Movie Reviews

[The Big Pointy One]

Last night I went out to our cheap theatre (second run) and saw Ghostrider. I'm not a huge Ghostrider fan, but I am a Marvel fan, so I was kinda looking forward to it (I'm a also a fan of Nic Cage). I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of this movie from the previews, and I was correct in doing so. It had lots of cool moments (the fight scenes, really) But it was also kinda disappointing in others. I think they could have stretched their budget better to make the villains seem like actual Ghostrider villains, which woulda been pretty cool. Also disappointing was the romance (I believe it was Eva Mendes?) ...it just seemed really awkward and non-sensical. That, and the involvement of 'the caretaker' character ended up being really disappointing.Overall, the movie wasn't a let down, but it didn't really leave me satisfied in the end. I'll give it two big fireballs out of five big fireballs.

 

(I'm going to continue chronologically in descending order)

 

Spider Man 3

 

Now here's a Marvel movie that actually delivered. I went in, not totally sure what to expect, and not overly excited, but by the end, I was definitely pleased. I thought it was definitely the best in the series. It really focuses (more so than the first one) on Spider Man/Peter Parker's inner turmoils as he deals with various personal issues, as well Spider Man's fame. Other characters face their own demons as well, making it a pretty introspective movie all in all, which I enjoyed. Getting on to the sugar coating, the action was really awesome. Hobgoblin was a little lame, with his flying snowboard, but overall still pretty cool. I really enjoyed the fight scenes, and Thomas Hayden Church was an awesome Sandman. (I'm a big fan of his due to the Specials, which everyone should seek out and purchase... check the discount bin at Wal-Mart...) The only parts I didn't like were when Peter Parker starts feeling different due to various plot events, and makes his hair go emo (that's not an exaggeration or anything either) and the gratuitious shot of the American flag was pretty unnecessary... especially up here in Canada. Anyways, this was easilly the best Spiderman movie out of the three, in my opinion. I highly recommend this movie to everyone, even if they're not big comic book fans. I'll give it four... Spidermans out of five Spidermans? Something like that.

 

 

My favourite part of the movie is when Spider-man and Hobgoblin (Harry Osborn) team up. It's always so awesome when a villain comes to the side of good. Gives me a good feeling inside

 

 

 

Grindhouse

 

Okay, right off the bat, the important thing about Grindhouse is that you can't go in with any other mindset except to expect nothing but ridiculous awesomeness. If you are the person who likes to analyze and pick apart movies, don't bother because this movie is not made for you. However, if you can sit back and enjoy a movie regardless (or because) of how cheesy it is, strap yourself in! Both of the movies contained within were highly enjoyable, but I'm leaning towards Planet Terror, because easily more ridiculous and awesome. I mean, the chick ends up with a machine gun for a leg? How awesome is that? She friggin' uses a missile to hop over this wall, and then later switches from some sorta assault rifle to a chain gun. Sooooo cool! *froths* ~Ahem~ anyways, Deathproof was cool too, although I think it shoulda been the first movie as it moved at a much slower pace. Then again, it had the better ending. From that movie, we (Tam and I) came up with the term 'Kurt Russelled'.... you do not wanna be Kurt Russelled. I have never in my life been to a movie where at the end people got up and cheered. That's how good it was. Please please please, go and see this if you haven't. Again, go in expecting ridiculous awesomeness, and this double-bill WILL deliver! Five awesomes out five awesomes here.

 

 

 

I have to go right now, but I'll be back later with more reviews.

[Patrick]

I watched Children of Men last night and I'll happily confirm all that Wyv has said about it. Great camerawork, good acting and good script. The ending is a bit predictable, but still quite good.

[Merelas]

I saw Spiderman III on Tuesday. I'm going to keep this brief.

 

This movie is good if you go into it not expecting much. I laughed out loud at the dialogue in places, and that's occasionally even what the artistic direction was. They don't take themselves seriously enough to want you to change your world view afterwards, which is a definite plus. The action sequences and special affects were on par with most of the modern superhero films and the concept is at least a little thought-provoking.

 

The score for the movie is good, as a score for an action film should be. Soundtrack is one that I would consider buying, but probably not at the top of my soundtrack lists. Costumes were decent, especially considering that this movie certainly isn't focused on the clothing of the actors. Again, dialogue left something to be desired, but the director realized that and was able to poke fun at the movie itself in places. The plot is the plot of Spiderman. You see where I'm going with this. Camera was decent, certainly not great, but the special affects and etc. were (as I said) somewhat impressive. I'm not a fan of Tobey Maguire or Kirsten Dunst, but in my opinion this movie has a great supporting cast: James Franco and the character of Venom did a high quality job with their performances.

 

It's fun. It's not moving. It's not romantic. It's a good movie to see with children.

 

Score: B+

Costumes: B

Dialogue: C

Plot: C

Camera: B-

Affects: B+

Acting: B

 

Overall Grade: B-

[DoctorEvil]

The Doctor is a huge fan of comic book movies and the Doctor was hugely disappointed with Spider-Man 3. The Doctor agrees with Merelas' assessment...the plot and dialogue were the weakest part of the movie. The Doctor believes this movie was made purely to produce more action figures and promotional tie-ins.

 

 

Saw Children of Men on pay per view this weekend.....LOVED IT!

[unimatrix]

I saw Pirates 3 tonight. Walked out very impressed with the last hour or so. There were moments that I was shocked the writers actual took the course they did. Very surprising, especially for a Disney film. The first 90 minutes or so was confusing, taking a bathroom break didn't help. A lot of things go by really fast and it is hard to keep track of who is doing what, where, when, how...

 

Also, be sure you sit through all the credits. There is a scene at the very end you do not want to miss.

 

That being said, there was a couple things that did irk me. Please see the spoiler for more.

 

 

First off, I wanted to see a full off pirate vs. royal navy fight. The way the East India guy went out was cheap. Felt like, and this might have happened, that they had blown their FX budget by that point in the film.

 

This was also a LOT darker than the other films. It is not the comedy the other films were, but the ending was great in so many ways. One of my big complaints is that films do not end on downers enough. It was one of the few things I liked about Terminator 3: it ended with fate and that Judgement Day could be postponed, but not stopped. It's dark, and one leaves the theater in a not so happy mood.

 

There will be a pirates 4. They set that up with the ending and then the bonus scene at the end of the credits.

 

I enjoyed the film overall and wish more movies ended like this: a mixed ending.

 

Some people may not like that nothing was really resolved and that things effective "reset" to where they began. I don't know how trite that is, but I said, "Okay, I can roll with it."

 

 

 

[Elvina]

Spiderman 3 ~

 

I went and saw this after reading some reviews here, even after being warned off by some friends. I can't believe I spend the price of a movie ticket to see this crap.

 

"Emo Parker" was so laughable that most of the "serious" nature of this film completely passed me by. It was also incredibly predictable. I saw what was coming with Hobgoblin, and as well with the guy who becomes Venom. What was the deal with that stupid dance sequence!? We already got the point by then that Parker was losing it. If it was all a setup for what happened to MJ, it took forever and was pretty incredulous. The movie itself seemed to drag on for ages. About three separate times I thought the movie would end, but it just... kept... going...

 

The only thing that made this movie slightly bearable was the fact that there were about four guys sitting behind us who kept snickering and cracking jokes all through the movie. They seemed to think it as incredulous as us, and we were paying more attention to what they were saying than the twaddle that was happening on the movie screen.

 

A terrible movie with any potential unused. Rubbish. I rate it one angry face out of five angry faces.

 

 

The Holiday ~

 

This movie starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet looked funny in the previews I saw, so I rented it out on DVD and watched it with my hubby and a friend. Bad move. The premise was kind of amusing, and I enjoy Kate Winslet's acting, but very soon the movie Cameron Diaz was explaining her life story to her new beau - over and over again, I might add! - and the movie began dragging on unbearably. It came to the point where we were booing the screen whenever Cameron Diaz appeared, and I even ended up fast forwarding her parts by popular demand. Kate Winslet was great. Her story was more interesting than Diaz's, and her lines were far less redundant. Diaz seemed to just talk, talk, talk, repeating herself continually more often than not.

 

The Holiday had some funny parts, but overall was boringly overlong. I think the director would have done better to concentrate on Kate Winslet's character instead of Diaz's. I must sound anti-Diaz here. I don't mean to. She was good, but whoever wrote the dialogue and/or edited this movie didn't do a very good job and the movie suffers for it.

 

Two cups of English tea out of five; just for Kate. :)

 

 

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End~

 

An enjoyable addition to the Pirates movies. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had high hopes seeing as Geoffrey Rush is back in it. He didn't disappoint, and neither did any of the other actors. I liked that this movie seemed to focus more on the characters of Captains Balbosa and Swallow, and Elizabeth, rather than on Will. The ending was a pleasant surprise in that I hadn't expected a Disney movie to do what they did to one of the main characters. It wasn't a happy ending for all, but a conclusion was definitely reached in the movie, and I left feeling that it had been wrapped up rather nicely, with plenty of room to expand into a Pirates 4. The interplay between Balbosa and Swallow was hilarious, and it was interesting seeing what happened with Davy Jones. After a run of bad movie viewing lately, and despite the knowledge that Pirates 3 was three hours long, I really enjoyed this movie.

 

Five Arrs! out of five! :D :D

Edited May 26, 2007 by Elvina

[Nyarlathotep]

Pirates of the Carribbean 3: At World's End

 

By far the most epic in scale of the 3 films. Top notch fight scenes, wonderful visuals and some interesting plot twists. Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy easily stole the spotlight and I loved that Chow Yun Fat was back in film again. But, unfortunately the movie still suffered from many of the same problems as the previous installment. The characters continued to preform acts totally out of character, the story became badly muddled at times and the number of references to the previous films shoved down your throught was just to much. Overall this one was better then Deadman's Chest, but it still doesnt hold a candle to the first film.

 

Oh and Davy Jone's Locker was hella lame.

Edited May 26, 2007 by Nyarlathotep

[unimatrix]

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End~

 

An enjoyable addition to the Pirates movies. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had high hopes seeing as Geoffrey Rush is back in it. He didn't disappoint, and neither did any of the other actors. I liked that this movie seemed to focus more on the characters of Captains Balbosa and Swallow, and Elizabeth, rather than on Will. The ending was a pleasant surprise in that I hadn't expected a Disney movie to do what they did to one of the main characters. It wasn't a happy ending for all, but a conclusion was definitely reached in the movie, and I left feeling that it had been wrapped up rather nicely, with plenty of room to expand into a Pirates 4. The interplay between Balbosa and Swallow was hilarious, and it was interesting seeing what happened with Davy Jones. After a run of bad movie viewing lately, and despite the knowledge that Pirates 3 was three hours long, I really enjoyed this movie.

 

Five Arrs! out of five! :D :D

I went and saw it with my family this afternoon (group in town for the holiday). So seeing it twice in less than 24 hours is a new record for me and a movie. Anyway, I thought the same thing the first time through. I have to ask did you stay for the extra scene at the end of the credits? If not, the Wikipedia entry has a description about it. The scene is interesting, but does bring a finality to my books on one of the plot lines.

 

Bruckheimer as said this is the last one. But he's a business man and after a few years off, if there is money to be made, he and Disney will be back. He's hinted that there could be a "spin-off" including some of the characters. Clearly POTC4: The Fountain of Youth is left wide open. So I think there will be more movies in this universe.

 

Now upon seeing it for a second time here is my view. Knowing to take the potty break during the Davy Jones/Multiple Jacks scene helpped. (Curse the buckets of soda they sell) Anyway, the plot is much less confusing the second time around. Personally I like the ellusions to the previous Pirates films. I got several more lines and stuff the second time around.

 

However, I do have a couple complaints. One is the major battle...it's not the drag down fight with armada vs. armada and Beckett's final scene to me wreeks of they ran out of FX budget... (of course I do video post-production stuff for a living...so I tend to nick-pick.) And I did read that Pirates 3 almost didn't make the release date because they couldn't get all the CGI finished in time. So there may yet be a huge fleet battle scene in a Super Ultra Deluxe DVD/BD format around Christmas.

 

 

Personally I think that the Will/Elizabeth story is over, especially with the final scene. But in a couple years I look for the adventure to continue with Jack, Barbosa, Gibbs, and the rest of the crew plus some new characters.

 

[Elvina]

I have to ask did you stay for the extra scene at the end of the credits? If not, the Wikipedia entry has a description about it. The scene is interesting, but does bring a finality to my books on one of the plot lines.

Yup. I made my husband wait around because I knew something was coming. I'd missed it twice before in the cinemas, not knowing it would be there.

 

However, I do have a couple complaints. One is the major battle...it's not the drag down fight with armada vs. armada and Beckett's final scene to me wreeks of they ran out of FX budget...

Yeah, I agree on that point and forgot to write about it.

Beckett's freezing up at the end there struck me as very out of character. I thought that while the Black Pearl and the Flying Duchman were going at it that the other pirate ships would have been fighting the armada... but this wasn't so. I guess the whole armada just sorta sat there while everything was happening. Bit strange for a battle-ready armada. I didn't realise that might have been because the director blew his budget, hehe. As far as the final scene, I thought it was strange to leap them so far ahead in time like that when that whole Fountain of Youth thing was left open. And was it just me, or did the child of Elizabeth and Will look oddly like that kid at the start who got hanged...?

 

[Mynx]

What I've heard in regards to further sequels is that there will almost definitely be more PotC movies, but it is unlikely that they will continue to focus around our trio of Sparrow, Turner and Swan.

So maybe we'll get a little more insight into Barbossa, or Mr Gibbs (though I can't see them making an entire movie about him), or one of the other Pirate Lords.

For what it's worth, At World's End was satisfying for me. I loved the first and was slightly frustrated by the second, what with the now common trilogy method of one stand alone film to test the economic waters and two and three linking together like a two part show. This third tied up the trilogy nicely for me and didn't leave any angst behind. I still think they should have left it at one, but I'm pleased with how the trilogy turned out, as I'd had doubts going into the theatre.

Plus, you get to meet Jack's dad! Highly entertaining

[unimatrix]

I have to ask did you stay for the extra scene at the end of the credits? If not, the Wikipedia entry has a description about it. The scene is interesting, but does bring a finality to my books on one of the plot lines.

Yup. I made my husband wait around because I knew something was coming. I'd missed it twice before in the cinemas, not knowing it would be there.

 

However, I do have a couple complaints. One is the major battle...it's not the drag down fight with armada vs. armada and Beckett's final scene to me wreeks of they ran out of FX budget...

Yeah, I agree on that point and forgot to write about it.

 

I work in post production, video special effects, CG animation, so I know a thing or two about budgets and what can happen. To answer your question in the spoiler:

 

 

Yes, it was the same boy. If you listen to Gibbs talk about the green light at sunset, when the dutchmen disappears, there is that green flare. It means a soul returns from the dead. In this case the boy who started singing "Hoist the Colors". Which if you listen to the lyrics and think about it for a moment...it's very interesting.

 

 

I think there will be a 4 in years to come also. But I think Orlando Bloom has indicated he doesn't want to do any more. Jonny Depp was more like "If they make one, great...if not, it's been fun." And Kiera...who knows. So it will likely be a Sparrow/Barbosa tale with the rest of the characters and a few new ones. They could still have a lot of fun with Barbosa and Jack.

Edited May 29, 2007 by Unimatrix

[Mynx]

28 Weeks Later

 

Considering this is an American sequel to a British original, I'm very impressed. Hell, the movie creeped me out, and that's not an easy thing for movies to do to me.

Self explanatory title - 28 weeks after the Rage virus was released, quarantine has deemed it safe to start filtering people back into the UK. All is going fine until the virus is accidentally released again and all hell breaks loose.

There are plenty of moments where you can hold a heated debate with someone over 'what you would have done' in the same situation. I even heard that one of the actor's wives was not impressed with his character's decisions.

And I think what creeped me out the most is the fact that, on the one hand I was disturbed by the decisions being made, but on the other I would have done the exact same thing in that situation.

It's kind of worrying to see people the movie makes you bond with suffering for a decision that you can justify.

Really good film though. There were moments of annoyance at stupid people doing stupid things, but not many, and the rest of the film negated the small annoyances. Utter lack of steady-cam, like the original, and the new director captured the same mood of the original film but took it in a fresh direction.

I'm expecting 28 Months Later now...

[The Big Pointy One]

I don't want to even attempt to start a heated debate about Spider-man 3, but it's important to remember that is made so people of all ages can enjoy it without it being some cinematic masterpiece. 'emo-parker' was kinda lame, but it was funny in its own way. I thought the dance scene was awesome. Really a throw-back to silly stuff out of old-school movies. You don't have to go into this movie with your thinking cap on... just with a bag of popcorn and your favourite refreshment and sit down and enjoy it. (To summarize, don't be so hard on it!!!)

[Elvina]

Children of Men

 

In the year 2027, humankind faces the likelihood of its own extinction. No child has been born in eighteen years, and the world's youngest citizen has just died at 18. Set in and around a dystopian London fractious with violence and warring nationalistic sects, Children of Men follows the path of Theo Faron, a London peave activist-turned jaded bureaucrat who is drawn back into the world he left by his ex-wife Julian and the unexpected discovery of a lone pregnant woman, Kee. With the hope of the entire world resting on a lone woman, a 'fugee' (refugee) at that - it's up to Faron to take up the desperate bid to get Kee and her child to safety.

 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started watching this movie, but the premise sounded intriguing. It did not disappoint. This movie has a distinct, unique feeling to it, largely due to the way director Alfonso Cuarón filmed it. Very few but very long takes are the hallmark of this movie, and the feeling it imparts on the film is that one isn't 'watching' the story unfold, but is being taken along with Theo on his journey through perils and danger. I was amazed at how 'real' this approach made everything look. When Theo walks into a coffee shop, buys a coffee, walks out again and then the shop blows up - all in a single scene - I was gobsmacked without quite realising why or how it had looked so real. I recommend watching the bonus material to see how they did these takes. Immense choreography was needed as well as a multitude of rehearsals before filming one of these long scenes.

 

Clive Owen was wonderful to watch. He seems to be a big guy with a lot of presence, but he doesn't 'take up the screen' at all, and the fact that he doesn't act like a stereotypical American Hero, dashing through the fray and dodging bullets every step without fear, is refreshing. Don't get me wrong - there is a LOT of bullet-dodging in this movie. Most of it is incidental, however. London is in turmoil. While the government is trying to stem the tide of fugees (refugees) coming into the country from all over the world where everything else has utterly collapsed, a group within the UK are trying to move along the Uprising and get rid of their oppressors. Into this turbulent mix comes Kee, a fugee woman who is somehow, miraculously pregnant. I don't mean this to sound corny, but in a world without children, all people can think of is how they can use Kee and her baby to further their own political ends. Imagine London meets the Gaza Strip and you'll have an idea of what the setting of this film is like.

 

There is swearing, quite a few f-words, I think, and some of the scenes are very graphic - not many in terms of violence but the childbirth came as a bit of a shock to me (I hope I'm not giving away any spoilers by saying that ). Once again, it was done in a long, continuous take and I wondered how on earth they made the baby look so real when there were absolutely no cut-aways where they could have inserted a real baby into the shot. The filming of this movie was impressive. It painted a very real version of a unhappy future where mankind is confronted with it's own demise - and a single beacon of hope for the future.

 

I have to admit that this movie had a 'bookish' feel to it while I was watching - that is, the kind of feeling that always makes me wonder whether the film had been a novel first. Turns out it is a adaptation of P.D. James' novel "The Children of Men". There is a whole era of "British dystopian genre" (as I call it) out there (e.g.: 1984, Animal Farm, etc.), and to me this film carries over that same dystopian, unhappy feel prevalent in those classical books. This movie is more entertaining, though.

 

Michael Cain also appears as Jasper Palmer, and Julianne Moore plays Theo's ex-wife Julian. Claire-Hope Ashitey plays Kee, which is the first role I've ever seen her in, but I'm impressed with her as well.

 

I give this four cool faces out of five - B) B) - because I felt a bit gipped by the ending. If he got shot so much earlier - by Luke in the building before he and Kee walked out - then you think he might be doubled over a little, at least? Grunting in pain a bit instead of just running around like nothing was wrong with him? Yeah, I felt gipped - not that he died, but that there was no foreshadowing of the bullet wound being so mortal that it suggested he might die.

 

 

Theo: "Who's the father?"

 

Kee: "Don't you know, Theo? I'm a virgin." (laughs)

[Wyvern]

I've been on somewhat of a self-conscious B-horror comedy binge as of late, as I recently watched "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "Shaun of the Dead" on DVD with a friend of mine.

 

"From Dusk Till Dawn" is an early Robert Rodriguez film starring George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino amongst others. It features the typical Rodriguez/Tarantino brand of genre film parody, and definitely delivers in the laughs and hardcore action department. The movie starts out as an outlaw-on-the-run film that's already over-the-top, only to eventually twist its way into a fullscale splatterfest involving vampires, automatic stakers, and super soakers filled with holy water. I found myself entertained the whole way through, and enjoyed the loads of hilarious bad-ass moments and desensitized gore it had to offer. That's not even mentioning Salma Hayek's infamously hot dance scene, which certainly didn't hurt the film in my book either! Those who enjoyed "Grindhouse" should be sure to give this one a shot.

 

"Shaun of the Dead" is a more modern romantic comedy from the U.K involving zombies. It deals with an electronics store clerk played by Simon Pegg (known from the British comedy show "The Office") who has a stessful social life but happens to have good strategies when it comes to evading the living dead. The film plays off of a number of zombie film cliches to hilarious effect, and seems to present the way that a zombie invasion would probably go down if it occured in real life. There are no bad-ass heroes who can take out zombies by using anything as a weapon... instead, characters mostly screw up in their survival attempts and end up looking like your average human beings. To give an example of one of the many funny moments: the main character walks out to the supermarket to get a beer, and is so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he doesn't realize the zombie invasion has begun. He walks all the way back home without picking up on the invasion, and it's only after he turns on his TV that he starts to become aware of it. The humor throughout the film is definitely quirky British-style humor, but it's funny through-and-through and worth checking out if you don't mind some zombie gore.

[Mynx]

If you like Shaun of the Dead, track down the DVDs of the British tv series Spaced, and the film Hot Fuzz - made and starring the same crowd.

Made. Of. Win.

[Appy]

Agreed.

 

 

(Still have to see Hot Fuzz.. I have been told I should see it and I know I will )

 

PS: If you liked Shaun, you will LOVE Spaced.. it's sooooo much better!

Edited June 24, 2007 by Appy

[Mynx]

Transformers

Having grown up on the original cartoon (and wept bitterly as it was horribly remade for the Jap-Anime generation), I have to admit I approached this film with some level of fear.

Was it unjustified?

I'm not sure...

I'm not weeping for my childhood, that's for sure.

The CGI was amazing, and all of the transformers were fantastic in their design and execution (it was so freakin awesome to hear the original voice actor for Prime return for the film), and in general the film was enjoyable.

But Michael Bay cannot direct a humans only scene to save his life. Once the transformers were in the picture, this wasn't a problem, but there were some bits at the beginning that were rather hard to sit through.

("Sit in my lap there's only one seatbelt"?!)

Most of the acting was pretty good. There were some characters I disliked but I'm blaming the script and not their acting skills.

All in all, this movie is all about the explosions, the effects, and the transformers themselves. Humans aside, I had a good time. Considering this movie has been overshadowed by skepticism since its conception, I'd have to say it was a pretty damn good execution.

[Elvina]

I'm relieved to hear that, Mynx! As long as the story is bearable I shouldn't be too disappointed, and the fact the original Optimus Prime voice actor is there is a relief! I look forward to seeing it this Saturday though I've heard that watching it doesn't involve much grey matter - as you said: explosions and action pretty much rule the day.

[reverie]

Sicko

 

Went and saw Michael Moore's new film about the American Health Care System. I didn't go into the film ignorant of the woes of my country's Health Care. On the contrary, I've been for reform for as long as I can remember. I still remember how the reform efforts of the early 90's went down in flames due to the lobbies of American Health Insurance companies and well politics in general. Still, it shocked me. No it shook me. I actually had to leave the theatre for a few minutes halfway through to clear my head. Having 9/11 rescue and clean up volunteers injured in the aftermath of the attack actually be able to get medical treatment in freaking Havanna, Cuba of all places (care they could not obtain in the USA) for free was priceless.

 

Moore's films are never perfect and always biased. But I think he nailed it this time. Like he builds up Hilliary Clinton for being a crusader for health care reform back in the '90's then slams her now as a Senator for being one of the largest recipients of campaign donations from Heath Insurance companies. Actually having President Nixon on the record on his take on HMO's as Kaiser (The Kaiser of Kaiser-Permanente) is pitching the deal to him in the Oval Office excised from the Water-gate tapes is again priceless.

 

Ya know, with all I know about the dirty laundry of America (all countries have their share), and I sure do know a lot about that because my chosen field of study is American Studies, this is first time in my life that I've actually considered leaving for good. First thing that popped in my mind was that New Zealand was courting disenchanted liberals after the 2004 elections to come repatriate with them. I don't know, not sure if I could hack it as a Kiwi. Well there is always Canada though, but "BRRRR" it's cold there. At any rate think I'll start applying to Grad school programs outside of the U.S. I hear British Columbia has a nice MFA program.

[Zadown]

I went to see Transformers as well, having heard a lot of good things about it. I had no real previous experience with this stuff, never having watched the original cartoon but I thought you can't go too wrong with a bunch of big robots fighting. Well ... in the end, unlike for Mynx, the best bits for me were often the parts where the robots were absent. I wasn't really a big fan of the fevered, chaotic fighting scenes. They were too hectic and in the end they blurred into one long cavalcade of explosions and gunfire. Explosions are neat, but after a while, if overused, they start to seem like disco-lights. And of course the dialogue of the robots was bound to be a bit corny for somebody like me who had no childhood memories of this stuff.

 

The humans, on the other hand, were sometimes even funny (though the "sit on my lap" line was truly bad, I admit), and you could actually see what was happening when the endless explosions and rabid camerawork quieted down. All in all, not a bad movie, but not really one of my favourites.

[The Big Pointy One]

Last night I saw 28 Weeks Later, and overall, I think I enjoyed it. I think it met all the requirements for a zombie movie, which was cool. Instead of in the first one where it was like "Hey, where'd all these zombies come from?" it was more like "Uh oh, zombies... what should I do about it?" The only thing I didn't really like was the ineptitude of the soldiers. Their preparation for outbreak was lacking at best. (I'll put details in a spoiler box) Anyways, I still enjoyed the movie, and I'll give 3 out of 5 zombies. Not bad, not great, but something I'd probably recommend seeing. Oh, I also really liked the music they had in the movie. They repeatedly used the same song/fragment a few times, but it was still really good. It was somewhere between The Gathering (great band) and the score from the Metroid: Prime video games. Seriously.

 

 

First problem: Once the outbreak starts, they lock a large amount of civilians in a basement room. Except, they only lock *some* of the doors with chains and padlock, the rest normally. This is at a sub-basement level, which is a mistake for anyone who knows anything about zombie survival. Also, they don't leave them any guards; it's pretty obvious what happens at this point. There's a few other things that aren't very smart, but the only other one I'll mention is when a small group of people are trying to get away, they manage to start a car (at the expense of a soldier who was helping them ) and start driving away. Then a helicopter starts shooting at them. Last I checked, zombies can't drive cars.

 

[Wyvern]

I've been catching up on quite a bit of anime in the past few months. Here are some thoughts on the recent film/series that I've watched through:

 

"Paprika" - This is an anime movie about a psychiatric institution that developes a device called the DC-mini, which allows doctors to enter into their patients dreams to study them. Of course, things go awry when some of the DC-minis are stolen and power-obsessed psychos start using them to manipulate people's dreams. Plus, things get even more complicated when a massive dream parade starts reappearing throughout people's dreams, and seems to merge dreams together while gradually breaching the barrier between dreams and reality. Despite this description, I thought that the plot was the weaker point of this movie, as many elements of the film are only half-explained and there really isn't much character development throughout it. While the film might lack in a really intriguing and cohesive plot, it sort of makes up for it with some really awesome animation sequences. The entire premise of the film is almost like an excuse for the animators to go all-out with their animation style and to do whatever they please to fit the dreams, and the result is one scene of eye candy after another. It plays out more like an action-packed roller coaster ride than a complex thinking man's anime, but in my opinion the spectacle was worth the price of admission. Check it out if you want to see dream logic done slick anime style.

 

"Monster" - This anime series was very, very highly recommended to me, so I decided to give it a go. It's by far the longest anime series I've ever watched through, clocking in at 74 episodes. I must say that it was worth watching, however, as it was a very tightly written and compelling crime-drama type series. The plot sort of grabs you after the first three episodes, and continues to reveal one layer of depth after another as the series progresses, always keeping you at the edge of your seat with another twist. It starts under the guise of a hospital drama, but quickly swerves into the realm of detectives, fugitives and criminal conspiracies. The large cast of characters in the series was also very well-developed, with plenty of memorable traits and interactions. The main villain of the series, Johan, is one of the more interesting and original villains I've seen in any anime... he's deadly, but not in a conventional way. The children's book element of the series was also brilliant, and it had the best set of closing themes I've ever seen in an anime. Having said this, the series wasn't perfect... Dr. Tenma was a bit too much of a goody-two-shoes for his own good at times, and the comic relief crook buddy character that appeared in a few episodes was annoying as hell and a stupid addition to the show. The series was also not free of filler, as there were at least ten episodes that I didn't feel were necessary to the central plot and which sort of took things over-the-top at times. Still though, "Monster" definitely ranks up there as one of the better anime series I've seen, and it's possibly the most mature I've watched through. It's not out in the U.S yet, apparently (I watched it via the miracle of the internet and a visiting friends computer), but hopefully it'll find its way out here soon... I noticed that there are already a few volumes of the manga available in local comic shops, which means the anime will probably follow soon.

 

"Golden Boy" - This is a short anime comedy series about a young adult that drops out of Tokyo University after mastering the curriculum, and spends his time getting part time jobs at various spots to learn more about women. He has an unhealthy obsession with toilets that women have sat on, and girls tend to seriously underestimate him and then fall for him after it's too late. I found the first two episodes of the series absolutely hilarious, and was roped into watching the rest of it because of them. The rest of the series was good and had some touching moments as well as some really funny ones, but didn't quite live up to the first two episodes in my opinion. One thing that I cannot praise enough in this series is the faces that the animators tend to draw for the characters, as Kintaro's facial expressions were side-splittingly funny at times. Not a bad series, worth checking out for the first two episodes if nothing else.

 

"FLCL" - HMMM... Not really sure what to say about this one, except that I don't really think it was my thing in the end. It's a short anime series involving a young boy who has robots coming out of his head and a giant iron used for erasing galaxies. Think "Excel Saga" meets "End of Evangelion" on speed and you're halfway there. Don't get me wrong, I like "Excel Saga" and its ilk as much as the next guy, but there's a fine line between over-the-top comedy and complete nonsense in these sorts of animes, and I feel that "FLCL" crossed that line one too many times. There were points where the animation moved so quickly and there were so many random things going on at once that it felt more headache-inducing to me than hilarious. The series did have its redeeming qualities though - there were a number of original takes on animation per episode, and the commander guy with the fake eyebrows was hilarious. There were other very funny parts of the series as well, but ultimately I think that it should have taken a few muscle relaxants prior to being aired. Still interesting, but not really my thing in the end... Orlan's theory about GAINAX and marijuahna seems very plausible after watching this.

 

Are there any recent must-see anime series I'm missing out on? :-) I'm not really into the "Dragonball Z"/"Naruto" stuff, but other than that I'm pretty open to suggestions. Also, thanks for the review of "Sicko" reverie... I haven't been that big a fan of Michael Moore in recent times, but I've heard everyone say that this is his best movie and will probably check it out this week on your recommendation. :-)

[Patrick]

Die Hard 4

 

Saw this over the weekend. Apart from the obviously Holywood-esque portrayal of all that was related to computer hacking it was an enjoyable action-flick, where you don't need to think much while watching it.

 

Oh and Yippie-kay-yay mother****er!

[The Big Pointy One]

Have you seen Excel Saga Wyv? It's definitely my favourite series. It parodies a lot of other animes, and is just off-the-wall insane. It really fits my sense of humour, anyways. Definite recommendation for anyone who likes wacky type stuff, or just anyone who wants to watch some anime.