300

its been called a 'video game movie', it has been passed of as 'all flash, no substance', it has even had some critics questioning the role of special effects in film making. im not sure any of those titles fit.
i really enjoyed this film. it is based on a comic book written and illustrated by frank miller, of 'sin city' fame. my earliest memories of this title was when it was first released. i frequented comic book shops at the time, and would often receive free 'goodies' in my bag of purchased comics. these goodies were always marketing material in the form of cards, postcards, or fliers. one time i got bookmark that caught my eye- it was all black, but had a red spear and some splattered blood in the background. over the top it simply said '300'. i wasnt sure what it was but it peaked my interest. i liked the image so much that i still use said bookmark today.
that little subliminal marketing ploy worked on me. i never did read the comic book, but when i heard of the 300 movie i was hooked even before seeing a single frame. once i did see the preview i was totally in, not just from the visuals, but also from the nine inch nails song playing in the background!
fast forward to now. ive seen the film 3 times now. once with matt, once with ken, and once with my dad. each viewing brings me deeper into the story. now, many have voiced the opinion that the film is shallow, one-sided, and historically inaccurate. i would agree for the most part. but my argument is this: the film pulls you in. the story of 300 men versus thousands to the death is captivating. it is shallow, but it made me think about the actual event. since seeing it i have been inspired to learn more about the battle, and in turn more about the greeks. in fact, i have enjoyed learning how israels captivity in babylon and the roman empire are both inexplicably linked to this battle.
for me, this 'video game movie' has reignited my passion for history. if only every 'shallow' movie could have such an impact.

ghost rider

i thought this one would be crap, turns out its not too bad. sure, it still kind of sucks, but at least its fun! the best part is when the old ghost rider, played by sam elliot, joins him and they both go riding off to face the bad guy, one on a flaming motorcycle, and the other on a flaming horse. the rest of the movie is just details...

smokin' aces

what a crazy movie! going in i wasnt quite sure what to expect, other than over the top. looks like i got exactly what i wanted!
the films premise is quite simple: a guy wants 'aces', a vegas-ish lounge performer, dead. a million dollars is offered, and every bounty hunter in the land sets out to get that reward. though the story is straight forward, its execution is anything but. the fast pace and quick cuts give it the feel of a high octane whiplash. the story continually jumps between bounty hunter teams, the hapless target, and the cops who are trying to make a deal.
the setup feels like the classic 'its a mad, mad, mad, mad world', or the more recent 'rat race', except substitute the broad humor of those movies and instead insert stylized action and violence.
oh, forgive me, i have gone this far without even mentioning the cast- the films best asset! the target is played with disgust and enjoyment by jeremy piven. im not very familiar with his previous work, but here he krackles. the cops are played by ray liotta (a favorite of the writer/director who last used him perfectly in 'narc') and ryan reynolds, who is forever in the actors hall of fame based solely on his work in 'two guys a girl and a pizza place'. and with a supporting cast that includes alicia keys, ben affleck (who actually does a good job here) and andy garcia, its hard to go wrong.
actually, let me just get down to the truth of it. this movie is worth seeing just for the two scenes of jason bateman. so funny, it will blow your mind.

little miss sunshine

what a piece of crap. who ever did the marketing for this movie is a really good liar. they billed it as 'the funniest comedy of the year!' i would dispute the idea of this being a comedy at all.
i started the movie expecting an unusual querky light hearted drama. boy was i wrong. this movie is bland, boring, and depressing. if you are unfamiliar with the film, let me give you the character rundown: the dad- a motivational speaker who fails at motivating. the mom- well, shes actually kind of normal. the grandfather- a drug addict who during the course of the movie overdoses. the uncle- a gay professor who is in a mental ward for attempted suicide. the son- a silent depressed kid who idolizes nietche's 'everything is meaningless' philosophy. the daughter- a girl obsessed with getting approval, enters a beauty contest and performs a strip tease as her 'talent'. maybe im wrong, but none of these characters are funny. the situations they get in are not funny either. i felt sad for them more than anything else. each of them face a crumbling experience over the course of the film, but i guess the moral of the story is that family conquers all. or something. i dont know, it just felt painful and depressed for each of the characters. maybe i would have had a different opinion about the film if i had been told that it is a messed up drama about obsession and its destructive effects. i dont know. all i do know is that i did not like it at all.
i have no idea why it has become such an awards darling. obviously i am in the minority here. can anyone who has seen it explain what is so good about it?

pans labyrinth

i had the opportunity to see this film last weekend. its not in a really wide release yet, but we got lucky enough to get it here a bit early. if you are unfamiliar with the film (as i am finding most people are), let me give you a brief introduction to it. its a film by guillermo del toro, who also directed blade 2 and hellboy- both of which are favorites of mine. going in to 'pans' i didnt know all that much about it, but i knew that if del toro was directing i would love it.
the film is a mix between a brutal war horror story, and an enchanting fairytale. a strange combination, to be sure. its the story of a young girl who is transplanted with her mother to live with her stepfather on the front line of the guerrilla warfare after the spanish civil war. her father in law must stop the insurgents by any means necessary. along the way the young girl happens upon a few fairytale creatures and set off to find her destiny.
a little strange, but the execution is what gives it so much power. the stepfather is a monstrous brute when dealing with the enemy. some of his scenes are very hard to watch. there is definitely a reason the film is rated 'r'. the other aspect of the film is the amazing wonder and beauty that is displayed in the fairytale aspect of the film. its not all cut and dry though. some of the real world stuff is touching, and some of the fairytale stuff is quite horrific. to be honest, there is a scene where the girl meets a creature with eyes in his hands, and it is one of the most terrifying things i have ever seen in a movie! i was panting to catch my breath when the encounter was over.
it was moving, it was shocking, yet, it was beautiful. definitely the best movie i have seen in years.

apocalypto

im not entirely sure what all the fuss was about. when this movie first came out all the critics were going nuts about how violent this film is. last week i saw it, and i dont know what everyone is so frantic about. is there gore? yes. is it a bit over the top? sure. but seriously, its rated 'R' and its by mel gibson- havent you ever seen braveheart? its gory, now get over it.
this movie was a good surprise. i wasnt sure what to expect, other than the good storytelling weve come to expect from this director. i went and saw it with my brother-in-law and dad, both of whom were a bit skeptical about the subtitle thing. but all three of us were quite impressed with the film. it has moments of humor and horror, but at its core it is a chase movie about a man trying to get back to his wife and kids. the action is top notch, the pacing is fast and exciting, and the story is compelling. i have never seen a movie set in the mayan culture before, so it was very interesting to see someones take on what it may have been like.
some of the themes in the film were actually a bit surprising. i would not have expected this director to push the topic of environmentalism and the importance of finding balance with nature. certainly a position that gives me greater respect for him and his motives with this film.
and surprisingly, after the movie my dad said that the subtitles actually added alot to the films realism and power. sometimes dad still has a way of surprising even me...

transformers

i, like all guys my age, have a special place in my heart for the transformers. i loved the old cartoon, and i really loved the toys. when it was announced a while ago that there was going to be a live action movie i wasnt sure how to react. at first i thought 'awesome! they are going to bring back all my favorites and it will be great!' but on the other hand i thought 'dude, they are totally going to suck it up and make it really stupid.'
those were the initial thoughts, and i havent much moved past them. im still not sure if its cool or a travesty. ive decided that i am going to reserve my judgement on it until i see more from it. ive seen the preview and am still withholding a decision on if i think it looks good or not. i recently found this picture of what the new optimus prime will look like. again, i just dont know how i feel about it.

the prestige

we went to go see this last weekend. i didnt quite know what to expect, other than i knew it would get a bit weird. and it was. over all i really enjoyed the movie. it went in a different direction than i thought it would. each twist and turn twisted and turned differently than i expected, so it (almost) always had me guessing as to what would come next. the narration cuts back and forth a bit (but what else would you expect from the guy behind 'momento'?) its a bit hard to talk about the film to those who havent seen it. not because it is really complicated and hard to figure out, but because i wouldnt want to give anything away! both the leads did a great job, and were very convincing as rivals trying to one-up each other. michael caine was cool in it too (i cant help but say the name of the movie in his accent every time!)
one of the coolest surprises in the film (dont worry, it doesnt give anything away) was the appearance of nikola tesla. if you dont know anything about him, then shame on you! (go check him out here) although i must admit i didnt know much about him either until joy electric wrote a song about him (which you can hear here). and what made it especially cool was that he was played by david bowie!
the movie does end on a bit of a downer, but its very thought provoking.
on a side note, its kind of fun to think about the main actors and what they have done in the past- in a strange way this movie is wolverine vs. batman!

nightmare before christmas

saturday i went with a group of people to go and see the rerelease of nightmare before christmas, this time its in 3d! ive been looking forward to this ever since i first heard that it was coming out.
i have seen the movie many many times, and have most of the music from it lodged permenantly into my memory (i have been known to periodically break into 'this is holloween' singing). i actually remember going to see this one when it first came out, back in 93. if you havent seen it yet, you really should. the story is simple, but well done. it goes like this: there are towns based on each of the holidays (easter town, thanksgiving town, etc.) and the leader of holloween town stumbles into christmas town and decides that he is going to bring christmas to holloween town. needless to say, trouble ensues. the story is well told, the visuals are amazing, but the real show here are the songs! all written and composed by danny elfman (he did the batman movie theme, and the simpsons theme).
the movie by itself looks amazing, but the 3d effect makes it even more impressive! the 3d stuff is really well done and makes the movie even more fun- when jack explores christmas town, when he is being shot at in his sleigh, and other scenes have an incredible 'wow' factor. the fact that the movie is only 76 minutes long actually works quite well in this situation- much longer and you would have a big headache from the 3d effect on your eyes. the film is only availible in limited release because its only in theaters that have 3d projectors. but if you get the chance to see it, go for it! it is a unique and amazing experience!

in theaters now

i havent really been to the movie theater in a while, but id really like to go soon. there are quite a few new movies out that id love to see. im sure i wont get to all of them before they leave the multiplexes, but i hope to catch at least one or two. in no particular order:

the departed- ive seen martin scorsese's last few films and ive been quite disappointed (gangs of new york, aviator) and ive begun to think that he has lost his eye for telling a good story, but i keep hearing such good things...

the illusionist- you have to love ed norton, and the movie just looks mysterious and interesting. oh, and jessica biel is super hot.

the guardian- its got ashton kutcher in it, which is a big turn off, but its also got kevin costner, and ive loved every movie ive seen him in (yes, that includes waterworld and the postman).

one night with the king- i dont know very much about this movie, but what i do know is that its a big budget account of the story of esther. sounds like its at least worth a look.

nightmare before christmas 3d- this one i will definately see in the theaters- many times! this has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies, i can sing along with every single song (ok, so maybe i shouldnt watch this one in public...)

the prestige- the commercials for it look great, and the talent involved is unbeatable. the director did batman begins and momento. now thats a resume you can trust! also, who doesnt love a good old fashioned twisty and turny movie with magic and cool actors? im in.

let me know which, if any, of these might be worth my hard earned money...

horror movies

the other night i watched a movie called 'wolf creek'. if you are unfamiliar with it, its an australian horror film that came out a year or two ago. its about a few college kids who decide to take a road trip through australia. it all starts well and good, of course, but then their car dies and they rely on the kindness of a stranger to help fix it. only the stranger isnt too kind. it soon turns into a blood-and-guts free for all until the bad guy kills almost all of them.
this plot and style seem to be the latest style of choice for horror movies, and i just want to say that i dont particularly care for it. im not sure exactly when this gorefest became the new standard. i would guess around the time of 'saw'. before this, the popular style was remakes of japan horror movies that always involved a psycho child (usually a girl with black hair in her face) which is best exemplified in 'the ring', and 'the grudge'. but the new style seems to be more torture horror. the scares dont really come from a place of fear anymore, rather, it seems that the scare comes from disgust and uncomfortable situations. instead of the bad guy chasing the good guys, its a bad guy inflicting the most gruesome pain the screenwriter can think up. thats not horror, thats just gore porno.
the problem is, none of these movies are actually scary. they are creepy and unsettling, but they are not scary. i guess i just prefer scares over gross-outs.
maybe its just me. a lot of people seem to like these movies, so maybe i just dont get it. i did really like the movie 'saw', but maybe thats just because it was the first one to really dig into that style, and all the rest have just been returning (unsuccessfully) to that idea.

crank

one of the newest movie ive seen in the theaters was the movie 'crank'. its been a while since i saw it, but then again its been a while since i have posted...
when i saw the commercials for it i saw that it had jason statham in it. i didnt need to see or hear anything else about the movie, i was already sold! he is one actor who i really love watching. he has a strange charisma about him that i really dig (i would say he has the same draw for me that the Rock does).
i totally loved the transporter movies. the first one is a classic- the action starts out unbelievable, and then gets crazier as the movie progresses until it get to the point of cartoony silliness. the second one isnt quite as good, but the action is still quite cool. when i saw the previews for crank i could tell right away that this one was going to be just as ridiculous. and it was. times ten!
the movie is pretty much the unrated version of the transporter movies. the action is ramped up, the swearing is ramped up, and the sex is ramped up. but what makes it so great is the fact that it revels in its absurdity. its so over the top that it actually turns into humor. ive never laughed so hard during an action movie! heres the set up: hes been injected with a poison that will kill him if his adrenaline falls. thats it. pretty much the movie 'speed' as speed! though out the movie he does hilariously crazy things to keep his adrenaline pumping. everything from pounding down the red bull, to shouting out racial slurs in a room full of black people just so they will fight him. i really enjoyed the movie, complete with an outlandishly unbelievable ending. definitely one that i will be buying- i cant even imagine the crazy deleted scenes that will be on the dvd!

too much free time...

its summer time, and i have a lot of free time on my hands. i could use that time productively, but i usually just end up waisting it on watching movies. so, needless to say, ive seen many over the past month and a half. ive been revisiting a few old ones that i own, and ive been watching some that i skipped when they first came out. (it also helps that i am getting free encore channels on my dish for the next couple months...)
just for fun ive been keeping a list of what ive seen since school got out. i figured id put the list up here with a very basic rating after each. here is the scale(along with occasional comments): 1- sucked. 2- not that good. 3- average. 4- better than expected. 5- loved it!. also, there are some movies that i have already reviewed, so ill link to those as well. ok, here goes:

x2: x men united: 5
pirates of the carribean: 5
poolhall junkies: 5 this movie rules!
spiderman 2: 4
blade: 3
blade 2: 5
blade trinity: 2
league of extrordinary gentlemen: 3 it gets worse with each viewing...
star wars 3: revenge of the sith: 4
nacho libre: 3 funny, but not as funny as i hoped
kiss kiss bang bang: 5 wow, i didnt expect much, and was blown away at how funny this movie really is!
pulp fiction: 4
cars: 4
16 blocks: 3 good, but forgettable
night watch: 2 it looks great, but it makes absolutely no sense...
stay: 3 i wanted to like it, but i just wasnt drawn in
borne supremecy: 4
green street hooligans: 4 a cool look at sports fanaticism and the need to belong
kindom of heaven (directors cut): 5 a million times better than the theatrical release, its almost a completely different movie.
undercover brother: 4
sin city: 3
valiant: 2
x3: last stand: 3
superman returns: 3
ali g indahouse: 2 stupid-funny that never actually goes past the stupid to be funny
rounders: 4
sexy beast: 3
princess diaries 2: 2 i had a lot of time on my hands...
christman with the kranks: 2 had even more time...
out of sight: 5 surpisingly great! hadnt ever seen it before and was really impressed
waterworld: 5 i love anything costner is in
the aviator: 3 kinda interesting, but mostly boring
white chicks: 4 i wanted to hate this one, but actually found my self laughing. alot.
bewitched: 3 will farrell is funny in it.
mindhunters: 4 its a dumb scary movie, but i was drawn in
two brothers: 3 cute and fun
superman 3: 3 really stupid and cheesy, but thats what made it fun
field of dreams: 5 makes me cry like a little girl
michael: 2
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind: 4 i think i will like it more on repeat viewings
chopper: 3
a lot like love: 1
p.s.: 2
brave new world: 2
daltry calhoun: 3
stealth: 3 not as bad as i had expected. oh, and jessica biel is super hot
dark water: 2
pirates of the caribean: dead mans chest: 5 totally awesome
jury duty: 3 i know its pauly shore, but i still like him
sky high: 4
psycho (remake): 3
good will hunting: 4
pleasantville: 2 for some reason it gave me a propaganda-y vibe
nixon: 2

superman returns

i really like brian singer. he directed many good movies. the usual suspects is one of the best murder/mysteries i've seen in the past 15 years. he really did a great job of translating xmen to the screen, and he then hit it out of the park in xmen 2. and now this.
i didn't quite know what to expect. i have never really much cared for superman as a character, so i wasn't foaming at the mouth with excitement for this movie or anything, but i was looking forward to it.
boy, was i disappointed. the basic premise is this: superman leaves for five years and then returns. where did he go? the movie doesn't really explain that well. why was he gone so long? no answer. do we at least get to see some of the cool stuff he did out in space during that time? nope. when he does return, no one is that surprised. he comes to save an airplane from crashing. the people inside the plane see him out the window and just stare blankly. no excitement, no enthusiasm, no joy that their hero has returned. and that is exactly what is wrong with this movie. its filled with alot of blank stares, bland expressions, stiff acting, and basic dialog. and seriously, do we need to rely on the same old cliche of superman and kryponite? hasn't that been done in every other single superman movie ever made? why do we have to keep going back to that dried up well?
there were some good ideas that could have been developed. the movie briefly covers the themes of adoption, fatherhood, responsibility, moving on, and maturity. each of which could have been further explored, but instead they decided to make lex luther an evil real estate salesman. gee, creative...
sure, the visual effects are great, the flying scenes looked great, the bullet in the eye thing was cool, but over all i was not expecting much, but was still disappointed.

cars

how do these guys do it? those guys at pixar just keep making great movies! its almost like they keep getting better. toy story was great, but the second one was better. bugs life was good, but monsters inc was better. all of those were good, but finding nemo was better. incredibles was really good, but i didnt think it was as good as nemo. but this latest one, cars, is totally awesome! now, i must confess, i am not a car guy at all (which will come as a suprise to none), but this one was alot of fun. the story was strong, the characters were pitch-perfect, and the visuals were astonishing! some of the jokes were really creative, i liked the over-the-top modified cars that forced lightning to get lost in the first place. my friends and i constantly mock those cars, so it was kind of fun to see them shown as the bad guys.
my only complaint would be the cheesy song montage where the singer keeps complaining about how 'life was bettter in the 50s' and stuff. sure, we know, things were different back then, but i kind of like the way things are now, thanks.
im just impressed that these guys can make movies that kids like, and adults willingly go see too. well done.