- April 16, 2009
- April 1, 2009
- March 26, 2009
- August 22, 2008
Observe and Report
What in the world is Observe and Report trying to be? Erratic in its comic timing, awkwardly serious and mean in its drama, totally unconvincing in its basic premise, wildly improbable in its lead character, starkly unappealing in the man's obnoxious personality, stumbling and bumbling in its plot progress; this is, well, incomprehensible. Comic scenes never get a chance to develop into a joke, the gaps between moments of failed gags being filled in by f-words.
Hannah Montana
After long anticipation and periods of excitement from the fans, the Hannah Montana movie was finally released today in all theatres across USA and Canada! UK, Europe and the rest of the world releases are to come either later this month or next month at the latest.
Fast and Furious
The latest movie in The Fast and The Furious movie series is a fun ride and a great way to be entertained. The original cast is back! And fast car lovers will get a kick watching this movie.
Adventureland
What? What? A film about early-20 youth that does not make the boys look and sound like air-headed balls of libidinous ego, preoccupied with fashioning obscenities into a monument to the generation? And guys actually have, what do you call them, feelings? This, my friends, is a daring movie. Oh, this is rare and what a breath of fresh air. Greg Mottola, the director who made the admirably funny and decent quality Superbad, now gives us the continuously amusing romance comedy Adventureland in which things happen because, in the ingenious way in which the situations unfold, they have to happen. They just grow naturally out of a virtual garden of fertile small conflicts.
Monsters vs. Aliens
Dazzling action for the kids, easy plot to follow, and appealing monsters. Frankly, though, except for the sexy 50-foot tall heroine of Barbie-like proportions and the longest legs in the known universe, nothing really much for adults. The film's action motif is high-ratcheted stuff, with every motive apparently directed to very short attention spans. The scale is kept grand, the goals simple. The general concept imagination level is not impressive. Dialogue is primarily for the tots, with just a few gratuitous references at adult level. One gets the distinct sense that at the scripting level, nobody really tried very hard at this.
The Forgotten (2004)
What's incredible about this film is that such a talented bunch of cast and technicians could do such great individual jobs yet be so woefully directed overall; "The Forgotten" has an intriguing premise that is at the end of the day badly executed.
W (2008)
W. is Oliver Stone without teeth. There are no left-wing jibes at one of the most controversial US Presidents in history, nor is there much fair or three-dimensional exploration in to the character of George W. Bush. Instead, we are left with a film that could have been ninety minutes long instead of two+ hours and still covered the same ground.
Slumdog Millionaire
This classic rags-to-riches tale accomplishes the feat of not only telling a great story of triumph over adversity but manages to open your eyes to a part of the world that is hardly ever covered in a Hollywood film besides cliches; no wonder the Academy gave it the Best Picture Oscar.
Changeling
With a very strong story, subtly executed and detailed direction, this historical drama about a mother's strong determination to find her kidnapped son is a touching ordeal of love, sacrifice, brutality and police corruption.
Duplicity
Smart. Very smart. Indeed, it is so sophisticated, loaded with mazes of mazes of plot turns and dazzling wit that, y' know, you may not even like it. I'll observe that if you truly comprehend and follow every scene, you're at major league level rocket scientist level. It is best, you realize after a bit, if you just let it all flow as long as you understand what the key characters' basic motivations are. "Who was that?" and "What's s/he mean by that?" are just too complex to deal with continuously. To make matters even more challenging, time periods are mixed freely, although captions do advise you as to when you are where you are. Roberts and Owen are absolutely electric together, drawing, repelling equal and opposite energies, radiating a crackling romance undertone. Their dialogue is so peppery and provocative that you're just handling one retort when two more overwhelm you. At the same time, the sizzling dynamic of corporate greed chillingly overruns the schemes.
Taken
Liam Neeson does his best Arnie impersonation, taking on a group of Albanian thugs who have kidnapped his daughter to sell her to sexual slavery in Europe. Not original, but it's fantastic viewing nonetheless.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
As with all my movie reviews, I shall give you an honest opinion of the movie, going through both its good and bad points. Now, to start with, and I must write this before I forget, I had a major issue with the contingency of the movie, centering around the character Abe Sapian. Those of you familiar to this series of comic know that Abe is a water inhabitant that in order to survive out in the open must wear the water equivalent of an oxygen tank.