Another Month of Mediocrity

Here is a quick rundown of the films I have seen in the last 30 days or so.

In the Theaters:

Balls of Fury- funny at moments, genuine belly laughs a few clunkers. A good cast. If you like silly fun this is a good flick not film.

3:10 to Yuma- I think this an excellent homage to westerns past not even just the original. Its cast of stock western characters, the panoramas, the staging and framing, the actions, and the soundtrack all speak to westerns of yore. I'm not wild about either Bale or Crowe but they are both well cast here for their parts in fact I think this is one of my favorite Bale roles. Slow as Westerns use to be with some ok gunplay scenes. If you like westerns or these actors you'll like this otherwise you take your chances.

Harry Potter and the something arcaney sounding- Order of the Phoenix?? I think. I haven't read the books and watch these to be conversant on them mostly. The story line is ok, the acting is ok the look is ok. Two more to go!

On disc/cable:

Failure to Launch- A Matt McConaughey vehicle romantic comedy. It actually works though. Some fun casting that doesn't just hang on being funny funny funny but wry and clever suffice. A decent couch date flick.

Premonition- This movie is a thriller about seeing the future and toying with if you can change it and struggling with whether you are just losing your mind. Not an in depth gritty look but that's the premise. Sandra Bullock is serviceable though she looks like she is fighting with her aging. Some fairly decent holes in this thing. Though the movie had Ahn up out of her seat cause she didnt' want to see what was inevitably hurling towards us plotwise but we stuck through it and it paid off ok. From the bonuses they made some good choices on what to cut and the outtakes were soso. Rainy day nothing better on kinda deal.

Covenant- Better like teen flicks or be the type that has to see any movie dealing with withccraft. Its a poser of a poser movie. Young stars of the future probably in this as it is decently acted for what it is. No new great conventions or effects. I didn't feel like it was a waste but I aint' running out to tell anyone to see it either.

Lady in the Water- M Night kept us guessing a bit again. Fun to try and figure out but otherwise not all that super of a film. Casting and production ok.

Black Snake Moan- this was neither the blaxtoplation or sexploitation film it had been promoted as. It was a fairly decent story. The acting was pretty good. Its a small film in its scope and was worth the watch. It did have some graphic sexual references and hit some stereotypes pretty hard but it handled both fairly deftly and I liked how the church figure was presented for a change. If you can handle risque and crude stuff without being too judgemental or putoff its a good conversation piece movie to hang an evening around.

Spanglish- This is a pretty honest look at a married relationships, relationships in general, parenting, class issues and life as an immigrant. It flirts with the notion of being a hollywood romance but crashes it with some good doses of reality. Its a dramedy and not a Adam Sandler vehicle. Tea Leone was good as the wife and Paz Vega as the domestic i caught in the middle whose story it really is. Cloris Leachman though steals the show retaining the best dialogue and scenes. Watch the outtakes on this as there are some choice, choice bits left on the floor. Its well made as is and its a nice light combination of entertainment and food for thought. ANother date/conversation type film.

Friends with Money- A light Jennifer Anniston vehicle that kept my attention and also deals with varying relationships. If you like character studies of mundane people this isn't too bad. The cast is pretty strong though not all are on A game performances or perhaps given A game material. Its sentimental sweet easy to understand and relate to. Another date/chat more flick than film. Slow and quiet.

The Queen- a movie explaining what went on with the Queen and Tony Blair during the death of Diana if you are caught up in any of these parts of our lifetime you've probably already seen this. It is what it is though. It is well cast/acted, seems credible, and decently produced.

Elizabeth- A fair sucker for historical dramas, this was interesting adn led to some online wiki history reasearch. Not a great film but had watchable production values. If you like history dramas then this will appeal but not a thriller, actioner, romance in classic hollywood terms.

Astronauts Wife- caught my eye and pretty much bored me if any of these rate something other than a 3 this is probably the closest as it was a two. No new conventions if you are even only versed in the classic primers of horror/thrillers. Cast is ok but it is a bit plodding and kina lazy and just didn't leave me all that entertained.

Hot Fuzz- This kept me entertained. Funny british but british that we can relate to. A typical action comedy with decent characterizations. Not a real head scratcher but moves along fairly well. I laughed but never super hard. Just fun.

I am Sex Addict- A very offbeat made film. Is it great no, but it is interesting and had some relationship things I could relate to. I became engrossed but this was a "late night wow a pair of jublies caught my eye wait what the heck is this" kind of watch. Only watch it if you like unusual indie kinda of presentations. Its not really a movie or documentary but somewhere between and indie biopic maybe best describes it. A bit pretentious and self serving a bit flat but I sat through the whole thing and not just to ogle jublies.

That's about a movie every other day time not well spent but it is what it is. Hopefully a few chances next month pan out- Back to the netflix queue.

Catching up on the quick

End of Summer dash through a slew of flicks.

Movie theater viewed:

Die Hard(4)- a 3 but definitely what summer movies are supposed to be about. Fun entertaining mind candy. Saw it with Ahn and my nephew and I believe there is a podcast up at the movie cast site. Stretched the feasibility limits worse than ever before but still good banter stayed within itself characterization and the side kick addition was rall good. Another decent Kevin Smith cameo aadn the daughter was a good choice. Some bad editing at one point and lots of didn't make a whole lot of sense but set up the action sequence type plot points.

Transformers - another 3 I saw with my nephew Tomas as well and prolly my choice for best summer blockbuster. Fun mindcandy. I was well into my teens when they came out and never a big fan but knew many that were. Still neat to see the franchise on the big screen live action and well done. The actin was good and the characters were fun. Targeted the audinece well.

Fantastic Four(2) Rise of the Silver Surver - this is an eh 3. We mistakenly took the kids to see this. A little mature for them slow plot and some gripping intensity. Only one really good comic style battle and one decent rescue mission type. Need more supers doing super hero things. Jonny Storm character only real interesting one.

Bourne Ultimatum(3)- A 3. real good kept in line with the series but the weakest of the three. Plot was thin and they did a lot of things just to do them that were like how? No way and did litttle to explain or were a bigger stretch than the series has made before. The fight scenes were crisp and fair amount of what happens next plotting.

Simpsons- a 3 as an homage and for me swan song to the series. I haven't kept up with the longest running sitcom(I think- well its up there in rarified air) and cartoon in tv history. Prolly haven't watched an episode in a dozen years actually. It was pretty much the same as I left it. More aggressively anti-authority than I recall before but still the silly fun and clever. No sacred (or Holy) cows left untipped.

Recent releases on DVD/cable:

23- a 2-3 okay a 3 but had to try and work that in somehow. Jim Carrey had decent chops and the plot was ok. Kinda wanted a bit more and the alternate ending is the one I was remarking should happen as we watched the original and was pleased to see in the extras. Not all that creepy and a little predictable but interesting.

Constant Gardner not bad 3 political drama. Are there ever going to be happy Africa movies anymore? Where are Hatari, Tarzan, Gods must be Crazy(was that Africa?)?? Another makes Zulu Dawn seem like a love story telling of the plight of Africa with some twisting and turning. I guess I was thinking it was going to be more thriller or more action. Wasn't bad wasn't great. Fairly well made though.

Music and Lyrics fun 3 -typical Drew Barrymore Hugh Grant film- if you like them you will like this. Clever and fun and an interesting chocie of character setting(has been popstar). Supporting cast ws good, moved fairly well, had warm moments, funny and wry moments, a few groaners. good dvd chickflick date movie particularly if you remember the 80s and early mtv videos

You Me and Dupree - a 3- I don't know that I will ever be comfortable with Matt Dillon he just always is Matt Dillon actor. Thsi was one of his better jobs though or I am just getting used to him. Suprised to see Michael Douglas here. Uneven kind of not sure where it was going but ok. Had a few out and out funny scenes and some decent concepts. Sotry overall ok.

Beerfest a 3 believe it or not. I like good camp and this was a good throwback raunchy comedy. Just crude bizarro fun and absurdity and of course gratutious nudity. Saw this with my nephew Robert and he probably wanted to laugh more but wasn't sure how to react with his uncle and stuff. The mostly unkowns were funy and several I'd like to see more stuff from.

Old flicks that caught my eye on DVD/cable:

Ned Kelly- the Mick Jagger version. He wasn't bad, the flick was true to its time period. The subject drew me in and I am now going to prolly take the bait and see the more modern one with Orlando Bloom and Heath Bledger. I give it a 2 as it was a little boring, not well acted and the production was just so so. HArd for me to do withe a period piece western type movie but I'm doing it. Again made in another era but still there are plenty of older flicks that translate well over the years.

Protector a 3. I like Tony Jaa as an action star but not an actor. His little bald pudgy cohort is funny but needed more in this film that even for sctioners was really fast and loose with the plot. The elephant bone scen was just bizarro- yet why a three then? A really interesting super long one shot fight scene that I had to look up after seeing it with my nephew and pointing ti out to him. They had to re- do it 4 times(5 total takes) rebuilding the set adn all kinds of trials with getting an operator to handle the camera for that long on that many levels. Teh other action scenes were classic Jaa. Only for the martial actioners and not ones that like a story to go with it.

Kiss of the Dragon- How did I miss this Luc Besson low end/rent actioner period (see Wasabi adn Unleashed)? Here with Jet Li(again) and a barely recognizeable Bridget Fonda he teams up to make an ok 3 chopsocky in France flick. Seemed like the plot could have been a little tighter but at least existed. A bit slow adn teh music was off or redone for the American version which I understands happens with Besson pieces. Sat afternoon border on a nap fold laundry to kinda thing.

Ahn and the Kiddos saw Ratatouile(sp) and Underdog. I think Underdog got a thumbs down from Ahn- the kids liked both.

Is that it? I think so... Yep no Potter in there- still need to go see it. laters check out the podcast page.

I forgot.. prolly not a good sign...

The Holiday actually not a terrible chick flick with some decent enough cute moments. Jack Black was subdued but Jude Law still seemed a little too impressed with himself. The lady leads were classic cute charmers and could act. It had a few new wrinkles in the story line even though it was something of an homage to the story style of old films. I learned what a 'meet cute' was and interesting to see Calvera or the Rat aka the Ugly is still around. I give it a three but you aren't missing anything if you find better ways to spend your time. This is a solid sick in bed and it happens to be playing on cable kinda flick. You can doze in an out, easy to follow and stil mildly entertaining.

More In the Calvacade of Summer Movie Viewing

When you have a wife that is sick for a week and then its summer slow down and its movie blockbuster season- it's hard to keep up with everything I see. Quick hitters list form again only two new in theaters.

Ocean's 13 Ahn should be posting a podcast to this and somewhere in the archive of this blog will be links to the page. It was good and fun and kept with the series. If you liked the other two you will like this one. It had looser story and one continuity gaff but the 'play' or job they pulled was more involved techincally. I liked it a little better in some ways than 2 but really all about the same. Still had that highly improvised feel to the whole affair and Ahn later discovered all kinds of insider stuff on imdb about it. I give it a rock solid summer movie outing 3.

Surf's Up penguins in an animated movie strikes again! This one beats the pants off Happy Feat which didn't deserve an Oscar let alone be made into a Happy Meal toys. Its not great but it is a 3. The kids liked it and retained things from it. The story flowed and worked and was something they and adults could relate to more. There was enough humor too for adults to enjoy. The voice work was good, the action and comedy sequences delivered and the animation was solid. This just wants me to set off on Happy Feet and the oscars this past year but I won't as I got a few more homeviewed releases to hit. If you have kids or you are a diehard about seeing animation/kids/disney-type films then see this- you'll be satisfied. It won't be all that to many outside the kids/family/animation lover dynamic. Hopefully too we won't see animated penguins for a while unless in contemptuous parody.

I saw the hyped Afro Samurai. Interesting, to me like a new generation of Aeon Flux back on MTV where there was a lot of cool imagery and ideas and then someone said make a cohesive story out of it (still waiting on Aeon Flux to accomplish that). Man they had some bootylicious toons in this flick and since it pertained to a genre or mix of genres I am a sucker for I will give it a 3. The gamer in me wnats to have a teddy bear head wearing samurai- maybe my next Nexus War character. The movie is violent and adult themed not for the kids of the wee variety. It is very modern looking but the action is more manga style than video game style. Voice acting had some star power and they were all credible.

My Super Ex Girlfriend was a 2. I give the concept a thumbs up but the acting and the story were very B-C class. I got through it and it had some decent moments but it is going to have a narrow audience more so than even Mystery Men which at least was focused towards humor/comics and delivered to its niche. This is comics/light romance and not very good at either.

Ghost Rider ok It gets a 3 as passable popcorn fare even on dvd because it has a comicbook theme and action sequences and Eva Mendes in tight tops. Cage playing Storm wasn't as bad as far as an age thing as I feared it would be. It had some fun but other than the visuals of a lot of things the action was stiff.

Invincible Marky Mark picked another good role for himself and the moive was your typical fell good disney underdog triumphs story. It s a 3 for Sports film fans. I love football so I am biased in favor but would have blasted it had it been bad or unbelieveable. It provoked me to look up some of the stuff it was based on and worked on most levels. A little slow and less about football stuff than I hoped. Kinnear as Vermiel was good and more screen time might have worked. As it was a decent DVD watch.

Codename:The Cleaner I am going to give this a 2. I didn't finish it I can only hope I was half way and don't have a desire to seek out and finish it but if I caught it on cable I might try to catch the end of it- hence the 2. It would have to be a major turnaround to be a 3. Humor wasn't all that good, the story threadbare thin and the acting well its a lot like overpaid draftpicks- a lot of promise but not much delivered.

Deterrence an older piece that had a made for cable feel to it. Not bad political thriller shot entirely on one set. The acting was good even if the production values were low. I don't think anyone broke out of their b-list classification. It was ok and while you had a pretty good idea what was going to happen it gave you enough to guess about. I give it a 3 as it is topical to today's events.

Stay Alive I'm not a big horror fan but thsi one gave seem decent creeps and the sotry worked well enough and the acting production was decent. I give it a three and a don't watch it alone late at night when your family is away!


That's it for now and not even halfway through summer

Whirlwind recap of theStorm of 3s from the past 2 months

Blood Diamond - decent enough actioner though I didn't really buy Leo's portrayal of his character. 3 star

Pursuit of Happyness- well at least I know why they put the 'y' in there. Pretty inspirational about what you expect, to me a little underwhelming as I never got super caught up but glad they didn't try to rake you emotionally over the coals too bad and stuck to the guy's story which is incredible enough. Will Smith is good. Led to some interesting web work. Another great story not in cinema is the work of the Manchester Craftsman's Guild. Here is a weak wiki link, Mr Strickland is an impressive speaker though http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Craftsmen%27s_Guild. I give the flick a solid hanky holding 3 stars.

Unleashed- Jet Li and Luc Besson, Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman what's not to like. Decent actioner could of had more story to make it better but good sat afternoon popcorn chewer. A 3.

Happily Never After I should have the kids review this as the three to four times it played at our house it never captured me. I didn't like hte art/look a whole lot and the characters/storyline never grabbed me. The kiddos didn't rave either so I really can't rate this one other than to tell you it is somewhere between eh ok and Bleech.

Letters From Iwo Jima A little slower and plodding than I was hoping but well acted executed piece from Eastwood. Believeable and detailed which led to researching afterward. Better than Flags in most every aspect. Eastwood's directing like his acting is becoming cliche with his quiet piano piece finishes to his movies. I give it a 3

Spidey 3 fun summer actioner. Was very comicbook like. Dance number you'll either love or hate and certainly wonder how it survived the cutting room when the movie was so long. Enough going on to where it oculd have been two movies. Looked good, acting ok. Par for the course of the series and par for a summer movie. A 3.

Shrek 3 I am big on the Shrek franchise and this one was very hohum. It really seemed to be too much done in parts and then strung together as there wasn't a good flow or ryhthm like there was in the first two. Kids like it and it was entertaining but not to teh extent of the first two which are in the 4-5 range. This a3. Shrek sized M&M's a 5!

Pirates 3 Well I saw it in a theater as oppose dto 2 which I saw at the Drive in. SO I got the most out of production values and they were commendable. It had some neat immagery and fun stuntscenes and great CGI immersion. The acting was ok.Chow Yun was under utilized to where I didn't think it was him. Keith Richards as Jack's dad was entertaining. I didn't like all the extra Jack Sparrows in the two or three instances they used the gimic. Movie overall good, kept with the theme and rounded out the trilogy nicely. A good solid summer 3.

Littleman Cheesy and lowbrow but not terrible. It had some funny stuff but I don't buy the turnaround at teh end. I meanmaybe you are to believe they don't figure it out but to the audience it is clear the lil baby guy more or less took advantage of the main guy's wife and yet they are all buddy buddy. I still give it a 3 but for a lot of folks it wil be a two or worse.

Tenacious D Pick of Destiny. Ridiculously bad and corny and just out and out stoner goofy. This is a young or young at heart irresponsible crowd's kinda flick. I had a few chuckles and I don't think it was horrid I really think it had some promise but I think it's like someone needs to learn how to channel Jack Black because lef tot his own he tries to do too much. barely a 3 barely fo r me but for some this may be a 4! Some it may be a 1.

Wasabi Luc Besson and Jean Reno. A decent little flick very quick and entertaining. The ultimate popcorn flick recipe. A textbook 3.

Pan's Labyrinth big expectations led to big disappointment. The opening intro by Del Torsaying how the film nearly killed him is sad because hopefully this isn't his swan song. It was stylish and pretty imagery but that is it. The story was disjointed and weak. He had his classic shock element gore scenes but this movie really couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Wasn't creepy enough to be horror, wasn't chilling or mystery laden enough to be a thriller adn too little fantastical elemtns to be a fantasy. It'd almsot been better if she had jsut been delusional. Don't want to give much away but this should have been better. The girl's ending was really pointless and I imagine supposed to be sad but I was just lost to it. A 2-3 prolly a three but somehow that would require a second look viewing and evaluation. Too many are going to rave its a masterpiece I will say pretentious elitist delusion on the promise not what was delivered- man what a weak oscar year.

Lastly Boondock Saints this one I really liked not fell in love but certainly was good and wish it had been more fully fleshed out and had a bit more meat to the story. SO stylish and entertaining. I give it a 3-4 I can't decide. I need to see it again. I guess I liked it that finally someone made a movie where goombahs were put in their palce goomabh style and not just by a person on the rightside of the law. I liek good crime flicks but I don't like celebrating crminals. So them getting theirs was entertaining to see.

Shooter- Hits the Mark

I am tempted to give this a four because I was really entertained. The remnants of a film snob in me will temper that it is really a healthy 3. Test of time will bear that out. Results: go see it if you like modern day actioners with plot. Its teens or better.

It is pretty smart and slick. It appeals to the action/adventure and conspiracy theorist explorer in me. Its big oil and politicians was a pretty weak or easy(oone dimensional? cliche?) villain but it worked for the movie. The acting wasn't great- Ahn pointed out Danny Glovers dentures lisp and man I couldn't shake it from then on- but the acting was never bad. Pena who plays FBI agent Memphis had a great line at his initial review with his superviser. For whatever reason when he isn't playing a 'street' or 'philly/boston' type character I buy MarkWahlberg. Disappointments were Rhona Mitra(sp) character just kinda disappears and there were quite a few gray area deaths. These are deaths the protagonist inflicts. I don't have a big problem with this unless the film is set to a more black/white scale between right and wrong good and bad guys.. Without giving spoilers- in theme with movie gov't isnt just therefore its system of punishment isn't. The protagonist recitifes wrongs within this context- essentially wild west style.

Nice run time, never bogs down, doesn't waste time on too much nonessentials (ie superfulous romance or anguishing over past flashbacks). Get your ticket and get you popcorn chewing on. Will be ok on small screen too.

Pathfinder

Saw as a midday day sneak away- Pathfinder. Armed with medium to low expectations and no companions to sway me the movie was mildly entertaining. If you don't have a lot of exposure to 'historical fantasy' action but enjoy them then this will be fairly entertaining. If you are well versed in teh genre this will fall in the middle of the pack.

Shot in very muted grey tones it comes across plot wise as Apocalypto with vikings. Hunt and chase and outwit. Lots of violence and violent images. They started to molest a woman a staple for setting the brutality of foes but it was quickly interrupted at the early grab her stage. No nudity that I recall and I don't even think bad language- but women and kids get killed and it is gorey thouhg that is muted with teh way it was shot. Looked like even CGI blood at a few points.

Sets were good, actors average and material of story fairly stock. You will have to read the norse men's few words. Dialogue is minimalist but it is wholly understandable. Movie is short and it moves. I would say catch it at the theater unless you have a big tv because itwill be hard to see or follow the action on a small screen. Its a 3.

Old Heroes Revisited

Saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles this past weekend with my kiddos. It was a pretty fun jaunt. Wasn't epic or I didn't say leave super wowed but it was like a long cartoon of a show long in production and that is what it was. Didn't waste time on backstory etc. That was ok because I broke out my saved old first edition comics and let my 7 year old go to town reading them. They weren't too dark or grim and neither was the movie. Well stylistically it was the dark hued style but the TV version JLA and Batman is much darker and more grim in a sense of themes.

Pretty fair amount of action but maybe a bit too much drama for ones as wee as my wee ones as that slowed the movie down. For older decent enough but into the teens probably not enough of anyting to hold and those outside of comics/hero movies won't get that much from it. Decent enough plot and the animation was really good. I'll give it a 3.


Rocky Balboa entered my viewing ring last night. I'm going to give it a draw (3). I don't know what I would have liked to make it better and from the deleted scenes they made many good changes and choices. That said it jsut didn't take me anywhere. It was like Rocky a return to the origin for the series in that it kept it simple and close to teh vest and not over the top. The acting of all the peripheral characters wasn't huge and the movie didn't share a lot of screen tiem for anyone other than Sly. The fight scenes actually were some of the weakest of the series and I thought that was a shame because characterisation and story had returned. It had some interesting points to me as a 40 year old and a family man about getting old and moving on. I don't think teens or twenty somethigns are going to take much from it. It is an ok drama but not a lot of hooks or buy in opportunites to the audience oon a broad spectrum. I give it a three too. It was a nice capstone better than leaving the franchise at the 5th installlment for sure(which I have only seen snippets of).