Fitzy's Movie Lens

Those of you who know me will know that I am a big science fiction and fantasy fan. When the original Stargate movie came out in 1994 with Kurt Russell and James Spader, I loved the concept immediately. The setting had an immediate depth to it that I hadn't seen in a new movie universe since Star Wars and Star Trek -- the whole Chariots of the Gods idea taken to a whole new level.

When the series came out in 1997 (yes, it's been on that long -- 10 seasons is a long time!) I watched a bit and then quickly lost interest. The scriptwriting wasn't all that good. And though I like Richard Dean Anderson (who doesn't remember MacGyver from the 1980s?), even his sarcasm couldn't get me to watch.

A few years later I started watching again once the stories and writing improved and really enjoyed it for the most part. It was fun and engaging science fiction. Bubblegum, but everybody needs their sweets now and then, right?



So when the first of the two straight to DVD movies came out for Stargate after season 10 wrapped up, I of course I had to get it. Stargate: The Ark of Truth picks up where season 10 left off with SG-1 and Earth fighting a losing battle against their latest opponent -- the Ori.

GateWorld has a great synopsis of the movie along with some cool shots from the movie here (the image above is also from GateWorld).

So was it worth a watch? You bet.

Mitchell, Carter, Teal'c, Jackson, and Vala pick right up where they left off -- trying to find Ancient artifacts to help them battle the Ori. Though they'd slowed them down by the end of season 10, they hadn't stopped their armies from attacking Earth.

If you enjoyed season 10 with Mitchell in command of SG-1 instead of O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) -- and he did grow on me -- you'll most likely enjoy this DVD, which wraps up the Ori saga. It has the same irreverent humor and sarcastic comments you'd expect from a Stargate TV-related effort. And the quality holds up from single episode to full length movie.

It does get a little preachy in parts, but if you've watched SG-1 over the years you've come to expect that at points too. So though it did bug me a bit, I got over it. :)

What's to like? There is a TON of sarcasm in this movie. You could tell the actors and scriptwriters had a lot of fun with it.

What's not to like? Well, the preachy nature of a couple of scenes got me out of the moment, but it sucks you back in just as quickly.

So I'm giving this one a solid 3 out of 4 stars. I liked it. And I'm glad we're done with the Ori. Can't wait for the next one to come out in July 2008 -- Stargate: Continuum!!

Had a chance to watch 30 Days of Night on DVD last night and enjoyed it for the most part. It was based on a comic book series written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ben Templesmith in 2002. The movie script was also written by Niles and was directed by David Slade, who has directed music videos as well as a couple of other movies (Hard Candy and Do Geese See God?).

Here's the IMDB link... This is definitely an R rated movie for a reason. Lots of violence, gore, and language. Definitely not for the kiddies.

The movie centers around Sheriff Eben Oleoson (played by Josh Hartnet) and his wife (separated) (played by Melissa George) in the town of Barrow, Alaska. The real Barrow is in darkness for 65 days out of the year due to its remote northern location. But the movie Barrow is only in darkness for 30 days. While it's in darkness, there appears to be a bad period of storms that keeps the area isolated from outside contact except for phone or internet.

Just as the darkness falls, a stranger comes to town and then the insanity begins...

The Stranger is simply the harbinger of a group of vampires. These lovely critters discovered that Barrow has this darkness every year and decided they'd take advantage of it. It seems like a "well duh" moment for the vamps, as they do have a rather serious skin condition that does more than leave a burn when exposed to the sun or ultraviolet light.

[Spoilers ahead] Though most of the town and townpeople are devastated by the end, a small group survives led by the Sheriff and his wife. They fight to stay hidden and survive the darkness with the vamps waiting just outside for a snack -- and most of them succeed.[End spoilers.]

I thought the effects were pretty simple, which helped the film. The vampires have a gruesome appearance with their sharp teeth and a lot of bloodstains. Some of the wire work at the beginning was a bit overkill for me, but it did show that these ugly folks were more than human. (Though I have to say when they turn a car over later that becomes more than a little obvious...)

Things to like -- smart story, good characters, good special effects for the most part.

Things not to like -- a bit more gore than I typically like and some of the wire work was a bit much.

That said, this is definitely not one for the kids to watch. The carnage was in full force and more than a little violent with all the blood. (Keep an eye out for the Sheriff's axe, which gets used quite a bit as the movie goes on.)

I'll give it 3.5 out of 4. Definitely worth watching if you like smart story with your horror gore!

30 Days of Night

30 Days of Night

30 Days Of Night
[Blu-ray]

Had an opportunity to see the movie Across the Universe over the weekend and have to say I was very impressed. I always have a hit or miss issue with movie musicals. For example, Chicago was technically excellent but I didn't really like it much. And Hairspray was fun, but not earth shattering. Once and Moulin Rouge are two of my favorites from the last few years.

That said... Across the Universe was incredible and on par with Moulin Rouge for leaving its impression in my brain. Who would have thought that taking a Beatles retrospective journey and melding it with the stories of a group of young people in the 1960s would actually work? Evidently Julie Taymor did. :)



The music was excellent and helped along by an amazing cast. Not only did the music help tell the story, but it allowed for creative use of musical and visual transitions that were truly out of this world.

Here's the IMDB link.



Now before you run out and rent this, a few words of wisdom... It's set in the 1960s during the height of the civil rights movement and Vietnam. We have drugs, sex, nudity, and the violence and rage of a generation telling the powers to be to get off their butts and stop the war.

For some people, such as my father who survived a tour in Vietnam, this film will probably be much too raw to watch. It is a movie, but just like Forrest Gump survived the roller coaster of that tumultuous time, these kids also came out changed by their experiences.

Even saying that, wow. This is a powerful movie filled with powerful music and an artistic portrayal of a time my generation has really only discovered through books and the popular media.

It is a powerful message that even in the face of all that upheaval there could exist bonds of love that would survive.

This movie didn't do well at the box office. It wasn't a blockbuster. According to Box Office Mojo, it earned a total a bit over 24 million dollars. It probably didn't do well because most people were looking for another Moulin Rouge or Chicago and it had more of a Thin Red Line or Apocalypse Now vibe in places.

So it's definitely not for everybody. However, my wife and I really enjoyed it.

What's to like? Visuals are stunning. Amazing cast. Terrific use of music and history to tell one heck of a compelling story.

What's not to like? Some may not like the graphic nature of Taymor's artistic impressions of the times. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll coexisting with peace, love, and happiness in this time of Vietnam and social upheaval. It's a lot to take in.

But it's still one I'm going to have to add to my collection and pick up the soundtrack too.

Take a chance and watch if you feel you can handle it. We thought it was worth the risks. If you're interested in another review, check out Sizzling Popcorn!

It's a definite 4 out of 4.

Across the Universe
(Two-Disc Special Edition)

Across The Universe
[Deluxe Edition]

Had a chance to see the movie Waitress over the weekend on DVD. Waitress is the story of Jenna, a pregnant small town pie maker at a diner stuck in a loveless marriage to a cretin, who meets a doctor who renews her faith in herself. It stars Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion and is great!

Here's the IMDB link.



This is a wonderful film. I wish I had kept track of all the different pie names. She came up with pies all through the movie, and all were creative and amusing in their own way. Jenna's gift was pie making and the cast and crew made the best of that aspect of the story. A couple of pies were "Kick in the Pants Pie" and "Pregnant Miserable Self Pitying Loser Pie"... (For a list of some of the pies, see Waitress.net here. The article even includes a couple of recipes!)

The film also had one heck of a supporting cast, including Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith (in a GREAT role!), Adrienne Shelly, Eddie Jemison, and others.

It's a story of self discovery that's hidden in a romantic comedy. Well written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, who's been writing for television for more almost 15 years.

What's to like about the film? Well, we loved it top to bottom. The only thing that kind of got annoying was the character Ogie (played by Eddie Jemison), but we got over it. :)

If you like movies with a small town feel where you get to know the characters and feel their pain (Jenna's marriage to Earl (Jeremy Sisto) was pitiful and will make husbands and boyfriends everywhere who are worth their salt look better to their wives right away)... And Nathan Fillion and Keri Russell looked like they had a heck of a fun time with some of the passionate scenes.

What else can I say? We give it a great 4/4 and hope you enjoy it too!

Waitress
(Widescreen Edition)

Had a chance to see the Spiderwick Chronicles over the President's Day weekend with my two girls. And it was a great flick! The peril was perilous. The characters actually CHANGED from their experiences. The plot and story were pretty tight (which is a miracle considering they combined 5 books into 1 movie). And for the most part the special effects were front and center when they were important and in the background when they weren't.

For those of you who don't know, this movie is based on a series of five books for kids by the same name. The books are written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (and illustrated by DiTerlizzi, who's an amazing artist). It's about a family who moves into the Spiderwick estate and discover that their great great uncle Spiderwick's library where he wrote the Field Guide to faeries. It was a book that forever changed their lives. (Read more about the series at http://www.spiderwick.com and about the movie at http://www.spiderwickchronicles.com).

Here's the IMDB link also... here.

My 7 year old (who liked the 1st three books in the series we read a couple of years ago) enjoyed the film. And my 3 year old took a brief snooze to avoid the scarier parts towards the end. But otherwise I think she enjoyed it also.

Freddie Highmore plays the twins Jared and Simon Grace and you'd swear there were twin actors playing the parts. He did an amazing job as the two kids. Sarah Bolger played their big sister Mallory who did an admirable job with fencing swords against the bad faeries. Mary-Louise Parker plays their mom, Helen, coming off a bad divorce or separation from her husband Richard (played briefly by Andrew McCarthy). David Strathairn did a fine job as Arthur Spiderwick, the kids' great great uncle. And the crazy Aunt Lucinda was played nicely by Joan Plowright.

Rounding out the cast as voices and brief appearances were Martin Short as the voice of Thimbletack. Amazingly enough Short didn't overdo it I didn't think, and he all too often does. :) Seth Rogen did the voice of Hogsqueal. And Nick Nolte appears briefly as himself and mostly as the voice of Mulgarath the Ogre -- the big baddie in the picture.

The story is ultimately about families sticking together in adversity. Unfortunately I think that got a little lost toward the end in the special effects. The first scene with the griffin kind of tore me out of the story a bit, but other than that little nitpick I thought it flowed well.

Also, the soundtrack was great. I have to admit I like James Horner. Ever since Star Trek II, he's had my ear. :) But this ebbed and flowed with the story and never got overwhelming. A good listen!

Things to like? Highmore did an amazing job as the twin boys and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Thinks not to like? If you have young'uns, this may be a bit too scary in parts. And the special effects did get in the way like I said earlier.

But ultimately this was a great family movie. Adventure, suspense, and a good message for families to believe in each other, listen to each other, and stay together in adversity.

A solid 4 out of 4 for this one!

p.s. Do check out the series of books from Black & DiTerlizzi... They're great!

The Spiderwick Chronicles
(Boxed Set):
The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You:
Movie Tie-in Edition
(The Spiderwick Chronicles)

The Spiderwick Chronicles

Had a chance to watch the movie, A Good Year, this week. A Good Year was directed by Ridley Scott and stars Russel Crowe, Albert Finney, and Freddie Highmore. It's set in the gorgeous Provence, France. It involves a bastard banker, a reclusive Englishman in France, wine, and a number of beautiful women. What's not to like?

The movie came out in 2006, but here's the IMDB link.



Russell Crowe plays financial whiz Max Skinner (Freddie Highmore plays the character as a kid). Skinner gets in trouble for overzealous trading in the London markets. When he inherits the estate of his Uncle Henry (played beautifully as always by the wonderful Albert Finney) in Provence, France, he goes to see what it's worth and finds a life he'd lost many "vintages" ago.

It's a cool story that I thought Ridley may have drug out just a hair long, but that may just have been the tempo of this quiet little story. At its heart, this is a story of redemption and a romantic one at that. Something for the girls (Crowe) and something for the guys (a number of gorgeous ladies I'll discuss in a moment) just in time for Valentine's Day if you haven't already seen it.

So back to the ladies... There are three in particular which caught my attention. The first is the stunning Archie Panjabi played Gemma, Skinner's assistant (without whom he would be lost). The second is the cute Abbie Cornish as the "cousin" Christie Roberts. And the third and most beautiful of the bunch (IMHO) was Marion Cotillard as Fanny Chenal. Ooh la la.



So if you're in the mood for a romantic film set in a beautiful French village with some great actors having a good time, this is for you. I enjoyed it and give it a solid 3 out of 4 stars.

A Good Year
(Widescreen Edition)

Yes, I broke down and rented Dragon Wars. Why? Evidently I'm a masochist. Kind of like how you can't NOT rubberneck sometimes when you pass a gruesome accident?

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372873/

So this came out in September of 2007 and was advertised heavily on television, as I recall. It was a geek's wet dream -- dragons vs. tanks. What more could you want out of life? But as I suspected then, it wasn't worth seeing at the theater. And the story barely kept me hanging on to the end even as a rental.

Starring Jason Behr as Ethan (he was on the TV show Roswell forever), Amanda Brooks as Sarah (who's pretty but can't act well and hasn't been in anything I remember), and Robert Forster as Jack (who's been in everything under the sun over the years, but I can't remember anything specific)...

The plot is that there's this ancient Korean legend that says that every 500 years these big monsters return to devastate the planet. One good, one evil. The good one simply wants to ascend to the heavens as a dragon. The evil one wants to destroy the world. Ethan (a reporter) and Sarah (a girl) are sucked into the middle of it as their previous lives play out...

Special effects were cool the first time you saw them, but quickly got boring. And the big baddie was annoying more than anything. 1st half was worth watching, 2nd half got yawny. :)

If you like cheesy sci-fi and dragons and can stand subtitles (a good chunk of the film is in Korean with English subtitles), it's worth watching once. But if you want a real dragon movie, watch Reign of Fire (at least it had a good storyline) or even Dragonslayer (a classic fantasy movie).

I'll give it 1.5 out of 4... It wasn't absolute trash, but it wasn't really worth a whole lot. :) Rent it if you have nothing better to watch.

Dragon Wars
D-War

Reign of Fire

Dragonslayer

Have to share with you a recent discovery; one that I'd read a couple of reviews of in entertainment/movie magazines, but hadn't really considered until I added it to my Netflix queue and it showed up the other day... It is Sunshine, from director Danny Boyle, starring Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans, and others...

What if the sun was dying out and we had to restart it? Sunshine deals with the second desperate Icarus mission to restart the sun and save mankind. Think the brilliance 2001: A Space Odyssey meets the smart storytelling of 28 Days Later and you have the barest image of this movie. Not since 2001 have I seen such a smart, well written, and well performed movie with special effects.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/



Cillian Murphy was in Danny Boyle's first directorial effort - 28 Days Later -- and has been in a variety of other movies since then, including Batman Begins (as the Scarecrow, which he will be reprising in The Dark Knight), Red Eye, the Wind that Shakes the Barley, and others. He plays the haunted physicist Robert Capa, who created the device that will theoretically restart the sun.

Michelle Yeoh, has been in more movies than I can count, including the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the upcoming Mummy movie Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. She plays Corazon, who maintains the Icarus' oxygen garden and food source.

And Chris Evans, who has played the Human Torch in the last two Fantastic Four movies, has never really seemed to be much of an actor. But his portrayal of Mace, one of the pilots of the Icarus, changed my mind. This character is VERY different from Johnny Storm and quite a revelation. As Yoda would say, "Pleasantly surprised, I was."

The rest of the cast does a great job, but it's the ensemble as a whole who pulls off the movie.

The special effects were excellent and only played a minimal part in the movie. One of the issues I have with many modern science fiction movies is that the SFX take over, making the rest of the parts of the movie -- characters, story, plot -- immaterial. (Which, let's face it, sometimes is the point. Though I loved Transformers, it was because it didn't make you think -- it was just fun to watch.) Sunshine made the special effects simply the setting for the movie and never made them try and take center stage.

So I've been gushing over this movie and I only have one nitpick. Nowhere in the movie do they describe why there is artificial gravity on the ship. It's just taken for granted. The ship as a whole is not rotating (like in 2001) to cause centrifugal force and thus a limited gravitational field of a simulated earth. Maybe they have another device on board using superconductors as was reported a couple of years ago in Slashdot (http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/24/1412230&from=rss)?

At any rate... This is the best intelligent science fiction movie I've seen in a very long time. I recommend it to anybody who likes good stories and anyone who likes great science fiction. I happily give it a strong 4 out of 4.

Rent it and let me know what you think!

Sunshine

28 Days Later
(Full Screen Edition)

2001
A Space Odyssey
(Two-Disc Special Edition)

Ok, usually I'm pretty open about movies. I'll try to give it a watch and 99 out of 100 times, I'll make it to the end. I found my 100th candidate that I couldn't get through last night while trying to watch Superbad.

How to describe Superbad? I'd say it was immature, raunchy, racy, unnecessary, and generally a waste of movie stock. Even the bloopers reel didn't have much to make me laugh.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0829482/



Maybe I'm just getting old, but this movie did so little for me, I turned it off after a mere 20 minutes. Swearing is one thing, but the constant sex talk just did nothing for me. Evidently a lot of folks like the movie though, so to each their own.

I remember the Porky's series from when I was younger and that was raunchy, but fun. So I don't know why I had such a negative reaction to this one.

I'm giving this movie 1 star out of 4 to be nice. I don't think I can give zero stars.

Am I being too harsh? Let me know...

Superbad
Unrated
(Two-Disc Special Edition)


Porky's the Ultimate Collection

I thought I'd talk about some of the upcoming movies that I'm starting to get jazzed about in 2008...

• 
  February 14, The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG) comes to the big screen and IMAX (REALLY big screen). For those of you who don't know, this movie is based on a series of five books for kids by the same name. The books are written by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi (and illustrated by DiTerlizzi, who's an amazing artist). It's about a family who moves into the Spiderwick estate and discover that their great great uncle Spiderwick's library where he wrote the Field Guide to faeries. It was a book that forever changed their lives. (Read more about the series at http://www.spiderwick.com and about the movie at http://www.spiderwickchronicles.com.
  The trailers have looked very cool. And I read an article saying that Black & DiTerlizzi were quite impressed with what they saw of the movie during production. So we'll hope it lives up to the hype!


• February 22, Be Kind Rewind (PG-13) finds itself in theaters. This comedy starring Jack Black and Mos Def revolves around a guy (Black) who accidentally erases all the tapes in the video store where his best friend (Mos Def) works. They come up with a plan to record new versions of all the movies with themselves in the starring roles -- and people like the movies! This looks hilarious and Jack Black is always good for a smile. You can see more about it at http://www.bekindmovie.com.


• 
  March 7, we go back in time to 10,000 BC (PG-13). Revolving around the world's first hero, 10,000 BC shows us living in a time of warlords and villages. Anything with saber-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths can't be all bad, can it? Only time will tell. More info is available at the movie website at http://www.10000BCmovie.com.


• 
  March 14, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who (not rated yet) comes to the big screen in animated form. Jim Carrey does the voice of Horton, an elephant with an active imagination, who hears a cry for help from a speck of dust floating through the air. Horton is determined to help whomever needs the help -- and Steve Carrell happens to fit the bill as the mayor. This movie has more star power than you can believe with Carrey & Carrell, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, and more! Anyone who loved Dr. Seuss as a kid will probably get a kick out of this based on the teasers and trailers we've seen so far. Check out the website for more details at http://www.hortonmovie.com.


• 
  April 18, we see The Forbidden Kingdom (not yet rated) which brings two amazing martial artists together on screen - Jet Li & Jackie Chan. An American teenager (Michael Angarano, from Sky High), is thrust unexpectedly into a quest to get a staff to the legendary Monkey King. If you like martial arts movies and wire work, check out the trailer at their website (http://ForbiddenKingdomMovie.com). I'm excited about this one. Even if it's a bust, it should be fun.

And I'll leave it there for now... May brings ALL kinds of fun with Iron Man, Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, and Indy IV... June brings The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, and WALL*E... July brings us Hancock, Hellboy II, The Dark Knight, and X-Files 2... August brings us a new Mummy movie and who knows what else...

So I'll be back with more details before long... Let me know what movies YOU are looking forward to in 2008!

Every now and then I find a movie that's below the radar of most of my local movie theaters. Once is one of those. It was covered in Entertainment Weekly and I've seen mention of it on various other movie blogs, but it never quite made it to a screen in my home town. So when it came to DVD, I added it to Netflix and watched it over the holidays.

Before I go any further, I have to add a disclaimer here. I'm not the most manly of men. I can hold my own, but I tend to let my mind and heart do more of the thinking than other, more "testosteron-y" parts of my anatomy. That said, I admit I do sometimes cry during movies. I'm sure that with the few people who actually read this blog, nobody's too shocked. I'm a writer, a musician, and my emotions are worn freely on my sleeves. I have no poker face. :)

So with that out of the way, I was pleasantly surprised by the innocence of Once and the musical journey of the two fictional characters in this documentary-style movie stole my heart. The soundtrack still echoes in my brain. I've had to pick it up at iTunes, have burned a CD, and play it regularly. (So far I haven't been able to exorcize it from my brain!)

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0907657/



Starring Glen Hansgard as the Guy, and Marketa Irglova as the Girl, it's a musical that covers a week or so of their lives as they meet, write, rehearse, and record songs along their journey. It was nominated for an Oscar, but also won 10 other awards and garnered 13 other nominations. The movie just has an innocence that sucks you in (if you have any romantic bone in your body) and if the story doesn't get you, the music will (if you have any kind of musical inclination).

I can't say enough about this movie. With Valentine's Day coming up, it would be a great date movie to share with your sweetheart.

So if you have any kind of a romantic or musical leaning, I highly recommend this simple movie. It's short at 85 minutes, and rated R for some language. But it's worth seeing.

I give this a very enthusiastic 4 stars out of 4. Same for the soundtrack.

Let me know what you think!

Once

Once

Yes, thanks to the WGA strike, we're continuing to move at a staggering pace through our Netflix queue. The latest casualty was Resident Evil: Extinction, which came out last year.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432021/



So for those who don't know anything about this series of movies, this is the third. Resident Evil came out in 2002. Resident Evil: Apocalypse came out in 2004. And Resident Evil: Extinction came out in 2007.

Like the others, this one is rated R for violence, splatter, and minor nudity.

The entire series is based on a series of Resident Evil video games. Think first person shooter in a zombie infested world and you pretty much get the gist. The backstory includes the Umbrella Corporation, who is the most powerful company in the world and involved with everything from military weapons to bio-engineered viruses. The T-Virus is one of these lovely genetically engineered viruses. It gets out of hand quickly, proving that if you get infected and die, you come back as a zombie hungry for fresh human flesh.

Is this just another zombie movie in the genre of 28 Days Later, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, and so on? Well, yeah, sort of. Survivors battle armies of mindless and not so mindless undead.

What sets this apart is Milla Jovovich. She's one of my favorite action actresses of the last 20 years. Ever since Kuffs (with Christian Slater), I've been hooked. And when The Fifth Element came out in 1997, it sealed the deal.

That said, even Milla couldn't save herself from Extinction. This one didn't do anything for me. Maybe it was the fact that many of the battles took place during the daytime -- and zombies in bright sunlight aren't so scary as much as silly looking brutes.

Also from earlier movies, Oded Fehr (who I liked in the Mummy, but his character in the RE series hasn't done much for me) and Mike Epps who provided some funny scenes in Apocalypse but fell short in Extinction. Ali Larter and Ashanti joined the cast as known quantities. I liked Ali Larter's Claire character, but Ashanti's Betty barely makes a blip on the radar.

Generally I guess you can see where I'm headed with this. It falls flat. (Sorry Milla.) And if this was meant to end the trilogy, it left the end wide open for more, which is the scariest part of the whole film. :)

This one gets 2/4. Rent it if you get bored and like Milla. She'd appreciate the residuals. :)

First of all, let me say that I've never been a huge fan of the traditional western. It may be that I'm missing that gene or something. However, there was one that I liked -- Unforgiven -- starring Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. It was an amazing film because the characters drove the story, not the other way around.

Second... I now have to add 3:10 to Yuma to that short list of westerns. What an amazing flick. And again, it was all because of the characters -- especially Christian Bale as Dan Evans and Russell Crowe as Ben Wade.

The story is a simple, old-fashioned western tale. A rancher from a small parcel of land agrees to help transport an outlaw to catch a train. The outlaw's gang does everything they can to stop that from happening.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381849/



Every story is a journey for one or more characters. If the characters don't show growth or change during that journey, then it was all too often a waste of time. There are three characters who grow during the film -- Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), Dan Evans (Christian Bale), and Evans' son William (young Logan Leman). That was done in large part by the scriptwriters of Welles, Brandt, and Haas who crafted a masterful story.

Favorite scene? Before Dan and the small group get ready to escort Ben Wade to the train, they have dinner at Dan's house with his wife and family. As Dan gets ready to leave, he takes a moment with his wife in the back room. This section of dialog solidifies why he's undergoing this journey. He doesn't like the way his sons look at him because they think he's a failure and spineless. He doesn't like the way his wife doesn't look at him. And he's been waiting for years for God to do him a favor, and he isn't listening. So it's time to take matters into his own hands. It's a beautiful, quiet scene.

What's not to like? Honestly I can't think of anything in the movie that I didn't really like or think was appropriate. The bad guys were good. The good guys were gray. And the insanity that ensued was what we've come to think as typical of the wild west.

This movie gets a solid 4/4 stars for me. What an amazing ride.

I have to admit that like most people, I was just coming to fully appreciate Heath Ledger as an actor.

Here's his bio on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005132/



We first saw him in the short-lived TV series Roar. He was in The Patriot with Mel Gibson. Starred in A Knight's Tale, which though not the greatest film had some amusing scenes in it.

I loved The Four Feathers, where he really started to come into his own as an actor and get beefier roles. The Order wasn't a bad film, but again had Ledger in the lead role. The Brothers Grimm, a Terry Gilliam production, paired him with Matt Damon for a fun, though flawed film. And of course Brokeback Mountain brought him into the spotlight in a huge way.

But I have to say I was excited to see his new and scary portrayal of the Joker in the new Batman movie -- The Dark Knight.

He leaves behind a two-year old daughter, Matilda, with Michelle Williams with whom he split up last year.

It's a tragedy like this, and River Phoenix, and so many other young artists, that drives home the stress that must be on these people during the prime of their lives. I hope that we find that it wasn't a suicide, but that it was merely an accident that took Ledger from us so soon.

My condolences to Heath's surviving family and friends during this time of loss.

I have to admit that the WGA strike has allowed us to watch many more movies on our Netflix list than in prior months, so in that respect it's a good thing. Can't say the same about this flick however.

War starred Jet Li and Jason Statham in an assassin vs. cop story of betrayal, revenge, the Yakuza, the Triads, the FBI, and whomever else they could shoehorn into this script. And though I'm a fan of both Jet Li (ever since Unleashed) and Jason Statham (The Transporter and Crank), this movie didn't do much for me.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499556/



Although this appeared to be a big budget production, I thought they should've spent more time on the script. It seemed that the writers took a bunch of ok ideas, put them in a blender, and came up with this movie idea.

Let's take The Transporter, a bad Jet Li movie (because there are good ones), toss in several Asian crime syndicates, the FBI, some cops, some nudity (because for some reason when you deal with Asian crime syndicates, they must include seedy places with guys eating or drinking off of naked women), the FBI agent needs to get a divorce because he's obsessed with his job (not cliche at all), add a dead partner and a needlessly murdered wife and daughter... Put the blender on puree...

And voila! This movie pops out!

I'm actually not sure how I made it through this one. I was bored about halfway through and predicted plot elements as they were telegraphed. I think it was the fact that I knew Luis Guzman was in this movie, and I really like him, that kept me watching.

What's to like? Well, there are Statham and Li fight scenes. Some of them aren't badly choreographed. Lots of gunfire and explosions. Even a plot somewhere in there.

What's not to like? Well, the plot and script were more than a little contrived IMHO.

So if you're a guy and you have 103 minutes to kill, this one is for you. Not for the kiddies, and your wives and girlfriends will probably not appreciate it much unless they like looking at Jason Statham.

This one gets 2/4 stars. Hardly worth watching once, but I have to give props to Guzman for making me stick it out.

Recently had a chance to watch last year's movie, The Last Mimzy, on DVD. This is definite family fare, but actually held my attention unlike some other cutesy family movies last year. Based on a book by Henry Kuttner, which I haven't had a chance to read and hadn't heard about before the movie, the story centers around two siblings - Noah and Emma - who go to an island off the coast of Seattle somewhere on a family vacation and discover a mysterious box on the beach. The box contains mysterious toys that lead the kids, their parents, and a teacher on a fun quest against time to save the future.

Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0768212/



Starring Chris O'Neil as Noah and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn as Emma, the movie's supporting cast keeps things interesting. Joely Richardson and Tim Hutton play the kids' parents. Rainn Wilson (a fantastic comic actor from The Office) and Kathryn Hahn (most recently on Crossing Jordan for many years) play the boy's science teacher and his fiancee', both enamored by Buddhism and Mandalas after a trip to Nepal. And when Michael Clarke Duncan shows up as a Homeland Security anti-terrorism agent (who has to be told to zip up his fly by his wife), you know it's going to be ok.

I thought the special effects were minimal and used to good effect. The "spider speech" used in a few places was a bit much, but helped move the plot along. And mixing science with the mandalas was an interesting touch.

So definitely a movie to watch with your kids. :)

I'll give this one a solid 3.5/4, as it surprised me and kept me, my wife, and my girls engaged for 90 minutes! Rent it at your local video store or add it to your Netflix queue.