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!