The Punisher – Frank Castle – Thomas Jane – one of the most popular, non-super heroes of the Marvel canon, is finally on the big screen. Some of you may remember how I flipped out in excitement when I saw the poster advertising the movie last summer… ok a couple of you. Oh fine, none of you are supposed to remember these things, I just like to pretend. Anyways, the movie just opened today and it ROCKED!!! Not only was it one of the best hero-birth stories I’ve ever seen, it was so true to the spirit of the comic book I almost cried. I had been worried about the Russian’s appearance from what little we saw of him in the trailer, because all you saw was some shots of him throwing Frank around, and you never really go the concept of his massive size compared with Frank like in … Continue reading →

The movie begins with a brief summary of the history of the Alamo mission (formerly a Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, erected about 1722). Display title here, and begin action. It’s an intriguing trend to notice, how directors refuse to have a drawn out opening sequence with bubble-gum music while half of the credits are displayed. Actually, this is only happening with fast-paced films, but I ain’t a-arguin’. Movie starts with a rider reporting the fall of the Alamo to shocked soldiers of the Texan army. Sam Houston (portrayed by Dennis Quaid) receives the news, then stares at a candle flame in a pose of supplication. Enter the flashback (and one hell of a flash-back it is) and we find ourselves in Washington D.C. one year prior. The character of Davy Crockett (performed masterfully by Billy Bob Thornton) is introduced at a performance of a play based on himself. … Continue reading →

“If that’s the Sheriff’s Office, this [movie] rocks!”   I was in the theatre at 11:30 in the morning for the first showing of the day and I had the time of my life. The movie was hilarious, the story was touching, and the music was beautiful. Alan Menken may have missed out on the last couple of films (you get the sense he had trouble working after Ashman’s death) but he makes up for it in spades with this movie. The basic plot is that three dairy cows (voiced by Roseanne, Judi Dench, and Jennifer Tilly) set out to capture a cattle-rustling bandit named Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). While the music in this film is similar to the recent Disney films in that none of the characters sing them, the big production number of the movie involves the yodel-licious vocal stylings of Alameda Slim, who uses his “art” to … Continue reading →

Last Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to attend my first movie in about a month: Twisted, which is very different from Taking Lives. It’s Ashley! No, It’s Angelina! Think Angelina Jolie’s upcoming Taking Lives sounds a lot like Ashley Judd’s Twisted? Well, you’re wrong. There are several big differences… Angelina Jolie’s character is an unusually observant, successful FBI agent who wakes up in bed with a bloody live body, is always staring at photos of dead people she doesn’t know , has an older male mentor who’s Quebecois and has a psychopath tell her she’s just like him over the phone. Ashley Judd’s character is an unusually observant, successful homicide detective who wakes up in bed with a bloody dead body, is always staring at photos of dead people she knows, has an older male mentor who’s American and has a psychopath tell her she’s just like him face to … Continue reading →

Last night, I was privileged enough to see a sneak preview of Man On Fire starring Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning at the Irvine Spectrum. It’s the film where he is her bodyguard, but she still gets kidnapped and he gets shot, then he recovers and goes after the kidnappers. It’s everything I hope The Punisher is going to be with an intriguing premise and excellent action. Directed by Tony Scott (who gave Will Smith semi-legitimate stardom with Enemy of the State), the film takes place in Mexico, where Denzel is an ex-killer looking for forgiveness. Even though he has a drinking problem, he is hired on by the Balleto family to protect Lupita, the only child. Their relationship is tense at first, but Lupita wears down Creasy’s (Denzel) tough exterior and teaches him to live again. In exchange, he teaches her how to swim. Well she already knows how … Continue reading →

This update is way overdue. As a matter of fact, I just haven’t felt like writing to you at all, but I’ve gotten over it specifically for this purpose. Several weeks ago (sometime in January) I saw the movie “The Butterfly Effect” and rejoiced that Ashton Kutcher was working as hard as he was to avoid his stereotype. If you can’t remember who Ashton is, ask “Dude, where’s my car?” and who’s dating Demi Moore (even though she’s much older than him). Butterfly Effect tells the story of Evan, a man who decides to play God when Kayleigh, his childhood female friend, dies. The directors were also the writers, so this whole thing was kind of their perception on Chaos Theory and Time Travel, although it’s more about psychology and how the brain works than time paradoxes (A paradox, a paradox, a most ingenious paradox, ha ha ha ha ha … Continue reading →