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...)