| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Devil's Den - Unrated | It takes a really bad movie to force me into fond reminiscence of 'From Dusk Till Dawn.' That's what this movie tries to offer but only manages a protracted exercise in vampiric boredom. While the characters in FDTD were repulsive, at least they were memorable. If you're expecting boobs and blood, there's precious few of the former and a sizable sluice of the latter but tapped through repetitive action scenes. | December 29, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Jacob's Ladder - R | Wow, haven't seen a movie this freaky in awhile. Insanity vs reality, angels vs demons, past vs present, never letting you get comfortable with your surroundings and always ready to pull out the rug from underneath. I enjoyed that discombobulation and squirmed at the grisly images, this movie undeniably made me uneasy. However I cannot but feel disappointed with the conclusion since after careful reflection it's apparent that most of the movie could not have possibly happened yet, even in his head. I don't mind being manipulated if the rules are consistent, but Jacob's Ladder is playing 3-card monte with us - the lady isn't there to be found. | December 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End - PG-13 |
Bloated with a capital 'Bloat,' , Pirates of the Caribbean seems to delusionally believe its amusement-park ride mythology rivals the thousands-of-pages compendium Lord of the Rings. While the attempt to build its world is boldly made, the further blending of the natural and supernatural, while annoyingly cribbing from a variety of unconnected legends, proves unwieldy. Gore Verbinski cannot be faulted for presentation though, as the look, although soggy and grimy, convincingly transports to the golden age of warships and piracy on the high seas. It's interesting in this DVD age how At World's End immediately assumes its audience has purchased and re-watched its predecessor multiple times, gone are the inclusions of flashbacks or back-tracking dialogue to get an audience back up to speed. I must admit that I was a little lost with character motivations as 2 years have passed since I saw Dead Man's Chest, so the actions of Will Turner and Elizabeth caught me unprepared. But even at 2:45, there were not many slow patches, and the ludicrous action was confined to the final sequences. Unfortunately the movie sorely lacks is a threatening, or even interesting villain in the British admiral who is as wooden as the splinters flying around him when his vessel is broadsided. Reasons to watch At World's End are: 1) You've seen Parts 1 and 2 already. At World's End gives some closure to certain characters (although not always satisfyingly) and is a definite improvement over Dead Man's Chest. 2) Johnny Depp finds new ways to entertain as the ever-resourceful scoundrel Jack Sparrow, for me he contributes half the PotC experience. 3) Incredible special effects, effectively blending in heavy CGI. From the ships being ripped apart by cannon fire to the tentacles of Davy Jones' 'beard,' great attention to detail went into their design. 4) Good old-fashioned grand escapist attitude. 5) Keira Knightley gets to do what women rarely have the opportunity to do in film: deliver a fiery Henry V Agincourt-style motivational speech to the troops. 6) Keith Richards in an amusing in-joke pirate cameo. |
December 22, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Spirit Trap - R | December 19, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Disturbing Behavior - R | December 19, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Private Fears in Public Places (Coeurs) - Unrated | December 19, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Cherish - R |
A fresh take on the thriller genre, which really isn't a thriller most of the time, in fact the thriller elements get in the way! Robin Tunney is an (overly) talkative, socially awkward, music loving computer animator who during a sodden night out crashes and kills a cop after a mysterious stranger carjacks her and then flees the scene. Whew! Nobody believes her story, so while awaiting trial she is placed under house arrest in a new, downtrodden neighborhood (she had to sell her condo to pay her lawyer) and fitted with an ankle transmitter that only allows her 57 feet distance from an alarm beacon. This is where the bulk of the film - and entertainment - lies, in her apartment awaiting trial. Her only acquaintances are her invalid downstairs neighbor and the ankle bracelet security officer who makes routine visits. The relationships and twists that develop are surprising yet believable. Tunney alone bears the weight of the movie as she features in nearly every scene, and her quirkily appealing performance won my affection. Tim Blake Nelson also hits the bulls-eye, but Liz Phair....well, it's fun to see her appear in a movie once. Nice in-joke of her whitechocolatespaceegg album displayed at the checkout counter of a record store. The thriller elements are competent but fairly routine, and with a resolution that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Normally these deficiencies would kill a movie, but the characters and occurrences are so fun to watch that the thriller aspect became secondary. Filled with '80s songs that fit perfectly with the mood of each scene. A modest, enjoyably offbeat sleeper. |
December 19, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Little Fish - R |
Little Fish, Or, Lord of the Syringes: Elrond And Galadriel's Mystical Journey To Junkietown. This Australian production is one of the best films centered around drug addiction that I have seen because it's told with a fresh approach. Cate Blanchett is brilliant as usual as Tracey Heart, a former addict successfully getting her life back together. Her problem is that she's still surrounded by all the people from those dark days: her brother & mother, her semi-boyfriend (a former footy star outstandingly portrayed by an unrecognizable Hugo Weaving), and her serious ex-boyfriend just came back to town after a 4-year exile. What makes this film so involving is that we don't know all the details of the past, and we see relationships develop that other characters are unaware of. Furthermore, there is no explicit drug use, we only see the effects, and as Tracey's efforts at securing a bank loan to expand her business falter, we see those effects extend for years far beyond the drugs themselves. Desperate for money, she forms a partnership and embarks on a climactic encounter fraught with tension with a completely un-Hollywood, open-ended conclusion. Strongly recommended for its type. |
December 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Good Luck Chuck - R | A distinct case of "not as bad as." This comedy is not as bad as most reviews indicate. Jessica Alba is not as bad an actress as people like to say. Dane Cook's annoying factor is not as bad as could be, especially compared to co-star Dan Fogler. Mind you, these don't add up to a great comedy, but there are some laughs and scenes with genuine feeling. In fact, 'Good Luck Chuck' at its core is a very old-fashioned romantic comedy, with some sweet moments between Cook & Alba, but for some unknown reason superimposed some raunchy, and occasionally downright distasteful gags on top. An R-rated romantic comedy could work, and they generally try to keep the tone light, but somehow comes out all wrong here. | December 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Bloody Mallory - R | December 12, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Little Women - PG | December 8, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| You, Me and Dupree - PG-13 |
"That can't be good." "Not for us, and not for the couch." Exactly what you'd expect, buoyed by Owen Wilson's effortless boyish charisma. I did enjoy his Career Day speech in defense of the born loser. |
December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Brokedown Palace - PG-13 | If you've seen one girls-in-foreign-country-planted-with-drugs-and-thrown-in-prison movie, you've seen 'em all. Problem is that while most of those predecessors are nudie shlockfests, this one wants to be taken seriously. | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Stardust - PG-13 | Boy I feel like a real curmudgeon years before I'm eligible by not giving 'Stardust' a recommendation. This movie has its heart in the right place, but the mythos its based on seems gaunt. A magic world within England separated by a 4 foot high stone wall? Maybe director Matthew Vaughn's to blame for the lack of wonder by streamlining the book source material. Claire Danes falls into this kingdom after getting knocked out of orbit by a necklace - yes, a necklace! Did I mention she is a star? Not as in movie star, but a star in the sky star. If you're startled or amazed by that revelation, then you're more agog than the 19th century shopboy who crosses her path. And that's a big problem with the mood of this film: witches and unicorns and flying ships do little to shake the shopboy, the 'normal' person we as an audience are supposed to identify with as an outsider in this strange world. Yet if he's not fazed by turning into a mouse and back again, why should we be? I've heard comparisons to 'The Princess Bride' and maybe that's the kind of fantasy they were striving for, but lacks that classic's charm and humor. Oh there's charm and humor here too, but in a poor man's 'Princess Bride' sort of way. | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Dead of Night - R | Eerily reminiscent of a theatrical elongation of a 'Twilight Zone' installment, except that program hadn't been conceived yet! So I can only presume Rod Serling was a fan of 'Dead of Night.' This similarity results in familiarity, which unfortunately works against the movie through no fault of its own. Still, the tales are almost all engaging and includes a neat paradoxial twist at the end - a trademark of that TV show. | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Honeymoon Killers - R | Claims to be "fact-based" account of the con-artist couple known as The Lonely Hearts Killers during the 1940s, but only scratches the surface depicting two swindles and three murders, when they may have killed as many as twenty. Very low-budget look lends a very effective, seedy atmosphere filmed in stark black-and-white. The murder sequences are very chilling. The criminal couple are truly awful human beings and spending 100 minutes in their company proves quite unpleasant, I might prefer watching an hourlong documentary on the History channel about their case instead. Would get more of the facts too. | December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Crimewave - Unrated | In a word: wacky. Make that wackywackywacky! From start to finish, a manic, at times surrealist adventure chronicling one crazy night when a co-owner of a home-security business hires two psychotic exterminators to off his partner for selling him out. Neighbors, onlookers, and innocent bystanders all become involved in the mayhem with very broad, often cartoonish characterizations. Great camerawork and imagination with several laugh-out-loud moments (best: the final expression of Mr. Yarman.) Only a protracted car chase/cliffhanger bogs down the silliness. Not unlike an early Coen brothers comedy, and not at all surprising since they co-wrote the script with pal Sam Raimi directing one of his earliest films (which means a great role for smarmily handsome Bruce Campbell as a smug, slick-talking heel.) Five times more entertaining than Spider-Man for 1/50th the cost. | December 4, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Cheung Gong 7 hou (CJ7) (Long River 7) - PG | In order to preserve the surprises, I try to know as little as possible about a movie before I see it. Great policy in the long run but sometimes that technique backfires. Like with CJ7, I saw the name Stephen Chow attached and falsely assumed he was kicking tail in this movie! Instead turns out this is a kids' movie, d'oh!! Probably no worse than what Disney offers these days, but I wasn't interested in continuing this CGI-reliant predictable sap beyond a half-hour. Worse, I caught the dubbed version with atrocious voice acting. | December 3, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Three on a Match - Unrated | December 3, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Lost Souls - R |
More grounded than most possession/end-of-the-world movies. Put another way, more 'Rosemary's Baby' than 'The Exorcist' which is the smarter, more interesting path. Intriguing enough to pull me along and well acted by the leads, smoky-eyed Winona Ryder and earnest Ben Chaplin. However the transitions from scene to scene are downright poor, here are a few examples: A man pursuing the protags is transforming into a beast in an empty house. Cut to: Protags running down the street. Ryder says Chaplin will become Satan incarnate on his 33rd birthday unless they can find a solution. With wide-eyed horror, Chaplin reveals that his birthday is tomorrow. Cut to: the pair of them leisurely sharing a coffee and cigarette on a terrace. WTF?!?!? Protags are beset upon by a hundred parishioners, Chaplin shoots two. Cut to: Protags running down the street. It's as if the screenwriter couldn't figure out how to extricate the heroes from sticky situations, so he simply excused himself from the task! Afraid that won't cut it, mate. Fittingly, the movie ends on an anticlimactic beat too: I was left there thinking, "That's it? That's the best resolution you came up with?" Possession movies are usually hokey yawners, but at least 'Lost Souls' tried putting some style into the proceedings. |
December 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Treasure of the Sierra Madre - Unrated | Still a great, tension-filled fable on the insidious evils of greed. One of Bogart's best and widest-ranging performances, Walter Huston also perfect as wizened prospector. | December 1, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Dead End - R | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Our Man in Havana - Unrated | If you're familiar with Alec Guinness' other 1950s comedies, 'Our Man in Havana' fits in nicely among them with its unhurried pace and dry sense of humor. Not as funny as either 'The Ladykillers' or 'The Lavender Hill Mob,' but more sustained than 'The Man In the White Suit.' | November 29, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Fantastic Mr. Fox - PG | November 29, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Dolls - R | November 29, 2009 | N/A |
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