As I never have time for a writing a full length review, I list and write a quick review of the films I see at the cinema.
Movies take a long time to reach Japan, so for people outside Japan, these might make good rental choices. For people in Japan I'll hopefully give you an idea if you want to spend your hard-earned yen on these movies.
Please comment if you agree or disagree with my reviews. I enjoy feedback!
I'm sure that many people will see this movie expecting it to be a laugh a minute tale about a drunken superhero who cleans up his act. And, they will get that, for the first twenty minutes of the movie. After that point, the story changes.
Smith plays John Hancock, a superhero of a sort. He's a superhero that will destroy what he is trying to rescue, for example, he swings a beached whale back into the ocean and it lands on a yacht. He drinks, he sleeps, and he breaks things. He is not very popular. All that changes when he saves the life of PR guy Ray Embrey. Ray takes Hancock under his wing and tries to give Hancock back his pride. In the course of this, Hancock is introduced to Mary, Ray's wife and she seems startled to see him. Why?
The film that I expected, was not the film that I saw, and for that I am grateful. Instead of another superhero redeeming himself and saving the world, I saw a film that was touching and thoughtful. I'm so glad that it wasn't what I expected. Worth seeing if you like any of the principals, just remember it isn't a laugh a minute action film. Laughs-yes, action-yes, but depth too. A treat.
It took me a long time to write this review. I enjoyed the film at the time I watched it, but promptly forgot all about it. That isn't a good sign.
Rachel Weisz wisely didn't sign up for this film. She was replaced by Maria Bello playing Evie. Maria Bello is a good actress, but she brings a brittleness to Evelyn that Rachel Weisz didn't have. Bello seemed too posh to be chasing mummies, Weisz was more down to earth and believable. There wasn't much chemistry between Bello and Fraser either.
Alex O'Connell was a young boy about 10 in the first film, but in this film, he's all grown up. Rick however has barely aged.
The story in this film is okay. In ancient China an Emperor is turned to clay, only to be woken when the time is right for him to take over the world. Of course, the bad guys wake him up and the good guys try to stop him. As always with the Mummy movies there are lots of jokes and asides, and fun action sequences, but the film itself is forgetable. There is a very cool fight scene between Michele Yeoh and Jet Li that makes the film almost worth watching. But not quite.
So, I'm afraid that I'd have to say this is a film that can be safely skipped. Wait and see it on dvd if it really strikes your fancy.
Made of Honor is one of those problem movies. Since it's about getting married, it's probably not a good date movie....at least not first date material! It all starts in University when the hero and heroine meet each other and become friends. Over the next ten or so years, their friendship grows stronger. He's a casual dater, she's more circumspect.After a trip to Scotland to appraise art, she announces that she's getting married and would like him to be her "maid of honor".
Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Dempsey do have good chemistry, and they sound like they could really be friends. But, the script just isn't strong enough to support the actors. It's a likeable enough film, but definitely not a must see. Wait for DVD or free TV!
This very dark tale continues the story of Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, yet doesn't focus on him. The focus of this story is Harvey Dent, the new District Attorney. He is dating Rachel Dawes, the woman that Bruce Wayne loves. Dent seems to be the White Knight, the shining force for good in Gotham City. A criminal, The Joker, is bent on destroying all the good that Batman and Dent have done in cleaning up the criminal element.
The special effects in this film are amazing yet do not take over the film. The actors disappear into their roles and the talk of a posthumous Academy Award for Heath Ledger is not just hype. The writing is smart, the plot is twisted yet easy to follow. There are no happy endings in this story, but all of them are believable. The Dark Knight is a very good film.
I have a problem with this movie. The beginning was a humdinger...so disturbing that I doubted I could sit through the movie, but somewhere along the way, it went away. Basically the story is that people have been disappearing or dying in mysterious ways along the upper east coast of the United States. (My query...how come they never talked about Canada? It's very very unlikely that the Maritimes of Canada would be unaffected. Guess the border really works.) A young science teacher and his wife flee from the problem, as they deal with a marriage that is failing and have to take care of the child of their friend.
The basic idea behind this film is intriguing, but the execution leaves much to be desired. "The Happening" is never fully explained, although there are some theories tested. The movie works, but just barely,and the "happy" endings feel tacked on and not really earned by the characters.
I can't in good conscience recommend this film unless you are a completist or a fan of Mark Wahlberg. It's not really an enjoyable time at the movies, and it isn't a well enough made film to forgive it's faults. Video rental only!
I went into Speed Racer not expecting very much. I ended up enjoying it. Basically, the film tells the story of a boy named Speed. His father designs and makes racing cars, his older brother raced them until his fatal crash a few years earlier, and his younger brother eats a lot of candy and plays around with a chimpanzee. His mother cooks wonderful pancakes. The Racer family is a close knit one, all the more since the oldest son Rex Racer was killed.
Half of the movie is about the Racer family, and it is that half of the movie that I enjoyed tremendously. The Racers seemed like a real family,and there are a couple of scenes where Pops has father to son talks with Speed that seem truly from the heart. This is a man who has learned from his mistakes and doesn't want to make them again.
The half of the movie that is about racing, well I wasn't too impressed. I'm not a car person anyway, and I found it really difficult to keep the different cars straight in my mind. The cars do amazing stunts and are very pretty, but they tended to blend into one another in this film. They were the least interesting part of this film for me.
This film looks beautiful. It's filmed in glowing bright colours, bringing to mind a Dick Tracy world. The situations are quite interesting, the family dynamics are good, but the racing is the big drawback. Still, I think it's worth watching if the story appeals. Just try to ignore the chimpanzee!
This movie has me in a quandary. Do I talk about how much I liked the attention to detail, the historical aspect of drilling for oil, or do I talk about how little I liked the character of Daniel Plainview? Daniel is shown as a self-reliant man who adopts an orphaned baby. Does he adopt the baby for love or because the baby makes him seem like an honest family man? Plainview is an Oilman, and not a particularly honest one either. After meeting with a charismatic preacher, he becomes driven. Everyone is worthy of suspicion.
Daniel Day Lewis gives a brilliant performance as Plainview, but the film isn't the masterpiece that it's touted to be. The first part of the film is great, but towards the end, the character makes huge turns and as years are skipped over, we aren't given a real reason why that happens. Enjoyable, but violent. If you are intrigued by the story then it's worth seeing.
A charming little fairy tale about a boy's search for his parents, using music to find them. Evan Taylor has been brought up in a Home For Boys, but was convinced that his parents would come and find him one day. He runs away to New York and his musical education begins. He is taken in by a Fagin-like character, played by Robin Williams, who advises Evan, re-names him August Rush, and tries to take advantage of his amazing musical ability.
Through flashbacks we learn who Evan's parents really were and what happened to them. Why did this lovable little boy end up panhandling on the street, then studying at Juiliard?
The music is great, the story is told with love and care. It would be so easy to overplay this sort of story, but, the cast and crew do everything right. I walked into this film without too much fore-knowledge of it. I knew that my favourite film critic, Roger Ebert said it was good, and that was about that. I dislike Robin Williams, but he's fine here. I dislike children in movies generally, but Highmore and the other children are fine. Everything just works.
Definitely worth watching, either on the big screen or on dvd, if your sound system is good. I loved it!
Indiana Jones is back and I'm glad. This is a fun movie for the most part, with one exception. Near the beginning of the film there's an occurance that is uncomfortable to watch as a person living in Japan. The way that Indy survives does seem very "deus ex machina" too, but then again, that isn't unknown in these films!
This film introduces a few new characters to join the old favourites. It was lovely to see Marion back. I always thought she was believably feisty in the first film. The villain, played by Cate Blanchett was unfortunately not given enough screentime to show her full evil potential. The inclusion of Mutt Williams (LaBeouf) made a nice balance with the older characters. He is not an archeologist, and thus provides Indy with a reason to explain what's happening.
I am a big fan of Raiders of the Lost Ark and I wasn't disappointed by this film. I didn't go into the movie expecting realism, or great acting, just a lot of fun. I had a great time. Worth watching, especially if you are an Indy fan. Not as good as Raiders, but then again, the other two sequels weren't either!
This movie begins at the end, then takes the viewer back 4 days so that we find out how the characters made their way there. It's a gripping ride and never lets up. This film assumes that the people watching it have are intelligent and able to follow a plot that isn't spoonfed to them.
Who is Michael Clayton? In his own words, he's a janitor. He cleans up legal messes that other lawyers are afraid to touch. However, this time he may have bitten off more than he can chew. Michael is in debt to a loan shark, there's a merger happening at the law firm he works at so he could be out of a job, and his friend had a meltdown at a deposition. Michael Clayton tries to minimalize the damage, but is thwarted at every turn by his friend and another party.
This was a great, very enjoyable movie. I was never bored, and never managed to outguess the characters. A movie for adults like this doesn't come along very often. See it if it interests you.
A reasonably well done adaptation of the Prince Caspian story. It doesn't follow the book very closely, but the land of Narnia and the sense of wonder at the creatures that live there is still very much in evidence.
This film is quite violent and there are scenes where characters die, so it is definitely not for young children. The acting is uneven. This film won't be receiving any acting nominations. However, as a Narnia fan, I do recommend this movie, as long as you haven't read the novel in a while! It's fun and quite enjoyable overall.
The US political system is a mystery to me. I don't understand it, which sometimes makes it difficult for me to appreciate political movies.
Charlie Wilson's War is different. Charlie Wilson is different! He's a "good ol' boy" from Texas, with an exterior that belies his keen intelligence. As played by Tom Hanks, Wilson realizes the US can stop Russia's invasion of Afghanistan and in the process bring about the end of the cold war.
The acting and writing in this film is generally excellent. Philip Seymour Hoffman as a CIA operative especially shines. The dialogue is crisp and sparkling, unsurprising when you realize it was written by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing).
This is the second political film I've seen this year and is easily the better of the two. After the film was over, I had a much better understanding of why September 11 happened.
Definitely worth seeing. As it's a story based movie rather than a special effects movie, it should hold up nicely on dvd. Take a look. I'm glad I did.
The Coen Brothers are back with their latest film, a modern western that tells the tale of a man who finds 2 million dollars and then is hunted by a hitman who is trying to retrieve the money. The story takes many twists and turns, and leaves many bodies in its wake. It is a violent film, probably not for everyone to watch, but it is a very intelligent film and leaves the viewer with many questions and points to ponder. Javier Bardem deservedly won an Academy Award for his protrayal of Anton Chigurh, and the film itself won 3 other Academy awards for the Coen Brothers. Not for everyone, at times painful to watch, and difficult to fathom, this is a rare treat, a movie that doesn't answer all the questions. If it interests you, see it!
A delightful updating of fairy tales. Animated Gisele is pushed out of her cartoon world into real life New York and becomes a real live person. How she survives and yet maintains her classic and peppy demeanor is great fun. Amy Adams was a joy to watch as the believably innocent princess-to-be. James Marsden proves that he isn't just a pretty face once again and has as much fun as the audience. The only letdown of the whole cast was Susan Sarandon. One of my favourite actresses, she just didn't nail this part. Was Anjelica Huston busy?
The songs are fun, the costumes are great and the situations are interesting. If you love Disney movies, you'll probably adore this one too. Very enjoyable.
An incredibly silly movie about prehistoric man. It's fun, just check your brain and logic at the door.
A small mountain village is raided by slavers and the leftover warriors follow to rescue their fellow villagers, and the true love of the lead warrior. The villagers meet many hardships along the way, and receive help from other tribes of people as they travel.
Instantly forgettable, but a pleasant way to fill a couple of hours!
Robert Redford's latest film is well directed, well acted, but ultimately an empty movie. To paraphrase the bard, "It's full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." There are three concurrent stories in the film, 2 soldiers on a mountaintop in Afghanistan, a student and his professor in California, and a US Senator and a journalist conducting an interview in Washington DC. Although the characters are literally miles apart they are all connected.
The performances are good, Streep is as wonderful as usual, but I found that there were just too many unanswered questions with this film. Perhaps if I was deeply involved in US politics I might have caught more nuances or enjoyed this film a little more, but as it stands, I wouldn't recommend it.
A combination of The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla, this movie starts out a little slowly but builds quite believably to it's conclusion. It starts out as a group of friends throwing a goodbye party for one of their number. He's off to Japan in a couple of days and the premise is that everyone will record a testimonial to their friend Rob. During the party, something happens! But what? No-one really knows.
I enjoyed this film. It didn't lag once it got going and I really found myself caring about these people. The special effects were great and the stunts were all quite believable. This film probably needs to be seen on a big screen to get the full effect, but be warned...sit near the back. It's a little easier on the eyes.
A young man realizes that he can teleport. He leaves his home, and sets off on a life of adventure, funded by robbing banks of their cash. Along the way he runs into an old friend, and another Jumper who may or may not be helping him.
A confusing mess of a movie. There are plot holes bigger than the holes that the Jumpers leave in the air when they teleport....and yet, there were such great possibilities with this film. It has a great idea, but the execution is lacking. There is just too much unexplained going on here.
See it on a cheap night, or wait for the rental DVD. This is not a buyer!
See below.
A great rollicking adventure. A young girl is taken on a quest to find Dust, her friend and perhaps even her family. All people have a daemon, an animal that travels with them. This is an film that moves quickly, perhaps too quickly for fans of the book, but as I haven't read the book yet, I didn't mind. It's good fun. The villian is suitably mean, and the heroine is very plucky and just devilish enough to be enjoyable. I'm looking for more in this series.
A wonderful family film that isn't boring for adults. The story takes place in 1940 Scotland near Loch Ness. It's the middle of the Second World War and many villages have had their men taken away to fight in the war. A young boy finds a strange rock and takes it home. To his surprise, it hatches and a mystical creature is set loose.
What I liked about this film was that there were no all bad people. In films like these, the older sibling is usually a pain and doesn't side with the younger child at all. In this film, when the boy's sister sees the creature, she immediately knows that she has to help her brother, and in fact does. There is also a stranger who comes to work at the house. It is war-time, he could be a spy, and that fact is discussed. People were forced to allow soldiers to billet in their homes, as in this movie.
The boy and his water horse share a bond that feels real. The animation is quite good, and the creature is very beautiful in its way. It's an enjoyable film, that somehow reminded me of Whale Rider. It's not quite as good, but still very enjoyable.
Russell and Denzel star as men on opposite sides of the law in the 1970's. Russell plays an honest cop and Denzel is the head of a drug selling gang in New York. Denzel is Frank Lucas, a real gangster, who had the idea to cut out the middle men in drug pushing and buy directly from the producers. He was able to sell his product purer and cheaper than his competition. He was a family man and lived a quiet non-descript life, and managed to stay under police radar.
The police are trying to track down the source of the new drugs on the street and through hunches, good detective work and some lucky breaks, find Frank Lucas. The arrest and trial is almost anti-climactic, but it gives Russell and Denzel a chance for some on-screen time together.
This is definitely a film worth seeing if you are a fan of either of the leads or of the great supporting cast. The story moves rapidly and I was never bored. I recommend it.
Wow! I had read that this was a dark film and it is. If you are a squeamish person, give this film a miss. But, if you love musicals, then rush to the theater to see it on a big screen.
Depp plays Sweeney Todd, a man who was happily married with a daughter. He was falsely accused of a crime and deported. The Judge who caused him to be deported then sets upon Todd's wife and adopts his daughter. Todd returns 15 years later, a changed man. He begins a relationship with Mrs. Lovett, maker of the worst pies in London. Men start to disappear and suddenly Mrs. Lovett's pies become hot sellers. What is the connection?
This film version of Sweeney Todd gives new meaning to the word macabre. It is violent, darkly funny and very very good. Neither of the leads are trained singers but acquit themselves very well. My one quibble with this version is that it felt slightly unfinished. I was hoping to find out what happened afterwards. A minor point though. If you are a fan of any of the main actors, this is a must see. Just don't go out for a meat pie afterwards!
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