ultraviolet

i just rewatched this movie on demand. i was one of the 12 people who actually saw this when it first came out in theaters. i must admit, i was not very impressed with it then. the style of the movie is mostly cg effects, kind of like 'sky captain and the world of tomorrow', its very fuzzy and out of focus.
the story itself is fairly bland. its a sci fi futuristic fanasy story about a bad girl with a gun who must get a package and keep it safe as everyone around her is trying to take it from her.
i could see what it was trying to do, but it was obvious that it needed a ton more money to pull it off. but then i watched 'eaon flux'. at which point i realized that even with a lot of money, this genre kinda sucks.
one think i must admit though- after watching it again it got a lot better. the action was better than i remembered it being, and there were some really cool scenes that gave it a very unique feel.
i guess i would change its rating from 'uggh', to 'not bad'. take that for what its worth.

legend

a couple nights ago the guys and i, at rexs request, rented the movie 'legend'. its a ridley scott film starring tom cruise, tim curry, and that one girl from ferris beuller. i remember seeing small bits and pieces of the movie on cable in the past, but rex was adamant that we needed to watch it. i wasnt very excited for it, i figured it was going to be another clunker like ive been suckered into before.

jeffry lee and i went to go get it anyway and we watched it when rex arrived. and to be totally honest with you, i was quite impressed! its very fantasy-like, kind of along the lines of labyrinth, except with out the muppets. the premise is that there are two unicorns alive and they are the most magical beings in the world. if they die then the evil will defeat the good. tim curry as the bad guy with ridiculously large horns, intends to do just that. as he does that he also kidnaps the princess and forces her to marry him. cruise, the love interest, doesnt like that idea, so he goes off to save her and the unicorns. cheesy, i know, but the visuals are just amazing.

if you are even a little bit familiar with any of ridley scotts work, then you know that he has a penchant for having stuff falling in the air around his characters, often in slow motion. in gladiator it was sand and ash, black hawk down it was debris, kingdom of heaven it was sand and fire. well, it would seem that this is the movie where he was able to hown that skill. about 90% of the movie has stuff falling around in the air! he even gets creative- he uses snow, leaves, dandelion seed, flower pedals, and even bubbles! i wasnt even annoyed, i was impressed! though he has these signature flourishes, i must admit it looked amazing! the costumes and makeup looked perfectly believable.

the problem was the story. it flowed well, each step was a (kind of) logical one, but the editing and cutting were choppy and hard to follow. it was hard at times to understand what was going on. we watched 'the directors cut', but rex had seen another version and told us some of the stuff that was in it, and it sounded like some of the things this one would have benefited from. over all, a decent story thats lovely to look at.

gleaming the cube

have you ever heard of this movie? its a classic (ie terrible) 80s movie about skateboarding that stars christian slater. in junior high i had a friend, david carrol, who was obsessed with this movie. he was kind of a skater-wannabe, so it made sense. i just never got around to watching it and attempting to shair in his love for this movie.

well, this morning i had nothing to do, so i was surfing around on my dads 'on demand' cable thingy. i happened to notice this movie in the free section, and figured out of respect of david, and a never fulfilled curiosity, i should watch it.
surprise! turns out, its pretty lame. slater plays a kid whose brother is killed but the guys responsible for it make it look like a suicide. slater takes it upon himself to get to the bottom of it. there are many moments along the way where he must spend some time in self reflection, which of course is shown though 'cool' skateboarding tricks and campy electric guitar riffs. in a ridiculous turn of events it turns out that it is a group of vietnamese arms dealers who are responsible, and slater ends up saving the day single handedly. oh, and he gets the girl. and skates a lot. i hoping it was a lot cooler at the time, otherwise david had a really bad taste in movies...

thank you, come again

as movie tie-ins, there are some seven-11s around the country that have changed their sign and decor to mirror that of the simpsons 'kwik-e-mart'. along with that, they are selling funny product tie-ins as well- you can get a box of krusty-Os cereal, a six pack of buzz cola, and a squishee!

there arent any around stores with the sign change around here, but rex and i found one with the novelty simpsons products! so today we went there and some up. and we both had an orange squishee- resulting in an orange tongue. got to love that!

children of men

just watched this one last night. it was good, but im not entirely sure what all the hype was about? i remember when this one first came out in the theater and all the critics were clamoring and saying how amazing it was, but i guess i just dont see it. dont get me wrong, i thought it was good, but thats about it.

the concept was quite interesting: the idea that there hasnt been a child born anywhere in the world for almost twenty years is a great premise. then, miraculously they find a woman who is pregnant, and they must keep here away from the government for some reason. this is the part where the story falls apart, i think. the basic setup is filled with great conflicts and studies of human nature in the face of realizing the end of our species is in site. but... for some reason the story seems to focus more on immigration and the legalization of drugs. what? where does that fit in? you know, im not sure. it seems like there is an opportunity missed here. the story is too sidetracked to really deal with the powerful impact this situation would have on a society, let alone its individuals.

that being said, the cinematography and camera moves are truly something to behold. some directors like quick editing and split second cuts in their films, while others like to have long takes that create a mood. well, this movie takes the idea of a long take to the extreme. there are many times where the camera will continue rolling, uncut, for three or four minutes. sure, thats not groundbreaking or anything, until you realize this: all the long shots take place during the action sequences! there are hundreds of extras, tons of explosions and effects, along with the main actors who must all do their job perfectly, or else the whole long and expensive shot would have to be redone. talk about pressure!

the movie itself was kind of a miss in my opinion, but its almost worth watching for the uncut action scenes alone.

transformers

tuesday night i went with all the guys to go and see transformers. we have been pumped about this one for quite a few months now, so we were quite excited. i went in expecting a dumb movie, but a good dumb movie. fortunately, i wasnt disappointed! when you think about it, really, as long as they stick to the basic premise, the cant really go wrong: giant robots fighting. whats not to love?

the whole movie had that good old fashioned epic feel to it, a grand story of good verses evil with the main character mostly just getting in the way until he has the courage to stand up and fight along side the warriors. the story line is a bit cheesy, but i think that the film makers used that to their advantage. they took those cheesy elements and mixed them up a bit and had some fun with those standard elements. the acting was better than i would have thought (well, except for the austrailan girl- she totally sucked!), and im really taking a shining to that shia labeouf guy, he was perfect for this role.

oh, and the robots? awesome!!! the effects were so flawless that there was almost no point in the movie where i thought 'ok, that looks fake'. the best job they did was with bumblebee. they gave him such a cool personality, with out a voice even, that you couldnt help but love him! the other robots had great personalities too, well, except for jazz. he was such a lame stereotype that i just rolled my eyes ('oh, the black guy who likes to break dance, isnt that clever?').

the movie is very fun and a frenzy of cool effects. i left the theater very satisfied. now i must go, because i want to head back to see it again!!!