Ah, Luc Besson (The man who wrote The Fifth Element) brings us another gem of style-over-substance. If you could epitomize Eurotrash in a movie, this is it. But, God, such fun! Nothing like a man barrel-rolling a W-12 powered Audi A8 to remove a bomb attached to its undercarriage. Frank (Jason Statham), is a very, very bad man, but his schtick great–Always wearing a crisp suit, always in a clean car, always in control. ...
So, I took one 2 hr block to myself. I grabbed my once-a-month blow fund and headed out after a rather trying Saturday of watching the kids, and said, “Damn it, I’m going to see something for me.” Something with nary a trace of romantic comedy, meaningful plotline, or maybe even sense. I went to watch “The Simpsons Movie”. Let’s cut to the chase. You get to see Bart’s penis, Homer flips-off the residents of Springfield, Otto hits a bong, and Marge says ‘Goddamn’. That’s why this movie is PG-13. ...
A couple of years after the last film came out we have the next installment of the Daniel Radcli…er…Harry Potter movies, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Let’s get this out of the way–I LOVED THIS MOVIE! The trio can really act these days (particularly Emma Watson and Radcliffe), and the movie was a visual and comedic delight. From the first scene on, we’re in the land of tasteful CGI–From the first scene’s dementor attack throught he climactic battle between Voldemort and Dumbledoor, it’s a wizard’s world, and wonder abounds. ...
Two words: Loved it. link Dumb, enjoyable comic book movie. Not pretentious (a la “Hulk”), nor overlong (Spidey #3). Any move where a flaming skeleton rides a demonic motorcycle up a skyscraper to defeat an elemental demon is worth at least a look. The CGI looked great, and Cage got to chew the scenery (and co-star Eva Mendes) for a full 112 minutes. Probably the best part for me is Peter Fonda as Satan, strolling by Cage’s motorcycle offering “Nice Bike.” Cage’s bike is a replica of Fonda’s from “Easy Rider”
yeah I liked it too. campy, but I’d hit that. Whitney - Jun 5, 2007 yeah I liked it too. campy, but I’d hit that.
Gary Sinise’s 1992 remake of the John Steinbeck novel Of Mice and Men was long and boring, but strangely compeling. Sinise plays George, a migrant worker in Californa during the Great Depression. George is joined at the hip to a giant named Lennie Smalls, played by John Malkovich. As the movie opens, we see Lennie and George fleeing from a posse, George has done some very bad thing, and they had to get away, hiding among the reeds in a creek to throw off the bloodhounds. From there, the story revolves around them as they seek work at a Barley farm, doing hard manual labor as they desperately try to stay out of trouble. ...
I enjoyed the book quite a bit and thought it was … Chuck Fouts - Jun 5, 2007 I enjoyed the book quite a bit and thought it was an excellent window into the life of two generations ago. I hadn’t heard of the movie but your “long and boring” along with the “but one worth watching” has me confused. Is this a good movie for the replication of the original story, for the mind set of watching the vagaries of life, or for the performance of the actors themselves. To be honest Malkovich has worn me thin over the years but I could watch Cool Hand Luke every year or so without getting too tired of it. ...
Yes, it had lots of plot holes, but it was light-hearted, escapist fun. I liked it because it didn’t take itself too seriously, electing to scream at the audience “Sure, WHY NOT?!” The special effects are very well done, and the acting’s decent, if tounge-in-cheek.
We liked it, too. “Do they look happy?!” Jeff Roberts - Jun 3, 2007 We liked it, too. “Do they look happy?!” “Naw, they look saaad.”
Pirates of the Caribbean In sum: What the hell was that? It was long: 168 minutes. Trim 30 or 40 minutes, and call me in the morning. It was confusing. Isn’t there some screenwriter rule against more than 4 double-crosses in the same scene? Everyone betrays everyone else. As you might expect, this makes it tough for the audience to understand their motivations or actions. The action scenes explode without context. Who’s fighting whom on which ship, and by the way, which way is UP? When you can’t answer any of these questions as a viewer, you’re watching an overwrought mess. ...
Good Night, and Good Luck reminds us that history isn’t always rosy. Set in that halcyon era after World War Two, but before the Cuban Missile Crisis, Gary Powers’s U-2, or Castro’s revolution in Cuba, the film reveals that all is not right in Utopia. Communists are everywhere, or so “the junior senator from Wisconsin,” Joseph McCarthy, would have them believe. As the film opens, it’s 1953, the height of McCarthyism, when folks with any prior association with Communists–even decades before–find themselves blacklisted and convicted with hearsay evidence. Accusation assures conviction, especially among intellecutals and entertainers. ...
Watched The Rose last Sunday from 4am to 6am. Yeah, it’s been a weird week. It was a very compelling story, if difficult to watch. Bette Midler is stunning as Janis Joplin…er…Mary Rose (“The Rose”) Foster. According to IMDB, the original script was the Janis Joplin story, but Midler said it was too soon after her death to portray the story onscreen so it was rewritten. In any case, the highpoints are similar–a tortured woman with an incredible voice whose story ends in an overdose.
(In other news, my life now revolves around Kate Beckinsdale movies) I loved this movie the first time I watched it. It was called Tora, Tora, Tora and Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. Many of the supporting cast are an unexpected delight, particularly Cuba Gooding, Jr as Petty Officer Miller, and Jon Voight as President Roosevelt. The main love triangle…meh. Not plausible in the least. Additionally, yeah, a P-40 outmaneuvering six Zeros? Sure. :-)
Why is Jon Voight suddenly the man who must be hir… DavidJarvis - May 1, 2007 Why is Jon Voight suddenly the man who must be hired to play every historical figure? Roosevelt, Coach Rupp, the Pope … the list goes on and on.
Thank you for smoking is (nearly) pure satire, similar to the Tim Robbins pic Bob Roberts. It pokes fun at Big Tobacco (natch), but mainly, it skewers our victimization culture of poor education and worse parenting. It’s oddly flat, in the same way I found Bob Roberts flat–the central character is an anti-hero, so as the action ‘rises’, I found myself more depressed–we are that dumb as a nation. Yes, we do fall for straight lines like that. Yes, we’re eager to believe anyone who’ll tell us that the road to Nirvana is smoking a pack of cigarettes per day, chugging Coca-Cola, downing three meals of McDonalds, watching 10 hours of TV, and playing PS3 the remaining 12 hours of our impotent (in both senses) existence. ...
Let me sum this up: It’s just like the book. The book makes no sense; neither does the movie. It’s unwatchable nonsense most of the time. The whole point of the book is to catch Douglas Adams’s quotes and sideline commentary. Only redeeming part: My favorite Elf (Zoe Deschanel) is trillian:
The powers that be bought the whole regular employee cadre tix to the matinee of Superman Returns. I hated it, but then I didn’t care for the first 4. The movie comes (in the dc comics reality) after the events in Superman II, but prior to those of Superman III. Superman left 5 years ago to investigate the last-known position of Krypton, his homeworld, only to find the world has all but forgotten him and that his former love has a new live-in man and a 5-year old kid. ...
link Whitney and I ran out to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire matinee at Georgetown Theatres yesterday, and I’m of two minds about it: On one hand the acting, individual scenes, effects, and “wizard world” are all stunning, but on the other, the movie is unsatisfying. I attribute that dissatisfied feeling to the underlying book itself. “Goblet of Fire” transitioned the series from the Harry story-arc to the rise of Voldemort, and the movie makes a briefer trail through the same ground. ...
Mr & Mrs Smith, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt was one of the most entertaining and genuinely funny movies I’ve seen in a long time. A preposterous mismash of “Spy versus Spy” and The War of the Roses, the film hinges upon the genuine chemistry between Jolie’s type-A techno spy against Pitt’s type-B, shoot-from-the-hip spook. Okay, these are two of the sexiest people on earth, and they’re given this kind of premise. This movie’s going to sell popcorn :-) ...
Nausicaa is one of Miyazaki’s best animes, and it was my pleasure to watch the re-released US version yesterday. The film combines many of miyazaki’s important themes, like environmentalism, the evils of technology, and the general stupidity of humanity about all things environmental. Unlike some other Miyazaki films like “Spirited Away”, this is an action movie, following the princess of the valley of the wind, Nausicaa, as she flies in her glider, dodging bullets and two warring factions from what remains of humanity 1000 years after a nuclear war. ...