Year in Review: 2007 Movies
And here I go, with my rankings of all the new movies I viewed that were released in 2007 - or the few 2006 releases I caught on DVD in 2007.
2006 MOVIES FIRST SEEN ON DVD IN 2007:
A- - Bon Cop, Bad Cop
A- - Blood Diamond
B+ - Casino Royale
B+ - Hollywoodland
B+ - Pan's Labrynth
B - The Pursuit of Happyness
C+ - Children of Men
C - The Guardian
SUPERBAD
Rating: A+
Seen On: Theatres
My favourite movie of the summer and possibly of the year. It was the perfect mix of slapstick and crass comedy with some real emotions thrown in. Excellent stuff, indeed.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
Rating: A
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I've yet to see a Die Hard movie I haven't liked. This movie is no exception. While nothing can match the sheer brilliance of the first film, I think that this fourth installment is worthy to bear the Die Hard name. It's funny how in every movie, the writers find something bigger to blow up - first an office tower, then an airport, then New York City, and now the eastern half of the United States. For a great action movie with solid acting and a decent cohesive plot with great characterization, anything in the Die Hard series fits the bill. I wonder why this movie was forced to have a PG-13 rating (rather than the standard "R" rating) - but you barely notice the lack of "true swearing". Either way, it's solid entertainment. We shouldn't have had to wait 12 years for another Die Hard - I hope they find a way to do a fifth one in a couple years.
DISTURBIA
Rating: A
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I was a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Rear Window, when I watched it years ago in film school. This updated modern remake is excellent in every way, and I'd recommend it to everyone. I'll just leave it at that.
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
Fabulous, engrossing movie from beginning to end. It's a different type of movie and don't go in expecting a Hollywood popcorn flick. It's not my favourite Coen Bros. movie, but it's among their best.
MR. BROOKS
Rating: A-
Seen On: DVD
Generally, I know what I'm getting into with a Kevin Costner movie, whether it's gotten good reviews or bad reviews - it'll be long, kinda bland, with some either funny or sentimental moments during the movie. Oh yes, and the crucial shots of his bare ass at least once before the movie is over. Mr. Brooks broke that mold and was a very sick and twisted movie about someone that takes joy out of the planning murders and then executing those plans. It was much different than I had expected and I was pleasantly surprised with this overlooked gem. If it wasn't for the ending (which was good but I would've done it a different way) I'd bump this up into "A" territory. The supporting cast of Dane Cook and William Hurt were perfect in their roles, as well.
KNOCKED UP
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
The first movie of the summer of Seth Rogen was a decent flick - part crass comedy, part sweet, all good. While I liked Rogen's later summer flick even more, this one definitely holds up as a solid film. Now if only I could find a way to leech money out of the British Columbia government like his character in the movie did...
ENCHANTED
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
Now this was an inspired movie. It not only lampoons the Disney classics - most notably the "princess" ones like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty - but it pays homage to them at the same time. I grew up a Disney fan all my life, and even though the three previously mentions movies aren't favourites of mine, I can definitely say they're solid pieces of movie making - and thus, so is this. I'm glad Disney is OK with going back to 2D movies, if not for just 12 minutes of footage.
ZODIAC
Rating: B+
Seen On: DVD
I thought this movie was excellent. It was the first nearly 3 hour movie that I've seen in years that I actually enjoyed from beginning to end. (Take that, LOTR.) It was a very moody and gruesome film based on a true story - which explains the very un-Hollywood climactic moments of the film. Seriously, if you want a good piece of film making about a very traumatic time in history - specifically the Zodiac killer in the San Francisco region in the 70's - this is a movie for you.
RATATOUILLE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres
One thing you can always say with Pixar is that they do not make crap. Sure, movies like A Bug's Life and Cars weren't classics, but they're still solid entertainment. Ratatouille, while not Pixar's finest, was still a great movie and featured a unique and interesting storyline that I enjoyed...enough. I am just not as passionate about this movie as I was with the two Toy Story movies or with The Incredibles - but it's the most solid animated film I've seen this year, for sure.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I've been a Simpsons fan since day one. I had long awaited for an epic movie featuring one of my favourite shows (ever) to be brought out. So finally, this past summer, it happened - and it was pretty good. Thing is, with a movie like this, it's tough to please the fans that have their own favourite characters and story ideas they'd love to see played out. As much as I liked the movie, I didn't get that truly "epic" feel, because once the Simpsons were on the run, the remaining townsfolk were pretty much overlooked. This should've been a two hour movie jam packed of stuff - it didn't have to be funny, it just had to be engrossing and entertaining. The Simpsons aren't always about silly humour or wry wit - true emotions, something which has been lost in the past decade, is something the series was known for in its hey-day. The movie features good characterization, just not enough characters that received decent screen time. A feature film that doesn't feature Mr. Burns in a prominent villainous role just seems criminal to me. At least Spider-Pig was friggin' awesome.
GONE BABY GONE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres
It seems Ben Affleck makes for a decent director, after all. This was a great movie in the same moody vein as Mystic River and, while not as good, is still a solid piece of emotionally-driven entertainment I would recommend.
I AM LEGEND
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
I really, really, really wanted to like this movie. It had such a great premise, an awe-inspiring visual look, one of my favourite actors in the lead role - and for the first hour it held me on the edge of my seat. I really did believe that the world was vacant of 99% of its human life forms. But then when it turns into a run-and-gun action movie of Will Smith vs. the "Zombies", it loses all of the special feel and turns into a typical shoot 'em up with minimal explanations. This could've been an instant classic but alas, it wasn't. Maybe if it was expanded to 2 hours of running time (instead of 1 hr 40) it would've worked out a bit better. But we'll never know. At least the Dark Knight prologue that preceeded the movie kicked serious ass. I think I know what my favourite movie of 2008 will be, already.
3:10 TO YUMA
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
Another solid western movie, but it didn't have the excellent pay-off I was hoping for.
AMERICAN GANGSTER
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
This movie didn't live up to the hype for me, but was a solid piece of filmmaking, nonetheless.
1408
Rating: B
Seen On: DVD
I really, really wanted to love this movie. I did. It had such an amazing build up during the first two thirds of the movie, I was only hoping that the pay-off wouldn't be a cop-out ending that "it was all a dream". It wasn't that, but it didn't conclude anything for me. Thus, I came out very disappointed.
SICKO
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
I enjoyed this movie, but as with anything Michael Moore says, you take it with a grain of salt. His basic message is a good one we need to take seriously: the American health industry is corrupt, run terribly, and leaves people to die if they can't afford it. The way he proves it, however, by going to four countries (Canada, the UK, France, and Cuba) is what is up for debate. I hope it got some people talking, though, cuz despite his tactics at twisting the truth, I know Moore's heart is always in the right place. This is a well-produced film and not as slanted as his previous anti-Bush effort, but not as well-done as Bowling for Columbine. What it does do, however, is tackle the most universally important issue of all three.
GRINDHOUSE
Rating: B
Seen On: DVD
As an homage to the B-movies of the 1970's, and the movie-viewing experience of that era in general, I think this double-bill works masterfully. The movies themselves, however - not so much. I know they're supposed to be as cheesy and one-dimensional as the movies they pay homage to, and that's the only reason I give this feature a "B" rating at all. Otherwise I'd give it very poor marks for pointless action and violence. Death Proof (Tarantino's film) is the superior film of the two, though. Planet Terror went on way too long for me, with little pay off - though the machine gun leg was pretty sweet.
SPIDER-MAN 3
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatre/DVD
I'm a DC Comics fan. My biased Bat-love is proof of that. Still, if there was any Marvel hero I'd gravitate towards, it'd likely be Spidey. This movie, oddly enough, may help that cause. Everyone mocks it - I won't. It's not a bad movie at all. What this movie IS, however, is a very rushed movie with too many characters that don't have time to get developed. Peter, MJ, and Harry were fine - I knew that from the first movie, their story arcs would end in the third movie, so I figured that would be the driving force behind the film. Then you throw not just one but two more villains into the mess, and there's not enough room to develop anyone. Venom literally falls out of the sky with no explanation, and Sandman, while showing much promise as someone that can draw on your emotion, never gets there. He never has the chance to. Still, I'd rate this higher than Spider-Man 1, but not anywhere near as near-perfect as the second installment of the series.
TRANSFORMERS
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
The first half of this movie is excellent. I loved the human characters, how they first met Optimus Prime and company, and so forth. The action was incredible. What killed the movie for me was how most of the Autobots and Decepticons didn't recieve any characterization beyond the fact that "Autobots = Good, Decepticons = Bad".
WILD HOGS
Rating: B-
Seen On: DVD
I knew what I was getting into with this movie - a bunch of middle-aged second-tier actors in a family movie portray a bunch of middle-aged men with families going through a mid-life crisis. So, of course, they turn into a biker gang of sorts. Be that as it may, I found this movie strangely moderately enjoyable, even though as a Disney movie, it's too "clean" and "polished" to be a great movie.
BEE MOVIE
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
Wow, a B rating. That's almost funny. The movie was almost that funny, too. I found it to be a very safe and bland (though cute) movie about an insect that isn't particularly interesting, anyway. The bee way of life wasn't nearly as expanded as it should've been - and that lost a lot of my interest, once Seinfeld's character started interacting with humans. What made him decide to pick bees as the vehicle for his return to Hollywood? Honestly...
30 DAYS OF NIGHT
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
Is it too much to ask for a vampire movie that doesn't reduce them all to cackling, grunting, screaming beasts?? The story of the small town in Alaska being ravaged by vampires during the winter solstice was good, but the vampires themselves had no character at all. That's important to me, considering the amount of screen time they had.
MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
I love Mr. Bean but even on TV only a select few of his sketches were classics. I wish Rowan Atkinson and the other writers would put him in more interesting and adult situations, rather than the silly frilly things they usually do in these movies. It's kind of predictable - but still enjoyable, anyway, to a point.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Rating: C+
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
Another disappointing movie during the "summer of three". I loved the first two movies so I expected this climactic batttle between everybody to surely be epic. It looks excellent as always, but I think this movie proved one thing that no woman I know would admit to - too much Johnny Depp is not a good thing. It's not without its excellent scenes sprinkled throughout, showing some signs of hope - but really, overall, this movie loses the magic and fun of the first two and turns into a dog of a movie.
MR. WOODCOCK
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
A standard Billy Bob Thornton movie that is mostly forgetable but still well-done with some decent moments strewn throughout.
PERFECT STRANGER
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
I don't remember much of this film that I saw on a sleepy evening on DVD. I remember not being too wowed by it, even though it had a decent ending. Thus, my rating.
OCEAN's 13
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
Been there, done that, moved on. I love a good heist movie but we got that with "Ocean's 11". Both follow-up movies, for all their witty reparte and decent casting, didn't really ring through as solid entertainment for me.
GHOST RIDER
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
As a generic lower-tier Marvel movie, I wasn't expecting much - but then I thought, maybe this'll be one of the few that get it right. I mean, Daredevil was passable and Blade was pretty sweet, so maybe this one could be, too. Visually it was pretty stunning - but sadly, the movie was just boring. A comic book movie needs a good hero with a good story, a strong villain, and a good look (among other things) - only the last of those three basic criterium were present. In all fairness, I don't think I'd like the comic book either, though.
HAIRSPRAY
Rating: C+
Seen On: Theatres
I admit, I was openly willing to be dragged to theatres to see this movie-musical. It looked fun and had a decent message - but it was all lost on me with a rather boring storyline and an all too obvious resolution at the end of the movie. Meh.
28 WEEKS LATER
Rating: C
Seen On: DVD
I loved 28 Days Later. That is one of the best "zombie" movies I've seen, cuz it actually had excellent characterization that you don't often see in horror movies. This one had none of that - it ramped up the violence and the action, but it just felt empty to me. A very big disappointment.
SHREK THE THIRD
Rating: C
Seen On: Theatres
Another major summer disappointment. I loved the first two Shrek films, and figured that there was more than enough story leftover for a great third adventure. I couldn't be more wrong. The story was uninspired, the actors didn't even seem into it this time, the sweet or sad moments were turned into jokes, and there wasn't even much of a story here - it was just a bunch of random stuff that happened. If it wasn't for Dreamworks Animation churning out a long list of failures lately, I'd say that this movie would've killed the Shrek franchise - but it's still making money for them so we know they'll make more. I just hope the next film is INSPIRED, instead of counting on the boring villain team-up story and "princesses that kick ass" jokes being the only things the movie tries to build upon.
300
Rating: C
Seen on: DVD
I went into this movie thinking I'd enjoy it quite a bit. I'm not a fan of historical war-epics - stuff like Gladiator or Alexander or Troy don't really do it for me - but the fact this was based on a comic and it had such a unique visual style made me give this movie a chance. I couldn't be more wrong. It was simply just loud, brash, violent, and a lot of chest-thumping. I don't mind any of those things - in fact, I very much enjoy it - but there has to be a story and good characterization behind it. I didn't find that in this movie. What I did see was a movie with high violence and production values appeal to a bunch of adolescent boys that hadn't seen that much skin before. (Too bad it was mostly a bunch of dudes, eh?)
FRACTURE
Rating: C-
Seen On: DVD
Another forgettable Anthony Hopkins outing. What really pissed me off about this one was how it so obviously tries to cash in on his Hannibal Lector typecasting - which I think is good (but overrated to begin with) - but the rest of the movie is just plain lame.
2006 MOVIES FIRST SEEN ON DVD IN 2007:
A- - Bon Cop, Bad Cop
A- - Blood Diamond
B+ - Casino Royale
B+ - Hollywoodland
B+ - Pan's Labrynth
B - The Pursuit of Happyness
C+ - Children of Men
C - The Guardian
SUPERBAD
Rating: A+
Seen On: Theatres
My favourite movie of the summer and possibly of the year. It was the perfect mix of slapstick and crass comedy with some real emotions thrown in. Excellent stuff, indeed.
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
Rating: A
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I've yet to see a Die Hard movie I haven't liked. This movie is no exception. While nothing can match the sheer brilliance of the first film, I think that this fourth installment is worthy to bear the Die Hard name. It's funny how in every movie, the writers find something bigger to blow up - first an office tower, then an airport, then New York City, and now the eastern half of the United States. For a great action movie with solid acting and a decent cohesive plot with great characterization, anything in the Die Hard series fits the bill. I wonder why this movie was forced to have a PG-13 rating (rather than the standard "R" rating) - but you barely notice the lack of "true swearing". Either way, it's solid entertainment. We shouldn't have had to wait 12 years for another Die Hard - I hope they find a way to do a fifth one in a couple years.
DISTURBIA
Rating: A
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I was a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock's classic, Rear Window, when I watched it years ago in film school. This updated modern remake is excellent in every way, and I'd recommend it to everyone. I'll just leave it at that.
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
Fabulous, engrossing movie from beginning to end. It's a different type of movie and don't go in expecting a Hollywood popcorn flick. It's not my favourite Coen Bros. movie, but it's among their best.
MR. BROOKS
Rating: A-
Seen On: DVD
Generally, I know what I'm getting into with a Kevin Costner movie, whether it's gotten good reviews or bad reviews - it'll be long, kinda bland, with some either funny or sentimental moments during the movie. Oh yes, and the crucial shots of his bare ass at least once before the movie is over. Mr. Brooks broke that mold and was a very sick and twisted movie about someone that takes joy out of the planning murders and then executing those plans. It was much different than I had expected and I was pleasantly surprised with this overlooked gem. If it wasn't for the ending (which was good but I would've done it a different way) I'd bump this up into "A" territory. The supporting cast of Dane Cook and William Hurt were perfect in their roles, as well.
KNOCKED UP
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
The first movie of the summer of Seth Rogen was a decent flick - part crass comedy, part sweet, all good. While I liked Rogen's later summer flick even more, this one definitely holds up as a solid film. Now if only I could find a way to leech money out of the British Columbia government like his character in the movie did...
ENCHANTED
Rating: A-
Seen On: Theatres
Now this was an inspired movie. It not only lampoons the Disney classics - most notably the "princess" ones like Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty - but it pays homage to them at the same time. I grew up a Disney fan all my life, and even though the three previously mentions movies aren't favourites of mine, I can definitely say they're solid pieces of movie making - and thus, so is this. I'm glad Disney is OK with going back to 2D movies, if not for just 12 minutes of footage.
ZODIAC
Rating: B+
Seen On: DVD
I thought this movie was excellent. It was the first nearly 3 hour movie that I've seen in years that I actually enjoyed from beginning to end. (Take that, LOTR.) It was a very moody and gruesome film based on a true story - which explains the very un-Hollywood climactic moments of the film. Seriously, if you want a good piece of film making about a very traumatic time in history - specifically the Zodiac killer in the San Francisco region in the 70's - this is a movie for you.
RATATOUILLE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres
One thing you can always say with Pixar is that they do not make crap. Sure, movies like A Bug's Life and Cars weren't classics, but they're still solid entertainment. Ratatouille, while not Pixar's finest, was still a great movie and featured a unique and interesting storyline that I enjoyed...enough. I am just not as passionate about this movie as I was with the two Toy Story movies or with The Incredibles - but it's the most solid animated film I've seen this year, for sure.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
I've been a Simpsons fan since day one. I had long awaited for an epic movie featuring one of my favourite shows (ever) to be brought out. So finally, this past summer, it happened - and it was pretty good. Thing is, with a movie like this, it's tough to please the fans that have their own favourite characters and story ideas they'd love to see played out. As much as I liked the movie, I didn't get that truly "epic" feel, because once the Simpsons were on the run, the remaining townsfolk were pretty much overlooked. This should've been a two hour movie jam packed of stuff - it didn't have to be funny, it just had to be engrossing and entertaining. The Simpsons aren't always about silly humour or wry wit - true emotions, something which has been lost in the past decade, is something the series was known for in its hey-day. The movie features good characterization, just not enough characters that received decent screen time. A feature film that doesn't feature Mr. Burns in a prominent villainous role just seems criminal to me. At least Spider-Pig was friggin' awesome.
GONE BABY GONE
Rating: B+
Seen On: Theatres
It seems Ben Affleck makes for a decent director, after all. This was a great movie in the same moody vein as Mystic River and, while not as good, is still a solid piece of emotionally-driven entertainment I would recommend.
I AM LEGEND
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
I really, really, really wanted to like this movie. It had such a great premise, an awe-inspiring visual look, one of my favourite actors in the lead role - and for the first hour it held me on the edge of my seat. I really did believe that the world was vacant of 99% of its human life forms. But then when it turns into a run-and-gun action movie of Will Smith vs. the "Zombies", it loses all of the special feel and turns into a typical shoot 'em up with minimal explanations. This could've been an instant classic but alas, it wasn't. Maybe if it was expanded to 2 hours of running time (instead of 1 hr 40) it would've worked out a bit better. But we'll never know. At least the Dark Knight prologue that preceeded the movie kicked serious ass. I think I know what my favourite movie of 2008 will be, already.
3:10 TO YUMA
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
Another solid western movie, but it didn't have the excellent pay-off I was hoping for.
AMERICAN GANGSTER
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
This movie didn't live up to the hype for me, but was a solid piece of filmmaking, nonetheless.
1408
Rating: B
Seen On: DVD
I really, really wanted to love this movie. I did. It had such an amazing build up during the first two thirds of the movie, I was only hoping that the pay-off wouldn't be a cop-out ending that "it was all a dream". It wasn't that, but it didn't conclude anything for me. Thus, I came out very disappointed.
SICKO
Rating: B
Seen On: Theatres
I enjoyed this movie, but as with anything Michael Moore says, you take it with a grain of salt. His basic message is a good one we need to take seriously: the American health industry is corrupt, run terribly, and leaves people to die if they can't afford it. The way he proves it, however, by going to four countries (Canada, the UK, France, and Cuba) is what is up for debate. I hope it got some people talking, though, cuz despite his tactics at twisting the truth, I know Moore's heart is always in the right place. This is a well-produced film and not as slanted as his previous anti-Bush effort, but not as well-done as Bowling for Columbine. What it does do, however, is tackle the most universally important issue of all three.
GRINDHOUSE
Rating: B
Seen On: DVD
As an homage to the B-movies of the 1970's, and the movie-viewing experience of that era in general, I think this double-bill works masterfully. The movies themselves, however - not so much. I know they're supposed to be as cheesy and one-dimensional as the movies they pay homage to, and that's the only reason I give this feature a "B" rating at all. Otherwise I'd give it very poor marks for pointless action and violence. Death Proof (Tarantino's film) is the superior film of the two, though. Planet Terror went on way too long for me, with little pay off - though the machine gun leg was pretty sweet.
SPIDER-MAN 3
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatre/DVD
I'm a DC Comics fan. My biased Bat-love is proof of that. Still, if there was any Marvel hero I'd gravitate towards, it'd likely be Spidey. This movie, oddly enough, may help that cause. Everyone mocks it - I won't. It's not a bad movie at all. What this movie IS, however, is a very rushed movie with too many characters that don't have time to get developed. Peter, MJ, and Harry were fine - I knew that from the first movie, their story arcs would end in the third movie, so I figured that would be the driving force behind the film. Then you throw not just one but two more villains into the mess, and there's not enough room to develop anyone. Venom literally falls out of the sky with no explanation, and Sandman, while showing much promise as someone that can draw on your emotion, never gets there. He never has the chance to. Still, I'd rate this higher than Spider-Man 1, but not anywhere near as near-perfect as the second installment of the series.
TRANSFORMERS
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
The first half of this movie is excellent. I loved the human characters, how they first met Optimus Prime and company, and so forth. The action was incredible. What killed the movie for me was how most of the Autobots and Decepticons didn't recieve any characterization beyond the fact that "Autobots = Good, Decepticons = Bad".
WILD HOGS
Rating: B-
Seen On: DVD
I knew what I was getting into with this movie - a bunch of middle-aged second-tier actors in a family movie portray a bunch of middle-aged men with families going through a mid-life crisis. So, of course, they turn into a biker gang of sorts. Be that as it may, I found this movie strangely moderately enjoyable, even though as a Disney movie, it's too "clean" and "polished" to be a great movie.
BEE MOVIE
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
Wow, a B rating. That's almost funny. The movie was almost that funny, too. I found it to be a very safe and bland (though cute) movie about an insect that isn't particularly interesting, anyway. The bee way of life wasn't nearly as expanded as it should've been - and that lost a lot of my interest, once Seinfeld's character started interacting with humans. What made him decide to pick bees as the vehicle for his return to Hollywood? Honestly...
30 DAYS OF NIGHT
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
Is it too much to ask for a vampire movie that doesn't reduce them all to cackling, grunting, screaming beasts?? The story of the small town in Alaska being ravaged by vampires during the winter solstice was good, but the vampires themselves had no character at all. That's important to me, considering the amount of screen time they had.
MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY
Rating: B-
Seen On: Theatres
I love Mr. Bean but even on TV only a select few of his sketches were classics. I wish Rowan Atkinson and the other writers would put him in more interesting and adult situations, rather than the silly frilly things they usually do in these movies. It's kind of predictable - but still enjoyable, anyway, to a point.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Rating: C+
Seen On: Theatres/DVD
Another disappointing movie during the "summer of three". I loved the first two movies so I expected this climactic batttle between everybody to surely be epic. It looks excellent as always, but I think this movie proved one thing that no woman I know would admit to - too much Johnny Depp is not a good thing. It's not without its excellent scenes sprinkled throughout, showing some signs of hope - but really, overall, this movie loses the magic and fun of the first two and turns into a dog of a movie.
MR. WOODCOCK
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
A standard Billy Bob Thornton movie that is mostly forgetable but still well-done with some decent moments strewn throughout.
PERFECT STRANGER
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
I don't remember much of this film that I saw on a sleepy evening on DVD. I remember not being too wowed by it, even though it had a decent ending. Thus, my rating.
OCEAN's 13
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
Been there, done that, moved on. I love a good heist movie but we got that with "Ocean's 11". Both follow-up movies, for all their witty reparte and decent casting, didn't really ring through as solid entertainment for me.
GHOST RIDER
Rating: C+
Seen On: DVD
As a generic lower-tier Marvel movie, I wasn't expecting much - but then I thought, maybe this'll be one of the few that get it right. I mean, Daredevil was passable and Blade was pretty sweet, so maybe this one could be, too. Visually it was pretty stunning - but sadly, the movie was just boring. A comic book movie needs a good hero with a good story, a strong villain, and a good look (among other things) - only the last of those three basic criterium were present. In all fairness, I don't think I'd like the comic book either, though.
HAIRSPRAY
Rating: C+
Seen On: Theatres
I admit, I was openly willing to be dragged to theatres to see this movie-musical. It looked fun and had a decent message - but it was all lost on me with a rather boring storyline and an all too obvious resolution at the end of the movie. Meh.
28 WEEKS LATER
Rating: C
Seen On: DVD
I loved 28 Days Later. That is one of the best "zombie" movies I've seen, cuz it actually had excellent characterization that you don't often see in horror movies. This one had none of that - it ramped up the violence and the action, but it just felt empty to me. A very big disappointment.
SHREK THE THIRD
Rating: C
Seen On: Theatres
Another major summer disappointment. I loved the first two Shrek films, and figured that there was more than enough story leftover for a great third adventure. I couldn't be more wrong. The story was uninspired, the actors didn't even seem into it this time, the sweet or sad moments were turned into jokes, and there wasn't even much of a story here - it was just a bunch of random stuff that happened. If it wasn't for Dreamworks Animation churning out a long list of failures lately, I'd say that this movie would've killed the Shrek franchise - but it's still making money for them so we know they'll make more. I just hope the next film is INSPIRED, instead of counting on the boring villain team-up story and "princesses that kick ass" jokes being the only things the movie tries to build upon.
300
Rating: C
Seen on: DVD
I went into this movie thinking I'd enjoy it quite a bit. I'm not a fan of historical war-epics - stuff like Gladiator or Alexander or Troy don't really do it for me - but the fact this was based on a comic and it had such a unique visual style made me give this movie a chance. I couldn't be more wrong. It was simply just loud, brash, violent, and a lot of chest-thumping. I don't mind any of those things - in fact, I very much enjoy it - but there has to be a story and good characterization behind it. I didn't find that in this movie. What I did see was a movie with high violence and production values appeal to a bunch of adolescent boys that hadn't seen that much skin before. (Too bad it was mostly a bunch of dudes, eh?)
FRACTURE
Rating: C-
Seen On: DVD
Another forgettable Anthony Hopkins outing. What really pissed me off about this one was how it so obviously tries to cash in on his Hannibal Lector typecasting - which I think is good (but overrated to begin with) - but the rest of the movie is just plain lame.