Stranger Than Fiction

I’m not a very big fan of Will Ferrell at all. Rather I’ve only seen one or two movies that I’ve liked with him in them. And now I add this movie to that short list. But I add it mostly because it is a very un-Will Ferrell movie. Nothing like the other over the top comedies he’s done before. This time he is much more serious, and actually has to use some acting talent. He also works cause it’s really hard to imagine anyone else playing the role.

I wasn’t very biased going into this movie; I knew I was more then likely going to like it. The very idea was interesting to me, to hear someone narrating your life, only to find out you’re a character in their book, and they are going to kill you? Yeah, twisted fun.

I don’t know if it’s just been a while since there were commercials on tv for this, or if they really didn’t market all the cameos. Emma Thompson, Dennis Hopper, Queen Latifah, Maggie Gylanhaal and Will Ferrell, that’s a nice mix. And each bring their own fun to it, though I think Queen could’ve used more funny parts, since she really didn’t have any. She doesn’t entirely work as the dry and serious assistant.

From halfway through the movie you know where the ending is going. But it is still a real touching and great part of the movie. And one of my new favorite Emma Thompson moments ever is when she first talks to her character; her reaction gave me goose bumps.

The Reaping

I've always been interested in story about religous messed upness. Rogue angels, demons, armaggedon, etc. This falls nicely in there. God sending his 10 plagues down to some small town. Hilliry Swank, who happens to have had a crisis of faith, comes in to figure out the cause.

This one seemed like it was trying really hard to fit into that Creepy Kid mode of suspense movies of late. But Anna Sophia Robb just isnt creepy enough. She is a cute little girl, but has no sense of danger about her, she just ended up being a dry board. and while Im not normally a fan of Swanks, she seemed to do alright in this. No stretching her acting chops for sure, but didn't do a bad job either.

There is a twist at the ending that is almost expected in this day in age. I didnt see it coming, but that dosn't mean others wont. But on a whole the story by the end was pretty interesting, if not used before.

Watchmen

I am far more excited for this movie then I should allow myself to be. But just look!!!

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

I’ve been sitting here trying to honestly think of stuff that I didn’t like about this movie. Not having much luck.

I was a huge fan of the first movie. It had a very dark and steam punk feel and look to it. Both of which I’ve always liked. This one takes a slightly different style visually. Del Toro is pure genius with his visuals. He made a point of using puppets and costumes for as many monsters as possible in this, which gives it a very Jim Henson feel to it. Only Del Toro’s visuals are a lot darker. Pan’s Labyrinth almost feels like it was just a small taste into his mind, and this movie is a full serving. I’ve already said I’m a huge sucker for overly visual movies. So this movie had me swimming.

The story is simple and pretty straight forward. There are a few twists to keep it a little interesting. But it’s nothing groundbreaking or all that memorable. It does have moments that really make you feel for the characters, even the bad guy. While he is a crazy power hungry war monger, he does have some good points in his view of Humanity. Since I’ve never read any of the comics that this story was based off of I cant comment on how close it followed it. I do know they took lots of liberties with the story of the first movie. But it all worked in the end. And knowing that Del Toro is a huge fan of the comics, and that him and Mike Mignolia, the creator of the comic books, both worked on the script I am sure that the story and all the characters are very faithful to the series.

All the characters are as good as they were in the first. It takes a few moments to get used to the fact that David Hyde Peirce isn’t the voice of Abe, you quickly get used to Doug Jones. Plus it’s nice that he finally gets to do the voice work of the character that he is in costume for. Everyone gets a good amount of screen time as well. All three of the main three all have parts of the story that moves them along.

Hancock

With all the comic book movies coming out now, and with them doing so well (finally), it was only a matter of time before someone made a non-comic book super hero movie. This is defiantly different then most hero movies. It appears that they were trying to make a real world hero movie. If someone had these kinds of powers how they would affect him in real life. And what the public reaction would be to his feats.

I really like the idea of the hero being so apathetic. After a while I’m sure every super power would grow tired of the same old thing over and over, and eventually realize they are above everyone else. It’s great to see him realize that everyone hates him, and slowly begin to care about it. And begin to take steps to be better.

This role defiantly didn’t test Will Smiths acting skills. He doesn’t do a bad job of it, mostly because there really isn’t anything there. Same goes for most of the cast. The only one that really has to show any range is Charlize Theron.

My biggest pet peeve with this is that it suffers from a Michael Bay like Summer Blockbuster Shooting Style, which is quiet frankly, crap. Half the movie is out of focus. They try to be creative with camera angles, but end up falling completely flat and leaving you asking “why is the screen filled with the back of some guys head?” Most of this really seems like it was done to help cover up cheap special effects. Many other comic movies have made use of special effects far better then this one. Almost feels like they spent their entire budget on big names.

I am a little suprised that they managed to get away with using the term Super Hero through out the movie. Marvel and DC comics have that term copywritten.

Wanted

There are some movies that you really just have to suspend all belief. If you can’t get past the idea that these people can shot other bullets out of the air, or “curve” the bullet around other objects, then you just aren’t going to like this movie. It is full of mindless action, which isn’t a bad thing.

There have been some complaints that they use Bullet Time too much in this movie. Being a movie based around the idea of doing fancy tricks with bullets, you kind of need to use Bullet Time to show this off. How else are you going to realize that Angelina Jolie just shot another bullet out of the air? It never feels played out or used in pointless scenes like often happens in other movies that insist on using Bullet Time to be hip and trendy. Each time it’s used it is showing something interesting or important, bullets colliding midair, a bullet arcing around a corner to hit someone, or a bullet releasing parts in stages like a rocket.

The story is simple. It has a few twists towards the end, but it is nothing spectacular. It is really just an excuse for all the over the top gun fights. The one good part of the story is the whole idea of taking a guy who’s bored with his life and job. Nothing is really going for him, then throwing him into this action packed underworld. Most movies like this are all about the lead coming to terms with this new life and getting used to it. But in this one he actually jumps whole-heartedly into it. He’s done with his old life, ready for a new more exciting one. All of which leads to the best “I quit” scene in a long time.

The whole thing isn’t anything magnificent, but it is an all around enjoyable film. I can’t help feel that the film makers were kind of hoping to make another cult classic. With a cast like this I could see it being one, but only time will tell.

Kung Fu Panda

My second child movie in a week, I better not let this be a habit.

I’ve always enjoyed Kung Fu movies. So I was excited to see this one. I really liked how they brought all the styles into the associated characters. It had a lot of the same basic story elements that a lot of the old chop soki movies did. There is a definite difference in comedy though, since this is being marketed towards children in the States.

There is a very simple message to this film, believe in yourself. Taking the fat Panda and teaching him how to be a great fighter to stop the guy no one else can, but only by making him believe in himself. Age old message, but this time set to kung fu animals.

The voice acting was pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but Jack Black is funny, which is to be expected. What I was a little surprised at was how they didn’t try to market all these actors they have doing voices, with people like Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, and even Jackie Chan. But they just focused on Jack Black. My only problem with having Black do the voice is at times it felt like the voice and character on screen didn’t really fit together. Part of it could be that Black has such a distinct voice and face, that when you hear him talk, you can only imagine his face, and not this CGI panda. But this wasn’t too bad for most of the movie, just a scene here and there.

The animation was spectacular. 3-D animation has come so far in the past few years, and between this and Wall-E I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

Wall-E

With out doubt, this is the most adorable, cute movie I have seen in a very long time. If someone told you that the movie was about two robots running around on an adventure, but that they didn’t even really speak, except for each others names. You might not think there could be much to it. But Pixar has managed to infuse so much expression and emotion into that little box shaped robot.

For the first 10-15 minutes I was reminded of how much Wall-E reminded me of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. Lots of similarities between them with the same kind of head/eye encasings, and the triangle shaped treads. And while Johnny did have an impressive array of expressions, the fact that Wall-E was CGI opened up the possibilities even further.

The back story is actually pretty bleak and depressing. Taking place in a future where people have had to leave the Earth because it was completely covered in garbage, and not just the surface, the planet itself is incased in satellite trash. It really isn’t hard to pick up on the messages that they are trying to get across. With scenes of sky scraper tall piles of trash, and thousands of billboards for a super corporation Buy N Large. Complete with a billboard on the moon for “new shopping center coming soon”, right next to the Apollo Lander. When we finally get to see the humans of the movie, it’s very unsettling. Everyone is so fat and lazy that they use hover chairs to get around, and don’t actually interact with one another, but use little holographic displays to talk to each other, even if they are right next to each other, complete with robots waiting on their every need.

My favorite part of the story is how it’s simply about this little robot and how he affects everyone without really trying, he’s just trying to find this other robot that he has a crush on. The little things he does have a huge impact on everyone around him. Simple things like waving to someone. He also has a great sense of innocent interest in things. Being a trash gathering/compacting robot, he finds all sorts of odd knickknacks and trinkets that he keeps because they interest him, things like Rubix Cubes and sporks.

Really there are a few plot holes in the movie. But they are very minor, and never really are a bother. The only thing I was left wanting was to know what his name means. I’m sure it might’ve said somewhere, and I just didn’t catch it.

Teeth

I don’t really know where to start with this movie. Once you hear the concept you don’t really know what to expect. It sounds like a mix between a bad horror and porn, or something that Troma would make. But once you actually watch it, you realize it really isn’t either one of those. You’d also imagine it to be filled with many cheesy moments, and horrible actors, again you’d be wrong.

The film makers have managed to somehow fit several messages into the movie, with out it really feeling like it’s trying to have a message. At the core it feels like it’s about abstinence, right from the very first scene. But it does a good job of both putting it in a good light, and showing the negative effects that can be caused by it. By the end of the movie it kind of changes its message and is a combination of sexism and being sexually careful, but does so with a smart transition, while making sense with the story.
The story is pretty much a very twisted take on adolescence and growing up and experiencing changes with your body. Discovering new things that seem out of place and wrong, only in this film, they are very much out of place and wrong. And while the story does have a good progression, it doesn’t really go anywhere. The ending is kind of abrupt, and it doesn’t really explain much. But it does leave it open for a sequel, which I would watch.

I was surprised to recognize several of the actors, and even more surprised that it was filled with actual good acting. Jess Weixler does a great job of making you empathize with her through out the film. And you can really see how her character progresses and grows. Some of the other cast, while doing a good job, are pretty typical roles for them.

The Fall

Being a very visually stimulated person I tend to really lean towards movies with a very unique look about them. One of my all time favorite visual movies is The Cell. I certainly don’t watch that one for the story, though the story really isn’t half bad. But the visuals in that movie just blow so many other movies out of the water. So naturally I was ecstatic when I heard that Tarsem Singh, the director of The Cell, had a new movie out. And after a little bit of research into this mysterious figure, I discovered that he has also been responsible for some of my favorite music videos as well. Though, I was honestly surprised to see that The Fall is only his second movie.

The visuals and cinematography of The Fall is absolutely beautiful. There is no doubting that. While some of them have the same style as they did in The Cell, they aren’t nearly as dark in nature. Most of them are very minimal and desolate this time. Much of the scenery is deserts or abandoned cities. The costumes are gorgeous, with each of the 6 main characters of the story having a very unique style and look.

Unfortunately, to me, it seems that the visuals in The Fall don’t really compare to The Cell. While they are still stunning on their own, they seemed to lack a lot of the depth and grandeur of The Cell. This might come simply to personal taste though. The make-up in The Cell is a lot more detailed as well. I really don’t recall any detailed make-up in The Fall apart from one character, which wasn’t even that elaborate. There are defiantly a few stand-out scenes that gave me goose bumps though.

The story is very much a fairy tale. It is all being told by a nice, but down on his luck injured man to a very curious little girl. The little girl is absolutely adorable, and quit a good actress too. It was interesting to see how stuff going on in the real world, different people the girl interacted with, would affect the story world. Very much a “I had a dream, and you were there, and you and you!” feeling.

The Strangers

This movie really creeped me out. The masks, the ninja like abilities of the strangers, the music, and the fact that I had to go home to an empty dark apartment after watching it. I can admit I jumped once, luckily though I didn’t spray the soda that I was drinking at the moment, for that would’ve been embarrassing.

All the things in this worked so well to make it creepy. The masks they were, while up close and in the light were pretty much all happy nice masks. But in the dark and from the distance they seemed to take on a new shade of scary. The doll-faced girl looked very much like a ghost from a distance, large dark eyes, small mouth, no real way to making out features other then the contrast of the eyes and mouth. But the ‘dad’ figures mask was the creepiest. What can only be described as a burlap sack with a smiley face painted on.

The music for this is was what really set me on edge. Through out the movie they keep playing with a small record player in the house, all the songs they play are very happy and pleasant sounding, but the lyrics seemed to match what was going on with what was happening on the screen. They even used the fact that it was a record, and made it skip all the time to intensify the moment.

The thing I was most curious about was their marketing for this movie. Saying it was based on actual events. And after a little research it seems that it wasn’t really based of one event, but several. There was an event from the writer/directors childhood that made him start this script. And it seems that a lot of the motivations and actions of these strangers were taken from several of the Manson murders. Even one of the games that they used to play on people, where they’d sneak into peoples houses and rearrange items, what they called “creepy crawling”. But the story is mostly taken from murders that happened at a resort in Keddie, CA, where three people were found tied up, stubbed and beaten with a hammer.

My only complaint is somewhat with the story. While I do like that it never explains the motivations of these strangers other then “they were home”. It doesn’t really explain much about the back story of the couple central to the story. Its obvious they had some sort of falling out, but it never truly says what happened, even things like the director making a point of getting a shot of the boyfriends bloodied knuckles, but never saying how they got that way. But, honestly, I completely forgot all about that once the masked ones show up. Was only when thinking back to the story afterwards did I remember these facts.

The Onion Movie

I’ve been a fan of The Onion papers for as far back as I can remember. I was greatly excited when I learned that they’d made the jump to the youtube generation with The Onion News Network. Now they’ve even taken a step further and made a movie.

Most of the movie is basically more Onion News Network bits, some of which have even been online already. They did throw in a bit of a story about a corporation taking over the Network, complete with intrusive mascots during the news.

While the whole thing is as funny as expected it would be, it does kind drag on. The bits with the actual story don’t happen that often, so at times it feels like you just paid to watch something you can see for free on youtube. But by the end all the skits and stories come back full circle with the story, and that’s when the funny gets real funny.

The Incredible Hulk

While I am a big fan of comics, I can’t say that I’ve ever really read much Hulk. I know the basics of his whole story and happenings, but not very detailed. But I am a fan of smash’em up movies.

A couple years ago Ang Lee did the first big screen Hulk movie. But Ang Lee isn’t really the kind of director you want for something like this. While it had very good action it was bogged down with too much heavy story, not something associated with the Hulk. So it is kind of suprising that they green lighted another Hulk movie after that one bombed. This time around they got Louis Leterrier, who did The Transporter 2. Not only is a fun action director, he’s a big fan of the original television series for The Hulk, which you can see in many of the nods to the series throughout the movie. This seems to be the thing that Marvel has got right this year with their comic movies, actually getting fans of the comics to do the movies justice.

The special effects in this are much better then the last one as well. When I first saw the trailer I have to admit they didn’t look that good to me. But the more I saw of them, the more detailed I realized they were. They actually use Edward Norton and Tim Roth’s faces for their CGI counterparts. As well as using motion capture to get their movements to match the live action actors. This all made the fight scenes and action much more interesting and realistic.

The story is simple, but good. It’s not trying to be real in-depth or heavy, it has what it needs to move it along and get where it’s going. It even leaves stuff open for a sequel for the nerds that can catch what is happening during the movie.

Just like Iron Man, there are lots of easter eggs for fans of the comics. I personally only saw a few, but others have said its chock full of them. It doesn’t have a secret ending after the credits like Iron Man did, but it looks like there was going to be one, but they put it before the credits instead. And with where these endings between the two movies are going is pretty exciting for the comic nerds out there.

I really didn’t have many problems with the movie. The one thing that bugged me during the climax is all the pedestrians. There are two large monsters fighting on this street, are you really going to run back and forth on that same street? How about you get off that street and run another direction. With the amount of smash and destruction there is bound to be monstrous amounts of casualties, but they never really mention it. Especially when the army is trying to stop the hulk, the amount of firepower they are bringing into a University Campus is just asking for tones of friendly fire.

The Orphanage

Good: Creepy, so very creepy. Even the opening scene of the movie sets your nerves at alert. Everything from the setting, sounds and lighting all add to this intensified creep factor. It did its job of making me uneasy after watching it, walking around an empty dark apartment.

The whole movie has the feel of other movies like The Shining, House on Haunted Hill, The Others, Poltergeist, and a few others. The movie really is much more of a psychological thriller then it is about creepy kids in masks.

The setting is absolutely beautiful. The large house that is the Orphanage is gorgeous, inside and out. I’m not great with house style names, but to me it looked very Victorian. It is surrounded by a deep and rich forest. The house is up on a hill over a spectacular beach/cove. And overlooking all of it is a lighthouse. All three of these are a character in the story as much as the actors. And each of them is very picturesque.

Bad: The Marketing for this was way off. Guillermo del Toro did not direct this, he only helped bring it to America, but everyone seems to think that it’s his movie. They like to do this with movies, just like they did with Hostel. Quentin Tarantino didn’t make that movie, he berly had anything to do with it, it was directed by Eli Roth.

The footage they show in the commercials is also very misleading. They make it look like its all about a creepy kid in a very creepy mask terrorizing this poor lady. While yes the kid is a key figure in the story, he only shows him in a few scenes. The movie is about this mother being haunted, not tormented by a masked child.

There are moments when it does feel kind of slow. While it may bug some people, it worked for me. Made it much more tense and added a sense of despair.

Bug

Good: A very interesting concept. One act effecting the next person which leads to them effecting someone else. A whole chain of cause and effect. At times it's a series of bad days making everyone elses days bad, likewise for good days. Makes you remember that no matter how small of an action you take, it could completely change someone elses day, for the better or worse.

It has a great cast, a huge cast, everyone from Jamie Kennedy to Ed Bagley Jr. to Brian Cox. Each of them has their own interesting twists that make them stand apart from everyone else.

Bad: It jumps around, a lot. This is kind of expected with a story like this, but at times it jumps when you don't really want it to. You only get a small glimps into each of these peoples stories, and some of them seem genuinely interesting, you just want to know more about them.

All this disjointedness really comes to a head at the end. It feels like there is so much more to be told with the whole ordeal, but it just kind of stops. There is a slight sense of finality, but not really enough, nearly all the stories are left open and unfinished.

Fear Itself

Good: The general idea for this series is pretty interesting, a new horror director telling a short story in one hour. It goes back to the whole Twilight Zone type shows. The first episode was actually really good. It never really explained some stuff that happened to the guys to that got them into this situation. The whole set up with the three sisters and the commune was pretty interesting and could be looked at like a twist on Dracula and the wicked sisters.

The theme song is awesome. It is written, composed and sung by Serj Tankian of System of a Down fame.

Bad: There was some plot holes left unanswered. And the beginning of the episode moved a little fast, but that is kind of to be expected for trying to tell a complete story in 45 minutes. They try to have a “twist” ending, but it really just kind of lands flat.

In all the commercials and advertisements they kept pointing out how each episode would be directed/written by they picked a pretty unknown director for the first episode. It doesn’t appear that he has directed any horror/thriller type movies yet, but is planning to remake a couple, including Creature from the Black Lagoon. The writers have worked on several horrors before including Critters 2, The Stand, and Lord of Illusions.

Hairspray (the remake)

Unfortunately my disk was scratched, so at several points in the movie it messed up so I missed several scenes.

Good: I’m a huge fan of the original movie, and the stage show. While its always hard not to compare remakes to the original, I felt this one stood on its own pretty well. It has a lot of the same humor and feel of the original, but makes a lot of it its own. The biggest difference between the two is the budget. John Waters obviously didn’t have this kind of money to make his version. And there are a lot more big names in this one, Travolta, Walker, Pfeiffer. This version is also a lot more colorful and visual, better sets and wardrobes. All thanks to that budget.

Most of the casting is pretty spot on too. The Nikki Blonsky is awesome as Tracy. Heck she seemed like I would want to hang out where in real life. Walken is good at anything he does.

And as a fan of the original it was kind of fun to spot all the cameos of the original cast, sans Divine. Ricki Lake, Jerry Stiller and even John Waters pop up in a few places.

Bad: I really didn’t have any problems with the movie on a whole. There was just one glaringly bad choice in casting, John Travolta. Why? Really, I mean why? So many things wrong with the choice, from his voice to the fat suit. None of it worked at all. Even without comparing him to Divine (no competition). But with the stage show they even had great choices in casting from Bruce Vilance to Harvey Fierstein, both far better choices. And while I like Travolta a lot, this is by far the worst I have ever seen him do.

Art School Confidential

Good: Pretty funny. The whole first half is full of jabs at the art culture and schools. There is lots of talk of stereotypes of students, all of which are pretty spot on funny. It has a great cast, big names like John Malkovich and Anjelica Houston. John works does well as a down on his luck art school professor. Anjelica doesn’t really have much of a part, unfortunately. But even the unknowns do a good job.

Bad: Through out the movie there is an underlying serial killer story. While by the end of the movie it makes sense, it just didn’t do anything for me, personally. However, it does kind of work with the story and the whole idea of being a famous artist (trying not to spoil anything).

Mixed Feelings: The whole movie is filled with jabs at what it means to be an artist, which if you are an artist you can understand a lot of what is being said. But if you are not an artist, it might seem kind of boring and slow. The comedy of the first half is kind of drowned out by this weighty discussion of being an artist and what art is.

Severance

Good: I’ve been jaded by a lot of the horror gore fests I’ve seen. There have only been a few cases where a movie has made me cringe, like Hostel (her eye!!!!). But this movie has been added to my list. But it is in no way another mindless torture porn flick. Its funny, real funny.

Most of the funny is done by Danny Dyer, right off the bat of the movie he’s eating ‘shrooms, so you know its going to be good when he starts tripping. The great moments of humor between the really fucked up shit that happens to the people really make the horror parts that much more fun. They even do a good job of mixing them with the little false scares. They have all the build ups like normal thrillers, then something funny happens and it really screws with your anticipation. So when something bad does happen, it’s a lot less expected.

The British seem to understand how to make a horror/thriller comedy a lot better then Americans do.

Bad: It has the regular stereotypes. But really, what movie doesn’t? Especially thriller/horror flicks. The story seems really forced, you never really get who the bad guys are. It does explain it, but it seems a lot more of them forcing this motive down your throat, and it’s pretty contrived. But movies like this don’t need a great story to be fun. All you need to know is these innocent people are being hunted for something they didn’t do.

Gabriel

I'm a little biased with this movie, I’m a sucker for Angel stories.

Good: Story. It was an interesting take on Archangels, Fallen Angels and Purgatory. There was some slight character development, but nothing great. The look of the movie is great. The main baddy, Sammael, had the creepiest eyes I’ve seen in a while, and the actor wore them well. And the actor for Gabriel was not only hot, but I thought he was pretty good actor, doesn’t look like he’s really been in much other stuff though.

The style of the world was a lot like Dark City or The Crow, very dark, goth and dirty. And really the world is a character into its self. A big part of the movie and how the characters are the way they are is because of the world. I found the idea of Angels trying to cope with a world of darkness and violence really interesting.

Bad: It didn’t have a great budget, which when they use some of the special effects is real obvious. During some of the fight scenes they make it look like they were moving real fast by adding blur lines. But it just didn’t work. They should’ve just stuck with the nice martial arts of the first few fights.

It also looked like they pulled too many little things from other movies. There are several scenes that have been seen in other movies like Equilibrium, and The Transporter. Nods are fine for some genres, but stealing scenes from other movies isn’t.