Now to add a movie review. I missed adding so many in the last seven months. I managed to catch this one over the weekend. And lets just say. It's not as good as I was hoping. I will however give them credit for trying to have a great R rated comedy. But, I didn't find it very funny. Mostly boring, and the funniest moment was an outtake during the credits with Anniston. Watch it to see.
Overall it's a decent rental, but I wouldn't say it was worth the current prices of a theatre ticket. If your choice is between this and Hangover III. This by far, HIII was a totally snorefest..
2 Stars out of 5
Wait for DVD
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movies. Show all posts
Monday, September 2, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
RED DAWN
Well.. I may as well say right now. Go and watch the 1980s original right now, and don't waste your time with this remake, re-imagining or however Hollywood wants to paint the excuse for this movie.
In the last couple weeks I have re watched the new Nightmare on Elm Street and now the new Red Dawn. And neither seem but a pale comparison to their originators.
As for Red Dawn, I was thinking that if they stuck close to the original. And just had the new cast of up and coming Hollywood youth. New special effects, and updated backdrops. We could have a cool little action movie like the original. How far off the mark could that be.
As I was watching this movie, I was thinking they up to this point already... As has seemed to become typical the whole thing seemed like they took the best pieces of the original and strung them all together with big explosions and guns. And called it a day. In this version I didn't care about any of the characters. And none of them seemed to have any time to sink in to you while you were watching it.
One thing that stands out is how in the original they were running low on food and water, and were taking to raiding convoys to the point that the Invaders would poison the food to try and get to the 'Wolverines' The only point of that I recall from the new one. Is their 'accidental' raid on a.. Subway.
I just didn't feel the tension, the camaraderie or the plight of the Wolverines like the original. And moving it from a small rural town to basically an urban environment just didn't click with me at all.
Skip this entirely and go back and rent the original.
After watching both trailers here together, they both look good. And you would think the new version would be an awesome update. But once again, it seems to be an example of Hollywood making a kick ass trailer for what turns out to be a bad movie. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was probably the best part of the movie, and he wasn't as good as Powers Booth from the original.
So there you have it.
1 Star out of 5
Barely a rental
In the last couple weeks I have re watched the new Nightmare on Elm Street and now the new Red Dawn. And neither seem but a pale comparison to their originators.
As for Red Dawn, I was thinking that if they stuck close to the original. And just had the new cast of up and coming Hollywood youth. New special effects, and updated backdrops. We could have a cool little action movie like the original. How far off the mark could that be.
As I was watching this movie, I was thinking they up to this point already... As has seemed to become typical the whole thing seemed like they took the best pieces of the original and strung them all together with big explosions and guns. And called it a day. In this version I didn't care about any of the characters. And none of them seemed to have any time to sink in to you while you were watching it.
One thing that stands out is how in the original they were running low on food and water, and were taking to raiding convoys to the point that the Invaders would poison the food to try and get to the 'Wolverines' The only point of that I recall from the new one. Is their 'accidental' raid on a.. Subway.
I just didn't feel the tension, the camaraderie or the plight of the Wolverines like the original. And moving it from a small rural town to basically an urban environment just didn't click with me at all.
Skip this entirely and go back and rent the original.
After watching both trailers here together, they both look good. And you would think the new version would be an awesome update. But once again, it seems to be an example of Hollywood making a kick ass trailer for what turns out to be a bad movie. Jeffrey Dean Morgan was probably the best part of the movie, and he wasn't as good as Powers Booth from the original.
So there you have it.
1 Star out of 5
Barely a rental
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
TOTAL RECALL 2012
Being pressed for time working on my Downsizing, and panting for stepping back into Warhammer. It's been awhile since I managed a media related piece.
Well, I went to catch an afternoon show of the remake of Total Recall. Two days after it opened, and the theatre was damn near empty. That was odd, even for an afternoon. But it meant a quiet and peaceful experience with no interruptions, cell phones or any other annoying occurrences.
I will say right off the top, that the movie was decent. But not great, could have been better. I will lay the blame right on the script. I found the movie had a lot of just head scratching logic associated with the technology of the world in which they set the movie. It all moved along nicely enough, and I liked the casting. They had the bucks for all the effects and stunts. But the world that they laid the story out in just broke suspension of disbelief for me.
I mean, if you had the tech to build a skyscraper sized building that travels in a tunnel through the center of the earth from Great Britain to Australia in no time at all really, Android Police Officers and 90% of the planet is uninhabitable wouldn't you just build a colony on Mars instead?? It would be easier. Or the Moon even. Since for the purpose of the story you needed two locations.
Rekall itself just seemed to be an afterthought, it seemed to be more central in the original. More part of the plot. Here it just seemed to be minor stop along the way to tip off the plot. Which really was it's purpose, but it just didn't seemed to have enough weight. And seemed like an underground operation, rather than the recreational vacation company I felt it was in the original.
The best part for me was the throw back to the 1990 one in customs. You'll know when you see it.
I'm going to have try and see the 1990 version again soon, it's been a long time since I've seen it. But I fully expect it to be the better of the two.
3 out of 5 stars
Well, I went to catch an afternoon show of the remake of Total Recall. Two days after it opened, and the theatre was damn near empty. That was odd, even for an afternoon. But it meant a quiet and peaceful experience with no interruptions, cell phones or any other annoying occurrences.
I will say right off the top, that the movie was decent. But not great, could have been better. I will lay the blame right on the script. I found the movie had a lot of just head scratching logic associated with the technology of the world in which they set the movie. It all moved along nicely enough, and I liked the casting. They had the bucks for all the effects and stunts. But the world that they laid the story out in just broke suspension of disbelief for me.
I mean, if you had the tech to build a skyscraper sized building that travels in a tunnel through the center of the earth from Great Britain to Australia in no time at all really, Android Police Officers and 90% of the planet is uninhabitable wouldn't you just build a colony on Mars instead?? It would be easier. Or the Moon even. Since for the purpose of the story you needed two locations.
Rekall itself just seemed to be an afterthought, it seemed to be more central in the original. More part of the plot. Here it just seemed to be minor stop along the way to tip off the plot. Which really was it's purpose, but it just didn't seemed to have enough weight. And seemed like an underground operation, rather than the recreational vacation company I felt it was in the original.
The best part for me was the throw back to the 1990 one in customs. You'll know when you see it.
I'm going to have try and see the 1990 version again soon, it's been a long time since I've seen it. But I fully expect it to be the better of the two.
3 out of 5 stars
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Woman In Black
Seen this one yesterday, and it's a great old school horror movie.
No reliance on gore, or violence that you seen in what passes for horror in the modern movies. This is old school creepy. Like Paranormal Activity. Darkness, shadows, moving things in reflections, opening doors, noises..
For a first outing by former Harry Potter the only issue I have is, that he looks almost too young for the role. But the addition of some stubble, and such does go a long way to fixing that.
It's a period piece, which I was very pleased with. The village he arrives at to do his work has one car. And the local are mostly scared of it. No telephones.
And I have read that some reviews found that since he was in no real personal danger since the woman in black preys on children. Removed any tension we the audience feels since we know nothing will happen to him. I didn't think so. I liked following him along through the mystery.
And even though I knew only children had died. I still wasn't entirely sure that something wouldn't happen to him.
Irregardless I enjoyed this movie, and I hope that the horror genre is finally swinging back from blood and gore, and what has been labeled as 'Torture Porn' and is coming back to old school scares and creepy. Less is more people.
Performances were good, Especially Sam if I remember right. The richest man in the county who owned the car. I've seen him in many movies, but I especially liked him here.
4 out of 5 stars.
No reliance on gore, or violence that you seen in what passes for horror in the modern movies. This is old school creepy. Like Paranormal Activity. Darkness, shadows, moving things in reflections, opening doors, noises..
For a first outing by former Harry Potter the only issue I have is, that he looks almost too young for the role. But the addition of some stubble, and such does go a long way to fixing that.
It's a period piece, which I was very pleased with. The village he arrives at to do his work has one car. And the local are mostly scared of it. No telephones.
And I have read that some reviews found that since he was in no real personal danger since the woman in black preys on children. Removed any tension we the audience feels since we know nothing will happen to him. I didn't think so. I liked following him along through the mystery.
And even though I knew only children had died. I still wasn't entirely sure that something wouldn't happen to him.
Irregardless I enjoyed this movie, and I hope that the horror genre is finally swinging back from blood and gore, and what has been labeled as 'Torture Porn' and is coming back to old school scares and creepy. Less is more people.
Performances were good, Especially Sam if I remember right. The richest man in the county who owned the car. I've seen him in many movies, but I especially liked him here.
4 out of 5 stars.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Real Steel
Real Steel the new big CG Boxing Robot movie with Hugh Jackman made it's launch this weekend.
I can say that I wasn't expecting it too be all that good. The early trailers weren't so hot. And it wasn't until the last month or so that we finally got some trailers that actually made the movie look like it was worth going to.
The movie worked well enough, they tried to have it setup as a father and son movie with the boxing mixed in there.
My biggest problem with the movie, and where the suspension of disbelief failed to take hold was in the world that the movie was set in.
It's supposed to be 2027 if I remember right, and we now have these 10 foot tall 1000 pound robots, that are able to balance, and walk, run and fight without falling down. They are controlled by remote control or voice command. Yet, the world around them seems to be still frozen in the world of today circa 2005.
If you take the robots away, and Jackmans futuristic truck away, then the movie could have walked right out of 1995 even. The world doesn't support the story it's trying to tell.
Especially when they are doing fights for cash, who even has cash these days.. Jackman has this iPhone 15 he uses, and yet they have no way to transfer e-cash or anything else. They still use cash. Even when they got their first League fight they still seem to get paid in a wad of cash (I could understand the underground fights still using cash, but official league fights??)
And these are robots, you would think that the operators would have designed some more moves for them. They aren't restricted to anatomical human movements. And we are never really informed about the rules of the fights. Shouldn't the bigger 'bots be more heavily armored and ridiculously stronger?? And in such, there would be no way a smaller weaker bot is going to beat a bigger 'bot.
Reminds me a Star Trek paradox with their ships. The bigger the ship, the bigger the energy supply. The bigger the energy supply, the stronger the shields and weapons. There is no advantage really to have anything other than the biggest ships.
But Real Steel never bothers to explain any rules of the game to us, he just throws his bots into fights. Which in itself, seems a little ridiculous. We are led to believe he's been around the block a few times. And yet he seems to be repeating the same stupid mistakes time and time again. Which would lead us to believe he was a moron, so I don't know what you'd have to call it. But when the boy is on control he knows what he's doing. Now, I realize that it can be easier to be level when looking at something else. But, he wasn't new at this. It seems to be implied he's been doing this for years. He should have learned by now, especially with Bailey reminding him and learned. Or gone broke been killed long before now.
So, as always it's in the details. And these little details caused me to never quite achieve the level of suspension to fully enjoy the movie. It was a decent movie, but something I could have waited for DVD for. And hopefully we never see a sequel.
If you want to see good movie about a sport, underground fights and the trying to get into the league. Go and rent 'The Blood of Heroes' was a fantastic movie back in the 80s.
2.5 stars out of 5
I can say that I wasn't expecting it too be all that good. The early trailers weren't so hot. And it wasn't until the last month or so that we finally got some trailers that actually made the movie look like it was worth going to.
The movie worked well enough, they tried to have it setup as a father and son movie with the boxing mixed in there.
My biggest problem with the movie, and where the suspension of disbelief failed to take hold was in the world that the movie was set in.
It's supposed to be 2027 if I remember right, and we now have these 10 foot tall 1000 pound robots, that are able to balance, and walk, run and fight without falling down. They are controlled by remote control or voice command. Yet, the world around them seems to be still frozen in the world of today circa 2005.
If you take the robots away, and Jackmans futuristic truck away, then the movie could have walked right out of 1995 even. The world doesn't support the story it's trying to tell.
Especially when they are doing fights for cash, who even has cash these days.. Jackman has this iPhone 15 he uses, and yet they have no way to transfer e-cash or anything else. They still use cash. Even when they got their first League fight they still seem to get paid in a wad of cash (I could understand the underground fights still using cash, but official league fights??)
And these are robots, you would think that the operators would have designed some more moves for them. They aren't restricted to anatomical human movements. And we are never really informed about the rules of the fights. Shouldn't the bigger 'bots be more heavily armored and ridiculously stronger?? And in such, there would be no way a smaller weaker bot is going to beat a bigger 'bot.
Reminds me a Star Trek paradox with their ships. The bigger the ship, the bigger the energy supply. The bigger the energy supply, the stronger the shields and weapons. There is no advantage really to have anything other than the biggest ships.
But Real Steel never bothers to explain any rules of the game to us, he just throws his bots into fights. Which in itself, seems a little ridiculous. We are led to believe he's been around the block a few times. And yet he seems to be repeating the same stupid mistakes time and time again. Which would lead us to believe he was a moron, so I don't know what you'd have to call it. But when the boy is on control he knows what he's doing. Now, I realize that it can be easier to be level when looking at something else. But, he wasn't new at this. It seems to be implied he's been doing this for years. He should have learned by now, especially with Bailey reminding him and learned. Or gone broke been killed long before now.
So, as always it's in the details. And these little details caused me to never quite achieve the level of suspension to fully enjoy the movie. It was a decent movie, but something I could have waited for DVD for. And hopefully we never see a sequel.
If you want to see good movie about a sport, underground fights and the trying to get into the league. Go and rent 'The Blood of Heroes' was a fantastic movie back in the 80s.
2.5 stars out of 5
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Drive
Every now and again a movie comes along that evokes the mood and flavor of a film that could have walked out of another era.
This movie reminded me very much a drama / revenge type of movie that would have been right at home in 1981 or around there.
It didn't feel Hollywood at all, and I wasn't aware of the background of the movie or it's director before I went in.
I was recommended to avoid the movie several times before I went in, people didn't like the movie, etc etc..
But I liked the movie, as mentioned it was just like a film from another era. And in no way seemed to fit the typical Hollywood mold. Whether this was what turned people off, or the fact that it had a 'R' rating and was being described as an action movie (Which I wouldn't describe it as) and were disappointed when they didn't get it, I don't know.
But when there is violence, they don't shy away from it. It's quick, and brutal. And even though there weren't any real big stars, I was more than happy with the cast. A cast who could act. Even though Goslings character was pretty dry, the two mobsters and the old mechanic (From Breaking Bad) were great.
Definitely recommended. But if you don't like the style, you will be disappointed. And in that regard reminds of M. Nights Unbreakable.. I got a lot of bad recommendations about that one too, and people seemed to be going looking for the Sixth Sense 2. And were upset when they didn't get it. And got a wholly different kind of movie altogether.
4 stars out of 5
This movie reminded me very much a drama / revenge type of movie that would have been right at home in 1981 or around there.
It didn't feel Hollywood at all, and I wasn't aware of the background of the movie or it's director before I went in.
I was recommended to avoid the movie several times before I went in, people didn't like the movie, etc etc..
But I liked the movie, as mentioned it was just like a film from another era. And in no way seemed to fit the typical Hollywood mold. Whether this was what turned people off, or the fact that it had a 'R' rating and was being described as an action movie (Which I wouldn't describe it as) and were disappointed when they didn't get it, I don't know.
But when there is violence, they don't shy away from it. It's quick, and brutal. And even though there weren't any real big stars, I was more than happy with the cast. A cast who could act. Even though Goslings character was pretty dry, the two mobsters and the old mechanic (From Breaking Bad) were great.
Definitely recommended. But if you don't like the style, you will be disappointed. And in that regard reminds of M. Nights Unbreakable.. I got a lot of bad recommendations about that one too, and people seemed to be going looking for the Sixth Sense 2. And were upset when they didn't get it. And got a wholly different kind of movie altogether.
4 stars out of 5
Contagion
Right off the top I will say that this movie reminded me a lot of the old original version of 'The Andromeda Strain'
It was like watching a documentary of sorts. It's not a gross out movie, or anything of the sort. It's a medical documentary / drama.
It was a good movie, but it's dialogue heavy, no action to speak of. And could almost be compared to a zombie movie (And some reviews have)if you think of the virus as the spread of the zombie horde infections, with the break down of society.
The part of the movie that seems to fall apart for me, is when we find out that something like 5% ( I don't remember the exact number that was mentioned) of the world was susceptible to the virus. Little hard to believe that modern society would collapse with that number. But then again, whenever there is a holiday you can't go to the grocery stores because of the people. You'd think they'd all starve if the store was closed for a day.
But then when you start to think that way, most people only have a few days to a week of supplies at home. And stores maybe a little more. And if trucks and supplies stop moving then things could rapidly spin out of control..
Which I guess is where this movies horror really is.
3.5 stars out of 5
It was like watching a documentary of sorts. It's not a gross out movie, or anything of the sort. It's a medical documentary / drama.
It was a good movie, but it's dialogue heavy, no action to speak of. And could almost be compared to a zombie movie (And some reviews have)if you think of the virus as the spread of the zombie horde infections, with the break down of society.
The part of the movie that seems to fall apart for me, is when we find out that something like 5% ( I don't remember the exact number that was mentioned) of the world was susceptible to the virus. Little hard to believe that modern society would collapse with that number. But then again, whenever there is a holiday you can't go to the grocery stores because of the people. You'd think they'd all starve if the store was closed for a day.
But then when you start to think that way, most people only have a few days to a week of supplies at home. And stores maybe a little more. And if trucks and supplies stop moving then things could rapidly spin out of control..
Which I guess is where this movies horror really is.
3.5 stars out of 5
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
I had higher than average expectations for this movie based on who was behind it. Del Torro has been doing some fantastic stuff. Especially his vampire novels.
But this movie by no means being a bad movie just didn't seem to be all that great at anything.
I didn't find the movie to be very exciting, scary, creepy, weird, surprising or anything else you could use to describe it. I did find the back story mildly interesting. And not the flashback at the beginning either. But the sequence of exposition with Holmes and the Librarian when they basically link the creatures to the tooth fairy..
The performances were ok, the house was suitably old and ancient looking.
And they manage to keep the creatures in shadow until the end.. When they just get stupid. Prime example being when they set the trip wire on the stairs to trip Holmes who basically cracks her head on the floor and passes out. Now, I will admit it's unclear if they slices her leg to hinder her, or if she did it in the fall. But either way they proved earlier they were capable of murder and could have killed her, and dragged Sally to the basement. But.. they left Holmes there so she could wake up and follow them down.
Just like the sequences with Pierce. They had the opportunity to kill him as well, but didn't. Instead opted to try and gas him to death with the car. Not too mention, all his skulking around staring into key holes just so the director could try and gross out the audience with the needles to the eye attempts.. Made no sense to me, with what he knew he should have been kicking down doors going to his kid and girlfriend, not taking his time staring into keyholes..
If anything was creepy it was Sally. I don't know the actress, but if she was acting, and not genuinely creepy she was doing a good job.
I feel this movie could have been much better than it was. It had all the pieces but they just didn't seem to click. I didn't care about any of them. Except maybe Mrs. Underhill (If I remember the name). And I had no sense of dread as Holmes discovered the houses' secret. And most of that you could see a mile away. The fact that she would be the one to believe while the father was so wrapped up in work, and not paying attention the details. Give them credit for making the Mom a deadbeat and the father dealing with it all though. As well as Holmes dying in the end instead of some sort of noble male sacrifice. I did like how that ended.
So basically overall I didn't hate the movie, but didn't particularly like it all that much either..
2.5 stars out of 5
But this movie by no means being a bad movie just didn't seem to be all that great at anything.
I didn't find the movie to be very exciting, scary, creepy, weird, surprising or anything else you could use to describe it. I did find the back story mildly interesting. And not the flashback at the beginning either. But the sequence of exposition with Holmes and the Librarian when they basically link the creatures to the tooth fairy..
The performances were ok, the house was suitably old and ancient looking.
And they manage to keep the creatures in shadow until the end.. When they just get stupid. Prime example being when they set the trip wire on the stairs to trip Holmes who basically cracks her head on the floor and passes out. Now, I will admit it's unclear if they slices her leg to hinder her, or if she did it in the fall. But either way they proved earlier they were capable of murder and could have killed her, and dragged Sally to the basement. But.. they left Holmes there so she could wake up and follow them down.
Just like the sequences with Pierce. They had the opportunity to kill him as well, but didn't. Instead opted to try and gas him to death with the car. Not too mention, all his skulking around staring into key holes just so the director could try and gross out the audience with the needles to the eye attempts.. Made no sense to me, with what he knew he should have been kicking down doors going to his kid and girlfriend, not taking his time staring into keyholes..
If anything was creepy it was Sally. I don't know the actress, but if she was acting, and not genuinely creepy she was doing a good job.
I feel this movie could have been much better than it was. It had all the pieces but they just didn't seem to click. I didn't care about any of them. Except maybe Mrs. Underhill (If I remember the name). And I had no sense of dread as Holmes discovered the houses' secret. And most of that you could see a mile away. The fact that she would be the one to believe while the father was so wrapped up in work, and not paying attention the details. Give them credit for making the Mom a deadbeat and the father dealing with it all though. As well as Holmes dying in the end instead of some sort of noble male sacrifice. I did like how that ended.
So basically overall I didn't hate the movie, but didn't particularly like it all that much either..
2.5 stars out of 5
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Fright Night and Conan The Barbarian 2011
Fright Night 2011 is a remake of a 1980s somewhat teenage vampire horror movie. Not all that bad really. It went to have a sequel, which I don't remember at all, and since it's not on Netflix yet, probably won't see until who knows when.
I will say that this is a rare movie, where the remake is much better than the original. And hopefully it does well. And from what I have read it seems to be.
It's that odd mix, of comedy with horror without becoming too much of a joke. They managed to update the film sensibly to 2011 from 1985 or so.. without it all coming apart.
And this credit I will place squarely before the feet of the writer. The one person that every movie and show needs, but usually get's the least respect and attention.
Which now leads me to my second part..
Conan The Barbarian 2011.. I mean, after almost 30 years and zillions of rewrites they still couldn't seem to make anything but a mess.
I liked the cast, it's an action movie after all. Sword and Sorcery (Not Fantasy)so I wasn't expecting Shakespeare regardless of your opinions of Momoa (See Game of Thrones or SGA)
But when you have $90 million dollars, and all the backing in the world. And the movie is simple.. And they still couldn't get the job done.
Which should be of no surprise really.. When was the last time they could make Fantasy or Swords and Sorcery anyway?? Lord of the Rings almost a decade ago, and then the original Conan movies before that.
After all, they couldn't even make a Dungeons and Dragons movie work. And that should have been easy.
They can make good action movies with cars and guns in them. But make that horses and sword and it all falls apart.
But anyway, we had one movie with a low budget $18 Million, relatively small cast. And a great writer being a 1980s remake vs another 1980s remake with $90 million budget, larger cast all the sets and backgrounds in the world. And apparently no writer to speak of And years of developement time and both in 3D and guess which one comes out ahead??
Yeah, when will they learn to start with a great writer and a better script. And stop short changing where it counts. Just because it's an action movie doesn't mean it shouldn't make any sense.
Fright Night 2011 3.5 stars out of 5
Conan The Barbarion 2011 2 stars out of 5
I will say that this is a rare movie, where the remake is much better than the original. And hopefully it does well. And from what I have read it seems to be.
It's that odd mix, of comedy with horror without becoming too much of a joke. They managed to update the film sensibly to 2011 from 1985 or so.. without it all coming apart.
And this credit I will place squarely before the feet of the writer. The one person that every movie and show needs, but usually get's the least respect and attention.
Which now leads me to my second part..
Conan The Barbarian 2011.. I mean, after almost 30 years and zillions of rewrites they still couldn't seem to make anything but a mess.
I liked the cast, it's an action movie after all. Sword and Sorcery (Not Fantasy)so I wasn't expecting Shakespeare regardless of your opinions of Momoa (See Game of Thrones or SGA)
But when you have $90 million dollars, and all the backing in the world. And the movie is simple.. And they still couldn't get the job done.
Which should be of no surprise really.. When was the last time they could make Fantasy or Swords and Sorcery anyway?? Lord of the Rings almost a decade ago, and then the original Conan movies before that.
After all, they couldn't even make a Dungeons and Dragons movie work. And that should have been easy.
They can make good action movies with cars and guns in them. But make that horses and sword and it all falls apart.
But anyway, we had one movie with a low budget $18 Million, relatively small cast. And a great writer being a 1980s remake vs another 1980s remake with $90 million budget, larger cast all the sets and backgrounds in the world. And apparently no writer to speak of And years of developement time and both in 3D and guess which one comes out ahead??
Yeah, when will they learn to start with a great writer and a better script. And stop short changing where it counts. Just because it's an action movie doesn't mean it shouldn't make any sense.
Fright Night 2011 3.5 stars out of 5
Conan The Barbarion 2011 2 stars out of 5
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hard to believe it's been so long since the last time we had a movie about apes taking over the world.
It seemed that I was in the minority when I thought that the trailers for this one were looking worse every time I managed to see one. But I am pleased to report that it was a pretty good movie.
They seemed to set a small focus, didn't try and get too out of hand. And played it small. Which let them keep things mostly believable. Because watching the trailers, there was no way I was going to believe that the apes were gonna take the city. But what we got in the movie was much smaller in scope.
And there was lots of seeds about for I've since heard will be possibly two sequels. With the hints at the missing Astronauts, and one infected person not dealt with by the end of the movie. And anything else I may have missed.
I heard a lot of complaints about Franco phoning it in, and acting like he may have still been on another project. But, I liked the cast. And Franco just seems to be one of those actors who mostly plays himself in the roles he takes. Admittedly I haven't seen him in too much, so maybe he's better than that and needs a good director to draw a performance out of him. But, mostly playing yourself in movies hasn't seemed to have harmed Tom Cruise, Arnold or Sly one bit in over 20 years. Ok, maybe Tom can actually act, but not usually.
3.5 stars out of 5
It seemed that I was in the minority when I thought that the trailers for this one were looking worse every time I managed to see one. But I am pleased to report that it was a pretty good movie.
They seemed to set a small focus, didn't try and get too out of hand. And played it small. Which let them keep things mostly believable. Because watching the trailers, there was no way I was going to believe that the apes were gonna take the city. But what we got in the movie was much smaller in scope.
And there was lots of seeds about for I've since heard will be possibly two sequels. With the hints at the missing Astronauts, and one infected person not dealt with by the end of the movie. And anything else I may have missed.
I heard a lot of complaints about Franco phoning it in, and acting like he may have still been on another project. But, I liked the cast. And Franco just seems to be one of those actors who mostly plays himself in the roles he takes. Admittedly I haven't seen him in too much, so maybe he's better than that and needs a good director to draw a performance out of him. But, mostly playing yourself in movies hasn't seemed to have harmed Tom Cruise, Arnold or Sly one bit in over 20 years. Ok, maybe Tom can actually act, but not usually.
3.5 stars out of 5
Friday, July 29, 2011
CAPTAIN AMERICA
Went to see Captain America this week. Was looking forward to this one. Figured it would be a simple, straight forward action movie. Shouldn't have been anything that they could totally screw up. Keep it simple, basic and just get things done.
And I can report that they pretty much accomplished that goal. The movie was a nice period piece, World War II story. Essentially a war movie. With just enough twist to make sure you never forgot that there was super heroes and villains involved. And you wouldn't miss that with the Nazi Pseudo Science, Steampunk type stuff running around.
I was perfectly happy with the cast, especially Red Skull. Who looked great as well. Caps costume translated well on screen, and I liked the supporting cast mostly as well.
If I had anything I would complain about, I guess it would have to be the ending. As a friend pointed out.. Why didn't they shoot up the flying wing so Cap would have to crash it. It just seemed a little too contrived for the reason to dump it. By the time we get to that point, it's hard to believe someone couldn't have come up with a plan to get him down. Except that we know he has to be frozen in the ice so that he can wake up in the future to lead the Avengers.
But, other than that It was a great comic book action movie. And I would only add I wish I could have seen it on 2D instead. This 3D crap is just that.
3.5 stars out of 5
And I can report that they pretty much accomplished that goal. The movie was a nice period piece, World War II story. Essentially a war movie. With just enough twist to make sure you never forgot that there was super heroes and villains involved. And you wouldn't miss that with the Nazi Pseudo Science, Steampunk type stuff running around.
I was perfectly happy with the cast, especially Red Skull. Who looked great as well. Caps costume translated well on screen, and I liked the supporting cast mostly as well.
If I had anything I would complain about, I guess it would have to be the ending. As a friend pointed out.. Why didn't they shoot up the flying wing so Cap would have to crash it. It just seemed a little too contrived for the reason to dump it. By the time we get to that point, it's hard to believe someone couldn't have come up with a plan to get him down. Except that we know he has to be frozen in the ice so that he can wake up in the future to lead the Avengers.
But, other than that It was a great comic book action movie. And I would only add I wish I could have seen it on 2D instead. This 3D crap is just that.
3.5 stars out of 5
Friday, July 8, 2011
Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon
So this will just be a large list of things that struck me about the movie, stream of consciousness style.
I did get to see the movie twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. I liked it better in 2D since the 3D wasn't all that much to write home about. And at a running time of almost three hours, the glasses were getting uncomfortable
Overall the movie was fun, nothing too deep. Was easily the best of the three if your want your action. The first was probably more story. This one seemed to have too much of the humans. The new transformers were just a who cares thing, not like they spent any time letting us get to know them in hardly any way. Que / Wheeljack was just creepy with that head. He looked more like a skull / zombie head than anything else.
I'm sure everyone has heard or read about most of these elsewhere but..
Megatron seemed to be just tacked on, didn't seem to have much to do
Same for Starscream
Star Trek reference at the beginning hinting at Sentinel going bad
Took a human to point out to Soundwave about keeping prisoners
Laserbeak and Starscream drooling over everything
Rosie wasn't as bad as everyone made her out to be
Wreckers didn't do much really, never see them transform that I caught
Skids and Mudflap are in one scene in alt mode if you look close
DVD / Blu Ray already scheduled for the fall
Ironhide supposed to be the heavy hitter of the team, puts up no fight really
Got to see more of Sideswipe after three movies
Got to see little of Dio / Mirage for a new character
Brains was interesting, more so than Que
Deep Wang was funny
The pseudo history thing that they introduced was interesting way to twist things
I thought only Sentinal Prime could use the pillers.. Human turns them back on at the end
Megatron is such a moron that a human goads him in a few words to turn on Sentinel just as he was going to kill prime
Prime becomes blood thirsty and kills his brother and then executes Sentinel.. Seemed like an odd turn of character
Human couldn't penetrate Decepticon air defense. And then an hour later they do it with cruise missiles no problem
Shockwave was a total Dud.. Only saw his cannon fire once.. ?!?
Prime lost his trailer and really needed it back, and suddenly he's flying around..
Prime get's hung up on wires and forgets he has blades built into his arms
There are still a ton of 'cons loose around the globe
Prime only used his cool new super shotgun once..
How did the 'Bots get back from the ocean so fast when none of them fly really
Sams parents are always entertaining
Worm monster was so so, gets wiped out once Prime decides to swat it
Wing Suit scenes.. Why didn't they just come in underwater with the SEALs, seems like they snuck under the radar totally that way
All I can think of for now, but the bots on both sides really need a lot more time making them into real characters. After three movies Rathet hardly has any personality. And when Ironhide goes down, not a mention of him.. Even Jazz got a line of remorse after Megatron destroyed him. This is a transformers movie, they should be more developed than the humans are. It's supposed to be about them. Some of these same people work on Prime, so there must be something else going on with it. TF Prime is much better than all three movies..
Not too mention by the end of the movie, it would seem that the humans don't have much trouble taking down 'Cons. And I had to wonder how they were ever a threat.
And the Autobots are just brutal. The wreckers dismember the enemy, the 'bots don't take prisoners and Prime kills everybody. Who would have though..
3 out of 5 stars
I did get to see the movie twice, once in 3D and once in 2D. I liked it better in 2D since the 3D wasn't all that much to write home about. And at a running time of almost three hours, the glasses were getting uncomfortable
Overall the movie was fun, nothing too deep. Was easily the best of the three if your want your action. The first was probably more story. This one seemed to have too much of the humans. The new transformers were just a who cares thing, not like they spent any time letting us get to know them in hardly any way. Que / Wheeljack was just creepy with that head. He looked more like a skull / zombie head than anything else.
I'm sure everyone has heard or read about most of these elsewhere but..
Megatron seemed to be just tacked on, didn't seem to have much to do
Same for Starscream
Star Trek reference at the beginning hinting at Sentinel going bad
Took a human to point out to Soundwave about keeping prisoners
Laserbeak and Starscream drooling over everything
Rosie wasn't as bad as everyone made her out to be
Wreckers didn't do much really, never see them transform that I caught
Skids and Mudflap are in one scene in alt mode if you look close
DVD / Blu Ray already scheduled for the fall
Ironhide supposed to be the heavy hitter of the team, puts up no fight really
Got to see more of Sideswipe after three movies
Got to see little of Dio / Mirage for a new character
Brains was interesting, more so than Que
Deep Wang was funny
The pseudo history thing that they introduced was interesting way to twist things
I thought only Sentinal Prime could use the pillers.. Human turns them back on at the end
Megatron is such a moron that a human goads him in a few words to turn on Sentinel just as he was going to kill prime
Prime becomes blood thirsty and kills his brother and then executes Sentinel.. Seemed like an odd turn of character
Human couldn't penetrate Decepticon air defense. And then an hour later they do it with cruise missiles no problem
Shockwave was a total Dud.. Only saw his cannon fire once.. ?!?
Prime lost his trailer and really needed it back, and suddenly he's flying around..
Prime get's hung up on wires and forgets he has blades built into his arms
There are still a ton of 'cons loose around the globe
Prime only used his cool new super shotgun once..
How did the 'Bots get back from the ocean so fast when none of them fly really
Sams parents are always entertaining
Worm monster was so so, gets wiped out once Prime decides to swat it
Wing Suit scenes.. Why didn't they just come in underwater with the SEALs, seems like they snuck under the radar totally that way
All I can think of for now, but the bots on both sides really need a lot more time making them into real characters. After three movies Rathet hardly has any personality. And when Ironhide goes down, not a mention of him.. Even Jazz got a line of remorse after Megatron destroyed him. This is a transformers movie, they should be more developed than the humans are. It's supposed to be about them. Some of these same people work on Prime, so there must be something else going on with it. TF Prime is much better than all three movies..
Not too mention by the end of the movie, it would seem that the humans don't have much trouble taking down 'Cons. And I had to wonder how they were ever a threat.
And the Autobots are just brutal. The wreckers dismember the enemy, the 'bots don't take prisoners and Prime kills everybody. Who would have though..
3 out of 5 stars
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Green Lantern 2011
For a movie with literally a galactic scope, it wasn't half bad. But, the movie seemed to be rushed to me. They spent time trying to do too much, and no single thing seemed to be fleshed out enough.
The film spent it's time trying to introduce the vastness of the Lantern Corps. expand upon Hals personal life, and character as well as try to explain to us the depth of destruction and horror that was Parallax.
So, in the end no one thing was really given much to work with. And this doesn't even touch upon the scientist that becomes infected with the yellow matter on earth. So, just seem to be a distraction, and afterthought to what else was going on.
The movie certainly didn't lack one bit in the special effects department. And the movie shifts around from earth to space and across planets no problem at all. It was only in the end, where it broke suspension of disbelief for me.
Hal takes the fight to Parallax, and they progress to Earth orbit. And suddenly they are at the asteroid belt, where was the quickly passing shot of Mars on the way by?? And suddenly they zoom out to the Sun without passing Mars, Earth, Venus or Mercury.. now to be picky the planets could have been nowhere to be seen depending on their orbits.. But it just seemed odd to be whipping around so quickly, with no references..
To get back to Parallax, we never really get the feel for how massive and horrifying he should be. We seem to be told all about it, and we get some fleeting shots of how he is capable of consuming worlds.. But nothing concrete enough. As far as I am concerned.
We get the forging of the yellow ring, and the setup for Sinestro in a sequel assuming there will be one.
The cast wasn't bad at all. I was rather pleased with Hal, Sinestro and the look of everyone over all. The CG constumes were somewhat odd to look at. And the Corps. seemed to use a lot of technology for my taste. Space ships and stuff.
But then my major exposure to them is through the JLA Animated series having never read the comics.
I would say it wasn't really a bad comic movie, but was a bit of a mess. And needed a tighter script. Seemed to be wandering and trying to get into too much. We needed to see more of Parallax. But considering how much it must have cost per minute on screen, I'm not surprised we didn't. And therefore, I didn't find it so credible as a threat. Just this big bad we were supposed to be really worried about, that in the end gets knocked out in 2 minutes.
2.5 stars out of 5
The film spent it's time trying to introduce the vastness of the Lantern Corps. expand upon Hals personal life, and character as well as try to explain to us the depth of destruction and horror that was Parallax.
So, in the end no one thing was really given much to work with. And this doesn't even touch upon the scientist that becomes infected with the yellow matter on earth. So, just seem to be a distraction, and afterthought to what else was going on.
The movie certainly didn't lack one bit in the special effects department. And the movie shifts around from earth to space and across planets no problem at all. It was only in the end, where it broke suspension of disbelief for me.
Hal takes the fight to Parallax, and they progress to Earth orbit. And suddenly they are at the asteroid belt, where was the quickly passing shot of Mars on the way by?? And suddenly they zoom out to the Sun without passing Mars, Earth, Venus or Mercury.. now to be picky the planets could have been nowhere to be seen depending on their orbits.. But it just seemed odd to be whipping around so quickly, with no references..
To get back to Parallax, we never really get the feel for how massive and horrifying he should be. We seem to be told all about it, and we get some fleeting shots of how he is capable of consuming worlds.. But nothing concrete enough. As far as I am concerned.
We get the forging of the yellow ring, and the setup for Sinestro in a sequel assuming there will be one.
The cast wasn't bad at all. I was rather pleased with Hal, Sinestro and the look of everyone over all. The CG constumes were somewhat odd to look at. And the Corps. seemed to use a lot of technology for my taste. Space ships and stuff.
But then my major exposure to them is through the JLA Animated series having never read the comics.
I would say it wasn't really a bad comic movie, but was a bit of a mess. And needed a tighter script. Seemed to be wandering and trying to get into too much. We needed to see more of Parallax. But considering how much it must have cost per minute on screen, I'm not surprised we didn't. And therefore, I didn't find it so credible as a threat. Just this big bad we were supposed to be really worried about, that in the end gets knocked out in 2 minutes.
2.5 stars out of 5
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Netflix Canada
I've been holding off on writing anything about this since it launched back in September. Figured I should give it lots of time to get launched, and flesh itself out before passing any kind of 'Judgement' over it.
At this point I have been a member since September of last year. And some of the items I have watched aren't even available on the service any longer.
But for the last two weeks I have been mainly watching DVDs and running Netflix and decided to keep more of my money in my pocket, instead of paying the Satellite companies for crappy choices and poor programming. But most of this is a topic of it's own.
So, in regards to Netflix, I have had discussions with friends south of the border about it. And apparently they aren't too fond of Netflix down there. If that is the case, they certainly wouldn't like what passes for Netflix Canada.
But if your looking for a service to replace Blockbuster or your local neighborhood video store than you will have to keep looking. Because this isn't it.
I can agree with the statements that some of the Cable company execs. have apparently been quoted as saying they didn't fear Netflix, it would be an additional service that people would run alongside their current cable subscriptions.
Programming is updated semi-regularly. For instance, this week something like 50 items were added. And of those I found about 10 that I flagged to watch.
The catalog mostly consists of older titles, Indy, Documentaries, Television Shows, BBC, some recent titles and a lot of kids and Anime. Which suits me just fine at this point.
I have been able to now for almost a year watch things I would never have discovered or seen otherwise. And some Television programming I didn't get, but was available such as Damages, Justified and Leverage. And some great BBC titles like Outlaw, The State Within and Survivors.
Once I cut back in the TV programming I find that I never really watched it anyway. During the regular season what I mainly watched is on the networks anyway. So, I was paying double to have channels that I didn't usually watch. They were just noise in the background.
So in the fall I will still have my NCIS, Supernatural, NCIS Los Angeles, Bones, House and whatnot.. And as long as 'flix keeps updating I'm sure there will be something on that's interesting.
After all I just watched the doc on Harlan Ellison recently, and it was fantastic. Not too mention an Indy flick YPF which in ways was funnier than Hangover 2 and a hell of a lot more controversial.
So I know there are a lot of whiners and complainers since 'Flix launched up here. And the problem would seem to be that they are expecting the wrong thing from the service. Right now at least, and what my American friends have said it will never replace the local video store anyway.
Reminds of when reviewers go to see a Michael Bay movie expecting Shakespeare and complain when they don't get it. Right over their heads.
Netflix is what it is, and it's doing an ok job of being a supplemental service for video entertainment. You never know what interesting little movies, docs, anime or shows you'll find. But the latest and greatest won't be it.
I will say if your watching a series work through it. Because titles seem to vanish with no notice at all.
At this point I have been a member since September of last year. And some of the items I have watched aren't even available on the service any longer.
But for the last two weeks I have been mainly watching DVDs and running Netflix and decided to keep more of my money in my pocket, instead of paying the Satellite companies for crappy choices and poor programming. But most of this is a topic of it's own.
So, in regards to Netflix, I have had discussions with friends south of the border about it. And apparently they aren't too fond of Netflix down there. If that is the case, they certainly wouldn't like what passes for Netflix Canada.
But if your looking for a service to replace Blockbuster or your local neighborhood video store than you will have to keep looking. Because this isn't it.
I can agree with the statements that some of the Cable company execs. have apparently been quoted as saying they didn't fear Netflix, it would be an additional service that people would run alongside their current cable subscriptions.
Programming is updated semi-regularly. For instance, this week something like 50 items were added. And of those I found about 10 that I flagged to watch.
The catalog mostly consists of older titles, Indy, Documentaries, Television Shows, BBC, some recent titles and a lot of kids and Anime. Which suits me just fine at this point.
I have been able to now for almost a year watch things I would never have discovered or seen otherwise. And some Television programming I didn't get, but was available such as Damages, Justified and Leverage. And some great BBC titles like Outlaw, The State Within and Survivors.
Once I cut back in the TV programming I find that I never really watched it anyway. During the regular season what I mainly watched is on the networks anyway. So, I was paying double to have channels that I didn't usually watch. They were just noise in the background.
So in the fall I will still have my NCIS, Supernatural, NCIS Los Angeles, Bones, House and whatnot.. And as long as 'flix keeps updating I'm sure there will be something on that's interesting.
After all I just watched the doc on Harlan Ellison recently, and it was fantastic. Not too mention an Indy flick YPF which in ways was funnier than Hangover 2 and a hell of a lot more controversial.
So I know there are a lot of whiners and complainers since 'Flix launched up here. And the problem would seem to be that they are expecting the wrong thing from the service. Right now at least, and what my American friends have said it will never replace the local video store anyway.
Reminds of when reviewers go to see a Michael Bay movie expecting Shakespeare and complain when they don't get it. Right over their heads.
Netflix is what it is, and it's doing an ok job of being a supplemental service for video entertainment. You never know what interesting little movies, docs, anime or shows you'll find. But the latest and greatest won't be it.
I will say if your watching a series work through it. Because titles seem to vanish with no notice at all.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Green Lantern Emerald Knights
DC continues it's line of usually great quality animated features with Green Lantern Emerald Knights.
A series of connected stories of the corp told to one of the newest members as they struggle with an emerging threat.
Animation is good, voice acting is good. And the stories weren't bad. I kind of wish we had more detail to the main plot, of the creature or beast coming through the star to threaten the corp. But the individual stories were interesting enough to make up for it.
I have this strange feeling, that this could easily be the better of the two Lantern movies coming out this month. But, I'm hoping the live action one this weekend holds up.
I'm sure I missed a few of DCs animated features, the last Superman one comes to mind. And I didn't find the Wonder Woman one all that great. And the majority of the Batman ones, well.. are just brilliant. At least as long as Kevin Conroy was involved.
This was a great feature.
3.5 stars out of 5
A series of connected stories of the corp told to one of the newest members as they struggle with an emerging threat.
Animation is good, voice acting is good. And the stories weren't bad. I kind of wish we had more detail to the main plot, of the creature or beast coming through the star to threaten the corp. But the individual stories were interesting enough to make up for it.
I have this strange feeling, that this could easily be the better of the two Lantern movies coming out this month. But, I'm hoping the live action one this weekend holds up.
I'm sure I missed a few of DCs animated features, the last Superman one comes to mind. And I didn't find the Wonder Woman one all that great. And the majority of the Batman ones, well.. are just brilliant. At least as long as Kevin Conroy was involved.
This was a great feature.
3.5 stars out of 5
Friday, June 10, 2011
Bridesmaids
This movie struck me as the other side of the coin from The Hangover Part II.
The same type of movie, but the female version. And this one was much better. I found the movie to be a lot more even, and the characters and situations a lot more believable.
The movie has its moments, and the laughs were more frequent. The characters themselves are a lot more likable, and easier to relate to.
Not much else to say about it, I felt my money was better spent going to this movie than the Hangover Part II.
3 out of 5 stars
The same type of movie, but the female version. And this one was much better. I found the movie to be a lot more even, and the characters and situations a lot more believable.
The movie has its moments, and the laughs were more frequent. The characters themselves are a lot more likable, and easier to relate to.
Not much else to say about it, I felt my money was better spent going to this movie than the Hangover Part II.
3 out of 5 stars
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Hangover Part II
The Hangover Part II. The continuing adventures of the Wolf pack.
I'm not quite sure if remaking the original movie this soon, in a different location was a masterstroke, or just lazy rehash of the original.. You could kind of look at it, as a mystery.. Every installment places the same comic people in a new location, where they need to locate the missing member..
Anyway, it's not a bad movie by any stretch I don't think. Just like most comedies I seem to go to, it has it funny moments. Just not enough of them.
And this movie they seemed to have honed in the fact that Allan was apparently the comedic genius of the first film. And decided to ratchet him up to 11 in this one. The problem is that he isn't all that funny. Not in large doses anyway. If you've seen the trailers, than you have seen all the best Allan - isms. And I was pretty tired of them by the time I got to 'Due Date' now that I look back on them. Or maybe I should say Zackisms..
This is apparently the second of a trilogy, and supposedly the third installment will be different. And I hope it is. Because as negative as this may come off, I wouldn't mind having another go with the franchise.
Overall, not a bad movie. Not real good. Some laughs, but not enough of them. The monkey was good though.
2.5 stars out of 5
I'm not quite sure if remaking the original movie this soon, in a different location was a masterstroke, or just lazy rehash of the original.. You could kind of look at it, as a mystery.. Every installment places the same comic people in a new location, where they need to locate the missing member..
Anyway, it's not a bad movie by any stretch I don't think. Just like most comedies I seem to go to, it has it funny moments. Just not enough of them.
And this movie they seemed to have honed in the fact that Allan was apparently the comedic genius of the first film. And decided to ratchet him up to 11 in this one. The problem is that he isn't all that funny. Not in large doses anyway. If you've seen the trailers, than you have seen all the best Allan - isms. And I was pretty tired of them by the time I got to 'Due Date' now that I look back on them. Or maybe I should say Zackisms..
This is apparently the second of a trilogy, and supposedly the third installment will be different. And I hope it is. Because as negative as this may come off, I wouldn't mind having another go with the franchise.
Overall, not a bad movie. Not real good. Some laughs, but not enough of them. The monkey was good though.
2.5 stars out of 5
Sunday, June 5, 2011
X-Men First Class
I will state straight off the top, that this was one of the best comic book movies I have seen, ranking up there with Spiderman 1 and Iron Man 1.
And the cast was fantastic. The new actors in the roles of Prof. X and Magneto totally outshine the casting of the original X-Men movies. I was much happier with these two. And I hope they continue the roles. No slight against Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen but as far as I'm concerned they were blown away.
From the young actors cast as Banshee, down to Beast or Havok. It seems that they did a great job on casting. Only a couple I wasn't as impressed with.
I found the movie to be well written, everything moved right along. And the powers and special effects were secondary to the story and the characters. As it should be. That would seem to be where other movies tend to fall down. The script always seems to take a back seat to effects. And the whole house of cards suffers because of it.
This is supposedly the first of a new trilogy, and I say bring it on. I can't wait for the next two. Assuming they can keep the original crew together.
Now, as much as I used to read X-Men when I was a kid. I don't remember it in any great detail, and theres many things about this movie that didn't make sense when you look at it with a comic light. But then, I wasn't really. And as a movie, it turned out much better than expected. And this probably goes for the original film trilogy as well. Forget about it in light of seeing the start of this new series. Even with a few nods it gives and one special appearance.
4 out of 5 stars
And the cast was fantastic. The new actors in the roles of Prof. X and Magneto totally outshine the casting of the original X-Men movies. I was much happier with these two. And I hope they continue the roles. No slight against Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellen but as far as I'm concerned they were blown away.
From the young actors cast as Banshee, down to Beast or Havok. It seems that they did a great job on casting. Only a couple I wasn't as impressed with.
I found the movie to be well written, everything moved right along. And the powers and special effects were secondary to the story and the characters. As it should be. That would seem to be where other movies tend to fall down. The script always seems to take a back seat to effects. And the whole house of cards suffers because of it.
This is supposedly the first of a new trilogy, and I say bring it on. I can't wait for the next two. Assuming they can keep the original crew together.
Now, as much as I used to read X-Men when I was a kid. I don't remember it in any great detail, and theres many things about this movie that didn't make sense when you look at it with a comic light. But then, I wasn't really. And as a movie, it turned out much better than expected. And this probably goes for the original film trilogy as well. Forget about it in light of seeing the start of this new series. Even with a few nods it gives and one special appearance.
4 out of 5 stars
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Goodbye Blockbuster
It would appear that the entire chain isn't going away. But the local BB here is. I got my membership card way back 15 years ago when they first opened up shop.
And I will have to admit, that I was not and never have been much of a customer of theirs. We only have one location, on the other side of the city from me. And their rental prices were always higher, more often than not double that of a local store just 5 mins walk from my house.
And buying movies from them was always a mixed bag, due to their prices as well. I found when I used to collect movies that around Xmas and New Years was the time I would shop for good deals there.
But in the the last two years I haven't bought many DVDs / Bluray since I tend not too watch things more than once or twice with rare exception. And Netflix has come around, and has worked out well so I could divert that money into another hobby beyond collecting movies. Which have as much retained value as week old meatloaf, and about as much fun.
But the one spot where I did take advantage was their Game Pass system. For one monthly fee you could rent one game at a time, and switch it out as often as your like. Or keep it as long as you needed to finish it. And it was much more convenient to deal with them for this, than the online ones who offer the same services, and cheaper. But dealing the mail was a real pain. But it seems with a handful of items coming out this fall that I wanted to play, and buying is not an option really. Since games have hit $70+ a pop here new, and like movies I don't usually play them more than once. And don't normally dip into DLC. Renting is my best option. I will have to return to the online renting, for Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and several other titles on the horizon. Hopefully Canada Post will be back to work by then.
And I will have to admit, that I was not and never have been much of a customer of theirs. We only have one location, on the other side of the city from me. And their rental prices were always higher, more often than not double that of a local store just 5 mins walk from my house.
And buying movies from them was always a mixed bag, due to their prices as well. I found when I used to collect movies that around Xmas and New Years was the time I would shop for good deals there.
But in the the last two years I haven't bought many DVDs / Bluray since I tend not too watch things more than once or twice with rare exception. And Netflix has come around, and has worked out well so I could divert that money into another hobby beyond collecting movies. Which have as much retained value as week old meatloaf, and about as much fun.
But the one spot where I did take advantage was their Game Pass system. For one monthly fee you could rent one game at a time, and switch it out as often as your like. Or keep it as long as you needed to finish it. And it was much more convenient to deal with them for this, than the online ones who offer the same services, and cheaper. But dealing the mail was a real pain. But it seems with a handful of items coming out this fall that I wanted to play, and buying is not an option really. Since games have hit $70+ a pop here new, and like movies I don't usually play them more than once. And don't normally dip into DLC. Renting is my best option. I will have to return to the online renting, for Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and several other titles on the horizon. Hopefully Canada Post will be back to work by then.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean 4 : Stranger Tides
Someone tell me why this movie was made?? I can at least say that the 3D wasn't bad. But as for the rest of it??
The whole movie just didn't seem to really gel all that well. Even Jack Sparrow didn't seem to be himself.
Not much to say I guess, the whole thing just seemed to fall flat. The check cashing party they must have had when they all got hired was probably more entertaining than this 2hrs + of wasted time was.
Forget you even heard of this movie.
Move along, nothing to see here..
2 stars out of 5
The whole movie just didn't seem to really gel all that well. Even Jack Sparrow didn't seem to be himself.
Not much to say I guess, the whole thing just seemed to fall flat. The check cashing party they must have had when they all got hired was probably more entertaining than this 2hrs + of wasted time was.
Forget you even heard of this movie.
Move along, nothing to see here..
2 stars out of 5
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