Expendables - the movie was solidly panned, but I enjoyed it. It's a thorough sci-fi flick with no realism whatsoever, but it gets the punches right. Even with ridiculous Ahnold cameo. R7/10

"The Color of Magic" - I think I like most of Terry Pratchett on screen rather than in the book form. I tried reading "The Color of Magic" some time ago, but I ( Read more... )

We started watching "Battlestar Galactica" and it's been a disappointment. It's supposed to be "realistic" science fiction and yet the computer controlled and guided spaceships lose to human reaction times (which are slow like molasses) in the interstellar dogfight. Cylon sleeper cell concept does not make much sense except to add episodes where ( Read more... )

"Tales from Earthsea" is not a bad movie for people who have read Earthsea books. The themes from the books are preserved, the plot points followed. It's definitely much better than Sci-Fi channel Earthsea crap (R3/10... well maybe R1/10).

However, I think the Tales are not easy to watch and understand for someone who has not read the books. The ( Read more... )

"Thor" - I'm not a fan of superhero movies, but this one is not bad. Well, technically Thor is a son of God, so he's not a superhero. No tights, passable script. The villain is as confused as they are in modern superhero movies. Watchable. R7/10.

"Rubber" - I did not finish watching it. Interesting start, but annoying execution. R3/10

"Your highness" ( Read more... )

"Sucker Punch" this is what "Inception" (R6/10) could have been. A movie where triple subconscious immersion makes sense instead of being a game. The only drawback is that no connection is shown between heroine's life and the third layer imagery. Other than that, there's everything: plot, plot within a plot, action, betrayal, difficult choices and ( Read more... )

Hombre - a good though sad Western. Nice touches about racial discrimination. Pretty realistic gun fights with no lightning-fast-button-shooting-from-two-miles. Worth seeing. R7/10

Religulous - Interesting topic of religion and belief. However, the treatment is light both in good and bad sense of the word. It does not go deeply enough, picks easy ( Read more... )

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - It's better than #2 R5/10 and #3 R5/10. It's worse than #1 R7/10. A bit too much pointless action, subplots going nowhere, deus ex Espana, etc. I watched it in IMAX 3D and I realized that fight scenes look really bad in 3D, since eyes don't adjust fast enough and everything becomes a disconcerting blur ( Read more... )

" Invictus" - Not a bad movie about an important topic and important time in history. Morgan Freeman's acting is superb, you almost forget that you're seeing Morgan Freeman in the movie, which is no easy feat. Unfortunately, there is a bit too little drama and tension in the game and championship itself. Perhaps this is because I don't know rugby ( Read more... )

Cool World - the neglected younger cousin of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". It's been a long time since I saw "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", but it seems that even though Cool World was released four years after RR, it has worse execution. Brad Pitt has hard time acting against toon characters. Gabriel Byrne finds a solution in keeping his face immovably- ( Read more... )

I watched four classic French movies in a row and unfortunately liked only one.

All of them felt ancient. " Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot" - "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" is aged slapstick, but not well aged one. R3/10

"Jules and Jim" by Francois Truffaut is perhaps an attempt to show true friendship and love, but it comes through as a depiction of vacuous ( Read more... )