transformers

i, like all guys my age, have a special place in my heart for the transformers. i loved the old cartoon, and i really loved the toys. when it was announced a while ago that there was going to be a live action movie i wasnt sure how to react. at first i thought 'awesome! they are going to bring back all my favorites and it will be great!' but on the other hand i thought 'dude, they are totally going to suck it up and make it really stupid.'
those were the initial thoughts, and i havent much moved past them. im still not sure if its cool or a travesty. ive decided that i am going to reserve my judgement on it until i see more from it. ive seen the preview and am still withholding a decision on if i think it looks good or not. i recently found this picture of what the new optimus prime will look like. again, i just dont know how i feel about it.

the prestige

we went to go see this last weekend. i didnt quite know what to expect, other than i knew it would get a bit weird. and it was. over all i really enjoyed the movie. it went in a different direction than i thought it would. each twist and turn twisted and turned differently than i expected, so it (almost) always had me guessing as to what would come next. the narration cuts back and forth a bit (but what else would you expect from the guy behind 'momento'?) its a bit hard to talk about the film to those who havent seen it. not because it is really complicated and hard to figure out, but because i wouldnt want to give anything away! both the leads did a great job, and were very convincing as rivals trying to one-up each other. michael caine was cool in it too (i cant help but say the name of the movie in his accent every time!)
one of the coolest surprises in the film (dont worry, it doesnt give anything away) was the appearance of nikola tesla. if you dont know anything about him, then shame on you! (go check him out here) although i must admit i didnt know much about him either until joy electric wrote a song about him (which you can hear here). and what made it especially cool was that he was played by david bowie!
the movie does end on a bit of a downer, but its very thought provoking.
on a side note, its kind of fun to think about the main actors and what they have done in the past- in a strange way this movie is wolverine vs. batman!

nightmare before christmas

saturday i went with a group of people to go and see the rerelease of nightmare before christmas, this time its in 3d! ive been looking forward to this ever since i first heard that it was coming out.
i have seen the movie many many times, and have most of the music from it lodged permenantly into my memory (i have been known to periodically break into 'this is holloween' singing). i actually remember going to see this one when it first came out, back in 93. if you havent seen it yet, you really should. the story is simple, but well done. it goes like this: there are towns based on each of the holidays (easter town, thanksgiving town, etc.) and the leader of holloween town stumbles into christmas town and decides that he is going to bring christmas to holloween town. needless to say, trouble ensues. the story is well told, the visuals are amazing, but the real show here are the songs! all written and composed by danny elfman (he did the batman movie theme, and the simpsons theme).
the movie by itself looks amazing, but the 3d effect makes it even more impressive! the 3d stuff is really well done and makes the movie even more fun- when jack explores christmas town, when he is being shot at in his sleigh, and other scenes have an incredible 'wow' factor. the fact that the movie is only 76 minutes long actually works quite well in this situation- much longer and you would have a big headache from the 3d effect on your eyes. the film is only availible in limited release because its only in theaters that have 3d projectors. but if you get the chance to see it, go for it! it is a unique and amazing experience!

in theaters now

i havent really been to the movie theater in a while, but id really like to go soon. there are quite a few new movies out that id love to see. im sure i wont get to all of them before they leave the multiplexes, but i hope to catch at least one or two. in no particular order:

the departed- ive seen martin scorsese's last few films and ive been quite disappointed (gangs of new york, aviator) and ive begun to think that he has lost his eye for telling a good story, but i keep hearing such good things...

the illusionist- you have to love ed norton, and the movie just looks mysterious and interesting. oh, and jessica biel is super hot.

the guardian- its got ashton kutcher in it, which is a big turn off, but its also got kevin costner, and ive loved every movie ive seen him in (yes, that includes waterworld and the postman).

one night with the king- i dont know very much about this movie, but what i do know is that its a big budget account of the story of esther. sounds like its at least worth a look.

nightmare before christmas 3d- this one i will definately see in the theaters- many times! this has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies, i can sing along with every single song (ok, so maybe i shouldnt watch this one in public...)

the prestige- the commercials for it look great, and the talent involved is unbeatable. the director did batman begins and momento. now thats a resume you can trust! also, who doesnt love a good old fashioned twisty and turny movie with magic and cool actors? im in.

let me know which, if any, of these might be worth my hard earned money...

horror movies

the other night i watched a movie called 'wolf creek'. if you are unfamiliar with it, its an australian horror film that came out a year or two ago. its about a few college kids who decide to take a road trip through australia. it all starts well and good, of course, but then their car dies and they rely on the kindness of a stranger to help fix it. only the stranger isnt too kind. it soon turns into a blood-and-guts free for all until the bad guy kills almost all of them.
this plot and style seem to be the latest style of choice for horror movies, and i just want to say that i dont particularly care for it. im not sure exactly when this gorefest became the new standard. i would guess around the time of 'saw'. before this, the popular style was remakes of japan horror movies that always involved a psycho child (usually a girl with black hair in her face) which is best exemplified in 'the ring', and 'the grudge'. but the new style seems to be more torture horror. the scares dont really come from a place of fear anymore, rather, it seems that the scare comes from disgust and uncomfortable situations. instead of the bad guy chasing the good guys, its a bad guy inflicting the most gruesome pain the screenwriter can think up. thats not horror, thats just gore porno.
the problem is, none of these movies are actually scary. they are creepy and unsettling, but they are not scary. i guess i just prefer scares over gross-outs.
maybe its just me. a lot of people seem to like these movies, so maybe i just dont get it. i did really like the movie 'saw', but maybe thats just because it was the first one to really dig into that style, and all the rest have just been returning (unsuccessfully) to that idea.

crank

one of the newest movie ive seen in the theaters was the movie 'crank'. its been a while since i saw it, but then again its been a while since i have posted...
when i saw the commercials for it i saw that it had jason statham in it. i didnt need to see or hear anything else about the movie, i was already sold! he is one actor who i really love watching. he has a strange charisma about him that i really dig (i would say he has the same draw for me that the Rock does).
i totally loved the transporter movies. the first one is a classic- the action starts out unbelievable, and then gets crazier as the movie progresses until it get to the point of cartoony silliness. the second one isnt quite as good, but the action is still quite cool. when i saw the previews for crank i could tell right away that this one was going to be just as ridiculous. and it was. times ten!
the movie is pretty much the unrated version of the transporter movies. the action is ramped up, the swearing is ramped up, and the sex is ramped up. but what makes it so great is the fact that it revels in its absurdity. its so over the top that it actually turns into humor. ive never laughed so hard during an action movie! heres the set up: hes been injected with a poison that will kill him if his adrenaline falls. thats it. pretty much the movie 'speed' as speed! though out the movie he does hilariously crazy things to keep his adrenaline pumping. everything from pounding down the red bull, to shouting out racial slurs in a room full of black people just so they will fight him. i really enjoyed the movie, complete with an outlandishly unbelievable ending. definitely one that i will be buying- i cant even imagine the crazy deleted scenes that will be on the dvd!

too much free time...

its summer time, and i have a lot of free time on my hands. i could use that time productively, but i usually just end up waisting it on watching movies. so, needless to say, ive seen many over the past month and a half. ive been revisiting a few old ones that i own, and ive been watching some that i skipped when they first came out. (it also helps that i am getting free encore channels on my dish for the next couple months...)
just for fun ive been keeping a list of what ive seen since school got out. i figured id put the list up here with a very basic rating after each. here is the scale(along with occasional comments): 1- sucked. 2- not that good. 3- average. 4- better than expected. 5- loved it!. also, there are some movies that i have already reviewed, so ill link to those as well. ok, here goes:

x2: x men united: 5
pirates of the carribean: 5
poolhall junkies: 5 this movie rules!
spiderman 2: 4
blade: 3
blade 2: 5
blade trinity: 2
league of extrordinary gentlemen: 3 it gets worse with each viewing...
star wars 3: revenge of the sith: 4
nacho libre: 3 funny, but not as funny as i hoped
kiss kiss bang bang: 5 wow, i didnt expect much, and was blown away at how funny this movie really is!
pulp fiction: 4
cars: 4
16 blocks: 3 good, but forgettable
night watch: 2 it looks great, but it makes absolutely no sense...
stay: 3 i wanted to like it, but i just wasnt drawn in
borne supremecy: 4
green street hooligans: 4 a cool look at sports fanaticism and the need to belong
kindom of heaven (directors cut): 5 a million times better than the theatrical release, its almost a completely different movie.
undercover brother: 4
sin city: 3
valiant: 2
x3: last stand: 3
superman returns: 3
ali g indahouse: 2 stupid-funny that never actually goes past the stupid to be funny
rounders: 4
sexy beast: 3
princess diaries 2: 2 i had a lot of time on my hands...
christman with the kranks: 2 had even more time...
out of sight: 5 surpisingly great! hadnt ever seen it before and was really impressed
waterworld: 5 i love anything costner is in
the aviator: 3 kinda interesting, but mostly boring
white chicks: 4 i wanted to hate this one, but actually found my self laughing. alot.
bewitched: 3 will farrell is funny in it.
mindhunters: 4 its a dumb scary movie, but i was drawn in
two brothers: 3 cute and fun
superman 3: 3 really stupid and cheesy, but thats what made it fun
field of dreams: 5 makes me cry like a little girl
michael: 2
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind: 4 i think i will like it more on repeat viewings
chopper: 3
a lot like love: 1
p.s.: 2
brave new world: 2
daltry calhoun: 3
stealth: 3 not as bad as i had expected. oh, and jessica biel is super hot
dark water: 2
pirates of the caribean: dead mans chest: 5 totally awesome
jury duty: 3 i know its pauly shore, but i still like him
sky high: 4
psycho (remake): 3
good will hunting: 4
pleasantville: 2 for some reason it gave me a propaganda-y vibe
nixon: 2

superman returns

i really like brian singer. he directed many good movies. the usual suspects is one of the best murder/mysteries i've seen in the past 15 years. he really did a great job of translating xmen to the screen, and he then hit it out of the park in xmen 2. and now this.
i didn't quite know what to expect. i have never really much cared for superman as a character, so i wasn't foaming at the mouth with excitement for this movie or anything, but i was looking forward to it.
boy, was i disappointed. the basic premise is this: superman leaves for five years and then returns. where did he go? the movie doesn't really explain that well. why was he gone so long? no answer. do we at least get to see some of the cool stuff he did out in space during that time? nope. when he does return, no one is that surprised. he comes to save an airplane from crashing. the people inside the plane see him out the window and just stare blankly. no excitement, no enthusiasm, no joy that their hero has returned. and that is exactly what is wrong with this movie. its filled with alot of blank stares, bland expressions, stiff acting, and basic dialog. and seriously, do we need to rely on the same old cliche of superman and kryponite? hasn't that been done in every other single superman movie ever made? why do we have to keep going back to that dried up well?
there were some good ideas that could have been developed. the movie briefly covers the themes of adoption, fatherhood, responsibility, moving on, and maturity. each of which could have been further explored, but instead they decided to make lex luther an evil real estate salesman. gee, creative...
sure, the visual effects are great, the flying scenes looked great, the bullet in the eye thing was cool, but over all i was not expecting much, but was still disappointed.

cars

how do these guys do it? those guys at pixar just keep making great movies! its almost like they keep getting better. toy story was great, but the second one was better. bugs life was good, but monsters inc was better. all of those were good, but finding nemo was better. incredibles was really good, but i didnt think it was as good as nemo. but this latest one, cars, is totally awesome! now, i must confess, i am not a car guy at all (which will come as a suprise to none), but this one was alot of fun. the story was strong, the characters were pitch-perfect, and the visuals were astonishing! some of the jokes were really creative, i liked the over-the-top modified cars that forced lightning to get lost in the first place. my friends and i constantly mock those cars, so it was kind of fun to see them shown as the bad guys.
my only complaint would be the cheesy song montage where the singer keeps complaining about how 'life was bettter in the 50s' and stuff. sure, we know, things were different back then, but i kind of like the way things are now, thanks.
im just impressed that these guys can make movies that kids like, and adults willingly go see too. well done.

x3: the last stand

not very often do i say something like this, but in this situation its true: this movie has too much action. what?!? crazy talk, i know. but true. the first xmen movie was good, too much origin and set up, but what do you expect from a first movie? the second one, on the other hand, was excellent, it followed through on all the potential laid out in the first one. each of those movies had some really great ideas and conflicts that were fleshed out very well. when charles and magneto confronted each other you could really understand the different opinions and the weight of what needed to be done. there was action, but it was all to serve the story and its characters.
the problem with this third movie is that the action feels like it happens so that there can be action in it. the story line is interesting, but it never bothers to dig deeper and try to understand the characters and the choices they make. we never really feel the impact of the events because we havent taken any time to understand what the characters are thinking or feeling.
also, this movie is just plain too crowded! there are far too many characters to really give them enough time to tell there story. there are a couple times where a character dies and its almost hard to care because we dont have any connection with them in this movie. we are introduced to several new ones this time around, but we are not given much time to spend with them and care about what they are going through. oh, and what ever happened to nightcrawler?!? there is enough story here to fill three or four movies, but instead they jam pack it all in and only cover the highlights. the development in the story of mystiques relationship with magneto alone could have been an interesting movie. the relationship and decisions made between rogue and iceman could have been a movie. angel's relationship with his father and what comes of it could have been a movie. like i said, there could have been three or four movies made out of all the parts of this one, but instead all we get are the clift notes version of each.
dont get me wrong though, its definitely worth seeing: the story was good, the action was done well, i just wish i had more time with the characters along the way.

blade trilogy

for some reason i cant remember i decided to watch the blade trilogy. i did it a bit out of order though, i started with the second one, then third, and finally the first one. i like the series, so it was kind of cool to watch them all with in the same same day or two. here are a few of my thoughts:
Blade- when i first saw this in college i remember thinking how awesome this movie was and how amazing the action was! its strange what a few years can do to your perspective... this is one of those movies that falls victim to the matrix 'shift' i wrote about last post. the action was fast paced and exciting, except after the matrix it seems generic and a little lame. the 'blood bath' club scene at the beginning, which i have always looked back at as one of the coolest scenes in any vampire movie, even looks cheesy. the bad guy, deacon frost (stephen dorff) comes off as a total puff. i still enjoyed the movie, but it is not nearly as good as i always thought it was. oh well.

Blade II- the first time i saw this was in the theater. i fell asleep (granted i saw it on a weeknight at 11:00pm after a long day of work). it wasnt until it came out on video that i gave it another look. and wow, im glad i did! this is, in my opinion, the best of the three by far!!! the whole attitude and atmosphere of the first one was different- this was an action horror movie, not just an action movie. the unreal setting (which many people dont like) allows the film to go darker and deeper into the vampire culture. and those new creaures with their jaw-fangs still freak me out!!! the effects are better, the action is very exaggerated and over the top, but in a way that is believable within the films unreal context. the aspect of blade having to team up with the vampires and form a group of mercenaries on the hunt gives it a kind of uneasy 'seven samurai' feel to it. also, the way the bad guy effects are done, they are very off handed and little attention is paid to them- which makes them more believable and almost scarier. the director went on to do 'hellboy' which is one of my favorites! i just really loved rewatching this film. to be honest, i watched this one twice in a row, once just watching, and the second time with the director commentary, and i look forward to watching it again soon to hear the other commentary on the disk! i must say, if you havent seen blade II you are really missing out!
Blade Trinity- crap. i really wanted to like this one, its got ryan reynolds in it, whom i still totally love from 'two guys and a girl' as berg, and its got the hottest chick on earth: jessica biel. so, its got a lot going for it, but for some reason it just plain sucks. this is the 'batman and robin' of the blade series. i dont know what went wrong, maybe it was the first time director (who actually wrote all three films), or maybe it was the complete change of direction from action to action/comedy that brought it down. i dont know. one of its problems is that its on about the same level as 'alien vs. predator'. nothing creative, nothing inspired. i mean, the movie starts out with guys in space suits finding a hidden mystery in an ancient pyramid- how cheesy and generic can you get?!? all that being said, i would actually love to see a 'nightstalkers' movie with reynolds and biel. that would be cool. just dont let this guy direct it...

shifts

though out the past there have been huge shifts and changes in the movie business. these changes altar our perspective on the films we see. something can come up in a particular movie and every movie after it is no longer the same. i guess it would be like different eras in film. for example: when 'jaws' came around, the business changed. suddenly there were movies that could become "blockbusters". there have been other such important changes in the past. here are a couple more, in my life, that i noticed:
jurassic park- every movie that came before it was now outdated, and every movie after had to reach a certain bar of special effects.
matrix- every action movie before suddenly looked boring and simple. no longer were we interested in segal/van damme style action. action films reached a new standard.
its like you can watch a movie and notice 'oh, this is pre-matrix, im sure it was cool then, but now it looks cheesy'. for example- mortal combat had some cool action in it (i thought so at least), but now the action is laughable.

zathura

i wanted to like this one, so im sure i am a bit bias, but i actually liked it more than i thought i would. i am a fan of chris van allsburg, the writer. when i was in elementary school he came to the local book store to read a book to everyone and i was able to go and meet him. it was really cool. his books are actually one of the reasons that i gained an interest in art, and eventually went to college for art.
he wrote the books that jumanji and polar express are based on, as well as the basis for the is movie (which is a sequel of sorts to jumanji). i havent seen jumanji in a very long time, but i remember liking it a bit, and i havent yet seen polar express, but i really thought zathura was very good! the directing, by jon favrou, was really great. the pace allowed the story to move and keep our interest. also, the mood of the film was very playful and upbeat. even when these horrible things were happening it was obvious that nothing was going to happen to the boys, and instead you could just go along for the ride! i think it got unfairly categoried as 'just' a family film (which typically means that twentysomethings wont really care for it) but i thought it was alot of fun, and certainly not just for kids. it has that same sort of appeal that 'elf' has (oddly enough, also directed by favrou).

red eye

i figured id give this one a shot this weekend. i know john carpenter is often hit-or-miss (and typically a miss), but with all the positive responses when it first came out, i thought i should try it out. i enjoyed it more than i thought i would. it not necessarily scary, nor does it try to be, it just accepts itself as a fairly straight ahead thriller. the twists and turns are minimal, but thats not a bad thing. there were, as with all these kinds of movies, a few points of impossibility and plot elements that just dont add up, but the chemistry of the the two leads, the spunky pace, and the fluffy popcorn feel of the movie allows one to dismiss a lot of the problems and instead just sit back and see how this one plays out.

da vinci code

i just went to go see the da vinci code. it was pretty good. actually, it did a good job of cleaning up a lot of the sloppy structural plot problems of the book. i found the book was a bit to much 'all over the place', while the movie stays focused better. much of the book i had forgotten, so it was a bit nice to have some of the revelations and twists be new again for me.
the story is well told, there is some nice moments of suspense throughout, and the best part is definitely ian mckellen! he plays an eccentric billionaire (always handy to have one of those around to save the day whenever the story gets written into a corner...) with a charming obsession with england, and a razor sharp sense of humor. i would have actually preferred to just watch him for two hours... tom hanks does a decent job, but i have one question: did he have a cold through out the whole filming or something?!? i dont know, maybe its supposed to be a different voice for the role, but it just sounds like he has a stuffy nose throughout the whole movie!
here's my main problem with the film (i guess the book too): they keep saying that this priory of sion must hide this secret that, if revealed 'will destroy the church'. but throughout the movie the priory of scion is shown as the enemy of the church. if that's the case, then why wouldn't they want to reveal it? if you have a chance to destroy an enemy, why not use it?
also, how would this information destroy the church? oooooh, jesus was married! so? that still doesn't effect the fact that he's the son of God. ooooh, mary magdalene was supposed to be the head of the church! so? this would really only tick off the catholics because of that whole pope thing.
i guess the big problem to me is this: with in the contest of the story, the claims it makes and claims as true, it doesn't make any sense. let me explain: according to the 'facts' of the story, they claim that jesus was not the son of God, but just a normal man who Constantine decided to make into a god. ok. if that's the basic idea being presented then why do we care about the rest? why would these secret societies be so obsessed with the story of jesus and his lineage if they see him as just a normal guy? why aren't there secret societies obsessed about the lineage of gary the mailman? he's just a normal guy like they claim jesus is, so why do they care? by making it such an important thing they are contradicting themselves.
when it comes down to it, 'national treasure' was a better movie.

ace ventura

even after all these years, this one still makes me pee my pants laughing! (though, honestly, the second one is funnier...)

bubble

this movie got a lot of press a little bit ago because of its unconventional release. the movie was available at the theater, on dvd, and on pay-per-view all on the same week. it is the first in a line of experimental films that will see if this is actually a viable business model for films. i dont know if it was successful or anything, i just know that i saw the movie last weekend.
my reaction to the film: wow. i dont know what it is about the film, its not like there is anything in particular that stands out or anything, but its been almost a week and it still haunts me. the story is very simple. ridiculously simple, actually. its about a young guy and an older woman who work together in a factory in the midwest. then a new woman starts working at the factory. and thats pretty much it. (well, there is a little bit more, but i dont want to ruin anything for you.) the mood of the film though, is amazing. its poorly lit, its messy, its awkward. just like real life. it hardly has the feeling of a movie, it feels more like a day in the life of these people as they go about their usual daily events. some parts are slow, sometimes the characters dont have anything interesting to say, and things dont always work out well. but its done in such convincing way that it gets to the hardest thing to do in cinema: it tells the truth.

devils rejects

this one sucked hard.

inside man

i was quite pleasantly surprised. i was looking forward to this movie ever since i first saw that jodie foster was in it. (i will go see anything she is in. im not entirely sure why i have such blind faith in her, but i do) i am always a sucker for a good hiest movie, and from the previews this one looked to fit the bill.
the actors in it were really good. denzel actually had a part that bordered on comedy. he had a lot of great lines and funny responses to situations. clive owen was perfect as the calm cool and collected theif. the twists and turns were perfectly executed, some we knew were coming and that was ok, but the really big ones i thought were totally unexpected! the ending was very satisfying. the biggest problem i find with this type of movie, though, is the unsettling fact that we are suppossed to rooting for the bad guys to pull it off. it just seems wierd to hope they steal and dont get caught.
oh, and jodie foster is spot-on in her role (one that we dont see from her very often either)
my one quelm with the movie is this: spike lee (he directed it) cant leave a popcorn movie alone. he has to give it a message so that its 'meaningful'. he does that in this one, except really poorly. its obvious he wanted to add in some statement about culture, so he tacks on this terrible scene about one of the children in the movie playing a video game and clive own sees the game and complains about how 'video games are so violent and are corrupting the youth'. it was totally out of place and actually weakened the impact of a later scene.

a history of violence

i just watched this movie tonight with the guys. i knew the story a little bit going in, but i wasnt sure at all how it would play out, it is david kronenberg after all. i had heard some friends who had seen it in the theater talk about how horrible it was, but on the other hand there were so many critics who raved about it. i figured i should give it a try and see what i thought. it starts out fairly simply, a standard story about a man and his family. some of the stuff with the son is pretty cheesy (and who ever it was that played him: may he never work again), but so many of the shots and angles are strange and off putting that it always feels like something else is going on behind the scenes. one of the most interesting parts of the film is the sparse/non-existent soundtrack. there is very little music, which adds even more to the off center feel of the movie. ed harris and william hurt were pitch perfect in their roles, and viggo does a good job of portraying a character who might have more going on than he is willing to share. i was pleasantly surprised.

v for vendetta

over the weekend i want and saw this with my friend matt. i had been looking forward to this movie for a while now. its based on a comic book of the same name and is written by alan moore. i have not read much of moores stuff, but what i have read has been amazing- thus my excitement for the film. moore has always written good stuff, but they often mess up with translating it to screen. well, i guess its more like one hit and one miss (i dont mean box office wise, because they both missed, i mean by how i liked them). the hit was 'from hell'. there are many who say its terrible, but i rather enjoyed it. and really, jonny depp can do no wrong. the big miss was 'the league of extraordinary gentlemen. a great book, but an overblown mess of a movie. sorry, even sean connery cant save that load of crap.
anyway, v for vendetta was totally amazing! the visuals were great, and the storyline was very well done, i was drawn in very quickly into the stories and lives of the people involved. some of the twists and turns through out the story caught me by surprise because i wasnt thinking about what would happen next, i was too busy in the moment with the characters. the themes and topics that are tackled are handled well and incourage a thoughtful consideration by the audience. you really have to decide if the masked man is a hero, or a terrorist.
i was very impressed with the film, even though we got there 5 minutes after it started, and it had no sound for the last 10 minutes! (dont worry, i got a free pass out of the deal...)

poolhall junkies

i recently watched poolhall junkies and have decided i want to be a hustler. my friends in michigan have been singing of its praises for years now, but i had been a little slow in jumping on the boat. the movie is really cool though, so now i understand the obsessions of my friends. its about a guy who is a super good pool hustler. he missed out on his opportunity to go pro, so he has been trying to give it up, but is slowly drawn back into the game. the cast is amazing- its got chazz paliminari as the angry pool mentor, chris walken as the cool boss/backer, rick shroder as the hired talent, and even that guy who plays lex on smallville as the main character's little brother.
the movie is a fast paced ride as the main character tries to return to the game and prove to his old mentor that he can make it. there are a lot of twists and turns, some really cool trick shots, and some great cons. the ending is just plain brilliant!
another fun part of the movie for me was the fact that it was filmed in salt lake city, so a bunch of the places they filmed in and around i was able to recognize! a few times i had to rewind the movie because i was too busy going 'oh! ive been there! thats right by the coffee shop i used to work in!'

movies movies movies

ive bought alot of new movies lately (again). most of which i have never even seen. this whole blind buy thing is actually new to me. heres what ive gotten: wallace and gromit: curse of the ware-rabbit, highway man, the upside of anger, and one other one i cant think of right now. anyway, i hope to watch them soon. ill keep you posted on my opinions.

ps. i dont know what that picture has to do with anything, but its the first image that came up in google images when i typed in my post title 'movies movies movies'. strange...

my own set of movie rules

a while ago i posted about a humorous list of rules by preston stergus for how to make a successful movie. at the time i said i should come up with my own rules for sucessful movie making. i figure its about time to start. i will add rules periodically as i think of them. but for now, here we go:


rule #392: old women swearing is always funny.
rule #128: any car in a crash has to explode.
rule #443: bad guys must attack one at a time.
rule #211: one hit will kill a bad guy, but one hit will only make the good guy stronger.

more to come...

the book is always better

this weekend i was at gamestop and they had a huge sale on dvds. i was checking out the selection and i came across the movie 'sphere'. i remember when it came out some friends and i saw it in the theater, and i remember not being really impressed with it. i was actually really angry at the movie because the book its based on has always been one of my favorite fiction books. i hadnt seen it since it first came out, and it was only three fifty, i decided to pick it up.
last night i had some free time so i popped it in. im still not impressed, but it got me excited to read the book again. i remember just being so caught up in the story, there are quite a few really great scenes in the book (on a side note, a few friends and i performed a part of the book for forensics back in high school, and we actually got some good reviews of it) including when they first talk to the entity, and when they decide what to do at the end.
i figure if a cheap ok movie can get me excited to reread a book, it cant be all bad...

recent buys

ive been finding some really cheap dvds lately, so i figured id share what ive picked up recently:
cellular- i really liked this one. i have already posted about it here.
flight of the phoenix- i cant think of a single dennis quaid movie i dont like...
wedding crashers- this one is hilarious. the extras are pretty good too. i am going to have to go out on a limb here and say that 40 year old virgin is better though.
the upside of anger- i actually havent seen this one yet. ive heard really good things about it, and i am a huge fan of kevin costner (i even liked postman, if you can believe it). i would have just rented it, but that would cost $3.50, and with the sale they had going, it was only $5 to buy it. so, maybe i wasted $1.50, i think i can handle it.
in good company- again, i really like dennis quaid, and scarlet johanson is super cute, and topher grace is just so perfect in this! its kind of a chick flick, but for guys (kind of like frequency, and about a boy).
transporter 2- i saw this one in the theater and loved it! its so ridiculous and unbelievable in its cartoony action, but thats what makes it so fun. and jason statham's character is the very definition of cool.
doom- the movie was alright, but i like anything with the rock, and the extras are kind of cool because they have interviews with a lot of the guys from g4!

king kong

this past saturday i finally saw king kong (i know its been out for many months, but i finally got off my butt and went to see it). i wasnt quite sure what to expect. when it first came out i was luke warm about it. sure, i knew i was expected to buy into the advertising hype, but i wasnt all that interested. i started reading reviews and they all seemed quite positive. a few buddies went to see it without me, so i figured i would pass on it.
this past weekend aaron was down and he was up for seeing it again and its till in the theater, so we went. my reaction: wow!!! i was not expecting to enjoy it as much as i did- it just blew me away. now, dont get me wrong, i was mostly amazed at the action stuff. the 'love' story was done well, but how drawn in can one get over the love of a monkey and a girl? ive heard alot of people saying that its too long. usually they site the boat ride for taking too long to get the story moving. many poeple were like 'i got to wait an hour before i even see kong? im out!'
i actually thought the opposite. the best part of the movie for me was the anticipation and first interactions with kong. i rather liked the build up of the characters on the boat. i would actually present the idea that the ending is too long. they could have shaved off a whole hour at the end. its would be as simple as this: the movie should stop as they take him off the island. all the best stuff happens on the island, after the fight with the three t rexes- everything else is a letdown. we already know the story, why not just focus on the first part of the story. everyone knows how it ends, so why bother retelling it, and instead just show the backstory.

best of 05'

i think my favorite film of last year would be serenity, actually. i never watched firefly (the show its based on) while it was on tv, but i became hooked when the sci-fi network started airing it. i ended up buying the season on dvd and i fell in love. the movie is just more of the same, amped up a bit. solid characters, solid story, even a few unexpected twists and turns (how dare they kill Wash!) i just watched it again last night and was reminded how fun and funny it is. great stuff.

top ten '05. kind of...

thinking back and trying to make a list of top ten for the year is really tough. mostly because i cant remember what came out this year... i didnt really see alot of movies in the theater, so its hard to remember when exactly they came out. so, i guess in favor of listing my top ten, ill just list some i remember that i liked. not very official, but it will have to do.
in order to build suspense, i think that i will only list one per post. (mostly thats because i dont want to be here for an hour...)


Batman Begins
let me start with a great story: so there we were, in Rome, just coming back from the Colosseum, when aaron and i stumble upon a big goings-on in front of one of the buildings. everything is roped off. after a bit of hanging out and gawking we realize that there is going to be a movie premier that night, and it just so happens to be batman begins! cool! we wait for a while but get bored and head back to the hotel. after a shower and a change of clothes we head out for the night. we pass buy the premier again, just in time too. after a minute or two a few limos pull up and out walks christpher nolen (the director), christian bale, morgan freeman, and katie holmes. what crazy luck! we hang for a few minutes as the stars talk to the press. aaron is drooling over katie, but im more excited to see morgan freeman in person.
anyway, thats the cool story. now, about the movie: i liked it. it was good and stuff. (sorry, im just trying to cover for the fact that i have only seen it once way back in june and so most of it is fairly fuzzy...) shoot, ihave really got to see this one again.