austin Stoker, Darwin Joston, Tony Burton, Charles Cyphers and Laurie Zimmer.
Lt. Ethan Bishop (Stoker) has been assigned to watch over Precinct 9 Division 13 (that kind of conflicts with the title of the movie), on it’s last night of operation. The precinct has moved, and this location will be shut down the next day. On this particular night though, the precinct ends up seeing a lot of action. A bus carrying three prisoners shows up, and Starker (Cyphers), the man in charge of transporting the prisoners, request to hold the prisoners here until a doctor could be found to treat one who is sick. Bishop aggress and locks the three up. Meanwhile, on the streets of L.A., the Street Thunder gang is out to raise hell. When they kill a young girl, her father reacts but killing one of the gang members. The rest of the gang chases the man, who ends up at the soon-to-be-closed police station. As Bishop tries to get answers from the man, outside, all of the members of Street Thunder gather around and start shooting up the station. Bishop has no choice but to let the prisoners out of the cells in order to help fend off the assault.
For only his second feature film, and on a relatively low budget, Carpenter gives us one hell of a tense ride in this film. The gang is huge, but we only see four members up close. The scenes where the gang is attacking was shot mostly from within the police station with the gang far off in the distance, hiding in the shadows and trees across the street. This gives kind of a creepy feel to the film. Later on, when the gang is climbing through doors and windows, we still don’t get a good look at any faces. Carpenters directing was excellent. He also wrote the screenplay, which for the most part had great dialog setting up really good interaction between the cast. The “Potato” scene between prisoners Wilson (Joston) and Wells (Burton) adds humor to the film. It was a very weird scene, but then again, Wells was unlucky at coin flipping.
Austin Stoker was great as the hero cop. The only other film of his I’ve seen is “Roots”, but I can’t say I remember his performance. He was excellent in “Assault…” though. Darwin Joston was also good. It took awhile to get used to him, but his character of Napoleon Wilson turned out to be the best one in the film. Tony Burton was good too and Laurie Zimmer acted tougher than she looked, but she wasn’t too bad at it.
This is definitely one of Carpenters better films (maybe my third favorite behind No.1 “Halloween” and No. 2 “The Thing”). Carpenter has said that this is his “Rio Bravo” (the 1959 western starring John Wayne), which I’m planning on seeing soon. “Assault on Precinct 13” is a really good film, although I’m still baffled at why the film is titled that way when it’s Precinct 9 that is under attack. :wink:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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After watching the original, I check out the 2005 version of “Assault on Precinct 13”. The film stars Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Byrne, Maria Bello, Drea De Matteo, Brian Dennehy, Ja Rule, John Leguizamo, and Aisha Hinds.
Precinct 13 is scheduled to close forever at midnight. Burnt-out desk sergeant Jake Roenick (Hawke), still traumatized by the death of two partners, is on the graveyard shift with secretary Iris (de Matteo), and old-timer Jasper O'Shea (Dennehy), who in a revelation fraught with omens, announces he will soon retire. It’s New Years Eve, and the three expect it to be a quiet night where they can celebrate. Then everything changes. An mobster named Bishop (Fishburne) has been arrested and is being transported by police bus with some other detainees, including the motor mouth Beck (Leguizamo), a crew-cut girl crook (Hinds) and a counterfeiter named Smiley (Ja Rule). It's stormy night, the highway is blocked by an accident, and so the officers on the bus decide to dump the prisoners at Precinct 13. Once the prisoners are in the cells, things outside get a whole lot worse when a band of people begin their assault on Precinct 13. Jake and Jasper think its Bishops men who are there to break him out, but the forces turn out to be the exact opposite. Under manned and under-armed, Jake releases the prisoners in order to aid the cops against the assault.
The basic premise of this film is the same as the 1976 version; however there are some noticeable changes; the story, the setting, the bad guys and even a little twist near the end that I didn’t see coming. None of these changes hurt the film. The original was great and this one was equally as great, if not a tad bit better.
Hawke gives a solid performance as the burnt out cop, who over comes his own demands to take charge of the situation. Fishburne is as cool as ever as mobster Bishop. He does a great job in this film. Byrne seemed a little flat to me. He didn’t really do much but order his men around. Dennehy was pretty good in his role. De Matteo was all right, but nothing spectacular, and the same goes for Bello. Leguizamo’s character annoyed the hell out of me, and both Ja Rule and Hinds did nothing to show they’re acting skills.
Hawke and Fishburne’s acting, cool action sequences, along with great directing by Jean-François Richet make this film just as good as the original.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Renny Harlin brings us the psychological thriller “Mindhunters” starring Val Kilmer, Christian Slater, LL Cool J, Eion Bailey, Johnny Lee Miller, Clifton Collins Jr., Kathryn Morris, Will Kemp and Patricia Velasquez.
Seven FBI profiler trainees are sent to a remote island by their oddball superior (Kilmer) to complete their training. Once there, they learn that a mock case has been engineered for them and that they have to catch a simulated wacko named “The Puppeteer”. Things go way batty when it turns out that there’s a bona fide serial killer in their midst and that he/she is getting off on messing with their melons and taking them out in inventive ways.
I love psychological thrillers. Maybe that’s the psycho killer lurking deep down inside of me (relax, I’m really kind of a nice guy), but I’ve always been a fan of these types of films. “Mindhunters” is a film I had been waiting to see since I first heard about it over a year ago. It kept getting delayed for some reason, eventually premiered at some festivals in 2004, and finally hit theaters in 2005.
The film was well worth the wait. I had a lot of fun, trying to figure the movie out, figure out who was mindfucking who. Writer Wayne Kramer did a good job with the screenplay as I couldn’t figure out who was the killer. Every time I thought it was one person, another one seemed kind of suspicious. Excellent writing, for the most part, by Kramer. He had me guessing until the very end.
There are some pretty sweet kills in the movie as well. We get a headshot, arrows in the neck, nasty acid burns, a dude mounted on hooks, a decapitated head, a mangled arm and face, hung cats, and a really cool death by nitrogen.
Out of the 10 main cast members, I’ve heard of most of them, but, with the exception of Kilmer, Slater, and LL, the cast is relatively unknown. It is those unknowns, though, who carry this film all the way to the end. Kilmer is barely in the film, almost making more of a cameo appearance, but he plays his small part well. Slater is a decent actor, having some great films in the past, and does a good job in his appearance in the film.
LL Cool J is Gabe, not one of the FBI trainees, but is a Philadelphia cop who is along as an observer. He is, and his nickname states, a cool guy and a good actor as well. He’s really good in this film, however he’s fed the two most cheesiest lines in the film. "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe...who’s the next motherfucker to go?" and “Now we know his weakness…bullets.” Although if anyone could pull off Eenie, meenie, minie, moe…it’s LL.
Englishman Johnny Lee Miller, as trainee Lucas Harper, seemed to struggle with a southern accent, however the dude is a pretty good actor and I like him in this role. Kathryn Morris plays Sara Moore, the nervous one of the bunch. She pulls it off really well, but I had to get used to her. As the film went on, I think she got stronger in her role. She started off slow, but ended up doing a fine job. Clifton Collins Jr. is Vince Sherman, the crippled profiler in training. Yep, that’s right, he’s in a wheelchair the entire movie. How long could he last…pretty long actually. Collins’ character was probably one of my favorites in the film and he did a wonderful job at it.
The only character I liked more was that of Bobby Whitman, played by Eion Bailey. Bailey, who I only recognize from his small role in “Fight Club”, was excellently cast in this film. Will Kemp as Rafe Perry and Patricia Velasquez as Nicole Willis, were both all right in their parts. Kemp added some humorous lines to the film, but the both of them were kind of below average in their acting, in particular Velasquez.
Harlin’s directing was very good and I don’t have many complaints about anything he did with movie. The one thing that got to me, and this is probably more of Kramer’s doing since he wrote the film, is that one of the characters near the end acts extremely suspicious, and for no apparent reason. I wont tell you who, but I personally was disappointed because I was actually rooting for him to be the bad guy. Oh well. The movie is still great, and had me thinking the whole way through it.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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“Mystery Men” stars Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Geoffrey Rush, Greg Kinnear, Kel Mitchell, Paul Reubens and Wes Studi.
When Captain Amazing (Kinnear), Champion City’s legendary superhero, falls into the hands of the evil madman, Casanova Frankenstein (Rush) and his disco-dancing henchmen, there’s suddenly a chance for the aspiring superheroes to show what they can do. A ragtag team of wannabes featuring, Mr. Furious (Stiller), whose power comes from his boundless rage; The Shoveler (Macy), a father who shovels “better than anyone”; The Blue Raja (Azaria), a fork-flinging mama’s boy; The Bowler (Garofalo), who fights crime with the help of her fathers skull; The Spleen (Rubens), whose power is pure flatulence; Invisible Boy (Mitchell), who’s only invisible when nobody is looking; and The Sphinx (Studi), a cliché spewing philosopher, join together to bring down Casanova and save Captain Amazing.
I was a little disappointed with this film. I was expecting something a bit funnier, although Macy, Studi and Garofalo delivered a lot of laughs. The movie is based on the Dark Horse comic book series by Bob Burden, and is basically a spoof on all other comic books. The film offers originality and some pretty cool f/x.
Stiller could have been a lot funnier. Very disappointing. Azaria is normally a funny guy, but lacked in that department for the most part. Oscar winner Rush was out of place in this film. He’s a great actor but he should have never been cast in this film. Totally the wrong actor for the part. Macy was great. He’s an excellent actor and he worked well with the comedy. Garofalo was also great in this film, and perfectly cast. One of the oddest choices I though for the film was Wes Studi, however he was great, delivering some of the funniest clichéd lines in the movie.
This was just an okay film, with lack of humor. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 6/10
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So I’m gearing up to go see “Revenge of the Sith”, so I started with “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace”.
The “first” in the series stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson and Ray Park.
As imminent conflict brews between the powerful Trade Federation and the peaceful planet of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) travel to Naboo to warn Queen Amidala (Portman) of the galactic fallout which is to follow. Eventually, Naboo is invaded forcing the Jedis to evacuate the planet with the Queen and her court. They travel to the desert planet of Tatooine where they meet a slave boy, Anakin Skywalker (Lloyd), who is evidently one with the Force. Anakin eventually joins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and in the process attracts the attention of one of Queen Amidala's handmaidens with a dramatic secret. They reach Coruscant, but endless and pointless debate within the Republic's Senate leave them no choice but to strike out on their own to liberate Naboo, a task made all the more difficult because a traitor within Coruscant has at his command a dissident Dark Jedi warrior, Darth Maul (Park), who seeks the death of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.
This is probably only the second, maybe the third, time I’ve seen this film. I remember the fist time I saw it though, comparing it to the “original” three and thinking that it wasn’t nearly as good as those one. After viewing “The Phantom Menace” again, it still isn’t as good as the originals, however it is a decent film with a lot of great action, cool scenes and sets and really good acting. The film is full of very cool CGI cities, in particular the underwater city, Otoh Gunga, along with a lot of cool CGI characters, like Sebulba and Watto. The majority of the characters in the film are likeable, except for the Gungans, specifically Jar-Jar Binks. Jar-Jar and the other Gungans were extremely annoying throughout the film mainly because you can’t understand 90% of the stuff they’re saying. The mostly CGI pod race was pretty cool to see as well.
The best, but not-so-used, character in the film was that of Darth Maul. He is one evil son-of-a-bitch, who should have been used a lot more in the film. Park was just creepy and cool in the film.
Liam Neeson has become one of my favorite actors over the last year or so. He was excellent as Qui-Gon Jin. McGregor played Obi-Wan very well. He was a good choice for the part. Portman was great as well. She has been one of my favorite actresses over the last few years, and although this isn’t her best film ever, she was flawless. Lloyd is a young kid and has a lot of time to grow as an actor. He was good, but he also kind of annoyed me from once in awhile throughout the film.
Overall, the story was decent, but not as good as any of the previous three films and most of the acting was pretty good.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones” stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee and Temuera Morrison.
It’s ten years after the events of “The Phantom Menace” and Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) has grown into an accomplished Jedi apprentice of Obi-Wan (McGregor). Together they must protect Senator Amidala (Portman) from a militant group of political activists, led by former Jedi, Count Dooku (Lee), that is trying to assassinate her. Among other troubles, Anakin faces some hard choices as he begins to fall for Padme, knowing this love is forbidden by the Jedi knights' creed. In addition, Anakin begins to show his rebellious attraction to the dark side.
This is the first time I’ve watched this film from start to finish, as where I had only caught parts of it on HBO once in awhile. The overall look of the film was as good as “The Phantom Menace”, mainly because the brought back some of the same settings (Coruscant, Naboo and Tatooine), but also took us to new worlds like Kamino and Geonosis.
The f/x filled chase scene in the beginning of the film was very cool. In fact, all of the action sequences were pretty cool. The battle scene in the coliseum-type arena was excellently done, and the fight scene between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett (Morrison). Jango Fett (father of Boba Fett from the original Star Wars films) is the cool kick-ass bad guy in this film (as Darth Mail was in Episode I).
C3PO has a bigger part in the film than in “Menace” and adds a lot of great humor to it. I liked the bringing back of Watto briefly. He was a great CGI character in the first film. I could’ve done without Jar-Jar Binks, however his role was, thank the Lord, a hell of a lot smaller this time around.
The whole love angle between Anakin and Amidala was kind of boring and too drawn out at first. The dialogue that the two spit out at each other was very cliché for the most part, and I didn’t like it. The film is nearly 2 hours 20 minutes long; it probably would’ve come in just under two hours if Lucas had shortened some of these segments. The two rolling around in the field was stupid, in my opinion.
Oh, and what is Amidala’s secret? She didn’t age a bit. It’s 10 years later; Anakin grew up, and yet she stayed the same. Even Obi-Wan grew a friggen beard atleast to show some aging. Not a big deal I guess, just an observation. Portman is still hot.
McGregor was excellent in the film, and showed a lot of growth in the Obi-Wan character. I wasn’t big on Christensen’s performance at first. He eventually played the part well, in particular when he begins to show his minor turns toward the dark side. Portman did just as good a job here as she did in “Menace”, only have showing more action skills, and showing more skin as well. Jackson is an all around “Bad Motherfucker”. He’s got a bigger role in this film than the last, and does a good job, but it’s weird seeing him in this type of film. Good job nonetheless. Morrison does a great job as Jango Fett, and Lee, who is great at playing villains, is exceptional as well.
All right. So my overall take on the film is this; excellent action sequences, boring love story (probably due to the clichéd dialogue), very good acting and great directing. Until now, I couldn’t decided if I liked it more than “The Phantom Menace” or not. The answer to that is yes, but by a small margin.
I have a feeling that once I got see “Revenge of the Sith” this weekend that “Menace” and “Clones” will be my least favorite out of all six films. But hell, they both still got eights.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” stars Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ian McDiarmid.
After three, the Clone Wars are nearly at an end. The Jedi Council dispatches Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) to bring General Grievous, the deadly leader of the Separatist droid army, to justice. Meanwhile, back on Coruscant, Chancellor Palpatine (McDiarmid) has grown in power. His sweeping political changes transform the war-weary Republic into the mighty Galactic Empire. Anakin (Christensen) has grown a lot closer to Palpatine, who reveals a huge secret to him. Anakin, who has been having nightmares about his pregnant wife Amidala (Portman), has a decision to make based on what Palpatine has told him. He has been leaning closer and closer to the dark side since before the Clone Wars began, and Palpatine encourages him to embrace it.
Lucas kicks this film into high gear right away with an awesome galactic space battle, in which Obi-Wan and Anakin are piloting fighter crafts, staging a daring two-man raid to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from Count Dooku and General Grievous. This was a very cool way to open the film.
The special f/x in “Sith” are just as good as they were in “Menace” and “Clones”, however, this film has the best and coolest new planet; volcanic Mustafar. Excellent CGI make this lava filled planet awesome, and the final battle scene which takes place here is probably the best since Luke vs. Vader.
McGregor does another excellent job in this one. He delivers some very emotional dialogue near the end and does it well.
I felt the Christensen was stronger in this film than in “Clones”. He acted the evil part very well.
Sammy Jackson is the man, and was great once again this film. Perfect performance.
And now…the disappointment. Ms. Portman. What the hell happened? This was definitely her worst performance in all three recent Star Wars films. I almost felt bad for her as she delivered her lines. And maybe the dialogue is to blame, but I just didn’t like her performance in this one.
All of the dialogue between Portman and Christensen just didn’t work for me. I didn’t get any chemistry between the two. Lucas had this same writing problem, I feel, in “Clones”. Maybe he just can’t write romance. But hey, that’s just my feelings. A lot of people thought that it wasn’t all that bad. Aside from these scenes, the majority of the writing was just fine.
I was hoping for more Chewbacca in the film as well. We didn’t get enough of him. However, the lack of Jar-Jar Binks was great. No dialogue in this one for him. Kudos to Lucas for that.
So the best part of the film for me? Sure, the action sequences were some of the best of the recent three films, but the best part was the overall transformation of Anakin into Vader. The six films are finally all tied in, and it was amazing to see this come together.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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“Seven” (Se7en) stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow and is directed by David Fincher.
Detective Somerset (Freeman) is set to retire in one week. Detective Mills (Pitt) has just requested to be transferred into the same district, which puzzles Somerset, as he can’t wait to get out of there. The two are called to a scene where an obese man lays dead, his face in a bowl of spaghetti. The detectives soon notice that the large man’s hands and feet have been bound together, and that there are bruises on the back of his head. The two have a homicide on their hands, and not just any homicide. When another body is found, with the word “Greed” written in blood on the floor, Somerset goes back to where they found the fat man and discovers the word “Gluttony” written in grease behind the refrigerator. The killer is using the Seven Deadly Sins to carry out these murders, and they are some of the most gruesome murders these detectives have ever dealt with. As the case builds to a startling conclusion, both Somerset and Mills become more involved than they ever could have imagined.
Writer Andrew Kevin Walker wrote one hell of a screenplay and David Fincher does a great job with it. Fincher has been one of my favorite directors since this film came out back in 1995. He’s a phenomenal director.
The story is different; pretty damn original I’d say. The way the film was shot was brilliant. Very dark sets help set the tone of it. We don’t meet “John Doe” on screen until ¾ of the way through the film. There’s a chase scene in which Mills is running after him, but we don’t get a clear view of who the killer is. We also never see him committing the murders, a very good technique because we get to see how vicious the killer is, without actually seeing him in action.
Morgan Freeman is an excellent actor and is awesome as Det. Somerset. His character is very wise, informed and poetic. Freeman is awesome in this movie.
Pitt also gives a solid performance as Det. Mills. Mills is kind of naive, and Pitt portrays that perfectly.
Paltrow has a small role, but is very good in her part as Tracy, Mills’ wife.
“John Doe” (since the person playing the part was not top billed in the film, I wont spoil it for those who haven’t seen the movie), but an excellent performance by this person.
The directing, the story, and the acting are all flawless. I’d say that this is Fincher’s best film, but then he went and made “Fight Club”.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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NOTE: While writing this review, I found it very hard not to reveal too much, but I think I did a good job.
“Crash” has an all-star cast consisting of Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Ryan Phillippe, Shaun Toub, Michael Pena, Jennifer Esposito, Terrence Dashon Howard, Thandie Newton, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Bahar Soomekh, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Larenz Tate, and rounding out the cast were appearances by Tony Danza, Keith David, Loretta Devine, and William Fichtner. The film is written and directed by Paul Haggis.
Detective Graham Waters (Cheadle) and his partner Ria (Esposito) get into a car accident en route to investigate a murder scene in a canyon overlooking Los Angeles. As Ria gets out and gets into a pretty racial argument with the Asian women who hit her car, Cheadle goes to inspect the murder scene. When Waters notices something, we’re taken back 24 hours to the previous day. We are introduced to many different people. There’s Peter (Tate) and Anthony (Ludacris), two young African-American young men. Anthony does not hide the fact that he feels he’s surrounded by a slew of racists. They then proceed to carjack the SUV of District Attorney Rick (Fraser) and his uptight wife Jean (Bullock). At home, Jean voices her suspicions regarding the honesty of the Hispanic locksmith, Daniel (Pena) who returns home to his young daughter upset and frustrated. He finds his daughter hiding under the bed, so to calm her fears; he creates an invisible cloak that will forever protect her from harm. Meanwhile, back on the streets, a veteran cop, Sgt. Ryan (Dillon) and his young partner Officer Hanson (Phillippe), pull over an SUV, although it turns out not to be the stolen one. It belongs to African-American TV director Cameron (Howard) and his wife Christine (Newton). Although Hanson notices that this is not the right SUV, Ryan pulls his authority and ends up physically harassing Christine, as Cameron is basically helpless. Farhad (Toub), an Iranian store owner, and his daughter Dorri (Soomekh) visit a gun shop for a purchase. The owner of the gun shop becomes restless when Dorri speaks Iranian to her father to explain about the gun. Farhad leaves the store angry, Dorri pays for the gun and a box of bullets and leaves. Later, Daniel is called to Farhad’s store to fix a broken lock to the back door. When Daniel tells him that the lock was replaced but it’s the door that’s causing the problem, Farhad accuses him of lying. After another heated racial argument, Daniel tears up the bill and leaves. When the store is broken into over night and terribly vandalized, Farhad automatically thinks it was Daniel who did it. We also learn that Graham and Ria are romantically involved, but Graham has issues with his junkie mother and his missing brother.
Aside from all this racial tension, we later learn there is a lot more to these people then all this pent up aggression. Sgt. Ryan has his own personal issues as he tries to take care of his elderly, ailing father. Jean feels alone, and neglected by her work-a-holic husband. Daniel is quite the family man, trying to keep his daughter feeling happy and safe.
In some of the most jaw-dropping scenes I have ever seen in a film, we watch as each character learns a little bit more about life in general and about the people they meet.
Wonderfully written and directed by Haggis, this is the best film of 2005 so far. It’s a very powerful story, and will probably make most people think. Sure, it won’t make everyone in this world a better person, but it is likely to move those who do see it. And I suggest you do.
The cast is beyond amazing. Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, Shaun Toub, Michael Pena and Terrence Dashon Howard own this film. Dillon gives his greatest performance ever. Cheadle once again proves why he was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year. Magnificent. Toub was phenomenal in what could be his star-making role. His on screen presence was only made better in the scenes in which he was with Pena. Pena was excellent in his role as the two share the most jaw-dropping scene of the film. Howard was amazing as well in his part, and he too, has one of the more nerve-racking scenes in the film.
Esposito was great in her role, as well as Newton, who at one point I felt was a little over the top in a scene, but turned around and blew me away in her next scene. Ludacris was surprising in his first film role. He had most of the humorous lines/scenes in the film and handled it well. Tate did a fine job as well. Phillippe had one of his better parts in a film ever too. Very good performance. Bullock and Fraser took sort of the back seat in this film. In what few scenes he had, Fraser was good. It would have been nice to see his role a little more. Bullock, as well, was good in what is a different type of role than she’s used to. Good job, but again, it would have been nice to see her have some more screen time.
This is just an all around brilliant film. Excellently written, top-notch performances by all, especially Matt Dillon. (http://www.comicshopplus.com/Documentation/forum/smileys/smiley32.gif)
I’d love to see a lot of nominations for this film at next years Oscars.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” stars Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, and Adam Brody. Doug Liman directs the film.
John Smith (Pitt) and his wife Jane have been married for 5 (or is it 6?) years, but the flame has burnt out and now the two attend counseling. Their problems though are about to get a lot worse than either ever expected. They’re both hiding something from each other…they’re both highly paid, incredibly efficient assassins, and they work for competing organizations. When the two are sent to kill the same target, they cross paths and are now assigned to kill each other.
This is what the summer movie season is all about. Fun...fun…fun popcorn flicks. The screenplay was written by Simon Kinberg for as his master's thesis at Columbia University. Gee…I wonder if he passed. The script and story were very good with very little flaws to them. Kinberg also wrote the crap XXX: State of the Union screenplay, but he definitely redeemed himself with this one. The script was full of well written action sequences, along with great dialogue, a lot of which being very funny stuff.
Doug Liman knows how to direct great action. He gave us the very good “Bourne Identity” a few years ago. Very good direction by Liman. I hope he continues to make great action flicks like this one.
Pitt nearly seems like an expert when it comes to wittiness (he’s proven this in the past with his roles in “Ocean’s 11” and “Ocean’s 12”). He was perfect for this role and played it excellently. Jolie as well. Great casting…I’m glad Nicole Kidman couldn’t do it (Kidman is highly overrated, I think, and wouldn’t have looked as good doing these action sequences). Jolie worked perfectly. The two had a lot of fun with this film and shared excellent chemistry. Chemistry can make or break a film, and in this case, it helped make this film as good as it is. Vince Vaughn, as Eddie, another assassin who works with John, was hilarious as he always is. I read somewhere regarding Vaughn, that “he’s money and he knows it.” Well put, in my opinion. Adam Brody, as Ben Diaz, adds some humor to the film. His role is rather small, but he pulls it off.
The writing, directing, the acting…all great. I’ll admit that I was a tad dissatisfied how the film ended, but it is left open for a sequel I guess. If that sequel happens I’ll be in the theater opening night as I was with this one. I reiterate…This is what the summer movie season is all about. Fun...fun…FUN popcorn flicks.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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“Batman Begins” stars Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, and Ken Watanabe.
As a child, Bruce Wayne watched his parents get murdered. As a young adult, Wayne (Bale), misses a long awaited opportunity to get revenge on his parent’s killer. Years later, we find that Wayne has been imprisoned in Asia. There he is visited by Henri Ducard (Neeson), who then takes him to meet and train with Ra’s Al-Ghul (Watanabe), a dangerous, but honorable ninja cult leader. What Wayne wants to learn it the means to fight injustice, but what he finds is that this cult takes justice into their own hands, something he can not agree with. Wayne fights his way out, and returns to his now decaying Gotham City, which is overrun by organized crime and other dangerous individuals manipulating the system. He goes back to Wayne Industries, now run by Earle (Hauer), and meets Lucius Fox (Freeman), once a board member but now assigned to the technical gadgets Wayne Industries created. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, along with a prototype armored suit, leads him to assume a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who corrupted Gotham City. He becomes Batman. In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon (Oldman) and childhood friend turned Assistant DA Rachel Dawes (Holmes), Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as mob boss Falcone (Wilkinson), the twisted Dr. Jonathan Crane (Murphy), and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne.
“Batman Begins” stands alone from the previous four Batman films. The story of who killed Wayne’s parents is completely different than that of 1989s Batman. You don’t need to have seen any of those to see “Begins”. This film shows us more in depth as to how and why Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. It’s always cool to see the “birth” of a character (for example, the birth of Darth Vader in SW Ep. 3 was awesome).
Chris Nolan does a kick-ass directing job on this film and he also wrote one hell of a screenplay along with David S. Goyer. This was an amazing story.
Christian Bale is the best Batman since Michael Keaton. He was the perfect choice to play the role. Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth was an excellent choice as well. Caine is a great actor and added a lot of humor and logic with his delivery of lines. Holmes surprised me as she did a decent job as the love interest. Gary Oldman rules. He was very good as Gordon. Murphy was creepy as Dr. Crane/The Scarecrow. I though he looked a tad young when wearing the glasses, however the guy can act and he can act well. Very good job. Wilkinson as mob boss Falcone was great as well. This guy should get more villainous roles. Freeman is a great actor, and continued his greatness here. Sure it’s not an Oscar winning performance, but the man knows how to act. Hauer is a cool actor as well, playing the asshole part very well. Watanabe wasn’t on screen long enough to actually show is acting ability (although he’s done that already with The Last Samurai). Good enough though I guess.
Minor issues: The voice change when Wayne is Batman. Kind of annoying and distracting (although I guess it helps to hide his true identity). Murphy looked extremely young with glasses. It looked weird at first. Not enough screen time for Watanabe. The fight sequences, although really cool, could have been shot from further away. Couldn’t tell who was hitting who.
Those notes aside, the film was a lot better than the last two Batman films, but pretty much as good as the first two (Batman and Batman returns were the two best of the previous four).
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Director Tony Scott’s “Man on Fire” stars Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Christopher Walken, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell, Mickey Rourke and Giancarlo Giannini.
In Mexico City, former CIA assassin and present alcoholic John Creasy (Washington) is hired by the industrialist Samuel Ramos (Anthony) and wife Lisa (Mitchell), with the recommendation of Creasy’s old friend Rayburn (Walken), to be the bodyguard of their young daughter Pita (Fanning). Pita changes the behavior of the cold Creasy, making him live and smile again, and he feels a great affection for her. When the criminals kidnap Pita and Creasy is nearly killed, he swears to get back at each person responsible for the abduction.
Revenge movies are great, and this is one of the best ones I’ve seen in a while. For some reason or another, I missed this when it was in theaters a year ago. I wish I hadn’t.
Tony Scott’s style of filmmaking is visually amazing. Scott brings a unique visual style, complete with quick cuts, freeze frames, grainy shots, and just an overall stylistic assault on your senses. He makes the images almost dreamlike, and uses this throughout the film, usually at moments of high intensity. I think each technique works very well. (Looks like he used these techniques again for his next film, “Domino”.)
The film is based on the novel by A.J. Quinnell and was written by Brian Helgeland. I’ve never read the book (not much of a reader), but Helgeland wrote one hell of a screenplay. If the film stays true to the book, than I’d say Quinnell is a very good writer. The story was great. I loved every piece of it; from the building of a relationship between Creasy and Pita, to her eventual kidnapping and especially to whoop-ass the Creasy deals out to all the bad guys.
I’d say that this is Washington’s finest piece of acting work. Even more so than his Oscar winning performance in “Training Day.” Excellent job in this film.
I predict that Dakota Fanning will win an Oscar sometime in the not-so-distant future. This kid can act. She’s been put in films with some of the best actors around, and she handles herself well working with them. She could possibly be the best actress under the age 20.
Christopher Walken toned it down for this role. He’s not at all as eccentric as he’s used to being in most films, which is good because he’s character, Rayburn, doesn’t need to be. This guy is brilliant in all of his films (except for one).
Mitchell has been good in most films I’ve seen her in, but I think this may have been her best performance yet.
Rourke is a cool actor, would have been better to see him have more screen time. He did his small role justice though. Anthony was just okay. I haven’t been a fan of his acting abilities, or lack-there-of.
Personally, I saw no flaws in this film. It came out around the same time as two other “revenge” films, “The Punisher” and “Kill Bill Volume 2”, both of which I liked. However, “Man on Fire” was the better of the three, and easily one of the best movies from 2004.
“Revenge is a meal best served cold.” – John Creasy
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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“War of the Worlds” (2005) stars Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, and Tim Robbins, while Steven Spielberg directed.
Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a working class man living in New Jersey. He’s not exactly winning any Father-of-the-Year awards, but he’s got his son Robbie (Chatwin) and daughter Rachel (Fanning) for the weekend wile his ex-wife heads to Boston with her new man toy. Not too long after they arrive, a strange lightning storm touches down. Moments later, at an intersection near his house, Ray witnesses an extraordinary event that will change all their lives forever. A towering three-legged war machine emerges from deep beneath the earth and, before anyone can react, incinerates everything in sight. An ordinary day has suddenly become the most extraordinary event of their lifetimes - a catastrophic alien attack on Earth. Ray scrambles to get his children away from this merciless new enemy, embarking on a journey that will take them across the ravaged countryside, where they become caught in the desperate tide of refugees fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of Tripods.
Spielberg never ceases to amaze me. He’s been a huge inspiration for me and was a big part of my choice to study film in college. He does another excellent directing job with this film. The man has created some of the best science fiction movies (E.T., Close Encounters, A.I., Minority Report), and continues his sci-fi greatness with “War of the Worlds.”
On to Tom Cruise. This guy needs to shut the hell up and just do his job. He does his job well most of the time, this being one of them. He was in top form in this film. I said it in my last review, and I’ll said it again, Dakota Fanning will win an Oscar sometime soon. Very good actress, excellent here. Chatwin seemed a little to whiny at first, but fell into the role fine. Tim Robbins plays Ogilvy, a survivor hiding out in his basement, ready to fight off the aliens. Ogilvy is kind of nuts, and seems like he feels invincible. Robbins plays the role perfectly.
With a film like this, you need to suspend your reality…open your mind. If you do, you’ll enjoy it.
Is this Spielberg’s best film? No, but it is very good and very entertaining. It’s a darker alien film that both E.T and Close Encounters were. Those were friendly aliens…these one are not. This is also not the best film of the year, but it’s just what summer movies should be made of.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“The Machinist” stars Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michael Ironside and is directed by Brad Anderson.
Trevor Reznik (Bale) hasn’t slept in a year. The shocking deterioration of his physical and mental health has made his every day life an unrelenting state of confusion, paranoia, guilt, anxiety, and terror. His only solace from this living nightmare comes from an affectionate prostitute, Stevie (Leigh). When cryptic notes turn up mysteriously in his apartment and when hallucinations of a co-worker that no one else sees causes a gruesome machine shop injury, he embarks on a journey to find out whether there is an elaborate plot to drive him mad or hit fatigue has simply robbed him of reason. The more he learns the less he wants to know.
Holy crap! Talk about dedication to the art of acting. Bale supposedly lost 60 pounds to play this role, dropping down to 120lbs. The fact the he looks so frail is actually kind of disturbing and nearly distracting while watching the film. Don’t let it distract you though because this is one hell of a great film, and you won’t want to miss a second of it. The script is well written by Scott Kosar and brilliantly directed by Anderson.
Reznik is by far one of Bale’s greatest roles in his career. The fact that he lost all this weight isn’t the reason why. Sure, it’s got a bit to do with his dedication, but Bale is a terrific actor. The dude could have probably tripled his weight and still give an amazing performance. Anyway, excellent performance.
Jennifer Jason Leigh does a good job in her role as well and Michael Ironside showed that he could do more as an actor than just playing tough, mean son-of-a-bitch roles. Kudos to Mr. Ironside.
So with an excellent scrip, great directing and pretty flawless acting all around, this film is just an amazing piece of work and another one of the better films to come out of 2004.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Wes Anderson directs Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Kate Blanchett, Angelica Huston, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”
Internationally famous oceanographer Steve Zissou (Murray) and his crew--Team Zissou--set sail on an expedition to hunt down the mysterious, elusive, possibly non-existent Jaguar Shark that killed Zissou's partner during the documentary filming of their latest adventure. They are joined on their voyage by a young airline co-pilot who may or may not be Zissou's son, Ned Plimpton (Wilson), a beautiful journalist, Jane Winslett-Richardson (Blanchett) assigned to write a profile of Zissou, and Zissou's estranged wife and co-producer, Eleanor (Houston). They face overwhelming complications including pirates, kidnapping, and bankruptcy.
I’m a little behind on Wes Anderson’s films. So far he’s directed four feature films, and I’ve seen just this one. I will be catching up on his films now and as long as they’re as good as this one, I’m sure I’ll enjoy them.
“Life Aquatic” wasn’t as funny as I had thought it was going to be, but it’s very quirky…in a good way. It’s also pretty dramatic, more so than I was expecting; there is one scene in particular that I did not see coming. I was pretty amused by Seu Jorge, who played shipmate Pelé dos Santos, who basically sat around the entire movie singing David Bowie songs in Portuguese. I love to see random, weird shit like that in movies.
The animated sea creatures throughout the film were kind of distracting mainly because of how fake they looked. The animated shark I didn’t mind all that much though because that specific scene was just emotionally great.
Murray played the part of Zissou well. There were moments were he seemed too emotionless, but there were certain scenes that he was just great in. Murray worked well with Wilson, who also does a pretty good job in the film. Blanchett continues to prove how great of an actress she is. Very good job. I was surprised with Dafoe as he was so funny. I’ve always thought he was a good actor, usually played the bad dude, but he was absolutely hilarious in this one. It would have been nicer to see Goldblum get more screen time. He, too, was very funny and played his part nearly flawless. Huston was just okay, but any middle aged actress could’ve played the role.
So all-in-all, the film was not as funny as I thought it would be, but I really liked the dramatic spots of it. It seemed to have started off kind of slow, but it picked up along the way. There’s a scene near the end that I felt didn’t really need to be there. The events that took place during this scene didn’t necessarily have to actually take place. I thought the very end of the film was great, though.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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Johnny Depp, Freddie Highmore, David Kelly, Helena Bonham Carter, Noah Taylor, Missi Pyle and a whole bunch of new kids on the block star in Tim Burton’s version of the classic book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Charlie Bucket (Highmore) comes from a poor family, and spends most of his time dreaming about the chocolate that he loves but usually can't afford. Things change when Willy Wonka (Depp), head of the very popular Wonka Chocolate empire, announces a contest in which five golden tickets have been hidden in chocolate bars and sent throughout the world. The kids who find the tickets will be taken on a tour of Wonka's chocolate factory and get a special glimpse of the wonders within. Charlie miraculously finds the final ticket, and along with Violet Beauregarde (Annasophia Robb), Veruca Salt (Julia Winter), Mike Teavee (Jordan Fry), and Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz) gets to tour the factory. Each child is allowed to bring one adult along with them, and Charlie chooses his grandfather, Joe (Kelly), who used to work for Wonka 20 years ago. The tour of the factory will hold more than a few surprises for this group of rowdy little kids, though.
I loved the 1971 version starring Gene Wilder, but I think this one was slightly better. I’ve never been much of a reader, so I’ve never read the book, but I’ve heard that this latest version of the film stays truer to the book.
You can tell the differences story-wise between the two films. I liked the flashbacks into Wonka’s childhood. It helped to explain why he is such a sad person. The film also focuses more on Charlie, as it should. The entire story was very well told.
Depp was phenomenal as Wonka. He was the perfect choice for the role and no other actor today would’ve been able to pull it off as excellently as Depp did. Freddie Highmore is quite the young actor. The kid hasn’t done much, but his two major films have already been with the great Johnny Depp. Highmore was an excellent casting choice. David Kelly was great as Grandpa Joe. For an old guy he sure was energetic and very charismatic.
Overall this was an excellent film. Burton and Depp deliver again. It’s been out for awhile now, so if you haven’t seen it yet, try and catch it before it leaves theaters.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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Michael Bay’s latest film, “The Island” stars Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi, and Michael Clarke Duncan.
Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid 21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island" - reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones. Lincoln makes a daring escape with a beautiful fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson). Relentlessly pursued by the forces of the sinister institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.
I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a pretty big fan of Michael Bay’s films (minus Bad Boys II which I have yet to see). Sure, he may not make the greatest films every, but the majority of his work is fun-filled action. There are the explosions and chase scenes, all which are extremely well done, but the film is character driven as well. This may be his most dramatic piece of work yet.
McGregor is normally a great actor, and this performance is no exception. Excellent job carrying most of this film. Johansson plays the naïve part very well, and looks hotter than ever while doing it. She’s very talented, and although I don’t think this was her best job, she was good enough. Does Sean Bean ever play a good guy? Yes. But the guy plays the villainous more often than not and does it better than most. I’m putting him at the top of my “favorite actors who play villains” list, right behind Gary Oldman and John Malkovich. I find Hounsou to be a very cool actor and he adds his coolness to this film. Well done. There’s nothing better than having Steve Buscemi in a movie. He could be playing a rock and own every scene the rock is in. He’s the shit. Duncan isn’t in the film for long, but my God, he’s got one of the most disturbing, yet very emotional, scenes in the film.
Excellent cast + great directing + fun action sequences + drama + a splash of humor + Steve Buscemi = :thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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Steve Carell has the break-through performance of the year in the Judd Apatow directed “The 40 Year Old Virgin. The film also stars Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks.
40-year-old Andy Stitzer (Carell) has done quite a few things in his life. He's got a cushy job stamping invoices at an electronics superstore, a nice apartment with a proud collection of action figures and comic books, and a great attitude. But there's just one little thing he hasn't quite gotten around to doing yet. The guy has yet to have sex. Well, for Andy's buds at the store, Dave (Rudd), Jay (Malco) and Cal (Rogen) it sure is. Although they think he's a bit of an oddball, there's certainly a plateful of stranger (and homelier) guys who've at least had one go at having a go. They consider it their duty to help Andy out of his dire situation and go to great lengths to help him. But nothing proves effective enough to lure their friend out of lifelong chastity until he meets Trish (Keener), a 40-year-old mother of three. Andy's friends are psyched by the possibility that "it" may finally happen...until they hear that Andy and Trish have begun their relationship based on a mutual no-sex policy.
So far this is definitely the funniest film of the year, and I really don’t think anything coming out over the next few months will be able to top it. Virgin had everyone in the theater laughing nearly the entire two hours. There is a lot of crude sexual humor, but the film is very smart and pretty damn charming as well.
This is Judd Apatow’s feature film directorial debut; however he’s no stranger to comedy as he’s directed and written for TV shows “Freaks and Geeks” and “The Larry Sanders Show”. Carell and Apatow co-wrote the screenplay and did a magnificent job. Although Andy doesn’t have many (or really any) friends to begin with, the film turns into an excellent buddy comedy.
Carell is hilarious in the lead. He doesn’t seem like lead actor material just yet but the guy is perfect. He practically stole scenes in “Bruce Almighty” and “Anchorman” and continues his comedic excellence in this film. Rudd, Malco, and Rogan are all great and perfectly cast as the friends. Each character has their own relationship problems but never cease to stop helping Andy out. They’re all very funny actors and worked well with Carell. Keener was good as Trish, the love interest of Andy, however I’ve seen better from her. At times she seemed a little bland, but the chemistry between her and Carell was there for the most part. Banks as the kinky sex crazed Beth was decent, as she too, worked very well on screen with Carell.
Excellent acting, directing, writing all make for the funniest film of the year.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Rob Schneider reprises his role as the male gigolo in “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo”. Eddie Griffin also returns as T.J. Hicks, pimp of the male gigolos, and Hanna Verboom joins the cast as Eva.
After a situation with elderly blind people and dolphins goes a little south, Deuce (Schneider) gets a call from old pal T.J. (Griffin) and decides to take up an offer to head to Amsterdam. Accompanied by the prosthetic leg of his recently deceased bride (she was eaten by a shark on their honeymoon), Deuce shows up in Europe only to find that a mysterious killer is knocking off the city's man-whores. When T.J. is implicated, Deuce is forced to go undercover and search for the killer on his own, hoping to clear his friend's name. He suspects the killer is a woman, and so he has a string of flawed dates--a woman with a penis for a nose, one with massive ears, and a hunchback, among others. Along the way Deuce makes each freakish date feel special, and falls for the niece, Eva (Verboom), of the detective assigned to the case. Everything comes to a head at the 73rd annual Man Whore Awards, where Deuce proves his mettle and things fall together in surprising ways.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the first film, but I know I liked it. I don’t think it was as raunchy as the sequel though. There is a lot of nasty humor in this one, maybe a little too much. Besides sex and excrement, the film also seeks laughs in racial stereotypes, physical handicaps, mental illness, dwarf tossing and every naughty word in the dictionary. I laughed here and there, felt a tad sick at some points (for example, the french fries scene…that was just nasty).
Schneider is generally a funny guy, but I hope he decides to call it quits with the character of Deuce Bigalow. I doubt a third film will be any better. Griffin was decent and added to the some of the funny parts, but damn the french fries scene. I’ve never heard of Verboom, but I’m sure she’ll get more roles in the future. She’s nice to look at and wasn’t half bad in the film.
If you can wait for this to show up on cable, please do.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 6/10
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Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, and Skye McCole Bartusiak star in “Boogyman”.
Though Tim Jensen (Watson) is a successful magazine editor with a beautiful girlfriend, his childhood continues to haunt him. When he was only eight years old, Tim watched his father get taken by the Boogeyman, or at least that's how he remembers it. Of course, no one believed him then--not even his mother, who has just recently passed away. Wracked with guilt for not having been there to say goodbye, Tim decides to spend the night in his childhood home and confront the Boogeyman once and for all. But before that happens, he reunites with his old friend Kate (Deschanel) and meets a young girl Franny (Bartusiak) who is holding onto a dark secret of her own.
This should be a rather short review.
And here I thought “Cursed” was going to be the worst horror film of the year. The horror films lately have been relying on startling the audience with cheap visual tricks and audio cues in lieu of actual terror, and that is no different with this film. There was no real horror in the movie. Not even the Boogeyman, when we get to see him, is that scary. I felt gypped. Watson’s acting was pretty bad, Deschanel was okay, and Bartusiak was creepy, as child actors in horror films tend to be. I think I liked the film better when it was called “Darkness Falls”, and even that one sucked.
:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: 2/10
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“The Skeleton Key” stars Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, John Hurt and Peter Sarsgaard.
Caroline (Hudson) is a twenty-five-year-old hospice worker who cares for the ailing and the elderly, a job designed to atone for her own mistake for ignoring her dying father in the past, when she had been a rock 'n' roll roadie. After her latest charge passes away, Caroline takes a job in Louisiana, caring for Ben (Hurt), a stroke-victim who is bed-ridden and cannot speak. But Caroline becomes suspicious of the house, and Ben's cold wife, Violet (Rowlands) only adds to the creepy atmosphere. After acquiring a skeleton key to the home, Caroline makes her way into a secret room within the attic where she discovers hair, blood, bones, spells, and other instruments for practicing voodoo. Violet says she has never been in the secret room, but that the items probably belonged to the original owners, two house workers, who practiced black magic and were lynched as a result. Noting that Ben had his stroke in the attic after entering the room, Caroline is determined to unlock the secrets of the house, and rescue Ben from the horrors that hold him captive within.
It’s been a good long time since I’ve seen a movie dealing with voodoo and/or hoodoo. I’m sure there are more out there, but I don’t think I’ve seen one this good since “Angel Heart”. I wouldn’t deem “The Skeleton Key” as horror though; it was more of a suspense movie. It had its jumpy moments, but I think the film relied more on the mystery side of the plot. It may not be the most original film of the year, but it’s well crafted and should keep you wondering throughout.
Hudson was great in her jump into this newer genre than what she’s used to. I think she pulled the part of very well, not to mention the fact the she looked great too. Rowlands was very efficient and excellently creepy in her role. John Hurt didn’t have many lines, but my God, the expressions on his face showed the fear his character had and told the story they were supposed to tell. I thought he was brilliant. Sarsgaard is a great actor and continues to prove it in each role. His part here is a tad small, but important to the story and the man did a great job.
Overall, I was surprised by this film. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but I’m glad I saw it.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, and Jun Kunimura star in the Japanese horror film “Audition”, directed by Takashi Miike.
Aoyama (Ishibashi) is a single father who has not dated since his wife died seven years earlier. To help find another woman to bring joy into Aoyama's charm-less life, his best friend, television producer Yoshikawa (Kunimura), convinces Aoyama that they should add a fake part to a show they are auditioning actresses for--a role that will become Aoyama's real-life companion. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Asami Yamazaki (Shiina), a striking young woman with ballet training. On the day of the audition, she's the last person they see. Aoyama is hooked. He notes her number from her file, calls her and takes her to dinner. He hesitates to call again; worried that he'll seem too eager. When he does, Asami knowingly lets the phone ring for some time before answering. She's alone in her darkened room - alone, that is, apart from the large sack on the floor…
This film runs just under 2 hours, and for the first hour and a half or so, you wouldn’t think that you’re watching a horror movie. It starts off building the relationship of the two main characters and does so very well. There’s a hint that something isn’t right though, but it’s not until the final fifteen minutes that you know. The entire film leads up to one of the most disturbing climaxes in film history. It’s no wonder why the film ranked #11 on Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Director Takashi Miike puts together one hell of a good film with a really convincing cast. Ishibashi was very likeable as the easy-going and loving father in search of the right woman. Shiina was not only gorgeous, but her low-key state contributed her role’s mystery. During the final scene, when her character’s true colors are show, her performance is so frightening, but so perfect. “Kiri kiri kiri kiri…” Chilling.
If you like horror, this film is for you. If you’ve got a weak stomach, watch this film with caution.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Wes Craven directed “Red Eye”, which stars Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox and Jayma Mays.
After attending the funeral of her grandmother in Dallas, Lisa Reisert must take the red eye flight back to Miami to make it to work the next day. Lisa soon meets Jackson Ripner and their attraction grows. But moments after take-off, Jackson reveals to Lisa her father's wallet that he swiped off his desk and his real reason for being on board. Jackson needs Lisa's help in order to kill the deputy secretary of Homeland Security who's scheduled to stay at the Lux Atlantic Hotel; the hotel that Lisa works at. If she refuses to help, Jackson will call his partner on the ground and have her father killed. At 30,000 feet, Lisa has no where to run and no time for rash judgment.
Craven redeems himself big time for the crap that was “Cursed” from earlier in the year. Craven does with an airplane what Joel Schumacher did with a phone booth; he puts together one very good tense roller coaster ride of a thriller. The movie runs just under 90 minutes and doesn’t really need to be any longer. It did was it was supposed to do in a sufficient amount of time.
McAdams continues prove herself as a rising star in Hollywood. She was a guy in “The Hot Chick”, a megabitch in “Mean Girls”, hopelessly in love in “The Notebook”, and is the damsel in distress in this one. She knows how to pick the right roles (okay, so “The Hot Chick” is questionable, but it was her first major film), and I’m sure she’ll pick the one to get her an Oscar nod eventually.
Murphy is extremely charming, but flips the switch so quickly and easily. He’s the perfect villain because he looks so innocent. He proved this earlier in the year with his role in “Batman Begins”. I’m sure he’ll continue to take on these types of roles in future films. Excellence.
Brian Cox does fine with his small but essential part as Lisa's father, while newbie, Jayma Mays adds a bit of frenzied comedy as the night manager of the Miami hotel, trying to keep things together until Lisa returns.
Kudos Mr. Craven. Leave shit like “Cursed” behind and continue making thrillers like this one.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, John Franklin, and Courtney Gains star in “Children of the Corn”. The film is directing debut of Fritz Kiersch.
Burt (Horton) and Vicky (Hamilton), a young couple on a cross-country trip stop in a small Nebraska community and make a shocking discovery. One day, three years prior to their arrival, led by Isaac (Franklin) and Malachai (Gains) the town's children killed all of the grown-ups at the apparent behest of a demon simply dubbed "He Who Walks Behind the Rows."
When I was a child, I remember not being able to watch this film. It scared the crap out of me. Now I just realized it was Courtney Gains. The dude is scary looking.
The premise of the film is pretty damn good, and it’s “scary” to a certain extent, but this isn’t really all that great. This is mainly because of the dialogue that the actors were spewing out. The movie is based on a short story originally written by Stephen King, but he’s not to blame. Blame George Goldsmith who wrote the screenplay. It’s just…um…well, CORNY!
Kiersch does a decent directing job, but it could have been so much better. The creepy factor is there with close ups on weapons and use of shadows. The fight scene near the end needed to more violent. What’s with the slapping? Come on…he tied your woman up on a crucifix made of corn…beat the shit out of him.
Horton and Hamilton are probably the best part about this film. They acted through it well and their chemistry was perfect. John Franklin has got one messed up voice, which actually worked for his evil role, but it got quite annoying. Gains, again…one ugly mofo.
Rent it if you like horror/slasher flicks, otherwise catch it on cable.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 5/10
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Terry Gilliam directs Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Lena Headey, Monica Bellucci, Jonathan Pryce, and Peter Stormare in “The Brothers Grimm”.
Will (Damon) and Jacob (Ledger) are famous in Germany as demon-killers. They save poor villages from frightful witches and troublemaking demons. The horrible tales villagers tell are all written down by Jacob, who is the keeper of the records. They are skillful in destroying witches and freeing villages since they have two assistants: one who works the illusions and the other who plays the aggrieved demon. They may be imposters, but the villagers are always satisfied. When Gen. Delatombe (Pryce) arrests the Grimms on suspicion that they are to blame for the disappearance of many little girls, the brother head to Marbaden to prove their innocence and find the children. Delatombe sends Cavaldi (Stormare) to watch over them and make sure they get the job done. What the brothers discover is that the forest is really enchanted and there is a creature kidnapping little girls. The curse appears to be a love enchantment for the Mirror Queen (Bellucci) in order to regain her youth. Angelika (Headley), a self-sufficient hunter, reluctantly helps the brothers navigate through the forest because she has lost two sisters to the sinister forest curse.
Gilliam has a tendency to make visual masterpieces, and although this isn’t his greatest film, it really is something to look at. Some of the images the filmmaker creates are among the most superbly bizarre of his career: horses with spider webbing in their mouths which swallow a village’s children; a small mud creature that looks like the Gingerbread Man on crack and twisted trees that shape shift into moving aggressors. I also like the incorporation of such fairy tales as "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Hansel & Gretel," and "Little Red Riding Hood", among a few others.
Damon was pretty good in this film, but he’s usually so much better. This was easily one of his more mediocre performances. Ledger, on the other hand, who I think doesn’t shine all the much in his movies, stole the show. He was excellent. Bellucci was good once she eventually hit the screen. Lena Headey did a decent job as well as Pryce. I’ve read a few reviews saying that Stormare overacted the part of Cavaldi. That may be slightly true, but I thought it worked well. Stormare is an excellent actor, who plays mostly supporting roles, and does it well.
Gilliam is a great director and overall this is a fine piece of work. Granted it wont be winning any awards, but it’s a fun movie. If you like fairy tales and fantasies, check this one out.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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Michael Keaton and Deborah Unger star in “White Noise”.
When architect Jonathan Rivers (Keaton) loses his wife in a tragic accident, he turns to a shadowy, unnerving world of Electronic Voice Phenomenon…or communication beyond the grave. As he begins to penetrate the mysteries of E.V.P, Jonathan makes a shocking discovery: once a portal to the other world is opened, there’s no telling what will come through it.
Kudos to the guy who cut the trailer together. When I first saw it a few months before the film was released, it freaked me out. In fact the whole concept of EVP freaks me out a bit, but it sounded cool and seemed like a great idea for a film. Isn’t it great how a trailer can make a film look great, only to have it become pretty disappointing.
I actually enjoyed the first half (maybe even ¾) of the film. It started out seeming like a pretty good thriller/suspense/ghost story. I wouldn’t call this a horror film. It had one “boo scare” and that was it. Jonathan spends a whole lot of this movie staring at TV monitors, playing back tapes to see if he can contact his dead wife. Once he does, the intrigue kicks into gear, but it all leads to a pretty bad ending. In fact, the ending sucked and is one of the worst I’ve seen in a long time.
Keaton is a great actor and its sad to see him not making such great films, as he followed this up with “Herbie: Linday’s Fully Loaded”…dude…you were Batman. What the hell happened? Anyway, he was decent in this film and kept my interest for a little while. Unger was okay too, but she needs to start taking on different roles. She seems to play the same character all the time.
Wait for cable.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 5/10
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“The Dancer Upstairs” stars Javier Bardem, Juan Diego Botto, and Laura Morante. The film marks the directorial debut of actor John Malkovich.
A revolution has started, and the local police have been assigned to figure out who is leading it and what exactly the revolutionaries want. Agustin Rejas (Bardem) is the detective leading the investigation. However, with the military involved and corrupt government officials making Rejas's job especially difficult, he faces constant frustrations. The leader of the revolution goes by the name Ezequiel, but the police cannot figure out his true identity. Even more beguiling are the increasingly violent terrorist incidents that appear to be carried out by children who swear their loyalty to Ezequiel with no explanation of why. Caught up in the middle of the revolution and Rejas's investigation are his wife, his young daughter, and his daughter's lovely ballet teacher, Yolanda (Morante). One event after the next adds to the suspense and nagging anxiety felt by Rejas, until finally, with one shocking discovery, everything becomes frighteningly clear.
Malkovich picked one hell of a script to be his first directing effort, and he made one brilliant film out of it. It’s a straight up political thriller with a hint of romance and a bit of humor in there as well. This was filmed a year before 9/11, but released afterwards, so the theme of terrorism can seem a little touchy.
Javier Bardem owns this film though. He puts on an amazing performance, Oscar worthy I’d say. He wasn’t nominated. Laura Morante also puts on a great show in the film.
I highly recommend this film. You wont regret it.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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“Dark Water” is the Japanese horror film that inspired the more recent US remake. The film stars Hitoki Kuroki and Rio Kanno and is directed by Hideo Nakata.
Yoshimi (Kuroki) is a soon-to-be single mother going through a rather nasty divorce and struggling for custody of her adorable five-year-old daughter Ikuko (Kanno). Forced to find a new job and home, Yoshimi settles for a drab concrete high-rise with long, unpopulated corridors and damp, shadowy interiors that include a patch of murky water dripping through the ceiling from the apartment above. As the building's mildewy recesses take their psychological toll on Yoshimi, Ikuko keeps stumbling upon a small, red child's handbag that belonged to a little girl named Mitsuko, who lived in the upstairs apartment and disappeared under mysterious circumstances--and seems to be exerting her ghastly influence over the mother-daughter pair in increasingly menacing ways.
“Dark Water” really isn’t all that scary. Nakata, who also directed “Ringu”, makes this film work because of the atmospheres used, the dark and skanky apartment building in particular. The locations make this film creepy, but also made me anticipate a scare that never showed up. This is a psychological horror film. It relies on sound/silence and photography to suggest terror, as opposed to imminent physical danger and sudden “boo” scares that turn out to be nothing. I felt the ending of the film was pretty disappointing. 85 minutes of decent film and then 15 minutes of “what the hell…why…but…oh come on”.
Nakata does a decent job making this a eerie film, but I wasn’t frightened. Nothing scared me. Kuroki puts on a decent performance, but Kanno, the little girl, was excellent. Is she the Dakota Fanning of Japan? Maybe.
Overall, I was hoping for something really scary, and I didn’t get it. I haven’t seen the US remake, but I will once it’s out on DVD in December. I don’t expect it to be better than the Japanese version, but I’ll have to wait and see.
:thumbsup: for creepy-ness :thumbsdown: for ending 6/10
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“The Lost Boys” is directed by Joel Schumacher and stars Jason Patric, Keifer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Jaime Gertz, Dianne Wiest, Edward Herrmann and Jamison Newlander.
Lucy Emerson (Wiest) and her two sons, Michael (Patric) and Sam (Haim), move to a small town in California. The town is plagued by bikers and some mysterious deaths. Sam makes friends with Edgar and Alan Frog (Feldman and Newlander), who claim to be vampire hunters, while Michael begins to hang out with David (Sutherland) and Star (Gertz). When Michael begins sleeping in all day and hanging out all night, Sam becomes convinced that he has become a vampire. With the help of Frog brothers, Michael and Sam are determined to find and kill the head vampire in order to undo the curse.
It has been awhile since I’ve seen this film all the way through so when the special edition DVD came out last year, I just had to get it. When I was a kid, I always remembered how much I liked the film, but just couldn’t get through it without getting a little freaked out. I’ve become a pretty big horror fan lately, and with the shit horror that Hollywood is pooping out right now, it’s great to see some of the older ones.
Schumacher’s directing is excellent. He uses a lot of lights and smoke to set the atmosphere of the film, but easily his best “trick”, was how implies the vampires flying without showing them. It’s not until the very end that we seem them take flight.
I thought the overall casting was dead on. Patrick was great as Michael. Haim was never a great actor, but he played his part well. Gertz was perfect, and looked great too. Hotness! Sutherland is one of those guys that can play the antagonist so well, and he proved that here. Excellent job. Feldman and Newlander were almost laughable in their roles, but they played the roles they should have been played. Slightly over the top at times, but it worked. Wiest played the worried mother role with no problem at all, and Herrmann put in a decent performance as well.
Overall, this is a great ‘80s vampire flick. Schumacher has made some off decisions in the last years (mainly the two Batman sequels), has directed a lot of fine work in his career, “The Lost Boys” being one of them.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Jodie Foster, Marlene Lawston, Peter Sarsgaard, Sean Bean, Kate Beahan, and Erika Christensen star in the Robert Schwentke directed “Flightplan”.
Flying at 40,000 feet from Berlin to New York, Kyle Pratt (Foster) faces every mother's worst nightmare when her young daughter Julia (Lawston) vanishes mid-flight. Already emotionally devastated by the unexpected death of her husband, Kyle desperately struggles to prove her sanity to the disbelieving flight crew and passengers, while facing the very real possibility that she may be losing her mind. Though neither Captain Rich (Bean), nor Air Marshal Carson (Sarsgaard) want to doubt the bereaved widow, all evidence indicates that her daughter was never on board, resulting in paranoia and doubt among the passengers and crew of the plane. Desperately alone, Kyle can only rely on her own wits to solve the mystery and save her daughter.
The day after a few Flight Attendant Unions tried to get everyone to boycott this film, I went out and saw it. Their complaint was that the film depicts flight attendants as rude. Well, they were right. The flight attendants in the movie did seem slightly rude. GET OVER IT! It’s a fuckin’ movie. Sit back, relax, and enjoy it. Here’s hoping they play this on all the in-flight movies. (http://forums.nessaholics.com/images/smiles/icon_mrgreen.gif)
You’d think it’d be hard to make a good film using mainly one location. Joel Schumacher did it with “Phone Booth”, and now Robert Schwentke has done it with “Flightplan”. Schwentke uses every single inch of the plane, and uses it well. Notice how I used the word “good” and not the word “great”. For the first ¾, the film keeps you guessing, but when you find out what’s going on, you may feel let down. I kind of did. There was really only two ways this film was going to end, neither of which is that great.
The cast was pretty good. Foster was strong, and does an excellent job conveying the feelings that any parent would be feeling in this type of situation. Sarsgaard never ceases to amaze me. He really is one of the better supporting actors in movies today. Another great performance. Sean Bean is another great actor, who continues to show his skills here. It’s good to see him take on more roles other than the villainous type that he is used to. Beahan and Christensen both put in decent performances as well.
I was pleasantly surprised by this film mainly due to the tense feel and very good acting. I would have like to see a more original ending though. It’s your call. I’d say definitely see it in spite of the damn Flight Attendant Unions.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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“The Forgotten” stars Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, and Anthony Edwards and is directed by Joseph Rubin.
A grieving mother, Telly Paretta (Moore), is struggling to cope with the loss of her 9-year-old son. She is stunned when her psychiatrist, Dr. Munce (Sinise) and her husband Jim (Edwards) tell her that she has created eight years of memories of a son she never had. Telly is convinced she is going mad until she meets Ash Correll (West), the father of one of the other plane crash victims. Together, they embark on a search to prove the existence of their children and reclaim their sanity.
Earlier this year when this film hit theaters, someone on a radio station spoiled the twist. Being the movie enthusiast that I am, I hate when that happens. So I knew what was coming, I just didn’t know how. Before knowing what the surprise was, “The Forgotten” sounded like a pretty decent movie with a really good premise. What we get though is just on okay movie, with an unsuspecting twist (unless of course someone tells you). I think the movie would’ve worked better as something else, I can’t tell you what without spoiling it for you.
Julianne Moore is near perfect as a mother who has lost her child. She couldn’t have played the role any better. West is also pretty good in his role. Sinise is decent in a small role and Edwards doesn’t do too much, but is okay at doing what he does. Follow that? Good.
I’d say it’s worth the rental fee, otherwise wait for cable. Not bad, but not great.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 6/10
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Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens, Billie Whitelaw and David Warner star in “The Omen”, a film directed by Richard Donner.
When Kathy Thorn (Remick) gives birth to a stillborn baby, her husband Robert (Peck) shields her from the devastating truth and substitutes an orphaned infant for their own; unaware of the child’s satanic origins. The horror begins on Damien’s (Stephens) fifth birthday when his nanny stages a dramatic suicide. The nanny is replaced by the creepy Mrs. Blaylock (Whitelaw). Soon after, photographer Keith Jennings (Warner) begins noticing strange shapes in the pictures that he has been taking. When a priest who tries to warn Robert is killed in a freakish accident, Jennings realizes that the shapes are actual signs, showing how people are going to die. When he takes a photo of himself, he notices that he is next on the list, and decides to help Robert. As the death toll rises, Robert realizes that his son is indeed the Antichrist and he must kill the boy to prevent him from fulfilling a disastrous prophecy.
“The Omen” is one creepy movie. It wasn’t as scary as I had hoped, but Stephens was extremely freaky and worked great in the film. The story is really good, and Donner does a great job directing it. There are some really cool deaths as well, in particular an awesome beheading.
Gregory Peck is, by far, one of the greatest actors of all time. He puts in a great performance here. Remick kind of annoyed me a little, but she did an okay job. Stephens is (or was) one freaky kid. Good job. It doesn’t seem like he’s done any other films since “The Omen”. Whitelaw was extra creepy in her role and Warner was pretty good as well.
Do I wish the film was scarier? Yes. However it’s still really good. Well acted and directed. A must see for any horror fan.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“Elizabethtown” stars Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon, Paul Schneider and Judy Greer, with quick appearances by Alec Baldwin and Jessica Biel. Cameron Crowe wrote and directed the film.
After causing the Oregon shoe company he works for to lose nearly a billion dollars, Drew Baylor (Bloom) is fired by Phil (Baldwin), and promptly dumped by his girlfriend, Ellen (Biel). Already on the verge of suicide, Drew learns that his father has died. As the only son, Drew must travel to their small hometown of Elizabethtown, Kentucky to attend to his father's memorial and to make sure that his dying wishes are fulfilled. On the plane, Drew meets Claire Colburn (Dunst), a quick-witted flight attendant, who helps him navigate the rough waters ahead and proves that amazing things happen when you least expect them.
Crowe delivers one hell of a great feel-good movie. The screenplay is phenomenal and his directing is top-notch. Crowe is famous for using music as a driving force in his films, and he does that again with “Elizabethtown”. The soundtrack includes great songs by Tom Petty, Elton John and Lindsey Buckingham among others. The best scene in the movie is by far the all night phone conversation between Drew and Clair. What we see is the expression of two souls, who become quick friends. Up until the phone call, they had nobody with which they could share such feelings, ideas, trivialities, and more importantly, time with. The most moving/emotional scene is Drew’s drive home, a trip with his father, as he puts it, that he should have taken “years ago”.
Bloom delivers his best performance yet, followed distantly by his role earlier this year in “Kingdom of Heaven”. He makes brilliant move from epic dramas, to a feel-good drama, and he does is flawlessly. Dunst felt a little over the top at first, but we find that that is what the character calls for. She played the role well. Sarandon isn’t on screen all that much until the end, but delivers some good comical parts to the film. I loved the speech and dance scene near the end. Judy Greer puts in a good effort as well, but it was the relatively unknown Paul Schneider, who plays Drew’s cousin Jessie, that steels the supporting character spotlight. Very good performance by Schneider.
I’m putting this film in the same category as “Garden State” (my second favorite film from 2004). “Elizabethtown” is right up there and is added to my top 10 of 2005. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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The French horror film “High Tension” stars Cécile De France, Maïwenn Le Besco, Philippe Nahon and is directed by Alexandre Aja.
Marie (De France) and Alexia (Le Besco) are classmates and best friends. Hoping to prepare for their college exams in peace and quiet, they decide to spend a weekend in the country at Alexia’s parent’s secluded farmhouse. But in the dead of night, a stranger (Nahon) knocks on the door. With the first swing of his knife, the girl’s idealistic weekend turns into an endless night of horror.
If you’re a gore fiend, then this film is for you. Aja directs one of the bloodiest films I have seen in a very, very long time, and does an excellent job at it. I’ve read a few reviews which claim that Aja “stole” this story from Dean Koontz’s novel “Intensity.” I found a brief description of intensity that I’m going to share with you now: A young woman staying as a guest in a Napa Valley farmhouse becomes trapped in a fight for survival with a self-proclaimed "homicidal adventurer", and races to warn his next intended victim. Unrelentingly terrifying, this book lives up to its name.
Ok…the only similarity I see is the “staying as a guest at a farmhouse”. Marie isn’t trapped anywhere, nor is she trying to warn the next victim…she’s trying to save her friend. So I wouldn’t say that he stole the story, but I guess I can see why people would think so. It’s not like this is the only film to have a killer in the woods. There are plenty more…”The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” anyone? Anyway…
So I loved the story and I dug the ending. The reason I liked the ending…I wasn’t expecting it. I love gore. Excellent use of not showing too much of the killer face too. Always keeping him in the shadows, only revealing portions at a time. Love it. The more gore in a horror film, the merrier. We get some very brutal kills and buckets of blood in this one: a very creative beheading, an up-close and personal slitting of the throat, a severed hand, an axe attack, a nasty saw attack, a cool barbed wire on a stick attack, and more. I can feel my inner-psycho jumping with joy.
Cécile De France was excellent. She portrayed the emotion perfectly and was very impressive. Maïwenn Le Besco gave a great performance, damn this girl can scream. Good stuff. Nahon was flawlessly creepy. He looked and moved like a killer should. All around greatness in the casting department.
Anybody who loves the horror genre should like this film. If you’ve got a weak stomach…maybe stay away from the film. If not, watch “High Tension” as it is one of the better horror films to come out in a long time.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Christopher Lee, and Albert Finney voice characters in Tim Burton’s latest stop-motion film, “Corpse Bride”.
Victor Van Dort (Depp) is a young man who is betrothed to a woman he has never met, Victoria (Watson). While she’s a sweetheart, her parents are conniving gold diggers, hoping Victor’s rich family can help save them from bankruptcy. After messing up his vows at the wedding rehearsal, Victor goes for a walk in the woods, practicing them. While placing the ring on a random twig, and reciting the vows perfectly, he soon finds out that the twig is really the finger of a murdered bride-to-be. By placing the ring on her finger and saying his vows, Victor becomes married to the corpse and is taken away to the underworld.
For anyone who enjoyed “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, you’re sure to enjoy this film as well. The story is short and sweet, running just under 80 minutes. There could have been at least another 10 minutes added on, just to build the relationship between Victor and Victoria, and Victor and the Bride. That aside, the story works well, and I dug it. Then there are the visual images. The characters and sets are brilliantly stylized, and they gorgeously reflect the inner life of each, from the drab grey of the living world to the exciting zest of the underworld.
Close your eyes and listen to Depp’s voice as Victor. You’d think you’re watching “Edward Scissorhands”. And just like in Scissorhands, and nearly every other film he’s done, Depp is great. Carter and Watson also do great voice-over work as their characters, with the supporting cast of Lee, Finney and others all doing wonderful jobs as well.
Although I don’t think this is as great as “Nightmare…” was, “Corpse Bride” is still a high-quality stop-motion film. Burton gives us, for the second time this year, a fine film; a must see for “Nightmare…” fans, Burton fans, Depp fans, and pretty much everyone else.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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Tobin Bell reprises his role as John in “Saw II”. Also returning from the first film with larger roles are Shawnee Smith as Amanda, and Dina Meyer as Kerry. Donnie Wahlberg, Glenn Plummer, Erik Knudsen, Franky G, Beverley Mitchell, and Emmanuelle Vaugier join the cast. Darren Lynn Bousman takes over as director of this one, and picks up where James Wan left off.
Jigsaw's (Bell) latest sadistic game finds a group of similar characters trapped inside a dilapidated old house, where poisonous gas is being pumped into the circulation. They have less than two hours to find a way out before they begin dropping like flies, a task that's exacerbated by the excess of traps and puzzles hidden throughout the house. Meanwhile, grizzled detective Eric Mason (Wahlberg) finds himself face-to-face with Jigsaw after the killer specifically mentions him at a crime scene. Jigsaw claims that if Mason sits and talks with him for a few hours, his son Daniel (Knudsen), one of the hapless inhabitants of the deadly abode, will escape from the ordeal unscathed.
It’s always hard for a sequel to live up to its predecessor, but it has been done in the past (T2 anyone…). It’s been done once again as “Saw II” comes very close to almost being better than the first. The film was taken from a screenplay originally written by Bousman, which he and “Saw” scribe Leigh Whannel rewrote into “Saw II”. The story is great, and really shows you how messed up the character of Jigsaw is. He warns up, “Oh yes…there will be blood”, and there was plenty of it. We get a bullet through the eye, spiked bat to the head, slit wrists, cutting of the throat, and the one sure to make you cringe in your seat, needles (and lots of them). Bousman does a great job directing this film.
Tobin Bell gets more screen time in part two and eats it up perfectly. I felt the Wahlberg over did it a little at first, but fell into the roll. Bell and Wahlberg worked well together on screen in well done back and forth dialogue. Giving Shawnee Smith a bigger role was a great move as she was excellent as Amanda. Dina Meyer did what she could with the role she was given, but it was nothing too spectacular. Franky G (it really is time to fill in the last name), over-played the tough guy act for the most part. Knudsen was decent as Daniel and Vaugier didn’t do such a bad job either. Plummer was all right and Mitchell didn’t do much on screen but cry.
I’m half and half on the acting, but the writing and directing were superb. This was an excellent sequel, with a bigger twist at the end that I really don’t think anyone saw coming. With a 30.5 million dollar weekend, I say bring on “Saw III”.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 9/10
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“Bewitched” stars Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, and is directed by Nora Ephron.
Out in California's San Fernando Valley, Isabel (Kidman), is trying to reinvent herself. A naive, good-natured witch, she is determined to disavow her supernatural powers and lead a "normal" life. At the same time, across town, Jack Wyatt (Ferrell) a tall, charming actor is trying to get his career back on track. He sets his sights on an updated version of the beloved 1960's situation comedy "Bewitched," reconceived as a starring vehicle for himself in the role of the mere-mortal Darrin. Fate steps in when Jack accidentally runs into Isabel. He is immediately attracted to her and her nose, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the nose of Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha in the original TV version of the show. He becomes convinced she could play the role of Samantha. Isabel is also taken with Jack, seeing him as the quintessential mortal man with whom she can settle down and lead the normal life she so desires.
I didn’t have high expectations for this film at all. I think Will Ferrell is hilarious, but I think Nicole Kidman is kind of overrated. I’m also not all that crazy about the whole old TV show adapted to a film thing. In this case though, they didn’t remake the TV show into a film, just used the idea of remaking the show within the film. The first half of “Bewitched” felt kind of slow to me. I didn’t like the whole rewinding sequence. However, I think the film picked up a bit in the second half. The story kind of fell into place.
So…I said that I think Ferrell is hilarious; and his is…normally. This was easily not one of his funniest roles. He was all right, but not the same old Will we’ve seen in other films. I also said that I think Kidman is overrated. Well, I’ll tell ya, she was actually quite charming in this role. She worked the comedy very well, which is something much different for her. She pulled it off though. Caine was decent, but is normally better, and MacLaine was just okay. Steve Carrell makes a pretty funny cameo as Uncle Arthur.
I think “Bewitched” could have been a whole lot better if it was in fact a complete remake of the Samantha and Darrin story of the original TV show. I wouldn’t change the cast, I would have just changed the story.
:thumbsup: :thumbsdown: 5/10
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Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour, Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel, Erica Leerhsen, R. Lee Ermey, and Andrew Bryniarski star in the remake “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
In August 1973, in Texas, friends Erin (Biel), Kemper (Balfour), Andy (Vogel) Morgan (Tucker) and hitchhiker Pepper (Leerhsen) are returning from a vacation in Mexico on their way to Lynard Skynard concert. They see a young woman wandering on the road and decide to help her. Once in the van the woman gets hysterical and commits suicide. The group decides to look for a telephone to call the Sheriff, and they end in the house of the Hewitt family, where their lives are threatened by the sick Leatherface (Bryniarski) and his deranged family.
I thoroughly enjoyed this re-imaging of the original 1974 film. The whole premise of the film was the same, where as the characters and the way the events played out were different. The film didn’t really mess with, or take anything away from the original, which is a big plus. The locations brought a good sense of creepiness to the film, the Hewitt house and the meat locker scene in particular.
Overall the cast was surprisingly really good. I’ve never thought Biel was a good actress, but I liked her performance here, a lot actually. She reached a damn good emotional level and was perfect at it. Leerhsen sold the “scared shitless” role, and can scream with the best of them. Bryniarski was beyond perfect as Leatherface. The casting department couldn’t have picked a better actor to play the part. Balfour and Vogel did okay jobs in their roles, but it was Tucker and Ermey, who I feel, stole the show. Tucker played the pot-smokin’ hippie to a tee. Great job. Ermey is a classic actor and kicked major ass in this film. You could tell he had a shit-load of fun with his character. Tucker and Ermey shared one excellent scene together and it was easily the best scene in the movie.
I was pleasantly surprised with TCM 2003. It turned out to be a good horror movie. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the original, so I’m not sure which I like better. Horror fans should definitely check this out, and fans of the original should too. The 1974 version is a cult classic, and die-hard fans may not dig this one as much, but it really is an enjoyable slasher flick.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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Rob Bowman directed “Elektra” which stars Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Terence Stamp, Kristen Prout, Will Yun Lee, and Natassia Malthe.
Elektra is a hired assassin whose origins are finally revealed after her old ninja clan the Hand brings her back from the dead to serve their evil purposes. Reunited with her old sensei, Stick (Stamp), Elektra leaves the past behind her and is eventually given an assignment to kill Mark Miller (Visnjic) and his daughter, Abby (Prout). When her conscience gets the best of her and she decides to protect them instead, members of the Hand; Kirigi (Lee), Typhoid (Malthe), Tattoo (Chris Ackerman), Stone (Bob Sapp), and others, take over the job, and hunt down Elektra, Mark and Abby.
Critics totally bashed this film; however, I don’t think it is really as bad as they say it is. Sure, it’s no “Spider-man” or “X-men”, which are the better of the comic book films, but “Elektra” wasn’t a total disappointment. The story was pretty good, and the fight sequences were awesome; however, there were a few fight sequences I would have loved to see. Some of the deaths were just way too quick, and the whole evaporating into thin air when killed just didn’t cut it. There were also a few parts in the dialogue that was relatively cheesy.
Garner was good and showed more depth this time around then in “Daredevil”. Visnjic and Prout were okay in their roles. Stamp was cool in the short screen time he had. Lee, mostly an unknown actor wasn’t half bad as the villain. I was expecting Malthe to have more screen time, but she was decent in her role. I would have like to see a fight scene between her and Garner.
It’s not the best film of the year, not by far, but I wouldn’t call it the worst film either. It was moderately enjoyable, with decent acting and really cool action sequences. If you like the recent surge of comic book films, definitely check this out.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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Zach Braff, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn and Garry Marshall voice characters in “Chicken Little”.
After Chicken Little (Braff) causes widespread panic when he mistakes a falling acorn for a piece of the sky, the young chicken is determined to restore his reputation. But just as things are starting to go his way, a real piece of the sky lands on his head. Chicken Little and his band of misfit friends, Abby Mallard (Cusack), Runt (Zahn) and Fish, attempt to save the world without sending the town into a whole new panic.
This could possibly be the cutest film of the year. The story is pretty good; although I’ve heard that it deviates from the original. I don’t know much about that, but I enjoyed it. Aside from the whole “the boy who cried wolf”-ish story, it's really about the broken relationship between Chicken Little and his dad, a very familiar father/son set-up in which both love each other but rarely discuss their true feelings. There’s plenty of humor written in as well.
For the most part, you could barely recognize that it’s Braff voicing Chicken Little, but occasionally you can hear it. Braff did a great job with the voice-over and was a really good choice for the part. Cusack was also hard to recognize and did a great job voicing Abby Mallard. I’m a fan of Steve Zahn, and it was great to hear him voicing Runt. He did an awesome job, making Runt my favorite character in the film. Garry Marshall does a wonderful job voicing CL’s dad, Buck.
Over all, “Chicken Little” is a fun, cute, funny, and heart-warming CGI animated movie. Children will love it and adults should definitely dig it.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Giovanni Ribisi and Angelina Jolie.
Ace pilot Joe "Sky Captain" Sullivan (Law) reluctantly teams up with his former flame, journalist Polly Perkins (Paltrow), to uncover the mystery behind a group of missing scientists and a series of shocking robot attacks. Aided by gadgetry whiz Dex Dearborn (Ribisi) and enigmatic military commander Franky Cook (Jolie), Joe and Polly must find out who is responsible for an increasingly elaborate scheme that may trigger the end of the world.
I didn’t catch all of the films back in 2004, but I think its safe to say that most of them, if any, don’t even compare to the visual style of this film. It’s not the best film overall, but “Sky Captain…” is visually stunning. The entire movie was shot using “digital backlot”, where all of the acting was shot in front of a green screen, and the backgrounds added in during post-production (same technique used in “Casshern” [2004] and “Sin City” [2005] among a few others). I’m loving this technique and hope that more films, not all, will use it.
The acting was top-notch all the way around. Jude Law was awesome in the lead. The dude is all over the place these days and its no wonder why. Paltrow worked perfectly in her role and looked excellent in the part. Jolie gave a strong supporting appearance, as did Ribisi. Big ups to director Kerry Conran to use archive footage of the late Sir Laurence Olivier in the film as well.
“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” is a fun action movie, visually stunning, well acted and well directed. If you haven’t already, check this film out.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“The Jacket” stars Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Daniel Craig.
Shot in the head while in Iraq, Jack Starks (Brody) has returned home only to be convicted of a murder that he didn't commit. Still reeling from his wartime trauma, Jack is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is committed to an institution for the criminally insane. Once there, he is drugged by Dr. Becker (Kristofferson) and placed into a coffin-like drawer on a nightly basis. Inside the drawer, after being tormented with horrific war flashbacks, Jack is mysteriously transported to the future, where he forms a tender relationship with the hardened, beautiful Jackie (Knightley). Aware that he is destined to die in four days, Jack must use his new gift to figure out what happened to him, with the hopes of altering the course of history.
John Maybury directs a pretty original screenplay that was written by Massy Tadjedin. Maybury brought a very claustrophobic feel to the movie which worked amazingly, considering the whole concept of the morgue drawer that Jack is stuffed into every night. The story is meant to be a psychological thriller and it most certainly is. It may be the most mind-effed I’ve been with any movie so far this year.
Brody delivers another excellent performance, and Kristofferson is very notable as well. Knightley worded well with her first American accent in a film, and was on par acting wise. Leigh was decent, but I think Craig stole the show. He was great as the only true crazy person in the film. He stole every scene he was in.
Psychological thrillers have been a favorite genre of mine for a long time, and this film was near perfect at it, thanks to an excellent story, great directing and really good acting.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Melissa George, and RZA (founding member of Wu-Tang Clan) star in director Mikael Hafstrom’s “Derailed”.
Meeting on a commuter train one morning in Chicago, ad executive Charles (Owen) and financial analyst Lucinda (Aniston) have an immediate connection. Worn down by his job, strained marriage to Deanna (George), and a sick child, Charles finds himself drawn to the escape Lucinda can offer. A lunch meeting, followed by dinner and drinks, leads the way to a rendezvous in a sleazy motel, where no sooner have the adulterous lovebirds ripped each other's clothes off than a sadistic thief (Cassel) breaks into the room and puts them through hours of nightmarish horror. Because of their relationship's illicit nature, the two are unable to go to the cops, and are thus virtually powerless to their attacker's every whim, leaving themselves open to blackmail as he threatens their families and lives. Choosing momentary gratification and the excitement of the unknown over the values he generally holds dear, Charles more than pays the price for his indiscretion.
Thrillers come a dime a dozen these days, but they’re not always all that great. “Derailed” isn’t great, not by far, but it sure is a decent thrill ride. The film is adapted from a James Siegel novel by screenwriter Stuart Beattie (who also wrote “Collateral”). It’s well written, and well directed by Hafstrom. “Derailed” offers its share of sexy seduction and shocking violence. The hotel attack is disturbing, yet well-choreographed. The story has its twists and turns, which all worked perfectly.
Owen played his part excellently. He’s becoming more and more of a favorite actor of mine with each role he takes. Aniston makes the bold move comedies and dramas into this thriller and does a superb job while doing it. I’ve always though she was a good actress, and pretty damn hot, and she’s both of those in this role. Cassel is brilliant as the bad guy. He was the perfect choice for the role. RZA is surprisingly efficient as Charles' ex-con coworker. He added some really good comic relief to the film.
So yeah, like I said, it’s not the best thriller, but it really is a pretty good flick over all. I especially liked the casting decisions.
.:thumbsup: 7/10
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Robert Kerman, Gabriel York, Francesa Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen and Luca Giorgio Barbareschi star in Ruggero Deodato’s “Cannibal Holocaust”.
A New York anthropologist, Professor Harold Moore (Robert Kerman), travels to the 'Green Inferno', an inhospitable jungle in South American to find out what happened to a documentary film crew who disappeared nearly a year earlier while filming a documentary about reputed cannibal tribes. After a long search and encountering a few primitive tribes, Professor Moore finds the remains of the crew and several reels of their undeveloped film. Upon returning to the USA, Moore views the film in detail featuring the travels of the director Alan Yates (York), his assistant Faye Daniels (Ciardi), and cameramen Jack Anders (Pirkanen) and Mark Tomaso (Barbareschi) venturing into the jungles where the inexperienced, street-wise film group, after finding the indigenous tribes too docile for their film, decide to push them for kicks, with drastic consequences.
For over twenty years, this film had been banned in the U.S. and many other countries due to its graphic nature. In fact, the footage is so intense and so unflinching in its realism that the director and producer of Cannibal Holocaust had to go to court to prove that the actors were really not killed in the film. Watching the film though, for the most part, you can tell what’s fake and what’s not. There is no shortage of nastiness here with all sorts of brutal rapes and killings. It’s hard to watch at times, especially the animal killings, which are, unfortunately, real.
The story is interesting though. We don’t see a whole lot of cannibalistic films anymore. There seemed to be a surge of them throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Robert Kerman gives a solid, strong performance as Professor Moore, probably the only noteworthy one in the film. The rest of the cast is just okay, but it’s Kerman who drives the film.
Controversy aside, I had wanted to see this movie since about 3 year ago when I first heard about it back in college. I wasn’t let down. Sure, it’s not the greatest spectacle I’ve ever seen, although it is the nastiest movie I’ve ever seen. I’m going to suggest the all animal lovers not watch this film and all those with weak stomachs to stay away. If you like horror and gore, give it a viewing though.
:thumbsup: 7/10
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Jack Black, Naomi Watts, Adrien Brody, Colin Hanks, Thomas Kretschmann, Jamie Bell, Evan Parke and Andy Serkis star in director Peter Jackson’s “King Kong”.
Set in the 1930's, young and struggling actress Ann Darrow (Watts) is down on her luck when her show is canceled. She gets caught steeling fruit from a stand, but is quickly saved by Carl Denham (Black), a movie director who believes that Darrow as got the looks to replace the actress in his next film. When she hears that the screenplay was written by Jack Driscoll (Brody), she’s quick to agree; which is a good thing since they need get on a boat to head to their shooting location. Carl hasn’t told everyone where they are really headed though, which turns out to be the mysterious Skull Island. When they reach the island, the crew is immediately met by natives; who end up capturing Ann to sacrifice to Kong. When Kong shows up and takes Ann, she uses her wit and talent to entertain the giant ape, so as to not be eaten by him. Jack sets out to rescue Ann, as Carl sets out to finish his film, and capture the Kong.
“King Kong” was one of my most anticipated films of 2005 and it did not let me down at all. This film is entertainment at its finest. Peter Jackson is no stranger to giving us great films, as he is fresh of the heels of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “Kong” is a long one, I clocked it in at around 2 hours and 45 minutes (from the time the film started, to the end, not counting the previews or credits as most theaters seem to do). We don’t see the island or Kong until about an hour into the film, and I think this was a smart way to do it. What we see for the first hour is the build up to the island. We learn everything we need to about the main characters in the first act, we see a ton of action and, as well as a relationship between Ann and Kong develop, on the island in the second act, and in the third and final act, we return back to NYC where Kong goes apeshit…(get it…”apeshit”…haha…yeah…ok…) destroying everything in his path to find Ann.
The CGI looked fantastic, especially when it comes to Kong. It’s all about detail and nothing is left out, even down to every little facial expression. The other CGI creatures included dinosaurs, giant bats, insects and spiders and the very creepy but really cool man-eating worms. The Kong vs. T-Rexes battle was well done and one of the coolest scenes in the movie. Aside from a lot of the awesome action sequences, there are plenty of scenes that scream beauty, Kong and Ann on the mountain top watching the sunset and another poetic scene in NYC where Kong and the girl find a frozen pond in Central Park, and the gorilla is lost in delight as it slides on the ice…my favorite non-action scene.
Watts makes a superb heroine and plays her part perfectly. There have been complaints that Jack Black and Adrien Brody are not exactly hero material, but I think they worked well. Black took on a different type of role than he’s used to and I really didn’t see any flaws in his performance. Brody is a great actor (did we forget he’s an Oscar winner? Ok then) and also did a fine job in his part. The two play a director and a writer; respectively…they don’t have to be so big and muscular. What they need are strong personalities that can be transformed under stress. Well portrayed by the both of them.
Colin Hanks plays Preston, who is a production assistant for Denham. It’s a small role, but well done. Thomas Kretschmann is the captain of the ship and puts on a strong performance, while Evan Parke, who plays Hayes also does an excellent job. Jaime Bell is Jimmy, a young and naïve crewmember of the ship. He holds his own in the large cast, but doesn’t exactly shine out among the other actors/actresses in the film. Andy Serkis pulls double duty in the film as he plays not only Lumpy the Cook, but Kong as well (same way he played Gollum in the LOTR trilogy). He gave the beast life via his many precise facial expressions. Excellent job all around by this amazing cast.
Jackson’s directing is superb. “King Kong” is a fantastic action-adventure/romantic story. It’s got everything a moviegoer could ask for. Do not miss this movie.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 10/10
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“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” stars Michael Rooker, Tom Towels and Tracy Arnold and is directed by John McNaughton.
Henry (Rooker) becomes the roommate of Otis (Towels), a parolee working in a gas station, and then Otis’ sister, Becky (Arnold), arrives from out of town and moves in. She is fascinated by Henry's stories of violence. Otis, who may have a homosexual interest in Henry, eventually goes along with him in a series of brutal killings, including one where they pretend to have car trouble and then shoot a good samaritan and another where they invade a home and videotape the murder of an entire family.
Props to Dan (nosticker) for recommending this film to me.
The film is based on real life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. “Henry” was filmed in 1985; however its release was delayed until 1990 due to ratings issues. The MPAA wouldn’t give it an R rating, most likely due to one disturbing scene in particular where Henry and Otis invade a home and videotape the brutal murder. It was recently released on DVD in its unrated format.
In its short, 83 minute run-time, the scene I mention above is easily the most troubling to watch, along with one other scene involving a rape followed by a bloody killing. Despite the graphic nature of the film, “Henry” is very well done by McNaughton. It’s not as gory as the psycho-slasher films of today, and it honestly doesn’t need to be. Henry is the monster, a monster who is created by the abusive past he comes from. The story is well told.
Rooker is just absolutely amazing as Henry. This was his first appearance in a feature film, but you’d think he’s a veteran. Excellent performance. Towels also puts on a good show as Otis, and Arnold is nearly perfect as Becky. She was very believable as a woman who's been a victim all her life. Top notch acting by all three.
DVD Note: On the 2 Disc Special Edition, there is a documentary called “The Serial Killers: Henry Lee Lucas” which tells the real life story of Lucas. This is a good piece to watch, as it bookends the movie nicely.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10
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“Cry_Wolf” stars Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jon Bon Jovi, and Jared Padalecki. The film is directed by Jeff Wadlow.
Eight unsuspecting high school seniors playing a game of lies come face-to-face with terror and learn that nobody believes a liar - even when they're telling the truth. After one too many incidents of bad behavior at his last school, Owen Matthews (Morris) arrives at Westlake Prep - where a young woman has recently been found murdered in the dark woods near the boarding school's campus. Owen quickly falls in with the school's unofficial "liar's club," including Dodger (Booth) and Tom (Padalecki). The group decides to expand their game's reach beyond campus, by spreading an online rumor that a serial killer called "The Wolf" committed the recent murder and is planning to strike again. When the school's journalism teacher, Rich Walker (Bon Jovi), warns the group about the kinds of predators that lurk on the internet, Owen begins to regret sending their falsified story into cyberspace. When the described "victims" suddenly start to disappear, Owen, Dodger, and Tom are no longer able to determine where the lies end and the truth begins. What starts as a joke, soon turns deadly and now they find themselves victims of their own game as someone starts hunting the players themselves.
“Cry_Wolf” was an interesting film. The best part about the film is that it’s not your typical slasher flick. Not to mention that there is a great twist at the end. So it’s technically not a horror movie, but it makes a pretty damn good psychological thriller. It’s got jumpy moments, but that’s about it for the scare factor. Wadlow does an excellent job directing the film. He gave the film a mature feel by using slow camera movements, creative shots/angles while not overdoing it with the quick cuts. (There were a few well used quick cuts)
I’m not familiar with Julian Morris, but he does a good job as Owen. Lindy Booth is fantastic in her role. She had so many levels to play and she hit them all on the head. Jared Padalecki was efficient as Tom, the “duder” like member of the group. Bon Jovi is quite the good actor, and shows that here, in a small, but pivotal role.
“Cry_Wolf” is an all around fun psychological thriller. I recommend fans of traditional “slasher” films to check this out, as well as everyone who likes to be, well, a little teased while watching a movie.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: 8/10