Bdub's Film Reviews

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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.

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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:

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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

[BWilli]

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.

[BWilli]

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