Movie Reviews
This part of the
website involves another (occasionally expensive) hobby of mine. Movies. I've
been going to movies since I was five years old (Pinocchio at the
long-gone Duwamish Drive-In in south Seattle in
1970) and in my opinion, there are few things as entertaining as watching a good
movie in a packed theatre. Even though it's always been cheaper to rent movies
than to see them first-run, I still prefer the blockbuster movie the first
weekend of its release to any other option.
When I got my own place way back when, I saw just about every type of movie released to theatres: the G-rated cartoons, the PG- and R-rated foreign films, the "theatrical X" (only two of those -- The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover and Devil In The Flesh [the confusing late-80s version]) and hundreds of major-studio, million-dollar-budget,
mainstream films. I've even reviewed a couple of movies for the University of
Washington's radio station, KCMU (back in 1989), but quickly realized I was
starting to sound just as pretentious as the guy who sits next to Roger Ebert on
that syndicated show.
Now that I'm
married (over eight years now), I don't seem to have as much time for theatrical releases of films as I used to, so I have to pick and choose -- and I still end up paying to see a lot of crap. However, I'm not going to waste website space on all that stuff I thought was crap (unless it
was something I saw recently, in which case, I have no choice but to mention it and hope five good movies follow it so I can remove the crap from this page), so what follows below are only the newest of the bunch and short reviews of those movies.
Numbers following titles of recent films denote "star rating"
(4 being the best). My favorite -- and least-favorite -- 25 movies are linked below.
Recent Movies Seen
Wall-E (4)
-- One of the best animated movies I've ever seen. Pixar makes it nine-for-nine
with the story of a robot (apparently, the last of its kind) that has spent the
past 700-plus years cleaning up after an overconsuming (and now-vacationing)
human race. Wall-E appears more aware of its surroundings than the humans (while
they were earthbound AND while they're on vacation) and seems to care more about
Earth. The animation is stunning. The story is topically relevant. I just hope
Disney/Pixar doesn't add to a growing pile of garbage by creating tons of
useless movie-related merchandise. It would be a novel change of pace for them
AND it would keep this movie being so unfortunately ironic.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (4) -- First off, I have to
admit that I have not read this story -- and that I had just seen the first
story on DVD right before I went to the theatre to see this movie. Like the
first movie, there isn't much character development. The children are unhappy
with their lives and getting older. Their first experience in Narnia just made
them more curious to return. When they finally find a doorway, 1300 years have
passed since their last visit and time hasn't been kind to Narnia. Prince
Caspian goes against his heritage (initially, to try to save his own life) and
attempts to restore the land to those who had owned it 1300 years ago. The
scenery is stunning and the effects are, as usual these days, very well done.
I'm an agnostic and yet, I look forward to the third movie.
Iron Man (4) -- If only Marvel Studios had been in charge 10 years
ago, maybe a lot of these movies would've been made when Scott Tolson was still
alive. The casting of Robert Downey, Jr. was brilliant. Gwyneth Paltrow playing
his secretary wasn't a bad choice, either, and I'm glad to see that she's put
some weight on. This particular story was also topically relevant (good guy
going against U.S. government involvement in Afghanistan) and because of that, I
found myself rooting for him on more than one level. Obviously, there's going to
be another movie (and if you're going to see this one, stay through all of the
credits for one more scene at the end) and it should be good, too.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (3) -- I waited
19 years to see THIS movie? I'm a huge Spielberg fan, but I wish he had more
influence on the way this film was laid out. It's not very often I roll my eyes
at prairie dogs and boxes in warehouses and it's not very often I believe the
lighting could've been more natural in almost every scene. I seriously doubt
there's any place in the Amazon laid out just so two amphibious vehicles could
run side-by-side without running into a single tree. The scene with the ants was
unnecessary and stopped the story completely. Bringing Karen Allen's character
back was ultimately pointless. The natives protecting the crystal skull were only shown to be
slaughtered. Also, I noticed that this story had something in common with
Stargate, American Graffiti, Toy Story, E.T., Dark
Crystal, and Highlander. Overall, this film just seemed happier with
itself than I was with it.
Horton Hears a Who (4) -- Unlike the latest Indiana Jones movie,
this movie was worth waiting for. The animation looked just like the original
artwork in the books. The celebrity voice casting wasn't nearly as interesting,
but the positive message makes up for that. Not much else to say besides go see
it if/when you get the chance.
Spiderwick Chronicles (3.5) -- Maybe I would've liked this one more
if I hadn't just seen Bridge To Terabithia just last year. In this one,
Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) plays a young man
who is unhappy with his family's situation and discovers -- through a long-gone
relative and an old eyepiece -- that his new house is right next to (and
occasionally surrounded) a magical land populated by creatures trying to take
control of something valuable in the house. This one might be a bit too scary
for the youngsters and, once again, it's amazing what CGI can do these days, but
the story didn't seem to stick with me that long after I saw the film.
Michael Clayton (4) -- I thought George Clooney (actor and director
here) should've received an Oscar for this one (instead of Tilda Swinton), but
this movie was perfect from start to finish. Clooney is very cool here as a
"cleaner" trying to sweep another government-employee foul-up under the rug and
finding himself to be the target of another cleaner. To use a baseball analogy
here (after all, this is also a baseball website), Clooney is turning into the
"Babe Ruth" of Hollywood. He can do it all -- and very well, too.
I Am Legend (3.5) -- Based on the Richard Matheson book (and shown
on the screen before as The Omega Man), this film is about one man trying
to save the human race from extinction due to a virus that he himself
accidentally created. The look and feel of this movie was very good, but using
somewhat cheesy CGI to show the "affected ones" (instead of just some very good
makeup) causes this movie to lose some points. Also, the affinity of Will
Smith's character for 70s reggae and movies from his past (our present) reminded
me too much of his character in I, Robot and didn't have anything to do
with advancing the story.
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets (3.5) -- this sequel does
Indiana Jones better (and providing more education) than Indiana Jones
does. I still can't buy Nicolas Cage as an action hero, but at least he has to
stop once in a while to "play history teacher" once in a while so I don't have
to think about it during every scene. In this movie, there's a book in a secret
room at the Library of Congress (for the eyes of the president only) that
contains every conspiracy theorist's dream since America began in 1776. Of
course, we don't get to see anything about anything we already wonder about, but
personally, I find myself wondering if this administration is trying to
resurrect the Knights Templar.
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