Ocean’s Eleven is a caper film with comedy (i.e. it is a film about thievery that you laugh at and enjoy). The “crew” gets along and doesn’t backstab or betray each other (i.e. no drama). This film by comparison is a caper film with dramody (i.e. it is a film about thievery that you laugh at and enjoy in which the crew betrays and backstabs one another since the caper in itself is an act of backstabbing and betrayal). Very interesting. I wouldn’t say the funniest things were in the trailer, but the majority of the funny moments from the movie were in the trailer. Oliver Platt was especially hilarious and plays the biggest comedic role in the movie (despite the reviews saying John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton are the funniest thing since sliced bread). Cusack and Thornton are funny (practically everybody gets to crack a joke at … Continue reading →

This movie was so much fun. I absolutely loved the constant breaking of the fourth wall and the witty repartee between Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr. was spot on. In case you couldn’t follow the murder mystery, hover over the box below for a point by point layout of the plot. Dexter had hidden his daughter away in the loony bin and replaced her with a look-a-like so that he could get the lawsuit dropped. But the daughter’s European boyfriend was coming to visit, so he had to kill her to bring the ruse to a close (the boyfriend would see through the double). Harmony’s sister came to town to find her father, whom she thought was Dexter. What she found was Dexter having sex with his daughter’s double. Thinking it was incest, she hired Perry to film it (using Harmony’s credit cards) and then killed herself since it … Continue reading →

Biggest complaint? No moment where we get to say, “SCREW YOU RITA SKEETER!” and the incredibly disappointing maze (final stage of the Tri-Wizard Tournament). There was something else too…what was it…that’s right…the whole subplot about elf liberation. Yes it’s a subplot that I don’t mind not having, but it serves a good dramatic purpose by highlighting the Harry-and-Ron-not-talking and then Hermione-and-Ron-not-talking drama of the story. Not to mention it’s always fun to have a drunken elf on stage…they’re hilarious! On the whole, as the film adaptations continue, I sense that there will be more and more characters and subplots removed to make room for the primary drama. Now having read the books first, I’m going to whine about it, but for people who will never read the books, they’re getting what they need. I’m just not getting what I want, so I’ll just have to pout in silence. Other than … Continue reading →

Knowing nothing about Johnny Cash only enhanced the significance of seeing this film (unless Cash fans can tell me that the movie was completely inaccurate). Joaquin Phoenix does an incredible job as “The Man in Black”…especially during the songs. I am amazingly impressed by his and Reese Witherspoon’s vocal work in this film…a major highlight. Walking away though, the first thing I said to myself was…it’s very similar to Ray Charles’ biopic…a tragic accident in his past as a poor Southern boy overshadowing an unstable career…a drug addiction that is overcome with the help of loyal friends. Very peculiar… It was really fun to watch and learn about Johnny Cash. I was also intrigued by the view that Johnny Cash had of religion and faith. It influenced his music in a very serious way (he learned music from his mother’s hymnal), but he took traditional views and flipped them on … Continue reading →

Interesting idea. Adapt a game that focuses on a single person (John “Reaper” Grim ) by making it about a team of soldiers that don’t all die right away. Riiiiight. That’s the primary reason this movie isn’t going to succeed…you just can’t shift the focus. Not to mention the fact that I really didn’t like any of the other soldiers. Portman was freaking disgusting, Kid was stupid (albeit he was on his first mission, but basic training had to give him just a little bit more than that), and don’t even get me started on Goat. I mean, I understand what he was doing with the self-persecution for all your sins (hell, even Nightcrawler did it), but…actually, I didn’t mind Goat so much. I just really hated Portman. Destroyer and Duke were actually kind of cool too, as was Sarge (the Rock). The story concept underneath the whole movie was … Continue reading →

This film was fun to watch. The technology of stop-motion has really developed into a very smooth, clean art-form which lets the story shine through the characters created, rather than getting distracted by the jerkiness or incompleteness of one of the models (not that I’ve noticed that before in a Tim Burton production, I’m just illustrating what it isn’t because they’re professionals). The one caveat is that although it’s a good film…it’s not a great film…and the blame has to fall squarely on the shoulders of the story. I mean, I enjoyed it, but there were a couple of moments where I was like…wait a minute…why do that? Especially Danny Elfman’s musical/scat breakdown in the middle of the story of the corpse bride song. That just made my head spin…I couldn’t figure out why they put it in there. I just don’t know what else to say…I’ll probably see it … Continue reading →

  Note (10-30-05): You can relive the experience. I’m so happy to have finished watching the show now…it is really just as much fun as the movie. Now I need to see the movie again and see the little bits and chunks you can’t see if you don’t know the show. It’s based on Firefly! I had no idea what it was about but I heard there was all sorts of drama about the show being canceled. I had no idea that this movie was even based on anything. All I knew was that Joss Whedon wrote and directed it, and that I loved his work on Astonishing X-Men (I never watched Buffy…then again, I never really watched anything they told me to, but that’s besides the point). So now I have to go watch the show (unfortunately it shouldn’t take that long…so sad that it didn’t make it past … Continue reading →

I can’t decide whether I thought the ending was contrived or not. Basically, I think the bad guy’s master plot had a lot of things that could have gone wrong and they didn’t. When a movie tries to be realistic (this wasn’t a superhero movie), having that many things go right for you…I can’t suspend that much belief. And for whatever reason, I think Red Eye was more believable than this film. But that’s becuase when you boil the two movies down to their core, I think that Red Eye’s is more substantial than this film’s. But aside from that, it was a fun ride.

I loved this film. Not only does it speaks volumes to all males, but it also speaks to that confusing, romantic thing called love and sex. “Oh don’t scramble them together like that, they are two separate things!” (Camelot). Steve Carrell and Judd Apatow have created a comedy that is romantic, but isn’t a chick flick. Yeah the guy gets the girl in the end, but there isn’t the standard route…cuz everybody is trying to get Steve Carrell laid! Absolutely hilarious.

Great film. I absolutely loved it. Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy are phenomenal. The story is tight and tense. The whole film just flies.