Bella – A sweet, unassuming movie, similar to Once or In America, Bella is about a
single, pregnant and recently fired woman who spends the day with a co-worker
with secrets of his own. It’s a
smart movie, with good characters and more ability than I would have
expected. It may not be my
favorite movie of the year, but it did make me cry on occasion. I expect that’s
a lot of what it set out to do.
Big Trouble in Little China – It’s a good enough movie,
given that it has a decent sense of humor, some fun action sequences, and it
knows how to use both. But even
then, it’s not quite as good as it should be, which is true form for a John
Carpenter film. Truth is, Carpenter
is much better at coming up with ideas than actually following through with
them. This is positively crippling
to his lesser films (I’m talking to you, The Fog) but it makes even the decent ones feel empty. In fact, I think only Halloween and possibly The Thing are immune.
Little China, for all it’s
80’s collness, it’s little more
than a sugar rush.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure – Actually, this a fairly
smart movie. Okay, it’s tries to
be stupid, but at least it makes a sort of creative sense. The Napoleon character is a small bit
of brilliance, and the rest of the historical figures, though underused, are
kind of funny in their own way. In
fact, the movie’s biggest faults are the two lead characters, if only because
watching it on the tails of TMNT and in
the wake of Wayne’s World, makes
the hard-partying, California-surfer-dude, wannabe-rock-star charicature
annoying. Bill and Ted may have preceded both of those, but it’s cultural
legacy is still less than that of either, so I can still make that
statement. That said, I enjoyed it
just fine.
Burn After Reading – I know from the imdb page that this was
written at the same time as No Country For Old Men, and it shows. It’s a comedy, to be sure, and it is
funny. But there is so much darkness
and film noir to it, that it feels like it’s only tangentially funny. I did like it, quite a bit actually,
but I easily understand why some people wouldn’t and some people would. For me, I’m not exactly intent on
watching it again, but like any qualms with the Coen Brothers, I assume it’s a
me thing, and not a quality thing.
Crank – The poor man’s Shoot’Em Up, which makes sense, actually, as Jason Statham is
the poor man’s Clive Owen, in some ways.
Okay, not really, but both do icy cold action films with ease, only
Clive has both better range and slightly more high-profile films. That’s a compliment though, as both are
fairly-to-hugely entertaining when they’re on their game, and Statham certainly
is here. It’s just ludicrous
enough, and tongue-in-cheek enough, to work well with Statham’s strong
points. I’d watch it again.
Death Proof – My sister, who I showed this too, really
enjoyed it, which validated it to me, especially after another sibling steted
that he didn’t like it very much.
I still like it. It’s not a
great movie, and having the second part set in my hometown of Lebanaon, TN
certainly helps, but it’s fun, and I suppose that’s what matters.
Ghost Story – A cast of classic actors (Fred Astaire,
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) and some swell make-up are the highlights of this, ahem,
ghost story, wherein some elder gentelmen find that a past mistake has come
back to haunt them. It’s fairly
scary, which is owed mostly to quick jolts and atmosphere, and that’s a fairly
rare thing these days, it seems.
Is it worth seeking out?
Not necessarily, but it’s pretty good either way.
Goldfinger – Betweent a Bond trivia contest and the release
of Quantun, I suppose it was only a
matter of time before this became a full-blown Bond kick. And I guess Goldfinger is probably the best place to start, as the best
entry for the best Bond (arguable, though, on both counts). It’s fast-paced and clever, creating a
movie that’s hard to dislike, even when Bond is not your cup of tea. And the
evil plan is genius.
Hard Candy – I probably missed a lot of the subtlety due to
a fairly loud 1-year old, and it’s nothing but a compliment that the film has
enough subtlety that I didn’t mind watching it near a 1-year old. It’s an indie film about pedophelia,
with (seemingly) smart writing, acting and direction. I can’t say I’ll want to see it again, but it’s worth seeing
once, even if it’s not as suprising in a post Juno-Ellen Page world.
Hot Fuzz – Still very funny.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Still very funny, very cool, and
underseen.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service – Another one of the Bond
movies that I really liked the first time around, Majesty is George Lazenby’s only go round with the
agent. As it is, Lazenby is not
bad, although his self-referential humor is not so good – he’d be better if he
took the no-nonsense Daniel Craig attitude. Then again, who wouldn’t suck as the Bond following
Connery? No, my problem with this
movie (although it eventually goes away) is that all of the early fight scenes
are seemingly Michael Bay inspired: Quick cuts, jumpy editing, and half the
footage is missing, It’s a decent
sized problem that puts a blemish on an otherwise romantic and elegant outing.
Poltergeist – One of the best ghost storties ever made, and
kind of unjustly forgotten, Poletrgeist
is probably best if you wait several years before seeing it repeatedly. There are a lot of scares, a good
number of guffaws, and a genuinely creepy atmosphere. If it has a problem, it’s that some special effects don’t
hold up so well anymore. But that
hardly matters, given that the lesser effects moments (and a few of the bigger
ones) are perfectly good, and are the heart of the movie. If it didn’t freak me out a little too
much, I’d probably own it. But I’d
still be unlikely to watch it after dark.
Poltergeist 2: The Other Side – Not necessary. There’s not much of anything here
(although the worm sequence is fairly neat), so the movie feels just kind of
tacked on to the original. As an
added negative, the film feels less like a ghost story, and more like a monster
movie. However, it did give me a
good question to ponder: What is the best horror movie to never be
sequelled? Any ideas? The basic list of greats (Jaws, Psycho,
The Exorcist, even Dracula and Frankenstein if you wanna be fair) are all out,
so what is it? The Birds,
maybe? Seriously, any ideas?
Quantum of Solace – Some murky action sequences aside, it’s
a nifty little movie. I really
like the more action-y aspects of the new boost of Bond, and this movie has
plenty of it, along with the requisite locales, girls and espionage. In fact, I think it mostly works. But those murky action sequences (I
have no idea what happened at the climax of the boat chase – if anyone does,
I’d love to hear it) drag it down.
Some may naysay Bond as an action hero, but if its done right (a la
Casino Royale), it makes sense.
Then again, it would help if there were a little more ludicrousness to
the plot (my co-viewer suggested the next one being set in space, for example).
I’d like to see this new Bond slow down a little, but keep up the good work,
and try to stop someone with a massively over-complicated evil plan.
Role Models – With the possible exception of Forgetting
Sarah Marshall, this has got to be the
funniest film I saw in theaters all year.
Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott are in great comedic form, and direcotr
David Wain seems to have found the right muses in his leading men and former The
State alum. It does have the obligatory pacing problems, so you can see
the plot coming from a several miles away, but I don’t hold that against it as
long as the movie is funny enough to survive with it. And Role Models,
thought raunchy, is definitely funny enough.
Saw IV – Despite not much caring for the series, I’m still
inexplicably drawn to them. But if
there’s a cure for that, it might be this convoluted turkey. I suppose as far as the series goes,
it’s not terrible, but it’s muddy, strangely hard to understand, and okay at
the very, very best. The fact that
the Saw series owes it’s existence to
creative kills, the film’s biggest hindrance is the confusing aspect of several
of them, and it’s desire to make some kind of backstory and sense where none is
either needed or available.
School for Scoundrels – I didn’t expect much from this,
which is why I never got around to seeing until I caught it on cable. That said, with lowered expectations,
it’s kind of good. Funny enough to
sustain you for ninety minutes, but not necessarily memorable. Then again, I don’t remember what I liked
about it, whatever that says. So,
it’s perfectly fine brain-dead fodder.
Slumdog Millionaire – I figured I had to see some Oscar
hopeful before the year was out, and Slumdog won out. A smart, touching movie about growing
up in the slums, it’s like City of God meets pop culture, as it tells the story of a young Indian boy and his
troubles growing up, framing it as an episode of Who Wants to be a
Millionaire? The performances are exceptional, the visuals are exciting,
and the film is very engaging.
Most of the kudos go to director Danny Boyle, who once again finds a
movie that works really well with his talents, and really suprisingly. It’s closer to his beautiful Millions than his 28 Days Later or Trainspotting, and it shows that the man is a great talent, and
even better in the right kind of movie.
This is that kind of movie.
If I had a problem with it, it’s that the movie is very uplifting at the
end, which although driving the theme is hope, puts it slightly at odds with
what came before. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the beginning is so
disturbing and depressing, that the ending (which is really about one minute
long plus credits) seems at odds with what the movie is, although right at home
with what it wants to be. This is
probably confusing. It’s a great
movie, with great moments, and it deserves to be seen by almost everyone.
Superbad – This is a lot more raunchy than I remember. Maybe it’s finding out that this is one
of Rachel Ray’s favorite movies (Huh???), maybe it’s watching it with someone
who hasn’t seen it before.
Whatever the case, watching it this time I began to realize that it
probably won’t hold up as long as I previously thought. It does have some genuinely funny moments, but eventually,
comedies that rely too much on shock value don’t hold up well.
TMNT – It’s about what I’d expect from a Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles animated movie a decade after they reached popularity. It’s a semi-re-boot of the franchise,
if it is a franchise anymore, with slightly darker tones and decent animation. In the end, it’s still a kid’s flick,
so it’s not all that fulfilling, but what can I really expect? I’m a 31 year-old watching a Ninja
Turtle movie.
28 Weeks Later – I was not a fan of the original, if only
for some awkward overtones, but hearing that the sequel was better, and
enjoying the concept of the new zombies, I figured it was worth watching. And it was. The overtone was missing in this one, which was good, but it
didn’t really get all of the mileage out of the zombies that it could have,
becoming slightly too much of a military thriller. It still works though, especially in specific scenes and
moments. It’s kinda cool, kinda
scary, and kinda fun.
The Wrong Guy – Dave Foley is a man on the run from no
one. It’s throroughly silly, but I
still find it very funny in parts.
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