Movie Reviews

[Wyvern]

I saw the film "Hotel Rwanda" last night on DVD.

 

I had heard many good reviews of it prior to renting it, and also noticed that it had been nominated for several oscars. After watching it, I must say that I wasn't very impressed with it. On the positive side of things, the film deals with a very interesting subject, as it details a hotel that becomes a refuge for Tutsis in Rwanda during their conflict with the Hutu militia in 1994. The movie shows the meaninglessness of the hatred that can arise between different cultures, as well as the underlying elements of racism that still exist in America. Don Cheadle played the role of the hotel manager very well in the film, especially with his facial expressions which really got across his emotions well. What I didn't like about this movie, however, was the script. I thought that the dialogue of the movie was far too stilted and unrealistic... Its only focus seemed to be to drive across the themes of the film, and as a result of this the message was driven across very bluntly throughout. This really dragged down the film and made it much less interesting for me, as being beaten over the head with the themes repeatedly made it seem somewhat cheap and gimmicky. Overall, it was a decent film that had some captivating moments, but was not memorable and doesn't get my seal of recommendation.

[Sweetcherrie]

Hmm..funny, I saw Chicago tonight as well and thought the same way, avoid it. The music is not bad, but the story can be told in 10 minutes and the film seems to take forever and ever and ever and ever....

 

I think the best part in the film was the whole idea of comparing an american court with a stage act. Although I've never seen a real american trial, in films and series they always make such a drama out of the whole court thing. The people they have casted for the different roles seem to be out of place, especially Richard Gere, then again I've never been his biggest fan, to me he always seems a bit bland.

[Wyvern]

I saw two more films on DVD recently: "Meet the Fockers" and "Coffee and Cigarettes."

 

"Meet the Fockers" is the latest comedy film starring Ben Stiller, and is every bit as bad as its title suggests. Low brow sexual humor and awkward situations in their most unwitty and predictible state. You know a film's a flop when not even the acting of Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman combined can save it from the depths of mediocrity. I'd avoid this one.

 

"Coffee and Cigarettes" is the latest film by oddball director Jim Jarmusch, and is artsy and symbolic to the core. The film details eleven short vignettes in black and white, each of which centers around a conversation over coffee and cigarettes. Actors range from Bill Murray to Iggy Pop. The film doesn't have much action, or any central plot for that matter... Instead, Jarmusch interrelates the stories through repetition and tone. Nikola Tesla's theories of resonance are often touched upon, along with the intimate relationship between the fields of medecine and music, and the unhealthy nature of coffee and cigarettes. I thought the film dragged a bit the first time I watched it, but enjoyed it more on a second viewing. The dialogue exchanges are very realistic, and are often comic while still giving a certain sense of desperation between the characters. The cinematography of the film was also very good for the most part, though it varied a bit depending on the vignette. Overall, I liked "Coffee and Cigarettes," but would only recommend it to those who feel like analyzing a film rather than absorbing it.

[Salinye]

I came here specifically about the movie "Hotel Rwanda". I have many thoughts on the movie, but need to sleep as it's nearing 1am. I'll add more tomorrow, but would be interested in hearing from anyone else who saw the movie.

 

~Salinye

[Wyvern]

I saw the film "The Life Aquatic" last night on DVD.

 

This is the first film I've seen directed by Wes Anderson, who's also known for his films "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore." I thought the movie demonstrated a very distinct style of discreet and subtle humor in which things that are normally magical and glamorous are flattened and rendered dull. It details the story of a washed up Ocean documentary captain, Steve Zissou (played by Bill Murray), who's searching for a Jaguar Shark that killed his best friend when filming his last documentary. Zissou performs such "heroic" tasks as stealing from one of his rich captain friends' Ocean outposts to get tracking equipment (and an expresso machine while he's at it) for his ship. Even the magical quality of the sealife was rendered ambivalent, as all of the sea creatures were presented through claymation. Overall, I found it an odd and interesting movie... it was rarely laugh-out-loud funny and there were scenes where it dragged a bit, but it wasn't bad overall.

[Wyvern]

I watched the film "Be Cool" last night on DVD.

 

This film is apparently a sequel to "Get Shorty," which I haven't seen. Fortunatly, not knowing the original didn't seem to detract much from the film for me, and I found it entertaining. I thought the strongest aspect of "Be Cool" was the characters, which were all well-developed and nicely acted out. I also thought that appropriate actors were chosen for each of the roles in this film, with John Travolta playing a smooth former loan shark and Uma Thurman playing the widow of a record exec. The plot was interesting and full of twists thanks to the intriguing characters, and I enjoyed the film overall. One disappointment of the movie was that Danny Devito was listed amongst the actors and even had a shot on the cover, but only appeared in the film for about two minutes. Overall, "Be Cool" is nothing spectacular, but is worth a rent if you're in the mood for something funny with good characters.

[Mynx]

Gryph and I went to see Mr and Mrs Smith the other day.

Definitely not an Oscar winner, but not bad either. It was amusing and easy to watch and presented in a manner that only helped its cause (I have to admit if they had told the story differently, it probably would have been less entertaining).

Highly amusing, not to be taken seriously, but if you like ogling Brad or Angelina, this is definitely a goer.

*grins*

 

"We've been together five years now -"

"-six-"

"...Five or six years now..."

[DoctorEvil]

The Doctor and Mrs. Evil also went and saw "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" this weekend.

 

The Doctor is a big fan of the mindless action movie genre and it did not disappoint. The Doctor was surprised that the relationship between the two main character was one of the main focuses....well the focus after shooting each other and trying to blow each other up. Any movie where Angelina Jolie is trying to kill Brad Pitt is good one in the Doctor's book (Single greatest start of a movie-"Meet Joe Black", where Brad Pitt gets killed).

 

Also watched "Team America-World Police" on DVD this weekend.....LOL....this movie may offend you if;

* You are a liberal in your political views

* Do not like watching Puppet sex

* You do not like an incredbile amount of profanity

* You're an actor

Edited June 13, 2005 by DoctorEvil

[Jareena Faye]

I require few words to say:

 

Theatrical release Daredevil sucked.

 

Director's Cut DVD Daredevil rocked.

[reverie]

Wyvern:

 

Regarding "the life aquatics"

 

I am a huge HUGE fan of Wes Anderson, and truthfully, I thought "Life Aquatics" is his weakest film to date. In otherwords, I hated it. Why? I believe he tried too hard. Relaying on special effects and gimicks instead of developing strong supporting charactors which are the hallmark of all his other films. Pretty much there IS no substitute for good writing. Watch his other movies and you'll see, what I mean.

 

I think it boils down to Wes and Owen Wilson(co-writer and actor) thinking they owned Bill Murray a larger role after his almost invisble role in 'Tennebalms.' That said, if you liked it, then I highly recommend seeing the two other films you mentioned "The Royal Tenenbaums" and "Rushmore."

 

"Tenenbaums" IS my favorite movie, and Rushmore is simply awesome. There's also a fourth movie out there somewhere that predate all his other films (Bottle Rocket) never seen it, but I believe a fair amount of the same actors in it appear throughout his other movies... Much like Kevin Smith and PT Anderson, Wes loves to reuse actors...

 

Like Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson are his equilants to Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Jason Mewes and Silent Bob...

 

my thoughts,

 

rev...

Edited June 13, 2005 by reverie

[Wyvern]

First of all, thanks for the interesting film reviews everyone. Jareena Faye, I'd be very interested to hear your reasoning behind the quality differences of the theatrical release of "Daredevil" and the Director's Cut. :-) Reverie, that was a very interesting write up and I'll be certain to give Wes Anderson another shot by watching "The Royal Tenenbaums" at some point. Mynx or DoctorEvil, what is the general plot premise of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" exactly? I ask as when I first read the title, I initially thought it must be a comedy, but given your descriptions it seems to lean more in the direction of action/drama...

 

I saw "The Motorcycle Diaries" on DVD this evening. I had been meaning to check for it for a while, and wasn't the least bit disappointed by it. The film details the early journies in the life of Che Guevara, which span across Latin America and offer a lot of breathtaking scenery and eye candy. One thing that surprised me about the movie was that I was expecting to watch a depiction of Che Guevara's revolutionary exploits, but instead it revolves around him coming to terms with his own ideals and the journies that forged his beliefs. Another surprise was that the actor Gael Garcia Bernal, who played one of the lead roles in "Y Tu Mama Tambien," played the role of Che Guevara in the film and did an excellent job with it. The characters and landscapes of the film are exotic and full of life, the acting is great and the cinematography is superb. As long as you don't mind reading subtitles, I would highly recommend it. One of the better movies that I've seen in 2005 so far.

[Mynx]

In regards to Mr & Mrs Smith, It's definitely an action comedy Wyvern.

The plotline is that "five or six years ago", Jane Doe and John Smith married, neither of them aware that their spouse is a contract killer.

As the marriage begins to drift apart, both are given the same task by their bosses that eventually has them crossing paths and finding out what the other is, before their bosses give them 48 hours to eliminate each other.

's highly amusing

[DoctorEvil]

The Doctor does think that married people will probably find "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" alot funnier than single folks. Mrs. Evil isn't necessarily a huge action genre movie fan and even she liked it.

 

As far as Daredevil the Director's Cut, the Doctor is also interested in knowing what the differences are. The Doctor is a huge fan of comic book movie adaptions. As far as adaptions that stayed true to the spirit of the comics book, I thought Daredevil did fairly well. If not for Ben Affleck, the Doctor would rate it highly.

[Sparhawk]

Alright so I saw "Star Wars Episode III" on the weekend. Here's my two cents on it.

 

umm, I'll say right off the bat that I've seen stuff a lot better than this. Highlights of the movie? Light Sabre battles. And it did answer some unanswered questions. Now for the bad stuff about the movie. #1 Anakin went too evil too fast. I can understand why he killed Mace Windu, and I can understand how Anakin was tricked to become evil. But come on, barely an hour has passed since he made himself Darth Sidious' apprentice and he's already killing little kids? He took that step way too fast if you ask me. #2 Self fullfilling prophecy...ok so they do tend to happen sometimes, but why doesn't anyone ever suggest that it could be a self fulfilling prophecy? I mean you'd think Yoda at least would have thought of that possibility. #3 I don't care how angry Anakin was, he would NEVER have force chocked Padame. He loved her too much, and the whole reason he went to the Dark Side of the Force was to save her life. #4 Ok so his body was completely burned by Lava, and his hands and arms were down to the bone. I don't care who you are, you don't live after something like that. #5 I know Anakin's death was probably expected, I doubt Obi Won (One?) Kenobi thought he'd survive, but even so, he should have used his Light Sabre to finish him off anyways, even if just to put him out of his misery.

 

And now for the Corniest part of the whole movie. Anakin Wakes up in his Darth Vader armour and asks what happened to Padame. Sidious tells him that he killed her, so he screams: "NOOOOOOOOOO!" And force crushes a whole bunch of stuff in the room unconciously. So all in all? I think Lucas did a much better job when he didn't have all this new technology that he has now. Did I forget to mention, that his movie had too many Special Effects, not enough effort put into the story itself?

 

Now I'm sure all you avid Star Wars fans are going to bite my head off for this review, but lets face it, it's the truth.

[Hydrus]

Doctor,

 

I thought Team America could have been alot better. I was expecting/hoping for a witty satire on world politics, but I was kinda dissappointed in a number of areas. Having said that, I thought parts of it were very very funny, and the soundtrack is sheer genius. If you are never able to see the movie, at least listen to the soundtrack, in my opinion it's the best bits of the movie condensed.

 

Ben Affleck sucks, and I miss you.

 

 

Hydrus

[DoctorEvil]

#1 Anakin went too evil too fast. I can understand why he killed Mace Windu, and I can understand how Anakin was tricked to become evil. But come on, barely an hour has passed since he made himself Darth Sidious' apprentice and he's already killing little kids? He took that step way too fast if you ask me.

First off, from the Doctor's prespective, you can never go evil too fast

 

That being said, Anakin's descent into evil and his hatred of the Jedi is something that has really been slowly building up since "Attack of the Clones".

 

The first really evil thing he did was slaughtering the Sandpeople that captured his mother (and resulted in her death). While many would look at this as a justified revenge, don't forgot he wiped out ALL of that tribe of Sandpeople, women and children included.

 

The "Clone Wars" cartoons on Cartoon Network further explores Anakin's lust for power and his unhappiness with the Jedi in not helping him achieve that power.

 

That being said, from a practical point of view, it was kind of stupid of the Emperor to have the 2nd evil act Anakin did after going to the darkside be slaughtering the Jedi, which included children.....

[DoctorEvil]

....I thought parts of it were very very funny, and the soundtrack is sheer genius. If you are never able to see the movie, at least listen to the soundtrack, in my opinion it's the best bits of the movie condensed.

Totally agree on the soundtrack. The Doctor still has the Team America theme stuck in the Doctor's head...."America...$%*#@ Ya!"

[HappyBuddha]

I second Wyvern's review of Motorcycle Diaries - its a powerful and well-done movie that really captures both the beauty of the South America and the inspiration Che finds for his later revolutionary exploits during his trip. Its amusing without becoming distracted from its primary goal, and serious without degrading the enjoyable parts of the film. All around, its a great movie, one of the better films to come out of 2004 in my opinion.

[Wyvern]

I saw the film "The Ladykillers" this evening on DVD.

 

This movie is the latest comedy from the Coen Brothers, who have directed such excellent films as "O Brother Where Art Thou" and "Fargo." Once again, I must say that I wasn't disappointed. The film details a gang of diverse characters living in the rural South, led by Tom Hanks playing the part of a suave Southern gentlemen/criminal. They collaborate in trying to rob a casino ship by digging a tunnel through the cellar of an old lady's house. Hilarious culture clashes abound in the distinct characters, who range from a mountain ranger to a dumb football jock. Race issues are frequently touched upon in a manner similar to "O Brother Where Art Thou," and the acting is very good for the most part. My only complaint would be the toilet humor involved in the mountaineers bowel movements. Overall, very well done.

[Zadown]

Just saw "War of the Worlds" in a theater, and I must say I was positively surprised. For a Spielberg film, it was far darker than I was expecting, some of the ghastly visions easily rivaling Romero's "of the Dead" trilogy and the new "Dawn of the Dead" remake. There were some small things I didn't like (Hollywoodisms and such), but they were mostly balanced by small things I especially liked (the "They will not drink my blood" -scene especially, and the "I told you not to go out of my sight" -scene as well). It even somewhat followed H. G. Well's book.

 

I can recommend it to friends of apocalyptic visions and wholesale destruction of cities, cars and other assorted artifical things.

[Mira]

I enjoyed this movie because, while it did have its fair share of mindless action, it tried to put some intellegence back into Sci-Fi.

[reverie]

Saw Napoleon Dynamite tonight... Great movie. you should all see it.

 

 

rev...

[Wyvern]

I decided to rent and watch the two episode anime series "Puni Puni Poemi" this evening.

 

This anime is directed by the same studio that did "Excel Saga," and boy does it show. Similarities arise in the extreme hyperactivity of the main character, the frequent appearences and interjections from the afro-sporting director Nabeshin (a personal fave), and plenty of anime spoofs. What surprised me about the anime was that it picked up right around where the final episode of "Excel Saga" left off, and seemed to hold much fewer bars, taking lots of risks with perverse humor and extreme violence throughout. I found it pretty hilarious and would recommend it to fans of "Excel Saga," but if you're looking for something more calm than that series you should avoid it. If anything, "Puni Puni Poemi" is more over-the-top and intense than "Excel Saga," despite only having two episodes.

 

Edit: forgot to mention: while the original japanese still can't be beat, I thought the English dubbing used for this anime was very well done.

[troubled sleep]

=waves=

 

Like Zadown, I saw War of the Worlds the other day. It was actually an OK movie and certainly worth the 5.50$ I spent to get in. What bothered me, however, were the plot-holes. Not that I'm saying there were quite a few of them or anything, but if every single electric device straight down to people's analog watches have been knocked out all over the world how can a guy whip out his digital camera and start snapping pictures? How can another guy start video taping the carnage? Granted, that particular video-taping incident was more a stylistic thing than anything else, and the effect was actaully quite nifty, but then what about the news casters? How did their entire vanload of equipment(and indeed the van itself) survive the EMP pulses that knocked everything out even when the news crew was close enough to the alien devices to videotape them and therefore reveal to the Tom Cruise character that the aliens were riding the lightening down into the earth? The music wasn't great either...but then I have a tendancy to notice it/listen to it and comment on a film's music. Though he did make use of a string orchestra and, in highly suspenseful scenes, specifically the cello section. And being a cellist myself, I couldn't help but smile at the liberal use of the instrument--even as people on the screen were probably seconds from death. Oh, and the action scenes were great! Lots and lots of bangs, booms, and people getting vaporized. The ending could have been different though. After all of the running around and nearly dying, all the action and bright flashing lights the movie seemed to just, well...stop. And suddenly everything was nice, wonderful, and happy in the world once again and they cut to a deep voice-over which rambled on about how humans had earned the right to live on earth to a background of micro-organisms.

 

And one really really quick world about Star Wars episode III(which I hope to go and see again today): I am a rabid sci-fi fan and I've always loved the original star wars movies(and yes, I did see them in theatres! Even if I'm not old enough to have seen them back in the late 70's-early 80's, my mom dragged my entire family to see the special edition releases in 1997) but haven't had much to say about the prequels. Ok, I take that back. I have plenty to say on them, but not much of it is very nice so I often refrain from saying it. But Episode 3 resembled the original star wars movies, and that made me insanely happy. Until I went home and re-watched the originals to celebrate. Umm...half of the diologue was nearly re-written(that whole scene between Padme and Anikan on the lava planet? Yeah, change the word 'peace' to 'order in the galaxy' and switch 'Padme' with 'Luke' and you've basically got the big 'I am your father!!!!!' scene from The Empire Strikes back. This was marginally disappointing. But then, I noticed several instances when the originals were all but copied(very last scene of the movie? With Beru and Owen and baby Luke standing on a rise while the two suns set? Take the two older people out, and replace baby-Luke with a rather moody looking 17 year old watching the sunset and you'll have the exact scene from A New hope. Plus there were several plot-holes between the originals and the prequels that didn't quite add up. But all the same, I loved that movie, and I'm glad that Star wars was able to end on a semi-positive note. Oh, and the music was good.

[The Portrait of Zool]

I went to see War of the Worlds as well, and I also liked it. Yes, it did have plot holes, but I think this has much more to do with the modern restrictions of the medium than thoughtlessness on the part of the makers.

 

Making a movie can be a very impure thing, balancing such things as budget, story, limitations of movie technology, and story elements added to give more general audience 'appeal'.

 

For example, it is highly unlikely the EMP stopped all the cars by burning out the selonoid. Instead it is far more likely such an EMP would have damaged the delicate CPU and control circuitry. However, to keep the story moving, and show more devestation and move the scenery, they had to give the lead character a car, so they wrote in something easier to fix knowing that most people wouldn't know the difference.

 

Yes, some electronics were still shown as operative, however there is such a thing as EMP hardened electronics, developed for the govnmt in case of nuclear attack. Also, vacume tube technology is not effected by EMP, though I spose that's moot. In any case, it is highly unlikely that general civilians would have EMP hardened equipment, but important to the story is the (nearly) complete cessation of all our machines and services, and to move the story he still had to be shown things and be able to move around the country, so the writer had to give him a car (which was shown to great effect when the mob attacked him for it) and he needed irrefutable information of the otherworldly activation of the tripods and their numbers, which video filled the bill.

 

With all that in mind, what struck me as an even greater bow to showing as much story as possible for the audiences benefit was how the lead character reacted to the initial tripod emergence. Because the story is being told from his perspective, every time something happened, he would run back a few feet and then turn around to see the next thing happen. Quite frankly, by the time that thing emerged there would be miles between it and me, because as soon as the street started to split apart I would be moving as fast in the other direction as I could possibly muster. So would most people, I think - nature can be so unforgiving to the slow witted. But these are the kinds of concessions made to telling a story though the camera.

 

What I liked about it was definitely all the modern day Godzilla type destruction and also I thought the tripods and aliens were remarkably wrought. There were some very strong scenes, such as the 'Not my blood' scene Zadown mentioned and the scene where he was seperated from his son. In all, the film definitely takes you to a dark, dark place, but in the end brings you back again - perhaps too suddenly for some people, but the more time given to the resolution, the less time for the hopelessness that is the original premise - yet another compromise for the society that likes it's entertainment in two hour chunks.