Movie Reviews!
I was inspired by Rae, who always puts up cute and interesting posts, to write up some brief reviews of movies I've watched over the last few months. I put a little more time into the project than I originally intended, but what can I say, I love movies and it was fun. I hope you see something you want to watch for yourself. Enjoy!
1. JACOB'S LADDER : 4/5 stars
This is a subtle horror movie about a war vet who, upon returning home, starts to see gruesome demons in the midst of daily life. It was successfully quite creepy. If you've ever played any of the "Silent Hill" video games, you will see that this movie was probably their inspiration. It's a dirty world full of barricaded metro stations, cramped alleys, and demons who show up without any warning whatsoever. Tim Robbins is, as ever, a very likable protagonist who you really want to escape unharmed. Other than the fact it took a little too long to wrap up, and was a bit more gory than I prefer my scary movies to be, I really liked this movie.
2. JACKIE BROWN : 4/5 stars
A stewardess who makes extra money carrying illegal cash over country borders finds herself caught between the police and her own ruthless boss--and decides to play them both for her benefit. Classic Quentin Tarantino. Though not as sensational as Tarantino's other films on the surface, this film stands the test of time quite well. There's nothing incredibly unusual about it, it's just an interesting action story with crisp Tarantino dialogue, a great cast including Samuel L. Jackson and Robert de Niro, and a kickass female lead.
3. CORALINE : 2/5 stars
I'm sorry, I know people will want to kick me for this. I just didn't care for this movie. I'm a huge fan of "Nightmare Before Christmas," but this just didn't pull me in the same way. I strongly disliked the main character, a whiny little girl who wasn't grateful for anything her in her life, and that kept me from getting very swept up in the story. I also didn't like how a lot of the characters were stylized/molded whatever you want to call it. Most of them looked too inhuman to me; I think I would have preferred it if they had all just been other creatures. Neil Gaiman's always a been a bit iffy for me too ... okay I'll run and hide now.
4. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: 2/5 stars
Blech. This is about an alien who lands on earth to tell the human race to clean up their pollution and machines, or the aliens will wipe humanity out. This movie was close to being decent, but Keanu Reeves failed to lead the movie strongly, and Jennifer Connelly wasn't given a good enough character to make up for that. This might have earned at least three stars in my book if not for the horrible ending, in which the world is saved thanks to two characters crying over a dead man and thus touching Keanu Reeves' cold heart. If you're going to have a corny ending, at least embrace your corniness (I'm looking at you, "Fifth Element"!)
5. KNOWING : 5/5 stars
I loved this movie! Sadly, this is a prime example of my strange taste, considering how low a score this movie has on Rotten Tomatoes. At least Roger Ebert agrees with me. This was a fantastic sci-fi movie that starts out on a very small scale then gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I love movies that sweep you away like that and take you on an unexpected epic journey. I'm sure a lot of people who went to see the film expecting a simple scary thriller were turned off by the unexpected turn it takes halfway through. Unlike a lot of people, when it became something more, I was ecstatic.
6. TIME CRIMES : 4/5 stars
This is a Spanish film that treats time travel exactly how it ought to be treated: confusing, unpleasant, and overall fucked up. It was clever, intense, and full of surprises. It was pretty grim and not very beautiful overall, intentionally, which is the only reason I can't love it enough to give it 5 stars. But it really was fantastically done and had a very satisfying ending.
7. S. DARKO : 4/5 stars
Bad dialogue, bad ending, not-so-great acting. But dang-it-all if everything else about this film wasn't surprisingly fantastic. I loved the music, the cinematography, the editing, and the overall mood of this movie. The tag ending is disappointing and not quite true to the original "Donnie Darko," alas, or John and I would have liked it even more. But I was able to forgive that fact considering how well this movie entertained me throughout.
8. DEAD ZONE: 4/5 stars
You could tell this movie was based on a book the way the plot meandered, but I didn't mind at all. I liked how unpredictable it was. Its main flaw was what John likes to call 80's acting, meaning that everyone except Christopher Walken often came across as silly. But David Cronenburg patched up that problem with overall great direction, creating a smooth tone throughout of dramatic suspense intensified by the subtle presence of supernatural danger.
9. MILK : 4/5 stars
I don't have much to say about this movie. It was good, and sad. The acting was incredible, including a stellar performance by Sean Penn, who usually annoys me in a way I can't explain. But not this time.
10. TWILIGHT : 1/5 stars
HAHAHAHAHA. In my craziest dreams, I never imagined this would be as bad as it actually was. Wow.
11. VALKYRIE : 3/5 stars
This movie was generally well done, but I had some problems with the basic story structure. It's hard to create suspense when the audience already knows the protagonist will fail, but it can still be done, and I think this movie missed some good opportunities. I expected the movie would be about Tom Cruise's character pretending to be a Nazi but secretly being a rebel, so there would be constant suspense as to when he might be discovered. Instead, it was more about Tom Cruise being a rebel hanging out with other rebels, and only occasionally pretending to be a typical Nazi. Not so suspenseful. Still, the performances were great, and the ending was moving.
12. THE CROW : 3/5 stars
The visuals in this movie were great, which is the main reason to watch it. The premise of the movie has some issues in itself, which is that you've got an invincible protagonist who has nothing to lose. So once again, there wasn't much suspense. In the very end, when he has almost accomplished everything he set out to accomplish in the first place, he finally shows a weakness. Too late for it to be very exciting.
13. FOLLOWING : 3/5 stars
This was one of Christopher Nolan's first films, done with a very low budget. All things considered it was a good movie with very interesting characters. However, Nolan hadn't yet perfected jumping around in time the way he did in "Memento," so it felt unnecessarily confusing in this movie. There were also some twists in the plot that felt too contrived for my tastes, making the characters less interesting as it went along.
14. THE PROPOSITION : 3/5 stars
This Australian western was a little too grim for me to love it, although in that sense it was probably realistic. The cast, including Guy Pearce, was very good. Also, the score by Nick Cave was fantastic. Still, I wanted there to be a little more light in the movie to contrast the shadow if you know what I mean.
15. STRAIGHT STORY : 3/5 stars
This movie is about an old man who makes up his mind to travel several hundred miles to visit his dying brother, driving nothing but a tractor. As it proclaims, this was indeed a very straight and simple story, told--quite unexpectedly--by David Lynch. The tale was inspiring, encouraging people to pursue whatever they want at whatever pace they want. Unfortunately in this case, that pace was very, very slow.
16. QUANTUM OF SOLACE : 3/5 stars
Well, it was a good action film. I hardly know how to compare it to other James Bond films because it felt so different. The badguy didn't have crazy ambitious goals like you expect in a James Bond flick: he was trying to kill people by taking away their water! Kinda lame. Most of this movie was just ... meh. However, the action sequences were very well choreographed.
17. BOTTLE SHOCK : 3/5 stars
This movie is about the growth of the wine industry in California and how they finally show the French who's the boss. I almost gave this movie four stars, because I really liked the ending and the way it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. It was probably just a bit too long, though, with quite a few disposable scenes and some pretty sloppy dialogue. Also, I usually like Alan Rickman as a side character, but he's in this movie so much you start to get tired of the way he talks. Still, an overall good flick.
18. SOLARIS : 3/5 stars
This movie is about the crew of a ship observing a strange planet and how they all start to go crazy, yet refuse to go home because of what they get to experience. Overall, it was good but could have been better. The whole movie had a moody and mysterious atmosphere, which was nice for awhile, but it never gives you a strong kick the way you expect a movie to do at some point. Everything is slow and dreamy from start to finish, even during some cool revelations at the end. It was a good movie, but hard to get excited about.
19. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS : 4/5 stars
What can I say? It was funny and full of madness. James Franco's performance is especially good. There were a lot of moments that the goofiness of it, particularly when it was goofy violence, went too over the top for my tastes. But never enough to ruin the mood.
20. STRANGE DAYS : 4/5 stars
This is a sci-fi about humanity nearly destroying itself with greed, gluttony, and hatred at the turn of the century. It was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. John and I nearly turned it off about twenty minutes in because it was so slow at first. I'm glad we didn't, because it got really, really good. Angela Basset is an awesome female character, and the whole movie you're always wondering when she'll step in and save Ralph Feinnes, rather than the other way around. Michael Wincott plays a fun villain as always--much like he walked out of "The Crow" into this film, actually. The interracial romantic relationship is fantastic and subtle throughout, which is also interesting because at its core it's a movie about racial tensions. Overall, I really did love this; if the first half hour wasn't so friggin slow it would have five stars in my book.
21. W. : 3/5 stars
Meh. It's about what you'd expect. It felt like watching George W. Bush for a couple of hours. The performances were really good, but I didn't come away with it feeling like I'd learned anything new.
22. GHOST TOWN : 3/5 stars
This was a fun comedy that I almost gave four stars. Ricky Gervais is successfully awkward as usual, which works well for "The Office," but can be a bit grueling in a romantic comedy. At the end I wasn't so sure whether I ought to be cheering for the romantic relationship, though, which feels like a mishap in a film like this. I think there were just one too many plot twists by the time it wrapped up.
23. THE HAPPENING : 1/5 stars
Wow, this was terrible. This movie was essentially about running away from the wind. I'm not kidding. I think the only reason we watched it all the way through was because the whole time, you could see in Mark Wahlberg's eyes that he knew it was terrible but he wanted the paycheck. And that sort of made it funny.
24. RELIGULOUS : 4/5 stars
I know Bill Maher is a douchebag, but you still got to respect him for putting himself out there the way he does. I think this film felt good to me to watch because I grew up always wanting to ask the questions he asks people, but was always too afraid to do it myself. The thing is, I felt like he really wanted to understand religion, and wanted to have sincere conversations with people about it. But because people weren't prepared with great responses to his questions, he came across as a real jerk. I wish the majority of religious people wouldn't act like they're being attacked when people simply ask them rational questions. Still, I also know it's impossible to explain faith in a rational way and that's why it always becomes frustrating for both sides. Overall, I guess it was just refreshing to hear an atheist point of view, which we hear so rarely in mass media.
25. THE NUMBER 23 : 1/5 stars
Blech. This was terrible. For the first half hour of the movie, John and I thought the whole movie might be about rabies, which we found fascinating. But it wasn't. Despite some initial potential, it had a horribly cliche ending and some painfully corny melodramatic scenes. Left a terrible taste in my mouth.
26. AWAKE : 4/5 stars
This was a surprisingly good movie! Suspenseful, full of good twists, with a satisfactory ending. Hayden Christen Anderson was a good choice for a spoiled rich boy caught up in horrible circumstances. I really liked it.
27. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE : 4/5 stars
I'm sorry I didn't give it five stars, I just expected this movie to be so amazing that by the time I saw it it's no wonder it couldn't completely sweep me away. You know all the good things about it already so I probably don't need to say much. I love A.R. Rahman.
28. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN : 5/5 stars
Whooo! This is an awesome vampire movie, and a good note to end on. IF YOU RENT THIS MOVIE, MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE LANGUAGE TO SWEDISH. I'm tired and don't have a lot more to say, except that on the surface this movie is about vampires, and underneath it's also about being gay. Indeed. In any case, everything it does it does well. Bravo.
I think I'll put up a much shorter post soon about TV shows! Whoo!
1. JACOB'S LADDER : 4/5 stars
This is a subtle horror movie about a war vet who, upon returning home, starts to see gruesome demons in the midst of daily life. It was successfully quite creepy. If you've ever played any of the "Silent Hill" video games, you will see that this movie was probably their inspiration. It's a dirty world full of barricaded metro stations, cramped alleys, and demons who show up without any warning whatsoever. Tim Robbins is, as ever, a very likable protagonist who you really want to escape unharmed. Other than the fact it took a little too long to wrap up, and was a bit more gory than I prefer my scary movies to be, I really liked this movie.
2. JACKIE BROWN : 4/5 stars
A stewardess who makes extra money carrying illegal cash over country borders finds herself caught between the police and her own ruthless boss--and decides to play them both for her benefit. Classic Quentin Tarantino. Though not as sensational as Tarantino's other films on the surface, this film stands the test of time quite well. There's nothing incredibly unusual about it, it's just an interesting action story with crisp Tarantino dialogue, a great cast including Samuel L. Jackson and Robert de Niro, and a kickass female lead.
3. CORALINE : 2/5 stars
I'm sorry, I know people will want to kick me for this. I just didn't care for this movie. I'm a huge fan of "Nightmare Before Christmas," but this just didn't pull me in the same way. I strongly disliked the main character, a whiny little girl who wasn't grateful for anything her in her life, and that kept me from getting very swept up in the story. I also didn't like how a lot of the characters were stylized/molded whatever you want to call it. Most of them looked too inhuman to me; I think I would have preferred it if they had all just been other creatures. Neil Gaiman's always a been a bit iffy for me too ... okay I'll run and hide now.
4. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL: 2/5 stars
Blech. This is about an alien who lands on earth to tell the human race to clean up their pollution and machines, or the aliens will wipe humanity out. This movie was close to being decent, but Keanu Reeves failed to lead the movie strongly, and Jennifer Connelly wasn't given a good enough character to make up for that. This might have earned at least three stars in my book if not for the horrible ending, in which the world is saved thanks to two characters crying over a dead man and thus touching Keanu Reeves' cold heart. If you're going to have a corny ending, at least embrace your corniness (I'm looking at you, "Fifth Element"!)
5. KNOWING : 5/5 stars
I loved this movie! Sadly, this is a prime example of my strange taste, considering how low a score this movie has on Rotten Tomatoes. At least Roger Ebert agrees with me. This was a fantastic sci-fi movie that starts out on a very small scale then gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger. I love movies that sweep you away like that and take you on an unexpected epic journey. I'm sure a lot of people who went to see the film expecting a simple scary thriller were turned off by the unexpected turn it takes halfway through. Unlike a lot of people, when it became something more, I was ecstatic.
6. TIME CRIMES : 4/5 stars
This is a Spanish film that treats time travel exactly how it ought to be treated: confusing, unpleasant, and overall fucked up. It was clever, intense, and full of surprises. It was pretty grim and not very beautiful overall, intentionally, which is the only reason I can't love it enough to give it 5 stars. But it really was fantastically done and had a very satisfying ending.
7. S. DARKO : 4/5 stars
Bad dialogue, bad ending, not-so-great acting. But dang-it-all if everything else about this film wasn't surprisingly fantastic. I loved the music, the cinematography, the editing, and the overall mood of this movie. The tag ending is disappointing and not quite true to the original "Donnie Darko," alas, or John and I would have liked it even more. But I was able to forgive that fact considering how well this movie entertained me throughout.
8. DEAD ZONE: 4/5 stars
You could tell this movie was based on a book the way the plot meandered, but I didn't mind at all. I liked how unpredictable it was. Its main flaw was what John likes to call 80's acting, meaning that everyone except Christopher Walken often came across as silly. But David Cronenburg patched up that problem with overall great direction, creating a smooth tone throughout of dramatic suspense intensified by the subtle presence of supernatural danger.
9. MILK : 4/5 stars
I don't have much to say about this movie. It was good, and sad. The acting was incredible, including a stellar performance by Sean Penn, who usually annoys me in a way I can't explain. But not this time.
10. TWILIGHT : 1/5 stars
HAHAHAHAHA. In my craziest dreams, I never imagined this would be as bad as it actually was. Wow.
11. VALKYRIE : 3/5 stars
This movie was generally well done, but I had some problems with the basic story structure. It's hard to create suspense when the audience already knows the protagonist will fail, but it can still be done, and I think this movie missed some good opportunities. I expected the movie would be about Tom Cruise's character pretending to be a Nazi but secretly being a rebel, so there would be constant suspense as to when he might be discovered. Instead, it was more about Tom Cruise being a rebel hanging out with other rebels, and only occasionally pretending to be a typical Nazi. Not so suspenseful. Still, the performances were great, and the ending was moving.
12. THE CROW : 3/5 stars
The visuals in this movie were great, which is the main reason to watch it. The premise of the movie has some issues in itself, which is that you've got an invincible protagonist who has nothing to lose. So once again, there wasn't much suspense. In the very end, when he has almost accomplished everything he set out to accomplish in the first place, he finally shows a weakness. Too late for it to be very exciting.
13. FOLLOWING : 3/5 stars
This was one of Christopher Nolan's first films, done with a very low budget. All things considered it was a good movie with very interesting characters. However, Nolan hadn't yet perfected jumping around in time the way he did in "Memento," so it felt unnecessarily confusing in this movie. There were also some twists in the plot that felt too contrived for my tastes, making the characters less interesting as it went along.
14. THE PROPOSITION : 3/5 stars
This Australian western was a little too grim for me to love it, although in that sense it was probably realistic. The cast, including Guy Pearce, was very good. Also, the score by Nick Cave was fantastic. Still, I wanted there to be a little more light in the movie to contrast the shadow if you know what I mean.
15. STRAIGHT STORY : 3/5 stars
This movie is about an old man who makes up his mind to travel several hundred miles to visit his dying brother, driving nothing but a tractor. As it proclaims, this was indeed a very straight and simple story, told--quite unexpectedly--by David Lynch. The tale was inspiring, encouraging people to pursue whatever they want at whatever pace they want. Unfortunately in this case, that pace was very, very slow.
16. QUANTUM OF SOLACE : 3/5 stars
Well, it was a good action film. I hardly know how to compare it to other James Bond films because it felt so different. The badguy didn't have crazy ambitious goals like you expect in a James Bond flick: he was trying to kill people by taking away their water! Kinda lame. Most of this movie was just ... meh. However, the action sequences were very well choreographed.
17. BOTTLE SHOCK : 3/5 stars
This movie is about the growth of the wine industry in California and how they finally show the French who's the boss. I almost gave this movie four stars, because I really liked the ending and the way it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling in my tummy. It was probably just a bit too long, though, with quite a few disposable scenes and some pretty sloppy dialogue. Also, I usually like Alan Rickman as a side character, but he's in this movie so much you start to get tired of the way he talks. Still, an overall good flick.
18. SOLARIS : 3/5 stars
This movie is about the crew of a ship observing a strange planet and how they all start to go crazy, yet refuse to go home because of what they get to experience. Overall, it was good but could have been better. The whole movie had a moody and mysterious atmosphere, which was nice for awhile, but it never gives you a strong kick the way you expect a movie to do at some point. Everything is slow and dreamy from start to finish, even during some cool revelations at the end. It was a good movie, but hard to get excited about.
19. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS : 4/5 stars
What can I say? It was funny and full of madness. James Franco's performance is especially good. There were a lot of moments that the goofiness of it, particularly when it was goofy violence, went too over the top for my tastes. But never enough to ruin the mood.
20. STRANGE DAYS : 4/5 stars
This is a sci-fi about humanity nearly destroying itself with greed, gluttony, and hatred at the turn of the century. It was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. John and I nearly turned it off about twenty minutes in because it was so slow at first. I'm glad we didn't, because it got really, really good. Angela Basset is an awesome female character, and the whole movie you're always wondering when she'll step in and save Ralph Feinnes, rather than the other way around. Michael Wincott plays a fun villain as always--much like he walked out of "The Crow" into this film, actually. The interracial romantic relationship is fantastic and subtle throughout, which is also interesting because at its core it's a movie about racial tensions. Overall, I really did love this; if the first half hour wasn't so friggin slow it would have five stars in my book.
21. W. : 3/5 stars
Meh. It's about what you'd expect. It felt like watching George W. Bush for a couple of hours. The performances were really good, but I didn't come away with it feeling like I'd learned anything new.
22. GHOST TOWN : 3/5 stars
This was a fun comedy that I almost gave four stars. Ricky Gervais is successfully awkward as usual, which works well for "The Office," but can be a bit grueling in a romantic comedy. At the end I wasn't so sure whether I ought to be cheering for the romantic relationship, though, which feels like a mishap in a film like this. I think there were just one too many plot twists by the time it wrapped up.
23. THE HAPPENING : 1/5 stars
Wow, this was terrible. This movie was essentially about running away from the wind. I'm not kidding. I think the only reason we watched it all the way through was because the whole time, you could see in Mark Wahlberg's eyes that he knew it was terrible but he wanted the paycheck. And that sort of made it funny.
24. RELIGULOUS : 4/5 stars
I know Bill Maher is a douchebag, but you still got to respect him for putting himself out there the way he does. I think this film felt good to me to watch because I grew up always wanting to ask the questions he asks people, but was always too afraid to do it myself. The thing is, I felt like he really wanted to understand religion, and wanted to have sincere conversations with people about it. But because people weren't prepared with great responses to his questions, he came across as a real jerk. I wish the majority of religious people wouldn't act like they're being attacked when people simply ask them rational questions. Still, I also know it's impossible to explain faith in a rational way and that's why it always becomes frustrating for both sides. Overall, I guess it was just refreshing to hear an atheist point of view, which we hear so rarely in mass media.
25. THE NUMBER 23 : 1/5 stars
Blech. This was terrible. For the first half hour of the movie, John and I thought the whole movie might be about rabies, which we found fascinating. But it wasn't. Despite some initial potential, it had a horribly cliche ending and some painfully corny melodramatic scenes. Left a terrible taste in my mouth.
26. AWAKE : 4/5 stars
This was a surprisingly good movie! Suspenseful, full of good twists, with a satisfactory ending. Hayden Christen Anderson was a good choice for a spoiled rich boy caught up in horrible circumstances. I really liked it.
27. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE : 4/5 stars
I'm sorry I didn't give it five stars, I just expected this movie to be so amazing that by the time I saw it it's no wonder it couldn't completely sweep me away. You know all the good things about it already so I probably don't need to say much. I love A.R. Rahman.
28. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN : 5/5 stars
Whooo! This is an awesome vampire movie, and a good note to end on. IF YOU RENT THIS MOVIE, MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE LANGUAGE TO SWEDISH. I'm tired and don't have a lot more to say, except that on the surface this movie is about vampires, and underneath it's also about being gay. Indeed. In any case, everything it does it does well. Bravo.
I think I'll put up a much shorter post soon about TV shows! Whoo!