Review - Lost in Translation

Roger Ebert's review of this movie is:

Bill Murray's acting in Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation" is surely one of the most exquisitely controlled performances in recent movies. Without it, the film could be unwatchable.

I agree with the almost unwatchable aspect. While I understand where the movie tried to go, it still wasn't enough for me to want to watch this more than once. On the other hand, I was at least able to watch it once, so I guess I'll have to give it at least one star.

Review - Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2. I heard the reviews, and while most said it was good, they had a problem with the middle of the movie. Well, I suppose that it's true that the middle was slower than the beginning and end, but it all played well for story. The Tony Stark / Pepper Potts love story was a bit all over the place, but that's more realistic. 

On the negative side, Sam Rockwell's character (Justin Hammer) felt like a 70's throwback, more sleazy car salesman than weapons-monger. And while Don Cheadle did a decent job with James Rhodes, he lacked the same quality that Terrence Howard brought to the character.

Some nifty new toys added to the Iron Man arsenal. 

There's some references in the movie, most notably to the upcoming Avengers movie, and Captain America's shield showed up.

Finally, the teaser trailer at the end really didn't do justice for sitting through the credits for most of the crowd. Was that the handle of Thor's Hammer at the end? Although it was funny to see the expressions of the few who did leave whose confusion was evident when most of the crowd was still sitting while the credits rolled.

It was worth the money, go ahead and see it.

I went on Tuesday because it's $6 for all showings on Tuesday. I expect to get back to the movies regularly now. I figure that the maximum price for a regular ticket should have been tied to the minimum wage hour. Being 1.5X that, higher fuel prices, as well as higher costs of living while employment and earnings stagnate seems to be the largest detractor gor crowds in the theater. So why DO people go to movies? So they have something other than network TV to talk about with their friends and coworkers. As the number of available channels for entertainment rises, the less we seem to have to chat with others on. This is what has really kept the broadcast networks going. Everyone wants to talk and give their opinion on common ground.

Next film I'm going to see at the theater will be Prince of Persia. Wonder if I still have the DOS game around.

Resident Evil 5

Well, it has a better story/plot than RE3. The animation is a bit cheesy, not as bad as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but nowhere near Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The extras do however go over much of the capture and animation end. It's an okay flick, and worth watching the extras.

Film Review - Zombieland

So Friday, I went to see Zombieland. While it had its holes, it isn't significant in this kind of comedy. Lots of dark humor. I loved it. My friend loved it. Ode to Zombieland.
Rules for surviving a zombie outbreak:
#1 Cardio. Zombies lead a very active lifestyle; so should you. First to go will be the fatties.
#2 Beware of Bathrooms. Zombies will get you when you're most vulnerable.
#3 Seatbelts: Its a safe bet unless your a moron you won't be hoofing it on foot at all times in the event of a zombie outbreak. So when travelling on four wheels wear your seat belt.
#4 Double-tap. If you think a zombie is dead shoot it again in the head just to be sure. Don't be stingy with your bullets.
#6 Cast Iron Skillet. Will crack a zombie skull like a melon.
#12 Bounty. You'll regularly need to clean up from killing zombies. Also doubles as T.P. if you run low.
#15 Bowling Ball : Crush a skull
#17 Don’t Be A Hero : Unless she may be the only female left
#18 Limber Up: You don't want to pull a muscle at a critical moment.
#22 Plan Your Escape: Always know a way out.
#29 Buddy System: Two can hold off more zombies than one.
#31 Check The Back Seat: And the trunkspace
#32 Enjoy the Little Things: The world's gone to hell, enjoy what you can.
#33 Swiss Army Knife.

This is like Return of the Living Dead, a zombie comedy. Go see it, it's funny as hell.

Film Review - Surrogates

Watched Surrogates Friday. A decent movie for Action and Sci-Fi. Overall pretty good. I didn't really feel any deep attachment to the characters, which is a drawback. The effects and story are solid enough though.

Film Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Not a bad movie, better than some of the others. Sure they dropped oodles, and true they could've cut differently, but I'm glad they finally got a good weasley twins spot in the film. They also dropped at least one point that should be in there (plays into the next films). But overall, better than the last one. It's not too bad, so long as you leave enough time between a reading of the book and the movie, also think of the movies as more of the book: Re-imagined.

I'd say it will do well. It's great if you have kiddies, and still decent if you don't.

Miracle Mile (1988) - review

Since Lis has just had her premier of The Commune, I'm throwing up this review of one of her early favorites. So I found it on YouTube, as can be seen below.

Now, if you didn't grow up in the era, you might find this strange. They promised we'd die in a nuclear war when we were young, and they lied. So all the drumming of it in the news lately is like listening to oldies ... out of date. And now they tell us we're going to die of nukes, global warming, the end of the mayan calender, etc. I don't believe it. It's too easy. Honestly, either pollution or a lack of clean water will be our downfall, and both will take several generations to occur.

Back to the story, best performance was by Mare Winningham. You probably know her from Grey's Anatomy. A close second would be Mykelti Williamson. Most of the other performances weren't particularly great. The nice ending was the part about becoming diamond. I think the opening was better, but then, I'm a romantic at heart. Waiting 30 years to meet the one for him. Well, I'm still waiting. I see the best relationship is that of Lucy and Ivan Peters. Well, except the not speaking for 15 years. But I've known many who've spent their whole lives together with only one wife/husband. That's what I guess I want.

While I don't love it as much as Lis does, mostly because I'm not in that 80's mindset anymore, I'll give it a good overall story. I would have preferred a different ending, but I understand the Romeo & Juliet ending of better to be dead together in love.

All Parts of Miracle Mile:

Film Review: I-Trek or Star Trek(2009)

Okay, I'll post more on Monay AFTER everyone has seen this. But the answer is to see it. It's right up there with Star Trek IV.

Not your kiddy superheroes...

I went and saw Watchmen at the theater.
Not having seen the graphic novel, I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10 mostly because of the ending. Interestingly enough, others agree.

NOT a kiddified Superhero flick. Definately R for sex, violence, etc. If this had been done by other than a major studio, it would probably have gotten an NR-17 rating.





*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***





I'd say there were points I disagreed with...

First, that a psychopath like The Comedian would be tolerated. But then I think of the blue wall that the police have. Yup, "good cops" tolerate bad ones because, for reasons that I can't fathom, they think they owe them something because they have the same uniform. I feel more sympathetic towards Rorschach. He goes after bad guys, and isn't just willing to pull the company line. I think Rorschach was insane, but not mad, while Rorshach was both mad and insane.

Finally, I would have thought killing Ozymandias and not Rorschach would have been a better final solution. Ozymandias would have been punished, and Rorschach would have probably been okay with keeping quiet after that, though I understand that they were probably following the graphic novel.

The last part is the kicker ... I think it's going to hurt the numbers in the end. While there are alot of fans, there are alot of non-fans who will see this and not understand that it may be because the graphic novel went that way. Like I've said in previous posts ... think of it as Watchmen : Re-imagined.

Even with my complaints, It's still worth seeing at the theater. Everyone says it's better the second time. With money being tight, I'll wait for DVD.

In the Christmas SPIRIT

Went and saw The Spirit tonight. Very stylized. Very comic-like. If you can appreciate the theatrics of 60's batman, then you'll enjoy this. I liked the noir look. I'll post more on this later, so I don't spoil it for anyone. Overall, an okay movie ... just nothing to rave about. There are a couple things in it, though, that I'll rave about later (in a good way). It's a Frank Miller film so it's not just stylized, it VERY stylized. Everything Frank Miller does is over the top, that's his style.

Review: Dark City - Pt1

Dark City.
I caught the end of this some time last year, on TV. A friend handed me the DVD. I just watched it last night for Holloween. It was a pretty good selection for the night. Definately Noir, if a Sci-Fi Noir. I'll add more since I'll be going through the extras tomorrow.

Review: Buster Keaton Collection

A collection of 10 short talky comedies starring Buster Keaton.

General Nuisance: Rich man enlists to impress a woman.

His Ex Marks the Spot: An ex-wife, alimony payments, and a shotgun wedding.

Mooching Through Georgia: Brothers enlist on opposite sides and do anything neccessary to keep each other alive.

Nothing But Pleasure: Trying to save a few dollars on shipping fees, a couple goes to detroit to buy their car.

Pardon my Berth Marks: A novice reporter goes to follow a story and gets caught up in it.

Pest from the West: A hapless millionaire falls for a two-timing (or three-timing) woman while vacationing in Mexico.

She's Oil Mine: An honest plumber duels a charlatan nobleman for the heart, and checkbook, of an oil heiress.

So You Won't Squawk: a lowly employee gets a taste of respect when people mistake him for the big-shot gangster, Louie the Wolf.

The Spook Speaks: New caretakers are hammered by an onslaught of spooky illusions as an old apprentice searches for new tricks.

The Taming of the Snood: A hatmaker almost gets killed when he becomes accidentally involved with a jewel-thief and her drunk maid.


Each has at least one great gag, so worth a go-through. More so if you love slapstick.

DVD Review: Buffalo Soldiers

A decent film, didn't really get me emotionally, but was okay. I was suprised at the rating of G on the box. Seems to me it would be more accurately rated PG. Danny Glover stars as a First Seargent in charge of an all black unit of federal soldiers who are in charge of the new mexico territories. They have to put down an indian uprising. Interesting topic, and worth a gander.

DVD Review: CASABLANCA

I have to leave it to Howard Koch, Philip G. & Julius J. Epstein; they know how to write a witty screenplay. So I finally got around to watching the entire thing. I was suprised. I had previously only caught snippets. There's alot of witty dialog in there. I don't know who put in the real witty bits, but I think I'll track down some of the writers other titles to figure it out. The pacing is relatively slow compared to today's standards; for those who haven't watched it. This is one of those things that, whether it was due to writers, actors, director, or the combination thereof, just worked wonderfully. I hope they won't try another remake.

Here's Looking at you, kid.

Film Review - WANTED

At first I was going to go because the digital effects shots (or some of them) were filmed with a RED ONE, but after seeing the trailer, I decided it might be worthwhile to catch bigscreen.

On the action, digital effects, I wasn't dissapointed. The rest was an Okay movie as far as action movies are concerned. But as a whole, the plotline is good for a video game, but not for a movie. I am suprised, in fact, that a video game isn't readily available.

I think this will do well, especially among the disenfranchised people in America. There were some flaws that keep it from going really long term in the theatres. But if you want some boom, bang, and digital effects this weekend, then go out and see it now.

Most people either Love it, or Hate it, with only a few in between.

Film Review - Jumper

This is a pretty good escapist film, kind of a immature super-hero thing. Basically, the young protagonist has the ability to jump space. The antagonists are a group of religious zealots who kill any jumpers they find. Toss in love intrest, lost mother, drunk father, a bully, and stir. I'm still wondering why he has a passport, considering he can avoid customs anytime he wants.

DVD Review - Cashern

I Watched Cashern on DVD. It's a good film, which is moderately unusual for a japanese film. Doubly so, when you consider that it only had a $6,000,000 or so budget. Sci-Fi anime that was turned into a live flick.

Destiny Sucks!

Okay, so they named this storm Destiny. It's been snowing, and it seems likely that it will continue until ... TOMORROW. That's a long time to snow, and it means I'll be running out at least twice to remove snow. Ugh!

I suppose that gives me a couple hours before I make my first run. So I better get to it. Also watching Daredevil DVD with multiple commentaries, 6 featurettes, scene-studies, music videos, and a bunch of other extras. That's what made me pick up a copy of a movie I have already watched. Studios take note, that's what sells a DVD now. Had someone ask me whether to buy Blueray or HD-DVD the other day. My answer was, I was waiting to see whether VHS or Beta would win, or if 4-track tape or 8-track cassette would win. They got my point. One will eventually win, one will lose. If they get the cost of HVD disks to affordable, then both those standards will go bye-bye in favor of the MUCH larger HVD (Holographic video disk).