Movie Review: Invictus
Sports movies are always going to be a hard thing to pull off. While we love sports, and we love sports stories, a movie about sports takes away probably the best part of sports–the unpredictability. In a film, the fate has been determined. Besides, in most sports stories, you know that the team usually wins–unless that’s not the point. If it’s a movie about a bunch of losers, they will end up winning the big game. If it’s a movie about people coming together, the team can lose the big game and it’s OK. In a film like “Remember the …
Movie Review: Where The Wild Things Are
This has to be one of the most well known children’s books of all time. Anyone who is anyone remembers this book being read to them by teachers, or their parents, when they were growing up. Alongside our various “Ramona” and “Berenstain Bears” books, was an old library copy of “Where the Wild Things Are”. I remember very little about the book, except the monsters. The film, directed by Spike Jonze (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Being John Malkovich”), explores the book’s very thin idea about imagination, and creates a real world surrounding an imaginary one reminding me a …
Movie Review: 9
It’s not very often we get an animated film that isn’t directed toward kids. But it’s even rarer when an animated film that isn’t directed toward kids can find an audience. With Shane Acker’s new “9″, co-produced by Tim Burton, they try to find the middle ground. It’s a shaky ground, but the film does find a groove–thanks to some amazing visuals and creature designs. The story of “9″ is fairly underwhelming–after all, it is based on a short film that Acker made, and even though they brought in some good screenwriters (Pamela Pettler being one, who co-wrote “Corpse Bride”), …
Movie Review: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
I find it hard to believe anymore that there can be a “twist” or “secret” that hasn’t been revealed on the internet regarding “Harry Potter” but apparently that was the buzz leading up to this film’s release. The book series has eclipsed anything I’ve ever grown up with as far as sales and interest from kids, and it’s certainly shaped a generation the way that, say, “Star Wars” did from the late 70′s to mid-late 80′s–and in some ways, still shapes generations today. But with Harry Potter, it’s the books that have done the good; the movies have merely profited …
Movie Review: The Hangover
“The Hangover” did look a lot like “Very Bad Things”–but they are two completely different movies. Where “Very Bad Things” is a dark comedy about the depravity of humanity (who knew Peter Berg was so disturbed?), “The Hangover” is a light screwball comedy that, while it does have some “shock” moments, never lets up its shiny disposition that you should have fun with it. It’s a misadventure. And, probably one that I should’ve encountered sometime in my life while drunkenly wandering the streets of the south side of Chicago. But somehow, by unbelievable luck–I survived without having to go through …
Movie Review: Terminator Salvation
The “Terminator” franchise is one that I’ve never really been able to fully wrap myself around. I’m not exactly sure why that is. I liked all of the films (yes, I did enjoy T3 even though it was horribly cheesy), and I still think “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” is one of the most spectacular sci-fi action films ever made. Maybe that’s why I don’t look at this franchise with as much affection as, say, the Aliens franchise for example. “Terminator 2″ just seemed to blow all of the other films away, as much as “The Terminator” was a good film. …
Movie Review: Star Trek
Of course we know where this review should begin. It should begin with what “Star Trek” was all about in the first place, right? That this was a re-visioning of a franchise that began over 40 years ago. That this was something that should’ve been left alone. I mean, for God’s sake, what happened in the last three movies under the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”? After “First Contact”, what did we have? Does any real self-respecting Star Trek fan consider “Insurrection” and “Nemesis” a part of the real Star Trek narrative? Can any Star Trek fan call …
Movie Review: Observe and Report
Writer/director Hill goes for dark humor, and it’s brazenly illustrated in this uber dark comedy that has a lot of similarities to his new HBO sitcom, “Eastbound & Down” which I think is a very promising show and I’m glad it’s being continued. Seth Rogen’s character, Ronny, is somewhat like EB&D’s “hero”, Kenny Powers. He is self-unaware, and a low life. But Rogen has more charm to him and has the ability to make you laugh with him, and Danny McBride’s approach to Kenny Powers is a little more cynical. The film follows the misadventures of a rent-a-cop head of …
Movie Review: I Love You, Man
A girl I was dating once told me she was concerned with a friendship I had with another guy because she was suspicious of how close we were. She didn’t understand that he and I were “like soul-mates”. Not that you should ever tell a lady friend of any kind something like this, mind you–you’re really asking for trouble; but, you know, I was young and stupid. She took it the wrong way. She thought I might have homosexual leanings. But it was nothing like that at all. Put it up on the chalkboard: We don’t understand women, and women …
Movie Review: Watchmen
This film has been in the works for over two decades. As early as 1986 there was a draft penned by Sam Hamm (who co-wrote the first “Batman” film in 1989) for a film adaptation of “Watchmen”. For years it was passed around studios, laid around on people’s desks, rewritten by different people, and different directors taking passes on it. The one filmmaker that passed on it that struck me the most was Terry Gilliam, who said, “I’ll make it if I can make it 10 hours long”. Funny line, but I think he meant it. After seeing this film, …
