I saw this a couple nights ago and also really enjoyed it. It has a very Wes Anderson feel to it. Divided into clear acts that he announces on screen. Incredibly good soundtrack. There's plenty of adult wit. If you have kids I'm not sure how much they'll enjoy it. It might not fit with the clean, vibrant animation style common today. Probably a good date movie too. Fun, light, but still smart and intelligent. You'll smirk and say "ha" a lot, but you won't be bent over laughing. 8 out of 10.
I watched Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day last night. It was ok, but had a rough start. Troy Duffy apparently thinks his audience is stupid because he creates several characters that exist just to explain things or make a scene transition. It's certainly been dumbed down from the original, but the action is good (maybe better), the "fight recaps" from the first movie are back and they are pretty cool. I found their Mexican replacement for Rocco to be incredibly annoying and not nearly as funny, and lastly they gave way too many speaking parts to the Italians, which made them completely non-intimidating. Lastly, Julie Benz's southern accent is awful, just plain awful. If you ignore the first half hour of the movie, it gets better from there. I'll probably watch the third when it comes out regardless (did I mention they leave room for a sequel?)
I also just watched Boondock Saints 2, and it was basically the worst movie I have ever seen. I loved the first one, but the sequel literally has none of the things that made the first movie cool. Retarded fucking story, the cinematography was shitty and lacked the charm of the first one and the acting was seriously bad. I don't think it was entirely their fault, the movie was just horribly directed. It was choppy, and the action was seriously, seriously fucked up. I literally think this was a big "fuck you" to the fans. The "Mexican" sidekick is WHITE, he's just a white trash motherfucker and talks in a shitty faux Mexican accent. His Uncle who is supposed to be Mexican as well is ASIAN. I swear to God, they couldn't even get ethnicity right in this movie. The movie is also absolutely chock full of shitty one liners and snarky little catch phrases which fall way off the mark in my opinion. The soundtrack is all like Buck Cherry style horseshit, and horrible southern accent on the main FBI agent. This post sounds retarded but I'm seriously so angry and upset with this movie that I can't even gather all of my thoughts and write coherently. Seriously, it is that bad, 22% at Rotten tomatoes. It is not a fucking "okay" movie, Troy Duffy can suck my dick. Now I'm gonna have to listen to Tupac and do pushups for about an hour to cool down.
I hate to nit-pick but in all fairness Clifton Collins jr. is mexican. I haven't seen the movie though and now I'm much less likely to rush out and see it. A movie I have seen is Paranormal Activity, and that movie is AWFUL. I know I'm going against the grain here, and a lot of people found it terrifying, but it's hands down one of the worst movies I've seen in a ong time. You want to know what this movie is like? it's an hour and a half of bumps in other rooms you can't see, the girlfriend being really scared, and the boyfriend fucking around with the camera posturing. ("This is my house, you're my girlfriend, and nothing fucks with you. I'll handle it myself, we don't need no stinkin' experts"...is an actual line of dialogue.) Then shit hits the fan for what feels like 30 seconds, and it's over. This movie is like the worst hand job you've ever received, and just when you start to enjoy yourself (partly because of the ending, but mostly because it's almost over) she just kicks you in the nuts instead, and then storms out with no explanation.
I just watched for the second time Taking Woodstock, starring Demetri Martin. It also features small parts from Emile Hirsch, as well as Liev Schrieber in drag. It's the basically true story about how Woodstock came to be, based on the memoir of Elliot Tiber, who is played by Martin. It's a really interesting look at how Tiber's life became involved with Woodstock, and Demetri Martin [who I find hilarious as a comic but never liked his Comedy Central show] does a great job acting the part. Liev Schrieber as Vilma is a very understated performance as well. Ang Lee directed, and the cinematography is great, as well as the way the film is shot. It LOOKS like a '60s film, sort of grainy and old-fashioned. They casted everyone perfectly to fit the time period. The dialogue is far from tacky. Overall I highly enjoyed it and recommend it. Eugene Levy and the guy who plays Tiber's dad give excellent performances as well.
Went to see Ninja Assassin yesterday, and it was about what you'd expect: thinnest of plots, sub-par acting, lots of (very fake) blood, decapitations and dismembering of limbs. But the trailer for Prince of Persia was awesome. Same for Sherlock Holmes.
I watched this one as well tonight. On the bright side, the action scenes were better than I expected, and there was a lot of blood, violence, car crashes, bazookas blowing up Japanese huts, and killer ninjas. Some of the death scenes were an excellent fun. However, there were two major problems keeping this film from being really good action fare; 1. A sappy, irritating touchy-feely love side story that had no place whatsoever in the film. Action directors, when will you understand this? If I wanted a deep human connection I wouldn't be watching a movie fucking called "Ninja Assassin", would I? 2. While I realize that they cast Rain as the lead because in Korea, he is the equivalent of Justin Timberlake crossed with Brad Pitt, he has to be the most bland, boring action protagonist I have ever seen. Just no charisma whatsoever, which is strange, since he's one of the biggest pop idols in the history of the CJK (China, Japan, Korea) market. I wanted him to be good, too...but he just sucked. A total failure as an action lead. Overall, it's one of the better Hollywood action films made in the last two years. Much, MUCH better than "Taken", although marginally worse than "Rambo 4". Fun fact- I immediately recognized the film the laundromat owner was watching on his television as "A Chinese Torture Chamber Story". Made me realize that I probably watched way too many violent Asian films back in high school....
Now I love a football movie, I can't think of one that I didn't at least somewhat enjoy. So of course I'm going to go out and see The blind side and it was not exactly what I expected. (With movies I know I'm going to see I try not to read too many reviews) And though it is not all about football, and more focuses on the sentimental story that Sandra Bullock plays, I liked it a lot. So if you are feeling a little emotional, need an uplifting story, go see it. Just don't be expecting a movie that is centered around football like Friday night lights, or Remember the titans. 8/10
Invictus Saw this last night and really enjoyed it. It won't blow your socks off, but it's a really solid film. It felt similar to a lot of inspirational sports movies, but at the same time it felt a lot more natural and wasn't forced to be like every other sports story out there. Morgan Freeman did an excellent job as did Matt Damon. The backdrop of apartheid and a nation trying to heal both complements the sports and puts it in perspective as well. It also got me more interested in rugby. Definitely would recommend it. 8.5/10
Avatar (no spoilers) The plot itself is simple and quite predictable, several films have told a similar kind of story before. It did make me care about the characters, and that's what matters. The world of Avatar is incredibly detailed, and kept stunning me literally every minute. The only film where I've ever felt such a wonder of discovering a new world was Jurassic Park, way back then. This is not only the product of terrific effects, but also of great writing, direction, music, etc. Cameron has a way of integrating a massive amount of action into a story without overloading it, and this is also very evident here. All in all, it's a hell of a ride. Go see it.
This was probably the biggest flaw for me for the movie in general. This was Dances With Wolves meets every greedy business movie, with a dash of War of the Worlds Dues Ex Machina. Over all I think that the story has been told soooo many times that it is not fresh enough to deserve to be told with this new cutting edge medium. James Cameron can make a well balanced action film but honestly the plot being so simple leads most of the secondary characters to become one dimensional cliches, Im talking about the mad Colonel in particular. Maybe he just wanted a straight action movie to display the 3D technology but the movie is peppered with some cheesy ass lines and useless characters. Spoiler I also have a huge pet peeve with film makers that blatantly throw in their political views that it almost seems out of place. Im talking about two lines in particular, the first came like 2 minutes in when Jake mentions how "Grunts couldn't afford spinal repair, not in this economy" and later when the Colonel has two lines about preemptive war and fighting terror with terror. On to the good, the action, coupled with the 3D it is amazing. Visually the movie is stunning in almost every single scene. This film is like the best roller coaster youve ever been on. I am pissed that I didn't call ahead to get tickets for the midnight Imax showing and it was sold out by the time I got there, I am sure the Imax screen would have really intensified the gut dropping feeling that the 3D action scenes produced. I have honestly not seen a movie this thrilling in years. Id definitely recommend seeing it. * speaking of Jurassic Park, was it me or did the horse creatures have the exact same call/vocals of the Raptors from the first movie? Im pretty sure they used the same audio.
Red Cliff I've always had conflicting views on John Woo. I think he's very overrated, yet I still like him overall. There are undeniably things he excels at as a director, and the cinemaphotography and acting for his films is top notch. On the other hand, there are tons of weakness and holes in his movies, some of them so bad, you can't help but laugh, shake your head, and be drawn out of the work. He's made some very good films, like "A Better Tomorrow", "Hard Boiled", and "Heroes shed no Tears", and many, many awful ones. This film had both, although thankfully, far more good than bad. Covering the warring states period in third century Imperial China, there were certain battle sequences, explanations of military strategy, and exchanges as good as any war-themed film I've ever seen. The opening is fast-paced and brilliant, and the majority of the last hour, all the way up until the ending, is superb. Unfortunately, there are times where the film feels cliche, stupid, and downright grating, such as the majority of the scenes featuring the Viceroy and his wife. The emotions and words they exchange have been done in a thousand films before it, just as unrealistically and static as it was here. That entire subplot proceeded in a very predictable manner, too. Like all John Woo films, there are also moments of completely unrealistic, stupid nonsense. A few were so bad, the audience occasionally laughed. I won't spoil it, but the ending was one of the most random, bizarre things I have ever seen, throwing both logic and much of the earlier continuity of the film out the window. It was really bad. That being said, the battle scenes are excellent, the camera work, lush backgrounds, and rolling rivers and fields are amazing to look at, and overall, I would say the movie is very good, but not great. I would rather watch a film that does 10 things well and 6 poorly, then one that does only two things well, and none badly. For point of reference, I ranked it slightly higher than Braveheart.
I sort of agree with Kahn, the plot of Avatar is pretty cookie-cutter and the characters are pretty one dimensional. But, I didn't really care. Avatar is easily one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen. It was a first 3-D movie I've seen where the 3-D glasses were not used for cheap gimmicks. The whole Pandora world with all the crazy plants and animals had me constantly thinking "Man, that's cool!" If you are going to see it, see it in 3-D (I can't imagine it being nearly as cool in 2 dimensions).
Just got back from Avatar. I'd recommend this one to see in the theater for the effects. The story could of been better, as it's been mentioned already, but the special effects are un-fucking real. Worth the money to me. And without getting into spoilers, a lot of things to think about.
I saw The Road today and I have to say I loved it. I read the book, and what I saw on the screen matched what I had imagined in my head while reading. I took my mom, and she hadn't read the book or heard anything about it, and she loved it as well. Viggo Mortensen was extraordinary as the father, and Kodi Smit-McPhee was the perfect blend of "scared innocence" that I was hoping for. The movie was tremendously sad at times, and had some slight differences from the book, but this is an extremely powerful and magnificent movie that I would highly recommend to anyone, especially those who read the book. Go see it.
I saw Avatar last night, and I don't care about the story (which I thought wasn't as bad as people are letting on). This film is a visual feast. Every aspect of the Pandora world is stunning. Some things were telegraphed a bit, but overall, it's not as cookie cutter of a plot as you'd think. I know it costs more, but PLEASE see it in 3-D. I'd never seen a movie in 3-D before and all I have to say is WOW. The movie was breathtaking and I can see why Cameron waited so long for the technology to catch up to his imagination. Well worth the wait.
Avatar Sure, it's like Dancing with Wolves in space. But who fucking cares? It's like Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay took a shit in my brain. George Lucas would orgasm at just the thought of this movie. The special effects were literally the best I have ever seen and the plot didn't distract from that. Beautiful movie. Go see it. And fuck all of you: I thought the General character was awesome.
Avatar I read no reviews and didn't know anything going into see it. The story wasn't bad as it's been made out to be, I enjoyed it. Visually the sweetest fucking movie I have ever seen. I am a 3d fiend, it's the greatest thing to happen to film since color. Beowulf was always at the top of the list, but Avatar completely topped it by 100x. It would be worth your money to go watch this movie in 3d if it didn't even have sound. I enjoyed the hell out of it, visually orgasmic. You will do yourself a disservice if you don't see it in 3d. Otherwise I can't really say anything that hasn't been said.
Avatar If you go to see the movie again listen really close at the "not in this economy" line; I think I could hear the back of James Cameron's fist slapping against his nuts in the background. I've read that some people have a problem with the politics of the movie and I'm not one of those people. I have a problem when the politics of said movie are clumsily thrust into the forefront like an actor who's not done with a costume change when the curtain opens up again. Those moments didn't spoil the entire movie but I think it would have been a little stronger if Cameron had been a little more deft in the way he chooses to comment on the state of the world. Other than those small slip-ups I think Avatar was pretty cool. Within a few minutes of the film's true start I was willing to overlook the fact that it had a story that was very similar to a few other movies because the setting was new and interesting. On a somewhat related note, the movie helped me solidify my plan to throw James Cameron and Neil Blomkamp in a windowless room and weld the door shut. The only way they'll be able to to win their freedom is by agreeing to produce a true adaptation of Starship Troopers.
Sherlock Holmes: I have seen three Guy Ritchie films including this one (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch being the other two) and this one is by far the most predictable, watered down and just...Hollywood. It was clear he had millions of dollars to play with, no responsibility to introduce or develop characters, a "story" that everyone knew before they ever sat down, and actors like Downey Jr. and Law who could pull off an action flick. It was mindless fun. Definitely not groundbreaking and the first 20 minutes of the film I almost fell asleep, but I had higher expectations from Ritchie. Not bad, but not great either. I went to see an action film, and the action scenes were there, and just like the boxing scenes in Snatch, you are shown every visceral detail of the fighting, but it's not enough of a visual spectacle to watch strictly for the action scenes. The acting was pretty well done, I think. Downey's version of Holmes is a bit more looney bin than genius detective, and it had the funny-buddy comedy angle. This is basically Lethal Weapon done in 19th century England (according to this Cracked article:http://www.cracked.com/article/18348_new-sherlock-holmes-lethal-weapon-2-in-victorian-clothes/, with a bit of Wild Wild West thrown in. This movie does a lot of things ok (action, acting, comedy) but none of it is amazing. Bottom line, if Avatar 3D is sold out, you won't be upset if you have to watch this. But seriously, go watch Avatar. Plot, blue people, cost so much to make, blah blah blah. None of that shit matters. I couldn't tell you how silly the plot is, or how horrible the acting is, or whether or not the movie itself is any good, because I am still so blown away by the visual feast that this movie was. Honestly, I don't want to go see it twice, but it was worth seeing for two reasons: A James Cameron action sequence, and the fact that during any scene in Pandora, my mouth was open. It is like watching Planet Earth on mushrooms. You might not like anything the movie actually says, but you will be in awe of what you see. I hope this movie makes bank, so we can see more like it, it's amazing. This was the first movie I have ever seen in 3D, and I could not imagine seeing it in anything less and enjoying it equally. 3D or bust.