Seeing the original first always makes it difficult to enjoy a remake. Period end of story. Despite that, this is a really good remake. It does that thing that all remakes do though….it adds more people and more travel time in which to kill them off. It also adds more dialogue. Now this isn’t necessarily regrettable, especially in this case. It gives us more back-story (for both main characters) and more dramatic tension. The biggest thing I have to complain about this remake is that because of all that that I just mentioned, you lose some of the best part of the original: the dialogue in the bridal suite between Dan Evans (Christian Bale) and Ben Wade (Russell Crowe). But the dialogue that was there was fantastic. Lots of good added dialogue, but more importantly, a lot of the original dialogue. Some nasty foreshadowing, but you know….what good story doesn’t? … Continue reading →

This movie is awesome. Highly violent and ultra slick, it follows the idea behind Urinetown: that nothing kills a musical quicker than too much exposition. As I sit here listening to the soundtrack (which is phenomenal as well), I can’t even remember the opening titles. All I remember is the New Line Cinema logo flying in, then the holes being gun shot in, and then Clive Owen sitting on a bus bench. 30 seconds later, the gun fire starts and it doesn’t stop for a good 5 minutes. There is a story going on that is really quite plausible (the only thing I really miss is confirmation of Owen’s real identity, but I can live without it) and I just enjoyed the heck out of it. A lot of the stunts were really spectacular (over 40 stunt men), but the thing that impressed me the most was the stunt coordination. … Continue reading →

Live Free or Die Hard Bruce Willis is fantastic, although based on the trailers, I had to ask the question, “When did John McClane become a supercop?” But in the movie, what happens to him is very plausible within the Die Hard motif – wrong place, wrong time. Justin Long is very funny and very heroic. Kevin Smith is priceless as teh king of all internets hackorz. While ranting and railing against the PG-13 rating, I have to agree that the one “Yippee-Kay-Ay-Motherf*cker” was well placed and that the action and violence was about equal to the R ratings of the other Die Hard films. Which leads me to ponder what has happened to the MPAA’s rating system? Did violence just get more acceptable? Directed by Len Wiseman! Yay Underworld! And he’s married to Kate Beckinsale. The guy’s got it all…SO not fair 😉 There was a section in the … Continue reading →

I got sick of the trailer for this movie way before it came out (I think because I kept going to movies and kept seeing the trailer and all those movie posters with Steve Carrel in the Marilyn Monroe pose ala Noah). I didn’t really have a problem with the concept at that point because I had enjoyed the positive Christian message in Bruce Almighty and expected the same from this one, but as the trailer/posters/etc. kept intruding in my life, I think I became so sick of it I tried to translate my annoyance at the promotions into genuine dislike for the movie based on the fact God saying He wouldn’t flood the Earth ever again. Through this transference of dislike I became convinced that this movie was just horribly wrong and that I would hate it. Well I’m glad to say that I enjoyed this movie very much. … Continue reading →

So I caught the midnight showing of the movie to kind of celebrate the end of my 4th year in college, but I couldn’t catch the midnight showing at Newport 6 (where I typically do midnight shows). Not because it was sold out, but because it didn’t exist! So I ended up at Bella Terra with a packed house and a really decent seat (2nd row, center). Not bad for showing up 15 minutes before show time. Trailers: Underdog looks like fun. I love Jason Lee. August Rush – the trailer left me speechless…must see this film… Hot Rod – a stuntman wannabe who is a bit of a jerk – looks amusing [walks away from an explosion] Man: You’re the worst stuntman ever! Rod: What? Man: [louder] You’re the worst stuntman ever! Rod: No, I can hear you, I’m just being mean. Evan Almighty – I swear to Him … Continue reading →