Stranger Than Fiction - three and a half stars
Great movie. I thought it was going to be more comical, with Will Ferrell starring, but it blended some funny moments with a nice, steady plot, some fantastic acting, and seemed heartfelt enough. Ferrell was great, as was Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson (she, like Daniel Day-Lews, is usually someone starring in movies I have no urge to see, yet they win Oscars).
Norbit - three stars
Eddie Murphy does a really good job holding down three roles, each of which are pretty funny. He plays the title character, a too-naive, ultra-nice pushover, who grows up in Mr. Wong's orphanage (Wong is also played by Murphy), and marries another girl from the orphanage, the monsterous Rasputia (Murphy again). Everyone else in the movie, including Cuba Gooding, is extremely bland, with the exception of two "pimps", played by Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams (their character names are Pope Sweet Jesus and Lord Have Mercy, respectively). The first half hour or so was hilarious, and then the movie was....fair. The reason, I think, it worked in The Nutty Professor and Coming to America (with Murphy playing multiple roles), was because they were only onscreen for a little while here and there, not saturating the whole movie. I'd suggest waiting for the DVD.
My Super Ex-Girlfriend - two and a half stars
This movie just wasn't that funny. Uma is good, although a little over the top, and I just can't figure out how Luke Wilson is the main actor in a movie - any movie. Rainn Wilson is decent in the movie, but he honestly plays a character identical to Dwight Shrute. There were some funny moments, but even watching this one with my kids, who laugh at anything, they weren't laughing much.
On the docket: Saw 2, Borat, and Employee of the Month (halfway through).
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Catch-up...
Eragon - two and a half stars
Good, not great. The special effects are good (with the dragon), and the story is ok - nothing heavy. The end blatently leaves you where Eragon 2 will pick up, I guess. Everything I read about the movie cries about how different it is from the book, but I didn't read the book, so ignorance in bliss, I suppose. A decent movie, overall.
Flushed Away - three stars
This was really funny, done in the animation style of Chicken Run. A rodent, living in the high society of England, surprisingly gets flushed down the toilet, into a whole world considerably less than what he's accustomed to. There were plenty of laughs, and the movie was good overall.
The Longest Yard - three stars
Very funny remake, more of a comedy than the original. Sandler does a good job, as does Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds (weird seeing him in a remake with a different role), a bunch of professional wrestlers (Bill Goldberg, The Great Khali, Kevin Nash, Steve Austin), and ex NFL Players (Brian Bosworth, Michael Irvin, Bill Romanowski). Some hilarious moments, and it flowed pretty well - totally enjoyable.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - three and a half stars
This was an independant (I think) movie by Dito Montiel, essentially an auto-biography of a kid who leaves Astoria for California, leaving all of his family and friends behind, only to be called back to help take care of his ailing father. It alternates back and forth between present day Dito (Robert Downey Jr) and 1986 Dito, with his mom (Dianne Wiest) and dad (Chazz Palmienteri). The story is raw and depressing in many ways, about how the neighborhood is changing, how each of his pals growing up struggle, his relationship with his parents (mostly his father), and what he comes back to in the neighborhood. Definitely a good rent.
Man of the Year - three and a half stars
Robin Williams is a political humorist (a funny Bill Maher, perhaps), who on a whim decides to run for president. Lo and behold, he wins the election, and the story takes off. Directed by Barry Levinson, the same guy who directed Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam, there is a really good story in this movie in addition to the funny idea of a comedian in the White House. Christopher Walken and Lewis Black are great as Williams' associates, and Laura Linney is decent. It was nice to see everyone in the politcal system getting skewered, instead of just one party or the other.
School for Scoundrels - three stars
Billy Bob plays the instructor of a "class" that helps wimps get a backbone, with Michael Clarke Duncan as his lackey. Jon Heder again plays Napolean Dynamite (just like in Benchwarmers), just with a different name and without a weird brother. Heder is a meter-maid with no spine that gets told about a class for wimps, and the zany antics ensue. There are some really funny parts, so overall the movie was pretty funny, though not....hilarious.
Babel - three and a half stars
Fantastic movie taking four different stories and weaving them together (a la Crash). Brad Pitt is solid, though not show-stealing, and Cate Blanchett was solid. The way all the parts intertwine is well done, all of the acting is great, and I could see this one, The Departed, or Little Miss Sunshine coming away with the best picture nod at the Oscars.
Lord of War - three stars
Interesting and good, but not great. Nick Cage plays a Russian immigrant in Brighton Beach who aspires for the better life, thus becoming an international arms dealer. He tries to enlist his brother, played by Jaret Leto, who is (or becomes) very drug-dependant. Bridget Moynahan is decent as his supermodel wife, and Ethan Hawke is the Interpol agent dead-set on bringing Cage down. The movie is almost documentary-ish, even with Cage speaking directly to the camera at times, and narrating a good portion of the movie.
Friday, February 9, 2007
One...
The Prestige - four stars
Overall, I think this one is even better than The Illusionist. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and David Bowie are very good, and the plot is terrific. I had it in my head that the two "magician flicks" were going to be lame rip-offs of one another, but both were incredibly strong and entertaining. Jackman and Bale were on as once partners-now enemy magicians, bent on ruining each other completely, with Bowie as the mad scientist, and Caine as the veteran handler. As I watched and things unfolded, I found myself going back to certain parts in my head and saying, "ohhhhhhhh, ok!" Pay attention!
Overall, I think this one is even better than The Illusionist. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and David Bowie are very good, and the plot is terrific. I had it in my head that the two "magician flicks" were going to be lame rip-offs of one another, but both were incredibly strong and entertaining. Jackman and Bale were on as once partners-now enemy magicians, bent on ruining each other completely, with Bowie as the mad scientist, and Caine as the veteran handler. As I watched and things unfolded, I found myself going back to certain parts in my head and saying, "ohhhhhhhh, ok!" Pay attention!
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Just....whoa.
The Departed - four stars
What a movie. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen are phenomenal. The story is great, with Damon playing a cop working for Irish mafia kingpin Nicholson, and DiCaprio playing a cop under deep cover in Nicholson's outfit. If the movie has a single fault, its in the length - it gets slow at times, and they could have trimmed 20-30 minutes of fluff out of there. Outside of that, it is just fantastic, on the same level as Goodfellas. At least the most annoying actress of all time, Lorraine Bracco, is not in this movie!
Later this week, The Prestige and School for Scoundrels, which are in my possession!
What a movie. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen are phenomenal. The story is great, with Damon playing a cop working for Irish mafia kingpin Nicholson, and DiCaprio playing a cop under deep cover in Nicholson's outfit. If the movie has a single fault, its in the length - it gets slow at times, and they could have trimmed 20-30 minutes of fluff out of there. Outside of that, it is just fantastic, on the same level as Goodfellas. At least the most annoying actress of all time, Lorraine Bracco, is not in this movie!
Later this week, The Prestige and School for Scoundrels, which are in my possession!
Friday, February 2, 2007
Flags of our Fathers - two and a half stars
Incredibly slow. The movie was well done, and showed the battle of Iwo Jima in an interesting fashion, but this was more a movie about the men and events surrounding the famous picture of the flag raising. Clint Eastwood did a fine job, the actors were fine, but to me, the story just dragged. Maybe my expectations were more along the lines of a Saving Private Ryan, so that could have hampered my enjoyment of the movie. Nonetheless, I was checking the time during the movie.
Incredibly slow. The movie was well done, and showed the battle of Iwo Jima in an interesting fashion, but this was more a movie about the men and events surrounding the famous picture of the flag raising. Clint Eastwood did a fine job, the actors were fine, but to me, the story just dragged. Maybe my expectations were more along the lines of a Saving Private Ryan, so that could have hampered my enjoyment of the movie. Nonetheless, I was checking the time during the movie.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Still More....
Little Miss Sunshine - four stars
While depressing at times (because what insanely disfunctional family isn't, outside of Al & Peg Bundy), this was a fantastic movie. Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin are deserving Oscar Nominees, and Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, and Steve Carell are terrific. There were so many genuinely hilarious laugh-out-loud moments, all coming to a head with the last 10 minutes. If you don't already know, the title refers to a children's beauty pagent, and that itself is one of the most disturbing and infomfortable things in life to me. When you see it, you'll know what I am coming from.
Jet Li's Fearless - three stars
Having been on an action kick, I had heard ok things about this. Overall, it was good, and the plot was solid enough. The fight scenes, as one would expect in a Jet Li movie, were very good. I liked how the story was laid out: the main character of the story (set in early 1910-20 China) has to fight four men from various countries as part of a challenge. It is between the third and fourth fight that the movie goes back and tells you how he got to that point. If this is Jet Li's final martial arts movie, it was a good one. Personally, while I liked this movie, I liked The Protector more.
Waist Deep - two and a half stars
This was a decent movie, but nothing to carry on about. The action was good, the characters wasn't bad, and the plot was ok. The one thing that brought this movie down a notch were the holes in the story - how did this happen, why did this happen, what happened to this, and especially the very end - you'll be asking the same questions, probably. Also, if you hate rap, don't watch.
Next: not sure. Maybe The Sentinal, Flags of Our Fathers, School for Scoundrels, and hopefully I can get a nice early copy of The Departed.
While depressing at times (because what insanely disfunctional family isn't, outside of Al & Peg Bundy), this was a fantastic movie. Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin are deserving Oscar Nominees, and Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, and Steve Carell are terrific. There were so many genuinely hilarious laugh-out-loud moments, all coming to a head with the last 10 minutes. If you don't already know, the title refers to a children's beauty pagent, and that itself is one of the most disturbing and infomfortable things in life to me. When you see it, you'll know what I am coming from.
Jet Li's Fearless - three stars
Having been on an action kick, I had heard ok things about this. Overall, it was good, and the plot was solid enough. The fight scenes, as one would expect in a Jet Li movie, were very good. I liked how the story was laid out: the main character of the story (set in early 1910-20 China) has to fight four men from various countries as part of a challenge. It is between the third and fourth fight that the movie goes back and tells you how he got to that point. If this is Jet Li's final martial arts movie, it was a good one. Personally, while I liked this movie, I liked The Protector more.
Waist Deep - two and a half stars
This was a decent movie, but nothing to carry on about. The action was good, the characters wasn't bad, and the plot was ok. The one thing that brought this movie down a notch were the holes in the story - how did this happen, why did this happen, what happened to this, and especially the very end - you'll be asking the same questions, probably. Also, if you hate rap, don't watch.
Next: not sure. Maybe The Sentinal, Flags of Our Fathers, School for Scoundrels, and hopefully I can get a nice early copy of The Departed.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A Few More to Add
16 Blocks - three stars
Solid, but I think my expectations were too high. I will see almost anything with Bruce Willis in it, but there is something that lacks for me when he plays a "aging burnt-out cop" - although he was good. Mos Def was good, although the way the character speaks was pretty annoying to me. David Morse as Bruce's ex-partner - solid also. Good movie, and it went pretty quickly. There is an alternate ending, which according to the director, was the original ending before it was switched with what is the actual ending. To me, the ending that's in the movie is the better one, especially with the song over the closing credits.
The Devil Wears Prada - three stars
How can Meryl Streep not be great? Well, she is, again. Anne Hathaway is good, as is Stanley Tucci. The plot flows pretty well, and the story is pretty light with some good and funny moments. It's a chick-flick, but not a sappy romance-type - definitely watchable, and I didn't feel my masculinity seeping away by the minute.
The Marine - two and a half stars
A decent way of passing the time, but the movie was corny and predictable. John Cena certainly isn't horrible in his first movie, but I don't know if he has the same potential as The Rock - maybe if they can get past the WWE-produced corn. Robert Patrick has the moment of the movie, reacting to a comment about the Terminator. Everything in the movie is pretty cliche, over-the-top, and it's easy to figure out what will happen, but overall, it was ok.
The Guardian - three stars
I've been jonesing for a good Costner movie. He and Ashton Kutcher do well in this one, about a salty, legendary USCG rescue swimmer coming out of the fleet (because of a disasterous rescue where he lost his crew) to teach at the A school, and Kutcher plays a cocky, well-reputed relay swimmer with baggage of his own. The movie sticks to the "old vet/young rookie" playbook, but is pretty decent anyway.
Invincible - three and a half stars
Good movie done well, sort of in the same was as The Rookie with Dennis Quaid. Marky Mark plays a 30 year-old bartender, down on his luck, who tries out and makes the Philadelphia Eagles. The story is a good one in a feel-good sort of way. The soundtrack, if you're into classic rock from the seventies, is FANTASTIC. I would have liked to have seen more in-game football shots, but nonetheless, the movie is enjoyable.
Two in the queue: Little Miss Sunshine and Fearless.
Solid, but I think my expectations were too high. I will see almost anything with Bruce Willis in it, but there is something that lacks for me when he plays a "aging burnt-out cop" - although he was good. Mos Def was good, although the way the character speaks was pretty annoying to me. David Morse as Bruce's ex-partner - solid also. Good movie, and it went pretty quickly. There is an alternate ending, which according to the director, was the original ending before it was switched with what is the actual ending. To me, the ending that's in the movie is the better one, especially with the song over the closing credits.
The Devil Wears Prada - three stars
How can Meryl Streep not be great? Well, she is, again. Anne Hathaway is good, as is Stanley Tucci. The plot flows pretty well, and the story is pretty light with some good and funny moments. It's a chick-flick, but not a sappy romance-type - definitely watchable, and I didn't feel my masculinity seeping away by the minute.
The Marine - two and a half stars
A decent way of passing the time, but the movie was corny and predictable. John Cena certainly isn't horrible in his first movie, but I don't know if he has the same potential as The Rock - maybe if they can get past the WWE-produced corn. Robert Patrick has the moment of the movie, reacting to a comment about the Terminator. Everything in the movie is pretty cliche, over-the-top, and it's easy to figure out what will happen, but overall, it was ok.
The Guardian - three stars
I've been jonesing for a good Costner movie. He and Ashton Kutcher do well in this one, about a salty, legendary USCG rescue swimmer coming out of the fleet (because of a disasterous rescue where he lost his crew) to teach at the A school, and Kutcher plays a cocky, well-reputed relay swimmer with baggage of his own. The movie sticks to the "old vet/young rookie" playbook, but is pretty decent anyway.
Invincible - three and a half stars
Good movie done well, sort of in the same was as The Rookie with Dennis Quaid. Marky Mark plays a 30 year-old bartender, down on his luck, who tries out and makes the Philadelphia Eagles. The story is a good one in a feel-good sort of way. The soundtrack, if you're into classic rock from the seventies, is FANTASTIC. I would have liked to have seen more in-game football shots, but nonetheless, the movie is enjoyable.
Two in the queue: Little Miss Sunshine and Fearless.
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