A Bunch of Knights Rescue a Princess from a Mysterious Infection While a Couple of Brothers...
A Bunch of Knights Rescue a Princess from a Mysterious Infection While a Couple of Brothers Try to Answer Ethical Questions About Human Behavior & Sing
Some short little reviews of the last 10 movies I’ve watched over the last week or so to bring me one step closer to my huge goal of watching as many movies as possible….Took me longer this year…probably because my mind has been taken over by a cute little video game called LittleBigPlanet…
Rating System:
* = Hated it
** = Didn’t Like It
*** = Liked It
**** = Really Liked It
***** = Loved It
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Starring: John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin
Rating: ???
Thoughts: O.o That’s really the only way to describe this… I have no idea what to rate it because my mind is still trying to wrap around it… Bizarre…I mean, I knew it was going to be odd before I even watched it (it is a Terry Gilliam film afterall) but it didn’t prepare me for this. Parts of it were hilarious, but maybe I’m just not into this kind of movie or something…
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Starring: Mary Costa, Barbara Luddy, Bill Shirley
Rating: *** ½
Thoughts: A Classic…and I was so surprised that I had never seen it, or at least I don’t remember seeing it. Following Disney’s formula to a ‘tee,’ it takes a few liberties with the original fairytale, but then, that’s a frequent occurrence with Disney. One problem I had was towards the end, at the big climax, it felt as though the animators were running out of paper and had to cram everything into about 5 minutes (or maybe less). It would have benefited a longer screenplay or something, to make up for the 75 minute run time.
Crash (2004)
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Brenden Fraser, Ryan Phillipe, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Racial discrimination and stereotypes run through this film. This film explores how someone’s actions can affect another person and their relationships and how prematurely judging someone by their race or religion is not always accurate. One cop’s prejudice against an African-American couple causes him to sexually harass the wife but he tries to help the woman in a car accident, he finds himself face to face with the woman he harassed and he sees the emotional impact of his actions. One woman’s stereotypical opinion of a Hispanic man she believed to be a gang member is proven wrong as we see him as a family man who succeeded in getting his wife and young daughter away from the bad neighborhood they escaped from….to a place with less gun shots. It’s one of those films where at first glance, you have no idea how all these characters relate to one another or how their connected, but as the film progresses, it becomes clear.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Keith Coogan, Corey Feldman
Rating: ****
Thoughts: It’s been a long time since I’ve watched this Disney film. It used to be one of the movies I watched over and over as a kid. It’s about the forbidden friendship between a young fox named Tod who was taken in by an elderly woman when his mother was killed and a bloodhound hunting dog named Copper. They’re best friends, but when Copper comes back from his hunting trip, things change. An accident changes the relationship between the two forever and the Tod is taken away and left in the forest on his own. When the two former friends come face to face in their natural habitat, they must overcome dangers if they are ever able to achieve a semblance of their former relationship.
Once (2006)
Starring: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Well…honestly, this just felt like an excuse to feature the music of the films two stars as it plays out pretty much like a long music video type thing…The story itself is kind of weak. The script was just uninspired and didn’t bring anything exciting to the foreground. So, why 3 stars? Well, the music is awesome, especially the Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly.” If it wasn’t for the music, the film probably would have been unwatchable….at least for me.
Rain Man (1988)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Made long before he jumped up and down on a couch declaring his undying love for Katie Holmes and being declared decidedly crazy, Tom Cruise starred in this film about a young man, who, after the death of his father, found out he had a brother he never knew about. An older brother who had was a high-functioning autistic savant. At first, he is motivated by his anger of being cut out of his father’s will, but during the course of a week and a road trip across the country, he becomes attached to his brother and tries to fight for custody over him. Cruise’s character might have driven the story, but the show clearly belonged to Dustin Hoffman, whose Oscar-winning performance as Cruise’s autistic brother is astounding and touching.
Iron Man (2008)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow
Rating: **** ½
Thoughts: I’ll admit there was some reluctance within me about seeing this movie. Mostly because I am not a huge fan of comic book movies as I feel as though they are taking over everything Hollywood is doing and I think the Spider-Man cheesiness and soap-opera-y tones have turned me off of anything by Marvel Enterprises. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Weapons designer and multi-billionaire Tony Starks thinks life is all good until he’s caught up in an attack and is taken hostage by Radicals…his time in captivity forces him to re-examine his work and he attempts to find a way to better it. He designs the Iron Man suit and takes justice in his own hands when the weapons he develops falls into the wrong hands.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Starring: Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, E.L. Lavigne, Jesus Olmo
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Hm, I smell a sequel on the way…with the possible title of 28 Months Later? Well, I expected this to be gruesome, but I think this one beat the first one in gore. I’m not a huge fan of horror but I have the first one so I figured might as well see the other part of the story…too bad that it just ended rather abruptly.
Mystic River (2003)
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, & Laura Linney
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Wow…Talk about angst fest. I knew that coming into this but still. This is the story of three men who were childhood friends until a terrible event changed them forever and how they are reunited through yet another tragic event; the murder of Jimmy’s (Penn) daughter. Sean (Bacon) is the cop investigating her murder. Dave (Robbins) is the…well, let’s face it, basket case (but with a valid reason for his aloofness) who is married to Jimmy’s wife’s cousin. A series of disastrous events lead Sean down a disturbing path as he attempts to solve the murder and rein in Jimmy’s rage and demand for retribution.
Both Penn and Robbins walked away from this with a shiny little Oscar to set on top of their mantle. Robbins is authentic as a man who is haunted by the events that took place over the course of four days during his childhood. Marcia Gay Harden’s Oscar nominated performance as Robbins’ suspicious wife is moving as she struggles to piece together all the information she has regarding the events of the night of the murder. Penn is excellent as the grief-stricken father…but, honestly, I wasn’t completely ‘wowed’ by his performance. It certainly deserved a nomination, but I just didn’t feel as though it was winning material… Now, it could be that I am biased and I think that Johnny Depp should have won that year, but, in all seriousness, which performance has stood the test of time, even just five years later?
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Starring: Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, Michael Crawford and Buster Keaton
Rating: **
Thoughts: I was kind of forced to watch this in my “Ancient Sports and Spectacles” class because we have to write a paper on it… This is an example of a type of musical that I hate; when the actors stop and begin singing to the audience… This Sondheim musical is really a combination of the many works by the famed ancient Roman playwright Plautus. It’s a comedy and plays on the role reversals of the upper class and the slaves. The slaves really run the household while the owners just think they do. Everything that happens occurs because the slave Pseudolus sets it in motion in some form or fashion. It’s kind of bizarre and art historically, I found myself cringing. I’m not sure entirely why, but the costumes just didn’t seem right and the architecture of the city felt as though it was built some years after the Romans…like say around the Renaissance period. I could be wrong on that…but it just felt weird. Now…about that paper...
Some short little reviews of the last 10 movies I’ve watched over the last week or so to bring me one step closer to my huge goal of watching as many movies as possible….Took me longer this year…probably because my mind has been taken over by a cute little video game called LittleBigPlanet…
Rating System:
* = Hated it
** = Didn’t Like It
*** = Liked It
**** = Really Liked It
***** = Loved It
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Starring: John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin
Rating: ???
Thoughts: O.o That’s really the only way to describe this… I have no idea what to rate it because my mind is still trying to wrap around it… Bizarre…I mean, I knew it was going to be odd before I even watched it (it is a Terry Gilliam film afterall) but it didn’t prepare me for this. Parts of it were hilarious, but maybe I’m just not into this kind of movie or something…
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Starring: Mary Costa, Barbara Luddy, Bill Shirley
Rating: *** ½
Thoughts: A Classic…and I was so surprised that I had never seen it, or at least I don’t remember seeing it. Following Disney’s formula to a ‘tee,’ it takes a few liberties with the original fairytale, but then, that’s a frequent occurrence with Disney. One problem I had was towards the end, at the big climax, it felt as though the animators were running out of paper and had to cram everything into about 5 minutes (or maybe less). It would have benefited a longer screenplay or something, to make up for the 75 minute run time.
Crash (2004)
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Brenden Fraser, Ryan Phillipe, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Racial discrimination and stereotypes run through this film. This film explores how someone’s actions can affect another person and their relationships and how prematurely judging someone by their race or religion is not always accurate. One cop’s prejudice against an African-American couple causes him to sexually harass the wife but he tries to help the woman in a car accident, he finds himself face to face with the woman he harassed and he sees the emotional impact of his actions. One woman’s stereotypical opinion of a Hispanic man she believed to be a gang member is proven wrong as we see him as a family man who succeeded in getting his wife and young daughter away from the bad neighborhood they escaped from….to a place with less gun shots. It’s one of those films where at first glance, you have no idea how all these characters relate to one another or how their connected, but as the film progresses, it becomes clear.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Keith Coogan, Corey Feldman
Rating: ****
Thoughts: It’s been a long time since I’ve watched this Disney film. It used to be one of the movies I watched over and over as a kid. It’s about the forbidden friendship between a young fox named Tod who was taken in by an elderly woman when his mother was killed and a bloodhound hunting dog named Copper. They’re best friends, but when Copper comes back from his hunting trip, things change. An accident changes the relationship between the two forever and the Tod is taken away and left in the forest on his own. When the two former friends come face to face in their natural habitat, they must overcome dangers if they are ever able to achieve a semblance of their former relationship.
Once (2006)
Starring: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Well…honestly, this just felt like an excuse to feature the music of the films two stars as it plays out pretty much like a long music video type thing…The story itself is kind of weak. The script was just uninspired and didn’t bring anything exciting to the foreground. So, why 3 stars? Well, the music is awesome, especially the Oscar-winning “Falling Slowly.” If it wasn’t for the music, the film probably would have been unwatchable….at least for me.
Rain Man (1988)
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise
Rating: ****
Thoughts: Made long before he jumped up and down on a couch declaring his undying love for Katie Holmes and being declared decidedly crazy, Tom Cruise starred in this film about a young man, who, after the death of his father, found out he had a brother he never knew about. An older brother who had was a high-functioning autistic savant. At first, he is motivated by his anger of being cut out of his father’s will, but during the course of a week and a road trip across the country, he becomes attached to his brother and tries to fight for custody over him. Cruise’s character might have driven the story, but the show clearly belonged to Dustin Hoffman, whose Oscar-winning performance as Cruise’s autistic brother is astounding and touching.
Iron Man (2008)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow
Rating: **** ½
Thoughts: I’ll admit there was some reluctance within me about seeing this movie. Mostly because I am not a huge fan of comic book movies as I feel as though they are taking over everything Hollywood is doing and I think the Spider-Man cheesiness and soap-opera-y tones have turned me off of anything by Marvel Enterprises. But I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Weapons designer and multi-billionaire Tony Starks thinks life is all good until he’s caught up in an attack and is taken hostage by Radicals…his time in captivity forces him to re-examine his work and he attempts to find a way to better it. He designs the Iron Man suit and takes justice in his own hands when the weapons he develops falls into the wrong hands.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Starring: Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, E.L. Lavigne, Jesus Olmo
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Hm, I smell a sequel on the way…with the possible title of 28 Months Later? Well, I expected this to be gruesome, but I think this one beat the first one in gore. I’m not a huge fan of horror but I have the first one so I figured might as well see the other part of the story…too bad that it just ended rather abruptly.
Mystic River (2003)
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, & Laura Linney
Rating: ***
Thoughts: Wow…Talk about angst fest. I knew that coming into this but still. This is the story of three men who were childhood friends until a terrible event changed them forever and how they are reunited through yet another tragic event; the murder of Jimmy’s (Penn) daughter. Sean (Bacon) is the cop investigating her murder. Dave (Robbins) is the…well, let’s face it, basket case (but with a valid reason for his aloofness) who is married to Jimmy’s wife’s cousin. A series of disastrous events lead Sean down a disturbing path as he attempts to solve the murder and rein in Jimmy’s rage and demand for retribution.
Both Penn and Robbins walked away from this with a shiny little Oscar to set on top of their mantle. Robbins is authentic as a man who is haunted by the events that took place over the course of four days during his childhood. Marcia Gay Harden’s Oscar nominated performance as Robbins’ suspicious wife is moving as she struggles to piece together all the information she has regarding the events of the night of the murder. Penn is excellent as the grief-stricken father…but, honestly, I wasn’t completely ‘wowed’ by his performance. It certainly deserved a nomination, but I just didn’t feel as though it was winning material… Now, it could be that I am biased and I think that Johnny Depp should have won that year, but, in all seriousness, which performance has stood the test of time, even just five years later?
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Starring: Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Jack Gilford, Michael Crawford and Buster Keaton
Rating: **
Thoughts: I was kind of forced to watch this in my “Ancient Sports and Spectacles” class because we have to write a paper on it… This is an example of a type of musical that I hate; when the actors stop and begin singing to the audience… This Sondheim musical is really a combination of the many works by the famed ancient Roman playwright Plautus. It’s a comedy and plays on the role reversals of the upper class and the slaves. The slaves really run the household while the owners just think they do. Everything that happens occurs because the slave Pseudolus sets it in motion in some form or fashion. It’s kind of bizarre and art historically, I found myself cringing. I’m not sure entirely why, but the costumes just didn’t seem right and the architecture of the city felt as though it was built some years after the Romans…like say around the Renaissance period. I could be wrong on that…but it just felt weird. Now…about that paper...