Hustle & Flow

I don't know if it was just the mood I was in or what, but I actually enjoyed Hustle & Flow.  I'm usually not big on gangsta / pimp / rap movies (except Boyz 'n the Hood, of course), but this movie was a little different.

 

I don't know how much of the movie was real or not as I'm not too familiar with the life of either a Pimp or a Hooker, but the movie had me convinced that it knew what it was talking about.  Terrence Howard did a bang up job on portraying DJay, the down on his luck pimp who just so happens to be going through a mid-life crisis.  Really?  Ya think?  Evaluating your life of pushing girls into prostitution and taking their money?  Wow!  Ha-Ha!  It's almost as if he had a conscience or something.

 

The rest of the cast was just as good, although Anthony Anderson wasn't as convincing in this film as he has been in others I still enjoyed his performance.  Taryn Manning played a great prostitute to the point where I actually thought she was a heroin junkie.  There were times during the film where I actually felt sorry for her because you could tell she had no self-esteem and turning tricks was the only thing she thought she could do.  DJ Qualls also did a good job as the token white guy.

 

One thing that did surprise me was Ludacris as Skinny Black.  I like Luda's music and was afraid his performance was going to be like all the others I've seen from Rappers turned Actors, but it wasn't.  He gave a fine performance as the big time rapper who has let their fame get to their ego. 

 

I think if you go into this movie not expecting much you'll be surprised at what you get.  If you go in thinking "YEAH!  P. I. M. P!" you may not enjoy it as much.  --7.5/10

Shopgirl

I don't think I can say enough bad things about Shopgirl .  My brother-in-law also watched it and told me he couldn't get through more than 15 minutes before having to turn it off.  It's just aweful, plain and simple.

 

I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, but this movie isn't one of those.  I think it was being toughted as one, but it's far from it.  There's something about a movie that bugs me beyond anything else and it's when you just can't relate to the characters.  I mean, my life is boring, I'm a normal shmoe who doesn't do many exciting things, but Claire Danes, Steve Martin, and Jason Schwartzman do even less than me.

 

There's not really any character development, nothing stylisticly engaging, and the plot just pokes along at a snails pace.  This is one movie that never should've been made.

 

That being said, there's going to be a lot of people who will love it, and I know who those people are.  They're the ones that just loved Napolean Dynamite and Lost in Translation.  Go check out the movie if you're in to the kind of movie where nothing happens and you like to waste $10.  And here's the first comment I see on IMDB from a reviewer...

 

 Let me make this easy for you. Shopgirl reminds me a lot of Lost in Translation.

With one sentence, I am sure I have turned off more than a handful of people that are now searching other movie titles of interest.

And there you have it.  Most notably disturbing to Karen was the fact that Steve Martin is making love to Claire Danes.  In one shot he slowly puts his hand up her dress and both of us wanted to puke. --2/10 (it gets points for Jeremy who was a freak and likeable)

 

Technorati Tags : Shopgirl, Movie, Review

The Chronicles of Narnia

So I had the chance to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with Rose this weekend.  I was hoping that she would post something on this movie as she is far more opinionated than I am, but seeing as she hasn't, I suppose I will.

 

I didn't like it.  Plain and simple.  After reading a lot of reviews both before the movie was released and after, I had fairly high expectations, and I was sorely let down.  I did only read one or two reviews before the movie was in theatres because I don't like to spoil the surprise, but I couldn't help myself afterward it was released and read about a dozen.

 

The premise, and the books, are excellent.  C.S. Lewis was a genius, and I can remember reading the books about 21 years ago and absolutely loving them.  The fantasy land of Narnia that you are pulled in to is spectacular and breath taking in the imagination, yet in the movie there was a little bit of that, "oh, neat" factor.  So there's some trees and snow inside the wardrobe, big deal.

 

There were two things about this movie that really got me.  The first was that I couldn't get over the feeling that TCoN was just a wannabe Lord of the Rings.  Like the director and the writers were just trying to make another LotR.  "When the movie grows up, maybe it could be a real movie like that."  Everything about it was over-hyped.  The vastness and greatness of Narnia pales in comparison to Middle Earth.

 

The second was that the movie was too short.  At 140 minutes it's by no means short, so that's not really what I meant.  What I mean is that if they actually wanted something to happen in the two hours and twenty minutes they used, they could have extended the movie and made it longer and made a real movie from the story.  The reciprical of that would be for them to actually use the two hours and twenty minutes to say something.  The movie just drags on.  It's so boring in spots that I actually didn't mind having to have a bathroom break.  They could have taken the amount of story they told and put it into an hour and twenty minutes and probably made a better movie out of it.

 

I was terribly disappointed by the movie.  I have high hopes for King Kong after all the reviews it's getting, so hopefully that will fulfill my movie going needs for the month.  This just did not. --5/10

 

Technorati Tags : The, Chronicles, of, Narnia, The, Lion, the, Witch, and, the, Wardrobe, Movie, Review

The Brothers Grimm

I watched The Brothers Grimm the other night. Yeesh! That says it all. I could probably stop typing now and you'd know all you need to know.

What shocked me about this movie was the CGI work. It has to be about the worst I've seen in a long time. If I think about it and try to remember this far back, I think Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure had better CGI work than this movie. The green screen blending of backgrounds and real life work looks a bit like a South Park episode. I'm trying to imagine what the best way to describe it is, but I'm lost for words, it's that bad.



And then there's Matt Damon's performance. Yikes! It's pretty bad. The accent alone is enough to make you want to turn it off. Heath Ledger, on the other hand, tries to turn an Australian accent into an English accent, and doesn't succeed perfectly. At least he sounds better than Damon, that's for sure. Ledger, actually, sounds a bit like he has that cotton in the back of his mouth like the dentist puts in, you know? Muffled maybe.

Anyway, while the execution by the actors wasn't top notch, I really liked the story. The Grimm brothers stage their own stories to make money from stupid peasants, only to eventually be caught in a real life fairy tale. The movie was well written, although some of the comedy from the rest of the cast could have been left out, but overall it was well written and directed. --6.5/10

Assault on Precinct 13

Now, I know that this isn't the newest of movies, but I put in the DVD last night before I went to bed and I had a few thoughts about it.

First off, I can't help but think that Ethan Hawke's performance in Assault on Precinct 13 is so two-faced it's not even funny. Of course, in the beginning he's supposed to be a junkie who's trying to get rid of some cocaine or heroin, and directly after that he's a cop in a run down precinct, but the quality of his acting in each of these roles is bizzare.

At first I felt Ethan gave an outstanding performance as a junkie. He had the role down to a science and delivered a very convincing performance. Maybe that "wild and crazy guy" routine is actually closer to his personality in real life? I don't know.



But then when Ethan becomes this cop who is stuck in a snowy Detroit police station... The acting just goes downhill. It was a horrible presentation that left me feeling bad for him. Was the direction given such that he felt the need to downplay his acting skills? Again, I don't know. It's a shame though, because if it wasn't for this poor performance in the latter part of the movie I would have given the movie a better score.

Another thing about this movie was that Laurence Fishburne was in it. Like my feelings on all the "greats", and I say that lightly, I can't help but think he's the same character in every movie he's been in lately. I get the same feeling from DeNiro and Paccino, too. Same character every single movie. It gets boring after about two movies.

Fishburne, though, in the '90s played a completely different character. It was the angry black man, and he played that with more conviction and enthusiasm than any of the newer movies with the newer character. I'd like to see him in something where he's able to show us some breadth of character, if it exists. (I have a feeling Rose is going to disagree with me...)

If the problems I've pointed out weren't there, I'd give it a 7.5/10, consequently I'll have to give this movie a --6.5/10.

Cinderella Man

I just finished watching this movie and I was blown away! It is a boxing movie but it is so much more. Director Ron Howard captured the raw emotion of living through the thirties Great Depression through the eyes of a family and the father who tries to get them through. What makes it all the more poignant is that the movie is based on the true story of James J. Braddock - a then washed-up prize fighter who is fighting to survive just paying the bills and putting food on the table.



Russell Crowe nailed this part and played a very convincing boxer, his wife in the movie was played by Renee Zellweger. To me she has always seemed a bit of a Drew Barrymore type - very likeable, very smiley and a very real person but not a diverse actor. However, she dug deep and revealed some real raw emotion in this one. Both my wife and I enjoyed this movie and were at the edge of our sofa numerous times.

My scoring is 9/10 - great cinemaphotography, captured emotion, story, and character development. Well worth the rental fee and would have been worth seeing in the theatre - not sure why I didn't originally? I'll throw a pic of the movie on here when I have time!

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

As I was told this was a fantastic movie, I suppose I expected too much from the start; however, in the end, The Exorcism of Emily Rose has both positive and negative aspects which contribute to a balanced overall judgment.


On the positive side, this movie was not overly hollywood-ized and promoted. The actors are all lesser known (with the exception of the recently popularized Laura Linney), which I believe often leads to a better performance. The theme of demonic possession, or any form of paranormal activity, always interests me - particularly those based on true events.

The best aspect of The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the notable performance of Jennifer Carpenter. Her previous roles have been, well, limited at best. Unfortunately, for me, I was one of the four people that actually watched her in D.E.B.S. In the role of Emily Rose, however, Carpenter exemplifies evil. She progresses from a spectrum of good, little, mousy, Christian girl to the horrifying, screaming banshee, creepy, epitome of evil (as seen below).





What would Jesus do?









One-two-three-four-five-six-
one-two-three-four-five-six-
one-two-three-four-five-six-
one-two-three-four-five-six-
ONE-TWO-THREE-FOUR-
FIVE-SIX-ONE-TWO-
THREE-FOUR-FIVE-SIX.



Other than the actual exorcism scenes, this movie did not get too melodramatic - which is unusual in contemporary horror / suspense movies.

On the negative side of the spectrum, this movie was guilty of the consistent propagation of Christianity. The Exorcism of Emily Rose creates a martyr narrative which isolated is not preachy but combined with the movie based on true facts leaves the audience feeling exacerbated at yet another attempt to promote the dominance of Christianity. The Passions of the Christ, as a Christian promoting snuff film, resulted in my lack of tolerance toward any overt Christian conversion endeavours. This contributed to my lower overall score as this movie could have presented demonic possession, partiularly that based on true events, in a less religiously absolute manner.

5.5 / 10 - jinx out.

Must Love Dogs

I watched Must Love Dogs the other night.  First off, I should say that I loved Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun.  I thought she pulled off the recently divorced, pathetic, mess of a woman that the movie required.  In fact, I liked her performance so much that it's actually one of my favourite movies.

 

However, I felt that her version of the recently divorced, pathetic, mess of a woman in this movie was boring, uninteresting, and, well, pathetic.  How she chose to play this role twice within a couple of years is beyond me.  The similarities were amazing.  The first time was great, the second time you just had to wonder why she would choose the same role twice.  And not only that, but she did it better the first time.  I guess practice doesn't make perfect.

 

John Cusack, on the other hand, played his usual role, and I enjoyed it immensely.  You can see how he has aged in the last few years, ever single Gross Pointe Blank, or even earlier, and he's gained some weight, but it looks good on him.  His acting has never gotten better, or worse, and that's just fine by me.

 

Anyway, on to the movie.  The plot summary off of IMDB sums it up best:

Sarah Nolan, a recently divorced thirty-something year old, has a family that just can't help getting involved in her personal life, or lack there of. After her sister puts her profile on PerfectMatch.com, this preschool teacher goes on a number of outrageous and hilarious dates. But will she be able to find the one, who must love dogs?

It's an interesting look at the life of a single woman, trying to get her man through the use of internet dating sites, but it's just not really realistic.  When you imagine someone desparate enough to use these datings sites to find "the one," you imagine someone closer to Dolly (Stockard Channing).  This pathetic mess of a woman is on a dozen sites trying to get a man, and it just isn't working.  But even that is over the top.  The humour seemed more pushed and contrived than anything.

 

The story seemed to drag out.  There wasn't that flow that you would expect from a good story.  It may have helped if there weren't so many side stories to follow along... just focus on what's going on with the main characters.  Overall, sadly, I'd have to give this movie --5/10.

 

Technorati Tags : Must, Love, Dogs, Movie

Four Brothers

Four Brothers is a clear example of the violent, action, tough-guy movie genre. I fondly refer to them as 'dick' flicks and this one is no exception to the stereotypical rugged, gun toting, puffy jacket wearing, gangsta cinematic experience.



This revenge seeking story displays gratuitous violence through excessive aggression and general thug / gang behaviour. Four Brothers portrays a 'kill or be killed' living environment within gritty Detroit neigbourhoods. Upon the death of their mother, the brothers return home from their (not so) respective lives to enact vengeance on the murderer(s).

The ineffectualness of the Detroit police, combined with cop corruption, conveniently obligates the brothers' vigilantism.

Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, and Garrett Hedlund are all appealing and sincere in their sexy, tattooed, new hotness roles. Marky Mark, however, becomes the overt albatross in Four Brothers...and every other movie he has ever made. Maybe his acting ability (if you can call it that) was suffocated by the excessive hair grease on his head or his shirt was so tight it restricted his mental functioning. Regardless of the reasons, Mark Wahlberg cannot pull off a credible role. His poor display of false emotionality and 'I'm too sexy for my own body' attitude left me grinding my teeth in any scene he partook of.

In honour of the title, I offer four reasons not to watch this movie:

1. Marky Mark is one of the fundamental characters.
2. Blatant stereotypes of African Americans.
3. Blatant stereotypes of Detroit.
4. Marky Mark, Marky Mark, Marky Mark...need I say more?

4.5/10 - jinx out

Zathura

Sometimes it's good to go into a movie expecting something really bad.  Rose, who's in town this weekend, joined me in watching Zathura last night.

 

Zathura is a Sci-Fi version of Jumanji.  They might as well have just called it Jumanji II: Things Get Weird in Space.  Not knowing a lot about the movie going in, I was expecting another version of Jumanji, and I wasn't disappointed that way.  The similarities between the two movies is about its only downfall.  I think a little more originality in a movie makes it stand out a bit more, which in turn helps it sell at the box office.

 

So the surpise of this movie was... it didn't suck.  You can tell it's geared towards kids, but Rose and I actually found ourselves laughing at parts.  Maybe it was the fact that we were both tired, but I'm going to chalk it up to some good writing.  The visual effects were also fairly good.  Having a house float around in space, with shooting stars and aliens coming by once in a while, leaves a lot of room for the visual effects guys to have some fun.  And fun they had.

 

The plot, which I've said, was pretty bad.  If Jumanji had never come out before this I wouldn't of been so disappointed in the plot of this movie.  One thing the movie did lack was unpredictability.  Every step of the way I knew exactly what was going to happen next, including the 'big twist' that seems to be a necessary part of every movie made these days.

 

Dax Shepard was also a big surprise in this movie.  Not only was I not expecting to see him, but he gave a phenomenal performance as well (please read the sarcasm in that line).  Ever since seeing him in Punk'd I've thought of him as one of the worst actors in show biz.  I will say that the acting in punk'd is supposed to be like that, but still...  He did, however, give a better performance in Without a Paddle.

 

If you're just looking for some mindless entertainment with some fairly funny scenes, you should watch this movie.  If you're looking for anything more, and are in a serious mood, maybe skip it and go see Walk the Line.

 

Technorati Tags : Zathura, Movie

Walk the Line

Submitted to me by my friend Garth...

So you want me to do the review for ya? I really enjoyed the movie - the opening sequence was powerful and how they threaded accurately how his brother's death affected his own self-perception was excellent.

Joaquin Phoenix definitely became Johnny Cash in this movie - not only vocally but right down to his mannerisms on stage. I also have a whole new level of respect for Reese Witherspoon - she had the country charm and humor of June Carter. Her only weakness was that she sang better than June ever did.



I think I first saw Joaquin in that Gladiator movie and I really didn't like him much (admittedly his character was one that wasn't supposed to be likeable). He was average in Signs but I really liked his role in The Village. I'm not sure what your thoughts are on those two movies - The Village is one of my favorites!

Acting wise - I couldn't see a weak character in Walk The Line! Some of the side characters like Elvis & Roy Orbison took some getting used to but whoever played Jerry Lee Lewis - nailed him!

I will buy this movie and watch it again! Even if you aren't a fan of JC & his music it is a phenomenal part one to his life! --9.5/10

Lord of War

While I normally enjoy Nic Cage movies (particularly older ones: Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, etc.), this should be more aptly titled Lord of Crappy, Boring, Plotless, Guns 'n' Stuff. I'm sure that was the original title but they were forced to minimize. The concept behind this move was well worth exploring: the rise of the world's most successful gun runner Yuri Orlov (Cage); however, there was zero mental or emotional glimpses into his rise to the top...making the movie impressive from a visual perspective but a plotless, flat story. This lack of depth is particularly evident in the final moments of the movie during which Cage's family has disowned him and his wife and child have left him. The audience, I imagine, is supposed to really understand how severe his family's rejection has affected him but we are, instead, left to shrug and think "bummer."

The statistics at the end of the movie combined with the bullet-strewn street were the most shocking, well done aspects of this movie. Also the brief glimpses of how Orlov's guns were being used held strong dramatic affect and left the viewer empathisizing with deep anguish. Initially, the consistent focus on the African people's violence irritated me as it appeared entirely ethnocentric (United States good, Africa bad); however, during the final ten minutes, Cage states the American President is the largest gun runner of all and the U.S. is the first country listed in the final list of the world's biggest arm suppliers.

This movie is worth watching once and then a few years down the line digging it out of the pile and re-watching it.

5.5/10 - jinx out

Aeon Flux

I had the chance to watch Aeon Flux with Karen. It was an interesting movie, to say the least. One thing I did notice, though, was that this movie followed the same pattern as Serenity, where if you haven’t watched the original in which it was based, you wouldn’t have any idea what was going on until the end. I think if you had ever watched MTV’s Aeon Flux you may understand the history a little better, allowing you to grasp the plot a little. This, of course, assumes that the movie follows the characters and storyline of the cartoon. Here’s a site with a little history, if that’ll help.

Here’s the plot summary:

"The sci-fi actioner is set 400 years in the future, when disease has wiped out the majority of the earth's population except for one walled, protected city-state, Bregna, ruled by a congress of scientists. The story centers on Aeon Flux(Theron), the top operative in the underground 'Monican' rebellion, led by The Handler(Frances McDormand). When Aeon is sent on a mission to kill a government leader, she uncovers a world of secrets..."

As far as the movie goes, without the knowledge of its history, it is fairly good. The story moves along nicely, the acting is good, and the special effects are very good. Charlize Theron does a good job as Aeon, playing the character as well as anyone else would have. There’s some argument on the internet as to whether or not she was miscast, but I feel she did a fine job. Someone I’m not entirely familiar with, Marton Csokas, although I think I might recognize him from Kingdom of Heaven, also did a fantastic job with his character. A surprise to me was to see Jonny Lee Miller. One of my all time favourites was the movie "Hackers" and I haven’t seen him in a lot of things since then. He did a great job of playing the villain, although not the kind you’d expect.



I think this is one of those movies I’ll eventually get on DVD for those rainy days when I’ve re-watched all of my other favourites. --7/10

Just Friends

Karen and I watched Just Friends tonight. I'm don't have a definite, concrete, opinion on how I felt about it.

Just Friends is a story about a fat loser in high school who gets rejected by his best friend, who, it just so happens, he's been in love with for years. Ten years later he comes back to town and tries to win her back... or take revenge. I can't decide which one.

For a movie with a bunch of 'B' rated actors it was actually pretty good. Ryan Reynolds did a decent job, although he pulled off that same character he does. You know the one I'm talking about, the Van Wilder character. You could also see a bit of that character in Blade: Trinity, although he did a better job of hiding it in that movie.

Amy Smart plays the best friend / wannabe girlfriend, and she does an okay job with it. Although not a wildly popular, I can see the Hollywood appeal in her. It's odd that, when looking on IMDB, I can't remember her in any of the movies I've seen with her in them. The Butterfly Effect - Kayleigh, Rat Race - Tracy, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton - Nurse? She looks familiar enough, I just can't place the role.

The other characters of note are the rockstar wannabe played by Anna Faris (from the Scary Movie movies) and Chris Klein (from the American Pie series). Both do a good job in their respective parts, although Klein's character is just far too predictable.

Overall, after some thinking about it, I'd have to say the movie was okay because, even though it was fluffy and stupid, I didn't get mad at it or turn it off. --6.5/10

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Karen and I had the pleasure of watching The 40 Year Old Virgin last night. This would be the second time for both of us. I recall Karen and Rose (yes, again), howling like maniacs the first time they saw this. The first time I saw it, only because the guys at work wouldn't stop talking about it, I thought it was fairly good, but not something I'd rave about.

The thing about this movie is that there were a few scenes, like the waxing scene, where I was laughing pretty hard. The first time I watched that particular scene I was almost on the floor. I really enjoy it when a movie is just as good, if not better, the second time around. It's too bad this wasn't like that.

Steve Carell is a funny guy. Plain and simple -- funny. I think that he's one of those people that you either find funny, or just stupid. To me -- funny. I thought he did a brilliant job as the retarded weatherman in "Anchorman." I watch him weekly in "The Office" and find him hilarious. It's not that I can relate to the office mentality, since I've never worked in one, but just find the style of comedy funny.

Anyway, The Virgin is about a 40 year old who works in an electronics store that has never had relations. That much I'm sure you got from the title. His three co-workers find out he's a virgin and try to help him find a woman, any woman. This, of course, leads to some hilarity.

The surprise of the movie is the "Cal" character. He's the typical 'Dude' that everyone knows, but his antics and mannerisms are fun to watch. After watching the movie the first time, and arguing for a whole day with my co-workers about it, it turns out that he is not "Screech" from "Saved by the Bell". I've seen pictures of Dustin Diamond lately and I could swear that Dustin and Seth Rogan (Cal) are twins. If you see the movie, I'm sure you'll agree. --7/10

The Dukes of Hazzard

I watched The Dukes of Hazzard two nights ago. I was avoiding it because Karen and Rose watched it one night when it first came out and couldn't say enough bad things about it.

I have to say, though, that I really didn't find anything wrong with it. Maybe it's because I'm a 'dude' and I like car chases, itsy bitsy bikinis, and general bad ass mentallity. I mean, guys like this kind of stuff. it's not like we're going to watch it for the story. Do we care if there's a plot? No. Do we much care for any semblence of good acting? Not really. This is the kind of movie where you just sit and watch the pretty people say stupid things and smash their car up.

That being said... Yeah. There was some fairly bad parts. The one that stuck out was where Jessica Simpson was pretty much in her birthday suit and was pretending to need help from the cops so that Bo and Luke could escape custody one more time. It actually happened a lot. She seemed to get them out of trouble about every 20 minutes or so. There was some sexual innuendos about the police officers checking 'her undercarriage', and then the movie went on. The scene was fairly unnecessary, even for a movie like this. The director could have just gotten away with a few more shots of her breasts and that would've been sufficient. Heh.

Uncle Jesse, or Willie Nelson, did a particularly bad job on this movie. He's not an actor and shouldn't try to be one. And not only that, but if you're over 25, what do you remember of Boss Hogg? Rolly polly guy? There could've been a better fit found than Burt Reynolds.

Overall, a fairly bad movie, but if you liked something like "Joe Dirt," you'll probably like this. Sadly Joe Dirt had more of a story, though.--5/10