“Dear Frankie” – Gerard Butler was great in this quiet little Scottish film. He really is a talented actor that I wish we saw more of. The supporting cast of this film was very good as well. This definitely falls in the low-budget, indie fare category, but still a well-written import that’s worth checking out. The kid who plays Frankie gives a particularly good performance.
“Fever Pitch” – Who knew Jimmy Fallon could act? This was a film that I was pleasantly surprised by. If I had to pick my least favorite film genre it would have to be romantic comedies. Every now and then I find one that I really like (most of those seem to have Hugh Grant or Kevin Kline in them). I don’t think I’ll buy this one on DVD or anything, but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I generally like Drew Barrymore and she was really good in this film, but I was totally blown away by Jimmy Fallon. Normally he just annoys the shit out of me. I don’ find him funny and quickly turn the channel if I happen to hit one of his skits on SNL. I have to say I was impressed with him here though. So, this is a good movie to maybe rent, especially if you’re a baseball fan and like the occasional romantic comedy.
“Kung Fu Hustle” – I totally loved this film. It was funny and irreverent and the fight sequences were awesome. It made a lot of film and comic references and was just all around good fun. It was edgy and more violent than I was expecting. Highly recommended to anyone who loves martial arts comedies.
“The Amityville Horror” – This remake of the horror classic was better than the original, but it was still only “ok.” It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t outstanding either. This is a great story with a lot of potential and no one seems able to get it right. It’s worth watching though just to see Ryan Reynolds’ descent into madness (and those six-pack abs of his. Can you say yummy?) Next to Jack in “The Shining” this is one of the great performances in horror. The movie could have really been cheesy and Ryan definitely helped it to not go down that path. This story has always been more about the psychology of madness rather than outright horror. I wish they had cranked up the “creepy factor” instead of just going for the easy gore shots. The movie would have been much more effective if they had.
“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” – Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I’m soooo buying this one on DVD. This movie should have made a lot more money than it did. There are scores of people out there who loved the book and I don’t know why they didn’t line up in droves to see the film. It was very faithful to the original work. The casting was damn near perfect and the special effects were stunning. My only complaint would be that Sam Rockwell was not in it nearly enough. Aside from his extra head being in the wrong place, he epitomized Zaphod Beeblebrox. I can’t imagine anyone else having played this role as well as Sam did. I know this is supposed to be Arthur Dent’s story, but he has always been the least interesting of the characters to me. Ford Prefect (played wonderfully by Mos Def) and Zaphod have always been the heart of this story IMHO and it would have been nice to develop their characters a bit more. Marvin (the cosmically depressed robot) was executed perfectly. He looked exactly as I had always pictured him in my head. Excellent decision to have Alan Rickman voice him. I could sit and listen to Alan talk for hours. He just has one of those voices, ya know? An all around great film.
“Monster-in-Law” – I saw this movie on a day when I was in a really bad place so I admit I did not go into it in the right frame of mind. We also all know I’m not a big Jennifer Lopez fan. So even with two strikes against it going in, I have to admit that it was better than expected. JLo was still annoying and Michael Vartan was wasted. He mostly got to be eye candy (which he’s very good at, but this guy is a good actor too. He should have been given more to work with). Jane Fonda was outstanding though. She was basically playing herself, but still, I thought she was great. I wouldn’t say I loved the movie, but if you happen to catch it on HBO or something you might want to give it a chance. Again, we’re back to my whole not really liking romantic comedies thing, so I’m probably not the best person to ask to give an opinion on this movie. Other people I know who saw it liked it way more than I did.
“Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” – This movie lived up to its hype. I didn’t hate Ep1 or Ep2 like a lot of people did. Were they flawed? Yes. Could they have been better? Of course. Still, they served their purpose and were fun to watch (aside from that little “Sound of Music” scene in Ep2 which is just painful. I don’t know what the fuck George was smoking the day he wrote that scene.) Anyway, all is forgiven with the release of Episode III. This is a great movie. A movie worthy of bearing the “Star Wars” name. Even Hayden Christiansen did a good job. Granted, George cut his dialogue down in this one so he didn’t really have to act all that much. Mostly he just had to brood, which he happens to be damn good at doing. I loved the addition of General Grievous, but I knew from watching “The Clone Wars” cartoon that I would. These prequels have always been about betrayal. We all knew Anakin was going to turn. It was just a question of why and how. The final battle sequence between Anakin and Obi-Wan is incredible. The emotional turmoil that we go through with Obi-Wan is a testament to Ewan MacGregor’s talent. This is really Ewan’s movie and he carries it. We feel his pain as he is forced to cut down his padawan, his brother, his friend. We feel just as betrayed as he does, even though we knew going in that this was going to happen. George Lucas may not be a great writer (his dialogue is often weak), but the man knows how to tell a story. This was the movie fans had been begging for since “Jedi,” and thankfully George finally gave us what we wanted. Now here’s hoping that the TV show fucking rocks and that I know some of the people who are on it :)
“Kingdom of Heaven”- “Gladiator” just came out a few years ago. Who knew we needed a remake so soon? That’s really what this movie felt like it was trying to be. Still, I had sorta expected that going in, so it wasn’t really a surprise. I think if this film had come out before “Gladiator” it would have done better. It’s a very good movie. It’s well written and beautifully shot. The cast is outstanding. The writer even had the good sense to keep Orlando Bloom’s dialogue short. I love Orly, but monologues are not his strong suit. He needs to just stand there and look pretty or he needs to be fighting. It is speeches and those quiet little one-on-one moments that he still seems uncomfortable with at this point in his career, and this film kept those to a minimum. Liam Neeson is not in it nearly long enough, but he definitely has that Qui-Gon mentor thing down to an art now. I’m sure he’ll be just as convincing in “Batman Begins.” I’m fascinated by Crusade history so I really liked this film. It was fairly accurate from an historical standpoint and the battle sequences were shot like only Ridley Scott can shoot them. This film is probably not for everyone. It is violent and bloody. It also has a lot to say on the topic of spirituality versus organized religion and will definitely offend a lot of people with those sensibilities. It has a timely message that still applies to the fucked up world we live in today. It really shows that the world has not changed nearly as much as it thinks it has in the last thousand or so years.
I think that’s it. I don’t have my list handy so I may still have missed a couple of films. If I did, I’ll do another post down the road... I was going to go see the sneak preview of “Cinderella Man” on Sunday night, but it was sold out. The movie was at 7PM and when I went to get my ticket at like noon, it was already sold out. Dammit. I keep forgetting I’m in California now and that people actually care about going to see sneaks and screenings and stuff like that. Well, now I know for next time. I still want to try and get “Unleashed” and “Madagascar” seen sometime this week. Sorta depends on how my week goes. I think my housemates and I are going to see Ep3 tonight. They haven’t seen it yet and I really want to see it again. Charlie said something the other day about getting free IMAX tickets whenever he wants them so maybe we’re going to see it in IMAX. That’d be cool... Then on Wed night I’m going into Hollywood to see the original “Star Wars” at the Arclight Cinema. AFI (American Film Institute) is doing a series this summer on great heroes and villains and Ep4 is the one this week. “The Empire Strikes Back” is next week and I was supposed to go see that with my friend Michael so I don’t know if I’ll get to it now or not. It’s already sold out and he has the tickets so I’m thinking I’m prolly SOL for that one. Oh well. My stuff should be unpacked by then. I’ll just sit home and watch it myself or something. And who knows? Maybe he and I will get our problems resolved by then. One can only hope. I know we’ll get things worked out eventually; it just may take longer than I would like. Boys can be so irrational sometimes :P The thing about this whole stupid fight is that neither of us is really at fault. There is no right or wrong here. It’s hard to have a really good argument and clear the air when there’s nothing to argue about. We’ve both already apologized for the hurtful things that were said during the heat of battle. So now we’re at a stalemate. I know why he’s mad. I can’t change what happened or how I handled it. So at this point he just needs to come to terms with everything and then we can try to start over. That’s really what we need. A new beginning. He admits that. He’s just not there yet. I don’t know that we’ll ever get back to where we were and as I’ve said before, I don’t know that I want to. Our relationship (for lack of a better word) has always been very odd, even by my standards. My only real hope at this point is to at least salvage a new friendship out of the ruins of the old one. We had a good talk on Sunday so at least we’re moving forward. That’s something I guess. The proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” is usually a good thing and I can at least see it now... Can you tell I have a lot of free time these days? My blog posts just keep getting longer and longer. I think I’m going to start allowing comments to my posts again just to see what kinda responses you guys come up with. It’ll be almost like hanging out in the South Tower again I’m sure :) So everyone play nice… Ok well enough blogging for today. I want to get at least the first scene of “F*cked” written so I can feel like I did something productive with my day. I also need to check some job sites for new postings. As much as I like the life of leisure I’m getting to live right now, I know I’ll like it a lot less when the money I have saved up runs out… Once again reality conspires to ruin my life… Sigh…
"Watch your thoughts; they become your words. Watch your words; they become your actions. Watch your actions; they become your habits. Watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character for it will become your destiny." - Frank Outlaw
1 comment:
Hello from the South Tower! :)
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