So, after a glut of months that have passed me by with nary a notice, I am rubbing my hands together in anticipatory glee.
Summer movies! Crashes and explosions and fight sequences and hot guys/cool chicks with guns, and a dash of animation and musicals to round out the day.
Watch this space for the following likely reviews from yours truly (in order of release):
The Strangers (I'm in an odd horror-movie mood lately. This should fit nicely)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (probably, but I make no promises)
The Happening (I'll give M.N.S. another shot ... but his movies hit or miss with me)
The Incredible Hulk (intrigued by the presence of Edward)
Get Smart (more probably than Zohan, but we'll see)
WALL*E (should be cute)
Hancock (this is looking like a good contender for a summer fun day)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (you got a problem with that? Hellboy was funny!)
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D (mmm. Sweaty Brendan Fraser.)
The Dark Knight (have to hit all the blockbusters, or what kind of reviewer would I be)
Mamma Mia! (wouldn't be on this list if it weren't for Meryl. Again, though, may be at the lower end of the list, so I'll get to it when I get to it)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (always fall back on the classics)
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (now my hope to satisfy my Indiana Jones cravings since Indiana Jones didn't do it for me)
Tropic Thunder (I have high hopes for humour here)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The credits rolled and I thought “I’m … not sure.” What part of me was left ambivalent by the movie, and what part of me just has an over-inflated memory of the thrill rides the first three had been?
Okay, expecting a thrill ride this time was unrealistic. (But come on, most of that truck chase through the jungle really was so slow. I wanted to tell them to throw caution to the wind and the truck into second. Indy can still drive fast, can’t he?) Even accounting for the age of the principals (Shia notwithstanding – and might I add, as soon as I heard Shia’s character was in the movie with Harrison I knew someone was just hoping they’d be able to resurrect the Indy franchise through the next generation like Captain Kirk transitioned Star Trek movies into The Next Generation. Except the Star Trek:TNG thing worked for me, by the way. But I digress) – even if the principals can’t dodge and weave as once they did (though they were pretty solid on all those Mayan staircases) the movie itself could have had more action … and jeopardy … and humour man, humour is ageless and this movie just could have been – should have been – funnier. This is Indiana Jones after all.
The climax I won’t spoil, although you probably should be able to see it coming from quite far away (from as far away as the first time you saw a trailer and caught a glimpse of what they were after, frankly). And I’d suggest anyone under 30 rent some of Spielberg’s earlier non-Indy related work to see how he did very similar climaxes better, before he had this much disposable income (and technology) to blow on the spectacle at the expense of the show. (that being said: what was this climax doing in an Indy-related work?!) When characters on the screen aren’t doing much more than watching the spectacle with you, you can’t help but wonder what you as an audience add to the equation. Verdict: (*choke*) Discount Theatre
Okay, expecting a thrill ride this time was unrealistic. (But come on, most of that truck chase through the jungle really was so slow. I wanted to tell them to throw caution to the wind and the truck into second. Indy can still drive fast, can’t he?) Even accounting for the age of the principals (Shia notwithstanding – and might I add, as soon as I heard Shia’s character was in the movie with Harrison I knew someone was just hoping they’d be able to resurrect the Indy franchise through the next generation like Captain Kirk transitioned Star Trek movies into The Next Generation. Except the Star Trek:TNG thing worked for me, by the way. But I digress) – even if the principals can’t dodge and weave as once they did (though they were pretty solid on all those Mayan staircases) the movie itself could have had more action … and jeopardy … and humour man, humour is ageless and this movie just could have been – should have been – funnier. This is Indiana Jones after all.
The climax I won’t spoil, although you probably should be able to see it coming from quite far away (from as far away as the first time you saw a trailer and caught a glimpse of what they were after, frankly). And I’d suggest anyone under 30 rent some of Spielberg’s earlier non-Indy related work to see how he did very similar climaxes better, before he had this much disposable income (and technology) to blow on the spectacle at the expense of the show. (that being said: what was this climax doing in an Indy-related work?!) When characters on the screen aren’t doing much more than watching the spectacle with you, you can’t help but wonder what you as an audience add to the equation. Verdict: (*choke*) Discount Theatre
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
A Commercial Break
There is nothing in the theatres I want to see right now. I am waiting for another movie to come out that’s worth my cash, and then I can slip into “Iron Man” again afterwards. I’m rarely an illegal type of girl, but doing what I call a “two-fer” is an addiction of mine. I get the kind of rush that a kleptomaniac must feel. I have a group of girls I go see movies with from time to time, and one day I'm going to peer-pressure them into doing a two-fer with me. But I'm not sure they'll be cool enough to pull it off. You gotta be cool to pull a two-fer.
I digress. Lest you forget about me, I feel I must give you something until a worthy movie emerges.
So, here are some of my favourite commercials at the moment:
First, I share with you Orkin’s “Broken Down.” I could tell you what it’s about, but then if you haven’t seen it yet, that would spoil the whole thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31M0j96uYPs
At first, I really despised the following commercial. But once I forced myself to watch it once, now it tickles my fancy each time. I present to you: Koodo’s “Mobile Diet Plan”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNT-kHS-wo
And here is an older one, but what I still think is unparalleled in originality and concept. I offer it most especially for my brother, sister-in-law and niece, in case they haven’t seen it yet. Without further ado, EDS’ “Cat Wranglers”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgH4h4KMoGk
I digress. Lest you forget about me, I feel I must give you something until a worthy movie emerges.
So, here are some of my favourite commercials at the moment:
First, I share with you Orkin’s “Broken Down.” I could tell you what it’s about, but then if you haven’t seen it yet, that would spoil the whole thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31M0j96uYPs
At first, I really despised the following commercial. But once I forced myself to watch it once, now it tickles my fancy each time. I present to you: Koodo’s “Mobile Diet Plan”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUNT-kHS-wo
And here is an older one, but what I still think is unparalleled in originality and concept. I offer it most especially for my brother, sister-in-law and niece, in case they haven’t seen it yet. Without further ado, EDS’ “Cat Wranglers”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgH4h4KMoGk
Sunday, May 4, 2008
IronMan
Hee hee! Now that was fun! Funfunfunfunfun.
I have never heard of this comic book. I knew nothun' about nuthun'. And I'm really enjoying this trend of late where actually talented actors play superheros (I am perplexed and yet intrigued by the notion that Edward Norton is playing The Hulk.) It was like it wasn't even a superhero movie. Just kind of a ... far-fetched entertaining movie about a mega-millionaire who sees the evil of his ways and decides to make amends. With a computer-powered metal suit. It was funny and it was action and the CGI was not so laughably remedial that you get pulled out of the comic book world, which you were gamely willing to suspend disbelief for, with an gutteral "Oh, come ON!" (spiderman 1 , anyone? yeah the guy's supposed to be super limber, but he still does have an attached spine you know? human's do not bend backwards like that even if they are swinging through downtown on webs shot from their wrists) And Robert Downey Jr. was remarkably attractive and compelling and macho and self-deprecating.
Yes, there were a number of things that didn't really make sense even within the logic established by the plot (just how long can someone live without his heart? it was his heart he was living without, near the end when he crawls back to his laboratory, right? I don't know) -- but it gleefully passed the watch test. Fun! Verdict: First Run Theatre
I have never heard of this comic book. I knew nothun' about nuthun'. And I'm really enjoying this trend of late where actually talented actors play superheros (I am perplexed and yet intrigued by the notion that Edward Norton is playing The Hulk.) It was like it wasn't even a superhero movie. Just kind of a ... far-fetched entertaining movie about a mega-millionaire who sees the evil of his ways and decides to make amends. With a computer-powered metal suit. It was funny and it was action and the CGI was not so laughably remedial that you get pulled out of the comic book world, which you were gamely willing to suspend disbelief for, with an gutteral "Oh, come ON!" (spiderman 1 , anyone? yeah the guy's supposed to be super limber, but he still does have an attached spine you know? human's do not bend backwards like that even if they are swinging through downtown on webs shot from their wrists) And Robert Downey Jr. was remarkably attractive and compelling and macho and self-deprecating.
Yes, there were a number of things that didn't really make sense even within the logic established by the plot (just how long can someone live without his heart? it was his heart he was living without, near the end when he crawls back to his laboratory, right? I don't know) -- but it gleefully passed the watch test. Fun! Verdict: First Run Theatre
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