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this movie got a lot of press a little bit ago because of its unconventional release. the movie was available at the theater, on dvd, and on pay-per-view all on the same week. it is the first in a line of experimental films that will see if this is actually a viable business model for films. i dont know if it was successful or anything, i just know that i saw the movie last weekend.
my reaction to the film: wow. i dont know what it is about the film, its not like there is anything in particular that stands out or anything, but its been almost a week and it still haunts me. the story is very simple. ridiculously simple, actually. its about a young guy and an older woman who work together in a factory in the midwest. then a new woman starts working at the factory. and thats pretty much it. (well, there is a little bit more, but i dont want to ruin anything for you.) the mood of the film though, is amazing. its poorly lit, its messy, its awkward. just like real life. it hardly has the feeling of a movie, it feels more like a day in the life of these people as they go about their usual daily events. some parts are slow, sometimes the characters dont have anything interesting to say, and things dont always work out well. but its done in such convincing way that it gets to the hardest thing to do in cinema: it tells the truth.

devils rejects

this one sucked hard.

inside man

i was quite pleasantly surprised. i was looking forward to this movie ever since i first saw that jodie foster was in it. (i will go see anything she is in. im not entirely sure why i have such blind faith in her, but i do) i am always a sucker for a good hiest movie, and from the previews this one looked to fit the bill.
the actors in it were really good. denzel actually had a part that bordered on comedy. he had a lot of great lines and funny responses to situations. clive owen was perfect as the calm cool and collected theif. the twists and turns were perfectly executed, some we knew were coming and that was ok, but the really big ones i thought were totally unexpected! the ending was very satisfying. the biggest problem i find with this type of movie, though, is the unsettling fact that we are suppossed to rooting for the bad guys to pull it off. it just seems wierd to hope they steal and dont get caught.
oh, and jodie foster is spot-on in her role (one that we dont see from her very often either)
my one quelm with the movie is this: spike lee (he directed it) cant leave a popcorn movie alone. he has to give it a message so that its 'meaningful'. he does that in this one, except really poorly. its obvious he wanted to add in some statement about culture, so he tacks on this terrible scene about one of the children in the movie playing a video game and clive own sees the game and complains about how 'video games are so violent and are corrupting the youth'. it was totally out of place and actually weakened the impact of a later scene.

a history of violence

i just watched this movie tonight with the guys. i knew the story a little bit going in, but i wasnt sure at all how it would play out, it is david kronenberg after all. i had heard some friends who had seen it in the theater talk about how horrible it was, but on the other hand there were so many critics who raved about it. i figured i should give it a try and see what i thought. it starts out fairly simply, a standard story about a man and his family. some of the stuff with the son is pretty cheesy (and who ever it was that played him: may he never work again), but so many of the shots and angles are strange and off putting that it always feels like something else is going on behind the scenes. one of the most interesting parts of the film is the sparse/non-existent soundtrack. there is very little music, which adds even more to the off center feel of the movie. ed harris and william hurt were pitch perfect in their roles, and viggo does a good job of portraying a character who might have more going on than he is willing to share. i was pleasantly surprised.

v for vendetta

over the weekend i want and saw this with my friend matt. i had been looking forward to this movie for a while now. its based on a comic book of the same name and is written by alan moore. i have not read much of moores stuff, but what i have read has been amazing- thus my excitement for the film. moore has always written good stuff, but they often mess up with translating it to screen. well, i guess its more like one hit and one miss (i dont mean box office wise, because they both missed, i mean by how i liked them). the hit was 'from hell'. there are many who say its terrible, but i rather enjoyed it. and really, jonny depp can do no wrong. the big miss was 'the league of extraordinary gentlemen. a great book, but an overblown mess of a movie. sorry, even sean connery cant save that load of crap.
anyway, v for vendetta was totally amazing! the visuals were great, and the storyline was very well done, i was drawn in very quickly into the stories and lives of the people involved. some of the twists and turns through out the story caught me by surprise because i wasnt thinking about what would happen next, i was too busy in the moment with the characters. the themes and topics that are tackled are handled well and incourage a thoughtful consideration by the audience. you really have to decide if the masked man is a hero, or a terrorist.
i was very impressed with the film, even though we got there 5 minutes after it started, and it had no sound for the last 10 minutes! (dont worry, i got a free pass out of the deal...)

poolhall junkies

i recently watched poolhall junkies and have decided i want to be a hustler. my friends in michigan have been singing of its praises for years now, but i had been a little slow in jumping on the boat. the movie is really cool though, so now i understand the obsessions of my friends. its about a guy who is a super good pool hustler. he missed out on his opportunity to go pro, so he has been trying to give it up, but is slowly drawn back into the game. the cast is amazing- its got chazz paliminari as the angry pool mentor, chris walken as the cool boss/backer, rick shroder as the hired talent, and even that guy who plays lex on smallville as the main character's little brother.
the movie is a fast paced ride as the main character tries to return to the game and prove to his old mentor that he can make it. there are a lot of twists and turns, some really cool trick shots, and some great cons. the ending is just plain brilliant!
another fun part of the movie for me was the fact that it was filmed in salt lake city, so a bunch of the places they filmed in and around i was able to recognize! a few times i had to rewind the movie because i was too busy going 'oh! ive been there! thats right by the coffee shop i used to work in!'

movies movies movies

ive bought alot of new movies lately (again). most of which i have never even seen. this whole blind buy thing is actually new to me. heres what ive gotten: wallace and gromit: curse of the ware-rabbit, highway man, the upside of anger, and one other one i cant think of right now. anyway, i hope to watch them soon. ill keep you posted on my opinions.

ps. i dont know what that picture has to do with anything, but its the first image that came up in google images when i typed in my post title 'movies movies movies'. strange...

my own set of movie rules

a while ago i posted about a humorous list of rules by preston stergus for how to make a successful movie. at the time i said i should come up with my own rules for sucessful movie making. i figure its about time to start. i will add rules periodically as i think of them. but for now, here we go:


rule #392: old women swearing is always funny.
rule #128: any car in a crash has to explode.
rule #443: bad guys must attack one at a time.
rule #211: one hit will kill a bad guy, but one hit will only make the good guy stronger.

more to come...

the book is always better

this weekend i was at gamestop and they had a huge sale on dvds. i was checking out the selection and i came across the movie 'sphere'. i remember when it came out some friends and i saw it in the theater, and i remember not being really impressed with it. i was actually really angry at the movie because the book its based on has always been one of my favorite fiction books. i hadnt seen it since it first came out, and it was only three fifty, i decided to pick it up.
last night i had some free time so i popped it in. im still not impressed, but it got me excited to read the book again. i remember just being so caught up in the story, there are quite a few really great scenes in the book (on a side note, a few friends and i performed a part of the book for forensics back in high school, and we actually got some good reviews of it) including when they first talk to the entity, and when they decide what to do at the end.
i figure if a cheap ok movie can get me excited to reread a book, it cant be all bad...

recent buys

ive been finding some really cheap dvds lately, so i figured id share what ive picked up recently:
cellular- i really liked this one. i have already posted about it here.
flight of the phoenix- i cant think of a single dennis quaid movie i dont like...
wedding crashers- this one is hilarious. the extras are pretty good too. i am going to have to go out on a limb here and say that 40 year old virgin is better though.
the upside of anger- i actually havent seen this one yet. ive heard really good things about it, and i am a huge fan of kevin costner (i even liked postman, if you can believe it). i would have just rented it, but that would cost $3.50, and with the sale they had going, it was only $5 to buy it. so, maybe i wasted $1.50, i think i can handle it.
in good company- again, i really like dennis quaid, and scarlet johanson is super cute, and topher grace is just so perfect in this! its kind of a chick flick, but for guys (kind of like frequency, and about a boy).
transporter 2- i saw this one in the theater and loved it! its so ridiculous and unbelievable in its cartoony action, but thats what makes it so fun. and jason statham's character is the very definition of cool.
doom- the movie was alright, but i like anything with the rock, and the extras are kind of cool because they have interviews with a lot of the guys from g4!

king kong

this past saturday i finally saw king kong (i know its been out for many months, but i finally got off my butt and went to see it). i wasnt quite sure what to expect. when it first came out i was luke warm about it. sure, i knew i was expected to buy into the advertising hype, but i wasnt all that interested. i started reading reviews and they all seemed quite positive. a few buddies went to see it without me, so i figured i would pass on it.
this past weekend aaron was down and he was up for seeing it again and its till in the theater, so we went. my reaction: wow!!! i was not expecting to enjoy it as much as i did- it just blew me away. now, dont get me wrong, i was mostly amazed at the action stuff. the 'love' story was done well, but how drawn in can one get over the love of a monkey and a girl? ive heard alot of people saying that its too long. usually they site the boat ride for taking too long to get the story moving. many poeple were like 'i got to wait an hour before i even see kong? im out!'
i actually thought the opposite. the best part of the movie for me was the anticipation and first interactions with kong. i rather liked the build up of the characters on the boat. i would actually present the idea that the ending is too long. they could have shaved off a whole hour at the end. its would be as simple as this: the movie should stop as they take him off the island. all the best stuff happens on the island, after the fight with the three t rexes- everything else is a letdown. we already know the story, why not just focus on the first part of the story. everyone knows how it ends, so why bother retelling it, and instead just show the backstory.

best of 05'

i think my favorite film of last year would be serenity, actually. i never watched firefly (the show its based on) while it was on tv, but i became hooked when the sci-fi network started airing it. i ended up buying the season on dvd and i fell in love. the movie is just more of the same, amped up a bit. solid characters, solid story, even a few unexpected twists and turns (how dare they kill Wash!) i just watched it again last night and was reminded how fun and funny it is. great stuff.

top ten '05. kind of...

thinking back and trying to make a list of top ten for the year is really tough. mostly because i cant remember what came out this year... i didnt really see alot of movies in the theater, so its hard to remember when exactly they came out. so, i guess in favor of listing my top ten, ill just list some i remember that i liked. not very official, but it will have to do.
in order to build suspense, i think that i will only list one per post. (mostly thats because i dont want to be here for an hour...)


Batman Begins
let me start with a great story: so there we were, in Rome, just coming back from the Colosseum, when aaron and i stumble upon a big goings-on in front of one of the buildings. everything is roped off. after a bit of hanging out and gawking we realize that there is going to be a movie premier that night, and it just so happens to be batman begins! cool! we wait for a while but get bored and head back to the hotel. after a shower and a change of clothes we head out for the night. we pass buy the premier again, just in time too. after a minute or two a few limos pull up and out walks christpher nolen (the director), christian bale, morgan freeman, and katie holmes. what crazy luck! we hang for a few minutes as the stars talk to the press. aaron is drooling over katie, but im more excited to see morgan freeman in person.
anyway, thats the cool story. now, about the movie: i liked it. it was good and stuff. (sorry, im just trying to cover for the fact that i have only seen it once way back in june and so most of it is fairly fuzzy...) shoot, ihave really got to see this one again.

an ok movie, a great dvd

i was trying to figure out what to get my brother-in-law for christmas. my sister said 'oh, just get him a movie.' 'ok, which one?' i asked. 'i dont know, whatever.' gee, that helps alot, thanks. yesterday i went to the movie shop to find one he might like. he has a normal guy taste in movies- he likes dumb comedy and cool action. (and really, who doesnt?) so i was trying to think of a movie he might like that he doesnt already have. as i was walking around i remembered one that i actually kinda liked: cellular. its not the best movie ever, but it sure is fun! the plot is basic and regularly leaves the realm of logic, but over all, its a fun movie to watch. and it does have a pretty great cast: kim basinger, william h macey, and my favorite- jason statham. in fact, one of the best parts of this dvd are the extras, actually. there are a few documentaries on the disk. but, the thing is, the documentaries are just about the movie. they are a whole lot more interesting than that. the documentaries are about deeper social and cultural issues like 'how has cellular technology changed us as a society?' or 'is this new form of communication through phones and text messaging changing our culture for better or worse?' you know, real thought provoking documentaries.
anyway, i guess i was reminded of how good of a dvd it really is. even if you dont like the movie, i would recommend renting the dvd (i bet thats a first for ya, huh?)
ps. if you know my brother-in-law, dont tell him what im giving him for christmas please...

going to the theater

i really have got to start going to more movies. i have such a strong interest and passion for movies, yet i really dont actually see that many. i havent been to the theater in a long time. the last movie i saw in the theater was 'saw 2' (ill have to devote a whole post to what a rancid pile of feces that one was...) there are a ton of movies out now that i would really like to see, i just for one reason or another dont end up going to see them. and to be honest, i dont very often catch them on dvd either. well, ive got some vacation time coming up, so i hope to go and see all of these soon. the following is a list of movies still in the theater that are on my list of movies i really want to see: (in no particular order)
1. chronicles of narnia
2. king kong
3. walk the line
4. syriana
5. good night, and good luck
6. harry potter 4
7. munich
8. polar express imax