Movie Reviews

(Love this song - "After Dark" by Tito Tarantula, from From Dusk 'til Dawn)

I've seen a number of movies recently and wanted to share my take:

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle - An enjoyable toker comedy. While not quite up to Friday, the film is definitely one of the better comedies to come out this year. Funny spots include a runaway cheetah, a psychotic raccoon, some bathroom humor involving sorority sisters and a game called "Battleshits" (which is cringe-worthy), stupid police, and an x-ed out Neil Patrick Harris playing himself. Worth watching sober.

Alien v Predator - Pretty good for a film that the internet has piled plenty of dubious hate upon (due to the director, Paul W.S. Anderson, who I actually like, having brought a passable Resident Evil, Soldier, and Event Horizon to us. Okay, there are gripes and plot holes, but it's still passable.) Although there are plot holes a mile wide, and both franchises have a great pedigree (Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, John McTiernan, monster designers Ronald Shusett, Dan O'Bannon, H. R. Giger, Stan Winston, so on) that build expectations a lot, one has to honestly admit that what you want to see is what you get - Aliens killing, Predators killing, and the humans getting frappéd. Chock full of references to previous films that will delight fans, it will satisfy the inner fanboy in everyone.

Collateral - a very good movie from a very good director, Michael Mann. Tom Cruise plays against type as a psychotic hit man (who has a twisted sense of morality) who takes cabbie Jamie Foxx hostage as his driver. Not only is the movie's plot out of the mainstream, but there are definitely unpredictable events in this movie that will make you go "Shee-it!" when they happen. This is the best thing from Foxx since Any Given Sunday, and anything that makes Cruise stretch a little is good. Not better than Cruise's performance in Vanilla Sky, but still pretty damn solid.

Anchorman - stupid funny. Laugh out loud funny. Or pretty stupid, as my brother says. Will Ferrell is pretty good. Jazz flute. Need I say more?

The Village - Can we say pretty damn predictable? Yes, twist at the end. With M. Night, you pretty much expect a twist, even if you haven't heard there is one. Sixth Sense worked. Unbreakable's was expected, and Signs had an attempt at a twist. You get very impressive work from Hurt, Weaver, Brody, Phoenix, and the new girl on the block, Bryce Dallas Howard, but it is all made laughable by the plot twist, which may/ may not have been stolen from a children's book. A shame, honestly. I love Brendan Gleeson, from semi-comedic (in Lake Placid and Braveheart) to heartrending (28 Days Later, Cold Mountain [the only thing good about the movie], Tailor of Panama) to against-type characters (Troy, where Menelaus becomes a villain and Paris still remains a pussy), but he couldn't redeem this one.

I, Robot - Nice. Visually. Plot may be a bit thin (anyone who's seen Tron knows what's going to happen) but nice summer movie. If only Will Smith could avoid playing Will Smith in a movie. Where's the guy who was Ali in Michael Mann's Ali?

Fahrenheit, 9/11 - A Michael Moore film. Dichotomous in nature (first half about 9/11, the second about Iraq, but, hey, isn't that the Bush presidency in a nutshell?) it doesn't have a coherent plot as a documentary, but definitely has a theme. I'll let you guess what it is.

The Bourne Supremacy - Very good. Intelligent. Coherent. Welcoming. Jason Bourne is a younger, hipper, Sean Connery Bond. Brian Cox is excellent as always, as is Joan Allen. The movie just crackles.

Catwoman - Sigh. Okay, while watching Halle Berry slink around in a leather outfit is really nice, paying $8 to see a music video of her slinking around and fighting a has-been (Sharon Stone, way past Casino glory) is not. Find pics, put them in a viewer and play some nu-metal and hip-hop and you have something more enjoyable.

Spider-Man 2 - or as I like to call it The Amazing Spider-Man. Which they should've kept, btw, 'cause hell, if they throw away X-Men United as a subtitle, why can't they call this movie what it is? AMAZING Honestly, this is the best comic / superhero movie out there. Ever. Better than the first, X2, Blade II, Hellboy (which I loved). It is equal to, if not better, than even Superman, which is definitely the best DC movie translation (sorry Bats).

Later.