doom

first, lets just get this out in the open: i have a man crush on the rock. he is totally rad. so, based on this fact, i decided to check out the new rock movie: doom. i looked at a lot of reviews, and to put in gently, they were not kind. so, i was fully aware of the fact that this movie almost certainly is going to blow chunks. undaunted, we went to see it. i am not a fan of the game, to be honest, i dont think ive ever played it in my life.
i knew this would probably suck, i dont like the game. why did i go and see it again? oh yes, thats right: THE ROCK!!! and as it turns out, i was pleasantly surprised. granted, its nothing that will be regarded as a classic, but its exactly what it claims to be: fun sci fi action. the characters are the generic roles used in all war movies: the greasy weird guy, the angry black guy, the "im going to die first" minority guy, the guy whos back for just one more fight, and the novice kid on his first mission. yep, there all there. generic, but likable. the action is fun, the creatures are scary enough, and the violence is gory enough. all in all a bit better than i expected, but not as good as i had hoped. oh, and the rock is great in it, natch.

star wars vs. lord of the rings.

the other day i was talking with a buddy of mine about movies. shocking, i know. but we got talking about star wars (new trilogy) and lord of the rings. then the question arose 'which one is better?' i am a fan of both, and can find good and bad with each of them. im not what you might call a die-hard fanatic, but i do enjoy them. but the question is: which is better: star wars prequels, or lord of the rings?
on first glance, this is a very easy question to answer. lord of the rings, duh! they are superior in plot, dialog, characterizations, and subtlety. the story line is so much more involving, there is a very direct path of structure in the plot and arent too many random side stories, they are expertly adapted from a literary classic, and they are just plain cool! there isnt any dumb "i bet the kids will love this" characters like jar jar binks, no crappy actors like jake lloyd and hayden christenson, no ridiculously cheesy and overdone romance. instead there are things like a strong goal, a bunch of characters who bond and grow to care about one another as friends, breathtaking battles, and an epic worthy of being called epic. the choice seems like a no-brainer, right?
but then i got to thinking... i asked myself this question: 'do i care about them anymore?' the storyline for lord of the rings is amazing, but do i really care about what happens next or what happened before the story? am i eagerly awaiting some further look into the early years of froddo or sam? not really. on the other hand, star wars is a lot richer tapestry to draw from with its characters. im really curious as to what happened between each of the movies. how did skywalker do at the start of his training? how did obi won deal with the loss of his mentor qui gon? what happened during the war itself? whats the story about that general grievous guy? etc.
in conclusion, i would say that the movies of lord of the rings are much better, the world of the star wars prequels seems to me more interesting. which actually makes me even more mad at lucas for giving us mediocre films...

batman special edition

Batman. the 2 disk DVD just came out for this one, so i did as any self respecting comic book nerd would do, i ran like a raving madman to best buy and snatched that bad boy up! i havent had a chance to watch much of the extras yet, but i did get to watch the whole movie with commentary (which, by the way, sucked. tim burton is a great artist but a horrible speaker. come on tim, try a coherent thought every once in a while!) this is certainly my favorite of all the batman movies. the new one is good, but its not this good. michael keaton will always be the best batman.i havent watched this movie in at least five years, so it was great to see it again after such a long break. im still so impressed with the perfect casting of the film. wow. jack nicolson as joker? inspired! jack palance as his boss? who else could pull it off? heck, even the prince songs were cool! (remember that crazy bat dance video with prince half batman and half joker? crazy...) all together it actually holds up fairly well. the only stuff that was dated was the fashion. the crappy 80's black and white and red drawings of women with really sharp shoulders have not maintained their cool. also, the bad fashion of vicki vale sticks out like a sore thumb. obviously they were trying to show her as a woman on the cutting edge of fashion, unfortunately that edge has long since been cut...the best part though, has got to be the car! i surprised myself and actually liked the tumbler in batman begins, but nothing can even hold a candle to the burton batmobile! its the stuff dreams are made of.

hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

last night i was able to pick up my cheap copy of hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. i saw it once in the theater and actually enjoyed it. just before it came out in the theater i quickly read through the book (its actually a really fast read, i think it took me three days) so i had a good idea what to expect. since i had only read it the week of the movie release, it didnt give me enough time to become a bitter and hardened douglas adams fan. so when i saw the movie i didnt mind the story changes at all. actually, i though some of the changes were the best parts of the film. ( i thinks thats probably because the zaniness and funny stuff i had already read. you know, like hearing a great joke the second time- its still funny, but not as good as the first time). all in all i thought it was a fun little sci-fi film. i'm sure for those who were not familar with the story ahead of time they were probably a bit confused (thin and ridiculous plot and all) but i did not find that a problem. marvin the robot ruled.

*lightning round: comedy*

i figure i should give a good idea of what kind of stuff i like and dont like. so, here is the first of many 'lightning rounds' where i will list random movies that come to mind and rank them on a scale of one to ten. one being bad, ten being good. as with all opinions, mine are very arbitrary. sometimes i even *gasp* change my mind! if such a cataclysmic event were to occur, ill be sure to keep you updated...anyway, here is the first smattering of movies i can think of right now. let lightning round 1 begin! we will start with: COMEDY
bill and teds excellent adventure- 10
shanghi noon- 9
shanghi knights- 7
ace ventura- 9
ace ventura when nature calls- 10
wedding crashers- 8
40 year old virgin- 9
zoolander- 10
galaxy quest- 8
anchorman- 9
dodgeball- 8
napoleon dynamite- 9
team america: world police- 2
brewster's millions- 9
blazing saddles- 7
office space- 8
airplane!- 8
meet the parents- 6
meet the fockers- 4
clerks- 7
harold and kumar go to white castle- 9
american pie- 8
american pie 2- 7
american wedding- 5
bruce almighty- 6
elf- 8
austin powers- 8
austin powers spy who shagged me- 6
austin powers goldmember- 7
undercover brother- 9
tommy boy- 1