Archive for May, 2005
I’m really trying to figure out why I rented this movie, as the subject matter, and mokumentaries in general, don’t really interest me. It wasn’t widely released or commercialized, so I wonder how I even heard about it if the reviews were so bad. A Day Without a Mexican is a story of how California gets surrounded by a pink fog (sounds good already, huh?) and all of the Mexicans disappear. While the goverment tries to get to the bottom of the disappearences, chaos ensues across the state.
This movie started as a short film - and should have stayed that way. But hey, it’s made $4 million so far, so you can’t blame them for trying, right? Anyway, the movie is very low budget, and it shows. The acting ranges from horrible (mostly) to okay, with help from Maureen Flannigan. The film is very preachy and almost has a “public service announement” feel to it, especially when a scene is paused and certain facts are scribbled on the screen. However, some of those facts were surprising to me, so I guess I got something out of watching it.
May 31st, 2005
Ok, breathe. This is my first review of any Star Wars movie, and I really want to get it “right”. Yes, I am a big Star Wars fan and geek in general. I’ve seen all of the prequels on opening day, but I’m not die hard and hopeless by thinking that the first two were great in terms of being a film. Unfortunately, neither is Revenge of the Sith. Don’t get me wrong - I love the story of Star Wars and I love the experience of watching Star Wars movies - especially watching the 3 prequels. But as films, when you start critiquing them, the 3 prequels come up short.
First, I’m going to start with what I didn’t like, so I can end on a good note and say goodbye to Star Wars. I will try not to let some of the reviews I’ve read cloud my judgement, but I will agree with some of them. I didn’t like the script and direction of the actors. Most people think that the acting isn’t good. These prequels are actually good lessons for people to see how important direction and script writing is. I’ve seen almost all of the cast perform remarkably in other movies - even Hayden Christensen, who was great in Shattered Glass. Lucas should not have directed these movies and should have gotten good help writing the screenplays. The Empire Strikes Back, for which he didn’t write the screenplay at all and did not direct, is proof positive to support my argument. The dialogue in RotS (Revenge of the Sith) is just bad, bad, bad. The timing of most of the story is way off and often too fast and confusing. Senator Palpatine’s makeup is horrendous. The voices of the droids sound like smurfs or somethinge else equally cartoonish. I also thought Anakin’s transformation to the dark side and as Darth Vader was done too quickly. He should have started the transformation at the end of Attack of the Clones.
Ok, I’m done. Now for the good stuff. When you look at the story as a whole, it is a really good epic tragedy. Seriously, I think the story is very much like Shakespeare in that regard. You really start to see the struggle Anakin has in trying to keep the one thing in the world he loves so much, which is his wife, Padme (Natalie Portman). He is faced with either keeping her alive by going to the dark side, or doing what is right and losing his wife. Ultimately, Anakin’s selfishness and fear win over. I also really liked the way that the sets and props started to transform into the look of the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. In general, the way things tie together is done very nicely and was satisfying for me. Other things I liked were: General Grievous, the special effects, and Yoda kicking some butt.
I agree with what everyone has been saying: “this is the best of the prequels”, but I still think it could have been done better. However, if you are a Star Wars fan and are old enough to remember being a part of even one of the first 3 episodes, then you will really enjoy Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith.
May 29th, 2005
Once again, I can tell that I am a sucker for great cinematography and, now I find out, epic soundtracks. Hidalgo isn’t an excellent movie overall, but those two things and the addition of pretty good acting, make it a fairly good and entertaining movie to watch. The movie follows the real life inspired character of Frank T. Hopkins (played by Viggo Mortensen) as he attempts to win a 1,000 year-old race across the Arabian desert with his American mustang.
There really are some spectacular shots of American landscape, Civil War sets, but mostly desert landscapes. The people that take these shots seem to be so few and far between, that I can’t help but acknowledge them when I see work like this. The soundtrack and score on this movie was also very moving and helped with the scenes, both slow and fast. The film, as far as story and screenplay goes, was a well-defined epic tale but had some seriously corny moments. Mortensen does an decent job with a southern accent, but his acting was great. Omar Sharif, who you might remember best from Dr Zhivago (another awesome epic), plays the owner of the best Arabian horse that is expected to win, and does a fine job as well. This isn’t a short movie at 2:15, but if you like good cinematography, enjoy epic stories, and can deal with some corn, then you’ll appreciate this movie.
May 26th, 2005
I’m going to say this now: Don’t watch this movie unless you can deal with lots of obscenities. If you can, this is a pretty funny movie. Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, starring John Cho as Harold and Kal Penn as Kumar, is a story of the arduous journey that two stoned guys take to satisfy their craving for White Castle hamburgers.
Yes, it sounds stupid, but trust me. I think what makes this movie enjoyable is the fact that these guys aren’t white. When you bring in the Asian and Indian references, it takes it to another level of funny that most of us aren’t used to, which gives it points for originality. Something that also doesn’t surprise me these days is that this movie is a debut screenplay by two new writers. I keep seeing good or decent movies that are writing or directorial debuts. There is also a lot of good supporting cast in this movie including Neil Patrick Harris, David Krumholtz, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Ryan Reynolds, and (my favorite) Chris Meloni as Freakshow. For me, the funniest moment in the movie is when Harold and Kumar go all out singing “One More Day” by Wilson Phillips. At the end, there’s room for a sequel, but I’m on the fence for my support in that. I really, really despise the amount of sequels or prequels that come out these days. BUT, I think this one might be warranted. 
May 25th, 2005
Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle, is a very powerful story about an event that many in the U.S. seemed to be in the dark about. In 1999, hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda were killed just because of their racial heritage. I think we all heard of Rwanda and that the U.S. attempted to do something there, but I think most of us, at least my age (in high school), had no clue. So, that’s the basic history - a massive genocide - now for the movie.
During all of the genocide, Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle), a manager of one of the finest hotels in Rwanda, decides to try and protect as many Tutsis as he can from the Hutu militia. He does this by keeping them in the hotel after all of the regular guests and staff have evacuated. His main purpose is to protect his wife, also a Tutsi, even though he is technically Hutu. He brings in as many favors as he can and uses his connections and intellect to keep them safe. Meanwhile, the U.N. forces, led by Nick Nolte, protect the hotel as long as they can, without interfering in the war.
This movie had an element that caused it to be very gripping and powerful, which was the element of fear. Even though I had never been in the same situation, I could totally relate to what the characters were feeling, and I was constantly wondering when they were going to be safe at last. That fear makes the viewer’s senses highten, which also makes for a better movie experience. But the only way that could be executed is by a great cast and crew. The moutpiece of the movie, Don Cheadle, acted in his best performance that I’ve seen yet. All of the extras and supporting cast were great as well, and really contributed to the movie. The DVD also had some pretty good extras that I recommend viewing, because you get to see the real Paul and more of the story behind the movie.
May 22nd, 2005
Yes, it has been a while since I’ve written a review - almost a month! But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching movies. I have 4 DVD reviews and 1 theatre review to post on, so here’s the first.
In my opinion, there really is a shortage of good time travel movies that attempt to make sense out of the technology used. Primer, starring no one in particular, attempts to fill this void, but the science might go a little over the viewer’s head. The movie is about a couple of entrepreneur engineers that “accidentally” build a time machine in their garage while working on something else to make money on. Once they figure out how to use it, the results are unpredictable and suspenseful due to the greedy nature of humans.
The first 15 or 20 minutes of the movie are pretty flat and the scientific language may bore the audience. The story starts off with 4 friends that are arguing about what device they should try to make next, and since they take turns, one of them decides to try and build a super refrigerator. While two of the friends, Abe and Aaron, are testing the unit, they get some weird results. One of them sends the results to a lab and when he gets them back, he discovers they’ve made a time machine. Once you see them start to figure it out, you are hooked for the rest of the movie and are waiting to see what happens next.
If you are a nerd or geek, you’ll really like this movie because you’ll feel like it was made for people like you. If you aren’t, you’ll still enjoy it because of the suspense, but the science is likely to make your head hurt if you think about the paradoxes of time travel, which this movie also deals with. The acting is ok, but not great, and the script could have probably been written better. However, the story is very unique, and for the $7K budget this was made with, I think this movie deserves some credit.
May 21st, 2005