Posts Tagged ‘review’
63 items.
I found today’s strip to be very funny. I for one will definately check out the strip tomorrow (as if I am not checking it daily anyway.)
I am looking forward to seeing Underworld. If Kate Beckinsale looks half as good in this movie as she was in Serendipity, then I know the movie will be sweet. (I know looks aren’t everything, but she is obviously cool and that is the most important thing.)
If I am not making any sense, it could be the cold medicine.
Anyway, I rented the movies Scratch and Dead Calm. Scratch is a documentary about turntablism. It was pretty cool. It inspired me to dust off my 1200’s and spin a few tunes before remembering why I gave up the dream of becoming a turntablist myself. #1 I suck at it.
Still fun though.
Dead Calm was dead cool. I liked it a lot, though I wanted to know more about Billy Zane’s experiences before hooking up with Nicole Kidaman and Sam Neill.
I also watched City Slickers 2 and was entertained. It was quite a bit better than I had envisioned, but still not as good as the original. Every time I look at Billy Crystal I think of his character in Monsters Inc.
I went to see Once Upon a Time in Mexico last Saturday. I was again entertained, but I am unsure if I really liked it or thought it was good. It definately had good parts, but as a whole the movie was a little jumbled. This would not be a good film for someone who can’t apply suspension on disbelief. A great (as usual) performance from Johnny Depp helped this movie greatly.
Stick around for the closing credits. There is a lot of crazy guitar music which takes advantage of the surround sound.
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I totally forgot to mention it, but Cami and I ended up going to Miracle on Friday night. It almost didn’t happen. Des Moines saw it’s 3 huge snowstorm in two weeks that day and it dumped another 4 inches on us. I spent an hour and a half shoveling out drifts from my driveway when I got home. By the time I was finished, I didn’t want to go anywhere!
But then movie geekdom got the better of me. I realized that if we didn’t see Miracle Friday night, we probably wouldn’t see it at all that weekend. Saturday night we were having dinner with friends and Sunday night is my all-important Simpsons/Sex and the City/Curb Your Enthusiasm entertainment block. I would go to a matinee… but I’m not 80 years old.
So, we caught the late show on Friday. By the way, did anyone else know that Miracle was over 2 hours long? Who would have guessed.
I really enjoyed the movie and that says a lot because I’m not usually one for sports movies nor do I know anything about hockey. Compound the issue with the fact that I already know how it ends and, well… that’s one sticky wicket.
Still, Miracle hits all the right notes. Inspiring. Emotional. Poignant without being too over the top. You can tell it was made with great care toward the players and their stories.
Kurt Russell knocks it out of the park (to mix metaphors) with his portrayal of Herb Brooks. He spends most of the movie being a hard ass to his players, but there are moments where Russell disarms him so completely with only a few glances… it’s amazing. It really is one of the best performances of his career.
I don’t know if anyone is going to walk out of Miracle thinking it’ll be a big Oscar winner. Most likely, we’ll forget about it by June. But it IS a finely-crafted movie and probably the best one of the year so far. See it now before it drops out of theaters.
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On Saturday night, I went to a midnight showing of John Hughes’ Pretty in Pink. It’s the classic tale of love between a rich kid and a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Will their interclass love blossom, or will it wilt under societal pressure? It sounds timeless, doesn’t it? If you consider the number of laughs it got, I’d say no.
One scene in particular shows that Hughes aimed too high. On their first date, Andie (Molly Ringwald) and Blane (Andrew McCarthy) have a downright unpleasant time at a party where his friends harass her for being poor and then at a rock club where her friends harass him for being a preppy. When Andie gets home, she declares to her drunken, jobless father (who is curled up on the couch wearing nothing but a bathrobe, ick!) that she’s in love. The lousy setup isn’t the only reason that makes it hard to believe; McCarthy’s acting range consists of two emotions: boredom and a bug-eyed look of surprise. He’s a long way from anything that would make him close to charming.
Despite the acting and the writing, I’m not going to complain about all of the things that make it a bad film; it’s beyond that. It has entered the realm of it’s so bad it’s good. How can you not smile when Blane’s friend Steff (James Spader tells Blaine that he “wouldn’t be too jazzed about dating a girl like Andie.” The last time I heard the word “jazzed”, my mom was telling me how much she and my dad were looking forward to going on a cruise. Obviously, I’m being temporally centric and watching the movie from the perspective of 2004. It’s almost better that way. If not, I would have ignored the scene where Andie’s boss, the owner of a record store, proudly looks at the 78’s that she just stapled to the ceiling and says, “I love it. It’s so modern.” The biggest laugh comes from a scene involving an Apple IIE that would stupefy even today’s programmers.
Amidst blockbuster names like Ringwald and McCarthy, Jon Cryer steals the show as Duckie, Andie’s strangely-styled friend who is so enamored with her that he rides his BMX past her house fifty times a day. Cryer nails a scene where he lip syncs an Otis Redding tune so well that it almost makes you feel bad that he’s half a man on CBS.
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When Jared posts these movies reviews of his, it makes me feel like I’m totally slouching when it comes to my movie habit.
Goodness, there was a lot of formatting in that post of his…
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Episode III is definitely the best of the prequels, both visually and story-wise. I was very entertained. That being said, here it what bothered me:
5) R2-D2’s Acrobatics – Most awesome, but it left we wondering why didn’t he use any of those skills in IV, V, or VI. This one is forgiveable though, because of the height of the X-Wings compared to the ships in III and the fact that R2 has always done enough to save himself and others. Why show off if it isn’t needed? Though Yoda and Obi Wan’s age progression explains the reason they are less acrobatic, this one is less obvious.
4) Dialogue – I am lying a little here, because the dialogue didn’t bother me that much. Some of the catch phrases stood out a little too much maybe, with the actors practically winking at the camera during the lines “I have a bad feeling about this!” but again, forgivable. The dialogue was fairly in league with the rest of the series.
3) Acting – Improved from Episode II. Still not great in many aspects, with the exceptions Tom mentioned above.
2) and 1) Blown Secrets – Okay, now for what really bothered me and the reason I am posting today. The last fifteen minutes of the movie blew at least two secrets from the original trilogy. Episode III seems to assume that everyone has seen IV, V, and VI. Of course, today, most people have. But future generations watching the films in numerical order are going to think that IV, V, and VI are lame because Episode III: Blew the secret that #2) Vader is the Father of Luke and #1) Luke and Leia are twin siblings. I think this would have been best left shrouded in mystery – We could have heard a baby crying and fans would know without having two of the bigger plot revelations screwed up.
Plus, couldn’t at least one of the Jedi sense the twins? Maybe that is getting too personal?
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If you have a little time on your hands, I strongly suggest sauntering on over to the excellent web comic-related pod cast Digital Strips. As you might imagine, it is an on line radio show – or pod cast – totally devoted to the review and discussion of web comics. It’s an idea long overdue, if you ask me.
At any rate, the good fellas over at Digital Strips – Zampzon and Duku – decided to put Theater Hopper under their lens. They were very generous with the compliments in the process, which I always enjoy.
You might get a kick out of it, too. Have your suspicions finally confirmed that Theater Hopper ∗IS∗, in fact, a preferable use of your time as opposed to… y’know… working or paying attention to friends and relatives.
Click here for a direct link to the pod cast. Right click and “Save As…” to download it directly to your desktop. It’s been formatted as an MP3, so it helps if you have some software that can play it. Don’t just download the pod cast, though. Be sure to visit their site and lend these guys some support for their excellent new avenue for web comics discussion and fedback!
Thanks, Digital Strips!
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My wife and I also saw Bewitched on Saturday night. Patti wanted to go to it bad enough that she endoured the Friday night show of Land of the Dead.
Bewitched – Be Boring. Okay, the inherent problem within the story is that Will Ferrell’s character gets too much screen time and Nicole Kidman’s character doesn’t do much of anything. I felt this was echoed and even magnified for the actual movie.
Some of the effects were cool – such as Michael Caine’s appearances in the grocery store, but it would take many more tricks to make this film interesting.
The end of the movie is a little sketchy for me as I was fighting sleep. I was doing those little head bobs during the last fifteen minutes of this movie, but I’m fairly certain I only missed a bunch of talking and an obvious ending. This A-list cast couldn’t wiggle their noses and save this script.
Land of the Dead: I am a fan of this series and am also pretty certain that the dead will walk one day, but this film was just okay. I’d say it was much better than Day of the Dead, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead (original or remake). If they have spent so much time with Zombies and are short on supplies, why do they fire 30 rounds on full automatic into the torsos of the Zombies? Use your head man! (and shoot theirs!)
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A couple of you have written in asking me what I thought about Just Like Heaven. I suppose I ∗did∗ mention I was going to see it Sunday. After a whole week of jokes about the movie, I probably owe you something, right?
I thought it was a very servicable film and did a pretty good job not overplaying its hand. For example, Mark Ruffalo’s character lost his wife a few years ago. It’s what colors his outlook, but they don’t hammer this point home so you realize “HE’S SAD! HE’S SAD! HE’S SAD!” Instead, they let the actors do their work and they craft the character very well. It’s very economical movie making in that respect. Both Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon are incredibly likeable and have great chemistry.
I don’t know if there was ever a point in the film that made me laugh out loud or feel like I was on the very of crying. It’s cloy, sure. But like I said, it doesn’t over do it. Instead you’re left with something very pleasant. When all was said and done, I enjoyed it.
I was kind of surprised that Jon Heder wasn’t in it as much as the trailers led you to believe. He pretty much makes an appearance at the beginning at the film and then pops up for a second at the end. I’m thinking the actress who played Reese Witherspoon’s sister was given more lines.
Most people are going to watch this movie and be a few steps ahead of the action in terms of where Ruffalo’s and Witherspoon’s relationship is going to end up. But it’s a fun, light-hearted diversion that won’t insult you. It’s a fun time.
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It’s this kind of crazed feminine logic that can put weaker men in a tailspin!
I know today’s comic isn’t gut-busting hilarious, but they can’t call be Showtime at the Apollo.
Personally, I find it ∗very∗ funny because it – in fact – happens to be very true.
Cami was more than excited about seeing In Her Shoes for about the last week or so. I don’t know what caught her eye about it, exactly. Maybe an errant commercial flickered across the screen during a Lifetime Intimate Portrait.
And if that sounds slightly condescending, well… I point the finger at Lifetime Intimate Portrait. They started it.
At any rate, I wasn’t particularly bothered by the idea of seeing the movie for two reasons:
1. It was directed by Curtis Hanson. He’s the same guy that made one of my all-time favorite movies L.A. Confidential and the equally enjoyable Wonder Boys. He also lensed 8 Mile for those of you of the hip-hop persuasion.
2. Jeffery Wells – a critic and columnist I tend to take pretty seriously… my "guardo camino" (as it were) in all matters tending to film – endorsed this movie up and down. I’ve come to know Welles as a highly cynical chap, so if he was able to find something life affirming among the "chick flick" trappings, there must be hope.
Then, on Friday, Cami read a pretty negative review by Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwarzbaum and that was it. The movie was off our radar.
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to swap it out with Wallace & Gromit which I feel kind of badly about. But maybe we can see it Wednesday night.
Wait. Oh, no. Shoot. Can’t do that. Lost is on Wednesday night and we can’t leave the house.
Oh, well. At any rate, I got my Curtis Hanson fix in this weekend and watched L.A. Confidential on my own. Amazing how well the film holds up. Russell Crowe is still tolerable! Can you believe that film is almost 10 years old? Either I know the film so well it feels like yesterday, or I’m seriously dipping into "Old Man" territory.
Or, perhaps there hasn’t been anything WORTH remembering in the last 10 years? I like to believe it’s the latter.
As a sidebar, I also sat down to watch Raging Bull with Cami this weekend. No real reason motivated that choice, but it felt good to see it again. Felt like we accomplished something. Cami had never seen the film before and say afterwords that while she enjoyed it, she probably didn’t want to watch it again any time soon. Jake LaMotta is just a really unlikeable guy.
But I’m thinking there will come a time she’ll want to watch it again soon. She used to not like Goodfellas, but now it’s become one of those movies to her where, if it’s on, you have to stop what you’re doing and watch it.
I rib Cami about the chick-flick stuff, but she has good taste. Don’t doubt it. Her and chick-flicks are like me and super-hero movies. Something to get excited about, but not the barometer for our taste in cinema.
If you aren’t already aware, I’m going to stop selling t-shirts, hoodies and baby doll tees on October 31. It’s a semi-permanent solution to a problem I’ve had for a while. I’ll sell these items again someday, I’m just not sure when. So if you’ve been on the fence about buying any of these designs, now is the time to do it. Actually, a handful of them are going to be retired, so you should really look into it if you’re interested.
There’s a much lengthier blog about the subject that I posted on Friday. Here’s a handy link for reference. Scroll down for all the details.
Thanks to everyone for their support.
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In case you’re wondering who that guy is in the last panel, it’s supposed to be Elizabethtown director Cameron Crowe. I drew him once before not last Friday, but the Friday before that. Crowe is such a mild-mannered guy, I thought it would be funny to depict him committing a felony.
If you still don’t know anything about Cameron Crowe, don’t worry. Tom doesn’t seem to know much about his abductor, either.
As you may have surmised, Cami and I saw Elizabethtown this weekend and were not pleased. I was looking for a soapbox to rant about it, then remembered I have this comic. My illustrated avatar doesn’t typically breech the fourth wall so directly in these situations, but I thought it made sense that he talk to "you" in the sense of the audience since his/my displeasure with the movie was so great.
I wanted to like this movie. I really wanted to like this movie. In fact, when we left the theater and Cami was actually ANGRY about the time we just spent watching it, I swung hard in the opposite direction – Playing Devil’s Advocate to the point where Satan himself came to me and said "Dude, seriously. It was a bad movie. Stop speaking up for it in my name. It’s not good for business."
To me, the three acts of the film played like three separate movies. The first act dealing with Drew’s corporate life and his failure. The second detailing the harmless eccentricities of Southern people and the third capturing Drew’s cross-country trek back to Oregon. It seemed like barely any of these arcs related to each other. I feel in love with the third act. If they could have condensed the first two acts and expanded the third, I would have been much more interested in that.
There were so many details about the movie that I think were overlooked. In addition to the ones mentioned in the comic (which are the most glaring), what about the 737 that Drew takes into Kentucky – it’s totally empty! No plane that large would ever be that low on passengers. Not even on a red eye. Not even on a crappy airline. Disbelief NOT suspended!
Kristen Dunst’s character gives up a trip to Hawaii to be with Drew during his crisis even though they don’t know each other. Why even mention that at all? Are we supposed to be impressed that she gave up so much to be with this stranger? Giving up a weekend to hang around this guy would be enough!
Why the hell wouldn’t Drew’s mother fly to Elizabethtown to retrieve her husband? Yes, I understand she was in shock. Yes, I understand that she felt his family didn’t like her. But if she loved him to the degree that she would perform an embarrassing tap dance routine in front of them, she couldn’t have gotten on the plane sooner?
The wake hosted in the hotel ballroom with Drew’s cousin’s band playing "Freebird" seemed incredibly cloying and ridiculous – especially in the light of the huge prop bird catching fire at exactly the right moment and various members of the audience laughing and scampering about in slow motion as the sprinkler system burst. Of course the band continues to play, stomping around in pools of water on the stage and their instruments do not electrify them to a crisp.
At a critical juncture in the movie, Drew attempts to break off his relationship with Kristen Dunst’s character and she says he "keeps trying to break up with her even though they’re not together." Was there some other break-up scene I didn’t see? I think they dropped this one back in there to remind us that Drew is actually VERY despondent and planning to kill himself when he gets home. An idea mention once, dropped, then picked up again to add tension, I guess. Some kind of conflict. It was sloppily executed.
What about Drew’s road trip back with his Father’s cremains. His mother and sister had no problem with him spreading them all over the country? Were they ever consulted? Didn’t see that on the screen! You’d think they have a say.
And of course, the big reunion at the end. So we’re supposed to believe that Dunst’s character pulled some strings in her role as a flight attendant to get fly ahead of Drew and be at the Second Largest Farmer’s Market to meet him just in case she showed up? He job must have some pretty flexible work hours and policies!
I dunno. Maybe all of this is nit-picky, but all of these inconsistencies really got to me after two hours in my seat. I expected so much more from Crowe and he let me down. The whole film is like a string of half-baked ideas. Or rather, the film feels like it must have been 3 hours long to start and was edited down for time. There’s probably a better movie in there somewhere, it just sucks that we’ll have to wait for the DVD to see it. In the meantime, the theatrical version is probably going to turn off anyone who is casually interested.
I think that there is probably a larger version of Elizabethtown waiting in the wings. Crowe did the exact same thing with his release of Almost Famous: Untitled. And while that release is vastly superior to the theatrical release, at least the version that landed in theaters had a narrative thread. Elizabethtown doesn’t even have that.
What a waste.
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