tale of despereaux

i went to go see this with my six year old nephew. i wasn't expecting a lot, and i got even less. the story is about a little mouse who doesn't fear cats like he's supposed to, instead he wants to go on an adventure and save a princess. and it just so happens that he lives in a castle where there is a princess in need of saving. handy, huh? as a main story its kind of fun, but it kept taking unnecessary detours by following the stories of a rat, a cook, a king, a stable maid, and some strange sort of cat colosseum. i'm quite certain that my nephew was completely confused by it, heck, i wasn't quite sure what was happening part of the time! the animation is also very drab and almost entirely done in shades of brown. boring. none of the stories ever go anywhere and there. everyone does a bunch of talking and sitting around- not exactly what i'm looking for in an animated movie. notice the key word there: animated! do something!!! each of the story lines start to lift off the ground, and then thud right back down and goes nowhere. i really wanted to like it, for my nephews sake, but they really didn't offer anything to like.

punisher: war zone

what a perfect way to end a day of watching action movies! this movie is ridiculous- the action is outrageously over the top. when a shot is fired the person it hits explodes, its that kind of over the top action and violence. which is actually exactly what i was up for! i quite enjoyed this ludicrous, hyper-violent cheese fest. the last punisher movie left me completely cold, i didnt care for it at all, so i was totally up for a different take on the character. and this is certainly a different take! the story follows the punisher as he tries to wipe out a crime family. one of the members falls into a vat of bottles and gets cut up real good. the doctors try their best to put humpty dumpty back together again, but he still looks terrible. he takes the name 'jigsaw' for himself, and continues his reign of terror on the city. the punisher steps up and tries to regain order. the enjoyed the film, but i didnt really care for the bad guy- he was a total rip off of the 1989 batman film's joker origin story almost beat for beat. it was played way over the top, and turned the film from dark and brooding into a cartoon (i guess the violence was a bit cartoony, but that was a good sort of cartoony). if they ever try a punisher movie again, they need to have regular crime boss type bad guys, and they can certainly keep this guy, ray stevenson, as the punisher- he did a great job.

role models

this movie is hilarious! its about a couple of friends who get in a little bit of trouble with the law and are required to perform 150 hours of community service, they are directed toward a 'big brothers and sisters' sort of organization, which is a terrible idea because these two guys are complete wrecks, the last thing they need is to be influencing the youth! there are some really really great bits in it, such as a funny tirade in a coffee shop, one of the characters trying to make up with his ex-girlfriend, and almost anything involving paul rudd and the kid he is mentoring (played by superbad's mclovin'). the kid is really into live action role playing, and wears a cape and is stuck in medieval times. the movie is really funny, and i came to realize i have a bit of a man-crush on paul rudd...

rocknrolla

this is the latest film by guy richie, the writer/director behind 'lock stock and two smoking barrels', and 'snatch'. both of those films are a ton of fun, with their meandering crime stories, and quirky cockney characters. this film is a return to form for him. he again digs into the life of criminals, usually inept ones at that, and follows them as they try to do a deal with some russians. of course, things go wrong and they try their best to fix it, which usually leads to more things going wrong... though some of the events in the film are ridiculously improbable, they always lead the characters to another funny situation. the conclusion is left hanging, but this is envisioned as the first of three films about these characters, so i guess that is to be expected.

eagle eye

i had been looking forward to seeing this one. when it came out i just didnt find a time to go see it, so i was glad to finally catch it at the dollar theater! the story follows a guy who suddenly finds himself framed for terrorism and is on the run. but the strangest thing keeps happening- he gets these calls on his phone from this woman who tells him to do all kinds of strange things, and everything else seems to be forcing him to do it as well. for example, at one point in the movie he is supposed to get off a train and meet someone at the exit, he stays on the train. the train then comes to a screeching halt and goes backward to the last station until he gets out. weird. its kind of like in 'the matrix' when keanu is inside the computer program and it keeps changing in order for him to do something. a very cool paranoid setup, but then it takes a really crappy turn and just becomes another stupid movie along the same line as 'stealth', and steals liberally from HAL in '2001'. a promising beginning falls flat and just becomes another generic action movie, the kind that schwarzenegger would have done a dozen years ago. and no, that is not a compliment.

slumdog millionaire

wow, this is a great movie! at this point its one of the forerunners for the best picture oscar, which was one of the reasons i felt compelled to go see it. this was the first film in a series of five that i saw in one day, and it was certainly a great way to start the marathon!
the story follows this poor indian kid as he finds himself on 'who wants to be a millionaire'. as he is asked questions and answers them correctly, we go back into his childhood and see how he came to know each of these different random facts. as this is all unfolding we also see the relationship he has with a girl develop and blossom into love.
the story structure is expertly done and keeps you intensely interested to see how everything plays out. the characters are well fleshed out, the love story is gripping, his childhood is heartbreaking, and the ending is very satisfying. certainly worth checking out!

the day the earth stood still

i have not seen the original movie, so i didn't exactly know what to expect. the previews make it look pretty interesting. well, mostly it was the scene where they are giving keanu reeves a lie detector test that got my attention. the basic premise is that an alien ship comes and lands on earth. the aliens have come to protect the earth, even if that means destroying all mankind.
its and interesting hook, but they didn't do a very good job of portraying it. the alien connects with jennifer connelys character and she tries to convey to him why humans are worth saving. she does a lousy job, and there's some hockey junk with her son. there is a very small part of a scientist played by john cleese who does a much better job. the film should have focused on his character instead of hers, it would have made it a much more compelling and thoughtful story. the biggest problem though comes from the special effects. some of them are really great, and some of them are really terrible, but the cardinal sin is that most of it was completely unnecessary!

quantum of solace

in preparation for watching this movie my dad and i rewatched 'casino royale' a week before we went. im glad we did too, because this one takes place right after that one, and it helped a lot in making sense of this one.
now, in full disclosure, i feel i must share my feelings about james bond. i am a big fan of james bond, and always have been. i love everything about it except the movies. they are terrible. sure, sean connery is the greatest bond, but all of the movies with him are really bad. sorry, i have no sentimental attachement to any of the films.
so, when i heard they were rebooting it a few years ago with 'casino royale' i was quite excited! i figured there might actually be a chance that they would make a good movie! and they did. the first one with daniel craig was fantastic. i really enjoyed it. this one is a lot of fun too. it follows james as he tries to seek revenge on the man behind the death of his girl in the last film. this movie genuinely felt like it wasnt so much a sequel as a continuation of the last film. its hard to see it on its own, since it feels like the second half of 'casino royale'. the twists and turns were good, the action was fun, and the story was satisfying. i only have two small complaints: james didnt have any fun! usually we get a bit of the swagger that is bond, but this one was completely missing any sense of james enjoying himself. sure, it probably doesnt fit into the revenge theme of the film, but it was something i missed. my second complaint is for the director: action scenes are fun, but you need to learn how to do an establishing shot! half the time i had no idea what was happening in the action shots. when they arrive at the base at the end, give us some long shots of the action, give us some perspective, let us see the action from a distance every once in a while, it really helps to show us whats going on!

quarantine

for some reason im still unsure of, i went to go see this one in the theater. i kind of knew it would suck, but i went anyway... the film is a first hand account, similar to 'blair witch project' or 'cloverfield', where a local tv reporter and cameraman are following a team of firefighters for the night. they get a call about a old woman having a medical emergency, so off they go. when they arrive they realize something isnt quite right. as they are trying to leave they are locked in and the police are outside quarantining the entire building. the characters dont understand what is going on, and since they dont know, neither do we.

they do a pretty good job of building tension and confusion with the situation. over the course of the time in the building things get stranger and stranger. the characters themselves are actually believable, and do a convincing job of trying to figure out whats up. rarely did the characters do things that were obviously stupid, which is usually the case in scary movies... the ending was a bit strange and doesnt really explain anything, but it sure was creepy!

love actually

i had seen this one a long time ago, and its one of diana's favorites, so we sat down and watched it together. this is one of those movies that have a ton of different story lines filled with different characters that eventually all tie together in one way or another. each of the stories revolve around some form of love. there is a father and son trying to bond after the death of the wife/mother, a married man contemplating an affair, a woman who loves her handicapped brother too much to take any time for herself, a guy who loves his best friends new wife, and a couple more as well. its a study in many of the different forms love can take. some of the story lines are better than others, but over all, it presents a beautiful image of what love can be and how in changes and inspires us. hugh grant and alan rickman are amazing, as always, but the stand out performance in the film is certainly liam neeson as the grieving father. very touching.

labyrinth

i, like so many others, have very fond memories of this movie. i remember renting it while i was in middle school and watching it one friday night while my parents were gone. i loved it so much i immediately rewound it (we only had vcrs back then, folks) and watched it again! i was completely enamoured with it. i loved the big furry guy who would say 'smell bad!' and all the crazy cool muppet stuff.
after having watched it again recently i have just one question: this is a musical?!? i had absolutely no recollection of this movie ever having any songs in it. there are at least 4 songs in the film, but i had totally blocked them out for some reason (well, probably because they were all stupid). unfortunately, this films falls into the same category as so many other 80's movies: good to remember, bad to rewatch.

timecop

the great thing about van damme movies is that they are all terrible. once you start with that understanding, this one is actually kind of fun. the story (i use that term loosely) is about a guy who works for a new government agency that must patrol time travel (just go with it) to keep it safe from the bad guys. he must stop the bad guy from taking money from the past to pay for his presidential election campaign in the future (again, just go with it). van damme tries to stop him and save his wife who died 10 years before.
i think the best part of the film is that there is no attempt to make it look futuristic except for the cars, which look like white crazy garbage trucks. and of course there is a bunch of random fighting (which has aged terribly, you know, pre-matrix and all), and as there must always be in a van damme movie: he does the helicopter kick at least once. i guess as far as van damme movies go, this one is actually not bad.

fireproof

my parents, tim & jill, diana and i hoped to see this one together on our date night, but unfortunately it was sold out. later the next week diana and i went on our own to see it. first off, i must confess, i was not looking forward to seeing this. my hesitation had nothing to do with the storyline, its about a husband and wife who are on the edge of divorce when the husbands dad convinces him to try a 40 day plan to win her back. rather, my hesitation came from the back that it stars kirk cameron and is a christian movie. i have seen my share of christian movies, and i have not been impressed. the general perception is that christian movies are for actors and writers who cant make it in hollywood, leading to most of them being quite terrible. its a perception that is rightly deserved in most cases. knowing this, i was not too keen on seeing it, but i must say, i was completely shocked at how good it actually was! the story was well written and well told, the actors did a good job in their roles, and the relationship is surprisingly realistic! kirk cameron does a great job of getting us to believe his struggles and desire to fix it and find a change in his life. the relationship stuff works well, as does the comedy relief: cameron is a fireman who spends much of his time working at the fire station. the other guys working there are quite funny and allow for some great laughs. there is even a couple action sequences involving a car wreck and a burning house- a little something for everyone!

my mom and dad saw is soon after we did, i talked to my dad about it and he said it best: this is a movie that every married couple should see. i totally agree.

oh, and on a side note, kirk cameron looks exactly like my brother. it was really, really creepy...

w.

i was very surprised by this movie. i went in expecting some hack job, tearing apart bush and totally making fun of him. it is directed by oliver stone, after all. but i was shocked to see a moving portrait of a man who struggled with his place in an aristocratic family, an ivy league school, and huge expectations placed on him. it shows him constantly failing and disappointing his father. after he tries to get life under control he finds God. another situation i would have thought that they would mock him about, but the movie never looks down on him for his faith, it just explains how that faith drove him forward. a portrait is painted of a man struggling with his family and himself trying to do right by God. he finds himself in over his head, mostly through bad advice and good intentions. bush is portrayed as a modest man of modest dreams who is called to reach for the stars, but just cant quite reach high enough. everyone in the film does an amazing job, josh brolin is pitch perfect as bush, as are the rest of the cast. the actors dont so much do impressions as try and convey the spirit of each person through their performance. well, except for thandie newton as condie rice which almost ruins the whole movie! everyone was going for subtle, but she seems to be going for SNL...

wall-e

i had been wanting to see this one all summer. it finally came to the dollar theater, and i knew i couldnt pass that up!
this is the latest in the long line of great pixar movies. sure, all the pixar movies are great, but i must say, this one is probably their best! set in the future, its about a cute little robot who is still doing his job even though all the humans have left earth hundreds of years ago. he keeps himself busy cleaning up all the trash left by mankind, his only friend a cockroach. one day a ship lands and a sleek new robot, eve, comes on a mission. for some reason that robot leaves again and wall-e is heartbroken (as much as robots can be, i guess). thus starts the adventure to find her back. the story is cute and fun, mostly because of the personality of wall-e. that little robot is so emotive- i bet he could even do shakespeare! there are some great laughs as wall-e finds everyday objects laying around and tries to figure out what to do with them. also, its surprisingly emotional. at one point wall-e has some problems and it seems all is lost for eve. this is a great film on par with 'finding nemo', which is saying a lot!
oh, and i always love the animated short pixar puts before their movies- this ones about a magician, a rabbit, and a pesky portal. good fun!

step brothers

diana and i went to go see this one at the dollar theater. it was pretty funny, but not nearly as good as the last time these two guys got together in 'telledega nights'. the story is about how the two guys still live with their parent, and their parents get married. they are too immature to grow up and move out, so they have to share a bedroom in their parents house. they hate each other at first, but they soon become best buddies. there are quite a few funny bits, especially when the two of them are at odds, but the problem is that it is so unexpectedly crass. the film is rated R, so they can get away with just about anything (and they do), but i think these guys are better when they are reigned it a bit more than this.

how to lose friends and alienate people

just went to go see this with the guys. rex was really excited to see it, he really loves simon pegg. i didnt really know anything about it, i had only seen one commercial for it, so i wasnt too sure what to expect.
i liked it. simon pegg is certainly funny and there were some really great laughs to be had, but over all this movie is a total mess. its about a guy who gets hired by a magazine to write for them and moves from england to new york city. hes kind of a jerk, but we are supposed to like him anyway. as time goes on he sells out and then we are not supposed to like him. until we are supposed to like him again. the storyline and events that take place are very poorly constructed and the story just kind of sits there and meanders about. we never really get a good sense of if this guy is supposed to be good or bad. the directing is terrible throughout the film, the visual jokes are over explained, there are random scene setting shots that are completely unnecessary, and many opportunities for visual clarification are missed. and the title seems like such a great opportunity to create a structure of one of those self help books, but it is never even explored. certainly a missed opportunity. over all this film is a big mess, but simon pegg is able to keep the film afloat through shear determination.

mamma mia!

im not much of a fan of live action musicals, but diana wanted to see this one, so we did. the storyline is simple, a girl is getting married but doesnt know who her father is. she finds her moms old diary and sees that there are three men who could be her dad, so she invites them all to the wedding to see if she can find her real dad. basic enough, but what makes this movie different is that its completely filled with the music of abba. now, ive never really been a fan of abba, not because i dont like them, but because ive never been interested enough to listen to their music. i am completely oblivious to most of their stuff, all i knew was the song 'dancing queen', and thats about it, so almost all the music here was new to me. over all the film wasnt too bad, my one complaint was that they tried to keep the energy level too high through out the film- in any given scene there are at least three girls giggling uproariously, and usually it is meryl streep, which is quite disconcerting...

the film takes quite a few unexpected twists along the way that are really done well. i didnt see them coming, but was quite pleased when they did. over all its not as bad as i was fearing. well, except for pierce prosnans singing- that was exactly as bad as i was fearing...

nightmare before christmas

i have seen this movie many times, it is a perennial favorite of mine. i remember going to see it in the theater when it first came out and really loving it. it has been rereleased the past couple of years into the theater in 3-D, and i saw it both years- i truly love this movie!

recently a two disc version was released on dvd, so i figured it was time to see it again! i saw it in the library and figured i couldnt pass up a free rental to check out the dvd extras, so i picked it up. having seen the movie dozens of times, i got it just to watch all the extra stuff they threw into this release.

there are many extras this time out, and they are really quite interesting. it features a half hour behind the scenes feature that i had seen before on the older version of the dvd, but i figured id watch it again, and was reminded just how much work went into this film- they said that on an average day, an animator would be able to create 14 seconds of finished film! talk about painstakingly slow work! they also included some of the screen tests for the different characters showing different ways that they would walk and talk which was very interesting. it even included some cut scenes, which is especially rare for this type of animation! other extras included a walk through of the haunted mansion at disney world when they transform the ride each year from october to january with a 'nightmare before christmas' theme. you can choose the option to just view the ride, or have it intercut with breaks of behind the scene looks at how they designed and build the changes. i watched them both! they also included tim burtons original poem which was the inspiration for the film itself. they created new animation to go along with it. its really cool to see how they took that ten minute poem and stretched it into a full lenght film- it seems like the only changes that were made was the inclusion of sally, oogie boogie, and the scientist. it also includes a commentary by the director, tim burton, and the songwriter danny elfman. the commentary was surprisingly informative, usually tim burton has a hard time being coherent during these things (see 'planet of the apes'). the dvd also includes burtons original short 'vincent' and a half hour movie called 'frankenweenie', which burton informs us he is currently in production turning it into his next stop frame animated movie! cant wait!

babylon a. d.

why do i keep doing this to myself? why do i keep agreeing to watch movies that i know are going to suck hard? will i never learn?
this is a movie set in a dystopic near future where the hero has to do his best to save the world. vin diesel is a man hired to transport a girl from a secluded monastery to new york city. hes a tough guy with little to say because hes so macho (we dont really get a better reason than that). as he takes her and her kung fu nun caretaker around the world we find out that she has some sort of psychic powers and shes pregnant. some religious group wants her for some reason that is never made very clear, and some criminals want her for some reason that is made even less clear. all the while vin diesel is busy being macho, which takes a lot of effort to do. they arrive, after the inevitable snowmobile stunt show and a battle with the always popular unnecessary attack drones. at one point he dies, then comes back with robot parts (which plays absolutely no part in the story what so ever), she has her baby, and diesel continues to be macho.
at least thats as much as i got out of it. the story doesnt make much sense, and i dont think the writers understood it either. in truth, i was waiting for some one to call out 'archers- switch to night arrows!' it would have made about as much sense...

kung fu panda

this is one of the few summer movies that slipped past me unseen. until now! i had wanted to take my little nephew to go and see it, but it just never worked out while i was visiting grand rapids.it finally came to the dollar theater, so i figured this was my chance!
i wasnt expecting a whole lot, the commercials didnt make it look good enough to race out and see, but i still wanted to check it out. and i am glad i did- this movie is hilarious!!! it is like most animated movies, enough action and fun for the kids, and some wit thrown in to keep the adults awake. except that this one does it amazingly well! the story is one we have seen before: the main character wants to live his dreams, but no one believes in him until he first believes in himself. standard fare, except that it is done with so much humor and great storytelling, that this old premise comes alive again! the panda, po, wants to become a kung fu warrior, but the problem is he is fat and a nobody. by an unexpected chain of events he finds himself in a position where he must train with the greatest fighters alive. they dont believe that he is the great warrior told of in legend, so he must prove himself to them. the best part of this movie is the fact that it does not fall into the lame 'shrek' formula: tired pop culture references and knowingly winking at its own sincerity. this one is genuine all the way through and all the humor comes from within its own story, not from hip one liners meant to prove how hip it really is. this one is sweet, genuine, and genuinely funny! jack black does a perfect job as the oblivious panda trying to be the best he can be.
oh, and when he uses his silly word- skadoosh- its one of the best laughs ive had at the theater in months!

the bank job

as a jason statham fan, i've been wanting to see this one since it first came out in theaters. i finally had the chance to watch it, and i was quite impressed. the plot is easy to guess: its a bank heist. a very simple plot, simply done. this film does a great job of just telling the story, silly plot twists or a director trying to be sneaky, its a straight forward story done very well. statham and his gang are trying to rob a bank. there are a couple twists as far as the peoples loyalty, but over all its a strong story told well. one small note: if you want to watch it, make sure you put the subtitles on- the english accents are very thick!

tropic thunder

jeffry lee, aaron, and i went to go see this. we couldnt decide if we should see this one, or 'pineapple express'. we figured the other one would have better dvd stuff, so we could wait. this one won out by default. this is a bit of a metaphor about the movie itself, as it turns out...
the film is about a bunch of actors making a movie about a war, and then they accidentally find themselves in a war in the jungle for real. there was a lot of possibilities for this movie, but it kind of felt like it went nowhere. every character and every joke setup was ripe with humor and ridiculous antics, but the execution was way off. an actor known for fart jokes just makes more fart jokes, an actor known for action just does action, and an actor known for his roles just plays a role. it didnt go anywhere. it seemed like a lot of noise and explosions with no substance. a banana peel, with no bananas. there were a couple good jokes, mostly during the fake previews before the story even started, but not enough to keep it going. i like all three of the main actors, but they just werent able to keep this clunker afloat.

doomsday

i guess i should admit my bias right up front: i have no love for post-apocalyptic mad max movies. and this is one of them. this film is by the same director/writer as 'descent', which was a really good and scary cave diving movie. it seems that he ran out of ideas after that one and instead just decided to copy a bunch of other movies. this one feels like a combination of so many other movies, that there is really no real new idea in it. it steals liberally from movies like '28 days later', 'mad max: escape from thunderdome', 'waterworld', 'reign of fire', 'resident evil: apocalypse', 'robin hood: prince of thieves', 'devil's rejects', and about a dozen others. its lame, its tired, and ive seen it done better. way better. often.

rent

diana has been obsessed with this one lately. shes had it saved on her tivo for a while (with movies she keeps then on there even after she watches it). about a month ago i surprised her with the soundtrack, which she loved. i reluctantly listened to it while we were on a drive a couple weeks ago, and it turns out its not that bad. she would try and explain the story as we would listen to each song so that it would make sense. it sounded mildly interesting, so i told her i wouldnt mind watching it some time. dang, i should have known that she would take me up on that... oops!
most of the original broadway cast is in this movie, which is great in that we get to see the story with its original vision, but also a bit strange because these actors are 10 to 15 years too old for their parts. instead of it being college age kids trying to live out their dreams, we see 35 to 40 year olds desperately clinging on to a past life and they should know better. the music is definitely the best part of the film, but im not crazy about musicals, so even that took a bit to get past. these being broadway actors, they have a very distinctive singing style, and it really annoys me. they over pronounciate everything. granted, its good to understand what they are singing, but they take it a bit too far with their exacting word use. at times the story was quite engaging, and when a character dies, it is actually very moving. there are a ton of main characters to follow, which isnt too hard, but it does lead to another big problem with the movie- id didnt quite know when to stop. the pacing is a bit off, and it feels like the movie ends at three different points, yet it keeps going. this could have been done a bit better. by the final ending i didnt really care because i would have turned it off after the first ending.

x-files: i want to believe

as a fan of the television show, i was quite excited for this movie. i remember when i first heard that it was announced i couldnt wait to see it! i really liked the show, and watched it as often as i could. i was really into it around the time that the first movie came out, and i loved it! it was a culmination of all the story lines of the show coming together and we finally got some answers about the whole thing. it had all the complicated story lines from the show and all the shadowy characters, and all the mythology and noir that had been building up for five or six years. this new movie has none of that. which sucks.
in all the interviews and everything the actors and director have been very adamant that you dont need to be familiar with the series to enjoy the movie, there is no mythology from the show in this film. that is true, unfortunately thats what makes the movie lame. with so much to draw from, they decide to ignore all of it? how does that make sense? this movie is pretty much just a straight forward detective movie. with about two minutes of editing, this could have just as easily been a generic thriller, thats how loosely it sticks to the x-files history. i guess if it had been just another generic thriller i would have enjoyed it more, but to put the x-files name on it i expected a whole lot more.

return to me

i must admit, there are chick flicks that i like. i dont usually care for them because they are typically very predictable and always involve characters doing things and reacting in ways that dont make any sense.
but some i like. and then theres 'return to me', which is one i absolutely love! its got so much going for it: david duchovny is a great actor, and a totally underutilized funny man, and minnie driver is very cute. not just good looking, but cute in the sense that she seems very playful and someone youd like to hang out with. plus, its got an amazing suporting cast: david allen greer, bonnie hunt, jim belushi, and carrol o'conner.
yes, it is one of those predictable chick flick movies, but it is done so well that all is forgiven. the premise is pretty rediculous, duchovny is happily married when his wife suddenly dies. she is an organ donor and her heart is transplanted into a needy patient, minnie driver. a year or two later they meet cute and fall for each other. she finds out that she has his wife's heart, but is scared to tell him. he eventually finds out and they have to deal with the consiquences. a lame plot, but the actors involved turn this from generic to heartwarming. give it a try, it really is a great film!

charlie bartlett

this past weekend jeffry lee and i watched this movie. i didnt really have any interest in it, the commercials for it looked kind of lame, but he had watched it earlier, and said i should give it a try. so i did.
this movie falls into the very narrow category of 'confident high school kid' movies, along the same lines as 'ferris beuler' and 'parker lewis cant loose' (i know that was a tv show, but i needed two examples...). charlie starts at a new school and trys to find his place among the students. he starts by befriending the bully and making him a business proposition. as things start to unfold his business changes into a role of psychiatrist for all the students. the nice thing about the movie is that it doesnt really fall into the high school stereotypes of nerds vs. jocks type stuff. characters may belong to those groups, but are much more than the label. robert downey jr. does a great job as the principle of the school who tries to crush charlie, but ends up crushing himself. anton yelchin, who plays charlie, does a great job here. his calm demeanor and matter of fact style really makes charlie an interesting character. in the end much of the film works, but the answers it arrives at are too easy and wrap up a bit too nicely, kind of like an 80s sitcom life lesson.

the dark knight

believe the hype.

thats all i got for now. im going to need to spend some time with this one, maybe see it again, before i can give a quality review.

stranger than fiction

i hadnt seen this one since it was in theaters, but i remember enjoying it. after watching it again my appreciation for it grew even more. it is the story of a man who goes about his life as usual, but then hears the voice of someone narrating everything he does. as he tries to figure out whats going on the narrator informs that he will soon die. the rest of the film is how he deals with that information and his attempt to understand what exactly is happening to him.
this is an excellent performance by will ferrell as he plays it straight. he does an amazing job of being perfectly normal, yet hilarious. as he tries to get to the bottom of the situation effecting him we become genuinely interested and concerned for him because he is so endearing. the love story feels a bit off, but dustin hoffman is spot on perfect as a professor helping him find who is writing his story.

mamma mia!

i have absolutely no interest in seeing this movie (although diana might drag me to it...), but at the theater this weekend they had this really cool set up for the movie. they had a professional sand castle maker come in and build this. there was a sign that said that it took 10 hours to make, and it really shows! very impressive.

gotham knight

this direct-to-dvd animated film is a tie in with the new 'dark knight' movie. this film is actually a collection of six short movies about batman that loosely tie together and give a bit of information that sets us up for seeing the new movie. this same idea was used by the wachawski brothers when they released 'the animatrix' right before 'matrix reloaded' came out.

'gotham knight' features six short films about batman, each of them directed by respected directors from the japanese anime field. each story takes on a different part of batman and his persona. one features a group of kids sharing their stories of when they met batman and what they thought he was, another focuses on batmans relationship with commissioner gordon, and others involve him dealing with such bad guys as killer croc. each story is told in a unique style and with a unique animated look to it. in each of them the voice cast stays the same, so that helps keep the stand alone stories interconnected. im not sure yet how much these short films are tied into the new movie, but they are worth checking out just for the cool style and interesting stories.

the strangers

yikes, this movie is really creepy! this is a movie about a couple who have just had a bad night, he proposed and she said no. they were about to go on a road trip together and are staying at his parents house while they are gone. they return home after a party and try to figure out what happens between them next.
then someone knocks on the door. this begins a crazy string of events where three people in masks terrorize the couple.
the sense of dread felt by the couple is also felt by us, the audience. the director does an amazing job of building tension with silences and strange noises. not much happens, but we know something is going to, and it is terrifying. this isnt one of those movies that are all about torture and seem to be just an excuse to kill beautiful girls in grotesque ways (im talking about you, 'saw' movies), rather, this is a thriller that escalates with each passing moment. there arent too many gratuitous gore shots, rather, almost all the scares are done through sound. a strange sound is heard out side and the couple doesnt know what to do, and the sounds get closer.
very intense, and very well done. it had me squirming in my seat through out most of the film.

time changer

i bought this movie at the christian book store. i had been given money to buy some new dvds for my classroom. i found a few that i knew were really good and would be very helpful with teaching, but i still had a bit of money left. i looked through the fiction films and came across this one. the hard part with christian direct-to-dvd movies is that you have no idea what you are going to get. i read the back of it and it sounded interesting, so i figured i would give it a try.
the premise is this: a scientist from the 1890s creates a time machine and goes into the future to see how things turn out. i thought that sounded like a fun premise. and it is, when the man from the past arrives in present time there are some very interesting and funny moments as he tries to understand what these strange machines do 'what is a cell phone? a remote control?' the acting is bad, but that was expected, so that didnt bother me too much.
here is the real problem: this movie falls into the problem that many christian movies do, its too preachy. the main premise is good, its about a guy who talks about morality without mentioning that God is the reason to be moral. the scientist warns him that taking God out of morality will lead to bad things, and sends him into the future to prove his point. so far, it all is well. but by the end of the film the only conclusion given is that all of us today are evil and not real christians and that the only way we can save ourselves from being corrupted by modern culture is to completely remove ourselves from it. this is ridiculous, and that idea goes directly against christs teachings ('go make disciples of all nations' matthew 28:19). this film tells us that all secular entertainment is evil and by watching it we are following satan. no alternative is given, the film ends with the hopeless situation that we are all fake christians and there is nothing we can do about it. this is false, and harmful for christians to be told. no good can come of it, and no good alternative is given. i was very disappointed by this film and its irresponsible message.
i will not be showing this to my students.

journey to the center of the earth

ive seen quite a few movies in 3D, 'nightmare before christmas', 'beowulf', and 'U23D'. all of which were a lot of fun. so, going into this movie i knew it would be a good time, and i wasnt disappointed. they bill this as the first live action 3D movie, which it is, if you dont count
'U23D'.
the story line follows the book closely, in fact the characters in this movie are familiar with the book and use it to navigate during their journey, which is actually a fun way to interpret the source material. brendan frasier does his usual role as the poor mans indiana jones which he perfected in the mummy movies. he and his nephew go traveling to find if the book is true. the meet a travel guide and start their quest. all the different situations they find themselves in are fun and done well. as a whole this movie does a good job of telling the story and keeping the action going. it even stops periodically to give us a little character development, which is quite unexpected from a film like this. but, it must be admitted, the star of the show is the 3D effect. it is done well and really adds a ton to the experience. some of the best stuff includes a mine cart ride and some mysterious floating rocks.
its a fun little movie that doesnt take itself too seriously, which, given the plot is a good thing. i would have to say that it is actually worth seeing in the theater because it would loose a lot without the 3D effect. the movie deserves 3 stars, but in 3D, id give it 4.

theaters

ive found myself with a lot of free time when i go visit diana. often ill have a day free, but diana doesnt get out of work till five or seven at night. well, that doesnt stop me from visiting. ill often come down even when she is at work and go see a movie, and meet up with her when the movie is done and she is out of work.

the theaters i usually go to are the cinemark 14, and the movies 6 theater. the cinemark theater is full price, but the movies 6 theater is only a buck fifty! score! so ive been taking advantage and seeing all kinds of cheap movies that i would otherwise skip, or wait for video. i wish they still had one of these cheap theaters down by me, but id probably waste too much time there...

street kings

jeffry lee and rex saw this one when it first came out and raved about it for weeks afterwards. when i saw it at the dollar theater i figured it check out what the hype was all about.
i got to say, i was not impressed. the story is one ive seen told many time before: a cop who doesnt play by the rules gets under the skin of one of his higher ups, a plan goes wrong and he finds corruption in the police force. the bad boy cop with morals has to get to the bottom of it, bringing down everyone along the way. this is one of those movies that takes place in a world where everyone is corrupt and crosses and double crosses everyone. its been done before, and its been done better. with all the twists and turns it supposedly has, i found it to be very predictable and knew the ending after about twenty minutes of the movie. keanu reeves does a good job, and its cool to see forrest whittaker in a role where he has to be a bit tough. but those things are not enough to save this formulaic mess.

hellboy 2: the golden army

there are few films i love more than 'hellboy'.
ive loved the comic book for years and obsessively collect all things hellboy. so when the first one came out i was as giddy as a school girl. i saw it in the theater three times, each time dragging more and more friends with me. i loved the story, the characterizations, and really loved del toros direction. ive followed his stuff ever since 'mimic' and 'the devils backbone'. when i first heard he was doing 'hellboy' i was ecstatic. after the haunting and beautiful film 'pans labyrinth' he came back to make another one! i have been almost more excited for this film than 'dark knight'.
the amazing this is: 'hellboy 2: the golden army' is even better than the original! now that the characters have been established, del toro is able to further develop their relationships and the teams dynamics. the story is basically this: a prince of the mythical world is sick of their peace with humans and tries to enlist the help of the golden army to take them down. hellboy and the gang have to step in and save the world.
the effects are amazing, especially the plant monster that is unleashed in new york city, and everything is so visually lush and detailed that it almost needs to be seen twice just to take it all in! the different characters each get their own important story arc that leads them to change and grow in realistic ways. hellboy, as usual, is moody and hilarious. this time we get to spend a bit more time with abe and see him try to make a bit more of a life for himself. the action is amazing and the different creatures they must face are so perfectly realized and fully formed. this is definitely a world that is lived it and believable. except that it is amazingly unbelievable.
shoot, all this talking about it makes me want to see it again. hmm, i think i will...

the pursuit of happyness

i recently happened to catch this one. i had heard so many good things about it, and most of them were right. this movie is an uplifting story about a guy who goes from very little to nothing to riches based entirely on his hard work and determination. will smith does an amazing job of conveying his characters determination in the face of difficulty.

the lookout

ive been wanting to see this one ever since i saw a preview of it, but i dont recall ever seeing it at any theater...
the set up is really quite interesting: the main character was a star hockey athlete in high school until a horrible car accident left him with brain damage. he has since been trying to get buy with terrible short term memory. a group of guys befriend him in order to take advantage of the fact that he works as a night shift janitor of a bank. the story is good and the attempted robbery is interesting, but the real show here is the actors- joseph gordon lewitt is always good, and jeff bridges does an amazing job as his blind friend.

next

i pretty much knew this one was going to suck, but it was on encore, and i couldnt fall back to sleep, so i figured id give it a shot. the story is about a guy who can see into the future, but only two minutes ahead. the government wants him for something that isnt really explained well. he doesnt want to help and uses his visions to avoid them. until he doesnt. then he helps them. except that he doesnt. it wasnt that good, so i didnt really feel compelled to try and make sense of it all, i just went with it. the only thing that saves this from a one star rating is the fact that jessica beil is in it, and shes really hot.

hancock

going into this movie i wasnt quite sure what to expect. after seeing the previews i had one idea, but having read all the stuff about it leading up to its release, it seemed like it wasnt what it had claimed to be.
turns out, both are right. the movie, based on the commercials and ads, seems to be about a super powered guy down on his luck who doesnt really care about helping people anymore. its true, but heres the thing: the commercials really only show the first half hour of the movie. the story takes some huge twists and turns through out the film.
now, i dont really want to comment on those story points in case anyone plans to go see it, so i will keep this review fairly vague. over all i enjoyed the movie. the twists were not what i expected, or necessarily wanted, but i figured i should just go along where they were taking me. smith does a great job as the lead character, but as seems to happen in almost every movie he is in, jason bateman stole the show. his family man who wants to help hancock change his public image is hysterical! he certainly gets all the best laughs. and charlize theron, who is oddly completely absent from the commercials, does a good job as batemans wife. the story has many plot holes and inconsistencies, but much of it is forgivable just based on the fact that its different and interesting. the cinematography, on the other hand, almost single handedly ruins the movie. it looks like this movie costed 12 bucks, and was filmed by a 12 year old. that, unlike the story, is unforgivable.

ratatouille

i finally got around to seeing this one. i had seen the first twenty minutes with my nephew jackson before, but it was almost his bed time, and we never got to finish it.
ive really enjoyed all the pixar movies, and this one was no exception. the story revolves around a rat who has very discriminating tastes. he doesnt want to eat the same trash that the rest of the rats are happy with, he wants real food. he gets split up from his group, and ends up in a restaurant where he helps guide a cook to make some amazing dishes. its all done in that standard pixar way of great characters, touching story, and just enough humor to keep a smile on your face. what is really amazing is that i rarely noticed the computer graphics. it seems that pixar has gotten so good that i often forgot that it was animated, and instead just sat back and enjoyed the story. quite a long way from the old 'toy story' days...
the whole story about the food critic was so well done that the whole thing just came together and went into a completely unexpected place. it didnt end as i thought it would, rather it was more honest, and better than a sappy ending. well done, guys.

wanted

the ads for this movie looked really cool. it gave it the look of a new 'matrix' kind of movie. its not. the idea behind the movie is that there is this guy who has a really boring life, and then one day he is told he has a connection to this secret assassin organization and he has special powers. obviously he is reluctant to believe them. but as the movie goes along he begins to trust them and believe that he really might be a super powered guy after all. there are some important plot twists along the way that i am going to leave out so i dont ruin it for you.
the story is pretty basic, but its the special effects that get all the attention in this film. its rightly deserved, the effects are pretty cool. the idea of bending bullets is a very cool one, and it is done quite well in the film as the main character trains to learn how to do it. the film is very well directed. its done by a russian filmmaker who rose to acclaim after making 'daywatch' and 'nightwatch', a couple very strange films about vampires. he does a good job of telling the story and showing us the different parts of the action. all of it is well and good, except for this: the film has no heart. its style is one that i like, its less 'matrix' and more 'crank', or 'shoot em up'. but all of its really well done parts do not add up to something greater. it just falls flat. it tries to incorporate a message to it at the end, but with no connection throughout, the message ends up feeling mean instead of challenging. there are ideas thrown around that are in a similar vein as 'fight club'. that movie had style and substance, this one is lacking in the latter. all in all, it left me with a feeling of 'gee, that was neat! so?' and really, a fate deciding loom? seriously?!?

the mist

i had heard really great things about this movie, but i was still a bit skeptical, it is an adaptation of a steven king story after all...
the story revolves around a guy who goes to the grocery store and while hes there with his son a strange mist comes into town and brings some weird creatures along with it. its mostly a study on what happens to people when they are trapped together in one place and have to try and figure things out and get along. the characters are kind of hokey, but they play out fairly well with each new situation that comes up.
over all it is a straight forward thriller, but it steps above that at the end. the ending is very unexpected and well done. i thought it was going to go a certain way, but it ended quite a bit differently then i thought. the problem with almost all steven king stories is that they have a good premise, but they all fall flat at the end. this one does not suffer from that fate, rather, the ending made the whole movie worth watching.

donnie darko

ive seen this one before, but it was many years ago, and i didnt really remember it. last weekend rexy came down early to see me, so we watched it before the other guys came. rexy has been obsessed with this movie for a while, so i figured i should give it another try and see what his fuss was all about.
as it turns out, its pretty good! the story is about a boy who has strange things happen to him. hes diagnosed at being crazy and goes to see a shrink regularly, but as the story pans out, maybe hes not so crazy... it deals with some strange time travel type stuff and a six foot tall rabbit that talks to him. it was pretty cool, but i just couldnt really get into it. i guess it will just stay as rexys thing...

21

i recently saw this one in the cheap theater. it didnt ever grab my interest enough to go pay full price, but i had some time, and this was the best option.
the movie is ok, its nothing special, but its a bit of fun. the story is about a kid who needs money to pay for college and gets roped into a secret society of math nerds who work a plan to count cards and win money in vegas. the biggest problem with this movie is that there is nothing at all original about it. each and every story point is quite predictable, and there doesnt really seem to be an attempt to break from that generic mold. the plot twists are obvious and not at all surprising. he does well, gets a big ego, gets cut down, and gets the bad guy in the end. yawn.
the good thing going for it is its cast. everybody does a good job, including kevin spacey and laurence fishburne. the main character, played by jim sturgess, does a good job and is quite likable. the best casting goes to some of the second string characters. i really loved aaron yoo as choi and jacob pitts as fisher. i wished we could have seen more of them.
i guess its pretty good for a vegas cards movie, but instantly forgetable.

star rating

i recently reorganized this page of 'poke it with a stick'. now, as an added bonus, all the movies written about here have been categorized based on the tried and true method of the five star grading system. be sure to check out which films are the cream of the crop five stars, and if you are feeling masochistic, check out the terrible one star films. the categories can be seen over there on the right.

check it out!

breach

i had heard so many good thing about this movie, about how its just a good old fashioned tightly wound thriller, that i figured id check it out.
the story is about a new fbi employee trying to make agent. he is put on the case of spying on a fellow fbi employee who seems to be doing a few things that he shouldnt. the reason for spying on him is kept closely guarded from the main character as well as us the audience. as he starts to get to know the man hes working for/spying on, he starts to connect to him and really wants to know what is up. from there things start to spiral out of control as dynamics change, and change again.
as far as a movie goes, this one is actually pretty good. they do a great job with keeping us guessing and keeping us off balance. my biggest problem with the movie actually started before i watched it: i really dont like ryan phillippe. hes a crappy actor who always looks wooden and talks through pursed lips. this movie did nothing to change my perspective, and i think this would have been a lot better film if they had gotten someone else to play the part.