I went and saw Moon starring Sam Rockwell on the weekend , really liked it. Anybody else seen this film ?
Paranormal Activity Whoever said this movie was scary needs to tuck their 6-grade ass back in their Nascar shaped bed and call it a night. Boring progression, cheap effects, fat lead actress. Not to mention the first hour of the movie was the best documented cure for insomnia since Nyquil. Pass.
Men Who Stare At Goats If you go to IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes for reviews of this movie, you'll see that the general consensus is that it's a decent but ultimately disappointing film. I agree - that pretty much sums it up. Men Who Stare At Goats follows a reporter (Ewan McGregor) who stumbles across the story of a secret US military project, the New Earth Army, to create soldiers with mental superpowers. The New Earth Army was the brainchild of Jeff Bridges (who plays his character like a slightly more motivated Dude) and also included George Clooney as the promising protege and Kevin Spacey as the obligatory guy who sucks and ruins the party for everyone else. The movie itself is uneven - it has some funny parts, but relies on a lot of referential humor (like Clooney repeatedly calling himself a 'jedi' to McGregor) which just wasn't that great. Also, the film's narrative arc never reaches any kind of climax and the resolution of the film was also pretty weak. I feel like the filmmakers were depending on the audience to give the film extra credit for the fact that many of the elements of the movie (or something similar) actually occurred... unfortunately, this doesn't excuse the fact that nothing really happens during the movie. In the end, I'd give it a 6 or 7 out of 10. It's worth watching if it comes on TV, but if you go see it in the theater you'll likely end up disappointed like I did.
Just got back from a late showing of Pirate Radio. Holy crap was this movie funny. The "story," for what it's worth, is fairly basic. Bunch of rebels play rock and roll off the British Coast while evil Kenneth Branagh tries to stop them with the help of Commodore Norrington. Skinny British kid who's never been laid comes to join them. And go. What follows is... not really a plot, per se, but just a solid two hours of these guys drinking, fucking each other over, forgiving each other, doing drugs, then fucking each other over again. Usually in a way involving fucking, but not each other. Fuck is said a lot. Occasionally the movie cuts back to catch up on what Branagh and Co. are doing to shut them down and eventually the two plots converge, but until then, it's basically a series of sketches of dudes hanging out on a boat and doing weird shit while listening to incredible music. And as I'm writing all this I realize it sounds incredibly stupid. But it's not. The plot is just a frame. What fills it out is how this group of guys (and one girl) relate and interact with each other on this boat. Their friendships just seem real, and though they go from hating each other one minute to loving each other the next, the transitions seem completely natural as well. Just as these guys can't stay mad at each other, you can't help but like them. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Bill Nighy all bring it to the table, throw it down, and make you love it. The ending was a little cheesy, but funny as hell anyway. My one very minor complaint: the credits roll over a montage of album covers that have come out since the 1960s. Are You Experienced, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Nevermind, etc. One of the album covers was from Taylor Swift. What the fuck?
2012 It is more or less what you'd expect. A very cliche and cheesy movie with amazing special effects. After almost three hours, I actually cared about the main characters enough to not want to see them die. On the other hand, I could do without all the happy happy joy feel good parts. Yes we are human and need to save our brothers and sisters. I get it. Everyone in this theater knows your plot and dialogue suck, so can I please watch Los Angeles sink into the Pacific some more?
My thoughts, exactly. Spoiler But I would have rather seen John Cusack go. Found myself wanting more destruction and much less soft bullshit. After seeing the PG-13 rating, I had a strong feeling it was going to be an apocalyptic Disney movie - that about sums it up.
Saw 2012 this afternoon. Yes, the plot and writing were terrible, and the science was laughable. Spoiler MUTATED NEUTRINOS! OH NOES! But I was actually surprised at seeing some decent performances shine through. Specifically Woody Harrelson, Zlatko Buric, and Oliver Platt. Chweitel Eijiofor wasn't so bad either despite his role being the essence of syrupy bullshit. Otherwise, this was one of the most ludicrous movies I've ever seen. I think I've said the word ludicrous in talking to people today more than I've used it in my entire life leading up to this point. But that's because I can't think of a single word to describe this movie more effectively. It's ludicrous. In all the best ways. Good movie, no. Entertaining movie? Fuck yeah.
You're aware that this movie was based on the First Earth Battalion, an actual, experimental New Age unit of the U.S. Army during the 80s that called themselves 'Jedi'. They weren't just being clever. They were being accurate. I don't really understand how someone would think "nothing" happened in this movie. If you want to call it cliche, that's another thing, because the plotline was pretty obvious. Man seeks redemption for what he perceives to be a wasted life, becomes embroiled in larger conflict, encounters kindred spirits who also seek to regain the self-respect and strength they once possessed, battle ensues, redemption is earned, lessons are learned, new strength is found, life goes on. There's nothing vague about that. It's a cookie-cutter format that could be applied to dozens of films released over the last decade. The characters are what saved the film. Frankly, I thought this was Bridges' best work since 'The Big Lebowski', and while shades of The Dude poked through, I thought the character was different enough that it didn't seem like a direct rip-off. Spacey gave the kind of performance that makes me wonder why he doesn't do more comedy, and his final scene is one of the best in the entire film. I didn't even want to shiv Ewan Macgregor. It's been a long time since I've been able to say that. For a stronger appreciation of the movie, read the book first, or at least do some background research into Jim Channon and his ideas.
2012 The movie is good for one thing and one thing only....2.5 hours of destruction porn. As Dufrenes said, its over the top ludicrous. The science is wrong, a few actors did a fantastic job, the rest were just "meh". My biggest complaint was... Spoiler how tidy the ending was. Ooooh, everything is all right, it turns out that everything is good again, in fact, it is so good, it got the parents back together Long and short of it, go see it if you are looking for some easy fun and excitement, better yet, go see it baked out of your mind.
Law Abiding Citizen I was actually expecting something halfway decent. Sure, there were more holes in the plot than the hull of the Titanic and the narrative was laughable at best. You have also probably seen better acting in a Cambodian whorehouse. (When are they going to learn that Butler's acting chops are limited outside of wearing a leather diaper and shouting at people?) Having said that, the premise was interesting enough to keep me engaged. Rental.
A Christmas Carol 3D I took my son, one of my nieces, and my ex-wife to see this. It is exactly what you would expect. We all know the story, there's no surprises, save for the 3D animation. It will be good to take kids to, or someone who has never seen a 3D movie. I thought they could have gotten a lot more out of the Scrooge character and the Cratchit family (what with the whole Tiny Tim aspect). Not bad by any means, but not great either. What I can't fathom is why they chose to release this movie now, instead of in December.
Saw the "Boondock Saints II" the other weekend. I really wanted to like this movie, I grew up and live in the Boston area, I like firearms, and liked the first one. The movie was just so damn easy to call and certain parts of it were like a music video. What also bothered me about it was that the ending was an not so obvious setup for another movie so they totally left you hanging but not in a good way. I would see this movie if it was available on bit torrent or on free VOD but thats about it.
Boondock Saints II, I really should have watched the first one again so I could compare the two better. I enjoyed the movie. There were some down sides, Dexter Morgans wife was the worst of the bunch. I could not buy her as a bad ass super agent with the horrible fake southern accent she spewed out. Towards the end it started to drag out, as mentioned another sequel is set up, but I thought they were just going to keep going. This movie is almost a mindless action flick and almost a decent action movie. Id still give it a B.
2012 Roland Emmerich, honestly....you and Michael Bay can surf a piece of flaming, exploding wreckage straight up my ass. Independence Day (mass slaughter)...The Day After Tomorrow (massive mass slaughter)...to this (practically everyone fucking person on earth). Following the typical "kill everyone in the city not including the main characters" action scenes (the effects are flawless, impressive, and so conveniently timed you should probably crack up with laughter like I did) formula...JESUS Emmerich loves to kill people. So much so that he usually gets distracted by all the shiney things and noises going "boom" that he forgets to add anythig resembling script to the movie. Just like Twister, Armageddon, etc. before it, the entertainment buzzer gets pounded on and pounded on...but FUCK man, what's your next movie, the Earth simply gets sucked into a fucking Quazar or something? The plot is so lame it should be criminal, but special effects are what sells soap to the MTV (idiot) crowd. A tip: don't try to add heartfelt drama to a movie you can't possibly take seriously. You once had the President flying a fighter jet against aliens, remember. Universal Soldier is one of Roland Emmerich's best movies. This is not an opinion. This is a fact.
Trick R' Treat Trick R' Treat completely flew under the radar. Whoever decided that this movie should go direct to video needs to die in a fire. It weaves several stories together Pulp Fiction style and does a good job balancing the clever and the scary. It's like a Charlie Brown Halloween special meets Drag Me to Hell. From playing Halloween pranks on the mentally handicapped to butchering fat children, this is easily the most fun I've had watching a horror movie in awhile (including Zombie Land.)
Ninja Assassin I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, other than a healthy dose of dismemberments and beheadings. And while yeah, it delivered somewhat, what there was was disappointing since a bunch of it was shot Bourne Identity style in the dark while everyone was wearing black, meaning you'd see a sword flash, hear a "kerchunk", and see blood, and that'd be it. I'm spending so much time discussing the violence because that's all there was to bring anybody in. If you've seen any old samurai/ronin movies, you've seen this already, except this was set in modern day with some throwaway subplot about the CIA or Interpol, or something. Frankly I'm not entirely sure where the hell this was supposed to have even been set in the first place. The Road comes out today. See that instead and wait for this one on DVD.
I saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox today and was very pleasantly surprised by it. It's directed by Wes Anderson and features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, and Jason Schartzman. The plot revolves around a fox who decides to steal chickens, ducks, turkey, and alcoholic apple cider from the three main farmers near him. Everything goes to shit when the farmers get pissed about getting robbed and declare that they will kill the fox at all costs. After a whole lot of digging (apparently foxes are the best animals at digging) the movie climaxes with a showdown involving the fox and his group of woodland creatures displaced by the farmers against the three farmers and their employees. I thought the movie was really funny, and Anderson definitely made the most of the goofy animation as well as Clooney's abilities.
Saw A Christmas Carol tonight, and yes, I saw it in 3D. Got dragged to it by the girl I'm currently seeing, and of course she loved it, so I've got to get my dislike of this movie out here instead of unleashing it on her. First, the good part. This movie actually sticks to the original story pretty well. Oft-ignored characters like Scrooge's nephew are given their time onscreen. Actually, this was the first film version of the story I've ever seen that actually underplays the role of Tiny Tim. Seriously, he's there for about five minutes. I couldn't believe it. But then again, I was glad of that, because he freaked me the hell out. Which brings me to my next point. This movie descends into the Uncanny Valley more than any movie I've ever seen. (Never saw The Polar Express.) Holy crap was Tiny Tim a creepy little fuck. I really don't get why these movies decide to use 3D animation if they're going to make the characters look like the voice actors anyway. Jim Carrey does three voices: Scrooge, (duh) the Ghost of Christmas Past, and the Ghost of Christmas Present, and they all look like him. It really takes you out of the movie when you're watching and think, "Oh, there's Lloyd Christmas again." There were also way too many gratuitous action scenes. Scrooge looks 150 years old, he should not be getting tossed about like a Muppet in a dryer, but sure enough, the ghosts all had him getting thrown around in one way or another. Also, a movie that has the skills of both Robin Wright Penn and Carey Elwes and you don't have a The Princess Bride reference? Fuck you.