I watch a lot of movies...
Alrite, since I've been of school for 2.5 weeks, I've been watching a lot of movies recently.
Here's a rundown of my thoughts and such:
The Interpreter
This film is definitely for the intellectual mature (read:adult) type. It holds you for the whole film, but the ending isn't great. The acting is strong by Nicole Kidman and surrounding. Although, I'm not really sure about the prescence of Sean Penn. As his character seems to delve too much info that one doesn't really care about.
My grade: A for Alrite, it don't suck, but not thoroughly amazing
Rory O'Shea Was Here
Here's where I admit that each week, I check out movies.yahoo.com and watch trailers for upcoming movies. I remember seeing this one and then saving it on my ziplist at www.zip.ca. It's a small film from out of Ireland and it's extremely formulaic, but still solid. It follows the story of these 2 dudes in wheelchairs that go from residential living to independing living within the film. The one dude is essentially a regular guy, except he's in a wheelchair. He likes to stir up trouble and the like. At his new residence, he makes acquaintances with someone with a speech problem so bad that nobody can understand him. New dude can understand, so obviously they strike up a friendship. The ending is given away by the title; however, the DVD did come with alternate ending, so that was kinda cool. The acting is solid, the story while predictable still caused me to get slightly emotional.
My grade: B as in bitchin good time. The story has been done, but with a new twist. Plus, like most things out of European cinema, there's a great wit to the script.
Transamerica
How come nobody has heard of this film???? Felicity Huffmann is nominated for a Golden Globe for it. Come on, folks!!! Plus, she's on that 'Housewives' show. Sadly (or not), I don't watch it. Appointment tv viewing isn't for me. Anyways, so yes this is another tale that has been done, but now with freakin awesome characters. Felicity Huffmann plays Bree a transsexual that is one genital alteration surgery from becoming a complete woman. Suddently, she receives a phone call from a son that he/she never knew that she had and she's off cross country to pay for him to get out of jail. She pretends that she's from the church, as opposed to admitting that she's the guy's father, except that she is now almost a fully functional chick. Confused? Well, it leads to some great moments of comedy, drama, and a mix of the two. The film is only about 1 hr 45 min and it moves by super quick. There are a lot of great themes, especially about self acceptance and the importance of acceptance of those around you.
My grade: W as in woohoo, I can now walk around telling ppl that I've seen a tranny film.
Robots
I have very lil' recollection of this film. Which doesn't mean that it was bad, just that it didn't leave me with much thought afterwards. Cuz, duh, it was a kids film. It's certainly no "Finding Nemo", but the visuals are pretty good. If you've got some booze and some time to fill, then this is a perfect fit.
My grade: F as in fun for the 1.5 hour escape from this reality.
Chronicles of Narnia:
I'm too lazy to check and see if I've offered any comments about this film. It's a bit like 'The Sixth Sense' with the reliance on a young actor to carry the film and it still works. I'm not gonna dwell too mch on the story, as most have read the books. I didn't even want to see this movie, as it didn't appeal to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it and afterwards, being glad that I had seen it. I slightly want to read the books,but not completely. The visuals are very good, there's only a few moments, where you can completely tell it's been green screened.
My grade: L as in lions make every movie good. This one had one as a King who takes on a white bitch. Roar!!!
Boogeyman
A boy loses his father to a closet as a child and now many years later, the closet man is back. Please, kill me now! This thing was terrible. I love scary movies, being scared rocks. This one wasn't scary, it was pathetic. The story makes no sense, as we follow the dude to his gf's for thanksgiving, then he sees his Mom dead in a dream, he confirms that she's died, then he goes to his old house, runs into an old gal pal, then runs around in closets, and randomly makes friends with a dead girl, and then battles the closet man and wins. Fast editing doesn't make for scary moments!!! It just looks like fast editing.
My grade: B as in BOOOOmuthafucker!! This was just dreadful.
I think that catches you all up on my viewing.
For X-mas, I got Fantastic 4, War of the Worlds, and Cinderella Man. From zip.ca, I've got Amityville Horror and The Longest Yard.
Yes, you will have to endure more on my opinion of these and other things...
-J
Here's a rundown of my thoughts and such:
The Interpreter
This film is definitely for the intellectual mature (read:adult) type. It holds you for the whole film, but the ending isn't great. The acting is strong by Nicole Kidman and surrounding. Although, I'm not really sure about the prescence of Sean Penn. As his character seems to delve too much info that one doesn't really care about.
My grade: A for Alrite, it don't suck, but not thoroughly amazing
Rory O'Shea Was Here
Here's where I admit that each week, I check out movies.yahoo.com and watch trailers for upcoming movies. I remember seeing this one and then saving it on my ziplist at www.zip.ca. It's a small film from out of Ireland and it's extremely formulaic, but still solid. It follows the story of these 2 dudes in wheelchairs that go from residential living to independing living within the film. The one dude is essentially a regular guy, except he's in a wheelchair. He likes to stir up trouble and the like. At his new residence, he makes acquaintances with someone with a speech problem so bad that nobody can understand him. New dude can understand, so obviously they strike up a friendship. The ending is given away by the title; however, the DVD did come with alternate ending, so that was kinda cool. The acting is solid, the story while predictable still caused me to get slightly emotional.
My grade: B as in bitchin good time. The story has been done, but with a new twist. Plus, like most things out of European cinema, there's a great wit to the script.
Transamerica
How come nobody has heard of this film???? Felicity Huffmann is nominated for a Golden Globe for it. Come on, folks!!! Plus, she's on that 'Housewives' show. Sadly (or not), I don't watch it. Appointment tv viewing isn't for me. Anyways, so yes this is another tale that has been done, but now with freakin awesome characters. Felicity Huffmann plays Bree a transsexual that is one genital alteration surgery from becoming a complete woman. Suddently, she receives a phone call from a son that he/she never knew that she had and she's off cross country to pay for him to get out of jail. She pretends that she's from the church, as opposed to admitting that she's the guy's father, except that she is now almost a fully functional chick. Confused? Well, it leads to some great moments of comedy, drama, and a mix of the two. The film is only about 1 hr 45 min and it moves by super quick. There are a lot of great themes, especially about self acceptance and the importance of acceptance of those around you.
My grade: W as in woohoo, I can now walk around telling ppl that I've seen a tranny film.
Robots
I have very lil' recollection of this film. Which doesn't mean that it was bad, just that it didn't leave me with much thought afterwards. Cuz, duh, it was a kids film. It's certainly no "Finding Nemo", but the visuals are pretty good. If you've got some booze and some time to fill, then this is a perfect fit.
My grade: F as in fun for the 1.5 hour escape from this reality.
Chronicles of Narnia:
I'm too lazy to check and see if I've offered any comments about this film. It's a bit like 'The Sixth Sense' with the reliance on a young actor to carry the film and it still works. I'm not gonna dwell too mch on the story, as most have read the books. I didn't even want to see this movie, as it didn't appeal to me. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying it and afterwards, being glad that I had seen it. I slightly want to read the books,but not completely. The visuals are very good, there's only a few moments, where you can completely tell it's been green screened.
My grade: L as in lions make every movie good. This one had one as a King who takes on a white bitch. Roar!!!
Boogeyman
A boy loses his father to a closet as a child and now many years later, the closet man is back. Please, kill me now! This thing was terrible. I love scary movies, being scared rocks. This one wasn't scary, it was pathetic. The story makes no sense, as we follow the dude to his gf's for thanksgiving, then he sees his Mom dead in a dream, he confirms that she's died, then he goes to his old house, runs into an old gal pal, then runs around in closets, and randomly makes friends with a dead girl, and then battles the closet man and wins. Fast editing doesn't make for scary moments!!! It just looks like fast editing.
My grade: B as in BOOOOmuthafucker!! This was just dreadful.
I think that catches you all up on my viewing.
For X-mas, I got Fantastic 4, War of the Worlds, and Cinderella Man. From zip.ca, I've got Amityville Horror and The Longest Yard.
Yes, you will have to endure more on my opinion of these and other things...
-J