Blogging in Arkansas

This week's blog comes to you from Camp Robinson, AR (just outside of North Little Rock), where I am attending a one week course for work. But since I've got a laptop and Internet access, I'm not going to let that stop me from getting my blog out! :-]

So the final two weekends in July brought us 3 more movies that I deemed worthy of spending my hard-earned dollars on – The Island, followed the next weekend by Sky High and Stealth. The Island, sadly, was quite a disappointment (not nearly as much as previous lame summer movies, but still not nearly as good as I’d hoped it would be). Being a Michael Bay movie, you have to expect that the story is going to play second fiddle to the action and explosions and special effects. That’s just a given. But that being said, The Island’s story is still so weak and full of holes that it really takes away from the movie. I’m as willing as anyone to turn my brain off for a little mindless summer movie eye candy, but I’d still like a basically believable story. Especially when I’m watching a sci-fi movie (and despite what critics of the genre might think, YES, you can have a sci-fi/fantasy film that has a believable story – there is a difference between a believable story and a realistic, true-to-life story). And while the action scenes are fun to watch, they’re no different from any other of a dozen action movies that have come out over the years (many of them directed by Michael Bay, and most of them done better). The critics hammered it like they do most of his movies, but in this particular case I can’t really bring myself to disagree with them (although most of them hated it much more than I did). Scarlett Johansson (who I was very surprised to see in Home Alone 3, which I watched on HBO Family last night because there wasn't much else on and there's not a whole lot else to do in a hotel) and Ewan McGregor are both fun to watch, but they didn't really seem to have much chemistry between them, and just can’t save this lackluster film. To be honest, I actually much more enjoyed the performances of Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou as secondary characters than I did the performances of the main characters.

The last weekend of July brought a couple of better movies (although not necessarily great movies). The first was Stealth. While the story was a little preposterous, it was a whole lot more believable and well thought out than The Island was. Though hardly the best movie to come out this year, it was still fun to watch. I haven’t decided yet if it’s worth buying on DVD – probably be one I pick up when I can get it on sale (I passed on it when it first came out, so it'll probably be awhile before I pick it up).

The other movie that came out this weekend was Sky High. This was a fun movie. I really, really enjoyed this movie, quite a bit more than I thought I would. Sadly it’s been long enough since I’ve seen it, though, that I can’t remember all the specifics of the movie that I’d like to talk about, so a fuller review will have to wait. I picked it up on DVD right before I came down here to Arkansas, so once I get home and get a chance to watch it, I'll do a fuller review of the movie.

And so we come to August. The first movie of August was one that looked like it was going to be pretty stupid, but was one I just had to see regardless – The Dukes of Hazzard. And much to my surprise, it was actually good! Not great, mind you, not even really good. But still all in all an enjoyable movie. What impressed (and surprised) me the most was how many things it pulled from the original series. Naturally all of the characters from the show were there, and the General Lee (of course), and even the exploding dynamite arrows. And of course the car chases and unbelievable jumps with the General Lee were still there. But they also had the narration just like the original show, and even the brief moments where the scene was frozen and the narrator would make some goofy comment (like the show always did right before it went to commercial). I thought little touches like this were just great. And while I still say Daisy Duke has no business being a blonde, I have to admit that Jessica Simpson did a pretty good job with the role (and looked damned, damned fine doing it!!).

My biggest complaint about the movie would have to be the characters of Bo and Luke, which sadly were way too over-the-top and really not at all true to the original show. Luke Duke was the worst. The way they made his character not only completely stupid, but seemingly in love/lust with the General Lee, was just sad and lame and wrong. This is one of the big things that made the movie go from really good to just pretty good. So while I enjoyed it, I also think with a few minor changes it could have been a lot better. But still, all in all it made for a fun summer popcorn movie. Regardless of what the critics thought (of course they hated it, but that’s the reaction the critics always have to dumb, goofy comedies. All I can say to them is – get a sense of humor already, for crying out loud!!), I have to say that it was worth the $5 I spent to go see it.

Well I think that’s about enough for this entry. I’ll cover the rest of August next time out. Until then, my dear readers! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

So it's Thanksgiving day and I’m back with another entry! Before I get started with my reviews of the films of late summer and fall 2005, I’d like to briefly mention an older movie that I finally got around to watching – School of Rock. This was a movie that I was pretty sure I was going to like (I’ve always liked Jack Black – can't wait to see him in King Kong), but I have to say, I was surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. This movie was just really, really cool! It was fun and light-hearted, and filled with rock music. What more can you ask from a movie? If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. And if you have seen it – well then, go see it again!! It’s just that good!

And now, on with the reviews for this year. After the tragic and painful weekend that brought us War of the Worlds, the next weekend brought with it two more movies that I’d really been looking forward to seeing (and thank God neither one was the horrid disappointment that War of the Worlds was) – Fantastic Four, and the US remake of Dark Water starring Jennifer Connelly. Let’s start with Fantastic Four. This movie I loved! It was everything a good summer comic book blockbuster should be – it was action-packed, it had some really good special effects, it actually had characters you could identify with and root for, it had a great bad guy, the works. Admittedly, it’s not what you’d call a Best Picture nominee (but what summer blockbuster is?), and I know a few people that thought it was kind of silly, but I loved it. I think what most drew me into the movie was the characters. While they did update their origins (which is to be expected), and they did mess with Dr. Doom’s origin, and gave him powers I don’t believe he ever had in the comic book, they still did a fantastic job (pardon the pun) in getting the personalities of the characters right. And to me, that’s what counts more than anything in a good comic book movie.

Bottom line, you can’t keep the story perfectly true to the source material. It just isn’t possible. You’ve got decades worth of stories that you’re trying to condense into a 2-hour movie. You’re just not going to do it. Not to mention that science has evolved enough since these comics first came out that you have to update them to make the movie more believable, and not appear dated (hence Peter Parker gets bitten by a genetically enhanced spider as opposed to a radioactive spider, for example). So the goal instead should be to stay true to the essence of the original stories, and more importantly, to stay true to the personalities of the characters. Fantastic Four does a wonderful job of this, and for me that more than anything made it a great movie (this is the same thing that made both the Spider-man and X-Men franchises so great, and was partly why I was somewhat disappointed with Daredevil). The critics didn’t like Fantastic Four, naturally, but what do they know? Admittedly, it wasn't quite as good as some of the earlier superhero franchises that are out, but considering how incredibly amazing those movies are, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Let's face it– it's going to take quite the movie to be in the same league as the Spider-man and X-Men films, but just because this doesn't quite reach that level doesn't mean that it's not a really good movie.

It’s a toss up for me as to which I preferred more this year, Fantastic Four or Batman Begins (I like the fact that Batman Begins was a darker, more serious movie, but being a really, really big fan of the Batman comics (and not much of a Fantastic Four reader), I’m also a lot more picky about how the movie versions for it are done), but they were both definitely great movies worth seeing again. I haven’t picked up Batman Begins yet on DVD (mainly because the initial DVD release was a completely no frills rental release version that I refuse to pay money for, especially when it’s almost a certainty that at some point they’ll release a special edition filled with all kinds of extras), but once a special edition version is released, I almost certainly will.

Our other beginning of July release was the remake of Dark Water. Now first I have to say that I have the original Japanese version of Dark Water on DVD and I absolutely loved it (it is directed by Hideo Nakata, director of the original Ringu films, as well as The Ring Two in the US), so the remake was going to have to be pretty damned spectacular for me to enjoy it more than the original. Sadly, it wasn’t. Which isn’t to say that it was a bad movie, because it wasn’t. It very much built up the tension well (although not as well as the original), and I think Jennifer Connelly did a great job with the character. I think you really get to know the characters well, and take an active interest in what’s happening to them as the movie plays out. The big problem, though, is with the ending. The original film’s ending completely hits you out of the blue and really throws you for a loop. And the epilogue at the end is beautiful and touching and wonderfully handled. The ending to the remake, however, just feels rushed and it doesn’t surprise you at all (even if you haven’t seen the original). And let’s face it, when it comes right down to it, a movie is all about the ending. You can have a great movie all the way through, but if the ending falls flat, that’s the biggest thing the audience is going to take away with them when they leave the theater. And that’s what happened to me when I saw Dark Water.

The critics actually gave it some pretty good reviews, especially for a horror movie, which I like, and I have to agree with. If I hadn’t seen the original, I’d probably have rated the remake a little bit higher. But having seen both versions, I’d have to say 2 1/2 stars for the remake, and 4 1/2 stars for the original (if you like Japanese suspense/horror movies at all, I’d highly recommend seeing the original).

The following weekend brought us two of the absolute best movies of the summer – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Wedding Crashers. It was pretty much a given that Charlie and The Chocolate Factory was going to be a great movie – when you combine the talents of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp with such a wonderful, classic story, you know you can expect great cinema (then again, a lot of people figured that would be the case with this year’s Spielberg/Cruise team-up, and look at how THAT turned out. Luckily such was NOT the case here). I would have to rate this movie as easily 3rd best for the year so far (after Serenity and Sin City). And it came really, really close to tying with Sin City for 2nd place. Let’s start with what was easily the best part of the movie – Johnny Depp. The man is brilliant. That’s all there is to it. He completely inhabits the character (at times you have to remind yourself that it is actually Johnny Depp that you’re watching). And unlike Gene Wilder’s happy-go-lucky Willy Wonka from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Depp very much presents us with a character that you can easily believe has spent most of his life by himself locked away from the rest of the world. The way in which he interacts with the children and their parents is inspired.

The story here is much closer to the book, and anyone expecting the original movie is likely to be highly disappointed. But for me, this version is leaps and bounds better. About the only thing I’d say I preferred with the original (and don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the first one and think it’s a great movie; the new one is just much better) is the oompa loompa songs. In the new movie they tried to update the songs and make each one a different style of modern music, which isn’t necessarily bad, but the originals were just such timeless little tunes that I don’t think you can really improve upon them. But other than that, I don’t think there’s anything bad I can say about this movie. And it’s finally out on DVD!! I have it in my hot little hands and will hopefully be watching it today! And unlike Batman Begins, they actually released a 2-disk Special Edition at the same time as they release the boring, no-frills version for the Wal-Mart crowd.

Next up we have Wedding Crashers, a surprisingly good (and surprisingly R-rated) comedy. I went to this mainly because I loved Vince Vaughn in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and expected another goofy, fun-filled movie like that. It fits that description, all right, but I didn’t pay attention to the rating, and so was expecting a PG-13 film (since that's become the rating of choice for movies these days to try and attract the widest audience). So when the first topless women show up early in the movie, I was very surprised (pleasantly so, mind you, but still surprised). Of course, that also made me initially nervous, because once I realized what it was rated, I halfway expected it to turn into a gross out comedy along the lines of the American Pie films (not that I have anything against those sorts of movies, per se, but some of the gross “humor” in those sorts of movies I can do without). Luckily this is not what you get with Wedding Crashers. It is much more like the old cheesy sex comedies of the 80s, that were goofy and funny and nudity filled and politically incorrect without being juvenile and disgusting and trying their best to push the boundaries of good taste like most R-rated comedies these days are. This is the sort of R-rated comedy that I’d love to see more of. And considering that it was a very solid hit at the box office (especially considering it’s rating), we can only hope that more movies of this type will follow.

Well, that’s probably enough for today’s entry. This puts me halfway through July. Next entry we’ll finish July up and maybe move into August (depending on how many movies are left in July that are worth commenting on). See you all then! :-)

Oh, one final quick comment. Went to the midnight premiere showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last Thursday. That movie rocked!! It was SO much better than the previous one. I can't wait to see it again. If you haven't seen, what are you waiting for?!?

War of the Worlds -- What a Waste!!

Finally got another post completed! It’s amazing how much time you lose when you take a few trips out of town and then the new TV season starts and you’re enjoying your new DVR WAAAAYYYY too much (I actually think I had something like 70 or 80 hours of TV shows & movies recorded at one point. Admittedly, I'd been out of town for about 4 days, but it was till pretty out of control). But I’m FINALLY getting back to it. I'm caught up on my TV watching, I've watched quite a few of the movies (although lord knows I've got plenty left), and now it's time to get moving forward again with my blog! Of course, the first thing I had to do was go in and clean out some of the comments on my blogs and turn on word verification for comments to deal with the wonderful spammers out there (what a joy!). Those of you actually reading my blog on occasion should please post comments on now and then, just so I know you’re out there. Or not. Hell, I’ve been talking to myself for years, so why change now? ;-P

So two weeks went by after Batman Begins before I saw another movie at the theater. In the intervening period, 4 movies came out that I didn’t get around to seeing: The Perfect Man, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Bewitched, and George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead. Of those, there was only one that I actually had any interest in seeing at all (and if you guessed anything other than the last one, you obviously haven’t been paying much attention to my previous blog entries). It’s one I still want to see, but I just never got around to getting to it while it was at the theaters.

So following these came the highly, highly anticipated sci-fi thriller collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise – War of the Worlds. Pretty much a must see for any sci-fi fan, so naturally I made sure I saw it at the theater. Well, I shouldn’t have wasted my money. And I truly wish I could have gotten this review out soon enough to prevent others from wasting their money. If this movie isn’t worst movie of the year so far, I don’t know what is. Hell, this thing even beat out a certain other horribly, horribly disappointing sci-fi film that came out back in May (that I don’t even want to name, or I’ll start going off on it again). That movie at least had some pretty cool space battles in it, even if they were cut way too short so the writer/director could have more boring scenes filled with crappy dialogue (see, there I go). War of the Worlds doesn’t even have THAT going for it!

Believe me, I wanted to like this movie. I tried to like this movie. Really I did. Even after a good friend of mine who managed to see it before I did warned me that it was really disappointing, I still went in with an open mind, hopeful of at least a fun movie, if not an intellectually stirring movie. Even as the movie got more and more progressively dumber and more pointless, STILL I tried my best to focus on the positive elements. Finally about halfway through the movie I was forced to accept that the movie just didn’t have any real redeeming values (okay, so Dakota Fanning gave a wonderful performance like she always does, but she just doesn't add enough to the movie to make it worth seeing). And it just kept getting worse and worse and worse!! So why did I find this to be such an incredible waste of time and money? Where do I start?!

There are spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t seen the film yet – well, keep reading so you’ll know why NOT to bother seeing it. In movies like this, there’s naturally a certain amount of suspension of disbelief required. That’s a given. So when the aliens send out some sort of EMP blast that shorts out everything electrical, and Tom Cruise is the only person who knows exactly what part to replace in a car’s engine so that he has a working vehicle when no one else does, you just accept that as standard Hollywood nonsense and don't let it bother you. But when he’s running from the aliens as they’re blasting everyone with their disintegration rays, and they zap people on both sides of him but somehow manage to miss just Tom Cruise, that’s pushing believability a little too much for me, especially when it is as incredibly, horribly blatant as it is in this scene. And it gets worse from there (as hard as that is to believe)! Scene after scene, Cruise and his kids somehow manage to barely escape from the aliens while everyone around them is getting killed.

I can more or less put up with this sort of stuff as part of your standard, cheesy Hollywood action blockbuster. Let’s face it, there are a lot of movies out there that do about the same thing, but there’s enough action and explosions and chase scenes and cool effects that you can forgive quite a lot and just enjoy it as a mindless popcorn movie (although War of the Worlds pushes that limit even for me, and I’m pretty forgiving, especially when it’s not just an action movie, but an action sci-fi movie). But then the movie takes this bizarre morbid twist as it attempts to become a sci-fi thriller or something, and we suddenly find our hero and his daughter in a basement with Tim Robbins. I won’t go into the details, but the scene ends with Tom Cruise killing Tim Robbins. It’s just a weird, grim, pointless scene. And the movie steadily loses coherence from there. And of course it has to have the sickly sweet Hollywood happy ending where we find out that the son who disappeared and was presumed dead halfway through the movie is really alive and well and with his mom waiting for Dad and sister to arrive. How lame and predictable and disappointing is that??? You’d think Spielberg of all people would know better than to deliver such a cookie cutter, by-the-numbers ending, predictable Hollywood ending. Come on, let's show at least a little originality!

The only positive thing about this whole mess is that the original story ended in such a way as to pretty much rule out any possibility of a sequel (which is a good thing, because despite being a horrid piece of trash, it made enough at the box office to absolutely guarantee at least a trilogy if it wasn’t for the fact that the original story doesn’t really leave room for anything further). Admittedly there was a TV show a number of years ago that put forth the idea that some of the aliens DID survive by taking over human bodies and plotting the overthrow of Earth from there (and it was actually a surprisingly good show for the couple of seasons it was on), but somehow I don’t see that idea really working as a movie sequel (thank God!). Well, that’s it for this entry. More to follow hopefully before too long (and looking at the next movies, I should actually have some POSITIVE reviews in store for you). I have decided, however, that because of how far behind I am and how much trouble I’ve been having finding time to work on my blog, my next entry will more than likely just be a quick overview of the rest of the summer and fall, just covering the highlights of movies I saw, as opposed to the full reviews that I’ve been doing. That way I can get caught and actually start writing about movies that just came out! :-)

Serenity, of course (being the greatest film to come out so far this year by a long shot), will of course get a nice long, full review so that I can sing the praises of all things Whedon (it’s a damned shame that Serenity is easily 10 times the movie that Episode III is, but only made a fraction of the money at the box office – but I’ll rant further about that when I get to my review). So, until next time, bye for now! :)

Batman Begins!!

I’m back!! Spent two weeks out of state for work (one week in Kentucky, one week in Idaho), and the last two weeks recovering and catching up on things, but now I’m back and ready to work on the blog! So let’s get back to the movie reviews. We’ve reached the middle of June, and our first superhero movie of the summer – Batman Begins. And I have to say, it was well worth the wait. This movie is easily good enough to make one forget about the horrid excuses for Batman movies that were Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. While it’s a tough call for me to say whether it was better than the original Batman movie (but that’s because I’m a big Tim Burton fan, and both Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson gave phenomenal performances in the original), I will say that it was easily as good as the original, and it is a rock solid starting point for reinventing the franchise. The performances were all solid. Christian Bale does a great job as a younger Bruce Wayne, Morgan Freeman is wonderful as Lucius Fox (a Batman character long overdue to be brought into the movies), and Michael Caine is superb as Alfred (although I honestly don’t think any actor, even one as incredibly talented as Mr. Caine, will ever really be able to replace Michael Gough, who so perfectly embodied the character in the previous four films). And let’s not forget Katie Holmes, who is as cute and adorable as ever. Mmmmmm, Katie! ;-)

This movie continues the tradition from the previous films (except the original) of featuring two major Batman villains, in this case Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul, both great Batman villains who haven’t appeared previously in a Batman movie. And I have to say, they got two great actors to play the parts! Of course, historically the Batman movies have done a pretty respectable job of finding the right actor/actress to play the villain; the problem has generally been the parts have been horribly written (it still pisses me off that they found the perfect actor to play The Penguin in Danny DeVito, but then they wrote the character so unbelievably wrong that it completely ruined it. DeVito’s performance was great, but the character that had been written for him was so pathetic and poorly done that he couldn’t really do anything with the character).

Spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the movie yet (and as late as this review is, if that’s the case, shame on you!). The following paragraph gives away one of the secrets of the movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, skip this paragraph and go on to the next one. You have been warned! So Batman Begins manages to get not one, but two great actors into the role of Ra’s Al Ghul. Liam Neeson plays the real Ra’s Al Ghul (after pretending to be his right-hand man and going by the name of Henri Ducard, which is also how he’s listed in the credits, interestingly enough – probably less confusing that way, I suppose), and for anyone who’s read the comics, he so fits the role, both appearance-wise and performance-wise. He just does a wonderful job all the way around. But let’s face it, he is Liam Neeson, after all; how could you expect anything less? The second actor portraying the villain (the man who is first introduced to Bruce Wayne as Ra’s Al Ghul, who later turns out to be a fake to protect the villain’s real identity) is the wonderfully talented Ken Watanabe, pretty much unrecognizable from his previous role in The Last Samurai. He doesn’t really have much of a part here, but he’s got this great Fu Manchu vibe to him that’s just fun to watch.

The other villain in the film is Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known as The Scarecrow. He is played by Cillian Murphy, a not-so-well-known Irish actor (at least, I’d never heard of him before, although in looking him up I was surprised to discover that he’d previously appeared in Cold Mountain) who does a brilliant job (he’s also great in Wes Craven’s Red Eye, a movie I highly recommend seeing – although who knows when I’ll actually get caught up to the point to do a full review of it). His take on the character (and I’m sure part of that was the way the role was written) was a little different from how I envisioned Scarecrow in the comics (for one thing he’s about a decade younger, but that actually fits considering they’re starting Batman young and new as well), but it was still brilliantly done. I’m thinking this guy is definitely going to be an actor to keep an eye on in the future.

There are two other characters I’d like to mention before I close out this review, just because I’m a big fan of the two actors who play them. The first is Rutger Hauer’s character, who’s listed in the credits simply as Earle. While not exactly a major character in the movie (and not a character from the comics at all that I’m aware of), he does a very good job of playing the amoral, scumbag corporate executive that we all love to hate. And I just have to say that I am so happy to see him showing up in big Hollywood movies again! Combine this with the wonderful job he does in Sin City, and it’s just a great, great year for Rutger Hauer fans! The other notable character is Lt. James Gordon, played to perfection by Gary Oldman. This guy is just such a phenomenal actor!! I can’t say enough about how constantly impressed I am every time I watch the man onscreen. And this movie is no exception. I can’t wait to see how they develop the character through the later movies (and we all know there’s going to be at least one or two sequels); let’s just hope they keep Gary Oldman in the role through all of them.

And finally, a review of this film wouldn't be complete without at least a brief thank you to its director, Christopher Nolan. While he's only directed a handful of films, what he's done so far has been pretty impressive, and I must say he continues that trend with this movie. He does as good a job as a movie can of being true to the spirit of the character and the comics. He is just an all around solid director, and I hope they keep him on for future films.

So in summary, Batman Begins is what the original Batman movies should have been and sadly weren’t – very well written, very tightly directed, and starring an incredible cast that truly inhabit their characters and really bring them to life. If you’re a fan of Batman at all (or even just a fan of well-done comic book movies), you’ll really enjoy this film. If I have any complaint about the film, it’s that it doesn’t really capture the deep-seated, intense obsession that Batman’s war on crime is to him. Anyone who’s read the comics for any length of time knows that deep down, Bruce Wayne is a seriously screwed-up individual in dire need of an incredible amount of therapy. He’s cold and distant from even those close to him to an almost frightening degree, and he’s focused to the point of scary obsessiveness. The problem is, this just isn’t something you can capture in a two hour movie without making the character completely unsympathetic to the audience, which is something you just can’t do if you want the audience to connect with your hero. So while I’ve always found it to be a shame that the movies can never truly capture Batman’s personality, I also understand that it’s a limit of the medium that you’re just not going to get around, so it’s not something I hold against the movie at all.

And with that I will call this entry complete!! Now to proofread it and get it posted so that it can be enjoyed by my fans all across the ‘Net! (okay, so it can be read by those handful of friends of mine that peruse my blog on occasion) :-)

More delays!!

Well after having to reload Windows AGAIN (long story that I don’t want to get into), and getting to reload all of my programs AGAIN, I am finally back online and writing on my blog again. So let’s get right to it!!

So I didn’t get a chance to see The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D (it’s hard to believe that the same man who brought us Sin City and Desperado is also the creative force behind this movie and the Spy Kids trilogy). But somehow I’m thinking that’s not the end of the world. I’m sure I’ll get around to seeing it eventually. What I did see, however, was Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and I have to say, damn that’s a great movie!! As a matter of fact, since it’s still at the theater, I might just have to go see it again tomorrow (either that, or I’m going to see Wes Craven’s new flick Red Eye).

Okay, I’ll get it out of the way – Angelina Jolie is amazingly, unbelievably hot! And she has the sexiest, most kissable lips of any woman I’ve ever seen. On top of that, she is an incredibly talented actress. She is wonderful in this movie, as is Brad Pitt (not surprising, though – I have yet to see Brad Pitt in any movie that he wasn’t great in). And the chemistry between them really heats up the screen, and makes the movie that much more enjoyable. Of course this leads a lot of people to want to talk about her breaking up Brad Pitt’s marriage, but personally I really couldn’t care less one way or the other (but I must say I’d take Angelina Jolie over Jennifer Aniston in a heartbeat!).

The first thing I have to say about this movie is that it is surprisingly funny. It’s much more of an action comedy than a straight action movie, something I wasn’t expecting. From the very opening scene with Brad and Angelina talking to a marriage counselor, the movie has you laughing. Another thing the movie does that I like that I haven’t seen very often in the past is that several of the scenes in the trailer are actually different from the scenes that are in the actual movie, so some of the things you expect to see from the trailers end up being a little different when you actually see them in the movie. Which is a nice change of pace when so many movies are ruined by horribly put together trailers that give away entirely too much of the plot of the film (not that the final trailer for this movie doesn't give away a little more than I would have liked, mind you).

The action in this movie is top notch, the comedy really adds to the film, the dialogue – especially the back and forth between Brad and Angelina – is great. And Vince Vaughn is great as always (but I’ve been a fan of his for a while now). If you want to see a funny, thrilling, action-packed, all-around kick ass movie, this one fits the bill!! Definitely among my top 5 movies of the year so far.

A small delay, but we're getting there

So there’s been another little delay in getting caught up with my blog – my new computer was having all kinds of problems with the SATA hard drive I have in it not wanting to run properly. A number of other little issues (and some discussions with a buddy of mine) brought me to the conclusion that I just didn’t have a reliable motherboard. So I ordered a new motherboard, and after a number of delays and problems (including losing just over 3 weeks of e-mail when I re-installed Windows, several days of which I hadn’t even glanced at yet) and the purchase of a second hard drive (that it turned out I didn’t actually need once I figured out what was really going on with the machine, but oh well – it’s only money, I guess, and hey, you just can’t have too much hard disk space, now can you?), I was FINALLY able to get my computer back up and running properly (and running much better than it had been with the previous motherboard – this Abit board rocks!). Of course, once that was done I had to re-install all of my applications and re-setup everything and get things tweaked back to the way I wanted them (which is naturally an ongoing process that I will probably be working on for weeks or months to come, but I’ve got everything pretty much back to where it was with the new machine BEFORE I replaced the motherboard, so now I can continue where I left off with getting the rest of my data moved over from my old machine and the rest of my programs put back in place). But all the key programs – e-mail, web browser, word processor, image viewer, etc. – are all in place now, so I can go about my day-to-day business on the computer just like before with my old machine, and in my spare time (not that I have a lot of that) I can slowly work on getting the less essential programs that I don’t use nearly as much (such as games and the various little utilities and such that I use now and then) put back on.

But enough of that! I’m sure you’ve got plenty of better things to do than read about the day-to-day trials and tribulations that make up my life (and if that is the sort of thing you’re interested in, well there are all sorts of blogs out there filled with just that sort of thing that I’m sure you can track down). No, what you’re here for is movies! Or more specifically, you’re here to read my highly opinionated views on the movies. So let’s get down to it. Now, let me think, where was I. Oh, that’s right, last time out I blasted that less-than-wonderful piece of Pop Culture, Star Wars: Episode III. So now we move on to the following weekend, where it was challenged by two new movies – the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard, and the animated family flick Madagascar. Let’s start with Madagascar. The critics are split on this one, with half of them realizing that it’s a wonderful, fun-filled family movie that’s full of laughs and fun animation, while the other half are idiots who want to critique a kids’ movie as if it were applying for a Best Picture Oscar. If you’re looking for an Academy Award wannabe art house film, well obviously you’re going to be disappointed. If you’re looking for a very funny and enjoyable animated film that adults can enjoy just as much as their kids, then this movie is absolutely worth seeing. Admittedly I’m not a big fan of either David Schwimmer or Ben Stiller, but their voice work here is well done, as is that of all the cast, especially Chris Rock (who, interestly enough, stars in both of this weekend's new movies – and is great in both of them). And the penguins are an absolute riot!! They pretty much steal the whole show (with the exception of a couple of scenes featuring the monkeys, who are fantastically funny).

Before I went and saw The Longest Yard, I went out and bought the original Longest Yard on DVD (it was inexpensive and included a free ticket to see the remake, so I figured what the hell). I was glad that I did. It was interesting comparing the characters and the story between the original and the remake. The original was very much a 70s movie – it’s a darker, more gritty film, very much R-rated as opposed to the current’s PG-13. For example, in the new movie, we see Courteney Cox in a very low-cut, cleavage showing top, whereas in the original, her character is in a nice sheer dressing gown, fully showing off her breasts. Both are blatantly there for their sex appeal, but the new version shows that you can have a woman looking sexy without actually showing full nudity. Another change between the two would be the main character. In place of the fun, goofy drunk that Adam Sandler plays, in the original Burt Reynolds’ quarterback was a tough, mean drunk, who chokes the woman in question and then throws her violently to the floor before stealing her car. The movies play out fairly similarly from there, but the comedy and light-heartedness of the remake isn’t present so much in the original, except for a few brief spots (the scene where the quarterback is teasing the short cop, for example, is in both movies, although the jokes are different).

So which is the better movie? That’s a tough question. All in all I think I enjoyed the remake more, but each movie is very much a product of the era in which it was made, and so it’s hard to make a direct comparison. Both films are very well acted, and feature great groups of actors. The story that is at the core of both movies is very well-written and unfolds in a compelling way. All in all, both are very good movies, and I plan on owning both of them, but I have to say that the remake is going to have a broader appeal than the original, and will find a wider audience.

So the beginning a June brought a series of movies that I never got around to watching – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (chick film – don’t know if I’ll ever see it), Cinderella Man (probably see it eventually, but not in a big hurry), and Lords of Dogtown, a fictionalized version of the true story first brought to the screen in the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys (all about skaters – probably won’t ever see either one of them). So for our next entry we’ll jump up to June 10^th, and the release of the wonderful action/comedy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. That’s all for now.

Star Wars: Episode III -- What a letdown!

Okay, I just couldn’t wait to write this one (I've been writing it in my head ever since I saw the movie), so here it is, faithful readers. Long months overdue, I know, but finally I present for your reading (dis)pleasure my viewpoint on the big Star Wars finale, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. And all I can say is, “Wow! What a disappointment!” To be honest I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot, but this movie still managed to be a letdown. I even saw it a second time hoping that a new viewing would give me a better feeling about the movie, but all it did was give me an opportunity to really focus on all the things wrong with it.

Now I’m sure all you diehard Star Wars fans out there are already looking to burn me at the stake, but you’ll just have to get over it. Bottom line, this movie was really mediocre. So let’s get right down to it. What was Episode III’s biggest failing? Well, that would have to be its story. I’m sorry, but George Lucas really did a piss poor job here. And while I’m on the subject, let me pose a question: after it was pretty well established in Attack of the Clones that Mr. Lucas really isn’t much of a romance writer, why on Earth would he choose to make his final Star Wars film a tragic love story??? Because in essence that’s what the movie is; well, what it tries to be, anyways.

The basic premise of the movie is that because of his love for Padme, Anakin Skywalker is manipulated and corrupted by the Emperor to travel down the path of the dark side, in the vain hope of saving her life (after having a vision of her dying, presumably in child birth). Okay, so this isn’t the worst story concept every conceived, I’ll grant you that. But George Lucas simply doesn’t pull it off. And I don’t necessarily think it’s because he’s a bad writer (because I don't); I think the problem lies in the fact that this simply isn’t his genre. And what really annoyed me is that this is really a departure from how things had developed in the second movie. In Attack of the Clones we see Anakin struggling to control his anger, and growing frustrated with how he feels the Jedi Council is limiting his development as a Jedi. Now I thought this was a great premise to start his downward path to becoming Darth Vader -- he is consumed by his rage and his desire for power. And there were some elements in Revenge of the Sith that could have played towards this end, but none of them are used.

For example, early on in the film Anakin and Padme discuss her pregnancy, and their fears of what would happen if the Council discovered the truth. Okay, you’ve got a perfect setup RIGHT THERE for where to take the movie. Let the Jedi Council discover that Anakin knocked up Padme, and have him thrown out of the Jedi. At which point, the Emperor steps in, offering to train him in things far beyond anything the Jedi would have shown him. This plays in to both Anakin’s anger at the Jedi Council for throwing him out, and his quest for greater power. From there you set up the scene where Padme tells him she cannot follow him down the path he is following, and at that point he embraces the Emperor’s quest to wipe out the Jedi, fueled by his rage and his sense of betrayal by the woman he loves.

But there's no follow through to this scene at all (making you wonder why the hell it's even in there. Obi-Wan very much says at one point that he knows Anakin is the father of Padme's baby, but absolutely nothing comes of it). So what do we get instead? We get Anakin on his knees crying and moaning because he’s just killed Mace Windu, followed not five minutes later by him ruthlessly slaughtering little kids like they were nothing. What?!? You have got to be kidding me. The entire way that was developed was completely unbelievable as far as I’m concerned. And while we’re on the subject of unbelievable, let’s talk about Hayden Christensen’s performance. Wow, was that not to be believed (and I mean that very much in a bad way). Sadly, this boy just doesn’t have a whole lot of range as an actor. He did a pretty good job playing the angry adolescent in the second movie, but he simply couldn’t believably portray the depth and range of emotion necessary to show Anakin’s descent into darkness. While I mostly blame the story for making this descent unconvincing, the acting seriously made it worse.

And let’s talk about that horrible (and unintentionally funny) scene at the end where the newly masked Darth Vader does his best Frankenstein’s monster impersonation when he breaks free from the lab table he’d been strapped to. That had to be one of the most blatant, cheesy, B-movie scenes I’ve ever seen in my life (I saw more convincing drama in House of Wax, for crying out loud!). That scene was just plain sad.

So after all that criticism, what was good about the movie? Sadly, not much. As is to be expected from a Star Wars movie, the visual effects were pretty damned stunning, and the battle scenes were great to watch, what little of them there were. And that brings up another problem with this movie – we so got ripped off as far as the Clone Wars go. They made this big deal in the hype leading up to the movie about the Wookies showing up, and there being a battle on their home planet. Well, we got the battle, sure enough, but it needed to be about three times longer! You’re just really getting into the fight when suddenly we cut to a different scene. And then we’ve got all the scenes on the various planets where the Jedi get wiped out. There were some really interesting and cool looking planets, but we hardly get to see them for more than 30 seconds (just long enough to see the Jedi in question shot repeatedly in the back before we move quickly on to the next one). It’s like the actual war and the death of the Jedi was completely secondary to Anakin crying about not letting his wife die. We don’t even really get to see them fight back, for Christ’s sake! Hell, we see a youngling barely into his teens fight off more Clone Troopers before he gets killed than ANY of the experienced Jedi do. What a joke! There’s so much potential for some great science fiction battles on exotic planets, to see the Jedi using their powers and going out fighting, and it’s completely skipped over and rushed through so we can get back to Hayden Christensen trying to show emotional depth – and failing (but hey, we have to get back to those scenes, because we all know that dialogue is really George Lucas’ strong point, now don’t we?).

So let the flaming begin. Feel free to tell me that I have no idea what I’m talking about, that George Lucas is a creative genius whose story decisions are not to be questioned. Hell, Kevin Smith was actually bold enough to compare Episode III to Shakespeare! I’m sorry, Mr. Smith, but George Lucas is NO William Shakespeare, and Episode III doesn’t even come close to Othello or Hamlet. And what about your friends and mine, the movie critics? Most of them actually rained praise down on the film. One frightening individual (who will remain nameless) even had the audacity to call it the best episode of the six (and I think that’s pushing it even for Star Wars fans – there’s no way you can compare the prequels with the originals). Not all of them feel this way, however. And while I normally won’t quote movie critics directly, I do have to post comments made by Jami Bernard of the New York Daily News (this was pulled from the review for the movie on imdb, which can be found here). “The dialogue is astonishingly feeble, the acting unforgivably wooden,” she writes. Boy does she hit the nail on the head. A number of other critics also criticized the dialogue (but that’s not something I generally make much an issue of, since that’s been the case for all three of the prequels – which is a real shame, considering the original trilogy brought us such wonderful and memorable lines as, “Boring conversation anyways. Luke, we’re gonna have company!” God, I love that line! That whole scene rocked). My complaint with the final film isn’t so much with the dialogue, as with the story as a whole. Mr. Lucas, you could have done so much better.

And with that I will close. I encourage any Star Wars fans out there who might read this to please leave a comment or three giving me your take on the finale to the Star Wars saga. I’d love to see a few good fiery rebuttals to my comments above.

The Summer Movie Season Begins!

So we’ve reached the first weekend of May, and the beginning of the summer blockbuster season (does anyone but me remember back when the summer season didn’t start until Memorial Day Weekend???). The first movie of the year hoping to achieve summer stardom is Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven. On the surface, this movie has everything going for it (at least from my perspective): Ridley Scott is a phenomenal director, star Orlando Bloom is always good, and it’s a historical epic (very much one of my favorite types of movies). It even has the critics on its side; most of them gave it pretty positive reviews. So does it make the grade? In my not-so-humble opinion, the answer is sadly, no. While visually compelling and filled with some wonderful battle scenes and some great scenic shots, the story is sadly lacking.

I think my biggest complaint would have to be lack a real character development. As the story unfolds, we never really get close enough to the characters to understand their motivations, Orlando Bloom’s character especially. He has the opportunity to marry a woman that he clearly has feelings for (and in the process save thousands of innocent lives by preventing a European tyrant from taking control of Jerusalem), and he inexplicably turns it down. I’m sorry, but that’s a win-win situation any way you look at it. Supposedly his loyalty to his dead wife has something to do with his decision, but you really don’t get to know his character well enough to find this believable. Especially when he ends up with the woman at the end of the movie anyways. It just doesn’t come across as believable or compelling – Orlando simply comes across as weak-willed and pathetic in my view. But of course this is then contradicted by the way he puts himself in harm’s way to defend Jerusalemwhen it is attacked by the natives (which is sadly ironic considering that he could have prevented the entire attack simply by getting married to a really hot woman that he'd already fooled around with).

I don’t know if this is caused by Orlando Bloom not delivering a solid enough performance (a number of critics very much criticized his performance and questioned his ability to pull off this sort of role, but I have a hard time believing that considering how good a job he’s done in previous films), or simply the result of a poorly written script that didn’t leave him with much to work with, but the end result is a disappointing movie that you just don’t feel drawn into. When I go to see a movie (especially an epic film like this), I want to feel like I’m being pulled into the story, like I’m a part of it all along with the characters in the film. With Kingdom of Heaven, I really felt like I was just a spectator, watching events unfold in front of me without really feeling a part of them. And I think having that connection to the characters, and to the events they are a part of, is what makes a really great film. So while Kingdom of Heaven was enjoyable to watch, I just didn’t feel drawn into it enough to consider it to be a great movie (but it certainly did a better job than a certain highly-anticipated blockbuster that followed it – but I’ll go into that in a later entry).

The other movie opening wide that first weekend in May (well, the other one that I saw, anyways), was far, far from having any sort of blockbuster potential, but was still quite a bit of fun to watch. And that movie would be the remake of House of Wax. Okay, let me get this out of the way first and foremost, since it seemed to be the main topic of conversation for anyone discussing the film – Paris Hilton doesn’t do that bad a job in the movie (none of the critics seemed to have watched any part of the movie except for the scene where Paris gets killed, since that this is about the only thing they talk about in their reviews of the movie – which is pretty pathetic considering she’s not even the main character of the movie, but that’s movie critics for you. Of course, to be completely fair, the only movie reviews I generally read are on imdb, and they simply pull comments from various critics into one overall review, so it could simply be a case that imdb only grabbed comments about Paris's role, and the critics really did have other things to say about the movie). Admittedly, the role Paris is playing (slutty blonde girl) is hardly a stretch for her, but considering how badly I’ve seen this clichéd role overdone in numerous B horror movies, I have to say that she actually did a very believable job with the character. And watching her run around in lacy red bra and panties certainly wasn’t a bad thing. :-)

I have to say, I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. While hardly Shakespeare, it was actually pretty well done for what it was. Now I’ll be the first to say that the original was enough of a classic that it certainly didn’t need a remake, but the creators of the new version did a pretty good job. Most importantly, I think they were successful in not taking themselves too seriously, and kept the movie from becoming too much of a cliché (of course, these types of movies are by their very nature pretty cliche, but this one is certainly no worse than any others in this genre). All the performances were pretty good, and there weren’t too many places where the story was glaringly unbelievable. The only problem I had when watching it wasn’t actually the movie’s fault – at the crappy theatre I saw it in (there are times I so hate Carmike Cinemas), the damned projector bulb went out right at the start of the climactic final scene, and by the time they got it fixed, we’d missed about two-thirds of the big fight with the bad guy (and of course the geniuses running the theatre couldn’t be bothered to back the film up so we could see what we’d missed. They already had our money, so what did they care?).

So if you’re a fan of cheesy B horror movies, I’d say that House of Wax is a must-see. And if you’re not, well then don’t waste your time with it, as it’s not your type of movie (unless of course you really just want to see Paris Hilton die in gruesome (and I do mean gruesome) fashion). I don't know that I'll buy it (unless I can get it for $5 or something), but I'm tempted to rent it, if for no other reason than to see the part of the climax that I missed at the theatre.

The second weekend of May brought us four new releases, but I only got around to seeing one of them (I really wanted to see MindHunters, but sadly it wasn't given a wide enough release to reach Montana, so I'm going to have to catch it on DVD). The one movie I did see was the Jet Li action/crime movie Unleashed. Admittedly, the concept of a man raised as an attack dog is a little over-the-top, but this movie was just fun to watch. The fight scenes are great, the entire cast does a phenomenal job (I especially loved Bob Hoskins' performance, but that's not surprising because he's just such a good actor), and for what it is, the story is actually pretty well written. The critics, naturally, hated this movie, but that's why I have basically zero respect for movie critics (you really have to wonder what sort of qualifications a person has to have in order to be a newspaper film critic).

Well, that's it for this entry. Next up, we have the review that you've all been waiting for (okay, it's probably the review you've all been dreading, but watcha gonna do?)– Star Wars: Episode III. And if you haven't guessed by now from various comments I've made in previous entries, faithful readers, I've got a pretty scathing review lined up for this particular gem of a film (feel free to start writing those hate e-mails– I know they're coming). But you're going to have to wait until next time, boys and girls. Until then!!

End of April

So slowly but surely I'm catching up. Only two and three-quarter months left catch up on!! We close April off with two fun-filled movies (one of which was definitely more enjoyable than the other, however) – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and xXx: State of the Union (which will be referred to as xXx 2 for the rest of the entry, since it’s a lot less to type). Now before I give my own reviews of these movies, I decided to go back through imdb’s movie news archives to read the reviewer clips for the movies that were posted when it was released (mainly because I was just reading some of the idiotic comments reviewers had for Madagascar, and so wanted to comment on them (which I will when I get up to Madagascar), that I decided as I go through my movie reviews, I’m going to go back and see what the critics had to say about them, if for no other reason than because I like bad-mouthing movie critics, and this gives me an opportunity to do so (and in case you’re wondering why I’m just now reading reviews for Madagascar, it’s because that’s how far behind I am on my entertainment news – which shows that no, my blog is far from the only thing I’m way, way behind on. Can I just say that moving to a new place and starting fresh with a new job is just a complete pain in the @$$? No wonder it took me 8 ½ years to leave my crappy former job).

So anyways, in reading over the reviews for xXx 2, I have to say I actually agree with most of the critics (shocking, I know, but hey, these things do happen once in a great while). This movie was pretty disappointing, especially compared with the original. The first movie had a fun, original concept – making a secret agent out of an extreme sports athlete with a bad attitude and criminal tendencies. Okay, so it’s possible (and probably likely) that this has been done before, but never in a big budget film (at least not that I can recall). It was very much James Bond with a gritty edge and a modern youth culture sensibility. I especially loved the scene at the beginning where the James Bond wannabe in his tuxedo winds up at a Rammstein concert and sticks out like a sore thumb (and promptly gets himself killed). And Vin Diesel does a great job. So now we come to the sequel, where instead of the character xXx (a nickname for the main character which was tattooed on the back of his neck), we now have the “xXx program” or something silly like that. And to add insult to injury, I guess in the re-release of the original DVD, they actually have a new short film where they KILL OFF the original Xander Cage (a role that had to go to some no name, as not surprisingly they couldn’t get Vin Diesel to do it). That really pissed me off.

So what did I think of Ice Cube? To be honest, he did a pretty good job with the role. And I’ve always liked him as an actor. He definitely has the right attitude for the part. The problem is that his character is a former special forces operative in prison for punching out his superior officer (who not only desperately deserved it, but NATURALLY is the villain of the movie, and so Ice Cube’s character now gets a chance to get back at the guy who got him stuck behind bars). I’m sorry, but how cliché is that?! After the originality of the first film, it was really, really disappointing to see such a lame, been-there-done-that story concept for the sequel. And of course, to make the cliché complete, Samuel L. Jackson’s character makes the comment at the end of the movie that the NEXT xXx needs to be someone with even more attitude – letting us know that the producers have obviously decided to go the route of the old Batman franchise and change lead actors every film (but at least with these it’s a different CHARACTER to go with the new actor, unlike those goofy Batman movies).

One of the big complaints that many critics had was with the climatic ending chase/fight scene on the bullet train. And again I can’t really disagree with them. While fun to watch, it really pushed the bounds of believability way too far, so that after the movie was over, even though the scene was exciting to watch, your post-movie conversations tend to be more focused on how unbelievable and over-the-top it was, instead of how thrilling and action-packed it was. So overall I’d give this movie 3 stars as a pretty good summer action movie (I’m still undecided as to whether or not I’ll get this one on DVD – probably end up waiting until it’s $10 or something), but as the sequel to the original, I’d have to say it was a complete disappointment.

Lucky for me, then, that this weekend’s other movie was nothing short of wonderful. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was just all around fun! I enjoyed every minute of it. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to see it at the theater more than once, but I’m absolutely buying it as soon as it comes out on DVD. The critics had mixed reviews on this one, so we won’t bother with their opinions on the matter. I was most impressed by Mos Def, who did a phenomenal job as Ford Prefect. But this was hardly his first big movie role (he was also great as Left Ear in The Italian Job), so I don’t suppose I should have been surprised by that. The movie is funny and whimsical (much like the original story), the special effects are well done, and the casting was great (Alan Rickman is a riot as the voice of the depressed robot Marvin). And while it’s not the same actor (I had to look on imdb to verify for sure), the voice of the narrator bears a striking resemblance to the voice from the wonderful old BBC mini-series version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide (which I thought was pretty cool, since I'd always liked that voice for the Guide). All in all, just a fun, fun movie!

And so we leave April behind, and move on into May – only a few weeks until the start of the summer blockbusters (disappointing as many of them were). But we'll leave that for our next action-packed, fun-filled entry! :)

Two in one day!!!

Will you look at that – the blog entries just keep on coming! Two in one day!! How amazing is that?! Let’s just hope I can actually maintain this momentum for a little while. So the week following Sin City brought us Sahara. While not a great movie, it was a fun popcorn matinee sort of movie. It wasn't nearly as good as National Treasure, it was certainly a hell of a lot better than the sadly disappointing Lara Croft films (I still want to slap the writer/director of those films completely senseless for screwing up what should have been great movies). Matthew McConaughey does a pretty good job as the hero here, and I’ve always liked Steve Zahn. Admittedly he tends to play the same goofy sort of character in every movie he does, but he’s really good at it, so I don’t see any reason to complain. And of course Penelope Cruz is just nice to watch.

The movie has all things you’d expect from an action/adventure movie – gun fights, chase scenes, lots of action, a fair bit of comedy to lighten things. Sadly, while it has all the elements you’d expect, it doesn’t really have anything to make it unique or original. So while it is enjoyable to watch, there’s really nothing about it to make it stand out from any other movie of this type. I’d probably give it about 3 ½ stars.

Also released this weekend was Fever Pitch, which I need to see one of these days (if for no other reason than I’m a pretty big fan of Drew Barrymore), but I haven’t gotten around to seeing it yet.

So on we go to the next weekend (that would be Friday, April 15^th for those of you keeping track). This weekend brought a single wide release (which I don’t even think I got around to seeing until a week or two after it came out), and that would be the absolutely horrid and completely unnecessary remake to The Amityville Horror. This movie stars serious Ryan Reynolds (you can always tell serious Ryan Reynolds from comedy Ryan Reynolds because he has a beard). Sadly, serious Ryan Reynolds really isn’t very impressive as an actor (his role in Blade: Trinity was just terrible!). He doesn’t do too bad a job here, but it’s still nothing all that impressive. The original of this movie was a really good film – very spooky, very atmospheric. This version basically steals elements from every popular horror movie to come out in the last few years (especially the remakes of Japanese horror films that have been so popular lately), and throws them together around the basic story outline of the original film (they still have the audacity to list this one as being “based on a true story,” which is a complete joke). Don’t waste your time or money on this complete waste of a film.

From utter crap we move on to a pretty good political thriller the next weekend – The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. While I did like this movie, nothing about it really stands out enough for me to remember several months later. This is one of those movies that I enjoyed, and I’m really glad I saw, but it’s not one I think I’d watch more than once or maybe twice, so I probably won’t get it on DVD. I wish I’d done this review months ago so that I could give this movie the write-up that it deserves, but them’s the breaks. Well, I think that’s enough for one entry. More to follow soon.

Sin City ('nough said)

Frank Miller’s Sin City. I have but three little words for it – OH. MY. GOD. This movie was absolutely f*#@ing incredible!!! And to hell with any of the idiotic, useless movie critics out there who thought otherwise. I loved this movie. I saw it like three times before it left the theatres. Visually, it is stunning. The stark black and white interspersed with bits of color really gets your attention. The stories are involving, the characters are interesting and unique, the women are incredibly hot. Admittedly it is very violent, and there a few scenes that I could have done without (for example, Clive Owen forces Benicio Del Toro’s head into a toilet and holds it there for several seconds to intimidate him. When Benicio pulls his head out, he spits out quite a bit of very yellow water, which stands out all the more since everything else in the scene is black and white). Even the more vulgar, distasteful scenes, though, still very much fit into the theme and mood of the film, so you can appreciate their being in the movie, even if you don’t really enjoy watching them.

I especially like the ending of the movie, which ties in well with the beginning of the film to really complete the stories and tie everything together. The movie certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you like gritty, dark, violent pulp fiction, then you’ll love this movie. I can’t wait for this to come out on DVD. However, to be fair, there are a few negatives. While most of the performances are pretty damned good, Bruce Willis kind of looks like he’s just going through the motions at times. Also, this being pulp fiction, some of the dialogue is pretty over the top. Michael Madsen especially (who’s generally a great actor that I really like) seems to have trouble delivering some of the lines, and they come out kind of flat. But these minor faults can certainly be forgiven in what is overall a fantastic film.

And of course no conversion about Sin City would be complete without talking about the women in the movie. Jessica Alba not surprisingly is incredibly sexy, and gives a wonderful performance. She is just all around a great actress. Alexis Bledel also does a great job with her character (and she's REALLY cute). Rosario Dawson is really fun to watch (and has a couple of great lines), and Jaime King and Brittany Murphy do passable jobs with the roles that they have (although both have somewhat smaller roles). My absolute favorite, though, has to be Devon Aoki’s silent killer prostitute Miho. She is just so cool!

Well, I’ve probably gushed enough about this wonderful, incredible movie. I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there who’ll disagree with me, but as far as I’m concerned this is without question the best movie so far this year. It’s worth seeing over and over and over again. Of course, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is out today (I'll definitely be seeing that this weekend), so we’ll have to see how it compares. I’m a big enough fan of Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, and the original story and movie that I fully expect this one to give Sin City a good run for its money (and maybe in a few weeks or so when I actually get caught up with my blog, I’ll be able to tell you how they compare).

Oh, one final note. While checking out imdb’s entry on Sin City (to make sure I spelled everyone’s name correctly), I noticed an entry for Sin City 2 that says it’s supposedly due out in 2006. We can only hope!!!