Positive Experience/Entertaining? Wow, not really. I watched this a bunch of times as a little kid and remember loving it but as an adult, it had its moments but was surprisingly unfunny.
Technically any good? It’s a send-up of famous movie detectives and tries to take them to task for their various foibles–whether it’s Charlie Chan’s inability to speak proper English (despite his brilliance) or Miss Marple’s inability to let us in on what she knows before she names the killer (or was it Poirot who did that?). Either way, you can’t fault the acting–well, except for Truman Capote who was amusing, in his own way. The rest of the cast is stunning–David Niven, Peter Sellers, James Cromwell, Maggie Smith, and more, believe it or not (Alex Guiness!!) all did wonderful jobs.
While this movie does have flashes of true inspiration, I have a feeling the script was written at a point in Neil Simon’s life when he was riding off of the success of other projects. The plot feels weakly pulled together and while I get that the ending isn’t supposed to make sense, that doesn’t stop it from being stupid. If you want to make something not make sense in your movie, fine, but you can’t have not make sense inside the universe of the story. The sets looked great, though. :)
How did it leave me feeling? Disappointed. I think I was very easy to please as a kid.
Final Rating? DNS - Do Not See. I’m no fan of Clue but I think I laughed more at that then I did at Murder By Death. Sad to say, I guess.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely–in a very depressing, disturbing way.
Technically any good? It’s not the tightest docu in the world for sure–also, it seems to cover the same ground a couple of times and it also seems to suggest that the national debt has something to do with the personal debts of individual Americans–which it is NOT (check out I.O.U.S.A. for that, I hear). However, it gets a lot of other stuff right (I’ve done my research) and actually predicts everything we’ve experienced economically over the past 6 months. From subprime loans to individuals with too many credit cards, this 2 year-old documentary nails it.
How did it leave me feeling? A little depressed–the film tries to suggest how we can stop the coming problems, but obviously, we know that none of it worked. :\ Still, it’s a nice history lesson for next time. :(
Final Rating? GSN - GO SEE NOW - and learn about some of the things that caused this mess.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yes! It was a blast, actually.
Technically any good? Personally, I’ve never found the character of the Hulk to be terribly deep, so to me, Ang Lee’s take on him was a waste of time (read my Pocket Review for Lee’s Hulk). He’s not some dark, brooding character, he’s a guy doing his best to stay calm–ALL THE TIME. This movie is all about that struggle and I think it handles it very well, script and story-wise. Acting-wise it’s very spot-on with Edward Norton’s perfect performance as Bruce Banner being the highlight. It’s also a comic-fan’s dream as a LOT of references, which were missing from Ang Lee’s movie, show up in this one. I’m very interested to see a sequel to this as they’ve started a few interesting balls rolling by creating characters we know from the comic. My one gripe was the simplistic way the script handles Tim Roth’s character. I love him as an actor, but he was just too deep to play this one character. Everything else, as I said, is a blast.
How did it leave me feeling? Very entertained. Finally, someone gets the idea that big dumb action movies don’t have to completely insult the audience (Michael Bay, I’m lookin’ at you, buddy!). Also liked the zinger at the end (though I don’t get why it shows up before the credits and not after).
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - obviously, not everyone likes big dumb actioners, but if you do, I would think this movie would be for you. Also, if you’re a comic book purist (like me) this movie is for you since it got a lot right.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely entertaining, but definitely depressing. For a control freak like me watching movies about people on the edge of destroying their own lives is hard to do.
Technically any good? The script was very solid and entirely believable. It was just depressing as hell. The acting was equally solid. It was nice to see Danny Trejo in a film where he wasn’t a hitman or some other kind of killer. It was also great to see Giancarlo Esposito in anything at all (he’s great in EVERYthing). The movie does a great job of deeply portraying characters who are themselves not deep as they try determine what is best for their own lives (this was the part that was hard for me to watch as a control freak). Director/writer Laurie Collyer does an excellent job in directing. The movie is very much on the flawless side.
How did it leave me feeling? Entirely satisfied. It was interesting to watch a movie that wasn’t about a driving throughline, but instead focuses on the characters’ choices, right or wrong. Most stories feature characters who are forced to choose one thing or another. Sherrybaby shows us characters that have options, but perhaps not the capability to make the best choices for themselves. The film ends up being about how the characters make their decisions.
What I got from the movie is to remember that we, as individuals, always have options and that very little forces us to react one way or another.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - this movie is not for everyone. It’s depressing and there is nudity, sex and drugs. It’s not romantic sex, either. It’s depressing sex (the drugs are depressing, too). But see it if you love strong performances, especially from women. Maggie Gyllenhaal is great.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? You know, I really expected to not like this movie, but I did–aside from a few minor gripes, I enjoyed it much more than expected.
Technically any good? Shockingly, this movie is very much inline with the feel of the other three Indy movies. Aside from a few bad ideas in the first sequence between Indy and Cate Blanchett’s character, the film feels very much like an Indiana Jones movie. The mistakes, are minor ones–like Lucas and his CG creatures (not as bad as it sounds), Blanchett’s silly accent, and an odd message at the end of the movie that seems to suggest we should not want to seek knowledge. The acting was solid (for an Indy movie) and the script held up. Thankfully, I didn’t want to gouge my eyes out every time Shia Le Beowulf was on screen.
How did it leave me feeling? Definitely pleased. Sure, I don’t think this movie needs to have been made, but as far as sequels-we-never-wanted, this movie could have been MUCH worse. I just hope they leave Indy retired at this point. We don’t need more Indy movies. Let’s have a new franchise, what do you say, Lucas?
Final Rating? NFI - NetFlix It. Unless you’re a huge collector of Indy-related items. In which case, click the poster image in this post and buy the 2-disk set–it comes with a free mini-crystal skull skullpture! Haha, skullpture. Get it?
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Not at all. It’s a shame, too, since a woman’s right to vote is incredibly important and this story is incredibly important.
Technically any good? NO. While the acting was fine, it didn’t matter. Every damn line in this movie was a cliche or contrived or both. The movie’s story is odd and meandering. The editing is terrible–it’s cut like a music video. There are something like six or seven montage sequences in the movie. Where I come from you resort to a montage when you simply can’t tell the story any other way–with so many montages, you can imagine how much trouble the filmmakers had telling the story the rest of the time. Also, the music is completely inappropriate for a movie about an important historical event. Do you want techno music playing over the signing of the bill that gave women the vote in the US? Me neither. Don’t watch this movie.
How did it leave me feeling? Very disappointed. It’s a shame that such an important story was so dumbed-down and simplified for a music-video style movie. I seriously don’t know what they were thinking. The movie trivializes something incredibly serious. It’s pretty unbelievable that this movie is as bad as it is.
Final Rating? DNS - DO NOT SEE. Seriously. It made me feel stupid for watching it.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely. While not the best airport disaster movie, there actually are some things to like about this film, most notably, it being the basis for the classic airport disaster parody Airplane!
Technically any good? This is classic campy B-movie stuff. It’s hard not to make fun of it MST3K-style, especially since Airplane! lined up its jokes so well with this movie. You can literally hear a line of dialog in Zero Hour and speak the punchline from Airplane! It’s actually pretty fun to do. However, since Airplane! doesn’t take Zero Hour as its sole source, there is plenty in the movie that goes un-lampooned. To be fair, the actors all did perfectly adequate jobs for the kind of movie they were in. I also found the flight footage and even some of the model work to be pretty good, considering the budget (though one model scene was pretty unfortunate). The story works and is, in some ways, actually pretty intense. The lead character’s stakes are actually much much higher in this than in Airplane!. I was also surprised at how tense I was feeling during some of the shots of guys talking on the radio.
How did it leave me feeling? Pretty satisfied. Sure, it’s cheesy and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t quip my way through the film, but it definitely has some merits to it beyond just being cheesy fun. Though, if you don’t like cheesy fun, this movie probably isn’t for you.
Final Rating? SAM - See A Matinee–well, Netflix it or grab it for $13 from Amazon. It’s perfect for movie parties or just putting it on in the background on a Saturday afternoon.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely. While the music is dated, the over all “space opera” feel of the series is timeless. Great, classic (if not a little cheesy), storytelling.
Technically any good? The animation is at a standard level for animated TV series of the early 1980s. It’s not perfect and compared to what we’re used to today (even in the US) the animation’s pretty unimpressive (don’t get me wrong–it tells the story perfectly well). The voice acting is phenomenal and, really, a helluva lot better than the American (Canadian?) dub we Americans are more familiar with (under the title: Robotech). The story is solid–it weaves triumph and tragedy, comedy and romance pretty nicely throughout the twenty-six episode series. The music is dated, as I mentioned, but there’s a fun cheese-factor to it that makes it enjoyable. Try not to roll your eyes too much while reading the subtitles for the song “Watashi no Kare wa Piloto”.
How did it leave me feeling? Mostly satisfied. I think the production ran out of time before they could fill in all the answers to the questions this series was asking. Things felt rushed and even unexplained. Thankfully, some of this is dealt with in the movie version of the series which condensed, altered and manged to elaborate on the original story so well that it is often equally loved by fans in Japan. I’ll review it next week. That said, the way the series leaves you somewhat hanging is proof of how good the rest of it is at making you care.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like. This is THE animated series for anyone who enjoys a space opera with an artistic soul. There’s a reason this series spawned two movies, two sequel series, and several more miniseries. If you’re into anime, this is a must see as one of the biggest iconic series in Japanese animation. If you’re some jock who hates girly stuff (romance) then you should probably stay away. ;P
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Hell yeah!! If you haven’t ever seen this movie or haven’t seen it in a while you NEED to get this movie and watch it. It’s incredible therapy for today’s woes.
Technically any good? I’ve always thought this movie was brilliant stuff. I also always thought this was a general parody of all cheesy airport disaster movies from the 1970s. However, thanks to the extras on the DVD (and the Hucklebug.com podcast) I’ve learned that this movie is largely based on a single movie called Zero Hour from 1956. Knowing Airplane! was trying to be a send up of this particular bad b-movie gave me a new appreciation for it. So, it’s not just a parody, but an homage, as well. So, needless to say, the script is hilarious, the acting solid but in that great cheesy b-movie kind of way, and the FX are less than perfect, but who can see the FX when you’re laughing so hard?
How did it leave me feeling? Stomach cramps from laughing. There is just too much to laugh at in this movie and the extras on the DVD really make the entire experience even more fun. Seriously–stop paying attention to the world, pick up this DVD (or Netflix it) and just let it envelope you like a warm, hilarious blanket.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely! Also, it was surprisingly dark for a film from Disney and Pixar.
Technically any good? Pixar has only once ceased to amaze me with how good their movies are. This is not that time. Wall-E is amazing. Absolutely solid, story and script-wise. Sound designer Ben Burtt does an AMAZING job of acting through the sound effects he gives the lead robot. CGI-FX-wise, this film was amazing. For large chunks of the film I simply could not tell that the film was computer generated. It did make me long for the days of live-movie making. I felt like there was very little of this movie that could NOT have been shot with a real robot. Sure, the film would have taken years longer to make, but I’m just saying it’s always a better movie when real things are used to create the images.
How did it leave me feeling? Good–but puzzled. It seems that a movie that speaks out against corporate monoliths telling us all what to think and what to consume is kind of ironic when it comes form a giant corporate monolith. Isn’t a corporation making a movie about it’s bad when a corporation tells you what to do kind of hypocrisy in action? So: don’t listen to corporations except for now. This odd paradox doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see the movie. If I were you, I’d do a triple feature of Silent Running, Idiocracy and then Wall-E (in that thematically chronological order).
Final Rating? GSN - GO SEE NOW! Seriously, this is one of those great movies that is just so close to perfect you can’t see it enough. Sure, it’s a hippie, green movie, but what do you want? It happens to be a good place to come from.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely! I can see why this is one of the classic westerns.
Technically any good? Structurally, this movie relies on a lot of classic western cliches. However, since this movie was made in 1953 I think it just might have created some of them. The acting is solid, though I was shocked to learn that the kid won an Oscar for his performance (which I feel he didn’t deserve). I also feel that directors should hire actors who can do accents accurately. Sadly, two actors’ accents were so bad they knocked me clean out of the film. The script was good, the direction solid and the music was fun. I was particularly impressed with a music-free fight scene though I was disappointed with the use of music during the build to the climax.
How did it leave me feeling? Entertained, for sure. I’m not a big western guy so it’s not surprising the movie didn’t blow me away. However, it has some really nice moral messages in there and while I give them credit for trying to make the bad guy sympathetic, I don’t think they tried hard enough. I wouldn’t mind seeing these themes explored again in another movie with both the Shane character and the Ryker character portrayed as good men. That said, the movie is solid and is quite deep for the time period it comes from.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like (3 stars) - If you’re into westerns you’ll likely dig this (if you haven’t already seen it). Perfectly reasonable movie for anyone who enjoys movies from the early 1950s.
ONE LAST NOTE: DO NOT watch the trailer for this movie! It’s riddled with spoilers. Seriously. Don’t watch it!
Here’s my "pocket review" for the documentary "SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA". Watch my blog for more on this movie.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely! Any documentary that gets you talking so much that you want to pause the film and talk in the middle of it is a documentary that is doing its job.
Technically any good? I think the film does a really good job of engaging viewers. Minutes in I was hooked and found myself getting mad at the conservatives talking, hence proving the film’s point. We’re all getting played and that we’re ultimately more similar than we are different. I definitely think this film is a great primer for people interested in breaking out of our system of "divide and conquer" politics and media. Anyone sick of the "black & white" of American thinking should see this movie.
How did it leave me feeling? Fired up! It was great to see a film point out that there just might be something wrong with the underlying system–the system that suggests everything can be boiled down to a binary argument. Black or white, on or off, with us or against us, red or blue, Republican or Democrat, our system short changes us by over simplifying our interests and our needs. While I think the film does lean a little toward the liberal side, I do think SPLIT: A DIVIDED AMERICA does a great job of establishing that this is a bipartisan crime–everyone embraces the binary argument in a world of vast variables.
Final Rating? GSN - GO SEE NOW!! FOUR STARS! **** <– see? There they are! Now go find a copy of this movie, watch it and become more aware of how we’re all being played.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Incredibly so, yes. Finally, a movie that presents the other side of the argument.
Technically any good? The acting was definitely solid, Javier Bardem is always good and thankfully, he has yet to get boring to me. The story is solid and script entirely believable. The music is also impressive in a movie where it could have easily gone unnoticed. I think this would be a great double feature with “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” because both deal with the same type of setting (a quadriplegic man wrestles with survival). Unlike “Diving Bell” this movie takes a decidedly more “pro-choice” direction, but doesn’t leave out the other side. Like “Diving Bell,” this movie is also based on actual events.
How did it leave me feeling? VERY moved and with tears in my eyes. This film deals with a not-often-represented view that are generally contrary to popular opinion. Everyone says that life is the most important thing at all cost–if you’re living with pain or disease or a body that doesn’t move the way it used to, you are told that life is too precious to throw away. Is that the truth? Or is that just fear talking? This movie might help you decide. Either way, it’s got a great performance from Bardem and that alone makes it worth checking out. It also won the Oscar for best foreign language film for 2004.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - this movie is beautiful, poetic, emotional, tragic and triumphant. Some folks might not enjoy those dramatic swings.
I hate that word “triumphant” but I feel like it fits here.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yes, definitely positive. However, this isn’t entering my pantheon of brilliant British comedies any time soon.
Technically any good? I think this show serves almost like a prototype for what Ali G. would eventually become and a sibling to the show The Office. This is a parody talk show (or chat show, as they’re called in the UK) where a somewhat moronic TV host, Alan Partridge (played by UK comedian Steve Coogan), fumbles his way through awkward interviews with fictional people. It’s a great character study–the acting is spot-on, the writing is strong (but not brilliant) and by the end of the six-episode series, I found myself strangely addicted to the character. Not in a crazy “let’s get married in a Vulcan wedding” sort of way–but in a “hey, it’s that Knowing Me show on, let’s watch!” kind of way.
How did it leave me feeling? Laughing really hard, actually. The series ends with a pretty hilarious twist and definitely left me wanting more. Which is good since there have been two other series (”seasons,” in Americanese). Though, luckily, the “loser with talk show” format was swapped out for a traditionally structured sequel series called “I’m Alan Partridge.” I’ll PokeRev this next week.
Final Rating? NFI - NetFlix It! Definitely worth a viewing for anyone who likes good solid comedy. A little embarrassing and awkward to watch at first, but you get used to it.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Yes, it was! Though it was very bloody, so be warned.
Technically any good? Over all the movie was a good adaption of the musical, I think. Only a few things really felt missing (like the opening “attend the tale of Sweeney Todd” bit, which wasn’t there) and of course, the talent. I think Johnny Depp and Mrs. Tim Burton are both fine actors, but I felt that neither were quite right for the parts or quite good enough in the singing-department. Maybe Bonham Carter, but she seemed like she was holding back. The acting was pretty awesome, however and the look of the film was SUPERB. I gasped at the final shot of the movie. I very rarely gasp.
How did it leave me feeling? Like this is Tim Burton’s best movie so far–and the one that best reflects his talents. I’ve always felt that his films had so much more potential than he’d let them reach. Save for Beatlejuice, I think Sweeney is the film that he let his darkness run free. Good for him–I hope his next film goes farther.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - while this is a musical, don’t think it’s some popcorn crap-fest–this movie is very bloody, disturbing and is a tragedy. If you like disturbing, bloody tragedies, then you’ll love this movie, I’d say.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Undeniably! This movie is a new addition to my top 20 movies of all time. I really loved this movie.
Technically any good? In nearly all movies there are things that I, personally, would have done differently. With this film none come to mind. The story, the script, the acting, the direction–all of them–are solid and impressive. In particular I was very moved by the film’s interpretation of what creativity feels like from inside the head of a creative person.
How did it leave me feeling? Stunned and enlightened. Oh and entertained, too. If only we could have more movies like this to enjoy.
Final Rating? STM - See This Movie - it will pry your skull open and climb in and I mean that in a good way!
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely entertaining, but quite a bit meandering.
Technically any good? This feels like it would be much better if it were re-written, making it a bit more streamline–and, sad to say, American. The movie has a lot of character, but most of that character doesn’t lead you anywhere story-wise. Half the time I was found myself wondering where it was all going. While things do come together by the end, you’re really left wondering what the movie was really about.
How did it leave me feeling? Satisfied for sure–it was almost a relief to see things come together as they do at the end. However, it’s obvious that most of this film is about character. Lucky for us, Javier Bardem is a great actor and does a great job.
Final Rating? RTV - Rent The Video - A great character study but would have been better in Spanish.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Without a doubt–while it ends a bit too happily for my tastes, I do feel that this is an important movie with an important message.
Technically any good? Solid acting, solid story, great (invisible) directing, and a plot that splits it’s time between comfortable predictability and believable and interesting twists all add up to a technically good film. What’s also nice is that I actually felt something for the characters–even the bad guys to a certain degree.
How did it leave me feeling? Like my opinions on big business and corruption were reinforced. :) It also left me feeling like I had a very satisfying movie-watching experience.
Final Rating? STM - See This Movie - it’s like a less complicated Syriana and almost as important a movie.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely so. We all need to see this movie so we can learn how not to run a business. Also, we need to see this movie so we can look for stupid choices being made in the corporations we work for.
Technically any good? While we don’t get much of the other side, I’m not sure there is much of one. Enron fell apart for a reason. This film presents what those reasons are likely to have been. I’m not sure what the other side of the argument was–maybe that Enron CEO Ken Lay was really just blowing in the wind of Jeffrey Skilling’s hot air? That’s certainly what the film suggests, even if it doesn’t explore it as much as it probably could have.
How did it leave me feeling? Depressed, but educated. What is particularly weird is that this film, the DVD and the extras on the DVD were all produced before Ken Lay’s death. As a result, there is a sense that there is still hope for justice in the case. Ironic, since after Lay’s death, after being found guilty but before sentencing, he had his guilty verdict revoked or reverted or something like that–basically, he’s been made unguilty. This happens to people who die before they are sentenced.
Final Rating? GSN - Go See Now–for irony’s sake. In the end, Lay got away with it.
Positive Experience/Entertaining? Certain aspects of the movie were fun and enjoyable, but ultimately, I wouldn’t recommend it for anything but a rental. Seeing it on the big screen is probably better for the experience, but the rest of the movie falls rather flat, so I think it evens out in the end.
Technically any good? CG FX were AMAZING. Seriously, I was surprised at how little trouble I had with the CG animation itself. Sadly, that’s where the amazing ends. The lead actress was really solid and while Daniel Craig was great as Lord Azriel (sp?), he was hardly in the movie. Everyone else was a big “meh,” ranging from Sam Elliot’s always cool/solid/enjoyable/but-getting-boring performance to Nicole Kidman’s laughable “I’m EVIL” routine. Story felt like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book without the choices. There was no real story development–we are whisked from one plot point to the next, to the next and suddenly, this lab in the arctic is exploding. Not sure why, or how, or what it all means because no one stops and questions even when what is going on makes little sense (why did she have to take the ice bridge over the chasm instead of flying??).
How did it leave me feeling? Really disappointed. I went into this movie very excited and happy to see it. So, this was not me predicting a sucky movie–I wanted to like it. As for the Christians who wanted to boycott this film due to it being based on a book by an Atheist? As an Atheist, I can tell you–this movie was actually pretty Christiany, in my opinion. Personally, I think you should boycott it because it was rushed, flat and not very good.
Final Rating? RTB - Read The Book. I’ve heard the book is excellent–and you don’t even have to wait for the sequels. They’re already out. Plus you don’t have any crappy acting from Nicole Kidman to deal with (Hey, Nic, if you’re reading this–real evil isn’t worn on your sleeve!)
TheBlurb: "How can one talk about life without saying sometime it's going to end? It makes the value of life all the more precious." updated on 11/01/08 14:45:18 Change it!Archives
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