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XXX: The Return of Xander Cage - Unrated
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December 30, 2009
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N/A
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She's All That - PG-13
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She's All That follows the same basic plot line we've all seen millions of times over. The reason this movie was as entertaining as it was, was due to both Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. They have this likeable quality about them, that makes you want them to be happy together. Of course, in a movie like this, all the characters are pretty stereotypical. There's also the supporting cast including Anna Paquin as Mackenzie Siler, Zack Siler's sister, and Kieran Culkin as Simon Boggs, Laney Boogs' little brother, Elden Henson as Laney Boogs' nerdy good friend, not forgetting a very subdued performance of Wayne Boggs, Laney Boogs' father from Kevin Pollak. Of course there's the two camps of followers and the soundtrack music, yet the story's told in a pretty good pace, event after event with timely interludes. Kudos to director Robert Iscove and writer R. Lee Fleming Jr. All in all a wholesome teenage tale with no violence nor sex. The one thing that sort of bothered me about the two main stars was that they looked too far apart in age at time. I figure they're both supposed to be seniors in high school, but he looks 20, and she looks 14. She's All That was a fun movie to watch. Nothing unexpected happens and you all know what's going to happen right from the start, but with Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook leading the way, it's still a good movie to see.
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December 30, 2009
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N/A
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Children of Men - R
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This movie has an interesting premise to begin with, where we can question the What If's, whether our evolution can begin to go down that slippery slope, and if that chief reproduction problem could be tied down to technology, or ecology, that Nature or God just decided that our plundering of the Earth is enough, and it's time for us to take our place in history. Curiously, much of the context can be tied back to the current world sentiments, with issues like freedom fighters, homeland security, the corruption of those in power, and even a reference back in time to a flu pandemic which we are facing right now. Based upon the novel by P.D. James, director Alfonso Cuaron deftly incorporated many of today's world into this not too distant future that we may be in danger of slipping into and the despair that will come and plunge everyone into, which is expertly placed in and around the visual backdrop of the story. Children of Men accomplished what films like Babylon A.D. failed, where both on the surface deals with a protector of the last hope of mankind, and having to overcome various obstacles posed by those who are corrupt, and want to politicize humanity's last chance for their own ends. It goes to show that special effects if done right, will add a superb cinematic dimension and wow you. Babylon A.D. didn't offer anything new, and neither did Children of Men in terms of its cinematography, but its detailed and brilliantly crafted continuous take in action sequences, simply steals your breath away. And as if the filmmakers here are set on sadistically challenging themselves, they do no less than 4 of such scenes with increasing complexity, that has to be seen, admired and appreciated. With amazing landscapes created, Children of Men tells a lot without showing you everything in verbatim. It has plenty of cultural references and metaphors, back stories of characters that make you care about them, eye popping effects and an excellent cast.
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December 30, 2009
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N/A
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Surrogates - PG-13
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Like Gerard Butler's Gamer, Surrogates deal with the rapid advancement of technology, where robotic avatars providing that intermediate buffer between the actual person, and the world they inhabit. With proponents of the Surrogate system worried that a recent glitch resulting in the death of their human controllers would spiral mass panic and a system integrity meltdown and opponents of the system who are more for pro-human activity over playing god and living a life with induced experiences. However, the under 90 minute runtime, which was somewhat of a surprise to me, only allowed very cursory suggestions of such themes about man's obsession to create the perfect society, and our growing technological reliance. That proved to be a weakness in the story, as it had ideas that weren't allowed to be properly developed, resulting in some rather scatter-brained subplots that were thrown around without much resolution. Director Jonathan Mastow can't seem to steer himself away from robots. His previous movie was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and here metallic robots with superhuman abilities lie under the synthetic human flesh. The main narrative follows Bruce Willis' cop Tom Greer who has to unravel a murder mystery, while at the same time in wanting to add some emotional impact to his dogged looking character, gets faced with some matrimonial issues with his spouse, played by Rosamund Pike. The movie had tried to cram too much in too little time, resulting in a rushed job that would have been better received should it have a little more focus. Not to say that it was as bad or worse than Gamer, but it could have delivered a more focused story.
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December 25, 2009
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N/A
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Shinobi (Shinobi: Heart Under Blade) - R
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December 23, 2009
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N/A
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Sherlock Holmes - PG-13
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December 23, 2009
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N/A
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G-Force - PG
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G-force, the family adventure by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, isn't a bad movie by any count and works as a fun kids movie. But a tired and formulaic plot means the movie is no 'must-watch' by any means and caters mostly to the little ones. To begin with the positives, the animation is top-notch. The guinea pigs look very photo-realistic and after a few minutes you forget they're CGI. There are plenty of jokes to keep a smile on your face. But, the plot is tired and doesn't attempt to bring anything new to the table. There are subplots strangely similar to Bolt and the finale has an uncanny resemblance to Transformers. Aside from being predictable from the very start, the biggest problem here comes out in the final reels, the villain's motivations are laughably ridiculous. Another problem is the action scenes. There are too many of them, and most of them are uninvolving. The voice acting is impressive. Sam Rockwell, Penelope Cruz and Nicolas Cage do a great job bringing their characters to life. Bill Nighty plays a stock villain with no character development or motivation and it comes across badly. Zach Galifianakis impresses as the leader of the team, but Will Arnett is wasted in a small and too serious of a role for a comedian of his caliber. G-force had an interesting bunch of characters on screen, but unfortunately they settled on making cookie-cutter Hollywood fare than something truly unique.
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December 23, 2009
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N/A
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The Transporter - PG-13
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Luc Besson presents yet another stylish action movie that should please fans of undemanding, macho fare. This movie works so well for a number of reasons. First of all, the pacing is perfect with an action beat every few scenes up until we get to the final continuous sequences. There are plenty of great stunts and fight moments, exactly what you would expect from the teaming up of Luc Besson and Corey Yuen. Secondly, the movie is absolutely all about Jason Statham and he carries it off with aplomb, bringing a real edge and physicality to the lead role and cementing himself as someone who can definitely fistfight his way through hordes of henchmen. Round things out with a good, pulsating soundtrack, a fantastic turn from Matt Schulze as the kind of smug, unflappable baddie that we always enjoy watching and and almost Casablanca-like relationship between Jason Statham's character and Inspector Tarconi (wonderfully portrayed by François Berléand) and you have enough plus points to cover over any uneven patches. A great, fun action movie.
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December 22, 2009
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N/A
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Did You Hear About the Morgans? - PG-13
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December 19, 2009
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N/A
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King Kong - PG-13
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King Kong certainly does have it's moments of greatness. What else was to expect from the director who before dazzled the world with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Most of the emotions work out well in the movie but are perhaps not as powerful as they truly could had been. This is because the movie suffers from some flawed storytelling and a flawed story in general. The editing and pace is lacking at times, which does make the movie a bit tiresome to watch at moments. The movie begins promising but after that it drags for the about next 45 minutes. At certain points, when characters get divided or split-up, the story doesn't feel as a whole and every characters seems to play a role in their own personal movie, that were all thrown together again in the editing room to make one movie out of. It makes the way the story is told feel absolutely weak and flawed at certain moments. But, the visuals of the movie are splendid, even though the movie didn't really gave a typical 1930's feeling. The actors in the movie are good. The movie could had been so much more powerful and certainly more realistic if they had only spend more time on the script and gave the other characters also some more screen time, instead of just mainly only focusing on Ann Darrow and Kong. The movie is a summer blockbuster and of course the story comes secondary, however the movie suffers from it's flawed story and storytelling. It's so obvious that the story is just almost totally empty and the movie is nothing more than one spectacular but yet unlikely event after the other. The movie forgets about its story at times and try too hard to impress the viewers with its special effects and other visuals. It makes the movie too artificial and forced to watch at times. The movie still remains almost perfectly entertaining to watch, just because so much spectacular happens. Some of the action is impressive and unforgettable but really the movie deserved a better story and character treatment.
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December 19, 2009
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N/A
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Watchmen - R
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Before anyone sees this movie, Zack Snyder should be given a pat on the back. He did what a dozen directors struggled to do for twenty years: he made a Watchmen movie. It seems unthinkable that anyone could properly put the greatest graphic novel of all time on the screen, but Zack Snyder has done pretty much that. While it is not Alan Moore's Watchmen, it is the closest thing that anyone else could have put on the screen. Zack Snyder approached the material with enough reverence that fans of the comic will appreciate the movie. As Zack Snyder has openly declared, the final act does include significant changes, but the alterations that take place fit better on the big screen than the original ending would have. Even though many pages of the book were not included, Zack Snyder did take the time to try and preserve other information by including short "historical" sequences in the fantastic opening title sequence. Unlike the hard rock recordings the Zack Snyder chose for the background of 300, Watchmen's background fits the tone and mood of most of the scenes. While the comic does include it's share of violence, Zack Snyder did overtly change several scenes to be more violent. The interaction of these unique characters remains an integral point to understanding this movie and when the book was pared down for the movie, the relationships of the masked adventures became a bit more forced. Zack Snyder has performed what Dr. Manhattan might deem a miracle, so it may take more than one viewing to truly appreciate this unique adaptation.
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December 18, 2009
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N/A
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The First Wives Club - PG
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The First Wives Club should have been a much better movie than it is. All of the elements are there to make its comedy not only dark, but biting, cruel, politically incorrect and not tack on the saccharine, cloying mess that pretends to be an ending. Bette Midler and Goldie Hawn do better with what little material they've been given while still being little more than caricatures. Goldie Hawn at least does poke fun at Hollywood's treatment of actresses which may also be at her own "persona" which has refused to age, but other than that, there's not much bite in her resolve to do her husband in. Then we have the supporting characters, none which fare any better. None of the younger women are written as little more as props, though at least Sarah Jessica Parker has a couple of lines that hint of a different version of Carrie Bradshaw. Stockard Channing's death scene is so badly filmed it might as well been an afterthought from another movie that somehow found its way here. It just proves that a bad screenplay filled with unsympathetic characters will kill the central idea in a story, but also, that an equally bad direction with odd takes and bad editing will further the damage.
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December 18, 2009
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N/A
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The Bodyguard - R
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It was originally intended to make this movie in the seventies with Steve McQueen and Diana Ross in the leading roles, but that the movie never got made because it was "too controversial". The cause of the controversy was presumably the mixed-race love-affair between Frank Farmer and Rachel Marron, as there is little else in the script that might upset anyone. There is a respectable performance from Kevin Costner as Frank Farmer, a man who on the surface seems cold and detached but who hides his emotions under the surface. Whitney Houston is a beautiful woman, with a beautiful voice which was shown off to good advantage in this movie. Her character is supposed to be an actress as well as a singer - the finale actually takes place as she receives a "Best Actress" award at the Oscars. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Whitney Houston will ever emulate her alter ego in this respect, as her acting is certainly not in the same class as her voice. She seems to have too small an emotional range, and it is no surprise that her subsequent film career has been so patchy. The Bodyguard is a perfectly adequate thriller-romance, if at times too slow-moving, but I felt that it might have been better with a more commanding female lead.
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December 11, 2009
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N/A
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Meitantei Conan: Seiki matsu no majutsushi (Case Closed: The Last Wizard of the Century) - PG
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The Phantom Thief Kid is back in town and he's planning to steal a Russian prized egg that once belonged to Nicholas II. It's currently under the ownership of Sonoko Suzuki's family. Kogoro Mouri and several other people are put in charge to protect the egg. But that won't stop The Phantom Thief Kid from stealing it. Conan suspects there's more going on as it is. Soon things will seem to go from bad to worse. Once an unknown killer name Scorpion who's known for killing victims in the right eye with a gun shot. Gets involved with this scenario in stealing the egg. This is so far the most "magical" filled Detective Conan movie made so far. The mystery about the prized egg and the connections it has with the long lost Royal Family of Nicholas II has so much mystical feel to it. It's also the first movie to have Ai Haibara, The Phantom Thief Kid and Heiji Hattori in it. That and the mystery will keep to guessing all the way to the last minute of it.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Case Closed: Season 4 - Unrated
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Varying the length of the mysteries from one to four episodes in the long-running (more than 500 episodes) Case Closed helps to keep the series fresh during the fourth season by allowing the filmmakers to introduce more complex plots and multiple characters. But the overall feel is uneven, while many of the adventures are exciting and innovative, others don't pay off satisfactorily. The way the murder was committed in Episode #93 "Deadly Art" baffles even Conan, who expects a hi-tech weapon at a flower show? When Richard breaks his leg in Episode #94 "Hospital Homicide", Conan has to handle a gang of bankrobbers-turned-kidnappers completely on his own. The oddest adventure of the season is the four-part "Jimmy Kudo Revealed". Rachel finally realizes that Conan has to be Jimmy Kudo, he knows more than any 8- year-old possibly could, but he displays the same gaps in his knowledge as Jimmy. A childhood photo confirms her suspicions, Conan looks exactly like Jimmy (except for the glasses, which he doesn't really need). Conan has his back against the wall when he's saved by the convenient appearance of his actress mother and crime novelist father. Although the quarrelsome pair helps solve an Agatha Christie-style mystery, they're weak, unsatisfying characters. At the end of the story, Rachel's suspicions about Conan just disappear--they're not resolved, but they're never mentioned again. The two most intriguing characters from Season #3 make only brief appearances: Harley Hartwell, the teen detective who recognized Jimmy Kudo's deductive powers in Conan, and Conan's nemesis, the magician/cat burglar Phantom Thief 1412 a.k.a. the Phantom Thief Kid.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Case Closed: Movie 1: The Time Bombed Skyscraper - Unrated
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Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper is a great introduction to the entire series. It is the first of the Case Closed movies and it does a terrific job of offering a movie experience to fans of the TV program as well as standing up as a independent movie experience. The movie and the series use the same terrific cast of English voice actors and feature great writing throughout. One of the most interesting aspects of Case Closed is the duality of the central character. The "MacGuffin" within Case Closed transforms our protagonist into a child, who then must assume a new identify and find unique ways to express his detective talents. This plot device essentially allows Case Closed to explore one of the central issues of being young, of being a teenager with much higher than average intelligence. Case Closed explores these dyanmics and surrounds them with unique mysteries involving esoteric motives and plots. Case Closed is a serious mystery drama that just happens to be a surpirsingly funny. The Case Closed movie, Case Closed: The Time Bombed Skyscraper, is a wonderful place to start your exploration of the world of Case Closed.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Case Closed: Season 3 - Unrated
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In the third season of the popular mystery series Case Closed, the filmmakers introduce new elements to keep the program from going stale. In the two-part adventure "Footsteps of the Hero", a Sherlock Holmes trivia contest brings Conan into conflict with his old rival, Harley, who realizes only one person possesses such amazing powers of deduction--and that Conan must be Jimmy Kudo. But what will he do with this knowledge? At a video game convention in "Game Gone Bad", Conan finally stumbles onto a clue about the men in black whose poison turned him into a little boy, only to see it destroyed before he can act on it. The writers manage to keep the mysteries intriguing, although some elements inevitably recur (or murderers use an awful lot of monofilament fishing line in Tokyo). But "The Mist Goblin Murder" involves a Tengu, a mountain goblin in Japanese folklore, while "Gomera" spoofs Godzilla-style monster movies. The high point of the season is the two-part finale (which aired as a one-hour special in Japan) that introduces Phantom Thief 1412 a.k.a. the Phantom Thief Kid (originally the Kaitou Kid). A brilliant young magician, master of disguise, and cat burglar, the Phantom Thief Kid plays Professor Moriarty to Conan's Sherlock Holmes. Each opponent is forced to admire the other for intelligence, skill, and imagination equal to his own. Voice actor Jerry Jewell obviously has fun playing both characters in this entertaining rivalry and it's clear Conan and the Phantom Thief Kid will continue to bedevil each other's plans in the seasons to come.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Case Closed: Season 5 - Unrated
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Released across 4 discs, the Uncut and Unedited Case Closed Season Five consists of 25 episodes. The show, for those who have yet to experience it, follows a pretty simple formula whereby the title character happens upon bad behavior that requires a good deal of intelligence to successfully point the finger of blame. Sounds like standard mystery-genre fare so far but what's unique about Case Closed is that the lead is played by a 17-year-old, Jimmy Kudo investigator who has been transformed, via an experimental drug, into a child. A majority of the 25 episodes contained within are two-parters where in the first of the two spends its full 23 minutes setting the mood and establishing the mystery. The second part, through a clever little trick, breaks the mystery down for the benefit of the police. It's formulaic and has certainly been done before but with a track record like Case Closed's, no sense fixing what isn't broken. Indeed, the show does have a rhythm that I can only describe as addicting. As is always the case with this show, the artwork and visual style aren't extremely rich or polished. Instead the animation is fairly simplistic but gets the job done. Focusing on the show's beauty is truly missing the whole point of what makes Case Closed so special. This is suspense-driven story telling that goes the extra mile to make sure each episode provides sufficient resolve. In all Case Closed Season Five managed to dazzle without any of the traits I usually use to judge solid anime. Rather than flashy visuals or over-emotional acting, Case Closed sticks to the simple formula of letting interesting story telling stand on its own merit. The cases themselves are often masterful in terms of scope, motive, and resolve. An interesting and likable cast of characters is just the icing on the cake.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Case Closed: Season 1 - Unrated
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The first season of Case Closed takes us through the opening moments and introduces us to the world and characters fairly quickly. In the first five episodes most of the major players in the show are set up and many of the series' dynamics that follow are laid right out on the table. Conan Edogawa is secretly longing for Rachel, Dr. Agasa is trying to help him however he can, Conan's exploits as an eight year old yield hilarity with the Junior Detective League, and so on and so forth. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as the first season picks up the action right away but I must say that despite the slight amount of continuity (mostly in the character relationships department), the episodic and formulaic nature of the program sets in rather quick and that is definitely the show's Achilles Heel. Given the fact that these episodes aired in 1996 it's not surprising to see that the video quality depicts some wear and tear. Aliasing wasn't really a problem though at times the colors appeared to be washed out and not quite as vibrant as they were intended to be. Fortunately the audio fares slightly better in terms of presentation merit. This movie is an enjoyable show to be sure though I have to say that the episodic nature doesn't do the franchise any favors. More continuity would have gone a long way to improving the overall quality and as it stands the formulaic structure definitely stands out as a chip in Conan's armor.
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Fung wan II (The Storm Riders 2) (Storm Warriors) - Unrated
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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The Storm Riders (Fung wan: Hung ba tin ha) - PG-13
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Chilgeup Gongmuwon (My Girlfriend Is an Agent) (7th Grade Civil Servant) - Unrated
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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Bodyguards and Assassins (Shi yue wei cheng) - Unrated
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December 10, 2009
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N/A
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The Santa Clause - PG
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This movie is one of the best holiday movies of the last 20 years, though of course it's not better than A Christmas Story. Directed by John Pasquin and starring Home Improvement's Tim Allen, The Santa Clause promises to be a moving update on a classic Christmas fable - the story of Santa Claus. The story of the jolly old fat guy in a red coat who flies around the world on Christmas Eve in his sleigh with eight reindeer is lore known to all who believe. But in an age when science and reason have been known to kill children's fantasies, Disney again proves that seeing is believing. For all its typical Disney kind-hearted-ness, director John Pasquin and his screenwriters Leo Benvenuti and Steve Rudnick manage to effectively capture everything there is to really love about the Jolly Old Fat Guy. Tim Allen, everybody's favorite television comedian, fills out his role as the lousy-dad Scott Calvin who is inexplicably transformed into every kid's favorite holiday hero. As Tim Allen gains weight at an incredible pace (courtesy of a body suit), this poor sap goes from doubter to believer in no time. Eric Lloyd is a delight too, as young Charlie Calvin and whose love for his father transcends normal father-son relationships as he accompanies him on his holiday rounds.
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December 4, 2009
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N/A
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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 - R
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November 28, 2009
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N/A
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1033 ratings
965 reviews
