seven pounds

i've been told ever since this film came out that i should try my best to avoid any spoilers about the story because it would ruin its potential impact. so i did, and boy am i happy i did! i will be sure to do you the same benefit, so i will not speak at all about the story, the less you know the better.
the film stars will smith, which almost always means it will be good. this is one of his emotional dramas and directed by the same guy who did his last one, 'the pursuit of happyness'. i enjoyed that film, but this one is even better. in this one smith gives a calm, understated performance as a man with a mission and a mysterious past. i am hesitant to say much more about the film at all. all i will say is that if you like a drama that will leave you thinking, it is worth seeing.

the devil wears prada

we had some free time at diana's, and she doesn't have cable and only two channels come in on her antenna, and her movie selection is slim (i.e. almost all chick flicks). most of them i wasn't interested in, or i had seen already. so we popped in this one. i must say, it was better than i expected (granted, my expectations were really really low...). the premise revolves around a girl getting a job at a fashion magazine, her boss is a tyrannical monster, and she has to figure out if its worth it and how to maintain a life outside of work; its basically the exact same story that the television show 'ugly betty' is based on. meryl streep does a great job as the terrible boss, making outrageous demands all the time and then getting very angry when mountains don't move when she tells them to.
the story is fairly predictable and resorts to every chick flick cliche in the book, but it was interesting to peek into the fashion world a little bit. diana loves fashion and enjoys reading fashion magazines. i, on the other hand, don't understand why fashion is important at all (i always loved the quote by oscar wilde 'fashion is an ugliness so atrocious that it must be altered ever six months'). so this movie helped me to see her perspective a little bit more.

death race

you ever just want to watch a stupid trashy action movie? sometimes i do. so last week i did! i went and rented 'death race' and i've got to say, this is probably the greatest trashy action 'B' movie i've ever seen! i must start by admitting that i have loved almost everything jason statham has put out, he's the perfect over-the-top action movie star.
ok, here's the laughable premise: statham has been framed for the murder of his wife and finds himself in jail. the jail keeper has been creating these reality show races to the death as a way of making money to keep the jail in business, and statham must become the new driver of one of the cars. lame, right? wrong! its a silly set up, but it leads to some of the coolest racing car chase scenes in decades! the cars are all tricked out with armor and guns and stuff, and the race plays out like a 'need for speed' video game. the characters are joyfully one-dimensional, but the actors have so much charisma that any more character development would be unnecessary. i'm having a hard time explaining why i loved it so much because all its different parts shouldn't add up to anything special, but the whole is so much greater than it's parts. i guess that can be chalked up to good casting, great directing, and phenomenal editing. this one will soon be added to my dvd collection so i can watch it again and again!

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.