| Movie | Rating | Review | Date | Your Rating | Match | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Luni, 3 Saptamāni si 2 Zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) - R |
So, everything about this movie is depressing. But not in the hit you over the head depressing like Requiem for a Dream or gut check The Mist depressing, but The Proposition mood depressing (the one person I was going to see The Road with backed out and people stay away from that like the plague so I?ll be waiting for video). It has this atmosphere where you don?t want to walk barefoot in the settings, everyone seems sick (even the hotel clerk can?t stop coughing), they stretch things out to excruciatingly real dwell periods where ones mind can wander into all the bad places, everything. And this is a compliment to the dedication of keeping that mood. Of course, the subject matter ain?t too cheery, (SLIGHT HINT AT A SPOILER AHEAD) and what that person does to those girls is so unbelievably messed up, but you bear through the movie like the protagonists do, for different reasons of course. The art of the movie is the contrast it gives. The poetic dichotomy of the dinner scene and relationship gives the story a brilliance and the way the two girls act toward each other in the final act is a brush of ?reality? as I could imagine. This is the premise of many action thrillers where the main character is stuck in a bad situation and has to figure their way out. Well, this is the real world eastern bloc version of that. |
December 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Tombstone - R |
Ahhh...classic pulp western, done about as good as it could be done. The setting is nice. The dialogue is nice. The costumes are nice. The performances are very nice. If anything, this movie has some plastic scenes, which may or may not be on purpose, and a lot of extra fat in the storyline. Despite it being Hollywood style, it has a bit of coldness and rawness to the western story. Now, this movie is a great movie because of the performances of Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer and Michael Biehn. Of course, the true gems are Kilmer and Biehn. Kilmer got a lot of credit because of the flare to his role. But his role would have been like the tracy morgan character in 3rd Rock if it wasn?t for a good foil. Kilmer is all smooth gentleman wild man while Biehn is the tough but intelligent grunt. Both actors made each other better and their verbal and physical duels are great scenes. Classic scenes. See this movie just for these two, with a little Russell on the side. |
December 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Naboer (Next Door) - Unrated |
This is an odd movie in a particular and peculiar way. First off, 95% will have this movie solved 15 minutes in. Next, you will still want to watch, men and women alike. Third, even though you know what?s coming, you still are taken aback a bit when things do happen. This is a credit to good filmmaking. The director has talent. With that, this movie has some unique ideas, but still relies a lot on retread. And the controversial sex is one scene that actually doesn?t seem gratuitous in context of what is happening. Maybe its because people worry that people will find it erotic. But some people find cars erotic and that doesn?t mean auto racing is for adults only. I know it?s a dumb comparison when one is a sex act, but it?s just that the shocking aspect of this is not something like Martyrs or Requiem for a Dream. It wisely keeps things slim and trim and moving at a very quick pace. When it dwells on something, there is a point to it. Definitely something to watch if interested in the ilk. Nothing to go out of your way for. |
December 20, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Homicide - R |
Here is Mamet learning how to be Hollywood Mamet, which isn?t bad at all. However, I still put this below the pre-HollyMamet of House of Games to the post of Spartan, and probably ranking it just below the ?just messing with you? Spanish Prisoner. The only real complaint I have with the movie is that the non-action scenes are very, very static in almost every way. It seems more so that the scenes are made to just get the dialogue out. Now Mamet dialogue is like an action sequence, but the tone of these scenes are more serious that playful. And since they are so serious, you stand on every word and realize that a lot of it isn?t really going anywhere. But, that is the only complaint. This is a great story and evolves in a great way. It plays the reveal very well where you know what?s coming, then are surprised when it happens and still surprised when the next twist comes up. And, as always, great performances. |
December 14, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Panic Room - R |
This is the kind of movie that really became more of that late 80?s/early 90?s TV movie project. The big screen ?Wait Until Dark? and that movie with the lady stuck in the birdcage elevator was so 70?s. So, I guess they were going for the polish on those things and making it new century. Fincher is a craftsman. He made Zodiac pretty exciting even though it was just talk. And the authenticity of that movie (the Northpoint theater was spot on), means that this one had some look and suspense to it. I?ve seen every Fincher movie in theaters but Button because of his visual style. And he brings a lot to this movie. Because without that look, there wouldn?t be much more than that. Foster doesn?t bring too much more to this part and Leto is funny, but he?s done better. Whitaker and Yoakam are great (as always). And the claustrophobia just doesn?t work because of the deep focus shots and because this house seemed so damn big. That?s a home for 4 families in San Francisco. Overall, decent if you?re in the mood. Of course, when I saw it way back when in theaters, all I kept thinking of is whether the girl was really a brother of Maculay Culkin. |
December 11, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Lookout - R |
This movie really, really surprised me. I thought this was going to be one of those genre movies that capitalized on the teen generation of the time (see The Invisible, and the marketing really followed that) and this is a huge mistake. This is a great thriller. It plays out with a young lead, but the characterization of all of the part players works well. All the leads and supporting are perfect in their roles. I couldn?t think of anyone who would be better in any of these roles. We get involved with all of these people, and it is all fleshed out really well. The script and how it plays out is all familiar, but still seems fresh. It does take some unique views and brings you on a ride that does get you sitting up. But it isn't just a great story and performances, it has a great look and production overall. This movie gives you a great visual take on many scenes and gives great subtle visuals and camera work. It's a polished visual flair that makes you think about so many movies that lack it, and make you want it in so many more movies. This movie falls into the unsung category and should be seen. |
December 8, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Spirit - PG-13 |
I can honestly say that this movie is completely flat and I don?t recommend it to anyone outside of Eva Mendes or Sam Jackson fans. I wasn?t sure if the director told everyone other than these two to act in a watered down manner or there was something else to it. The story jumps a lot for a ?comic? movie and the action is very unexciting. There was a definite attempt at going for the Sin City bad-ass factor for look and feel and biting comedic sketch, but foot clones and other bits just don?t work. Maybe there is something of a saving grace for comic book guy, but there is really nothing for anyone else other than aforementioned fans. I hope less movies follow the Sin City route, because I think a Sin City sequel might not be as good. |
December 4, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Bedtime Stories - PG | I?m not sure why I keep doing it, but I keep watching Adam Sandler movies. I may have to watch that next one just because Salma is the wife, but I think I do know why I keep watching them, I found Billy Madison to be hilarious with its completely off-the-wall humor and Happy Gilmore above average. Then, all since have sucked. But I don?t have to invest in the movies, don?t want anything out of it, can do other things while its on and hope that he gets it back. Well, this one is better than Zohan, but getting stabbing in a non-life threatening part of the body is better than that movie, so better than Chuck and Larry, but not by much. The funny to the lowest brow humor still seeps in to this family movie, but the storytelling is ridiculous and the story outline is only tolerable because you can say it?s made up by kids. The best part of the movie is watching Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless ? they need to be in more comedies. | November 30, 2009 | N/A | |||
| A History of Violence - R |
This is a great primer for me before The Road, because despite the idea of this being a happy movie, this is just about as depressing a movie as there could be. It really is about the cycle of violence in humans and how it is inescapable and can change and permanently disfigure life in an emotional sense. It has a wonderful pace and great acting. I never liked Maria Bello before this movie and the rumors of Harrison Ford being the lead would have been interesting, but Viggo nails it. The ending scenes kind of take some of the sheen from the movie, but it has to be looked at by story and idea. In that sense, it makes perfect sense. And the direction, just for pure visuals, is pretty damn amazing. And I love the cold intro to the movie. Great, great, great. |
November 29, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Heist - R |
Of course, this is a Mamet con movie, so it has to be taken in this category. In that context, this is the no as good as the others. House of Games, Spanish Prisoner, and I put Spartan in this category, are all better. It is only better than Redbelt. This one plays out decent, but unlike his other movies where it doesn?t really try to give an emotional performance or connection from all parties, this one seems like people are really trying to act and it throws it all off. The story is still good and makes up for the odd, slightly hokey gunplay, but it has great moments and a good story. However, his wife is all wrong in this movie and they didn?t let Rockwell go off. It?s a decent movie to wrap your brain around, but only after you?ve seen the others. He can?t win them all. |
November 24, 2009 | N/A | |||
| The Proposal - PG-13 |
Ummm?not the best of her romcom set, and I am not sure why Ryan Reynolds is so popular, as his best role was the quick quip as Deadpool, but this is just plain enough to keep someone watching and hanging on enough. It forces a lot of situations, and not many of them are funny, but the funny ones are funny enough. Sandra Bullock still is a surprise in her comedic dexterity, she is good in this movie. I guess it was a carryover from her role in Crash. But it?d be nice to see her in movies that weren?t Crash or the really bad Premonition. This movie will follow exactly as you would think it would, you can even predict the jokes. But it never really makes the experience pedantic, so it isn?t a total waste of time. Almost, but passable. |
November 23, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Cassandra's Dream - PG-13 |
Woody Allen?s move toward more suspense or mystery driven fare isn't bad. I've seen the others, just not Match Point which is supposed to be the best. This one is decent, and I'm glad he's broadening his horizons even if he's a lecherous pervert. Polanski is a good filmmaker so his personal life doesn't take away much from my opinion of his films, just him personally. Likewise for Allen, who has made a few movies I felt were very good. This movie is really about two things, the twisted morality tale (that you can already tell is an harbinger of doom) and the performances of the leads. For 1, the story is overly simple and stretched to no end. It is a little creative in some respects, but not very deep in the emotions for either. It's not as drawn out as it could, which I think is the point of this movie. For 2, Farrell and Mcgregor are great. I want these two to be in more movies. Farrell is misused in movies like Pride and Glory when he can show a range like in In Bruges. And McGregor can do it also, like shown in some early work like Shallow Grave into later roles like Star Wars (just kidding). These two carried my interest more than anything. |
November 21, 2009 | N/A | |||
| From Hell - R | I had seen this movie in the theaters before catching again now for a second time on the TV. And this was my big thing the first time I saw it, this movie isn?t scary ? at all. And not really thrilling either. There is little to know suspense and the mystery is pretty easy and all twists and turns are fairly simple. But the movie creates a great atmosphere. It looks nice, probably too polished for the day and time, and the people look about as I would imagine, but the imagination into the retelling of the story isn?t very imaginative. I did want more. Still, let?s see what the Hughes Bros. do with the Book of Eli. | November 19, 2009 | N/A | |||
| W. - PG-13 |
This is a strange movie. It?s kind of a heroic style biopic, part comedy and part biting commentary with what has to be a lot of fiction thrown in. Of course, this is talked about because Bush really stunk it up and was probably the worst president in a long, long line of crappy presidents. But I?m not sure what this movie was aiming at. Just from the intro and close, it?s trying to get a little symbolic of Bush being someone who was the wrong person at the right place at the right time and didn?t really want much of this. That seems like they?re trying to bail him out. However, it does everything it can to make him look like a plain dumb guy who doesn?t want to apply himself to anything of importance. The movie succeeds in painting Cheney as a giant conniving jerk, Rumsfeld as a loon, Rice as a puppet, and all of this may be true but it just sort of floats this out there. One thing I could say is that I?m surprise Oliver Stone was able to get actors in these roles that had no real performance appeal. Wright as Powell is portrayed as a valiant fighter and smart man, which he very well might be, but his role carries no weight. The problem for this may be that it has to follow real life while trying to be entertaining. Another problem was that it introduces so many people. This movie needed to be streamlined. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Not great though. |
November 18, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Mission Impossible - PG-13 |
This movie is unfairly bashed for its plot. Or because Tom Cruise is in it. But this movie is still fairly iconic for action movies. The break-in scene has been imitated in myriad ways and the water explosion in Prague was a legit lasting image. Even the climax is very interesting and memorable. I think I had the advantage of not knowing much of anything about the show, so the front heavy plot and twists were taken in stride for me. SPOILERS FOLLOW ? BEWARE: I guess having the team concept killed off early and making formerly lovable characters duplicitous were jarring to those that knew history. But I took it from a fresh perspective. And while every nuance gets a chance to play out, which admittedly was trying to make things more confusing, it really didn?t need to. It was just a very information loaded movie in all scenes that didn?t involve action ? and probably some of that to. I have seen part 3 on TV a lot, but this was a recent time that 1 was on. I watched this and part 2 in theaters. I wasn?t too fond of 1 when I saw it and think more highly of it nowand not disappointed. Part 2 I thought was crap when I came out of it. Worst John Woo movie he?s made. Worse than Windtalkers. However, maybe I need to watch this one again if it ever (which seems like never) comes on TV. In the meantime, watch this movie again and think about how many action movies after took its cue from this movie. |
November 17, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Evil - Unrated | This movie has a mushy middle, like the zombies in it. It is shot in low grade digital and (I believe) completely handheld. The effects are minimal and very cheesy. And the scenes are very cartoonish. There was a slight charm to the beginning, especially the scene in the stands of the football stadium. But this movie falls short. The middle massacre mash-up was laughably played out which I wasn?t sure that was what it was going for. It was an obvious 28 Days Later afterbirth, but didn?t stay with the tense manner of it, which it probably could have. Overall, it is short but not too sweet. And the saving grace from making this movie a no-go is that it is somewhat wildly unpredictable. | November 15, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Tyson - R |
I am a documentary whore, but I dare you to try to start watching this movie, then stop watching after 10 minutes and not watch any more of it. It is very annoying at first, and still kind of annoying throughout because of this effect that is used where Tyson talks in different takes with overlapping audio and video in a tiled format. But you can?t help but be curious about Tyson be he is straight-forward and completely unguarded in his emotions in this movie. Even if you didn?t know much about him at all, you would be interested. For me, I know Tyson. My father was always a boxing fan. My middle adolscense was in a crappy neighborhood, so fighting was followed. And video games were starting to come up all around and Tyson had his own game. I knew the scandals, and even got stuck in traffic and got to the house where the PPV was on the moment after the bite ended that historic match. All of that is recapped, plus the emotion behind all of the personal strife. He is surprisingly deep in his thoughts and can convey them fairly well. I didn?t know about his childhood in that detail, and this movie is very eye-opening. You can?t help but feel a slight bit of pity on him. For me, I feel a lot. This is a great documentary. Anyone should see it if given the chance. It takes a lot of liberties with the facts of his boxing career, but I think the majority of those that will watch it know boxing?s history. |
November 13, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Bram Stoker's Dracula - R |
I was genuinely excited about this movie when it came out. This was one of the few books I had read at the time and being in SF there was still a Coppola aura around. My hatred at the idea of Keanu being in it didn?t matter once I watched it, as he wasn?t that bad. Even more so, I was blown away by the visual cornucopia served up. And even more more so that just about all of it was done in camera or using practical effects. (It?s also one of the things I like about Gondry and Spike Jonze) This movie, though straying somewhat wildly from the source though claiming to be faithful, was very good. It gave a bit of everything someone could want from a ?classic? horror movie, except real scares. But its composition of artistic efforts was great. The costumes were great, makeup good, visual style and composition of scenes ? grand. I think they flashed out roles in such a large cast well and I didn?t even mind Winona in this one. Gary Oldman is a forgotten gem of an actor. And why didn?t Coppola strive for more movies like this? I never would have thought the Apocalypse or Godfather could direct a movie like this. And do it well. |
November 12, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Lady in the Water - PG-13 |
Oh crap! This may be one of the worst movies I?ve ever seen, and definitely the worst this year. I know it didn?t come out this year but I got it because I thought my wife would be interested. She?s been a fan of this guy since The Sixth Sense. I?ve taken the Spike Lee spiel that I?ve offered people when Spike was making his early movies. He?ll get better if he directs something that he didn?t write, then we?ll see if he?s a truly gifted filmmaker. Then spike did Malcolm X and we saw this guy can really make good movies. Same for Shaymalan. Except, I watched this movie and read more about this guy. I actually hope all his future movies bomb until he is forced to change completely in style and personality. He deserves to fail flat out and become downtrodden and bankrupt before making another hit because this movie stunk so bad and he fought so hard to get it made. It obviously shows delusion, hubris, and utter stupidity. |
November 11, 2009 | N/A | |||
| G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra - PG-13 |
OK ? so I watched this almost back-to-back with Transformers Pt.2 and I must say this, the darling of the 80?s toy industry are in the hands of some really bad filmmakers. Michael Bay is worse, but The Mummy guy ain?t much better. Here, the action in the end really doesn?t thrill. And there is more motion and visual flare in this movie than any of Bay?s movies and almost as much as the recent Star Wars movies. But there is one positive to this, the action is more tangible and the attempts to give this movie visual energy work better than others ? especially the Mummy movies and Van Helsing. But the end of this movie was a big letdown. What I didn?t like about this movie was the story ? which just like Transformers 2, means nothing. It is a nearly empty vessel. This is the problem with these borderline kids movies (See Speed Racer also). Why make something relatively complex for such a simple concept. The origin stories of Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes disappointed and seemed crammed in while the Duke and Cobra Commander back story seemed forced. I don?t think they really should have tried to cram that in, or really much more than action. Someone should look at the recent movie ?Taken? with Liam Neeson and realize that sometime a movie just needs a basic idea and just a means to move forward. That?s it. GIJoe and other movies in this vain should take notice. But, this is the better of the recent shack and awe comic ?blockbusters?, but still disappointed me. Probably because Snake Eyes and Stormshadow were my favorite and this isn?t played out well in this movie. |
November 10, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - PG-13 |
Wasn?t my choice to watch this movie, but I gave it a shot. It took me 3 tries. I didn?t have the patience the first time, fell asleep the second. Third time, I just watched the end act, which was probably almost an hour. Well, there was a coda in there also, but this movie is two-and-a-half-hours! This movie was empty. Meant nothing. The fights were bigger than the 1st, but not really exciting. I don?t know why they made the humor as far from juvenile as possible considering this is their core audience. I couldn?t stand that so much of it, especially inane stuff like just running, was in slo-mo (what is this, M:I-2?) and there was so much story that I still wonder why they aim this at kids. You can make a story that adults can follow and enjoy that still has a story for kids that focuses on action and still has witty jokes. But for this, no dice. I think this is one of the worse current franchises. Maybe it?s just Bay. And the animation looked more dicey than the first one. Were they rushing? I can say that they were very creative with the transformer visuals. That may be the only plus. New drinking game, take a drink every time Bay uses a steady shot with no zooms on a shot of just actors, no CG. Actually, that is a bad game because you won?t be drinking much. |
November 9, 2009 | N/A | |||
| Toy Story 3 - Unrated | November 7, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Rum Diary - Unrated | November 7, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| Sherlock Holmes - PG-13 | November 7, 2009 | N/A | ||||
| The Road - R | November 7, 2009 | N/A |
432 ratings
369 reviews
