Tag Archives: movie review

Ghost Town

Yay Ricky Gervais! Yay Greg Kinear! Yay Tea Leoni! Wait…I know this plot! It happened to Robert Downey Jr. and Elizabeth Shue in the 90’s (Heart and Souls)! Written and directed by David Koepp (Secret Window, the video renter eaten in Lost World), some reviews accuse him of handling Gervais (a genius in his own right) with kid gloves. But I think Koepp handles him perfectly for this movie and what it accomplishes. I enjoyed this movie very much for it’s comedy (obviously) and it’s heart. Exciting Trailers Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx do Finding Nemo Marlin/Dory subplot on land (Foxx has a mental disorder and when Downey Jr pays a modicum of attention to him, he endures life a little better). Sam Mendes does the what-if-Jack-and-Rose-survived-the-Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet fight to break the 60’s-women-are-homemakers mold. Doubt stars Meryll Streep, Amy Adams and Phillip Seymour Hoffmann.

Bangkok Dangerous

Astoundingly a remake (by writer/directors The Pang Brothers) of their 1999 Hong Kong film of the same title. Looking at the IMDB summation, it’s clear that only a few core story details were altered, toss in a major movie star and you have….a very confusing movie. Well not confusing per se. It’s clear what the story is all about. But it’s a movie that doesn’t actually make a lot of sense…in my opinion is does not define why it should exist as a movie. But there’s explosions and violences and car/boat/motorcycle chases. So it’s exhilirating….it’s just…weird…

Burn After Reading

Yay Coen Brothers! Except for a slightly unsatisfying ending (what happened to that character?), it was very enjoyable. Again a film that I didn’t expect to be rated R, but is all the better, particularly for John Malkovich’s character. “You’re Mormon! Next to you we all have a drinking problem!” Yay J.K. Simmons! While Brad Pitt’s funniest moments aren’t all in the trailer, there isn’t more depth to the character. And yet you laugh at Brad Pitt continuously.

Hamlet 2

HA!!!! Rock me, rock me, rock me sexy Jesus!!! Why do I feel like I’ve been raped in the face? The hilarious tale of a failed actor turned failed drama teacher who writes a sequel to “arguably the world\’s greatest piece of literature” because it had a downer ending. It’s got all the typical persecution of a traditional sports movie (albiet much more grandiose and hilarious), but the real highlight is the titular musical at the end of the movie. Through reviews I learned that the two white kids were the stars of the musical Spring Awakening (which I haven’t seen yet), which made a lot of sense and was awesome! Skylar Austin plays sexually confused teacher’s pet Rand and Phoene Strole plays racially frightened Epiphany. Steve Coogan is hysterical…much better than Around The World In 80 Days. ;). I’m also quite glad that the film is rated R. The … Continue reading →

The House Bunny

Very funny film from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company. Smart comedy of the same bizarre, exaggerated streak that was present in Zohan. An adult fairy tale about Shelly, who gets kicked out of the Playboy Mansion on her 27th birthday (that’s like 59 in bunny years), and becomes the house mom for a sorority house full of misfits. Anna Farris is wonderful in another blonde bimbo role (a role she cultivated in the Scary Movies), but this character was surprisingly smart at moments and that pleased me. Poor Anna Farris…she got a bad Botox job before filming…it slipped from my consciousness as the film went on, but it was very noticible at first.

Blocking “The Path To 9/11”

A genuine Hollywood premiere! My first chance to rub elbows with the muckety-mucks and I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt! :D. This documentary is fantastic. Written and directed by former-KFI-late-night-libertarian-guru John Ziegler (check out www.therealkfi.com for the gory details), this documentary chronicles the censorship of ABC’s self-proclaimed docudrama, “The Pathe To 9/11” at the bequest of the Clinton political machine, which is probably why Hillary lost the nomination (which is ironic in and of itself). Geoffrey Rowland (Senior Editor of “The Path To 9/11”) had a fever of 103 degrees when they shot his bit of the documentary. When Zeiglar was wrapping up the 7 hour interview with Cyrus that is the core of the film (he knew Cyrus wanted to watch a big playoff game), he asked the typical documentary question of, “Is there anything else you want to talk about?” and Cyrus leaned in and said, “Ask me … Continue reading →

Swing Vote

Texico, Curry County, New Mexico 5 electoral votes Incumbent Republican Kelsey Grammar has 266 Democratic Dennis Hopper has 267 270 wins The details of how one voter decides the next president instead of the electoral college is the really important part of the movie to me…especially since this is a Disney affiliated movie (Touchstone Pictures) and Disney made the musical …Family Band that revolves around one of the few presidential elections where the electoral college disagreed with the popular vote. Beyond that the movie is all heart-touching, patriotic sentiment and political salesmanship. But I did really enjoy it.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Whee! I love the Yeti designs. Scorpion King of the Far East, but still enjoyable…. I just can’t understand Rob Cohen…he doesn’t know when a franchise has stalled out (creatively) and keeps making movies with lots of explosions and violence regardless of which cast members want to come back, but then he writes the lyrics to the movie’s torch song which is beautiful and poignant. It really is a shame that Maria Bello had to step in for Rachel Weisz, but Bello does a very nice job. Weisz initially backed out due to scheduling conflicts (which the web is praying is due to her portraying Ava Lord in Sin City 2), but it could have been her pregnancy or dislike of the script…we’ll never know. It’s almost like Back to the Future where Elizabeth Shue replaced the original Jennifer, but she’s really a secondary character. Bello does an excellent job … Continue reading →

Mamma Mia!

I enjoy the music of ABBA. There. I said it. I got it off my chest. That being said, this is a delightful movie musical which had the full support of the musicians behind ABBA (whom I LOVE because they wrote the music for Chess the musical – lyrics by Tim Rice) as they were executive producers on the film (and I can only assume the original musical). Also one of them makes a cameo during Dancing Queen! The cast is phenomenal. Meryll Streep and Pierce Brosnan singing together? Ok…I can die happy now.

The Dark Knight

This film is staggeringly epic in it’s darkness and execution. Heath Ledger’s performance is incredible, but not in my mind Oscar-worthy (but the Academy doesn’t listen to me so we’ll just let Marissa Tomei win again ;] ). I love that the movie opens with the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) because it maintains the new Batman mantra of not killing off your villains and letting them be little side jokes that Batman totally destroys. Joker lines I’m like a dog chasing cars…I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one! And here we…go! Can’t rely on anyone anymore… Why so serious son? Let’s put a smile on that face….