Hey gang,
Just a reminder not only can you see my reviews here but you can read them over at The Exception Magazine's Entertainment section. Currently my Fanboys and Friday the 13th reviews are up there as well.

Labels: reviews, The Exception Mag

I'm going to assume if you're even thinking of going to see a film like Friday the 13th, then you probably are not expecting an award level film. Therefore let's acknowledge that any use of terms such as "good movie" or the like are relative to the slasher genre and not to films at large, because let's face it Jason is no Hannibal Lecter and Friday the 13th is certainly no Silence of the Lambs.

But in it's own way Friday the 13th is a good movie, it's just that it's a good slasher movie, and that makes all the difference. Because any member of the audience of a slasher flick is there for two main reasons: to be scared and to see teens/early 20-somethings get killed in creative and unsettling ways. And on these conditions the new Friday the 13th delivers.

Now I've liked horror films for a long time. I like being scared and for some bizarre reason I enjoy those crazy deaths. I first really got into horror films with the self-referential Scream series and then discovered others. But the last few years I've stayed away from most horror films, mainly because more and more they've become something other than horror films, they've become torture porn. And as much as I like creative death scenes and being scared, I don't like being grossed out. And that's what most horror films have become, just scenes or torture designed to gross you out more than scare you.

So I was admittedly reluctant to see the new Friday the 13th, because I was worried it would be more torture porn. But I was surprised to find it was far from it. Although there are some amazing death scenes, there was only one time I really thought the gore went a bit to far and it wasn't too over the line and didn't bother me to much. But I know what you really want to know was how was the movie.

As I've said the movie delivers, as long as you're just looking to be frightened or see some good deaths scenes. While some of the actors do a good job, there is some frighteningly bad acting in this film (I'm looking at you Danielle Panabaker, jeez you were bad and you had some facial expressions that were scarier than Jason without his mask on) and some of the lines were just plain cheesy, but it sure was fun overall.

Now the movie is not so much of a remake as it is a relaunch and so it mashes together events from the first few movies while also adding an original plot line. (The original film saw Jason's mother killing people and in the 2nd film he wears a sack on his head not getting the Hockey Mask until part 3) The movie begins with a recreation of the very end of the original Friday the 13th with Ms. Vorhees getting her head lopped off by the loan survivor, all while Jason secretly watches. The movie then picks up 20 years later as a group of 20-something hikers are setting up camp not far from the old seemingly deserted Camp Crystal Lake. Soon after the story of Jason and his mother is told around the camp fire the tension picks up as Jason arrives in his burlap sack and begins to stalk and kill the campers.

These opening 20 minutes are easily the best part of the movie as they are stacked with tension and some great "jump out of your seat" moments. After Jason has taken out all the campers we cut to 6 weeks later and are introduced to Clay (Jared Padalecki) who is searching for his sister, on of the just disposed of campers. Clay runs into a group of, you guessed it, 20-somethings who are on their way to spend a weekend in D-Bag Trent's (Travis Van Winkle {Who?}) rich parents cabin by the lake. And as you can guess they plan on boozing, smoking, and sexing it up for the weekend. Which of course means Jason will be there to pick them off one by one.

ow there's no reason to go into the plot any more as you already know if you want to see the movie, and you know from here on out it's just going to be a game of cat and mouse. What I will tell you is that not only is the movie scary it's genuinely funny. A lot of the jokes come at Trent's expense which is great, because seriously this guy is unlikable and when he finally gets it, you want to stand up and cheer (you knew he was going to die, stop whining about your spoilers)

So if you're looking for a fun, bloody slasher flick to waste some time, I highly recommend this movie. But you should go soon, because in my opinion movies like this are far better seen with a huge audience who you can hear scream in fear, or yell at the screen. Because horror films really should be a communal experience.

Labels: Friday the 13th, reviews

Who says the Western is Dead? Cause I'm here to tell you, they're wrong, it was just taking a break for a while. This past month saw the release of two hotly anticipated Westerns, one I've seen, the other I can't wait to see. This first is '3:10 to Yuma', the second is the long windedly titled 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' While I haven't seen the second one yet, my friend Jon has and he's written a review to accompany my review of 3:10.

3:10 to Yuma
I'll be the first to admit, I haven't always been a fan of Westerns. In fact other than 'Tombstone', I was never really a fan. But earlier this year I sat down to watch 'The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly' and 'The Magnificent Seven' and I was hooked. I also recently watched most of 'The Searchers' with a friend and realized it was a really great film. So it was with baited breath that I anticipated the release of '3:10 to Yuma' a remake of the 1957 film starring Glenn Ford. The film appealed to me for a number of reasons.
First, it stars one of the greatest actors around today, Christian Bale. Second, it was the first real Western I've been aware of since I fell for the genre. Add in Russel Crowe (a fine actor, even if he is a louse in real life), Alan Tudyk (A wonderful character actor), and Ben Foster (Another actor that I'm convinced is one of the best around) and you had the makings of a fine looking film.
Happily I can report I was not disappointed. 3:10 to Yuma is one of the best films I've seen all year. (And if you look in the column to the left you'll see that's quite a feat) Director James Mangold (Walk the Line) does a wonderful job bringing the feel of the old west to the big screen. The shots of various terrain, untouched by the modern world, are beautiful and it's in sharp contract to the violence that play out on screen.
The film opens on Dan Evans (Bale) a down on his luck farm hand, injured in the civil war, as his barn is burned down because he owes money on the land. His son clearly loathes him for his apparent weakness, and for not going after then men who have set the barn on fire. The next morning Dan and his sons head to town and on their way run into the ruthless outlaw, Ben Wade (Crowe) who's just robbed the Armored Stage Coast carrying the railroad's payroll. Wade allows Evans and his sons to go on their way, after taking their horses to make sure they can't follow him.
By the time Evans makes it to town Wade's men have left, but Wade is busy being 'entertained' by the local female, barkeep. Once it's obvious Wade is in town, the Sheriff and his men surround the hotel and as Evans distracts him, arrest Wade.
Now the movie heads into the meat of the film. Wade and his gang half stolen several hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Railroad and the railroad means to see him hang.
So the railroad offers to pay any man who will help transport Wade to Bisbee, Arizona to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma, where he will be tried and hung. (As a lawyer I must say it's funny that he'll be tried and hung, since that makes it seem like the trial is a mockery, but I digress) Evans needs the money so he quickly volunteers to go along.
Quickly Wade's gang realizes he's been captured and make it a point to try and free him. The scenes with the gang are amazing, thanks mostly to the aforementioned Foster, as Charlie Prince, Wade's somewhat psychotic right hand man, who will stop at nothing to get back his boss.
Evans, Wade, and the others who are transporting Wade make a stop back at Evans farm in order to trick Wade's gang into following a stage with another man in it. While waiting to leave from Evan's Wade makes advances on Evans wife, which seem to be somewhat excepted, as all of his family seems to have accepted that he's lame, not only because of his leg, but as a man. Evan's eldest son, William (Logan Lerman), takes a liking to Wade and sees him as more of a man than his father, and someone to look up to. Because of this William wants to accompany the men on their transportation, but Evans tell him no.
The group, consisting of McElroy, the only living guard of the robbed stagecoach, Tucker, the deputy, and Doc Potter (Tudyk), the town's veterinarian, takes off to Bisbee. Following close behind is William who leaves his home in the middle of the night in order to follow Wade. Quickly things go bad, as Wade throws McElroy over a cliff and turns the guns on the men forcing them to surrender, before William shows up to save the day.
It would be a shame to tell all of what happens over the course of their journey, but there are several fights and Evans and Wade slowly forge a bond.
The movie all builds until they get to Bisbee, and Evans must get Wade across town to the train station, without being killed by Wade's men who have infiltrated the town, and bought the sway of some of the townsfolk. Evan's is now alone except for his son, for several reasons, and realizes that he's the only one left who can do what's right. The mad dash from one end of town to the other is amazingly shot, and is one of the best action sequences I've seen in quite some time.
The movie really comes down to the love between a father and his son, and making sure to teach them to do the right thing, even if it's the hardest thing you have to do. The ending comes as a bit of a shock, and I would be lying if I said I immediately understood what was happening, but upon reflection it's a great ending.
All in all it's not only a great Western, but a magnificent film which receives my Highest Recommendation. Gosee it now, while it's still in theaters and can be seen the way it was meant to be.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
By Jonathan Grubbs

Some films pepper your mind with flying bullets, numbing action, and crudely drawn characters that have little more appeal than burnt grilled cheese. Some films, however, stay with you and chew on the cogs of your mind for a good while after the lights come up.

I've always hated Westerns. Strike that; hated is too harsh. I've been disinterested in Westerns until very recently. I've tried many of them, starting with classics to make sure I wouldn't be let down. I watched The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Unforgiven, and many of the Eastwood-Morricone laden spaghetti westerns, but none seemed to resonate with me. This always bothered me. How could something so quintessentially American and loved by boys since before the baby boom not appeal to me? My distaste for the Western world began to change with the arrival of Deadwood. Here was a western that showed you how truly hard and awful life in the Frontier years must have been. Dirty, angry, and vice-filled.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford (TAOJJBTCRF), cut from the same mold but wholly its own beast, has now cemented me a lover of the new Western that focuses on character interaction more than gun slinging do-gooders with a score to settle. TAOJJBTCRF works so well partly because it is based in fact so the actors bring a sort of holy reverence to the source material of both real life events and the novel by Ron Hansen. In fact, whole swaths of the novel are used as narration for the film, and it works because of the sheer poetry of Hansen's prose. I was also amazed at how expertly director Andrew Dominik was able to draw extreme suspense in long take scenes that in any other film would seem tedious and overbearing. But Dominik lets the action happen as is, and the film is all the stronger for it. One of my favorite shots of the film is a long one-take sequence of a troubadour traipsing through a saloon singing a song about the cowardly act of killing Jesse James. At the end of the shot the camera rests on a tortured Robert Ford drinking at the bar while having to listen while his reputation is besmirched. It's gorgeously composed and shows the power of well-composed and well-timed shots in cinema. Watch also for an amazingly tense sequence involving gunplay in the confines of a small bedroom in a Missouri farm house that shows just how terrible six-guns are at close range.

The dramatic irony of the title is also what makes the film work so well. Because you know the end is coming for James, you pay close attention to the details in the disintegration of the James Gang, Robert Ford's strange sycophancy and Jesse James slow descent into paranoia. Everyone is cast brilliantly, but most especially Casey Affleck who proves his acting talent is the full course meal to his older brother's chunk of ham. While 3:10 to Yuma is the more commercial of the two Westerns out now, TAOJJBTCRF is by far the better experience for the power of film.

Throw in gorgeous natural light and squished lens cinematography by Roger Deakins, and a haunting score by Nick Cave, and you've got a wonderful film tinged with hints of Malick standing on its own as an elegy for and admonition of the outlaw life.

Labels: 3:10 to Yuma, Guest Review, reviews, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

My weekend of movies began on Thursday evening and continued until Sunday night. Because I watched so much I’ve decided to just post some mini-reviews of my thoughts on each movie.

Thursday

After Dropping Jeri off at the airport and having lunch with a friend I finally made it home to start the weekend off right.

Le Samaurai

A French film with lots of style and a slow paced plot. The movie follows French assassin as he carries out a hit and evades the police and his employers. The movie has some really well done scenes, but the story is a little too slow for my tastes. But it was a nice change of what I normally watch.

The Station Agent

This amazing little film follows the interwoven lives of three people: A loner dwarf who inherits a train depot in the middle of nowhere, NJ, a divorcee still reeling from the death of her only child, and a loquacious Cuban Hot Dog truck driver. It’s an amazing story of how these three touch each others lives and change one another for the better. Truly a great film, it’s both comedic and dramatic. One anyone can enjoy.

Friday

This was my day at the movies and I loved every minute of it, my friend Peter and I enjoyed the day by hanging out at the Movie theater from about 10:30 to midnight. It was the perfect blend of movies as we started with an Action movie, moved on to a Comedic Fantasy, enjoyed a Sci-Fi Thriller, and then ended it all with a Hilarious Teen Comedy.

The Bourne Ultimatum

This is what an action movie should be, filled with fight scenes, chases, and a government conspiracy. If only they’d have less of the jerky camera movements, it gets a bit old. But for the most part it was well done, and a blast to watch.

Stardust

This one was so much fun, I went in not expecting much, not sure what it would be and if I’d like what it was. But it was a great, a hilarious adventure full of fun scenes, and wonderful characters. I highly recommend it.

The Invasion

This one is getting awful reviews, but I enjoyed it. It’s not a great movie, but it’s suspenseful and had me on the edge of my seat. The end wraps things up a bit to nicely, but otherwise it was fun. I think people just expect to much, they just need to go in and enjoy the movie for whatever it is. In this case it’s just a fun waste of an hour and a half.

Superbad

Amazing! A fun, immature teen comedy. It’s filled with profanity, which may turn some off, but for every ounce of profanity there’s a pound of real emotion. Sure the main story is about three friends trying to score alcohol for a graduation party in order to impress the girls they like, but deep down it’s about so much more. The real story is the love of two friends and how they deal with leaving each other to go to separate colleges, and thus likely, separate lives. It’s sweet in a way that only the Apatow team seems to manage to pull off these days. And like the other Apatow movies it seems more real than most movies.

Saturday

I spent Saturday hanging out by myself and then with my friend Christopher. We watched a couple of movies and played some video games.

The Trouble With Harry

Classic Hitchcock, my Dad and I used to watch Hitchcock together a lot, both his movies and the TV series. My Dad always told me this was one of his favorites but we never did watch it, so I picked it up at Ameoba on Thursday and decided to sit down to watch it.

It’s not your typical Hitchcock, as it’s almost a romantic Comedy, that just happens to surround a dead body.

It’s got some truly fantastic performances and is quite funny. Definitely one worth owning and something you could watch over and over.

The Searchers (Last Half)

I caught the last half when I went over to Christopher’s. I’d seen this one once in college and forgotten how good it actually was until I watched this hour. It’s quite funny in parts and has some great acting.

One funny thing, there’s a young soldier that comes towards the end of the film to warn of a potential Indian attack and ask for backup. I was joking that this kid was John Wayne’s real life son, named either Wayne or Bruce (Wayne Wayne or Bruce Wayne) After the movie ended we watched an introduction from John Wayne’s son, who was in the movie as, you guessed it, the young soldier who I had joked about. It was quite cool.

Disturbia

I’ve already reviewed this one once, but upon second viewing I realized just how good it was. The suspense still works and made me jump several times, and much like Rear Window, it seems like a movie you can watch over and over.

Brick

We ended the night with this little Indie film from 2006. Starring Joseph Gordon Levitt it’s a film noir set in High School and follows the hero on his search for his ex-girlfriend whom he thinks is in trouble. Suspenseful, with several plot twists, it’s one that takes several viewings to completely grasp, but not in a way in which the first viewing isn’t enjoyable.

Sunday

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

I watched these two back to back (as they should be watched) I forgot how much darker the first one was than the second. Part one has a better story, a better April O’Neil (although not as pretty), and the one thing that really makes it a better film, Elias Koteas as Casey Jones.

Yet the goofy, cheesy feel of the second film makes me gravitate towards it more. Sure the second one has a crappy story, an awful anti-climatic Climatic Battle, and of course Vanilla Ice, but it’s so much more fun than it has any right to be.

They’ve both aged horribly, but the films are still so much fun.

Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom

This used to be my favorite of the Indy films, but I eventually realized it’s really the worst of the three. But don’t get me wrong it’s still better than most movies out there, especially ones that are over 20 years old. The movie still holds up well, and I’d forgotten this one takes place before Raiders. I’m not a big fan of Voodoo storylines, but Temple handles it reasonably well and the movie still packs a lot of fun. Plus it’s got Data from Goonies, so that’s always a bonus.

Night of the Living Dorks

This is one you’ve probably never heard of, it’s a German B-Horror film that I’ve heard was great for quite some time, so I picked it up. The movie is about a trio of uber-nerds who accidentally are turned into Zombies after dying in a car crash. The three realize they’re zombies and will continue to devolve into mindless flesh-eating ghouls without some kinds of antidote. But of course before they time, they become hugely popular thanks to their zombie-fication.

The movie is a cheesy B-movie, which I love, so it was a blast to watch. I of course watched it with subtitles, because dubbing is awful. But for a few minutes I watched with subtitles and dubbing on and it was great to watch the difference between the two translations.

Surprisingly the movie weekend carried over to the week and I watched a movie both Monday night and tonight (Tuesday) with a group of undergrad RA’s over at my friend Christopher’s.

Monday

North by Northwest

Another Classic Hitchcock. Adventure, mistaken identities, femme fatales, murder, and intrigue, this movie has it all. Plus it’s got one of the most famous scenes of all time: Cary Grant being chased by a bi-plane! Also I forgot to mention it’s got Trains, another Hitchcock staple.

Truly one everyone should see at some point in their life.

Tuesday

Again this one has been reviewed here and is one of my favorites of the year so far. On second viewing it’s still amazing and the 3 or 4 scenes that all appear to be one long shot are exquisite. And there’s one scene (in a building towards the end) that still gives me goosebumps.

Labels: Movie Weekend, reviews

Last week two Giant, Popcorn, Effects-A-Palooza Blockbuster films opened within a week of each other. Each film involved an 80s franchise which meant a lot to tons of people. One was a sequel to series of beloved action films, the first of which many claim is the best Action Film of all time. The other was based on a series of classic cartoons and toys, beloved by many and remembered by even more.
I am of course talking about Live Free or Die Hard and Transformers. Being the Cinemaniac that I am, I of course saw both of them. One was better than I expected and one was somewhat of a let down. But should you spend your money to see either in theaters?

Live Free or Die Hard
If you've seen a Die Hard movie before you know the basic premise, Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) fights a group of terrorists for some reason or another. This time the plot centers on a group of terrorists trying to cause a "Fire-Sale" which involves taking out all computer-run systems, including national defense, power, gas, etc. Basically "Everything Must Go!" ala a Fire-sale.
When the FBI gets wind of something going down they ask the NYPD to send an officer to pick up a young hacker (Justin Long) for questioning. When McClane gets there, a group of assassins try to kill the hacker and McClane must keep him safe and get him to the FBI. Along the way they meet up with a uber-hacker played by Kevin Smith (who does a great job, essentially playing himself) and the terrorists kidnap McClane's daughter Lucy.
The movie has a serious of amazing action sequences and with the exception of one involving a 18-Wheeler that goes disastrously over the top, the action is fantastic. And all and all it feels like a Die Hard movie. If you like the Die Hard series you'll enjoy this film. I'd place it as 2nd in the series in terms of level of enjoyability coming in only behind the first in the series. A lot of the reason this film works rests on the shoulders of Justin Long, who adds a wonderful amount of humor to the film.
All in all it's everything a blockbuster action film should be, fun over-the-top action, humor, and a good plot line. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Transformers
Directed by Micheal Bay and Produced by Steven Spielberg, this one is definitely Micheal Bay's baby and his fingerprints are all over it. The movie follows Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, in his third movie of the year) the descendant of a man who led a crew to the antarctic and discovered a "Snow Monster". Sam is trying to hock some of his Grandfather's things in order to save money to purchase a car. As he and his father go to buy a car they find a 70s Camaro which looks as if it could use a little work. It turns out that Sam's new car is really an Autobot named Bumblebee.
Bumblebee and the rest of the Autobots, including their leader Optimus Prime, have come to Earth in search of "The Cube" or the "All Spark" a life giving item that caused a civil war that destroyed their planet. The Autobots must find it, and it needed destroy it, in order to keep it out of the hands of their dreaded enemies, the Decepticons, led by the evil Megatron, who fell to Earth decades ago. The two teams of Transformers come together in a battle near the Hover Dam, for several reasons I won't go into here, fighting until the bitter end.
The movie also contains several other subplots involving the military, and the government as they deal with the discovery of these intelligent robots. But really they were mainly a distraction for me, and some of them could have been left out entirely (see below).
The movie has some great things going for it, The effects are top notch and really do set a bar as far a special effects go. The transformers look amazing, and any one who grew up with there guys will be amazed seeing their childhood imaginings up on the screen in full live action glory. And LaBeouf once again steals the show, proving that he just might be on his way to being the next Tom Hanks (who he's said more than once he'd like to have the genre-spanning career of)
But the movie also has some big problems. The biggest problem is a very "Bayian" problem that many of Bay's movies suffer from, it's just too dang long. Clocking in at 144 minutes, the movie goes on for about 30 minutes too long. Had Bay gone with a tighter edit of the film he would have had a much better movie, and a more profitable movie, because if he cuts 30min of the film it could have been played about once more per screen per day, which would equal more money (not that the movie needs any help in that area.) Don't get me wrong I love long movies, I'd rather get 2.5 hours for my $10 than 1.5 or 2 hours, but the movie must warrant that amount of time and quite simply this one doesn't. In fact there is an entire sub-plot starring Anthony Anderson which takes up about 15 min of the movie which could have been dropped completely. Leaving out the sub-plot means losing a few jokes, which weren't that funny, and not much else, the one place where the character was needed, it could have been one of several other characters already in the movie and no one would have noticed.
There are two other problems I had with the movie, first Soundwave. As a kid Soundwave was one of my favorite Transformers, a boombox, with a cassette tape the came out and becomes a bird. But this movie turns him into some kind of mentally handicapped robot. He runs around making strange noises and ultimately reminded me of the moronic, simpleton of a mogwai, Daffy from Gremlins Two (you know the one who looks like Gizmo, but has loopy eyes and acts like he's mentally handicap) and he's annoying as all get out.
The other problem involves the ending and how it suddenly just works out to end, but there's not any real explanation, and it was confusing.
Overall Transformers was fun, but it went a little long, and left me feeling confused and didn't quite live up to my hopes for the movie. So if you're a fan it may be worth your money, if not you can always wait for DVD.

Labels: Die Hard, reviews, Transformers

So this summer is apparently the Summer of Sequels, we've already had Spider-man 3, 28 Weeks later, & Shrek 3 and this weekend has brought us Pirates 3. Coming up this summer we have Die Hard 4, Harry Potter 5, Ocean's 13 (AKA Better be more entertaining than Ocean's 12), Fantastic Four 2, Evan Almighty (the sequel to Bruce Almighty), The third Bourne Movie, Daddy Day Care, and Mr Bean's Holiday. I'm excited about most of these, but have to say after the way the summer's started off I'm a little worried.
Sure I loved Spider-Man 3 and had only minimal complaints, but in the last week I've seen two movies Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and I was deeply disappointed by both.

Shrek 3 was decent, but there were parts of the plot that went no where and quite frankly it wasn't that funny. The film focuses on Shrek going on a road trip to find Artie, the heir in line foe the Throne of Far, Far Away, also Prince Charming tries to take over the kingdom while Shrek's away. I've heard at least one reviewer said no one over 11 should see this film, and I guess it's true because we went with a friend of ours and his two kids and the kids loved it. I'm by no means saying Shrek 2 was the worst movie ever, it just doesn't live up to the standard set by the previous two films.
Bottom Line: Unless you have kids, wait and rent this flick because honestly it's just not worth the money you'll spend on the theater.

Pirates on the other hand was an over long mess of a film. There's honestly no way to summarize the plot in any way, because honestly I still don't know exactly what happened. Seriously the main problem with this movie was that it seems like they filmed way to much and then just decided not to edit anything out. The film was truthfully at least 45 minutes to long, and at 2hours and 45minutes that means that almost a third of your movie should have been cut. I was disappointed with Pirates 2, but there were some great action sequences that made up for the long run time, and lack of an ending, so I held out hope that Parts 2 & 3 were really just one long movie (as it turns out they'd make one REALLY long movie at well over 5 hours) but as it turns out they seem to be part of one long movie that still isn't over.
The movie just kept going and there was a lot in the middle of the film that didn't further the story at all, and in fact just made the film drag. One things that should have been cut was several scenes featuring Jack going crazy and talking to multiple versions of himself, these scenes just didn't work, and quite frankly were maddeningly pointless. And sadly there was not any of the great action scenes that saved the last film until the last 30 minutes.
Speaking of the last 30 minutes, the end of the movie was a horrible mess. A love story with a disappointing, and not to happy ending, a pirate once again without a ship, and overall just a waste of space.
Don't get me wrong as much as I'm complaining there was some good stuff in the movie, there were some very humorous scenes, and the action towards the end had several good
fight scenes and some fantastic ship to ship battles. But after a phenomenal first movie we deserved more out of parts 2 & 3 then just a quick way to cash in on the first one, and that seems to be what we got here.
Bottom Line: Rent it, that way you can fast forward through as much of it as you want to.

Labels: pirates 3, reviews, shrek 3

As a fan of Hitchcock's Rear Window, it would have been easy to blow this off as another inept attempt to remake a classic. But as a fan of star Shia LaBeouf from back when he was on Disney's Even Stevens I wanted to check it out from Day 1. Unfortunately between writing papers, studying and taking finals, and seeing Hot Fuzz and Spider-Man 3, I really didn't have the time until Thursday, and I'm glad I didn't miss it while it was in theaters.
The movie starts with Kale (LaBeouf) and his father on the lake fishing, from the start we can tell they have a good relationship and that Kale is a happy and easygoing guy, if somewhat of a smart mouth. Soon Kale's father dies in a tragic accident, in a scene that was so intense it will stick with you hours later. We then cut to "One Year Later" and open on a high school classroom, where Ronnie (Aaron Yoo) is telling his Spanish class about his upcoming summer vacation, in spanish. I'm sure this scene was very funny, but I'm not sure as the Mann Agora theater, unlike the Arclight (My Personal Favorite Theater), doesn't have their employees watch the first few minutes of the movie to make sure it's aligned correctly and in focus, so I had to go find someone to focus the movie and missed the rest of the scene.
We are then reintroduced to Kale as he sits, asleep, in his spanish class and is woken by his teacher. Kale is now withdrawn and full of anger, which soon lands him in court where he is sentenced to 3 months of house arrest. Forced to wear an ankle bracelet, Kale must stay within a 100 foot radius of the receiver located in his house. Here we are treated to a nice montage of Kale trying to figure out what to do to keep him sane while stuck inside his house. Besides playing video games and watching tv, Kale attempts to do his laundry (by shoving everything into the washer at once with a healthy dose of detergent) and actually cleaning the house. Soon Kale realizes how serious his situation is when some neighborhood kids lite a bag of flaming poo on his porch, Kale chases after them and is soon in handcuffs.
To avoid leaving his 100 foot radius again Kale sets out to establish a perimeter so he knows exactly how far he can go, and quickly realizes his neighbors are interesting to watch. Soon Kale is watching all of his neighbors from the comfort of his home through his binoculars. He takes a special interest in his hot new neighbor, Ashely (Sarah Roemer), and soon he and his pal Ronnie are taking in her daily swim. When Ashely catches them she too joins the voyeuristic fun of watching others without their knowledge.
The trio take a special interest in Mr. Turner (David Morse) who may or may not match the description of a man who was the last person seen with a missing woman. His car fits the description and so the gang makes the assumption that he may be a serial killer, living in their own little neighborhood. What follows is an intense series of cat and mouse games designed to keep you guessing about Turner and his motives.
I really enjoyed this movie, really enjoyed it. I think the biggest strength is that the characters are well developed, instead of just being caricatures. I think it could have been very easy to make this movie with just cardboard characters, but the writers and director did a great job of fleshing out the characters and making you feel for them (well most of them).
The actors themselves bring a lot to the film as well. I've always been a fan of Morse, who usually seems to play a cop or a bad guy or a bad cop, and he's pitch perfect here. Morse is a large man and I think his stature adds to the sense of terror he brings to the screen, by towering over the others it makes him more intense and menacing. Relative newcomers Roemer and Yoo do a great job as the love interest/best friend respectively and bring a lot of humor and suspense to the film. I think another reason I enjoy the film so much is that there is a healthy dose of humor in the movie, it's not just a suspenseful, edge of your seat thriller, but has a bit of a comedic element that helps alleve the tension when it needs it most.
But, I think the biggest revelation of the movie is the acting ability of LaBeouf, as I've said I'm a big fan of his, but I was blown away at how far he's come since Even Stevens and Holes. I have yet to see "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" his last film that got rave reviews, so I'm not sure if that was where he really stepped up his game, but after seeing this movie I'm very excited to check that one out and see if he carries the same weight as he does here.
Overall a fun, suspenseful thriller. See it in theaters while you can, there's a reason it's made $66 Million and counting.

Labels: Disturbia, reviews

I saw Spider-Man 3 Friday night and it was good. My wife leaned over to me towards the end and said "This is my favorite of the 3" and that constant reader is a good sign. See, I'm never sure how my wife will respond to comic book movies, she's liked the Spider-Man series but I was worried she wouldn't like Venom. And before this I was worried she'd hate Batman Begins (especially the scary, demonic, scenes when people are on the Scarecrow's dust, but she loved it too) But she liked it and frankly I did too. There's been a lot of mediocre and bad reviews, which I frankly don't understand.
The movie revolves once again around Peter Parker,the kindly geek who gains super powers and becomes Spider-Man. His life is going great, everyone loves Spidey and their throwing parades in his honor. Things are great for him and Mary Jane and he's ready to ask for her hand in marriage. But as all of you Spider-Man fans know when things are going great, the ground will quickly fall out from underneath poor Peter.
MJ starts to pull away after her acting career takes a tumble and she feels Peter can't relate seeing as how Spidey's doing so well. A new photographer, Eddie Brock (That 70's Show's Topher Grace), is trying to steal his career at the Daily Bugle. And the police thing that the man actually responsible for his Uncle Ben's death is still at large, that would be Villain Numero Uno: Sandman (Wings' Thomas Haden Church), whose recently had his whole body turned into sand (it's explained better in the movie). Plus if that wasn't bad enough, Peter's best friend Harry still hates him after finding out that he was "responsible" for his father's death (See the first movie in the series) and has taken to attacking him using his father's Goblin devices, making him Villain Numero Dos: The New Goblin.
All of this compounds on Peter and makes him angry, which is fine with the Alien Goo that has fallen to Earth in a meteorite and taken up residence inside Pete's apartment. The goo bounds with the now furious Peter and becomes a "black suit" which makes him more powerful and feeds on his anger and amplifies it.
Peter becomes a jerk, which Director Sam Raimi, plays up in a very humorous fashion, and is soon killing a bad guy, smashing bank robbers through windshields, and being an all around prick. And hurting those who get in the way, such as Eddie Brock who uses falsified photos to steal the staff photographers job from Peter. But, when in a manner or minutes he manages to hurt (either physically or emotionally) the two women in his life, MJ and the newly introduced Gwen Stacy (the stunning Bryce Dallas Howard), in a matter of minutes, he realizes what the suit has done to him and decides he has to get rid of it.
Unfortunately the suit has bonded with him (it's basically a parasite who needs a host to live) and proves difficult to get off. But once it does come off it quickly finds a new host, one that hates Peter as much as it does, Eddie Brock. Eddie's pissed because he's lost his job and all respectability and thinks Peter's stolen his girl Gwen as well. But with the suit he becomes Villain Numero Tres: Vemon, a demonic looking version of Spider-Man. All of this Cumulates in a final battle between the Villains and Our Hero, Spidey. A battle royale that is only ruined by the frequent cuts to some horrible reporter and repeated crowd shots, only one of which (featuring J. Jonah Jameson) is entertaining.
Overall the entire movie works well, but I do have a couple of minor complaints. First, I felt like we could have used more of Eddie Brock/Venom & Flint Marko/Sandman, they were featured nicely but I feel Raimi could have done more with this, if only he had made a movie that was about 30 min longer. (Personally I'd be fine with a 3 hour Spider-Man movie because I feel like if I'm paying $10 a movie, the longer the better and the more for my money!) Having said that, as the movie stand now it really needed both villains and the plot works well to make them both central to the story, I just would have liked to have more.
My second complaint is the main one I have with the movie: Not Enough Gwen Stacy! As any good Spider-Man fan knows Gwen was Peter's first and True Love in the comics. In fact the scene from the first movie where the Green Goblin tosses MJ off the bridge and Spider-Man catches her with his web, is right from the comics, only it's Gwen and when Spidey catches her the force of the sudden stop snaps her neck killing her. It's only after this tragic event that MJ comes into Pete's life. I'll be honest I was a little weary of Howard being cast as Gwen, but she looks amazing and did an amazing job with the character, she just needed more to do.
Highlight to read more of my opinion featuring a possible: Personally I'm still hoping they pull a roll reversal, killing MJ and moving Gwen in to be the new love interest. Plus she's much more attractive than MJ in the movies.
Other than that I enjoyed the movie, as did the others in my theater who cheered, hollered, clapped, and seemed to have a good time all around.
Bottom Line: Better than the First, not as good as the Second, but still better than most of the Super Hero Movies out there! Raimi once again proves why he is the best choice for this franchise. Here's Hoping For Part 4!

Labels: reviews, Spider-Man 3

My good friend, former roommate, and Best Man at my wedding brings you a colorful review of In The Land Of Women. Let's just say he wasn't a fan:

In The Land of Women:

My wife and I walked out. With only 30 minutes left. But we couldn't take it anymore. Now, I didn't see the end, but I can give you my feelings on this film from what I saw. And, it should be noted, this film was so lame I could probably tell you exactly how it ends without having seen it. There's nothing worse than seeing a truly terrible film. It's like someone farting two inches from your face...and you paid them to do it. There really should be signs at theaters that say: "Hey, you should just catch this one on DVD, if at all."

There are two types of bad films. Well, maybe three. 1) The bizarre student/art film where there is no story, images are abstract and characters moan things like, "Oh, life is sad, look at my penis." This line is then followed by lots of gratuitous nudity. 2) The film in which the filmmakers know at some level what they are making is absolute drivel, but they have a fun time with it and make it with gusto. These are films like "Plan 9 from Outer Space" that usually go on to become cult classics at some level. 3) Then there is the film that is oblivious to its own awfulness. The film made with the passion of a director or writer or director/writer who has wanted to make this film since he was 14, and the shooting script is still that first draft he wrote in 9th grade. "In the Land of Women" is this third type.

Told in a random series of events in the life of "Carter," played by Adam Brody, ITLOW plays out in movie-of-the-week fashion, only worse. Carter is a mid-twenties soft-core porn writer who really wants to write something meaningful, but bangs out--pardon the pun--crappy material because its a steady paycheck. (Why do first-time writers always write about writers who want to write?) When his rising Hollywood starlet girlfriend dumps him in the opening scene, he mopes to his mother's house. She's crying because her own mother is sick. Carter announces he will go to Michigan to take care of grandma. It'll be good to get away from L.A., he says, it'll help him be more creative. Too bad Michigan looks like Beverly Hills.

Then the film plunges into the depth of clichés, unmotivated actions, and just plain old bad acting. I will now give you a play-by-play written as poorly as the film. Carter meets Grandma, who can't quite remember him. Carter cleans up grandma's house. Carter meets mom across the street. Meg Ryan plays mom in a phoned-in performance. Carter goes on walks with Meg, just to talk. Carter meets Meg's under-age daughter. Meg tells under-age daughter to take Carter to the movies so he won't be so alone over at that crazy lady's house. Carter runs into friend of under-age daughter's boyfriend at the mall. Oh no, Meg's husband is having an affair! Oh no, under-age daughter's boyfriend breaks up with her because she's been seen with Carter although under-age daughter fools herself by saying it's because she's not ready to kiss him. Carter tries to write something worth writing. It's raining! Carter goes outside! There's Meg, standing in the rain waiting to go on another walk. Oh no, she has cancer! She kisses Carter. It's awkward Carter goes to a party with under-age daughter even though her old boyfriend will be there. "You'll be a rock star," Cutter says, "People will respect your strength in showing up." Cutter discovers the house he's at is the house of his own mother's former boyfriend. (I'm still trying to understand the point of that little nugget...) Under-age daughter's old boyfriend throws a beer on Carter and tells him they must take their grudge outside.

Once they are outside, Boyfriend states, with absolute sincerity: "How did you think you could come up in my hood, steal my girl and we not be scrappin'?"

It was time to leave.

I haven't seen the ending, but I guarantee you here's exactly how it ends. Carter gets a kiss from Under-Age daughter for taking a punch for her. He tells her, whoa, baby you're a little too young for me, but you'll find someone. Grandma probably dies. Meg has cancer, but will be okay and patch things up with her husband and daughter. Or, at least confront them. Hollywood girlfriend will call or try to reach Carter before the end to patch things up. He'll tell her no, we weren't meant to be together. He'll say bye to everyone, and leave knowing that there is a woman out there for him just not here "In The Land Of Women." Oh, and these experiences will now give him something meaningful to write about. Fade to Black, and roll credits with a song from Zach Braff's iPod. (Please, let me know how close I am to the actual ending!)

Couple of quick points before I leave you. This film was written/directed by the son of Lawrence Kasdan, the man responsible for two of the greatest films of the second half of the 20th century: "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." If this was your father, and you were making a feature film debut, it might behoove you to pass the script along to dad to see if he has any pointers on writing. Second the world has shifted in the wrong direction when a film starring Meg Ryan, Olympia Dukakis, and Adam Brody unspools, and you realize Brody is the best thing in the movie. Under no circumstances should you have a character look at pictures of a man hanging out with friends, hunting with buddies then declare: "This guy is an a**hole." It's lazy, have him meet the guy let the audience see what a jerk he is. And finally, and I know some of you will think this is a low blow, but Meg Ryan has really ruined her face. It was unbearable to watch. Her collagenated lips are in a constant fish-pout, and any emotion she tries to elicit has to punch its way through the plastic of her new face. I'm sad that even if you are America's Sweetheart, you don't have enough self-esteem to age with grace and dignity. Ugh. I know this doesn't have anything to do with the film, but when she kissed Adam Brody, I couldn't help thinking: I bet that's what it's like to kiss a tube of Chap Stick.

-Jonathan Grubbs

Labels: Guest Review, In The Land Of Women, reviews

If you look at the title you may know exactly what this post will be about, the two newest movies I've seen, Grindhouse and Hot Fuzz. Now finals start here in a little over a week so the only movie I'll be seeing in that time is Spider-Man 3 (cause I ain't missing that for nothing) so I wanted to get a couple of movies in since I haven't been in awhile and won't be going for awhile, so between Thursday and Friday I spent over 5.5 hours in the theater. While I'd love to say it was for you good readers, it's simple not true, because A)there's only like 5 of you and 2)I love movies and it was all for myself.

So let's get to it:

Grindhouse
I've been waiting to see Grindhouse for awhile now. I was waiting for a friend of mine, but he's busy with his kids and family so I went alone before it left the local theater. For those who don't know Grindhouse is a 3+ hour extravaganza of blood, gore, zombies, car wielding maniacs, lost reels, and fake trailers. Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, The Faculty, Desperado) and Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) each shot a 70ish minute film as an homage to the cheap 70s exploitation flix that used to travel from town to town showing in rundown theaters that were called Grindhouse theaters. These films were known for their violence, nudity, cheap effects, and campy dialogue.
So how does this movie compare to those? Well Rodriguez got it right with his film, Planet Terror, but Tarantino missed the boat with his half, Death Proof. And the fake trailers that fit in between were spot on.
First off a warning, if you are offended by coarse language or extremely (fake) gore then don't see this movie. Also there is a bit of nudity, although only in the fake trailers, so be warned of that.
Planet Terror
This is the first of the two flicks and Rodriguez does a great job of capturing the old 70s feel. The entire movie is dark, with the perfect amount of campy dialogue, and has been artificially aged so that there are hiccups in the film, and lines running down the screen off and on throughout so that it has that old worn film feel to is. Also there is a great scene halfway through the film where the film "burns" and then there's a missing reel which leaves out a few key scenes.
The movie deals with a mysterious gas that turns people into Zombies. The gas has something to do with the military and Bin Laden, but doesn't really matter, because all we need to know is that it turns people into ZOMBIES, and that's basically the premise of the movie, a small town next to a military base dealing with Zombies.
After the gas has been released the hospital slowly fills up with people who have been affected before all hell breaks lose and the few remaining survivors must band together to fight off the army of undead which will soon spread across the entire country if not the planet. Luckily they have a biochemical engineer on hand who can use the blood of the unaffected to create an antidote.
It's your typical zombie movie filled with cheesy ball antics, laugh out loud bad dialogue , and lots and lots of Gore. But the cast is where the movie really shines, as everyone and their sister is in this movie. The movies main characters are played by Rose McGowan, Freddie Rodriguez (no relation), Micheal Biehn, and Jeff Fahey. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Lost's Naveen Andrews, Josh Brolin, Electra & Elise Avellan (See Sisters), Stacy Ferguson ("Fergie"), Marley Shelton, Quentin Tarantino, and Bruce Willis. (If you want links to all these people just go the the Grindhouse link and find their name, they are in alphabetical order on the cast list)
Bottom Line: This movie does exactly what it aims to do, which is to look and feel like an old grindhouse film from the 70s. By shooting a dark film and artificially aging the film Rodriguez captures the fill perfectly. The movie is funny, cheesy, and full of gory death and is a fun ride from beginning to end.
Grade: A.

The Fake Trailers
I won't go into detail other than to say that there are 4 fake trailers. I give them a combined grade of A-.

Death Proof
Tarantino brings to us the story of a serial killer who uses his car as his weapon. It sounds like a great Grindhouse flick, and I think it could have been, but unfortunately this is not that Grindhouse flick. No instead this is classic talky Tarantino, in fact it's far to talky. The movie starts with 4 girls chatting about love, life, sex, etc. The girls chat in their car, then they talk at a restaurant, and finally for a change of pace they, Wait for it, talk at a bar. Finally it is at this bar we meet Stuntman Mike, the aforementioned serial killer, played by the great Kurt Russell, and after we meet Stuntman Mike there's more talking. In this first act, Tarantino, like Rodriguez, uses hiccups, a missing reel, and some grindhouse-y effects, unfortunately he doesn't use it very well, more on this later.
Finally SM Mike gets in his car, a special stunt vehicle made to withstand any kind of damage but keep the driver alive, a car that is in fact Death Proof, hence the title. And finally we get some action, a spectacular car chase that ends in bloody, gory death.
And then we're back to talking, first with some police, then a new set of girls. This is where we are finally introduced to the heroines of the story. 2 Actresses, a hairdresser, and Stunt Woman, Zoe Bell, as herself. Finally we're sure to get some action! Wrong we get more talking, followed by more talking, followed by talk about an amazing fabled car, a car that just happens to be for sale a few miles, then more talking.
We do get some action as one of the actresses, the hairdresser, and Zoe Bell take the fabled car out to do some dangerous road stunt. A stunt that involves Mrs. Bell tying two straps to the front car doors and grabs them, lying on the hood as the actress drives down a dirt road. Hopefully you see where this is going as SM Mike sees the girls and a brilliant 20 minuteish car chase ensues.
Finally the movie turns on the goodness as the chase ends badly for SM Mike and and the girls turn the tables on him.
I liked this movie, I really did, but it's not a good fit for the Grindhouse double feature. For the second half of the movie Tarantino completely throws out all of the Grindhouse effects, it shot in Texas on a bright sunny day, and looks and feels like a modern movie. And lets be honest Grindhouse flicks don't involve a lot of dialogue, and the small amount they do have is usually awful.
Bottom Line: This movie brings down the grade on Grindhouse. Had this been a new movie all on it's own it would be really enjoyable, although still probably a little too talky. But as part of a double feature it doesn't fit.
Grade: (By Itself) B (Here) C+


Hot Fuzz
I'm a huge fan of Shaun of the Dead. This is important because it's the people behind that movie which bring us the Glory that is Hot Fuzz. The British duo of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg use their love of American over the top Cop movies such as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Pointe Break, and of course Bad Boys 2 to bring us this wonderful homage. As with Shaun they not only poke fun at the genre but also infuse it with new blood. Once again Wright directs and co-writes with Pegg, and once again they bring along their good friend Nick Frost.
Hott Fuzz begins with London police officer Nick Angel (Pegg) the finest cop on the force, being told he's being promoted to Sergeant and dispatched to Sanford, the most peaceful, crime-free village in the country. The reason he's being shipped off is that he's too good, so good in fact that his arrest record is 400% higher than anyone on the force, and he's making them look bad.
So Angel moves to Sanford, and quickly begins arresting citizens, including one drunk driver, who turns out to be his new partner, PC Danny Butterman (Frost). Soon after Angel arrives there are several " fatal accidents" which Angel determines to be murders. The rest of the town's police force chalk it up to Angel's overzealous nature and being used to the criminals of London.
The emotional center of the movie is the relationship between Angel and Butterman. Butterman teaches Angel how to relax, drink beer and watch Movies like Bad Boys 2. As their friendship develops Angel learns how to be more than just a cop, but also how to be an actual human being. It's the hetero-love story of these two that makes the movie so believable, even as the death scenes take it over the top with gore.
Bottom Line: This movie is a hilarious comedy, an edge of your seat mystery, and a heart pounding action movie all rolled into one. But here's the true testament to how much I enjoyed this movie. As soon as it was over I was ready to see it again. I immediately went out and bought the soundtrack, and I know that I'll be heading back to the theaters to see it again in the next couple of weeks (Read "After Finals") And that my readers, shows just how much fun I had in this movie.
Grade: A

Labels: Grindhouse, Hot Fuzz, reviews

Last night, my wife and I drove out to Burbank to see a free screening of Super Bad. Before entering the movie we had to sign a form with our information on it, with some small writing. As a law student I took the time to read it and noticed that it basically states that by signing the form you will not disclose what you see in the screening in print, “Especially on a website” (Their words). So I’ve decided not to review the movie itself until closer to the release date (currently set for August 17) and instead just write about the basics and how I felt about the movie. (And to those of you reading this involved with the movie in some form {Yes you guys who found it by searching Google blogs for key words like Super Bad and Evan Goldberg, my traffic tracker tells me how you got here} if this gives to much away, tell me and I'll gladly change it, just wanted to let people know it's a funny movie.)

Super Bad was written by Seth Rogen (Yes another Seth Rogen Reference on this site) and his writing partner Evan Goldberg (The Ali G Show) and Directed by Greg Mottola (Who has mostly directed Television Episodes in the past including episodes of Arrested Development and Undeclared).

The movie is about two friends, Seth (Jonah Hill, Accepted) and Evan (Michael Cera, Arrested Development), as they near the end of high school and prepare to go their separate ways for college. The movie follows Seth and Evan for one day as they attempt to get alcohol for a huge party, a task which they believe could elevate them from geeks to heroes. What follows is a night of misadventures involving their friend Fogell (the rookie Christopher Mintz-Plasse holding his own), Seth Rogen and Bill Hader (SNL) as a pair of policemen, and much, much more. The movie was very well done, and truly was hilarious.

But, the movie is very crude and somewhat offensive, but I don’t think I’ve laugh this much during a movie since I saw Borat. The movie is sure to get an R rating purely for the language and jokes, because there’s no nudity or violence. But like a lot of the new crop of Crude Comedies, there is a sweetness and a message that underlines the vulgarity. While The 40 Year Old Virgin was about chastity and Wedding Crashers was about monogamy, Super Bad is about the love between best friends. Hill and Cera do a wonderful job of showing the love that can only come from that best friendship.

This movie just found a slot on my list of Movies to see in 2007. Even though I've already seen it, I can't wait to revisit it again in 7 months and see what has changed, even more so than with Knocked Up, because I think Super Bad was the funnier of the two, and could quite possibly be the funniest movie of 2007.

Labels: reviews, screenings, Seth Rogen, Super Bad

I drive past the Aero Theatre (run by the American Cinematheque) on my way to work several times a week, as I have for the past 6 months, and every time I do I glance to see what is showing that week. Last week as I drove by I noticed that the Aero was having an Akira Kurosawa Tribute, so once I got to work I checked online and found what would be playing. I had never seen any of Kurosawa’s movies, but I had always heard they were amazing and that the Seven Samurai in particular was a masterpiece. So when I saw that Seven Samurai was showing later that week I decided to go. I tried to find someone to go with me, but although at least 6 different people wanted to go with me, none of them could make it.

And so on Sunday evening I found myself, alone, taking the small trek down the coast to Santa Monica to see a film that constantly makes it into the top of the various “Best Movies of All Time” Lists. I arrived at the Aero about 2 hours before the movie started because their internet was down and it was the only way to buy tickets, and then wasted the time until I was ready to go sit down.

I sat down in an aisle seat, as I normally do, so I can stretch out into the aisle and prepared for the 207 minutes of subtitled joy I was sure to enjoy. I honestly had no idea what to expect. As I said I had never seen a Kurosawa film before, so all I knew was that it had to do with Samurai, was filmed entirely in Japanese, and was 207 minutes long. Seriously that’s all I knew, I hadn’t seen any trailers, I hadn’t read any reviews, I was going in completely blind. And I was pleasantly surprised.

I knew I’d be seeing a good movie, but nothing could have prepared me for the amazing film that I saw. The music was enchanting, (it’s at the top of my list to download to listen do while studying for finals) the cinematography was beautiful, and the acting was top notch.

Probably the biggest surprise to me was how humorous the film was. I was expecting more of a drama with some action, but the movie was full of laughs. I guess when I go into see what some term as “Epics” I just don’t think of them as being humorous and it’s always a pleasant surprise.

For those who don’t know Seven Samurai is the story of a small village of peasants who are being pillaged by bandits over and over again. Several of the Peasants travel into town seeking out several samurai who will protect them from the bandits, but they can only pay with food. The peasants eventually find a Samurai willing to protect them. He determines it will take at least 7 Samurai to defend the village and sets out to find 6 more Samurai to join his cause.

The second half of the movie focuses on the Samurai preparing the village for battle with the bandits and the actual battle. But in this second half there is also a love story we’ve seen many times before, two people of different classes who fall in love even though they know they can never be together. Although we’ve all seen it before it still brings a tenderness to the movie that may have otherwise been missing.

This movie really does have it all, humor, action, a love story, and anything else you could possibly want in an Epic movie. Another example of how great the “Classics” of yesteryear truly were. If you enjoy movies, and you haven’t seen this film, you really should do yourself a favor and see this movie. If you can see it on the big screen you should, but if not at least rent it on dvd and enjoy it at home.

Coming This Week:

The Messengers

Kristen Stewart (Zathura, The upcoming In The Land of Women) stars as a teenage girl whose family moves into a rundown sun flower far in the country. Her little brother begins to see strange things and she begins to notice an unsettling change in her father (Dylan McDermott). Directed by brothers Danny & Oxide Pang and produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert under their Ghost House label, this movie looks like another in the line of Asian Horror being remade in America, but this is an original tale. The Pang brothers have directed several horror movies in their home country, including The Eye (Which is currently being remade here with Jessica Alba) and promise to bring more of the same in this movie.

Also Starring: Penelope Ann Miller and John Corbett

Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing violence and terror.

Labels: Akira Kurosawa, Classics, experience, reviews, Seven Samurai

I've seen a few more movies since my last post and I thought I'd let you know how I felt about them. Also I take a look back at one of the movies I left off of my awards that I shouldn't have.

“Brick” is an independent film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt released in March of last year. Jonathan and I got the chance to go to a free screening of it in Hollywood a few weeks before it came out. “Brick” is a film noir set in High School, it’s got all the trappings of a classic film noir, the Femme Fatale, the unfortunate man pulled in by a woman into a situation which quickly gets out of hand. It has the fast paced dialogue of the movies from golden days of cinema, much of which you won’t understand until subsequent viewings (or by finding the dictionary on the official site online). Overall it’s a great mystery, with a wonderful cast of characters. Gordon-Levitt gives a magnificent performance and proves he’s an actor who can hold his own.

Here's the movies I've seen recently, 3 of which will likely be the best movies I see this next year: Apocalypto, Eragon, Déjà vu, Pan’s Labyrinth, Alpha Dog, Children of Men, and Babel.

(BTW this was written partially before the Oscar nominations and partially after so I don’t mention the awards for that reason)

Apocalypto

What it’s about: Set during the time of the ancient Mayans, the story follows Jaguar Paw as he tries to get back to his pregnant wife and son after being kidnapped by a savage tribe.

What I Thought: The movie is, of course, the newest movie from Mel Gibson, say what you will about the man himself, but he can make a heck of a movie. This movie is basically just a long chase scene, but it’s one of the best chase scenes any recent years. Gibson and co-writer Farhad Safinia do a wonderful job of weaving a realistic tale of family and one man’s fight to get back home to save his family.

Many people have complained about the amount of blood and gore, but honestly it’s no worse than Braveheart.

The Bottom Line: All and all this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in quite sometime. Don’t let the violence or the subtitles turn you off, you won’t regret it.

Eragon

What it’s about: Something about a kid who finds a dragon egg and involves some old tradition of dragon riders.

What I Thought: quite simply the most boring movie I’ve seen in a long time. To be honest I have to admit that I tried listening to the book on tape and got bored with it less than halfway through. So when it came time for the movie I decided that I’d give it a chance and hoped it was better than the book. Unfortunately it wasn’t so.

I checked my watch at least 5 times during the movie, which is not a good sign with me. Usually I might check my watch once during a movie, but with Eragon it seemed to be a constant thing.

Quite simply put the movie was just boring, the only good part was the fighting scenes which were few and far between, and sadly one of the worst things was Rachel Weisz, as the voice of the Dragon.

The Bottom Line: Overall it’s a movie trying to cash in on the Harry Potter, LOTR, Narnia trend, that just isn’t up to par. Unless you have Kids, who might enjoy the film, don’t waste your time.

Déjà Vu

What it’s about: After the corpse of a murdered woman shows up at the site of a terrorist attack, Agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) joins a top secret new government program that has technology which allows them to look 4 days back in time. But in order to save the woman Carlin will have to do more than just watch.

What I Thought: An intriguing mystery, clues that all make since in the end, time travel, and James Caviezel. No, this isn’t a sequel to 2000’s Frequency, but it does have the same basic feel as that wonderful movie. (If you haven’t seen Frequency I beg you to go rent it tonight, you’ll love it or you’re money back, seriously just tell the video store I told them to give it back to you, I promise it will not work)

Maybe it’s because I love time travel movies, but this is the type of popcorn movie I can really get behind. Small things which don’t really seem to mean anything come together in the end in a way that will really make you think.

The Bottom Line: I Loved it!

El Laberinto del Fauno AKA Pan’s Labyrinth

What it’s about: The year is 1944 and the Spanish Civil War has just ended, Ofelia and her mother are going to live with her mother’s new husband, a Captain in the Military whose stationed in a rural area surrounded by rebellious forces. Ofelia escapes to a fantasy world, one that may or may not lie within her own mind, where she is the long missing princess of a long forgotten world. In order for Ofelia to reclaim her place next to her royal family she must complete three tasks given to her by the Faun.

What I Thought: I wrote a really beautiful review encompassing how I felt, but my computer shut down and erased it, so here’s my second try.

This is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in a very long time. Director Guillermo del Toro artfully brings to life two completely separate worlds in completely different ways. Del Toro’s post-civil war era Spain is brought forth with muted colors to make the world seem dreary and isolating, which helps the viewer to sympathize with Ofelia and her own sense of loneliness.

But the real beauty and vision lies in the Fantasy world. Here del Toro uses brighter colors which makes the creatures found in it seem that much more surreal. While much of this world is dark and scary, the colors still seem to bleed through and almost make the fantasy world more welcoming.

Although I loved this movie I must admit that it is very violent and quite scary. Many of the creatures, most notably “The Pale Man” are almost nightmare inducing in their creation. But some of the scariest scenes may be in the “real world” setting. Ofelia’s new father comes across as an evil man who will do anything to cut down the rebel forces he faces. And two of the most gruesome, gut-wrenching scenes I have every seen in a film come not in the fantasy world, but in the Captain’s presence.

The Bottom Line: I truly believe that I have already seen the two best movies I’ll see this year and this was the first one. I can’t wait to see this movie again and hope it’s while it’s still in theaters. In all honesty I don’t have the words to tell you how much I loved this movie. Go see it while it’s in theaters, but know it’s not for the faint of heart.

Alpha Dog

What it’s about: The true story of Jesse James Hollywood(Emile Hirsch)(renamed Johnny Truelove for the movie) a drug dealer who became one of the youngest people to ever be on the FBI’s most wanted list. When rival, Jake Mazursky (Ben Foster) breaks into his home, Johnny kidnaps his brother, Zack in retaliation. What follows is the story of what happened over the next weekend, while Johnny’s boys held Zack hostage.

What I Thought: I went in not knowing what to expect. I knew the basics of the movie, but I didn’t know how the story ended or what would happen in between. But I really did like the movie. Hirsch and Foster do a fantastic job playing to old friends who’ve come to hate one another. And the extended cast of Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Harry Dean Stanton, and others all do a great job. But two actors really blow you away with their talent. The first was Anton Yelchin as Zack Mazursky, Yelchin gives an amazing performance as a sweet vulnerable kid who everyone can’t help but love. But I think the person who blew me away the most with their performance was Justin Timberlake. Here as the wise-cracking, right hand man, Frankie Ballenbacher, Timberlake proves that he’s got what it takes to not only act but as a comedian.

The Bottom Line: An enthralling story that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Children of Men

What it’s about: The year is 2027 and every woman on Earth is infertile. The last person was born in 18 years before. Britain is one of the remaining countries of power and has started deporting everyone who is not a citizen. Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former activist, is contacted to help smuggle a young woman out of the country, only Theo doesn’t know that the young woman is miraculously pregnant.

What I Thought: Two Words: Breathtakingly Amazing! I have to admit, after seeing the preview I had no interest to see this movie, but luckily my friend Jon told me to go see it, and I am so glad I did. This is another movie where I just don’t have the words to describe it.

The movie is set in a dreary, hopeless world, and Alfonso Cuaron does an amazing job of conveying that despair in the sets and the characters. But Cuaron’s real genius is shown in the filming of two scenes in the movie. Both scenes are seamlessly cut together so that they look like one long cut. I won’t ruin these scenes for anyone who hasn’t scene the movie, but I think you’ll know them when you see them.

The movie also does an amazing job of conveying the hope that one pregnant woman can bring to an infertile world.

My only word of advice is that the movie is fairly violent, so you’ve been warned.

The Bottom Line: The 2^nd of what is likely the two best movies I’ll see this year. It’s another movie with lots of great story and content and is so amazingly shot, you won’t forget the movie any time soon.

Babel

What it’s about: Because I don’t know how to describe it From IMDB.Com:

This is a complex tale of four interlocking stories. A poor Morrocan family acquires a rifle to protect their goats. An American couple's bus tour holiday is shattered when she is accidentally shot. That couple's children, at home in the USA with their nanny/housekeeper, accompany her to Mexico to attend her son's wedding. A Japanese father, whose wife has committed suicide some time ago, is unable to communicate with his teenage daughter. A tragic tale for all concerned.

What I Thought: A film that’s done amazingly well, but something that I can honestly saw had I not heard it was such a great film, I’d never have wanted to see. The entire movie is sad, depressing, and as it says above tragic.

And don’t get me started on the copious amounts of nudity. Had I been warned about the nudity I wouldn’t have seen it.

Truthfully I saw a better “Everyone’s connected in strange ways” movie last year. It was called “Crash” and won the Best Picture Oscar, something it deserved, unlike this film. Also I’ve seen the “Everyone’s Connected in Strange Ways” movie several times in the past few years it’s been called “Magnolia,” “11:14,” and several other titles. It seems to be the new trend in Hollywood, and to tell the truth it’s gotten out of hand.

Everyone isn’t always connected in some way, so stop trying to make them all connected, it’s been done.

The Bottom Line: A good movie, shot well, but nothing I can recommend because it’s so depressing and sad. Honestly, nothing I want to own or watch again.

Labels: Alpha Dog, Apocalypto, babel, Children of Men, Deja vu, Eragon, labyrinth, movies, new, pan's, reviews