7 posts tagged “movie”
Our latest favorite has been Smallville. We burned through the first season in no time and are just finishing up the second season. The beauty of the first season was it's predictability. Some mildly unstable person encounters something contaminated with meteor rock and turns into an evil villain. Clark Kent would have an easy time of stopping them except that he is always weakened by the meteor rock at a crucial time. The bad guy or gal always throws him out a window though where he regains his strength and saves the day again, but misses another date with his crush.
The last episode of the first season was so good that we had to restrain ourselves from cheering so as not to wake up Lucy. The second season has turned the corner nicely and added some complexity just when the first season formula was getting a bit too predictable. Lex is a great character. You can't help but like him. But, that has always been true of Lex in the movies too.
If you haven't seen it, or you boycott television like us, check it out. It's certainly better than the latest attempt at a Superman movie.
But, I have to say, this was a really fun movie. The best Mission Impossible movie yet.
I liked a lot of things about it, but my favorite is the "joy of location" that J.J. Abrams brings to the film. This is one of the elements that makes the his Alias shows so fun to watch. His appreciation of the look, feel, and sounds of various world locations seems to spill out of his work.
Unlike the Alias shows, where these locations are faked on some Hollywood back-lot, many of the MI3 scenes are actually filmed on location. When Tom runs up a wall and the beautiful Vatican architecture springs into view, it really is Italy in the background. When he is running though a Chinese village, it actually is a Chinese village.
I applaud movies shot on location since so few of them seem to be anymore. When I pay for my movie ticket or my movie rental, I want to be taken on a journey for a couple hours. It's a much better jouney if the film crew actually went somewhere.
Thanks J. J. for a fun journey. Tom Cruise talks in the special features about how good it feels to give you a break into the movie business, but you may have given Tom Cruise something he hasn't had in a while and badly needed, a great movie. You name deserves to be on the cover!
"Epic" is a word that gets tossed around with movies too much, sometimes it means "poorly edited," but in this case, it was a truly epic film.
It seems to me, like a Tolstoy novel, that everything and everyone in this movie is more that themselves, they are an archetype. The fading of the "old west" is something bigger (though, I'm having trouble putting my finger on it)... maybe the fading of blissful ignorence?
There is good, evil, birth, death, love, hate, truth, lies, sacrifice, greed, war, and peace. What can I say? Epic.
You may think, based on this blog, that I like all the movies I see. The truth is, I like most of them and would rather just talk about the ones I liked. However, to restore balance to the world, here are some movies I've seen over the past few months that I didn't like.
Superman Returns
Why? They were stealing scenes left and right from the first Superman movie, but yet it wasn't really a remake... The first Superman was a much better film in just about every aspect. The recent Spiderman movies and the latest Batman movie raised the bar for the superhero genre. This one was well under that bar, even in IMAX 3D.
Ladder 49
Uhhh, Firefighter propaganda. Firefighters are brave, funny, and attractive to women. Beyond that, there was no depth or complexity in this movie. This was supposed to be "the movie that makes men cry." Maybe I'm just not manly enough.
In Good Company
The funniest scene in this movie is when the guy buys a Porche and as he is pulling out of the dealer's lot, he gets sideswiped by a truck. Be happy that I just saved you 2 hours of your life.
I know what you are saying, because I said it to. How bad can a movie be if it has Tom Cruise and Ray Charles (oops, I mean Jamie Foxx)? The answer, is real bad. Do you ever find yourself wishing a movie will just hurry up and finish so that you can go to sleep? Seriously.
OK, enough negativity. Back to movies worth writing about next time.
You should see it if you like Gwyneth Paltrow... and who doesn't? I mean she was in Shallow Hal and Shakespeare in Love right? She must be one of the best actors of our generation.
You should also see it if you like Anthony Hopkins... and again, who doesn't? I mean, you gotta respect a guy who can play both C.S. Lewis and Hannibal Lecter.
As an added bonus, think of the last movie about a crazy math genius that wasn't great... That's right, you can't think of one because they're all great! In Hollywood, this is what they call a "slam dunk."
Seriously, get off your butt and go rent this, then get back on your butt and watch it. Afterwords, let me know if I'm steering you true.
OK, so this movie is awesome. (Quit your snickering!)
If you haven't seen it, go get it tonight. Trust me on this one. Better yet, maybe we can have a 13 -> 30 viewing party sometime with popcorn, 80's music, and I'll bring my Casio.
I have nothing else to say for now, but perhaps you would be so kind as to share your own praise or favorite quotes from this modern day classic in the comment section.
I watched The Village last night. This is a film that I have been curious about since it came out a few years ago. I hadn't seen it based on negative reviews that I had heard from friends and critics. Plus, I thought that Signs was a lame film, so I wasn't sure if Night Shyamalan had lost his touch.
I thought it was great though. Night Shyamalan knows how to make movies that are fun to watch and fun to discuss. The acting was top notch, the cinematography is beautiful, and the orchestration is great too. I like how much suspense can be based on little more than close focussed camera angles, creepy music, and unexpected lines like "try not to scream". It's classic movie making.
Unlike many of Shyamalan's other films that have sudden plot twists, this movie reveals itself more gradually, I would describe it as "unfolding." For me this was better, it felt more like discovery less like being tricked.
Fun stuff. The kind of movie that makes me wish I made movies.
