Archive for May, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
“It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you’ll have to learn by yourself.”
We went to see this one because there are a lot of great actors involved [see tags below - not going to list them all twice], the effects looked cool and… okay… I’ll admit that the hype made me want to see it more. If I hadn’t heard about the religious issues, I would have never thought this movie had any such ‘deep’ message about killing God, etc. To us, it was like any other fantasical story – it has an evil empire it’s up against… [we didn't read the books, so maybe they were more blatantly biassed on the side of atheism?].
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Action, Adventure, Family, Fantasy | Tagged Cathy Bates, Chris Weitz, Christopher Lee, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Ian McKellen, Kristin Scott Thomas, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliot | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, May 31, 2008
“The Truth Can Be Adjusted”
Michael Clayton was my favorite movie of last year. It’s satisfying on so many levels. Amazing cast, story, pacing… George Clooney as his law firm’s “fixer” is an interesting character that seems to want more out of life, but keeps hitting roadblocks until a huge case falls in his lap that changes everything. It’s a wild ride with powerhouse performances by Tilda Swinton [who received an oscar for hers...], Tom Wilkinson and Mr. Clooney himself. The drama and suspense are delicious. I could watch this movie over and over, but the first time is definitely the best as you try to figure out what’s going on. If you like crime drama thrillers, you’ll eat this up. I can’t say enough.
For us, this movie is 4 1/2 out of 5. The buildup leading to the final scene is f-ing amazing. I thought this movie deserved best picture over No Country For Old Men… [maybe I'll review that one next]…
I posted the pic above featuring Sydney Pollack. Rest in peace. We’ll miss you…
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: Oct 12, 2007 • Runtime: 119 minutes • Rated R for language including some sexual dialogue
Posted in Crime, Drama, Thriller | Tagged George Clooney, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Tony Gilroy | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, May 31, 2008
“8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth.”
Vantage Point is a pretty intense thriller about an assassination attempt on the President. The gimmick of this movie is that said attempt is viewed from many different perspectives – from one of his secret servicemen to an innocent bystander, to more than one suspect. I call it a gimmick because, every time they go through one perspective, they leave you with a question and then mock ‘rewind’ everything you’ve seen back to noon on that day and start again with someone else. Which is great… the first one or two times… then we GET IT, so no need for the stupid rewinding crap… just fade to black and start the clock at noon again!!! We’re not stupid!!! [the rewinding made me a little crazy...] Good thing I’m a big Dennis Quaid fan [I think I fell in love with him when I saw him in Dreamscape back in '84, when I was 10 years old]. I also love Matthew Fox [we're Lost fans and before that he was my favorite character on that crazy-ass pathetic, yet addictive show Party of Five. I still get angry when I think of all the hours I 'lost' to that show [haha!]… which is kind of how I’m feeling about Lost these days, but I keep watching!!! GHAH!… and I still here, “Charlie? CHARLIE?!!” every time I see his face… but, I digress…].
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Action, Drama, Thriller | Tagged Dennis Quaid, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Fox, Pete Travis, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, May 31, 2008
“Anywhere Is Possible.”
We went into this movie not expecting much. The concept looked fun from the preview, but we were iffy on Hayden Christensen’s acting abilities after his less than stellar performances in Star Wars Episodes II & III. So, he had nowhere to go but up, unless he stayed where he was… And luckily he didn’t. He actually did a great job. Rachael Bilson was just… ehh… the British kid was great – Jamie Bell. And Sam Jackson was… well.. SAM JACKSON. He was kind of over the top, but what can you do. It’s why we love him.
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Diane Lane, Doug Liman, Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Michael Rooker, Rachael Bilson, Samuel L. Jackson | Leave a Comment »
Saturday, May 31, 2008
“The End Is Nigh.”
I think the week we went to see Doomsday, there was nothing out in the theaters we felt like seeing and we had absolutely NO expectations for this movie. I really didn’t know much about it, but I knew Rhona Mitra was in it and I LOVE her. I remembered her from the Marky Mark movie Shooter. She had a bit part, but she had a presence that, to me, said ‘future movie star’… I can’t explain it. Anyway… so we went to see Doomsday and other that the crazy old guy sitting behind us that wouldn’t shut the f-up during the entire time the previews were playing, this movie was a fun ride.
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Action, Drama, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Rhona Mitra, Neil Marshall, Bob Hoskins, Craig Conway, Malcolm McDowell, Rover 3500 | Leave a Comment »
Friday, May 30, 2008
“The true story of a heist gone wrong… in all the right ways.”
We both love Jason Statham, so it was a no brainer seeing this one. It has a great, vintage 70s movie feel to it, which went perfectly with the costumes, hair, etc. It was a clever story we both enjoyed. The pacing was a tad slow, but we didn’t mind it because the characters were interesting. They put together a great ensemble cast with Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore and the rest of the crew.
What I didn’t know going in was that this was based on a true story – I think I would have enjoyed it that much more had I known that up front – it’s such an incredible story BECAUSE it actually happened. I’m sure it was jazzed up for theatrical effect, but nonetheless…
Some great suspense and then last 20 minutes or so are really intense. Great performances all around. And the ending couldn’t have been better. The tag for the movie is “The true story of a heist gone wrong… in all the right ways.” If you dig heist movies, this is a good one. I’d give it a 3 1/2 out of 5.
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: Mar 7, 2008 • Runtime: 111 minutes • Rated R for sexual content, nudity, violence and language
Posted in Crime, Drama, Thriller | Tagged Daniel Mays, James Faulkner, Jason Statham, Roger Donaldson, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore | Leave a Comment »
Friday, May 30, 2008
“When you’re in this world, no one is who they seem, and everyone is playing the game.”
We saw this one a few weeks ago. We’re both big fans of Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman, and this movie seemed sexy and suspenseful from the preview. It was really good through most of it and then the ending didn’t do it for me. Also, I had a hard time with Michelle Williams’ character. As you can see from the pic above, she’s pretty small…any scene she had with Hugh Jackman was like watching him with someone that could pass for his daughter. It was creepy, and even though his character is supposed to end up kind of on the creepy side, I don’t think that’s what they were going for. It just seemed mismatched to me… but maybe it’s just me. The performances were well done – especially Ewan. Nobody plays someone who’s stressed and scared as well as he does – check out his movie, Rogue Trader for the most intense hour and a half ever.
Aside from the physical mismatch of Michelle and Hugh’s characters, I had trouble with Hugh Jackman’s character in the end. He’s so slick through the whole movie [in a good way] and then his character took a left turn for me in how he was dealing with the situation that didn’t go as planned. It just didn’t jive with how they built his character’s personality and took me out of the movie – disbelief stopped being suspended.
There are definitely some great scenes and some nice sexy times… so I think as long as you know the ending isn’t as good as it could have been and you just go along for the ride, this movie is worth a rental. I’ll give it a 2 1/2 out of 5.
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: Apr 25, 2008 • Runtime: 108 minutes • Rated R for sexual content, language, brief violence and some drug use
Posted in Drama, Romance, Thriller | Tagged Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Marcel Langenegger, Michelle Williams | Leave a Comment »
Friday, May 30, 2008
“Their war. Our world.”
Since I referenced Transformers in the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull review, I figured I’d add it next…
Obviously this was a summer blockbuster from ‘07 and has been on DVD for a while now. We happened to buy it on HD DVD [before we knew who won the war... we were punished for being early-adopters, but that's another story...]. And we’ve watched this movie over and over. It never gets old. The visual effects are just incredible. We were both concerned about Michael Bay directing when we heard he go the gig, but he did a fantastic job. The pacing was perfect. The writing was also well done with some really funny dialog throughout, but especially between Shia LaBeouf’s character and his parents. Shia was the perfect Sam Witwicky – both funny and smart, and very believable. My husband and I both watched the cartoon back in the 80s so it was fun hearing the original voice of Optimus Prime. For me, Bumble Bee stole the show. Who knew robots could be so emotive… This movie is definitely a great start to what will most likely be a long-running franchise.
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tagged Anthony Anderson, Bernie Mac, John Turturro, John Voight, Josh Duhamel, Meghan Fox, Michael Bay, Rachael Taylor, Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese | Leave a Comment »
Friday, May 30, 2008
“Get Carried Away.”
I’m posting this because I just got a great ojective review on this movie from my friend, who went to the Boston premiere last night. I have to stipulate that I am not a fan of the show [just never watched it, so I have no opinion one way or the other], nor have I seen this movie myself. That being said, here’s my friend’s take on it…
She used to watch the show on HBO and felt the sex scenes got more and more gratuitous, which wasn’t her thing, but when it started playing on TBS, she enjoyed it more because it was more about the story and the characters. She said if you enjoyed watching on TBS, then you’ll enjoy the movie. It wasn’t nearly as over the top as the HBO version of the show – it was more about the characters getting on with their lives and she said it did a good job of going more in depth with each character. She said the story was fun and overall she recommends it to any Sex and the City fan. There were a couple of “holy crap” scenes in there, but for the most part it was more tame than the HBO version, which is why she liked it so much. So if you liked the crazy over-the-top HBO version, this movie may let you down.
Read the rest of this entry ?
Posted in Romantic Comedy | Tagged Chris Noth, Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall, Krisin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker | Leave a Comment »
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Being our first official post, we’ll start with the most recent movie we’ve seen at the theater. Like most of America, we saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull this past weekend. We went in with no expectations, because let’s be honest… movies haven’t been all that great lately. We avoided previews and trailers to preserve excitement and surprise… and we came out of it pleasantly… uh… surprised!
It was definitely different for an Indiana Jones movie, but it was the most fun we’ve had at the movies since Transformers last year. We won’t give away any of the twists, but it’s as good, if not better than Last Crusade. Harrison was in top form and didn’t disappoint. Shia was instantly likable and had great chemistry with both Ford and Allen [Marion from Raiders], and Kate Blanchette played a really fun villain who did a decent job with her accent…[a giant pet peeve of mine - when an actor massacres a foreign accent]. There were some great thrills and some very funny back-and-forth through the whole movie.
In terms of fun we give this movie a 4 out of 5. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.
~ HELENA
Add’l Info: Released: May 22, 2008 • Runtime: 124 minutes • Rated PG-13 for adventure violence and scary images
Posted in Action, Adventure, Science Fiction | Tagged Cate Blanchette, George Lucas, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Karen Allen, Shia LaBeouf, Steven Spielberg | 1 Comment »
